Perfect Grace By: Dr. Pete Norris

Today on power in the word He brought water out of the flinty rock They complained about it being bitter. He made it sweet. They complained about the food. He dropped it out of heaven Perfect picture in Exodus 13 14 15 16 and 17 of perfect grace Perfect grace. This is perfect grace You'll find that every time the children murmured and complained it only brought forth the fresh demonstration of God's favor Guys, are you with me? Welcome to power in the word God's grace most Christians think of it as a New Testament concept So today, dr. Norris shows us that God demonstrated his perfect grace in the Old Testament as well It's only disrupted by man's requests for the law This is a great teaching God's love and it's compassion. So stay with us and be encouraged Not I'm gonna preach perfect grace to you and I'm not going to use a New Testament scripture in The book of Genesis God was not mad with Adam and Eve He took them out of the garden to protect them He showed them grace by taking them out of the garden because they either the tree of life They destroyed themselves forever, so we got to understand that God does some things sometimes that brings perfection to us So I want you to I want you to understand something when God Liberated the children of Israel from the bondage of slavery in Egypt. He didn't do so Because they had kept the Ten Commandments because Ten Commandments hadn't been done yet The Ten Commandments had not even yet been given but yet he sustained and delivered the people from Egypt How many of you know that Moses was an Old Testament Jesus? That was going to deliver the people he was going to deliver the people out of bondage and bring them into the To a new place and and out of all the million people that left and come into a new land Only two people actually went in Joshua and Caleb if you understand something there's a parallel between Joshua and Caleb Because it's really the Gentile and the Jew and so it's a parallel of the ten that didn't make it into ten spies What were they the Ten Commandments? so we understand that Joshua and Caleb was representing the Jews and the Greeks and the Jews and the Gentiles that God was going to bring Into the promised land how many of you know they were looking for a land and they should have been looking for a person

But I want you to understand something the children of Israel came out of Egypt How they came out by the blood of a lamb, but I want you to understand something else not one single Israelite died During the period all they murder they murmured and they complained from the time They left Egypt till they got to the wilderness Not a single one lost her life Now I want you to think about that just a bit not a one not a single person lost her life Not a single person died during that whole trip They've been in slavery for hundreds of years and all of a sudden now they're going into a land They've been in slavery and in bondage and all of a sudden not a single one of them come out of their feeble or sick Not a one of them came out of there broke not a one came out of there busted But not a one a single one of them died in that 40-day journey Well guys, what am I trying to tell you? I'm trying to tell you that God's grace sustains us Even under the old covenant. He was sustaining people. He was delivering people. He was redeeming people. He was setting people free I want you to go with me to Exodus chapter 14 and we're gonna talk about Exodus tonight Exodus chapter 14 verse 11 And we're gonna talk about perfect grace because I want you to see something that's perfect Then they said to Moses because there were no graves in Egypt. Have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us to bring us out of Egypt? In other words, they were happy to get out of slavery, but then they won't happy just a few years down the road You know that I think that Jesus has delivered the people from religion and from Egypt But they still got real you still got Egypt in them People are full of religion man And so here's the people he brought him out of slavery. They were happy to get out But just a few years down the road, they're complaining and murmuring about why you brought us out Why don't you let us just die there take us back to Egypt? Look, it's way of is it not the word that we were told you in Egypt saying let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that. We should die in the wilderness think about it now look at verse 13 and Moses said to the people do not be afraid stand still see the salvation of the Lord Which he will accomplish for you today for the Egyptians whom you see today You will you shall see again no more forever

Guys listen to me stop talking about your past Your past is gone Your future you ain't got to it yet, but your present is a gift Enjoy the present This is a present you need to enjoy every moment of your day So he's telling you you're not gonna see these guys anymore verse 14 The Lord will fight for you and you shall hold your peace Now on this journey the children of Israel from Egypt Egypt to Mount Sinai, not one Israelite died. This is a picture of perfect grace, guys. Think about it. As the people complained against God and murmured, what was God's response? What was God's response when they got to the Red Sea? What was his response? They'd been murmuring and complaining, saying, well, they'll take us back to Egypt, we're all gonna die right here, Pharaoh's gonna kill us. What was his response? He opened the Red Sea. He opened the Red Sea and he took them to the other side. Did he not? He opened the Red Sea and they crossed over on dry land to the other side, safe from their enemies. Look at Exodus 15. And when they came to Moab, they could not drink the water of Moab, for it was bitter. You know the story. Therefore they called the place Moab.

Verse 24. And the people complained against Moses, saying, what shall we drink? Now, he just took them through the Red Sea and all of a sudden now they're complaining about the water. Look at 25. So he cried out to the Lord and the Lord showed him a tree. When he cast it into the water, the waters were made sweet. There was no statute or ordinance for them. And there he tested them. So what happened here, guys? What took place? What happened? They were murmuring about the water and what did God do? He made it sweet. He took all of their problems of complaining and murmuring and grumbling and belly aching and finding fault and he took that water and he threw a tree in and it turned sweet. Isn't that amazing that we're the tree of righteousness? Isn't that amazing that the tree was the curse and the old covenant, it was the blessing and the new? Think about it a minute. Every time they went through a struggle and they complained and belly aching, grumbled and found fault, what did God do? He showed them grace. What's he doing today when you're going through your situations and you're struggling

and you're finding fault and you're complaining? Well, this is the hardest thing. This is a tough time in my life. What's God doing? Showing you grace. Listen, guys, we gotta understand where God's trying to take us. Look at Exodus 16. Then the whole congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. Then once they got there, here they go again, verse three. And the children of Israel said to them, know that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full. And you have brought us out into the wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger. We're gonna die of starvation. Now just a few days earlier, God has taken a tree and given them water by just throwing a tree in bitter water. And now they're struggling but they ain't got anything to eat. Look at four. Then the Lord said to Moses, Lord, I'll rain bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day that I may test them whether they will walk in my law or not. So what's he saying here? In the wilderness, they cried out against Moses when they were hungry.

What was God's respond? He rained bread down from heaven. Listen, what do you want God to do? In the old covenant, I'm showing you perfect grace. They've been complaining about the water, he sweetened the water. They were complaining about the food, he dropped it out of heaven. They were complaining about gonna die. What did he do? He responded with grace and mercy, perfect picture of God's grace all through the Old Testament. Nobody reads Exodus, though. Look at 17, Exodus 17. And when the children thirsted there for water and the people complained against Moses said, why is it that you have brought us up out of Egypt to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst? See, here we're going right back around the same tree the whole time. We had a 10-day journey, took on 40 years. Some of you have been going around the same tree and the same journey over and over and over and over and over and over and over. What's happening here? So why is it that you brought us up out of Egypt to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst? Verse four. And Moses cried out to the Lord and said,

what shall I do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me. Hungry folks will get mean. Amen? Thirsty folks will get mean. Look at verse five. And the Lord said to Moses, go on before the people, take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand with your rod that which you struck the river and go. Verse six. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Hebron and you will strike the rock and the water will come out of it and the people may drink and Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. So they were complaining about being thirsty, and what was God's response? He brought water out of the flinty rock. They complained about it being bitter. He made it sweet. They complained about the food. He dropped it out of heaven. Perfect picture in Exodus 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17 of perfect grace. Perfect grace. This is perfect grace. You'll find that every time

the children murmured and complained, it only brought forth fresh demonstration of God's favor. Are you with me? Every time they complained or murmured or found fault, all it brought was a fresh revelation and a fresh demonstration of God's favor, supply, and goodness because during this period, the blessing, the provision they received was not dependent on their obedience to God. goodness, they were dependent on God's goodness and faithfulness. They couldn't make it happen, but God made it happen and brought a fresh demonstration of goodness and mercy and grace every time they murmured and complained and fell and fall. The water ain't good. I'll make it sweet. They're thirsty. I'll give you water out of the rock. Hit the rock and see what happens. And you know that Moses kind of, he had a temper, you know. And so Moses struck the rock the second time, you know, to deal with that, because the rock represented Christ. Guys, do you understand when he struck the rock, that represented Christ taking the strikes for me and you to be delivered from our poverty, from our sickness, from our sin. If you go to 1 Corinthians, it'll tell you the rock they carried around was symbolic of Christ in the old covenant. Guys, we got to understand he's the rock. And so when he hit that flinty rock, water coming out, what'd he say? He said, eat of me and you'll never be hungry again. Drink of me and you'll never thirst again.

He was symbolic of everything he was trying to reveal to the Israelites. Everything he was trying to reveal to them himself. So it was not dependent on their goodness and their righteousness and their obedience. It was based totally on him even then. Guys, are you with me? We got to understand what God's really trying to say. But then all of a sudden, everything's about to change. So we see it in 14 and 15 and 16 and 17 of Exodus that he said, okay, I'll do it for you, guys. I got you. I got you. But then in Exodus 19, everything changes. The whole story changes and we get in a different picture. And here's what you see in Exodus 19 and 8. Then all the people answered together and said, all that the Lord has spoken, we'll do it. So Moses brought back the word of the people to the Lord. In other words, this text is telling you one thing that's powerful here, guys. And here's what it's telling you. It's telling you that they said, okay, God, Moses, I want you to go to God and I want you to tell God that we don't want good things anymore because of his goodness. You tell him to tell us what to do and we'll do it. And we'll be obedient and we'll follow through. In Exodus 20, what happened? He dished out the Ten Commandments and we know destruction took place right then. And everything went downhill once the Ten Commandments were struck because they couldn't live up to them. The 613 Levitical laws, he couldn't live up to. You got to understand that even in Exodus, all the way up to verse chapter 19, we see the goodness of the Lord being poured out and his grace and his mercy following you

all the days of your life. Let me tell you, friend, and I want you to hear me really clear because we're hearing it all over the nation, that God's mad and God's angry and God's uptight, but I want you to know God's a loving, merciful, compassionate, and listen to me, if he hadn't have done away with the law and fulfilled it in Jesus, you and I would have been destroyed by our own selves. Now, listen, he took all the wrath, all the judgment, all the punishment for the whole world that you and I would be made righteous in Christ Jesus. And because of that, his perfect grace is all throughout the Bible. Unless the law come, he had to operate based on that law. They didn't want to do it, but they asked for it, so he gave them the Ten Commandments, and we see how that went. But I want you to go to Ephesians chapter 2, verse 5. Stay with me because I'm fixing to show you something. Even when we were dead in trespasses, even when we were dead in trespasses, he made us alive together with Christ. By grace, you have been. Now, I want you to look at the word saved, underline it in your text right there. It's the word sozo. It is a form that begs us to explore it. The word saved is in the present tense here. It means that the action of the verb occurred in the past, and the results lingered in the present. Paul is saying that our salvation was accomplished in the past, and now we exist saved in the present. Do you understand what grace is? Now, watch this. I want to show you something. If we were to translate this passage in mind, it would read, by grace, have you been saved completely in past time with the present result that you are in a state of salvation

which persists through the present time. All he was doing was showing us his grace the whole time. And the law came for a period of time and separated man from God. And the law was the only avenue that man couldn't live up to. So what did Jesus do? He said, I didn't come to destroy the law, but I come to fulfill it. How did he come to fulfill it? He come to be that rock that was hit, that supplied the water. He come to be that tree that fell in the water, that sweetened the water. He come to be the bread that was going to fall out of heaven. He said, you can't live on that bread, but the bread I give you, you can live forever more. Your fathers had bread that they couldn't eat, but I've got bread that you'll eat of. You don't ever get hungry again. You don't ever thirsty again. Listen, he is not going to let you go and be missed by the revelation of not understanding that God's mercy and grace has been poured out many, many times for you and me. Go to Romans chapter 5, verse 17 and 18. I want you to see this. For if, because of one man's trespass, lapse and offense, death reign through that one, much more surely those who receive God's overflowing grace, unmarried favor, and the free gift of righteousness, putting them into right standing with himself, reign as kings in life through the one man, Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the anointed one. If one man's a defense listen to me guys, you got to understand God had this plan all the time When Adam fell in the garden God already had a petition made for man to be delivered Because before the first Adam ever failed the second Adam had already died and resurrected Guys, you got to understand that he is the second Adam He that's why he's the beginning and the end the first and the last the beginning though the first and the last listen He's the Alpha and Omega the leaf and the taff in the Hebrew alphabet He's the beginning and he's everything in between because there's no beginning with him. There's no end with him

So there's no existence with him. No, there's no eternity with him because he is eternity And if he's internally to him then his word is eternal and if his word is eternal and you got born again by his word Then that makes you eternal and because you've become eternal You no longer exist in the present but you somewhere in the future and you look much better than you look right now because you're existing into somewhere in the present because Your past is behind you your futures ahead of you and you're in the now being seen by the people But if we understand that we're not coronally minded and we're spiritually minded we're living in the future and we look a lot better and we look right now because what we look like is not who we Really are because what we who really are is who he says we are regardless of what everybody see So to be coronally minded is death but to be spiritually minded is life and peace what am I trying to tell you? I'm telling you the world is carnal minded because we're looking at the carnality and that's going to bring you death What you feel touch see and smell is not the truth But what's really the truth is who you are in him? You're a spiritual being you possess a soul and you live in a body and that's who you are. You're a spiritual being You're fully spiritual. That's what makes you eternal. That's why you can never lapse out of time Time only consumes you and you consume time. Listen, listen to me time doesn't swallow you you swallow it Because there's no time in God look at 18 Well, then as one man's trespass one man's false steps and falling away led to condemnation for how many people? So condom every so because of Adam's fall everybody's in condemnation now if you're in condemnation, you're still in the first Adam So one man's act of righteousness leads to acquittal and right standing with God and and life for how many people? How many people's delivered guys how many people's going to hell guys guys we've missed we've made God little We've put a we've put a we've put a religious mold on him put him in a box I said you act like this and you do like this and and when we get ready to let you out of the box We'll let you out of the box but I'm telling you he tore the box up and he come out of death hell and the grave and stood in time and existed time and surpassed time and Endeavored time and overcome time and because of him there is no time because me and you are no longer It's held by time because we live eternally eternally don't have any time in it Guys you got to understand that you some kind of something and because of that he made everybody righteous in himself Why because that's perfect grace God has had you when you thought you won't had let's go to John chapter 1 verse 16 and 17 in

The Amplified for out of his fullness abundance We have all received all had a share and we're all supplied with one grace after another Spiritual blessing upon spiritual blessing and even favor upon favor and gift heaped upon gift now The word gift here is the word charisma in the actual text and it means grace So he's saying that you and I out of other out of his fullness abundance we have all received How much grace is he got he had enough grace in his life to deliver everybody from their sin So we're seeing abounds grace abounds much more. So how big is this sin? Let's go to verse 17 for while the law was given through Moses grace undeserved favor and spiritual blessings and truth came through what? Jesus Christ so you and I have favor and grace unmerited favor We don't deserve it the same way that happened in Exodus They didn't deserve the favor and they told God look, I don't want you favor anymore I want you to tell us what to do and we'll follow your plan perfectly and God said you can't do that, but I'll do it anyway, because that's what you want in Hebrews chapter 11 Let's go to verse 29 11 and 29 Urge on by faith the people crossed the Red Sea as though on dry land But when the Egyptians tried to go the same thing they were swallowed up by what? Give me 30 because of faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been Encompassed for seven days by the Israelites now. Let me have you believe This is where he talks about the Hall of Fame of faith. Let me have you know that he jumps from the middle of Exodus He skips Leviticus. He skips numbers and he skips Deuteronomy and then he goes to Joshua There's nothing about faith in the law. The law is skipped completely out of the Hall of Faith in Hebrews chapter 11 he skips half the half of Exodus all of Leviticus all of Deuteronomy and Numbers and picks up in Joshua because there wasn't no faith in the law at all That's why Abraham was before the law all came. So how did God feel about the law? When he was carrying the Ark of the Covenant around where did he put the Ten Commandments? Inside the Ark of the Covenant. Why? Because he didn't want that to be what they seen he wanted him to be what they saw. So when he talked about the Hall of Faith he couldn't put the

middle of Exodus and Leviticus and Numbers and Deuteronomy in there because he did that wasn't faith ever because it was based on them it was never based on him so God cut a covenant with himself this time to where you and I couldn't mess it up. So when you read Hebrews chapter 11 you see that he skips all three of those chapters and half of Exodus because the law had no faith in it whatsoever. Now watch this God spoke to me last night at 20 minutes after 2 and here's what he said to me he said the reason the Church of America doesn't have any faith is because they're still preaching law. He said you can't have faith and preach law. He said most people without law and performance they don't have anything to judge by and he said when you start judging you remove faith completely out of the picture. Go to 2 Peter chapter 1 verse 3 and 4 stay with me I want you to see this perfect grace for his divine power has flowed upon us all things that are suited to life and godliness through the full personal knowledge of him who called us to by and to his own glory and excellence virtue. Verse 4 by means of these he has bestowed on us his precious exceedingly great promises so that through them you may escape by flight from the mortal decay rottenness and corruption that is in the world because of covenants lust and greed and became shares partakers of his divine nature. How many of you know divine power is what you got? How many of you know that is his grace? How many of you know that you're walking in his total divine nature? Listen guys you cannot be born again and be a sinner because if you have a divine nature you can't sin. You say pastor I know that. Well then stop living in condemnation. Stop living in guilt. Stop living in I don't have enough. Stop living in well I you know I don't know what God's gonna do God here's what I get all the time I get these emails God works in mysterious ways. Guys he don't work in mysterious ways he works just like this word says now go go meet Ephesians chapter 2 verse 8 and 9 in the Amplified. For it is by free grace God's unmerited favor that you are saved delivered from judgment and be made and made partakers of Christ's salvation. It's by grace. It's not by doing anything. Through your faith and this salvation is not of yourself

not of your own doing it came not through your own striving but it is the gift of God. If it's a gift you don't have to pay him back. Doing good would be paying him back. If you owe something it's not a gift. If you have to do anything to make it be good it's not a gift. Look at 9. Not because of works not the fulfillment of the laws the man least any man should boast it is not the result of what anyone could possibly do so no one can pride himself in it or take glory for himself. Guys here's the problem listen that person that acknowledges God today is just as full of God as I am and they've been saved 13 seconds and I've been doing this for 35 years. That's what's wrong in the church because we pride in with I take glory in my life you know I've been walking with the Lord for so many people ever heard that I've been walking with the Lord for so many years. You ain't been walking nowhere. It's his grace that's got you. When you got a mentality that you're doing something to make it work then you're missing you're right back in the law again you're not in grace. Grace means it's an undeserved favor that you don't do anything to get. It's a gift. So grace is the Greek word charisma which means divine influence upon the heart that is reflected in the life. Grace can be seen in the life of a believer. Go to Acts chapter 11 verse 22 and 23. What's this? The rumors of this came to the ears of the church assembly in Jerusalem and they sent Barnabas to Antioch verse 23 and when he arrived he saw what grace favor God was bestowing upon them. How did he see the grace on them? Because they lived in a mansion? Because they were driving a Rolls-Royce? He was bestowing upon them. He arrived and he saw what grace favor God was bestowing upon them. He was full of joy and he continuously exalted warned urged and encouraged them all to cleave unto and remain faithful to and devoted to the Lord with resolute and steady purpose of heart. How did he see it? All he said was keep doing what you're doing guys. What were they doing? Just receiving the grace of God on their life and saying it's not It's not by works, it's by grace. That's what he was saying. It's not about what anything I can do.

God, listen to me, I want you to get this. God is not happy with Pete Norris tonight because he's up here preaching. He's happy with Pete Norris tonight because of what Jesus did 2,000 years ago on the cross. I just get to do this. Think about it. All the people in the world, he chose me. I'm the chiefest of all sinners. I am, I am because of the grace of God, man. So he goes to Antioch and he looks and he says, I can see grace on these people. And he was full of joy because of their grace. Have you ever been around somebody and you compared how much you read the Bible? And you compared how much you prayed, and if you prayed two hours a day, you get around somebody, well, I prayed three, bro. And immediately you walk away and you didn't know you didn't pray enough. What God was saying in this scripture is stay focused on me and not stay focused on you. Anytime there's a comparison going on in your life, it's works and not grace. Anytime it's about you at all, it's works and not grace. Hebrews chapter 12, verse 28. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace by which we may serve God acceptably in reverence and godly fear.

Now here's a scripture I wanna clear up. Therefore, since we are receiving kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace by which we may serve. Now the word serve here is the actual Greek word and here's what it means. He's not talking about you serving him and you praying enough and you fasting enough and you preaching enough and you doing enough. What he's talking about is he wants you to prepare yourself and to receive everything that he's applied for you. Jesus said, I didn't come into the world to be served but I've come to serve. Now I'm gonna shake your theology a little bit but some of you need to learn to let God serve you a little bit. He supplied everything. All he wants you to do to receive it. So when grace shows up, now we have the power to please God, not by what we do, but because of his grace. Grace is the way more than forgiveness. It's God's empowerment. It's not based on you guys. It's based on his goodness and his mercy. The only time in the Bible is the years that we had the law that people couldn't live up. You and I can live up. You and I do the things that please the father through Christ, amen. Father, in the name of Jesus,

we just thank you for your goodness and your mercy. We just thank you for your compassion and your love and we pray you just open our eyes to see another level of truth. Lord, just peel back those things tonight and give us revelation knowledge in Jesus' name. And everybody said, amen. Thank you for joining us today at Power in the Word. All of us here at Harvest Fellowship Church want you to know that God is not mad with you, but he loves you so very much. And he has a plan for your life. Please feel free to contact us here at Harvest Fellowship Church at our website, harvestfellowshipchurch.net. So until next week, please remember, there's power in the word.