WEBVTT NOTE Podcast: Acts 29 Vancouver Episode: Contents of the Ark - Manna Publishing Date: 2026-03-22T03:04:44-07:00 Podcast URL: https://acts29.ca Episode URL: https://acts29.ca/contents-of-the-ark-manna/ 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:22.280 God is trying to do the exact opposite. We should use reasoning as always the second default 00:00:22.280 --> 00:00:28.520 after God being our primary default. So we are always asking, I know how to do this for 00:00:28.520 --> 00:00:33.640 God, let me go ahead, but do you want to change anything? So it's not that we are not to 00:00:33.640 --> 00:00:44.640 use reasoning, but it's always second. Always second. There's literally a default. A default—always 00:00:44.640 --> 00:00:52.640 remember, defaults move through three stages. The first one is choice, the second one is 00:00:52.760 --> 00:00:58.760 struggle, the third one is default. Three stages. Everything is a choice. When you decide, 00:00:58.760 --> 00:01:04.760 no, I want to change, then it becomes a struggle because now you've got to change. Eventually, 00:01:04.760 --> 00:01:16.760 if you keep struggling through it, it becomes a default. So it always takes time. So when you look 00:01:16.880 --> 00:01:24.480 at the New Testament perspective of manna, you'll have to go to John chapter 6. John chapter 6. 00:01:24.480 --> 00:01:34.600 John chapter 6. Verse 48 onwards. John 6, 48 onwards. It's crazy, eh? Here he's supplying 00:01:34.600 --> 00:01:40.800 manna. It says Christ was the rock that went with them in the wilderness, that the Spirit of God 00:01:40.800 --> 00:01:45.880 was present with them. You read Deuteronomy 32, 33, it talks about that. And then you come to 00:01:45.880 --> 00:01:52.520 John chapter 6, and what happened 2,000, 3,000 years ago now, Jesus is taking and he's showing 00:01:52.520 --> 00:02:06.400 them what it sounds like. John chapter 6, verse 48 to 59 or so. Let me just read it from 48 onwards. 00:02:07.160 --> 00:02:17.600 I am the bread of life. Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. But here is 00:02:17.600 --> 00:02:24.000 the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread 00:02:24.000 --> 00:02:29.400 that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, 00:02:29.400 --> 00:02:35.480 which I give for the life of the world. Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, 00:02:35.560 --> 00:02:41.000 how can this man give us his flesh to eat? Jesus said to them, I tell you the truth, 00:02:41.000 --> 00:02:47.040 unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 00:02:47.040 --> 00:02:52.920 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last 00:02:52.920 --> 00:02:59.480 day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my 00:02:59.480 --> 00:03:05.120 blood remains in him and I in him. Just as the living Father has sent me, and I live because of 00:03:05.120 --> 00:03:10.520 the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down 00:03:10.520 --> 00:03:16.360 from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever. 00:03:16.360 --> 00:03:22.480 He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. What a teacher, eh? He can see 00:03:22.480 --> 00:03:27.640 displeasure beginning to brew in his audience and instead of backing off, instead of softening, 00:03:27.640 --> 00:03:35.520 he ratchets it up. Doesn't back off from what he's saying. And he's comparing himself as a 00:03:35.520 --> 00:03:44.240 bread of life to manna. So how do we look at manna in the New Testament? From a New Testament 00:03:44.240 --> 00:04:03.640 perspective, manna is the bread of grace that we partake in daily. When we pray that prayer in 00:04:03.640 --> 00:04:09.440 Matthew 6, 11, which says, give us this day our daily bread, we are not just talking, not just 00:04:09.440 --> 00:04:22.520 as in it involves that, not just talking about feeding our stomachs. Because Jesus makes it very 00:04:22.520 --> 00:04:27.920 clear here, your fathers wanted manna, I provided it for them, they ate it, they died. But what I'm 00:04:27.920 --> 00:04:35.400 giving you is way more than filling your stomach. So he's talking about manna as the bread of grace. 00:04:35.400 --> 00:04:42.120 It's a bread of grace that we partake in daily. It's much more than food for the stomach. Anyone 00:04:42.120 --> 00:04:48.520 who eats it does not die ever. So when we say give us this day a bread to eat, we are saying, 00:04:48.520 --> 00:05:12.400 oh God, give me the grace I need to be sustained in your ways and plans today. Give me the grace 00:05:12.560 --> 00:05:25.520 I need. Guys, before we go further, we have to understand that when God talks about grace, 00:05:25.520 --> 00:05:37.800 let's look at what he means by grace. Grace is not morsels. Grace is not a leg up. Grace is not a bit 00:05:37.800 --> 00:05:59.760 of help. Grace is not half a cookie. Grace is not pass marks. Grace is not get me over the speed bump. 00:05:59.760 --> 00:06:07.600 This is not grace. This is how we think of it because we use the word everywhere. Ah, she 00:06:07.600 --> 00:06:14.880 dances with such grace. Oh, did you hear him? His speech was so gracious. The word that perhaps we 00:06:14.880 --> 00:06:21.120 should use is charis, which is a Greek word. And we don't know anything about it, so it might help 00:06:21.120 --> 00:06:27.080 us reframe what grace means. So now let's look at what grace is. And by the way, grace is abstract 00:06:27.160 --> 00:06:32.520 and concrete. It's almost like manna. What did they do when they first saw manna? What did they say? 00:06:33.640 --> 00:06:40.120 What is it? And then they looked at it a few more times and they said, hmm, looks like white coriander 00:06:40.120 --> 00:06:45.800 tastes like wafer with honey. So on one hand it's abstract, on the other hand it is concrete. 00:06:46.920 --> 00:06:51.080 Grace is that way too. So let's try and define grace. Here's what it can be defined as. 00:06:51.880 --> 00:06:54.040 We'll go slow even if we don't finish. 00:07:00.440 --> 00:07:11.560 First, all God's activity can be summed up 00:07:14.840 --> 00:07:15.480 in one word. 00:07:15.480 --> 00:07:22.920 Activity to man, with man, can be summed up in one word, grace. So what is it, what can we define it as? 00:07:24.280 --> 00:07:29.320 Grace is God giving himself 00:07:32.120 --> 00:07:33.080 to me, 00:07:35.960 --> 00:07:36.920 withholding 00:07:39.720 --> 00:07:40.520 nothing. 00:07:45.640 --> 00:07:47.640 Grace is the gift of himself, 00:07:50.680 --> 00:07:59.080 the full free gift of Christ, his son, 00:08:01.640 --> 00:08:04.600 to me. That's the first one. 00:08:04.600 --> 00:08:05.100 So, 00:08:07.320 --> 00:08:16.120 Charis is the God of the universe who's present here now and who was before anything existed. 00:08:17.560 --> 00:08:28.600 Charis's grace is God giving himself to me, withholding nothing of himself, 00:08:29.240 --> 00:08:40.920 the full free gift of Christ, his son, holding nothing back, fully given to me. 00:08:47.320 --> 00:08:48.920 It's holding nothing. 00:08:58.600 --> 00:09:02.600 If we understand grace, even the way we talk about the gospel will change. 00:09:06.040 --> 00:09:08.200 If you go to someone and tell them 00:09:10.680 --> 00:09:20.440 that God wants to give himself fully to you, withholding nothing back, and that Jesus Christ 00:09:20.440 --> 00:09:26.440 is a free gift, fully given to you, he's a person fully to you, withholding nothing back. 00:09:27.400 --> 00:09:29.720 It's hard for someone not to desire it, man. 00:09:35.400 --> 00:09:35.720 Next. 00:09:42.920 --> 00:09:49.480 Grace is God, who by the way is consuming fire. 00:09:49.480 --> 00:09:50.520 Grace is God 00:09:54.040 --> 00:09:55.880 giving himself to me, 00:10:03.080 --> 00:10:04.200 caring nothing 00:10:06.440 --> 00:10:07.400 for the fact 00:10:11.080 --> 00:10:11.580 that 00:10:14.280 --> 00:10:14.780 I 00:10:15.420 --> 00:10:15.920 that 00:10:18.380 --> 00:10:22.300 I am undeserving 00:10:24.620 --> 00:10:28.060 and actually worthy of judgment. 00:10:33.100 --> 00:10:35.500 Caring nothing for the fact that I'm undeserving. 00:10:36.940 --> 00:10:40.060 Grace is God who is holy and consuming fire, 00:10:40.700 --> 00:10:42.140 giving himself to me, 00:10:45.020 --> 00:10:49.340 caring nothing for the fact that I am undeserving 00:10:50.700 --> 00:10:59.100 of his glorious, holy, personal, perpetual presence from now on to eternity. 00:10:59.100 --> 00:11:01.100 That is grace. 00:11:10.060 --> 00:11:28.620 Grace is God giving himself to me, 00:11:28.940 --> 00:11:39.180 not in reluctance or out of obligation, 00:11:40.060 --> 00:11:49.180 but with desire-filled delight. 00:11:51.420 --> 00:11:57.180 These are truths that we have to accept. 00:11:58.860 --> 00:12:05.500 Grace is God giving himself to me, 00:12:08.380 --> 00:12:09.500 not because he is God, 00:12:11.340 --> 00:12:15.580 not because he feels obliged because he made me, 00:12:16.860 --> 00:12:19.980 but out of desire-filled delight. 00:12:19.980 --> 00:12:24.300 It is something that has in it the joy of God. 00:12:24.940 --> 00:12:27.980 Grace has in it the joy of God. 00:12:29.180 --> 00:12:35.900 Love that is given reluctantly or as an obligation is contractual and is not loyal. 00:12:37.420 --> 00:12:43.340 Grace given to me not in reluctance or because of obligation, 00:12:43.340 --> 00:12:44.620 not even because he is God, 00:12:45.660 --> 00:12:49.180 but because of delight-filled desire. 00:12:49.180 --> 00:12:50.700 It is a joyful giving. 00:12:50.700 --> 00:12:52.860 It's not a hesitant giving. 00:12:58.620 --> 00:13:19.180 Grace is God giving himself to me so that 00:13:19.820 --> 00:13:37.740 his wholeness, fullness completes all that is lacking, 00:13:37.820 --> 00:13:52.300 not because he is God, ugly, hidden, weak or deficient in me. 00:13:52.300 --> 00:14:03.340 It's powerful stuff, man. 00:14:06.780 --> 00:14:12.460 Grace is God giving himself to me so that his fullness, his wholeness, 00:14:13.500 --> 00:14:19.420 completes everything that is ugly and hidden and weak and deficient in me. 00:14:22.780 --> 00:14:28.860 In a sense, grace is tailor-made for people that are bankrupt. 00:14:33.260 --> 00:14:35.580 Grace is tailored for people that are bankrupt. 00:14:35.580 --> 00:14:43.340 Grace is tailored for beggars. 00:14:52.620 --> 00:14:59.340 So, 00:15:03.020 --> 00:15:04.140 that which I am not, 00:15:10.140 --> 00:15:20.220 that which I am not is made up by me in him. 00:15:22.860 --> 00:15:37.740 And that which I am is undone by him in me. 00:15:39.340 --> 00:15:41.580 That which I am not is made up by me in him. 00:15:42.620 --> 00:15:45.900 You find that in Colossians 2.10. 00:15:47.980 --> 00:15:51.180 And that which I am is undone by him in me. 00:15:51.180 --> 00:15:53.420 You find that in 1 Corinthians 4.7. 00:15:53.980 --> 00:15:57.740 In 1 Corinthians 4.7 it says, Jacob, what do you have that you did not receive? 00:15:57.820 --> 00:16:02.460 You think you teach well, where do you think you got that from? 00:16:05.180 --> 00:16:08.540 You think you hear well, where do you think you got that from? 00:16:10.140 --> 00:16:13.180 You think you prophesy well, where do you think you got that from? 00:16:14.700 --> 00:16:17.660 You think you plant churches well, where do you think you got that from? 00:16:17.660 --> 00:16:24.300 you think you word things well, where do you think you got that from? 00:16:24.300 --> 00:16:30.780 So if you have nothing that you can claim 00:16:30.780 --> 00:16:34.940 you developed on your own, then where is your boast? 00:16:34.940 --> 00:16:38.300 And therefore that which I am 00:16:38.300 --> 00:16:42.140 is undone. Everything that I am that is good is undone 00:16:42.140 --> 00:16:45.900 by him in me because he's the one who is the source of it. 00:16:46.300 --> 00:16:53.580 And everything that I am not, all deficiencies, all weaknesses, all things hidden, all ugly 00:16:54.620 --> 00:16:58.540 is made up by me being in him because it says in Colossians 2.10 00:16:58.540 --> 00:17:04.380 that because I'm found in him he has made me complete. I am complete in him. 00:17:05.820 --> 00:17:11.020 So then it doesn't matter and grace is not supposed to cover me. Grace is supposed to 00:17:11.020 --> 00:17:15.740 fill me. There's a difference guys. One of the things that happens with grace and this is why 00:17:16.460 --> 00:17:23.020 cheap grace is beginning to flourish. We think of grace as covering my nakedness or covering 00:17:23.020 --> 00:17:29.660 the cracks in my person. Grace should not just cover me. Grace should fill me. If grace fills me 00:17:29.660 --> 00:17:34.540 then what goes out of me will also be full of grace. You can pour out grace only if you're 00:17:34.540 --> 00:17:38.860 filled with grace. You can stand before him if you're covered with grace which he does. 00:17:39.500 --> 00:17:43.020 The moment Adam sinned he was covered with grace. 00:17:45.260 --> 00:17:50.540 Grace carries in it love and love carries in its sacrifice. What happened in the Garden of Eden 00:17:50.540 --> 00:17:56.300 was just a sheer act of grace. Here is someone undeserving who was given plenty of occasions 00:17:56.300 --> 00:18:03.820 to repair things. He did not. He stepped into sin and grace comes just like the wind that covers him 00:18:04.540 --> 00:18:12.060 but grace covering us allows us to stand before God but when grace fills you now out of you 00:18:12.060 --> 00:18:21.020 grace begins to flow. It pours out to others. You become gracious. So don't let it just cover you. 00:18:22.220 --> 00:18:27.900 Many here have heard of how the word sincere comes from the word sinseer which means without wax 00:18:27.900 --> 00:18:32.220 because sculptors used to put wax to cover the cracks in their statues. We're not covering 00:18:32.220 --> 00:18:36.460 ourselves with grace. That is 101. It's not even 101 it's half or half. 00:18:40.380 --> 00:18:50.300 We want to be filled with grace. Think of yourself as a car. This is the attitude you should have. 00:18:50.300 --> 00:18:57.900 A car that is running on empty but a car that knows that for the next 800 kilometers there's 00:18:57.900 --> 00:19:03.980 no charging station. There's no gas station. You're running on empty but you have this confident 00:19:03.980 --> 00:19:09.820 eager expectation that in my nothingness everything will be supplied because of him 00:19:10.780 --> 00:19:17.180 and you keep going. Nii from Kelowna talked about how one day when he was driving back to Kelowna 00:19:17.180 --> 00:19:23.660 he got stuck in the middle of the coke and his tank was empty and all he did was just pray. He 00:19:23.660 --> 00:19:29.820 didn't want to call his wife and kids because he was scared that they would get anxious because 00:19:29.820 --> 00:19:36.300 it was snowing. He had taken a wrong turn and now he's coming back. The tank is empty. All he's doing 00:19:36.300 --> 00:19:40.940 is speaking in tongues and praying and the car keeps going and keeps going and keeps going 50, 00:19:40.940 --> 00:19:47.340 60, 70, 80 kilometers on an empty tank till it gets to the gas station. 00:19:53.820 --> 00:19:59.100 This the nothingness that is required. Here are the three things required for grace to take a 00:19:59.100 --> 00:20:08.300 hold in my life. Undeservedness, no self-entitlement, no exchange. As in I will do this for you or God you 00:20:08.300 --> 00:20:14.300 do this for me. Throw it out of the window. He doesn't owe you a dime. You can do everything you 00:20:14.300 --> 00:20:20.220 want for him. You should because of the grace poured into your life but do not. One of the 00:20:20.300 --> 00:20:25.020 things we should never do is go and do this thing of I've been working hard for you. I've done this 00:20:25.020 --> 00:20:28.780 for you. I've done this for you. What have you done for me lately? Do that with Tooney and me 00:20:29.900 --> 00:20:39.020 but not with God. Second, entitlement. It is impossible for grace to take root as long as 00:20:39.020 --> 00:20:47.340 you think you're entitled to it. Grace marks. The very idea of grace marks is you can't march into 00:20:47.340 --> 00:20:51.900 your teacher's thing and say I want my grace marks. No, that's why it's called grace marks. 00:20:52.940 --> 00:20:54.220 You're not entitled to it. 00:20:59.420 --> 00:21:06.620 Entitlement, exchange, deservedness are three things that prevent grace from taking root. 00:21:10.540 --> 00:21:13.900 If you're not able to receive God's grace, you will not be able to receive his love. 00:21:14.300 --> 00:21:19.740 Hear me again. If you cannot receive God's grace, you will not be able to receive his love. One of 00:21:19.740 --> 00:21:26.140 the ways to check if you are receiving grace is to check if you're able to bask in his love. 00:21:28.620 --> 00:21:32.540 Most of the time we are not able to bask in his love because we are constantly living by 00:21:32.540 --> 00:21:37.660 did I meet the requirements, did I not, did I fail, did I do well, is he upset with me, is he not. 00:21:37.660 --> 00:21:39.180 That's a constant question. 00:21:44.380 --> 00:21:48.060 I went one of the ways to measure whether I'm receiving grace is to 00:21:48.060 --> 00:21:54.060 question whether I'm able to receive love because grace is what allows a channel to be cut into your 00:21:54.060 --> 00:21:58.220 life through which love flows. One who cannot receive grace will not be able to walk in love, 00:21:59.420 --> 00:22:03.180 walk in the knowledge of how much he loves you. 00:22:14.780 --> 00:22:29.100 Just like daily bread had to be gathered, you have to go out to gather grace. The currency for most 00:22:29.100 --> 00:22:35.260 things in the kingdom is hunger and thirst. The currency for most things in the kingdom is hunger 00:22:35.260 --> 00:22:39.500 and thirst. Blessed are those that those that hunger and thirst for they shall be, 00:22:40.460 --> 00:22:46.700 satisfied. You must hunger and thirst for grace. It's available but you have to go and collect it 00:22:46.700 --> 00:22:53.020 just like you collect manna, you have to go out. Oh God, you know my situation, you know my 00:22:53.020 --> 00:22:57.180 circumstances, nobody knows them, you know how difficult they are, you know how scary they are, 00:22:57.180 --> 00:23:04.300 but I come to you like a car with a tank that is completely empty and that has to go 800 kilometres 00:23:04.300 --> 00:23:11.900 now and I come to you knowing today oh God that you oh faithful one have all the grace that I 00:23:11.900 --> 00:23:18.860 require for today and it is sufficient. It reigns bread, it's not a little cookie, it's not a little 00:23:18.860 --> 00:23:26.620 morsel, it reigns bread. I have the sufficiency that I need for my marriage, for my finances, 00:23:26.620 --> 00:23:33.980 for living, for purpose, for work, I have the grace I need and I approach it with an eagerness 00:23:33.980 --> 00:23:39.900 because I expect you to give it. Now do you see why Paul in 2 Corinthians 12 says when I am weak 00:23:40.460 --> 00:23:48.140 then I get excited because in my weakness I know that the power of the life of the Son of God 00:23:48.140 --> 00:24:02.140 is now going to be manifested. If I only receive grace as a covering I go back 00:24:02.860 --> 00:24:06.460 into sin and I have to receive the covering again, go back into sin, receive the covering, 00:24:06.460 --> 00:24:11.900 but when I let the grace of God fill me now what pours out of me is life. 00:24:16.700 --> 00:24:21.020 And the only way to receive it is to on the best day of your life 00:24:21.020 --> 00:24:25.580 have the same bankruptcy that you have on the worst day of your life. 00:24:25.580 --> 00:24:34.940 On the best day of your life, when you are worshipping like Jesus, when you are walking 00:24:34.940 --> 00:24:42.540 like Jesus, when everything you touch gets healed, on that day you should be as desperate for grace, 00:24:42.540 --> 00:24:51.980 as empty in your tank in the car, as I've got nothing to boast about. All I need is grace and 00:24:51.980 --> 00:24:59.340 then on the worst day it's the same thing. Children don't know better, they're always like that. 00:24:59.980 --> 00:25:04.620 Doesn't matter whether they dress themselves up, ate without spilling anything and didn't poo, 00:25:05.500 --> 00:25:11.340 or days when they don't dress themselves up, spread food all across and poo like crazy, 00:25:11.340 --> 00:25:19.260 it doesn't matter. They still look forward to the with helpless eager eyes. 00:25:22.140 --> 00:25:32.860 This is the beauty of grace, man, and we need to go back because we sometimes forget these simple 00:25:32.860 --> 00:25:37.980 things. Grace is recognizing you're a car and empty, aware there isn't a station for the next 00:25:37.980 --> 00:25:44.780 800 kilometers, but confident, grateful and joyful for every carefree kilometer that you drive. 00:25:44.780 --> 00:25:50.300 Israel was in that situation. Stretchers of desert at some point, 00:25:50.300 --> 00:25:54.860 when they were in good shape, they would be confident, grateful and joyful that they were 00:25:54.860 --> 00:25:59.820 in the desert. This is why one of the celebrations they loved celebrating after they came out of the 00:25:59.820 --> 00:26:05.180 desert was the Feast of Tabernacles. Why? Because the Feast of Tabernacles was a reminder that when 00:26:05.180 --> 00:26:11.260 we were in a hostile terrain, oh God, instead of letting us drive, instead of trying to make us 00:26:11.260 --> 00:26:17.100 do stuff, you, oh God, turned up and your very presence at the proceeding word sustained us for 00:26:17.100 --> 00:26:22.380 40 years. So much so that not only did you provide for us, your presence was with us. Our shoes did 00:26:22.380 --> 00:26:29.340 not wear off, our clothes did not wear, and they celebrated. How would they celebrate it? They would 00:26:29.340 --> 00:26:35.980 leave their homes, even today Orthodox Jews leave their homes, they set up a little booth with 00:26:35.980 --> 00:26:42.220 branches and they sit under that for days and nights. A reminder of what God can do. 00:26:43.180 --> 00:26:44.700 A reminder of what God can do. 00:26:46.940 --> 00:26:51.500 But so many important little things here, eh? The proceeding word, grace. 00:26:54.220 --> 00:26:59.020 Where does grace come from? It comes from the word of God. How do we access grace? We access 00:26:59.020 --> 00:27:06.220 grace by faith, and that too is the grace of God. Crazy. You access grace by faith, but even that 00:27:06.220 --> 00:27:12.620 faith is provided by God. It's like a child who wants to buy a gift for his mother and goes, he 00:27:12.620 --> 00:27:17.500 asks the father for the money to buy a gift for the mother and then buys a gift that he knows the 00:27:17.500 --> 00:27:32.140 mother will share with him. That's how this works. How do you get grace? You access it from the word 00:27:32.140 --> 00:27:36.940 and you access it from the spirit. Hebrews 10 29. The spirit of God is called the spirit of grace. 00:27:37.900 --> 00:27:43.260 It says, do not trample underfoot the blood of Christ and do not insult the spirit of grace. 00:27:45.100 --> 00:27:52.220 Now you see why in Zechariah 4, verse 8 and 9, it says, it's not by might, not by power, but by the 00:27:52.220 --> 00:27:59.340 spirit and the glory of the latter temple shall be greater than the former temple. So set up 00:27:59.580 --> 00:28:06.140 the foundations and when you set up the foundations, what do you shout? Grace, grace. 00:28:10.540 --> 00:28:15.500 One of the things the spirit of God does is bring grace to us. What kind of grace? First, 00:28:15.500 --> 00:28:21.900 the conviction of sin and righteousness. What grace? Everybody sitting here at one point or 00:28:21.900 --> 00:28:26.540 the other came to a deep conviction of sin. Even now when we talk about grace, tears come to our 00:28:27.500 --> 00:28:32.380 eyes. You remember when you knew you were a sinner and you said, Jesus, Jesus, I need you. 00:28:32.380 --> 00:28:37.580 Didn't matter which church you came from, what your background was, Jesus, I need you. It was 00:28:37.580 --> 00:28:45.740 grace and he came and he filled your life. And then there is the charismata. The very word 00:28:45.740 --> 00:28:53.420 carries in grace. The gifts of the spirit, charismata. Gifts brought by the spirit given to 00:28:53.420 --> 00:28:58.060 you so that you can benefit him and him and she can benefit him and he can benefit me. 00:29:00.460 --> 00:29:06.380 Then there is the grace brought to you and given to people appointed by Christ to equip us. 00:29:08.620 --> 00:29:14.700 And Jesus, when he ascended, gave gifts to people and he appointed them with graces so that the 00:29:14.700 --> 00:29:21.900 church could be equipped. And finally, Galatians 5 or 1 Peter 2, 2 Peter 1, 4, whichever one you 00:29:21.900 --> 00:29:27.180 want to choose. I will cause you to be partakers in his divine nature by giving you the grace that 00:29:27.180 --> 00:29:32.860 Christ has in love, in peace, in joy, in goodness, in long suffering, in patience, the fruit of the 00:29:32.860 --> 00:29:43.420 spirit. He's the spirit of grace. This is what we have guys. It's brilliant. 00:29:43.420 --> 00:29:48.940 We'll talk about ways that we can turn grace into maggots next time. I want to break bread. 00:29:50.940 --> 00:29:57.100 And as we come to break bread, as we gather at this table, we are gathering at the table of grace, 00:29:57.100 --> 00:30:03.500 we eat his flesh. We partake of his substance. When Jesus said, come eat my flesh and drink my 00:30:03.500 --> 00:30:08.380 blood, what is he saying? Come partake of my substance. 00:30:08.380 --> 00:30:18.380 What is his substance? John 1 verse 14, and Jesus came full of what? Full of truth and grace. 00:30:18.380 --> 00:30:28.380 Come partake of my substance. What is this covenant about? This God covenant is simply one word, grace. 00:30:28.540 --> 00:30:38.060 I want you to read what grace is before we approach the table. 00:30:47.980 --> 00:30:56.060 All God's activity with man can be summed up in one word, grace, from Eden onwards. 00:30:56.220 --> 00:31:05.420 Grace is God giving himself to me, withholding nothing of himself. Try believing that, hey, 00:31:06.220 --> 00:31:08.460 that he's withholding nothing of himself. 00:31:13.020 --> 00:31:18.220 Nothing of himself. These are just symbols. What he's saying is, listen, as you eat this, 00:31:18.220 --> 00:31:24.220 know that you're eating my flesh as in partaking of my substance. When you drink this, know you're 00:31:25.180 --> 00:31:30.780 drinking my blood, you're partaking of my substance. What is the substance of Jesus Christ? 00:31:30.780 --> 00:31:38.060 Truth and grace. That's what we're doing. And they left him, John 6, 66, and many left him. 00:31:40.940 --> 00:31:43.820 And then he turns around and says, are you going to leave too? And Peter says, 00:31:43.820 --> 00:31:46.700 where shall we go for you have the words of eternal life. 00:31:47.420 --> 00:31:55.420 Second one, God who is consuming fire, giving himself to me, caring nothing for the fact 00:31:55.980 --> 00:32:02.700 that I'm undeserving. When you come to partake in this, he cares nothing for the fact that you 00:32:02.700 --> 00:32:08.940 are undeserving and worthy of judgment. Third, 00:32:09.900 --> 00:32:15.020 grace is God giving himself to me, not in reluctance or out of obligation. 00:32:16.140 --> 00:32:19.420 One of the things he said before he asked people to partake in this meal is, 00:32:19.420 --> 00:32:27.980 I have longed to eat this with you. Not in reluctance, not in obligation, not with obligation, 00:32:27.980 --> 00:32:32.780 out of obligation, but with desire. He says, I have longed to eat this with you. 00:32:32.780 --> 00:32:39.500 Not in reluctance, not in obligation, not with obligation, out of obligation, but with desire 00:32:39.500 --> 00:32:46.700 filled delight. Next one, God is giving me himself so that the wholeness, the fullness 00:32:47.660 --> 00:32:53.580 that he has will complete all that is lacking and ugly and hidden and weak and deficient in me. 00:32:53.580 --> 00:33:06.860 And as you come, lay down everything that you think you are, which is noble, good, godly, laid down. 00:33:09.580 --> 00:33:15.180 Part of approaching the grace of God requires laying down the very things that he has made you 00:33:17.500 --> 00:33:20.300 because we begin to own even the things he has made you. 00:33:24.540 --> 00:33:33.900 Saying I might be this, but I am this simply because you do not withhold any of you when it 00:33:33.900 --> 00:33:45.260 comes to me. That is why I get to at times be like you. Then the other part is that which I'm, 00:33:46.540 --> 00:33:52.060 that which I'm not is made up. That which I'm not is made up. All the things that are lacking, 00:33:52.140 --> 00:33:58.140 all the things that you can point a finger at, all the things that are valid accusations, 00:33:58.140 --> 00:34:05.100 all of that gets covered. Daily bread. Please don't limit this to a 00:34:06.780 --> 00:34:13.020 once a month communion thing. It is daily bread. Go gather it every day. You will become the emptiest, 00:34:13.740 --> 00:34:18.620 fastest car there is. Doesn't matter what your outside looks like. You can be a Rolls-Royce, 00:34:18.620 --> 00:34:23.820 you can be a Mercedes, you can be whatever. Tesla. If you don't get a charge, you don't run. 00:34:36.540 --> 00:34:42.140 A rat's a man. Amazing grace how complex the sound, not how sweet the sound, 00:34:42.140 --> 00:34:48.380 because it's more complex than we think. Amazing grace how complex the sound that saved a rat like 00:34:48.380 --> 00:34:57.100 me. As we gather at this table, we eat his flesh, we partake in his very substance. 00:34:58.380 --> 00:35:04.780 Grace is a precious promise of this God covenant through which you get to partake of his divine 00:35:04.780 --> 00:35:13.500 nature. All you presently have and all I presently have is a result of his impoverishment on the 00:35:13.500 --> 00:35:23.100 cross. Because of that, I am filled with riches of grace. He who withheld nothing on the cross 00:35:24.620 --> 00:35:31.980 and he who did not consider my undeservedness then or my undeservedness today. He says, 00:35:32.620 --> 00:35:39.980 I desire deeply to exchange my life for yours again today. He says, I am grace. 00:35:40.940 --> 00:35:45.500 Come be complete. Let me read that again. He who withheld nothing on the cross 00:35:47.420 --> 00:35:51.740 and he who considers not your undeservedness 00:35:54.700 --> 00:35:59.660 is one who desires deeply to exchange his life for yours today. 00:36:03.500 --> 00:36:09.180 And he says, I am grace. Come be complete. 00:36:10.940 --> 00:36:22.380 So I'll just ask Tuni to come up and play and sing, just him. And just come up, take bread, 00:36:22.380 --> 00:36:29.420 take the cup, go sit, talk to the one who gives himself unreservedly, 00:36:29.420 --> 00:36:45.260 withholding nothing of himself, and completes you. Yeah, talk to him.