On Thursday's program, Chuck Swindahl left us with a definition that won't let go. He said that grace is free sovereign favor to the ill-deserving. It's not earned, it's not kindness extended to friends. God's grace is favor poured out on those who deserve the opposite. Today on Insight for Living, Chuck takes that definition off the page and walks it into history.
into a forgotten man, a no-place town. and a king who came looking anyway. This is where grace gets its face. Chuck titled his message, The Grace of God. We learned our last time together that God loves us, remember?
When that love is activated, grace kicks in. That's the beauty of God's grace. When love is activated, grace kicks in. Grace is free sovereign favor. to the ill-deserving.
God sovereignly, apart from anything from us. Any goodness, any effort? Any attempt to win his favor or friendship, God in his grace, reaches down To lift us off. Even while we fight him in the process. Amazing.
Amazing. To illustrate that, look at Romans chapter 5, verse 8. Just the one verse for a moment. But God demonstrates his own love. Toward Us.
And that while we were yet Sinners Christ died. For us. God provides evidence of this characteristic of his love as he reaches out. to sinners like us, He demonstrates his own love toward us. Look at verse six.
While we were still helpless. I've underscored the word helpless. At the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. Helpless. Verse eight.
while we were yet sinners. Underscore sinners. Christ died. For us. Helpless?
Sinful? Ha ha ha. Verse 10 for while we were enemies We were reconciled to God through the death of his Son. Underscore that word. Helpless.
Sinners Enemies. Grace is God extending his favor to those who can't help themselves. When you lose a loved one and you can't make it through, his grace gets you through it. Because you're helpless. When you cannot make yourself well, and you're suffering and suffering over a long period of painful time in your life, you're helpless to make yourself well, God.
Comes to your rescue in his grace. gets you through it. Gets you beyond it. He helps the helpless. Grace is God's undeserved favor extended.
to those who could never earn it and are unable to repay it. We said it best with the free sovereign favor to the ill-deserving. Why ill-deserving? Because we are sinful to the Poor. to the core.
Verse 19 in the same chapter of Romans 5. As through one man's disobedience, the many were made sinners. Don't go any further. There's Adam, there are your grandparents, your great-grandparents, there's your heritage, there's your progeny. the whole family of us.
Sinful. Every one of us, because one man sinned, acting as our federal head. When he sinned, we sin. The many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of one Christ, Jesus our Lord, many, we read. Many will be made righteous.
You can't do it on your own. It must come through Christ. Look at the next verse. The law came in. Why?
So that the transgression Would Increase. Amazing. Even among Christians. Transgressions increase. G.K.
Chesterton said it well when he spoke of original sin. As the one Christian truth that can be verified by observation anywhere in the world, any day of the week. Just look around. The harshest? Ugliest.
Worst letters I have ever been sent have been sent by Christians. The most difficult, angry treatment has come to me. From Christians. The most painful scars on my life. were put there by Christians.
Carnal Christians. Sinful Christians And don't tell me their motive was right. Their motive was wrong. And often my response was not right. Why?
Because I'm sinful to the core. I'm blue also. And I and Isn't it amazing in our society? People deny that. You know, there are audiences where if I preached like this, they'd be pouring out the aisles.
I mean, they're walking out on, I'm not going to listen to this. You know what I did last week? You know the money I've given to that charity. Do you realize how good I am compared to my neighbor? I mean, on and on they go.
It's just denial. J.I. Packer told a wonderful story of how denial can blind us to the truth. He loved to talk about the psychiatrist who brought a man into his office who was convinced he was dead. The psychiatrist's job was to convince him that he's living.
He couldn't convince him. Finally, he settled on a foolproof plan. He took a couple of medical books from his shelf and he gave them to the man and he said, Look, read these chapters, and you will see that dead men do not bleed. You'll read it for yourself. I said, okay.
Came back in a week, and the doc said, Well, what do you think? What did you learn? He said, I am now convinced, said the patient, It's perfectly clear that based on this evidence in this medical journal, And this medical book that Dead Men Do Not Bleed. I'm convinced. Without saying a word, the psychiatrist pulled out a drawer, got a needle.
Took the man's finger and pricked his finger. Out came blood. The man said, Great Scott, dead men do bleed. Please. Please.
The evidence is everywhere. Our denial is in reverse. It's in reverse. We're in this fixed state where we believe we're alive spiritually. In fact, we are dead spiritually.
No hope. to get to heaven on our own. Without coming through the cross. We'll hear about Christ on the cross in the messages yet ahead, but for now. Let's settle on this.
The law. Tells us what to do, it just doesn't enable us. As the poet wrote, Do this and live, the law demands, but gives me neither feet nor hands. A better word, God's grace does bring, it bids me fly. And gives me wings.
It gives me wings. We are able to live on in this. Life. Sinful as we are because of the grace of God. We're able to have an eternal kind of life like God our Father because God in His grace chose.
to declare us righteous. John writes of how Jesus brought grace and truth in his coming. John lived, by the way, chapter one of his gospel. John lived in the in-between era. How interesting would that have been?
Born and reared in the era of the law, and Jesus came. Later, after His death, the Holy Spirit came, and the era of grace kicks in, and John has lived to see the two, and He knows the difference came in the person of Jesus. John starts right off. He doesn't mess around in this gospel. Go back to John chapter 1.
The Gospel of John Chapter One John opens his account of Jesus Christ and it doesn't beat around the bush. Look closely. In the beginning was the word. This is John's word for Jesus Himself, W-O-R-D. In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word was God.
So it immediately states that Jesus is deity. In fact, verse 3: All things came into being through him. Jesus is the creator. He's deity. He's the creator.
Verse 4, In Him was life, and the life was the light of men, and the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it, did not extinguish it. Could not put it out, the light shone. The original light is not in ourselves, it is in Christ and Christ alone. If there is light to take away darkness, it will be in Christ and Christ alone. If there is any light in us, it's reflected light.
Reflected light. In that sense, Jesus is like the sun, we are like the moon. Jesus, the original star of David, if you will. The Son of God came, created, brought life, brought light. Look closely now.
Verse 14: the word became flesh. And dwelt among us. One of the paraphrases says. He moved into the neighborhood. I've always liked that.
Jesus came and he moved into the neighborhood. He didn't remain aloof. He didn't live in a castle. He didn't say to people, stay away, I'm holy. He became one of us.
He spent time with sinners, tax collectors, prostitutes, people who gossiped. Who were ugly to other people, folks who didn't forgive, people who weren't kind, people like us. He came to this world and he dwelt among us. Look at the next statement. John writes: he was there.
This is an eyewitness account. We beheld his glory. The glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of what? Full of grace. Full of true f- Without hedging in any way on truth, he demonstrated grace.
The law had done none of this grace. had offered none of it. And this one who came with his one-of-a-kind glory. demonstrates fully with grace. And with Jesus Freedom replaced bondage and light took the place of dark and Hope the place of discouragement and depression and emptiness.
We learned that about our God the very first time on this Godhead series of messages. His glory, his glory, we saw glory in him. There was the effulgence of God in his presence. It must have been magnificent to be around the Savior. He didn't glow.
Didn't have a halo? Didn't walk around a white robe going, boo. Ooh, awho. No, that's a phony idea of him. He was just like any other Jewish man, however, he happened to have been God.
He looked like all the rest of us. But this verse says, We saw his glory. John was there. John was there. He saw it.
It's like nothing else he's ever seen. It was glorious of the only begotten of the Father, full of what? What? Grace Truth Grace doesn't deny truth. Grace underscores truth.
You're sinful. You don't deserve what I'm going to do. But the truth is, my love is activated, and I'm going to extend my favor in your direction. And as a result, you're going to be the recipient of grace, even though you do not deserve it. He was full of grace and truth.
Verse sixteen, I love it. Look closely. For of his fullness We have all received Grace upon grace. Eugene Peterson in the message renders that we all live off his generous bounty, gift after gift after gift after gift. It's grace.
It's grace. From John 1, look at Ephesians 2. Quickly now. Time is moving. Ephesians chapter 2.
Verse 8. Verse 9. Paul is in the subject of salvation. He starts where I have been, verse 1, Ephesians 2: You were dead. in your trespasses and sins you were dead.
And you formerly walked in this way, therefore, verse eight, not surprisingly. It is by grace you have been saved through faith. Grace trumped law. Grace. Mm-hmm.
overshadowed our sin. You have been saved by grace through faith. And it wasn't from yourself. It was the gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. The summary of salvation by grace through faith.
not works. By grace, through faith, not works. Say that. By grace, through faith, not works. Again.
By grace, through faith, not works. You have just stated a truth not known by the vast majority of the world, even a world that's heard of Jesus. though most in this world have not. Those who have think that there's something in them that will somehow gain the favor of someone that good. when in fact the purpose of his death It was because we couldn't get good.
We can never be good. Therefore, he will declare us righteous because of his death. I take it by faith. It is because of God's grace. It is never because of my works.
The greatest heresy on the planet Comes through words like this. It's not what God does for me, it's what I do for Him. And the vast majority of people who even acknowledge there is a God, and it's a decreasing number every year. Work hard to please him. To do good things, when in fact good things come after.
We have believed in his son. And those are valuable works, but they don't get us to God. They're the result of our knowing God now. this wonderful story. I love this story in 2 Samuel 9.
You may remember when we were on the glory of God, I used King Uzziah as an example, who became a leper. When I spoke on the holiness of God, I referred to Isaiah the prophet. Who stood in the temple and heard the angels as they An antiphonal voice said, Holy, holy, holy, infinitely holy is the Lord our God. Isaiah. When we were on the love of God, we looked at the prodigal son and the prodigal father.
Today, on the grace of God, we're going to look at Mephibosheth. Back to 2 Samuel chapter 9. Get your pen handy. I rarely tell you that, but today I'm going to urge you to write down the six analogies that tie in with our salvation, coming from the life of. Mafibushet.
2 Samuel chapter 9. I want you to put on your thinking caps. I want you to travel with me back. Over 2,500 years And we are in the palace of the king. His name is David.
His predecessor, King Saul, has died. David has come to the throne. His dynasty is now running its course. Listen carefully. In the Eastern dynasties, when a new king came on the scene, All of the family of the old king, the former king, is exterminated, or, if not exterminated, they run like rats on a sinking ship.
Because what? The new king will kill them. Their presence. Since they have the royal blood in them, it would be a threat to the new king's throne. The family of Saul has fled away, though David exterminated none of them.
But when Saul died, Ziba His servant As well as a A nurse who was helping with the children. Took up this little boy, Mephiboshev, and ran for their lives to hide. In the running, she dropped him. And he was crippled. Both his feet.
Now, that's the background of the story Mephibosheth here in 2. Samuel 9. And uh David is now in his palace. Can you see the carvings of Around him, the The the gold appointments I mean it is luxurious. Finally, peace has come to Israel.
Prosperity. As one wag put it, there was not only a chicken in every pot, there was a grape on every vine. David was a prosperous king, and he took care of his people. He did not overtax them. He was a shepherd.
By God's grace that had been brought To The place of the kingship.
So he's musing on his throne. As some of you have done when you got promoted to that place, you now. Hold. CEO, president. The owner, whatever.
And you sit back and you think Man. How blessed am I. And David, as he's sitting and musing, remembers a promise. Before his dear friend Jonathan died in the same battle as Saul, his father had died in. David promised Jonathan he would take care of his family.
Jonathan said, just make that covenant with me. And David said, I promise. Suddenly, the promise comes back to his mind, and he thinks, I've got to make that promise good. Because of his relationship with his friend Jonathan and Jonathan's father Saul. King David initiates an act of grace.
Look at it.
So David said, Is there yet any one left of the house of Saul that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake? You'll read the word kindness several times through this passage. It's a Hebrew word translated kindness, chesid. If you say it right, something lands on the back of the neck of the person in front of you.
So be careful of trying about repeating it. Chesid is a guttural term. It means loving kindness, sometimes translated mercy, occasionally just love. Here through this passage is kindness. Think of grace.
Grace. Grace. God's treatment, sovereign, free, sovereign. favor to the ill-deserved. Is there anyone to whom I might show Free sovereign favor?
So he meets a man named Ziba, who is from the house of Saul. Jeez Zeeba said, I I I I know where there is one and I I'm just a servant, but. Verse 3 concludes there's still a son of Jonathan. David. He's a cripple.
His discipline. This is Insight for Living. Chuck Swindahl has shown us something both sobering and stunning. That the law exposes the depth of our sin, and that apart from Christ, we're not merely struggling people doing our best, we are dead. But here's where the story turns.
because into that darkness grace is revealed. not as a reward for the righteous, but as a rescue for the helpless. Stay with us because we're just getting started with Chuck's 12-part study on the attributes of God. He titled this series How Great Is Our God. What if the most meaningful thing you did this week was sit down with your Bible and actually trace the passages that Chuck has been teaching step by step, verse by verse?
Well, Insight for Living has made that easy. As a ministry dedicated to serving you beyond this program, we've assembled a complete study bundle for this series. It includes the Searching the Scriptures Bible Study Workbook with guided questions and careful cross referencing. Plus, we have the full sermon collection available on CD or MP3 for those who want to revisit every message at their own pace. To purchase this bundle right now, go to insight.org slash offer.
Chuck? Not long ago I had the privilege of sitting with a small group of young pastors. Right. Eager. serious about their calling.
and they came loaded with questions. I loved it. One of them leaned forward and asked me something I've been asked a hundred times, but it never gets old. He said, Chuck, how do I quicken the hearts of my congregation In a world that spends more time staring into a cell phone than reading a Bible. I smiled.
because I've been waiting my whole life for that question. Stick to the word. That's it. That's the answer. Don't chase trends.
Don't craft clever self-help messages dressed up in religious language. Don't try to out-entertain the entertainment world. You'll lose that race every single time. Just open your Bible, tell your people who God is. Let the text speak.
and I promise you, you will never ever want for an audience. His word is inexhaustible. His character is genuinely breathtakingly awesome. And I mean that in the purest sense of the word. Not a hashtag, not a throwaway adjective.
Awesome. Here's something you may not know. Insight for Living reaches a remarkable number of pastors. We train them. We resource them.
We come alongside them in their calling. And when you impact a pastor, you impact a congregation. When you impact a congregation, the ripple effect spreads through families and then through generations. That's not a small thing. That's a legacy.
As June thirtieth approaches I want to invite you to invest in the next generation of cross-proclaimers. Your gift doesn't reach just one person. It reaches a pastor who reaches hundreds, who raise up families. who carry the message forward. long after you and I are gone.
What are you waiting for? Let's invest together. The cross we proclaim is worth every penny. To respond to Chuck Swindoll, you can choose one of several easy ways to give a donation. Many of our listeners prefer to send a check in the mail.
If that's you, address your envelope to InsightForLiving. Post Office Box 5000. Frisco, Texas, 75034. When you give today, we'll be saying thanks by providing a brand new booklet from Chuck. It's called The Cross We Proclaim.
This resource doesn't elevate the power of the human spirit. In fact, it's one that openly admits our personal failures, our poor decisions, and the things we'd rather forget. In the cross we proclaim, you'll discover why your past isn't ignored, but redeemed. Our address again is Post Office Box 5000-4000. Frisco, Texas 75034.
You can also call 800-772-8888. or give a donation online at insight.org slash donate. I'm Bill Meyer. Join us when Chuck Swindahl continues his in-depth study on the grace of God, Monday on Insight for Living. The preceding message, The Grace of God, was copyrighted in 2008, 2009, 2016, 2019, and 2026.
And the sound recording was copyrighted in 2026 by Charles R. Swindahl Incorporated. All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.
