Title: On Display (9)
Series: Ephesians
Author: Stephen Whitney
Text: Ephesians 2:6-10
A woman tried to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I, who reigned during the late 1500's when they country was going through great religious struggles after the death of Henry VIII, so she dressed as a male page and then hid in the queen's private room waiting for the queen to come in.
She didn't realize that the queen's attendants would carefully search the rooms before Her Majesty went into any of the rooms even her personal private room. They found her hiding among the gowns and brought her to the queen after taking away from her the knife she was going to use to kill the queen.
The woman realized that, humanly speaking, her case was hopeless. She threw herself down on her knees and pleaded and begged the queen as a woman to have compassion on her, another woman and to show her grace.
Queen Elizabeth looked at her coldly and quietly said, "If I show you grace, what promise will you make for the future?"
The woman looked up and said, "Grace that hath conditions, grace that is fettered by precautions, is not grace at all."
Queen Elizabeth caught it in a moment and said, "You are right. I will pardon you of my grace." And the attendants led her away, a free woman. History tells us that from that moment on Queen Elizabeth had no more faithful, devoted servant than that woman who had intended to take her life.
That is exactly the way the grace of God should work in our lives. When we really understand that the grace of God has set us free from the penalty of our sins, we should devote our lives to serving him. Augustine wrote, "Sin comes when we take a perfectly natural desire or longing or ambition and try desperately to fulfill it without God."
There is nothing we can do to remove the guilt and penalty of our sins, only the grace of God that can give us freedom.
TO DEMONSTRATE GRACE :6-7
As a result of being forgiven of our sins, we now hav ...
Series: Ephesians
Author: Stephen Whitney
Text: Ephesians 2:6-10
A woman tried to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I, who reigned during the late 1500's when they country was going through great religious struggles after the death of Henry VIII, so she dressed as a male page and then hid in the queen's private room waiting for the queen to come in.
She didn't realize that the queen's attendants would carefully search the rooms before Her Majesty went into any of the rooms even her personal private room. They found her hiding among the gowns and brought her to the queen after taking away from her the knife she was going to use to kill the queen.
The woman realized that, humanly speaking, her case was hopeless. She threw herself down on her knees and pleaded and begged the queen as a woman to have compassion on her, another woman and to show her grace.
Queen Elizabeth looked at her coldly and quietly said, "If I show you grace, what promise will you make for the future?"
The woman looked up and said, "Grace that hath conditions, grace that is fettered by precautions, is not grace at all."
Queen Elizabeth caught it in a moment and said, "You are right. I will pardon you of my grace." And the attendants led her away, a free woman. History tells us that from that moment on Queen Elizabeth had no more faithful, devoted servant than that woman who had intended to take her life.
That is exactly the way the grace of God should work in our lives. When we really understand that the grace of God has set us free from the penalty of our sins, we should devote our lives to serving him. Augustine wrote, "Sin comes when we take a perfectly natural desire or longing or ambition and try desperately to fulfill it without God."
There is nothing we can do to remove the guilt and penalty of our sins, only the grace of God that can give us freedom.
TO DEMONSTRATE GRACE :6-7
As a result of being forgiven of our sins, we now hav ...
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