Discovering God’s Grace Through Weakness

In this sermon, Pastor Jeffrey Johnson shares a heartwarming and powerful story about his son Britton’s baseball team, which was the worst in the league. The story focuses on a player named Wally, who struggled all season but in the final game, against all odds, hit a crucial ball that helped his team win. Wally’s triumph serves as a metaphor for the Apostle Paul’s transformation from Saul, a persecutor of Christians, to Paul, a “super-apostle.” Just as Wally was the least likely to succeed on the team, Saul was the least likely to become an apostle.

Pastor Johnson emphasizes that Paul's conversion is a story of grace—God’s unmerited favor. Paul acknowledges in 1 Corinthians 15:8-10 that he was the least of the apostles, unworthy of his role because of his persecution of the church. However, it was by God's grace that he was saved and became fruitful in ministry. Similarly, the sermon highlights that we, like Wally and Saul, are unworthy of salvation but are saved by grace alone. Just as Wally cleared the bases without skill, and Paul achieved great things despite his past, believers are called and saved not because of their merits but by God’s grace. The message concludes by reminding the congregation that no one is beyond the reach of God’s grace, no matter their past or current circumstances.

This powerful sermon offers hope and encouragement, showing that God’s grace can transform anyone, making them spiritually fruitful despite their past mistakes or unworthiness.

Transcript

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I've been waiting. I have this illustration a true life story. I've been waiting to fit it into a sermon and here is the sermon because it's one of the most amazing stories and I'll get some of the details wrong and my children will correct me on the way home on this little fact or that fact, but they really don't matter. The the essence of the story was that Britain my son Britain was on the worst baseball team last year in the spring. They lost every game and they were getting slaughtered. And it was fun watching them play, but it wasn't fun watching your kids get beat really terribly. You know the ever ending you get seven runs and a mercy roll kicks in. Thank the Lord and it wasn't for the mercy rule. We wouldn't have you know, it would have been really really bad. So we're hoping to get a run or two in the inning and and you know, maybe it can be 7 to 1 then 14 to 3 and you know 21 to 5 that was kind of the way we're hoping and and we lost every game and then it comes to I think we may have squeaked out a game in the regular season, but we're last place at the post-season we go into postseason and that you pair up the the best team against the worst team. So we have to play the best team the first night, you know, like, okay this I remember talking to Lisa like hey at least the night. This is ending the season. We the agony is over. And lo and behold, we won. It was we went home thinking my goodness. We won as like well, that's the good news bad news. We got to come back tomorrow night. And we play the second best team in the league and we want I know Joe. I was like, how does this happening? Of course, our team was getting better by the season. We had good coaches and stuff, but but what you need to know is that we had one player named Wally. Wally was the worst player on the worst team Wally. I don't mean to make fun of Wally, but that was his name and that is his name and Wally. Wally was a poor child everybody loved but he closed his eyes every time he batted. And he would step out of the batting box as the ball was come in because he was scared to death. And I didn't know this but you know, if you step out of the batting box is a strike. And so it would be three strikes with Wally because he just stepped out and all through the season the coach was just stay in the batter's box. Just stay there. And in the first two games that the way it works and I'm learning a lot about kids sports, but way it works is that you can choose one player that he doesn't have to play on the outfield, but all the players have to bat. You have to run them through the batting lineup. So you can't just say a solid Wally you are the water boy. No Wally has to bat. And after we won the second game, we're going into the final game and we're all kind of like wait a minute. Could this be we're going to the finals and I don't mean to be mean but Wally's mother says I don't think we're going to be able to make it. We had plans. For the the final event, you know, so I'm sorry and the whole team was like. Well, I mean because Wally's automatic out, you know, there's just an automatic out. He's never hit the ball in his life and and he wasn't going to show up the championship game. So like that was actually a benefit to us. They're like well, maybe there is a chance that we could win this. Well turns out Wally shows up. He was there. But it's like there's no way we can win this. Well, here it is in the third inning and this is where my details are missing. I don't know if we're winning or we're behind but it was right neck to neck and and but there's a timer and they get to bat after us and so surely they're going to get their six or seven runs in so we need to get our score up if we have a chance of winning and so we're right there neck to neck and we have the bases loaded. And three and two ounce and here comes Wally. I mean like oh wait, I thought to myself well we gave him a good we did well. We got to the finals and poor Wally he got up there and he closed his eyes and he didn't step out of the batter's box and the coaches just swing the bat because he never even swing the bat and Wally with his eyes closed swung that bat. Strike one. Hey, swung the bat. All right, here comes the next pitch. Wally's puts it back. His eyes are closed. I don't even know when he knows the ball is coming and he swings and hits it. And it trickle rolls past the second baseman. And it rolls into the outfield. Run Wally doesn't even know what to do. I mean run. And here comes our basement running in. One run another run. Wally keeps on running. And lo and behold, they throw the ball and someone misses and Wally keeps on running. He doesn't know to stop. And he just runs all the way in and they don't tag him and he clears the bases. Can you believe this? The worst player of the worst team. Clears the bases and we go on to win the game and we give the MVP. To Wally. That's a true live story. I didn't make that up. Well, Saul of Tarsus is Wally. Read with me in verses 8 through 10. Last of all, as the one untimely born, he appeared also to me for I'm the least of the Apostles. Unworthy 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 towards me was not in vain. I cleared the bases. I hit a grand slam on the contrary of worked harder than any of them though was not I but the grace of God that was in with that was with me. You see Saul who became Paul was the most unworthy candidate to be an Apostle. If you had to pick an Apostle, you would not have picked Saul of Tarsus. He had everything against him. Everything was working not in his favor. So he would be the last candidate any of us would have chosen. But in this text about Saul's call by grace into the apostolic ministry. And how he has seen the resurrected Savior, which is the context of the resurrection and how Christ appeared to the various people, the Apostles, the Apostles 500 and last of all, he appeared to Saul of Tarsus. What we learned in this text is that we're saved by grace. And we are spiritually fruitful. My grace that is salvation is by grace. And as we heard in the Sunday School lesson is by grace alone. By grace, we are saved and by grace. We are fruitful. Let's look at how we are saved by grace and think about you and as being Wally. You're you need to understand that you're the Wally of the story. You're the Saul, your Saul of Tarsus, if you would and you have everything against you to make you one of the children of God. You see Paul was the last person you would have ever imagined or suspected to have become a apostle, not just an apostle but a super apostle. He says in verse 8 last of all as to one untimely born. He appeared also to me for I am the least of the Apostles. Unworthy to be called an Apostle like I'm I'm the least of them. I'm not worthy to be called Apostle, but I'll did them all. You know, I'm not worthy to be it, but I end up producing more than they I hit the Grand Slam. I got the MVP at the end of the day. I did more, but it wasn't because I was the better man. It wasn't because I was more worthy. It wasn't because I was the better baseball player. It was simply the grace of God that I hit the ball is simply by the grace of God that I'm saying is simply by the grace of God that I did what I've done. I it's all been my grace. And there's various reasons the Apostle Paul was the least and wasn't worthy to be an Apostle is because and he was born out of due season. He's 10 years younger than all the other Apostles. We believe that Christ was born somewhere around 4 6 BC that when Christ died, he was around 30 33 years old, maybe 34 years old is hard to tell but we put the birth of Saul somewhere around 5 6 or 7 ad he's 10 years younger than all the other Apostles to the point that he was too young to have been a disciple of Jesus. He didn't never he never saw the person of Jesus and he never saw the resurrected Jesus while Jesus was in his time on Earth because he was too young. He is like he was born too late. He is born out of season. Or some would say he was born at the wrong time. Sorry. You didn't make the cut. You're too young. And one of the necessary qualifications to be an Apostle according to Acts Chapter 1 after Judas killed himself. The other leaven says we got to feel his place. We have to find someone who's been with us from the beginning someone who's heard the teachings of Christ. If you're going to be a messenger of Christ, you got to know what he taught and if you weren't there when he was teaching, how are you going to know what he said? So you can't be a messenger of Jesus Christ. If you didn't receive the instructions of Jesus Christ, so we have to choose someone who had been with Christ from the beginning so that they would know all the teaching and message of Christ. How could Paul qualify for that? He didn't hear any of the teachings of Jesus during his earthly ministry. So we would think the Apostle Paul is just no way the Apostle Paul is going to be an Apostle. He's too young. Also, it says that he was unworthy. Look at verse 9."For I'm the least of the apostles unworthy to be called an Apostle because I persecuted the Church of God." I remember being 17 years old, 16, 17 years old and I read the book of Acts for the first time like just reading through it and getting caught up in the story and I know I grew up in Sunday School. I knew I grew up hearing about Paul, but for whatever reason it was like the story was the first time I'm hearing it is 16, 17 years old and I did not really dawn on me that this guy named Saul comes Paul. I didn't have that. I didn't for whatever reason if I either heard it, forgot it or didn't realize it and never heard it. I don't know, but I'm reading through the book of Acts as a young man and I keep on reading about this man named Saul and I said, "I do not like this man." I remember not liking him. I remember thinking that I hope God brings judgment upon him. Something's got to happen to him and I was astonished when I found out that he became Paul. I knew who Paul was, but this is Saul. It's like how can this be? How can the man that persecuted the Church, the man who hated Christ, I mean you talk about a Pharisee of the Pharisees. He was self-righteous. He was a prideful man. He was an arrogant man and he wasn't seeking the Lord. He wasn't like trying to search out the Old Testament and look for the Messiah. In fact, he had heard about this new thing called the way. He had heard about Christianity, had heard about Christ and he said, "This is a deviation to Judaism. I've got to stomp it out." And of all his companions, he was the most zealous about persecuting the Church and he went from village to village, from city to city, trying to stomp out the Church and killing Christians. He was there in one who gave authority of the stoning of the stoning of Stephen. They laid their cults at his feet as they stoned Stephen. And you know, it wasn't like Saul was in the midst of inquiring about Jesus. He was persecuting Jesus. So you don't believe in salvation by grace. Well, how do you understand the conversion of Saul? He didn't come to himself as I now I'm going to seek the Lord. No, he's in the middle of trying to kill Christians. God can save you no matter where you're at. You may be here this morning and you may hate God. He said, "I don't want anything to do with Christianity. I'm going to run from this. I hate it. I don't want my parents' religion. But God in his grace can come to you." And as he did Saul,"Oh, that's why Saul, he's remembering he's unworthy to be an apostle because he's looking back and says, "I didn't do anything to become this. I didn't do anything to earn this. I didn't do anything to for God to have compassion upon me. There was nothing that God could look into me and say,"Oh, there's something in Saul that I feel sorry for." There was nothing to draw out compassion, nothing to draw out sympathy. All thing you could get when you looked at Saul was he deserves judgment. He's a evil man. He's a hard-hearted man. He's a prideful man. But he says when he recounts his own testimony in Acts 22 verse 6, "As I was on the way and drew near to Damascus about noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone around me and I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?' And I answered, 'Who are you, Lord?' And he said to me, 'I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you're persecuting.'" You see, Paul didn't clean himself up. He didn't go to church for six months. He didn't put away his bad habits. He didn't stop doing the things he was doing. He didn't all of a sudden, it's like, look, now I can approach the Lord. Now I can pray. Now that I have really done some things to make myself feel better about myself, now the Lord's going to take notice of me. He didn't do any of these things and the Lord came to him while he was yet sinner. In the midst of his persecution, Christ come to him. He says it this way in Ephesians 3, 7, "Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace, which was given to me by the working of his power. To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given to me." So as he thinks about how he became what he is as an apostle, as he was reflecting upon this, he says, "I am what I am by the grace of God. I stand here today as an apostle by God's grace and God's grace alone. Don't look at me and say, 'Good hit, Wally.'" You know, Wally had his eyes closed. There's nothing, there wasn't any skill involved in Wally's hitting that thing. Nothing in Paul, nothing in Saul, nothing in you. Remember that. I remember, again, I go back to some of my memories. I remember reading Romans for the first time around 17, 18 years old and my dad taught on the doctrines of grace and election and I rejected it. I didn't want anything to do with it. I thought my dad was a good man. I thought my dad was a godly man and said, "He's right about the gospel. He's right about this. He's right about that." But I just can't buy into this election until I was reading Romans and I was reading it by myself and I came to Romanstein and I begin to argue with Paul and he argued back at me and I realized I wasn't arguing with Paul, I was arguing with God. And then when I realized like who am I and the God was talking to me, who are you old man? I was like, I don't know who I am. You know, I'm arguing with God, not my dad. And all of a sudden it dawned on me in a real experiential way. I mean, I knew I was saved by grace and I knew it was nothing I did but it dawned on me for the first time in a real substantial way. I didn't do anything. I didn't do anything. I'm saved by grace. I just like the all of a sudden is like the realization the realization I'm unworthy for this thing. I am saved by grace. By grace. It is like this is what grace is. It's not earned. It's not deserved. It's not it's not something that that I did. I'm a recipient. I'm a peer recipient and recipient alone to this salvation of grace. So when Paul is reflecting about his own apostolic ministry and the fact that he has seen the risen Christ and what any he saw by the way he saw it on the road of Damascus and then for seven years he went into Arabia the desert and he was taught directly by Jesus. So he got his message from the resurrected Savior out of the tesser so he could be a messenger. So like he shouldn't have he shouldn't be a messenger because he was too young and unworthy and he was not meant to be a messenger of the gospel. But here God showed mercy to him and didn't just save him but called him into the ministry. The very church that you were seeking to persecute and stamp out will be the very church that you're going to be used to build. Wally was going to be the the player that calls the team to lose. Scott said no, you'll be the player that calls the team to win. Paul tells us the grace given me by God. I am a minister of Christ Jesus Romans 15 15 Galatians 1 15 but when he who set me apart before I was born who called me by his grace Galatians 2 9 when G James and Cephas and John who were seemed to be pillars perceived the grace that was given to me. They gave me the right hand of fellowship. And first Timothy 1 14 and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. You see as we reflect upon our own standing in our own place know that we're here. You're here. You're going to heaven and you see it in glass darkly now, but we'll get to heaven. You're going to know we're going to all know I'm here by grace. It's just grace. Ephesians 1 7 in him we have redemption through his blood the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of his grace. Ephesians 2 8 you have been saved by grace. For by grace you have been saved. What should this lead to us? I mean we forget. I mean sometimes you need to take inventory of the blessings that you have you take your wife forget for granted. You need it you men you need to think about the preciousness of the beauty of your wife and how pleasant how what a joy it is to be married to her. You need to really remember the joys of your children. Sometimes we we get all complaining and grumpy about what we don't have and we neglect to think of the joys that God has given us the blessings that God has given us. But you know one of the things we take for granted and we just take it as old hat old news and we just like all that. I know that is the fact that we're saved. I mean we that that one bit of knowledge should cause us to live joyfully the rest of our lives. So play my wife left me. That's fine. I'm safe. Hey my kids hate me. That's fine. I'm safe. The world's coming to you. Hey, I don't know about what's going to happen in about two weeks of this election. I don't know but I can tell you this. I am saying. I'm going to heaven. How how you go to heaven Jeff? Why do you get to go to heaven? Who are you? I'm not worthy. I didn't do anything. All I did to be saved is sin. All I did to be saved is hate Jesus. All I did to be saved is to is run from the Lord. That's all I did. Well, how did you make it? Grace came after me. It chased me down. It opened up my eyes to see where I was going. I was going to hell what I didn't care. But now by God's grace. I stand before you today. With all my sin that some of them not just a little bit of my sins, but all my sins every one of them forgiven. Hallelujah. You know, this is this should lead us of all people to be grateful to God. We should worship Jesus. We should say God, you're good to you alone be the praise to you alone be their glory. You see the Bible tells us he teaches us that we're saved by grace and not by works through faith and that not even ourselves so that we might not boast so that we might not take credit so that we might not go look at what I've done. Look at me. No, we have no place. We know we hit the ball. How I had my eyes closed. I don't know. I don't know how I hit the ball. How did you have faith? I don't know. I wasn't looking to believe. But grace came to me. It came to me when I was dead in my sins. It came to me when I was struggling. It came to me when I was wandering away. It came to me and rescued me and I am here to stand today. It tell you to testify is by the grace of God. I am what I am. By the way, this should give you hope. Wow. I I I will be disappointed after the sermon every sermon. I preach. I'm always leaving a little sad and I can't help it and I'm going. I know it's coming and I'm going to tell you it's going to happen to me. And this is why I want revival to take place. I want 10 kids to be saved today. I really do. I want I want that so bad. And as a well trust the Lord God, how could I not want people to be saved? But let me tell you who do not know the Lord. Let me tell you this. It's because it's not by works. You can be saved. If you had to do something, you would have no hope. If you had to clean yourself up, if you had to somehow get your sins off of you and wash yourself, go take a bath and say, how do I get my conscious to get this out? How do I free myself from the slavery of sin? If that was the message, you would be utterly lost without hope. But that's not the message. The message is you don't have to clean yourself up. You don't have to do anything. There's nothing that prevents you from being saved today. You could be saved today. I believe that with all my heart. Jeff, why are you so passionate about it? What in the life be passionate about this? This is life and death. And we get passionate about sports. We get passionate about the election coming up about politics. All these things are a common goal, but this will abide forever. You say Jeff, I've sinned too much. No, you haven't because God's grace is greater than your sins. I've already rejected the gospel more than you can count. That's okay. Grace is still sufficient for you. John Bunyan went to church. He was struggling with conviction and he wanted to be saved, but he didn't want to be saved and he heard a sermon about Sabbath breaking and it brought him under a lot of conviction that very day that very Sunday. He went and played some type of sport. And as he was playing, it included some ball. He was playing some type of a regulation sport and Sunday after church. He says he recounts. It is autobiography. He recounts the fact that it was as if the heavens open up and he could see Jesus Christ looking down at him. He says you are a Sabbath breaker and he said to John the bad John Bunyan. He said to Bunyan, would you have salvation? Would you have eternal life or would you have your sins? He felt so convicted as he was playing the sport. But he went on to play. He rejected the conviction. He played. And after that day, he thought grace had passed him up that there was no hope for him now. That he'd already rejected the gospel. There's no hope for someone who's already shunned the gospel and he thought himself forever condemned. That might be you this morning. You know, you've been under conviction. You know, you need to be saved. You know, your parents are right. You've heard the gospel, but you've been you've been so stubborn and because of the death of your sins, you don't think there's any way that God can have mercy upon you today. But John Bunyan says. But I'm a great sinner to say you. But the Lord Jesus says I will not cast you out for all who come to him. He will receive. John 637. Bunyan goes on to say, but I'm an old sinner say you. I will not cash you out says Christ, but I'm a hard, hard sinner say you I will not cash you out says Christ, but I'm a backsliding sinner say you I will not cash you out says Christ, but I've served Satan all my days say you I will not cash you out says Christ, but I've sinned against your light. I will not cash you out says Christ, but I've sinned against mercy say you I will not cast you out says Christ. I have no good thing to bring with me say you. I will not cast you out. This is the gospel. This is grace. You come as you are you come with your sins. You come with your guilt. You come as you are. Bring your sins with you your guilt with you. You don't have to pretend anymore. You don't have to make excuses. You don't have to blame others. You know guilty people blame everybody else for their guilt. Guilty people say it's not my fault guilty people are trying to get rid of their guilt try to get rid of their shame by excuses and self justification self-righteousness. But it doesn't get rid of it. The sin is still there. The guilt is there. You can't get rid of your guilt by blaming others come with your guilt. Lay your guilt before the Lord is Lord all I have before you today. All I have is myself and myself is guilty Richard. I'm a sinner. I bring you myself and I look to the one that you've sent in my place. Jesus Christ believe in that and by grace you can be saved. Well, Paul doesn't just say that he was saved by grace. You know, it's like well, maybe we're saved by grace and what gets us in is pure grace. But you know now that we are saved we can take some credit for all the good works after salvation. You know, look at the Apostle Paul. I mean he out labored them all he outworked them all. That's what he says in verse 10 is like hey is by the grace of God. I'm the least of the Apostles. I shouldn't be Apostle. However, I am an Apostle and not only am I an Apostle. I've worked harder than all of them. I planted more churches in the all of wrote more inspired books than they I have I've given my back to be whipped. I have been stoned. I have been shipwrecked. I have suffered more than they all I have labored more diligently than all I've given every ounce of time in a greater way than all the other Apostles. So now look at me. Does he say that now look at me is he saying I've labored more bundley than them all so that he can get credit so he can get some glory. That is he can get a little fame a little applause. So there's not not his point as his point is not looking to himself so he can get.