SUPERNATURAL #16: GOD’S AMAZING GRACE
OPENING STORY:
“I heard (this story) from a friend who works with the down-and-out in Chicago:
A prostitute came to me in wretched straits, homeless, sick, unable to buy food for her two-year-old daughter. Through sobs and tears, she told me she had been renting out her daughter – two years old… She made more renting out her daughter for an hour than she could earn on her own in a night. She had to do it, she said, to support her own drug habit. I could hardly bear hearing her sordid story… I had no idea what to say to this woman.
At last I asked if she had ever thought of going to a church for help. I will never forget the look of pure, naïve shock that crossed her face. “Church!” she cried, “Why would I ever go there? I was already feeling terrible about myself. They’d just make me feel worse.”
What struck me about my friend’s story is that women much like the prostitute fled toward Jesus, not away from him. The worse a person felt about herself, the more likely she saw Jesus as a refuge. Has the church lost that gift? Evidently the down-and-out, who flocked to Jesus when he lived on earth, no longer feel welcome among his followers.”
(Philip Yancey, What’s So Amazing About Grace?).
INTRO: Something is wrong in the church today!
• We’ve forgotten all about God’s Amazing Grace! When I first moved out to Surrey to go to Bible College, I attended a mega church that knew little of the grace of God.
• When they would sing the famous old hymn, they would actually change the words to: “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved someone like me.”
• The pastor would literally say from the pulpit, “If I ever ask you how you’re doing, I don’t want to hear about all of your problems. I want you to say: Bless God, I’m on top and rising!” They didn’t understand grace.
• Thank God in the midst of our time at that church, I discovered a book that radically revolutionized my understanding of Christianity. It’s called “The Ragamuffin Gospel.”
QUOTE: (Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel).
“The Ragamuffin Gospel was written with a specific reading audience in mind. This book is not for the super-spiritual… It is not for legalists who would rather surrender control of their souls to rules rather than run the risk of living in union with Jesus…
The Ragamuffin Gospel was written for the bedraggled, beat-up, and burnt-out… It is for the wobbly and weak-kneed who know they don’t have it altogether and are too proud to accept the handout of amazing grace… It is for poor, weak, sinful men and women with hereditary faults and limited talents… It is for the bent and the bruised who feel that their lives are a grace disappointment to God… it is for anyone who has grown weary and discouraged along the way.”
However, the one quote that impacted me the most was this one: “Morton Kelsey wrote: The Church is not a museum for saints, but a hospital for sinners.”
OPENING TEXT:
“Jesus said, "Healthy people don’t need a doctor – sick people do…” For I have come to call sinners, not those who think they are already good enough.” (Matthew 9:12-13, NLT).
BIBLE STORY: Why do so few people understand God’s grace?
This is a problem they had in the early church as well.
“1 While Paul and Barnabas were at Antioch of Syria, some men from Judea arrived and began to teach the Christians: "Unless you keep the ancient Jewish custom of circumcision taught by Moses, you cannot be saved." 2 Paul and Barnabas, disagreeing with them, argued forcefully and at length. Finally, Paul and Barnabas were sent to Jerusalem, accompanied by some local believers, to talk to the apostles and elders about this question… 4 When they arrived in Jerusalem, Paul and Barnabas were welcomed by the whole church, including the apostles and elders. They reported on what God had been doing through their ministry. 5 But then some of the men who had been Pharisees before their conversion stood up and declared that all Gentile converts must be circumcised and be required to follow the law of Moses. 6 So the apostles and church elders got together to decide this question. 7 At the meeting, after a long discussion, Peter stood and addressed them as follows: "Brothers, you all know that God chose me from among you some time ago to preach to the Gentiles so that they could hear the Good News and believe. 8 God, who knows people’s hearts, confirmed that he accepts Gentiles by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he gave him to us. 9 He made no distinction between us and them, for he also cleansed their hearts through faith. 10 Why are you now questioning God’s way by burdening the Gentile believers with a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors were able to bear? 11 But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they.” (Acts 15:1-11).
THE BIG IDEA: The Bible teaches that we are saved by God’s grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. However, we must beware the spirit of the Pharisee, because they will try to keep you from experiencing God’s grace.
BEWARE THE SPIRIT OF THE PHARISEE:
What is the spirit of the Pharisee? A Pharisee isn’t someone with a long beard in a long robe!
Matt. 9:11 - they criticized Jesus for hanging around with sinners
Matt. 12:2 - they judged Jesus and His disciples for ‘working’ on the Sabbath
Matt. 12:14 - they plotted and schemed how they might destroy Jesus
Matt. 15:6 - they made God’s Word ineffective because of their traditions
Matt. 15:7 - Jesus called them hypocrites – pretenders
Matt. 15:8 - they worshipped on the outside but their hearts were far from Him.
Matt. 15:12 - they were offended by Jesus’ teaching (Pharisees are easily offended)
Matt. 23:4 - they bind heavy burdens on other people but won’t help them carry them
Matt. 23:13 - they don’t enter the Kingdom of God, and hinder others from entering, too.
Matt. 23:14-15 - they act very spiritual and try to get other people to follow them
Matt. 23:23 - they follow the law legalistically and externally, but aren’t merciful to people
Matt. 23:34 - they kill and persecute men of God (attack pastors and preachers, etc).
Beware the spirit of the Pharisee: They will try to keep you from experiencing God’s grace!
• They will try to pile rule after rule on you to try to make you ‘acceptable’ to God.
QUOTE: “Jesus hung around with sinners, and if we’re too holy to allow people to blow smoke in our faces, then we’re holier than Jesus was.” (Jerry Cook, Love, Acceptance and Forgiveness).
QUOTE: “If you come around here, we’re going to love you – unconditionally, always, and under every circumstance.” (Jerry Cook, Love, Acceptance and Forgiveness).
STORY: When we were in Bible College, there were so many extra rules on top of the Bible:
• Guidelines concerning hairstyle and length, acceptable clothing, etc.
• The problem with the spirit of the Pharisee or legalism is it puts unrealistic expectations upon people that they are bound to fail.
• Because they can’t measure up, it will either lead to feelings of failure, or possibly pretense, or even rebellion. This isn’t grace!
WHAT IS GOD’S AMAZING GRACE?
KEY TEXT: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” (Eph. 2:8-9).
“But God demonstrates His own love towards us in this: While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8).
WHAT IS GRACE? “God’s undeserved favour, spiritual blessing, mercy, and lovingkindness.”
• Someone defined it in terms of this acronym: God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.
• Jesus paid the price for our salvation – it is all of grace! We can’t add anything to the work of the Cross. Our sins are forgiven. Jesus said, “It is finished!” The spirit of the Pharisee tries to add good works to God’s grace. NOT of works, so no one can boast.
• Undeserved favour. That means: There is nothing you can do to make God love you less. There is also nothing you can do to make God love you more.
ILLUSTRATION: Charles Spurgeon, The Doctrines of Grace do not Lead to Sin.
“There is the story of half-a-dozen boys who had severe fathers, accustomed to beat them within an inch of their lives. Another boy was with them who was well beloved by his parents, and known to do so. These young boys met together to hold a council of war about robbing an orchard. They were all anxious to get about it except the favoured youth, who did not enjoy the proposal. One of them cried out, "You need not be afraid: if our fathers catch us at this work, we shall be half-killed, but your father won’t lay a hand upon you." The little boy answered, "And do you think because my father is kind to me, that therefore I will do wrong and grieve him? I will do nothing of the sort to my dear father. He is so good to me that I cannot vex him.”
ILLUSTRATION: Charles Stanley took a test in school. The teacher said, “Before you take the exam, read all the way through the exam.” The last line said, “You have a choice. You can either complete this exam, or simply sign the paper and you’ll get an A.” An example of grace!
ALTAR CALL FOR SALVATION:
“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.” (Acts 16:31).
CLOSING SONG: Amazing Grace
PART #2 = NEXT WEEK...
Beausejour Community Church Website: www.beausejourchurch.ca
Pastor Chris Jordan’s Blog: http://thelandofpromise.blogspot.com/
