{"id":193,"date":"2025-07-22T00:50:57","date_gmt":"2025-07-22T00:50:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/joc.lukegbrown.com\/?p=193"},"modified":"2025-07-22T00:50:57","modified_gmt":"2025-07-22T00:50:57","slug":"his-grace-is-greater","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/joc.lukegbrown.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/22\/his-grace-is-greater\/","title":{"rendered":"His Grace Is Greater"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sermon Link<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sermon Excerpt from James 4:1\u201312<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Picture the waves crashing gently over what\u2019s left of the shipwreck. Horatio Spafford is standing on the deck, passing over the watery grave of his four daughters. The same ocean that stole their lives is now carrying him to his grieving wife. And yet, what pours from his pen? Not bitterness. Not despair. But this: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen peace like a river attendeth my way,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When sorrows like sea billows roll;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is well, it is well with my soul.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What could possibly make that well with your soul, Horatio? What kind of grace could carry a man to that place of peace in such sorrow? Not a human one. Not a fleshly one. There is no earthly philosophy, therapy, or mindset that could birth that song. That kind of peace only comes from Heaven. Specifically, the Spirit of Heaven. The same Spirit that rested on Job when he fell to the ground and cried, \u201cThe Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.\u201d The same Spirit that filled Paul when he said, \u201cYour grace is sufficient for me\u2026 for when I am weak, then I am strong.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And I believe, with all my heart, that it is the same Spirit who filled Horatio Spafford. And if it\u2019s that same Spirit\u2014then hear this good news: that very Spirit still dwells in you and me if we belong to Christ. If we have believed in Him for salvation, if we have entrusted our souls to Him, then His Spirit resides in us and empowers us. Romans 8 says, \u201cAnyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him.\u201d But for those who do belong to Him, Jesus promises, \u201cThe Helper, the Holy Spirit\u2026 will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what do Job, Paul, and Horatio Spafford have in common? Their lives were different, their losses unique, but they all stood under one banner: His grace is greater. His grace is greater than my sorrow, therefore, it is well with my soul. His grace is greater than my weakness; therefore, I will boast in it. His grace is greater than my loss; therefore, blessed be the name of the Lord. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But here\u2019s the tension. If His grace is greater than our suffering\u2026 Why is it so hard to believe His grace is greater than our sin That\u2019s the paradox of modern Christianity. We\u2019ll trust God\u2019s grace to carry us through cancer, tragedy, and death, but not through temptation. We believe His grace can conquer the grave, but question whether it can overcome pride, lust, or anger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

James resolves this paradox. He begins with a question: \u201cWhat causes quarrels and fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?\u201d That\u2019s the root issue. Not the arguments themselves. Not the disagreements. But the passions\u2014the idols of self\u2014that rage within.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

James calls out the pattern: \u201cYou desire and do not have, so you murder\u2026 you covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel\u2026\u201d And then he gives the ultimate diagnosis in verse 3: \u201cYou ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.\u201d The problem isn\u2019t unanswered prayer. It\u2019s misguided hearts. Hearts that crave worldly pleasures more than God Himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He calls it what it is: \u201cYou adulterous people!\u201d Meaning, spiritual adultery. Friendship with the world is enmity with God. And in verse 5, James says something haunting and beautiful: \u201cHe yearns jealously over the Spirit He has made to dwell in us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God isn\u2019t distant. He isn\u2019t indifferent. He is jealous, not in a petty way, but in a holy, covenantal, pursuing way. He wants your heart. He doesn\u2019t want to give you what your flesh wanted before you met Him, He wants to change your passions until He becomes your passion. Why? Because every earthly gift, health, wealth, healing, will come and go. But the Giver remains. Why? To show and teach you that though you may think that you want the gift, you truly need the Giver, because the Giver is the gift.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And here\u2019s where the tide turns: \u201cBut He gives more grace.\u201d That\u2019s the pivot. That\u2019s the banner. God gives more grace, not just once and not just when you\u2019re saved, but over and over. But to whom? \u201cGod opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.\u201d Humility is the highway to grace. James calls us: \u201cSubmit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of you need to hear this: You don\u2019t have to clean yourself up before you come. Just come. Mourn. Weep. Let your laughter turn to mourning. Let your joy turn to gloom. In other words: get real with your sin. And then? \u201cHumble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.\u201d Not because of who you are. Not because of what you\u2019ve done. But because of Christ. Because God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you humble yourself, God exalts you, not by lifting you onto a pedestal, but by wrapping you in the righteousness of Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

James ends with this command: \u201cDo not speak evil against one another, brothers.\u201d The one who judges his brother speaks evil of the law and sets himself up as judge. Here\u2019s the sobering truth: \u201cThere is only one Lawgiver and Judge, He who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?\u201d How dare we, who have received grace, speak condemnation over others? God, though He has every right to speak evil against us, does not. He speaks grace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So we ask ourselves: Would I speak that way to Jesus? Would I mock or belittle Him the way I do my brother or sister in Christ? If not, then I must repent. I must humble myself. And I must let His grace flow through my words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me leave you with Paul\u2019s words from 1 Corinthians 15: \u201cBy the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain\u2026 whether it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s it, beloved. That\u2019s the banner over us: His Grace is Greater.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greater than your sorrow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greater than your weakness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greater than your sin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So come. Repent. Rejoice. And live under His greater grace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grace be with you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sermon Link Sermon Excerpt from James 4:1\u201312 Picture the waves crashing gently over what\u2019s left of the shipwreck. Horatio Spafford<\/p>\n

Continue readingHis Grace Is Greater<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/joc.lukegbrown.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/joc.lukegbrown.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/joc.lukegbrown.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joc.lukegbrown.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joc.lukegbrown.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=193"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/joc.lukegbrown.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":194,"href":"https:\/\/joc.lukegbrown.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193\/revisions\/194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/joc.lukegbrown.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joc.lukegbrown.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joc.lukegbrown.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}