Set Your Face Like a Flint: The Application of Grace

Sermon outline

Grace is not there to sustain us in sin or selfishness but to carry us while we do the Father's will, so set your face like a flint as Jesus did and get to the Lord in every circumstance.

1. Creation is waiting, so live in expectation

   The earth is in expectation of the manifestation of the sons of God, and we too must be in expectation for the promises of God. We have allowed the past to take up our present, treated delays as denials and accepted pain and loss as normal. Be fully persuaded, as Abraham was, that what God promised He is able to do, because His word does not move like the wind or the waves.

   “Our present does not determine our future.”

   • Romans 8:19-23
   • Romans 4:21
   • Proverbs 10:22

2. Grace starts with you and overflows

   Grace and peace have been multiplied to us, and the grace on your life enters every environment you walk into. But grace is not there to sustain us in sin or in selfishness. It is there when we are living according to God's purposes, to carry us over the circumstances of life and to let us function in godly purpose every day.

   Illustration: When you walk into an empty store, does it stay empty, or does it begin to get busy? Where there was chaos there is peace, and where there was lack there is increase.

   “Grace is not there to sustain us in times of selfishness. Grace is there when we are living according to God's purposes.”

   • Colossians 1:2

3. Four things that let Jesus set His face like a flint

   Isaiah 50 pictures Jesus on the hard road to Jerusalem, and four things enabled Him to do the Father's will. Number one, the tongue of the learned, literally the tongue of disciples, saying only what the Father taught Him. Number two, an ear to hear God's will through constant communion, prayer, fasting and the Scriptures. Number three, He was not rebellious but obedient, even in the most agonising hours. Number four, He had confidence that God was near and would make Him victorious.

   Illustration: Saturday night out with the girlfriend, and no time to prepare your heart for Sunday: that is not how you come to know God's voice.

   “Jesus had an intimate relationship with the Father. It doesn't say Jesus had an intimate relationship with the pastor.”

   • Isaiah 50:4-9
   • John 5:19
   • Romans 8:28

4. You know the will of God; it is just not comfortable

   People say that if God would only show them clearly what He wants, they would do it. The disciples sat next to Jesus and still expected an earthly kingdom, because their expectation was human. Take God's word as your expectation, see the whole picture of His plan for man, and fit yourself into where He has called you rather than where you are comfortable. Jesus came to do the will of the One who sent Him and to destroy the works of the devil.

   Illustration: Praying the psalmist's prayers against your enemies, "smite them down, chop them in half", is a human expectation, not God's.

   “Most believers, they know what the will of the Father is. It's just that it's not comfortable.”

   • John 6:38
   • 1 John 3:8
   • 2 Peter 3:9
   • John 3:17

5. The great commission is God's will for your life

   Jesus was obedient unto death, and through His blood His will was put in force: go and make disciples of all nations. That is God's will for every believer, and gifts, talents and callings fall into line inside it. Even the dreams we have for our families, a doctor or a lawyer in the family, a new house or car, are for godly purpose.

   “This is God's will for your life. This is the great commission. Don't ever let anybody tell you otherwise.”

   • Philippians 2:8
   • Matthew 28:19-20

6. Set your face like a flint and get to the Lord

   Single-minded and single-focused, we show up whether the pressure is on or off. Money comes and goes, people come and go, and as long as there are people on earth there will be betrayal, so it is not about them but about the Father. Our emotions follow the word rather than lead us, and the great work that brings great grace is loving God and loving people, which means dying to yourself.

   Illustration: The couple who stayed up talking after dinner on Saturday and were too tired for church come on the following Sunday asking the pastor to pray that the Lord will come through for them.

   “Our emotions do not lead us. Our emotions follow the Word of God.”

   • Matthew 6:33
   • Isaiah 53:1

In this message