AMAZING GRACE
What do you think when you hear the word GRACE? Do you think of that police officer that pulls you over speeding but does not give you a ticket? Do you think of something you ask before meals? Do you think of a girl you want to ask on a date?
Look at these two sentences. Tell me if there is a difference.
Pardon impossible, to be executed.
Pardon, impossible to be executed.
Is there a difference? You bet there is. Look at this historical example.
Alexander III was Tsar of Russia from 1881-1894. His rule was marked by repression, and in particular by persecution of Jews. His wife, Maria Fedorovna, provided a stark contrast, being known for her generosity to those in need. On one occasion her husband had signed an order consigning a prisoner to life in exile. It read simply, “Pardon impossible, to be sent to Siberia.”
Maria changed that prisoner’s life by moving the comma in her husband’s order. She altered it to read “Pardon, impossible to be sent to Siberia.” That is a perfect example of GRACE. In Christ, God has changed the comma that stood against us. From “Pardon impossible, send to Hell” comes the good news of salvation: “Pardon, impossible to send to Hell.”
To Christians, GOD’S GRACE IS ETERNALLY IMPORTANT. The Father loved us so much that he bestowed his grace on us by sending his Son to die for our sins. A biblical definition of grace is God giving us what we do not deserve, and do not for one second think that you and I deserved what Christ did for us on Calvary, but He did it in mercy and grace.
I want to look at God’s Amazing grace by examining the words of that timeless hymn, Amazing Grace, that reveals just exactly what God’s grace has done for us.
1. Amazing Grace Redeems us from sin.
Amazing Grace! How Sweet the Sound. That Saved A Wretch like Me.
Do you know you and I were wretched? Wretched means someone in a very distressed or dismal state or condition. Without God’s amazing grace, we have no hope.
2 Thessalonians 2:16
16 Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace,
John 3:16
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Without God’s grace we are hopeless. Being hopeless is the saddest condition any soul can be in, and did you know without God’s grace we are all hopeless?
Romans 3 : 23
23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
We come short of the glory of God. We are hopeless. We are like that sentence I showed you earlier. Pardon impossible, to be executed. Because we are hopeless and wretched, there is another verse that applies to our condition.
Romans 6 : 23
23 For the wages of sin is death;
You might be thinking that you do not sin. Dear friend, merely by being born you are brought into sin, and you have no hope without God’s grace. You are in effect, sentenced to death. Kings and presidents cannot help you. They cannot pardon your judgement. One of the most important powers and responsibilities the President of the United States has is the power to pardon someone. The President can pardon anyone at any time no matter the crime, but the President cannot pardon our sins. Only God’s grace can do that. How much money would someone pay to have all of his or her transgressions wiped away? But silver and gold cannot buy forgiveness. Medicine and science cannot produce or duplicate God’s grace.
Only Jesus Christ, through the grace of God, can redeem your soul from destruction. That’s grace, and that is how our pardon is possible. We would be forever wretched without that grace offered by God through His Son, Jesus.
Ephesians 2: 8
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
There is nothing you can do on your own. You are lost without hope. Amazing Grace! How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.
2. Amazing Grace relieves our Fears.
‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear. And grace my fears relieved
Psalms 56:3
3 What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.
I really do not understand how someone makes it through this world today without a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. I really do not. I think of the fear of the unknown that I went through when my mother tragically lost her life in that auto accident. The questions of why would have driven me insane without Jesus to relieve my fears. Economic, societal, and physical issues would rob us of our joy on this earth if it were not for God’s grace relieving our fears. Today’s world is full of fear.
There are parts of the United States where you and I would not be able to walk the streets because our lives would legitimately be threatened. There are many that say man’s plight has improved because of our sophistication. I say not. We have devolved into a society in which whoever has the most guns rules. Parents cannot send their children to school with an absolute certainty that their children will return. A trip to the grocery store is no longer safe, and even churches do not provide protection for the world as even the church is targeted by deranged gunmen, and without God’s grace to relieve those fears I do not know how a person copes.
In 2018, there were 15,498 murders in the US, and there were 1.2 million violent crimes. There are more than 40 active conflicts going on at this very moment. Babies, living in the womb, wonder if today is the day his or her life will be taken. Those things are depressing and heart breaking, but God’s Amazing Grace relieves fear. Since God is love, the more we trust him, the less fear we possess. That classic hymn makes an incredible point. It is grace that teaches our heart to fear. Did you know God could just leave you alone, but he does not do that. He allows the Holy Spirit to convict you of your need to accept His gracious gift that He wants to give you. You see every one of us come to the point in our lives that we know we are wretched. In other words, we get to the point that we know that we have sinned. It is God’s grace that gives us the fear of the coming judgement.
Hebrews 9 : 27
27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
It is God’s grace that relieves your fear of that coming judgement. It is God that will allow you to conquer any fear that you might have in this life.
Deuteronomy 31 : 6
6 Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.
3. GOD’s Amazing Grace Reassures Through Danger
Thro’ many dangers, toils, and snares I have already come. Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far and grace will lead me home.
Psalms 91:11
11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
Do you know we are saved by a God that wants to be a part of our lives? Our world is a dangerous world. We will face trials. We will unexpectedly lose loved ones. Friends and loved ones may forsake us, but Jesus never does.
Psalms 91: 14-16
14 Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. 15 He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. 16 With long life will I satisfy him and shew him my salvation.
If you have accepted God’s grace, that grace is never fully displayed like it is when we die. How many of you want to die today? I do not think many of us would raise our hand, but we are going to die unless we cheat death through Jesus by the Rapture. One of my favorite biblical characters is Stephen. Stephen was a great man of God. He had accepted God’s grace because he knew and accepted that he was a wretched soul, and he knew that he needed God’s grace. Stephen was very faithful, and God’s grace was never more evident to Stephen than when he died. Stephen was stoned to death because he was sharing the gospel message, and it angered many people in Jerusalem, but as he was dying, I want you to notice something.
Acts 7 : 55-60
55 But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, 56 And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. 57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, 58 And cast him out of the city and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul. 59 And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. 60 And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
Notice, Jesus Christ is in Heaven, and He usually is sitting on His throne, but as Stephen is sharing the Gospel and being stoned for it, Jesus rises from His throne in an incredible display of approval. It is as if Jesus is giving Stephen a standing ovation for his command performance in front of his lost accusers. Stephen sees Him and says, “I see Jesus on the right of the Father.”
I want you to know. Stephen was in a desperate situation. He was being stoned. They were killing him but look how God’s grace saw him through that danger, snare, and toil. Verse 59 says that he said, “Lord, receive my spirit.” Verse 60 says that he said, “Lord, do not hold this against them.” He, then, fell asleep. He did not die in agony. He did not die in torment. He just went to sleep. Do you know what made that possible? God’s AMAZING GRACE!!!!!!!
3. God’s amazing grace rewards us eternally.
When we’ve been there 10,000 years, Bright Shining as the sun, we’ve no less days to sing God’s praise than when we first begun.
1 Peter 1:13
13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
Earth’s treasures are temporal. To my knowledge, no one has been able to spend a dime once they are dead. Money does not last. One of my favorite historical figures is Andrew Carnegie. He was worth billions of dollars in a time when a dollar was a dollar. Carnegie knew money did not define a man and he said this: “The man who dies thus rich dies disgraced.” Carnegie was saying that laying up treasures on Earth is useless and the pursuit of those riches leads to disgrace, but God’s amazing grace lasts forever.
2 Peter 3:8
8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
When we have been there 10,000 years, we will have just begun. God’s Amazing Grace will enable us to spend an eternity with him, and Jesus Christ is preparing us a place.
John 14: 1-3
1 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 2 In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
Imagine a place that has taken all of time to prepare. I can’t imagine how perfect this place is. On the other, I can’t imagine how terrible a place is being prepared for the persons that reject God’s grace.
5. If you reject God’s Amazing Grace, you are doomed forever.
Revelation 14 : 9-11
9 And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, 10 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: 11 And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
If you reject God’s grace, you, as verse 11 says, will be tormented forever and ever. You will be in Hell where there is no grace. You will be in the place reserved for the Devil and his Demons. By rejecting God’s grace, you will have made your reservation for Hell. Read the Bible and find out what the Rich Man has to say about Hell. You will be tormented forever.
You see, if you wait too long to accept God’s grace you are going to Hell, and it does not matter if you are a teenager or a senior citizen when you die. Make no mistake about it. God cannot let you get by with rejecting what He offered through His Son on the Cross.
If you have not accepted God’s wonderful and amazing grace, this is what you need to do.
( 1 ) You need to admit that you are a sinner, confess Jesus as Lord, and turn from your sin.
( 2 ) You must acknowledge that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that He died for your sins.
( 3 ) You need to accept the resurrection of Jesus Christ as being absolutely true.
( 4 ) You need to confess that you have done so.
( 5 ) As an act of obedience, you need to follow through with baptism.
It is all summed up in these verses:
Romans 10 : 9-10, 13
9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Would you do that today? THANK GOD FOR HIS AMAZING GRACE!!!!!!
If you have any questions about accepting God’s gracious gift, ask those questions in the comments section below. I invite you to join our services. Our Sunday School begins at 10 with worship service beginning at 10:45. Our Sunday night service begins at 5 with Discipleship with worship service beginning at 6. Wednesday night service begins at 7. If you cannot attend in person, we stream all services on our website, beechgrovebruceville.org
Praise God for His amazing grace!!!!