1 Timothy chapter 1. I give much thought to this day,
this time. This is my first message to you
as your pastor. I've preached numerous times
here before, but not as your pastor, and I'm very humble.
I've prayed much about it, and I ask for your prayers. Sincerely. I'm not just saying that. I feel the need for your prayers
on my behalf. I want my message that I preached
from this place this morning and however long and often as
God has pleased to allow me to stand here as your pastor. I
want my message to be the same as that of the man that we just
We just read up in chapter 1 of 1 Timothy, writing to his beloved
Timothy, his son in the faith. In verse 11 is our text. It says,
according to the glorious gospel, the glorious gospel of the blessed
God. It'll be our delight this morning
if God enables us to consider what makes the gospel glorious. I want to preach that same message
that Paul preached, not another, because what he preached He tells
us in Galatians chapter 1, he received it not of man, neither
was he taught it of man, but through the revelation of Jesus
Christ himself. And I want that message, the
message of the glorious gospel of the blessed God to consume
me like it consumed the Apostle Paul. And Carlos, that's not
too strong a word. The message of the gospel consumed
the Apostle Paul. Turn, if you will, to Acts. We'll
come back to our text, but turn, if you will, as an example of
that, to Acts chapter 20. Paul is on his way to Jerusalem. Perhaps for the last time, because
we know once he gets there he's arrested and perhaps was never
released after that until he faced martyrdom. But in Acts
chapter 20, he's on his way to Jerusalem and he calls for the
elders of the church at Ephesus. They meet on a little isle called
Miletus, verse 17 of Acts 20. And from Miletus he's sent to
Ephesus and called the elders of the church. And when they
were come to him, he said unto them, Ye know from the first
day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with
you at all seasons, serving the Lord with all humility of mind
and with many tears and temptations, Paul was just a man. That's why
we need your prayers, which befell me by the lying in wait of the
Jews. And how I kept back nothing that
was profitable unto you, but have showed you, and have taught
you publicly, and from house to house, testifying both to
the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith
toward our Lord Jesus Christ. And now behold, I go bound in
the Spirit unto Jerusalem. not knowing the things that shall
befall me there. I can't give you the particulars,"
Paul says. I can't give you the details,
but he says, I know this much, verse 23, say that the Holy Ghost
witnesses in every city saying that bonds and afflictions abide
me. Now I drove here this morning
and I didn't have any fear of that waiting for me. I looked
forward to seeing you. I looked forward to being with
you. I looked forward with worshipping our great God with you. I wasn't
fearful that I would stand here and have any threat of being
molested or being harmed or being arrested, but Paul did. In his
day, everywhere he preached, there was either a revival or
there was a riot. And he says, afflictions and
bonds abide me. They're just waiting for me.
And I've come to expect it, Paul said. Oh, but look what he says
in verse 24. He says, but, but, none of these
things move me. You see why I say being consumed
with the gospel of God's grace is not an exaggeration? But none
of these things move me, Paul said. Neither can I my life dear
unto myself. What's so motivated, Paul? What
was there that was such a driving force in his life that would
so motivate him to give up everything, to sacrifice everything, to endure
all these bonds and afflictions over and over and over again?
What was it that so motivated the Apostle Paul? He says, so
that I might, again, verse 24, finish my course with joy and
the ministry. The ministry, here is how important
it is, which I have received of who? The Lord Jesus. And what was that ministry? What
was that course that He was determined to follow? To testify the gospel
of the grace of God. That was it. That was the course. That was the race to testify
the gospel of the grace of God. Did the apostle stay the course? Did he finish that course? Turn,
if you will, again to 2 Timothy. 2 Timothy, just briefly, chapter
4. Paul is in prison now. Oh, if
this was a picture, if this was a portrait, oh, what strokes
of the brush of loneliness do we see running through this epistle?
Chapter 4 of 2 Timothy. He speaks of being alone. He
speaks of being forsaken. Look, if you will, at verse 10.
He says, Demas had forsaken me. Wasn't he with Paul on some of
his missionary journeys? Oh yeah, but here at the last?
He's forsaken him, having loved this present world, and has departed
into Thessalonica, Gressens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia,
verse 16. At my first answer, at my first
answer to before Nero, at my first answer, no man stood with
me. Nobody wanted to be identified
with me. Nobody wanted to say they knew
me. But all men, Paul says, forsook
me. I pray God that it might not
be laid to their charge, notwithstanding. Oh bless God, notwithstanding
the Lord stood with me, as he not promised each of his own,
I will never leave you, I will never forsake you, no matter
what you pass through. No matter how high the waves,
no matter how deep the valley, I will never leave you, I will
never forsake you, notwithstanding the Lord stood with me." Oh,
but more than this, We see in this epistle the last words of
the great apostle that the glorious gospel, the flame of the glorious
gospel of the blessed God is still burning bright in the old
soldier's heart. Look at verse 1 of chapter 4.
I charge thee therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ
who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and
his kingdom. Timothy, these are Paul's last
words. He's not wasting time now, is
he? And of course, he writes under
the divine inspiration. And his last instruction, his
last exhortation to his beloved son in the faith, Timothy, was
this. Preach the Word. Preach the Word. Nothing else. Nothing else. Is that all? What about counseling? He doesn't mention that. What
about government? He doesn't mention that. What
about politics? He doesn't mention that. He says,
Timothy, preach the Word. That's what God's called you
to do. Don't be distracted by anything
else. Don't turn aside to anything
else. Be instant in season and out
of season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort with
all longsuffering and doctrine. Timothy, preach the word. By God's grace, by God's grace,
I want to spend the rest of my life here among you preaching
and testifying the glorious gospel of the blessed God. And I tell
you now, I tell you up front, as the first message as your
pastor, I'm not going to preach anything else. Nothing else,
Lord. Nothing else. Now let's turn
back to chapter 1 of 1 Timothy and look again at our text, verse
11. The glorious gospel of the blessed
God. Or it could have just as well
been translated, the gospel of the glory of God. That's enough
to occupy our time here this morning. It occupied the lifetime
of the man who wrote these words. As a matter of fact, one day
he landed on the shores of a country where it was just philosophy
and worldly wisdom. I mean, the city just abounded
with it. They were engulfed with it, and
they were proud of it. Oh, worldly wisdom and philosophy
and all these things, and Paul took it all in. And he looked
around, and you know what he did? He said, I'm not influenced
by it. It doesn't mean anything. Because
compared to the message of the glorious gospel of the blessed
God, He said, I'm determined to know nothing. Even here, among
all this worldly wisdom and this philosophy of man, I'm determined
to know nothing save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Oh, the glorious
gospel. Good news. You know the meaning
of the word? Good news, glad tidings. This is what the angels proclaimed
that night. There is born to you this night
in the city of David, what? Who? A Savior, Louie, a Savior. Not a wannabe Savior, not a tried-to-be
Savior, but there is born to you this very night in the City
of David, just as prophesied, where He would be born a Savior. That's why we want you to call
His name Jesus, because He shall. I love the shalls of Scriptures,
don't you? He shall. Oh, believer in Christ,
He shall save His people. all of his people from all of
their sins. Why? Because he's mighty the
same, and he's able to say to the uttermost, and he's the same
yesterday, and today, and forever, and he's still in our religious
day. able to save unto the uttermost
all that come unto God by Him. That's the message. And that's
why Paul calls it a glorious message, a glorious gospel, because
it concerns him. Is there any better news? Is
there any better news not to needy sinners? Not to needy sinners. Not to those who feel their need. Oh, now that Pharisee, He obviously
never felt his need. If he had, he would have never
stood and prayed thus with himself in the presence of God, boasting
of all that he did, all that he sacrificed, all that he was. He never felt his need. And he
went out of the temple the same way that he went in, clothed
in self-righteousness, but an alien from God. Oh, but there's
another there. There's another there. Oh, here's
a needy sinner. Here's a man that felt his need,
and he was glad to hear the good news that Christ saved sinners. He stands, and he's not like
the Pharisee at all. He won't even lift his eyes toward
heaven, but he just bows his head and smites on his breast
and cries, God be merciful to me, thee, sinner. I'm the sinner and I need your
mercy. And you remember what the king
of heaven said? You remember what the mediator
said? You remember he who is the propitiation
for the sins of his people said? He said, I tell you that this
man goes home justified. Do you know what that means?
That means not guilty. Now that's good news, Lord. No
wonder Paul called it the glorious gospel of the blessed God. First, it's glorious as to its
source of the blessed God, the triune God, Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit. It's the proclamation of how
God saves sinners. Turn, if you will, to Romans
chapter 1. Here you have, in a nutshell, The definition of
the gospel of the blessed God, what it's about, who it's concerned
with, what the message is all about. In verse 1 of Romans
1, Paul said, A servant of Jesus Christ called to be an apostle. separated under what? The gospel
of God, which he had promised the four by his prophets in the
Holy Scriptures. And what's the gospel about?
Verse three, concerning his son, Jesus Christ our Lord. That's what it's about. That's
the message of the gospel. You can't preach the gospel and
not preach Christ. Christ is the gospel. The message
of the gospel concerns his son. And Paul says in 1 Corinthians
15, I declare unto you the gospel. how that Christ died for our
sins according to the Scriptures, and how that He was buried, and
how that He rose again according to the Scriptures. Oh, concerning
His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of
David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of
God with power according to the Spirit of holiness by the resurrection
of the dead. All this glorious gospel is of
divine origin. It came from the mind of God. It's worthy of God. Only He could
conceive of it. Because the gospel message tells
how God can be just and yet justify ungodly sinners. Men can't answer
that. In answer to the question, in
view of what I am by nature, in view of me being nothing but
sin, and God being nothing but holiness, how can that God have
anything to do with this man other than in a way of wrath
alone? How can I be just with him? The only reason people think
that's easy in our day is because they don't know what they are.
They say, oh, I'm a pretty good fella. I'm not so bad. I'm a pretty good moral man.
I'm a good father. I'm a good provider, or thus
and thus. They've never been made aware
that the problem is not just what they do, it's what they
are inside. That's the problem. The issue
is the heart. Man needs a new heart, and he
can't give it to himself. Oh no, that requires the touch
of the great physician. That requires him, in his glorious
majesty, in his condescending grace, to come to where we are,
like he did the leper who cried from his heart of hearts, if
you will, it's not up to my will. Oh no, it's up to your will. Whether I'm clean or not doesn't
depend upon my will. It's up to His will. It's not
of Him that willeth. That's the message of the gospel.
The good news lies here. It's not of Him that willeth
or of Him that runneth, but of God that shows mercy and declares
our will and He touches vile sinners and their mate. They're
made clean, accepted and beloved. All the old hymn writers said,
first he sees Jesus and then he sees me, accepted and beloved
forever, forever and free. Yes, the gospel message alone
answers the question, how can I be just with God? Oh, only
by the death of the Lord Jesus Christ can God now be just, Paul
says in Romans 3, and justify the ungodly. I don't know how
often I heard old Scott Richardson say, before God could do anything
for you, before God could do anything for a sinner, he must
do something for himself. He must remain just. When he saves a sinner, he must
remain just. He justifiably justifies the
sinner. Why? Because His justice was
satisfied by the life and death of Jesus Christ, so that now
when God saves a sinner, He does it without any abridgment of
His holy law. Oh no, when He saves us, He saves
us in absolute justice. because justice was satisfied. The hymn writer put it this way,
all the love that drew salvation's plan, all the grace that brought
it down to man, all the mighty gulf that God did span at Calvary,
Only there, as the psalmist said, can mercy and truth meet together,
and righteousness and peace kiss each other, and God and man be
reconciled through the mediator, Lord Jesus Christ. That's the message of the glorious
gospel of the blessed God. And isn't that good news? How
can a man be just with God? I have people tell me from time
to time, I invite them to hear the gospel, and they say, oh,
I don't want to go to that little old stuffy church, you know,
I'm just too liberal-minded for such a thing. He said, I'll worship
God out on the lake while I'm fishing. Or I worship God in
the mountains when I'm trying to track a deer. I worship God
in nature. No, you don't either. No, you
don't. You deceive yourself if you think
you do. You can stand and stare up in
the sky all night long. Last night, after dark, I went
out on the dock. at Pat and Terry's place, sat
there on the dock next to the water, listened to the fish jump
and so forth, looked up at the stars. And I thought, you know
what? A man could sit here all night
and all day and stare out at God's creation, but the question
of how can I be just with God would never be answered by nature. Never, or only at the cross,
only at the cross can the answer to the question be given, how
can man be just with God? Through and because and by and
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul said there was a time, there
was a time, Paul said, I trusted my pedigree and it was It was
impressive. I was a Pharisee of Pharisees. I was a Hebrew of Hebrews. I was the strictest sect of the
Pharisees. Oh, but he said something happened. I saw those things in another
light. I saw them for what they really
were. God turned the light on. And
those things I once trusted in, those things, what I was and
what I was doing that I thought recommended me to God, I saw
them in the light of God's holiness as filthy rags. And I counted
them but done. What does that leave you with,
Paul? What do you have now? I mean, if you're no longer a
Pharisee, if you no longer trust your heritage and your birth
and your works and your tradition, what does that leave you with?
If that's all done, what do you have? To recommend you before
a holy God. You know what Paul said, don't
you? He said, in that day, in that
day, Carlos, in that day, when you and I and every one of us
come face to face with the Holy God, not God like men imagine
Him to be, not this pygmy that's talked about today, not that
imposter, but the very God of the universe, and I'll stand
before Him, what will be my grounds of acceptance? Will I have a
foundation? Paul said, in that day, Lord,
I want to be found in him, wrapped up, clothed in his righteousness,
like a garment covering me from head to foot, wrapped up in his
righteousness. And God looks at me in the same
acceptance as he looks at his son in the beloved. accepted and free. And I'll tell you what, that
feels good. Doesn't it, Lester? That feels
good. All with His holy garments on. Did the hymn writer go too far? Did he say too much? I mean,
should he have stopped just a little bit short? No, no. Because what he said was exactly
what Paul said in Philippians 3. Exactly what the scripture
says concerning us being in Christ. With his holy garments on, I'm
as holy as God's own son. And that feels so good. You know
what? I think I can go home and lay
down and sleep easy. Easy, because I'm at peace with
God. He's my peace. I was once afar
off, and now I've been brought nigh. How? By the blood, the
precious blood, the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh yes, this glorious gospel
is of divine origin. And it's glorious as to its message
as well, is it not? We've jumped ahead of ourselves,
so we'll be brief. But it's glorious as to its message,
because it declares, it alone declares how God saves sinners. It's the only message, brothers
and sisters, that gives any hope to needy sinners. Nothing else
does. Nothing else does. This is a
faithful saying we read, and worthy of all acceptation, that
Christ came into the world to do what? To save. To do everything necessary to
save His people to the very uttermost. to call them out of darkness,
to give them life. You say they must believe, but
they're dead. How does a dead man believe,
Lonnie? Oh, Jesus Christ comes just as
He went to the tomb of Lazarus and He speaks. He who is the
resurrection and the life speaks. And when He speaks, power goes
forth. Live and bless God we live. Something has changed. What's
the matter with me, I thought? I never felt like this before.
Am I losing my mind? For the first time in my life,
I realized I'm lost. I'm lost. It dawned on me for
the first time, there's a God and I'm lost. And when this brief
existence is over, I've got to stand before Him. What am I going
to do? What am I going to do? And man,
I shunned my old friends. I shunned them. I didn't want
to be around them, Louie. I thought all I could think of
day and night, I'm lost. I'm lost. I'd lay down at night
and try to sleep, and that word just shattered in my mind, I'm
lost. I'm lost. And I went to my grandmother. She professed to be a Christian
mother. Grandmother, what can I do? Get a haircut. I was a
hippie and she said, get your haircut and get you a Bible and
go to the altar and pray for three. And I tried that and I
was still lost. And I went to church and they
said, come up here and repeat after me. And I went up there
and I repeated after them and I was still lost. And I thought,
my soul, is there no hope for me? Is there no hope for this
sinner? Have I crossed the line? Have
I gone too far? Will God not save me? Will he not have mercy on this
sinner? Oh, bless God. He saves to the
uttermost because he brought me to the place where I fell
down before him, having nothing and being nothing and able to
do nothing, just a heap of nothingness. And I said, Lord, if you will,
You can make me clean. Have mercy on this sinner." And
lo and behold, lo and behold, glorious day, glorious Savior,
He touched me and He made me whole. How can I get over that? How can I get over that? Newton's
got nothing on me. He beat me to writing to him,
but he expresses my biography exactly as his own when he said,
amazing grace. How sweet to sound, Carlos. God
help me never to get over that. Oh, the message of the gospel
of the glory of God is the only message that gives hope to needy
sinners. The only message, all brothers
and sisters in Christ, may God give us grace to sound it forth
from this place. Many, many years ago, in the
1500s, there was a man by the name of William Tyndale. I don't
know that you ever heard of him. But he spent 25 to 30 years of
his life in hiding, being persecuted, being hounded, finally betrayed
by one he thought that was his friend. And you know that man
spent the last, imagine this, Meredith, he spent the last 22
years of his life without a home. Without a home. without the comforts
of a home, running and hiding from King, from Pope. You know why? You know why they
were wanting to kill him? You know why he spent his life
like that? Because he was attempting to
translate the scriptures into the English language. That's
why. And you know that that Bible,
That precious Word of God that you hold in your lap this morning
was the very Word that was used to give us the King James Version. That Word that that poor man
spent his life translating. Until that day, they strapped
him to a stake and burned him alive because he would not deny
salvation by grace alone. He would not admit the man's
so-called free will. He would not admit to salvation
by works, but by grace alone. And they burnt him at the stake
for the glorious gospel of the blessed God. And then it's glorious
to as to its results, is it not? You remember what Paul wrote
in Romans chapter one. Turn there if you will. We read
the verse, several verses a moment ago, but look what Paul says.
Now remember, Rome was the very center of power at that time. And Paul says in Romans chapter
one, verse 15, he says, so as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel
to you that are at Rome also. Rome, Paul? Now, wait a minute. Are you sure you want to go to
the Rome? I mean, that heathen place? That wicked place? Are you sure
about this? Look what he says in verse 16. For I am not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ. For it is the power of God. The
word is the same word from which we get our word, dynamite. It
is the power of God in the salvation. To everyone that believeth, God
help me to believe that. To the Jew first and also to
the Greek. No wonder our Lord said, go into
all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. It's the power. It's the dynamite
of God. It's the means that God is praised
to use to raise dead sinners to life. That's right. Isn't
that what Peter said? He said, being born again, not
of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible. And what is that? By the word
of God that liveth and abideth forever. A fellow at work the
other day told me that he felt that the church needed to adapt
to the times. They needed to change their message
and their methods in order to meet people where they're at. Oh, no. Oh, no. Many churches
do that, but oh, no. No, the gospel is the means that
God is pleased to use. Turn, if you will, to 1 Corinthians
1. 1 Corinthians chapter 1. A portion of this, one of these
verses is on the front of your bulletin. But in 1 Corinthians
chapter 1, Paul writes this concerning the gospel of the grace of God,
the importance of it, why to preach it. In 1 Corinthians 1
verse 17, Paul writes and says, For Christ sent me not to baptize,
but to what? Preach the gospel. not with wisdom
of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.
For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness,
but unto us which are saved, or which are being saved, it
is the power of God. It's the power of God. On one
occasion when David found himself without a weapon being pursued
by Saul, he asked the priest, do you not have a weapon here?
I need something to help protect myself. Is there not a weapon
here? And he replied, there's nothing
here but the sword of Goliath. And you remember what David said?
Give it to me. Give me that sword because there's
none like it. And concerning the gospel of
the blessed God, concerning the glorious gospel that proclaims
that God saves sinners by grace alone, through faith alone, in
Christ alone, it's like a sword. There's nothing like it. It pleased
God through the foolishness of preaching to save those that
believe. To save, Paul says. To save. Not try to save, not offer to
save, but to actually save. Remember what our God said in
Isaiah 15? As the rain comes down from heaven,
and waters that were to ascend it, it doesn't return unto me
void. It's not useless. It does just
exactly what I purposed. He said, so is my word. I send
it forth and it'll not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish. We run across that word a lot
in scripture, don't we? It shall accomplish whereunto
I send it. It shall accomplish my purpose. Ezekiel prophesied of these dead,
dry bones. Ezekiel went to the valley, and
he said, I saw the bones, and there were very many, and they
were very dry. Very dry. And God said, Ezekiel,
can these bones live? And Ezekiel said, Lord, thou
knowest. And he said, Ezekiel, prophesy to the bones. What? What? Prophesy to the bums? Yeah, prophesy to the bums. Why? Because God says so. Preach the
gospel. Why? Because it pleases God,
but that means to save those that believe. And Ezekiel prophesied. Ezekiel acts just not logical.
It's not practical. And it just doesn't fit into
my theology. Prophesy. And he said, I heard
a rattling. And the bones begin to come together.
And they stood up a mighty army. And they lived. Why? Because the gospel of God is
the power of God unto salvation. That's why. And last of all,
brothers and sisters in Christ, How blessed, and God helped me
to feel it most of all, how blessed we are to have this place, to
come together, and to proclaim from this place the glorious
gospel of the blessed God every time we meet. And let me ask
you this question in closing. Is this gospel glorious to you? Is it glorious to you? Have you
experienced the grace of God proclaimed in the glorious message
of the blessed God? Have you experienced it? Peter
wrote and said, make your calling and election sure. You say, well,
I thought election came first. Peter says, calling first. We
can only know our election by knowing our calling, by being
called. Once I'm called, I know I was
elected to be. I know I was chosen in the end
before the world began. But I can't know that until I'm
called. Looking at a pile of money. won't
make me rich. Several years ago, I went and
preached to a group of people in Ohio, just on the outskirts
of Cincinnati. And they met in the basement
of a bank. And I asked the fellow, I said,
we're actually under the bank? He said, yeah. I said, all that
money is just above my head. He said, yeah, no telling how
much money is in this bank. But you know what? It didn't
make me any richer. It didn't make me any richer.
I mean, I preached there with all that money over my head,
but when I left, I was just as broke as when I went in. Oh,
no. Knowing doctrine, even correct
doctrine, even true doctrine, doesn't save me. Knowing Him
saves me. Salvation is in a person. Don't ever forget that. I can't
be saved until I know Him. Until, like Simeon, By the arms
of faith, I take Him and I embrace Him, and then I can say, I'm
ready to die, because I've seen Thy salvation. And it's a person,
the glorious person, that unique God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ. Have you experienced the grace
that only comes through and by Him? Oh, thank God for the glorious
gospel, the good news of the blessed God. Judy Estes used
to sing this hymn. She finally recorded it after
I hounded her about it for years. Deeper than the stain has gone. She sang it for the last time
on October the 2nd. 2005 on a Sunday night. She was sick because she's still
dying of cancer, but she sang it. And then just a month or
so after that, she went home to behold the one that she sang
about. The last verse of that hymn says,
when with holy choirs were standing in the presence of the King,
and our souls are lost in wonder while the white-robed choirs
sing. Then we'll praise the name of
Jesus with the millions round the throne. Praise Him for the
power that reaches deeper than the stain is gone. Praise the
Lord for full salvation. God still reigns upon His throne. And I know, I know the blood
still reaches. deeper than this thing has gone. Praise the Lord for full salvation. Let's do that now. Let's do that
now. Let's sing the hymn to God be the glory.