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 1030 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
945 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 Nyberg. I'm going to be speaking this
morning from 1 Timothy 1, verse 5, and I've entitled this message,
Swerving from the Gold. I'd also like to announce that
tonight I'll be speaking at the Rocky Ford Baptist Church in
Liberty, Kentucky, beginning tonight at 6, and Monday through
Wednesday at 7 each evening. 1 Timothy 1 verse 5, Now the
end or the goal of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart,
and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned, from which
this end or this goal of the commandment, from which some
having swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling, desiring
to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor whereof
they affirm." At the end, the purpose, the goal of the commandment
is charity out of a pure heart and of a good conscience. and
to faith unfeigned." That's the goal of the commandment. Now,
before we go on, what does Paul mean by this word, the commandment?
The end of the commandment. Now, that same word, commandment,
is translated in verse 3 of this same chapter, a charge. He said
to Timothy, as I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus when
I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some. that they
teach no other doctrine. Now, that's the charge, the end
of this charge, the end of this commandment, that they teach
no other doctrine. There's one doctrine, the doctrine
of Christ. That's the only doctrine there
is. All other doctrines are false. There is only the doctrine of
Christ. Let me read a passage of Scripture
from 2 John, beginning in verse 7. John says, For many deceivers
are entered into the world. Now, most preachers, listen to
me carefully, most preachers are deceivers. They're false
prophets because they don't preach this message. They don't bring
this doctrine. And I mean that from the depths
of my heart. I hope you listen to me. Most men going under the
name of a preacher or a pastor or a priest, They're false prophets
because they're not bringing this doctrine. Let's go on reading. For many deceivers are entered
into the world who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in
the flesh. This is a deceiver and an anti-Christ. Now, here's the doctrine of Christ. We confess. This is what's preached
publicly. We confess that Jesus Christ
has come in the flesh. Now, in that simple statement
that is actually so profound and vast, we confess all we believe
regarding the doctrine of Christ, the Gospel, the whole Gospel
is found in that statement. Jesus Christ has come in the
flesh. Now, when we make that confession,
here's what we're confessing. We're confessing He was before
He came into flesh. He's the eternal, uncreated Son
of God. He's the Creator of the universe.
Before He ever came in the flesh, before He ever took on a body,
He was before He came. Unto us a child is born, but
unto us a Son is given. You see, the Son wasn't born.
The child was born, but the Son wasn't born. The Son's always
been. And the government shall be upon
His shoulders. His name shall be called Wonderful
Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince
of Peace. We confess His deity. All that
God is, He is. Is God sovereign? The Lord Jesus
Christ is sovereign. Is God all-powerful? Christ is
all-powerful. Is God holy? Christ is holy. Is God all-wise? Christ is all-wise. All that God is, He is. In Him, Paul said, dwelleth all
the fullness of the Godhead in a body. We confess He was before
He came. And we confess He came in the
flesh. God became a man, the God-man
Christ Jesus. Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. Christ Jesus came
in the flesh. God manifested the flesh. He came in the flesh, and we
confess He did exactly what He came to do. Well, what did He
come to do? Well, it's announced in the very
first chapter of the New Testament, Thou shalt call His name Jesus,
for He shall save His people from their sins. What did He
come to do? He came to save His people from
their sins. And that's exactly what He did. When He bowed His mighty head
and said, It is finished, all of His people were saved from
their sins. Their sins were washed away.
They were put away. And they were given perfect righteousness. Now, all divine truth, the whole
Gospel is in that statement, that charge that Paul gave to
Timothy. Preach no other doctrine. This
is the doctrine of God that Christ Jesus came in the flesh. He was
before He came. He came in the flesh and He did
what He came to do. Now, that is the doctrine of
Christ. Now, He said, here's the end. Here's the goal. Here's the purpose
of that doctrine, the doctrine of Christ. The end of the commandment
is charity out of a pure heart and of a good conscience and
of faith unfamed or unfaked, unacted out, real in other words,
from which some, having swerved, they've not made this their end. They've looked to something else.
From this, Sonnheim's word had turned aside into vain jangling,
empty words, desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither
what they say, nor whereof they affirm. They don't know what
they're saying, nor the implications that can arise from what they're
so confidently affirming. The end of the commandment is
charity out of a pure heart. And let's talk about that first.
Charity out of a pure heart. Now, what is this pure heart?
Our Lord said in Matthew 5, verse 7, blessed are the pure in heart.
For they shall see God." Now, a pure heart is just that. It's pure. It's not evil. It's
not wicked. It's pure. Somebody says, well,
how can you speak of a pure heart when the Scripture says the heart
is desperately wicked and deceitful above all things? Who can know
it? When the Scriptures present man's heart as bad, God saw the
wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every imagination
of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. If
that's the case, how can someone have a pure heart? Well, this
is talking about the pure heart that he gives in the new birth.
A new heart also will I give you. This heart is that pure
heart. This is the heart that believes.
This is the heart that loves. It wasn't there before. Now,
you still have the old heart if you're a believer. You have
two natures. You have a sinful nature, but you have a new nature,
a new heart, a pure heart. Paul said in 2 Timothy 2, 22,
follow righteousness, faith, charity and peace within the
call on the Lord out of a pure heart. Peter said in 1 Peter
1, 22, see that you love one another with a pure heart, fervently
being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible. By
the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. Now, this
charity comes from a pure heart. Now, the charity Paul is speaking
of is not found in the natural man. It's not found. As a matter of fact, if you look
at no natural man, every natural man has some kind of love. Men
and women love each other. They get married. have families.
They love their families. Moms love their kids. Children
love their parents. You can love friends, and that's
good. I'm thankful for that kind of love, but that's not the love
Paul's speaking of. You see, the Scripture says,
he that loveth is born of God knows God. Now, that doesn't
mean that everybody who loves their wife or husband is born
of God. It doesn't mean that at all.
There are men and women who sincerely love each other and they end
up hating each other and get divorced. But when they began, they really
did love each other. But that love didn't continue,
did it? They wouldn't have got divorced if it wouldn't have. The love he's speaking of is
that love that comes from this pure heart. Charity. Charity out of a pure heart. Everyone that has this love,
this is the end of the commandment. Charity out of a pure heart.
I'd like to look at 1 Corinthians chapter 13, that great chapter
on charity. Paul says in verse 1, though
I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have not charity,
I'm to come as a sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. And though
I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and
all knowledge and though I have all faith so that I can remove
mountains and have not charity, I am nothing. All of those things
are meaningless. And though I bestow all my goods
to feed the poor and though I give my body to be burned and have
not charity, It profits me nothing. This charity, this love that
is the fruit of God, the Holy Spirit, the fruit of the Spirit
is love, is charity. And he goes on to describe this
charity. Charity suffers long. It puts up with so much, it bears
with So much. It's long-suffering and it's
kind. It's gracious and easy. You don't feel threatened and
judged around charity. You feel comfortable. You don't
feel like you're under a microscope being examined and judged. Not
with someone who has charity. It's kind and easy. Charity envies
not. Charity can't be envious of someone
that it loves. You don't envy people you love.
You're happy for whatever they have and however the Lord blesses
them. Charity vaunteth not itself. It doesn't push itself forward. It's not a braggart. It's not
puffed up and swollen with pride. It doesn't behave itself unseemly. It's not rude, dishonest, and
base. Charity, he says, seeketh not
her own. It's not selfish and self-centered
and self-righteous. It seeketh not her own. It's
not easily provoked. It's not touching. You don't
have to walk on eggshells around it. It's not so easily offended. Not the charity that's the gift
of God's grace. It thinketh no evil. It's not suspicious. It thinks
the best rather than the worst of the object of its affections.
It bears all things, and that means literally it covers with
silence all things. Love doesn't want to expose.
Love wants to cover the faults of the object of its affection.
It believes all things what it can't see it believes. It hopes
all things what it can't see it hopes for. It endures all
things. It never quits. It's never reduced
to inactivity. Charity never fails. Now, this is the great goal of
the commandment. This is the great goal of the
Gospel. Charity. A true, genuine love
out of this pure heart. The gift of God's grace. I love later on in this chapter
Paul says, now abide at these three, faith, hope, and charity.
And the greatest of these is charity. Why is it the greatest? Why is it greater than faith
or hope? Because I'm not always going to need faith. I'm going
to be looking upon the Lord Jesus Christ. And that hope that I
have right now, that I'm going to be just like Christ, will
be turned into experience. I won't need that. But I'll always
love Him, and I'll always love His people. Charity never fails. And the goal, the end of the
gospel, the commandment is to produce charity out of a pure
heart. Now here's the second goal of
the commandment. Now the end or goal of the commandment,
the charge, is charity out of a pure heart and of a good conscience. Here's the second goal of the
gospel. To produce in men and women a
good conscience. Now, what is a good conscience? Well, I believe the first thing
we have to ask is, what is the conscience? Everybody has a conscience. You're born with a conscience.
You're born with a moral compass. We're born knowing the difference
between right and wrong. Now, the conscience has fallen,
I realize that, and that causes some problems, but still, everyone
knows the difference between right and wrong. I have had people
say, well, you need to teach people how to live. People know
how to live. You know it's wrong to murder.
You know it's wrong to lie. You know it's wrong to cheat.
You know it's wrong to commit sexual sin. You know you ought
to pay your bills. You know you ought to treat people
fairly and kindly. Everybody knows that. People
already know how to live. The conscience tells people the
difference between right and wrong in that sense. Now, the
only problem with the conscience is it's fallen. When Adam fell,
the conscience fell along with him. So this conscience is not
a good conscience. The conscience of the natural
man is not good. Let me read a passage of scripture
from Romans, chapter two, beginning in verse 14. For when the Gentiles,
which have not the law, now he's talking about the people who
didn't have a copy of the Bible. God never made himself known
to them the way he did to the Israelites. God gave Israel the
law. He gave Israel the Ten Commandments.
He gave Israel His Word. He didn't give the rest of the
world this. Now listen to what Paul says, For when the Gentiles,
which have not the law, they didn't have a copy of the Bible,
they do by nature the things contained in the law, these having
not the law are a law unto themselves, which show the work of the law
written in their hearts. Even though they've never seen
a copy of the Ten Commandments, they know it's wrong to lie.
They know it's wrong to commit adultery. They know it's wrong
to kill. They know these things. That's
the work of the law written in everybody's heart, which show
the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience
also bearing witness. and their thoughts the meanwhile
accusing or excusing one another in the day when God shall judge
the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel." Now,
here's what the conscience does in every natural man. It either
accuses, where you feel guilty, you know what you did was wrong,
or it excuses. You find a way to justify what
you did. Now that's what we all do, that's
all the conscience does of the natural man in either accuses
and makes you feel guilty, or it excuses and you seek to justify
what you did. It really wasn't wrong. I had
a reason. The circumstances were extenuating.
I had a reason for doing it. I was justified in doing it.
It is amazing how quickly men justify themselves in their wicked
actions. Now, that's what the conscience
does. It either excuses or accuses. So what is Paul talking about
when he talks about a good conscience? Well, this is the conscience
that's given in the new birth. It's part of the new heart. It's
a conscience that is good. Now, what do I mean by that?
Does that mean it's a conscience that never feels guilty? You know, there's never a time
when I do not feel guilty about something. And that's Scripture,
because the Scripture says that in 1 John, if we say we have
no sin, we deceive ourselves. I always have a sinful nature.
Therefore, I suspect everything I do. And it says in verse 10
of 1 John, if we say we've not sinned, they're the words of
verb regarding anything I do. I don't care if it's my giving.
I don't care if it's my prayers. I don't care if it's my singing
praise. I don't care if it's my preaching. If I did it, there's
sin in it. There's some bad motive, some
self-seeking because of me. So there's no time ever when
I can say, well, I have no guilt there. That's just not so. That's
a lie. There's always something guilty. So somebody says, well, I have
no guilt. Well, what it is, you've got
to see your conscience there. Your conscience doesn't work anymore
because if your conscience was any good, you would feel guilty
because you'd know something about your own sinfulness and
you would know that there's something wrong with you as far as your
old man knows. It's only a believer that can
understand what I'm saying, I realize that. But if you're a believer,
the new man sees that everything about the old man is no good.
And you see, Paul said, I know that in me that is in my flesh
dwelleth no good thing. So, a good conscience is one
that feels no guilt. That's just a seared conscience.
A good conscience is not one who feels real guilty. That's
an accusing conscience. A good conscience is a conscience
that has nothing to feel guilty about. Now, I may feel guilty,
but if I'm a believer, I have nothing to feel guilty about. Peter tells us of the answer
of a good conscience by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. You see, here's why I have nothing
to feel guilty about, because I have nothing to feel guilty
about. Christ Jesus the Lord. took my sin. That's why He died. He'd bear our sins in His own
body on the tree. He took my sin and it became
His sin and He paid for it. It's gone. It's wiped away. He takes His righteousness and
gives it to me so that I'm the very righteousness of God in
the Lord Jesus Christ. You look over my life and you
won't find any fault because my life is the life of the Lord
Jesus Christ. You put all my life up on a screen,
there'll be nothing there but that which is pleasing to God,
because my life is the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ,
our life, Paul said. He is our life. He said, I'm
the way, I'm the truth, I'm the life. His life is my life before
God, therefore I have nothing. for my conscience to condemn
me about. I've got a good conscience knowing that when He was raised
from the dead, the sin issue had been taken care of. My sin
paid for. His righteousness is mine. And
that's the answer of a good conscience toward God. That's the end of
the law. That's the goal of the law. It's
to give someone this good conscience by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead. And the third thing that he mentions
Now, the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart
and of a good conscience and a faith unsanged. Faith unsanged, unsanked is what
it means. The word sane is the word hypocrite. Hypocrite, faith unhypocritical,
unacted out. Now, what is a hypocrite? Well,
it's what they would have called the movie stars back then. I
know they didn't have movies, but plays or whatever, someone
who acted in a play, an actor was called a hypocrite. That's
what he did. He acted. He wasn't real. He
was acting out a part. And we're warned of faith unfeigned. That tells me there is such a
thing as feigned faith, faked faith, faith acted out, faith
that is not real. Now, some actors are better than
others. You've seen good actors and you've
seen bad actors. The good actor is the one who
doesn't seem to be an actor. He seems real. A good hypocrite
seems real and not pretended. You know, we read in the Scriptures
of unfeigned love, of unfeigned wisdom, and of unfeigned faith. And that lets us know that there
is such a thing as feigned or faked love, and faked wisdom,
not real, and faked faith, and the end of the commandment is
faith unfeigned, unfaked. This is the goal of the Gospel,
to have true, unfeigned faith. Now, I want to give you what
I believe is, well, what the Scripture says is the dead giveaway
for hypocrisy, something that is not real. In Matthew chapter
7, Verse 1, the Lord said in the Sermon on the Mount, Judge
not that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge,
you shall be judged. And with what measure you meet,
it shall be measured to you again. Judge not. Now what does the
Lord mean when He says, Judge not? Does that mean we're not
supposed to have an opinion about something? Let's say somebody
commits murder and we say, well, we shouldn't judge them. I mean,
they did what, or someone does some kind of monstrous act and
we say, well, they ought to be, we don't have the right for them
to go to jail or be punished. Judge not. You know, if you're,
what if your child was smoking marijuana and you confronted
them about it and they said, don't judge me. You couldn't
do that. I mean, that's not what that
means. Judge not means don't look down
your nose in moral superiority at anybody. If you do, the judgment
you give to that person is the judgment the Lord is going to
deal with you. Now, let's go on reading. The Lord says, Judge
not that you be not judged, for with what judgment you judge,
you shall be judged. And with what measure you meet,
it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote,
the little splinter that's in thy brother's eye, but considerest
not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say
to thy brother, let me pull out the mote out of thine eye, and
behold, a beam, a log is in thine own eye, thou hypocrite." Now
there's where the Lord uses the word, thou hypocrite, you actor. First cast out the beam out of
thine own eye, then shalt thou see clearly cast the mote out
of thy brother's eye. In Romans chapter 2, verse 1,
listen to the words of Paul. He says, Therefore thou art inexcusable,
O man, whosoever thou art that judgest. For wherein thou judgest
another, you condemn yourself. For ye that judge do the same
things." You can't look down your nose at anybody because
you're guilty of the same things they are, at least in your heart.
And if you don't see that, it's because you're blind. It's because
the Lord's never done anything for you. The sure mark of a hypocrite
is someone with a judgmental attitude in that sense. Now,
I'm not a feigned sinner. I'm not a fake sinner. I don't
just use the term when it's convenient or when it seems appropriate.
Before God, I believe that I know that I'm a sinner. I'm not a
feigned sinner. And I know this also. I know
that what was going on on the cross was not feigned. It was
not role-playing. God wasn't using His Son in role-playing. You didn't commit this sin, but
I'm going to treat you as if you did, so you're going to take
that role, and I'm going to take the role of the judge." No, that
wasn't role-playing going on on the cross. It wasn't acting.
Christ Jesus literally was guilty, and His Father poured His wrath
out upon Him, because when my sin became His sin, it became
His sin so that He became guilty of it. This wasn't role-playing
going on. And I also know this. I'm not
faking. I'm not feigning. I'm not acting.
When I say the Lord Jesus Christ truly is all in my salvation,
I'm looking nowhere else but to Him only for all of my wisdom
and all of my righteousness and all of my sanctification and
all of my redemption. This is not feigned faith. This
is not faith fake. I really do look to Him as everything
in my salvation. I'm not looking to myself for
a thing. I'm looking wholly to Him. Now,
this is the end of the commandment, charity out of a pure heart and
of a good conscience and of faith unthinked. And I'd like to let
you know that beginning this evening at 7 o'clock, or 6 o'clock
and Monday through Wednesday at 7 o'clock, I'll be speaking
at the Rocky Ford Baptist Church in Liberty, Kentucky. Now, we
have this message on DVD and CD. If you call the church right
or email, we'll send you a copy. This is Todd Kniper praying that
God will be pleased to make Himself known to you. That's our prayer.
Amen. To request a copy of the sermon
you have just heard, send your request to messages at toddsroadgracechurch.com. or you may write or call the
church at the information provided on the screen. Today, Ben Tracy witnessed a
man-made earthquake in San Diego. It was part of an experiment
to prepare for the real thing.