He was always praising and thanking
the Lord for His mercies and for His grace to him and to his
brethren. In Ephesians, he said, I give
thanks always to God for all things. I give thanks always
to God for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
That's a watchword that we could adopt, isn't it? Giving thanks
always for all things unto God the Father in the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And then in 2 Thessalonians,
he said this, I'm bound to give thanks always to God for you,
brethren, Beloved of God, because God hath from the beginning chosen
you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the
truth, whereunto he called you by our gospel. Thank God. And then in another passage in
1 Thessalonians, he said, In everything give thanks, for this
is the will of God. for you. And here in our text
tonight, where we're taking up, we left off this morning in verse
12. And he said, And I thank God,
I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that
he counted me faithful, and put me in the ministry. There's no
greater calling or office than the preacher of the gospel. And
Paul says, I thank God that he put me in the ministry. No man
taketh this office upon himself, but him, he who is called of
God. And we have proof of that in
Acts chapter 13, if you would turn there a moment, that God
put him in the ministry, and God indicated to the church that
he had put Paul in the ministry. I tell young men this, that if
God has called you to preach, he'll not only notify you, but
he'll notify the church. Other servants of God and the
brethren and the people of God will recognize your gifts, and
they'll encourage you. If they're honest, they'll be
honest with you and encourage you. Here in Acts 13, verse 2,
and as they, these men named up above, and let's go to verse
1. In the church at Antioch, there were certain prophets and
teachers, godly men, Barnabas, Simeon, that's called Niger,
Lucius of Cyrene, and Manna in which had been brought up with
Herod, the Tetrarch, and Saul. And as they ministered to the
Lord and fasted, the Holy Ghost said to them, You separate me,
Barnabas and Saul, for the work whereunto I have called them."
God notified the church that he had called Paul, put him in
the ministry. And when they had fasted and
prayed, they laid hands on them and they sent them out. They
were sent out from the church, not from a seminary, from a school,
from the church. And God notified the elders and
leaders in that church, laid it upon their hearts to send
these men from among them. They were here and spent a lot
of time in this church. God sent them out. And he says
here, God, I thank Christ Jesus who hath enabled me, he gave
me the knowledge of the gospel. And he gave me gifts and grace
to preach the gospel. The expurgeon had a college for
young preachers there in his church. They had a preacher's
school. And he used to say, if God calls a man to preach, He'll
give him the gifts that are required for that task, even to giving
him a pair of lungs and a voice strong enough to preach that
gospel. Just the simple thing. But God enabled me. He gave me
the gifts and the knowledge and the grace and the strength to
preach the gospel. For, He said, He counted me faithful. Well, He gave Paul that faithfulness
by grace. He gave Paul that faithfulness,
having put me in the ministry, enabled me, and counted me faithful. He enabled me to be faithful.
He made me, by His grace, faithful. And this faithfulness, listen
to me, is the necessary qualification for those who preach the gospel. Faithfulness. Faithfulness. Faithfulness to the Gospel, to
the Word, to the Lord, to the task. Let me show you a couple
of Scriptures. 1 Thessalonians chapter 2. 1 Thessalonians chapter 2. Paul says here, but as we were
allowed of God, as we were allowed of God to
be put in trust, with the gospel. He put it in our hands, this
gospel, put it in our hearts. Even so we speak, not as pleasing
men, but God, which trieth our hearts. And neither at any time
use we flattering words, as you know, nor cloak of covetousness. God is our witness, nor of men
sought we glory, nor of you nor yet of others, when we might
have been burdensome as the apostles of Christ, but we were faithful,
faithful to God. And look at another scripture
over in 1 Corinthians 4, regarding those who minister the Word and
preach the Gospel. In 1 Corinthians 4, listen to
the first two verses. Faithfulness is the necessary
qualification. Faithful to God, to the gospel,
to the truth. In 1 Corinthians 4.1, let a man
so account of us as of the ministers of Christ and stewards, not of
the money. Almost every time you hear a
sermon on stewardship, it has to do with money. That's the
least of our concerns. If a man is a proper steward
of the grace of God, he'll be a steward of the possessions
he has. But he says here, as the ministers
of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. That's what
God's put us in trust with, the Gospel. Not a bunch of trinkets,
the Gospel. The Gospel of His glory, the
Gospel of His grace, the Gospel of His Son, the Gospel of free
and sovereign grace. Now then, moreover, it's required,
it's necessary in stewards that a man be found faithful. Faithful
to that gospel. Faithful to that God, that Master
who called him. Faithful. Don't let men shake
you or change your direction or disturb you or plant fear
in your soul. Faithful stewards. And that's
what Paul says, I thank Christ Jesus. He enabled me. He counted me faithful. And He
put me in the ministry. And then in verse 13 he said,
I was before a blasphemer. He was a blasphemer. He regarded
Christ Jesus as a mere man, an imposter. That's a blasphemer. Somebody said they interviewed
this man, Larry King, some time ago, and they asked him, I believe
it was Larry King, somebody, and they asked him, when he dies
and meets God, what's the one question he's going to ask God? Do you know what it was? I'm going to ask God, did you
really have a son? That's blasphemy. And everybody thinks that's cute. And Paul was just that kind of
fellow. He said, I was a blasphemer.
I was a blasphemer. And he said, I was a persecutor. You know what a persecutor is?
Not content to blaspheme God. But he harassed God's people.
Harassed them. troubled them, hurt them, imprisoned
them. He hated Christ and he hated
Christ's people. He said, I was a persecutor.
And I was injurious. See that? I was a blasphemer,
I was a persecutor, I was injurious. I made havoc of the church. I
tried my best to blot out the gospel. I advocated works, not Christ,
not grace, self-righteousness, not His righteousness. I hated
it. And yet, listen, but I obtained
mercy. Amen. Now that's the language
of grace. That language is not understood
by a lot of people. It's not spoken by today's religionists. is taught of God in the school
of the Spirit. I was a blasphemer. I was a persecutor. I was injurious, but I obtained
mercy. He never said, but I got saved.
That's the way we talk today. I got saved. Somewhere down the
line, I ran into something and got saved. I hear people say,
when I became a Christian. I didn't become a Christian.
God Almighty regenerated me and gave me mercy. Gave me a new
heart, a new life. I didn't adopt a set of rules
and switch tracks. I met God. You see what Paul
said, I obtained mercy. Down in verse 16, he said it
again, I obtained mercy. Mercy. Look at that verse 13. Because I did it ignorantly and
in unbelief. Now his ignorance and unbelief
was not the reason he obtained mercy. That wasn't the reason. What he's saying here, it's indeed
mercy and grace. Great mercy that pardons and
justifies such an ignorant unbeliever. I was an ignorant unbeliever. But doesn't that define all of
us by nature? Ignorant. Ignorant of God. Ignorant of our sins. Ignorant
of ourselves. Ignorant of God's Son. I obtained
mercy unasked, unsought, unmerited. And I was ignorant. And I lived
in unbelief, ignorant unbelief, but I obtained mercy. And verse
14, and the grace of our Lord, free, sovereign grace. I love
that word grace. Amazing grace, how sweet the
sound. It saved a wretch, a religious
wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I'm
found. I was blind, but now I see. Grace wrote my name in God's
eternal book. Grace gave me to the Lamb who
all my sorrows took. Grace taught my soul to pray. Grace made my eyes overflow. Grace kept me to this day. And
grace will not let me go. Electing grace. Redeeming grace. Pardoning grace. Provenient grace. Calling grace. Keeping grace.
Saving grace. It's all the grace of God. Not
of works, lest any man should boast. And he says in verse 14,
And that grace of the Lord was exceeding abundant. Abundant. It overflowed. That's what the
word abundant means. Overflowed. Plenty of it. sufficient
grace, where sin did abound, where sin did overflow, grace
did much more overflow. And listen, what did that grace
do? And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant and brought
to me faith and love, which is in Christ Jesus, made me a new
creature. Instead of unbelief, I believed. Instead of being angry, I was
broken. Instead of being mad, filled
with rage, I loved Christ. Loved His gospel. Loved His people. Delighted in His presence. Rejoiced
in His Word. Turned Him around. That mad bull
of Jerusalem on the road to Damascus to blaspheme some more, persecute
some more, make havoc of the church. And God met him, obtained
mercy, and turned him around. And that grace was abundant,
abundant with faith and love in Christ Jesus. And listen,
he says, verse 15, and this is a faithful saying, trustworthy, You can bank on
it. This is a faithful saying, and
worthy of acceptation by all men, not to be argued, not to
be debated, not to be doubted, that Christ Jesus actually came
into this world to save folks like me and you. That's right. This is a faithful
saying. A faithful saying. Let me point
out five things here about this fateful saying. What's he saying
here? What is this? Why is he saying
this is a fateful saying? Well, this gospel which declares,
proclaims, that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, equal with the
Father, thought it not robbery to be equal with God. The second
person of the Blessed Trinity came down to this earth. and
was made in the likeness of sinful flesh. God was in Christ, took
upon Himself the form of a serpent, walked this earth as our representative,
as our surety, as our redeemer, obeyed the law, died on the cross
under the guilt of our sins. The just died for the unjust
to bring us to God. was buried and rose again, ascended
to the right hand of God, where he now lives to make intercession.
This is a faithful saying. Faithful to whom? To what? Well,
first, it's faithful to the character of God. That's the way redemption has
to be if God's going to be God. Now let me show you that. Turn
to a couple of Scriptures. In Psalm 85. Now listen. Listen
to this. Psalm 85 verse 10. Mercy and truth are met together. They've met in agreement. Mercy
and truth. Righteousness, justice, righteousness,
holiness, and peace have kissed each other. Now how can that
be where we're concerned? God is holy and we're unholy.
God is merciful, but God is just. God must punish sin. Well, how
can God's mercy and His truth, His righteousness, holiness,
and peace meet in Christ? Do you understand that? Christ
died that God may be just, holy, and righteous, and yet loving,
peaceful, and kind. That's what He said. Turn to
Romans 3. This saying is faithful. to the character of God. In Romans
3, listen to this. In Romans 3, 25. Talking about Christ. Romans
3, 25. Now watch this. Whom God has set forth, Christ
set him forth to be a mercy seat, a sacrifice, a sin offering through
faith in his blood to declare God's righteousness for the remission
of sins that have passed through the forbearance of God longsuffering
of God, to declare, I say at this time, His holiness, His
righteousness, that He might be just, and justifier of him
that believeth in Jesus." Here's a man that's guilty under sentence
of death. The judge, if he's just, has
got to punish him, unless someone takes his place, assumes his
guilt, and this man becomes not guilty, This man becomes guilty.
And this man is able, because of who he is, to take that punishment,
die under it, and put away the guilt in that man's place. That's
what Christ did. And God forgives us because Christ
paid the debt. God forgives us and accepts us
and receives us because in Christ we don't have any sin. So this
saying here, it's a faithful saying, that Christ came and
took our place, it's faithful to the character of God. And
then this saying is faithful to the Scriptures. It's faithful
to the Old Testament Scriptures. Because the Old Testament Scriptures,
from beginning Genesis to Malachi, set forth a Lamb slain, a sacrifice
offered, a blood atonement, you see, all the way through. And
Christ fulfilled all of those Old Testament types and pictures.
It says in the book of Acts chapter 13, when they had fulfilled all
that was written of Him, they took Him down from the tree. But everything in birth, He had
to fulfill. Micah 5-2, lying in the manger,
working in the carpenter's shop, All of these sayings, being despised,
rejected of men, pierced his hands and feet, all of these
sayings had to be fulfilled. And when they were all fulfilled,
it took him down to the tree. This saying is faithful to the
Old Testament. Thirdly, this saying is faithful
to the righteousness of God. Listen to Romans 1, Romans chapter
1, the holiness of God. Without holiness, no man will
see the Lord. Romans 1 verse 16, I'm not ashamed of the gospel. Paul said, it's the power of
God unto salvation to everyone that believe it, to the Jew first
and also to the Greek. For therein, in the gospel, is
the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith. That's where
it's revealed, in the gospel. This saying right here reveals
the righteousness of God. God is holy. Righteous. We're
unholy. God requires us to be holy, but
we can't do it. God sends His Son down to give
us a holiness. Now I have a holiness, and I'll
present that holiness. It's Christ's holiness. See,
and that's the gospel. It's faithful to the character
of God, to the Scriptures. He died for our sins according
to the Scriptures. It's faithful to the righteousness of God.
It's faithful to the Son. God promised him a people. Back
in the Old Testament, He said, you'll have a people out of every
tribe, kindred, nation, tongue, and death. God promised the Son
a people, a kingdom. He called the kingdom the kingdom
of His dear Son. And our Lord said, all that my
Father giveth me shall come to me. And him that cometh to me
I'll in no wise cast out. So it's also faithful to those
who come. I will no wise cast out." This
is a faithful saying and worthy of your acceptation because it's
faithful and it's the only gospel that's faithful to the character
of God. That gospel which says, do the
best you can and God will accept you, that's not faithful to the
character of God or to the Old Testament Scriptures or to God's
holiness or to the Son or to you. And preachers are preachers
and are faithful. But the man who can stand and
say, here, I've got the faithful saying, faithful to the character
of God, to the Scriptures, to the holiness of God, to the law,
to the Son who suffered and died. Did He die in vain? That's not
faithful. Talk about people being in hell
for whom Christ died. That's not faithful to the Son. He despaired not His own Son,
but delivered Him up for us all. Shall He not with Him freely
give us these things? Not faithful to me? No, but this gospel is faithful. Verse 16, listen to it. Howbeit
for this cause I obtain mercy, that in me... Remember what He
said about Himself, don't you? Blasphemer. persecutor, injurious,
chief of sinners. That's the four titles he took
to himself in those preceding verses. Blasphemer, persecutor,
injurious, chief of sinners. And in me, first, Jesus Christ
might show forth his long-suffering, his patience, his grace, his
love for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on Him,
to life everlasting." Paul says, listen, I'll paraphrase it, listen
folks, he said, God showed mercy to me, the greatest sinner, the
chief of sinners, the greatest rebel, the most self-righteous
Pharisee who ever lived, He showed grace to me as a pattern of His
grace, as a pattern of His long-suffering, as a pattern of His mercy, that
no one Whatever he is, whatever he's done, no one should doubt
the greatness of God's grace. But everyone should be encouraged
to come to the Lord Jesus, to super peace and mercy, to call
upon the name of the Lord, for He does indeed delight to show
mercy. And I'm proof of it. I'm proof
of it. I love that story. William Jay
and John Newton were good friends. So was William Cooper, the great
hymn writer, and John Newton. They lived next door to... I've
walked between their houses before. Stood in their studies. Very
impressive. But William Jay came to John
Newton's study one day. And he was so happy. And he said,
Brother Newton, I have good news. The Lord has saved one of the
greatest rebels in our whole community. God has shown great
grace and mercy to Mr. So-and-so and called his name. He said, isn't that wonderful?
Brother Newton said, that is wonderful. He said, Brother Newton,
he said, since the Lord saved that man, I'll never despair
of anybody else. John Newton said, Brother Jay,
Since the Lord saved me, I haven't despaired of anybody else. And
that's what Paul said. If the Lord will save me, He'll
save you. If you'll show mercy to me, I'm
a pattern. No need for you to doubt. No
need for you to run, except to Him. And then verse 17, he breaks
out in a doxology, he said, Unto the King. King of kings and Lord
of lords. And He's not going to be king.
He is king. Some of the pre-millenarians
have us in a kind of a vacuum. The Lord Jesus used to be king
and someday will be king. And right now we're under some
other kind of reign. No sir. He's king. Now unto the
King. Eternal. Whose goings forth have
been from everlasting. Immortal. Ever lives. He's a living God. He died as
a man, but He ever lives. Invisible! He is in His divine
nature, but He was manifested in the flesh and as a man in
glory. The only wise God, the only all-wise,
omniscient God, to Him be the honor and the glory forever and
ever. Put all doubts aside, all pride
aside, all fear aside, and give him honor, for he alone is worthy."
Now, he's going to say something to young Timothy. Let me take
five minutes to talk to you about this. This charge I commit unto
the son Timothy, that same charge back there in verse 3 and 4,
that you teach no other doctrine, that you warn those who do. Son
Timothy, I believe in you. I believe in you. According to the prophecies which
went before on thee, we've had some things to say about young
preachers. These prophecies went before
on Timothy. He is an outstanding young man. He is a gifted young man. He's
a capable young man. I believe that God has got his
hands on him. I believe God's going to use
him. These are all things that people say. prophecies which
went before on young Timothy. What he said, what was said about
you and prophesied of you, by those words, listen, you by
them, minus war, good warfare. Fight a good fight of faith.
We're in a battle. Don't surrender. Our enemies
are not flesh and blood. They're principalities and powers
and rulers of the darkness and subtle enemies. Enemies in high
places that slip in and creep in and are crafty. And they'll use anything or anybody.
So don't surrender. War a good warfare and hold the
faith. Hold the faith. and a good conscience. Hold the pure gospel of Christ
in a good conscience. Administering that gospel in
simplicity, in sincerity, in honesty toward God and men. Don't
vary from that gospel, that faith of Christ Jesus. Some have. Listen. Some have. which some having put away..."
Put away what? That faith, that gospel? Isn't
that sad? They put away that faith and
that gospel. They made shipwreck of that message
and that gospel. We've seen that happen right
here. This congregation, God has raised up young men, had
them sit and listen, We called them to preach evidently. We
felt it made prophecies and predictions. And some continue to hold that
gospel true to it, strong in it, uncompromisingly. But some who have gone out are
not true to that gospel. They're not true to that gospel. Not faithful to that gospel. That's so sad. Some preachers
have failed in both the faith and the honesty of that Gospel. He gives some examples, he said,
of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I've delivered unto Satan,
that they may learn not to blaspheme, not to deny that Gospel. I'll tell you one of the things
that I've found out. I told one of the men this just
a little while ago. I believe the place where God's
preachers, missionaries, preachers, servants are trained and schooled
is in the church, where they sit down, become a member of
that congregation, and they learn. They learn. They spend time there,
not only to learn, but to be proven. And they listen. And they learn, not only from
the pastor, but from the other men of the church and the ladies
of the church. And their wives learn from the
ladies of the church. They sit there and listen. And
it takes time. And I find, as I look back over
men who have come and gone out and gone away, They weren't here
very long. They couldn't be still. They
couldn't listen. They had to go. Had to go. Had
to do. Had to get busy. Had to go preach.
And they'd gone too soon. When Tom Harding went to Pikeville,
somebody up there asked him, have you been to the seminary?
He said, yes. He said, where'd you go to seminary? He said,
I went to seminary at 13th Street Baptist Church, and I sat there
11 years. Eleven years. And I learned. And he did. And
I have no doubt if he is ever leaving the gospel. I really
don't. I feel about him like I do, like Paul did Timothy. Certain and sure. And I could
name several others, but I could name some that they never could
sit still. They never could be quiet. They
never could learn. They were always in a hurry to
get out and do something. Like, you know, those two fellows
when King David was up there where his headquarters were and
the war was going on and Absalom had been killed. And Joab, David's
general, called one of the runners, one of the trusted, faithful,
experienced runners. He called him over and said,
I want you to take the message to the king about his son. You know what happened? Yes,
sir. Another fellow walked up and said, let me run. No, he
said, you're not ready to run. Oh, I want to run. No, you're
not ready. He said, I want to run. Well,
he said, run. Run. And he ran. He outran the old
experienced fellow. He just outran. He left him in
a cloud of dust. And he got to David first. David
said, here's a runner. I'm going to get some news of
my son. Here's the runner coming. He came running up all out of
breath, and David said, What of the battle? What of Absalom?
What of my son? He said, I don't know, King.
I just saw a lot going on, you know, and it looked awful, and
everything was going on smoke. He said, Get out of the way. And that fellow stood up. Here
came the man that God sent. David said, You got a message
about my son? He said, Yes, sir. He's dead. I saw him die. That's my message. And I tell you, I've seen folks
come and Moses spent 40 years. That's a long time. In a wilderness. God teaching
him. And I tell you, I caution some
of you, and you mean well. I know you mean well. But you
want to push these young men. You be careful. You be careful. You let me do that. I know what I'm talking about.
You let them be stale. Let them be stale. You don't
make preachers, God does. You better be careful. I've seen
them go, and you folks have too, and they leave the gospel. They
never had it. They thought they had it. But
these men who sit and learn and listen, and a man that's got
no business pastoring a sovereign grace church who's never been
a member of one. And I mean a good member. And no man's got any
business being a leader who hasn't been a follower. And no man's got any business
representing God and preaching His gospel who hasn't been proven. And lay hands suddenly on no
man. And that's what Paul said to Timothy. He said, Timothy,
got confidence in you. You fight a good fight. Now,
Hammanaeus and Alexander, they've gone. And you know what he said
about Alexander? This is sad. I want you to look
at this in 2 Timothy. 2 Timothy chapter 4. And this thing of departing from the gospel
and failing to remain faithful and true is no gossip subject. It's serious. In 2 Timothy 4,
verse 14, Paul said, Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil. The Lord reward him according
to his works. Of whom be thou aware, Timothy,
for he hath greatly withstood our preaching. Dangerous to compromise
if it's God's preaching, isn't it?