1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:04,160 Our scripture reading this morning is from First Timothy 2 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:12,880 chapter 1, verses 12 through 17. I thank Him who has given me 3 00:00:12,880 --> 00:00:18,720 strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because He judged me faithful, 4 00:00:19,160 --> 00:00:25,240 appointing me to His service, Though formally I was a 5 00:00:25,240 --> 00:00:30,320 blasphemer, persecutor, an insolent opponent. 6 00:00:31,080 --> 00:00:35,400 But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly, and 7 00:00:35,400 --> 00:00:39,400 unbelief and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the 8 00:00:39,400 --> 00:00:42,360 faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 9 00:00:43,520 --> 00:00:46,080 And our focus this morning will be on the remainder of these 10 00:00:46,080 --> 00:00:49,160 verses. The saying is trustworthy and 11 00:00:49,160 --> 00:00:52,600 deserving of full acceptance that Jesus Christ came into the 12 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:56,200 world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. 13 00:00:56,720 --> 00:01:01,280 But I received mercy for this reason, that in me as the 14 00:01:01,280 --> 00:01:05,680 foremost, Jesus Christ might display His perfect patience as 15 00:01:05,680 --> 00:01:10,000 an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. 16 00:01:10,880 --> 00:01:16,880 To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be 17 00:01:16,880 --> 00:01:19,240 honour and glory forever and ever. 18 00:01:19,760 --> 00:01:22,440 Amen. This is the word of the Lord. 19 00:01:23,040 --> 00:01:26,480 Thanks be to God, Father in heaven, we thank you for these 20 00:01:26,480 --> 00:01:31,040 words, these simple words which now reflect on the month in 21 00:01:31,040 --> 00:01:34,240 which we celebrated your incarnation. 22 00:01:34,240 --> 00:01:41,640 And now today we look with this pastor of this small church with 23 00:01:41,640 --> 00:01:48,280 words from his mentor that help us gain another facet of insight 24 00:01:48,640 --> 00:01:54,800 into the incomprehensible mystery of God becoming man. 25 00:01:54,800 --> 00:01:59,200 O Holy Spirit, by your gracious teaching ministry, will you 26 00:01:59,200 --> 00:02:04,280 drive spiritual nourishment deep, deep within our hearts, 27 00:02:04,720 --> 00:02:09,280 that we might not just check off the box of going to church the 28 00:02:09,280 --> 00:02:15,600 Sunday after Christmas, but we might drink deeply from the well 29 00:02:15,600 --> 00:02:19,800 of everlasting life. Lord, we thank You for these 30 00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:23,040 words. We entrust them to the glory of 31 00:02:23,040 --> 00:02:24,560 Your holy name, in which we pray. 32 00:02:25,280 --> 00:02:27,040 Amen. Please be seated. 33 00:02:35,070 --> 00:02:40,630 So imagine if you would the best documentary filmmaker makes a 34 00:02:40,630 --> 00:02:45,200 documentary about you. But it's not about things that 35 00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:48,840 you do or places that you go or accomplishments that you 36 00:02:48,840 --> 00:02:54,640 achieve. It's about your thoughts and 37 00:02:55,280 --> 00:02:57,960 your feelings and your attitudes. 38 00:02:57,960 --> 00:03:02,120 It's it's about your inner life. And the narrator at one point 39 00:03:02,120 --> 00:03:08,400 might say something like here we see them smiling while quietly 40 00:03:08,400 --> 00:03:11,120 resenting last week's disappointments. 41 00:03:12,080 --> 00:03:15,360 Or the voice over at some of their point in the film might 42 00:03:15,360 --> 00:03:21,040 say, notice the sincere posture of prayer and the mental To Do 43 00:03:21,040 --> 00:03:26,040 List running at full speed simultaneously, punctuated by 44 00:03:26,040 --> 00:03:29,880 lingering displeasures of recent personal conflicts. 45 00:03:31,960 --> 00:03:34,640 Then several frames of late night scrolling. 46 00:03:34,640 --> 00:03:41,760 The narrator says this isn't rest, this is more futility in 47 00:03:41,760 --> 00:03:49,200 the pursuit of emptiness. But you and I both know that God 48 00:03:49,200 --> 00:03:56,040 has already seen every scene and heard every line of dialogue in 49 00:03:56,040 --> 00:04:01,040 our life, and he still has not cancelled the documentary. 50 00:04:03,720 --> 00:04:08,360 In fact, instead of rejection based on faulty content, the 51 00:04:08,360 --> 00:04:13,440 Lord still loves us. And from the month that we've 52 00:04:13,440 --> 00:04:17,760 just spent together learning about the incarnation, we see 53 00:04:17,760 --> 00:04:22,920 that in fact, God's glory is revealed in the salvation of 54 00:04:22,920 --> 00:04:29,960 those Christ came to save. And this saying is what Paul 55 00:04:29,960 --> 00:04:34,800 says we are to fully accept and to trust. 56 00:04:36,680 --> 00:04:42,080 Now, trust is a heart issue. Trust doesn't just first live in 57 00:04:42,080 --> 00:04:43,640 the head, It settles in the heart. 58 00:04:43,760 --> 00:04:48,280 When we trust someone or something, we do so because our 59 00:04:48,280 --> 00:04:52,800 heart believes it to be truly real, truly reliable, and truly 60 00:04:53,240 --> 00:04:55,760 worthy. And when Scripture speaks of 61 00:04:55,920 --> 00:04:58,960 trustworthy, it names. It aims not just at our 62 00:04:58,960 --> 00:05:05,880 thoughts, but on our loves. And our verse today is truth 63 00:05:05,960 --> 00:05:12,120 aimed straight to our hearts. Twice in First Timothy, the 64 00:05:12,120 --> 00:05:15,160 apostle Paul introduces a statement by saying this is a 65 00:05:15,160 --> 00:05:17,840 trustworthy saying. And Timothy's little 66 00:05:17,840 --> 00:05:22,120 congregation is being told to receive what follows without 67 00:05:22,120 --> 00:05:26,960 reservation, not cautiously, not partially, but fully. 68 00:05:27,400 --> 00:05:34,160 Mind and heart together. And we are being told the same, 69 00:05:34,760 --> 00:05:37,640 not just acceptance, but full acceptance. 70 00:05:37,640 --> 00:05:43,000 Every word, every facet, every implication, truth you can lean 71 00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:46,440 the whole weight of your life upon. 72 00:05:48,440 --> 00:05:55,080 And So what are we to believe? Three simple life defining 73 00:05:55,080 --> 00:05:58,200 realities. Christ Jesus came into the 74 00:05:58,200 --> 00:06:02,760 world. He came to save sinners, and the 75 00:06:02,760 --> 00:06:05,760 person writing these words under the inspiration of the Holy 76 00:06:05,760 --> 00:06:13,200 Spirit is the worst of them. The purpose of the Incarnation, 77 00:06:15,360 --> 00:06:20,560 the uncreated Creator entering His creation, the eternal second 78 00:06:20,560 --> 00:06:23,480 Person of the Godhead taking on flesh. 79 00:06:23,760 --> 00:06:28,080 God with us, not just to keep U.S. company, but to rescue us. 80 00:06:31,680 --> 00:06:35,040 Now you and I are in this world because someone else made that 81 00:06:35,040 --> 00:06:38,320 choice. Our parents made that decision, 82 00:06:38,320 --> 00:06:41,200 and their parents before them, and their parents before them 83 00:06:41,200 --> 00:06:44,520 and so on and so forth and so on until we get back to our 84 00:06:44,520 --> 00:06:47,840 original parents who were created in the image of God in 85 00:06:47,840 --> 00:06:49,320 the splendor of the Garden Temple. 86 00:06:49,320 --> 00:06:54,680 But Jesus is different. Jesus chose to come. 87 00:06:55,880 --> 00:06:59,560 He chose to be born. You see His humiliation in this, 88 00:06:59,760 --> 00:07:03,520 to leave the celestial chambers of the divine Trinity and 89 00:07:03,520 --> 00:07:07,200 condescend to earth. Before Genesis 1, Christ Jesus 90 00:07:07,880 --> 00:07:11,080 eternally existed without beginning in the eternal 91 00:07:11,080 --> 00:07:14,080 generation of the Trinity. The beginningless beginner, 92 00:07:14,240 --> 00:07:17,080 sometimes called the Angel of the Lord, sometimes called the 93 00:07:17,080 --> 00:07:21,920 commander of the Lord's army uncreated, the second Person of 94 00:07:21,920 --> 00:07:26,120 the Godhead, the agent through whom all things were created, 95 00:07:26,280 --> 00:07:30,560 the eternal Son, who, who in the counsel of the Trinity, before 96 00:07:30,560 --> 00:07:36,640 the foundation of the world, willed that he would come to 97 00:07:36,640 --> 00:07:42,160 earth. And in the fullness of time he 98 00:07:42,160 --> 00:07:45,080 came into the world in a way that he had never been before. 99 00:07:47,400 --> 00:07:50,480 Not as an Angel, not as a some kind of theophany, not as a 100 00:07:50,480 --> 00:07:58,200 warrior, but as a baby. This one who when he sang stars 101 00:07:58,200 --> 00:08:04,040 came into existence, now screams because of hunger. 102 00:08:06,120 --> 00:08:10,320 The one who never needed food now survives on his mother's 103 00:08:10,320 --> 00:08:12,600 milk. He has a human mind that learns 104 00:08:12,960 --> 00:08:16,920 lungs that breathe, stomach that digest, liver and kidneys that 105 00:08:16,920 --> 00:08:21,640 purify, human hands that builds things, fixes things, gets cut, 106 00:08:21,840 --> 00:08:25,800 needs to be washed. Human nerves that receive an 107 00:08:25,800 --> 00:08:33,480 unleash pain, and yet He is no less God. 108 00:08:36,080 --> 00:08:38,520 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and 109 00:08:38,520 --> 00:08:42,080 the Word was God, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. 110 00:08:42,080 --> 00:08:47,720 Very God, a very God begotten, not made of 1 substance with the 111 00:08:47,720 --> 00:08:51,120 Father. And our confession says it even 112 00:08:51,120 --> 00:08:53,800 more plainly, that in the unity of the Godhead there are three 113 00:08:53,800 --> 00:08:58,480 persons of 1 substance, power, and eternity, God the Father, 114 00:08:58,480 --> 00:09:01,560 God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, and the Son of God. 115 00:09:01,720 --> 00:09:06,080 Being very and eternal, God did, when the fullness of time has 116 00:09:06,080 --> 00:09:11,000 come, take upon Himself man's very nature, with all the 117 00:09:11,040 --> 00:09:17,240 essential properties and common infirmities included, yet 118 00:09:17,920 --> 00:09:24,920 without sin. You know, this is one of the 119 00:09:24,920 --> 00:09:27,400 things that separates Christianity from all other 120 00:09:27,400 --> 00:09:30,040 religions. Christianity is not a 121 00:09:30,040 --> 00:09:32,880 philosophy, it's not a social performance, it's not a 122 00:09:32,880 --> 00:09:35,560 privileged status, It's a person. 123 00:09:35,920 --> 00:09:39,960 It's a perfect person. He is the perfect person, and 124 00:09:39,960 --> 00:09:43,840 His grace overtakes us, and He comes to lodge at our house in 125 00:09:43,840 --> 00:09:45,920 our hearts. And that person looks like you 126 00:09:45,920 --> 00:09:49,160 and me, flesh and blood, yet God Incarnate. 127 00:09:50,680 --> 00:09:53,840 You can have Buddhism without Buddha, you can have Hinduism 128 00:09:53,840 --> 00:09:57,360 without any deity. But you cannot have Christianity 129 00:09:57,520 --> 00:10:03,200 in its goodness and purest form without Jesus Christ, very God 130 00:10:03,400 --> 00:10:07,640 and very man in one glorious person. 131 00:10:11,160 --> 00:10:14,640 And this very God, this perfect person, is pursuing you in his 132 00:10:14,640 --> 00:10:19,040 love yesterday, today, and he will again tomorrow. 133 00:10:19,200 --> 00:10:22,720 And when life is upside down, he still loves you perfectly. 134 00:10:22,840 --> 00:10:25,800 When the job is lost, the finances collapse. 135 00:10:25,920 --> 00:10:28,280 Someone offends with a harsh word. 136 00:10:28,520 --> 00:10:34,520 His love is still perfect for you when it doesn't make sense, 137 00:10:34,560 --> 00:10:38,320 When disease and death visits our threshold, His perfect love 138 00:10:38,320 --> 00:10:41,960 for you is never compromised. Ever. 139 00:10:47,080 --> 00:10:50,760 Now the second saying in our passage today is just as 140 00:10:50,760 --> 00:10:56,920 staggering as the first. He came to save sinners. 2 words 141 00:10:56,920 --> 00:11:01,480 that trouble many people today save and sinners save from what? 142 00:11:02,520 --> 00:11:08,440 And does sin even exist? But the word save in this 143 00:11:08,440 --> 00:11:13,400 passage, sozo is the word, and in its form here it's pregnant 144 00:11:13,400 --> 00:11:17,160 with meaning because it doesn't just mean to be rescued, it 145 00:11:17,160 --> 00:11:21,440 means to be transported from a certain state or place to 146 00:11:21,440 --> 00:11:24,760 another certain state or place. In other words, this one four 147 00:11:24,760 --> 00:11:28,960 letter word encompasses the whole sweep of redemption, not 148 00:11:28,960 --> 00:11:32,720 just saving from sin, but also from eternal no separation. 149 00:11:33,760 --> 00:11:35,520 Sin is more than missing the mark. 150 00:11:35,520 --> 00:11:41,240 It's any lack of conformity or transgression of God's law which 151 00:11:41,240 --> 00:11:43,280 was given to any reasonable creature. 152 00:11:44,600 --> 00:11:47,600 And Jesus sums it up beautifully when he says, love the Lord your 153 00:11:47,600 --> 00:11:50,280 God with all of your heart, with all of your mind, with all of 154 00:11:50,280 --> 00:11:53,440 your soul, with all of your strength, and love your neighbor 155 00:11:53,880 --> 00:11:58,080 as yourself, which I'm sure you have done perfectly. 156 00:12:01,640 --> 00:12:07,640 Any any nonconformity with this or any transgression of these 157 00:12:07,640 --> 00:12:11,480 things, loving the Lord with everything within us, loving our 158 00:12:11,480 --> 00:12:17,320 neighbor as ourselves is sin, and sin is separation from God. 159 00:12:17,320 --> 00:12:21,280 When we sin, we are saying we don't want to be in the Lord's 160 00:12:21,280 --> 00:12:24,440 presence. And we know from our own 161 00:12:24,440 --> 00:12:28,080 personal experience and from science that separation in and 162 00:12:28,080 --> 00:12:30,160 of itself is extremely unhealthy. 163 00:12:30,880 --> 00:12:35,080 For instance, babies in that are neglected in orphanages have 164 00:12:35,080 --> 00:12:38,600 been shown to develop an array of physical and mental health 165 00:12:38,600 --> 00:12:41,200 issues as well. As if that's not enough, a 166 00:12:41,200 --> 00:12:46,520 proclivity to self harm. Isaiah says, But by your sin you 167 00:12:46,520 --> 00:12:49,680 have made a separation between you and your God. 168 00:12:49,680 --> 00:12:53,760 Colossians says once you were alienated from God because of 169 00:12:53,760 --> 00:12:58,600 your sins. But for those whose life is 170 00:12:58,600 --> 00:13:03,680 hidden in God through Christ, nothing can separate us from the 171 00:13:03,680 --> 00:13:11,360 love of God in Christ Jesus. You know, we have people in our 172 00:13:11,360 --> 00:13:14,840 lives we know that have latched on to some besetting sin and, 173 00:13:14,840 --> 00:13:18,560 and we sense the separation of from true fellowship. 174 00:13:18,560 --> 00:13:22,520 We we separate ourselves from others because we judge them. 175 00:13:24,160 --> 00:13:27,160 We would rather stay separated than reconciled. 176 00:13:28,080 --> 00:13:32,320 We recoil from sinners, but Jesus draws near to us. 177 00:13:33,280 --> 00:13:38,360 We want to punish sinners, but Jesus bore our full punishment. 178 00:13:39,040 --> 00:13:43,840 The gospel is for every nation, every race, every tribe, every 179 00:13:43,840 --> 00:13:47,080 age bracket. It's for successful people and 180 00:13:47,080 --> 00:13:55,040 really, really bad people. Dane Ortland says that when we 181 00:13:55,040 --> 00:13:58,640 send the very heart of Jesus reaches out to us. 182 00:14:04,760 --> 00:14:08,280 So the word save fully explains that Jesus is saving his people 183 00:14:08,280 --> 00:14:13,000 from eternal separation from an unending obscurity from the 184 00:14:13,000 --> 00:14:17,120 devastation of FOMO. Now Pete was kind of to remind 185 00:14:17,120 --> 00:14:20,160 me in between services that not everyone understands this 186 00:14:20,160 --> 00:14:24,320 overused acronym FOMO. So for those of you that need 187 00:14:24,320 --> 00:14:28,320 the Cliff notes, fear of missing out sin deceives us. 188 00:14:28,320 --> 00:14:34,960 That it's sin is the antidote to FOMO, when in reality sins 189 00:14:34,960 --> 00:14:38,600 consequences lead to an irreversible FOMO. 190 00:14:41,440 --> 00:14:44,760 Sin is separation from all that ultimately satisfies the human 191 00:14:44,760 --> 00:14:47,080 heart. When we refuse to reconcile a 192 00:14:47,080 --> 00:14:50,080 broken relationship, we are saying that our sense of justice 193 00:14:50,360 --> 00:14:53,080 is higher than God's, that we understand the human heart 194 00:14:53,080 --> 00:14:57,120 better than he does, and we become intoxicated with our own 195 00:14:57,120 --> 00:15:00,320 haughtiness and we're fine to be separated. 196 00:15:00,480 --> 00:15:06,960 We will stay alienated. Scripture teaches us that this 197 00:15:06,960 --> 00:15:09,200 problem runs deeper than our actions. 198 00:15:10,360 --> 00:15:17,400 In Adam, humanity fell. Adam's desire to rule 199 00:15:17,400 --> 00:15:20,200 independently of God corrupted our nature. 200 00:15:20,320 --> 00:15:22,360 We are not sinners because we sin. 201 00:15:22,360 --> 00:15:27,080 We sin because we are sinners. Augustine said it this way. 202 00:15:27,520 --> 00:15:31,600 Our nature itself was soiled by sin and doomed to death. 203 00:15:34,200 --> 00:15:39,760 This is why Jesus came. Not to save the strong, not to 204 00:15:39,760 --> 00:15:43,480 rescue the impressive, but to heal the sick. 205 00:15:45,320 --> 00:15:47,040 Hospitals are not for the healthy. 206 00:15:48,120 --> 00:15:50,560 Hospice is not for marathon runners. 207 00:15:51,680 --> 00:15:57,400 Churches are for sinners who gather to give thanks for being 208 00:15:57,400 --> 00:15:59,280 saved by the blood of Jesus Christ. 209 00:16:02,400 --> 00:16:07,320 Jesus came for the worst of the worst, the weakest, the 210 00:16:07,320 --> 00:16:14,240 loneliest, the most broken. Now Paul gives his own testimony 211 00:16:14,240 --> 00:16:15,440 to this. Look at verse 12. 212 00:16:16,680 --> 00:16:21,280 Paul says in verse 12 he calls himself a blasphemer, which by 213 00:16:21,280 --> 00:16:24,800 the way, I might remind you, in his legal system was a capital 214 00:16:24,800 --> 00:16:27,480 offense. Then he goes on to say that he 215 00:16:27,480 --> 00:16:30,240 was a persecutor and he went door to door with documents 216 00:16:30,480 --> 00:16:32,560 seeking to arrest and deport Christians. 217 00:16:32,720 --> 00:16:37,520 The text actually says more more vividly, that he was a violent 218 00:16:37,520 --> 00:16:42,200 opponent. He was opposing people trying to 219 00:16:42,200 --> 00:16:46,000 care for widows and orphans, for people trying to help the poor, 220 00:16:46,000 --> 00:16:48,760 and seeking to be civil and kind and loving towards others. 221 00:16:48,760 --> 00:16:51,960 But the Lord pursued Paul regardless. 222 00:16:52,280 --> 00:16:57,280 God saved a murderous elite who hated Jesus, and he turned Paul 223 00:16:57,280 --> 00:17:00,560 into one who would carry the name of Jesus to the world. 224 00:17:01,840 --> 00:17:08,200 He's the poster child for all of us blaspheming persecutors and 225 00:17:08,200 --> 00:17:17,000 insolent bullies. God chose to save Paul, also 226 00:17:17,000 --> 00:17:19,680 under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, knew that He would 227 00:17:20,000 --> 00:17:22,440 be an example for you and me. Look at verse 16. 228 00:17:22,440 --> 00:17:26,040 Jump ahead to verse 16. But I received mercy for this 229 00:17:26,040 --> 00:17:29,920 reason, that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might 230 00:17:29,920 --> 00:17:34,160 display His perfect patience as an example to those who were to 231 00:17:34,160 --> 00:17:39,640 believe in Him for eternal life. Even today we still understand 232 00:17:39,640 --> 00:17:44,120 Paul as an example, that no one is too evil to be saved. 233 00:17:45,000 --> 00:17:47,840 He came for Paul, He comes for you. 234 00:17:50,280 --> 00:17:52,840 He chose you before the foundation of the world, that 235 00:17:52,840 --> 00:17:55,320 you should be holy and blameless before him. 236 00:17:55,560 --> 00:18:00,000 He was for known before the foundation of the world, but was 237 00:18:00,000 --> 00:18:03,480 made manifest in the last times For your sake, the Lamb that was 238 00:18:03,480 --> 00:18:07,480 slain before the foundation of the world, we see him who was 239 00:18:07,480 --> 00:18:11,160 made lower than the angels. Jesus crowned with glory and 240 00:18:11,160 --> 00:18:16,400 honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace 241 00:18:16,400 --> 00:18:21,880 of God He might taste death for everyone. 242 00:18:23,000 --> 00:18:28,360 And there it is. He was born to die. 243 00:18:29,600 --> 00:18:35,200 The purpose of the incarnation. You can't have a death without a 244 00:18:35,200 --> 00:18:39,040 birth. His death was a substitution for 245 00:18:39,040 --> 00:18:42,760 you, born for you, to die for you. 246 00:18:44,400 --> 00:18:49,920 A Christmas Eve confession of sin included these words that we 247 00:18:49,920 --> 00:18:55,480 said together as a congregation. God Incarnate came to save us to 248 00:18:55,480 --> 00:19:01,520 the uttermost as man, to die our death, to shed satisfying blood 249 00:19:01,520 --> 00:19:06,960 on our behalf, to work out a perfect righteousness for us. 250 00:19:10,600 --> 00:19:14,440 If the man who died in our place wasn't the perfect God, then he 251 00:19:14,440 --> 00:19:16,920 could not satisfy divine justice. 252 00:19:18,320 --> 00:19:22,640 If the man who died in our place wasn't the perfect man, then he 253 00:19:22,640 --> 00:19:24,840 couldn't represent the ones he came to save. 254 00:19:25,280 --> 00:19:29,920 Humanity owed the debt for sin. A human must pay for it. 255 00:19:30,720 --> 00:19:37,040 However, because the debt was infinite, only God could pay it. 256 00:19:41,040 --> 00:19:45,360 The surpassing mercy of God and His irresistible grace 257 00:19:45,360 --> 00:19:48,800 transformed Paul, the chief of sinners, into one of the 258 00:19:48,800 --> 00:19:51,120 greatest witnesses of his covenant love. 259 00:19:53,160 --> 00:20:00,800 So too those of us chief here today, transformed to be 260 00:20:00,800 --> 00:20:04,680 witnesses of His grace and mercy. 261 00:20:06,360 --> 00:20:10,360 Salvation is the Lord's faithful work to glorify Himself, not our 262 00:20:10,360 --> 00:20:12,720 glorifying ourselves in order to be saved. 263 00:20:13,960 --> 00:20:17,280 So now how does Paul respond to this trustworthy statement? 264 00:20:18,480 --> 00:20:22,120 This, this sentence, deserving of full acceptance, the vilest 265 00:20:22,160 --> 00:20:25,520 of the vile, saved by God's Amazing Grace. 266 00:20:25,720 --> 00:20:30,160 What's his response? Well, about 7 times in Paul's 267 00:20:30,160 --> 00:20:34,600 writing he will stop midway through whatever he is speaking 268 00:20:34,600 --> 00:20:39,000 about and launch into a pure doxological expression of praise 269 00:20:39,000 --> 00:20:41,960 to God. He is so overwhelmed by the 270 00:20:41,960 --> 00:20:47,080 incomprehensible mystery of God, lovingly condescending in human 271 00:20:47,080 --> 00:20:50,760 flesh to redeem His people so that we can be gathered in His 272 00:20:50,760 --> 00:20:53,160 presence forever. And to consider these 273 00:20:53,160 --> 00:20:58,920 unfathomable mysteries unleashes Paul into explosive worship, as 274 00:20:58,920 --> 00:21:07,920 it should be for you and me. And Paul speaks without 275 00:21:07,920 --> 00:21:11,840 restraint in verse 17. Look at verse 17. 276 00:21:12,600 --> 00:21:17,720 To the king of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only 277 00:21:17,720 --> 00:21:21,800 God be honor and glory forever and ever, Amen. 278 00:21:21,800 --> 00:21:25,680 Paul has been ramping up to this geyser of praise. 279 00:21:25,960 --> 00:21:28,920 It's like the angels that appeared at the Manger where 280 00:21:28,920 --> 00:21:31,080 they were behind the clouds and they couldn't stand it any 281 00:21:31,080 --> 00:21:34,200 longer because of the magnificent mystery of the 282 00:21:34,200 --> 00:21:38,080 second person of the Godhead becoming a human being, and they 283 00:21:38,080 --> 00:21:41,880 explode with praise. Suddenly there was with the 284 00:21:41,880 --> 00:21:46,400 Angel a host of other angels saying glory to God in the 285 00:21:46,400 --> 00:21:48,840 highest. It's this is like Paul's version 286 00:21:48,840 --> 00:21:52,120 of that. It's like a breathtaking stunt 287 00:21:52,440 --> 00:21:57,240 in Mission Impossible when Tom Cruise accelerates at full speed 288 00:21:57,480 --> 00:21:59,360 up that ramp of the Cliff in Norway. 289 00:21:59,360 --> 00:22:02,720 Remember that. It's like this trustworthy 290 00:22:02,720 --> 00:22:07,400 saying is the fuel that's accelerating that motocross 291 00:22:07,400 --> 00:22:11,400 engine up that mountain incline, the powerful plan of Jesus 292 00:22:11,640 --> 00:22:15,600 bearing upon himself the full wrath of justice that belongs to 293 00:22:15,600 --> 00:22:19,920 the worst of the worst. Paul, realizing the divine grace 294 00:22:20,160 --> 00:22:24,920 triumphs human depravity, that God will accomplish his faithful 295 00:22:24,920 --> 00:22:29,680 purposes and promises even when we are powerless to fulfil our 296 00:22:29,680 --> 00:22:32,640 own. And as he's scratching his nib 297 00:22:32,840 --> 00:22:36,320 across the papyrus under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, 298 00:22:36,560 --> 00:22:41,080 Paul's heart bursts open, realizing the magnitude of what 299 00:22:41,200 --> 00:22:44,280 Jesus Christ has done for us. He can't hold it back any 300 00:22:44,280 --> 00:22:46,360 longer. And it's like when Tom Cruise 301 00:22:46,360 --> 00:22:49,680 flies off the Cliff and he drops the cycle. 302 00:22:49,920 --> 00:22:54,680 And in that glorious freefall, Paul suddenly soars into 303 00:22:54,680 --> 00:22:56,720 celebration of praise and worship. 304 00:22:57,280 --> 00:23:02,400 And in this freefall the Lord pulls the ripcord, and his 305 00:23:02,400 --> 00:23:06,360 saving chute deploys, and emblazoned on the Kevlar 306 00:23:06,360 --> 00:23:11,640 strength nylon salvation of Paul are the words to the King of the 307 00:23:11,680 --> 00:23:16,760 ages, immortal and visible, the only God be glory and honor 308 00:23:16,760 --> 00:23:18,280 forever and ever. Amen. 309 00:23:23,360 --> 00:23:28,400 The one most guilty under the law becomes the greatest witness 310 00:23:28,400 --> 00:23:30,200 of Christ's covenant faithfulness. 311 00:23:31,840 --> 00:23:35,520 Paul's life reminds us that God's purposes are accomplished 312 00:23:35,520 --> 00:23:42,040 not through our performance record, but through His eternal 313 00:23:43,520 --> 00:23:49,200 mercy and grace. We worship God because He is 314 00:23:49,200 --> 00:23:52,440 sovereign over time and history, as promises are sure and 315 00:23:52,840 --> 00:23:56,840 unshakable, He displays his glory by saving the most 316 00:23:56,840 --> 00:23:59,520 undeserving. And so our fitting response, 317 00:23:59,720 --> 00:24:09,320 lifelong worship, repentance, confession, reconciliation for 318 00:24:09,320 --> 00:24:11,560 salvation is entirely God's work. 319 00:24:11,560 --> 00:24:20,840 And for His glory alone. Well, maybe you're here the 320 00:24:20,840 --> 00:24:23,200 Sunday after Christmas because you're in town and it wasn't 321 00:24:23,200 --> 00:24:25,080 part of your itinerary, but here you are. 322 00:24:26,640 --> 00:24:31,440 And these things that we've said of Jesus actually may be true of 323 00:24:31,440 --> 00:24:35,240 you. You're saved from what does sin 324 00:24:35,360 --> 00:24:40,560 really exist? And this may be the day that 325 00:24:40,560 --> 00:24:45,040 you're here to consider these things, that there is a perfect 326 00:24:45,160 --> 00:24:50,120 Savior pursuing you. If that's you, Pete and I, or 327 00:24:50,120 --> 00:24:53,640 anyone in this room who loves Jesus, would love to talk with 328 00:24:53,640 --> 00:24:59,600 you. Paul himself calls himself the 329 00:24:59,600 --> 00:25:03,280 foremost of sinners, yet God's sovereign mercy transforms him 330 00:25:03,600 --> 00:25:07,400 into a faithful disciple and calls him into service and 331 00:25:07,400 --> 00:25:09,840 worship. The same could be true for you. 332 00:25:09,840 --> 00:25:15,280 And this paradox, the chief of sinners displaying the riches of 333 00:25:15,280 --> 00:25:21,200 divine grace, as we see in the apostle Paul, vividly 334 00:25:21,200 --> 00:25:24,200 demonstrates that God will fulfill his promises not through 335 00:25:24,200 --> 00:25:28,400 human merit, but by his grace and mercy. 336 00:25:30,920 --> 00:25:39,280 In Christ the guilty are saved, the undeserving are called, and 337 00:25:39,280 --> 00:25:46,080 the glory of God alone is magnified by grace. 338 00:25:46,080 --> 00:25:48,560 You have been saved through faith and not of yourselves. 339 00:25:48,560 --> 00:25:53,760 It is a gift from God so that you don't get to boast about it. 340 00:25:55,080 --> 00:26:00,200 Whoever believes in him will not die, but will live forever. 341 00:26:02,200 --> 00:26:06,440 If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and you 342 00:26:06,440 --> 00:26:09,880 believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you 343 00:26:09,880 --> 00:26:12,640 will be saved, says the word of God. 344 00:26:15,280 --> 00:26:23,680 So regardless of how thick your file is, or how bad the content 345 00:26:23,720 --> 00:26:32,800 of the documentary has been will be, God's glory is revealed in 346 00:26:32,800 --> 00:26:36,600 the salvation of those Christ came to save. 347 00:26:38,040 --> 00:26:40,920 And this is the purpose of the incarnation. 348 00:26:44,160 --> 00:26:47,240 Perhaps the theologian Gerhardus Voss summarize it best with 349 00:26:47,240 --> 00:26:51,280 these words. He gained down from heaven to 350 00:26:51,280 --> 00:26:56,360 seek mankind. So he still comes down silently 351 00:26:56,360 --> 00:27:02,600 from heaven in the case of each Sinner, and pursues his search 352 00:27:02,960 --> 00:27:06,760 for that individual soul, following it through all the 353 00:27:06,760 --> 00:27:13,120 mazes of its waywardness, all the devious paths of its folly, 354 00:27:14,160 --> 00:27:21,480 sometimes on the very brink of destruction, till at last His 355 00:27:21,480 --> 00:27:29,000 grace overtakes it. And Jesus says, I must lodge at 356 00:27:29,000 --> 00:27:36,440 your house. Father in Heaven, these few 357 00:27:36,440 --> 00:27:40,880 simple words from this dear mentor to this young pastor in 358 00:27:40,880 --> 00:27:46,920 this small congregation many centuries ago now ring so 359 00:27:46,920 --> 00:27:52,960 vividly in our hearts, calling us to bow before Your sovereign 360 00:27:52,960 --> 00:27:58,320 will in all of life and to worship You, regardless of our 361 00:27:58,320 --> 00:28:03,680 understanding of how life is going, that Your glory is 362 00:28:03,680 --> 00:28:07,760 revealed in the salvation of those You came to save. 363 00:28:08,600 --> 00:28:14,240 And today, as we begin the long March toward that tree, having 364 00:28:14,240 --> 00:28:19,520 celebrated so gloriously this season of the Incarnation, now 365 00:28:20,120 --> 00:28:26,880 we turn our faces toward Jerusalem, knowing that you, O 366 00:28:26,880 --> 00:28:32,000 Christ, were born to die for your people, that you might 367 00:28:32,000 --> 00:28:40,720 satisfy righteousness and bring glory to yourself through your 368 00:28:40,720 --> 00:28:44,760 work of redemption. We bow before you and worship 369 00:28:44,800 --> 00:28:49,040 and Thanksgiving, humbly praying in your holy name, Amen. 370 00:28:50,080 --> 00:28:51,360 Would you stand please?