I want you to open your Bibles
to the book of 1 Timothy. Paul's first epistle to a young
evangelist and pastor named Timothy. When Paul wrote this letter to
this young man, Timothy was in Ephesus, staying
there with the saints in Ephesus, preaching to them, teaching them.
And I'm going to preach on the subject of the grace of edification. And I've had this on my mind
so much in the past two months, really. In fact, I preached on
this passage on what I call godly edifying. I preached two messages
for our television program. So there'll be a lot of repetition
today. with that, so if you do watch
that TV program or if you see it, you'll hear a lot of the
same things here. But I wanted to talk about the
grace of edification, one of the blessings that God gives
his people through Christ. And if you got your bulletins,
turn to the inside page there. And I've written down an article
called My Goals in Preaching. And I'm gonna let this serve
as the introduction to this message. The passage that I'm majoring
on is verse four of First Timothy chapter one. Look at verse four,
he says, neither give heed to fables. You know what a fable
is. Most of us grew up listening
or reading Aesop's fables, you know, animal stories. That's
not what this is talking about. What this is talking about is
unedifying stories. Things like that, fables. You
know, a lot of preachers, they spend time in the pulpit telling
stories. And, you know, I love to hear
a good story. I know you probably do too, but
that's not what it is to preach the gospel. You understand that? And some stories are good illustrations. I used to be under a preacher
in Louisville, Kentucky, who had a lot of illustrations. in
his message. And that's why he was so popular.
But an illustration, to me, is a window that lets light in.
And you don't want to build a whole house out of windows, do you?
So, in other words, if a story illustrates a point from the
scriptures Preaching is preaching the word of God. That's what
we're talking about. So he says, don't give heed to
fables and endless genealogies. Now, where would that come from?
Well, you know, the Jews were big on genealogies because they
wanted to prove that they were physically connected with Abraham. So the genealogy meant something,
their pedigree. Remember Paul in Philippians
chapter three, one of the things he repented of And this is interesting,
one of the things he said, before I was saved, before I knew Christ,
he said, I used to take pride in the fact that I was a Hebrew
of Hebrews. And what he was saying there is I was a full-blooded
Hebrew. I wasn't a mixed breed. You know, I was, I came right
from Abraham. And so, you know, the Jews, they
basically had, the unbelieving Jews, they had three things they
boasted in. And number one was their physical
pedigree connected them with Abraham. You know, we be Abraham's
seed. Remember in John 8, they said
that, and Christ said, I know you're Abraham's seed physically,
but you're not Abraham's seed spiritually, because you don't
believe the gospel. And if you're a believer today,
you are a spiritual offspring of Abraham. Not because Abraham
is your heavenly father, God is your heavenly father. But
because Abraham was a prime example of how God saved sinners. If
you're a believer, you're saved the same way God saved Abraham.
And so in that sense. So anyway, that's the endless
genealogies. They go on and on. And if you
found out that you were a full-blooded Hebrew, what does that mean?
That's nothing. It has no clout in the kingdom of God, in other
words. And so he says, which minister
questions. In other words, they're things
of curiosity. They don't answer the problem
of how God can be just and justify the ungodly. Don't you want to
know the answer to that? Because that's the heart of the
gospel. How can a just and holy and righteous God save a sinner
like me, be merciful, love me, be gracious to me, and still
be true to himself in justice and righteousness? Because he
has to be. How can he be both a just God
and a savior? Isaiah talked about that in Isaiah
45. I want to know the answer. I
don't want to walk away just being befuddled. or being entertained,
or knowing that I'm somebody's son or daughter or whatever.
I wanna know God. I wanna know Christ. So he says,
but rather than godly edifying, which is in faith. Now godly
edifying. Now every preacher tries to edify
people. What does edify mean? It means
to build up in the faith. Like building a house. But you
gotta build on the right foundation. Remember Christ talked about
that at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, those who build
their house on the sand. When the winds come and the rains
come, it falls and the great is the sound there. But those
who build upon the rock, and you know who the rock is, don't
you? Christ Jesus. My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest
frame. No matter how sweet it sounds,
I dare not trust it. But holy lean on Jesus' name,
on Christ the solid rock I stand. The glory of his person, the
power of his finished work, and all other ground is sinking sand. Understand that. Godly edifying
which is in the faith. But look at this, my goals in
preaching. I learned this early on when
the Lord called me to preach. In my messages, in every message
that I preach, here's what I want to do. Number one, I want to
glorify God. I'm not here to brag on you,
and I'm not here to brag on myself. I'm here to tell you who God
is according to his revelation of himself in his work. I don't
want to lie on God. I don't want to misrepresent
God, the God of this book. but I want to honor him, glorify
him. Secondly, I want to exalt the Lord Jesus Christ. And those
two go together. You can't glorify God without
exalting Christ because in him dwelleth all the fullness of
the Godhead bodily. And then he says you're complete
in him. If I preach anything less than Christ, as God manifest
in the flesh, the revelation of God to his people, and the
completeness that we enjoy in him, then I'm not achieving my
goal here. Exalt Christ in the glory of
his person, in the power of his finished work. I don't want to
misrepresent him. I don't want to lie on him. Third,
I want to see God bring lost sinners to salvation. And for
that reason, what do we do when we preach the gospel? We're seeking
the sheep. We're seeking God's elect. Paul
told Timothy in another passage, that the reason he suffered persecution
over the gospel, he said, I do these things for the elect's
sake. God's got a people out there. You know, when God called
Isaiah to preach in Isaiah chapter six, he said, you go preach. First thing he told him, he said,
but they're not going to hear you. They're not going to listen to you. Boy,
what a great motivation for evangelism. Now I'm gonna hear a word you
say, why preach it then? Glory of God. If nobody here tonight or today
believes it, God's still glorified if I tell the truth. It's my
prayer that you believe. I know if you do, that's a work
of God. Do you know if you're a believer,
you're a walking, talking miracle of God's grace and power? You
can't even say this. You can't say, well, I'm saved
because I made the right decision. And the reason is you wouldn't
have made the right decision except God changed your heart
and your mind and your affections and your will. So understand
that. For by grace are you saved through
faith, that not of yourselves, gift of God, not of works lest
any man should boast. For we are his workmanship created
in Christ Jesus unto good works, not because of. but unto good
works which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
So that's, I wanna see sinners saved. I rejoice when God brings
a sinner to see the truth, turns the light on, gives him or her
eyes to see and ears to hear. And then fourthly, I wanna edify
those whom he has given life and faith in Christ. I want to
encourage God's people. I want God to use the message
that I preach to you to build you up in the faith, not to tear
you down. I'm not here with a black whip
of the law to beat you to death. I'm not going to brag on you,
but I'm going to brag on Christ. And that edifies God's people.
That builds us up. That helps us to grow in grace
and knowledge. That's what we're doing. And,
you know, I heard a preacher say one time, he said that preachers,
we're not called to be keepers of the aquarium, we're called
to be fishers of men. Well, we are called to be fishers
of men. That's evangelism. Go out in all the world and preach
the gospel. That's why we have a TV program. That's why we send
out things on the internet. Somebody told me one time, said,
if you believe in the elect, why don't you just preach to
the elect? Well, you go around and put a mark on them. No, I'll
preach to anybody who'll listen. And I'll tell them anybody who
wants this salvation can and will have it. Because you wouldn't
want it unless God gave you that desire. Christ said, all that
the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to
me I will in no wise cast out. And this is the will of him that
sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing,
but raise it up again at the last day. And how does he do
that? He calls them by the gospel.
He teaches them through the preaching of the word. So yes, we're called
on to be fishers of men, but we're also called on to edify
the people of God. That's keepers of the aquarium,
you might say. And that's what I wanna do. Well,
look at this. Let's go back to verse one. Paul, an apostle of
Jesus Christ, that's a messenger. That's what an apostle was. He
was a special messenger now. There are no apostles today.
There were 12 apostles. I believe Paul was the 12th.
And that be as it may, they're messenger. Well, I'm a messenger
too, but I'm not an apostle. God doesn't use me to set forth
for the first time the revelation of his word like he did Paul.
See, this is the scripture. You know, we have the completed,
inerrant, finalized word of God here. And if I tell you I've
got a message from God or a revelation from God that goes beyond this,
there's the door. You better get out of it. You know, these preachers, they
say, God spoke to me. Told me this, told me, well,
if it's contrary to what God's already said in his word, don't
listen to him. And usually when it says God
spoke to him, it has something to do with you giving money.
You know how they do. God speaks to us through his
word. And if they speak not according to this word, Isaiah said in
Isaiah 820, there's no light in them. So you test the preachers
now. You test me. I don't mind that.
I want you to do that. But test me by the word of God. Don't test me based upon how
I look or how I speak. You know, Paul, apparently Paul
didn't have what preachers call the pulpit presence. He probably
wasn't a golden throat. Because they criticized him.
His messages are heavy and they're hard to understand. The word
of God. is what we feed upon. So here's
the apostle of Jesus Christ, appointed by Christ, by the commandment
of God our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ, our hope. Christ is our
hope. You understand that? Aren't you
glad that you're not your own hope? Christ is our hope. And what is hope there? Hope
is not wishful thinking. Hope is a certain assurance of
blessing and salvation and glory based upon a proper ground, the
ground that has the authority to give you that, and that's
Jesus Christ, the Lord, our righteousness. And so he says in verse two,
unto Timothy, my own son in the faith. Paul looked on Timothy
as being his own son, teaching him. Timothy was a son of God. Paul didn't save Timothy. Paul
didn't give Timothy the blessings and the benefits of salvation.
God did that. But Paul was Timothy's teacher.
And Timothy learned from Paul. Timothy learned the gospel through
his grandmother and his mother, the Bible tells us. And so they
taught him. So ladies, that tells you all
something about how important you are in the lives of your
children and others to teach them the gospel. You're not to
be preachers and have authority in the church. Now I know that's
like slapping them upside the head today, but I'm sorry. That's
what the word of God says, and I'd rather offend you than I
would him. But listen to the word of God and teach it. And ladies, when you have an
opportunity to witness for Christ, take it. You don't have to call
me. And you say, well, I don't know
it well enough. Well, get to know it well enough. All right? So he says, Timothy, my own son
in faith, grace, mercy, and peace, oh my soul. That's salvation.
Grace, God's gift. You don't earn it, you don't
deserve it. Mercy, that's God not giving us what we do deserve.
peace. God reconciled to his people
and his people reconciled to God on what ground? Now there's your key, the blood
of Jesus Christ, the cross, the righteousness of Christ, there's
the ground of reconciliation. And so he says, verse 3, I besought
thee to abide still at Ephesus, that's where Timothy was, Paul
left him there, when I went into Macedonia that thou mightest
charge some that they teach no other doctrine." Now that's what
we're doing. We're teaching doctrine. You
know what doctrine is? It's teaching. It's teaching
truth. There's false doctrine and there's
true doctrine. And you, listen, you know if
you listen to preachers on TV and around town, anywhere, there's
a lot of false doctrine out there. And don't make excuses for it.
We preach the true gospel, the doctrines of the sovereign grace
and mercy of God Almighty, who saves sinners by his grace. The
unconditional election of God. You know that's where God says
his glory resides? That's what he told Moses. He
said, I'll have mercy on whom I will, and I'll be gracious
to whom I will. Therefore, it's not of him that willeth, nor
of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. That's his
sovereignty. And a lot of people don't like
that, oh no. They want to make God putty in their hands. Oh,
like Christ leaning over the banister of heaven just begging
you to accept him. That's not biblical. It may sound
good to the natural man, but it's not biblical. God loved
Jacob and hated Esau. Huh? Somebody says, well, why
would he hate Esau? I can understand that. I can
understand how God could hate me. The question, why does he
love Jacob? Because Jacob didn't deserve
it. If God loves you, you don't deserve that. You don't earn
that. And you may think you're lovable, but you're not in God's
eyes. You might be to your grandkids. You're getting ready to have
some. They'll love you. They'll do what grandpa says. But there's nothing lovable about
us in God's sight. God's holy. Sin is an affront
to God. In fact, the Bible says that
when we were enemies of God in our minds by wicked works, and
that's even our religious works that do not glorify God. Do you
understand that? Religious efforts and religious
works that do not glorify God are evil in the sight of God.
They look good to men. But that which is highly esteemed
among men is an abomination to God. Now this doctrine, this
is what edifies God's people. This is what builds us up. This
is what establishes our hearts with grace. The thing about edification,
the first thing that we need to understand is this. Our hearts must be established
with grace. If it's not, then there's no
building up. It's always tearing down. It
might look like being built up. A person who is being edified
by the law, not godly edified, they may look like they're getting
better in other people's eyes. But in God's sight, if it's not
grace, all they're doing is going down. Dead works, the scripture
calls it. evil deeds. That's why men and
women by nature hate the gospel. It exposes that which they're
proud of and thinks recommends them unto God. It exposes it
as being evil. Now it's not evil because it's
immoral on the side of men. It's evil because it denies the
glory of God. The glory of God is seen in salvation
by grace through Jesus Christ. It denies Christ. Remember Paul
wrote to the Galatians, he said, if you be circumcised, Christ
will profit you nothing. What? Didn't God command the
males in the line of Abraham to be circumcised? Yes, but they
turned it into a work by which they sought to earn God's favor. And that turned something good
into something evil. God commands us to be obedient, but not in order to be saved.
Be obedient because we already are, and that's how we're edified.
The obedience of a true child of God is to be motivated by
what? Grace, love, gratitude, not by
law. Preacher that stands up and tells
you to give, or he's gonna carry it out the back of the church
in a coffin. That's not edification, that's
threats. Threats of punishment, promises
of earned reward, that's mercenary. But we're not mercenaries. We're
not under the law. We're the children of God's grace
in Christ. And everything that I've got
that recommends me unto God, I find complete in Christ. He's
my wisdom. He's my righteousness. He's my
sanctification. He's my redemption. I'll tell you another thing,
these preachers who talk about you earning your rewards in heaven,
that's not edification, folks. The Bible doesn't teach that.
Oh, it teaches reward. But every reward that a believer
has is a reward of grace earned for us by Christ. When the Bible
says that we're blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus, which blessing is excluded there? None. All spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus. All the promises of God in Christ
are yea and in him, amen. Which promise is excluded? Do
you think that because I stand up here and preach the gospel
every Sunday that I'm gonna have a bigger mansion than you in
heaven? Well, I got news for you. That ain't so. We're all equal in the sight
of God in Christ. I made the statement years ago
about the thief on the cross. Do you know the thief on the
cross as just as much in glory as the Apostle Paul has. Now
we by nature don't like that. You know why? Because we by nature
are legalists. And if you're saved by the grace
of God, you know what you are, what I am? We're recovering Pharisees. And it didn't take a 10-step
program. Just took the grace of God to bring us down and make
our headquarters in the dust. Praying, Lord, Lord, be merciful
to me, the sinner. Think about that. Here's that
Pharisee up there listing all that he thought God enabled him.
Do you remember, you realize in Luke 18 there, the first three
words out of the Pharisee's mouth was what? I thank God. He really wasn't taking credit
for himself, but he said, I thank God that I, not like this, not
like that. He was pleading what he thought
God enabled him to do. And then here's this old publican,
this hated, despised publican, And he just simply says, God
be merciful to me, the sinner. Isn't that something? And Christ said he went down
to his house justified, whereas the Pharisee didn't. Understand
that. You see, this is not about glorifying
ourselves. You take like the circumcision.
He said if you be circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing.
What he was telling them is this. If you're circumcised thinking
that that earns you a right relationship with God, Christ will profit
you nothing. That's not what circumcision
was for. Circumcision was a, you know what it was a type of?
The new birth. The cutting away of the filth of the flesh in
the conscience and in the heart. Remember Paul said that in Romans
2, 28, 29. He said, he is not a Jew which is one outwardly,
but he is a Jew which is one inwardly. And circumcision is
that not of the flesh, but of the heart. And what is the heart? It's the mind, the affections,
the will, the conscience, all of that. Well, see, everything
I'm telling you is in line with godly edifying, the grace of
edification to build you up. Look at verse five. He says,
now the end of the commandment is charity. Well, that's the
word of God. The commandment, there's the
word of God. You say, well, it's the law of God. Okay, well, it's
the law. God doesn't make suggestions. You know, what he says is law.
And that's what it is. Somebody said, well, it's the
Ten Commandments. Well, the moral precepts that are uncovered in
the Ten Commandments, that's OK. But it's not the Ten Commandments. It's the Word of God. Whatever
God says is right. And we're responsible to it. But what is the end, the goal,
the purpose of that commandment? It's love. Love God. Perfect. Love your neighbor as
yourself. Love the brethren. That's what Christ said. Believe
in the Son and love the brethren. And boy, aren't we insufficient
in many of those areas. I ride down Dawson Road, and
I see that church had got that big old bulletin board. And they
said, we love Albany. And I always say, no, you don't. I can say I love Christ, honestly,
because that's one of the gifts and graces of the Spirit. I can
say I love my brethren. I don't always love what they
do and how they act, but you don't love me. I'm the same way
now. I'm not just pointing fingers. And I can say I love Christ.
I love his people. But I don't have anything to
brag about. I'm not going to put it on a bulletin board. We love Him because He first
loved us. Herein is love, not that we love
Him, but that He sent His Son to be the propitiation for our
sins. But He says it's at the end of the commandment is charity
out of a pure heart. Now what is a pure heart? When
God saves us, do we still have any sinful thoughts? We sure
do. Do we have any pure thoughts?
Well, we think of Christ. We think of what he's done for
us. You know what a pure heart in the Bible is? It says here,
and of a good conscience and a faith unfain, that's sincere
faith, not false faith. Look over at Hebrews chapter
10 with me. I'll show you what the pure heart,
the good conscience is. And this is so edifying to God's
people. Hebrews chapter 10. Look at this,
this'll help you. Look at verse 18 of Hebrews chapter
10. Now he's talking about the forgiveness
of sins. And that's what remission means,
that word remission. Now where remission, that's the
pardon of iniquity, the forgiveness of sins. Now where remission
of these is, There's no more offering for sin. In other words,
where the forgiveness of sin has been accomplished by the
blood of Christ, that's what he's talking about, there's nothing
else to offer. What would you offer God? The
blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. We don't need
anything else to cleanse us from sin. And in fact, to think that
we need something else is to deny Christ. So he says there's
no more offering for sin. Look at verse 19. Having therefore,
brethren, boldness to enter the holiest. Now what is the holiest? That's the very presence of Almighty
God. And I always tell people, I'm
not just trying to be funny here. Whatever you've been thinking, let's say the last 20 minutes,
would you want me to flash it up on this new TV we're getting?
You say, well, maybe some things, but not all things. Well, you
know, I didn't see what you were thinking, but God did. We're sinners. So how can we
have boldness to stand before a holy God, knowing our frame? God who knows our thoughts, our
motives, our goals, which are not always pure. And that word
boldness means liberty, freedom, free access to God. Now look
at it. Here's where the edification
comes in. Having therefore, brethren, boldness
to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. There's your
freedom. There's your right of access. There's your acceptance with
God. The blood of Jesus Christ. And
that's just another way of saying his righteousness. His righteousness
imputed to me. The Bible says we're accepted
in the beloved. That's Christ. Well, let's go
on, verse 20. By a new and living way, a new
and living way, not an old and dead way. The old and dead way
is works. Thank God I'm not like other
men. The new and living way which he, Christ, hath consecrated
or hath made new. for us as our surety, our substitute,
our Redeemer through the veil, that is to say His flesh, His
body. This is my body which is broken
for you. And verse 21, and having an high
priest over the house of God, Christ is our great high priest,
He's our mediator, He comes in the presence of God for us bearing
His own blood, the blood of the Lamb sprinkled upon the altar,
it says in verse 22, let us draw near with a true heart, that's
a sincere heart, in full assurance of faith, that's the full assurance
that we have looking to Christ as the author and finisher of
our faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience.
An evil conscience is a condemned conscience, an evil conscience
is a legal conscience. How's it sprinkled from that
evil, that condemnation? the application of the blood
of Christ to our conscience. The conscience is the court of
judgment in our hearts. And if it's sprinkled with the
blood of Christ, what does it tell us? And it says, and our
bodies washed with pure water. That's the pure heart. That's
the good conscience. That's the faith unfeigned. Look
at verse six back here in first Timothy, and I'll hurry. He says,
from which some having swerved, Preachers going off on other
avenues, having turned unto vain jangling." You know what vain
jangling is? It doesn't mean they wear spurs.
It means they have worthless talk that doesn't edify, doesn't
build up. Just tears down. Verse seven,
desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what
they say nor where they affirm. When I get back next week, Lord
willing, I'm gonna preach on this, using the law lawfully.
Verse eight, but we know that the law is good if a man use
it lawfully. Well, what is it to use the law
lawfully? Use it to drive sinners to Christ
for salvation, for forgiveness. for righteousness, for all things
that honor and glorify the Lord God. All right.