Rest in God’s Grace 1.Mercy vs Grace ?? 2.Examples of Grace in the Bible 3.Enter in God’s Rest (Heb 3 & 4) 4.Find Rest in God’s Grace 5.Prayer for the Rest of God (Physical and Spiritual)

Rest in God’s Grace 1.What is Mercy ??  When you have done something wrong and deserves punishment (even death), and the person who is to execute the punishment, grants you forgiveness.. And let you go free (justified, cleared from all guilt and shame)  i.e. It is called to Show Mercy, to Have Compassion, Have Pity  It is undeserving !!!  Hos 2:23 ….. and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God. 2.What is Grace ??  Grace is a bit different to Mercy  Grace is generally interpreted as Favor  Gen 6:8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.  Which was the reason why Noah and his family were saved from the flood…  It is Also Undeserving !!! 3.The word Grace is translated from the Greek Word – Charis ( Strongs# 5485 ) – meaning to Rejoice, or to be Joyful… 4.This is where the Word Charismatic comes from…!!! 5.Meaning if you claim to be a Charismatic Believer, then you are saying that you: Understand God’s Love – reflected by/through His Mercy & His Grace towards you You are Joyful and Thankful towards God because of it And your Life shows it in everything you say and do…

Rest in God’s Grace 1.Heb 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the THRONE OF GRACE, that we may obtain Mercy, AND find Grace to help in time of need.  i.e. Obtain Mercy from past Sins  And Favor (or Help, assistance) for now and the future 2.Meaning – AFTER MERCY have been Granted to you from your past sins, God now GRANTS US GRACE (or Favor) on top of that, so that our life from that point onwards will be better and greater than ever before. 3.i.e. He helps you to get up from your failures, and guides you with Wisdom and Knowledge and various Gifts through His Spirit to encourage you to live a better life !!! 4.HELP you to GROW (come to full maturity) in His Kingdom!!!

Rest in God’s Grace 1.Eph 4:7 But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. 2.Eph 4:8-10 Wherefore He saith, When He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men… 3.Eph 4:11 And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 4.Eph 4:12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 5.Eph 4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ: 6.Eph 4:14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men ( imposters ), and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; 7.Eph 4:15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into Him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:

Rest in God’s Grace 1.GRACE is the ministry that God revealed unto Paul – and commanded him to teach unto the Gentiles 2.Eph 3:7-8 Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power. Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; 3.Paul calls GRACE – the Unsearchable Riches of Christ !! ( Eph 3:8&16, Eph 1:7, Eph 2:7,Rom 9:23, Rom 11:33 ) 4.And that is exactly what GRACE really means…!!! 5.It is far deeper than just normal Favour – like giving me (blessing) something like a house or a car etc. This is small stuff compared to the Depth of the Fullness of Christ !!! 6.Eg: 2Co 12:7-9 And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. 7.Verse 9: And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 8.Meaning Paul understood the POWER behind these Words – that Jesus’ GRACE – Favor / Help, Support etc – Will be much more than the troubles Paul will ever experience !! 9.i.e. it will always lift him (Paul) out of every situation, give him strength, wisdom, insight, understanding etc etc, in order to overcome !!! 10.THUS: Paul could write Rom 8:37 … in all these things we are more than conquerors (or overcomers) through Him that loved us.

Rest in God’s Grace 1.Examples in the Bible of People that Received GRACE… We’ve mentioned Noah already Joseph received Grace everywhere he went in Egypt, and he also understood how to show Grace to others (Gen 47:22-26) Moses was dependent on finding Grace in God’s eyes in order to continue with the journey in leading Israel through the desert towards the promised land (Exo 33:13,17, 34:9) Esther – Est 2:17 (In the book of Esther it is often talked about favor) David understood Grace – he wrote plenty Psalms about Grace and Favour ( eg: Ps 23, 84, Ps 5:12, Ps 30:5-7, Ps 102:13, Ps106:4, Ps119:58, etc.. ) It was mentioned even about Jesus – He Grew in Favor with God and Man (Luk 2:40, Zech 12:10, Joh 1:17) Paul – The whole Book of Romans is about Grace, and so also Galatians & Ephesians. He starts and ends just about every letter with: Grace and Peace be with you from God our Father, etc.. 2.It is mentioned in Zech 12:10 & Heb 10:29 – that the Spirit of Grace was upon Jesus. 3.Meaning it isn’t just a once-off act, but it is a Character trait of Jesus to be Gracious and Merciful

Rest in God’s Grace 1.Heb 3:7-11…. Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways. So I sware in My wrath, They shall not enter into My rest. 2.Heb 3:18-19 And to whom sware he that they should not enter into His rest, but to them that believed not? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief. 3.Heb 4:1-2 Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into His rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. 4.Heb 4:3 For we which have believed do enter into rest, as He said, As I have sworn in My wrath, if they shall enter into My rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. 5.From these scriptures we can see clearly, that in order for us to enter into the REST of God, we have to BELIEVE the Message being preached to us about Christ, and the Gospel (the GOOD NEWS) 6.Which is in summary: The Message of MERCY and GRACE !!!

Rest in God’s Grace 1.Now you may ask – what is this REST the Bible is referring too ?? 2.It is the PEACE of GOD which only He gives you, that guides you, and leads you, and causes all fear to vanish away. ( 1 Joh 4:18, Joh 16, Phil 4:6-7 ) 3.Rom 4:16 Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all, 4.Rom 4:17-19 (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickens the dead, and calls those things which be not as though they were. Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara's womb: 5.Rom 4:20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; 6.Rom 4:21-22 And being fully persuaded that, what He had promised, He was able also to perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. 7.Rom 4:23-25 Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification. 8.THUS: Let us ENTER INTO THE REST of God’s GRACE – through FAITH in the message of the Gospel !!! ******** A M E N ********