sf1010 - Gods Amazing Grace (Titus 1 1-4)
Titus 2:11-15
Introduction
Story of John Newton…
The date is July 24, 1725, a baby is born to a commander of a merchant ship and his godly wife.
Seven years later the young lad would mourn the death of his mother and at eleven, he went to sea with his father and made six voyages with him before his father would retire’
In 1744 at the age of 18 the young man was pressed into service on a man-of-war, the H. M. S. Harwich. Finding conditions on board intolerable, he deserted but was soon recaptured and publicly flogged and demoted from midshipman to common seaman.
Through a chain of events he became the servant of a slave trader and was brutally abused. Early in 1748 he was rescued by a sea captain who had known his father. The rough seaman would ultimately became captain of his own ship, one which plied the slave trade.
Although he had had some early religious instruction from his mother, he had long since given up any religious convictions. However, on a homeward voyage, while he was attempting to steer the ship through a violent storm, he experienced what he was to refer to later as his “great deliverance.”
He would record in his journal that when all seemed lost and the ship would surely sink, he exclaimed, “Lord, have mercy upon us.”
For the rest of his life he observed the anniversary of May 10, 1748 as the day of his conversion, a day of humiliation in which he subjected his will to a higher power.
In 1750 he married Mary Catlett, with whom he had been in love for many years. By 1755, after a serious illness, he had given up seafaring forever.
He came to know George Whitefield, evangelistic preacher, and leader of the Calvinistic Methodist Church. Newton became Whitefield’s enthusiastic disciple. During this period he also met and came to admire John Wesley, founder of Methodism.
In 1764 he became the pastor of the Anglican Church. Ultimately he would be best know for his hymn writing and work as an Abolitionist with William Wilberforce.
This former slave trading agnostic seamen would during his yeas as a pastor put on paper a hymn that summarized his life and has become the best known and loved hymn of all time – Amazing Grace.
What is this Amazing Grace that can transform lives?
Unmerited love of God bestowed on rebellious sinners.
Titus 2:11-15
This book is full of Grace! (1:4; 2:11; 3:7, 15)
Letter to Titus, Paul’s spiritual son
1A. Sovereign Grace (2:11) - “Grace of God”
1B. It is God who chooses us! (Titus 1:1)
Ephesians 1:4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,
2B. How can I know if I am one of the elect?
John 6:37 All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.
3B. If you want to come, then come!
Revelation 22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.
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.
2A. Seeking Grace (sovereign)
1B. God is the seeker
He had His eye on you long before you had your eye on Him.
Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
1 John 4:19 We love Him because He first loved us.
2B. Man does not seek God
Romans 3:11 There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God.
The only reason you sought Him is because He first sought you.
'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace those fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear,
The hour I first believed!
3A. Saving Grace (2:11) (sovereign, seeking)
1B. The need for saving grace (Ephesians 2:1-3)
You were dead (2:1)
You were devilish (2:2a)
John 8:44 "You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do…
You were disobedient (2:2b)
Isaiah 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way…
You were depraved (2:3)
Ø Sinful nature
Psalm 51:5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.
Ø Man needs more than culture and cultivation; More than reformation and revival
Ø Man needs regeneration!
John 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
2B. The nature of saving grace (Ephesians 2:4-5, 8-9)
You have been saved by God (2:4-5)
Ø Not example
Ø Not education
Ø Not encouragement
Ø Not environment
Ø Only God can raise the dead!
Ø Salvation is not a reward for the righteous, a gift for the guilty.
Saved by Grace alone, through Faith alone, in Christ alone! (2:8-9)
Ø Can never mix works and grace!
Romans 11:6 And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.
4A. Securing Grace (1:2) – “Eternal life” (sovereign, seeking, saving)
1B. Eternal life explained
John 5:24 Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.
John 11:25 Jesus said to her (Martha), "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. 26 And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?"
If I can loose it, it was not eternal!
2B. Eternal life enjoyed
Eternal life comes not at death but when I believe.
John 10:10 …I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine;
But God, who called me here below,
Will be forever mine.
5A. Sanctifying Grace (2:12, 14) (sovereign, seeking, saving, securing)
1B. Teaches us how to live in Christ (2:12)
There nothing to earn there is much to learn – Discipleship
What we are to deny (2:12a)
Romans 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?
What we are to desire (2:12b)
No one on this earth has graduated. Philippians 1:6
I am not what I might be, I am not what I ought to be, I am not what I wish to be, I am not what I hope to be, but thank God I am not what I once was, and I can say with the great apostle, “By the grace of God I am what I am.
2B. Teaches us about what we have in Christ (2:14)
We have been purchased.
Ø Grace is love but more…; Grace is love that gives…, Where there is no merit and much demerit, to those who do not want the gift at great cost to the giver.
We are being purified
Ø Grace purifies us, works are important to a saved person.
Ø The importance is why we do it not what we do.
Romans 8:4 that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
We are peculiar – special
Ø The special possession of the victor!
Through many dangers, toils and snares,
I have already come;
'Tis grace has brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.
6A. Satisfying Grace (1:4; 2:13) (sovereign, seeking, saving, securing, santifying)
1B. For today (1:4)
The source of peace
Ø Grace is God giving us what we don’t deserve
Ø Mercy is God not giving what we do deserve.
Ø Peace is the result of God giving us what we don’t deserve and not giving us what we deserve.
Ø It is in the grace of God!
Grace always precedes mercy and peace!
The Lord has promised good to me,
His word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life endures.
2B. For eternity (2:13)
What began with grace in verse 11, ends in glory in verse 13.
Glad Hope – blessed “approved”
Glorious Hope
Ø He will come to rule and reign.
Yes, when this flesh and heart shall fail
And mortal life shall cease;
I shall possess, within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.
Application
Oh the glory of the grace of God
Amazing, gift!
At 82, Newton said, "My memory is nearly gone, but I remember two things, that I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Saviour."
Have you experience God’s Amazing Grace?