I'll begin reading with verse
17. For if by one man's offense death
reign by one, much more they which receive abundance of grace
and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one Jesus
Christ. Therefore, as by the offense
of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation, even so
by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men
unto justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience
many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many
be made righteous. Moreover, the law entered that
the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace
did much more abound. That is, sin hath reigned unto
death Even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal
life by Jesus Christ our Lord. Grace is amazing. And the people
said, Amen. The script of adjective amazing
tries to describe this grace of God. Amazing grace. Mr. Newton did his best to put
it to song. Amazing grace, how sweet the
sound. Why is grace amazing? Because it's love to the unlovable, the unbeautiful. Grace is forgiveness
and peace and joy and happiness. And it's all undeserved. It's all undeserved. God didn't give some of us what
we deserved. He had grace upon us. Mr. Newton said, that grace was a sweet sound. Is it to you? How would you like to have sermon
after sermon after sermon on the law of Moses? How would you
like to hear the Ten Commandments every Sunday? How you must keep
the law how you must be perfect inside
and out. Grace is a sweet sound. And how sweet that sound is.
What is it that makes the sound of grace sweet? There is no bitterness
in grace. I guarantee you, if you're here
today and you're trying to Be converted by law works. There's a sense of bitterness
in you and about you. The law creates anger because
all have sinned and missed the mark. You know you can't keep
the law of God. Even those of you who say that
you know the Ten Commandments are your rule, you don't even
know the Ten Commandments by heart. There are over 5,000 commandments
in the Bible. And we've broke them all. Everybody's
missed the mark. But grace comes along and it
has a sweet sound to it. It says, you don't deserve this,
but I'm going to save you. I'm going to convert you. I'm
going to find you. It's all going to be Me working
for you to give you joy, peace, and happiness. No bitterness
to be found in grace. After we're converted, it's not,
I have to go to church. It's not, I have to serve God.
There's a sweetness there. I serve Him because I love Him
out of gratitude. It's sweet. This grace of God
is sweet because there's no condemnation, no judgment. for those that are
in Christ Jesus. Aren't you glad God doesn't give
us what we deserve? You don't want what you deserve.
You want His mercy and His grace. There's no wrath. God has no
anger toward us. God does not follow us around
ready to swat us. If He did, He'd get the army. We've done enough this morning
to go to hell if we got what we deserve. There's no fear in
grace. I was raised in a church where
many times I heard messages of the Christian is going to die
and appear before the judgment seat of Christ and give an account
of everything he's ever done since he's been saved. How would
you like that to be true? I've done more since I've been
saved than I did before. I was only 8 years old saved. I've got 60 years of mess up.
I don't want to have to stand before God and give an account. We've been saved by the unmerited
favor of God. And therefore, we boldly come
to the throne of grace. Not with fear. but with great
boldness claiming the blood of Jesus Christ. And that there
is no condemnation. There is no recompense with regard. No payback. There is no you owe
me to be found in grace. Although I owe him everything,
he never reminds me of that. Not in the sense of entitlement. Not in that sense. There's nothing
greater than grace. How big, how awesome is our sin? Think about it. Yeah, not too
much. That's right, Space. Don't think
about it too much. Just think about it in this sense.
Where sin piled up, grace piled up higher. Some of us in here have a big
pile. A big pile, but grace piled up
higher. I've often thought, as the old
song, count your many blessings, name them one by one. Count your
many sins. They're innumerable. But thank
God, where sin did abound, grace did much more abound. Grace that
is greater than all my sins. I know that there are people
who come to this church who have done horrendous things. I mean, out of the ordinary mess. We have the nice little suburbanite
folks who come here and maybe never exposed to... I mean, they're
sinners and they're self-righteous maybe many times and God has
saved them. out of their self-righteousness.
But what the world would say is horrendous sins. That you're
beyond the grace of God. The message of grace says there
is no one beyond the message of the grace of God. If you have
done the most horrendous things, God's grace is able, because
it's unmerited favor, to take you from the pit of your sins. The old songwriter wrote, wonderful
grace of Jesus, reaching the most defiled. How shall my tongue
describe it? Where shall my praise find end?
Taking away my burdens, setting my spirit free. Oh, the wonderful
grace of Jesus reaches even me. Newton said, grace is sweet, Grace that saved
a wretch. This man was so diabolical. As an 11-year-old boy, he got
on his dad's ship. Was around ruthless, cursing
sailors from his childhood. He developed quite a vocabulary.
He became a slave ship captain. No doubt many fornications, rapes,
perhaps even murder. John Newton got so bad that eventually
he sold himself and was owned by an African lady who fed him
under her table like a dog. No wonder John could write. Amazing
grace. How sweet the sound. So, if you're
here and you feel yourself to be the chief of sinners, I want
you to know that God's grace can reach even you. Wretched men and women, the Gospel
is for the nobodies, the lowborns of this world, the tumble bugs. John Newton said, I once was
lost. Now, I hear sometimes newborn
babes say this, I found God. God wasn't lost. Always remember
that. If you're going to give your
testimony, give it like this, God found me. I once was lost. I couldn't find
my way to God. Didn't know the way to God. Didn't
want to go to God. But now I'm found. Found on purpose. Do you know you're sitting here
today, a Christian, because God found you? You didn't stumble
upon God. God has never been lost. God
came to you. Now I'm found. I was lost. Lost on the dunghill of sin. I said this in the first service. I'm going to say it again. Lost
on the dunghill of sin. Aimlessly rolling my little roll
of crap in my neighborhood of life. Down in the hood. Down in Lodibar. down in the
whale's belly, down in the valley of dry bones, down in my cellar
hiding where creepy and crawling things exist. Lost. I was naked and blind and hiding
in the bushes of whirliness, trying to cover my nakedness
with fig leaf aprons, and He found me." Lost and found. You weren't in lost and found.
for him to come hunting, you were just lost. You and I were
just lost. Hopelessly lost. And then Newton says this, "'Twas
grace that taught my heart to fear." Oh, my friend, when the
lights come on, when you find out for the first time in the
power of the Holy Spirit really what you are, By choice, by practice,
and by nature. Wicked. Anti-God. You didn't just stump your toe
in life. You fell. That's what the Bible
means when it says, the baby comes forth from the womb a liar. Speaking lies. Like a baby rattlesnake. And as you grew, that nature,
that sinful nature manifests itself in more ways than we want
to remember. Lying and cheating and using. But when God flipped on the light
in your dark heart, there was no more of this, you know, I
may have used crack, but I didn't use heroin. I use marijuana, but I never
use crack. Or I may be a drunk, but I don't
use drugs. When the lights come on, God
makes a sinner out of you. The most important thing for
you today, you that are sitting here and are unconscious of what
you are, is for God to show you. And if He's going to save you,
He's going to show you. God doesn't save anybody except
He first shows them what they are. A lost sinner. And you know, the more you grow
in grace, the more you see yourself, the scarier you are. I got one amen on that. If you
grow in grace, you'll never be bragging. You'll never be talking
about how good you are. what you've accomplished, what
you've done, because you know it's all by the grace of God.
I am what I am by the grace of God. I was a blasphemer, the
Apostle said. I was injurious to the church. I was murdering Christians. But
I obtained mercy. That's our testimony. I think
the reason we have Amazing Grace as the national anthem of Christians
is because it's just the Christian's testimony. We love to hear it
over and over again. Grace caused my heart to fear. You know why? Because when God
turned on the lights, I saw God was holy and I saw myself to
be a wretch. Undone and unclean. And I was taught that God is
of pure eyes than to look upon sin. That He will by no means
spare the guilty. That there must be a propitiation
for sin. There must be a payment for sin. Every sin and every disobedience
must receive a just recompense of reward. God is not Santa Claus. He's not going to just fluff
off your sins or mine. They've got to be paid for. And
there's only two ways. And one way they're never paid
for in hell because hell is eternal. Or the God-man must pay. That's grace. So we call that
Holy Spirit conviction. I wish I could come back to the
church where there was real Holy Spirit conviction. You know,
people used to cry out in service. I've seen it in my day. where
people cried out, what must I do to be saved? I've had people
get saved before it was time. You say, well, what do you mean
by that? I mean, right in the middle of
my message before I, you know, said, let's stand and sing. People
got saved. Because there was a power of
God. And I've seen people in service with their heads down,
sobbing, crying out to God. It's called Holy Spirit conviction.
And without that, there's no conversion. Before God saves
you, He's got to convince you you're a sinner. Otherwise, you
won't appreciate the blood. Otherwise, you won't appreciate
the cross. You've got to see what a mess you are. And that's
what Newton said, grace taught my heart to fear. But he also
said this, and grace my fears relieved. Oh, what a relief it
is. Wasn't that a commercial? Pop, pop, fizz, fizz. Oh, what
a relief it is. Then you heard God say, it's
alright, you don't have to produce. I don't expect you to produce.
I've done it for you. I mean, I've done all of it for
you. It's unmerited favor. I love you in spite of you. I love you because I love you.
In fact, I love you so much, I sing over you. I've never understood
that verse in the Old Testament where God sings over us. I don't
know what He would sing. Let's say it was, an amazing
sinner, a wretch like you. It wouldn't be how great thou
art. I do know that. When you actually see, and let
me tell you, I need my fear relieved almost every day. Because I'm
prone to wander. Prone to leave the God I love. And if I were sitting under most
preachers, my fears would not be relieved. Because the message
is not a message of grace. The same God who saves us is
the God who keeps us. His grace only gets larger. That's why the Apostle Peter
said, grow! Grow in grace and in the knowledge
of Jesus Christ. You know, pastor, you're not
going to get anything practical out of pastor. The pastor is
going to preach grace. You got that right. The pastor
preaches what the pastor needs. I need grace every day. Don't
be putting me under some kind of law work system. Tell me about
the grace of God. I got up this morning a saved
sinner. A saved sinner. Let's put them
both together. God saved me, but in my flesh
dwells no good thing. So, out of my flesh, more than
likely, Some no good sorry thought is
going to come out today. I'm glad it's unmerited favor.
Or, I may get to thinking that I really am somebody. That I
have really done something or accomplished something. I hear
it all the time. That's why, you know, awards
are a little fearful. Don't start believing any award
you get. The man of the year. Mr. Oakland County. Michiganian. They've already forgot that.
I just saw it on the Detroit News. They're looking for new
Michiganians this year. I want to go, wait a minute. I haven't basked in the light
yet. You know, you get to thinking
you're something. Something on the end of a stick. And you may
be something on the end of a stick. But then when you find out this,
that God, that mercy and justice have kissed each other. No longer
is justice saying, I'm going to get you. But mercy comes on
the scene. And because of the cross and
because of Calvary, Because of the substitutionary work of Jesus
Christ becoming the propitiation for our sins, now God can forgive
us. Mercy and grace have kissed each
other at the cross at Calvary. It was grace that taught my heart
to fear and grace my fears relieved. How precious did that grace appear
the hour I first believed? Sixty years ago. Sixty years
ago. And I'm not saying everybody
has to have my experience. But sixty years ago, the burden
was lifted. I was free. I was converted. I trusted Christ. Sixty years ago. How precious
did that grace appear? The hour I first believed. I've
been thrown out of more churches than you have, Byers, because
of the grace message. I've never got over it. As an
8-year-old boy, I've never got over it. Now, I know salvation's
not in a feeling. But I want to tell you, as an
8-year-old boy under deep Holy Spirit conviction, when God let
me in on it, that my sins were all paid for, not only as an
8-year-old boy, But all through my life they were gone. And that
I would never come into judgment. I got happy. I got happy. And whatever happened to me as
an eight-year-old boy, I've never got over. I've even tried to
rearrange my preaching where people will, yeah, he's helping
us. And I have a lot of advisors. You know, Pastor, why don't you
And I've tried, but it doesn't work for me. So I just keep talking
about grace and hoping that someone will hear me. And actually, the
truth is, if you stop hearing me, I'll keep preaching to myself
because I have to have this grace message. I have to. Now, listen
to this. Through many dangers, now, Spacey,
Out there on that lobster boat, using all those drugs. Dangerous. Just got run over, didn't you?
Got run over, couldn't walk. Dangerous. And you know how he
got the name Space Monkey? His friends named him that because
he was spaced out most of his life. Isn't this something, this grace
of God? Isn't this something? Through many dangers. You've been in the crack house
when the shooting began? You've been on the street? You
ladies should have been raped and murdered a long time ago
because of the places you've been? Through many dangers God
has brought you. Has He not? Yeah. Dangers. Toils. You know, Pastor, it's so hard
to be a Christian. No, it's hard to be a crack addict. It's work. Man, if all the Christians
in here who've been saved by the grace of God worked as hard
as they did when they were crack addicts, now that they're saved,
they work that hard? Man. Yeah. Toils and snares. What do they
call the crack house? Somebody told me this morning.
I've already forgot. The trap house. The trap house. Well, let's all go to the trap
house. Snares, right? Snares. The devil's smarter than you. I mean, we as sinners are so
stupid they call it a trap house and we still go. And then wonder
why we got trapped. That's where you go to get trapped.
But the grace of God was greater than the trap house. Through many dangers, toils and
snares I have already come. Tis grace hath brought me safe
thus far. You know why you're still alive?
The grace of God. The grace of God. When you see
someone else out there, it's true. You can point your finger
and say, there go I, but for the grace of God. That'll stop
all that judging other people. I could be right there. I should
have been right there. I have the background. I have
the pedigree. Should have been right there. God's been good
to me though. That's why I so often say, it's
grace that puts you in the way. He that hath begun a good work
in you. How'd the work begin? He began
it. You didn't muster it up. He that hath begun a good work
in you will accomplish it. He'll finish it. Grace will lead
me home. I'm sure for heaven. All Newton
is saying is what Romans 8 says. For whom God foreloved, He predestinated,
called, justified, glorified. Right? I'm going to heaven. How
about you? I'm going because of the grace
of God. So when I get there, I'm going to praise His grace. And by the way, just so you know
that I know, I know I don't know anything about grace and you
don't either. It's going to take God eternity. You know, Do you
know you should have been dead a long time ago sleeping in your
grave? You should have got polio in the 50s. But you didn't. Or if you did, you're still alive.
You could have been stillborn, but here you are because of the
grace of God. And God has a purpose for your
life. This grace thing is so wonderful.
People fight this predestination and a God who does things according
to His own plan. Not me. It's wonderful. I'm glad
that my manager is God. Because I get out of control. And you do too. When we've been
there 10,000 years, bright shining as the sun. I don't know about you, but I
could use a little sunshine. And what Newton is saying is
the sun always shines there. Even after 10,000 years, it's
blue skies and sunshine and warmth and love and peace. When we've
been there 10,000 years, bright shining as the sun, we've no
less days to sing God's praise than when we first began. You
know, Miss Pam and I, at least I am, getting on up there. We
talk about dying a lot. It just starts to be reality. No more dying over there. No
more separation. No more heartache. No more cancer. Ms. McCool said that Quentin
has been having some kind of out of his head experiences.
But anyway, she said, he went to heaven the other day, he said.
And he was fussing about having to come back. And I said to her,
maybe he did. Maybe God gave him, I mean, he
was talking about what a beautiful place and how wonderful it was.
You know, God could give him a little taste to say, you know,
Quentin, it's going to be better for you here soon. You don't
have to dread this. You look forward to this, right?
We've no less days to sing God's praise. See, He saved us to praise
Him, right? We talk about that here. God
saved us to praise Him. This is what grace is. And God
inhabits the praise of His people. I'll tell you one reason that
we here keep pounding this and pounding this. Because if God
is not here, there's no use of any of us being here. Right? I mean, we can go through our
little ceremony, but that gets boring eventually. This needs
to be the most exciting place in town. You know why? Because God comes down. God inhabits
the praise of His people. If we could get caught up in
the wonder of His grace, we'd turn this city upside down. There
would be absolutely nothing that would stop us. You know, we talk
about getting clutch cargo. One of the big reasons I want
that building, people say all the time to me, you ought to
tear that thing down and build a new one, new building. One
of the reasons I want that building, because that's going to send
up some praise. What? The bar has become Grace
Gospel Fellowship house of worship? Yeah. Yep. Yeah. You know, and people say to me,
well, you know, we're going to have to put maybe a million in
it. God's got the cattle on a thousand
hills are His. All we have to do is you give
a dollar, you give a dollar, you give a dollar, up to one
million and we got it. And everybody in here has a dollar. So, get ready. This year, I mean,
I'm almost there. Man, can you imagine what this
city would say You better watch those folks.
They're taking over. Next thing you know, they're
going to want to call this place Graceville. Let's stand together and praise
our God.