You notice that I read four different
verses that begin with announcement that what is being said is a
faithful saying. I've entitled this message Paul's
Four Faithful Sayings. Now, what is a saying? It is
a sentence that is often repeated, that imparts wisdom or good advice. You know the saying. We're familiar
with that term. Here's a saying that probably
all of us have heard. Charity begins at home. Have you heard that saying? What that saying means is if
my love doesn't begin in my own household, everything else is
phony. It's got to begin at home. Now four times, Paul gives us
what he calls a faithful saying. And I love to think of these
things reaching the status of sayings in the early church. Things that were often repeated
in the New Testament church. And I love the way they're called
Faithful sayings. I love the word saying, and I
love the word faithful saying. Utterly dependable, utterly true. Now there are sayings that are
false. Here's a saying I bet most of us, if not all of us
have heard, cleanliness is next to godliness. You've heard that. That's a false saying. It's not true. It is a saying,
but it's a false saying. But these are sayings inspired
by God, the Holy Spirit, faithful sayings. And I hope they will
be sayings that dwell in our hearts all the time. Things we
repeat often to ourselves and gives us a reason to rejoice.
Now the first one is found in first Timothy one, which turned
back there. First Timothy one verse 15. This is a faithful saying. And
I dare say that this was repeated over and over in the early church
and ought to be repeated over and over in this church and every
church. This is among my many favorite
verses. There's not one that I love more
than this faithful saying. Here it is. This is a faithful
saying and it's worthy of all acceptation. That means you.
And I ought to receive this favorably, with joy, happy that this is
so. We ought to receive this. We
ought to accept this as the gospel. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. Of whom, Paul says, I am chief. Christ. The Old Testament word is the
Messiah. God's anointed. Christ isn't
his last name. Christ represents the titles.
of the Lord Jesus Christ, the offices of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, in the Old Testament, there were three offices that were
anointed by God, and they would be anointed with oil. The prophet,
the priest, and the king. In the Old Testament, we're all
anointed by oil to show God's approval of these men. Now, what's a prophet? Christ
Jesus is God's prophet. I love to think of this. A prophet brings men the Word
of God. He is the Word of God. That's
his name. In the beginning was the Word.
The Word was with God. The Word was God. The same was
in the beginning with God. When God speaks, what comes out
of his mouth? I say this reverently. The Word,
Christ Jesus. God's prophet, like no human
prophet or merely human prophet. Every other prophet said, thus
saith the Lord. He never said that once. He said,
I say unto you. He spake as one having authority
and not as the scribes. He brings the word of God. He's God's priest. God's anointed
priest. A priest, a prophet would bring
the word of God to men. A priest would bring men to God
with sacrifice. Jesus Christ is God's priest. Like no other priest, these priests
brought blood that can never take away sin. He brings into
the very presence of God his own blood. And he stands as our
great high priest even now before the Father. What a priest. Everyone
he represents must be saved. There's no such thing as somebody
that he represents that's not saved. A successful priest. He's
God's anointed king. is the one whose will is done. Now, all earthly kings, they
have borrowed authority and their will quite often is not done.
They might want it to be done, but this is the king whose will
is always done. There's never been a time when
his will has not been done. And how I need him as my prophet
to bring me the gospel. I need him as my priest to bring
me to the father and I need him as my king so his will will be
done and he will cause me to do his will. What a need we have
for Christ. Christ Jesus. Old Testament word Joshua and
this is so simple yet so glorious. Moses, that great man, he couldn't
bring the children of Israel into the promised land. It was
Joshua, Jesus, Savior. You see, your law keeping, your
works, anything that you do or I do can never bring me into
the promised land. It's Jesus, Christ, Jesus. And what did he do? He came into
the world. He was before he came. I love
to think of Christ before the foundation of the world, worshiping
his Father as the eternal Son. God the Father, God the Son,
God the Holy Spirit, all there was was God. There wasn't a creation,
there wasn't matter, all there was was God. And they worshiped
one another in glorious solitude, rejoicing in one another. This
God the Son came into the world. Now you think of this. Whatever
was he intended to do by coming into the world, he did. He came
into the world and he had a intention in coming. He came into the world
to save sinners. That was his purpose in coming.
Now that comes as good news to me because this I know about
myself. I am a sinner. And I love that there's no adjectives
before the word sinner. It doesn't say he came to save
believing sinners. It doesn't say he came to save
repentant sinners. It doesn't say he came to save
elect sinners. It doesn't even say he came to
save sinners who know they're sinners. Just sinners. You know what that means? Christ
Jesus came into the world to save me. Christ Jesus came into
the world to save sinners. And when he said, it is finished,
every sinner he represented was saved. You're already saved.
You can't get any more saved than you are. You can't get any
more accepted. You can't get any more loved.
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Matthew 121
says, thou shalt call his name Jesus for he shall save his people
from their sins. When he said it is finished,
they were saved from their sins. This is a faithful saying. And
it's worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners. Paul says, of whom I am chief. He doesn't say I was chief. I'm
so thankful for that. Paul, the man God used to expound
the gospel more than any other man, when he gives his own testimony,
he says, of whom I am, not I was, I am chief. Somebody says, well,
I'm not that bad. Well, then you just don't know
yourself. Paul did. And Paul said, I am chief. Now turn to first Timothy chapter
four. Verse nine, this is a faithful
saying and worthy of all acceptation. What's a faithful saying, what
he just said. what he just said. Now I want you to, as the Lord
enables you, listen real carefully. Paul says, refuse in verse seven,
refuse profane and old wives fables and exercise thyself rather
unto godliness. The word means devout, pious. The root word is worship. I've said before, God's not in
this word. And the translator has translated that, but it means
well-devout, pious. It's a reverent, worshipful attitude. And he says, exercise that self. Now he's talking about physical
exercise. I realize that the word is where
we get the word gymnasium from, and there's strenuous effort
involved in this. There's nothing easy about being
a believer. Now, I know his yoke is easy and his burden is light
because he bears it all. But seeking the Lord, praying,
asking for deliverance from your sins, there's nothing easy about
this exercise. But he says, exercise yourself.
Effort, diligent effort in this thing of godliness, in this thing
of devotion. Don't be half-hearted on any
level. Give yourself to this completely. There's nothing that compares
with this. And then he says in verse eight, for bodily exercise
profiteth little. Now, my marginal reading says
for a little while, for a little while. Bodily exercise is good. It profits for a little while
during this life. And really, if we're able, we
ought to exercise. And that's what he's saying.
Bodily exercise profits for a little while. And I know some people
are unable to, but if you can, do it. And he says bodily exercise
is profitable for a little while. This brief time we're here on
earth. But godliness. what he tells
us to exercise ourself toward. But godliness is profitable unto
all things, having a promise of the life that now is, that
we're here just for a little while, and of that which is to
come. Godliness. I love that scripture. Great is the mystery of godliness. was manifest in the flesh, justified
in the spirit. Seen of angels, preached to the
Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up the glory.
Actually, somebody says, what's godliness? Quote 1 Timothy 3,
16. That's what produces true godliness.
Godliness is profitable in this world and in the world to come. Devotion. It's profitable in
all things. There's no downside having a
promise of what is now this life better and in the life to come. It is better in this life to
believe the gospel than not to believe it. Amen. It's better. It's better to. Have the joy and peace of believing
that Paul spoke of in Romans 15, 13. The joy and the peace
of believing. It's better to have the joy and
peace of believing than to not have the joy and peace of believing
in this life. You know, it's better to love
than to hate, isn't it? It's better to forgive than to
harbor resentment in this life. You'll have a better life here.
It's better to believe what Colossians 2.10 says, in him dwelleth all
the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you're complete in him. It's
better to believe that here than to not believe that. You're gonna
have a whole lot more peace and joy in this life if you believe
that than if you do not believe that. It's better to believe
Romans 8, 28, and we know that all things work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are called according
to his purpose. It's better to believe that than
to not believe that. If you don't believe that, You're
miserable. You have nothing sure that you
can lay hold of. Everything that comes your way,
you'll wonder why it happened and why did the Lord allow that?
Are you being punished? All the different wild things
that'll come through your mind, but oh, it's better to believe
that all things work together for good. to them that love God,
to them who are the called according to His purpose. You know, it's
better to believe that God is sovereign than to not believe
that God is sovereign. It's a lot better. If I lived in a world
where I didn't believe God was sovereign, I'd be afraid to go
out the door. What's gonna happen? Who's gonna control all of this?
Oh, it's much better to believe that this is my Father's world,
and He's the first cause behind everything, and He's in control
of everything. It's better to rest in Christ
than to try to be saved by your works. Oh, the joy of entering into
his rest, ceasing from your own works as God did for me. Is that so much better than always
wondering, have I done enough? Is there something else I need
to do? It's better to be content with
Christ, just satisfied with Christ. than it is to be thirsting for
the world. It's better. In this life, godliness
is better. It's also better in the world
to come. It's better in this life to believe grace than works.
It's just a lot better. I mean, infinitely better. It's
better to have Him as my all than anything else. To have Him. I am my beloved and He is mine.
What else could I want? It's better to be going to heaven
than it is to be going to hell. It's better to be in Christ than
to be left to myself. This is a faithful thing. Bodily
exercise is profitable. just for a little while, but
godliness is profitable in all things, both in this life and
the life that is to come, eternity. I turn to 2 Timothy chapter two.
This is the third faithful saying. And this is actually the introduction
to a hymn. These are the four stanzas of
a hymn. It is a faithful saying, and
here are the four stanzas, for if we be dead with him, we shall
also live with him. Second, if we suffer, we shall
also reign with him. Third, if we deny him, he'll
deny us. Fourth, if we believe not, yet he abideth faithful,
he cannot deny himself. Now, what of him? If we be dead with him, we shall also live with him. The word is literally, if we
died together with him. You know, Christ wasn't on the
cross by himself. I was there with him, in him. You know that
song, I have heard son, I should have been crucified. I was crucified. Paul said, I'm crucified with
Christ. You see, this is teaching what
baptism teaches. This is my hope. When he lived,
I lived because I was in him. Is there anyone who the Lord
says, abide in me? Do you want to be anywhere else? I don't
want to be anywhere else. I want to stay right in him. When he lived, I was in him.
When he kept the law, I kept the law. When he died, I died
with him. When he was in the grave, I was
there with him. When he was raised from the dead,
I was there with him. Now, Ephesians 2 verse 4 says,
but God who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith
he loved us even when we were dead in sins hath quickened us
together with Christ. When was I quickened? When Christ
was quickened. When was I raised from the dead?
When Christ was raised from the dead and has made us sit together
in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Now here's the first stanza. If we died with him. we're gonna
live with him eternally, beholding his face, beholding his glory,
perfectly conformed to his image. That's a faithful saying, isn't
it? My salvation is as sure as Christ is in heaven, because
I'm there too, in him, living with him. Now here's the second
stanza. If we suffer, we shall also reign
with him. The word suffer is actually the
word endure. Endure. All the way to the end. And let me tell you what perseverance
means. Perseverance means that from now until I close my eyes
in death, I continue looking to Jesus Christ alone as everything
that God requires of me, everything I need. I find complete satisfaction
in Him. I look nowhere else. I never
graduate past that. I never get better than that.
I'm right there. Nowhere else to go. I look to
Him alone. A lot of people remain religious,
but here's what I want. That my dying, I hope by the
grace of God, my dying breath, I'm looking to Christ only. I have nothing else. Now, if
we endure, looking to Christ only. What's it say? We shall
reign with him. He reigns, we're with him, we
reign. If we persevere all the way to
the end, we're going to reign eternally with him. Now that's
a faithful saying. You can count on that. You can
write it down. And then he says in verse 12,
the second part, this is the third stanza, if we deny him,
He will also deny us. Now you can write that down.
If we deny him, he will deny us. Matthew chapter 10, verses 32
and 33, let me read that to you. Whosoever therefore shall confess
me before men, him will I also confess before my Father which
is in heaven. But whosoever will deny me before
men, Him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. Now, Peter heard those words. He was there when the Lord said
it. How do you think he felt after his denial of knowing Christ? He said, I know not the man. I don't know who he is. I have
no connection with him. And we know that through cowardice,
Through utter cowardice, he made those claims. And he thought,
I've denied the Lord. And he went out and wept bitterly.
And I guarantee you, he thought, I will not be saved. I will not
be saved. I deny him. My dear friend, have
you not done that? Have you not denied when you
should have confessed? denied his association with Christ
and said, I know not the man. Peter never denied who Jesus
Christ was. And that's what he's talking about. He's not talking
about when you, through cowardice, you failed to confess him because
you're afraid of what's gonna happen. That's happened to everybody
in this room. I have no doubt about that. But one thing Peter
didn't do, do you remember what the Lord prayed for him? He said,
Peter, I prayed for you that your faith fail not. Now, Peter failed, but his faith
never failed. And this is such an encouragement
to me. This tells us what faith is. Faith is believing that Jesus
Christ is the Son of God. And he never quit believing who
Christ was, even while he was denying his association with
him. He never denied the Lord. Now, if he would have said, he's
not the son of God, I don't believe he's anything more than a man,
a sinful man that can't save anybody, that would be denying
Christ, but Peter didn't do that. He denies his association with
him out of fear and cowardice, but he didn't deny Christ. If
somebody denies him in that sense, you deny that, if I deny that
the only hope of salvation is in the Lord Jesus, and I look
to my works in some other way, that's denying him. If we deny
him, he will deny us. Look at the fourth stanza, verse
13. If we believe not, yet he abideth
faithful. He cannot deny himself. If we believe not, I think the The most accurate
description for every believer was made by the man with the
demon-possessed son when the Lord said, if you can believe. Remember, he said, if you can
do anything, come and help us. He shouldn't have been saying
that to the Lord. If you can do anything, come
and help us. But the Lord turned it around
and he said, All things are possible to him
that believeth. And what was his response? Same
response you and I have. I believe, help thou mine unbelief. I believe. And every time I say that, I
have someone that doesn't believe right there in my body. The new
man believes, the old man does not believe. And I'll tell you
this, sometimes all you can see is that old man. If we believe
not, yet he abides faithful. He cannot deny himself. Now,
what in the world does that mean? The union between Jesus Christ
and every one of His people is so real, so vital, that for Him
to deny me would be for Him to deny Himself. And that's exactly
what that says. If you believe not, if we believe
not, He abides faithful. Even though we prove to be unfaithful,
He cannot deny Himself. Now, listen to these, I'm gonna
give you two scriptures. Hebrews chapter 2 verse 11, both he that
sanctifyeth and they who are sanctified, that's Christ and
all of his people, both he that sanctifyeth and they who are
sanctified are all of one. I am one with Jesus Christ, not
close, I'm one with not too closely joined together. And the Lord
gives the example of the vine and the branches, the stem that
goes through the vine goes through the branches as well and there's
no connecting point, they are one. God in Christ and every
one of His people are united to Him. Do you remember in Ephesians
chapter 5 when it says, he that loveth his wife loveth himself?
Well, on a practical level, man, if you love your wife, you're
gonna benefit from it. You're loving yourself. But that's
really not what that's talking about. When Christ loved his
bride, his wife, he was loving himself. That is how true this
union is. And because I am in Christ, he
can't deny me. denied me, he would be denying
himself." Now that's mysterious. If such knowledge is too wonderful
for me, it's high, I can't attain to it just like David said, but
it's the truth. United, one with Christ. That's why Christ will never
deny me. If he did, he'd be denying himself and that's something
he's never going to do. Now this is a faithful saying. If we be dead with him, we'll
live with him. If we suffer, persevere, we'll
reign with him internally. If we deny him, he will also
deny us. If we believe not, yet he abideth
faithful, he cannot deny himself. Now, Titus chapter three, this
is the fourth, faithful save the false. This, verse eight, is a faithful
saying. Oh, what a saying. Now you could
say he's referring to everything he said up to this point in the
book of Titus, and you wouldn't be wrong if he said that. But
I have a lot of confidence that what
he's talking about is everything he said in verses three through
seven. For we ourselves, verse three, also were before time, sometime
before time, foolish. Now remember, this is the man,
and we're gonna look at verse eight in more detail next week,
but this is the man who said, touching the righteousness which
was in the law, I was blameless. He said, if anybody has any reason
they think they have to trust in the flesh, I've got more.
That's what he said. Here is what he says about himself
before God saved him. For we ourselves also were sometimes
foolish, disobedient, deceived, slaves of divers lusts and pleasures,
living in malice and envy. hateful and hating one another. That is a description of the
life of Saul of Tarsus. And every believer in this room
would say, that's me. That's me. But after that, the kindness and
love of God, our savior toward man appeared not by works of
righteousness, which we have done. Now, quite often, the scripture
begins with a negative. Somebody says, don't be negative.
Well, the Bible's negative a lot. I don't have a problem with that
at all. Not, that's negative, isn't it? Not by works of righteousness,
which we have done. You can just strike that out.
Salvation has absolutely nothing to do with anything you've done
or stopped doing. Salvation is not God's response
to anything you do or do not do. Is that clear? Not, I like
that negative. Not by works of righteousness,
which we have done. Well, our works of righteousness,
Isaiah described as filthy rags. Our righteousnesses, are as filthy
rags and we all do fade as the leaf, our iniquities like the
wind have carried us away. That's what Isaiah said. Now,
Paul comes out with this bold, strong, negative statement, not
by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to
his mercy. He saved us. His sovereign saving mercy. If it's not sovereign, if it's
not saving, it's not mercy. He didn't offer us salvation.
He didn't make salvation available if we do our part. He saved us. That's our gospel. He saved us. by the washing of regeneration,
that's the new birth, being born again. That's what regeneration
is, born again, born, begotten, begotten of God. And here's how
it's continued, the renewing of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Spirit,
every believer has the Holy Spirit dwelling in them, and the reason
they continue in the faith is because of Him. The continual
renewing of the Holy Ghost Streams of mercy never ceasing call for
songs of the loudest praise. And which he shed on us, poured
out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ, our savior, through
his mediation, because of him, not because of anything we've
done, but because of him. That being justified by his grace, If I'm justified, that means
I stand before God without guilt as one who has never sinned. You know, when these preachers
talk about a high reward in heaven based upon how well you did on
earth, well, how could you do better than having the righteousness
of Christ? Could you add something to that and get better? Well,
that's offensive, isn't it? Justified, cleared of all guilt, Not guilty. Never sin. By His grace. Oh, only His grace can accomplish
that. We should be made heirs. Heirs of God join heirs with
Christ. Whatever Christ has coming to
Him, every believer has coming to Him. According to the hope of eternal
life. Now this is a faithful saying.
not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according
to his mercy, he saved us by the washing of regeneration and
the renewing of the Holy Ghost, which he shed on us abundantly
through Jesus Christ our Savior, that being justified by his grace,
we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
This is a faithful saying. Oh, I'm so thankful for this
faithful saying. And look what he says next. These
things I will that thou affirm constantly, repetitiously, over
and over again. And here's why I will that you
affirm these constantly, that or in order that, so that they
which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. Now, I'm going to preach on this
next week, Lord willing, but let me give you a precursor. You need to be careful to maintain
good works. The Bible says you need to be careful to maintain
good works. What does that do to you? It stresses you out. You start thinking about what
you need to do, how you need to up your game, what you need
to do or stop doing to be able to maintain good work. You get
discouraged. Or if you're real foolish, you'll
think you've done that. Then you'll start looking down
your nose at your brother. Why hasn't he reached your level
of sanctification? I'm doing that. I'm maintaining
good works. What about Oso and So? He's flipping up there. What does Paul say to do? He says, preach grace constantly. The only way people will be careful
to maintain good works is if you constantly preach the grace
of God. This is good and profitable to
men. And there we have it, Paul's
four faithful sayings. I hope these sayings rejoice
our heart. I hope they're stamped by the
Spirit of God on our heart. This is a faithful saying. Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Godliness has a promise, both
of the life that now is and that which is to come. Bodily exercise
profits just a little while. Godliness is profitable in all
things. This is a faithful saying. And then that hymn in 2 Timothy
chapter 2, if we Die with him, we'll live with
him. If we suffer with him, we'll reign with him. If we deny him,
he'll deny us. If we believe God, he abides
faithful. He can't deny himself. That's a faithful saying. And
this is a faithful saying that we're justified by grace, that
we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. This is a faithful saying, and
it's to be affirmed constantly. Whatever scripture I'm preaching
from, I don't care if I get it right, if I don't preach the
gospel from it, I missed it. Every scripture affirms this
constantly. May the Lord cause us to rejoice
in these faithful sayings. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for the
faithful sayings of your word. How we thank you for your word. Lord, how we thank you that you've
given us the grace to believe that your word is your word. How we thank you that we trust
what you said in your word and that you've given us these faithful
savings worthy of all acceptation. And Lord, how we rejoice that
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. of whom I am
the chief. We thank you for that. We pray
for your blessing upon us. Give us grace to by faith walk
with your son until we meet again. Bless us for Christ's sake in
his name we pray. Amen.