My Grace is Sufficient For You, Part 3

Greetings friends and new listeners and welcome to The Sound of Faith.

I'm Sharon Knotts thanking you for joining us today because we know faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. If you've ever been in an extended trial of faith or fiery trial, today's message is good news for you. Jesus said, My grace is sufficient for you. If you're thinking you've heard it all before, think again and join me as we discover the significance of each word in my grace is sufficient for you. 6,510 times in your Old Testament you will see it in the King James Version as capital L-O-R-D and that is the same as Jehovah, the God who was and evermore shall be.

So what did he say? He said above himself in Malachi 3.6, I am God and I change not. He said in Hebrews 13.8, the same yesterday, today and forever. So his grace is, it's not going to be and it's not going to run out no matter how many times you come and how many times you receive grace, it's not going to run out.

It's not limited. It doesn't just work in certain situations for certain times. It works in everyday daily tasks of life. It works in crisis, emergencies. It works when you're facing the worst test of your life just like the Father did in our story, the worst test of his life. It works when your health is failing. It works when your marriage is failing. It works when your finances are failing.

It works when a loved one dies and it works when you come under fierce spiritual attacks. My grace is. You know, that somebody wrote that song one day at a time, Lord Jesus, that's all I'm asking of you. Just give me the strength today to do what I need to do. Well, that's what God promised.

That's what he said. Today my grace is sufficient. It's sufficient today. So today receive my grace. Don't start worrying and fretting about tomorrow because tomorrow there will be grace for tomorrow.

Amen. Grace woke me up this morning. Grace started me on my way. I'll just tell you the words.

I won't sing it. Grace will help you with all of your troubles and infirmities. Amen. God's grace. Grace, grace, God's grace.

Now consider this. If God's grace is, then we have to stop begging and pleading for it to be manifest in our lives. We have to, what the man said that I quoted, don't take the fact my grace is, it's a fact. And don't turn it into, you know, a plea. Oh Lord, please let your grace come and help me.

You have to accept it as a fact. Your grace is sufficient for me. Amen.

And when we do that, it will become a reality. As long as we're praying, Oh Lord, I need you to give me more grace. I need grace. I need grace. Then we're not receiving the grace that is.

I really don't know how to explain it because it's kind of hard to explain, but how many know what I'm trying to say? Amen. All right. Grace is, and what's the next word? Sufficient.

The Greek word is archaeo. And what this word means, it means to be possessed of unfailing strength, to be strong enough. You know, there's a popular song right now being played on Christian radio and when he starts saying, I'm not strong enough or I'm not strong enough, but you are something to that effect.

How many know that song I'm referring to? Nobody? Okay. Hmm.

Well anyway, words like that pop out to me. So anyway, this is what the word sufficient means. It means to be strong enough.

I mean, very simply to be strong enough. He's strong enough for what? For whatever. For everything. For anything.

I don't want to, you know, sound like a broken record here, but small things, middle, medium things, big things. You're strong enough. If you like Samson, get attacked by a lion, spiritually speaking.

Amen. Because that's what Paul said. God delivered me out of the mouth of the lion with Samson.

It was literal. And as I said, when I preached that a few weeks ago, I don't think that Samson knew he was strong enough. He didn't know how strong he was because this was his first contest, his first attack.

And he took that line and grabbed it by its beard and then he just split it in two like it was a stuffed toy. He was strong enough because the spirit of God came upon him. He was strong enough. And you are strong enough because his grace is strong enough against any danger. It's strong enough to be able to bear up with evil.

So if you're in a prolonged battle, prolonged, you're strong enough. Yeah, I know you want to get out of it. I know you want it to be done and over with. I know you don't want to keep going through what you're going through. But I'm telling you, until God changes the direction of your life, you're strong enough. Until God does whatever he's going to do, whenever he's going to do it, you are strong enough. I look back and see when I went through all those years of lying in bed up to 18 hours a day in excruciating pain, just really not wanting to live anymore, even praying, Lord, if I'm not going to get healed, just take me because I can't live like this. I did not see that I could get through it.

But obviously I did. Here I am. Amen.

Here I am. I allow myself to lie down one hour a day, 3 o'clock, I lie down and watch the 700 Club. But when I get up in the morning, I'm going all the way up until then and even take my walk around the neighborhood and all.

And then after that's over, I'm in there cooking dinner and cleaning up and then I go back to working. You know, I could not imagine that day would come. But while I was going through that, even though I didn't think so, I was strong enough because in my weakness, his strength was made perfect. So in your Bible, this word sufficient in the King James, four times it's translated to be sufficient, to suffice, to be enough. Four times. Four other times it's translated to be content.

Does that sound interesting? One it means to be sufficient, to be enough and the other one it is to be content. All right, let me help you. In other words, God's grace is able to make you and to make me content no matter what we're going through. No matter what we're facing, no matter what the battle is, he is able to supernaturally make us to be content. Amen? Supernaturally. Because as we quoted Brother Al's favorite verse on grace in mind, God is able to make all grace abound unto you that you having all sufficiency in all ways, may abound unto every good work. So it means then that even when you're going through that severe trial, you can still be content. And I tell you that is something you cannot manufacture.

You cannot manufacture that on your own. It is heaven sent. It is the gift of the Holy Spirit. He has to do that inside of you supernaturally because you're going to want to fret. You're going to want to be afraid. You're going to want to murmur. Not that you don't love God, but that you're just miserable, unhappy. You wanted to hurry up.

Let's get this done. I can't take it no more. What are you doing to me Lord? How can you act content when you're going through what you're going through?

It's amazing. And I will say this, some people seem to be better at it than others. And I'm talking about Christians. Some Christians are better at it than others.

And I don't think it's because God is discriminatory in any way. These some people, they just latch onto that grace. They've learned how to latch onto that grace. I don't want to say your name, but there's a sister in this church that's been suffering for I think eight years going through treatments for cancer for eight long years with many, many crises along the way. She is one of the happiest, most pleasant, joyful, you all know who I'm talking about. I'm not saying the name, but you know, she's always got a smile on her face. She's always upbeat. Now I know she has to cry sometimes in her pillow. And I know sometimes that she must suffer in her body so much that she just doesn't hardly know what to do.

But whenever I see her, she is always happy. And when she goes for chemo treatments, and you know they're in a room with a lot of people getting treatments, all of the other patients are just always remarking how happy she is. And she, you know what that does? It opens the door for her to share Jesus.

It opens the door for those people that need Jesus, need hope, need hope. And they're going to listen to her. She's credible. She's credible because they know what she's been through. They know what she's going through. So when she witnesses of Jesus and his mercy and his grace and his love, she's a very powerful, credible witness.

Because God allows her to be content. Amen. All right, let's turn to 2 Corinthians 3, 5. Chapter 3, verse 5. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God, who also has made us able ministers of the New Testament, not of the letter, but of the Spirit. Because the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

This is another one of my faves. I love this, and I prayed it. I prayed it before I walked out that door. I prayed and said, Lord, you said you would make me an able minister of the New Testament. I'm not sufficient in sharing. In fact, I'm weak, but you use the weak things to confound the strong.

I'm foolish, but you use foolish things to confound the wise. My sufficiency is not in my flesh because of all the things I've already told you, but my sufficiency is in God. He is able to make me able. I don't want to just be a minister. I want to be an able minister. I want to be an able minister. I want to be a competent minister. In other words, I want to be able to face whatever I have to be faced with.

I don't want to just get in here and have a well-crafted message and a nice little message that makes everybody feel good and happy. I want to be able when somebody comes up here that needs deliverance. I want to be able when somebody suffered in their body. I want to be able when somebody is tormented by demons.

I want to be able when somebody is a drug addict or an alcoholic. I want to be an able minister. I want the Spirit. I want the anointing that destroys the yoke.

And I can have it because my sufficiency is not in me. You cannot read the anointing into your being. You can read the Word of God. There are many denominations and many churches that can preach nice messages, good messages. They've got so many points and they all match and dovetail.

They're wonderful. But they don't have deliverance lines. They don't have healing lines. They're not actively casting out devils. I want to be an able minister of the New Testament. That means we've got to have the Spirit because He's the gift giver. He gives the gifts of healings. He gives the workings of miracles. He gives the gift of faith. He gives the gift of discernment of spirits and words of wisdom and words of knowledge and tongues and interpretation of tongues and prophetic utterances. If you have the Holy Spirit, then any time He needs to, then He can enable you to move and operate in one of those gifts.

Amen. He enables you to speak in tongues in your prayer closet. So we have this ministry of the New Testament.

And now He's going to make a comparison. It's not of the letter that kills. I want you to understand what He's referring to, lest you think it's got to do with reading the Word and Scripture. It specifically refers to the Old Testament. You've got to understand the letter that kills was the Old Testament. But we have the New Testament. Why did the letter of the Old Testament kill?

I got to make it specific so you don't stop reading the Old Testament. He's talking about the law of Moses. The law of Moses said thou shall not, thou shall not, thou shall not. If you do, you die. You come under this death sentence. How many know thou shall not do this. And if you do this, then you're going to die.

Then this penalty is coming on you. That's the Old Covenant. But in the New Covenant, He doesn't have to say don't do this and you shall die. He says do this and you shall live. Do this and you shall live.

How am I going to do this? Because I'm going to have the new nature. I've been born again from above and now I'm partaking of His divine nature and I have His Holy Spirit and by Him He enables me to do the things that bring life. Amen. You see, it's a gospel of life.

Jesus said in John 10, 10, the thief has come to steal, to kill, and to destroy. But I am come that you might have life and that you might have it more abundantly. My grace is sufficient for, F-O-R, preposition.

And what it does, it tells how a noun is related to another word in a sentence. So what this means is God's grace is not only sufficient, it is sufficient for somebody or something. We could just say God's grace is sufficient. God's grace is sufficient. But when He says God's grace is sufficient for, then it's telling us that there is something or someone that is going to receive this sufficiency. It is sufficient on the behalf of someone or something. So I ask you another question. What or who is this person it is sufficient for?

Okay, I'm glad to hear people saying me because we know it says you because he was talking specifically to Paul, but now we got to bring it home. Amen. So for the reader, when the reader reads this verse, we have to know when I read it, I say, God says, my grace is sufficient for me, for me. Amen.

And you got to read it for yourself. So God's grace is sufficient. Now I'm going to be the preacher right now. God said, my grace is sufficient for you. Oh, and you, and you, and you, and you, and you, and you, and you, and you, and you, and you, and you, and you. Amen. You've got to understand that my grace is sufficient for you.

So you bring it home personal. So you have to see like that man saw my was painted a bright color is, was painted a bright color. And you was painted a bright color. You've got to see every one of these words, a different color. In fact, I went on my printer and tried it out to see what it would look like. So this is what I did.

I'll just walk around quickly and show you that I'd use a different color ink for every word. My grace is sufficient for you because by doing this, I'm going to remember this message, my, Oh, who's that God, God's grace. Amen. And then I know what grace means that divine enabling power is it's right now, whatever right now is, whatever circumstance it's right now, sufficient. We understand what that means.

And four refers to me. Amen. So God's grace is sufficient for you. Now I'm going to read our last verse and we'll close with this is first Peter five 10. This is another one of my faves on grace, but the God of all grace who has called us onto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus.

Now here's the part you got to think about after you have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish, strengthen and settle you. So we first have to understand he's the God of all grace. That means he has enough. He has enough grace. It's sufficient. It's more than enough for whatever we meet after you have suffered a while.

You know, some temptations seem some tests and some trials seem to drag on. How many have ever been at some point in your life and what you would call an extended trial extended. Okay. Not everybody, but quite a few.

Now, how many of you came out of that extended trial? Okay. So you know what it means.

You know what this first means. Amen. You know, some trials last, you know, just short period. And you know, I've been, like I said, with my back that went on for years and years. I would say by comparison, the breast cancer trial was quick, quick and easy compared to the back thing.

I realized that the breast cancer may have been considered more severe medically speaking, but it was nothing compared to the long years of suffering in the back. And so by comparison, God let me come through that very quickly. And I thank God for that.

Amen. I've been in, you know, trials or tests when someone has attacked me personally or, you know, has tried to assassinate my character and, you know, it blew over in, you know, weeks, a month. And then you can't even remember later what it was even about.

I've been in some others that just drag on and on and on and goes on for a long period of time. But God's grace is sufficient for you and while He allows you to go through it, if you will humble yourself, therefore, as Peter said, under the mighty hand of God, if you'll do that and humble yourself under His mighty hand, then when you come through it, He will make you perfect. Now, that doesn't mean you're going to be flawless because there is no such person in the flesh. But what it means is it's better to say He will complete you. And what it means is He's going to instruct you fully in wisdom, wisdom that you did not have before you went through that. You see, that's the one thing that I can say, God never waste your suffering. All that I went through all those years, I learned so much. I learned many things that now I'm able to share with you.

I wouldn't have learned them if I didn't go through that. Amen. And so He's able after you've suffered a while, when you come out on the other side, you will be a different person. I don't mean you'll be more saved. When you're saved, you're saved.

I'm talking about you'll have more compassion. I had a tendency to get like, you know, why don't these people just believe? Why don't they just believe and get healed? How many sermons they got to hear?

How many prayer lines they got to get in? Why don't they just get healed? I didn't tell people that, but I would think it sometimes. But I'll tell you what, when I was suffering for a long time, I began to think, oh my God, now I understand.

I'll never ever say those things again. I don't care if somebody comes up 150 times, I'm going to pray for them 150 times. I learned compassion.

Amen. He will establish you. That means He will set you resolutely in a certain direction.

He will point you in a particular direction that He wants you to go. He will strengthen you. Now, here's the interesting thing about this word. The way Peter is using it here, He will strengthen you. This particular Greek word, which I won't bother to tell you what it is, but this is the only time that it's used in the positive sense.

Now, before you start, let your mind say, what, what? There's strength in all over the Bible. It's not the same Greek word. You have to understand that sometimes it's different Greek words.

Okay? So here is the only time that it's used in a positive sense. All the other times it's used with a negative prefix on it so that it means then you're sick, you've got disease, you've got an infirmity, you're weak. It's used mostly to describe someone who's sick, infirm, or weak.

Therefore, when Peter uses it here and gets rid of that negative particle, then we have to understand the opposite is meant. You're well, you're healed, you're cured, you're strong. So if your battle that went on for a long time left you sick and weak and infirm and all those negative things, when you come through it, you're going to come through well and healed and cured and strong.

How many got that? Only here does it used in that positive sense. And then last but not least, he will settle you. That means he's going to set your feet steadfastly. Amen. He's going to plant you. He's going to plant you where you will not be moved.

He's going to plant you where the devil cannot come and move you and your trials and your tests will not cause you to quit or shrink back. Amen. Or just say, I just can't go on anymore and stay home from church, which is the worst thing you can do when you're in a trial. Think of all the people that are in a bad trial right now and they didn't come this morning because they're in such a trial. Wouldn't this message have helped them? But the devil tricked them. Amen. And sometimes that's what happens. Now there are times that you can't get to church because it's just not possible.

Your condition may be like mine was that it wasn't possible. Amen. But I tell you what, don't let the devil trick you because God has got a word for you and that is my grace is right now it is sufficient for you. Amen. How many believe it this morning? Well, let me hear you say my, now let's change it and say his grace is sufficient for who? Who?

Me. Give the Lord a clap all friends. Amen. What an uplifting word of the Lord. My grace is sufficient for you. Inspired by the true story of the tragic loss of a child and how 2 Corinthians 12 9 was the catalyst for healing. The Holy Spirit prompted me to define each word of this phrase. The intention of each of these six words and their connective meanings create a dynamic perspective that brings strength and comfort for extended and puzzling trials for the embattled believer.

It makes the unbearable bearable and ushers in God's glorious power. You can order my grace is sufficient for you on CD for a love gift of $10 or more for our radio ministry. Request SK 2 1 0 mail to sound of faith PO box 1 7 4 4 Baltimore Maryland 2 1 2 0 3 or go to our East store at sound of faith dot org where MP3 are available. You will also find scores of messages on many topics by my father RG Hardy and myself but to order my grace is sufficient for you by mail. Send your minimum love gift of $10 to PO box 1 7 4 4 Baltimore Maryland 2 1 2 0 3 request offer SK 2 1 0 till next time this is Sharon not saying Maranatha.