Paul, when writing to Timothy
in his second epistle, opens his letter in the following fashion. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ
by the will of God, according to the promise of life which
is in Christ Jesus, to Timothy, my dearly beloved son, grace,
mercy and peace from God the Father, Christ Jesus our Lord. To Timothy my dearly beloved
son grace mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus
our Lord. Now this is a common form of
introduction in Paul's epistles to begin with a greeting in which
he wishes upon his hearer grace, mercy and peace from God the
Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. We can read such opening words
and quickly pass by them as though they're just like a greeting.
Just like we might open a letter to someone today with some common
introduction and think little of it. But these are not words to be
rushed past. Indeed, it is a wonderful thing
to begin a letter with such a greeting. There are wonderful riches to
what Paul wishes upon Timothy here. Imagine if Paul wrote to
you, a preacher like Paul, under whom you would receive such blessing
and he wrote to you and he wished you the grace, mercy and peace
that comes from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. What
a thing for somebody to wish for you and to mean it for you. that they should want you to
know the grace of God which brings salvation, that they should want
you to experience the mercy of God, and that they should want
you to know what it is to be at peace with God. That's a wonderful
thing to hear, a wonderful thing to wish, our brethren and sisters. And it's such a shame that in
this modern day and age that we have become so superficial
in how we correspond with one another. So superficial that
to use such phrases are dispensed because of a fear that we would
just be trotting out words. How rarely you find believers
truly wishing one another the grace, mercy and peace that comes
from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. We live in this
computer age of emails and Facebook where everyone approaches one
another in first name terms with a higher how's it going and that's
about as deep as it goes. Well not so with Paul. when Paul
wrote to a fellow believer. He wrote as one who suffered
for the cause of Christ, and he wrote to those whom he knew
were suffering for the cause of Christ, and he wrote full
of love for them as they were his brethren and sisters, sons
and daughters in Christ. He had a deep affection for those
who professed the name of Christ, for those he knew had faith,
for those he knew loved God as he loved God, for those that
he knew were experiencing the reality of the grace of God,
the reality of the power of the Gospel. in delivering them from
the wrath to come. He knew that they had that experience,
that Christ had died for them, that Christ was their Saviour.
He knew that they were wed and united to Christ and he knew
that as a consequence this world hated them. As a consequence
they passed through the valley of affliction. as a consequence
they had all men set against them, religious and irreligious. It's an inevitable consequence
of the gospel that if you profess Christ and are bold to speak
of Christ and to stand for Christ in whatever day and age you live
in, that you will know persecution. whether outward, whether physical,
or whether that sort of persecution which is merely the words, the
opposition, the looks, the hatred, the isolation, the rejection
of others. However it's expressed, if you
know Christ, if you've experienced His grace in the Gospel, then
you will know persecution. And because Paul knew that Timothy
and others knew this pathway, that he shared with them, he
was moved in His bowels to write unto them. He was moved whenever
He corresponded with them to truly wish them the grace of
God, to truly wish them the grace, mercy, and peace of God the Father
and Christ Jesus our Lord. He wanted Timothy to know this,
to know it in his experience. He knew that Timothy would stand
in the day of affliction. He knew that Timothy would stand
as he passed through the fires of the furnace. He knew that
Timothy would be bold in the Lord when Timothy knew grace,
mercy and peace. And today when we speak to our
brothers and sisters in Christ, when we correspond with one another,
we should be mindful that we live in a day, in an evil day,
in a dark day, when this world hates the gospel and hates all
those that stand for the gospel, all those who love Christ, all
those who love his gospel of free and sovereign grace how
greatly the world and religion rages against the truth and all
true brethren who know this gospel and experience this gospel and
stand for this gospel will know affliction, they will know persecution,
they will know loneliness and isolation as the religious who
are religious in form and word only reject their message and
reject their testimony and reject them. they will know isolation,
they will know opposition, they will know that the pathway at
times can be very hard, then how swift we should be, how mindful
we should be when we speak to our brethren to be wishing them
the grace of God, wishing them the mercy of God and wishing
them the peace of God. Just as we long to know God's
grace, mercy and peace in our own lives, so we should long
to see that experienced and known by our brothers and sisters who
suffer as we do. How wonderful it is if some brother
or sister writes to us and meaning it expresses such a wish of us. People can take such phrases
and make them into a form and quote them because they've seen
it in the scripture and write it so superficially and put on
affectations and we know when it's done in that manner and
we know that it's worthless but when a brother writes to us truly
and wishes us the grace, the peace, the mercy of God and we
know that his wish is sincere. What encouragement that is, what
hope that gives us, what a boost that is as we journey on this
pathway. Well that's how Paul opens his
letter here to Timothy because Paul loved Timothy and he knew
the trials that Timothy was experiencing and he knew what lay before Timothy. Timothy was a young man comparison
with Paul and Paul knew the journey, Paul knew what lay before Timothy
as Timothy went forth to preach, this young preacher Timothy,
he knew the opposition Timothy would get and he wanted to strengthen
him and encourage him in the faith. Oh what a blessing and
what blessing there is in this in this phrase, grace mercy and
peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. How that
encompasses the gospel in all its riches and depths in just
a few words. Grace, mercy and peace. There's no reference to works
there, no reference to man there, No reference to what you do for
God there. It's all about what comes from
God, through Christ, under his people. Grace, mercy, and peace. What do you know of grace, mercy,
and peace? Has God the Father through his
Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, made known his grace unto you? Has he made known his mercy unto
you? Has he brought you, a child of
wrath, even as others, once at enmity with God, because of your
sin and your rebellion, and your rejection of him and his son
as he brought you by his gospel through the blood of Christ unto
peace with God. What do you know of it? Grace,
mercy and peace. Grace and mercy are very often
terms used interchangeably and confused. We can speak of receiving the
grace of God, knowing the mercy of God, but they are distinct
in their meanings. And Paul doesn't use them repetitiously
here, but he uses them distinctly. The mercy of God under his people is the sparing of that judgment,
that outpouring of his wrath upon them. because of their sin. You and I stand today before
Almighty God as those who have sinned from the day we were born,
as those who measured up with God's holy law or measured up
to the very character of God in himself, his righteousness. You and I stand before God as
guilty rebels. We were born going astray from
the womb. At the moment of conception,
within our mother's womb, we were in sin. We were full of iniquity. And
the moment we're born, we see in those who are born, even in
the youngest child, we see the rebellious nature. And as we
grow older and grow more capable of expressing that, how that
rebellious nature flows forth, how the lies come, how the covering
up comes, how the deception comes, how the pointing to others comes.
how the going our way and seeking our own glory and the selfishness
comes to the fore what rebels we are we're guilty and the judgment
the wrath of God burns from heaven on high against the guilty it
will be answered It must be met. God is a holy and a just God. He cannot spare that wrath and
judgment. You may speak of salvation. You
may know that in the gospel there is salvation. Many refer to the
Gospel. Many speak of being saved. But that salvation never comes
at the expense of God's justice. God's justice must be met, and
it must be met before a sinner can be saved. He does not forgive
a sinner by turning a blind eye to their sins. Those sins must
be answered. When Paul opens the Gospel in
his epistle to the Romans, speaking of how it is the power of God,
he begins to open it by drawing our attention to the fact that
within the Gospel the righteousness of God is revealed and that the
wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness
and unrighteousness of men. And that's where we stand by
nature under the wrath of God. That's where you stand. And if
you don't know Christ, if you don't today know the grace, the
peace and the mercy of the gospel in Christ, then you stand today
with the wrath of God burning from heaven above against you
and your sins. It's a terrible place to be if
you truly know it. And yet the foolishness of man
is that we're apathetic and blind. We blunder our way through this
life as though that's not true. And as though the sword of God's
justice, the fire of God's justice, the storms of God's justice will
not fall upon us. how casual, how loose, how flippant,
how foolish we carry on, how foolishly we carry on. We skip
as it were along this way carefree as though we can go through all
the days of our life and no harm will come our way and the reality
is as soon as our life draws to a close if we've not experienced
it sooner God's sword of justice will come down upon our head
because we've earned it and we deserve it. But if you know anything of the
mercy of God, if by his gospel God has made known unto you his
mercy, then you will learn that the mercy of God is to be spared
that justice, spared that judgment, spared that condemnation. Mercy is the sparing of judgment. And grace, which flows out of
the mercy of God in the gospel, is the free undeserved favor
and merit of God. The free undeserved blessing
of God unto those that don't deserve it. To know the mercy
of God is to be spared the judgment of God. To know the grace of
God is to receive the wondrous blessings and riches and glory
of the gospel in Christ, despite the fact that we do not deserve
it, despite the fact that our sins deserve the wrath and justice
of God. It's astonishing that any should
receive mercy at God's hands when they so rightly deserve
His justice. It's even more astonishing that
the same people should experience the grace of God, which blesses
them, which gives unto them, which affords unto them riches
and glory that they not only don't deserve, but which is the
very opposite of what they deserve. Mercy is the deliverance from
judgment. Grace is the kindness and blessing
of God shown unto the unworthy, the undeserving. And in the gospel,
the child of God, those brought to know God's grace and favor,
experience not only mercy, but grace. And not only grace, but peace
with a God who was once furious with them because of their sin. Furious. Not only does God have
mercy upon His elect, His chosen people in Christ, sparing them
the judgment to come, but He bestows His grace upon them,
blessing them in spite of what they are, and in spite of what
they have done, pouring out His love upon them. pouring it out,
filling them with riches, granting unto them an eternal inheritance
in Christ, cherishing them with favour. The grace of God is boundless,
you can't measure it. It's astonishing how much God
gives unto his people. Grace. Do you know this grace? This
grace. which flows because of the mercy
of God and brings those who were once rebels into peace with God. And not only brings them to peace
with God, but brings them to know peace with God. Those who once felt their guilt
Those who once felt the warfare, those who once thought that they
were at war with God and once thought that God was angry with
them. Those who so often feel the tumult
within their hearts are brought by the Gospel to know and to
experience peace with Almighty God, peace within. Their guilt
is washed away. Their sins have been laid upon
another and taken out of sight. How can God show grace under
such guilty sinners? How can he bring them to peace
with himself? How can he show them mercy when
their sin stands and needs to be answered? He can through Christ
Jesus our Lord. This grace, mercy and peace come
from God the Father and from Christ Jesus our Lord. It's from
God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. God can show this under
fallen guilty sinners like you and I because of what his Son
has done. How can God show you mercy when
your sin must be answered? He can show it because his son
answered that sin. His son took the judgment of
God against that sin because his son went to where you and
I should go or will go if we know him not. He went to a place
of execution. He went to the place of judgment. He went to the place where the
fire of God's wrath against sin poured down from heaven. He put
his head on the block under the sword, the axe of God's justice. He went in the place of the sinner
and said, slay me not them. He took the cup of God's wrath
that they should drink and He drank it. He suffered. He died the death that they should
die. If you know God's grace, it's
because of Him. It's because of a substitute. It's because of a Saviour who
went forth as a sacrifice for sin. As both a priest and a sacrifice
he went and he offered a sacrifice and that sacrifice was himself. He went as it were as a priest
to the place of execution, to the place of sacrifice, to the
altar and he took the sword of God's justice and drove it into
himself and slew himself and laid down his own life. in the
place of the sinner. If you know God's grace, he went
in your place to the altar of God's justice and slew himself
for you and shed his blood for you and your sins. He took God's
wrath against your sins if he died for you and answered them
to the end, answered them all. He drunk God's cup of wrath against
each and every sin that you've ever committed and ever will
commit throughout all your life. He drunk it to the dregs. That
he might take that punishment that you deserve to suffer and
take it away. That he might take the death
that you deserve to die and take it away that you might live.
He went in the place of his people a substitute. And He did it because
He loved them. He did it because He chose to. He did it in spite of all that
they are and all that they have done and all that they will do.
Before ever many of them were born, before they sinned, before
they did an evil thing or a good thing, before they were ever
in existence, He went to the cross for them and took their
sins and suffered for them. And because he did it, God would
then in time send forth his gospel in power by the Spirit of God
unto them that they might hear of what he's done. Has he told
you? Has he told you of what he's
done? Did he die for you? Did he take
your sin and take it away? Did he suffer the wrath of God
for you? Did he bring mercy? unto you. When he died his blood was shed
and as the priest he took that blood and took it into the mercy
seat in the presence of Almighty God and poured it on the mercy
seat to declare that propitiation had been wrought to declare that
he had drunk the cup of God's wrath, taken the judgment away,
and that this blood propitiates the wrath of God, it brings peace. He poured it upon the mercy seat
to say, show this people mercy for my sake. I've taken their
punishment. I've died that they should live. I've taken their sins away, forgive
them for my sake, for the sake of my blood. wash them in this
blood, show them mercy because of what I've done. Mercy. Did he do this for you? Grace,
mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. The grace of God can only be
shown unto us because of the mercy of God in sparing us his
wrath because of what Christ has done. And that grace will
bring us to peace with God. There's an order to this. But
all is in Christ from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. All this grace, all this mercy,
all this peace is in Christ and in Christ alone. You cannot have
grace, you cannot have mercy, you cannot have peace except
in Christ, not truly. You may speak of peace but there's
no peace outside of Christ. You'll know no true grace, mercy
or peace in this world or the next except you find it in Christ. and you won't find this grace,
this mercy and this peace through anything that you may strive
to do in religion. It's not earned, it's not merited
and it's not claimed. Grace by definition is the undeserved,
unmerited favour of God. It's not earned and it's not
asked for. Christ went to the cross before
you or I were born and what he did at that cross determines
whether you or I will experience his grace, mercy and peace. It's
not contingent on what you do, think or say. This grace, mercy
and peace does not come by the law. It does not come as a consequence
of your works of righteousness or your will or your decision,
it comes from God. Grace, mercy and peace from God
the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. He'll send it to you or
he'll not. He'll send his gospel to you
or he'll pass you by. He'll make known the glories
of his grace unto you, or he'll leave you in the blindness and
foolishness of your natural ways. He'll leave you in the folly
of your sin. and you'll have only yourself
to blame because all your life you've shut your ears to him,
you've shut your ears to the gospel, you've trampled underfoot
the blood of Christ and counted it as a worthless thing. All
your life you've raised against it, you've turned aside from
it, you've shut your ears to it. and despite every opportunity
to go and hear and every opportunity to make a decision to follow
and every opportunity to exercise your will or your efforts and
works in the direction and favor of God, you've used all your
strength, all your ability and all your will to go in the opposite
way. Isn't that the truth? You who
speak of your free will, haven't you chosen each and every day
to go the opposite way? You never chose to bow down to
worship unto God. And if you think you did, you're
kidding yourself. The God you're worshiping is
not this God. Scripture makes it clear that
there is none who are willing, none who are good, none who are
righteous. No, not one. But if we know the grace, mercy,
and peace of God, it will come from God the Father and Christ
Jesus in his gospel. Has it come unto you? Has it? Grace, mercy and peace, grace,
grace, the unmerited favour, blessing, kindness of God. Grace, oh what grace we see recorded
in this passage. What grace we see recorded as
having been bestowed upon Timothy but also upon his family. Paul
goes on in the letter in verse 3 to say, I thank God whom I
serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without
ceasing I have remembrance of thee, Timothy, in my prayers
night and day, greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of
thy tears, that I may be filled with joy. When I call to remembrance
the unfamed faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy
grandmother Lois and thy mother Eunice and I am persuaded that
in thee also. Wherefore I put thee in remembrance
that thou stir up the gift of God which is in thee by the putting
on of my hands. For God hath not given us the
spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Be not thou therefore ashamed
of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but be
thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the
power of God, who have saved us. and called us with an holy
calling not according to our works but according to his own
purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the
world began but is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour
Jesus Christ, who have abolished death, and have brought life
and immortality to light through the Gospel, whereunto I am appointed
a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles. Oh
the grace we see here, and how it underlines just what I've
been speaking of. Paul says unto him I've been
sent a preacher of this gospel, this gospel that declares unto
you the death of our Saviour Jesus Christ who abolished death
and brought life and immortality to life. This gospel by which
God saved us and called us with an holy calling, not according
to our works. but according to His own purpose
and grace. Like I said, this grace, this
salvation won't come through our works or our decision, our
will. It comes by His own purpose and
grace and that own purpose and grace was established which was
determined before the world began. is called us not according to
our works but according to his own purpose and grace which was
given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. than if God
gave you grace before the world began, it owed nothing to your
decision or your works, it was going to come your way in time. You were going to hear the gospel,
you were going to know what Christ did for you, you were going to
know that he died and abolished death and brought life and immortality
to light through that gospel. you were going to hear, you were
going to be called, you were going to believe, you were going
to have faith like Timothy had faith. and rest and trust in
Christ alone for your salvation, and turn from your own works,
and turn from resting and hoping in your own glory, your own righteousness,
your own works, your own decision, you're gonna turn from all that,
knowing that all of that was filthy rags in God's eyes. If you hear this gospel, if God's
determined that he will save you, then you will turn from
all of that, and rest by faith. in Christ alone and in His grace,
His mercy and His peace. Here we see an account of that
gospel and that grace and that glory which was bestowed on Timothy. And we see the extent of that
grace. That not only did God make known
that grace, that gospel, that salvation to Timothy, but he'd
also made it known unto Timothy's mother Eunice and unto her mother
Lois. Lois thy grandmother, Eunice
thy mother and I am persuaded that this faith is in thee also
as it is in them. What grace that God should save
not just one generation in this household but three generations
grandmother, mother and son. What grace shown unto this family
and we know not who else in this household might have been saved.
God favoured them. Sometimes it isn't so. Sometimes
God takes one person from a house and they know the opposition
and hatred of their kin by nature. Sometimes they're alone and they
know the afflictions of being the only one brought to faith
in that house. But sometimes God's grace is
so unabounded that he takes a whole household and saves them. We
see this at times in the New Testament, at this time when
the Gospel went forth in such power. When at Pentecost 3,000
believed in one day, we see records in the Scriptures in the acts
of different people and different ones. And how many are saved. What should we do to be saved? apostles are asked, believe in
the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and all thy house. Some of these verses are used
by those who would defend infant baptism and the claim that whole
households can be saved as it were or favoured through the
faith of just one. But the reality is that so often
when God's Gospel enters a household, the testimony and the power of
the Gospel seen in the one will have an influence upon the others.
And Paul would make it known that if you believe, if your
mother believes, if your grandmother believes, if your sons believe,
if your sisters and brothers believe, if you all believe,
you'll all know this salvation. And here is a house, Timothy's
house, where many believed. Oh, the favor of God, that he
should save the grandmother, the mother, and the son, and
send forth this son to preach his everlasting gospel. The mercy,
the favor, the grace of God. Free people here. In a passage, which begins, as
we've said, with three words, grace, mercy, and peace. A nice symmetry. That there was
grace, shown to Lois. There was mercy, shown to Eunice.
There was peace, known by Timothy. There was grace, shown to Eunice.
There was peace, known by Eunice. There was grace known by Timothy,
there was peace known by Timothy, there was mercy known by Timothy.
They all three knew all three realities of the effects of this
Gospel. All three which flowed down from
a triune God. Father and Son who sent forth
the Gospel by the Spirit. that these three should hear
and believe. Oh, the extent of God's grace
we see here. Has that grace reached out unto
you? Do you know it? Do you know the
mercy of God to be spared the judgment as Noah did? That great picture of the mercy
of God, of the pouring out of God's judgment upon a wicked
world. Nowhere in his house, sheltered
in the ark, that type of Christ, that picture of Christ, was spared
the outpouring of God's wrath. Oh the mercy of God unto that
people. Do you know that mercy? Has God
spared you the judgment by pouring it out upon his son? Do you deserve
it not? As a consequence has he made
his grace known unto you. Though so undeserving. Oh the
characters we read of in scripture that illustrate this work of
God in the gospel. We see the mercy of God shown
unto Noah in delivering him from the judgment. We read of Jacob,
we read of Jacob and Esau in Romans 9 that God chose Jacob
before he was ever born. And yet when we read the life
of Jacob, what a schemer, what a deceiver Jacob was. How undeserving of the favour
or merit of God he was. How he deserved God's wrath and
judgement, just like Esau. How much sin we see in Jacob,
yet God chose him in spite of what he was and what he did.
In spite of it, God would save him. Are you at all like Jacob? Can you relate to him? Do you know in your heart that
like Jacob you've lied and you've cheated and you've tried to gain
things in this world at another's expense? Do your ways fill you with guilt
and shame? Then if you hear and know the
gospel does it fill you with wonder? and thankfulness and
awe that God should show favour unto you. Does it amaze you that
God saved Jacob despite all that he did? Does it amaze you that
he should show grace unto you despite all that you have done?
and all that you are and all that you continue to be because
you know you're wretched and you know you have the flesh and
you know you continue to be wretched oh believer do you know that
you are wretched within do you see the disgusting vileness of
your flesh and wonder that God puts up with you and wonder at
the long-suffering grace and love of God that every day, despite
your unthankfulness, despite your ingratitude, despite your
complaining, despite your doubts and fears, despite your fallings
and stumblings, despite your indulging in sin, despite your
rebellious heart against God, every day He pours out more grace
upon you. Every day he suffers you, every
day he perseveres, every day he protects you, every day he
provides for you, every day he hedges you about, every day despite
what you do and are before him, he puts his arms of love around
you and cherishes you. and says you're mine, my son
has bought you. God says unto you, the father
says unto you, my son has bought you with his life. He laid it
down, he paid with his life. You're mine, no matter what. Does he say that unto you? Does
he? It's undeserved disgrace. who have saved us and called
us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according
to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ
Jesus before the world began. It's given. It's a gift. He gave this to us. He purposed to save His own. He would do. And He did it. through the death of his son.
When Christ laid down his life in the place of his people, he
abolished death. He not only died, he not only
suffered death for them, but for them he abolished it. He
took it and took it away. They will never die. Oh, we as
believers may pass from this world to the next, but we will
never die. We will experience fleshly death
in this world as we enter eternity, but we'll never enter into that
eternal second death. We'll never enter into hell. We'll never enter into the torments
of hellfire to come. We'll never be separated from
God. If we're in Christ, we'll always
be one with him because Christ have brought life. and immortality
to light through his gospel. He's brought life and immortality
to light through the gospel. And that brings peace. That brings peace. Has he taken away death for you?
Has he taken away the cause of death? Your sin and the law's
condemnation of it? Has he taken away the wrath and
the judgment? Has he brought in everlasting
righteousness for you? Has he brought everlasting life
unto you? He brought life and immortality
to light through the gospel. Is that yours by the grace and
mercy of God? If it is, then you will know. what it is to be at peace with
Almighty God. What it is to have all that burden
of guilt which so weighed you down and so separated you and
made such a gulf between you and your Maker. You will know
what it is to have all that burden of guilt taken away and to feel
and to know that all is well with your soul. All is well. You are at peace with God. The
blood of Christ has brought you nigh and made peace. Made peace. What sort of a peace is this? It's a peace that brings a believer
through a pathway in this world full of affliction unto their
God, and enables them to stand in an evil day, knowing that
all is well, knowing that the enemy can do nothing against
them, knowing that their enemies cannot destroy them, because
Christ has destroyed them all. knowing that whatever men may
bring, whatever men may say unto them, whatever men may do unto
them, that they are one with Christ, at peace with God, that
they have everlasting life, that there is no torment, no persecution,
no affliction, which can ultimately bring them any everlasting harm,
however hard the way, however difficult it may be however much
their flesh their flesh may cast them down and their flesh may
war with the spirit within and the flesh might cause them to
doubt or the fear ultimately they know in the spirit within,
that they are at peace with God and no harm can come their way. And when God shows them that,
when God makes known that unto you, when you know that, when
you know that all is well because you are in Christ, washed by
his blood, knowing his mercy, having experienced his grace
and being brought to peace with God, when you know that as a
reality, because the Spirit makes it known unto your spirit, the
Spirit witnesses with your spirit. When you know that, then even
in the hardest of hours, when everything is crumbling, when
everyone is raging against you, when everything seems so hard,
you can look up by faith unto a Saviour that stands on the
right hand of God and rejoice that He has brought in the victory. You can look up and rejoice. because there was one who stands
with four wounds in his feet and his hands and a wound in
his side who was wounded to heal you from your sins. there was
one who was wounded that he should heal. And you may feel the wounding
at times. When the gospel comes in power,
you may feel yourself crushed down, knowing the guilt of your
sin, knowing that you're a sinner, knowing that God's wrath burns
against sinners, and you may feel wounded at first. but the
gospel will lift you up again because it will take you to the
cross, take you to the blood, take you to the sacrifice, take
you to the mercy seat, take you to the holy of holies and lead
you by faith into the very presence of God and to his son and say
he was wounded for your transgressions, he was wounded to heal you, and
you may feel wounded at times but I've wounded you by my law,
by my gospel, by my truth that I should heal you. I've wounded
to heal, I've cast down to build up again, I've humbled you that
I should exalt you in Christ and that all glory might be unto
him who has died to save you. Has He done that to you? In the
midst of affliction, can you look up by faith and see your
Saviour with those wounds which cry out throughout all time and
eternity, It is finished! I have abolished death and brought
life and immortality to light through the Gospel. It is finished! And does that Saviour pray unto
the Father as Paul prayed and Paul wished for Timothy that
grace, mercy and peace might be yours? Oh, if it be God's
will, may you, like Timothy, like Paul, may you know grace,
mercy and peace from God the Father, and Christ Jesus our
Lord. Amen.