Mr. Newton wrote, a servant of
slaves in Africa was by the rich mercy of our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ preserved, restored, pardoned, and appointed to preach
the faith that he had long labored to destroy. John Newton was well
qualified to preach, qualified by God's grace, as Paul says
here in verse 10. We'll read this in a moment.
and to describe God's amazing grace to him. Because what John
Newton spoke of, preached about, was that which he had experienced. It wasn't a hand-me-down knowledge. It wasn't second-hand. John Newton
for himself had tasted that the Lord is gracious. One of my favorite
hymns. I mean near the top of the list. Amazing grace. I heard that all
my life. I mean, it was a favorite. It
was a common hymn. Heard it all my life. And I didn't
have a clue. I didn't have a clue what the
man was talking about until God allowed me to taste, as he did,
as old Newton did, as Paul did, as every saint and sinner does,
the experience of his grace, that he's gracious. Amazing grace,
how sweet the sound. Had you ever heard anything so
sweet when God saved you or since that day? Amazing grace, how
sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but
now am found. I was blind, but now I see. 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. Talk about putting things into
perspective. Oh, nothing. Nothing. When God
got you lost, nothing was more important. Everything just seemed
to fade into insignificance compared to this. Oh, that I might know
him. Newton went on to write through many dangerous toils
and snares. I have already come, tis grace
has brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home."
I'll borrow the title of Mr. Newton's hymn for the title of
this message, Amazing Grace. Amazing Grace. We already read
in Acts 9 the record of Saul's conversion. Now let's read what
Paul says many years later. since that day on the Damascus
road and every day since then. This is how Paul sums it up in
verse 10 of 1 Corinthians 15. But by the grace of God, like
Olin Newton said, I'm not what I once was. But by the grace
of God, I am what I am. And His grace, which was bestowed
upon me, was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than
they all, yet not I, but the grace of God, which was with
me." Someone said that there are three stages of the soul
in connection with Jesus Christ. And the first one is without
Christ. Without Christ. That's the state
of all men by nature. Without Christ. You've heard
me mention this before, but some lady told Brother Henry, Brother
Henry, Mahan, I've been a Christian all my life. And Henry said,
lady, that's too long. That's too long. No such thing. We're born in a state of nature,
in a state of nature rather, without Christ. The second one
is to be in Christ. That's to be in a state of grace.
to be in grace. And the third is to be with Christ. That's to be in a state of glory. Now I'll, the Lord willing, touch
on all three of those things, but I want to speak primarily
on the second one. In Christ. In Christ. That's to be in a state of grace. Unchanging, everlasting grace. In the fourth chapter of this
book, Paul's epistle to the church at Corinth. He had to deal with
a disease, a sickness that was affecting some of the believers
there. An ugly disease. It causes the
head to swell. Pride. Pride. We've heard the
expression there is pride of race and pride of place and pride
of face. But could anything be more contradictory? Could there be more of a contrast
in pride of grace? It just doesn't gel. It just
doesn't gel. Paul, in dealing with that, reminded
them of this. Paul says, answer this question.
Let me ask you this. You that are proud, you that
are, the expression Paul used, and it's a good one, you that
are puffed up. You've got the big head, you're
puffed up. He said, let me ask you this,
who made you the different from another? Think about it. What do you have that you didn't
receive? And if you've received it, if
you've been a recipient of God's unmerited favor, God's free grace,
then what do you have the glory in? What do you have to be puffed
up about? Why do you glory as if you didn't
receive it? Who made you to differ? Who made the difference in you
and any other man? A better translation would be,
who distinguished you? Who distinguished you? Also,
in that epistle in chapter 1, Paul told them before he even
asked the question. It wasn't me. It wasn't Apollos. It wasn't Peter. Now this I say,
that every one of you that saith, I am of Paul, and I of Apollos,
and I of Cephas, that is Peter, and I of Christ, is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? And
were ye baptized in the name of Paul? Remember, Paul exhorts
them. Remember, and may God allow us
to do the same, remember where you were when God found you. Remember what you were, where
you were when God found you. We were in a pit so deep, so
sunk in mire and sin, that it required nothing less but the
arm of omnipotence to reach down and bring us out. Nobody else
could. Paul couldn't do it. Cephas couldn't
do it. Apollos couldn't do it. No preacher
could do it. It takes nothing less than the
arm of omnipotence. God must come to that horrible
pit. He must reach down. He must bring
us out. Thank God for such amazing grace. By nature, there's no difference
between the elect of God and the reprobate. That's exactly
what Paul said in Ephesians 2, didn't he? He said, yes, to every
believer, you were dead in sin, but God quickened you. God made
you alive. God gave you spiritual life. You were born again by the operation
of God's omnipotent grace. But by nature, we were all children
of wrath. There was no difference in us
and anybody else. We are in God's hand as the clay
is in the hands of the potter. Did you ever know any potter
that does those things, that makes things upon a wheel? Did
you ever know one to create a piece and then to expect the piece
to thank him for what was done? To give the potter give the pottery
rather, the vessel, give it the credit for what only the potter
could do? In the same sense, except in
a much higher degree, the whole praise is due unto God for the
grace which he gives sinners. It's all free. It's all unmerited. So here in chapter 15, verse
10, Paul very emphatically answers the question he put before them
in chapter four. Who distinguished you? Who distinguished
you? There's only one answer. There's
only one answer. The answer that Paul gave is
the answer to every child of God, His grace. Believers are found, as we read
in Revelation, They're found when they're gathered before
the throne of God to come from every kindred and tongue and
people and nation. They're different in that respect. But in this they all unite. They
all agree perfectly. They ascribe all the glory to
the one from whom they received all the grace. They all cry with
a loud voice. They all sing one song, salvation
to our God, which setteth upon the throne and unto the Lamb.
The multitude of redeemed sinners before the throne of God all
proclaim the truth, but by the grace of God I am what I am."
First of all, because only grace could work
such a change. and a sinner. The Lord told another
Pharisee that he must be born again, must be born from above. I must be made righteous, not
by the standard of religion, not a righteousness of my own,
no, the very righteousness of God. I must be justified. How can I be? How can I be? What can I do to produce those
things? And the answer is nothing, nothing. We sang a moment ago along that
very line in your bulletin hymn, the last verse. The best obedience
of my hands dares not appear before thy throne. But faith
can answer thy demands by pleading what my Lord has done. I can't produce those things.
Is there no hope then for a sinner like me? Yes, bless God, there is. But,
oh, but, don't you love that little word? But by the grace
of God, I am what I am. Salvation starts with a choice. And it's not your choice. No,
you're not saved against your will. There's no sinner ever
been saved against their will. But how does one become willing? It's in the day of God's power.
Salvation starts with the choice. It starts with God's choice.
That's the first link in this golden chain of salvation. In
Genesis chapter 1, the very first words of scripture, we read this. In the beginning God created
the heaven and the earth. Now compare that to what Paul
wrote in Ephesians chapter 1, verse 3. Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ according as He has
chosen us before, before what we read in Genesis 1 and 1, before
the foundation of the world. This is the beginning before
that beginning, before God ever created the heaven and the earth.
Again in 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 13, Paul again says, but we are
bound to give thanks always to God for you brethren, beloved
of the Lord, because You opened up your heart and let God do
something for you. Because you took the first step.
Oh no! Because God had from the beginning
chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the spirit
and belief of the truth. The book of life, the decree
of election, is the marriage register, someone said, of all
the saints. in which their everlasting espousal
to Jesus Christ stands indelibly recorded by the pen of God's
free and eternal love. Years ago, many years ago, an
old preacher by the name of John Aerosmith wrote this. I like
this. He said, election having once
pitched upon a man, it will find him out and call him home. Wherever he may be, He called
Zacchaeus out of accursed Jericho, Abraham out of the adulterous
error of the Chaldees, Nicodemus and Paul from the college of
the Pharisees. And whatsoever dung heals, God's
jewels are hid, election will both find them out and fetch
them out and bring them home." Oh, like the great shepherd Billy.
He went out and he searched until he found. And when he found,
he picked up. He said, and we read that He
put it up on His shoulders and brought it home. All the way
home. The elect will betroth to Jesus
Christ from everlasting in the covenant of grace. And they are
actually married to Him and join hands with Him in time when they're
called in conversion. They are taken home to the bridegroom's
house when at death they dismiss this body from this body and
go to be with the Lord. "'Tis not that I did choose thee,'
Josiah Condor wrote. "'Tis not that I did choose thee,
Lord, that could not be. This heart would still refuse
thee, had thou not chosen me. My heart owns none before thee,
for thy rich grace I thirst. This knowing if I loved thee,
thou must have loved me first." Salvation begins with God. So as to election, we happily
acknowledge, by the grace of God, I am what I am. And the same thing is true of
our calling, conversion. Our election can only be known
by our calling. Can't know it any other way. That's why Peter exhorts believers
to make their calling in election sure. If you do those things,
you'll never fall. Affectual calling is the middle
link in this undivided chain of salvation. And those that
have experienced it can be sure of the ends. If God calls me
in time, there's the proof that I was elected in eternity. And
here's the other link, that I'll be with Him in glory. Being called
to Jesus Christ, is the manifestation of election and a sure forerunner
of glory. The psalmist said, the Lord shall
give grace and glory. Everyone, everyone that experienced
his grace, God will bring the glory. God will bring home, all
the way home. There is much the difference
between election and effectual calling as between a private
manuscript. A manuscript before it goes to
publication, before it actually becomes a printed book. In election,
God wrote and entered us into the heavenly register, but it's
still kept by Him, and nobody knows the contents but Him, the
triune God, the Lord Jesus Christ. It's the Lamb's book of life.
But in effectual calling, like we read concerning Saul, as takes
place In every believer, an effectual calling, God so to speak, prints
off a sheet of the book of life and hands it to that believing
soul and says, here, this is for you. This is for you. And now we can read our title
clear. The mansions in the sky. Your
calling is proof of your election. Is that not what Paul said in
1 Thessalonians chapter 4? He told these people at Thessalonica,
these believers, he said, I know you're elect. I know you're elect. How did Paul know that? The same
way we know it today. In 1 Thessalonians 1, he wrote
in verse 4, knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God.
He wanted them to know it too. Isn't it interesting how that
this word election is used over and over again throughout the
epistles? It wasn't something they were afraid of. They referred
to one another as the elect of God. Verse 5, this is how Paul
knew they were elect. For our gospel came not unto
you in word only, but also in power. Power. The power of God
accompanied his word, but also in power in the Holy Ghost and
in much assurance. And ye know what manner of men
we were among you for your sake. And you became followers of us. and of the Lord. That's how we
knew. Your calling is proof of that.
In Galatians chapter 1, again, Paul said concerning his conversion,
you've heard of my conversation in times past in the Jews' religion,
how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God. We read about
that in Acts 9 and wasted and profited in the Jews' religion
above many my equals in my own nation, being exceedingly zealous
of the tradition, the religious traditions of my fathers. But,
there it is again, but by the grace of God I am what I am.
But, when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's
womb, and called me by His grace to reveal His Son in me. Oh, another blessed but. Thank
God for those divine interventions of His mighty grace. Where would
we be without them? Where would we be without them?
One of the hymns in Don's book, the Songs of Grace book, is titled,
But God, but God, but God, what blessed words of grace. He broke
my stubborn will. Throughout the great eternal
age, I'll chant His praises still. Paul the Pharisee, that word
means separated one, a separatist. But long before Paul separated
himself to the religion of a Pharisee, God had separated him to be something
far, far better than that, better than religious tradition. It
blessed the Lord to behold that he who is the God in nature and
in providence, is the same also in grace. He who separates us
from the womb of nature did long before separate us in the womb
of eternity, His chosen ones. And in the appointed time, He
calls them by His grace. As it was with Christ ahead,
we read when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth
his son, so with the members of his body, the church. When
the fullness of the time has come, God sends forth his mighty
spirit of grace, saying, arrest that man. That's what happened
to Saul of Tarsus on the Damascus road. God said, you're not going
a step further. You're mine. And today, Saul
of Tarsus, before you ever reach Damascus, you'll come close. Oh, but you won't quite get there,
because not until I arrest you by my mighty grace and you become
a trophy, a monument, of God's rich mercy. The unregenerate
elect are God's own heritage, though they didn't know it. You
didn't know it, Billy. I didn't know it either. Until
God, by His Holy Spirit, passes by and says, live, live, and
stamps upon them in the mint of effectual calling, and stamps
upon them the very image of His dear Son, so that His Son might
be the firstborn among many brethren. Oh, how grace changed Saul of
Tarsus. How Paul changed his tune after
that. We read a sampling of it, didn't
we? Paul's only desire before that was to be found in his own
self-righteousness. I'm sure Paul's so-called prayers
would be much like another Pharisee that our Lord talked about in
Luke 18. Paul would pray just like this,
I'm sure. pray thus with himself, God I
thank Thee, I thank Thee that I, notice how much I is in this
prayer, I thank Thee that I am not as other men, extortioners
and unjust and adulterers, and even as the publican, I fast
twice in a week, I give tithes of all that I possess. Paul had
worked tirelessly for a long time weaving his religious robe. Paul was a self-made man. A self-made
man. Every self-made man that appears
before the throne of God will hear, depart from me, I never
knew you. But when Paul was arrested on
the Damascus Road that day, he came face to face with the Lord
Jesus Christ in all of his self-righteous robe, of self-righteous works,
withered like the leaves in wintertime. When God called him by his grace,
Paul became God's workmanship. He had been working out his own
righteousness, but oh, then he became God's workmanship. And
now Paul declares that he's determined to know nothing, nothing but
Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Like blind Bartimaeus that day,
he cast off his rags and comes to Christ. Paul did likewise. what things were gained to me,
those I count lost for Christ. Yea, doubtless I count all things
but lost for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ
my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do
count them but done, that I may win Christ and be found in him,
not having my own righteousness which is of the law, but that
which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which
is of God by faith. Every child of God gladly, happily
confesses with Paul, but by the grace of God, I am what I am. Someone said that the way to
heaven doesn't lie over a toll bridge where you pay your fare. No, it lies over a free bridge. even the unmerited grace of God
in Christ Jesus. Is that not what God tells us
in the last chapter of the book of the Bible? And the Spirit
and the bride say, come. And let him that heareth say,
come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let
him come. Take the water of life freely,
without money and without price. God neither looks on anything
in the creature to win him, in order to show him kindness, or
anything to stop him from showing his mercy and grace. God declares,
I will have mercy. I like that. Don't have a problem
with that, do you? I will have mercy. That's the
will of the omnipotent God. God says, I will have mercy. Someone or a multitude of someone
are going to experience, are going to experience my mercy
in grace. I've willed it to be so. I'm
determined that it should be so. The quote in your bulletin,
my brother Don, grace is bestowed upon sinners without attraction.
That's good. Without condition, without qualification. Grace is not something God offers
to sinners. That would have been a lot of
help to Lazarus in the tomb, wouldn't it? Grace is not something
God offers to sinners. Grace is the operation of God
in sinners, by which He effectually saves the objects of His everlasting
love. The gospel of God is the message
of grace. That's what makes it good news.
That's what makes it good news. It's God's prerogative to say,
I am that I am. But it's the privilege of a redeemed
sinner to say, by God's grace I am what I am. We're nothing
but what God makes us. Nothing but what His grace makes
us. And all that is good in us flows
from the stream of this one fountain. God that saves, or grace, rather,
that saves comes from God. Grace that reigns, grace that
abounds over my sin must come from God Almighty, through Jesus
Christ, the mediator. Grace that can conquer and cleanse
within must come from God. Grace that can keep me from falling,
that must come from God. And surely, grace that can present
me faultless in the very presence of God himself, it must come
from God. through the Lord Jesus Christ.
What amazing grace! John chapter 1 we read, concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ, He's full of grace and truth. Grace comes
by Jesus Christ and He's able to save to the uttermost every
sinner that comes to Him. If this is so, why look anywhere
else? Why look anywhere else or to
anyone else but Christ? We're multitudes today, multitude. A religious spasm satisfies them. They don't want anything else.
Just to go through some religious tradition, that's good enough.
That'll suit them. But it won't suit a thirsty sinner.
Oh, no. That won't be enough. For every
truly thirsty sinner, the cry of their heart, oh, that I might
know the living God. Oh, that I might have peace with
God. That I might have the sweet assurance
that it is well with my soul. And everyone that has that, that's
been made thirsty by God's grace, will be satisfied by God's grace.
They'll be brought to look to Jesus Christ alone. And then
they'll be enabled to say, I know whom. I know whom. Like Saul of Tarsus before that,
it was what? It was what? It was touch, not
taste, not go, not wear, not Oh, but now I know whom I have
believed." I want this to be true of me, don't you? This is
the true grace of God wherein I stand. And this, by the grace
of God, I am what I am. 1 Corinthians chapter 6, Paul
wrote this. Chapter 6 of this book, at verse
9, he said, And this is still true, folks. God's not changed
his mind. Know ye not that the unrighteous
shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Don't be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor adulterers,
nor infeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor
thieves, nor covenants, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners
shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. Such were some of you. I think I've probably told you
the story when I was a young boy growing up back in West Virginia. During the summer sometimes one
of our friends would come and tell the rest of us, hey, I've
discovered a new swimming hole. Like nobody else knew it was
there. A new swimming hole. So we would get our trunks and
we'd go hiking. walk down railroad tracks, go
through woods, whatever we had to do to find this new swimming
hole. And then somebody, somebody would climb down, do whatever
they had to do to get into the water, see if they could touch
the bottom. The rest of us would wait on
the bank or up on the cliff. And then they would come up and
say, well, it's safe. I tried to touch the bottom.
I couldn't do it. It's safe. Just jump on in. Paul said, such were some of
you. As old Newton said, I'm not what I once was. But you're
washed. You're sanctified. You're justified
in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the spirit of his grace.
Jump in. Oh, come to this fountain so
rich and sweet. Cast out your soul at the Savior's
feet. Plunge in the day and be made
complete. Glory, glory to his name. But of him, Are you in Christ
Jesus? Who of God has made unto us wisdom
and righteousness, sanctification and redemption, that according
as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. And here's the last thing. Notice
what Paul said here concerning the grace of God that made him
what he was. He said he was not in vain. Oh, it wasn't empty. It wasn't
useless. It accomplished what God intended
for it to do. It's never in vain. There's not
a rung in the ladder to heaven which doesn't give everyone that
steps on it and mounts up to glory by it to sing by the grace
of God, I am what I am. And he shall bring forth the
headstone thereof, we read in Zechariah 4, with shoutings,
crying, grace, grace unto it. Oh, what a blessed thing it is,
is it not, children of God? For all the chosen seed to be
able to say with the Apostle Paul, by the grace of God, I
am what I am. It's all of his grace. In regeneration,
in calling, in redemption, justification, adoption, and ultimate glory,
the whole church trace all their mercies to grace from one eternity
to another, every step, that we mount up to heaven has this
inscription upon it, to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein
He hath made us accepted into beloved. An old preacher wrote
this, Grace is of a stirring nature and not a dead thing like
an image which you might lock up in a chest and nobody know
what God you worship. No, grace will show itself. It
will walk with you and talk with you in all places and all companies. And it will buy with you and
sell with you and have a hand in all your enterprise. It is
too much a lie to be smothered. God's grace is not something
that lies dormant and dead But as a living, active principle,
it is nothing less than the operation of God in the soul of man. Therefore, Paul said, if any
man be in Christ, he's a new creature. Old things are passed
away. Behold, behold, all things are
become new. What a sweet, comforting thought.
Once in Christ, in Christ forever, nothing from his love can sever. Mr. Spurgeon in one of his messages
used an illustration concerning a believer's being in the Lord
Jesus Christ and never being condemned by being in Christ.
He said there was a man in Spain who was convicted of a crime
on trumped-up charges years ago, and he was sentenced to be put
to death by firing squad. This man was a citizen both of
England and America. And ambassadors of those two
countries tried to intervene on his behalf. The rulers wouldn't
hear of it. So on the day of his execution,
these two men, these ambassadors, one from America and one from
England, went to the man's cell and took with them a flag from
each country, the United States and England. And as that man
came out to face the firing squad, he was wrapped in the flags of
both those countries. And those ambassadors said to
the captain of that firing squad, now you go ahead and fire a shot
if you dare. You go ahead and shoot if you
dare. But you better know this. You can be sure of this. If you
do, you're going to bring the wrath of the two greatest nations
in the world down on your head. You can count on that. There
wasn't a shot fired. Not a shot was fired. There is
now for no condemnation. Now, no condemnation to them
which are in Christ Jesus. Not a shot will be fired. They've
already been on the Lord Jesus Christ. No condemnation, and
there never will be. Let me quote by quoting, reading
to you a couple of verses of one of Augustus Topley's old
hymns. He said, my name from the palms
of his hands, eternity will not erase. Impressed on his heart
it remains in marks of indelible grace. And if by grace I am what
I am, this is also true. Yes, I to the end shall endure,
as sure as the earnest is given, more happy but not more secure,
the glorified spirits in heaven. Thank God for his amazing grace. Amen.