the greatest experience in their lives:
being defeated, downcast or depressed. He says, “ they who receive the abundance of grace shall reign in life .” The Christian can walk with his head high. He sings in the major key. He marches with a triumphant step. When I was teaching at the Arizona Bible College some years ago, one of the students came to me w ith a p rob lem . He complained about a defeated life. He had the habit of smoking cigarettes. It was not so much the fact that he smoked that bothered him, but that he felt compelled to do it in secret. He would leave the campus and go over to the bowling alley. He hoped his fellow students would not be aware of his problem. He tried to quit time after time but had always failed. I asked him if he thought God’s grace was sufficient to overcome the problem for one hour at a time. He believed this would be possible. I suggested when he got up the next morning at 7:00 that he pray for God’s grace to be sufficient for him to go through the next hour without smoking a cigarette. Then at 8:00 he should pray for God’s grace to be sufficient for another hour. This was to be his practice every hour on the hour. If he experienced the reigning of God’s grace for one hour at a time then the next day he should claim two hours at a time. The following day it could be four hours and so forth until he had the victory. The next week he met me with all smiles. No longer was he defeated. He had triumphed around the throne of God’s grace. He had come boldly and found grace to help just in the nick of time. Page 15
“How precious did that grace appear The hour I first believed. ”
What about the hour, or the year, or the decade after they believed? Was God’s grace amazing only at the point of their conversion? We hear testimonies given about the amazing saving grace of God, but what about the amazing living grace of God? Paul says, “ all grace” which means grace of every description. He writes not only of grace sufficient to save, but also of grace that is able to keep in every circumstance. Some Christians express dismay over sinners who will not appropriate saving grace. Yet God will look upon the Christian in the same light and say, “ How is it that you do not appropriate my living grace and believe that I am able to make all grace abound toward you ?” Peter wrote, “ But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (II Peter 3 :1 8 ) . Growth is stimulated through c o n f lic t , prodding, testing, trials and rest. You cannot have an experience of any description which is greater than God’s grace. The next superlative in this verse is “ always” . This means there is grace for instant use (Hebrews 4 :16 ). A colloquial expression might read, “ There is grace to help just in the nick of time.” Paul wrote to the Romans that there is “ much more” grace for us (Romans 5 :17 ). Here the Christian’s life is depicted as triumphant and victorious. Paul gives no concept of a Christian
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