Growing in Grace

# 7-“Being Dispensers of Grace”

By Rev John R Hannem, Calvary Baptist Church, North Sydney, NS

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            Not all of the grace killers are on the “outside” trying to get people under the law, some of them are in the family trying to do God’s will their way! Tonight I want to examine the characteristics of a person who is a dispenser of grace.

            The Five Characteristics of A Dispenser of Grace.

 1. Generosity with Personal Possessions – An Unselfish Heart  (Acts 4:32-35)

³²All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. ³³With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. ³⁴There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales ³⁵and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need. 

   Much like today, here was a group of believers struggling to survive in a world whose political system and even its people who are hostile to Christ and His church. They had every reason to be afraid, and yet they were not, why? The text says they were not afraid because (v. 33), “much (or abundant) grace was upon them all.”  Instead of living lives of isolation and fear they choose to live with a genuine desire to help others in need. A spirit of grace is characterized by a spirit of generosity. It produced amazing results, (v. 34) “there were no needy persons among them.” 

 2. The Ability to Adapt in Changing Situations – A Flexible Heart. (Acts 11:19-20)

¹⁹Now those who had been scattered by the persecution in connection with Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, telling the message only to Jews. ²⁰Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. 

   At first the church at Jerusalem reached out to Jews alone, but later they found themselves surrounded by Greeks. They did not simply move on, they did not change their message, but they did change their methods. They changed their target from Jews only to both Jews and Greeks. That took grace. Grace keeps us flexible, willing to adapt.

   Tonight we sit in church in an all white neighborhood, but that could change as it has to countless churches around the country. When the community surrounding a church changes, a church has two choices; change to meet the needs of a changing neighborhood or move. Many churches choose to move. I wonder if we are flexible enough to make changes to reach a changing community and world. We recognize that missionaries on foreign fields must be cross-cultural in order to reach the people, but are we willing to change to reach a changing world? Our message should remain the same but our methods can and must change. Grace makes us willing to reach out to those who are different than ourselves.

 3. A Willingness To Live Beyond the Letter of the Law – A Teachable Heart.

      To remain teachable we must have:

·         A Sense of Our Own Inadequacy (2 Corinthians 3:5-6)    

   ⁵Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. ⁶He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

            It is a necessity as we serve God that we realize that whatever giftedness we have is not to our credit but due to the grace of God who make us sufficient and gave us the resourses for whatever task he has called us to do.    

      ·        Understand the Importance of Transparency.  (2 Cor. 2:17)

¹⁷Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, like men sent from God.

            The important thing here is the contrast that Paul draws between his life and that of some of those who purport to speak the gospel but are in truth only in it for what they can get out of it. He says that this “corrupts the word of God,” suggesting trickery and greed. He says of himself that he speaks with “sincerity” which is a word that literally means, tested by the “warmth and light of the sun.”  Sometimes unscrupulous merchants would hide cracks in pottery by using wax to cover over the blemish, but holding it to the light or exposing it to the warmth of the sun would reveal the truth.

        ·        Realize the Significance of Our Personal Walk (3:1-4)

¹Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you? ²You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody. ³You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

 ⁴Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God.

      Paul says here that his recommendations were not in “letters” but in “lives.”   He reminds all believers that they are epistles or authoritative letters of Christ “known and read by everybody” therefore we need to be careful how we walk.

 4. The Absence of Unfounded Expectations – An Accepting Heart (2 Corinthians 3:17)

¹⁷Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom       Grace gives us the ability to allow the Holy Spirit to give each believer his/her convictions and not demand that they be just like us. It is alarming to realize how many believers set up a list of conditions for fellowship that are never outlined in Scripture. They demand that you must dress like me, and agree me on every issue.

   We sometimes forget how long it took for God to get us to point that we are spiritually today. It was a long process in our lives and yet we expect others to be where we are right now.

 5. A Sense of Release from Past Failures – A  Liberating Heart   (1 Timothy 1:12-14)

¹²I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service. ¹³Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. ¹⁴The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.     Grace dispensers do not keep bringing up the past for the purpose of holding it over people’s heads. Paul had every logical reason to be ashamed of his past. He says of himself, I was “a blasphemer, a persecutor and violent man…” then how can he write in (2 Timothy 1:12) “I am not ashamed “.  The answer is found in verse 14, “the abundant grace of God,” allowed him to live without shame of his past.

            Unfortunately we as believer’s today sometimes make people ashamed not only of their past, but of their present differences. We make them ashamed for being single, ashamed for being sick, ashamed for being depressed and the list goes on and on.

“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.(9) If we  confess our sins, He is faithful and just to  forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (10)  If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.”

            We will end this lesson with a reminder of Paul’s marching order to young Timothy given in 2 Timothy 2:1, “Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.”  His words to Timothy should be the marching orders for all who want to demonstrate the five characteristics of those who would be “dispensers of grace.”

 An unselfish heart

A flexable heart

A teachable heart

An accepting heart

A liberating heart

#395 – Teach Me Thy Way, O Lord