Amazing Grace Series

Amazing Grace

If you have your Bible, please open it to Titus Chapter 2. An atheist complained to a Christian friend, “You Christians have special holidays, such as Christmas and Easter. Jews celebrate their national holidays, such as Passover and Yom Kippur. But we atheists have no recognized national holidays, it is unfair discrimination.”

His friend replied, “Why don’t you celebrate April first?”

If you have not been able to tell by the music today, today the sermon will be about the amazing grace given to us by God. We believe we are saved by faith through grace. God's grace is usually defined as undeserved favor. Grace cannot be earned; it is freely given. We count on God's grace and the bridge he built in our relationship with Him. I am beyond thankful for the grace of God that reached down and saved a wretch like me.

The song “Amazing Grace” is without a doubt one of the best-known Christian songs ever written. It is estimated that the song is played or sang about 10 million times every year. I am going to read you the story behind Amazing Grace. In 1744 Newton was by force into service in the Royal Navy. He was disgraced, relieved of his post, and traded for another man from a passing merchant ship, a slave vessel.

Beginning his career in slave trading, Newton soon became tempted by its profits. Merchants believed that trafficking in human trade was justified since slavery was permitted in the Bible as long as slaves were treated with dignity and kindness. That Newton engaged in the slave trade in such a manner was demonstrated by the willingness of slaves to secretly carry his letters to port to send to Mary. Despite a promising start with a slaver off the coast of Sierra Leone, Newton once again found himself in tough straits. Felled by malaria, he was at the mercy of the slaver's native mistress, whose abuse reduced him to the condition of the "wretch" he later described in "Amazing Grace." He recovered, however, but was soon to face another trial during which he was strengthened and inspired by Thomas à Kempis' Imitation of Christ. Newton was aboard ship one night when a violent storm broke out. Moments after he left the deck, the crewman who had taken his place was swept overboard. Although he manned the vessel for the remainder of the tempest, he later commented that, throughout the tumult, he realized his helplessness and concluded that only the grace of God could save him. Prodded by what he had read in Kempis, Newton took the first step toward accepting Christ.

Let us look at Titus Chapter 2 starting in verse 11.

READ TITUS 2:11-15

We defined grace as undeserved favor. God gave us this undeserved favor of salvation. Folks there is nothing we could have ever done to deserve or receive salvation, but God gave it to us anyway. What an Amazing Grace that is. That He reached down and saved us. Let us look closely at Amazing Grace this morning. I have 6 points that show how great and amazing that grace from God is.

1. A Saving Grace

Verse 1 of Amazing Grace says this:

“Amazing Grace how sweet the sound,

That saved a wretch like me!

I once was lost, but now am found;

Was blind, but now I see.”

Like John Newton, we too are a wretch. A wretch can be described as someone who is despicable. Romans 3:23 says:

“For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”

That means that every person to ever walk the planet has sinned and because we have sinned, we are despicable and a wretch. Y`all can get mad at me if you want to, but that is the truth. If we were great and wonderful people, there would have been no reason for Jesus to come and die on the cross. He came and He died to save us from the pit of hell. He came to save us from what we truly deserve. In today's age, there is a lot of entitlement going around. People think that they deserve happiness and think that they deserve whatever they want. Listen folks, the only thing that any of us truly deserve is spending an eternity in hell. Paul later says in Romans 6:23:

“For the wages of sin is death”

So, in Romans, Paul makes it clear that we have all sinned and the payment for our sins is death. Not just an Earthly death where we have this big funeral and people sing and cry, but an eternal death in hell. That is what we all deserve, but thankfully we have a loving and merciful Father.

“Amazing Grace how sweet the sound,

That saved a wretch like me!”