Vain Grace

I. Introduction
 A. 2Cor.6:1 Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain.
II. Receiving the Grace of God in Vain
 A. All men are recipients of the grace of God.
  1. For "He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things." (Acts 17:25)
  2. And "He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous." – Matt.5:43 (Rain is a good thing -- especially in dry climates like Israel.)
 B. The preciousness of grace
  1. "He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men." (Luke 6:35)
  2. Grace is not deserved. Nor is it universal.
  3. But people who receive a lot of blessings get used to it, and they begin to expect it. And instead of being wowed by a blessing, they’re offended when there isn’t a blessing.
   a. Life in VA vs out west
   b. Life where we are on earth, in contrast to polar regions, and desert regions, earth's core, universe
   c. Spitting out candies in Africa
   d. Children who don’t have good parents feel like they’ve been cheated, and children that have good parents act like they’re entitled to them.
   e. In some places of the world people risk their lives to go to church or own a Bible. But here there are lots of Bibles, but don’t read them. And we have churches all over the place, but we treat them as if they’re a dime a dozen.
 C. The purpose of all this divine kindness is so "that they would seek God." (Acts 17:27).
  1. God’s kindness is meant to lead us to repentance and gratitude.
  2. "Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?” – Rom.2:4
  3. God’s grace is designed to have an effect on us, to change us. It is supposed to yield joy, praise, submission, obedience, humility.
 D. But it is very possible to receive God’s grace in vain. It is very possible for all the grace God has given us to produce no good result.
  1. It is very possible for the grace of God to be ineffective in producing repentance, gratitude, faith.
  2. You remember the parable of the sower in Matt.13 – three places received the seed but no fruit.
  3. This is a common theme for the apostle Paul.
   a. 1Thessalonians 3:5 For fear that...our labor would be in vain.
   b. Galatians 4:11 I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain. (Cf. Gal.2:2; Philippians 2:16)
  4. What guilty silence!! Gifts are meant to move you, to change you. They are meant to increase your love for the giver. It is wrong to accept gifts lightly and not deeply appreciate them.
 E. Not only is it possible to receive God’s grace in vain, it is very dangerous to receive the grace of God in vain.
  1. “If we do not respond as we should, His kindnesses will end up in our judgment: Because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you store up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and the revelation of the righteous judgment of God.” (Rom.2:5)
  2. There is no one more worthy of divine wrath than the person who has received much grace from God and yet has remained unchanged.
  3. We see this in Jesus’ condemnation of the cities of Galilee in Matthew 11:20–24 He began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent. “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.”
   a. Why? They received the grace of God in vain.
  4. Jesus cursing the fig tree (Matt.21:18-19)
  5. Hebrews 6:7–8 For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. 8 But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.
  6. Those who have heard the message of the cross and been welcomed into His household (the church) are recipients of an even greater abundance of the grace of God. Those who spurn such great kindness are on very dangerous ground.
  7. Isaiah 5:1–6 Let me sing for my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; and he looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes. And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. What more was there to do for my vineyard, that I have not done in it? When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes? And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and briers and thorns shall grow up; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.
  8. Isaiah 65:12 “I will destine you to the sword, and all of you shall bow down to the slaughter, because, when I called, you did not answer; when I spoke, you did not listen, but you did what was evil in my eyes and chose what I did not delight in.”
  9. We can understand why Paul is so intent that they "not receive the grace of God in vain."
 F. So now let me get personal. Let me urge you: Do not receive the grace of God in vain.
  1. Every day the Lord showers grace into your life. Is it bearing fruit in your life? 
  2. Far exceeding mere earthly graces, we have been given the grace of the message of the gospel.
  3. We read Heb.6:7-8 about all the rain that God sends into your life. All the Scripture, all the sermons, all the songs, all the good examples, all the love, all the provisions, all the protections.
  4. He is calling (Is.65:12). Are you listening? Are His words having any effect upon your life? Or are you just waiting till church is over so you can go do what you want to do?
   a. It may sound like my voice. But if I am speaking His word, then it is God’s call you’re hearing.
  5. People who live lives filled with the grace of God should live lives full of the praise of God.
  6. Do you receive the vast treasures of God’s marvelous grace showered upon your life in vain?
   a. Do we let it go in one ear and out the other? Or do our lives sing with gladness and thankfulness?
  7. Is His grace changing us? Are we taking more of an interest in the people around us? Are we more buoyed by the hope of Christ as we face discouragements in our earthly lives?
  8. We don’t cherish enough. We don’t treasure enough. We don’t get exhilarated enough. We don’t glory enough. We don’t celebrate enough.
   a. If you listen in to Christian conversations, how many expressions of awe and wonder do you hear directed to the Lord in comparison to the awe in wonder expressed about the latest movie or TV show or video game or electronic device or YouTube video? Not enough.
  9. And when God convicts us, when God exposes our sin to us, when God corrects us, we don’t weep enough, we don’t mourn enough. We don’t turn our laughter into mourning enough. -Jm.4:9
  10. Here are three oxymorons: a griping Christian, a grumpy Christian, a greedy Christian
   a. How can a person who has received grace upon grace be griping or grumpy or greedy?
  11. What difference does Christ make in our lives?
   a. A Christian should not come home from work the way a non-Christian comes home from work.
   b. A Christian student should not go to school in the same way a non-Christian does.
   c. A Christian should not respond to success or praise the way a non-believer does.
   d. A Christian should not experience severe trials in the same way a non-Christian experiences them.
   e. A Christian should not face death in the same way a person without the hope of Christ faces it. 
  12. Psalm 34:5 “Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed.”
   a. If we’re not radiant, we’re not looking to the Lord. His grace is not having its effect.
   b. Those who look to him...their faces shall never be ashamed.
    (1) Mopey Christians, spiritual Eeyores: they’re not looking to the Lord.
    (2) God has blessed them, but where is the fruit? It looks like His grace has been given in vain!
 G. How does this notion of ineffective grace fit with the notion of irresistible grace?
  1. We believe in irresistible grace, but that doesn’t mean ALL grace is irresistible. In fact, most grace is not only resistible, most grace is resisted.
  2. When it is grace resistible and when is it irresistible? That’s easy. God’s grace is irresistible when, in His infinite wisdom and goodness, God wants His grace to be irresistible. The default is that God’s grace is resistible. God gives gifts, God speaks to people, God invites, God even pleads with people:
   a. Is.65:2 All day long I have held out my hands to an obstinate people, who walk in ways not good, pursuing their own imaginations.
  3. Sometimes it goes even farther than that. Sometimes God even expresses a desire for people to be saved, but they still resist Him.
   a. Hosea 7:13 I long to redeem them but they speak lies against me.
   b. 2Pet.3:9 “The Lord...is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”
  4. But it is only when God chooses to make His grace irresistible that it is irresistible.
   a. 2Cor.4:6 For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
   b. Saul of Tarsus — 1Tim.1:16 I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.
  5. The grace needed to change a human heart from stone to flesh is always an irresistible grace, because otherwise sinful, hard-hearted mankind would always resist it.