Rain on Your Garden Alone: Don't Frustrate the Grace of God

Sermon outline

Grace is God's willingness to use His power on your behalf, so give it careful attention, receive it with open hands and come boldly to His throne for help in every need.

1. You are all partakers of grace

   Grace is the divine influence in a human heart which reflects on the outside: prosperity and healing are first on the inside, then you see them on the outside. Paul commands the church to be sincere and to walk without offence, because out of the heart flow the issues of life. Entertaining offence stops the flow of God's life, so put it aside, forgive and walk in love, which is a commandment, not just being nice.

   “If you entertain offense in your heart, you stop the life flow of God.”

   • Philippians 1:6-11
   • Proverbs 4:23

2. Grace produces favour

   Grace is not just a feeling; it produces something for you. Doors that were closed are now open, and people who looked at your household and expected nothing good are proved wrong when God looks at it and says grace. Favour, kindness and graciousness are all you need.

   Illustration: People who looked at your husband, your children and your home and said nothing good would come of it: 'that's not the end of the story.'

   “Brothers and sisters, that's all you need is the grace of God.”

3. I do not frustrate the grace of God

   To frustrate grace is to set it aside or disregard it; not to frustrate it is to give it careful attention and cooperate with the Word, so that God's power works on your behalf and you become an unstoppable force. If it is not yet working for you, do not become frustrated: the preached Word is looking for an open door into your heart. Reading the Amplified, he stresses that justification means acquittal from guilt, so stop letting condemnation and the devil's reminders of the past hold you, as Paul could say he had wronged no man.

   Illustration: Paul, the man who once had believers killed, could stand up and say 'I have wronged no man' because he had a revelation of justification: Christ accepts you with no strings attached, no money to pay and no 21 days of fasting.

   “It's God's willingness to use His power on your behalf.”

   • Galatians 2:21
   • 2 Corinthians 7:2

4. Receive not the grace of God in vain

   The word for 'vain' means empty, so do not receive grace in an empty-handed way. Receive it in such a way that it works for you.

   “Receive the grace of God in such a way that it will work for you.”

   • 2 Corinthians 6:1

5. The grace of God bestowed on the churches

   As grace was at work in the churches of Macedonia, it is at work in this church, its branches, your home and your workplace. The Amplified calls it favour and spiritual blessing, and it moves you from one state to another: from beggar to giver, from sick to healed, from unemployed to employer, from barely getting along to more than enough. Whatever level you are at, be faithful and outgrow it, and bring your tithes and offerings, because God promises to open the windows of heaven.

   Illustration: Grace is like rain falling on your garden alone while your neighbour's garden is dry and hot. Israel in the desert fed with meat and manna from the sky and water from a rock; tax money from a fish's mouth; moving from the bus and taxi to a borrowed lift, a borrowed car, a car on HP and then a car paid for by EFT; a man applying to be a level 3 clerk who is told he ought to be a manager.

   “Don't worry at what level you are. Just outgrow that level.”

   • 2 Corinthians 8:1
   • Matthew 17:27
   • Malachi 3:10

6. Come boldly to the throne of grace

   God's throne is a throne of grace where there is mercy for your failures and grace for every need, financial, spiritual or physical, coming as well-timed help just when you need it. Walk in a consciousness of more than enough, not need, because grace produces favour, goodwill, beauty and ability, and you are wired not to fail. Change your thinking and your words, for the same Jesus who turned water into wine lives in you and makes you a productive person.

   Illustration: The church's new branch in Durban had almost 80 people on its first Sunday, and he told Pastor Zubeda they would grow it to 5,000 by grace. At the wedding at Cana, Jesus in effect tells the servants, 'don't sweat, everything's cool.'

   “No coincidence in God's economy. It's on time, every time.”

   • Hebrews 4:16
   • Proverbs 23:7
   • John 2:1-10
   • Mark 11:23