You Get What You're Hungry For: Receiving the Fullness of God's Grace

Hey friends, you may have a seat. May I just welcome you to Journey Church? If we've not had the privilege to meet, my name is Keith. I'm the founding and lead pastor here at Journey. And I just want to say welcome. What a great honor we get to spend some time together today at Journey Church. We believe there's hope for everyone. That includes you. We also want to welcome those watching online and around the world. We've got so many great friends. We've got Deborah from North Carolina. God bless you. Thanks for watching on the East Coast, even though we're on the West Coast, the best coast. Come on everybody. Uh we're so grateful that we got friends all over the place. We've got Angie McMinnville that always joins us and you are family. So we really believe that God can be anywhere at any time. So I pray that God's presence will be with you right where you are. Whether you're at home in your car or wherever you are. If you're in bed in your jammies, God bless you.

He's going to meet you right where you are. I believe that over you today. God's going to meet you right where you are. We're studying right now. What does it mean to be filled with the fullness of God? You know, the Bible says that that you can be filled with the fullness of God. Paul prayed it over the church in Ephesus in chapter 3 verse 19 in Ephesians 3:19. He says, "I pray you be filled with the fullness of God." So many of us stop short of what that what that means, what that looks like. We we know who God is, but what does it really mean to have the fullness of God in me? If God is almighty, if God is all knowing, if God is all powerful, how can I experience more of God in my life? And it starts right there by by by praying that prayer. God, I want more of you.

You pray that prayer, your life is about to change. God's going to meet you there. He cannot keep you where you are. God is too great for that. If you want to change, he will meet you there. But you will be filled by whatever you're hungry for. You see, what you're hungry for is what you're going to go after. You get what you're hungry for. This is just a true principle of life. If there's a pregnant woman that wants a peanut butter and pickle sandwich, that's what she's hungry for. Just give it to her. It's a reality in our lives. We go after whatever we're hungry for. You will get what you're hungry for. If you don't exercise, you won't hunger for exercise. You might know you need it, but the first time you exercise, your body will say, "What are you doing to me? Why are you doing this?" If you have the

discipline and forthright to say, "I'm going to change my life. I'm going to I'm going to change my habits." And you start getting healthy. You start going to the gym. You start stretching. You start changing your life. After a while, it becomes a habit, and you hunger for it. You get what you're hungry for. You want more knowledge, you'll want to read more books. you you want the things of this world, you will get it because you get what you're hungry for. Which is actually the title of today's sermon. You get what you're hungry for. Would you say that with me? You get what you're hungry for. In fact, Jesus tells us a promise found in Matthew 5:6. He said, "Blessed are blessed are." Who wants to be blessed today? Come on. You want to be blessed? Jesus just told you how to do it.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Not those who hunger and thirst for anything, you'll be satisfied. Not those who hunger and thirst for sex or those who hunger and thirst for for alcohol. Those who hunger and thirst for success in their careers. No, no. He says, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness." Now, righteousness, man, there's so many words that have been perverted in our English language today. When someone acts arrogant and narcissistic, we say, "Oh, you're self-righteous." As if righteousness is a bad thing. Righteousness is amazing because God is righteous. It's to be right. You should want to be right. You should want to have a right standing with God.

You You should want to have righteousness in your life because God is righteous. So, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. For here's the promise. If you hunger for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Deep down inside, all of us want to be satisfied. But we go after the wrong things. Then then we're left empty. We're left not satisfied. We wonder, why am I not satisfied? We're hungering and thirsting after the wrong things. So sometimes we don't hunger and thirst for something because we we just don't know what it's like. Let me just give you an illustration. Imagine if you will, you're walking through a mall and there's a kiosk right in the middle of the mall. You know those kiosks? And there's a display case. It's a glass display case. And and

as you walk by, it looks like it has mud inside of it. But it's not mud. It's fudge. But you've never had fudge before. I mean, you grew up homeschooled, organic, everything. And you've never had fudge before. You've actually walked by that case many times. And you wonder what in the world are they doing there? But on one particular day, they say, "Hey, hey, hey, hey, would you like some fudge?" You say, "It doesn't look like fudge. It looks like mud." They say, "Have you ever had our fudge?" "No, I've never had fudge before." And then they say, "Well, you've got to try it. How about I give you a sample? I'm just going to cut off just a a little

sample for you, just so you can taste and see what you're missing." So they take that fudge out and they get out the knife. They cut you just a little sample. They cut you just a little. You want a sample? Come on. You want a little sample? Promise I didn't lick that little s. Just a little little taste. They don't give you the whole bar. They just give you little tastes. And you put that little sample on the tip of your tongue and you realize what you've been missing your entire life. Just a euphoric experience. You're no longer in them all. All of those ingredients are melting on your tongue. You could you could taste the brown sugar with the butter and the cocoa. Oh, wow. It's just What is this stuff?

Now all of a sudden you This is not mud. This is a taste of heaven. So when they say, "Would you like some?" I want it all. Just box it all up. I'll give it to my friends as a gift. Th this is a blessing. Some of you don't know what you might want to go after because you've not had a taste. And today, God sent me here just to give you a sample to say there's more. I can't give it all to you, but God's willing to give it to you. As the psalmist said, "Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. You got to just try a sample. Some of you grew up in the church and you think that God is this old guy that makes you feel guilty. So So some of you think

that that that God is just this guy that's looking at all the wrong things you've done with this crooked finger saying, "This is what you've done wrong." Some of you think that God is a distant deity that you can't have a living relationship with. But I'm here to say, "Taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who runs and takes refuge in him." Don't run to the wrong places. Don't don't run to the arms of the wrong person. But you will be blessed when you hunger and you thirst and you go after God. You want more of God. You get what you're hungry for. You want religion, you'll become more religious. You follow the rules and people will see it inside of you.

I'll tell you, some go after the wrong things. you you start hungering and thirsting because you get addicted. You start abusing the wrong things, you're going to go after it. You hunger for sex, it's going to consume your mind, your desires, your dreams. You get consumed with money, you're going to hunger for more money. It will never be enough. You ever look at those billionaires with hundreds of billions of dollars and be like, you know, you're going to die, right? When is enough enough? When will you be satisfied? At what point do you realign your heart and say, "What am I hungry and thirsty for?" The psalmist poetically put it this way. My soul thirsts for God. For the living God. Let's just clarify. This

is not a God made by man. This is not a God made with hands. He's the living God. My soul, this is what I'm made for. I I'm My soul thirsts for God. For the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? See, if you're like me and you get a get a taste of that fudge, when do I get to go back to the mall? I'm out. I want more. My soul thirsts for this. The prophet Isaiah, he he powerfully prophesied this and it's an invitation to every single one of us today. Come everyone who thirsts. There's the invitation. Come everyone who thirsts. This is a metaphor for your soul. What are you hungry for? What are you thirsty for? Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters. And he who has no money, come. Don't worry. Buy and eat.

Come buy wine and milk without money and without price. If you want it, it's yours. No more excuses. I can't. I don't have enough. I've never been. The invitation from God is if you want it, it's yours. God's not going to force you to experience more of who he is. He's not going to make you, but he is going to give you a great invitation that what you're made to do is to experience more of him, to have the fullness of God. Don't stop short. You're not meant for a mediocre life. You're not meant to stay stuck. You're meant to experience the abundant life found in Jesus Christ. And some of you have bought into the lie that man, if I just really surrendered my life to Jesus, my life would be boring. I would have to give up something.

And what what you really mean is I'd have to give up sin. And I don't know if I want a boring life where I just go to church all the time. I might have to give more money. Maybe even worst of all, I'd have to go on a mission trip somewhere that I don't want to go. If you've ever believed that somehow surrendering your life to God is a limited life, it's a lie of the devil. Because a life surrendered to God is the very life that he destined and designed for you. And it is a life of abundancy. Last week we talked about the the transforming work when you surrender it all to Jesus. He takes the ordinary, he takes the water, he takes that which is cheap and he transforms it into that which is

invaluable, extraordinary. He turns it into wine. Water into wine. How? It's It's just by Jesus. He takes your shame because the example last week was a wedding that ran out of wine and this this would have put shame upon the family name. He takes your shame and he uses your shame to display his glory. What you thought was empty, what you thought was absence, what you thought would define who you are, God says, "Actually, I'm going to give you the best, not the leftovers. I'm going to give you the best and I'm going to save it for last." John when he describes Jesus life, he

tells an example in chapter 7, Jesus is at a feast and it happens to be the third day of this feast. That's a lot of food. This is a big buffet. And at this feast, Jesus in John 7:37, Jesus stood up and he cried out. If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. You know what I love about Jesus? I mean, what a boss to stand up at a big old meal. Everyone's drinking lots of wine. They're eating lots of food. And Jesus stands up and he proclaims, "I am what you're looking for. You'll never get enough food. You'll never get enough wine. You will never have enough. So if any one of you is thirsty, come to me and you will be satisfied. Come to me

and I'm going to give it to you. I love that Jesus doesn't hold back. He doesn't leave you to to your own conclusions. I've got something deep in my soul, but I don't know where to get it. Jesus says, "No, no, come to me. Don't look for it in the wrong places. I I appreciate Jesus. He doesn't hold back. He doesn't care if it looks kind of crazy to stand up in the middle of a meal and say, "Let me tell you what you're really looking for is me." There's a great invitation much like what Isaiah said in chapter 55 when he says, "Come. It's yours. It's free." But there's a warning in Isaiah 55:2 when the prophet says this. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread and your labor for that which does not satisfy?

Listen diligently to me and eat what is good and delight yourselves in rich food. The prophet is implying you are spending your time, your talents, your treasures on the wrong thing. Anybody ever done that before? You got into the wrong relationship. You invested too much money, too much time. Your dreams were in one thing. And then at the end of the day, deep down inside, you're not satisfied. Sometimes you even blame God. How'd you let me get in this place? Why would you do this to me? And all along, Jesus is standing up saying, "What you're looking for is actually found in me. I'm going to give you what you need. So don't don't invest your life in the wrong things, but I want you to have the right thing. Metaphorically speaking,

don't go buy the wrong things. Go after the good things. Why would you go make mud pies when you can have fudge? You don't need to pretend anymore. Go after the good stuff. Some of us have actually believed the lie that God can't use me. I've messed up too much or someone has done something to me or I'm not good enough. I don't know enough about the Bible. I haven't been going to church long enough. I've been going to church so long and I haven't been you. We make up every reason why we can't be used by God. Why we don't go after God. But may I remind you that Jesus when he had the multitudes, thousands, the scriptures record 5,000 men. They were following Jesus. He was preaching and teaching and it was night and his his followers said, "Jesus, you got to let them go. It's past supper time. They're going to get hungry and soon they're

going to be angry and nothing's worse than a big mob of angry people." Jesus let them go home. And Jesus looked at them and says, "You give them something to eat." And they looked at their money and said, "We we don't even have enough money to feed all these people. By the way, where would we get this food to feed them?" And someone found a boy with five loaves of bread and two fish. You know what Jesus wants from you? You. This would be the equivalent of a happy meal. I'm talking like a bad cheeseburger and a small fry. This is nothing special. When you look at your life with 7 billion people on the planet, you're more like a happy meal. I mean, what what sets you apart? Well, I tell you, in the hands of God, he can use a happy meal. He can use the five loaves and the two fish. You know what

Jesus does with those five loaves and two fish? He gives thanks. Before he multiplies it, before he does a miracle, he gives thanks. Do you know studies have actually shown that gratitude and anxiety cannot take place in the same brain at the same time? You can't be anxious and thankful at the same time. So if you've got anxiety right now, Jesus actually teaches us a principle. If you are thankful, something's about to happen, some breakthrough, some bread, what you've been hungry and thirsty for. But if you're anxious, you are not going to go for the miracle. Jesus gives thanks. He breaks the bread and he starts passing it out and he multiplies five loaves and two breads. And the scripture says that the people that day were satisfied.

He turned a happy meal into like a wonderful steak feast. Y'all are saying, "Wait, it was five loaves and two fish." I don't like fish, so I believe Jesus turned it into steak. I just don't understand what's up with fish. Everybody says, "You got to like fish." I said, "No, I don't like fish." And then almost every single time that I'm around somebody eating fish, they say, "You got to try this fish because it doesn't taste fishy." Well, if it doesn't taste fishy, I'd rather not eat the fish. Cuz we all know when something's not right, what do we say? That's a little fishy. I'm just saying. I stand in agreement. They were satisfied. They they had a steak made just the way they wanted it. I'm talking warm rolls with this butter just melting

on. They were satisfied. There was enough left over that each of the disciples can get a basket left over. Let me just tell you today, what you're hungry for, you will get. You're not thankful. You don't trust Jesus that he could use your pathetic five loaves and two fish. You won't give it to him to multiply. You give God your life today and God's going to multiply. He's going to bless. He's going to pour upon his favor. [Applause] But you've got to believe that in his hands, he could do more with your life than you could do on your own. I want to enter into the feast of what God has to offer. Today specifically, I'm talking about grace. Everyone shout grace. Grace. Paul writes in Ephesians chapter 2 verse 8 and 9. He says, "For by grace, it's by grace you have been saved through

faith." So, it was not your good works that got you saved. It was not a prayer that you prayed. It was not attending church that saved you. It was by grace you're saved through faith. Faith in Jesus, what he's done for you. So, you believe in Jesus and what he's done. The finished work on the cross that he died, he rose from the grave. The same power that rose Jesus from the grave is in you by faith when you believe in him. So it's by grace you're saved. It's not something you can do. And he clarifies and this is not of your own doing. It is the gift of God, not a result of works so that no one may boast. No one can come to church today and say, "Man, I am saved. I have the gift of eternal life because I'm so good." And yet some of us have bought into a false belief that good people get into heaven. And the Bible says that's actually a lie of the devil. Good people do not get into heaven.

Those who have received the free gift of God's grace. There's two things we note here that Paul says about grace. Number one is grace saves. Praise God. There there's nothing that you've done in your life that grace can't cover. Nothing. There's no sin too great that God God said Jesus will never look at you and say, "Listen, I know I died on the cross, but that's a little too big. I can't forgive that. You keep coming back to this one. and I can't do. No, no. Grace saves. Period. It's by grace that you're saved. This is not by something you can do. There's no mistake, no sin so great that grace can't cover it. The second thing I want to know is grace is a gift. But this is where we stop short in our human thinking because we think of a gift like you get some gift at Christmas, you use

it once, twice, thrice, but after that you quit using that gift. You're ready for a new gift. This is a gift that just keeps giving. Grace never runs out. Some of us, some of us receive the gift of grace and we've believed in Jesus and the gift stopped there. You're forgiven. Jesus has become your savior, but that's it. And the world looks at the Christians and say, "You say, you say you're saved, but they're not seeing the grace lived out. Are you hearing me?" They don't see people waking up every morning say his mercies are new every morning. I'm starting fresh today. I may have messed up yesterday, but God is so good. He's going to love me today despite what I did yesterday. Grace saves. Grace is a gift, which means that I can't do it. I've got to keep coming back to this gift of grace.

Let me give you a crude example so that we can understand this. Here's an illustration. Imagine you've got a plate of bacon. I'm talking a big plate of bacon cooked just the way you like it. I'm talking about cooked all the way, not burned, but not too raw with that fatty stuff. And just cooked just right. You got a big old plate of bacon. You also have this really cute dog. This dog has the biggest brownest eyes. And you sit down at the table with your big plate of bacon. And that dog comes over cuz the dog smells it. The dog comes over. The dog all of a sudden starts behaving. Sits down, looks at you with those big brown eyes, tongue sticking out. I can't believe we got this big. And let's just say you look at that dog, he looks at you with a little whimper. He's not barking. He's not even begging.

He just says, "Can we share this?" And you give that dog one piece of bacon. Do you think if you give that dog one piece of bacon, that dog's going to he's going to swallow it faster than a duck on a June bug? You know, he's g he's you're not even going to see him chew it. The bacon just goes down. Do you think that dog now will go about his business and start playing and doing other things? That was good. I'm going to go tell all my dog friends that I just tried that bacon. I'm gonna I'm gonna go get busy now. I'm going to go take a nap now that I got one piece of bacon, that dog will actually stay there until the bacon's gone. And even if you don't give that dog any more bacon, if you were done with that plate, you ate the rest of the bacon yourself, by God's grace, you take that plate and you put it on the ground, you know what that dog will do? Lick that plate.

I just want a taste of it. I I want to remember what I just I want to I want to taste what I smell. Listen here here's the analogy here. All right, you're the dog. Bacon is the grace. Some of you are treating grace like it's not that great. We should be begging God for more. And here's what's great about God. is not like a pay to plate of bacon that will eventually be gone. He never runs out. Paul said in the introduction to this letter to the church in Ephesus, he says to the Ephesians, listen carefully. Even as he, this is referring to Jesus, as he chose us in him before the foundations of the world. That should blow your mind. Before there was time and matter, God was thinking about you. Before he

created anything, he knew he would create you. And you think, how would he know that with billions and billions of people? He's God. Quit treating God like he's someone that you can figure out. Before the world was made, he was thinking of you. In fact, the Bible says he chose you. He chose you before the foundation of the world that we that you should be holy and blameless before him. Oh, another word that's been perverted, holy. Oh, you think you're holier than thou? That should be a compliment. I want to be holy because he's holy. The word holy means set apart. God chose you not to be like everyone else, not to do your own thing, but to be holy and blameless. To be blameless means you could be in the presence of a perfect, holy, perfectly good God and he wants you there. That's blameless.

God doesn't look at you and say, "This is who you used to be." But he looks at you and says, "You're holy and you're bl." How can you be those things? Well, thankfully, the writer tells us in love. In love, the writer says, "In love, he Jesus predestined us. This was his plan. This was his purpose. He predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ. You're meant to be a child of God according to the purpose of his will. Verse six, to do to the praise of his glorious grace. Don't you love how the writer's describing grace is this glorious grace? Some of us talk better about bacon than we do grace. This writer is saying it is glorious grace with which he Jesus blessed us in the beloved. He loves you. So he's given

you this glorious grace. Look at verse seven. In him Jesus we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses. You are not defined by what you've done or what was done to you according to the riches of his grace. Riches. He is rich. He he he's a trillionaire when it comes to grace. He's got so much it just can't be fathom. He He's so rich in his grace. Look at verse eight. Which he lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight. Hey, if you had a really, really, really, really, really, really ridiculously rich uncle, you'd probably be really nice to that uncle. Just every time you're around him, you'd kind of always be like, "Oh, uncle, you're my you're my favorite. You're the best." Hoping one day, just maybe, you're going to get some of that.

God is so rich in grace. He never runs out. Yet, some of us just treat him like, "Yeah, he's I might go to church today. I might sing, maybe raise my hands. I'm not going to go too crazy with this thing." He is so rich. He's willing to lavish this on you. When I think of lavish, I'm thinking like you are in a crockpot of God's grace just marinating. You just weak of God's grace. You smell like God's grace. You taste like God's grace. When people look at you, they don't see you. They see God's grace. One of our core values here at Journey Church is to be a grace giver. You can't give what you don't have. You go to your heavenly father, you say, "I just need a little more grace." God's never going to say to you, "I've given you so much.

I've kind of run out with you. Do you understand this? You go fix your life, then I'll give you some more." That's not how God's grace works. You were born in sin. You're born depraved. It defines who you are. It defines what you want to do. But when you are surrounded by such grace, it changes everything. And I'll tell you today, grace changes everything. And you should go after grace. You should hunger after this because grace is found in Jesus. It's who he is. It's it's the essence of who he is. John, which was a student of Jesus, he was so compelled by Jesus life. He'd never met anyone like Jesus. He wrote a story of Jesus life. It's found in the book of John. As he writes about Jesus life, he describes him as the logos, the word. He's the one that

spoke all things into existence. What scholars go after is who Jesus is. He describes him as the light. He goes on in these compelling ways to say he's unlike an ordinary man. He says in John 1:9, the true light, John 1:9, the true light which gives light to everyone. The one that created light was coming into the world that he created. He was in the world and the world was made through him. The creator became the created. Yet the world did not know him. He came to his own. The people he chose, the people he made, and his own people did not receive him. Verse 12. But to all, I declare this today over you. To all. Come on, say all. To all. If you've never received

Jesus, you can today. This is available to all. To whoever, but to all who did receive Jesus, who believed in his name. He gave the right to become children of God. This is your destiny. You are not intended to be a stepchild. You're not a child of God just because you're born into this world. You've got to believe in Jesus. You've got to receive Jesus. Then he goes on to say this, who were born not of the blood, nor of the will of flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. When you believe in Jesus, and you receive all that he has to offer, you're born again. You have a new purpose. You all of a sudden realize this is what I was born for to get more God. And the Bible says

there's so much. You have a great inheritance. You have a great God. According to James, you you have a heavenly father who's the great giftgiver. That anything that you have that is good is from God. What a father. Anything good in your life is from God. I grew up without an earthly father. My dad walked out on our family when I was two. And my mom never remarried. She had a lot of boyfriends growing up, but I had a lot of false beliefs because my earthly father wasn't in my life. It's interesting what happens when you're a child and no one gives you the answer. You'll come up with your own answers to your own questions. It's a really dangerous place to be. And then as adults, we we actually believe those false beliefs. They weren't true, but we think they're true because we experience them. And your experience is true. Your feelings are true, but your conclusions

are not. So, I had a lot of false beliefs. one false belief which God just taught me right away when I went into ministry and that was that every other family had it figured out. I've now come to the conclusion no family has it figured out. None. The ones that really look like they have it figured out are the most screwed up. I I mean no offense to that. I just mean the reality is no one's got it figured out. I mean I really thought especially the families with like a mom and a dad. I didn't realize how difficult marriage would be. Like two sinners are supposed to be leaves. I also believe that if if my dad was in my life, my life would be better. So when it came to Christmas and birthdays, I always thought like even if he just wrote me a note, I my life would be better. And so I I started believing these false beliefs like why is my dad not in my life? Because if if he was in my life, I'd be better. So maybe I'm not that

lovable. Maybe I'm not that good. Maybe I'm not the kind of son someone wants. So I started believing these false lies. Then I I gave my life to Jesus and it took time to heal from the trauma and all of a sudden God gave me revelation. He gave me some insight to start to understand what about grace. And I learned that I have a heavenly father who loves me and loves me just because he made me and he loves me not because of anything I would do. This this according to Jesus he Jesus will never leave us. He'll never forsake us. So, I've got a God that's for me, and if he's for me, who could be against me? And all these things that I I thought early in my life that maybe things would be better if if my earthly dad was in my life, and he's now deceased. He's gone. And I saw him out early in my my young adulthood to try to have a relationship, and it just never it never turned into

anything. And now, by God's grace, I've got this whole new perspective. Is it possible, and this is just a theory, is it possible that God in his grace did not allow my father into my life? That maybe, just just maybe, that the devil was trying to pass on some generational curses and the devil was trying so hard to destroy me because because God knew the potential of my life. But just maybe if he was in my life, I'd be a little more like him, like a narcissist, an alcoholic, perpetuating problems, casting them upon others, not taking on my my own issues and owning them, but running every time things don't go my way. Is it possible that actually by God's grace, he allowed me to go through what I went through so

that I would later learn the promises of God, the keys of the kingdom, which is this, that God does work all things together for good for those who love him. that he's conforming me into his will. Is it possible that the devil's tried to destroy my life over and over again? And as a little child, he put these false beliefs in my in my mind because Jesus says the devil's a liar. It's his native tongue. But that which the devil intended for evil, God would use for good. That God actually gave me a platform from my life. that maybe all that you've been through that you wondered why would God do that to you was actually a sign of God's grace that God's not going to leave you there he's going to give you a revelation that if you suffer it's so you would experience the power and the resurrection of Jesus Christ how do you get a resurrection without a

death so some of you got to die to what your dream was because it was a false belief you're not made for this home you're made for a heavenly home. So, so as John describes Jesus, he says, "The light came in. The people didn't understand it, but to all who did, you're a child of God." What does that mean? Look at verse 14. And the word became flesh. The one that spoke all things in existence. He he wrapped himself in the very thing he created and he dwelt among us. The phrase here in the original Greek is he tabernacled among us. The tabernacle was the dwelling place of God. And they would carry this this dwelling place, this tent everywhere they went. And Jesus came and he tabernacled with us. He went with us. He pitched a tent with us for a while. And John says, "And we have seen his glory, glories of the only

son from the father, full of grace and truth." He goes on to describe in verse 15 a different John, John the Baptist. This is different than the writer John. John the Baptist bore witness about Jesus and cried out, "This is he, Jesus, of whom I said, "He who comes after me ranks before me because he was before me." Now, just to time out here, John the Baptist is actually a cousin of Jesus. He was born before Jesus. So, he's the older cousin. But here you have the older cousin say, "Actually, he was before me." How could he be before me? Because Jesus has always been and will forever be. And John wants us to know that this is someone you need to trust in. Verse 16, for from his fullness, for from his fullness, Jesus we have all received

grace upon grace. For the law, we're told, was given through Moses. Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, the only God who is at the Father's side. He has now made him known and his name is Jesus. You can know the fullness of God, the fullness of grace and truth in Jesus. This is what you're made for. For from his fullness, verse 16, for from his fullness, we have all received. Everyone say, "All." All. This is yours if you want it today. We've all receive received what? Grace. Not just any grace. Grace upon grace. I I think this is the amazement of John the writer. Says there's nobody like Jesus. No one.

No one. You see somebody and you really get to know them. There's going to be something about them you don't like. You see a preacher for 45 minutes, you don't get to see him on a Monday morning when he's tired and grumpy. His family does. You you see someone in their struggle, you only see a glimpse. John says, "I walked with Jesus. I talked with Jesus. I laid my head on his chest. He didn't push me off and say, "What are you doing? In grace, he loved children. In grace, he liberated women. In grace, he healed the sick. In grace, he confronted the religious." It was in grace upon grace upon grace upon grace. This guy, he's so full of this, he never runs out.

This is who he is. When you come to Jesus, he's like, "You need some more grace? I got grace for you. I'm rich in grace." My kids come to me. Hey, Dad. Oh, how much money do you need? I don't have anymore. I've run out. Jesus just doesn't run out of grace. So, so I wonder today, what's the grace you need? Grace is in this place. Grace is ready for you. We need to break the false beliefs of how we think Jesus operates. Look at John 11:17. For the law was given through Moses. Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. Do you all know who who Moses is? Just by raise hands. I don't Okay, because I'll preach another sermon about Moses real quick if you want. Moses delivered God's people. He confronted Pharaoh. They were slaves in Egypt. And God says, "No, you're not meant to be a slave. You're meant to be a free person." God brought the law through Moses. And

it started with judgment. Remember the first thing that he did with Pharaoh is say, "Hey, let let my people go." And Pharaoh's like, "No way." He's like, "Fine. I'm going to turn all the water into what? Not wine, blood." You go read the book of Exodus. All the water turned to blood. It's a picture of judgment. Do you know why God would give the law? We need the law. Without law, we do whatever we want to do. The law tells us that if you cross the line, if you break the law, there will be a consequence. there'll be a problem. The law came through Moses, but there was a lawgiver that gave the law not to get harsh on people, not so that people would be religious, but just so we wouldn't do our own thing our own way. And there's a real consequence. The Bible says, "For the wages of sin is death.

You don't do what God wants you to do, your water turns to blood, not life. But you come before Jesus." What did Jesus turn water into at the wedding? Wine. He He says, "I'm not here to to set the law upon you. I'm here to give you grace. You've run out. I'm here to give you grace. You don't know what the future holds. I'm here to give you grace. You don't know who you are. I'm here to give you grace. Grace represents God unending joy." So, the law came through Moses. But grace and truth, the reason God gave us the law, we start to understand this through Jesus Christ. But if you think if I'm a better person, then God will give me what I want. That's a lie of the enemy as well. It's a false belief. The religious thought that we can follow the rules and if we follow the rules, we'll be better than other people. Jesus came to break that down and say, "Here's the problem. You look good on the outside, but on the inside, it's not good."

He he preached in Matthew 5:6 and 7 was called the sermon on the mount. He says, "You've heard that it was said." So, he's explaining the law. The law was not just given so you follow the rules. You've heard that it was said, "Do not commit adultery." But he said, "If you think about somebody lustfully, you committed adultery." Jesus wants to get to the root of a heart. He wants to make you satisfied. He doesn't want you just be religious and follow the rules. Paul wrote this in Romans 6:14. Says, "For sin will have no dominion over you since you are not under law, but under grace." How can you go before God one day and be blameless? It won't be because you said, "I was so good, God. I was better than the rest of them. I didn't murder. That God doesn't need you to do that. He wants you to be under grace. You say, "I believed in Jesus Christ. I've received the free gift of

God's grace. That's how I get to get into heaven. And now sin has no dominion over you." You know where sin comes from? The enemy. You're born in sin because our ancestors were born in sin. Every single person was born in sin. But sin no longer has to have dominion over you. You could fill in the blank right there. Insecurity no longer has to have dominion over you. Fear no longer has to have dominion over you. Addiction no longer has to have dominion over you. Satan no longer has to have dominion over you. You are under grace. Grace grace covers a multitude of sins. It it it doesn't allow you to fit in with the world that says you are set apart. You are meant to be holy and blameless. You see, you cannot call yourself a Christian and receive grace and keep living in sin.

Some of us want to to make the world happy. We want to make our parents happy. We even want to make ourselves happy. But do you know Jesus did not look like anyone else in the world? Here's the truth. He was crucified because he was not like anyone else. When you receive the fullness of grace and truth, Jesus Christ, it causes you to live differently. And the world doesn't even understand this wonderful free gift. The world says, "Ah, it looks kind of like mud." And you're like, "No, no, no. Taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed are you when you take refuge in him. When your identity is in Jesus. John 1:16 says, "For we have received Jesus. Now we get grace upon grace upon grace." Therefore, today I proclaim if you're hungry for some grace, it's yours.

Go after it. It requires a change of mind, which means a change of thinking. That you're no longer going to conform to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. The word for that in the Bible is repent. You got to start thinking differently. You got to start thinking that bacon isn't just for someone else. That's mine in Jesus Christ. It will never run out. I want to share this with others. I'm going to be a gracegiver because God now dwells in me. It's no longer me that lives. It's Jesus. Paul said to the church, he says, "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you whom you have from God? He gave you life. Give it back to him. He gave you air to breathe. Give it back to him. God wants to dwell in you. You are not your own. You were bought with a price. Jesus

died so that you could have the Holy Spirit. So glorify God in your body. Some of you are operating with the mud and the fudge. You got them confused. You've been spending so much time making mud pies, you don't even realize what's of God and what's not of God. When you have the Holy Spirit, you got to get rid of that sin. You got to get rid of the old. You've got to let God saturate you with his lavish grace. James put it this way. Therefore, put away filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word which is able to save your souls. God has given you something so much greater. But you've got to say, "I want grace more than I want sin. I want grace. I want God's word. I want Jesus more than the things of this world. Why do I keep

getting let down? Why am I not satisfied? God has given you everything you need, but you got to choose. And if you're not hungry for God today, I'm here to tell you, change your habits. At first, it might be uncomfortable like going to the gym. But after a while, you're going to realize what you've been missing. You weren't healthy. That's why you didn't want to go to the gym. It hurt because you weren't strong. But in Jesus Christ, it changes everything. Romans 5:2 says, "Through him, Jesus, we've also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God." May I just ask you today, where do you stand? We're all standing for something. If you're not standing for something, you're falling for everything. And the enemy will tell you what you're standing in. And some of you are standing in anxiety, and you absolutely can't stand

it. anxiety which which breeds fear. It it breeds false emotions. Paul says in faith in Jesus, we've all obtained access to this grace in which we now stand. You know what it means to stand in grace? You are soaking and saturated in grace. And where there's grace, there's no more room for the false beliefs of the enemy. And if you're new to church, I keep referring to the enemy. That's because there's a real God and there's a real enemy of your soul, the devil. and he's come to steal, kill, and destroy your life. He doesn't want you to experience grace because grace changes everything. Some say, "Oh, pastor, you don't know what I'm going through right now." I have no clue what you're going through, but I know what the Bible says. Says, "This is the day the Lord has made. So,

I'm going to rejoice and be glad in it." The Bible says, "Rejoice in the Lord always." Again, I'll say it. Rejoice. Rejoice means you choose joy. Oh, but you don't know my circumstance. I don't know your circumstances, but the Bible gives example after example. Paul and Silas were put in prison because they were preaching about Jesus. And you know what it says they did in prison? They didn't moan and groan, "Woe is us. I can't believe we're in chains. I can't believe we have to smell the feces of everyone. I can't believe this position God they didn't moan and groan." The Bible says about midnight, they decided to pray and sing praise songs. Do you know what they were standing in? Grace. Grace will meet you in prison. Grace will meet you in your school. Grace will meet you in your workplace. Grace will meet you in your car. Grace will meet

you wherever you are. You've got to have the faith in Jesus to realize I'm standing in grace. So when you don't know what else to do, I'm going to talk to you, God. That's called prayer. When you don't know me destroy this opportunity, it's by God's grace he let me go through this. If I look through the lens of the world, I only see the problem and I start listening to false beliefs. But my God is able to do anything. And we should be operating in this grace. It's what the early church did. Acts 4:33 says, "With great power, the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus." Your life is meant to reflect Jesus and they were and as they did this, great grace was upon them all. Well, what does great grace look like? The Bible says in Acts chapter 4, there was no person in need. They didn't hold on to their money. They trusted God with

what they have. Well, wait. If I give away the little I have, wait, five loaves, two fish, he multiplies. This is God's economy. I give my money away, he gives me more. This is not a prosperity gospel. This is not a word of faith movement. This is believing in the Bible. That everything there is is actually God's. This is where grace just got real, friends. He's talking about my money. It's not your money. grace. You want more grace? Grace upon grace upon grace upon grace upon grace upon grace upon grace. When we have Jesus, we have the Holy Spirit. We talked about this week too in this series. It's oil. It's anointing. It's the power of God at work within you. If

you want more oil, you've got to ask God. You want to see what God can do? Surrender it to him and you're going to see the transforming work. This is grace. If you're weak right now, it's in grace that you're actually strengthened. In grace, he actually makes you strong. In my weakness, he is strong. Paul once said to Timothy, he says, "You then, my child, be strengthened by grace that is in Christ Jesus." This writer Paul the Apostle, he put that into practice. He says, "In my weakness, he is strong. Jesus has confirmed to me my grace is sufficient for you. Don't forget that he's the fullness of grace and truth. So you can't take grace and say I'm going to keep living the same way. No. The

truth of God says you will not get rid of that which is not of God. You know what the Bible says? It's in his kindness that leads to repentance. He is so kind. You know there's therefore now no condemnation in Jesus Christ. He is so kind. But do not mistake that as soft. Sometimes he's got to discipline those whom he loves. God is so tough, but he's not abusive. He's not going to hurt you with this grace. He's not going to manipulate you. He is the king of all kings, but he's also the servant that came to displays for us what love looks like. That's why he's the fullness of grace and truth. He's the beginning and he's the end. And in Jesus, in Jesus, everything changes.

All of a sudden, you realize what God's able to do. Not only will he use this will make a great king. You wonder who you are. God's looking at you with the perspective of who he is. God looks at what you have and says, "I can multiply that if you just be grateful." God looks at the last and says, "I want you to be first." God looks at the humble and he wants to lift them up. God says, "If you would just draw near to me, I'm already here. I'm going to draw near to you. You get in my word, God's word gets in your heart, you're no longer going to sin the do. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:10 is, "But by the grace of God, I am what I am." I know that sounds like Popey, but I am what I am. Not because I'm strong, not because I'm smart, not because I

hustled harder than anyone else. I am what I am, but by the grace of God. And if you see anything in me, I'm just here to tell you it was God's grace. I didn't deserve it. I didn't earn it. It was by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. And it's yours today as well. If you want this grace of Jesus, it's yours. If you've never received this grace, it's yours. It's a free gift today. I want to pray with you. I want to challenge you right now. The very thing that you've been longing for is not something you're going to find in this world. You could fill in the blank because you've been going after the wrong things for a long time. I want to ask you if you want to receive God's grace, he'll not only forgive you of your sins, he's going to keep giving that grace. He's going to keep giving that grace. Grace upon grace upon grace. You keep coming back to Jesus. Blessed are those who hunger and

thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. You get what you're hungry for. You want to be satisfied? Let's go after God. Let's do it together. Would you just close your eyes right where you are? I want to ask you right now if you've never given your life to Jesus and today you're saying enough is enough. I I'm surrendering my life to Jesus. If that's you and you say, "I want to receive God's grace, be forgiven of my sin." When you do that, God gives you the gift of eternal life. You get to go to heaven forever. You also get to get get the gift of God himself, the Holy Spirit. If that's you, would you throw your hand up right now saying, "I want this grace. I want to receive it right now. Praise God. So proud of you, young man." Anyone else right now? Right where you are, just throw your hand. Praise God. Praise God. So proud of you. Anyone else? You're saying, "I want God's grace.

I needed to forgive my sins. I needed to be who God made me to be." Praise God. Anyone else today? Just throw your hand up. Praise God. Amen. Destiny's changed right now. Receive God's grace. Be changed by God's grace. Receive it in the name of Jesus. Anyone else? Praise God. You can look like a man to the whole world, but in God's eyes, you're a child. You're a son of God. He loves you so much. Praise God. Praise God. So proud of you. Anyone else? Best decision you can ever make. It's a free gift. Doesn't stop giving. God's never going to run out of grace today. You can put your hands down. Let's pray this out loud together. I'm going to keep this so simple, but if you've ever prayed this prayer before, let's pray with those praying for the first time.

Just say out loud, "Lord Jesus, I receive your grace. Forgive me of my sins. I follow you in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Hey, keep your eyes closed. Keep your eyes closed right where you are. I realize there's a lot of people that have prayed a prayer like that before. You follow Jesus, but you're you're what I would just call backsliding. You can call whatever you will, but you're not receiving God's grace. Some of you are stuck in anxiety, stuck in addictions. You're stuck in a place that you you are living in sin right now. Today, I just want to ask if if you need to receive God's grace, which is his favor, his blessing. If you need God's grace in your life, right where you are, would you just throw your hand up, just eyes closed, would you say, "I I need God's grace. I'm done doing this on my own. I need God's grace in my family, in my mind, in my heart."

Praise God. Keep your hands up nice and high. Nice and high. Just this is to you and the Lord. You're surrendering it all. Grace upon grace in this place today, Lord. I just want to prophesy over those that are surrendering, saying yes to you, Jesus. The boldness of saying, "I don't want to stay the same." We receive it right now today, Lord. The fullness of grace. the fullness of grace which is found in you. So I pray that by the power of your Holy Spirit, you would touch your people. Bless them with the satisfaction that's only found in seeking you. Blessed are those who are hungry and thirsty. There's hungry and thirsty here today, God. So would you bless them with your favor? Bless them with more grace upon grace upon grace. God, I thank you that today things are going to change. I thank you that you've changed minds and you've changed hearts. That's because it's according to your word. We receive it today in Jesus name. All God's people said, "Amen." Amen. Amen. Well, friends, if you made a decision for the first time to follow Jesus, or today you're saying, "I want more grace." Maybe you've been going

through something physically, something emotionally, relationally, financially. I can only imagine in this room, there's so much hurt. Even those watching online, we want to pray for you. You are not alone. We are seeing miracles all over the place, both physical, spiritual miracles. If you need prayer today, there's going to be a prayer team at either side of these platforms that you can come up and receive prayer. Maybe today you need to be bold and courageous and say, "I'm not going to do this on my own anymore. I want Jesus." Don't care about what anybody else thinks about you. Start caring about Jesus. If you want prayer, would you come forward and receive that? We don't want to rush out of here. We want to give God our hearts. If you're able to, would you stand to your feet? Would you give God your heart? As we sing this song, I want to just ask you this. Would you believe this today that God's goodness is following you? That God's mercy is following you? He is faithful.

He is just. He's going to forgive you today. Let's sing to our great God. Yes, Lord. We give you our hearts. We give you our song in Jesus name. Praise you, Lord.