OPEN: In 1776 the great patriot Thomas Paine, wrote the following words about freedom:
“What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly;
’tis dearness only that gives everything its value.
Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed,
if so celestial an article as Freedom should not be highly rated.”
APPLY: Thomas Paine was saying that our Freedom as a people should always be highly prized, and likewise, the Bible tells us that our freedom in Christ should never be taken lightly either.
Jesus said that He had been sent to “…preach good news to the poor. (The Father) has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, Luke 4:18
Hebrews tells us that Jesus “… shared in (our) humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death— that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.” Hebrews 2:14-15
Our freedom in Christ is a powerful thing and it has been bought at great price… the price of Christ’s death on the cross. And those have made the greatest difference for God have often been those who have understood how precious their freedom in Christ actually is.
Back in the late 1700’s, there was a preacher named John Newton. Before he died he preached a sermon where he said: “My memory is nearly gone, but I remember 2 things. That I am a great sinner and that Christ is a great Savior!”
Now ordinarily, those are the kind of words you’d expect out of preacher. Any preacher worth his salt would be proud to come up with a line like that one. But John Newton was not your ordinary preacher. He had indeed been a GREAT sinner.
In fact, on his gravestone in Olney, England are engraved these words:
“John Newton, clerk [preacher], once an infidel and Libertine, a servant of slavers in Africa, was, by the rich mercy of our Lord and Savior JC, preserved, restored, pardoned, and appointed to preach the Faith he had long labored to destroy.”
In other words - on his gravestone – John Newton declared before God and everyone that he had been an immoral man. He had engaged in an impure activities that would make your hair curl (that’s what the terms “infidel” and “libertine” refer to).
In addition, he was declaring that he had bought and sold human flesh for profit and that he had actively belittled, ridiculed and tried to destroy faith other people had in God.
He was not a nice man.
But we don’t remember him because of the terrible things that he did in his life as much as we do the song that he wrote. It’s one of the most popular songs ever written and has been recorded by more artists than any melody ever written. Does anybody know the name of that song?
It’s called “Amazing Grace”, and I’d like you to sing the first verse of that song with me right now.
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.
In that song, John Newton was declaring that he had no right to be saved.
He was a wretch of a man
And it was only by the AMAZING grace of Jesus that he even had a prayer.
He’d once been horribly lost, rejected by anyone who had even a sense of decency.
But now… like the sheep that had gone astray… God had found Him and cleansed Him and made part of His family.
John Newton lived the words of the song he wrote.
In fact, John Newton lived the life of the Scripture we read at the opening of this sermon.
He had lived a life that was very much like that of a man named Saul (we know him as Paul) who was an early enemy of the church.
Read Again With Me from I Timothy 1:13-16 Saul (Paul) writes:
“Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.
Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners— of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.”
In the book of Acts we’re told that:
“…Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison. Acts 8:3
And that he was “breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, and desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.” Acts 9:1-2
In one of letters to the church at Corinth Paul wrote: “I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.” 1 Corinthians 15:9
Paul was not a nice man.
He had hurt people and ruined the lives of whole families.
He had no right to be saved.
He was a wretch of a man, a man who saw himself as the worst of sinners.
And it was only by the AMAZING grace of Jesus that he even had a prayer.
You know, it is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance:
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners – of whom you and I have done our share.
We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
None of us deserve to be saved… it’s only by the Amazing Grace of Jesus that we have a prayer
Now… what does that mean?
First of all it means that if someone has sinned, God wants them.
Jesus was once ridiculed for eating with tax collectors and “sinners”, and He responded:
"It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Luke 5:31-32
Later in His ministry, Jesus said He’d come “…to seek and to save what was lost." Luke 19:10
Paul wrote the Christians at Corinth, “Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
1 Corinthians 6:9-11
The church of Christ was not intended to be a country club for “nice people”.
Not that I’ve got anything against nice people, I’d love to have our building filled with them. But we need to understand, Jesus didn’t come to die for “nice people.” He came to die for sinners. And the Church has been designed to reach out and to change the lives of sinners that decent people wouldn’t feel comfortable around.
ILLUS: Now at this point, I’m going to challenge your comfort zone.
I want you to take a couple of moments and think about somebody you can’t stand.
How many of you can think of someone like that?
Someone that irritates you, frustrates you, makes you uncomfortable to be near.
Maybe you work with them…
Maybe they live somewhere on your street
Maybe you’re related to them.
Whoever this person is, you don’t really want to be around them because… while they may not be the worst of sinners… it’s not because they haven’t tried
You could have a whole laundry list of why these people are to be avoided.
They could be engaged in some unspeakable lifestyle
Maybe they’re running around on their spouse
Or maybe they’ve been selfish and self-centered, abrasive, argumentative, mean-spirited
Perhaps they curse every other word, or insult Jesus or His church
Or (fill in the blank)
They’ve done stupid things, and they’ve hurt people because… well, frankly, they could. And they don’t care.
They are not nice people
They have no right to be saved.
In fact, if it weren’t for the AMAZING grace of Jesus… they’d ever have a prayer.
Now, I don’t want you to feel sorry for folks like this. I don’t want you to necessarily invite them over to lunch or expose your children/ grandchildren to their influence. What I’m saying here is that I just want you to remember why Jesus came.
He came to “seek and to save what was lost… to call sinners to repentance.”
Is that person you’re thinking about – are they a sinner? Of course they are. That’s why they irritate you. But if they’re sinners, then Jesus came to die for THEM… just like He came to die for you and I.
You know, before Paul became a Christian, not a whole lot of people in the church wanted anything to do with him either. In fact, right after Jesus confronted Paul on the road to Damascus, drove him to his knees and told him to go on to Damascus to wait for someone who would tell him what he should do… right after that, Jesus then appeared to a disciple named Ananias. And He gave Ananias instructions to meet with Paul and to teach him and baptize him and to give Paul his marching orders.
Do you remember Ananias’ response???
Essentially, Ananias responded: “You’ve got to be kidding me! Do you know what this man has done? This guy is a sinner… I don’t want anything to do with him.”
And even after he became a Christian Acts 9:26 tells us that “When (Paul 1st) came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple.”
And yet, God wanted to save Paul so much, that He literally shook his world
We need to realize that the people we have a hard time with are all potential Pauls and potential John Newtons.
They could be the people God wants to use to become preachers or missionaries or Sunday School teachers.
They could be the ones God wants to write a new Christian novel,
or open up a Christian website that will reach thousands of people for Jesus.
We need to think about the sinners around us the way that Jesus does.
And then we need to watch for our opportunity to free them from their slavery to sin.
ILLUS: John Newton became a powerful preacher because somebody talked to him about Jesus.
It seems that he and his ship “The Greyhound” were overwhelmed by a fierce storm. Newton awoke in his cabin to find it filled with water. What followed was a 9 hour nightmare where he and his shipmates struggled to keep the ship from falling apart. For 9 hours, the crew manned the pumps. Clothes and bedding were stuffed into holes and boards nailed over them. At one point Newton was lashed to the wheel of the ship to help steer it. It was bitterly cold and the storm seemed to rage on and on. During a short period of time when he was relieved to go below, he found a Bible and began to read it. He recalled “I concluded my sins were too great to be forgiven. I waited with fear and impatience to receive my doom.”
But when he heard the glad news that the ship was freed of water. “I began to pray; to think of that Jesus that I had so often derided; I recollected his death: a death for sins not his own, but, as I remembered, for the sake of those who should put their trust in him.”
Somebody had thought to talk to him about Jesus even when they faced ridicule and insults to do so. Somebody had thought to have a Bible close at hand that he could read so that when John Newton’s world was shaken by tragedy… they were ready.
All it will take to change the life of a sinful person is for the right Christian to be available when God shakes up their world. All it will take is for the right Christian to be in prayer for them.
All it takes is for someone – like you… to be available for God to use.
Again… this is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance:
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners – of whom you and I have done our share.
The 2nd thing that means is that no matter who you are, no matter what you’ve done… Jesus died for you.
Jesus wants the adulterers and the homosexuals
And the people who have lived with their boyfriends and girlfriends
He wants the alcoholics and the drug abusers, prostitute
You name it… if you’ve done it and you’re tired of that lifestyle, Jesus wants to forgive you of it.
Paul was telling the people of his day – when he wrote I Timothy
“…I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life. 1 Timothy 1:16
In other words, Paul’s saying: if God forgave me, he can forgive anybody.
In fact, He forgave Paul to show that He could and would do it. He would forgive anyone who was willing to surrender their lives to Him and turn their backs on their past.
Paul speaks of “.. the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant…. 1 Timothy 1:14a
Paul had been a wicked man, and God had reached out with an EXCEEDINGLY abundant grace and turned his life entirely around - transformed him into a entirely kind of man.
You and I, and everyone who has ever sinned, has been made in the image of God. And He has NO DESIRE at all that anyone who has been made in His image should go to hell
As Peter wrote:
“The Lord … is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9
And so, God used men like Paul… and like John Newton… not only to show that He wants to forgive them but also to show His mighty power to transform the lives of wicked men. But the key is that they have to come to the point in their lives when they’re willing to make that decision. They have to accept God on His terms.
CLOSE: When Jesus sent Paul on to Damascus, Jesus sent a disciple named Ananias to go to him and tell him what he had to do. At one point in their discussion, Ananias told Paul
“And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.’ Acts 22:16
That was the message Paul needed to hear.
He needed to die to his past, and that past needed to be buried in the waters of Christian baptism. And he needed to rise from those waters a new man in Christ.
We need to remember 2 things: that we are great sinners and that Christ is a great Savior!”
