You Can See the Grace of God
by Dr. Clyde Gilman
Dr. Clyde Gilman pastored for over 50 years, serving 37 years at Bella Vista Baptist Church in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He graduated to glory in June of 2018.
“Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only. And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which, when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord. Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem: and they sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch. Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God, was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord. For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith: and much people was added unto the Lord. Then departed Barnabas to Tarsus, for to seek Saul: And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.” (Acts 11:23-26)
Tonight Dr. Corle was asking me a couple of questions and I said, “The best way to describe me or introduce me is to just say, ‘Old.’” I’m an old man. I’m an old preacher. I’m an old pastor. I’m an old-timer. I’m old-fashioned. I’m from the old school. I preach the Old Book. I walk the Old Paths.
You can have the New Evangelicals. I’m going to take the Old-Fashioned Fundamentalism. You can have the new rivers. I’m going to stick with the old streams. You can take the new roads. I’m going to travel the old paths. You can have the new music. I’m going to take the old songs. You can have the new versions. I’m going to stay with the Inspired King James Bible. You can have the new lifestyle. I’m going to take the old standards. You can have the new worship services. I’m going to take the old-fashioned preaching service. You can have the new, casual dress. I’m going to stick with Sunday best. You can have the new names. I’m going to stick with Independent Fundamental Baptist. I’m not a bit ashamed of it either. I’m happy to have the old-time religion. So that’s the best way to describe me: old.
I got to the motel this afternoon and was fixing to go up to the elevator and Dr. Gipp came off the elevator, so I asked him what he was doing. He said he was unloading Dr. Corle’s vehicle. I said, “Oh, I’m glad I missed that.” Because I remember a few years ago when Dr. Corle was with us in Albuquerque and I had the privilege of taking him to the airport. Instead of dropping him off, I was going to go in with him. So, we parked in the parking garage and carried his luggage from the parking lot, inside. I grabbed the bag that didn’t have any wheels on it. I think it must have had every book he’s ever written, maybe multiple copies! No wheels. Boy, I was really trying to man-up. That’s why I told Dr. Gipp, “I’m glad I missed that.” If you see him walking kind of crooked tonight, you’ll know why. He told me, well, “I’ve got the first truck unloaded and the second truck is pulling up!”
Mrs. Gilman and I have been married 57 years and when our pastor, Brother Hudson is gone, preaching out, then I preach for him. So, I was sitting on the platform and hadn’t been doing that for a while. Mrs. Gilman told me after service, she said, “You know, Preacher?” She said, “Anymore, when you’re on the platform there’s no life to you. You don’t have any life anymore when you sit on the platform.”
Well, I thought about that a couple of days. I went back to her and I said, “Thank you.” I haven’t thanked her for every rebuke in 57 years, but I did for this one. I said, “Thank you.”
She told me, “If I see it, then others can probably see it.” I said, “Thank you for saying that to me and watching my back.”
This morning when I was leaving early, she was standing at the door and she said to me, “I’ll be praying for you tonight that you’ll preach with some zeal.” Ha! I called her a while ago and chatted with her. I said, “I’m on my way to church. I’m going to try to answer your prayers tonight.”
She said, “What’s that? Preach with some zeal?”
I said, “Yeah, that’s what I’m going to try to do.”
Thank you for letting me come. Open your Bibles, if you would tonight, to the book of Acts, Acts 11:19. “Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only. And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which, when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord. Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem: and they sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch.” Here’s our text-verse, 23: “Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God…” I’m going to preach on that subject tonight: “You Can See the Grace of God.” You can see the Grace of God.
“Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God, was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord. For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith: and much people was added unto the Lord. Then departed Barnabas to Tarsus, for to seek Saul: And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.” (Acts 11:19-26)
The church in Jerusalem sent Barnabas to Antioch. When they heard what was going on at Antioch, they sent Barnabas to check it out. The Bible said that Barnabas, when he got there,“...had seen the grace of God...” I read that some time ago and I thought, ‘No, no. He didn’t experience, necessarily, the grace of God. He did that. But he saw.
Hey! You can see the grace of God. Whatever he saw, it was called the grace of God. “…when he…had seen the grace of God…” When Barnabas got to that church in Antioch and was there for a service or two with them, he saw something. He saw, in that church, the Grace of God. The Bible said in a couple of places here that many people believed; a lot of folks got saved at Antioch; many turned unto the Lord and much people were added to that church. Why? Because you could see the Grace of God in that church.
Hey folks. Whenever you find a church where you can see the Grace of God, you’re going to see something going on. I mean, you’re going to see some growth. You’re going to see some addition. You’re going to see some folks getting saved when you find yourself in a place where you can see the Grace of God.
Here’s what we do, and I do this some, too. We’ve got to get some more people, so we’ve got to have some kind of promotion. That’s okay. I’ll do that some. We ought to get some kind of promotion to get some people here. Now, that’s fine, except if when they come, they don’t see the Grace of God, then they won’t be back. You’ll have to have another promotion to get them back. But hey, wait a minute! Get them here and if, when they get here, if they can see the Grace of God, they’ll be back. They’ll go home and say, “Boy, I tell you, there’s something real going on at that church. I can feel something.” Hey! They begin to talk about seeing the Grace of God!
Here’s what we better do. We better have a promotion of the Grace of God. We better do something about getting the Grace of God visible in our church, in our people, in our preachers. When we get the Grace of God visible in our church, in our people, in us, then God will begin to move like in Antioch.
Barnabas saw the Grace of God. You can see the Grace of God. I believe what we’re really talking about here is the fruit of the Spirit. I have heard some call the fruit of the Spirit, ‘the Graces.’ So, when Barnabas looked around, what did he see? What did he see that was called the Grace of God? I think he saw in those people, in those preachers, I think he saw the fruit of the Holy Spirit, and it’s called, the Grace of God.
You can see Grace in a church. You know the nine fruits: Love, Joy, Peace, Longsuffering, Gentleness, Goodness, Faith, Meekness and Temperance. You can see those things in action. You can see Love. We can say, “I love you,” but you can see real love. Love is visible. He saw, I think, the Love of God. You can see Grace in a church.
Joy. Huh? When, hey! Among Baptists, when you see some joy, you’re seeing the Grace of God. Looking around here tonight, and I see a couple of you that – no Grace.
Hey! When we come to church we ought to be able to see Love! We ought to be able to see joy and peace at work in a church and in people’s lives. We ought to be able to see it. We ought to see folks that are longsuffering, and they’re gentle, and they’re good, and they’ve got some faith, and they’ve got some self-control! Grace is visible. We ought to be able to see Grace in a church.
The Lord looked down upon the Laodicean church and He didn’t see any Grace. Now, if you would have asked them, they would have told you, “We have need of nothing. We’re rich. We’re increased. We have need of nothing.” What they didn’t have was Grace. God describes this local church wherein there’s no Grace as wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. No Grace.
Years ago in 1968, I took a church in south Texas, in Alice, Texas. I was 26 years old and I didn’t have a clue as to what I was doing. But I took that church in South Texas and within 30 days, they were circulating a petition, having it signed to run me off. One month. No, I’m not fooling. One month. They were going around to all the members to sign this petition to run me off, and even those that hadn’t been there in forever but they were still members, signed it. “We have to get rid of this guy.” You could not see any grace in that church, and it got worse.
I had just gotten there and they wanted to run me off. Sometimes I’m a little bit hardheaded. I decided that I didn’t want to run, and I decided that I’d stay and run them off, and that’s what we did. But in the whole thing, you couldn’t see any Grace. No Grace.
The church at Corinth. You couldn’t see too much grace for a while. I mean, you read the book of I Corinthians. I mean, strife and division and envy and cliques and fornication and going to law against each other, and on and on. NO GRACE in the church at Corinth.
We ought to be able to see Grace in a church. Why, it ought to be easy for the members of our church to invite somebody to come to church and know that, when they get here, they’ll see the Grace of God. You ought to be able to see Grace in a church. You ought to be able to see Grace in a Christian.
Hey, Sunday school teacher. When you walk into your class on Sunday morning, they ought to be able to see the Grace of God. You studied. You prayed. You visited. You loved those children. But when you walk into that classroom and those kids are in there for 45 minutes to an hour, those kids ought to be able to see the Grace of God in their Sunday school teacher. Hey, we want to touch their life. We want to impact their life. We want to see God change their life. Well, I tell you, when we get the Grace of God in our life and it’s visible, we’ll see some kids’ lives that are changed.
Junior Church workers, they ought to see the Grace of God in you. Bus workers, do they see the grace of God visible in your life on Saturday when you stop by, and on Sunday when you bring them to church?
Preachers, the Grace of God ought to be visible. Oh yeah. We’re Independent Fundamental Baptists, but if we’re not careful sometimes, we might get a little bit brutish and there’s no Grace evident in our life, in our pastoring, or in our preaching. Grace ought to be visible in the pastor. Grace ought to be visible in the preacher.
Barnabas came to Antioch. The Antioch church was already in good shape and here comes Barnabas. It’s already in good shape, but you could see the Grace of God before Barnabas ever got there. But then, he went and got Paul and they came back and spent a year. Think about that. In a church where you could see the Grace of God, they had Barnabas and Paul and much people were added. In fact, we know that this is the place where they were first called Christians. How come? It wasn’t just because Barnabas and Paul were there. It was because you could see the Grace of God in action, and the lost people said, “Those folks are Christians, they are just like Jesus Christ,” because they saw the Grace of God.
You ought to be able to see the Grace of God in a church. In a Christian.
You ought to be able to see the Grace of God in our homes. Hey, Mom and Dad. Your kids ought to be able to see the Grace of God in you. It ought to be so that, as you raise those kids in your home, that day after day, they see the Grace of God in Mom. They watch Dad, and they see the Grace of God in Dad. They ought to see you pray and read your Bible. They ought to know that you are trying to be Christ-like.
Hey, shame on us when our kids do not see the Grace of God at home. Boy, I tell you, sometimes we wonder, “What’s happened to that kid?” What’s happening to our kids?! It may be because they grew up in a home and never saw the Grace of God.
You ought to be able to see Grace in our homes. A husband ought to be able to see Grace in his wife. Ladies, your husband ought to be able, as he lives with you day by day and watches you, he ought to be able to see the Grace of God in you.
A wife ought to be able to see the Grace of God in her husband. Sometimes, through the years, when I’ve counseled husbands and wives, and they come into my office and sit across the desk there. A lot of times, I will say, “Okay. Tell me what’s going on.” While one’s talking, I’ll look at the other one, you know. While he’s talking, I’m looking at her and she’s rolling her eyes about his story. I’m watching her to see, “What does she think about him?” Hey, Grace ought to be seen in a husband, and in a wife, and in Mom and Dad and in our kids. Huh?
Can you see Grace in a teenager? (No, I don’t think so…) Hey. Isn’t that our goal? Isn’t that what it’s all about? Hey, shouldn’t it be that, when in your Teen department, when a teenager comes to visit, that, in that Teen department, among the teens, they see the Grace of God in the Teen department? Boy. Is that possible? Yeah.
Every once in a while, we pastors get so excited when we see, in one of our teenagers, the Grace of God. We watch the way they live. We watch how they are and we see the Grace of God in one of our teenagers. We see them on the edge of their seats listening to every word of the message. We see them singing with their whole heart during the congregational numbers. We see them welcoming folks and bringing visitors with them. We find out they have been reading their Bible, praying, growing in the Lord and making decisions to live for God. Teenager, that’s a big blessing to your preacher’s heart, to see the grace of God at work in your life.
Wait a minute. If you’re carnal, you can’t see Grace in you. If you’re a compromiser, Grace is not visible. If you’re not living by the Word of God, then the Grace of God is not visible. In many cases, that’s so in Christians of all ages. In our homes. Our kids. Mom and Dad. Husbands and wives. Churches. Preachers. You can’t see the Grace of God. Grace ought to be visible.
Yesterday in your church, if you preached and then gave the invitation, and somebody stepped out and came down, after they heard the music and the preaching, and came to the altar lost, and they called upon the Name of the Lord, and their name was written down in Heaven, and they got up from their knees with Eternal Life, then you saw, you saw the Grace of God. You could go home and say, “Well, we’ve seen the Grace of God today in the Salvation of an eternal soul.” Hmm?
Sometimes we’re not as separated from the world as the Bible says we ought to be and I submit to you tonight, class, that if there’s no separation, then there’s no Grace visible. No, no, no. If you’re walking a guilty distance from God, Grace is not visible.
I tell you, when you watch an individual get saved and see them begin to grow, it’s a blessing. Then, you watch them begin to put this aside, and that aside, and you begin to see them live a victorious Christian life, you’re seeing the Grace of God in their separation.
Grace is visible in our giving. In fact, the Bible refers to our giving with the word grace, “…see that ye abound in this grace…” (II Corinthians 8:7) Grace Giving. I’ve watched some of our folks through the years, pick that up, get involved in that, and you can see, in their giving, the Grace of God.
Many times you can see Grace in suffering. Read the first and second chapters of Job. What do you see? You see the Grace of God in Job. Don’t we marvel? We read chapter 1, chapter 2 and then, it says, “In all this Job sinned not...” In his suffering you could see the Grace of God.
You read about the ministry and life of Paul: Suffering. But when you follow him and you look at him while he’s in jail, and while he’s being beaten, and stoned... What do you see in Paul? You see in his suffering the Grace of God.
When Christ was on the Cross, suffering. I think that what you and I would have endured for all Eternity in Hell, in a few hours, He endured it on the Cross. The pain, the suffering, the anguish, the agony. I believe that. Yet, hanging on the Cross… Wait a minute, what’s He saying? “…Father forgive them:” (Luke 23:34)
You can see the Grace of God. In fact, if you’d have been a disciple of the Lord, what would you have seen for those 3 ½ years? If you would have walked and lived with Him for 3 ½ years, what would you have seen on a daily basis? The Grace of God in suffering.
The Grace of God in suffering. Visible.
I think it’s 5 years ago, Brother Matt Hudson, our pastor, and his wife then, Catherine. They’d been in the Ukraine for years and came home. She got sick, got cancer, and in just a short time was gone. I think it was, maybe May 3, 2012, five years ago. I knew the Hudson family well. Brother Matt Hudson, who is our pastor now, is 44 years old. When he was 15 years old, I was preaching a meeting for his dad, and he came forward in that service and surrendered his life to the Lord when he was fifteen. Now he’s my pastor.
But I watched the Hudson family when they were in the midst of extreme suffering. I watched them. Many of you watched them. What did you see? You saw the Grace of God.
I saw in Brother Matt Hudson, the Grace of God when he suffered. In fact, God used that to touch my heart about asking him to come onboard as Co-Pastor, and to become the Pastor at Bella Vista Baptist Church when I saw him suffer, and I saw the Grace of God at work in him. I said, “We need him here.” So I could see the Grace of God in the Hudson family when they were suffering. When others see the fruit of the Spirit in you, they are seeing the Grace of God.
I’ll ask you this question, tonight: Can the Grace of God be seen in you? Lord help us. Boy, I’m afraid a lot of times it’s not visible. Do you agree? I think there are so many times when the Grace of God is not visible. Can others see the Grace of God in you?
Hey. We ought to take some steps to make sure that the Grace of God can be seen in us. We need to get our hearts right, allow God to make some changes, and let the Holy Spirit shine through us in our church and ministries and in our daily life. The grace of God is visible. Can folks see the grace of God in you and in me?
Tonight Dr. Corle was asking me a couple of questions and I said, “The best way to describe me or introduce me is to just say, ‘Old.’” I’m an old man. I’m an old preacher. I’m an old pastor. I’m an old-timer. I’m old-fashioned. I’m from the old school. I preach the Old Book. I walk the Old Paths.
You can have the New Evangelicals. I’m going to take the Old-Fashioned Fundamentalism. You can have the new rivers. I’m going to stick with the old streams. You can take the new roads. I’m going to travel the old paths. You can have the new music. I’m going to take the old songs. You can have the new versions. I’m going to stay with the Inspired King James Bible. You can have the new lifestyle. I’m going to take the old standards. You can have the new worship services. I’m going to take the old-fashioned preaching service. You can have the new, casual dress. I’m going to stick with Sunday best. You can have the new names. I’m going to stick with Independent Fundamental Baptist. I’m not a bit ashamed of it either. I’m happy to have the old-time religion. So that’s the best way to describe me: old.
I got to the motel this afternoon and was fixing to go up to the elevator and Dr. Gipp came off the elevator, so I asked him what he was doing. He said he was unloading Dr. Corle’s vehicle. I said, “Oh, I’m glad I missed that.” Because I remember a few years ago when Dr. Corle was with us in Albuquerque and I had the privilege of taking him to the airport. Instead of dropping him off, I was going to go in with him. So, we parked in the parking garage and carried his luggage from the parking lot, inside. I grabbed the bag that didn’t have any wheels on it. I think it must have had every book he’s ever written, maybe multiple copies! No wheels. Boy, I was really trying to man-up. That’s why I told Dr. Gipp, “I’m glad I missed that.” If you see him walking kind of crooked tonight, you’ll know why. He told me, well, “I’ve got the first truck unloaded and the second truck is pulling up!”
Mrs. Gilman and I have been married 57 years and when our pastor, Brother Hudson is gone, preaching out, then I preach for him. So, I was sitting on the platform and hadn’t been doing that for a while. Mrs. Gilman told me after service, she said, “You know, Preacher?” She said, “Anymore, when you’re on the platform there’s no life to you. You don’t have any life anymore when you sit on the platform.”
Well, I thought about that a couple of days. I went back to her and I said, “Thank you.” I haven’t thanked her for every rebuke in 57 years, but I did for this one. I said, “Thank you.”
She told me, “If I see it, then others can probably see it.” I said, “Thank you for saying that to me and watching my back.”
This morning when I was leaving early, she was standing at the door and she said to me, “I’ll be praying for you tonight that you’ll preach with some zeal.” Ha! I called her a while ago and chatted with her. I said, “I’m on my way to church. I’m going to try to answer your prayers tonight.”
She said, “What’s that? Preach with some zeal?”
I said, “Yeah, that’s what I’m going to try to do.”
Thank you for letting me come. Open your Bibles, if you would tonight, to the book of Acts, Acts 11:19. “Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only. And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which, when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord. Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem: and they sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch.” Here’s our text-verse, 23: “Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God…” I’m going to preach on that subject tonight: “You Can See the Grace of God.” You can see the Grace of God.
“Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God, was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord. For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith: and much people was added unto the Lord. Then departed Barnabas to Tarsus, for to seek Saul: And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.” (Acts 11:19-26)
The church in Jerusalem sent Barnabas to Antioch. When they heard what was going on at Antioch, they sent Barnabas to check it out. The Bible said that Barnabas, when he got there,“...had seen the grace of God...” I read that some time ago and I thought, ‘No, no. He didn’t experience, necessarily, the grace of God. He did that. But he saw.
Hey! You can see the grace of God. Whatever he saw, it was called the grace of God. “…when he…had seen the grace of God…” When Barnabas got to that church in Antioch and was there for a service or two with them, he saw something. He saw, in that church, the Grace of God. The Bible said in a couple of places here that many people believed; a lot of folks got saved at Antioch; many turned unto the Lord and much people were added to that church. Why? Because you could see the Grace of God in that church.
Hey folks. Whenever you find a church where you can see the Grace of God, you’re going to see something going on. I mean, you’re going to see some growth. You’re going to see some addition. You’re going to see some folks getting saved when you find yourself in a place where you can see the Grace of God.
Here’s what we do, and I do this some, too. We’ve got to get some more people, so we’ve got to have some kind of promotion. That’s okay. I’ll do that some. We ought to get some kind of promotion to get some people here. Now, that’s fine, except if when they come, they don’t see the Grace of God, then they won’t be back. You’ll have to have another promotion to get them back. But hey, wait a minute! Get them here and if, when they get here, if they can see the Grace of God, they’ll be back. They’ll go home and say, “Boy, I tell you, there’s something real going on at that church. I can feel something.” Hey! They begin to talk about seeing the Grace of God!
Here’s what we better do. We better have a promotion of the Grace of God. We better do something about getting the Grace of God visible in our church, in our people, in our preachers. When we get the Grace of God visible in our church, in our people, in us, then God will begin to move like in Antioch.
Barnabas saw the Grace of God. You can see the Grace of God. I believe what we’re really talking about here is the fruit of the Spirit. I have heard some call the fruit of the Spirit, ‘the Graces.’ So, when Barnabas looked around, what did he see? What did he see that was called the Grace of God? I think he saw in those people, in those preachers, I think he saw the fruit of the Holy Spirit, and it’s called, the Grace of God.
You can see Grace in a church. You know the nine fruits: Love, Joy, Peace, Longsuffering, Gentleness, Goodness, Faith, Meekness and Temperance. You can see those things in action. You can see Love. We can say, “I love you,” but you can see real love. Love is visible. He saw, I think, the Love of God. You can see Grace in a church.
Joy. Huh? When, hey! Among Baptists, when you see some joy, you’re seeing the Grace of God. Looking around here tonight, and I see a couple of you that – no Grace.
Hey! When we come to church we ought to be able to see Love! We ought to be able to see joy and peace at work in a church and in people’s lives. We ought to be able to see it. We ought to see folks that are longsuffering, and they’re gentle, and they’re good, and they’ve got some faith, and they’ve got some self-control! Grace is visible. We ought to be able to see Grace in a church.
The Lord looked down upon the Laodicean church and He didn’t see any Grace. Now, if you would have asked them, they would have told you, “We have need of nothing. We’re rich. We’re increased. We have need of nothing.” What they didn’t have was Grace. God describes this local church wherein there’s no Grace as wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. No Grace.
Years ago in 1968, I took a church in south Texas, in Alice, Texas. I was 26 years old and I didn’t have a clue as to what I was doing. But I took that church in South Texas and within 30 days, they were circulating a petition, having it signed to run me off. One month. No, I’m not fooling. One month. They were going around to all the members to sign this petition to run me off, and even those that hadn’t been there in forever but they were still members, signed it. “We have to get rid of this guy.” You could not see any grace in that church, and it got worse.
I had just gotten there and they wanted to run me off. Sometimes I’m a little bit hardheaded. I decided that I didn’t want to run, and I decided that I’d stay and run them off, and that’s what we did. But in the whole thing, you couldn’t see any Grace. No Grace.
The church at Corinth. You couldn’t see too much grace for a while. I mean, you read the book of I Corinthians. I mean, strife and division and envy and cliques and fornication and going to law against each other, and on and on. NO GRACE in the church at Corinth.
We ought to be able to see Grace in a church. Why, it ought to be easy for the members of our church to invite somebody to come to church and know that, when they get here, they’ll see the Grace of God. You ought to be able to see Grace in a church. You ought to be able to see Grace in a Christian.
Hey, Sunday school teacher. When you walk into your class on Sunday morning, they ought to be able to see the Grace of God. You studied. You prayed. You visited. You loved those children. But when you walk into that classroom and those kids are in there for 45 minutes to an hour, those kids ought to be able to see the Grace of God in their Sunday school teacher. Hey, we want to touch their life. We want to impact their life. We want to see God change their life. Well, I tell you, when we get the Grace of God in our life and it’s visible, we’ll see some kids’ lives that are changed.
Junior Church workers, they ought to see the Grace of God in you. Bus workers, do they see the grace of God visible in your life on Saturday when you stop by, and on Sunday when you bring them to church?
Preachers, the Grace of God ought to be visible. Oh yeah. We’re Independent Fundamental Baptists, but if we’re not careful sometimes, we might get a little bit brutish and there’s no Grace evident in our life, in our pastoring, or in our preaching. Grace ought to be visible in the pastor. Grace ought to be visible in the preacher.
Barnabas came to Antioch. The Antioch church was already in good shape and here comes Barnabas. It’s already in good shape, but you could see the Grace of God before Barnabas ever got there. But then, he went and got Paul and they came back and spent a year. Think about that. In a church where you could see the Grace of God, they had Barnabas and Paul and much people were added. In fact, we know that this is the place where they were first called Christians. How come? It wasn’t just because Barnabas and Paul were there. It was because you could see the Grace of God in action, and the lost people said, “Those folks are Christians, they are just like Jesus Christ,” because they saw the Grace of God.
You ought to be able to see the Grace of God in a church. In a Christian.
You ought to be able to see the Grace of God in our homes. Hey, Mom and Dad. Your kids ought to be able to see the Grace of God in you. It ought to be so that, as you raise those kids in your home, that day after day, they see the Grace of God in Mom. They watch Dad, and they see the Grace of God in Dad. They ought to see you pray and read your Bible. They ought to know that you are trying to be Christ-like.
Hey, shame on us when our kids do not see the Grace of God at home. Boy, I tell you, sometimes we wonder, “What’s happened to that kid?” What’s happening to our kids?! It may be because they grew up in a home and never saw the Grace of God.
You ought to be able to see Grace in our homes. A husband ought to be able to see Grace in his wife. Ladies, your husband ought to be able, as he lives with you day by day and watches you, he ought to be able to see the Grace of God in you.
A wife ought to be able to see the Grace of God in her husband. Sometimes, through the years, when I’ve counseled husbands and wives, and they come into my office and sit across the desk there. A lot of times, I will say, “Okay. Tell me what’s going on.” While one’s talking, I’ll look at the other one, you know. While he’s talking, I’m looking at her and she’s rolling her eyes about his story. I’m watching her to see, “What does she think about him?” Hey, Grace ought to be seen in a husband, and in a wife, and in Mom and Dad and in our kids. Huh?
Can you see Grace in a teenager? (No, I don’t think so…) Hey. Isn’t that our goal? Isn’t that what it’s all about? Hey, shouldn’t it be that, when in your Teen department, when a teenager comes to visit, that, in that Teen department, among the teens, they see the Grace of God in the Teen department? Boy. Is that possible? Yeah.
Every once in a while, we pastors get so excited when we see, in one of our teenagers, the Grace of God. We watch the way they live. We watch how they are and we see the Grace of God in one of our teenagers. We see them on the edge of their seats listening to every word of the message. We see them singing with their whole heart during the congregational numbers. We see them welcoming folks and bringing visitors with them. We find out they have been reading their Bible, praying, growing in the Lord and making decisions to live for God. Teenager, that’s a big blessing to your preacher’s heart, to see the grace of God at work in your life.
Wait a minute. If you’re carnal, you can’t see Grace in you. If you’re a compromiser, Grace is not visible. If you’re not living by the Word of God, then the Grace of God is not visible. In many cases, that’s so in Christians of all ages. In our homes. Our kids. Mom and Dad. Husbands and wives. Churches. Preachers. You can’t see the Grace of God. Grace ought to be visible.
Yesterday in your church, if you preached and then gave the invitation, and somebody stepped out and came down, after they heard the music and the preaching, and came to the altar lost, and they called upon the Name of the Lord, and their name was written down in Heaven, and they got up from their knees with Eternal Life, then you saw, you saw the Grace of God. You could go home and say, “Well, we’ve seen the Grace of God today in the Salvation of an eternal soul.” Hmm?
Sometimes we’re not as separated from the world as the Bible says we ought to be and I submit to you tonight, class, that if there’s no separation, then there’s no Grace visible. No, no, no. If you’re walking a guilty distance from God, Grace is not visible.
I tell you, when you watch an individual get saved and see them begin to grow, it’s a blessing. Then, you watch them begin to put this aside, and that aside, and you begin to see them live a victorious Christian life, you’re seeing the Grace of God in their separation.
Grace is visible in our giving. In fact, the Bible refers to our giving with the word grace, “…see that ye abound in this grace…” (II Corinthians 8:7) Grace Giving. I’ve watched some of our folks through the years, pick that up, get involved in that, and you can see, in their giving, the Grace of God.
Many times you can see Grace in suffering. Read the first and second chapters of Job. What do you see? You see the Grace of God in Job. Don’t we marvel? We read chapter 1, chapter 2 and then, it says, “In all this Job sinned not...” In his suffering you could see the Grace of God.
You read about the ministry and life of Paul: Suffering. But when you follow him and you look at him while he’s in jail, and while he’s being beaten, and stoned... What do you see in Paul? You see in his suffering the Grace of God.
When Christ was on the Cross, suffering. I think that what you and I would have endured for all Eternity in Hell, in a few hours, He endured it on the Cross. The pain, the suffering, the anguish, the agony. I believe that. Yet, hanging on the Cross… Wait a minute, what’s He saying? “…Father forgive them:” (Luke 23:34)
You can see the Grace of God. In fact, if you’d have been a disciple of the Lord, what would you have seen for those 3 ½ years? If you would have walked and lived with Him for 3 ½ years, what would you have seen on a daily basis? The Grace of God in suffering.
The Grace of God in suffering. Visible.
I think it’s 5 years ago, Brother Matt Hudson, our pastor, and his wife then, Catherine. They’d been in the Ukraine for years and came home. She got sick, got cancer, and in just a short time was gone. I think it was, maybe May 3, 2012, five years ago. I knew the Hudson family well. Brother Matt Hudson, who is our pastor now, is 44 years old. When he was 15 years old, I was preaching a meeting for his dad, and he came forward in that service and surrendered his life to the Lord when he was fifteen. Now he’s my pastor.
But I watched the Hudson family when they were in the midst of extreme suffering. I watched them. Many of you watched them. What did you see? You saw the Grace of God.
I saw in Brother Matt Hudson, the Grace of God when he suffered. In fact, God used that to touch my heart about asking him to come onboard as Co-Pastor, and to become the Pastor at Bella Vista Baptist Church when I saw him suffer, and I saw the Grace of God at work in him. I said, “We need him here.” So I could see the Grace of God in the Hudson family when they were suffering. When others see the fruit of the Spirit in you, they are seeing the Grace of God.
I’ll ask you this question, tonight: Can the Grace of God be seen in you? Lord help us. Boy, I’m afraid a lot of times it’s not visible. Do you agree? I think there are so many times when the Grace of God is not visible. Can others see the Grace of God in you?
Hey. We ought to take some steps to make sure that the Grace of God can be seen in us. We need to get our hearts right, allow God to make some changes, and let the Holy Spirit shine through us in our church and ministries and in our daily life. The grace of God is visible. Can folks see the grace of God in you and in me?
