Lord, I... Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nyberg. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
9.45 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com.
Now here's our pastor, Todd Nybert. I've entitled this message, Paul's
Four Faithful Sayings. He said in 1 Timothy 1.15, this
is a faithful saying. He said in 1 Timothy 4.9, this
is a faithful saying, worthy of all acceptation. He said in
2 Timothy 2, verse 11, it is a faithful saying. And in Titus
3, verse 8, this is a faithful saying. Now in Paul's what are known
as the Pastoral Epistles, spoken to Timothy and Titus, he makes
four faithful sayings. What is a saying? It is a sentence
that often imparts wisdom and good advice. It's something that
is repeated over and over. You know the saying, something
that is repeated over and over. Here's a saying, charity begins
at home. I'm sure you've heard that saying,
and in that saying, we have some sound advice. If my charity doesn't
begin at home, all my other charity isn't real. It begins in your
home. Now evidently these sayings that
he gives us had reached a status of sayings in the early church,
things that were often repeated. Now there are sayings that are
false sayings. For instance, perhaps you've
heard Cleanliness is next to godliness. That's been a often
repeated saying, and it's just not so. It is a false statement. Cleanliness has nothing to do
with godliness, but yet it has reached the status of a saying. Now, Paul's four faithful sayings. And here's the first, found in
1 Timothy 1, verse 15. And if I had a favorite scripture,
this might be the one. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners, of whom I am chief, Paul says. This is a faithful saying. You can completely rely upon
this saying. And it's worthy of all acceptation. Everyone should receive this
as the best news they've ever heard. You and I should receive
this as the best news we've ever heard. And here it is. Christ
Jesus came into the world. to save sinners. Paul says, of whom I am chief. Notice he didn't say of whom
I used to be chief before God saved me. But he says right now,
present tense, of whom I am chief, Christ. Now, this is the New
Testament word for the Old Testament word, the Messiah, God's anointed. Christ is God's Messiah, God's
anointed. Now to understand this, We have
to understand that in the Old Testament, there were three offices
that God anointed, and they were approved by this anointing oil
signifying God's approval of this person for this office.
There was the office of the prophet, and that was an office anointed
by God. There was the office of the priest,
that was an office anointed by God. You can read where that
happened with Samuel. There's the king, God's anointed
king. David was God's anointed king
and was anointed with oil to recognize him as such. Now these
three offices, No mere man in the Old Testament ever had all
three. There's only one man who holds
all three offices, and that is the one God and one mediator
between God and men, the man, Christ Jesus. He is God's prophet. So much so that he is called
the Word of God. Now a prophet brings men God's
Word. Christ is the Word of God. He says, this is my beloved Son
in whom I'm well pleased. Hear ye him. Hear what he says. You know one thing he never said?
Thus saith the Lord. Every other prophet said, thus
saith the Lord. He said, I say unto you. Oh, what authority with which
he speaks, the authority of God himself. He is the word of God. Now understand this, God will
not speak to nor be spoken to apart from his son, the prophet,
the word of God. He is God's word. What's in my mind? Words. They
come out in words you can hear. What's in God's mind? Christ.
He is the Word of God, God's prophet. Jesus Christ is God's
priest. Now, what is a priest? A priest
brings men to God, and they do so with a sacrifice. That's what
the Old Testament priests did, and they only represented the
one great high priest, the Lord Jesus Christ. And he is the one
who truly brings men to God, not with the sacrifice of an
animal's blood that could never put away sin, but he comes into
God's presence with his own blood. Oh, that's so much different
than the blood of a sacrificial animal. They were only given
to represent His sacrifice. And this is a priest that if
He brings you, you must be saved. He is incapable of failure. If He represents you, you must
be saved. And he's God's king, God's anointed
king, prophet, priest, and king. He's the only king who has true,
inherent authority. All other kings, they're placed
there by God, doing God's will. They may think they have authority,
but in reality, they don't have any. You know, I never will forget
hearing somebody say, who are the most five powerful men in
the world? And I thought, there's no such
thing. Power belongeth unto the Lord, not unto men. And any position
a man has, God's given him. But the Lord Jesus Christ is
the King whose will is always done. That's what's meant by
the Christ. Christ Jesus. That's His name is Savior. Thou
shalt call His name Jesus for He shall save His people from
their sins. When Moses tried to enter the
promised land, he couldn't do it because he represented the
law. The law can never bring anyone into heaven. Only Joshua,
Jesus, Christ Jesus came into the world. He was before he came
as the eternal son of God, but he came into the world. The world
was made flesh. And because of who he is, the
word was made flesh because of who he is. He must be successful
at what he does. He came into the world to save
sinners. And that was an intention. He
came into the world to save sinners. Who did he come to save? Sinners. What's a sinner? He's the one
who commits the sins. Sin is the transgression of the
law, and if I have any understanding of what God's holy law says,
I'll know that I have broken every commandment. There are
other things we could say the scripture teaches what a sinner
is, but if you think you've kept one of the Ten Commandments one
time, you say by that you don't really believe you're a sinner.
Because a sinner is someone who has transgressed God's law. It doesn't say he came to save
believing sinners, although he did. It doesn't say he came to
save repentant sinners, although he did. It doesn't say he came
to save elect sinners, although he did. I love the fact that
there's no adjective before the word sinners. It says he just
came into the world to save sinners. I'm one of them. Therefore, I
know he came to save me. And listen to this. Whatever
he intended to do, he did. When he said, it is finished,
every sinner he represented was saved by what he did. This is salvation completely
outside of anything I do. It's what he did for me. Now, this is a faithful saying.
You can rely on this. And it's worthy of all acceptation. My dear friend, you ought to
receive this. I ought to receive this as the
best news we've ever heard, that Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. Now, the next faithful saying
of Paul is found in 1 Timothy 4, beginning in verse 8. He says,
for bodily exercise profiteth little, or for a little while. for a short time. But godliness
is profitable unto all things, having a promise of the life
that now is, and of that which is to come. This is a faithful
saying. Now, bodily exercise profits
for a little while. And he's talking about physical
exercise. There are benefits in this life. But this life doesn't last very
long. Bodily exercise profits a little while, but only a little
while. But godliness, devotion to God,
piety is the word. Godliness is profitable unto
all things, having a promise of the life that now is, the
time when bodily exercise can be done, the years we have upon
the earth. It's profitable in the time that
now is and that which is to come. Now, devotion is profitable in
all things. There's no downside. Having a promise of now and in
eternity. Now, what is meant by that? It is better to love than to
hate. It's just better. It's profitable
now and in eternity. We read of the joy and peace
of believing. It's better now to have the joy of peace of believing
than to not have the joy and peace of believing. It's better
to forgive than to hold resentment. Now, it is better to believe
that Colossians 2.10 is true. In him dwells all the fullness
of the Godhead, and you're complete in him, that you lack nothing.
It's better to believe that than to not be enabled to believe
that. It's better to believe Romans
8.28. All things work together for good to them that love God,
to them who are called according to his purpose. then to not believe
that. This goes along with it. It's
better to believe God is sovereign, the first cause of all things,
in control of everything, than to not believe that. Well, if
I didn't believe that, I'd be afraid to go out the door. What's
going to happen? Who's in control? I would have
no confidence. It's better to rest in Christ
in this life than it is to try to earn salvation by works. It's
better to be content with Christ than to be thirsting for the
world. It's just better to be a believer
than it is to be an unbeliever in this life. Your life is better
being a believer than an unbeliever It's better to believe grace
in this life rather than works. It's better to have a complete
hope in Him than to have a hope in anything else. The promise
of the better is in this life. and infinitely more so in the
life to come. Oh, bodily exercise and everything
involved with that and the things of this world, they may profit
for a little while in this life, but godliness, when God saves
someone and reveals himself to them, it's profitable in this
life. It's better in this life, but
not only in this life. but that which is to come." Now,
the second or the third faithful saying is found in 2 Timothy
2, verse 11, where Paul says it's a faithful saying. It's
a faithful saying, for if we be dead with him, we shall also
live with him. If we suffer, we shall also reign
with him. If we deny him, He will deny
us. If we believe not, yet he abideth
faithful, he cannot deny himself. Now that's actually spoken in
the form of a hymn. This was a hymn in the early
church. This is one of those faithful
sayings, and there's so much in it. If we be dead with him,
we shall also live with him. Now this reads literally, If
we died together with him, we shall live with him. Now, what
does that mean? When Jesus Christ was on the
cross, he was not alone. Every one of his people were
there with him, in him. And this is what Christian baptism
means. Water baptism, we're above the
water, we go under the water, we come up out of the water.
When Christ lived, I lived in Him. When He kept the law, I
kept the law in Him. When He died on Calvary's tree,
I was in him. My sins became his sins. I suffered
with him. Paul actually said, I'm crucified
with Christ. When he died, I died. When he was raised from the dead,
I was raised from the dead because I was raised from the dead in
him. Now, he says very plainly, It's a faithful saying, if we
be dead with him, and that's my only hope, that Christ died
for me, that I was in him. When he was raised, I was raised. It's a faithful saying, if we
be dead with him, we shall also live with him eternally in glory,
beholding his face. Here's the next thing he says,
if we suffer, we shall also reign with him. Now, I'm reading from
the King James Version, and somebody may think, well, that means if
we suffer pain, we'll reign with him. That's not what it means
at all. The word suffer means to endure. to persevere all the
way to the end. The Lord said, he that endureth
to the end, the same shall be saved. It's not those who begin,
it's those who end. They begin and they end. Now,
what is this thing of perseverance? Does it mean to remain religious? No, I've seen people leave the
gospel, that have remained religious. They would not say, I'm an atheist
now. They remain religious. To persevere to the end means
you persevere all the way to the end, looking to Christ only. And in your dying breath, Jesus
Christ is all you have for acceptance before God. you look nowhere
else. Now that's what it means to persevere.
It means to continue looking to Christ only. Now if we persevere
is what the word means, if we suffer, if we continue in the
faith, we shall also reign with Him. As He sits on His Father's
throne ruling and reigning, We will be in Him. Now, next he says, if we deny
Him, He also will deny us. Now, what does it mean to deny
Christ? Well, Peter denied that he knew Him. Did he deny Christ? No. He denied that he knew Him. He denied any association with
Him out of cowardice. I'm sure I've done that. I'm
sure you've done that. He's, but Peter never denied who he
was because the Lord said, Peter, I've prayed for you that your
faith fail not. And while Peter fell and acted
like a coward and was overcome with cowardice and the fear of
man, he never denied that Jesus was the Christ, the son of the
living God. He did not cease to believe that
Jesus was the Christ, the son of the living God. Now, if he
would have said, I no longer believe that Jesus is the Christ,
the son of the living God. I'm now looking to my works rather
than his works. That's a denial of him. If we
deny him in that sense, he also will deny us. You can write that
down. It will take place. It's only
that person who perseveres looking to Christ. And Christ gives all
of his people the grace to do that. But if we deny him, he
also will deny us. And then he says in verse 13,
if we believe not, yet he abideth faithful. He cannot deny himself. And what in the world does that
mean? If we believe not, he abideth faithful. Let's talk about this
thing of if we believe not. Now, the we he's speaking of
are believers. Just believers. If we believe
not. Now, what's this thing about
a believer believing not? Can a believer believe not? Well,
you remember when that man said to Christ, when Christ said,
if you can believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
And he said, Lord, I believe. Help thou mine unbelief. Now that is the daily experience
of every child of God. Lord, I believe. Help thou mine unbelief. Now how can those two things
dwell together? Because every believer has been
born of the Spirit, they have the nature they were given in
the new birth, but they still have that old sinful nature,
that sins, that is unbelieving. And there are times in a believer's
experience when he sees nothing but that old nature and that
unbelief and he just cries out, help my unbelief, I can't I'm
just overcome with this. Now let's talk about this person
in this pitiful state of just, I can't see, I feel like I'm
in darkness, I'm overwhelmed, I can't believe that the Lord
has done something for me. That's what a believer says when
he's in darkness. What does the Lord say? If we
believe not, he abideth faithful. He cannot deny himself. Now, what does that mean? If
I'm a believer, I am united to the Lord Jesus Christ. Both he
that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one,
Hebrews 2.11 says, for which cause he's not ashamed to call
them brethren. When Paul said in Ephesians chapter five, he
that loveth himself, or loveth his wife, loveth himself. Yes,
he's talking about marriage, but the primary emphasis, he
said, I speak concerning Christ and the church. When Christ loved
his bride, he was loving himself. That's how close and real this
union is. Every believer is united to Christ. So in our pitiful experience,
when we cry out, we can't believe, he cannot deny himself. For him to deny me would be for
him to deny himself. Now the last faithful saying
of Paul is found in Titus 3. This is a faithful saying. Well,
what's a faithful saying? Well, he begins with these words,
not by works of righteousness, which we have done. Salvation
is not by any work we perform, no, nothing that we do even to
enable God to do something for us. If you think, if I think
any part of my salvation is dependent upon me doing something first
before God can do something to me, I, for me, I believe in salvation
by works. Paul did not believe in salvation
by works and neither does any other believer. Not by works
of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy. Free, sovereign, saving, mercy. You know when you need mercy?
When your sin is all your fault. Only then will you see your need
of mercy. You see, if salvation is not
by mercy, you won't be saved. According to His mercy, He saved
us. The whole gospel is in that statement.
He saved us. He didn't make us savable. He
didn't make salvation available. Everybody He intended to save,
He saved. He saved us by the washing of
regeneration. That's the new birth. And the
renewing of the Holy Ghost, that's how the new birth continues,
by the continual renewing of the Holy Ghost. which He shed
on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior. All He does
in us is because of what Christ did for us. It's not His response
to something we do, it's His response to what Christ has done. Verse seven, that being justified
by His grace. We should be made heirs according
to the hope of eternal life, this is the faithful saying.
Now, being justified. by His grace. Now, when Jesus Christ died on
the cross, He made a way for God to be just and justify the
ungodly, to be absolutely just, and yet declare everybody Christ
died for to be perfect, righteous, having never sinned. That's what
justification means. It means I've never sinned. Now,
you say, how could you say you've never sinned when you have sinned?
Because my life before God is the sinless life of Jesus Christ. That's my righteousness before
God. He never sinned, I never sinned. You see, he took my sin.
and made it his own on Calvary's tree. He was forsaken by his
father. He suffered the full equivalent of eternal wrath on
Calvary's tree and put away my sin and gives me his perfect
righteousness so that his life is my life before God, being
justified by his grace. The only way a sinner can be
justified is by grace. We should be made heirs, heirs
of God, and join heirs with Christ according to the hope of eternal
life. This is a faithful saying. And
then Paul makes this interesting statement. These things I will
that thou affirm constantly. Just keep repeating this over
and over again. How come that or in order that
they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain
good works? You know the only way somebody
will be careful to maintain good works is to hear the gospel of
God's grace repeatedly. If I say, you need to have good
works, You'll become discouraged. You'll think, oh, I'm not measuring
up. That's all you'll think. But
if you hear the grace of God continually, your great desire
will be to maintain good works for the glory of Jesus Christ. Now, these four faithful sayings,
you can count on these. You can rely on these, and I
would suggest you go back and look at them again, and think
about them, and meditate upon them. These are the faithful
sayings that the Lord brings to us, and I love the first one.
This is a faithful saying worthy of all acceptation, that Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom Paul said,
I am the chief. May God richly bless you. To receive a copy of the sermon
you have just heard, send your request to todd.neibert at gmail.com
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