# The sad part of Grace

October 6, 2025

Turn your mind, as if you would, to 1 Corinthians chapter number 15. First Corinthians chapter number 15 in God’s Word this morning. This year, our theme is “By Grace.” By grace. You see the two banners up. By grace, I have tried this year to keep this theme in front of us, and I want to even work at it more next year with our new theme. Our Bible verse we’ve used a lot is 2 Corinthians 8:9: “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.” How many of you know that verse by heart? You know that verse by heart?

You’re not going to raise your hand because you’re afraid I’m going to say, “We just quote it right now.” I got you. I tell you what, let’s quote that verse. We’re going to be over in 1 Corinthians 15, but let’s quote that or read that. Hold your finger there in 1 Corinthians 15. I like it where grace is stuck in our mind, our heart. This verse here, 2 Corinthians 8:9—can you read that from way back in the back? Can you read that?

Most of you are shaking your head, “No way, man.” You need binoculars, right? You know, take a picture up and then zoom in on it. The middle part of the verse is taken out; it’s got the dots for that. But it’s 2nd Corinthians 8:9. All right, you got it. Let’s read it or quote it out loud together. Would you please? Here we go: “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, but he…”

I’m sorry. I did not explain. Some are reading that, and you read it properly, but there are parts of it missing. Now, we don’t want to take away from the Bible, but it’s got the three dots, all right? So, let’s try to get the whole verse. You’ve got to look it up to get the whole verse. Somebody’s taken away from the Bible. I’m going to get them. Who did that? Honestly, my wife does it, and she’s like, “Can we do that?” I said, “As long as we put the dots, we’ll be all right.” So, you can blame it on me. The dots are there, though. From the Bible. My wife’s like, “Man, you’re telling on me right now.” But here we go, here is the whole thing, not just part of it, the whole thing from the Bible. All right, y’all ready? Here we go: “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, though he was rich, yet through his poverty…” Wait a second. I missed part of that thing. My glasses are off my Bible. Let me get this thing here. I got to get my glasses, too. You’re not in the right place, man. That’s First Corinthians.

Leave it to an expert. No, he’s still in prison. Leave it to an ex-pastor. How about that, man?

Here we go. Yeah, I did miss a part. I’ve been messing that verse up. So I’m challenging all of us, the pastor included, let’s memorize this verse, right? Let’s try it again. I messed it up last time. Here we go. I’ve got a Bible here; we can read it from the Bible. Here we go: “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes, he became poor that ye through his poverty might be rich.” Hey, we finally got it. Praise the Lord for that right there. Amen.

But grace. So the first Sunday of the month this year, we’ve tried to preach on grace. We’re back to the subject of grace. It’s a great subject. G-R-A-C-E. Here we go: God’s riches at Christ’s expense. Good, good, good.

Now, this morning, if the pastor can get things together, we’re going to focus on a sad part of grace. A sad part. He says there’s something sad about grace. The sad part of grace for just a bit this morning.

We’re going to be over here in 1 Corinthians 15. It’s the longest chapter in the book of 1st Corinthians. It’s the resurrection chapter. But there’s a little phrase in here that is a little sad. God is writing through this man named Paul, and he’s giving a little testimony about himself. We’re going to look at one phrase for just a bit this morning: the sad part of grace.

Would you please stand if you are able as we read God’s Word together, hopefully right this time? First Corinthians 15, and we’re going to start in verse number 9. We’re aiming for verse number 10, but just to get the thought here. It’s Paul speaking, God through him, but he says, “For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God.”

Just to make sure we’re all on board: before Paul was saved, he had a vengeance against Christians. He was putting them into jail and participating in the murdering of Christians. So he’s saying in verse number 9, “I don’t deserve to be an apostle.” Man, how in the world should I be an apostle after what I did?

And then verse number 10: “But by the grace of God, I am what I am.” If the truth be known, that’s true of all of us. But I am what I am by the grace of God. There’s so much there just in that statement. But we will not really preach on that, but you can become something for God through His grace. Everybody can. If this guy that was murdering Christians became an apostle—God used him to pen 13, probably 14 books—if God used him and he became what he became by grace, God could make you something out of His grace. What a wonderful statement: “But I am what I am by the grace of God.”

Now let’s keep going. He said, “And His grace, which was bestowed upon me, was not…” What’s the next two words? We’re going to focus on that. “…was not in vain. But I labored more abundantly than they all.” We’re not saved by works, but once we’re saved, we ought to be working for the Lord. Roll up your sleeves; get involved in something that’s eternal. Don’t build your life on temporal things. Get involved however it may be—it may not be at the church house, and that’s fine—but he said, “I labor more abundantly than they all.”

Notice how he finishes this verse; he doesn’t get proud. Look how he finishes: “Not I, but the grace of God which was with me.” Well, if you’re a born-again Christian, it’s with you too. But just for a bit, that little phrase: “And His grace, which was bestowed upon me, was not in vain.” It leads me to think that it can be in vain, or else God wouldn’t have that in Scripture. Just for a bit, the sad thing about grace.

Some teach this—there’s been a little bit of a resurgence of this. It’s typically called Calvinism, Calvinist, or sometimes in our day and time it’s called the New Calvinist or even the Neo-Calvinist. By the way, it can kind of look a little bit different, but you get past the paint, it’s the same thing. Or reformed theology, like The Gospel Coalition, John Piper, and John MacArthur. I’m not saying everything about them is bad, but they teach this false doctrine.

Here’s the thing: They’ll say that the grace of God is just for a select few. That God shows His grace only on these certain people. They’ll say this—we covered it two Sundays ago—over there in Ephesians 2. Remember we started off? They were dead in their trespasses and sins. They’ll say, “Hey, you were dead.” And dead men and dead women can’t make the decision. You were dead, and the irresistible grace of God came on just those few, and it made you alive again.

Now, let me just say a word: They don’t understand what the Bible teaches about death. Biblically, death is a separation. Physical death is a separation of your body and soul. Remember we talked about two Sundays ago when we talked about Adam and Eve, the day that you shall eat of it, and he shall surely what? Did they eat of it? Yes. Did they physically die that day? No, but they had a death. What happened? But here’s my point: After that, after the spiritual death, could they make a decision? Oh, yeah. They could still make decisions.

Remember the prodigal son we talked about two Sundays ago? Remember he went into a foreign country, spent all the money, and he’s coming back home, and the dad, which represents God the Father, said, “Hey, that’s the son. He was dead and is alive again.” Well, help me out with that prodigal son in the foreign country—could he have made decisions? Sure. So biblically, death doesn’t mean you can’t make decisions. You are dead in your trespasses and sin, but it means you are just totally separate from God. That’s the difference in the Bible.

So they teach that you’re dead in your trespasses and sins, and the irresistible grace of God came upon you. You didn’t have to make a decision; you had no choice. It came upon just the select few—the elect, the predestined—and all these different terms. Some of those are biblical terms, but they are used the wrong way. But they didn’t have any choice in the matter.

Now, friend, let me say that: If that’s true, God made someone to be born and to live, and they never had a choice in the matter. That is unfair. It’s unjust. My Bible says God is just and right is He. No one will ever have the opportunity to point their finger at God and say, “God, you are not fair to me. You made them to go to heaven; you made me to go to hell.” The honest truth is, God wants everyone to be saved.

In fact, if you look over in Titus real quickly—keep your finger here, we’re going to get back to this—look over in Titus chapter number two. Look down in verse number 11 of God’s Word. What does the Bible say there? It says, “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to…” What’s the next two words? “All men.”

Kind of reminds you of John 12:32. Jesus speaking: “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth…” He explains the next verse: He might be lifted up on the cross. If I be lifted up from the earth on the cross, He said, “I will draw all men unto me.” The honest, simple truth is, everyone has the grace of God extended to them. That grace bringing salvation has appeared to all men. But some chose to receive it by faith, and some chose to reject it and go their own way by their own works. But friends, it has appeared to all men.

If God extended His grace to some and not to others, it wouldn’t be fair. No, the honest, simple truth is very clear in Scripture: He’s extended it to all people, but some chose to use it and some chose to reject it.

And that’s how we get phrases like this in the Bible over here in 1 Corinthians 15 and verse number 10. Go back over there. 1 Corinthians 15, verse number 10. That’s how we get phrases like this in the Bible. Isn’t it wonderful how the Bible fits together? That little phrase, “But by the grace of God, I am what I am,” and “His grace which was bestowed upon me was not…” What’s the next two words? “Was not.” That’s the sad part of grace. For some people, His grace is vain.

That vain means useless, empty. That’s a sad thing. Because His grace is extended to every single person—I don’t care what country, I don’t care what language—His grace that brings salvation has appeared to all men. And yet, to some that will not put their faith in, won’t receive that grace through Jesus Christ, it’s vain.

Here’s the sad part after this grace. Another sad part of grace is it wasn’t free. It’s free for us. Praise the Lord, it is free, by the way. But it wasn’t free for Jesus. Remember, God’s riches at Christ’s expense.

Through His poverty, He lived in poverty. He said, “Hey, everybody’s got somewhere to sleep; I don’t have a place to lay my head.” Remember what they did to Jesus? We’ll talk a lot more about it tonight at the Lord’s Supper, but they took His beard and they just plucked it. Can you imagine? Just ripped it out.

I hope you don’t mind me, but someone this morning pulled their comb out, and he said, “I don’t have to worry about it.” Jesus must have had a little bit of length to His beard, because can you imagine getting your beard ripped out? They put that crown on His head, and the Bible says they beat it down into His skull—those long thorns with the reed.

They took a cat o’ nine tails; it’s a whip, like a belt, and it has like nine strands in the ends. They had interwoven in them sharp pieces of rock or glass or copper back in that day and time, if they had glass, you know, pottery and whatnot. And then 39 times, typically, they would just take the victim, they would just beat them, and it would wrap around them. They wouldn’t say, “Well, let me unwind that”; they would just pull it, like a lion with its claw just flaying a body. Jesus’ body was flayed. Psalms 22 and Isaiah 53 talk about how His bones—you could see His bones that were exposed because they just… Isaiah 53 talks about how He did not even resemble really like a human being. He just looked like a hunk of meat when it was all over.

Here’s the sad thing: This grace that Jesus paid such a great price, and the Father watched His Son go through this because He wanted Him to purchase grace for you and I, that grace is in vain for some people. How sad it is that after Jesus went through so much to pay for that grace for you to have it, some will die and go to a Christless eternity, hell, and burn forever and ever.

The Bible talks about that rich man in hell over in Luke 16, and it says, “In hell, he lifted up his eyes, being in torments.” Five times the Bible talks about hell, and it mentions these exact words: weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Anybody out there like to hear a baby cry for about four hours straight? Anybody? It’ll drive me crazy. Praise the Lord for good wives. Amen. Come on. How many of you men, be honest with me: That baby was little, she was up half the night. You woke up the next morning, didn’t even know the baby cried. Come on now. We’ve got a couple of honest men around here now.

It’s one thing for a baby to cry, but can you imagine adults weeping? Yes, you hear crying all the time. I can kind of get a little bit numb, a little bit cold. Someone asked me that day how many funerals I’ve preached. I don’t know; it’s over 100, maybe about 125 or something like that. You kind of get a little bit hardened to crying. It’s not that you’re bad; it’s just that you’re used to it. After a while, you get over that hump of numbness, and then constant crying just brings you down to depression.

The Bible talks about hell five times: weeping and gnashing of teeth. Can you imagine just constant crying being all around you? Screaming? They’re in torments. Can you imagine just the screams of hell? It’s not just for a minute or two; it’s day in and day out, screaming everywhere you hear them—these voices. That’s what the Bible told me about hell. Then it says gnashing of teeth.

I don’t understand everything about that. Going back to the crying, we were watching a football game, and one team threw an interception or something, and my wife said, “You see that man in the stands? He’s crying over there.” What about us big fellas crying at a football game? I was trying to crack a joke, but you are all serious about hell now, aren’t you? I was trying to find the guy. I missed it.

But five times, weeping and gnashing of teeth. I looked up that word yesterday: gnashing of teeth. Most tend to think of it as gritting and grinding your teeth when you are hurting. You get that TMJ? Anybody know what I’m talking about? It’s very painful. It can come from gritting your teeth. But I wonder if gnashing of teeth might not have a little bit of this: We have a person in our church that works in the ER and sometimes in the psych ward. They recently brought a girl in, and when she gets set off, she bites herself, kind of like cutting. Something set her off, and she started biting herself. It’s so psychotic you can’t even feel it; the pain numbs another pain. I wonder how much that has to do with that, weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Friend, we don’t hear much about hell, but Jesus spoke about hell in 70 verses in the Bible. Someone said He spoke about hell seven times more than He did about heaven because He is trying to warn us of this awful place of torment. The sad part is the grace is available, but for some people, it’s vain because they’ll die and go to hell. It’s sad, and it’s available. It’s not because God was unjust and didn’t make it available. No, He says right there, “It has appeared to all men,” but they chose not to receive it and chose to go in the wrong way.

This phrase—I want to preach on it, but I just haven’t had peace about it. It says in Isaiah, talking about the Lord bringing judgment on the nation of Israel, and it says this very statement—I want to make sure I get it right. I love this little statement: “But His hand is stretched out still.” It’s amazing how God is. To the last second, we have someone here who has been witnessing to a neighbor that has cancer or whatnot, and they’ve come to me in tears, saying, “I’ve tried to talk to him, and I pray for them to get saved, and they won’t listen to him.” And that person recently passed. All we can do is hope that maybe that person got saved in the last second. We don’t know. But I think about that person taking their last breath. If they hadn’t committed an unpardonable sin, still His hand is stretched out still. How many times I messed up, and His hand was still stretched out still? What a wonderful statement about our God: His hand is stretched out still. Love it. Yet it’s sad for some, His grace is vain. It’s vain. Wow. They’re going to hell.

Here’s a sad thing: He’s already paid the price, and somebody is still trying to earn it.

When we went to the Chinese buffet on a Sunday afternoon, they said, “Somebody’s already paid your bill.” That’s how some people are; they’re trying to pay their bill when Jesus said, “I already paid it.” God is frustrated, if you will. The wrath of God abideth on them forever because they won’t believe in Jesus. God says, “I gave My Son, and He bled and died. He was spit upon and all that.” And yet you’re trying to pay the bill when He’s paid it. That’s why the wrath of God abideth on them. He’s made it available, and yet for them it’s vain. Kind of sad, isn’t it? The sad part of grace.

Now, by the way, before I go to the next thing here, if you’re not saved, if you’ve not accepted that grace in vain in your life, today would be a great day to get saved. It is available. It is paid for. He wants you to go to heaven. He wants you to have it. It’s just there. Today would be a great day.

The Bible says today is a day of salvation. It’s been a wonderful day to put your faith in Jesus Christ and what He did on the cross. And that grace—hey, I don’t want it to be in vain. I want to accept it by faith, and it will not be vain in your life. You’ll skip hell and gain heaven for all eternity. Wonderful.

But let me talk for just a bit here to those who are born-again Christians. Are you already saved? All right. Let me talk to you for just a bit: Beyond salvation, is the grace of God vain in your life? How can we make the grace of God vain? I hope this next part here—if you don’t get anything else, you who are already saved, get this part here, all right?

For just a bit, I think God really wants us to focus on this for a minute: How can the grace of God be in vain in my life beyond salvation for a saved person? It is vain when I spend my time worrying, fretting, fearful.

When Jesus died on the cross, He stored up all the grace you’ll need for every minute, every second of your life. You’ll never face a problem that God doesn’t have the grace you need to go through that problem. He’s got it. So when I spend my days and my hours just worrying and worrying and worrying and not resting in that grace, then I’m making that grace in vain.

Friends, I’m telling you, if we’re not careful, it becomes a way of life, living through worry. God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. And the grace of God becomes vain. Worry can be such a bad, sinful habit in our life. Someone said worry is like a rocking chair; it gives you something to do, but it doesn’t get you anywhere. Someone said worry never accomplishes anything except wrinkles, which gives you something else to worry about. Someone else said worry is using today’s strength on tomorrow’s possible problems. Studies have shown 85%, and some would say up to 99%, of things you worry about never happen. We are more than conquerors through Christ that loved us.

Friend, don’t make the grace of God in vain. Don’t spend the rest of your life worrying. Hey, let me say this—listen to me, I mean this—don’t get addicted to negativity.

Some people, there’s good all around them, but they’re going to search out and find something bad somewhere. I’m not saying it’s wrong to watch the news; I’ll at least keep up with the main part of it. But for the most part, bad news sells, so it’s bad news. If I spend my life that way, I’m going to be a worried wreck all the time. At the end of the day, God’s in control. But friend, if you’re not careful, you’ll get addicted to the news. Once in a while, they tell something good, and you’re like, “Well, where’s the bad at? I’m waiting for it,” because I’ve kind of grown accustomed to negativity. We’ve grown accustomed to worrying and fretting and bad, bad, bad. Hey, praise God, we’re on the winning side, friend. Let’s cancel all the worry and say, “Hey, I’m not going to make the grace of God in vain. I’m going to rejoice in the Lord Jesus Christ.” Don’t make it vain. What a sad thing. Sometimes we’re making it vain because all we do is worry.

It’s a good day. You say, “Well, I’m worried because today is so good; tomorrow’s going to be so bad.” But just worry. None of us are perfect. I have to work that out of myself. But I don’t want to make the grace of God in vain. Oh, friend, it’s so very important. What would the Lord say to Paul over there? “My grace is sufficient.” Do you believe that? I don’t want to spend the rest of my life worrying. The older I get, the less life I have left to live. I don’t want to spend these days just worrying about everything. Friend, we’ve always got bills coming up, but we’ve got a God who is up to the challenge. Let’s just not spend our life worrying.

I’m rereading a book about Hudson Taylor, and I’ve enjoyed it. He was making new advances into the interior of China. Honestly, that mission probably was responsible for millions getting saved back in the day when our population wasn’t quite as many. He had started new mission stations, and in the end, he had over 188 missionaries all across China. At this point, he had 18 evangelists working for his missionary team.

Hudson Taylor, they say, was a small, very sickly man, but he would often be found singing. His favorite song to sing went something like this: “Jesus, I am resting, resting in the joy of what Thou art. I’m finding out the greatness of the loving heart.” That was his favorite one to sing or hum.

He was with this young evangelist on his team, George Nicol. Someone brought a letter to Hudson Taylor there, and the evangelist was with him. He reads the letter; it’s about two of their missionary stations having riots. Some of their missionaries were killed and beaten throughout it all, but they got some of their mission stations having a lot of riots in those cities. Horrible news.

The young evangelist thought he would give Mr. Taylor some time alone to deal with it, saddened by it. He went to leave, but before he left, he heard some whistling. He stopped, and it was that tune: “Jesus, I am resting, resting in the joy of what Thou art. I’m finding out the greatness of Thy loving heart.”

George Nicol stopped and said, “Mr. Taylor, I was going to leave. I figured bad news—our friends are out there in danger.” And Hudson Taylor said, “Would you have me anxious and troubled? That would not help them, and would certainly incapacitate me for my work. I have just to roll the burden on the Lord.” And he kept whistling. Friend, the grace of God was not in vain in that situation.

Sometimes I’m making the grace of God in vain because I’m not resting in that grace. I’m just going to mention these last two things, and we’ll be done.

His grace is vain when I’m serving Him in my own strength. 2 Corinthians 3 or 5: “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God.” I remember a preacher, a good guy—he’s retired now—but I remember hearing him not too far from here. He’s a great man, but he said, “You know, I’ve worked for the Lord all these years, but I’m afraid I’ve ruined my health because I was working in my own power, sitting in the grace of God.” Boy, that statement stuck with me. Hey, don’t make the grace of God in vain. Don’t do that.

His grace is in vain when I think I can’t do anything for Him. Oh, no. Romans 12 says—I won’t read it—but it just tells me that if you’re saved, you are gifted some way spiritually by the grace of God. He has regenerated you; He’s made you where you can bring value to the table of God. Every teenager, every man, woman, boy—if you’re a born-again Christian, you are, by the grace of God, gifted for God in some ways. You’re going to read some of the spiritual gifts within our time.

My grandpa Chisgar—he was from Hungary and came here, worked in the coal mines all his life, and lived in Florida when I was born, retired. He had lived through the Depression and many things. Man, you talk about tight. I mean, you don’t throw anything away at Grandma and Grandpa Chisgar’s house; everything is used. Grandpa Chisgar would always wear sweaters. Sometimes you’re cold even in the summertime in Florida if you’re older. I always remember him with a sweater on. His sweaters were old, old, old. He had patches. Back in the day, you patched. And he had patches all over. We bought him new sweaters at Christmas time and birthdays; he had new sweaters galore. But he wouldn’t wear them. He was going to use that old, tattered, patched-up sweater.

That’s how I am sometimes. I rely so much on myself. God has the grace available. Now I’m living in worry. Now I’m trying to do everything in my own strength, and I’m saying, “I can’t, I can’t, I can’t.” When God says, “I’ve gifted you by the grace.” Hey friend, let’s get the new sweater of grace. I don’t want the grace of God to be in vain. Paul was saying, “I used it.”

Would you bow your heads and close your eyes? If you hear this morning and say, “Preacher, I’m not saved. I need to get saved,” or maybe you’re there, you’re not sure of your salvation. I would like for you to settle it this morning. It’s your choice, but it’s available to you, I promise you. You accept it by simply taking a gift from an adult by faith. You receive it.

If that’s you right there, where you said in your heart, “I don’t want grace to be in vain; Jesus earned it for me; I want to go to heaven,” would you call out to Jesus?

If that’s you right there where you said it in your heart, would you call on Him? “Jesus, I’m a sinner. I need grace, but I’m accepting the grace You earned for me on Calvary. It has appeared to me. Right now, I’m accepting it. Would You save me, Jesus? Thank You for that grace You earned for me.”

Our heads are bowed, our eyes are closed. I’m not going to have you raise your hand. At the end of the invitation, there will be a man standing down front, and there will be a man in the back. If you pray and ask Jesus to be your Savior, would you come shake their hand? They’ll give you some literature; they’ll want to be a help. We would like to help you in your journey as you now have the grace of God in your life.

Maybe you hear this morning and say, “Preacher, I think I’ve been making His grace in vain in my life with worry, or serving in my own power, or thinking I don’t have anything to offer God.” But I’m not going to let the grace be in vain in my life. God spoke to my heart about that right there. If that’s you this morning, lift your hand. That’s me; God spoke in my heart. Many, many hands. For all of us battle these things. God bless you. I don’t want to go in fear and worry. I don’t want the grace of God to be in vain in my life. Anybody else? God spoke to my heart about that. God bless you. Let’s stand if you would, please.

If someone prayed and asked You to be their Savior, let them be bold and share with these men. Lord, forgive me when I worry. I’m trying to go on my own strength and own power. Help us to use the grace that’s available in our lives. Father, we’ll thank You for it.

Rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say, rejoice. “But by the grace of God, I am what I am, the grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain.” Oh, let’s work at it. We don’t want it to be in vain. It’s available for every single person.

When you hear that C word, that cancer word, you think, “I don’t have what I need to face that situation,” but you will by the grace of God. God gives grace during those times. Every single thing you’re facing, He knew you’d face it. He stored the grace up. Don’t let it be in vain. Financial problems? Oh, yeah. His grace is real. I don’t live in fear and worry, negativity.

The devil would love for a born-again Christian to live in fear and worry and fretting all the time. Think about that coworker that’s not saved. Do you think that’s going to make them want to get saved? No. But if you come in, you know the grace you have, and they hear what you’re going through and you’re still on top of the wave, they’re like, “Wow, something’s going on there. I might better check up on this thing.” Let’s not let the grace of God be in vain.

Just spend some time thanking Him for the grace of God. Loving Him, thanking Him for that. It’s available. Don’t let it be in vain. It’ll make you work for the Lord: “I’ll labor more abundantly than they all. That’s not I, but the grace of God.” It’s biblical. Aren’t you glad He’s got grace for everything you’re facing? Everything. So praise the Lord for that. Let’s just rejoice. Don’t let it be in vain.

Original File: 2025-10-06 - Pastor Paul Chisgar ＂The sad part of Grace＂- Sunday AM 10⧸5⧸2025