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A Gospel Interlude:
The Amazing Grace of God,
Part 3
1 Corinthians 15:9-11
“…His grace toward me was not in vain.
On the contrary, I worked harder than any of
them,
though it was not I, but the grace of God that is
with me.” (v. 10b)

Review Last Week: you are what you are by God’s

grace.
• Your history was orchestrated and controlled by
the prevenient grace of God. His grace was at
work in the events, situations, and circumstances
of your life before He saved you.
• Your salvation was determined and enacted by the
sovereign grace of God. His grace saved you
freely, that is without anything you could do. You
were unable to do anything, and were in fact, an
enemy of God. But He freely stepped down and
rescued you from your sin and gave you a new
heart.

3. Your Sanctification

This week, I want to pick up where I left off last week,

and this is with regard to your life after your salvation.
This part of your life is called sanctification, for it is that
part where you are working as hard as you can to
become more and more holy, set apart from sin, and
conforming to Christ.
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Now to get right to my point today, just as your history
before Christ was controlled by God’s grace, and just as
your salvation in Christ was completely by God’s grace,
your life as a Christian is lived completely by God’s
amazing grace. And inside this kernel of truth are two
parts.

The first part comes from Paul’s words, “His grace

toward me was not in vain.” The grace of God that
worked in Paul’s history, salvation and sanctification was
not a powerless grace. The word “vain” means, of
course, empty and void or meaningless. God’s grace did
not produce meaningless or empty results in Paul’s life
and ministry. It was powerfully at work in his life,
producing amazing results.

I hope you were encouraged by this truth last week.

Whatever it is that you are as a Christian now, you are
by God’s amazing grace. He has loved you, and shaped
your life into what He desires it to be. Therefore, you
can thank Him for His grace that has kept you from
living in your sin, and that has saved you eternally from
sin’s power. He has worked out all the circumstances
and situations of your life so that you would come to
Him.

The second part of this kernel of truth comes from the

latter half of the verse, where Paul writes, “I worked
harder than any of them.” While Paul attributed what he
was to God’s grace, there was a clear and innate sense
that he was responsible to live up to that grace by
becoming more and more like Christ. God freely and
sovereignly saved Paul, but Paul had to work his fingers
to the bone to live out of that grace.

This is the concept revealed in Philippians 2:12-13 where

Paul writes that on the one hand we must work out our
salvation with fear and trembling, but on the other hand,
we are able to work out our salvation because God is
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working in us to desire and work according to His
pleasure.

But look at the last part of the verse. Paul worked

harder than the rest, but that hard work is even
attributed to the grace of God within him. Paul knew
that everything he had done had only been by the power
of God’s amazing grace.

And everything you’ve done since you’ve been saved,

that is, every fruit you’ve ever developed and grown,
every spiritual gift you’ve recognized and used is all
because of the grace of Christ. James teaches us in 1:17
that every perfect gift comes down from the Father of
lights. And Paul asks this back in 1 Corinthians 4:7:
“what is so special about you? What do you have that
you were not given? And if it was given to you, how can
you brag?”

I. Working Hard in the Sanctification of

Suffering

With these truths as our foundation, let me point you to

what Paul meant when he used the phrase, “I worked
harder than them all.” I want to show you that when
Paul spoke these words, he was referring to the
tremendous amount of suffering that he had undergone
in his own personal sanctification process, and
throughout the course of his ministry.

But even in the midst of this suffering and persecution,

you must never allow such horrific events to be
separated from the grace of God. Because again, it is by
God’s grace that you encounter such suffering, and as
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we will see, it is by God’s grace working in you that you
can endure the sanctification of suffering.

Sanctification not only includes everything in your life

after your conversion. But it also includes every
affliction you’ve ever had, every suffering you’ve
endured, every pain and loss you’ve dealt with. All of
this also comes directly from the hand of God. The Bible
could not be clearer on this point that pain and suffering
and affliction all come from the hand of God for the
purpose of conforming us to the image of Christ.
Therefore, everything that has happened to you after
you were saved has been by the grace of God that will
continue to save you and make you more like Christ.

As we’ve already read, the second half of verse 10 in 1

Corinthians 15 is Paul’s recounting of the following fact:
“I have worked harder than all the other apostles,
yet it was not I but God who was working through
me by His grace” (ESV). I’m going to come back to
this issue of suffering and affliction in the Christian’s life
in sanctification, so hang on to that for a moment, while I
grab the important connector and show it to you.

A. Paul’s Hard Work in the Sanctification

of Suffering

Consider the background of the verse I just read. Paul

“worked harder than all the other apostles.” It seems
Paul may have felt that because of his past, he had to
work harder to overcome its consequences. And he was
right. It literally took years for Christians to come to
accept him as a genuine apostle and teacher of Christ.
So his life had to be lived in such a way as to overcome
the consequences of his past life in order that he could
be the man God had called him to be. And the power to
live such a life only came by the powerful amazing grace
of God.
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The chief way in which Paul worked harder, it seems, is
through the suffering he endured. Turn in your Bibles to
2 Corinthians 11:23 and put your finger there. As you
read you will find this same phrase used again – “I have
worked harder” - and in this context it is used with
reference to suffering and affliction and persecution.

Paul clearly understood that the life of the Christian after

he or she is saved is in fact largely about suffering
hardship in a variety of different ways. These hardships
are both physical and emotional. He was a living
testimony of this fact. He had endured so much
suffering that it seems he had been marred physically in
some way. In fact, as we consider the context of 2
Corinthians, his appearance seemed to be a reason why
the Corinthians mocked him as not being a true apostle.
Simply because he didn’t look like a preacher was
supposed to look, they questioned his ministry.

There are indications throughout 1st and especially 2nd

Corinthians that he simply didn’t have what the
Corinthians seemed to think he ought to have in order to
be an apostle. In other words, Paul didn’t meet their
preconceived ideas of a great preacher. He wasn’t a
very good looking guy. The things he had endured up to
that point were truly harrowing and one should expect
that after all he had been through he wouldn’t be a very
good looking guy.

Further, the suffering that Paul had endured after his

salvation made him into the kind of man he was at that
time. And he was that kind of man by God’s grace. His
working harder than the rest of the apostles is seen in
the fact that he suffered more than the other apostles.

It was in Acts 9:16 that we read of God’s words to

Ananias, the man who took Paul in after he was
converted. God said about Paul, “I will show him how
much he must suffer for my name’s sake.” Therefore,
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we see that Paul’s life was intended by God to be a
much more difficult life than that of the other apostles.
And for this reason, Paul worked harder at ministry. But
his point is that he did so by the grace of God which was
working in Him.

If you’re still holding your finger in 2 Corinthians 11,

good. Let’s return there. In verse 23, he states “I have
worked harder,” and then he goes on to describe how he
has worked harder. Correct cross-referencing is
important in Bible study, and by comparing the phrase in
2 Corinthians 11:23, we may come to an accurate
understanding of what Paul meant when he used the
phrase in 1 Corinthians 15:10. Listen to the context of 2
Corinthians 11:23 and following.

“I have worked harder…[I have] been put in

jail more often, been whipped times without
number, and faced death again and again.
Five different times the Jews gave me thirty-
nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with
rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was
shipwrecked. Once I spent a whole night
and day adrift at sea. I have traveled many
weary miles. I have faced danger from
flooded rivers and from robbers. I have
faced danger from my own people, the Jews,
as well as from the Gentiles. I have faced
danger in the cities, in the deserts, and on
the stormy seas. And I have faced danger
from men who claim to be Christians but are
not. I have lived with weariness and pain
and sleepless nights. Often I have been
hungry and thirsty and have gone without
food. Often I have shivered in the cold,
without enough clothing to keep me warm.
Then, besides all this, I have the daily
burden of how the churches are getting
along…”
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So after he recounts some of his life and ministry after

being saved, he goes on to attribute it to the amazing
grace of God.

“If I must boast, I would rather boast about

the things that show how weak I am. God,
the Father of our Lord Jesus, who is to be
praised forever, knows I tell the truth. When
I was in Damascus, the governor under King
Aretas kept guards at the city gates to catch
me. But I was lowered in a basket through a
window in the city wall, and that’s how I got
away!”

So even in the midst of such sanctifying experiences of

God’s grace, it was this grace that brought him through
all f this to the point where he could praise God as he
does here. Paul says he is what he is by the grace of
God, in 1 Corinthians 15:10. And what he is, is a weak
man, tempered and sanctified by the forces of nature
and of the evils of men. Yet God intended to use these
means in order to temper and sanctify Paul. The
suffering and pain were tools used by God’s grace to
make Paul more like Jesus.

In fact, he makes this even more clear in chapter 12. He

recounts that once he was taken to heaven and shown
such glories that he was not given freedom from the
Lord to recount them to others. And in order to make
sure he didn’t boast about what he had seen, God sent a
messenger of Satan to torment Paul and keep him from
becoming proud (v. 7). That’s right! God sent a
messenger of Satan to torment Paul. And God did it in
order to sanctify Paul. That’s grace at work beloved.
Yes, it is painful, but it is still grace. And we should not
argue with it.

He goes on to write in verse 8,

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“Three different times I begged the Lord to

take it away. Each time he said, ‘My
gracious favor is all you need. My power
works best in your weakness.’ So now I am
glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that
the power of Christ may work through me.
Since I know it is all for Christ’s good, I am
quite content with my weaknesses and with
insults, hardships, persecutions, and
calamities. For when I am weak, then I am
strong.”

Do you see this amazing grace at work! God’s response

in the midst of Paul’s torment, persecutions, calamities,
insults and hardships was that His amazing grace was
enough to carry Paul through such tough times.

B. This Amazing Grace Works In and

Through You, From the Inside Out

Now I want to show you why this grace was able to carry
Paul through these times. Look back in 1 Corinthians
15:10, where Paul says that this amazing grace was the
thing working through him. He writes, “yet it was not I
but God who was working through me by his grace”
(NLT). Other translations may say “by the grace of God
with me” (ESV) or something to that effect.

This phrase uses what is known as the instrumental in

the original Greek. The grace of God was the instrument
or tool that God was using to work on Paul. Paul
intended to mean that everything that happened to him
in his life was caused by God’s grace – whether
prevenient (before salvation) or sovereign (at salvation)
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or progressive (after salvation). The only thing that God
used to mold and shape Paul in every situation of life is
His grace.

Now Paul also said that this grace was working through
him or with him. This reading is difficult and there is
support for either one. Whatever the reading, the
point is that the grace of God was a powerful and
amazing force that was at work inside Paul’s soul,
heart and mind. And it worked in such a way that
it worked through him. That is, it was a divine
force working from outside of him, into him, and
then outside of him again. Paul, essence, was a
conduit of God’s grace to others, is what I’m
trying to say. He was simply a vessel through
which God could display His grace.

The application to you is simple and I trust that you see

it already. If you have been saved by this amazing
grace, it also works in you to desire and do the things
God wants. It works inside of your heart, soul and mind.
And it works in you in such a way that it actually works
through you, from the inside out so that as it affects and
changes you, it also affects and changes others. You too
are simply a vessel through which God displays His
grace.

C. This Grace Works to Bring Others to

Christ Through You

And to what end? Does it simply stop with you? Does

God orchestrate all this suffering and affliction so that
you will know His amazing grace? Certainly so, but it
doesn’t end there. It flows through you to others,
bringing them to Christ also. When others see how you
handle the suffering and affliction of God’s sanctifying
work, they will be drawn to Christ. Your suffering and
affliction becomes an opportunity each time it happens
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to you, for God to teach you His amazing grace, and
then through you to teach others.

D. This Grace Finds Its End in the Glory of

God

But it doesn’t even end there. God orchestrates

suffering and affliction in your life to teach you to
depend on His amazing grace. And in your learning
about amazing grace others watch and they then desire
to come to Christ. And every time another comes to
Christ, God is glorified. So God’s glory is the end of it all.
God’s grace doesn’t terminate on any of us. It
terminates with Himself, because He is the one from
whom this grace originated in the first place.

Paul writes of this truth in 2 Corinthians 4:7 and

following.

“But this precious treasure – this light and

power that now shine within us – is held in
perishable containers, that is, in our weak
bodies. So everyone can see that our
glorious power is from God and not our own.
We are pressed on every side by troubles,
but we are not crushed and broken. We are
perplexed, but we don’t give up and quit.
We are hunted down, but God never
abandons us. We get knocked down, but we
get up again and keep going. Through
suffering, these bodies of ours constantly
share in the death of Jesus so that the life of
Jesus may also be seen in our bodies. Yes,
we live in under constant danger of death
because we serve Jesus, so that the life of
Jesus will be obvious in our dying bodies. So
we live in the face of death, but it has
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resulted in eternal life for you…All of these
things are for your benefit. And as God’s
grace brings more and more people to
Christ, there will be great thanksgiving and
God will receive more and more glory.”

Therefore, to use Paul’s words as your own, whatever

you are now, you are by the grace of God. Everything
that has happened to you and everything you have
decidedly become as a result of it all is because of God’s
grace which works in you and through you. And we
might add that it happens in you and through you so
that you may learn to be content with God’s grace no
matter how bad things may be. And we may also add
that it happens in you and through you in order that God
may use you to bring more people to Himself and
therefore glorify Himself.

E. This Grace Should Comfort You

This kind of grace should really comfort and encourage

you because all that has happened to you in your life
since you have come to Christ has happened by God’s
design. He has orchestrated it all, including all the pain
and suffering, in order to conform you to Christ. He did
it all to teach you about His amazing grace. He does it
to you to work through you to win others to Christ. And
He does it all so that He might glorify Himself in your
suffering and through your suffering. Therefore, you are
whatever it is you are right now by God’s grace.

But what motivates that grace? It is God. God is love.

Therefore, this grace is motivated by His love. What do
you do when you love someone? You give them things.
And what is the greatest thing you could ever give
someone? Jesus Christ. And if this is true, what is the
greatest gift God could ever give you? Naturally, it
would be Himself.
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Think this through with me then. If God loves you, He’s
going to show you His grace. And if the greatest thing
He can ever give you is Himself, He must create
environment around you in which you will ask for it and
be able to receive it and appreciate it. Thus God,
knowing that you need Him, orchestrates pain and
suffering so that you will look to Him and receive Him. It
is only in pain and suffering, as we can all attest, that we
so dearly delight and appreciate Him more. Only a
loving and gracious God could come up with a plan so
bizarre from a human perspective. In our minds, loving
someone is opposite of causing them pain. But it is
really not all that different from a parent’s love for their
child. They discipline them, take things away from
them, spank them, and essentially cause them pain
(both physically and emotionally) so that they will stop
desiring what is wrong and start desiring what is right.

God does the same thing. He calls it discipline. And

discipline is nothing more than training. He is dead set
on training you to desire Him and receive His amazing
grace every day of your life. Therefore, He will do
whatever He feels He must do in order to get you to see
it and desire it and take it. And at the end of that hard
and difficult road, you say with Paul that you are what
you are by God’s grace.

Conclusion

Now, what exactly has your life been like since you’ve
been saved? I know it hasn’t been like the Apostle
Paul’s post-conversion life. But I also know that when
you’re going through such tough times, it feels like you
are, doesn’t it! Some of those times are absolutely
awful! They are filled with pain – whether physically or
emotionally. They are filled with agony and worry.

But they are designed by the God of grace in order to

show you His amazing grace, and in order to teach you
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that it is only by this amazing grace that you can make it
through. And to be sure, these times are designed not
just to enable you to make it through, but to make it
through these times boasting in God’s grace, praising
Christ Jesus, as Paul said in 11:31, magnifying the
amazing grace of God and indeed God Himself through it
all and after it all.

Therefore, whatever it is that you are as a result of your

history, your salvation and your sanctification is because
of the grace of God. God planned or orchestrated the
events of the history of your life for your salvation and
for His glory. This should be and is in fact an
encouragement to all of you who are plagued by your
history as Paul seemed to be. Whatever you are now,
you are now because of God’s grace. And that makes
your life worth living now. Again, whatever it is that you
have gone through as a Christian, you have gone
through by God’s grace so that in the end you might
magnify and exalt in God’s amazing grace.

To close, some of you sitting here are living in a history

that is full of trouble, misery, agony, pain and suffering.
Yet you have been clearly convicted this morning by
your conscience and by the Spirit of God that you do not
have this amazing grace of God at work within you to
help you through it. You realize that the emptiness you
feel and the void you experience every day is because
the one main object of your life is missing.

Glorifying God is the highest aim of your life. This

means finding pleasure in who He is. But this is
noticeably absent. There is no pleasure. There is only
pain. And the pleasure that is there is only temporary.
When the bottle is empty, when the drugs are gone,
when the television program or movie is over, when the
vacation is done, when the weekend is over there is
nothing but further emptiness.
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It is because the amazing grace of God just isn’t there.
But it can be. You can find that one satisfying thing in
your life that fills you with happiness. It is glorifying
God. It is supposed to be the end for which you live all
of your life. But you can only do it by the amazing grace
of God. And you can only get that amazing grace by
asking Him for it.

But this necessarily entails a confession of your current

life without Him as sin, and it requires a once-and-for-all
renouncement of that life. Because it is empty and
without grace, you must leave it behind. The God of the
universe, the Maker of heaven and earth has provided
grace for you in Christ Jesus, and He commands you this
moment to receive it. He commands you to repent of
your unfulfilling life and to find refuge and safety in Him.
He commands you to receive His grace.

This is the gospel. It is not a way to make your life

better. It is not a way to be happy. It is command to
find your life’s satisfaction and happiness in the very
place where God finds His – in Himself. And that comes
by grace alone through faith alone in the person of
Christ Jesus who died to give you that grace and faith.
Obey God’s command today to be reconciled to Him, to
receive this grace, and to find your happiness in Him.