Is it on as far as you can tell? This feels very official. Turn, if you would, to 1 Timothy
1. I'd like to read verses 14 and 15. 1 Timothy 1, starting in verse
14. And the grace of our Lord was
exceeding abundant with faith and love, which is in Christ
Jesus. 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. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, we come
to your presence in the name of thy son, and Lord, we give
thee thanks. Lord, we're thankful for this day. Lord, we're thankful
you've brought us here once again. And Lord, we're thankful most
of all for your son. Lord, we're thankful that salvation's
in Christ. Lord, we confess our sins and ask for forgiveness.
And in turn, Lord, we pray you'd cause us to be a forgiving, loving
people, one towards another. Lord, be with us this day. We
pray you'd give us open ears and open hearts and drive away
the distractions of the world for a little while. Lord, we
pray for our pastor. We pray you'd have your hand
upon him and that you'd bless the meeting in College Grove
and bring him back to us safely. And Lord, we pray for Andy and
Fred. Lord, we pray that you'd give
them the grace to boldly proclaim thy gospel, Lord, this day. Lord,
we pray you'd save us, save our friends, save our family. Lord,
in your own time, save our children. May we be found in Christ. In
his name we pray. Amen. A couple of years ago,
I was given the opportunity to witness to a friend of mine who
actually happens to be the quote unquote, minister at a local
religious assembly here in Lexington. And we were actually over at
BD's Mongolian Grill having lunch. And after a couple of hours talking,
my friend said, you know, I think we're basically on the same page.
He said, your opinion of God focuses more on his justice,
whereas my opinion of God focuses more on his love. I realized
immediately that I had not preached the gospel to my friend. I was
also reminded that my opinion on spiritual matters is irrelevant. The only thing that matters is
what the Word of God says. And to that end, I'd like to
ask three questions today. First, what does the Word of
God actually say about me? Second, what does the Word of
God actually say about our Lord? And third, how can the God of
the Bible have anything to do with me? So first, I am going
to have you turn to a lot of scriptures. I want you to see
this in the word of God. So first, what does the word of God actually
say about me? Let's turn to Romans 3. Romans
3, 23. For all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God. In Romans 5.12 we read, Whereas
by one man's sin entered into the world, and death by sin,
and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.
Most of the world will admit that they've done some bad things
in their life. In fact, most of us will admit that they're
not perfect. We hear this saying all the time, no one's perfect.
Everyone will admit they've sinned in the past, and most will admit
there's maybe even some sin in their life currently. But deep
down, my flesh doesn't really believe I'm all that bad. My
flesh likes to believe there's at least a little bit good in
me, and if I'm really honest with myself, my flesh definitely
thinks there's someone worse. But let's read a little bit further
regarding the testimony of the Word of God concerning me. We're
here in Romans 3. Let's read verses 9 through 12. What then? Are we better than
they? No, in no wise. For we have before proved, both
Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin. As it is written,
there is none righteous, no, not one. There's none that understandeth. There's none that seeketh after
God. They are all gone out of the way. They are all together
become unprofitable. There's none that doeth good,
no, not one. You don't have to turn there,
but Psalms 14 1 through 3 reads, the fool hath said in his heart,
there is no God. They are corrupt. They have done abominable works.
There is none that doeth good. The Lord looked down from heaven
upon the children of men to see if there were any that did understand
and seek God. They are all gone aside. They
are all together become filthy. There is none that doeth good,
no, not one. And in Romans 7, 18, we read,
for I know that in me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good
thing. For to will is present with me,
but how to perform that which is good I find not. What does
the word of God say? It says that there is none that
doeth good, no not one. This is repeated three times
in these scriptures. Do I believe that I can't do any good? That
in my flesh dwelleth no good thing? Do I believe that there
is none that doeth good, not even one? This is what the Word
of God says, and I pray that He would show it to me. I pray
that He would show it to you. Turn to Genesis 6-5. Familiar passage. Genesis 6-5. And God saw that
the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every
imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Here the word of God tells me
that every imagination of my thoughts and my hearts is only
evil all the time. You see, I don't merely do bad
things from time to time. The only thing I do is sin. And
that all the time. And frankly, it's sin because
I do it. It's much worse than I can really imagine. And I will
only get a glimpse of what I truly am by nature if God shows me. I pray that God would show me
that I'm a sinner. I pray that God would show you that you're
a sinner. Not just someone who's bad from time to time, but someone
who is only evil all the time. This is the testimony of the
word of God. This is the truth. This is an analogy our pastor
has used many times. Think of a farmer plowing a field out
to raise his crops. Maybe he's making food to feed
his family. Maybe he's even raising crops to feed the poor. To us,
plowing seems like a pretty innocent, wholesome activity. Let's see
what the Word of God says. Turn to Proverbs 21.4. Proverbs 21.4, and high look
and a proud heart and the plowing of the wicked is sin. You see,
the issue here is not the plowing, it's the one doing the plowing.
At the Kingsport Conference a few weeks ago, Bruce Crabtree said,
sin isn't what we do, sin is what we are. It is our very nature. I have a one-year-old daughter
named Eleanor Grace, and I love her dearly. For quite some time,
my wife, has been teaching her some basic sign language. This
is apparently a way infants can communicate before they can actually
talk. And my wife has worked on a few concepts, sort of phrases
with her. Please, thank you, and more.
And I'm proud to say that with some significance and persistence,
Some patience and persistence on the part of my wife. Just
recently, my daughter has sort of understood the concept. Please,
when she wants something bad enough, especially food, she
is a Wamsley after all, she will rub her belly and sort of emphatically
shake her head. And she also has gotten the hang
of more pretty well. Let me tell you a couple of other
things my daughter can do. She can say no. She can shake
her head like this when she doesn't want something. She can scream.
Have any of y'all heard her scream? Out here in the auditorium, maybe?
It's pretty high-pitched. And maybe some of you ladies
that have kept the nursery have seen her throw a temper tantrum.
She will get red in the face, close her fists, and arch her
back and throw back. She's done it so hard a couple
of times, she's actually hit her head on the floor. So, oh,
and the first thing she gets, The first thing she did when
she came into this world, she cried. For about two minutes
straight, she cried and screamed as loud as she could. Isn't it
interesting that the first thing we do when we come into this
world is just scream? So I ask, it took my wife quite
some time to teach my daughter the simple concept of please,
but we didn't have to spend one second teaching her how to say
no, how to scream at the top of her lungs, how to throw fits.
Why is this? One reason. Because my daughter,
like her daddy, has a wicked, evil, sinful nature. Psalms 58.3
says, the wicked are estranged from the womb. They go astray
as soon as they are born, speaking lies. What does the word of God
say about me? That I went astray as soon as
I was born. That I came out of the womb,
speaking lies. Turn to Isaiah 64.6. Isaiah 64, 6, but we are all
as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy
rags. And we all do fade as a leaf,
and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. We
read here the best things we do in the eyes of the world are
filthy rags in the eyes of God. There's a disease in my family
called polycystic kidney. And a few years ago, my Uncle
Chuck got very sick and needed a kidney. As it turned out, I
was the best match for the donation. Now, in the eyes of the world,
donating a kidney is a pretty decent thing to do. Some might
even call it a good work. But let me tell you something.
Deep down, I loved the praise and compliments I got from people
when they found out what I was doing. I loved the attention
I got in the hospital. My entire family came to see
me. I think Annie and Aaron brought their families to see me in the
hospital. Everyone was doting on me, and I loved it. You can
ask my wife. I took great advantage of her
kindness and generosity in taking care of me in my brief recovery.
I mean, this is a laparoscopic surgery, so it really wasn't
that big of a deal. I love the looks on people's faces when
I got back to work and asked where I'd been. You see, I would
always feign humility and say something like, it wasn't a big
deal. You would have done the same
thing. But deep down, what I was really thinking, look at me.
Look what I've done. Look how selfless I am. You see,
if the Lord sees fit to give us any light on how we really
are by nature, not how we are here at church, not how we pretend
to be when others are watching, I'm talking about how we really
are deep down. When the lights are off, when we're all alone,
when all the pretenses and vanities of this world are stripped away,
when I'm lying there with just my own thoughts, with just my
own base motives and intentions. If I had one shred of honesty,
I will tell you, the way I really am is not something I want anyone
else in this world to see. If you could see what goes on
here and here, you would not want to have a whole lot to do
with me. What does the word of God say about me? It says that
I'm wicked by nature and that all my thoughts, all my intentions,
and all my actions are bound by this wicked nature. We may
not feel this, we may not believe it, we may not even understand
it, but this is the testimony of the Bible, the holy word of
God regarding our state before him. And as our pastor has said
many times, the best way for me to truly understand my sin
is to look to the cross. When the restraints were taken
off, when we had the chance, we murdered the son of God. And
if I'd been there, I'm sure I would have driven the first nail. Second,
What does the Word of God actually say about our Lord? Turn to Deuteronomy
1017. Deuteronomy 1017, for the Lord your God is God of gods, and Lord of Lords, a great God,
a mighty and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh
reward." He's God of Gods, Lord of Lords, he's mighty, he's terrible. He doesn't regard men and he's
certainly not impressed with or manipulated by the meaningless
rewards of this world. He's not impressed with money,
he's not impressed with power, he's not impressed with fame,
because he has all the money and power and fame in the universe.
It's all his to start with anyway. Psalm 116.5, you don't have to
turn there, says, gracious is the Lord, and righteous, yea,
our God is merciful. And in Exodus 34, six and seven,
we read, and the Lord passed by before him and proclaimed,
the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering
and abundant in goodness and truth,
keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression
and sin, that will by no means clear the guilty. visiting the
iniquity of the fathers upon the children and upon the children's
children unto the third and to the fourth generation. What does
the word of God say about our Lord? It says he's merciful,
gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth.
We also see here that it is in his nature both to forgive sin
and to always be just. Do we see the infinite difference
in the description of man's nature and God's nature? Do we see the
infinite gulf between our characteristics and his? Turn to 1 John 1. 1 John 1 verses 5 through 7. This then is the message which
we have heard of him, and declare unto you that God is light, and
in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship
with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth.
But if we walk in light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship
with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanseth
us from all sin. Light and darkness is a great
example of polar opposites. We see here that God is light,
and in him is no darkness at all. Darkness, by definition,
is the utter absence of light. In us is darkness and no light
at all. We are absent of God by nature. Do I see the darkness
in myself? The darkness in my heart? The
darkness in my motives and intentions? I pray the Lord shows me my own
darkness and in turn shows me his own light. I pray and ask
the Lord to do the same for you. Now there is one, these are some
of the glorious ways that the Word of God describes our Lord. But did you know there's one
word that encompasses all of his characteristics? Turn to
Isaiah 6.3. Isaiah 6, 3, and cried one to
another and said, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his
glory. A definition of the word holy
that I found that I think is a good one, holy, exalted or
worthy of complete devotion, as one perfect in goodness and
righteousness. Some of you may have heard this
story before. Luke Coffey and I went to Senator College in
Danville, Kentucky together, where Don Fortner preaches. And
one day in one of his world religions classes, the professor, who actually
was a Jewish woman, asked the students to all write down one
word that best describes God. All the students passed their
word to the front and showed them on the board. And on the
board there were words like good, power, love, friend, graceful,
merciful, all good words. All good words to describe our
Lord. But Luke was the only one in the class to write down the
word holy. The professor proceeded to give
a 40-minute lecture on the Holocaust, during which six million Jews
were murdered in Nazi Germany. And at the end of the lesson,
the professor asked the students to once again write down a word
that best describes God. This time, the answers on the
board ranged from angry, wrathful, confused, even unable, powerless.
When the teacher came to Luke's piece of paper, she paused and
wrote on the chalkboard, still holy. You see, the Lord doesn't
do things because they are good, righteous, and holy. Things are
good, righteous, and holy because the Lord does them. All the things
that have been done in eternity, all the things that will be done
in the future are done exactly according to his holy will and
sovereign design. The best thing that's ever happened
to you, that was his will. The worst thing that's ever happened
to you, that was his will too. What does the word of God say about
our Lord that he is holy? He is exalted and worthy of complete
devotion. He is one perfect in goodness
and righteousness. Let me ask myself this, if he
sent me to hell, would he still be right? Would he still be just? Would he still be holy? Only
the Lord can give me the grace to truly answer yes to these
questions and to truly mean it. I pray he would give me the grace
to see this and believe it. And I pray that he would give
you the grace to see it and believe it as well. So third, How can
the God of the Bible have anything to do with me? Up to this point,
I've seen it. The Word of God says that I'm
only evil all the time. I've seen that in my heart dwelleth
no good thing, and the quote-unquote best things I've ever done are
filthy rags in his sight. I've seen that I'm full of darkness.
I have also seen that the Lord is full of light. He is holy,
exalted, one perfect in goodness and righteousness. We can simplify
it down to one statement. He is God and I am not God. How then can the God of the Bible
have anything to do with me? In and of myself, he can't and
he won't. Romans 5, 6 says, when we were
yet without strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly.
And then back to 1 Timothy 14 and 15 where we started. 1 Timothy 1, sorry, 1 Timothy 1,
14 and 15. And the grace of our Lord was
exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. 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. All three of these questions
can actually be answered in this one passage. What does the word of God say
about me? That I am the chief of sinners, the worst one of
the whole bunch. What does the Word of God say
about our Lord? That His grace is exceeding abundant with faith
and love, which is in Christ Jesus. And third, how can the
God of the Bible have anything to do with me one way and one
way only? For the sake of Christ Jesus,
His beloved Son, who came into this world to save sinners. Surely
this is some good news. We've seen that the Bible says
about me that I'm only evil all the time, that I'm a sinner,
through and through, from the top of my head to the soles of
my feet, to my very core I'm wicked. It says here quite plainly
that the Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy One, the Just One, came
into this world to save sinners and to die for the ungodly. How
glorious. What good news is this? So how
does He save? How can He reconcile my evil
nature with His holy, just nature? Romans 5.10 says, for if when
we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son,
much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. Turn
to 1 Peter 2. 1 Peter 2 verses 22 through 24,
who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth. Who when
he was reviled, reviled not again. When he suffered, he threatened
not, but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously.
Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree,
that we being dead to sins should live under righteousness, by
whose stripes you were healed. We see here that the Lord Jesus
Christ condescended into this world and lived a perfect life.
He didn't sin once. He never spoke anything but the
absolute truth. When people hated him, he didn't
hate them in return. When he was made to suffer, when
he was tormented, when he was tortured, he didn't threaten
those people back. He didn't even have so much as
a vengeful thought towards these people. He lived perfectly for
33 years and bore his people's sins in his own body at the cross,
Calvary. The sins of the elect became
His sins. And in Romans 6.23, the Word of God tells us that
the wages of sin is death. The Son of God bore our sins
in His body and actually died on the tree. And in turn, the
very righteousness, the very perfection of the Lord Jesus
Christ became His people's righteousness. It became His people's perfection.
This is so glorious and so beyond my comprehension. I can't really
start to truly enter into it into my fragile mind, but I can
believe it as a testimony of the Word of God, and I can certainly
rejoice in it. I know I do, and I pray that you would too. But
who is this we that Paul refers to? Who is this we that should
live unto righteousness? Who are his people? Who are these
whose sins are taken away? become His very righteousness?"
I want to know who these people are and I want to know how I
can be one of them. Turn to Ephesians 1 verses 4 and 5. Ephesians 1, starting in verse
4, according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before
him in love, having predestinated us under the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will. In his divine purpose and according
to the good pleasure of his will, the Lord chose a people before
the world ever was, before any of us were born, before our parents,
or our parents' parents, all the way back to Adam. The Lord
chose a people, and each and every soul that the Lord chose
is holy and blameless, even now in God's sight. And the way God
sees things, that's the way they really are. So finally, one might
ask, I see that the word of God says that I'm a sinner. I see
that the word of God says that the Lord is holy. I see that
the word of God says that the Lord Jesus Christ came to this
earth to save sinners. I see that the Bible says that
God elected a people before the foundation of the world. I see
that everyone he chose, everyone that Christ died for, must be
saved. But how can I be in this number?
How can I be saved? Acts 16.30 says, and brought
them out and said, sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they
said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved
in thy house. Last scripture turned to John
6. John 6, we'll read verses 37
through 40. Starting in verse 37, all that
the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to
me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven not
to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And
this is the Father's will which had sent me, that of all which
he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it
up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that
sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son, and believeth
on him, may have everlasting life. And I will raise him up
at the last day." The Lord promises here that all that the Father
gave him will come, and that those that come will not be turned
away. So I urge you, come to Christ now. How do I come? Beg him to show you that what
the word of God says about you is true. Beg Him to show you
that what the Word of God says about Him is true. Beg Him to
give you the grace to come to Him as the chief of sinners,
the worst one of the whole bunch, as one who can only sin all the
time. Beg Him to cause you to believe
that the precious blood of His Holy Son, our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ, is all that is needed to save your soul. Ask
Him to cause you to come to Him and believe on Him And the Word
of God promises you will have everlasting life. So again, I
urge, come to Christ now. Amen.