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Amen and Amen. Amen. Hey, if you got your Bibles, and I hope you do, we're gonna be in First Timothy. You can turn there. Or if you brought your journal. How many of you brought your journal with you lifted up high and proud? Look at you. Oh, your varsity. Way to go. If you don't have one yet, you can get one out on the lobby on your way out or whatever. But you need this. This is a place for you to take notes for the entire year, okay? Now, taking notes in your journal will not get you into heaven. But I think you'll get first in line to eat when we get there. I'm pretty sure that's what that means. The reason that we do this, man, is cause we're not in the entertainment business. And we're not in the crowd business. We're in the disciple making business. And we want to make disciples, to make disciples, to make disciples. And so I'm not just up here to entertain you or inspire you. I'm here to try to teach the word of God to us. And so I would love for you to grab this thing and write things down and underline things. Cause it'll leak out by Tuesday. And then you can look back over this during the week to see what God is telling you. We're in chapter one of First Timothy. We've called it a Feel God for the Family of God. And a part of the reason we're doing this is because we're looking at what Paul was doing. It's very similar to the video that we just showed the Apostle Paul. He meets this kid named Timothy in lystra while he's 15 years old, leads him to Christ, and he starts taking him on mission trips and just kind of brings them under his wing. And he just is making. He's just making a disciple out of young Timothy. And he begins to see things in Timothy that Timothy didn't see in Timothy. Timothy's got a bunch of stuff going against him, man. He was raised by a single mom and his grandma. He's kind of nervous because over and over and over, Paul's gonna say, God did not give you a spirit of fear. He's young. He's probably like 29 years old when he takes over as the lead pastor at the Church of Ephesus. And Paul's gonna encourage him and speak life in him and say, look, Tim, don't let people look down on you because of your age, but set for them an example in life, love, speech, and purity. And if you remember last Week. One of the first things that Paul does in his letter to Timothy is he says, bro, you gotta watch out. You gotta guard the gospel in your church. Because even though Paul planted the church and it went really good for about three years before Timothy takes over, he says, there's gonna be people within your church, and they're gonna take the truth of God and they're going to twist it to begin to serve themselves. So you better watch out. And the aim of my charge is love. And then when we get here today, what he does is Paul is famous for this. Paul would have done terrible in freshman composition because he doesn't, like, state a thing. And then he just chases these little rabbit trails all throughout the word of God. And he's going to chase two of them. Today. He's going to talk about the law of God and the Gospel of God. These are the two things that he's going to talk about. And part of the reason he's going to talk about this is, is because people would come in, they were known as the judaizers, and they would take the law of God and try to use it for something it was not intended for. And then people would get confused about what it means to be a follower of Jesus. People, church people, religious people are famous for this. People begin to think that you have to do some things in order to be approved by God, and that is not the gospel. And so what we're going to do today is we are going to talk about the gospel. Now, if you've been here for a while, you say, well, Pastor Joby, I feel like that's all you ever talk about, the gospel. Ding, ding. Winner, winner, chicken dinner. You're right, because it's what matters the most. This is what he's saying. Martin Luther. You've heard of him. He's awesome. Okay. He wrote a commentary on the book of Galatians. And in this commentary, he wrote this very long quote. But I'm gonna read it all. Here's what he says. Pay very close attention to the end of it. He says, the law is divine and holy. Let the law have his glory. But yet no law, be it never so divine and holy, ought to teach me that I am justified and shall live through it. I grant it may teach me that I ought to love God and my neighbor also to live in chastity, soberness, patience, etc. But it ought not to show me how I should be delivered from sin, the devil, death and hell. Here I must take counsel of the gospel. I. I must hearken to the gospel, which teaches me not what I ought to do, for that is the proper office of the law. But what Jesus Christ, the Son of God has done for me, to wit, that he suffered and died to deliver me from sin and death, the gospel wills me to receive this and to believe it. And this is the truth of the gospel. It is also the principal article of all Christian doctrine, wherein the knowledge of all godliness consists of most necessary. It is therefore that we should know this article well, teach it to others, and my favorite part, and beat it into their heads continually. Today's goal is I am going to beat the gospel into your head continually. That's what we're gonna do. Anybody ever have to tell your kids the same thing over and over and over? All right, well, welcome to a family meeting. Okay. Because what's crazy is, look man, I believe the gospel, I can recite the gospel, I know the gospel. And it's so easy for the gospel to leak out of your head in about two seconds, is it not? It's so easy to think that somehow you do something and then God's disappointed in you. It's so easy to think, well, I can never be in a right relationship with God because of something that I've done. It's so easy to apply the law of God in a way that it was not meant to be applied at all. And the reality is most people sitting in church today don't believe the gospel. Barna did this study and over 60% of self proclaimed Christians, when asked, how do you get to heaven? They said that their good works play a decisive role in whether God let you in heaven or not. That is not the gospel. And so get ready, get your head out here so we can beat the gospel into your head over and over and over. That's what we're gonna do. Okay? So Paul says this in verse 8. He says now and what's before the now is he warned Timothy against people that twist the truth. He warned them against false teachers. And what he warned about is some people will. They'll do two things. Typically you either err towards legalism or licentiousness. Either legalism is if you don't do these things, God's not going to love you. And licentious is no matter what you do, don't worry about it, it's not that big a deal. Both of those are a lie. And he starts down right here. He says this, now we know that the law is good, so please don't mishear anything I say here today. There Are some people. In fact, there's this real famous preacher. I'm not gonna tell you his name. If you're kinda around church circles, you know who I'm talking about. And you'll, like, whisper it to your neighbor, but you probably shouldn't, so. And he said a few years ago that as Christians, we can unhitch from the Old Testament. What? No, no, no, no. That the law. When the Bible talks about the law, sometimes it means the Mosaic Law, like the Ten Commandments and following. We'll talk about that in a minute. Oftentimes, what it just means is the law and the prophets is all of the Old Testament. And what Paul wants us to know, and what I want you to know is that God's word, Old Testament and New Testament is a gift from God to his people. It is a good, good thing. And, man, I don't know how to make you love what I love, but I love the word of God. And I promise you, if you will get into it, it will get into you and it'll begin to change all kind of things about your life. And there's a couple of different ways to approach the Bible. What a lot of people do is they approach. They come to the word of God as authority over it. This is what Thomas Jefferson did. I don't know if you've ever seen the Thomas Jefferson Bible. He went through it with a highlighter and some scissors and clipped out the parts that he didn't like. His Bible was about that big. Okay, that's like God, I know better than you. I know how to do money, sex, life better than you. I know it took me two chances at the eighth grade, but still, you're the creator of the universe. I can't scratch my own back and lick my own elbow, but let me tell you how to live. That's what people do all the time. But the way you're supposed to come to the Word of God is under its authority. And please pay attention to this. It's not submission until you don't like it. Of course, there's things in here I don't like. Why? Because I'm a selfish egomaniac. Have you met me? But this law. Oh, it's good. It is so good. The psalmist King David, he says this in Psalm 19. You want to know how King David thought about the Word of God? Here's what he says about the Word of God. The law of the Lord is perfect. What else you got perfect in your life? The law of the Lord is perfect. Reviving the soul Ain't a pill you can take to revive your soul. Ain't a vacation you can take to revive your soul. Ain't an amount of money in the bank you can have that will revive your soul. But in this word it leads us to the one who can revive our soul. The law of the Lord is perfect. Reviving the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure Making wise and simple. The precepts of the Lord are right. Rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure Enlightening the eyes the fear of the Lord is clean Enduring forever. The rules of the Lord are true and righteous altogether More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold. Is that how you think about the Bible? You wake up and first thing in the morning be like, ooh, I better check that word. Or do you check that stock market? Which one do you check first? You know you want to get let down. Put your trust in that stock market. More to be desired than gold, even much fine gold, sweeter than honey in the drippings of a honeycomb. Moreover, by them is your servant warned. In keeping them there is great reward. You see, not only is the word of God true, but it's also trustworthy. You know what this means? That means you can lean the life, your life against the promises and prophecies of this word for you. And God keeps his word every single time. Cause even when we're not faithful, he, he is every single time. In fact, most of the junk we've gotten ourselves into is cause we got out of step with the word of God. Man, the law of the Lord is good. Psalm 1 says this David writes, blessed is he who does not walk in the way of the wicked, or stand in the way of the sinner, or sit in the seat of the mocker. But his delight is in the law of the Lord. And upon his law he meditates day and night. I mean, King David, he talks about the Bible like your one year old talks about his binky. Like I got to have that. Is that how you think about the Word of God? I want you to want the Word of God. And if you're kind of new to it or if you've been around a long time, I've created a resource to help you. If you're in a podcast, Me and a friend of mine started a podcast at the beginning of the year called the Daily Blade. You can download the Daily Blade. It's about five minutes in the Word of God. All right? Now, it's written to men. It's Four men. But, ladies, you're smart enough to make the application. It wouldn't work the other way because dudes are dumb. They're like, I don't have a curling iron. What is this? So they can't keep up. Okay? And I dare you. You get into the word of God on a daily basis, and it will begin to get into you. And I can't remember any one singular quiet time or Bible reading that has changed my life. It's just a little bit, A little bit, A little bit for my whole life that has shaped everything about me. The law of the Lord is good if one uses it lawfully. If you use something in a way it was not intended to be used, then it might work for a little while, but it won't work. Like, you ever try to use your vacuum cleaner as a sledgehammer for a second, it's fine. Then what do you have? You don't have a vacuum cleaner and you still need a sledgehammer. And so this law is given to us by God, but it is not given to us the way the people in the first century were using it and the way the legalists use it today. By the way, it's also, the Bible says that our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities of darkness. And to war against it, we use the sword of a spirit. The like a scalpel to come in there and do some heart surgery. Some people have used the word of God not as a sword of a spirit against the evil one, but they used it as a sledgehammer against you. It's not supposed to be meant to use against people like that. Also, we're gonna find out in a little while. The Bible's a map and a mirror, and a lot of people don't use it in a mirror. A lot of people use it as binoculars. You know these people, and they're like, oh, come look what she's doing, Martha. Look at this center over here. You're supposed to lose it like that man. The intention of the law of God is that it would be both a map and a mirror. First and foremost, it would be a map to show us how to rightly live with a righteous God and to rightly live with a righteous God. There's this crazy claim that God in the Old Testament and Jesus in the New Testament make. He says, be perfect for I am perfect. What? Okay, how you do that? Just do what this says, Then you look at it, and the mirror lets you know, uh, oh, there's a problem. And the Problem's not in the mirror. The problem is the image I see in the mirror, which is me. Now, what began to happen in churches like this one, like in Ephesus and also in Galatia and also in Philippi, is that people begin to use the law of God to try to fix their life. But that's not the point of the law of God, because it's like a mirror. Is a mirror a good thing? A mirror is a great thing. If you use a mirror for, what are the mirrors for? I mean, how many of you know a mirror is a good thing? Like, look at your neighbor. If it looks like they're looking in a mirror, it'd be like, good job looking in the mirror. And if you were like, I didn't look in a mirror today, it's obvious to all of us, bro. Okay, get in a disciple group. You need accountability. So can you imagine if today when we get done, you go to lunch and you eat wherever you eat, and then afterwards, you go to the bathroom to check yourself, and you got some creamed spinach up in your teeth, and it looks like you're missing four titties, Right? What is the mirror's role? The mirror has identified that there's a problem. Now, if the wait staff comes in and you're trying to dislodge the mirror to pick your teeth out with the mirror, and you say, the mirror's not working, you be like, you dummy, you're not using it right. Or imagine if your face was all dirty and you're like, oh, no, mirror. Thank you for telling me I have a dirty face. And then you just try to wipe your face on the mirror. Is the mirror gonna help you clean your face? No. That's why there's a sink under the mirror. The point of the law is to point out that there's a problem. The point of the law is that we would know that we're not just mistakers in need of a life coach, that we are sinners in need of a savior. That's what we're supposed to use it for. Every single place in the Old Testament where the Mosaic law is laid out every time, there is a system of sacrifice that comes right behind it, like a mirror to point out. Or we got a problem and sacrifices to make us right with God. And so he says, all right, now, the law, like the rules, the Ten Commandments, all of that, it's good if one uses it lawfully, understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just, but for the lawless. And Disobedient. So you got two categories. Some people are just, and some people are lawless and disobedient. So which category do you think you're in? Some of you don't know. I know. You're like, you don't know me. Oh, I bet I do. I bet I do. Now, here's who's just. There's only been one just person to ever be born. Just. His name is Jesus. Okay? But the Bible does say that if you are in Christ, then you have been justified by his life, death, and resurrection. And that is a legal term, a theological term that means if you are in Christ and you have been imputed with the righteousness of Christ, and when God sees you, he sees you justified, never sin. But apart from Christ, every single one of us are in this other category that we were not. Sometimes you hear people say, well, you know, I've been a Christian my whole life. No, you haven't. Every single one of us have been born unjust, been born lawless and disobedient. You don't believe me? You want to take a test? Let's take a test. Let's go. Basic morality. Because there's a lot of people that will say, you know what? I think good people go to heaven because God's a good God, and I'm a pretty good guy. You know, good people go to heaven, and so I'm probably gonna be in. All right, cool. Let's see if you're gonna get in. All right, we're gonna take a test. I want you to keep your score to yourself, though, all right? But let's go through it, and I'm gonna teach you the Ten Commandments. There's a lot of stuff in the news about the Ten Commandments. Most of you don't even know where it is. You think the Ten Commandments are in a courthouse in Alabama. The Ten Commandments are in Exodus, chapter 20. And even most people have a total misunderstanding of the Ten Commandments, you see, because what God does is God saves his people out of slavery into Egypt, and then, as a gift, gives them the Commandments so that they know how to rightly live with a righteous God and live with one another. He doesn't send it to them in Egypt and say, all right, at midterm, if you got a B minus, I'll get you out of here. But no, no, no. He saved them first and then gave them the Ten Commandments. So I want you to grade yourself. We're gonna see how good we are. All right? We'll See if we got any passing grades in the house. And I'm gonna teach them to you by using your fingers. Everybody, get your fingers out. Even men. Men, get your fingers out of your armpits. Put them up like this. We're gonna play a game here, okay? Ready? Let's go. All right. Just put one finger up. Ready? And if you had any temptation to put another finger other than the one finger I just did, you're already in the unjust category. You know it the moment you're like, I got your finger. All right, man. Center. So, commandment number one. There's only one God. There's only one God. Have you ever, ever, ever treated something else in your life as if it was the most important thing other than God? If you're a parent, it's a struggle, right? Maybe you just got married. It's a struggle. That's the first commandment. The second commandment, make scissors and do like this. Cut out the idols. You shall have no other idols before me. Have you ever treated something temporary as if it was eternal? Okay, any Georgia fans? If you're a Georgia fan with me, I'm a Georgia fan, raise your hand. All right. Praise God. Praise God. Okay. All right, sinners. We're all sinners. Do you know what song we sing when we score a touchdown? Glory, glory to old Georgia. What? We're literally breaking the command. Second commandment. I mean, when we play Florida, we sin all day. Just sin. Glory, glory to. I'm telling you, be careful. I'm actually praying. Never mind. So here we go. All right, the third one looks like a W. Watch your mouth. Don't use the Lord's name in vain. Some of you are not going to make it out of our parking lot today where we have gathered to celebrate the resurrected Lord. Man, you're going to use the Lord's name in vain. All right, the fourth one. There's four Sundays in a month. Obey the Sabbath and keep it holy. Do you actually. Sabbath? Who even does this anymore? Chick Fil A. Hobby Lobby. And be honest. You've done a road trip on a Sunday, so you already weren't sabbathing. And then you were like, oh, look, we'll get Chick Fil A. And you're like, Christians, you know? You have number five. Do it like this. Yes, sir. Obey your father and mother. And anybody nailed that one your whole life. If you've been 2 or 20. Center. That's what you are. 6. Do it like this. Pow. Thou shalt not murder. Okay, now it's about this time when People are like, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha ha. Pastor, I have never murdered anyone. And not even all of our campuses can say that some of you are still over six. Okay? So that's all right. But here's the thing. Then Jesus comes along in his sermon on the mount and he says, you have heard that it was said, thou shalt not murder. I say to you, if you've even harbored hate in your heart against somebody, you've already murdered them. You ever seen a referee blow a call? Murderer. You ever been in the left lane, driving like a Christian because we got stuff to do. Hell is hot. Forever's a long time. And somebody's in front of you doing what the Bible says. They're being a sluggard. And you're like, that means you've murdered them in your heart. Okay, number seven, this is a good one. Thou shalt not commit adultery. All right, See these two people. Explain that to your kids. All right, so. And somebody like, ha, ha ha, I've never cheated on my wife. Neat, neat. Jesus in that same sermon says, you heard that it was said, thou shalt not commit adultery. I say to you, if you've ever lusted after another person, whether that's through a picture or through a book or some goofy Fifty Shades movie or whatever it is, man, if you've ever commodified another human being, then you broke that one. The next number eight is, thou shalt not steal. See, you tuck your pinky right here, because in some countries, if you steal, they'll cut your pinky off. I don't know if it's true, but that's how you remember it. You hold it like that, okay? And you're like, I don't steal. Oh, really? Then explain to me when I go to any restaurant In Jacksonville, my 1122 pens are always there. I didn't give you that pen. You took it, man. Why are you stealing my pins? All right, I absolve you. You can take the pins, but just admit it, you're a wretched, black hearted sinner. Okay, so, and then number nine is, thou shalt not lie. So you're like, ha, ha, I do have a pinky. See, there it was. Bang, there it is. I'm a liar, right? Anybody ever lie? People get so offended on this one. They're like, are you calling me a liar? That's exactly what I'm calling you. You're a liar. How many of you have checked a box this week that says, I have read the terms and conditions? You didn't read it. You're a liar. And then the 10th one, reach your hands like this. Thou shalt not covet. Have you ever wanted something that God gave to somebody else instead of you? It's called hgtv Coveters. And if you watch the Golf Channel, Coveters, because you don't swing like Rory, whatever it is, the Outdoor Network, I want to shoot that deer, whatever those things are. Okay, so now, all right, let's go back to the grading scale. How. How you doing? Anybody crushing it? Anybody wanna be, like, nailing it? If you do and you declare yourself righteous, you are by definition self righteous and full of pride. And you're going straight to hell. So how about this, man? If good people go to heaven, how good? I got a zero. Even if God's gravin on a curve, man, he ain't letting in zero, we're in trouble. And if God graved on a curve and said, okay, good people go to heaven, and how good? And. And doesn't God owe you a progress report to let you know how good is good enough? Cause I got bad news for some of you old guys. You ain't got enough time left in the semester to make up for your previous work, if you understand what I'm saying. You remember that you'd be late in the semester. You'd be like, oh, God, I need a 206 on this exam to get a C. No, man. So then what is the law for? See, the law is like a speed limit sign. The law is both a map and a mirror. The law is a map to show us what it takes to live a holy life before a holy God. And then it is a mirror so that we don't just judge ourselves arbitrarily, that we hold it up and we go, oh, no, I need help. I can't do this right? Like, can you imagine pulling on the highway and it just says, drive safely. And you got to interpret that. Some of you fools would drive 32 miles an hour while doing a crossword puzzle. Some of you drive 132 while putting on your makeup. Okay? Nah, man. This is the standard. And none of us, none of us can live up to it. I mean, think about this. What if God didn't hold you accountable for his standard? What if he only judged you for yours, for your own commandments, for the times you promised you would never do that again. Or you're always gonna do this. And from now on, what if he only held you accountable for the things that you said you. You ought to do? How you doing? Then the answer is not good. And the reason God gave us the law is to expose the reality that we need help. And now what he's gonna do is he's gonna give some lists, okay? He's gonna make a list and be really careful. Anytime you read lists in the Bible, he says this. He says, understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just, but for the lawless and disobedient. That's us. The ungodly and sinners, that's still us. For the unholy and profane, that's still us. Then he says, for those who. And then he's going to give some specifics. I think he knows specific people in that church that are breaking these commandments. And he actually goes through commandments number five, six, seven, and eight, and nine right here. Now, be careful, because anytime when the Bible has a list, we look at these lists like you look at a group photo. First thing you do is like, where am I? Where am I? Where am I? Oh, there I am. And then what do you do in a group photo? If you like your picture in the group photo, you deem the photo. That's a good picture. I don't care what you people look like. I look great in that picture, right? Okay. The second thing we do with lists is the moment you find you on the list, you start doing a little like, your inner lawyer rises up and go, hey, wait a minute. I don't think that's what that word in Greek means. And you start trying to justify why it's not that bad. And then we begin to compare ourselves. We're like, okay, I might be on the list, but Walker, you're on here like three times, man. So that is not the point whatsoever. And so don't get too hung up on the list. Just know we're all on this list. So he's gonna give some very specifics. He says, for the ungodly, the sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers. Holy moly. By the way, the fifth commandment is obey your father and mother. And they hit in theirs, which I don't know what they're doing in Ephesus, but, bro, where I'm from, you swing on Mama, daddy would kill you. All right? He'd be a murderer immediately. But by the way, I think this is why God makes children so little. If your 3 year old weighed 200 pounds, they would kill you for a Cheerio. It's true. Give me that. No, you got me. Okay, so. So Those who strike their fathers and mothers. That's the fifth commandment. Murderers. That's the sixth commandment. Then it's about, oh, it's gonna get real offensive. All right. So it's gonna be fun for me. I look forward to not reading your emails. Here we go. Verse 10. The sexually immoral. That's the seventh commandment. Don't commit adultery. This word, sexual immorality, I've preached on it a hundred times around here. It's the Greek word porneo. Sound familiar? Porneo. Porneo means any kind of sexual activity outside God's design. And God's design that sex is for married people. And according to the Bible, regardless of what any court says, that marriage is between one man and one woman for one lifestyle. And he is saying anything outside of that, then you fall into the ungodly and sinner category. This is fornication. If you're sleeping with somebody and you're not married yet, this is adultery. If you're sleeping with somebody, it's not your spouse. This is pornography. Whether it's pictures or trashy novels or whether you're lusting after somebody. And this is, boy, this is really going to get me in trouble. So this ought to be a fun week. So this even includes if by letter of the law, you've never gone outside of your marriage, but you don't do what 1 Corinthians 7 says, and you weaponize sex in your marriage to either punish somebody or withhold, that would be in this list. And to make it even worse, if you can find First Corinthians 7 and find what the verses say, and then try to lord it over your spouse cause they owe you something, then you're back to using the Lord's name in vain. So let me just put it. We're all on this list. We're on this list. And then he gets a subcategory of this list, men who practice homosexuality. And again, man, I know we live in a culture that says, I do what I want, you can do what you want. You just can't do what you want. And then say, jesus is your Lord. It's not submission until you don't like it. And so God has listen, regardless of who you are, regardless of who you are, whether you're straight or gay or whatever, if you come to Christ, every single one of us have been called to surrender all of our wants, all of our desires, all of our attractions to Him. And he tells us what we get to do. We don't get to tell him what to do. And now remember, we're a movement for all people. We're not a movement for all people just to be all people. That would just be a big bouquet of sinfulness. We're a movement for all people to discover and deepen a relationship with Jesus Christ. And every single one of us have been called to lay down our wants and our desires for Christ. That's who we are. So wherever you are in that whole thing, you're on the list. We're on the list. The next one is enslavers. This is number eight. The eighth commandment. Thou shalt not steal. This is stealing people. Now again, a little aside. If you've ever heard somebody say that the Bible is pro slavery. They don't know the Bible. They don't know the Bible. Okay? In the New Testament there will be passages that say, servants, obey your masters. That word servant there is called doulos. It wasn't any specific race. Anybody could be a doulos of somebody to pay off a debt for a time and those people could buy their way out of that bond. Servant would probably be a better translation. But as Americans, when we hear servant and master, our mind automatically goes to transatlantic slavery, that transatlantic slavery is this word enslavers. When a group of people would steal another group of people and enslave those people, that's on the list of sinfulness. There's no way. There's nowhere in the Bible where the Bible ever approves slavery and anywhere in the world where people have fought for freedom of people who have been enslaved. It has always been Bible believing Christians that understood that every single human being was the image bearer of God and that we were equal in the sight of God and we should be treated that way. So slave traders on the list. By the way, there are more slaves today than there ever have been in the history of the world. I don't know why the leading news story every night isn't attention. 300,000 children have been sexually abused today. It's a sick and dark world. So he's going through the list. Those who strike their fathers and mothers. Murderers. Sexually immoral. Men who practice homosexuality. Enslavers. And then the ninth commandment, liars. You're on the list. Perjurers. That's people that like, lie professionally. And then if you look at that and you're like, well, ha ha, he didn't get me. He goes, okay. And whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine. So if you've ever done anything out of step with the word of God, congratulations. Welcome to the List. And then he says, in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted. So now that we've taken a look and taken a little test, which category do you find yourself in? Just or unjust? We all, by nature and nurture, find ourselves in the unjust list. Listen, I would just love you enough to let you know that you are a sinner. A wretched, crooked and depraved black hearted sinner. And again, bro, if you're like 20, you're like, wait just a second. My kindergarten teacher told me that I am puppy's breath and I am a snowflake and I'm a skittle. All right, look here, Skittle, she lied to you. Nah, man. And the only. I'm not trying to beat you up. I'm the worst one in the room. I've only seen your sin on Facebook. I know mine. And yet God would save me. It is not love to look at somebody sinning and not point that out. It would be like, can you imagine going to the doctor and he walks in and you walk in and he's just like, well, everything looks good. You had a broken arm. And you're like, don't you want to look at my arm? He's like, that's kind of judgy. You'd be like, no, doctor, judge me, please. You're an orthopedic surgeon. And what's the ortho gonna do? Is he gonna reach for the good arm? No, he's gonna reach for the place of pain. And in putting his hands on the place of pain, that's where the healing comes. So when we walk in here and we can be wide open and say, hey, listen, man, the cross is out in every single one of us, that I'm a sinner in need of a savior, then what's happening here is. And even when you begin to feel that, oh, that's just the conviction of the Holy Spirit, saying that is the diagnosis of the problem. And then now here comes the cure. When Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount says, blessed are the poor, that means this. If you don't know you're a sinner, you won't know you need a savior. If you don't know that you're lost, what's a map going to do for you? But the moment you realize, uh, oh, I need help. Blessed are you. When you're spiritually bankrupt and your savior comes in and goes, I got some really, really good news. This is what Paul's talking about right here. So now we get to the cure. Verse 12. I thank him who has given me strength. Who's that, Paul? I'll tell you. Christ Jesus our Lord. Because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service. Why Paul? Because you're awesome. Because you're worthy. He's like, not at all. And then Paul's going to share his testimony. Paul shares his testimony in the New Testament five times. Which is incredible because Paul knew that therefore, now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. He wrote those words down. Paul knew that his past was not going to define him. Paul knew that he didn't have to carry his shame around because there was a fountain of grace coming his way. This is what Paul knows. And here's what Paul says. He's like, God didn't look around and pick me because I'm awesome. I was the worst, he says, though formerly I was a blasphemer, a persecutor, an insolent opponent. It's like a trinity of evil. Is who Paul says he was, that he was violent. Paul was a religious terrorist. Paul was a murderer. So what we find out is that Paul's name used to be Saul. And he was so dedicated to those ten Commandments that not only was he not gonna break them, he was not gonna let you break them. And if you thought you were gonna break them, he was gonna break you. And that first one said, there's only one God. And so anybody that claimed that Jesus was God, he was going to kill them. And he began to try to systematically wipe out anybody that claimed to know Jesus. So I know you think you're bad. You are JV compared to Paul when it comes to sin. Anybody trying to systematically kill all the Christians? If so, please raise your hand very high. Right now, we'd like to. We've got a different campus for you to attend, but we'll see. So in Acts, chapter nine, the Bible says this is how evil Paul was. His name was Saul. But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus. So that if he found any belonging to the Way, that's people that followed Jesus. Cause Jesus said he was the Way. Men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. That the apostle Paul was an evil, evil man. It's one thing to lock up men. He's locking up women and children and overseeing their murders. And so God was not looking around, but like, man who's doing great and let me pick them for My team. No, no, no, no, no. He finds a murderer, is gonna turn him into a missionary. He says, but I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief. And so what happens is the Apostle Paul is on his way to Damascus. And Jesus, the resurrected, ascended, glorified Jesus, shows up as a bright light, knocks Saul off of his horse. He falls on his back, gets right in his face and says, saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? Cause to harm the Christians was to harm the body of Jesus. And then in that moment, Saul sees Jesus for who he really is. And he says, who are you, Lord? And he surrenders his life to the lordship of Jesus Christ. And everything changes. He says, but I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with. With the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. You see, what Paul knew is Paul knew he brought nothing to this equation except the sin requiring his salvation. He goes on to say this. He goes on to say the saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. He does this five times in the Pastoral epistles. He's gonna do it three times in first Timothy, one time in second Timothy, and one time in Titus. This is. I ever heard a preacher say, if you don't hear anything else, listen to this. This is what Paul says. This saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. He didn't come just to tell stories. He did not come to pet sheet and pose for pictures at the Bible bookstore. He did not come to start a new religion. He did not come to set for us an example. He did not come to say, this is what morality looks like. Jesus Christ came as a substitutionary atoning sacrifice to save sinners like you and. And like me. This is what he says. And he says, of whom I am the foremost. So Paul's not saying he picked me cause I'm awesome. He's saying because he's awesome. He just decided to save me. And he says, 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 were to believe in him for eternal life. Let me explain what this means. Paul says the reason that Jesus saved me, because if he can save me, he can save you too. That's what he's saying. If he can save me, he can save you too. And some people are like, well, you know, I'm pretty good. Like, you know, I think God's a good God and I'm a good person. And I grew up in church and I went to many VBS's and I've memorized Bible verses and I go to a disciple group. And when I worship, I'm not quite to hands up, but I kind of do the pledge of allegiance towards the Lord. And I don't say bad words except ones I make up, you know, like son of a biscuit or whatever. I've got my own little kind of Christian cussing. And I've got a fish on my car and one for dad and one for me and then. And then some little guppy ones for my compassion kids. And look at all these good things that I have done. And Paul's like, oh, you think you're good? Paul would say, I'm better than you, better than you. Like, you've memorized many verses. That's adorable. Paul had memorized the entire Old Testament from Genesis to the Italian prophet Malachi all the way through. And see those of you not laughing, you're like, it's Malachi, it's Hebrew. It's not Italian, sinner. See, in fact, in Philippians, chapter three, same kind of things happen at the church of Philippi. And Paul says this, and the reason I share this with you, man, it's hard for church people to get saved. And, man, if you're a church person, it's really, really hard for you to come to a saving knowledge of Christ because you actually think you bring merit to the equation. Like you think you're better than somebody else because of the things that you've done. And the law cannot save you. Your right behavior cannot save you. Only Christ's life, death and resurrection saves you. And you've got to have. You've got to understand it is by grace, through faith that we are saved and not by works. Paul talking to the Philippians says, for we are the circumcision who worship by the spirit of God. In other words, if you're in Christ, we are the children of blessing and glory in Christ Jesus. And put no confidence in the flesh, though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more. And then he's going to lay out his religious resume like, you think you're awesome because you went to Sunday school. Paul goes, neat. I was circumcised on the eighth day of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, as to the law, a Pharisee as to zeal, a persecutor of the Church, as to righteousness under the law, blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted it as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord. For his sake, I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish in order that I may gain Christ. If you're new to 1122, let's do a little Greek lesson. That word translated rubbish in Greek is skubulon. Say skubulon. If you go to the Bible dictionary, skubulon is a slang word for animal dung. What is your slang word for animal dung? It ain't rubbish, unless you're British. In Jacksonville, we'd be like, oh, no, that's bull skewbulon. That's what we'd say. There's one 17th century translation that uses the S word there. I can't say it. All right? But what Paul is saying is, if you think your good works somehow earn a right standing with God. That's B.S. that's Bull Skibulan. That's what that is. This is what he's saying. I don't care how good you are, you need a savior. And being found in him, not having a righteousness of my own, that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ Jesus, the righteousness from God, that depends on faith. That's what he's saying. So if you're really, really good, Paul was better than you at religion, and he needed a savior. And some of you are like, yeah, that ain't my story. And if you think you're too bad, Paul was worse than you, and God saved him. Man, I don't often do this, but my boys are here on the front row from the Salvation Army. It's by the grace of God you're in the program you're in. And it's by invitation of Jesus Christ that you sit right here on that front row. And you ain't too far gone, gentlemen. I mean, you're sitting next to a guy that came through that program. Pastor Walker Day came through that program, met Jesus, and now is one of the pastors of our church. So I don't care. No matter what you've done, the past doesn't define you, man. The enemy's gonna try to get you to be defined by your scars. Jesus says, no, no, no, no. You're gonna use my scars. And he gets to tell you who you are. And for anybody that's like, you don't know what I've done. I actually probably do know what you've done. I was probably better at it than you. And God saved me, too. But therefore, now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. And anybody that thinks they're too far gone. The Bible says that God's arms are not too short to save. A bunch of us think the arms of God are like a T. Rex. Like, he's like, oh, man, I can't. Then he gets mad. I'm just. Bite your head off. That's not. He's got big old long arms. And he reaches out and he saves us and draws us to us. And not only that, he wants to. Mark 3. 13 says, Jesus called all unto himself whom he wanted. He wants you. And. And I know you've done some shady stuff, and I know you're ashamed of it. And I know when we're talking about lying and murdering and those kind of things, and I know that shame begins to creep in. But Jesus comes in and nails that shame to the cross for anyone who would believe in him. Because there's more grace in Jesus than sin in you. So if you're a really good church kid, you can be saved. And if you came dragging yourself in here out of the pit, you can be saved. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of which I am the foremost. But I received mercy. Mercy is available to you right now 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. And then what begins to happen right here is that as Paul was sharing a little bit of his testimony, he kind of gets worked up. Okay, this happens to me every time I say the words. I can't get over the gospel. When I say I can't get over the gospel, my mind immediately goes back to me being a teenager at Camp Pine Hill and believing for the very first time when Jesus Christ died on the cross, accounting for me. Because, dude, I'm like, the master of the list. I'm on the list. I know who I am. I know what I've done. I know what a liar and a cheat. I mean, and yet he would save me. And not just save me, but then use me for other people to come get to know him. I just can't get over it. This is what happens to Paul. So as Paul is talking about the gospel and what he has done in his own life, he kind of breaks into a doxology right here. He kind of starts singing to the king of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. And then, you know he's a good preacher because he says amen. And he does like four more chapters he ain't done. So here's what I want you to know. Jesus came to save sinners. And every single one of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. And none of us are so good that we don't need a Savior. See Paul's resume. And none of us are so bad that we can't be saved. See Paul's conversion. When Paul gives his testimony in Acts 26, I think he's talking to King Agrippa and he says that he was on the road to Damascus, the bright light shone and gets knocked out of his horse. And the Lord looks at him and says, saul, why do you kick against the goads? That didn't translate really well. Because a goad was this spiky thing that you put on the front of your wagon or chariot so that if the horse kicked, it would hurt the horse. So when the horse got aggravated, it's like, get off me. Then it would injure himself. And Jesus says, why do you kick against the goats, Saul? Why are you going to continue to live your life in such a way that's going to destroy you? Because there's another option. And the other option to self destruction is self denial. And you come to me and end so losing your life, you will find your life. So whether you're rebel or religious, I want to ask you, how long are you gonna kick against the goats? How long are you gonna live your life in such a way that's not going to lead to eternal life? And today, the same Jesus that appeared to the Apostle Paul 2000 years ago and called him unto himself, that same Jesus is calling you and calling you and calling you. And if you know it deep down in your soul, if you know that he's calling you unto himself, you say, how do I do that? How do I. How do I become a Christian? How do I put my faith in Jesus, man? It is. It's not easy to live out, but boy, it sure is easy to follow him. In the beginning. The first step is, you just got to admit it, man. I don't need a. I don't just need, like another try. I admit it. My way's not working. I admit it. I'm a sinner and I need a savior. And I believe that Somehow, when Jesus died on the cross, that counted for me. I might not even have all the language to explain it, but I believe when he says it is finished, it counted for me. And so because of that, I want to do what the Bible says, call on the name of the Lord. Romans 10:13 says, for all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved. When Peter was sinking in the water, he cried out, lord, save me. And that's a prayer that Jesus answers 100% of the time. So why do you kick against the goats? Either you're trying to earn it and you can't, or you think you're disqualified and you're not, that you would admit it. I'm a sinner and he's a savior. I believe in Christ, died on the cross and counted for me. And if that's you, I want you to confess Jesus as your savior. Would you bow your heads? Would you close your eyes? And I want to give you the opportunity to do that right now. And if for the very first time in your life you were ready to call on the name of the Lord for your salvation, the way I want you to do that is I just want you to lift your hand right where you are and you just tell him, lord, save me. And he will answer that prayer 100% of the time. Praise God. Praise God. Praise God, our good and gracious heavenly Father. God, we love you more than anything because you first loved us. God, I thank you that you would save sinner like me. Not because I deserve it, because you are good. You are a good, good God. And God, I pray for every man. God, I pray for every woman, every student in this place. Lord, I pray that they would hear your voice, call them by name, and they would call on the name of the Lord for our salvation. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen. So the way we're going to close our service is we're going to celebrate Holy Communion. We've got some ushers at all of our locations that are going to be passing this out. I know some of you grew up in a tradition where you did this all the time. And couple of things about that. This is the Lord's table, this is not my table. So it doesn't matter what denomination you're from or any of that, if Jesus is your Lord, then you are invited to this table. And a part of the reason I believe Jesus had the early church specifically celebrate the Lord's table when they would get together for worship. That's a little bit of speculation on my part. But is that Jesus knows it's gonna be a long time before everybody's just walking around with the gospel in their pocket, you know, and you just look it up whenever you want to. And so every single time the church would get together and they would celebrate the elements, the bread and the cup, that they were actually participating and remembering the gospel, that this was a way that Jesus instituted, that we would pound the gospel into our heads over and over and over and over. It was actually called the Passover meal. And on the night Jesus was betrayed, he told the boys, he told the disciples, hey, go find us a room where we can celebrate Passover. He even told them where it was gonna be. And so they get all the stuff together. And for 2,000 years, they had celebrated this Passover meal. The Passover comes back from Exodus, when God's people, the Israelites, were a slave nation in Egypt. And they cried out to God. And God heard their cry. And God made a way where there was no way. God freed them from slavery. Cause they couldn't free themselves. And he began to send plagues. And the last plague that he sent was called the plague of the firstborn. And he told Moses, he says, all right, Moses, I want you to go tell the people of Israel to take a lamb and shed the blood of the lamb. And you put that blood on the doorpost of the house. Cause tonight an angel of death is going to pass over Egypt. And whoever has the blood of the lamb on the doorpost, then that angel will pass over and you'll be spared. But get ready. So they had all kind of stuff like the reason it's flatbed Peter bread is because Moses tells them, hey, listen, you're gonna make some bread for your journey. But sleep with your tennis shoes on. Because you gotta run to the Red Sea tomorrow morning. And we ain't got time for your bread to bake. And so it was traditions like this. And so sure enough, the angel of death comes through, whoever's got the blood of the lamb on the doorpost, the angel of death passes over. And then Pharaoh says, get out of here. And then Moses takes God's people, and eventually they all make it to the promised land. And God tells the Jewish people, you remember this every single year. So these boys have done the Passover meal every year of their life. And I know some of you have done communion, I mean, thousands of times, and maybe didn't even really know what you were doing. And the night Jesus was betrayed, he took the bread, and he's supposed to say, rabbi stuff about Moses and Exodus. And instead he breaks the bread and he says, this is my body broken for you. And the boys are like, do what? No, dude, this is about Moses and Egypt. And there was a lamb that was slain. And Jesus is going see everything in that old covenant. Jesus is saying, the law is good. And that did actually happen. Moses did actually get the Israelites out of Egypt. But that lamb that was slain and that angel of death passed over. That was just a foreshadowing of what I'm about to do tomorrow on the cross, that was the shadow, and I am the substance. And the next day, when they saw his broken body on the cross, they knew that his body was broken for them. Because like me and like you, they were sinners and all sin must be paid for. But through Christ's broken body on the cross, he took our place and paid for our sin. And so he says, and as often as you do this, you do so in remembrance of me. Then at this point, the disciples have no idea what he's going to say next. And at the end of the meal, he holds up a cup and he says, this is the cup of my blood. Now, it takes some explanation in the 21st century because we try to avoid blood as much as possible. They grew up in a temple system that completely understood without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin. These boys have taken a lamb to the temple every year of their life on the day of atonement. And they knew that the blood of that lamb would be sprinkled on the ark of the covenant for the covering of their sin. And Jesus says, listen, all of that was a foreshadowing to what I am going to do tomorrow on the cross. If you remember, my cousin John the baptizer says, behold the lamb of God who comes to take away the sin of the entire world. And he says, this cup, this cup is a new covenant. Covenant and testament mean the same thing. So the old covenant, the Old Testament is about the law, and the new covenant, the new Testament is about grace. And at the garden of Gethsemane that night before or later that night, Jesus is going to say, father, if there be any other way, let this cup pass from me. And it was the cup of the wrath of God that had been stored up against sin and sinners. And that next day on the cross, as Jesus pours out his blood because he drank down the very last drop of the wrath of God, you and I are invited to drink of the grace of God. He says, this cup is My grace. And he's going to say it. And often as you do so, you drink of it. You do so and remember it. Submit. But it doesn't just mean remember that 2000 years ago Jesus died on the cross. It's more like in Greek. It means remember and rehearse. It's kind of like celebrating an anniversary. When Gretchen and I celebrate an anniversary, we don't just remember historically, 25 years ago, we said, I do. What we know is that covenant that we said I do in 25 years ago, we still do today. And so every single time you celebrate the blood of Christ poured out for us at the cross by celebrating communion, what you are remembering is that 2000 years ago when he died on the cross, it counted for you. And that moment that you believe that you received the right to become a child of God. And that covenant is just as real today as it's ever been. And as often as you drink of the cup of his grace, you do so in remembrance of Jesus. Would you please stand? Let me pray for us. Our good and gracious heavenly Father God. We love you more than anything, Jesus, because you love us. Lord, I thank you and I praise you. You did not come here to just show us a way, but you are the way that you came to save sinners. Every single one of us who would believe would receive the right to be called children of God and God, may we never ever, ever forget the gospel. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen. Church, we're going to respond. We're going to sing a song. It's got a lot of words to it. It's just the gospel. What's it called again? I can't remember it. All Sufficient Merit. See, it's big words, okay? And the whole point of the song is I don't get to earn my way to heaven. That what Christ did for me on the cross was our all sufficient merit. And if you're saved, we need to sing like it, okay? And we're gonna bring our first and our best, our tithes and our offerings as an act of worship. And we're gonna pray. If anybody needs to not just hear the gospel, but live out the gospel, then I would invite you to sprint down here and get on your face and cast all your cares before him because he cares for you. So let's sing, let's bring, let's pray, let's respond.