1 00:00:01,520 --> 00:00:04,800 Christianity, if it's false, it doesn't matter,. 2 00:00:05,440 --> 00:00:07,400 But if it's true, it matters. 3 00:00:07,400 --> 00:00:11,680 The whole world, the only thing it can't be is moderately important. 4 00:00:13,200 --> 00:00:16,760 Last week, we talked about the high cost of sin. 5 00:00:16,760 --> 00:00:20,080 That was a tough discussion to look. 6 00:00:20,080 --> 00:00:21,400 At the reality of sin. 7 00:00:21,400 --> 00:00:24,440 And when you look at that, you can feel so guilty. 8 00:00:24,440 --> 00:00:26,800 And that's God's conscience working in us. 9 00:00:26,800 --> 00:00:28,980 Through the Holy Spirit to help us. 10 00:00:30,260 --> 00:00:32,100 Seek relief from sin. 11 00:00:32,420 --> 00:00:35,060 And so today, we're going to find that relief in grace. 12 00:00:35,780 --> 00:00:39,900 Because as much as we are sinners, we are also forgiven by 13 00:00:39,900 --> 00:00:41,540 God through his grace. 14 00:00:42,100 --> 00:00:46,020 And so our series on the essentials continues today with the 15 00:00:46,020 --> 00:00:47,060 question, what? 16 00:00:47,140 --> 00:00:49,620 That's so amazing, and that's grace. 17 00:00:50,340 --> 00:00:52,500 And grace is beyond amazing. 18 00:00:52,500 --> 00:00:58,130 And if we understand how amazing the grace is, it transforms 19 00:00:58,130 --> 00:00:58,570 who we are. 20 00:00:58,570 --> 00:00:59,330 And how we live. 21 00:00:59,650 --> 00:01:01,650 Everything changes because of grace. 22 00:01:02,370 --> 00:01:05,490 And I want to talk to you about grace in the context of a song 23 00:01:05,490 --> 00:01:06,450 that you know well. 24 00:01:06,930 --> 00:01:08,090 In fact, we're going to sing it. 25 00:01:08,090 --> 00:01:09,410 At the end of this service today. 26 00:01:10,530 --> 00:01:11,650 Amazing Grace. 27 00:01:13,170 --> 00:01:13,730 Excuse me. 28 00:01:13,730 --> 00:01:14,370 There we go. 29 00:01:14,450 --> 00:01:15,490 Amazing Grace. 30 00:01:16,690 --> 00:01:17,730 You know that song? 31 00:01:17,730 --> 00:01:23,940 Well, 250 years ago, I. Amazing Grace was a hymn written 32 00:01:23,940 --> 00:01:28,340 by a country pastor in England for a small congregation for New 33 00:01:28,340 --> 00:01:29,180 Year's Eve service. 34 00:01:29,980 --> 00:01:32,460 I'm sure he didn't even have music. 35 00:01:32,460 --> 00:01:33,500 To it at that point. 36 00:01:33,580 --> 00:01:37,340 He never imagined, or did anybody else, that it would become 37 00:01:37,900 --> 00:01:42,900 one of the most popular hymns of all times and recorded by thousands 38 00:01:42,900 --> 00:01:45,180 and thousands of musicians. 39 00:01:45,420 --> 00:01:47,470 And artists in different recordings. 40 00:01:48,110 --> 00:01:51,470 The words, you know well, Amazing grace How sweet the sound 41 00:01:51,870 --> 00:01:56,270 that saved a wretch like me I once was lost. 42 00:01:58,350 --> 00:02:04,110 But now I'm found I was blind but now I see. 43 00:02:05,070 --> 00:02:07,790 You see, John Newton was not an ordinary pastor. 44 00:02:07,950 --> 00:02:10,830 John Newton had a really rough life. 45 00:02:11,070 --> 00:02:13,150 And John Newton was a bad guy. 46 00:02:14,030 --> 00:02:18,790 He went to sea at 11, and when you went to sea at 11 in the middle 47 00:02:18,790 --> 00:02:21,150 1700s, that was not an easy life. 48 00:02:21,870 --> 00:02:23,750 It was nasty and it was mean. 49 00:02:23,750 --> 00:02:24,790 And it was cruel. 50 00:02:24,790 --> 00:02:28,750 And the only way you made it was to be nasty and mean and cruel. 51 00:02:29,630 --> 00:02:34,110 Often in those days, the ships wouldn't have enough people to work 52 00:02:34,110 --> 00:02:34,470 on them. 53 00:02:34,470 --> 00:02:38,070 So they'd go into the pubs in the town and they'd find guys who 54 00:02:38,070 --> 00:02:38,770 were drunk and. 55 00:02:38,920 --> 00:02:41,960 And they would take them and put them into labor on the ships. 56 00:02:41,960 --> 00:02:43,120 And off they'd go for months and. 57 00:02:43,120 --> 00:02:45,080 Months, many times never return. 58 00:02:45,080 --> 00:02:47,720 Well, John Newton's father was a sailing captain. 59 00:02:47,960 --> 00:02:52,200 And so at age 11, he took his son to sea. 60 00:02:53,400 --> 00:02:55,360 And John Newton became as bad as. 61 00:02:55,360 --> 00:02:58,320 Anybody on the ship, sometimes worse. 62 00:02:58,320 --> 00:03:05,580 It was a slave ship they went to Africa to steal people and to 63 00:03:05,580 --> 00:03:08,500 bring them back to England and to sell them. 64 00:03:10,420 --> 00:03:11,700 So these were bad guys. 65 00:03:11,940 --> 00:03:15,300 But John Newton was so bad, he got kicked off the ship because nobody 66 00:03:15,300 --> 00:03:21,980 could stand him because he was so vulgar and so overwhelming in 67 00:03:21,980 --> 00:03:22,740 his behavior. 68 00:03:23,140 --> 00:03:26,020 And so they left him in Africa and they sold him. 69 00:03:26,020 --> 00:03:27,300 So he became a slave. 70 00:03:27,700 --> 00:03:29,260 So the slaver became a slave. 71 00:03:29,260 --> 00:03:32,240 He eventually got out of that, got back on the ships. 72 00:03:32,320 --> 00:03:37,920 Eventually he became a sea captain of his own slave ship and 73 00:03:37,920 --> 00:03:40,400 made many voyages back and forth, selling people. 74 00:03:42,560 --> 00:03:43,920 One time there was a storm. 75 00:03:44,320 --> 00:03:45,840 It lasted for 11 days. 76 00:03:46,879 --> 00:03:49,640 That ship was about to be shipwrecked. 77 00:03:49,640 --> 00:03:51,600 And a shipwreck in those days. 78 00:03:52,240 --> 00:03:53,120 There was no hope. 79 00:03:53,680 --> 00:03:55,680 You were going to drown for sure. 80 00:03:56,400 --> 00:03:59,980 11 days they fought the storm and, and one night Newton was at 81 00:03:59,980 --> 00:04:02,780 the wheel of that ship after 11 days. 82 00:04:02,780 --> 00:04:05,180 Now this is not a ship like we're used to. 83 00:04:05,180 --> 00:04:07,460 I mean, this is a beat up toss and turn. 84 00:04:08,020 --> 00:04:11,300 Overwhelming just physically to go through that. 85 00:04:13,620 --> 00:04:15,660 And he remembered his mother's prayers. 86 00:04:15,660 --> 00:04:18,100 His mother always hoped he'd be a clergyman. 87 00:04:18,340 --> 00:04:20,860 And so she taught him scripture and taught him prayer from 88 00:04:20,860 --> 00:04:21,420 the beginning. 89 00:04:21,420 --> 00:04:23,300 But he turned his back on all that. 90 00:04:23,460 --> 00:04:25,980 And in the middle of that storm, he remembered his mother's 91 00:04:25,980 --> 00:04:28,700 prayers and he said, God, could you save me? 92 00:04:29,500 --> 00:04:30,700 Am I worth saving? 93 00:04:32,300 --> 00:04:33,940 John Newton had turned from God. 94 00:04:33,940 --> 00:04:35,500 John Newton had run from God. 95 00:04:35,740 --> 00:04:41,380 John Newton threw his God's love right back in his face and said, 96 00:04:41,380 --> 00:04:42,700 I don't want anything to do with you. 97 00:04:44,540 --> 00:04:51,380 And at that night on that ship, John Newton discovered how 98 00:04:51,380 --> 00:04:57,300 amazing grace could be and discovered that God could even save 99 00:04:57,620 --> 00:04:59,940 a wretch like him. 100 00:05:02,580 --> 00:05:07,540 His life was transformed and our lives have been enriched because 101 00:05:07,540 --> 00:05:08,580 of his experience. 102 00:05:10,180 --> 00:05:11,300 That's so amazing. 103 00:05:11,860 --> 00:05:12,340 Grace. 104 00:05:12,820 --> 00:05:14,340 Grace is amazing. 105 00:05:15,300 --> 00:05:20,430 God created a perfect God created us from, for relationship 106 00:05:20,430 --> 00:05:21,070 with him. 107 00:05:21,710 --> 00:05:25,310 God had us as his children. 108 00:05:26,910 --> 00:05:29,910 Not like your parents didn't have you as kids in order to have 109 00:05:29,910 --> 00:05:31,870 somebody to move the lawn, pick up the clothes. 110 00:05:32,350 --> 00:05:34,110 He had you for relationship. 111 00:05:34,590 --> 00:05:38,430 God had us, created us for relationship. 112 00:05:39,310 --> 00:05:43,470 A perfect God created a perfect world that he gave to Adam 113 00:05:43,470 --> 00:05:43,950 and Eve. 114 00:05:44,030 --> 00:05:47,470 And most importantly, he gave us a guidebook on how to live in 115 00:05:47,470 --> 00:05:51,490 that world in the way that he designed it to be. 116 00:05:53,250 --> 00:05:58,490 And in response, because of sin in our lives, we reject God and 117 00:05:58,490 --> 00:06:01,570 His love and we ignore him and we don't love the people that he 118 00:06:01,570 --> 00:06:02,050 loves. 119 00:06:02,210 --> 00:06:04,570 And we put other gods before him. 120 00:06:04,570 --> 00:06:09,450 Money and career and toys, even our talents become more important 121 00:06:09,450 --> 00:06:10,130 than God. 122 00:06:11,090 --> 00:06:13,890 We become selfish and we block out the fruits of the spirit. 123 00:06:13,890 --> 00:06:16,970 Like we talked about last week, how when we become selfish 124 00:06:16,970 --> 00:06:20,250 and sin builds up in our lives, we can't access the fruits 125 00:06:20,250 --> 00:06:21,050 of the Spirit. 126 00:06:21,450 --> 00:06:24,730 And for some, like John Newton, you just try to run as far 127 00:06:24,730 --> 00:06:24,970 away. 128 00:06:24,970 --> 00:06:26,090 From God as you can get. 129 00:06:27,210 --> 00:06:31,330 You see, sin separates us from God, and we can't be connected to 130 00:06:31,330 --> 00:06:35,250 a holy God because of our sin, because he can't be in the presence 131 00:06:35,250 --> 00:06:37,690 of sin or he would not be holy. 132 00:06:37,930 --> 00:06:41,610 And so God said, I'll fix this. 133 00:06:42,440 --> 00:06:48,040 I'll send my son Jesus to come to earth to live a life among you, 134 00:06:48,440 --> 00:06:52,360 but most importantly, to be a sacrifice on a cross for our sins. 135 00:06:53,240 --> 00:06:56,520 We've talked about the crucifixion and how horrible it was 136 00:06:56,920 --> 00:07:02,000 physically, but even more so emotionally and spiritually as Jesus 137 00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:06,400 took on the sin of the world and was separated from God when he 138 00:07:06,400 --> 00:07:06,560 could. 139 00:07:06,560 --> 00:07:09,860 No longer connect to God because he was filled with sin. 140 00:07:11,540 --> 00:07:15,260 God did that so we could be reconnected to the one who loves 141 00:07:15,260 --> 00:07:16,100 us the most. 142 00:07:17,300 --> 00:07:20,980 You know, the image of God we have is of goodness and of love, 143 00:07:21,220 --> 00:07:23,060 but he's also got a justice. 144 00:07:23,700 --> 00:07:26,180 And he said, if you've done wrong, you're going to pay the price, 145 00:07:26,900 --> 00:07:27,940 because that's right. 146 00:07:29,300 --> 00:07:32,580 And so that justice is there just as much. 147 00:07:32,580 --> 00:07:36,770 And the only way we can get back to God is, and get forgiven 148 00:07:37,170 --> 00:07:40,610 injustice is by the gift of grace. 149 00:07:41,570 --> 00:07:45,810 And it is a gift, and it's freely given to us. 150 00:07:48,610 --> 00:07:54,130 Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. 151 00:07:54,210 --> 00:07:59,570 Nobody, nobody comes to the Father except through me. 152 00:08:01,740 --> 00:08:02,860 So what do we have to do. 153 00:08:03,500 --> 00:08:06,940 To come back to the Father who loves us, who created us, who gave 154 00:08:06,940 --> 00:08:10,780 us a perfect world, a Father who is holy and full of goodness 155 00:08:10,780 --> 00:08:13,020 and full of the justice we long for in our life. 156 00:08:13,020 --> 00:08:14,460 How do we have to come back to Him? 157 00:08:14,460 --> 00:08:16,780 All we have to do is accept the gift. 158 00:08:18,380 --> 00:08:19,100 It's free. 159 00:08:20,940 --> 00:08:22,220 But we never get free. 160 00:08:22,700 --> 00:08:23,740 So what's the catch? 161 00:08:25,660 --> 00:08:26,380 Can't be free. 162 00:08:28,590 --> 00:08:31,990 All stuff we've done, stuff we've thought, the sin in our lives, 163 00:08:31,990 --> 00:08:32,990 it can't be free. 164 00:08:32,990 --> 00:08:34,190 There's got to be a catch. 165 00:08:34,590 --> 00:08:35,790 No, there isn't a catch. 166 00:08:36,830 --> 00:08:40,990 And see, all the people who walked with Jesus and knew him, including 167 00:08:40,990 --> 00:08:46,710 the Apostle Paul, who knew all the people Jesus knew, wrote over 168 00:08:46,710 --> 00:08:50,670 and over and over in the New Testament about one thing, and that 169 00:08:50,670 --> 00:08:52,390 was the free gift of grace. 170 00:08:52,540 --> 00:08:55,340 Grace that brings us back into fellowship with God. 171 00:08:56,460 --> 00:08:58,820 That was the core of the whole. 172 00:08:58,820 --> 00:08:59,900 Of the New Testament. 173 00:08:59,900 --> 00:09:04,220 After the Gospels, they wrote this. 174 00:09:05,180 --> 00:09:07,820 God saved you by his grace. 175 00:09:08,299 --> 00:09:11,660 When you believe in Ephesians, God saved you. 176 00:09:14,220 --> 00:09:15,020 You're lost. 177 00:09:15,580 --> 00:09:16,540 You're A sinner. 178 00:09:16,620 --> 00:09:17,660 We're going to hell. 179 00:09:17,900 --> 00:09:24,510 God saved you from that by his grace when we believed. 180 00:09:24,990 --> 00:09:25,870 You've got to believe. 181 00:09:26,030 --> 00:09:27,710 You've got to accept the grace. 182 00:09:27,870 --> 00:09:30,590 If we don't accept the grace, there's no forgiveness. 183 00:09:30,590 --> 00:09:34,950 We've got to ask Christ to forgive our sins and to draw us to 184 00:09:34,950 --> 00:09:37,630 him rather than being drawn to the sin. 185 00:09:38,830 --> 00:09:43,430 So Ephesians 2 says, God saved you by his grace when you believed. 186 00:09:43,430 --> 00:09:44,510 And then it goes on. 187 00:09:44,910 --> 00:09:48,360 And you can't take credit for this. 188 00:09:48,600 --> 00:09:50,280 It's a gift from God. 189 00:09:50,680 --> 00:09:52,440 You didn't do anything to deserve it. 190 00:09:52,680 --> 00:09:54,120 I'm glad you're a good person. 191 00:09:54,600 --> 00:09:56,040 That's great and it's wonderful. 192 00:09:56,040 --> 00:09:58,560 And remember we talked about heaven and doing for the least of 193 00:09:58,560 --> 00:09:58,760 these. 194 00:09:58,760 --> 00:09:59,960 So that matters for that. 195 00:10:00,040 --> 00:10:01,800 It doesn't matter for your salvation. 196 00:10:02,200 --> 00:10:06,480 What matters for your salvation is you receive the gift 197 00:10:06,480 --> 00:10:09,480 from God and you can't take an ounce of credit for it. 198 00:10:10,600 --> 00:10:13,240 You don't get a better gift because you're a better person. 199 00:10:14,220 --> 00:10:18,060 We all get the same gift of forgiveness in grace. 200 00:10:18,700 --> 00:10:21,900 Just because God wanted to do that. 201 00:10:22,380 --> 00:10:27,340 And that scripture goes on, salvation is not a reward for the 202 00:10:27,340 --> 00:10:28,940 good things we have done. 203 00:10:30,380 --> 00:10:33,020 We always tend to think if we do good that we get a reward. 204 00:10:33,500 --> 00:10:35,900 No, this is not a reward. 205 00:10:36,220 --> 00:10:38,980 Again, these are written by the people who knew Jesus and walked 206 00:10:38,980 --> 00:10:41,110 with him him and heard him teach and all the things that weren't 207 00:10:41,110 --> 00:10:42,270 recorded in the Gospels. 208 00:10:42,430 --> 00:10:45,790 This is their understanding of what Jesus was about. 209 00:10:46,350 --> 00:10:50,190 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done. 210 00:10:50,910 --> 00:10:53,310 So none of us can boast about it. 211 00:10:54,910 --> 00:10:56,750 You can't boast about it. 212 00:10:57,550 --> 00:10:58,950 So what can you do about it? 213 00:10:58,950 --> 00:11:03,790 You can worship God and you can love the people that he loves 214 00:11:05,000 --> 00:11:05,160 if. 215 00:11:05,160 --> 00:11:06,120 You boast about it. 216 00:11:06,120 --> 00:11:08,920 That's self righteousness and self righteousness is a sin. 217 00:11:10,920 --> 00:11:12,040 We don't want to go there. 218 00:11:13,800 --> 00:11:15,160 John Newton said this. 219 00:11:16,040 --> 00:11:17,480 He said, I'm not the man. 220 00:11:18,440 --> 00:11:21,120 This was obviously years later, I'm not. 221 00:11:21,120 --> 00:11:22,360 The man I ought to be. 222 00:11:22,840 --> 00:11:25,120 I'm not the man I wish to. 223 00:11:25,120 --> 00:11:28,200 Be, and I'm not the man I hope to be. 224 00:11:29,160 --> 00:11:34,200 But by the grace of God, I'm not the man I used to be. 225 00:11:36,040 --> 00:11:41,320 When you are as amazed about grace as John Newton was and millions 226 00:11:41,320 --> 00:11:44,360 of people before us, your life is transformed. 227 00:11:44,360 --> 00:11:46,520 But if you never accept the gift. 228 00:11:46,520 --> 00:11:51,720 Of grace, you spend your life in a fruitless effort to try to make 229 00:11:51,800 --> 00:11:54,040 yourself acceptable to God. 230 00:11:55,880 --> 00:11:57,000 And it can't be done. 231 00:11:58,890 --> 00:12:01,610 A lot of people will say, well, you know, I don't believe in 232 00:12:01,690 --> 00:12:03,290 Jesus and I don't believe in all that. 233 00:12:03,290 --> 00:12:04,970 But I try to live a good life. 234 00:12:05,370 --> 00:12:06,890 I try to do the right thing. 235 00:12:07,850 --> 00:12:09,130 That's what I try to do. 236 00:12:10,970 --> 00:12:13,570 And I want to say to them, when I hear people say that, don't 237 00:12:13,570 --> 00:12:14,010 bother. 238 00:12:14,810 --> 00:12:16,210 I mean, I'm glad for the rest of us. 239 00:12:16,210 --> 00:12:19,090 You try to be nice and do the right thing because it's not as hard 240 00:12:19,090 --> 00:12:19,450 on us. 241 00:12:19,450 --> 00:12:23,690 But don't bother because you're still going to hell. 242 00:12:25,850 --> 00:12:29,770 There is no way to the Father except through Jesus and his forgiveness. 243 00:12:30,730 --> 00:12:33,650 So don't even bother with the good. 244 00:12:33,650 --> 00:12:39,130 Life if you haven't accepted the gift of grace. 245 00:12:43,370 --> 00:12:47,930 The Christian faith is not about keeping a moral code. 246 00:12:48,730 --> 00:12:51,450 It's about a God who saves people. 247 00:12:52,210 --> 00:12:55,250 Who fail to keep a moral code. 248 00:12:56,930 --> 00:12:57,490 See that? 249 00:12:57,810 --> 00:12:59,170 Look at those words on the screen. 250 00:13:02,690 --> 00:13:04,650 Some of you, this is a lot more important than what's on your 251 00:13:04,650 --> 00:13:05,010 phone. 252 00:13:06,210 --> 00:13:07,410 Thank you for looking up. 253 00:13:08,850 --> 00:13:12,850 The Christian faith is not about keeping a moral code. 254 00:13:13,090 --> 00:13:15,810 It's about a God who saves people. 255 00:13:16,450 --> 00:13:19,960 Who fail to keep a moral code. 256 00:13:21,000 --> 00:13:22,520 It all boils down to that. 257 00:13:23,560 --> 00:13:27,240 And that's why grace is so amazing. 258 00:13:28,600 --> 00:13:29,800 So it raises a question. 259 00:13:31,080 --> 00:13:32,360 Could you sin all you want? 260 00:13:33,800 --> 00:13:35,240 Could you just let it rip? 261 00:13:35,320 --> 00:13:36,280 Sin all you want. 262 00:13:37,320 --> 00:13:38,680 Yep, you can. 263 00:13:40,200 --> 00:13:42,280 There's no sin you can commit that. 264 00:13:42,280 --> 00:13:43,320 God will not forgive. 265 00:13:45,520 --> 00:13:46,480 The question is,. 266 00:13:48,400 --> 00:13:54,400 Why would you want to, knowing the cost of grace that he had to 267 00:13:54,400 --> 00:13:59,040 die in crucifixion on a cross knowing the cost that he paid? 268 00:13:59,120 --> 00:14:04,160 Why would we want to sin knowing the cost that it robs us 269 00:14:04,160 --> 00:14:06,080 from the best in our lives. 270 00:14:06,080 --> 00:14:10,120 We talked about last week what sin does when it robs us from the 271 00:14:10,120 --> 00:14:10,800 joy of life. 272 00:14:11,160 --> 00:14:17,840 Why would we want to, Knowing the cost of missing eternity in fellowship 273 00:14:17,840 --> 00:14:18,080 with. 274 00:14:18,080 --> 00:14:21,960 God, why would we want to sin? 275 00:14:25,400 --> 00:14:29,400 God will forgive whatever in your life comes. 276 00:14:32,600 --> 00:14:36,600 He asks you to ask for his forgiveness, to receive the gift 277 00:14:37,550 --> 00:14:41,950 and then seek to be drawn to him rather than seek to be drawn 278 00:14:42,110 --> 00:14:42,910 to sin. 279 00:14:44,270 --> 00:14:46,870 Well, there are three amazing characteristics of. 280 00:14:46,870 --> 00:14:48,990 Grace I want to tell you about this morning. 281 00:14:49,630 --> 00:14:52,350 The first is grace is not fair. 282 00:14:54,270 --> 00:14:55,470 Grace is not fair. 283 00:14:56,350 --> 00:14:58,350 Jesus told the parable of the three workers. 284 00:14:59,070 --> 00:15:01,230 One came in the early morning, went to work. 285 00:15:02,600 --> 00:15:03,720 End of the day, he got paid. 286 00:15:03,880 --> 00:15:07,120 One came at noon, went to work at the end of the day, he got paid 287 00:15:07,120 --> 00:15:07,560 the same. 288 00:15:08,360 --> 00:15:11,840 One came an hour before they were about to stop the work for the 289 00:15:11,840 --> 00:15:14,520 day, and he got paid the same as everybody else. 290 00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:17,960 And they complained and they said, well, why does he get paid 291 00:15:18,280 --> 00:15:21,640 the same as we paid when we were here and faithful all along? 292 00:15:23,080 --> 00:15:25,000 Jesus says, that's not your decision. 293 00:15:26,520 --> 00:15:28,600 That's not your discrepancy, it's mine. 294 00:15:29,330 --> 00:15:32,450 If I want to pay him for a full day, that's my gift. 295 00:15:32,690 --> 00:15:36,210 If I want to pay you for a full day's work, that's my gift. 296 00:15:37,970 --> 00:15:39,650 Grace is not fair. 297 00:15:40,770 --> 00:15:44,210 You don't work your way to a point of accepting grace. 298 00:15:44,370 --> 00:15:47,010 God gives grace because he wants to,. 299 00:15:47,650 --> 00:15:50,370 Because he loves us that much. 300 00:15:52,690 --> 00:15:55,170 The thief on the cross is a great illustration. 301 00:15:55,940 --> 00:15:58,900 You know, Jesus was crucified with two other criminals. 302 00:15:59,380 --> 00:16:03,460 Now, crucifixion in those days was a really horrible thing. 303 00:16:04,100 --> 00:16:06,500 Thousands and thousands of people were crucified. 304 00:16:06,500 --> 00:16:08,660 It was not unique for Jesus to be crucified. 305 00:16:08,820 --> 00:16:10,780 There were thousands of people to be crucified. 306 00:16:10,780 --> 00:16:13,780 And the reason they were crucified is to be made an example. 307 00:16:14,420 --> 00:16:16,100 People know what they did. 308 00:16:16,820 --> 00:16:20,140 So they nailed them to cross or tied them to a cross and let them 309 00:16:20,140 --> 00:16:24,280 hang there, often for three or four days, until they died in horrible 310 00:16:24,520 --> 00:16:25,160 misery. 311 00:16:26,680 --> 00:16:31,000 And then they left him there, usually so everybody could see. 312 00:16:31,880 --> 00:16:34,960 So this thief on the cross was not some guy who just happened to. 313 00:16:34,960 --> 00:16:36,840 Be walking by and they grabbed him and they put him up there? 314 00:16:36,840 --> 00:16:37,920 No, this is a guy who was. 315 00:16:37,920 --> 00:16:39,080 A really bad guy,. 316 00:16:41,080 --> 00:16:42,280 And he's on the cross. 317 00:16:42,520 --> 00:16:46,840 And the one thief made fun of him, said, if you can't save yourself, 318 00:16:46,840 --> 00:16:49,200 you know, kind of mocking him. 319 00:16:49,200 --> 00:16:50,480 Then the other one said,. 320 00:16:52,800 --> 00:16:55,840 If there's any way you can forgive me, do. 321 00:16:56,720 --> 00:16:58,320 And what was Jesus response? 322 00:16:58,560 --> 00:17:02,400 He said, today you will be with me in paradise. 323 00:17:03,040 --> 00:17:05,200 Today you'll be with me in paradise. 324 00:17:06,080 --> 00:17:10,480 This was a guy who'd never opened a Bible in his life. 325 00:17:11,120 --> 00:17:13,080 He'd never been to a chapel service. 326 00:17:13,080 --> 00:17:14,400 He'd never been to a church service. 327 00:17:14,400 --> 00:17:17,590 He'd never sung a song about Christian love. 328 00:17:17,910 --> 00:17:19,670 He knew nothing about theology. 329 00:17:21,830 --> 00:17:25,790 He hadn't done any good in his life, probably for anybody, for a 330 00:17:25,790 --> 00:17:26,790 very long time. 331 00:17:27,590 --> 00:17:32,229 And Jesus said, today you'll be with me in paradise. 332 00:17:32,790 --> 00:17:34,230 You see, grace is not fair. 333 00:17:35,590 --> 00:17:37,630 Because what about all the people who are trying to do good 334 00:17:37,630 --> 00:17:38,710 and trying to do right? 335 00:17:38,790 --> 00:17:39,790 They get the same grace. 336 00:17:39,790 --> 00:17:42,470 Yeah, that's how it works if God wants to do that. 337 00:17:43,130 --> 00:17:46,650 Because God freely gives his grace to. 338 00:17:46,650 --> 00:17:48,170 Those that he loves. 339 00:17:49,770 --> 00:17:52,730 Last week we talked about sin and. 340 00:17:52,730 --> 00:17:56,450 How overwhelming it is and how it destroys our life and how it robs 341 00:17:56,450 --> 00:17:57,370 us of eternity. 342 00:17:57,370 --> 00:17:59,050 And Newton understood that. 343 00:17:59,130 --> 00:18:04,330 And he understood it was not fair for all he had done to be so 344 00:18:04,410 --> 00:18:07,530 horrible to people, for God to save him. 345 00:18:07,770 --> 00:18:09,330 And so he wrote these words to. 346 00:18:09,330 --> 00:18:11,690 Open the the song we know. 347 00:18:11,690 --> 00:18:14,570 Amazing grace how sweet the sound this. 348 00:18:14,570 --> 00:18:16,770 Saved a wretch like me. 349 00:18:18,930 --> 00:18:23,010 The sounds that ring in John Newton's ears were not sweet sounds. 350 00:18:23,650 --> 00:18:28,050 The sounds that ring in his ears were sounds of chains and of 351 00:18:28,050 --> 00:18:33,410 crying and of fear and of torment in the hull of a slave ship. 352 00:18:34,290 --> 00:18:38,450 The sounds in his ears were sounds of oppression and family separation 353 00:18:38,450 --> 00:18:40,270 as he tore young kids away from. 354 00:18:40,340 --> 00:18:42,660 From their families in Africa to take them and sell them. 355 00:18:43,540 --> 00:18:45,380 Those were the sounds he knew. 356 00:18:46,580 --> 00:18:51,380 And then grace came, and he said, how sweet the sound. 357 00:18:53,300 --> 00:18:54,740 What sounds fill your life? 358 00:18:56,900 --> 00:18:58,580 What sounds fill your life? 359 00:19:01,220 --> 00:19:04,580 Newton says, you can have a different sound, a sweet sound. 360 00:19:05,300 --> 00:19:07,300 Grace, you see, is never deserved. 361 00:19:08,180 --> 00:19:10,820 Grace is never conditional. 362 00:19:11,860 --> 00:19:13,380 And grace never gives up. 363 00:19:14,820 --> 00:19:16,500 God never gave up on John Newton. 364 00:19:16,500 --> 00:19:18,180 And God's never going to give up on you. 365 00:19:21,060 --> 00:19:24,180 I once was lost, but now I'm found. 366 00:19:24,260 --> 00:19:27,420 I was blind, but now I see. 367 00:19:27,420 --> 00:19:28,660 Look at the contrast. 368 00:19:30,180 --> 00:19:32,340 Lost and found, blind in vision. 369 00:19:33,230 --> 00:19:35,070 That's what happened in Newton's life. 370 00:19:35,550 --> 00:19:38,430 And he wanted to express it somehow. 371 00:19:40,110 --> 00:19:41,630 How amazing grace is. 372 00:19:43,230 --> 00:19:45,350 Well, so grace is not fair. 373 00:19:45,350 --> 00:19:48,670 Secondly, grace is difficult to accept. 374 00:19:50,430 --> 00:19:52,990 Grace doesn't fit into our understanding of the world. 375 00:19:55,150 --> 00:19:58,510 See, sin, as we talked about last week, is all about selfishness. 376 00:19:58,910 --> 00:20:01,070 The root of it all comes back to selfishness. 377 00:20:01,480 --> 00:20:03,440 So we're interested in ourselves, and we're interested in 378 00:20:03,440 --> 00:20:05,000 what we can create and what we can do. 379 00:20:05,080 --> 00:20:07,560 And so we look at it and we go, okay, earning's okay. 380 00:20:07,720 --> 00:20:08,080 Sure. 381 00:20:08,080 --> 00:20:11,560 If I work, I get a check because I earned it. 382 00:20:12,440 --> 00:20:16,760 If I go to school and I put in the work, I get grades because I 383 00:20:16,760 --> 00:20:17,400 earned it. 384 00:20:18,520 --> 00:20:23,480 If I'm in a relationship and I put the energy into it, I'm loved, 385 00:20:23,640 --> 00:20:25,000 and so I earned it. 386 00:20:26,850 --> 00:20:28,210 And all those are conditional. 387 00:20:31,010 --> 00:20:33,490 Grace is totally unearned. 388 00:20:34,530 --> 00:20:36,130 There is no way to earn grace. 389 00:20:37,890 --> 00:20:41,290 It's impossible, other than it's a gift from God. 390 00:20:41,290 --> 00:20:43,410 And that is so difficult for us to accept. 391 00:20:44,130 --> 00:20:46,210 And that's what's so amazing about it. 392 00:20:46,770 --> 00:20:50,450 God does for us what we could never do for ourselves. 393 00:20:50,530 --> 00:20:57,340 Because he loves us that much, we cannot demand grace. 394 00:20:57,980 --> 00:21:00,740 We don't deserve grace, and we're never. 395 00:21:00,740 --> 00:21:02,140 Able to repay grace. 396 00:21:04,300 --> 00:21:06,300 Newton wrote a bit about that. 397 00:21:06,620 --> 00:21:11,100 He says, twas grace that taught my heart to fear and grace, 398 00:21:11,660 --> 00:21:13,180 my fears relieved. 399 00:21:14,940 --> 00:21:20,110 You see, the reality of our sin is if you see the punishment 400 00:21:20,110 --> 00:21:25,310 it really deserves in God's justice, we would. 401 00:21:25,310 --> 00:21:30,150 Be terrorized with fear, absolutely terrorized with fear. 402 00:21:32,870 --> 00:21:34,630 And that's what justice requires. 403 00:21:34,630 --> 00:21:35,990 We all want justice in the world. 404 00:21:36,230 --> 00:21:37,750 So often we don't see justice. 405 00:21:37,750 --> 00:21:38,110 Well. 406 00:21:38,110 --> 00:21:40,790 God is the deliverer of pure justice. 407 00:21:40,790 --> 00:21:42,230 He will be totally fair. 408 00:21:42,790 --> 00:21:47,940 And the grace excuse Me, the sin that separates from God deserves 409 00:21:47,940 --> 00:21:50,620 punishment and he will punish for that unless we. 410 00:21:50,620 --> 00:21:51,780 Are forgiven by grace. 411 00:21:54,100 --> 00:21:59,940 If I could illustrate that a little bit, imagine God had given 412 00:21:59,940 --> 00:22:01,060 me a book of your life. 413 00:22:03,220 --> 00:22:09,060 In that book is a list of every action, every thought, every 414 00:22:09,060 --> 00:22:14,920 motive, the sinful, everything you have ever done, from the time 415 00:22:15,000 --> 00:22:17,000 you were small to what you did this morning. 416 00:22:17,320 --> 00:22:19,320 Everything is in the book. 417 00:22:22,520 --> 00:22:25,280 And we're going to start, let's start. 418 00:22:25,280 --> 00:22:26,480 At the back of the room and. 419 00:22:26,480 --> 00:22:29,280 We're going to call you up one by one, have you stand on this stage 420 00:22:29,280 --> 00:22:30,320 and we're going to read the. 421 00:22:30,320 --> 00:22:31,800 Entire book to everybody. 422 00:22:35,480 --> 00:22:40,130 You're caught, there's no way out, Everybody in the room's getting 423 00:22:40,130 --> 00:22:40,450 it. 424 00:22:43,410 --> 00:22:48,970 You ought to be terrorized with fear, terrorized with fear at 425 00:22:48,970 --> 00:22:52,690 the reality of justice for the sins of our lives. 426 00:22:56,770 --> 00:22:57,970 But there's a different way. 427 00:22:57,970 --> 00:23:00,210 See, I bring you up on stage,. 428 00:23:00,930 --> 00:23:02,450 Justice gets laid bare. 429 00:23:05,430 --> 00:23:06,790 And you beg for mercy. 430 00:23:06,790 --> 00:23:09,630 And if you're not forgiven, there is no mercy because justice 431 00:23:09,630 --> 00:23:10,430 is demanded. 432 00:23:10,430 --> 00:23:16,070 And so your life and your future and eternity is destroyed. 433 00:23:17,750 --> 00:23:21,710 But if you came up on stage and Jesus handed me the book and 434 00:23:21,710 --> 00:23:23,590 I go, but there's nothing here on that. 435 00:23:24,870 --> 00:23:27,310 They're sitting right there, but there's nothing in the book about 436 00:23:27,310 --> 00:23:27,510 them. 437 00:23:27,510 --> 00:23:29,110 He said, yeah, they're forgiven by grace. 438 00:23:29,110 --> 00:23:30,800 There's nothing in the book. 439 00:23:30,800 --> 00:23:31,560 Go sit down. 440 00:23:33,080 --> 00:23:34,280 And that's mercy. 441 00:23:36,360 --> 00:23:41,640 Never, ever, ever get over the magnitude of God's grace. 442 00:23:42,280 --> 00:23:48,720 Grace frees us to face the truth about ourselves with hope rather 443 00:23:48,720 --> 00:23:50,440 than with despair. 444 00:23:52,760 --> 00:23:55,960 Well, there's a third thing about grace. 445 00:23:57,550 --> 00:23:59,070 Grace transforms your life. 446 00:24:00,510 --> 00:24:03,950 The same grace that saves you is the grace that grows you. 447 00:24:05,230 --> 00:24:08,590 Many are interested in grace because grace is how you get to heaven, 448 00:24:08,590 --> 00:24:08,910 right? 449 00:24:09,150 --> 00:24:09,710 You do. 450 00:24:10,190 --> 00:24:11,230 It's only by grace. 451 00:24:11,230 --> 00:24:13,630 Forgiveness in Christ, believe in him, you get to heaven. 452 00:24:13,870 --> 00:24:18,030 So grace is our ticket to heaven. 453 00:24:18,110 --> 00:24:22,190 And then people say, well, yeah, but I want to follow the law 454 00:24:22,190 --> 00:24:25,080 and earn my way into the Christian life. 455 00:24:26,040 --> 00:24:27,400 It doesn't really work that way. 456 00:24:27,480 --> 00:24:32,840 In fact, Jesus was the TARDIS on the religious leaders of his day 457 00:24:32,920 --> 00:24:38,280 who were trying to keep the rules, trying to do all the expectations. 458 00:24:38,360 --> 00:24:41,080 And of course, that turned into self righteousness in their 459 00:24:41,080 --> 00:24:42,480 life when they did that. 460 00:24:42,480 --> 00:24:44,160 And Jesus was harder on them than. 461 00:24:44,160 --> 00:24:46,440 He ever was on any sinner he ever met. 462 00:24:50,210 --> 00:24:51,810 Grace gets us to heaven. 463 00:24:52,370 --> 00:24:56,450 Grace also empowers us to live the Christian life. 464 00:24:57,330 --> 00:25:00,770 Grace is a resource God gives us through the Holy Spirit. 465 00:25:01,010 --> 00:25:04,130 It can't be earned, but it has to be cherished and it has to be 466 00:25:04,130 --> 00:25:04,450 used. 467 00:25:06,370 --> 00:25:10,210 Imagine if you never plugged into the electrical outlet. 468 00:25:11,730 --> 00:25:14,850 You wouldn't charge your phone, you wouldn't run your computer, 469 00:25:15,220 --> 00:25:17,300 you wouldn't have air conditioning, you wouldn't have lights. 470 00:25:18,020 --> 00:25:22,540 It's right there, but you don't touch it because you're not 471 00:25:22,540 --> 00:25:23,140 plugged in. 472 00:25:24,980 --> 00:25:26,740 And your life will be completely different. 473 00:25:26,740 --> 00:25:29,220 Than it is if you don't use that resource. 474 00:25:29,780 --> 00:25:30,980 Well, that's what grace is. 475 00:25:31,620 --> 00:25:35,220 Grace is that resource that God gives us through His Holy Spirit 476 00:25:35,380 --> 00:25:38,700 who lives among us, to plug in to his. 477 00:25:38,700 --> 00:25:42,830 Power to transform us through grace. 478 00:25:44,430 --> 00:25:46,750 That song goes on to say, the. 479 00:25:46,750 --> 00:25:48,470 Lord hath promised good to me. 480 00:25:48,470 --> 00:25:50,670 His word my hope secures. 481 00:25:50,990 --> 00:25:58,190 He will my shield and portion be as long as life endures. 482 00:26:00,430 --> 00:26:01,990 That's talking about grace today. 483 00:26:01,990 --> 00:26:04,470 That's not talking about grace in eternity. 484 00:26:04,470 --> 00:26:05,630 That's talking about grace. 485 00:26:05,630 --> 00:26:09,820 Today we show our gratitude to to God for His grace. 486 00:26:09,900 --> 00:26:11,180 And we live in Him. 487 00:26:11,180 --> 00:26:15,420 And the Holy Spirit fills our lives with more grace when we worship. 488 00:26:16,380 --> 00:26:17,260 That's why we sing. 489 00:26:17,260 --> 00:26:20,460 We don't sing with something just to fill in before speaking in 490 00:26:20,460 --> 00:26:20,860 chapel. 491 00:26:20,860 --> 00:26:23,980 We sing as a form of worship to Him. 492 00:26:24,060 --> 00:26:24,700 Sing to Him. 493 00:26:24,700 --> 00:26:26,060 Don't ever sing to the group. 494 00:26:26,060 --> 00:26:27,100 And don't sing to Doug. 495 00:26:27,100 --> 00:26:27,900 Don't sing to me. 496 00:26:27,980 --> 00:26:28,660 Sing to Him. 497 00:26:28,660 --> 00:26:32,860 When you sing, we pray, we study the scripture. 498 00:26:33,910 --> 00:26:37,350 That's how we grow in grace that God's given us. 499 00:26:37,350 --> 00:26:39,590 And then secondly, we give grace to others. 500 00:26:40,870 --> 00:26:42,870 If you only give to people around. 501 00:26:42,870 --> 00:26:44,950 You what they deserve, that is not grace. 502 00:26:45,910 --> 00:26:47,510 That has nothing to do with grace. 503 00:26:48,470 --> 00:26:50,630 That's just being a pretty good person. 504 00:26:51,670 --> 00:26:55,590 Grace is giving to others what they don't deserve. 505 00:27:00,560 --> 00:27:05,200 You won't give grace to others if it's not amazing in your life. 506 00:27:05,680 --> 00:27:09,880 If you don't capture the amazing nature of grace, you're never 507 00:27:09,880 --> 00:27:10,360 going to give. 508 00:27:10,360 --> 00:27:12,240 It away and you're going to be stingy. 509 00:27:13,920 --> 00:27:18,480 Grace transforms us when we understand how amazing it is. 510 00:27:19,760 --> 00:27:23,560 And if we don't understand how amazing it is, we don't give grace. 511 00:27:23,560 --> 00:27:25,200 And so our light dims. 512 00:27:26,960 --> 00:27:31,280 We have to remember often what God has done for us. 513 00:27:31,280 --> 00:27:32,400 We are sinners. 514 00:27:33,520 --> 00:27:37,480 We were made and live in fellowship with a holy God. 515 00:27:37,480 --> 00:27:40,360 But we can't be with him because sin separates us. 516 00:27:40,360 --> 00:27:43,920 And so he gave us the Holy Spirit to convict us of that sin. 517 00:27:44,160 --> 00:27:46,200 The rules don't free us from sin. 518 00:27:46,200 --> 00:27:49,360 There's no doing good that gets you free from sin. 519 00:27:49,840 --> 00:27:54,310 Only the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross the brings us back into 520 00:27:54,310 --> 00:27:55,430 fellowship with God. 521 00:27:55,430 --> 00:27:58,630 We are saved by grace and we grow in grace. 522 00:27:59,830 --> 00:28:02,390 And that's what grace is about. 523 00:28:04,310 --> 00:28:08,350 I'm going to close with my favorite quote of anything, any quote 524 00:28:08,350 --> 00:28:11,830 I have outside of the Bible by Phil Yancey. 525 00:28:11,910 --> 00:28:13,350 Phil Yancey said this. 526 00:28:13,990 --> 00:28:19,320 There's nothing I can do to make God love me more, and there's 527 00:28:19,320 --> 00:28:23,120 nothing I can do to make God love me less. 528 00:28:23,120 --> 00:28:29,360 If you understand that grace is that amazing, it will transform 529 00:28:29,360 --> 00:28:34,040 how you live in relationship with God, in relationship to each 530 00:28:34,040 --> 00:28:34,320 other.