Date: 18-08-24
Preacher: Ps Santar Singh
Title: In the Grip of His Grace
In the Grip of His Grace
The main biblical reference for this morning’s message was based on Matthew 18:21–35.
This morning‘s message was a case of better late than never because a message such as this should be heard by all believers as we should fully understand what God’s grace is all about. Ps Santar was on time but unable to find a car park lot for half an hour so he was late. Since all things work for the glory of God, 2 sisters were able to bless the congregation with their testimonies in the interim. Ps Santar started by simply stating that he would highlight 3 points to explain the topic but that simplicity stated by me was an understatement, for the Holy Spirit anointed him to speak on grace with a spirit that sought to bring about understanding rather than confound.
The very appropriate first point was on the Need for Grace. In a world where people seek justice all the time, no one can escape being accountable. When Peter asked Jesus how many times should he forgive his brother or sister who sinned against him, Jesus’ answer was ‘seventy-seven times’ and He soon illustrated with the story of a servant who owed his master so much money that humanly it would be impossible to pay back. The master cancelled the debt and let him go free. In the case of man and God, it is the same as (a) we need to be accounted for at the end of the world and (b) we can never ever pay our debts of sin. The only way to pay is for us to have no sin which is not humanly possible. For these 2 reasons (a) and (b), we need to bring the news of being debt-free Christians (not in the financial sense but more importantly, a life free of the burden of sins) to more people who are still under the curse of the accuser of the brethren, that is Satan.
The next point is on the Provision of Grace. Godly grace is not something that can be earned like wages nor can humans create it so it is something that only God can provide. For us to understand grace, we must understand debt. Verse 26 from Matthew 18 gives us an example of one who doesn’t. For the servant who owed the king 10,000 bags of gold it would take a man working 200,000 years to pay back yet he asked for more time. Ps Santar highlighted the difference between religion and a life with Christ. The religions of the world continue to give man all the false hopes, not only in the monetary sense but also in the sense that a man would not see himself as a sinner for he would always think that there would always be someone worse off than him. Ps Santar cautioned us that when God judge us on a ‘daching’ at the end of it all, it would not be man comparing his weight against another man but against God. How can we measure up then? This is what is meant by ‘falling short of the glory of God’. Ps Santar shared that with Colossians 2:13-15, God not only cancelled our debts of sins but whatever associated burdens linked to them. For a more than graphic example we can turn to Isaiah 1:18 to show how much God has cleansed us.
But we mustn’t forget the price paid by God though and for that reason alone, we need to spread the good news of being ‘debt-free’.
Ps Santar shared that some men see grace as a licence to sin but we should see it as a chance to repent and be forgiven.
The last point is the Expectation of Grace. Here, he shared a most important point and that we should be grateful that God Himself does not have a number for the times we sin but we on the other hand, although we expect grace from God, we do not extend the same grace to people who owe us. Just look at the servant who was freed from his debt burden of 10000 bags of gold verses what he himself was owed, some silver and because of that, he had the debtor be thrown into jail. From all the points made, God is trying to state that no humans can owe so much that we cannot forgive.
Finally, Ps Santar made the point that that those who struggle with sins most are those who appreciate grace most too. And that coupled with what was key in the beginning of his message ‘how much God forgive us’ should serve as a reminder how great a God we serve. That would help us to understand grace and how to respond when that brother or sister should hurt us again.
