Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Do you want to build something with your life that will last well beyond your life?
[00:00:10] This is what Michael Foster has pondered about with his life.
[00:00:15] Michael Foster is the senior pastor of East River Church in Batavia, Ohio.
[00:00:20] And Mr. Foster has a great concern for churches and church leaders to consider God's work in others is far more important than anything we might be building for ourselves.
[00:00:32] Listen to what he says.
[00:00:35] Do you want to build bigger?
[00:00:37] Then you must become smaller.
[00:00:40] I would say succession is something that uniquely preoccupies my mind.
[00:00:45] I am the first or the first in a long time to do a lot of things on both sides of my family.
[00:00:51] And I am definitely a first generation Christian.
[00:00:53] The changes I'm bringing to my family are things that I want to last. And that goes for my community as well.
[00:00:59] So success for me is about lasting change and growing change. Or if you want to put it differently, it's about a legacy that continues.
[00:01:08] There is an odd paradox at play that I've discovered. If a man's legacy is to grow the right way, he will become a smaller part of it.
[00:01:16] Maybe an integral part, but still. But once time passes, once the pages about him pass, Lord willing, he'll just become a sentence or maybe two.
[00:01:28] Let me explain. Take East River Church. In terms of the means God has used, east river has existed in the end, or in the beginning because of me.
[00:01:37] I fell in love with church planting in the east side of Cincinnati right around 1998 or so and had long planned to end up over here doing exactly what I'm doing now.
[00:01:45] I did all the initial work and took all the initial steps. But even before the church launched, other people started getting involved.
[00:01:51] Probably most central to those early days was David Pryor, who has been my longtime co laborer and ministry partner. Emily and I decided that we would not go forward with the church plan if David and Becky wouldn't join us. And they did.
[00:02:03] Immediately, the vision I had for east river broadened to include David and Becky's personalities and gifts. He and I are both particular in our own ways. And one of the reasons each river has a very different vibe is because it's not the product of a single individual.
[00:02:16] As the church has grown and matured over the years, more and more people have become integral to it. More and more people are part of East River's story.
[00:02:24] And while I may have been one who got this thing started, I am not the one who keeps it going.
[00:02:29] There are a lot of us.
[00:02:31] And if this church should achieve my hope to be an intergenerational church that maintains its commitment to doctrinal orthodoxy in the place God put it, I will become a smaller part of its story.
[00:02:42] Thirty years from now, I will be retired or with the Lord. East river will be under the care of a different pastor. Maybe a couple of elders will remain who were there while I was there. But for most people, I will be at best a name that comes up in a membership class or something.
[00:02:56] And I don't think that's a failure. I think that's a success.
[00:03:01] Succession requires that you sacrifice your hubris and ego so that something else can grow and involve other people.
[00:03:08] It is one of the great tests of whether something is about you or about others and the Lord.
[00:03:14] So as I build a church, build a family, build a company, and build a legacy, I know one of the things that will help protect it. It is simply focusing on succession, preparing the next generation so they can prepare the next generation, who then prepares the next generation.
[00:03:28] I do want to build big things, but that requires me to become a smaller part of them.
[00:03:35] And the more resigned I become to this, the easier it is to enjoy the awesome things God is accomplishing through others.
[00:03:43] If my great grandson tells my great grandson, great grandson, great, great grandson that he never really knew me, but he knows that I was a hard worker who loved Jesus and loved his people, I think that will be a fantastic legacy.
[00:03:56] To see the work increase, you must embrace decreasing, and there's a lot of freedom in that.
[00:04:10] This concern raised by Pastor Foster should also be a concern for us this morning.
[00:04:16] It's what we're building with our lives right now fundamentally all about us.
[00:04:26] Are we embracing every opportunity we can to decrease so that Christ and his work would increase well beyond the lives he's given us?
[00:04:38] I invite you now to open a copy of God's Word to the New Testament Letter of First Timothy. First Timothy, chapter one. If you're using one of the Pew Bibles, provided, you can find that on page 1,177. First Timothy, chapter one.
[00:04:56] Two weeks ago, we began looking at 1 Timothy, which was written by the apostle Paul, verse one, to his younger protege in the Gospel ministry, Timothy in verse 2.
[00:05:06] Their relationship towards one another was less like a boss and employee, more like a father to a son, more like a mature and experienced disciple of Jesus walking alongside a younger, less experienced father of Jesus. This kindred spirit between them was so real and tangible that Paul would call Timothy his true child in the faith, which speaks of the impactful way that God used Paul in Timothy's life, or to put it another way, Paul became the spiritual leader and father in Timothy's life that Timothy never had.
[00:05:39] Last week in verses 3 to 11, we began looking at Paul's top priority for Timothy as he would be the leader for that season in Ephesus.
[00:05:48] And we saw specifically the most important matters Timothy must deal with. And he must deal with them head on. He must deal with them quick, fast and in a hurry, with no cryptic language going right at the source of the issue. If the unity, peace and growth of the church in Ephesus was going to continue, Paul says there right at the outset, Timothy was to remain, to stay, and to continue as he was in Ephesus. Verses 3 and 4 says, so that he might charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies which would promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith.
[00:06:28] In other words, Timothy was to stay put, buckle up, don't go, buy the plane ticket, don't be searching on the Internet for the next job as a fallback plan.
[00:06:39] He says, stay put, don't cower down, don't run away, and don't pass the buck for someone else to deal with the problem.
[00:06:51] Rather, he was to remain at his present ministerial post and to confront the problem makers and expose the error of their divisive and distracting teaching.
[00:07:01] Likewise, Timothy was to positively verses 8 to 10 says, rightly teach the law of God and faithfully teach in accordance with and not contrary to sound doctrine.
[00:07:13] And what is sound doctrine? Well, the easy way to remember that is healthy food for the soul.
[00:07:20] Healthy food for the soul. It's right, it's faithful, it's reliable teaching that flows from and comes to the Gospel, the gospel of the glory of the blessed God.
[00:07:33] Paul then continues his letter to Timothy. But this time Paul gets very personal, in fact, very personal about his own ministry calling as well as his own conversion to Christianity.
[00:07:44] But here is a very good question.
[00:07:48] Why does Paul do that?
[00:07:52] Look at me now in 1 Timothy 1, starting in verse 12, be reading to verse 17. Please follow with me.
[00:08:03] I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service.
[00:08:12] Though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor and insolent opponent.
[00:08:18] But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief.
[00:08:24] And the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
[00:08:29] The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the foremost.
[00:08:37] But I receive mercy for this reason that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.
[00:08:50] To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever.
[00:09:01] Amen.
[00:09:03] This is God's word.
[00:09:05] If you're taking notes, I have one big idea for you. I'll repeat it twice.
[00:09:13] The more you relish in Jesus, mercy towards you.
[00:09:23] The more others will see Jesus living inside you.
[00:09:30] The more you relish in Jesus, mercy towards you.
[00:09:36] The more others will see Jesus living inside you.
[00:09:43] This section in chapter one is sandwiched between a charge. What's a charge? It's a direct order. It's a direct command that Paul uniquely gave Timothy. And it was a charge that Paul himself had received ultimately from Christ. So everything Paul's given to Timothy really came from Timothy's Lord, again, look back with me in the charge where we looked at last week in verses three to four to see this sandwich here, verses three and four, as I urged you when I was going to Macedonia to remain at Ephesus, so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith. Now, pause there. We're going to be here next week, but I want you to see the sandwich. Look at verse 18.
[00:10:30] First Timothy 1, verse 18.
[00:10:33] He says, this charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare. Did you notice what Paul says about the charge?
[00:10:49] He entrusted it to one man, Timothy.
[00:10:54] He took this real problem that if it doesn't get solved, is going to cause even more problems for a lot of people.
[00:11:03] And he says, timothy, I'm going to put this in your lap.
[00:11:06] Here's a task to do, here's a mission to accomplish, here's a job description to fill. This is a ministry for you to give oversight to friends. Paul is a good example of what every good parent will do for their children if you want your children to grow up.
[00:11:24] He does like what every good pastor will do when he wants to see his congregation mature and grow up.
[00:11:32] He delegates authority.
[00:11:35] He empowers and entrusts. Timothy, listen, with responsibility.
[00:11:40] You want to see people grow up and mature? Give them responsibility.
[00:11:44] They feel the weight of it. Now, it's not just, you know, you driving Grandma's Cadillac with someone else in the car to tell you where to go. No, you drive grandma's Cadillac because she just sold it to you like, like now you gotta do it.
[00:12:01] Here we see Paul discipling Timothy, saying, Timothy, I'm not there to hold your hand now.
[00:12:07] The Lord has called you to this hour, you to this ministry, you to this church family. And there are problem makers. Timothy, you need to deal with false teachers. And they're spreading lies, he says. Myths, fictitious stories and all this endless genealogies that only weaken the church friends. What is he really saying in the first part of this letter?
[00:12:30] Timothy, the mission of the church is at stake.
[00:12:33] There are people in your congregation teaching and spreading myths and lives, half truths and pulling things out of really nowhere, getting people thinking about and worried about trivial things.
[00:12:50] You, you see, Timothy had to be faithful here because this was the primary mission.
[00:12:55] Preaching the gospel and making disciples of Jesus Christ.
[00:13:00] In fact, the rotten fruit from their shady influence only created doubts in the people's minds, suspicion and confusion in the church, which is always a bad sign. We're not doing well spiritually if that's the impact we're having on others.
[00:13:15] Paul says in verses six and seven that they were church members that were full of self confidence, but they were also self deceived.
[00:13:24] Friends, the Bible talks a lot about being self deceived, doesn't it? I don't even have time to go through every single proof text, but it's over and over again. Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.
[00:13:37] The very reality that we can be unaware of our own errors.
[00:13:43] A frightening thing to be unaware of our flaws and our sins.
[00:13:49] Especially if what we're doing is motivated by intellectual pride.
[00:13:56] Wes Huff gives us a good warning here. Chaffee Crossing Baptist Church.
[00:14:01] If your theological convictions are not actively making you more gracious, humble and repentant, then your beliefs are not being shaped by Jesus.
[00:14:09] They're motivated by a desire to be argumentatively right.
[00:14:15] These spiritually dangerous influences in the church at Ephesus had really big heads. But when they talked, they didn't really have a whole lot to say.
[00:14:23] They desired to be teachers of the law. They wanted to have a voice at the table, a seat in leadership. They were convinced they were right in their own eyes. They were know it alls. Who really knew, knew nothing.
[00:14:38] Yesterday, to celebrate my birthday, I had some friends go with me to a shooting range. Now, if you know anything about me, the only thing I can bring to the table is I have a daisy Red Rider BB Gun.
[00:14:58] And I think we have a broken airsoft gun somewhere in the garage.
[00:15:03] Now I'm hanging out with guys that are bringing the artillery.
[00:15:08] I mean, we're going to war, y'. All.
[00:15:11] So I show up and they're pulling out all their gear and I look like I'm going to the beach.
[00:15:18] Now just imagine if I would have walked up to there to the instructor who is highly trained, who knows exactly what he's doing and said, officer, watch out.
[00:15:33] I'm the trainer today.
[00:15:36] Actually, all these guys, they're going to listen to me because I'm the stuff. Now if you were with me yesterday, you are laughing because I've got a bruise on my shoulder from a 12 gauge. They kind of hurt. Here's the point.
[00:15:49] How foolish would it be for me to pretend I know what I'm talking about and then try to teach others how to do something that I have no idea what I'm talking about? That's what Timothy's dealing with. He's dealing with a bunch of know it alls who know nothing. The most humble posture, friends we should all have is to admit what we don't know.
[00:16:11] Pretense and pretend is a waste of time and it causes a lot of deception. And so yesterday I went up to every guy. I have no idea what I'm doing. I bought some ammo. Show me how to put it in. Show me how to hold the gun. Disciple me. That's what I'm here to do. That should be our heart posture in the Christian life. I don't have it figured all out. I don't have all the answers. I'm gonna ask you what that word means. I don't understand that theological term. Great. Welcome to discipleship.
[00:16:36] May Chaffee Crossing Baptist Church be a teachable, humble, hungry church that says, feed me, disciple me. Guess what? We're learning together.
[00:16:46] May we not become like the teachers in Ephesus who thought they knew something when they knew nothing.
[00:16:52] Here Timothy was to teach God's law.
[00:16:55] God's law is good. It's righteous and holy. And it was to show them the error of their ways and to drive them to the gospel.
[00:17:04] Which brings us to our text this morning.
[00:17:06] Look at me in verse 12, after what Paul said to Timothy, he must do with teaching sound doctrine. Paul gets very personal and he calls Timothy to remember something about Paul and something that happened to Paul. Look what he says in verse 12.
[00:17:22] He says, I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his Service.
[00:17:33] In verse 12, Paul recounts his ministerial calling.
[00:17:36] In other words, if you would have sat down with the Apostle Paul over some freshly poured coffee and asked him, hey Paul, how did you become a pastor?
[00:17:47] How did you get into full time ministry?
[00:17:51] Now Paul will answer that question in a number of ways in the New Testament.
[00:17:56] But here in verse 12, he gives us at least one thing he would tell you over a cup of coffee.
[00:18:02] He says he was strengthened. The word means empowered, enabled and invigorated.
[00:18:08] In other words, something happened to him outside of him and it was done in him.
[00:18:17] In other words, Paul was given the fuel and the tools for ministry.
[00:18:23] But from who?
[00:18:25] He says Christ Jesus our Lord.
[00:18:30] And then he says something quite interesting, doesn't he? He says the reason Jesus called him into this apostolic ministry. Did you notice the phrase the because he, Jesus judged me faithful, appointing me to his service.
[00:18:42] Now if you read that just on face value, it kind of sounds like Paul auditioned for the part.
[00:18:51] You know, he showed up to the class or to the meeting or to the event and he performed in front of the angelic host. He performed in front of Jesus. And he looked at Jesus and said, jesus, I know you gotta feel lucky having me on your team.
[00:19:08] It looks like at face value that it's American Idol, a baking show, or some kind of big test in school and you passed. Or maybe the big interview you got a new job from and the company's leadership team says, man, you are the stuff.
[00:19:24] But is that what Paul is saying?
[00:19:27] Is he saying that he proved himself to be faithful? He proved himself to be trustworthy, as if he ear earned this ministry role to be an apostle?
[00:19:39] I think the answer is yes and no.
[00:19:44] Think about it.
[00:19:45] On the one hand, would Jesus Christ pick someone who unrepentantly and perpetually would misrepresent him and to be an apostle?
[00:19:58] Well, no, that wouldn't make any sense. He would never actually get to communicate the gospel to anyone.
[00:20:05] However, Paul was only faithful.
[00:20:08] Paul was only trustworthy.
[00:20:11] He was only reliable because Jesus Christ, who is faithful, made him so.
[00:20:18] Friends, that's what Paul is saying.
[00:20:21] Christ saw something in me that made me worthy for the task, but it was what he put in me.
[00:20:29] He worked this miracle of grace. He worked the ability to believe. He is the one who gave me the gifts, the tools and the education to do what he's called me to do.
[00:20:42] Friends, Paul was not a self made man.
[00:20:45] He was a grace of God made man.
[00:20:49] Here Paul's wanting to double click on something Timothy already knew. But Timothy evidently needed to Be refreshed about.
[00:20:55] Timothy knew Paul's conversion was Timothy knew how he was called into ministry. Why is Paul saying this? Well, Paul again is discipling Timothy and he's telling this young man who's a representative for Paul in many ways.
[00:21:08] Young man, I did not get into the ministry because I earned it.
[00:21:14] Timothy, this is not something I climbed the corporate ladder to receive.
[00:21:21] I didn't run the rat race at work.
[00:21:24] I didn't manipulate people to vote for me. I didn't ask people to like my Facebook page or my Instagram. I wasn't politicking around the town asking people to vote me for the next apostleship.
[00:21:36] There was John Kitchen says Paul's ministry as an apostle was not a self chosen occupation, but a matter of a divine calling.
[00:21:48] Brothers and sisters, God does bless hard work.
[00:21:53] God blesses diligent studies.
[00:21:57] God blesses thoughtful preparation. And he uses relationships that he puts in our life, that we invest in to lead us in our life.
[00:22:07] He uses all sorts of means.
[00:22:10] But what I've learned over the years is that if God wants you to do something, you don't have to force it.
[00:22:20] If God wants you to marry that person, you won't have to force it.
[00:22:27] If God wants you to go into the ministry, make that team, get the role in the play, become a missionary, you won't have to force it.
[00:22:42] If God wants you to do this or that, you don't even need to be anxious about it.
[00:22:48] God works in advance to prepare our hearts, directs our steps. He equips us along the way. He puts us where we need to be, with whom we need to be at just the right time.
[00:23:02] Friends, God has an amazing way of drawing straight lines with really crooked sticks.
[00:23:09] He has an amazing way of unfolding his plan when all our plans go to the trash.
[00:23:16] He has a profound ability to lead us to do something we would never have chosen to do ourself.
[00:23:23] Isn't that exactly what Paul's whole testimony is? He is the least likely to become the leading representative for the church of Jesus Christ.
[00:23:32] It will change literally the entire world.
[00:23:36] And Here in verse 12, Paul wants Timothy to know and to learn from him, not only from what Paul taught him, but to learn something even from Paul's own ministry, calling his own conversion to being a Christian.
[00:23:52] He wanted him to understand I am the least likely candidate to be chosen to represent Jesus. And that's exactly what he talks about. Look at, look at verses 13 to 15 he says, though formally we like to say back in the day or in a different Time in my life I was a blasphemer, a persecutor, an insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
[00:24:26] Here Paul gives us three really bad characteristics of of what Paul was like before he came to know the Lord.
[00:24:35] He says there in verse 13, he was once a blasphemer.
[00:24:39] A blasphemer. It's one who speaks a slanderous charge. It's one who reviles someone who uses their tongue to abuse and hurt and injure the name or reputation of someone else.
[00:24:52] Under the Old Testament law, if you were to blaspheme the name of Yahweh, you would be killed.
[00:25:00] When Paul was on trial before King Agrippa and he was giving an account of what he used to be like, listen to Acts 26, 9, 11. He says, I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them.
[00:25:23] And I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme. And in raging fury against them I persecuted them even to the foreign cities.
[00:25:33] Friends, Paul confesses he used to blaspheme the name of Jesus, run Jesus name through the mud, give him the middle finger with the four letter cuss word, using his name in vain and being proud that he did and and even try to brainwash Christians to do the same. That was him.
[00:25:56] He also says he was once a persecutor.
[00:25:59] A persecutor. This speaks of harsh and hateful treatment of Christians.
[00:26:04] Christians he knew personally. When he was a self righteous Pharisee, he would lock up men and women, throw them into prison, seeking a sentencing from them by stoning, all because they followed Jesus.
[00:26:18] Paul was a terrifying threat to every Christian he met.
[00:26:22] He had Christians on his most wanted list.
[00:26:26] Lastly, Paul says he was an insolent opponent.
[00:26:29] An insolent opponent. The word meant a violent aggressor, an insulter. One who was overbearing, really. One who was out to steal, kill and destroy Christianity.
[00:26:43] And then Paul says those glorious words, did you catch them?
[00:26:48] But I received mercy.
[00:26:56] But I received mercy.
[00:27:03] In the original language, it's literally I was mercied.
[00:27:10] Mercied?
[00:27:13] Mercied by who?
[00:27:17] The very one who Called him into service for him.
[00:27:22] Paul says, I was shown undeserving unbelievable compassion and pity and forgiveness from the one I used to blaspheme, from the one I used to rebel against, from the one I used to hate and lead others to do the same.
[00:27:46] He showed me mercy.
[00:27:49] You see, in Paul's pre converted life, he was a man that was utterly self confident.
[00:27:56] Paul was the kind of guy or gal you know that is never ever wrong.
[00:28:03] They can never be told they're wrong.
[00:28:06] He was a man who was right in his own eyes.
[00:28:09] But friends, he was satanically stubborn. He was being used by the devil like a pawn in the saddest part of all. The saddest part of all. He didn't even know it.
[00:28:24] Paul could have had 2020 vision to see a tree in front of him, but he could not see what he was really like. He was spiritually blind as a bat.
[00:28:35] Paul thought of himself as a man that was doing God's will.
[00:28:39] He knew all the answers. He had life under his fingertips and he was being used by God to crush Christians, mock Christians, oppose Christians, aiming to brainwash Christians.
[00:28:52] But friends, he was like a drunk driver driving 100 miles an hour in the dark with a blindfold on. He was reckless, he was rebellious, he was running hard and ruining his life and he didn't know it.
[00:29:08] Friends, ignorance is not always bliss, is it?
[00:29:14] Self deception, self deception, spiritual blindness, spiritual blindfold.
[00:29:24] It is so disheartening to see that when you can see what you used to be like and you see others doing the same thing you used to do and you cry out, why can't they see it?
[00:29:41] It's because self deception is sneaky and it happens to religious people like us all the time.
[00:29:51] Robert Murray McCheyne once said, Thy sins, thy seeds of all sins are in my heart.
[00:29:59] And perhaps all the more dangerously, I do not see them.
[00:30:05] Friends, it could be argued that all sins result from two mother sins of humanity. And I think Paul's testimony basically tells us pride and unbelief.
[00:30:19] Pride and unbelief.
[00:30:24] What is pride?
[00:30:26] Pride is having a distorted preoccupation with one's own self.
[00:30:32] Whether it's thinking too highly of yourself, thinking too low of yourself, or simply thinking about yourself too much. You are stuck in your own mind, having a conversation with yourself for, for too much, for too long, and you're either condemning yourself or singing your praises. But the same issue is for all of us. It's pride, self pity and self aggrandizement and being stuck in Our own thoughts, thinking our own thoughts or thus saith the Lord all the time.
[00:31:03] It's pride.
[00:31:05] You know what Paul says, just like Paul, we are prideful navel gazers and mirror watchers and sometimes we don't even know it.
[00:31:16] What about unbelief?
[00:31:19] Unbelief.
[00:31:22] Unbelief is when God is not really in our thoughts.
[00:31:26] It's as if we kick someone out of our house.
[00:31:30] We kick God out of our thoughts.
[00:31:33] It's what's dangerous about people who regularly go to church to hear a word from the Lord for the next hour and, and then leave in the next hour and forget everything we just heard.
[00:31:46] Unbelief is when God is not in our thoughts, he's not ruling our hearts, and there is no rightful place of His Word in our life.
[00:31:54] Instead of feeding on the Word of God, which is food for our souls, we live on the word of man, the whims of culture or whatever feels right in the moment. At the end of the day, the end result of, of unbelief is not atheism.
[00:32:07] That's giving atheism too much credit.
[00:32:10] Psalm 14:1 says, the fool says in his heart there is no God. No, no, atheists are fools.
[00:32:17] The end result of unbelief is self worship.
[00:32:23] Self worship. We don't serve the Lord, we serve ourselves.
[00:32:27] We don't trust the Lord, we trust ourselves. We don't trust the Lord's Word, we trust our judgment. We love ourselves, we protect ourselves. We. We look out for ourselves at the expense of others. And what do we become? We all become our own little God.
[00:32:43] Jared Wilson challenges church members to seriously consider this preoccupation with self. He says, if your commitment to church is contingent on all your preferences, it is not God you go there to worship, but yourself.
[00:33:00] And, and as Vodi Bakam used to say, if you can't say Amen, you might as well say Ouch.
[00:33:07] That's why I could care less about what you think of me and a whole lot more of what you think of Jesus and His Word. That's why we want to be under the Word, never over the Word. We're never going to be masters of the Word. We want to be mastered by the Word. And that's for the elders, the deacons, and every member of this church. We want to hear from the Lord. It's all about Him.
[00:33:28] You see, Paul, though, before he came to grips with this, his pride and unbelief led him to have a very destructive life.
[00:33:39] He was prideful, ignorant of reality. He was a man who professed faith, but he had no saving faith. The Apostle Paul, before he was the apostle Paul, was a walking dead man. He was running and rebelling against God when he thought he was doing God a favor.
[00:33:58] But Jesus met him.
[00:34:01] And Jesus did what he does to everyone who meets him.
[00:34:07] He breaks us down and then he builds us up.
[00:34:12] Look at verse 14.
[00:34:14] And the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
[00:34:23] When I was a kid, my brother and I used to like to go to this place. I lived by the beach most of my life.
[00:34:28] And there was a place on the beach, on the north end of the beach, that we called the Wall.
[00:34:34] I wonder if we could have made a copyright for it and made a lot of money on it. But we called it the Wall, you might say. What is the wall? It was basically a cement wall that you could stand behind when the ocean was high tide and. And the waves would come and crash against the wall. And me and my brother would get drenched. It was like our own little bush gardens. And that was something my mom and dad always appreciated because they didn't have to pay for anything. It's a great way to have fun with the kids.
[00:35:03] It was a blast. We would get soaked, we would get drenched. The water would come over that cement wall and douse us.
[00:35:12] And Here in verse 14, Paul uses the similar image here, but with something way more amazing than an ocean, than a nice day at the beach.
[00:35:21] No, he says, the grace, the unmerited favor, the kindness of the Lord overflowed for me.
[00:35:32] It drenched me.
[00:35:34] It came over me.
[00:35:37] The word means abundant. It went over and beyond human limits. And it drenched me, my once dry and weary soul. My sin that had stained my conscience and had no faith in it, was overcome with the love of Jesus Christ for me.
[00:35:56] Because of God's grace swallowing Paul up. He says, instead of remaining ignorant and in unbelief, Christ gave me faith to believe.
[00:36:07] Instead of remaining harsh and bitter and prideful and egotistical, he gave me a love for him and a love for others that I didn't have before.
[00:36:17] This faith, this love, were gifts of grace that Christ gave to Paul.
[00:36:28] Friends, what a good snapshot of the Ordo Salutis, Latin for order of salvation.
[00:36:37] Is it important to know the order of salvation?
[00:36:41] Well, if it's important to God, I think it should be important to us.
[00:36:46] Notice, Paul did not say, I sought the Lord. I made the right choice. I was one of his favorites anyway. And I went 5050 and Jesus went 50. 50. We made a deal and that's how I got saved.
[00:37:03] He was a blasphemer, a persecutor, an insolent man for full of unbelief, full of pride. And he was ignorant of it all. What made him go from ignorant to seeing hateful to loving, faithless to faithful? The love of Jesus Christ drenched him and it made him a new creature.
[00:37:29] No one ever seeks for Jesus and finds him.
[00:37:33] Because Jesus was never lost.
[00:37:35] We were.
[00:37:38] No one can earn or work for grace because grace is a gift to receive.
[00:37:47] After all, didn't John say in First John 4, we love because he first loved us?
[00:37:54] Gordon Fee once said, God always makes the first move.
[00:37:59] Paul then caps off his calling into ministry in his conversion testimony with a faithful saying. Timothy needed to teach others. Look at verses 15 and 16.
[00:38:10] He says the saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who are to believe in him for eternal life.
[00:38:30] Here Paul gives Timothy his Christology 101 exam. And he reminds Timothy that while he ministers to others, he should never forget to keep the main thing.
[00:38:42] The main thing.
[00:38:44] When he's teaching, when he's preaching, when he's discipling, when he's shepherding, when he's doing membership interviews, when he's out in the lobby, when he's. When he's out discipling the next slate of elders, when he's out there thinking about missions, never forget to keep the main thing.
[00:39:00] The main thing. And what is the main thing you ask?
[00:39:06] That Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
[00:39:13] That's the main thing.
[00:39:17] If we make anything else the main thing over that we are going to veer off in very dangerous places as a church, veer off very dangerous places as a family, very dangerous places as a nation.
[00:39:38] God bless America. I pray he does.
[00:39:43] But if we have any chance of not having every lamp stand removed from our land, we need to keep the Gospel front and center no matter how dark our land gets.
[00:39:54] Pray the CCBC would not veer off, get distracted, but keep preaching the main thing to the main thing.
[00:40:01] Christ left heaven, took on human flesh and became a man truly God, yet truly man. Being born of a virgin, conceived by the Spirit, he he would be a perfect man, tempted to sin as we are, yet without sin.
[00:40:14] Friends, Jesus came here on A mission.
[00:40:17] And he came on a mission to save sinners from their sins, to save sinners from the wrath of God. To save sinners, regenerate sinners, change sinners, adopt sinners as sons and daughters into his family and sanctify them to become more like him.
[00:40:37] Friends, we should be really clear in our evangelism when we talk about Jesus, why Jesus came.
[00:40:45] You will gain friends really quickly at work or out in your neighborhood. If you say, you know, Jesus is a good example, Jesus is a nice moral teacher, Jesus is a really nice man.
[00:40:56] But when you start saying no, you are a rebel against Jesus so bad that it took the Holy God to send his perfect son to die a criminal's death on a bloody cross against sinners that deserve that. He did that for us. That shows you we're in really big trouble.
[00:41:16] What did Jesus say and what we should say very clearly? Jesus said in Luke 5, 31 and 32, those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who were sick, I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Luke 19:10. For the Son of man came to seek and to save the lost.
[00:41:35] John 10, 10 and 11. The thief only comes to steal, kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good Shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
[00:41:46] Two days ago marked the 25th anniversary of the well known and saddest day of our country's history.
[00:41:56] The attacks that occurred on 9 11, a day that for those of us who were alive, especially as young adults or older adults, we still have it sketched in our memory where we were and what we saw and how we felt.
[00:42:09] There's also a generation in here that wasn't born.
[00:42:12] And all they ever hear are stories, pictures and news outlets.
[00:42:19] We're all impacted differently by it.
[00:42:22] One of the things that we should Never forget about 911 was there were many people that wanted to be rescued.
[00:42:30] They were known as the jumpers.
[00:42:34] Things that should turn in your stomach.
[00:42:38] Someone come and save me.
[00:42:43] You're talking about feeling helpless.
[00:42:46] No phone call's gonna help you this time.
[00:42:49] No plane can come get you.
[00:42:51] No friend, no pastor, not even the armed forces knew what to do.
[00:43:00] I read a report about that day.
[00:43:03] I had never heard this.
[00:43:07] It was recorded that when the jumpers started leaping out of the building to a abandoned being burned in the fire, it was the sight of the jumpers that prompted Rudy Giuliani to say this to his police commissioner.
[00:43:24] We're in Uncharted waters. Now then, the author goes on to say it was the sight of the jumpers that prompted a woman to wail, God save their souls.
[00:43:37] They're jumping. Oh please, God, save their souls.
[00:43:44] Do you know what the message of the Gospel is shouting in 2026? And it's been shouting for 2000 years.
[00:43:53] God save us.
[00:43:56] Have mercy on sinners like us.
[00:44:00] Save my mother, save my sister, save my neighbor, save my dad. It's a really, really bad consequence, y'. All. This is not to just face a burning building, but to face a holy God.
[00:44:17] Jesus spoke more about hell than he did heaven.
[00:44:22] Sin more than money.
[00:44:26] Church of Jesus Christ. We should be clear on the gospel, because the good news is God mercifully saves sinners.
[00:44:37] He needs no one's help.
[00:44:39] And he's proven that by sending his son, Jesus Christ on a rescue mission. And he went to the cross on Calvary and he died for our blaspheming. He died for our pride. He died for our insolent, hateful hearts. He died for homosexuality. He died for our fornication. He died for our lying and our greed and. And our disobedience to parents. He died for all of them because he loves saving sinners.
[00:45:10] And we know it's good news because the grave couldn't hold him.
[00:45:15] On the third day, God raised him from the dead, pronouncing to all of humanity.
[00:45:21] He can save anyone who is trying to flee from the wrath of God.
[00:45:27] He is mighty to save. And he calls all of us to know his love and mercy by turning from our sins and trusting in him.
[00:45:36] Friends, that is the good news we celebrate every Lord's day. That is the good news that we want to extend to all of us in here who don't know the Savior so that you might have life in his name.
[00:45:47] Well, as Paul continues on, did you notice that he called himself the foremost of sinners?
[00:45:56] Does that mean that Paul says he was the absolute worst sinner that ever lived?
[00:46:02] Well, no, he's not saying that. I was number one on the sinners list that year.
[00:46:08] But here's what he is saying.
[00:46:11] The closer you walk with Jesus and the more you know how much he loves you, the more sin was will hurt when you realize you've sinned against such a good God.
[00:46:26] In other words, the more you walk in the light, the darker our sin looks, the more ashamed we are of what we used to be and what we talked about just last week.
[00:46:36] Not just as a non Christian, but as a sanctifying Christian. We're ashamed of our ignorance. We're ashamed of our pride. We're ashamed that we would kick against the goads. We when he is so good to us, we are looking for water in all the wrong places.
[00:46:53] When he wants to overwhelm us with the ocean of his love.
[00:46:58] Paul says, why did God show mercy to me?
[00:47:04] Look what he says in verse 16 this is so sweet that in me that means from me through me as the foremost, as the chief Jesus Christ might display. Listen his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.
[00:47:24] In other words, he's the poster child.
[00:47:28] He's the prototype. He's the illustration. He's the rough draft. You want to know how merciful God is? He saved sinners like me.
[00:47:37] And that would have meant a lot coming from Paul when people heard about what he used to be like. If God can have mercy on him, boy, he can have mercy on me.
[00:47:48] Friends, God delights showing mercy to all kinds of sinners.
[00:47:52] Friends, it is the riches of his kindness, the riches of his forbearance, the riches of God's patience that is meant to lead us to repentance.
[00:48:03] When I'm counseling someone about, hey, you need to let go of that sin, or hey, we need to work through steps of repentance, there is a time and a place to be stern and firm. There is.
[00:48:15] But you know what I have found? 90% of the time is reminding people how loving and patient and kind Jesus is.
[00:48:24] That's the motivation to repent.
[00:48:27] That's the motivation to stop thinking that, believing that, teaching that, acting that, speaking that because he's so good.
[00:48:35] And did you know that the more we relish in Jesus mercy for us, the more others will see the mercy of Jesus in us.
[00:48:47] Friends, I just want to encourage all of us.
[00:48:51] Maybe we just need to take a time out trying to change the world, a timeout on worrying about everybody else, and just spend the next week thinking about how merciful Jesus has been to us and allow his mercy, his kindness, his pity, his compassion, his patience to soften any hardness of our hearts towards sinners who are in great need of it.
[00:49:17] So how do we apply what we've heard today?
[00:49:21] How do we actually relish Jesus mercy towards us?
[00:49:26] If you're taking notes, I have two thoughts.
[00:49:30] Two thoughts in light of what Paul shares to Timothy Number one in mercy, Jesus empowers you for service to Him.
[00:49:40] In mercy, Jesus empowers you for service to him.
[00:49:47] In fact, all Christians are called to service.
[00:49:52] Ephesians 4, verses 11 and 12 and he gave apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry. The word is service for the building up the body of Christ.
[00:50:05] He says in First Corinthians 12, 4, 7. Now, there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are varieties of service, but the same Lord. There are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all. And everyone to each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
[00:50:21] Friends, in mercy, Jesus places us in the path of service that he wants us to serve in.
[00:50:32] In mercy, Jesus places us, he equips us, he positions us, he sovereignly moves or keeps us to serve and to do his will.
[00:50:46] Friends, it's his harvest, it's his garden, it's his flock, it's his church, it's his kingdom, it's not ours.
[00:50:58] So whatever lot, whatever gifting, whatever capacity, whatever opportunities, whatever platform he gives us in our homes, in our communities, in our churches, it's a mercy.
[00:51:11] Ministry is, is a mercy.
[00:51:15] Whether that's painting or planting churches, whether that's putting the cookies in the cookie jar for the children or preaching sermons, cutting grass, cleaning the toilet, being a positive influence on your classmates in school, your co workers in the workplace, building cabinets, building up churches, preparing meals or preparing lessons for kids, equipping hour, tutoring students, educating your children, feeding the poor, promoting righteousness in the school boards and the local government, praying for members in the membership directory. Friends, we could go on and on. Of all the ministries and acts of service Jesus places in the lap of all his children and friends. It's not the size of our ministry.
[00:52:07] It's not the grandeur or how well known our acts of service are. It's not the size of our influence that matters. It's the capacity of our heart to love Jesus and love people that matters.
[00:52:20] Jesus is the Lord of the harvest and he equips us, he sets us apart, he enables and he guides his sheep where he wants them to serve and his flock build up his church, plant and water his garden. He doesn't call the equipped.
[00:52:36] He always equips the called brothers and sisters in our acts of service, it should always be done as an act of love.
[00:52:50] Love.
[00:52:52] Love for the Savior and love for people.
[00:52:56] Dr. Tom Schreiner. He says when pastors prepare sermons, they express their love for for the flock.
[00:53:05] The person who works on the sound in the building does so to show love to the flock. Thank you, Cindy.
[00:53:13] When we meet with others and encourage them or Admonish them, we show our love for them.
[00:53:19] None of us can do that alone. What the body of Christ can do together. We need the whole body to show this kind of concern for others. This isn't just the task of elders or the pastors, but the ministry description for each one of us. The needs are too great to be met simply by one small group of people.
[00:53:38] How else do we relish Jesus mercy towards us?
[00:53:42] Number two, we want others to experience Jesus mercy towards them.
[00:53:48] We want others to experience Jesus mercy towards them. Friends, Jesus primary mission to come and save sinners needs to affect impact our bank account. It needs to affect. It needs to impact our calendars. It needs to impact and affect our conversations. Jesus Christ came to save sinners of whom I am the foremost, whom you are the foremost. And in his grace it has overflowed for me and I want others to get in on it.
[00:54:20] Friends, that's what we're called to be. That's what we're called to do, to be vessels of mercy. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall show mercy and receive it.
[00:54:34] Friends, we should care about the sick, the orphan, the elderly, the weak, the oppressed and the disenfranchised from society.
[00:54:46] And we should seek to love the least of these and do it all unto Christ.
[00:54:52] But we should never forget why Jesus came.
[00:54:56] Jesus cares about our bodies diseases, but he came to save our souls diseases.
[00:55:06] That means we want every member of our church to be equipped in the word of God so that you can share that with others.
[00:55:14] In our membership interview, we ask people coming into membership what is the gospel? Not as a stump you, not as an exam, but to make sure you know the gospel. You're equipped to share the gospel so that every Christian in our church knows how to point people to the mercy of Christ.
[00:55:31] Friends, maybe this week again spend time thinking about how merciful Christ has been to you.
[00:55:41] AW Tozer once said, Jesus Christ knows the worst about you.
[00:55:46] Nonetheless, he's the one who loves you the most.
[00:55:52] I think Michael Foster is right.
[00:55:56] If we want to build something that lasts, we've got to build something that's much bigger than ourself and we become smaller.
[00:56:07] And there's only one way to do that.
[00:56:11] It's by thinking less of ourself and more about God.
[00:56:17] Look what Paul says in verse 17.
[00:56:20] To the king of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever.
[00:56:27] Amen.
[00:56:29] Here in verse 17, Paul breaks out in a doxology. It's a word or song of praise to God.
[00:56:35] And notice Paul has been talking about himself for the previous five verses. I understand the irony.
[00:56:41] I understand the irony of literally praying for that we would be freed of being so preoccupied with ourself. But the point of Paul sharing about himself is that Jesus wrecked his life and then resurrected it.
[00:56:53] And he's giving praise and glory to the one who did it.
[00:56:57] Notice what he says.
[00:57:00] He says he is the King of the ages.
[00:57:03] What does it mean that he's the King of the ages?
[00:57:06] It means the King eternal. He endures forever. His kingdom has no end.
[00:57:13] What did Jesus identify himself in the Gospels? He was the Son of Man.
[00:57:20] As a fulfillment of Daniel 7 that the son of man would come and behold the clouds of heaven. There come one like a Son of man. And he came to to the ancient of days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all peoples, nations and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away. And his kingdom, one that shall not be destroyed.
[00:57:50] Paul Washer says we are but for a moment, but God is forever.
[00:57:58] Why is that good news?
[00:58:00] Why is it good news that God has existed before we did?
[00:58:04] God will endure after we die and leave this earth.
[00:58:08] Because the God of yesterday and the God of tomorrow is the God that's very present right now.
[00:58:15] He's eternal and he's imminent. He's present. He's here right now.
[00:58:22] Friends, that's really good news.
[00:58:25] When you are ashamed of your past or afraid of the future.
[00:58:28] God's got eternity in his hands because he is eternal.
[00:58:35] Second notice, he says he is immortal. That means he's incorruptible. He's undecaying. Friends, our God is not like rust on metal. He's not like food that spoils. What does it mean? That he's immortal and invisible.
[00:58:50] What did we sing earlier in that hymn? To all life thou givest to both great and small. In all life Thou liveth the true life of all. We blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree and wither and perish. But naught changeth thee, friends. That is good news. To know that our God does not change.
[00:59:08] He is good. He will be good.
[00:59:12] And that is something to celebrate.
[00:59:14] It says he is also invisible.
[00:59:17] He's unseen with the human eye.
[00:59:20] How does God reveal Himself?
[00:59:23] Well, he reveals his unseenness through creation. He's made so that no man is without excuse.
[00:59:32] Romans 1, 1920.
[00:59:35] And then in the fullness of time, he sent forth His Son, Jesus, who is the image of the invisible. God, the firstborn of all creation. If you want to know what God is like, look at Jesus.
[00:59:48] Notice he also says he's the only God.
[00:59:51] Monotheos Mono one Theos God we serve one God, the God of Scripture. God, Father, God, the Son, God, Holy Spirit, three Persons, one in essence the God we have been worshiping this morning.
[01:00:08] Friends, Paul begins this letter from thanking Jesus for giving him the strength to serve him.
[01:00:19] We too should thank Jesus for the strength to serve him.
[01:00:24] He ends this section with a doxology to our Eternal King who will never die, who has made all that we see.
[01:00:37] There is no God besides Him.
[01:00:41] Friends, do we want to build something that lasts beyond our own life?
[01:00:46] Then we must become smaller.
[01:00:50] The more you and I relish Jesus mercy towards us, the more others will see Jesus living inside us.
[01:00:59] To the King of the Ages, Immortal, invisible, the only God be glory and honor forever and ever.
[01:01:12] And the Chaffee Crossing Baptist Church and all who are with us this morning says Amen.
[01:01:19] Let's pray.
[01:01:27] Father in heaven, we praise you for the mercy you have shown us in Christ.
[01:01:32] And we pray that you would cause each one of us to take time today and this week to relish in your mercy towards us.
[01:01:41] And Father, we can't keep that mercy to ourselves. Just like Paul didn't keep it to himself or Timothy was not to do that to himself, but to all we minister to to everyone you put in our life. We want to serve you for their good.
[01:01:55] And Lord, we praise you that you did not leave us abandoned, but you have come to rescue your people. What marvelous grace you've shown us. It's in Jesus name we pray.
[01:02:07] Amen.
