Telling the Truth

Stuart Briscoe: So here's the question: Does Paul have a high self-image or a low self-image? And the answer, of course, is yes. Yes. How in the world could you have such a high self-image and such a low self-image without being schizophrenic? I'll tell you how: by the grace of God.

By the grace of God, I, who in myself regard myself as utterly undeserving and utterly unworthy and totally unpleasant and have lived a life contrary to all that God wanted me to do, I, regarding myself in that light, have now incredibly become an apostle. How does somebody there get to here? How does somebody who's lived in the gutter now begin to live in the uttermost? And the answer is by the grace of God.

Guest (Female): Welcome to the special Thanksgiving Telling the Truth, and that's exactly what Stuart Briscoe talks about today: gratefulness. Thanksgiving is actually a word for grace; they're bound together, as Stuart explains in just a moment. Far too many Christians avoid the Book of Revelation because of its mystery.

But this final book of the Bible is filled with hope for you, and Stuart Briscoe wants to help you unravel the mystery of the end times with his eight-message series, End Times: What's Going On? Through the end of this week only, it's our thanks for your gift today to keep this broadcast going strong. So call today to request your copy at 1-800-889-5388. That's 1-800-889-5388, or you can give online at tellingthetruth.org. Now, here's Stuart to begin his message, "The Gratitude Attitude."

Stuart Briscoe: I think it's helpful for you to know that the English word Thanksgiving in the New Testament is a translation of a Greek word, eucharisteia. Eucharistia. The core of eucharisteia is obviously charis, and charis is the Greek word for grace. So the basis of the word Thanksgiving is actually the word for grace.

The simple lesson that I want to try and share with you that you can, I hope, keep in mind is this: that an understanding of grace is absolutely necessary for an appropriate response of Thanksgiving. Grace and Thanksgiving are inextricably bound up in each other. Now, with that in mind, I want to read to you just a few verses from 1 Corinthians chapter 15.

In the first letter to the Corinthians, the 15th chapter, Paul is rehearsing the basics of the Gospel, and of course, he then begins in rehearsing the basics of the Gospel, he then begins to talk about the resurrection. Then he talks about the proofs for the resurrection, one of which, of course, is the numerous post-resurrection appearances. He lists a number of them.

Then you'll find that he says in verse seven of the 15th chapter, "Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all, he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God, I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me."

Now, you'll notice in that 10th verse that he refers to the grace of God three times in one sentence. I want to identify those three points for you. First of all, he says, "I am what I am because of the grace of God." I want to suggest to you that means that grace is all about a divine attitude. Paul was able to say, "I am what I am today because of the attitude with which God addressed me, the attitude with which he has dealt with me."

But then, secondly, he says, "And this gracious attitude, this divine attitude that has changed my life, has had a profound impact on me." In fact, it has become a powerful motivating factor. His grace was not without effect; I can prove it: I worked harder than all of them. The grace of God now is not—he's not speaking about it in terms of a divine attitude; now it is a dynamic stimulus. It is a powerful motivating factor in his life.

But then, having said that, he thinks to himself, "Oops, I've said I worked harder than all the others. Now some of those others might read this and be offended." So he said, "But it was not I; it was the grace of God that worked alongside me." Here, of course, the grace of God now is seen as the empowering or the daily enabling that allows him to be what he has been motivated to become.

So there are the three things: the grace of God, a divine attitude; the grace of God, a dynamic stimulus; the grace of God, a daily enabling. Now, notice what Paul says here: "By the grace of God, I am what I am." When you study your Bible, you read it, you think about it, you ask it questions, and you look for answers in the text. I've told you that a thousand times.

So when I read, "By the grace of God, I am what I am," what's the obvious question that comes to mind? Well, what are you? What are you, Paul? We come across two very striking answers here. The first thing that comes very clearly from the text is this: Paul is claiming to be an apostle of Jesus Christ.

Now, he says it very humbly; he says, "I'm the least of the apostles; I don't even deserve to be called an apostle." Nobody else would agree with that evaluation, but that's how he looked at himself. But he's an apostle nevertheless. The second thing that he says about himself, however, is a surprise. For at the end of verse eight, he says that he appeared to me also—that is the risen Christ—and he describes himself as one abnormally born.

The word that Paul uses here that is translated "one abnormally born" is the word that would describe the product of an abortion or a miscarriage. In other words, something that you don't even talk about. Something very, very distasteful, something very, very unpleasant indeed. Incredibly, that is how Paul describes himself.

Now, the point of all this is this: he says, "By the grace of God, I am what I am." And we're asking, "Well, what are you?" And the answer that we get appears to be totally contradictory. On the one hand, he says, "I happen to be a member of a very small, very elite, utterly unique group of people called and commissioned and empowered and authorized by God to be foundational to the work of the church around the world."

And at the same time, "I am such a creep. I am so bad. I am so unworthy that I can't even look at myself in the mirror." So here's the question: Does Paul have a high self-image or a low self-image? And the answer, of course, is yes. Yes.

How in the world could you have such a high self-image and such a low self-image without being schizophrenic? I'll tell you how: by the grace of God. By the grace of God, I, who in myself regard myself as utterly undeserving and utterly unworthy and totally unpleasant and have lived a life contrary to all that God wanted me to do, I, regarding myself in that light, have now incredibly become an apostle.

How does somebody there get to here? How does somebody who's lived in the gutter now begin to live in the uttermost? And the answer is by the grace of God.

Guest (Female): We'll get back to Stuart in just a moment, but first, we want you to know that your support is helping people around the world grow in their understanding of God and his people. People like Carol, who writes, "The teachings from Stuart and Jill have contributed so much to my spiritual understanding and growth. God bless you for allowing him to use you to minister to his children."

If you're listening, Carol, thank you. That's the kind of impact your partnership has on listeners around the world. So if you've never given before, please consider a gift today to help more people experience life in Christ. Through the end of this week, we'll show our appreciation for your financial support by sending you Stuart Briscoe's eight-message series, End Times: What's Going On?

In this series that Stuart prepared for years to preach, he'll dive into the Apostle John's writings in the Book of Revelation to help you uncover how God is unveiling his prophetic plan and what it means for you today. You'll discover how to read the Book of Revelation, the promises God makes for the end times, and how its prophetic words can strengthen your faith today.

But the offer ends this week, and you don't want to miss the hopeful message contained in the Bible's final book. So request your copy of End Times when you give today. Thank you for helping more people around the world experience life in Christ. Call 1-800-889-5388. That's 1-800-889-5388, or give online at tellingthetruth.org. Let's return to Stuart now.

Stuart Briscoe: What does that mean? It means that God looks upon this person, Saul of Tarsus, with great displeasure and great distaste. What he is doing is anathema as far as God is concerned. He does not like what this guy is doing; he is shaking his fist in the face of God. A holy, righteous God will not tolerate it, and yet he decides to deal with him in a way that this guy does not deserve to be dealt with.

He decides to give him that which he would never, ever earn if he lives a million years. He grants to him a position for which he has no warrant whatsoever. There's nothing in Saul of Tarsus that warrants it; it's all of God. It's grace. It's a divine attitude. Now, let me remind you that the core of eucharisteia, Thanksgiving, is charis, grace. I submit to you: we need to understand grace.

Now, says the Apostle Paul, "His grace that was showered upon me was not ineffectual. No," he said, "and I can prove it. I worked harder than all of them." What is he saying? He is saying to understand grace has a profound impact on the person that you become. For when you begin to understand grace, it touches you in the very core of your being.

You mean to say, God, you are like that? You mean to say, God, you did that? You mean to say you promised me that, God? He said, "Yes." But I don't deserve it. He said, "You got that right. You got that right. It's nothing to do with you; it's everything to do with me."

Now, the Latin word for grace is gratia. G-R-A-T-I-A. I did six years of Latin in high school in England; it was compulsory. They said you'll never understand the English language without a rudimentary knowledge of Latin. I failed it. Latin, not the English language. They said I failed ignominiously. I needed Latin to understand that.

But there's one or two Latin words I've learned and I've remembered: gratia. Gratia is the Latin word for grace, and gratia is the root word from which we get gratitude. That's right. This is what happens: when you begin to grasp gratia, gratitude grips you. Have you got it? When you begin to grasp gratia, gratitude grips you. And you find welling up inside you what I like to call the gratitude attitude.

Now, the gratitude attitude needs an outlet. I can't just say, "Oh, I have gratitude." I want to express it. How can I show forth my gratitude? becomes the question. Well, I wonder if Saul of Tarsus, who became the Apostle Paul, said that to God. "God, I understand gratia. I feel gratitude welling up inside me. I'm about to burst, but how can I express my gratitude?"

And God said to him, "Well, you can be an apostle." Now, immediately Saul of Tarsus, who says, "I'm a Pharisee of the Pharisees, of the tribe of Benjamin, educated at the feet of Gamaliel, the great teacher of Israel, on a fast track for the top echelons of Judaism," it's obvious what I'm going to be: I'm going to be apostle to the Jews. And God says, "No, you are going to be the apostle to the Gentiles."

The most amazing thing happens: Saul of Tarsus says, "Well, if I'm going to find expression for my gratitude, it cannot be contrary to what God wants me to do. So God, I'll tell you what I'll do: I'll hold my nose, and I'll take a deep breath, and I'll become the best apostle to the Gentiles you ever heard of. And I'll do it with all my might, and I'll do it with all my energy, and I'll do it with all my enthusiasm. I'll work harder than all of them."

What is he doing? He's expressing the impact of grace. For you see, grace is not just a divine attitude; it's a dynamic stimulus. Thanksgiving is a daily attitude that produces a way of living—gratitude attitude. Thirdly, grace is a divine attitude, grace is a dynamic stimulus, grace is a daily enabling.

Have you ever found yourself in a position where you say, "You know, I really want to be obedient, I really do want to do what I'm supposed to do, I'm really eager to express my gratitude, but I run out of gas. I don't seem to be able to do it; I seem so weak and ineffectual"? Well, I've got some good news for you.

The Apostle Paul says this: "It's not I. You know, I'm working harder than all of them. I am highly motivated by grace now, but you've got to understand something: that I am motivated to do it and I'm doing it, but it's not me. It's the grace of God that works alongside me."

Every born-again believer is born again of the Spirit of God. Every person born again of the Spirit of God is indwelt by the Spirit of him that raised up Christ from the dead. There is your charisma. There is your gracing. There is your gifting. There is your empowering; there is your daily enabling. It's charis giving charisma. It is grace gifting you.

That is why, you see, we are to nurture the life of the spirit, for he it is who enables us for daily living. But that's not all. For when the Holy Spirit—God's precious gift to you—comes into your life, he brings his gifts with him. The ideal gift, ideally suited for the ideal situation for which he has made you, ideally to serve him.

The grace of God is a daily enabling, giving you the power of the spirit and the unique applications of his gifting daily. So this is how it works: grace reaches down to you, undeserving as you are, and gives you what you'll never earn. Grace brings to bear in your heart and mind an understanding of this, and gratitude overflows.

Gratitude wants to express itself in obedience, but now grace comes to the rescue and empowers you to live a fruitful, obedient life. It's all grace. For grace is the divine attitude that becomes the dynamic stimulus that becomes the daily enabling. The only thing I can say is amazing grace. Amazing grace.

Guest (Female): Thank you, Father, for amazing grace. Stuart Briscoe today on Telling the Truth. In just a moment, he'll talk more about how an attitude of thankfulness will change you for the better. Do you ever wonder where this world is headed or what the end of days hold for humanity? If so, there's no better place to search for answers than the Book of Revelation.

While many shy away from this final and mysterious book of the Bible, it contains so much encouragement for you today. That's why we're excited to send you Stuart's eight-message series, End Times: What's Going On? as our thanks for your gift of support to keep broadcasts like today's message coming your way and going out through Telling the Truth's global ministry.

This series helps you unravel the mystery of the end times and discover the hopeful assurance it brings for you as a Christian. We pray this series motivates you to holiness, obedience, unshakable peace, and a passion to make each day count for Christ. This special resource offer ends this week, and we don't want you to miss out on this powerful series.

So request your copy of End Times when you call to give today. And thank you for helping more people around the world experience life in Christ. Call 1-800-889-5388. That's 1-800-889-5388, or give online at tellingthetruth.org.