Sustained By Grace
Happy Father’s Day to all the fathers in the room, and welcome to City Awakening! Welcome to everyone onsite and everyone watching this service online. We’re glad you’re joining us online. At this time we can dismiss our children to our City Kids leaders in the back for children’s church, and if you’re a first-time guest this morning, welcome to our church. My name is Louis, I’m the lead pastor here at City Awakening, and we’re glad you’re here...Before we get into today’s message, I want to celebrate three things about our mission trip to the Dominican Republic. The 1st thing is that we built two chapels in Monte Plata. Our church paid for one chapel, and ICS paid for the other chapel. The pastor in Monte Plata said he’s been praying for a chapel to be built for 10 years, and our team was an answer to that prayer. So let’s praise God for that!...
The 2nd thing I want to celebrate is the sports ministry in Duquesa, which is a very poor area where people are living on a landfill. They’re living on a literal garbage dump, to find food, clothing, shelter, and things to sell for money. But there’s a local Dominican Christian named JC who’s been pouring into the lives of children and teens in Duquesa for the past 3 years, and last year we led a strong leader, an 18-year-old, to faith in Christ. Well now that 18-year-old’s older brother and Father have come to faith in Christ, which means the gospel is spreading in Duquesa! So let’s praise God for that!...This was also the first time we could bring women because of safety reasons, and they did a great job building relationships with other women. JC recently told me he wants to build a chapel in Duquesa, and there’s land by the basketball court where we do our sports ministry. The land is only $10,000, and I’m praying we can buy that land to build a chapel there. I’m praying for Jesus to stir some of your hearts to talk with me today about buying that land. Then next year we’ll build a chapel there, and it’ll display the incredible hope of Christ in the landfill.
The 3rd and last thing I want to celebrate is the baptism of someone in our church. While we were on this trip, one of our team members decided to publicly declare their faith in Jesus. So we baptized her in the Dominican Republic, and we recorded it so you can be a part of it. Check it out...City Awakening the chapels in Monte Plata, the sports ministry in Duquesa, and the baptism of Shanice. It’s all aligned with our desire to reach both skeptics and believers, and to plant churches that’ll plant more churches. It’s all aligned with our desire to Reach People and Reach The World with the gospel. So thank you for your prayers, your financial support, and your desire to keep reaching people and reaching the world, with the life-transforming message of Jesus...
Now as for today, we’re continuing our teaching series on a book of the bible called Psalms, and it’s about giving us melodies of encouragement for everyday life. The specific Psalm we’re studying today is about God’s grace sustaining us through our trials. It isn’t about God’s grace removing our trials; it’s about God’s grace sustaining us through our trials. It’s a great topic for Father’s Day, because fatherhood is full of trials. Fatherhood is a tremendous blessing, but it’s also full of tremendous trials. It’s a great topic for everybody, because everybody goes through trials in life. In fact some of you are going through trials right now. Some of you are going through medical, psychological, financial, marital, parental, or other relationship trials. Some of you feel like you’ve been doing everything right, but everything is still going wrong. You’re not alone in that feeling, because everybody goes through trials in life, and today’s text is about God’s grace sustaining us through our trials. So let’s turn to Psalm 41 and get into it. You can find Psalms in the middle of the bible, and we’ll be in Psalm 41:1-13. The title of the message is Sustained By Grace, and the big idea of the message is God's grace doesn't remove every trial; it sustains us through every trial...God's grace doesn't remove every trial; it sustains us through every trial...
Context:
Here’s your context. Psalms is an Old Testament biblical hymnbook that contains 150 prayers and songs. In fact the Hebrew word for Psalms means to praise or songs of praise, which is why our series theme is about finding melodies of encouragement for everyday life. It’s because each Psalm is written by Old Testament biblical leaders who are expressing their real, raw, honest emotions that we can all relate with. Psalm 41 was written by King David, who’s considered one of the greatest kings in Israel’s history. He writes this psalm because he’s going through some trials in life, and he prays for God’s grace to sustain him through those trials. Let’s check it out.
The Word:
Psalm 41:1-13 states, “Happy is the one who is considerate of the poor; the Lord will save him in a day of adversity. 2 The Lord will keep him and preserve him; he will be blessed in the land. You won’t give him over to the desire of his enemies. 3 The Lord will sustain him on his sickbed; you’ll heal him on the bed where he lies.” In vs. 1 the Hebrew word for poor is dal, and it means so much more than financially poor. It means emotionally and/or physically poor, weak, helpless, barely hanging on. David says if we consider a person who’s struggling like that, if we do whatever we can to help them, then God will bless us for it. What’s the blessing? He says it’s that God’s grace will save and sustain us when we’re facing our own adversity in life. God’s grace will save and sustain us when we’re struggling to make it through our own dal moments in life. That’s a different kind of grace than the grace we receive for eternal salvation. In vs. 1 he says this kind of grace is connected to us being compassionate towards others. But the grace we receive for eternal salvation is connected to God being compassionate towards us. In other words, we can’t earn God’s grace for our eternal salvation, but we can receive an increase in God’s grace for our daily trials. When we’re being compassionate towards others like God has been compassionate towards us, he’ll increase his grace in our lives to help save and sustain us through our trials. That's the principle in these opening verses: Be compassionate towards others like he's been towards you, and he’ll increase his grace in your life. But principles can't carry you through sleepless nights; you need God’s promises to do that. Psalm 41 gives you three promises, and here's the first.
#1 God’s grace will save and sustain you when nothing else will. God’s grace will save and sustain you when nothing else will. When you’re feeling poor, weak, busted up from your trials! When you’re feeling like you’ve reached the end of the rope, and you’re barely hanging on! You need to remember with Christ there’s always hope! You need to remember the promise that his grace will always save and sustain you through your trials! Just like a lifeguard will jump in the water to save and sustain someone who’s drowning! Jesus will jump in the middle of your trials to save and sustain you when you’re drowning! The reason you should believe that’s true, is because you haven’t drowned yet...You’ve been through some heavy trials in life, but you’re still here, still floating, still haven’t drowned yet...It’s because the grace of Jesus has been saving and sustaining you in your trials. I know you want God to remove all your trials, but sometimes the blessing isn’t the removal of your trials; it’s that you haven’t drowned...We have to be clear that the blessing, the promise in these opening verses, isn’t that God will remove every trial; it’s that God’s grace will save and sustain you through every trial. David never says the blessing is that God will remove every trial; he says it’s that God’s grace will save and sustain you through every trial. Psalm 41 is a promise that God’s grace will save and sustain you when nothing else will. David is counting on this, because he’s facing some heavy trials, which he mentions next.
Vs. 4, “I said, ‘Lord, be gracious to me; heal me, for I have sinned against you.’ 5 My enemies speak maliciously about me: ‘When will he die and be forgotten?’ 6 When one of them comes to visit, he speaks deceitfully; he stores up evil in his heart; he goes out and talks. 7 All who hate me whisper together about me; they plan to harm me. 8 ‘Something awful has overwhelmed him, and he won’t rise again from where he lies!’ 9 Even my friend in whom I trusted, one who ate my bread, has raised his heel against me. 10 But you, Lord, be gracious to me and raise me up; then I will repay them.”What David’s doing here is he’s praying. He’s praying specifically for God’s grace to save and sustain him. He prays two times, “Lord, be gracious to me.” But I want you to notice he also prays a very real, raw, honest prayer, admitting his sins and struggles to the Lord. He admits he sinned against the Lord, but also that he’s struggling with sickness, enemies, gossip, and the betrayal of a close friend. In vs. 9 he says even my friend, whom I trusted and ate bread with, raised his heel against me. Jesus quoted this exact verse in John 13 when he was having his final meal with his friends before being crucified. He was referring to the betrayal of his friend Judas, who ate bread with him, but then betrayed him. Jesus doesn’t sin like David, but he knows what it’s like to suffer like David. Jesus doesn’t sin like us, but he knows what it’s like to suffer like us. He’s our perfect incarnate God who entered our world of sin and suffering to pour out his grace on the cross, so we could be saved and sustained by an eternal friendship with him. The cross proves he’s willing to give you the grace needed to save and sustain you, if you’re willing to admit your sins and struggles to him like David. This is one of the beautiful things about God’s grace; it’s that you don’t have to hide anything from God. He already knows the best and worst parts of you, so you can admit all your sins and struggles to him. This leads to the 2nd promise, which is...
#2 God’s grace lets you admit you’re not okay, but it never leaves you that way. God’s grace lets you admit you’re not okay, but it never leaves you that way. You don’t need God’s grace because your life is perfect; you need God’s grace because your life isn’t perfect. You don’t need to put on a fake, filtered, Instagram image of yourself with God. You can pray real, raw, honest prayers like David did, without any fear of God unfriending you. The cross proves you don’t ever have to hide anything from Jesus, because he already knows the worst parts of you, yet he still went to the cross for you. This means you can bring everything to Jesus, instead of trying to hide things from Jesus. You can bring all your sins and struggles to him, admit you’re not okay, while also trusting his grace will never leave you that way. In the middle of his sins and struggles, David is praying for God’s grace. It’s because he knows God’s grace allows him to admit he isn’t okay, but he also knows God’s grace will never leave him that way. It’s a great reminder that we need to keep praying for God’s grace when we’re facing trials, sins, and struggles. It’s a great reminder of the promise that God's grace lets you admit you're not okay, but it will never leave you that way. David clearly isn’t okay, but in the final few verses we’ll see he doesn’t stay that way.
Vs. 11, “By this I know that you delight in me: my enemy doesn’t shout in triumph over me. 12 You supported me because of my integrity and set me in your presence forever. 13 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Amen and amen.” Notice the shift from lamenting to praising. David shifts from lamenting to praising in vs. 13 saying, “Blessed be the Lord.” That isn’t a natural shift when we’re going through trials; it’s the result of a supernatural shift that comes from God’s grace. When we’re going through trials our natural shift isn’t to praise God. It’s to lament, grieve, get angry, possibly even run away from God. But God’s grace can cause a supernatural shift in our hearts to where we start running to God, praying to God, even start praising God like David. The shift in David’s heart isn’t a natural shift; it’s a supernatural shift that comes from God’s grace. He trusts that whatever happens in the future, God’s grace will always save and sustain his life. So in vs. 12 he declares that his future is eternally secured, and that he’ll be in God’s presence forever. This leads to our 3rd and last promise, which is...
#3 God’s grace gets the last word, not our trials. God’s grace gets the last word, not our trials. In vs. 12 David doesn’t say he’ll be in God’s presence temporarily; he says he’ll be in God’s presence forever. City Awakening your tears are temporary. Your trials are temporary. Your sins and struggles are all temporary, because God’s is eternal. When God’s grace eternally saves you, it also eternally sustains you. God will make sure his grace gets the last word, not your trials. I know there are times in your life when it feels like you’re drowning, but his grace will never let you drown. His grace will always get the last word, not your trials, and the resurrection of Jesus proves this. When Jesus died on the cross it looked like sin and death got the last word. But when Jesus rose again it proved he gets the last word. When Jesus rose again it proved every trial, sin, and struggle you ever face in life is only temporary. It proved every trial, sin, and struggle has an expiration date, because Jesus has a resurrection date...Jesus has a resurrection date for anyone who puts their faith in him. When that day comes, his grace will get the last word, not your trials.
The Big Idea
The big idea of the message is God's grace doesn't remove every trial; it sustains us through every trial...The summarized promise of Psalm 41 is that God's grace doesn't remove every trial; it sustains us through every trial...David was a strong warrior who defeated the Giant Goliath, but he couldn't defeat the giant trials, sins, and struggles in his life without God's grace. Everybody eventually faces giant trials, sins, and struggles too big to defeat, and we’ll break without God's grace. If you’re a skeptic, you need to put your faith in Jesus today, because heavy trials are coming whether you’re ready or not. Your trials don’t care if you’re ready, but Jesus cares and died on the cross to prove it. He died on the cross for every sin in your life, but then he rose again to prove his grace can save and sustain you through every trial, sin, and struggle you’ll ever face in life. Put your faith in him today, and you won’t have to face another trial, sin, or struggle without him.
If you’re a believer, Psalm 41 is a reminder to show compassion towards others like Jesus has shown compassion towards us. But it’s also a reminder to expect trials, not the absence of trials. It’s a reminder to seek Jesus and his grace as you’re going through trials. If his grace can save you on the cross, then his grace can sustain you through trials. I know you might sometimes feel like he’s been abandoning you in your trials, but he’s really been sustaining you in your trials. The proof—is you haven’t drowned yet...You’re still here, still floating, still haven’t drowned yet, because his grace has been sustaining you in your trials...So let’s take whatever trials, sins, and struggles we walked in here with today, and pray a lament prayer to Jesus. But then let’s turn that lament prayer into praise like David, trusting Jesus and his promises. Trusting Jesus, his promises, his grace will get the last word, not our trials, sins, and struggles...Let’s pray...