Good evening, and thank you, Brother Rupert. Bentley, you did a very good job on that quiz tonight. Man, I thought you was excellent. Tonight we could be looking at the word grace. Grace, uh, in fifteen minutes of, boy, I got twenty minutes, but I prepared for fifteen minutes. So we're looking at the word grace. It's mentioned at least one hundred uh and sixty five times in the Word of God, and we're gonna read two well-known, or one well-known scripture, two verses. Ephesians two eight and nine. Ephesians two eight and nine. we're gonna do an acrostic on the word grace to try to make it as simple as we can. That's Ephesians two. We'll read verse eight and nine. For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. We might ask, what is grace? There's a few definitions of grace. Unmerited favor or goodwill. Another definition is any service freely rendered. Another one is a state of reconciliation to God through Christ. Another one is grace is favor, kindness, or blessing shown to the undeserving. Not one of the us in here tonight deserves grace. We deserve judgment. But grace is also the unmerited love and favor of God in Christ, hence a free gift. In Romans six fourteen, the believer is under grace, not under law. We're all under grace. John one sixteen, we have received grace in its fullness. In Romans five two, we stand in grace and rejoice in the hope of our salvation. Second Timothy two one says to be strong in grace. Don't waver. Be strong in that grace which is in Christ Jesus. In First Peter three eighteen says to grow in grace, continue in grace. Now let's look at the word grace in the acrostic. Grace, we have G, it was originated by God. R, grace is rich. A, grace is abundant. C, grace is manifested in Christ, and E, one day grace will end. Let's look at that for the time that is allotted to us. First, grace was originated by God. In First Peter five and ten says, but the God of all grace, here we see it's originated by God, who has called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that you have suffered a while, make you perfect, and there's three S's, establish, strengthen, and settle you. Peter is saying here, after you have suffered for a while, may the God of all grace, the Christians were suffering at that time, says the God of all grace will strengthen you, it means will confirm you, will s- will settle you, establish, strengthen, settle. You know, when I was a boy coming up, we had what we called a three S tonic. I don't know if you, if it's still on the market today. My mom used to say, boy, take that three S tonic, he'll strengthen you, he'll build you up. It's a three aspect. Says promise, Peter promised them that God will establish them, confirm them, he'll strengthen them, and he'll sell you. What more you need than that? These suffering believers, what encouragement it was to them, and what encouragement it is to us even today. Grace originated by God. But grace is rich. Oh, we can never know how rich grace is. In Ephesians two seven says that in the ages to come, he might show the exceeding riches. Boy, we can't take that in, of his grace, in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. That's what it's saying. In the ages to come, that means that throughout eternity, God will continue to show us the exceeding riches of his grace through Christ Jesus. We shall never, even through eternity, God will, it won't be able to, to get it all to us how much it costs to redeem us. Through the ages to come, he will show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. Why is grace so rich, you might ask? Because we are saved by grace. Back to our text in Ephesians two and eight. We are justified freely by grace, no cost, in Romans three twenty four. We are forgiven by grace. Ephesians one and seven says, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace. Oh, what a price the Savior paid. So rich, but so free. It's available if you just come and accept it. We who have accepted it, we shall never cease to marvel at the grace of God. Grace is abundant. Here we have the A in Romans five seventeen, For if by one man's offense death reigned by one, much more they which received the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one Jesus Christ. Have you received that gift? The gift of righteousness? By one man, death reigned. By one man, much more by one man, it says, that we shall reign in life, and by that one is Jesus Christ. It's for all who will receive it. Grace in its abundance will prove to be all sufficient. Remember, Paul had that thorn in the flesh three times if he sought the Lord to remove that thorn. The Lord came back and said, my grace is sufficient for thee. We'll find that grace in it, in its abundance will prove to be all sufficient. Grace in its abundance is for those, as I said just now, who don't deserve it. You remember Paul writing to Timothy in Timothy, First Timothy one thirteen, He says, I was a blasphemer. I was a persecutor. I was a violent man, an injurious man. I was violent. But oh, in verse fourteen it says, the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant to me. And my friend, whatever you might be, whatever you might have done, the grace of God is exceeding abundant. That same gospel that transformed Paul can transform you. Grace was abundant to Paul. It's abundant to you. Whatever sin you might have committed, that grace is sufficient. Because the scripture says, where sin abounded, listen at that, grace did much more abound. Oh, that is something to think about. My friend, have you accepted that grace? If you're here and don't know the Savior, I trust you have. Don't play with your soul. Grace was manifested in Christ. There we have the C. In John one seventeen it says, for the law was given by Moses, given by man, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ, manifested in Christ. And back to our text. By grace are you saved through faith. We see in those seven words, by grace are you saved through faith. We see the gospel in those seven words. Just for a briefly, for a minute, let's look at those seven words. By grace, ere we have the source of our salvation. In second Corinthians eight nine says, for we know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, though he was rich, yet for our sakes became poor that we through his poverty might be made rich. He gave the last drop of blood for you and me, and through that blood, we might be made rich. By grace are you saved, the source of our salvation, the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's look at the next word, are. By grace are. And we have the certainty of salvation. We are saved, the certainty of salvation. And Paul writing to the Corinthians again, he says, ye are washed, ye are sanctified, ye are justified. Could you be more certain than that? The certainty of salvation. No doubt, no doubt, no hope to be, no perhaps might be, but are saved. The certainty of salvation. By grace are ye. The object of salvation. We the object, the ye are we. We are the object of salvation. That's who the ye are. In Ephesians two one through three it says, tells us who are the ye. Says, we were one time dead in our sins. That's who we were. We were disobedient to God in verse two. We were defiled by sin in verse three, and we were doomed because of our sin. That's the ye. That's who we were before we were saved. Now we look at the word saved. By grace are ye saved, the content of salvation. The word saved indicates a threefold deliverance, doesn't it? Saved from sin's penalty. In John five twenty four, shall, says it so, you shall not come into condemnation, but are passed from death unto life, from sin's penalty. From sin's power, in Romans six fourteen, sin shall not have dominion over us, and praise God, one day from sin's presence at his coming says nothing that defiles shall enter that place. One day from the very presence of sin, and then by grace are we saved through faith. The medium of salvation, the way of salvation is through faith in Christ, and faith results the salvation of the believer. Faith cometh by hearing, hearing by the word of God. So we see that faith is the medium in which salvation is received. Finally, our last one is E. One day, grace will end. My friend, right now, it's a day of grace. Later, if you to die in your sin and to meet God, it will be a day of judgment. I tremble for you if you've never accepted the Lord Jesus. In Hebrews nine twenty seven, it says, and as it is appointed unto man, once to die, but after this, the judgment. Yes, there are exceptions and s- some not dying. We know Enoch was translated. We know Elijah was. We know those who'll be alive at Christ's return, the saints, they won't die. But my friend, when it comes to judgment, there's no exception. There's no escape. There's no chance to repent, to, to meet God. You must do it here in time. Revelation twenty and fifteen says, and whosoever, listen at that, whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. Whosoever, no one escapes, no one. You know, as I was studying this, I went into my office and I picked up a, a book by brother, our late brother A. P. Gibbs, and I had no intention that this would go with anything I had in mind. I just wanted to see, picked it up and just opened in the middle of that book, and the book was a Dreamer in His Dreams, and in that book, he imagines a person by the name of Graceless. I said, Lord, I think that you want me to use that illustration that he used. And here's what he says in that story. He says, Graceless was shown a dark room where a man was in an iron cage, and the man was groaning as if though his heart would break. Graceless asked him, who art thou? He says, I'm a good man. I'm a professor of religion. I thought I was going to heaven. Graceless asked how he came to be in that cage of despair. He said, I have sinned against the light of God's word and the goodness of God. I have resist the ho- I have resisted the Holy Spirit of God, that he no longer strives with me. I have yielded to the devil, and he has now come in unto me. Gracefully says to him, must you always be in that cage? The man replied, there is no hope at all. No hope. Grace Lee says, why there is no hope? Cannot you repent? No, God had denied me repentance. And then he cries, oh eternity, eternity. How shall I escape the misery that I must meet in eternity. My friend, have you rejected the light of God's word? Have you rejected the goodness of God? Have you resisted the Holy Spirit of God striving with you? My friend, it might be the last time. I tremble for you. Don't, don't resist him again if he's speaking to you tonight, and if you in here don't know the Lord as your savior, don't resist him. Proverbs twenty nine and one says, he that being often reproved and hardeneth his neck shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy. Jeremiah eight and twenty says, the harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved. My friend, be wise tonight. If you don't know him as your savior, right where you're seated, invite him into your heart. He's promised he'll come in. I trust you'll be wise and do it tonight. Shall we pray? Father, we never cease to be amazed of your wonderful love and grace towards us. When we consider that you gave your only son, the one who you love so much, yet you gave him to go to Calvary, knowing what he would have to suffer, knowing what you would let men do to him, but also knowing, Father, that you would have to punish him for sinners, for your enemies. Oh, the grace of our God. Father, this our prayer tonight, if it's one in here tonight who has never yet received that grace, that before they leave here tonight, before they pillow their head, they'll invite him into their heart and life. We ask now that you'll part us with your blessing, take us to our homes in safety, but we pray it in Christ's name. Amen. Let's sing the chorus of that hymn, Grace, Grace, God's Grace. I'll try and race it.