Amazing Grace

Text of my sermon on Amazing Grace:

Good morning. Obviously, I’m not Daniel. For those of you who don't know, my name is Stuart, and usually I’m sitting in the back running sound. Daniel is currently at home with the flu and chose not to spread it to everyone here. While I miss his presence, I am grateful that he chose to stay at home. I don’t imagine any of us have a desire to catch the flu as well.

If anyone was to ask me about my opinions on church, I could speak for quite a while. Some of you have even listened to me ramble about my opinions on church. Let me just say to those people, I’m sorry. And I’m sorry for each of you, because you get to hear just a glimpse – I’ll try to keep this part brief.

First off, I love the Harvest, I really do. I love the community and the people, I love the work that God is doing here, I love that God is so very obviously present in this place. That said, I am a traditionalist. I prefer the grand cathedrals with stone walls and stone floors that echo everything. I prefer the consistent liturgies, such as saying the Apostle’s creed every week, and congregational responses where each person is involved in the prayers and glorifying God. And I generally prefer traditional hymns to modern worship style music.

One of the reasons why I prefer the old hymns is that many of them are very practical. From songs about God’s glory like Holy, Holy, Holy, and Crown Him With Many Crowns; to songs about God’s providence and comfort like Blessed Assurance and Leaning on the Everlasting Arms; to songs about God’s work in the church like Christ is Made the Sure Foundation and God of Grace and God of Glory. Some of you here will know these songs, and know what I’m talking about. I’m sure you’re already trying to sing along as I list off these hymns. What I love is that each of these songs has very practical and personal language about our relationship with God, and the work that He is doing, or the obedience we should have in response.

This morning, I’m going to talk about one of the most well-known hymns of all time: Amazing Grace. I think everyone here has heard it at least once. It’s an incredible message of evangelism, of grace and comfort, of God’s power over this life and the next, of the hope for what is to come when we all eventually shuffle from this mortal coil.
In a moment, I’m going to read the full text of the song, and hopefully I won’t get caught up in trying to sing it instead of reading it. Before I do, I want to encourage each of you to put yourself in the words of this song. Each verse mentions I or me at least once, and I want you to personalize this for you. This is an intimate and personal song, and so you should make it about your relationship with God. Use this to remember God’s work in your life, to remember what He has accomplished, and glorify Him for doing these things for you. Here we go.

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.

’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed!

Through many dangers, toils and snares,
I have already come
’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.

The Lord has promised good to me,
His Word my hope secures;
He will my Shield and Portion be,
As long as life endures.

Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease,
I shall possess, within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine;
But God, who called me here below,
Will be forever mine.

When we’ve been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Than when we’d first begun.

Wow. Brings me to tears. What more do I need to say? I think we can wrap up and go home, right? Gotta get ready for the GRAMMYs tonight…

I think there’s a bit more we can learn from this, and I hope you’ll indulge me for a bit longer. Before I discuss the text, I want to explain just a bit about the context in which this song was written. The composer was a man by the name of John Newton, and he wrote it in 1779. John Newton is an interesting man because he started off his professional career as a slave trader. He worked on a ship that brought slaves from Africa to England. In 1748, his ship was caught up in a terrible storm, and he cried out to God for mercy. This began a series of events that led to him leaving the slave trade and eventually becoming ordained in the Church of England. There he became a pastor for a small town in England, where eventually he wrote this song. This song is a personal statement from Newton about his conversion and the work that God did in his life.

So let’s take this one verse at a time, starting with the first verse:

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.

This verse is a very powerful statement about God’s work in our salvation. It is God who offers the grace of salvation – we do not obtain salvation on our own. In the statements here, it describes us as being a wretch, lost, and blind; but God’s grace finds us and saves us. Paul makes this clear in Ephesians 2:8-9 where he writes: “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.”, and again in Philippians 1:6, when he is speaking to the believers in Philippi: “And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.”

I cannot explain how comforting and meaningful this truth is to me. I know that my heart is inclined towards sin, and I know that without God reaching out first, I would have no desire to turn to Him. But God did reach out, and redeemed me for His own, and I will respond in obedience and will glorify Him forever because of that.

Moving on to the second verse, which says:

‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed!

According to this, grace both teaches us to fear, and relieves our fear of the same thing. So then what do we learn to fear by means of grace? I’m glad you asked. According to Paul, “we have all sinned, we have all fallen short of the glory of God”. If we have sinned, then what is the consequence of that sin? Eternal death. We will stand before judgement throne and be condemned; told that we are not worthy of being with God.

Thankfully, our fears of being rejected forever are relieved, because Christ has covered us with His blood. We are free from the power of death, and when we stand on judgement day, we will be declared righteous and we will live in full relationship with Him forever. Oh, what glorious news this is!

This is all work God has already done, let’s talk about the work He is continuing to do today, in verses 3 and 4:

Through many dangers, toils and snares,
I have already come
’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.

The Lord has promised good to me,
His Word my hope secures;
He will my Shield and Portion be,
As long as life endures.

The first thing we need to recognize here is that this life is dangerous. There are some who argue that we should never see trouble again once we accept Jesus in our hearts, but the truth is that danger is all around us. In John 15, Jesus says: “Do you remember what I told you? ‘A slave is not greater than the master.’ Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you.” Paul tells us in Ephesians 6 that the dangers are not just from this world: “For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.” James goes on to say: “Count it sheer joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of all kinds”. He doesn’t say “if” you meet trials, he says “when” you meet trials. My friends, we WILL face trials and danger in this world.

Thankfully, we are not alone in this struggle. God has promised to be with us through it all. In Ephesians 6, when Paul us about the dangers all around us, he tells us to put on the armor of God. Let me read the whole passage here:

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.

We have the power of God with us, He will guide and protect us. We will not face this world alone. We will not face these trials and tribulations alone, for as long as life endures.

Most importantly, than all of that, WHEN we succumb to the frailties of this life, whether we lose the battle with persecution, or some physical danger overwhelms us, or our bodies decay and wither from old age, grace will lead us home. I love this phrase: grace will lead us HOME. We are not just going to eternal life with Jesus, we are going to the place where we belong. We have been adopted into God’s family, our citizenship has been moved to the Kingdom of God – we belong at home with our Lord, Jesus Christ.

Verse five transitions from our mortal life to our eternal life:

Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease,
I shall possess, within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.

Let’s face it, we will all face an earthly death. The time will come when each of us breathes our last, and we will stand face to face with the Creator, who will judge us. Thankfully, we who are in Christ can look forward to that day; we can look forward to the life that is to come. We have hope and expectation for the eternity we will spend with Christ. The future that is to come is not one of danger or struggle, but one where we each have authentic and lasting relationship with God. We will know Him fully, as He has always known us. Romans 8 says “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” In Matthew 25, Jesus is speaking about the day of Judgement, and He says to those who are called to him: “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” We have nothing to fear from death; instead, what waits for us is greater than anything we have EVER known.

Verse 6 says:

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun refuse to shine;
But God, who called me here below,
Will be forever mine.

First, the time is coming when this world will be destroyed, as our earthly bodies will wither away. Jesus says in Matthew 24 that “Heaven and earth will pass away”; John speaks in Revelations 21 that “for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.” Everything we know here on earth will be destroyed, and even stars will cease to shine.

But, when that time comes, we will be with God, and we will have Him forever. We will be in the presence of the Most High, and He will never fade away. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4: “… we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient [that is to say, temporary], but the things that are unseen are eternal.”

I know that I never truly grasp the concept of eternity. I look to the 40-50 years I have left on this earth and I think that is a long time. But we will be with God forever. The final verse puts it together beautifully:

When we’ve been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Than when we’d first begun.

Ten thousand years, even ten million years, are but a drop in the bucket compared to eternity. This universe that God has created is 17 billion years old, and yet that is nothing compared to the time we will be with God. I’ve heard it put like this: Imagine that every two thousand years, a sparrow takes off from earth and flies to the moon, and takes but a wing brush of rock back to the earth. When the moon finally disappears, eternity will have just begun.

What could we possibly do for eternity though? How will we fill our time? I mean, for me, I could play video games, that would satisfy me for a few years. Maybe 100 years if I stretch it, trying to play every video game ever made. Or instead I could watch every movie known to man, the good and the bad. But even still this would not come close to filling eternity.

What will we do? We’ll be spending it praising God. To the one who created, and the one who loves, the one who is Worthy of praise, to Him, we will be singing praises forever. We will be so moved, and enraptured, by the peace and the joy that we experience by being in God’s presence, wholly and completely, that we will glorify Him without ceasing.

What does it all mean? As Daniel likes to say: “so what?” What’s the practical application of this knowledge? I think there are several things we can take away to encourage us this week:

First, we can rejoice in the fact that God has saved us. We who have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God are redeemed, made right with Him for eternity. When the day of judgement comes, we can stand without fear.

Second, we can take comfort and security in the knowledge that God loves us, and He will never leave us. He has sent His Spirit to live in us, and to guide us. As we go out this week, we can rest in peace, knowing that no matter what happens, God is watching over us, and He desires the ultimate good for us, in this life or in the next.

Third, we can have hope. Jesus has prepared a place for us, and we will know true joy and everlasting peace. When we die on earth, we will go HOME, where we will be with God forever, where we will belong forever. Never again rejected or refused, but forever accepted by Him.

Last, we can praise God in all that we do. Even if God were to do nothing else for us on earth, He is worthy of our thanksgiving and our obedience. He has picked us up out of the miry clay, redeemed us in the midst of our sin and our wretchedness, and He has promised us eternal life.

I’ve asked Bonnie to lead us in singing Amazing Grace, and as we do, I encourage you to take these truths to heart. I encourage you to remember these words, and sing them this week, so that you can rejoice in God, rest in His comfort, hope in the life that is to come, and praise Him in all that you do. Let’s pray.

Father, thank you for this song. Thank you for the man who wrote it, for his testimony of sin and redemption. Thank you for bringing him to share it with us. Thank you for the truth and comfort that it brings to us today. I ask that as we go out this week, we will remember this song. That we will rejoice in you, that we will praise you in all things. That we will be comforted and that we will rest in security, knowing that you are with us. That we will look forward to the life that is to come, and that we will have hope for the place you have prepared for us. We pray all these things in Jesus’ name.