The Riches Of His Grace By: Dr. Pete Norris

who's that which he had prepared beforehand for glory let me tell you before you ever left him he didn't prepare you to walk in glory Hallelujah and you're sad and you're gloomy and you're too up from the floor up you ought to be happy with your sin you ought to run home and leave your car here you ought to be so happy amen that's why people don't come to church because the church folks look sad in the world of us Welcome to Power in the Word most all of us want to be rich and so often we hear do this or do that and you can be rich well today Dr. Nars teaches us that God has made us rich in so many ways of which we so often take for granted you don't want to miss this teaching so stay with us and be encouraged So to that we want to talk about the riches of grace I want you to go with me to Ephesians chapter 1 verse 7 through 9 we're going to start there Ephesians chapter 1 verse 7 through 9 in him we have redemption let me have you know in him we have redemption what this redemption means means we've been redeemed right in him we have redemption through what the forgiveness of sins according to the rich now I want you to read the scripture and stop taking it in in your concept of what you think religion looks like in him we have redemption he said you got to do a thing in him we have redemption through his what let me know his blood gave you redemption you ain't even asked for it the forgiveness of your sins was automatically forgiven you were forgiven of your sins just because through his blood because in him you've been redeemed now now guys you got to get a hold of this revelation because we've read the scripture and we don't understand the scripture because if we did in him we have redemption so in him we have redemption that's in the story can't add anything to it can't take anything away from it how did that come through his blood how did the forgiveness of sins come through his blood that was in him in the redemption so you were forgiven of your sins you were redeemed through his blood right according to what the riches of his grace not your grace it wasn't your grace you received it was his grace and his blood that gave you the forgiveness of your sins and redeemed you you still ain't done anything I'm telling you in the church we've been sold about the goods and what we've been sold is that we don't accept the fact of what Jesus has really done for us because in him we've been redeemed through his blood they know the questions you can't add anything to that the forgiveness of sins from his blood according to the riches of his glory it was his grace and the riches of his grace that gave you your redemption that gave you his blood that forgive you of your sins he did it all turns to my say he did it all but I want to show you something I want to show you something stay with me just a minute it's 41-49 in the Greek and here's what it means it means wealth as fullness money possessions abundance and richness so let's read it again in him we have redemption through his blood the forgiveness of sins according to the the abundance or the wealth of his grace so how many of you know that everything you got he gave you not only do you give you the forgiveness of sins not only did he redeem you not only did he forgive you of all your sins he also gave you that all that you have based on his wealth and his abundance of grace it's all about him it has nothing to do with you it has nothing to do with you if you don't ever confess your sins again it has nothing to do with you

he done it regardless of you he got everybody guys I'm telling you he got everybody and everybody's redeemed because in him we have redemption it's this bottom line five words it's over in him we have redemption cv 9 having made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure which he purposed in himself in other words let me tell you what he did him and God's in heaven having a powwow I'm gonna get down to your level where you can understand me they're up to having a powwow he said I'll tell you what I'm gonna do and so what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna leave heaven come and get a little 15 year old girl's body and I'm gonna invade let's go create a body and then I'm gonna get big more and then I'm gonna die across and I'm gonna resurrect after three days and then I'm gonna take everybody who didn't be back they ain't gonna have to do anything it's a done deal it's over because I know they can't do it but I know I can do it and I can get them and I can redeem them and I can set them free and we're sitting around worried about how our performance is or how much we love God or you listen he had it planned out for you before you ever born he had you before you ever knew you were to earth and I'm going to get everybody and I'm going to take them back and see them in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." Because it's going to be inside of me now. Guys, I'm telling you, according to the riches of His grace, His grace is big. His grace hasn't even been touched in the surface of being preached because we have so much performance based Christianity. If I'll do good and not good, then God will be good to me. If you get your results because you're good and you're being good, it ain't working real good. You get your results because of what He did, not what because you're doing. You said, "Well, pastor, don't I need to be sorry? If you're sorry, or whether you ain't, he done it when you won't be sorry." He done it before you ever created a thesis chapter 2. But God who is rich in mercy, and we have another word of mercy in the actual Greek, is cares among which means grace. He's rich in mercy because of His great love for which He loves us. Guys, do you understand that He loves you so much before you? You weren't even lovable. Think about it a minute. Have you ever had times that ain't been lovable? You've been up here all year, hell year, right?

You don't love him good at all. He loved you and never changed from loving you in the darkest time of your life. Why? Because he ain't nothing but love so he can't do nothing but love you. He's absolutely perfected love. Love is not what He does. Love is who He is. 90% of the darkness that comes at your lies. The devil's defeated. The devil's defeated. The church has made Him real big. It took the church to make the devil real big because He's defeated. Bible 7, 1 John 3 and 8, the son of God comes to destroy the works of the devil. He's defeated. So look what He said. "But God," say "But God." Only God can do this, who is rich in mercy because of His great love. And it's mixed in this. Look what's this. Read the text. He's rich in mercy because of His great love with which He loved you. In other words, He is rich in mercy because of His great love. He couldn't be rich in mercy if He didn't have love. He's full of love. How many of you are looking for love? Have you ever heard that old song back in the 70s and 90s? Looking for love in all the wrong places. How many of you have done that? Think about it in a minute. But who is rich in mercy because of His great love of which He loved us?

How much does He love you? The Bible said it in Romans 5 or something, He demonstrated His love in us when we get sinners. Why? He did all this before you, Bob and Daddy, ever got together, before you ever thought of He already redeemed you, He had already forgiven you, He had already delivered you. He had already set you free before you ever was created. And we're walking around trying to find Him when we are Him. Yeah. We some kind of something, not because of who we are but because of who He is. It's sad when you go to church and you leave church and you feel worse than you did when you went. Why? Because the encouraging lifted up and exalted and saying, "You know what, I'm discovered who I am." If you can ever discover who you are, you won't answer anything else. Look at verse 5. Say with me, "Even when you were dead in your trust passes," now look now, I'm going to read these scriptures. Show me where you've done anything. Even when we were dead in trust passes, He made us alive together with Christ by grace. You have been saved. Now, watch this guys. Watch this. Even what verse 7 said in Ephesians 1, "In Him we have redemption through His blood. The forgiveness of sins according to riches of grace, which He made to abound us in all wisdom." What's He saying? By grace, He's been saved. It was according to His riches in grace that you were free.

The church don't want you to know that. They want to keep you bound up, tied up, religious bound. Here's what they tell you church, "Read your Bible, play more, fast more, do this more, give more, give more money, do all this, and if you'll be good, and if you're good, you'll get in on that right day." You were in before you knew you were in, because He brought you in. Turn to someone and say, "He brought me in." Look at verse 6. Stay with me. "And He raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ." I just told you the story. He come down to earth, took you back, and you're seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, verses 2 and 6. So, how many of you know we're seated in heavenly places? Guys, how many of you are heavily being, not trying to be earthly, you're not earthly being, trying to be heavily, you're heavily being, staying on the earth. You're just temporary, stay here. This is temporary. You ain't gonna be here long. Ain't nobody got out of here alive, but you're fully alive because your spirit man don't ever die. It lives forever. You just shed this body just like Jesus did. I think we tour up about other religions and other, because I'm not a religious man. We get tour up about other denominations and stuff, but let me ask you something. Let me have you know, a lot of times there's certain denominations that believe that you birth righteousness. You know, they don't believe in birth control and they just have kids and it's God's wheel Let me know if you know that, that's true, right? I don't know that they ain't got it.

Because it come to me just a few days ago that Jesus said, "I'm gonna tell you what I'm gonna do." According to Hebrews, "I'm gonna prepare myself a body, and I'm gonna come to earth as a spirit, and I'm gonna invade that body, and I'm gonna live in that body for 33 and a half years, and after that I'm gonna die, and then on the third day I'm gonna resurrect and get a glorified body. I'm gonna shed that earthly body 'cause I'm no longer earthly. So I'm gonna get a glorified body, and I'm gonna shed that earthly body. Is it possible that your spirit was crying out for a body, and God spoke to your mom and daddy, and they didn't even know what they were doing, and they got together and created a body for you to get invade. Because we were in Christ before the foundation of the world. Guys, we gotta hold on here 'cause we're heading somewhere. What I'm trying to get you to see is that on the inside, you're much bigger than you're on the outside. The outside wants to compress you 'cause the inside knows the deal. Are you with me? Okay, hold on, let's go to verse seven. We heading somewhere, we ain't gotta get it. We're gonna land this thing. And in the ages to come, he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward, now what's what he said here?

In the ages to come. God's wind was this written before the foundation of the world. So in the ages to come, he might show the exceeding riches of his grace. When's he gonna show it? When he dies and resurrects, now grace is here for everybody. Why? Because in an old company, he was a shadow of things, he's coming in the new, he's the substance of that shadow. So you and I now are the manifestation of what never was, but we existed before we did, and now we've been created for such a time as this. Why? Because exceeding riches of his grace in the kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. So he let us in Christ before the foundation of the world. He'd done a poor grace on us. We were in Christ. We didn't know it because Christ was crucified before the foundation of the world. Our names were written in the lives of the Book of Life before the foundation of the world. And now we're delivered in Christ in time. Why? That's the result of salvation. We were, and now we exist as were. So you had to have a body to live on the earth. So he sent you to earth and gave you a body through your mom and daddy, didn't know what it was doing.

They were giving birth to something. You're some kind of something. The mom and daddy might have thought you accident in the back seat of the car, but you won't, you were some kind of purpose. You were purposely sitting here for such a time as this. And in terms of myself, I got a purpose. I got a purpose. My purpose is bigger than my pain. My purpose is bigger than my pain. My pain that I've been through. My purpose is bigger than my pain. I'm not here. I didn't just come for just to be here. I come here with a destiny. I came here with a purpose. I was sent for such a time as this. Turned to my say, I'm purposely here. Been purposely here. I'm excited. Let's go to verse eight. You ought to be two. For my grace, you've been saved through what? That is not of yourself. It's a what? You have nothing to do with it, guys. It's a gift. You have nothing to do with it. He done all the work before he ever got here. All you do is reaping the harvest.

It's kind of like your grandma died and she's rich. And she left you an estate. And she left you everything she's got. Maybe she's got 34 million. And she left in all of you. And I guarantee you, not a one person in this building was sleeping on it. If you got a car from attorney today, about five, and he grabbed my dad, she left you a whole bunch of stuff you shut up here in the morning. I guarantee you, not a one of you be late. You'd be there at nine o'clock waiting for him to open. Show me the money. Show me the stuff. God gave you a bunch of stuff. He gave you a abundance. He gave you wealth. He gave you health. He gave you prosperity. He gave you favor. He gave you possessions. He gave you stuff. Listen, he said in John 10, 10, the thief come to steal killing his story. But I come that you might have life and have it more abundantly. Turn to someone and say I'm living in abundance. (crowd chattering) Let's go on here.

Let's go to Jeremiah 29, 11. Everybody reads 11, but nobody reads 12 and 13. 'Cause they just want to get a bunch of joy out of 11. For I know, now think about this a minute. God's telling Jeremiah, I know the thoughts that I think toward you. How many of you know the thoughts God thinks for you? See, some of you think God's mad at you when you missed it so much. He ain't mad at you, can't be mad at you. 'Cause he, oh, his anger was put on Jesus so he can't be mad at you. Even when you miss it, he don't see it. He sees you in Christ. Look what he said. I know the thoughts that I think toward you says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not evil and to give you a future and to give you hope. Now this is already old come, this was a Jeremiah. He said, Jeremiah, I know the thoughts that I think toward you, buddy. What does God think about you? I guarantee if you interview people say, what does God think about you? Up until the last couple of years, you just said something differently than you say now. - Amen. - 'Cause you're blessed and highly favored and deeply loved. Now look what he said. My thoughts, the Lord says to the Lord,

thoughts of peace and not evil. I don't think he evil of you, to give you a future and to give you hope, turn to somebody and say, I got hope. - I got hope. - Yes. - See, God just don't want you to go to heaven. He wants you to live in heaven on earth. - Yeah, that's right. - He don't ever dare to be a struggle, and every day be pain, and you be hurting every day. He wants you to walk in prosperity and favor and abundance and health and wealth and goodness and peace. Look at verse 12, this is good. Go and pray to me and I'll listen to you Turn to somebody say here's every word aside Here's the great thing. Here's the great thing about your prayers. He'd already answered it before you ever said it Cuz he's not gonna do everything he's already done everything and all you got to do is receive it and thank him for it Look at 13 and you will seek me and You'll find me When you search for me With all your heart now guys. This is not works. This is grace And you say explain that You'll seek me you'll find me won't be a question of whether you will but you got to understand he said in his scripture That he'll put the spirit in you that a cry out of a father. You're not even doing the seeking It's what he put inside of you seeking what's what's what's in you? The answers to your life is not in heaven. You don't have to look up to get them. They're inside of you now Because the Holy Spirit come upon you and teach you all things and bring all things members that I've said unto you

So he told so he's telling Jeremiah here. See you buddy I know the thoughts that I think told you there they're good they're peace and they're not evil and I've given you a future And I've given you hope and if you'll seek me you'll find me when you search for me with all your heart And what does that mean on my all your heart? The Hebrew word for heart here is not talking about what pumps That's not your heart He's too much of spirit when your spirit is crying out for him that he put the cry inside you for Then you'll find him All these people have said well, yeah, we just got to spend time with God. We got spent I agree with all that But the greatest thing you never discovers who you are I'm not trying to be mean, but I didn't have to find out that my wife was my wife Because one day we got married and she was made my wife that day. So I ain't got to seek if she's gonna be my wife Right that would be kind of crazy if I'm seeking but go to her every day and say you look, you know, Would you be my? Would you be my? It's kind of like somebody told us one time when we'd been married 25 years don't you want you to redo your vows? She said no I meant him the first time That's pretty good truth, isn't it? But I want you to watch this next scripture. Let's go to the next scripture here because I want you to see something and a Feige in in in Ephesians chapter 3 now all this stuff's coming out of Ephesians now watch this to me That it's just Paul talking to me Who am less than the least of all the saints? This grace was given That I should preach among the Gentiles now. What's the Gentiles the unbelievers the heathens that should be with me We were Gentiles. We're not Jews. Okay. I got another story for you. God. Don't love the Jews anymore. He loves you Now people tell you that in church, but that ain't true If that's the case then God has respect the person and Peter spoke the truth and said God's not a respecter of person So God doesn't respect their persons, right? God don't love anybody, but me better than the rest of you Now think about it a minute. Why is God big to some people small to others? Because they know him differently

There's things about my wife that I know that you don't know There's things about me. She knows that you won't ever know Think about it in a minute. What do you know about him? This grace was given now. This is Paul said I'm who the least of all the saints this grace was given that I should preach This grace was given that I should preach among the Gentiles the Unsearchable Unsearchable riches of Christ Guys you ever thought about that Paul said I'm supposed to preach among the Gentiles the Unsearchable riches of Christ now. Let me ask some how many of you heard that in church when you were growing up? Did you you heard about the unsearchable riches of Christ? You heard how bad you were you're going to hell if you don't straighten up Do you know anything about the unsearchable riches of Christ? See God is not hiding from you guys you just get distracted by the cares and The things of this world it doesn't change how much God loves you or how he feels about you It doesn't change his closeness his omnipresence. It doesn't change his omnipotence How powerful he is you and I go through life and we just get distracted by issues and work and family and situations and circumstances and And at the same time, he's standing there with open arms. I got you, buddy. I got you. You're okay. It's all right. I got you. Because I know that there's going to come a time that you're going to run to the end of your rope and you're going to come back. He ain't gone anywhere. Guys, there's no such thing as backslide. Where are you going to slide to? If God's omnipresis. The Bible says that we have eternal redemption. His grace and His loving kindness gave you and I eternal redemption. Eternal redemption means this eternal. It don't go away. Now, I do believe that we break fellowship. We don't break our standing with who we are in Christ. You ever heard this? If you got one sin, you ain't going to enter in. Or if you got one sin, you better make sure you confess them every night. Guys, you can't even remember everything you do. It's His grace and mercy. He knew everything you've ever done. And when he died on that cross and he took that blood and he put it on that mercy

seat, my sins were gone, Aaron's was gone, Nelson's was gone, Larry's was gone. I hadn't accepted that yet. Aaron hadn't accepted that yet. Larry hadn't accepted that yet. Nelson hadn't accepted that yet, but Jesus had because he took that blood and he put it on the mercy seat and he said it's over. So it was done. And all time was doing was traveling along and you and I was in the womb of our mama. You ever thought about how that took place? That was the only time you've ever surrendered in your life. You'd have been in control of that if you could have. But it wasn't amazing when the time got right and the moon got full, there you came. Think about it a minute. And God destined all that for you to be born into the earth and take His Spirit and let everybody see it. That was His purpose. That was His purpose. Give me the Colossians chapter 1 verse 27. To them, God willed to make known. It was God's will to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is what? Christ, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. What do you tell Jeremiah a while ago? I want to give you a future and I want to give you a hope. So He sent Jesus with the riches of His grace and the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles. And He sent him to earth, which is Christ in you. And now Christ is living in you and me. God's He's living inside of us, whether you recognize He's there or not. You're trying to find Him. Listen to me. You're not trying to find Him. He lost. And neither are you. He's got you. He predestined you. He preordained you to be and to turn into the image of those that are in Christ Jesus. You're the image of Christ. You said, Pastor, wait a minute. Are you saying we don't have to repent? Repent has nothing to do with confessing your sins. Repent means to change the way you're thinking. You should be changing the way you're thinking. Just listening to me tonight. Everybody went and learned somebody talk. Had nothing to do with God. You wouldn't listen to somebody talk about finances or whatever it may be. And you were interested in it. And when you walked out of it, you had learned something. Your mind had changed about some situation. What happened to you did not? You repented and changed the way you were thinking. That's what God said is going to happen to us. Jesus is going to come and we need to repent and be pabbed at every one of you in the name of the Father, Son, the Holy Spirit. You and I are repenting as we're hearing this message tonight. It ain't going out crying out in the God and sin clause. Listen to me. God, please forgive me. Listen. He don't really forgive you or that ain't scripture I read at the beginning ain't true. Listen, if you're a confession could make you forgive me. We weren't in the need of the blood. But here's what I want you to really listen to.

How many of you believe the blood of Jesus is valuable? You believe it is? Well then let me ask you something. If the blood of Jesus is so valuable, how valuable is what it paid for? That's you and me, man. And then you're going to tell me that the world is going to fall apart. It doesn't matter who's in office. You need to get your mind on that. You need to put your mind on the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords and things are going to be good. Listen, things are going to be good. The Bible said for me and my house, we're going to serve the Lord and we're going to be blessed and highly favored. The Bible said we're going to have favor and abundance. He says, "My beloved brother, we should love all things. You prosper and be in health even as you sow problems." He wants you to prosper. I'm telling you, the best days of your life is coming. They ain't being, they're coming. And the world wants to preach to gloom and doom and we're falling off the earth. And one day you're going to wake up and it's going to be a snow. It's going to cover a place that ain't never snowed. Let it snow. That ain't going to change God if it snows. Don't ever snow. He's still God. He's got your finances. The huge stocking change can fall apart. He'll still bless you. That he might make known the riches of the glory of the vessels of mercy How many of you know that what did he say? Well go with his mercy right with example? So he said that he might make known the riches of his glory on he's gonna make it own the vessels of mercy Which he before before prepared before for glory you and I will prepare him sent to earth for his glory Guys, we are some kind of something. I'm telling you man. I'm happy. It's your happy You ought to be happy because He predestined you to be the glory of him on the earth God read the book read the book Stop believing everything you hear everybody say Ready for yourself I mean, don't you believe in preachers? If you can't listen, I don't mean that ugly, but if you can't find in the scripture, don't believe it Listen people make up stuff. They think they interpret it a right way and that ain't what it says that he might who's the he? might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy. Who's that? Which he had prepared beforehand for glory. Let me tell you before you ever left him He didn't prepare you to walk in glory

How I love you and you're sad and you're gloomy and you tore up from the floor up. You ought to be happy with your sin You ought to run home and leave your car here You ought to be so happy. Amen That's why people don't come to church because the church folks look sad in the world does Well, I tell you brother. I've been told them for the Lord a bunch of years I mean in the way of the Lord right in the way Just just realize that God's doing some good stuff in you, man He's done. He's made a way for you to have peace and joy and happiness and goodness and mercy Don't let the world tear you down. Don't be distracted by what's going on around you. Keep your eyes on the focus You know, I was with a young man yesterday and they've called all the family into him and he's struggling and so I walk in and and And he was telling me he said buddy. He said I just want you to know. I love you And he said to me he said My life has never been the same Since I met you Then he said this to me. He said, you know, you've done a sermon one Sunday On when it's time to exit and get out of here. There'll be grace for that He said yesterday that grace walked in my room And I'm okay So I looked at him and I said, you know, brother. I said look I said you promised me you'd play the drums for me He said well brother That just might have to be on the other side He said that everything's good and I want you to when you leave here today, I want you to know I love you I'm leaving you with that tonight Thank you for joining us today at Power and 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 Harvest Fellowship Church dot-n-net So until next week, please remember there's power in the word

third. (gentle music)