Inroads of Heresies

Transcript

GR 1253
10/12/2003
Inroads of Heresies
1 Timothy 1:12-17
Gil Rugh

I want to direct your attention to the book of 1 Timothy and the first chapter, 1 Timothy, chapter 1. Paul writing to the young man Timothy who has been left at Ephesus to deal with issues in that church that are a great concern to the apostle Paul. A prime concern is that false teachers have infiltrated in among the church and all probability even among the elder leadership among that church and they are teaching doctrine that Paul said must be dealt with, must be stopped so that the church continues to be a testimony for Him.

Heresies and error that creep into the evangelical church usually do so by people not handling accurately the Word of God. By that I mean it doesn't come in by a direct denial of God's truth but rather it comes in through teachers who claim to be helping explain the Word of God more clearly, showing how it is more relevant, more applicable but in reality they are denying God's power. Let me give you a modern-day example that I think relates to where we are going to be in our study today. The gospel, which basically means the good news is the good news, the message concerning the person and work of Jesus Christ. That message is being adjusted today so that no longer is focused on Christ's coming to suffer and die to deal with the matter of our sin and guilt before God, to be rather a means of finding personal fulfillment and satisfaction. People are encouraged to come to Christ because He'll solve their problems. He'll bring meaning and purpose to their lives. He'll restore their marriages. He'll help them sleep better at night and not be overwhelmed by obstacles they face and all kinds of other personally satisfying and enriching goals.

One writer in the book I've been reading in the last week or so has examined churches in the evangelical camp. By evangelical I mean basically those who claim to believe the Bible and preach that salvation is by faith in Christ. He's written a book entitled “Seeker Churches” and these are churches that are focused on being attractive and inviting to people who are not saved. He says, "In sum, seeker churches introduce seekers to the Christian message by presenting the exclusiveness theology of evangelicalism." That means they continue to maintain an exclusive theology that Jesus Christ is the only Savior. "They present the exclusiveness theology of evangelicalism in the friendly guise of an egalitarian." Egalitarian means all equal, no hierarchy. No hierarchy in the home - husband and wife. No hierarchy in the church. "In the friendly guise of an egalitarian fulfillment-enhancing, fun, religious encounter with God.” As a result, seeker church pastors make orthodox theology less offensive and more civil for a pluralistic society. Seeker church components do not abandon the gospel truth but repackage it in a kinder, gentler format. They maintain the evangelical emphasis on the importance of faith in Jesus Christ but subtly transform the reasons why one should pursue such a faith. Rather than warning the unrepentant about the damnation awaiting their eternal soul, they proclaim the riches of knowing Jesus now and on into eternity. The promise of this worldly peace and fulfillment supplements, perhaps even supersedes, the eternal consequences of one's personal response to Christ. As one pastor in a church in Georgia puts it, “We are not at all hesitant to say what you really need to live life to the fullest is a relationship with Jesus Christ. We don't back off that at all even in our Sunday morning services." Then he, the writer, makes the observation, "Not backing off at all now means that seeker churches will not hesitate to proclaim that life without Jesus Christ is not fulfilling." Now even as I read this some of you probably thought, well, is that really wrong or bad? And it’s the problem with heresies at their beginning, they have a strong element of truth. What they are saying is true. There is fulfillment in Christ, there is peace and joy and happiness in Christ. But that's not the basic issue addressed in the gospel. What we have done is taken biblical truth . . . and what a heresy does is take truth and distort it and blow it out of its proper biblical balance and perspective. We have adjusted it to meet what the people of our society say they want. They want fulfilled lives, they want to be happy. They don't want grief, pain or difficulty. They want everything to go well and we preach Jesus Christ will bring you happiness. Jesus Christ will bring you joy. Jesus Christ will make your life meaningful. Jesus Christ will put your marriage together. Jesus Christ will solve the problems in your marriage, in your home, the dealing with teenagers and on we go. All these personally satisfying goals that you may have you find in Christ. And in all of that there is an element of truth. Jesus said, "Come unto Me all you who labor and are heavy-laden and I will give you rest."

But that is not really the heart of the gospel message. My fear is that we have people coming to place their faith in Christ because they want a better life and we are just preaching a variation or a form of the health-and-wealth gospel. Not quite as far down the road as some of the health-and-wealth preachers but on the same road. They say come to Christ, He guarantees you won't be sick. Come to Christ, He wants you rich and to have all the good things of this material world. We say, well, that's a distortion.
We've just come back a few steps down the road a few miles back and preached what? The same basic message just not as developed or not as blatant.

It's this kind of issue that the apostle Paul is dealing with at the church at Ephesus. The sum and substance of the gospel of Jesus Christ is Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. That's the heart of what Paul is going to have to say here in verse 15. Everything else is an addition to that. But you haven't preached Jesus Christ, you haven't presented the gospel if you haven't presented the issue of every person's sin and guilt before God. You ought never to come to this church and not hear about sin. Jesus Christ is the Savior for what? Not having peace and happiness and meaning and not being able to sleep at night. You know what's happening here to the gospel? Turn on the television and watch the Roman Catholics read the material from the cults. They've picked up on this. I watch the Roman Catholic channel occasionally to see what's going on there and they have people now giving testimonies. You know what some of these testimonies are? I used to be an evangelical but when I returned home to Rome . . . And all Protestants who turn to Catholicism have returned home because all Protestants are fallen-away Catholics in their view. My boss in Philadelphia used to introduce me to everyone who came in the store. “Let me introduce you to my dirty, fallen-away Catholic friend.” Because I was a Protestant and as a Protestant I'm just a fallen-away Catholic. But they give testimonies on the Catholic channel. What? I used to go to an evangelical church that taught the Bible but I found real fulfillment when I turned to Rome. I found a peace and my husband and I now have a relationship far deeper and far more satisfying than we had before we turned to Rome. We say, wait a minute. Is this what we are competing on? Come to Christ and He'll make you happier than they can make you. Come to Christ and you'll find more meaning than you'll find here. While we may say that's true, that's not the issue of the gospel. The issue of the gospel is you cannot be saved from sin apart from Jesus Christ. You cannot be saved from sin in any other way but by grace through faith. And it's by grace alone through faith alone. When we don't confront the issue of sin we haven't presented Jesus Christ truly, the purpose for which He came to this earth.

I say this because some of you are going to move here for a variety of reasons in coming weeks, months and years. You need to be alert. You go to a church and say, oh, yeah, they preach the Bible. They always talk about the Bible. But take your pencil. One of the things you want to find out is how many times do they talk about sin? How many times is the issue of sin and guilt before a holy God come up in the services I attend? Because you can talk about the Bible, most of the cults do, more and more Roman Catholics are, and not really grapple with the issue of what is the gospel, the true heart of the message of the coming to earth of the Son of God.

At Ephesus false teachers were coming in and claiming to believe the gospel but they were also explaining you have to understand more of the Word of God than just the basic facts of Jesus Christ. You must understand the Mosaic Law and see that it is part of your salvation and your sanctification. Now note these are not people denying the Word of God. They are not bringing material outside of the Word of God into the Word of God. They are simply saying you ought to take the Scripture and remember all Scripture is God-breathed and profitable. So you've the Law given through Moses and mixing it with the gospel of grace in Christ and saying now you can have a full life. Now you can be everything God wants you to be and have all He wants you to have when you not only believe in Jesus as the Messiah of Israel and the Savior but you also are faithful and keep the Mosaic Law. Can that be bad? They just want people to obey the Bible. Paul says anybody who teaches such a thing is condemned to hell (Galatians 1). And he says if you didn't get the point I'll repeat it. Even if an angel from heaven preaches such a thing, they are condemned to hell. We need to be very careful that we are not just talking about the Bible and using the Bible but handling, as the Scripture says we are to handle, accurately the Word. Rightly dividing the truth of God. The Mosaic Law has a purpose. The Mosaic Law revealed sin. The Mosaic Law put restraints on sin for the nation Israel.
The Mosaic Law never was a way of salvation. The Mosaic Law is not part of what is necessary for our sanctification as the church of Jesus Christ today.

That moves Paul to talk about the gospel. He says in verse 8 when he says the Law is good and you must use it properly. We must use it as it was intended. And it was not intended for righteous people. It was used to restrain sin and reveal sin. And then he says in verse 11 all this is according to the gospel which brings glory to God. When I have a proper understanding of the Word of God and preach the gospel as it is, then the rest of Scripture fits in its proper place. That brings glory to God. It's not a peripheral issue. It's not dividing doctrinal hairs. We are talking about the gospel which brings glory to God, which is the foundational purpose of everything, to bring glory to God.
Paul says I have been entrusted with this gospel at the end of verse 11. And that just overwhelms Paul, that I should be entrusted with the Gospel. In verses 12 to 17 in chapter 1 Paul moves to share his personal testimony, to show nothing but the gospel brings salvation, but the gospel brings salvation to the worst of sinners and I am living testimony.

Verse 12, "I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has strengthened me because He considered me faithful putting me into service." I mention this and I'll mention it again. The Scripture is saturated with an emphasis that Jesus Christ is God as well as man. You note who strengthened Paul? It was the Lord Jesus Christ. Who put him into service? Who entrusted him with the gospel? None other than the Lord Jesus Christ, doing what only God can do. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. So it's not just the passages that directly speak of the deity of Jesus Christ that give evidence that Jesus was God as well as man, but passages like this where Jesus Christ is doing what only God can do - exercising prerogatives that God reserves for Himself.

And here Christ has strengthened Paul, “putting me into service.” That word "strengthen,” He has strengthened me, “empowered” me, “enabled” me. We sometimes study the life of the apostle Paul and we emphasize what a unique person he was. You know what Paul emphasizes about himself when he talks about his uniqueness? It's going to come out in this testimony. It comes out in all his testimonies. Every time he repeats his testimony in the Scripture there's this evidence. He's unique because he was such a vile sinner. I'm unique all right because I'm the worst of the worst. But he says in writing to the Corinthians I am what I am by the grace of God. Paul was not a unique and special person in and of himself. He was a result of the grace of God working in the life of the most sinful of sinners and now you end up with one who is in the service of the living God.

Back up in your Bibles to 2 Corinthians 3. Very similar kind of emphasis as we have in 1 Timothy 1. Paul is explaining the difference between the Mosaic Law, the covenant given through Moses called the Old Covenant, and the New Covenant, the covenant that came into existence through Jesus Christ's death and resurrection. Part of the promise given to Abraham, developed by Ezekiel and Jeremiah in the Old Testament. Look at verse 5 of 2 Corinthians 3. "Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves but our adequacy is from God who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant." See, when you talk about the proclamation of the gospel which is really at the heart of the New Covenant, the message of the death and resurrection of Christ to pay the penalty for sinners, Paul says I'm not adequate for that kind of ministry. It wasn't the power of my personality, my unique background and preparation that enabled me. It was the sovereign grace of God who has made me adequate. He never lost sight of the fact, the reason he was adequate, empowered and enabled to serve the living God and proclaim the truth, was by the grace of God. You note in this context when he's proclaiming the message as a servant of the New Covenant at the end of verse 6, "It's not of the letter but Spirit for the letter kills but the Spirit gives life." And here's an example how people use the Scripture without any understanding. In sometimes trying to deal with the details of the passage, people will say I'm not interested in all the details. Remember the letter kills but the Spirit gives life. Oh. Well, you have quoted a portion of Scripture and it has absolutely nothing to do with what you are talking about. The letter here is the Mosaic Law. He's not talking about don't get mired down in handling the details of Scripture. He's talking about the Mosaic Law kills.

Verse 7, “the ministry of death, in letters engraved on stones.” He's talking about when it was given to Moses as you go on and read the context. God engraved on the tablets of stone, in letters, the Ten Commandments which were a summary of the Law given to Moses. But all they could do was condemn me. They couldn't bring salvation. The Law was good but I was not. And Paul says I'm made adequate by the Lord. And you'll note this in verse 6, "He made us adequate as servants of a new covenant.”

And you come back to 1 Timothy 1. God strengthened him. The Son of God, Jesus Christ. Note the end of verse 12 of 1 Timothy 1, He put me into service. He made me adequate as a servant and he put me into service. Paul's amazed. He strengthened me because He considered me faithful, he says. Now, wait a minute, aren't we saying the opposite of what we just looked at? Jesus Christ looked at Paul and said now there's a faithful man so He put me into service. I thought he was not adequate in himself? That's right. He's not saying here that Christ looked at me and saw here a faithful man. There's a play on words here. He “considered me faithful” is the same basic word translated "entrusted" at the end of verse 11. Paul had been entrusted with the glorious gospel because He considered me trustworthy. Paul is not saying He looked at me and saw that I was trustworthy but Paul's amazed that He would give me the gospel. That He would say I would be entrusted with the gospel is the amazing thing. But I was entrusted with the gospel. He put me into His service and strengthened me to do it. That's amazing. That’s why I said in 1 Corinthians 15:10, "By the grace of God I am what I am." “By the grace of God I am what I am.” Because apart from that grace I am nothing and worse than nothing.

“Because He considered me faithful.” Just jot down 1 Corinthians 7:25. There Paul referring to himself "as one who by the mercy of the Lord is trustworthy." By the mercy of the Lord I am trustworthy. So you see the trustworthiness was not that he was a faithful person so God did something with him. No, it was God's mercy bestowed upon him. No other explanation. He was entrusted with the gospel. And that's what Paul's point is in 1 Corinthians 7:25 as well.

Paul didn't have an elevated view of himself. He could declare his apostleship in verse 1 because he had authority from God but he never lost sight of the fact I am a servant, I have been put into the service. This word translated “service” we get the word deacon from it. It means “to be a servant.” I have been put into the service of the Lord. I am His servant. I work for Him.

Now here's the contrast. Even though I was formally a blasphemer, a persecutor, a violent aggressor yet I was shown mercy. Here's the awesome thing. What I was. I was the worst kind of person, the vilest of sinners. I was a blasphemer. I spoke against Christ. I said the worst things about him. I was a persecutor. The books of Acts relates how he persecuted the church, putting believers to death, casting men and women alike into prison. He did all he could to destroy the testimony for Christ. I was a violent aggressor. I was the most arrogant of bullies. I did the worst of things I could do to destroy the church, the proclamation of the gospel. Now think of it. Here I am the man of most despicable character, the vilest of people and he has shown me mercy. He strengthened me putting me into His service making me one entrusted with the Gospel. How unbelievable is that?

Remember when Paul got saved in the book of Acts? Believers in the church would have nothing to do with him because they did not think it was possible that the apostle Paul could have gotten saved. Just like when you turn on the news when you go home today and they say Osoma Benladen has converted to Jesus Christ and renounced his former life. You'd say, sure, I must have the cartoon channel on, that couldn't happen. Here's the man destroying the church. People in the church have lost friends and family, have family and friends in prison because of this man. Now you are telling me he got saved. Barnabas had to intervene and become the go-between before they could even believe that Paul had gotten saved. But he did. That's what Paul says. You know he never lost the wonder of that. Sad thing is we get saved, with the passing of time we develop a self- righteous veneer as though we are better than dirty sinners. But you know Paul never lost sight of the fact I am the dirtiest of sinners. The only difference is I am a redeemed dirtiest of sinners. But he never lost sight of what he was. Nor did he ever mire down back there. Can you imagine the apostle Paul saying, you know, I was a blasphemer, I was a persecutor, I was a violent aggressor. I just can't get over this. I just don't know how to learn to forgive myself. Oh, for counselors. What did he do? Of course, that's what I did, but I received mercy. Some people would write this today and they'd have a 35 page letter of how they are trying to get out of their past. I got out of it. I got mercy.

I was "mercied." I was shown mercy. He's going beyond just his initial salvation to his service to the Lord as one entrusted with the gospel. That's the amazing thing. I was the worst of the worst yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief.

Now, wait a minute. Is this an excuse? Does this mean you did all these bad things but you did it in ignorance so you weren't really accountable so it really wasn't that bad. No, remember the Judaizers that he has to deal with at Ephesus are those trying to misuse the Old Testament Law of Moses. And you understand in the Old Testament Law of Moses there was a distinction made between those who sinned in ignorance and those who sinned willfully or with a high hand.

Turn back to Numbers 15. I think we can take the time to go back just in case you haven't read this recently. Just highlight the emphasis here. And you'll note even those who sin unintentionally need atonement, need forgiveness, need a sacrifice provision for their sin. Just because it was unintentional does not mean you are not guilty. It simply means there's a possibility of your being forgiven. For the intentional, willful, highhanded sins there is no forgiveness.

Note in Numbers 15:22. Now I'm just going to pick out the emphasis on unintentional or not willingly. Verse 22, "But when you unwillingly fail and do not observe all these commandments." Verse 24, "Then it shall be if it is done unintentional." Then he gives the instructions, the kind of offerings that have to be made for unintentional sin. Then verse 25, the middle of the verse, "They will be forgiven for it was an error." Verse 27, "If one person sins unintentionally." The middle of verse 28, "When he sins unintentionally." Verse 30, "But for the person who does anything defiantly, whether he is a native or an alien, that one is blaspheming the Lord. That person shall be cut off from among his people because he has despised the word of the Lord, has broken His commandment. That person shall be completely cut off. His guilt will be upon him.” There is no sacrifice for his sin.

Now we don't have time for a full development of this. But remember Hebrews 10:26. The writer to the Hebrews is writing to Jews who are under the influence again of Jewish teachers, trying to lure them away from devotion to Christ and an emphasis on salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone to a mixture of the Law and Christ.
And there's a warning. There are five warning passages through the book of Hebrews about the seriousness of the position here. In Hebrews 10:26 he says, “If we go on sinning willfully after we've received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins but a certain fiery expectation of judgment.” Because they are guilty, they've trampled underfoot the blood of Christ on account of the blood of the covenant by which they were sanctified is an holy thing. You see, there is sin for which there is no forgiveness. These false teachers are serve notice. You claim to understand and believe the gospel of Jesus Christ but you are really speaking against it and corrupting it and undermining it. If you persist in this, there is no sacrifice for your sin. When Paul did the terrible things he did he made no profession to understand the gospel. He made no profession to believe the truth concerning Christ as these false teachers are doing. He was in the ignorance of unbelief.

A serious matter. We see it today. We see people who claim to know the truth. False teachers who start cults and sects that are a distortion of the Scripture. Rarely if ever have you read of one who got saved. Why? They have sinned defiantly. They have taken the knowledge of the truth, examined it, claimed to believe it and corrupted it. And if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth there no longer remains a sacrifice for sin. There is no sacrifice to deal for your sin if you persist in that. A serious matter. Paul said I was not guilty of that. I was a stupid, dumb sinner. I was in ignorance, blinded by my unbelief. And because of that God forgave me.

Come to the book of Acts 3. You understand the Jews would grab onto this when you talk about sinning intentionally or unintentionally, sinning in ignorance or defiantly.
Peter used it in his second sermon in the book of Acts in Acts 3. He's addressing the Jews again on the temple grounds. Look at verse . . . He's told them gospel, verse 14 and following, "Where you disown the Holy and Righteous One . . . Ask for a murderer to be granted to you . . . You put to death the Prince of life" and so on. Verse 17, "And now brethren, "I know that you acted in ignorance just as your rulers did." Verse 19, "Therefore repent." These Jews would understand. You know, they might think there's no hope for my salvation, we crucified the Son of God, the Messiah of Israel, we're lost forever. Brethren, I know you did it in ignorance. Numbers 15 applies to you. Repent. There's forgiveness for the worse of sinners. There's not forgiveness for the worst of sinners who take the knowledge of the truth and continue to defile it and corrupt and sin against it.

Jesus prayed in Luke 23:34 when He was on the cross, "Father, forgive them." Why?
For they know not what they do. The nation is in ignorance. They don't know that I'm their Messiah. They don't know that I came to deliver them. Forgive them. They don't know what they are doing.

So come back to 1 Timothy. I don't pretend to be able to make the distinction. I don't know who, who God will save or not. If I had been living in the days of Paul's persecution I would have thought he's not a candidate but God saved him by grace. Only God knows the heart. Only God knows who has sinned defiantly. I do take great concern, have great fear, who have seemed to have grabbed such a knowledge of the truth and now are distorting and corrupting it. They are in danger of being the one's guilty of this very sin. Their knowledge of the truth may seem so thorough and now they are taking the truth and distorting and corrupting it. That's the very sin that is unforgivable.

Verse 14 of 1 Timothy 1, "And the grace of our Lord was more than abundant with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus." Look how Paul talked about his life. All I can talk about is mercy and grace, mercy and grace. “I was shown mercy,” verse 13, "The grace of our Lord was more abundant." I told you about the abundance of my sin as a blasphemer, a persecutor, a violent aggressor and the grace of God was more abundant, more than sufficient, more than adequate. He wrote to the Romans in Romans 5:20, "Where sin abounded, grace abounded all the more." And that's true of me personally he could say.

And grace brought with it what? Faith and love. His former life characterized by unbelief and hatred. Now in Christ he has genuine faith and unhypocritical faith as he talked about earlier in this chapter. He has that love which is the goal of the command that he's given. We have to keep the gospel pure because that produces the results in the life that God intends as He imparts His nature to those who believe and recreates them in His image. So the grace brought with it faith and love. Grace doesn't come alone. Grace does marvelous things. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. All things have passed away. Behold new things have come.” God's super abundant grace totally transformed the apostle Paul so that he who formerly persecuted the church now preaches the faith that he formerly tried to destroy. Along with our preaching of a gospel that has been twisted and turned to make it more acceptable to more people.

We have also tried to play down any contrast and difference between saved and unsaved. Any transformation of life that must take place because we don't want to be viewed as condemning or judgmental. I tell you the message of Christ is a condemning message.
It's a message of judgment. All the condemnation and judgment that was due me for my sin has fallen upon the Son of God to pay the penalty for my sin. And you want me to talk about the Gospel but not in the context of sin and judgment and condemnation.
What in the world is the Son of God doing on the cross? Oh, He wanted me to be happy. He wanted me not to have difficulties and unpleasant things in my life. That is every bit as much a corruption of the gospel as the health-and-wealth preachers are preaching.
Jesus Christ came to be a Savior and that's where we're going.

And it takes His grace. Paul will now talk about, you know, what I was and, you know, what now? I sleep better at night. You know what? I'm happier than I've ever been.
Wait a minute. Is that the apostle Paul's testimony? Now I'm more at peace than I've been. Now I get along with people better than I used to. Oh, really. Now some of the family tension we have is not there anymore. That's not Paul's testimony. You know what Paul's testimony is? I was the worst of sinners. God that. I was the worst of sinners. He's not done with that. That's where he's going. He's already said what he was like. But I received mercy, super abundant grace.

Verse 15. You want to know what this is about? "It is a trustworthy statement." And that phrase occurs five times in the New Testament. All five times are in the Pastoral Epistles. And we are not going to go to them now because we'd have to take time to explain some issues around them. We will deal with them as we come to them. When we have done our study of the Pastoral Epistles, we'll have covered the five faithful sayings, means, “a saying that goes without question.” This is what's it all about. He adds here as he does one other occasion, "It deserves full acceptance." It's a truth that must be accepted by all. And here is the faithful statement, the trustworthy statement: that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Understand that? You cannot talk about Jesus Christ and His purpose in coming to this earth if you don't talk about sin.

How can people say they've presented the gospel in services where they refuse to talk about sin? Christ Jesus came into the world to make you happy. Christ Jesus came into the world to give you peace. Christ Jesus came into the world so that . . . fill in the blank. And there's elements of truth in that. There is blessedness to the one who is saved, there is joy, there is peace. They are fruits of the Holy Spirit. But you understand the message of Christ is a message of dealing with sin. And people think we can jump over sin because people don't want to hear sin today. We live in a society you have to be nonjudgmental. We have to be true pluralists. We have to be tolerant which means not only I realize you can hold different views than me but I never say anything against your views and I don't view my views as better than your views. Which is some kind of religious nothingness. No one lives like that in any area of their lives. I don't want to say it's worse to go through a red light than it is to go through a green light. Heaven forbid, I be judgmental. If you go through red lights that's not necessarily better than stopping on red lights and going on green lights. You know I'm not a judgmental person. You have your convictions. I have mine.

Anybody live like that? Well, some people do but they aren't suppose to. We don't think it's better. We go on. But if you come to religion this is the way we are. Christ Jesus came into the world. Why? To save sinners. That's why the good news is bad news and the bad news is good news. He has come into the world. Why did He step from the throne of glory with that awesome description in Isaiah 6 where He sits enthroned and the seraphim of heaven cry, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty." And He steps from that throne of glory and holiness, born into the human race. Why? Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. There is none ever genuinely saved who does not come to face the reality of their own sin and guilt. And I'm concerned. We have multitudes of people making decisions for Christ, placing their faith in Christ, and they have not really dealt with the issue of their sin and guilt. They are free, for the free candy, the free gift. Oh, peace! I'll take it. Doing better in my life! I'll take it. I was in a business - I won't say what because it would identify who - and here he has a quote from an evangelical preacher. I talked to him about the gospel on numerous occasions and he didn't have the foggiest idea of what's it about. This man is promoting a distorted gospel. The man wants to do better in his business and be more successful and so on, so he's buying into this. It had nothing to do with the gospel. I tried to talk about the gospel and . . . so-o-o, nothing to do with it. It's doing more damage. Jesus Christ is not some kind of aspirin. He is the cure for sin.

That's why coming to Christ is a humbling thing. You cannot come with part of your pride. You come recognizing I am a sinner. I am worthy of condemnation. I am deserving of hell. I am without hope. I am without resources. All I can do is cast myself on His mercy, believe Him to do what otherwise cannot be done.

When they were preparing for Jesus to come into the world, the angel appeared to Joseph. What did He say? You shall call His name “Jesus,” means, “Jehovah,” “ Savior.” Why? For He will save His people from their sins. Jesus Himself said in Luke 19:10, "The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” The book of Romans is the masterful development in detail of the gospel where through the direction of the Spirit Paul unfolds the details of the gospel and where does he start? For the bulk of the first three chapters what does he talk about? Sin - sin, condemnation, judgment. By the time you get to the end of that he says we have demonstrated that everyone, Jew and Gentile alike, is under sin because we can't talk about the righteousness of Christ, we can't tell you about living a sanctified life until we've come to the issue of sin, dealt with sin, confronted sin. And I don't want to leave any room for anybody to try to squeeze out. So what he's done he says we have demonstrated everyone, Jew and Gentile alike, is under sin and thus condemned. Now let's proceed. We want to run and present the gospel, we want to do it in an non-offensive way. And if you start with sin, people won't like it, people won't hear, people won't come. So let's present a Christ who is appealing, who is likable, so people will want to come. So they present examples, not of being sinners but of people having unfulfilled lives that don't have real purpose. But you know motivational speakers all over are presenting that kind of message. That's not the gospel.

Let me read you some of Paul's statements out of the opening chapters of Romans. “For we have already charged that both Jew and Greeks are all under sin.” “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We are justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.” “For while we were still helpless at the right time Christ died for the" . . . unhappy. No. He “died for the ungodly.” "But God demonstrates His own love for us in that while we were sinners Christ died for us." The overflowing emphasis of the Scripture is that we are sinners. It's the whole emphasis of the sacrificial system in the Old Testament. Sinner. Sinner. Sinner. You need a substitute. You need a substitute. Someone must pay your penalty and the penalty is death. You think the message has changed now that the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world has come and we trivialize it into a bumper sticker? I'm now happy I have Jesus. I'm now happy I won the lottery. I'm now happy . . . fill in the blank. The issue is: have you been forgiven your sin which will send you to hell?

What's Paul say at the end of verse 15? "He came to save sinners among whom I am foremost." I am number one. That of debate in the commentaries: is this an actual, factual statement or is this Paul just giving how he sees himself? Either way here it is. Paul as he saw himself and knew himself and what he had done and how he had sinned against the grace of God and yet been forgiven. He could only say I'm the worst of sinners. Think of the worst sinner you know and I'm worst. And I want you to note something here. He does not say, "among whom I was foremost." He uses the present tense. Some kind of ridiculous theology - I don't know if it's still rattling around - we were in discussions about it a few years ago where Christians shouldn't talk about themselves as sinners. You know the apostle Paul didn't know that bad theology. He said I am the worst. What a difference is: I am the redeemed worst of sinners. And he's not mired down in his past, but he never forgets what he is. He is a redeemed sinner. He is a child of God by the grace of God. He is a servant of the living God because of God's mercy. And we stumble and get ourselves into problems because we lose that perspective. I forget I am nothing but a sinner but God's grace has redeemed me.

I am the worst. You know what that means? "For this reason I found mercy." Here we are again. You understand Paul was a very religious man. Read his testimony in Philippians 3. He did everything he could to keep the law and he said he did it as good as anyone could do it. And he said it was all dung when all was said and done, garbage, refuge. "For this reason I found mercy so that in me as the foremost . . ." Me as number one. Me as the worst sinner. "Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect . . . " "As an example for those who would believe in Him in eternal life." You know what my life is? My life is an example of what? How you can really be happy in Jesus. How you really find meaning and purpose in Jesus. I'll tell you what my life is an example of: how God's patience can demonstrate infinite mercy and result in the worst of sinners being a servant of the living God. That's my testimony. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. That's the message I preach. When I give my testimony and my testimony is I was the worst of the worst, the vilest of sinners, and He saved me by mercy, by grace. And that should be an encouragement to you that none of you are beyond hope. His grace is super abundant. You can be saved also.

Isn't that a glorious message? Why do we want to change it? Why do we think, oh, we won't want to say this? People might come and be offended. There is no salvation with your pride. There is no salvation on your terms, on my terms. There is no salvation for those who do not come to recognize their lost sinful condition. There's nothing I can do.
I don't want to make you happier. I don't want to give you false security. You are a sinner. Your situation is hopeless and you are helpless. And there is nothing but nothing, but nothing, but nothing you can do to make yourself acceptable before God. All you can do is cast yourself on His mercy. Lord, I am, I am the hopeless, helpless one. I have sinned. I am one of those who have sinned and come short of Your glory and the wages of sin is death. God, I believe your promise that "You so loved the world that You gave
Your only begotten Son in order that whosoever believes in Him would not perish but have eternal life." "He that has the Son has life. He that has not the Son of God shall not see life but the wrath of God abides on Him."

That's the issue at stake here. I don't know whether your life will feel better or not when you come to Christ. I don't know whether things will get easier or harder. I don't know whether you'll get a better job or lose your job. I don't know whether you'll be healthier or you'll have cancer next week. All I can tell you is in Jesus Christ you will be forgiven. Isn't that the issue of the gospel? Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.

What does Paul say after this? Verse 17, "Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen." What else can you say about a God like this? See where all the attention is? I'm not trying to make people feel good. I'm not trying to put band-aids on superficial things. We're talking about a God who's cleansed me from my sin, snatched me from the jaws of hell, set me on a coarse to the glories of heaven. What can I say about such a God? All I can do is declare His praise and adoration and worship.

Let me read you what Jesus said as He closed out His ministry with His disciples on this earth. The book of Luke closes, Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead, now He meets with His disciples. And He says this in Luke 24:46-47, "Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise again on the third day." Now note this, “and that redemption for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations." You see the purpose in His suffering, death and resurrection? So that we could preach repentance for the forgiveness of sins in His name to everyone. We started our study of 1 Timothy by looking in chapter 3, verse 15 where the church is the pillar and support of the truth. Is it the pillar and support of the truth if it is not proclaiming this foundational purpose in the death and resurrection of the Son of God? This reason for His coming into this world?
To save sinners by His own death on the cross and His resurrection. And now we must proclaim forgiveness. How can you proclaim forgiveness of sins if you don't proclaim the message of sin and guilt? People are being forgiven for being unhappy. Then we twist the theology that we have to learn to forgive ourselves. There's no end to where bad theology takes you. So we come back, clear the tables, push aside all the rubbish and say Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Have I come to understand I am one of those sinners? That's the issue that has to be dealt with before God. Have you believed the message of Jesus Christ? Did He die to pay the penalty for your sin?

Thank you, Lord, for a gospel that is good news. How tragic, Lord, that we should fail to appreciate that the message of sin is necessary because Christ came to pay the penalty for sin. He came to save sinners. And we preach the sinfulness of every single human being, not because we are in despair but because we have a message of hope for sinners. That message that has so changed and transformed lives that I was but a filthy, vile, undeserving sinner but I received mercy and I received grace and you can too. May we personally and as a church be unashamed to preach the truth, the message of our Savior. In whose name we pray, amen.