II Corinthians 12:9
"..And he said unto me, My Grace is Sufficient for Thee..."

There is quality of the actions, character and attributes of God that cannot be adequately described nor even defined by man and that quality is the Grace of God.  Even if time were adequate enough to accommodate this effort and every language with it's syntax, grammar and richness of dialect and meaning were employed, all the aspects of His Blessings and Benefits could not define the height, depth and width of the Grace of God to mankind.  Yet, the Grace of God is real!  And not only is it real but it is experienced and extended to all humanity.  It cannot be touched with the five senses, although they may be or are affected indirectly.  Yet man can and does experience, in some manner, the Grace of God.  The Love of God is the factor that motivates His Power and Actions, but Gods Sovereign Purpose and Plan moves forward upon the vehicle of His Mercy and Grace toward fallen mankind.  The Grace of God is completely undeserved.  It is without earthly or material value.  It is "unearnable" and cannot be bartered for by man's devices or schemes because it is freely given by God whose omniscience can discern the thoughts and intentions of man's heart.  It cannot be merited based upon man's "innate" righteousness (present or to come) because man has no righteousness except for that which is as filthy rags!  It is not kept by man's goodness, but by the Eternalness and Covenant Relationship with God through Christ Jesus.  It is a very High and Holy quality of the Goodness of God that is revealed and demonstrated at His Will upon whomsoever He will.  It sustains the saint whether in triumph or trial, in life or in death, in time or in eternity.  And God's Grace is always sufficient!  And it is His Desire and Will to extend His Grace to us!

Matthew 4:45
"...for He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the Just and the unjust..."

Psalms 19: 1-3 "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth His handy work.  Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.  There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard."

God's Grace is extended to all mankind providentially, whether saved or unsaved.  At times it is undiscernable to us as to why God would bless certain ones who may not seem worthy of  Him, but always there is, as with any action of God, a definite purpose to His Glory.  God's Grace is manifested through nature and from time to time some of mankind not only experiences an awareness of His creative Being, but also of His Benevolence and Goodness to them.  They may even conclude that He sustains all existence and life, even theirs.  And with this perception, they may even develop an appreciation of Him in the magnificence of His Wisdom, Knowledge and Power (Creative and Sustaining)!  Even those who ignore Him or denounce and deny His existence still experience ( though not perceptible to them!) the Grace of God providentially.  And even those who dishonor and profane His name are loved by Him, like a loving, patient parent who reaches out to try and influence a rebellious child.

It is by the Grace of God that all mankind has reasonably good health.  It is by His Grace that the next breath of air is inhaled, or the next heart-beat pulses life giving blood throughout the body.  It is the Grace of God that gives all of us the next brain wave to co-ordinate all the mental and physical functions of our bodies and minds.  God's Grace stands between everyone and complete ruin, but His Grace is always given for our good and His Glory.  When we consider the "what could be" or how our circumstances could have been and how that God intervened or even sustained us through a trial, we stand ( or should) in awe of the Grace of God!  How well off many have considered themselves after a hospital visit with a patient in serious or fatal condition, or to see a child struggling with a mental or physical affliction.  Could it be that God makes us all aware of His Benevolence and Grace by allowing us the solemn privilege of viewing such situations of others and then grants us the grace to thank Him for even the very health and life that he gives us?  "why does He allow such tragedies to occur to others?" one might ask.  Could it be that God's Grace sustains the sufferer and that He allows us to view these things in order to appreciate our own circumstances.  Many times we are given over to an empathizing, sympathizing heart even to pray for those in need.  At any rate, it takes our minds and hearts off of ourselves and our problems and centers our affections upon the Lord and the needs of others.  There is a stanza of a poem that describes the awareness of such Grace and silences the needless complaining and gainsaying that is sometimes indulged in by some when complacency and indifference dulls our need of expressed gratitude for His Goodness and prayer to intercede on behalf of others:

"Oh Lord forgive me when I whine,
   I have good health and a healthy mind,
   And the world is mine!".

Titus 2:11  "...But the Grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared unto all men."

To appreciate God's Saving Grace encompasses moving beyond an intellectual consent and assent of God's Grace in the providential realm and experiencing in one's soul the Saving Grace of God.  Although that it is a very commonly used phrase among us, it has uncommon implications and is still true that we are SAVED BY THE GRACE OF GOD!  Anyone who may publicly demonstrate or privately entertain the notion that God "owed" him or her salvation or is deserving of the saving Grace of God has either not experienced Saving Grace or has been infected with the leaven of Phariseeism!

Ephesians 2:8 "...for by Grace are ye saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast."

Titus 3:4-7 "But after that the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy HE SAVED US,  by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost;  Which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior;  That being justified by His Grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life."

The Lord God, in His Purpose and Plan, in eternity past, desired and purposed to have a special creation (regenerated creation) who would love, appreciate and adore Him based upon the effect of His Saving Grace toward them.  And when we consider how that He chose not to redeem fallen angels who rebelled against Him along with lucifer,  BUT He chose to offer redemption and salvation to fallen man who sinned against Him,  starting from Eden----we stand in awe of His Saving Grace and Mercy!

Ephesians 1:3-6 is a beautiful stanza of praise and thanksgiving by the Apostle Paul with reference to the effectual working of God's Saving Grace  ("Wherein He hath make us accepted in the Beloved that is, in Christ").  One of the most striking aspects of His Grace toward us is found i the phrase "...having predestinated us unto the adoption of children (by who?) by Jesus Christ!"
 

1.  After Adam's sin and fall, God could have justifiably chosen to obliterate Adam, Eve and any future posterity.  But in His Mercy, Grace and Love,  He chose to make an atonement for sin and gave hope in Genesis 3:15 of a final Atoning Sacrifice by a coming Redeemer - Messiah.

2.  After the wickedness of man became so great and his imagination of thoughts of his heart was only evil continually in the days of Noah, God could have destroyed mankind without warning.  But instead moved upon Noah, who found Grace in His eye, to build an ark and preach righteousness to the generations remaining before the great flood.  Vs. 3 of Genesis Chapter 6 implies that the allotted time before the flood was 120 yrs.  The implications, among others, that there was only one ark, one door in which to enter to escape the judgment for sin.  There is one salvation and one Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ to escape the coming judgment for sin.

3.  After Israel, in her redemption and exodus from Egypt, rebelled against Him by returning to idolatry and licentiousness,  God could have destroyed them but instead He Chose to move upon Moses to intercede before Him on their behalf (Exodus 32:32)

In all of these instances and more, it can be seen that God chose to bestow Grace and it is His will to bestow Grace upon sinners to come to repentance and to be saved.  The power to save and redeem a lost soul emanates from the Grace of God.  God has ordained through the Gospel of Jesus Christ to save a lost soul.  It is through Him that we experience salvation and the Grace of Salvation.  When the Gospel is preached in it's purity and power under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, God (in Grace) opens the spiritual ears and heart of the hearer and the Holy Spirit convinces and reproves them of sin, righteousness and the judgment to come.  However, He (the Holy Spirit) draws or compels them to pray and seek for the peace of God that only comes through Jesus Christ.  When the seek sinner sees his utter ruin and helplessness to save or redeem himself Or that no other earthly entity or individual can redeem him, God grants to him the Grace to repent with a GOdly sorrow and a Grace to have faith in Jesus Christ to save him.  When salvation is imparted (and I say that it will be because at this point it is as Romans 10:13 says, "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord  SHALL BE SAVED"!) to the sinner, he experiences the Saving Grace of God!  IT TAKES THE GRACE OF GOD TO REPENT!  IT TAKES THE GRACE OF GOD TO BELIEVE IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST WITH A WHOLE HEART!  IT TAKES GRACE TO BE SAVED!   God chooses to save because of His Grace.  And this is His purpose and will to have a chosen people who have been redeemed by no other means except through, by and in the blood of His Son Jesus Christ.  The songs of their praise in and under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit sound sweeter to Him than any song by Seraphim in Heaven or songbird on the earth.  This is because it is prompted by a love and appreciation for Him who first loved us.  Our songs should be joyous and reflecting of His Saving Grace toward us.

God's Grace is sufficient to keep and preserve those who have been saved by His Grace.  John 17:2 and 3 indicates that abundant life that is in Christ for those who are drawn to Him by the Father (through the Holy Spirit) is eternal.  WE DID NOTHING TO EARN SALVATION AND WE ARE DOING NOTHING TO KEEP SALVATION!  In fact, we abide in Him (Christ) having been "grafted" into Him.  And as He is eternal the salvation and life that He gives to us is eternal.  So God's Grace is sufficient for us after that we have experienced Salvation by Grace through Faith.  And like faith, Grace does not end when we arise from the "mourner's bench" or place of prayer regenerated by the Holy Spirit.  Just as we walk in our christian walk "by faith", we are sustained by a living or sustaining Grace.  The Apostle alluded to God's sustaining Grace in many of His writings in addition to walking and living by faith.    In Galatians 2:20,  Paul speaks about the "crucified life" and how that Who sustains and keeps him (Paul) going is the in dwelling Christ.  This is a part of Living Grace!  This is,  that we are so dependent upon Him  -- Lord if you don't go with me or help me I will not make it.  Yet, there is an ever present awareness of His Presence and Nearness that spawns a confidence that through Him we will make it.  And it is important to understand this because so many times Christians judge or assess their walk with the Lord by their circumstances.  If everything is going my way so that every thing I do turns out excellent we feel like the song from "Oklahoma".... 'Oh what a beautiful morning, everything's going my way!'  we will tend to judge our walk with the Lord, our Grace from Him by our external circumstances!  As long as things are going fine, I must be right with Him, but if there are trials, persecutions, turmoil's etc.  then I must be doing something wrong.  Now sometimes the Lord uses these things to bring us closer to Him, or to bring our attention to some conflict, or secret sin that He wants to help us resolve with His Help so that we might walk more Christ like.  But for the most part we cannot judge our rightness with God by whether we have a "bad hair day" or not.

Living Grace sustains us through turmoil's, trials, heartaches, etc. or even distresses and infirmities as we walk for Christ's sake.  Listen to what Paul said in the latter part of verse 9 or II Corinthians 12.  "...for my strength is made  perfect (matured in you) in weakness."  The strength of Christ is matured in us in our weakness or resolution to stop depending on our own strength and depend on the Eternal Everlasting Christ who says to you,  "I will never leave you nor will I forsake you".   Paul understood this in his own life and even had the sustaining Grace from the Lord to say, "Most gladly, therefore, will I glory (not bragging nor complaining about how bad that he had it in life!) in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me!".  Is God's Grace sufficient to Save?  Yes, it is, and always will be.   Is God's Grace sufficient to live and be sustained in life's trials and afflictions that come my way?   The answer is the same, --- Yes!  His Grace is sufficient to sustain and give to us an assurance that the same God  who was with the patriarchs, prophets and apostles is the same God who will be with us and sustain.   He will sustain us when the doctor says that there is nothing that he can do.  He will sustain us when those who we thought would always be there for us turn away from us and desert us.  He will sustain us when we give up a child in death and whisper to us in a still small voice, "I know how that you feel, I gave up a Son once!".  His Grace will sustain us when everything seems to be crashing in upon us!  He may choose not to change or alter the circumstance but He will encompass us with His Grace and Love so that all that matters to us is that we have Jesus and nothing else is of importance.   This is a Grace that is not of the world or the hope of the world but of the Hope that is in Him.   There is not one comfort or stronghold in this world or in our culture that can sustain us like the living sustaining Grace of God through Christ Jesus our Lord.   No matter how dark and in sin the world system will sink or how satan will afflict us or do to us or what may come our way -- nothing will separate us fro the Love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

II Timothy 4:6-8

"For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.  I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the Faith.  Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give to me at that day:  and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing."

The first three Graces are Providential, enabling (Saving Grace) and Sustaining (Living) Grace.  ALl are continuous.   But there is a Grace of God that is provided to a saint in the "dying" hour and that is a dying or "Provisional" Grace.  This Grace is regarded as provisional because the scriptures teach in Hebrews 9:27, "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment".   Therefore in the moment of the separation of the soul from the body (death), there is a Grace to face death available to the redeemed.   Even though that this appointed time is unknown for the most part to the individual, there is an awareness of the nearness of that time.   Yet in the succumbing of a dying saint to the icy fingers of death, there is not a defeat or sense of loss, but a provisional Grace that will numb the "sting of death".   As that time grows nearer, many have testified (before their passing) of the closeness of the Lord or the sweetness of their final earthly steps with Him.   The magnitude of that Grace is directly proportional to the "drawing near" to Him and enjoying a closer relationship with Him.   No companion, relative, friend or family member, though reflective of the light and love of God, can provide this Grace in that hour like the presence of the "Friend of all friends, Who sticketh closer than a brother" and that is the Lord Jesus Christ.

Since He tasted of death by the Grace of God for every man (Hebrews 2:9) He has traveled through the veil of death and gloriously resurrected to live for ever more.   And since He has been given all power in heaven and in earth,  He will not only sustain and guide as the sweet cherubim's of God's chariot sweep us into His glorious Presence, but He will provide Grace for that hour when the last vestiges of the carnal fear and apprehension of death are swept away.   Just imagine, to loose the grip of earthly life in the hand of the doctor, friend, companion or who might be ar our bedside the next hand to clasp will be the hand of Jesus as He greets you (like He has greeted Stephen, the Apostles Peter and Paul when they made the journey) will be beyond our most vivid hopes and imaginations!   How appropriate the verse of the song that says:
 

The questions may arise:  "Can I be assured that His Grace will be
                                               sufficient in the dying hour?"
If His Grace was and is sufficient to Save and Keep our Souls, and His Grace was and is sufficient throughout life with it's trials and triumphs, surely, His Grace will be sufficient for us in the day of our passing from this life into eternity to be with Him!

Revelation 5:9
"And they sung a new song, saying, thou (the Lamb or Jesus Christ) art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof for thou was slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people and nation; hast made us unto our God Kings and priests: and we shall reign upon the earth."

Revelation 1:4
"...Grace be unto you, and peace, from Him which is, and which was, and which is to come..."

It is understood that in eternity with the Lord, all the former things will be passed away.   All the memories of past trials and heartaches -- even the very tears that the redeemed shed because of sorrow will be wiped from the eyes.   It is hard to visualize or to try to imagine such a time as eternity or a place as heaven, but by - through - and in the Grace of God will the redeemed be there!   There is one aspect of our memories that will still be affixed to us even in our glorified and that is the remembrance of the Grace of God that bringeth salvation being revealed and manifested to us.

The Hope that had always been set before us, that is the hope of Heaven will be at last realized, appreciated and enjoyed by those who have looked for quite some time for that City which hath foundations whose builder and maker is God.   Various attempts have been made to define Heaven, all the way from a "Cabin in the Corner of Glory land" to a surrealistic baseball diamond in a cornfield in Iowa!   But in John 14: 1-4 , we find that Jesus stated "IN my Father's House are many mansions (places of abode or abiding places), if it were not so I would have told you.  I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go to prepare a place for you I will come again, and receive you unto myself: that where I am there ye may be also."
Heaven is where Jesus, His Father and the seven - Spirits which are before His Throne (Revelation 1:4) the Angels of God, the saints of all ages.   He will be the Light of that Place and will be what gives every Jeweled Building and Gold  laden  Street their beauty. (revelation 21:23)   The King of Kings, and Lord of Lords will be the object of all attention, worship and glorification even by those who were redeemed by Him through His shed blood.   None of the fallen of the race of Adam will be there who has not experienced salvation and the Saving Grace of God.   In such a Place and at a Meeting no doubt the redeemed will behold such splendor as to perhaps prompt the thought " I'm here by the Grace of God, I am what I am by the Grace of God"!   And there will a reverential awe of the Majesty and Glory of God -- now face to face!

Not only will there be a reverential awe but also a reverential Grace that will account for our presence there.   And no one will stand there in his/her merit but only by and in the Divine Favor of God.

This is the very purpose for which the drama from Eden to Armageddon unfolded, to ultimately give honor and glory to the Father and to His Son.   He made it possible through His Will (direct and permissive) that a special creation would give honor, praise and glory unto Him and to sing the sweetest song that will even surpass the songs of Seraphim's and Cherubim's, and that is the song of redemption.   That special creation is none other than those who have been redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb,  that is the Lord Jesus Christ.   We will testify to the Grace of none other in the past but Him who brought us to that place.   And throughout all eternity, if memory serves us for one aspect,  it will be in remembrance (Revelation 5:6) of Who purchased our redemption and the Price that was paid.   In reverential Grace, for all eternity, He will be admired, adored and praised by us.

Truly the Grace of God is (more than) sufficient!

Then with the ransomed around God's throne,
We'll praise our Redeemer and King,
We'll tell how his Mercy for sin did atone,
Through countless ages this song We'll sing:

It was All Because of God's Amazing Grace,
Because on Calvary's mountain He took my place
And some day, some glorious morning
I shall see Him face to face
All because of God's Amazing Grace!
 

In this article we have only "scratched" the surface of a subject and phenomenon that is of such magnitude that mere words are inadequate and cannot encompass it all.   But some day in eternity we will "scratch" the surface when we all stand upon the surface of the Streets of God, the Pavement of Heaven.  "And when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as he is."  (I John 3:2b).