Who Needs GRACE?
Amazing Grace Sunday
February 18, 2007
Ephesians 2:1-10It is like you have an uncle you hated, mistreated, made fun of, never did a kind thing to,
because someone told you lies about him, you never visited, you hung out with his mortal enemy. In your total poverty, as you
1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.
4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. NIV
Intro :If people do not know how bad the condition is they won’t take the treatment. If you haven’t been told you have cancer or leukemia and how bad it is, and how much time you have. You wouldn’t take cemo, radiation, or bone marrow transplant. You would think it was unnecessary, optional, or even harmful to your life.We often offer people salvation, and they say from what? They realize how dire their condition.
Bill Hybels and Soccer Coach (Across the Room p30)
Bill tells about his sons soccer coach (Brian). One day he felt prompted to leave the sideline and go introduce himself and help put the balls and equiptment away. He wasn’t thrilled to find out Bill was a pastor. After several months of small converstations he asked Brian if he would come to church. Brian said, “I knew it would come to this. I know about Willow Creek, and all the traffic frustrates me. God is not part of my life, church is not part of my life, and I’d just as soon take this whole thing off the agenda here.” He said, Ok, no pressure. Bill continued to help him and ask about his business. After 3 years his son was out of the league and he lost touch with Brian. Then after several years past Brians world was turned upside down. Business issues, and his family life begin to give his problems. He called Bill and said he wanted to talk, not come to a service. They met a few times then it was over. Months later as he was preparing a group of new converts for their upcoming baptism he saw Brian in the group. Bill was shocked, and thought he must have stumbled into the wrong place. So afterward he asked him, “What were you doing there?” Brian said a couple of months ago I snuck in a service, and you talked about giving up the self improvement and get into the grace plan. You said we needed to open up to God through accepting the work of his Son, Jesus Christ. I gave my heart to Christ, and I was here to be baptized. Brian wasn’t aware he needed saved until God used the events of life to open his eyes.
The first verse of Amazing Grace says, “I once was lost, but now I’m found. Was blind but now I see.”
John Newton is the author of one of the most beloved songs of the Christian faith -- Amazing Grace. He was born in London July 24, 1725, to a pious Christian woman. In July of 1732, thirteen days before his seventh birthday, death took his saintly mother who had, since his third birthday, been his teacher and friend. He was left with only the memory of a godly mother and her Christian teaching.
When he was eleven, John went to sea and it was not long before he was wholly involved in the ungodly vices of seamen. As one author put it, "he became a dissipated sailor." He followed this ungodly path for many years, but finally, the memory of his mother brought him to himself. He remembered her Christian teaching and her godly life, and considered his ungodly lifestyle and his wretched life. The recollection of his mother prompted him to again seek Christ. He searched the slave ship for a Bible or some other book about Christ and found Imitations of Christ Imitations of Christ by Thomas à Kempis. This book sowed the seeds of his conversion. On May 10, 1748 when the ship nearly sunk in a violent storm he trusted Christ as his personal Savior. As a result of his mother’s influence a stream of boundless influence flowed forward throughout the world. John Newton became a preacher of the Gospel.
In a small cemetery of a parish churchyard in Olney, England, stands a granite tombstone w/ this inscription: “John Newton, clerk [pastor], once an infidel & Libertine, a servant of slavers in Africa, was, by the rich mercy of our Lord & Savior JC, preserved, restored, pardoned, and appointed to preach the Faith he had long labored to destroy.” You may not remember his name, but all of us know the song he wrote as a testimony of his life: “Amazing Grace.”
I Man’s Helpless Condition v1-3
Five Symptoms of mans condition
A. They are spiritually DEAD! Verse 1
1. Missing what they were created for (My DVD player no sound last week)
2. Coon dog that won’t tree
3. UNAWARE - of their condition as the physically dead are -can’t see, hear, touch, taste, smell, think or understand spiritual things
4. Like a car without gas, house without electric, unplugged or disconnected electric devices.
B. They follow the culture of the World v2
-Anti God
-God less
-Christian haters - Bloggers for John Edwards Fired -finally after much protest
Ken Ham -TV CSI ,
C. They follow the Devil v2
-You don’t have to be a Satan worshiper to be a follower
-Just follow his rebellion and disobedience to God your creator
-If you are not saved Satan’s spirit is in you
D. They live according to the dark side of their nature v3
-follow their sinful nature, not conscience , or good training
The Prognosis
E. They are objects of God’s Wrath v3
II God’s Gracious Provision v4-6
Grace is getting God’s blessing we don’t deserve. Unmerited favor of God.
-the one and only cure-
What is “grace”? Grace It is UNDESERVED KINDNESS. Someone has said, “Grace is everything for nothing to those who don’t deserve anything.”
An atheist once said, “If there really is a God, may He prove Himself by striking me dead right now.” Nothing happened. The atheist proudly announced, “You see, there is no God.” His friend responded, “You’ve only proved that He is a gracious God.”
A. Motivated by Love v 4
B. Acting in Mercy v 4
C. Provided by Grace v5b
When Billy Graham was driving through a small southern town, he was stopped by a policeman and charged with speeding. Graham admitted his quilt, but was told by the officer that he would have to appear in court.
The judge asked, "Guilty, or not guilty?" When Graham pleaded guilty, the judge replied, "That’ll be ten dollars -- a dollar for every mile you went over the limit."Suddenly the judge recognized the famous minister. "You have violated the law," he said. "The fine must be paid--but I am going to pay it for you." He took a ten dollar bill from his own wallet, attached it to the ticket, and then took Graham out and bought him a steak dinner! "That," said Billy Graham, "is how God treats repentant sinners!"
1. Spiritually Resurrected (Born AGAIN) v5
2. Saved from the Penalty of Your Sins (not all the consequences) v5 (saved) from what?
3. Begin to taste coming Kingdom now v 6- blessings to come, Begin to Rule in spirit world
Sams Club - Samples of food
III God’s Reason for Grace v7
In the ages to come to show the magnificence of his grace
ILLUS. Famous preacher died/went to heaven. St. Peter meets him at Pearly Gates and tells him he needs 100 pts. to get into heaven. Gets 1 point for pastoring church for 45 yrs. 1 point for teaching S.S. 1 point for working at soup kitchen . Starting to sweat, says at this rate the only way he’ll get into heaven is by grace of God. St. Peter says, “Grace of God: 97 points.” We can’t work our way into heaven. God’s grace makes all the difference
Conclusion: All wrapped up in a gospel nugget. Verses 8-9
1. You were (or can be) saved by GRACE - God’s undeserved favor v8
During a British conference on comparative religions, experts from around the world debated what, if any, belief was unique to the Christian faith. They began eliminating possibilities. Incarnation? Other religions had different versions of gods appearing in human form. Resurrection? Again, other religions had accounts of return from death.
The debate went on for some time until C. S. Lewis wandered into the room. “What’s the [commotion] about?” he asked, and heard in reply that his colleagues were discussing Christianity’s unique contribution among world religions. Lewis responded, “Oh, that’s easy. It’s grace.”
The notion of God’s love coming to us free of charge, no strings attached, seems to go against every instinct of humanity. The Buddhist eight-fold path, the Hindu doctrine of Karma, the Jewish covenant, and the Muslim code of law—each of these offers a way to earn approval. Only Christianity dares to make God’s love unconditional (Perfect Illustrations for Every Topic and Occasion, pp. 116-117; citation: Philip Yancey, What’s So Amazing about Grace?).
2. Your only part was faith. V8b
-nothing you could do
-not giving money
-not help people
-not attend or work in church
In 2001, Reader’s Digest asked Muhammad Ali what his faith meant to him. Ali replied, “[It] means [a] ticket to heaven. One day we’re all going to die, and God’s going to judge us, [our] good and bad deeds. [If the] bad outweighs the good, you go to hell; if the good outweighs the bad, you go to heaven.” That’s what many people believe. But that’s not what the Bible says.
3. Salvation is a gift from God to the undeserving. V 8c
It is like you have an uncle you hated, mistreated, made fun of, never did a kind thing to,
because someone told you lies about him, you never visited, you hung out with his mortal enemy. In your total poverty, as you lost your job, house, car and family. Your uncle makes you the beneficiary of his entire estate worth millions. It includes mansions, land, companies, and cars etc. You never did a single thing to deserve it, but he graciously gave it outof the goodness of his own heart.
4. The Result of Salvation - v 10 (not to live anyway you want)
-Faith is not just agreeing mentally to a Creed.
-it is a spiritual rebirth, radical change spiritually
A. God changes us inside (born again, regenerated) Eternal Life within
B. We begin to do good by nature -Our desires begin change -Transformed
In the movie Saving Private Ryan, a group of Army Rangers receive a mission to go deep into enemy territory to save Private Ryan. They hit skirmish after skirmish, and some of them are killed along the way. They finally get to where Private Ryan is holed up, and they say, “Come with us. We’re here to save you.” He says, “I’m not going. I have to stay here because there’s a big battle coming up, and I’m not going to abandon my fellow soldiers.”
What do the Rangers do? They all stay and fight, and almost everyone dies except Private Ryan. At the end, one of the main characters—played by Tom Hanks—is sitting on the ground. He’s been shot and he’s dying. But the battle has been won.
Private Ryan leans over to him, and Tom Hanks whispers, “Earn this.” But it’s very unlikely that any Ranger would say, “Earn this.” Why? Because the Ranger motto for the past two hundred years has been “I chose this.” In other words, I volunteered for this. So, if Tom Hanks was really a Ranger, he would have said, “I chose this. You don’t have to earn this. I give up my life for you. That’s my job.”
And so, when you look at the cross and see Jesus hanging there, what you don’t hear is “Earn this.” What He says is “I chose this. You don’t have to pay anything for it” (adapted from Perfect Illustrations for Every Topic and Occasion; citation: Tom Allen, Preaching Today #200).
