WEBVTT 00:00:06.259 --> 00:00:14.740 1 Timothy chapter 1 verses 15 and 16. That's 00:00:14.740 --> 00:00:16.940 in the New Testament. That's going to be toward 00:00:16.940 --> 00:00:19.460 the back of your Bible. If you find one book 00:00:19.460 --> 00:00:21.940 that starts with a T, you're close. All the T 00:00:21.940 --> 00:00:27.260 books are right there together. 1 Timothy chapter 00:00:27.260 --> 00:00:38.399 1 verses 15 and 16. And if you want to, you can 00:00:38.399 --> 00:00:42.979 flip over to Romans chapter 7 and put you a finger 00:00:42.979 --> 00:00:50.079 in Romans chapter 7. Some of you say, oh my, 00:00:50.219 --> 00:00:52.359 two passages. We're going to be here twice as 00:00:52.359 --> 00:00:55.579 long. I might surprise you. We might be out quicker 00:00:55.579 --> 00:01:00.960 than you think. 1 Timothy chapter 1, and you 00:01:00.960 --> 00:01:07.829 can stick a finger in Romans chapter 7. Both 00:01:07.829 --> 00:01:09.930 of these books are written by the Apostle Paul. 00:01:13.670 --> 00:01:17.269 We'll read 1 Timothy chapter 1, 15 and 16, then 00:01:17.269 --> 00:01:24.150 we'll pray and get started. This saying is trustworthy 00:01:24.150 --> 00:01:28.590 and deserving of full acceptance. Christ Jesus 00:01:28.590 --> 00:01:32.930 came into the world to save sinners, and I am 00:01:32.930 --> 00:01:36.680 the worst of them. But I received mercy for this 00:01:36.680 --> 00:01:41.459 reason, so that in me, the worst of them, Christ 00:01:41.459 --> 00:01:45.079 Jesus might demonstrate his extraordinary patience 00:01:45.079 --> 00:01:48.680 as an example to those who would believe in him 00:01:48.680 --> 00:01:55.799 for eternal life. Let's pray. God, we thank you 00:01:55.799 --> 00:01:59.900 for this beautiful word today and the hope that 00:01:59.900 --> 00:02:04.950 comes with it. God, I pray that... You'd meet 00:02:04.950 --> 00:02:07.530 us where we are today, God. You know our hearts. 00:02:08.689 --> 00:02:11.569 You know the sins that we fall into. You know 00:02:11.569 --> 00:02:15.169 the evils that we commit, dear Lord. And those 00:02:15.169 --> 00:02:18.509 things are not good. And you're not okay with 00:02:18.509 --> 00:02:20.469 those things, and we should not be okay with 00:02:20.469 --> 00:02:24.689 those things, dear Lord. But even in the midst 00:02:24.689 --> 00:02:27.449 of those things in our life, dear Lord, the nastiness, 00:02:27.770 --> 00:02:31.250 we thank you that you love us and that you're 00:02:31.250 --> 00:02:35.180 patient with us. God, not that we would continue 00:02:35.180 --> 00:02:37.900 in those ways, but that we would repent of those 00:02:37.900 --> 00:02:42.120 sins. So God, I pray today that as we look at 00:02:42.120 --> 00:02:46.280 these words of the Apostle Paul, that we would 00:02:46.280 --> 00:02:50.939 know that there is hope for us today. I pray 00:02:50.939 --> 00:02:52.539 that you would hide me behind the cross, that 00:02:52.539 --> 00:02:54.319 I would preach and teach in a way that brings 00:02:54.319 --> 00:02:58.620 glory and honor to you, God, that people don't... 00:02:59.150 --> 00:03:01.289 See me, but that they see you, dear Lord. There's 00:03:01.289 --> 00:03:03.229 no good word I can say that will do anything 00:03:03.229 --> 00:03:06.689 if it does not come from you. So may your word 00:03:06.689 --> 00:03:10.310 be glorified today. And I ask these things in 00:03:10.310 --> 00:03:15.490 Jesus' name. Amen. This is one of my favorite 00:03:15.490 --> 00:03:20.990 passages of Scripture. Now, we hold the Apostle 00:03:20.990 --> 00:03:23.889 Paul in pretty high regard. You know, he's a 00:03:23.889 --> 00:03:27.719 pretty big guy in the New Testament. He wrote 00:03:27.719 --> 00:03:30.300 a large portion of the New Testament and did 00:03:30.300 --> 00:03:33.120 great works for the kingdom of God. He would 00:03:33.120 --> 00:03:35.159 go on his missionary journeys and he would go 00:03:35.159 --> 00:03:38.539 to all these different places. And he was a man 00:03:38.539 --> 00:03:41.639 who was about the work of God and suffered great 00:03:41.639 --> 00:03:45.080 persecution and imprisonment and just really 00:03:45.080 --> 00:03:49.840 suffered in great ways to do the work of Jesus 00:03:49.840 --> 00:03:55.360 Christ. But Paul was not always... so zealous 00:03:55.360 --> 00:03:57.680 for God, at least not in the right way. He was 00:03:57.680 --> 00:04:00.819 a pretty zealous man for God, or so he thought 00:04:00.819 --> 00:04:04.800 he was, but really all Paul was was a religious 00:04:04.800 --> 00:04:08.500 man. He was not a righteous man. Now we want 00:04:08.500 --> 00:04:10.780 to make sure that we understand that there is 00:04:10.780 --> 00:04:14.400 a difference between being religious and being 00:04:14.400 --> 00:04:19.920 righteous. Religion is going to church. Religion 00:04:19.920 --> 00:04:24.180 is maybe reciting some prayer. Religion is maybe 00:04:24.180 --> 00:04:26.980 being involved in some ministry, and religion 00:04:26.980 --> 00:04:29.660 maybe is just putting some money in the offering 00:04:29.660 --> 00:04:33.100 plate. And the righteous do those things as well. 00:04:33.300 --> 00:04:36.779 The righteous person does gather with other believers. 00:04:37.040 --> 00:04:40.300 The righteous person does read their Bible. The 00:04:40.300 --> 00:04:43.060 righteous person does pray. The righteous person 00:04:43.060 --> 00:04:46.240 does give to the causes of the Lord to serve 00:04:46.240 --> 00:04:48.879 the kingdom of God. The righteous person does 00:04:48.879 --> 00:04:52.610 those things. But the difference is the righteous 00:04:52.610 --> 00:04:56.110 person seeks first the kingdom of God and does 00:04:56.110 --> 00:04:59.129 those things for God and desires to live for 00:04:59.129 --> 00:05:03.930 God and to serve God and to follow Jesus Christ. 00:05:05.110 --> 00:05:09.290 And there are many religious people that really 00:05:09.290 --> 00:05:13.430 haven't grasped the word of God and they are 00:05:13.430 --> 00:05:16.709 happy in their religion. And they feel secure 00:05:16.709 --> 00:05:19.370 in their religion. They say, okay, well I come 00:05:19.370 --> 00:05:21.870 to church occasionally and I do put some money 00:05:21.870 --> 00:05:25.769 in the plate and I do pray sometimes and that 00:05:25.769 --> 00:05:30.810 ought to be good enough. But religion is not 00:05:30.810 --> 00:05:34.610 good enough. Because our problem is not just 00:05:34.610 --> 00:05:37.129 that God wants us to come to church a little 00:05:37.129 --> 00:05:40.810 bit and that's enough. Our real problem is our 00:05:40.810 --> 00:05:45.290 sin. And so our religion cannot atone for our 00:05:45.290 --> 00:05:48.149 sin. Now, there are a lot of religious people 00:05:48.149 --> 00:05:51.129 who have walked the face of this earth. And they 00:05:51.129 --> 00:05:53.490 have done a lot of religious things. And on the 00:05:53.490 --> 00:05:56.829 outside, they really look the part. They really 00:05:56.829 --> 00:05:59.389 look like that they are people who are serving 00:05:59.389 --> 00:06:03.550 God. But the problem is, and we need to get this, 00:06:03.730 --> 00:06:08.790 the problem is that God doesn't look at what's 00:06:08.790 --> 00:06:11.050 on the outside. He looks at what's on the inside. 00:06:12.490 --> 00:06:14.850 And that's the problem with the Apostle Paul 00:06:14.850 --> 00:06:17.750 and maybe some of us here today or some who are 00:06:17.750 --> 00:06:22.050 watching online. The problem is sometimes we 00:06:22.050 --> 00:06:26.029 just fall into the cycle of religion. And we 00:06:26.029 --> 00:06:28.790 think that that's going to be enough. And we 00:06:28.790 --> 00:06:32.009 have some knowledge of God, but we really don't 00:06:32.009 --> 00:06:35.629 know God fully. We know the Word of God, but 00:06:35.629 --> 00:06:38.110 we really don't understand or comprehend the 00:06:38.110 --> 00:06:41.540 Word of God. And we get so caught up in our religion 00:06:41.540 --> 00:06:45.959 that we go through all of the, check all the 00:06:45.959 --> 00:06:50.779 right boxes without ever really knowing and trusting 00:06:50.779 --> 00:06:54.180 and living for God. Now the apostle Paul, he 00:06:54.180 --> 00:06:57.579 was a pretty zealous man for God. There wouldn't 00:06:57.579 --> 00:06:59.399 have been people that would have known more about 00:06:59.399 --> 00:07:01.819 the word of God, the law of God, than Paul. He 00:07:01.819 --> 00:07:03.379 would have knew the scripture, what we call the 00:07:03.379 --> 00:07:05.600 Old Testament. Paul would have knew that very 00:07:05.600 --> 00:07:08.199 well. He would have been able to say the best 00:07:08.199 --> 00:07:09.959 prayers probably, and he would have been the 00:07:09.959 --> 00:07:11.800 one who would have been meeting in the synagogue, 00:07:11.800 --> 00:07:15.920 and Paul would have been right there. Because 00:07:15.920 --> 00:07:21.660 in his mind, he was a godly man. But he really 00:07:21.660 --> 00:07:24.959 wasn't. He really wasn't a godly man at all. 00:07:25.019 --> 00:07:30.319 He was a religious man, but he had missed the 00:07:30.319 --> 00:07:32.980 truth of God's word. Now, Paul is not alone. 00:07:33.120 --> 00:07:34.699 We're not just picking on Paul here. There were 00:07:34.699 --> 00:07:37.899 a lot of people. in the New Testament. And these 00:07:37.899 --> 00:07:39.879 are the ones that we see that are approaching 00:07:39.879 --> 00:07:43.379 Jesus pretty regularly. So Jesus will go out 00:07:43.379 --> 00:07:45.519 and he'll do some great work. He'll perform some 00:07:45.519 --> 00:07:47.980 miracle. He'll feed thousands of people with 00:07:47.980 --> 00:07:50.639 a couple of fish and a few loaves of bread. And 00:07:50.639 --> 00:07:54.959 he'll raise people from the dead. And he'll cause 00:07:54.959 --> 00:07:57.420 the blind to see and the deaf to hear. And Jesus 00:07:57.420 --> 00:07:58.899 would do all these things. And there were some 00:07:58.899 --> 00:08:01.240 that would say, whoa, this guy, there's something 00:08:01.240 --> 00:08:04.600 about this guy. But then there would be others 00:08:04.600 --> 00:08:07.699 who would come and challenge him. Pharisees, 00:08:07.699 --> 00:08:10.220 Sadducees, Scribes, experts in the law. These 00:08:10.220 --> 00:08:12.540 are the terms that we see that describe these 00:08:12.540 --> 00:08:16.819 people. And these people, Pharisees, Sadducees, 00:08:16.819 --> 00:08:20.120 all these types of people, they were very religious. 00:08:20.399 --> 00:08:23.720 They really would have known the word of God. 00:08:24.980 --> 00:08:27.660 But they weren't really living the word of God. 00:08:27.759 --> 00:08:31.529 They didn't understand. The real significance 00:08:31.529 --> 00:08:34.570 of putting God first and loving one another. 00:08:34.669 --> 00:08:38.850 Their satisfaction and their security came in 00:08:38.850 --> 00:08:42.350 the fact that they were holier than thou. So 00:08:42.350 --> 00:08:44.009 they didn't associate with the sinners and the 00:08:44.009 --> 00:08:46.149 tax collectors and all the really evil people 00:08:46.149 --> 00:08:49.350 because they were holier than thou. And that's 00:08:49.350 --> 00:08:53.169 why Jesus is so phenomenal. Because he comes 00:08:53.169 --> 00:08:55.210 onto the scene and instantly in the Sermon on 00:08:55.210 --> 00:08:58.470 the Mount he begins to teach. And he begins to 00:08:58.470 --> 00:09:01.230 say, you have heard it said. And he'll quote 00:09:01.230 --> 00:09:03.950 some Old Testament passage. And what he'll do 00:09:03.950 --> 00:09:06.570 is, is he'll say, but here's what it really means. 00:09:07.029 --> 00:09:09.730 You have heard it said, do this or don't do that 00:09:09.730 --> 00:09:11.909 or whatever, whatever. But here's the heart, 00:09:12.009 --> 00:09:14.769 the real heart of the passage. Here's what God 00:09:14.769 --> 00:09:17.940 really wants you to do. He really wants you to 00:09:17.940 --> 00:09:19.740 love him and he really wants you to love your 00:09:19.740 --> 00:09:21.759 neighbor. These are the things that really matter. 00:09:21.940 --> 00:09:23.840 And there were a lot of religious people who 00:09:23.840 --> 00:09:26.580 really knew the scripture but didn't understand 00:09:26.580 --> 00:09:29.919 the heart of what God really wanted. And so they 00:09:29.919 --> 00:09:31.720 were religious but their heart was in the wrong 00:09:31.720 --> 00:09:33.899 place. And so these people constantly attack 00:09:33.899 --> 00:09:36.019 Jesus. All the time they're attacking Jesus. 00:09:36.360 --> 00:09:39.740 And ultimately they nail him to the cross. And 00:09:39.740 --> 00:09:43.220 Paul was part of this group of people. We look 00:09:43.220 --> 00:09:45.899 at Paul and we celebrate Paul but... We have 00:09:45.899 --> 00:09:49.440 to realize that Paul had a past. And it was not 00:09:49.440 --> 00:09:52.659 a good past. I mean, by all accounts, the people 00:09:52.659 --> 00:09:54.279 who looked at Paul would have said, hey, Paul 00:09:54.279 --> 00:10:00.379 is a godly man. But his heart wasn't right. And 00:10:00.379 --> 00:10:02.799 so Paul, you know, Christianity is beginning 00:10:02.799 --> 00:10:05.799 to take off. Jesus Christ had come. He had preached 00:10:05.799 --> 00:10:08.490 that the kingdom of God had come near. He had 00:10:08.490 --> 00:10:10.669 taught the people, he had led the people in the 00:10:10.669 --> 00:10:12.570 right way, and some followed him, and he had 00:10:12.570 --> 00:10:14.669 poured into his apostles, and they were going 00:10:14.669 --> 00:10:17.149 to continue on the work after Jesus left, and 00:10:17.149 --> 00:10:19.950 Jesus was crucified, and he was resurrected, 00:10:19.970 --> 00:10:21.950 and he came back to his apostles, and he said, 00:10:21.970 --> 00:10:25.230 look, all authority has been given to me. I'm 00:10:25.230 --> 00:10:28.649 the one who is in control, and therefore you 00:10:28.649 --> 00:10:30.049 need to go out, and you need to point people 00:10:30.049 --> 00:10:32.350 toward me, and he sends his apostles out to do 00:10:32.350 --> 00:10:35.980 the work, and do the work they did. And we know 00:10:35.980 --> 00:10:39.360 that because here in 2025, look at all these 00:10:39.360 --> 00:10:41.539 people who are gathered to hear the word of God 00:10:41.539 --> 00:10:45.679 and to rejoice in Jesus Christ. Not just in this 00:10:45.679 --> 00:10:47.679 church, but churches all around this county and 00:10:47.679 --> 00:10:49.960 all around this state and all around the world. 00:10:50.799 --> 00:10:53.559 And so the gospel was spread and the apostles 00:10:53.559 --> 00:10:56.279 and the early Christians were successful in what 00:10:56.279 --> 00:10:59.919 they were doing. And the kingdom of God continued 00:10:59.919 --> 00:11:02.870 to grow. And it will continue to grow. It will 00:11:02.870 --> 00:11:05.610 not stop. I can guarantee you, I can say that 00:11:05.610 --> 00:11:10.230 with 100 % certainty today, that so long as there 00:11:10.230 --> 00:11:13.909 are people on planet Earth or Mars or wherever 00:11:13.909 --> 00:11:16.809 people may end up inhabiting, as long as there 00:11:16.809 --> 00:11:19.929 are people, the kingdom of God will continue 00:11:19.929 --> 00:11:24.769 to grow. The gospel will not stop. It will not 00:11:24.769 --> 00:11:28.120 stop. No matter how many enemies there are of 00:11:28.120 --> 00:11:30.779 the gospel of Jesus Christ, it will not stop. 00:11:31.820 --> 00:11:34.340 Paul was one of those enemies of the gospel of 00:11:34.340 --> 00:11:37.519 Jesus Christ. And we see in the scripture that 00:11:37.519 --> 00:11:40.820 Paul was helping to gather up Christians so that 00:11:40.820 --> 00:11:43.139 they could be persecuted. Now, we're not told 00:11:43.139 --> 00:11:45.759 that Paul ever persecuted any by his own hand. 00:11:45.860 --> 00:11:48.659 He may or may not have. But regardless of whether 00:11:48.659 --> 00:11:53.100 Paul actually took someone's life, He's guilty 00:11:53.100 --> 00:11:55.059 of it because he turned to men knowing what was 00:11:55.059 --> 00:11:58.200 going to take place. And so Paul is what he thinks 00:11:58.200 --> 00:12:01.200 he's doing the Lord's work. Because he's a super 00:12:01.200 --> 00:12:04.940 religious guy. And then all of a sudden Paul's 00:12:04.940 --> 00:12:10.419 life is changed. Because he encounters Jesus. 00:12:12.080 --> 00:12:15.019 And that's the difference between being religious 00:12:15.019 --> 00:12:19.580 and being righteous. It takes an encounter with 00:12:19.580 --> 00:12:23.279 Jesus. There are a lot of people that go to church 00:12:23.279 --> 00:12:24.820 their whole life and they're very religious. 00:12:24.899 --> 00:12:27.539 They can quote some scripture. And then one day, 00:12:27.620 --> 00:12:30.639 the Holy Spirit begins to convict them and work 00:12:30.639 --> 00:12:32.840 on their heart. And the Word of God, they begin 00:12:32.840 --> 00:12:36.000 to read it. And God begins to really work on 00:12:36.000 --> 00:12:39.100 them. And they realize that Jesus Christ is the 00:12:39.100 --> 00:12:42.720 Son of God. And they encounter Jesus and it changes 00:12:42.720 --> 00:12:46.120 their life. And they're not just a religious 00:12:46.120 --> 00:12:48.659 person on a pew. They are a righteous person. 00:12:48.940 --> 00:12:51.120 And they are made righteous through Jesus Christ, 00:12:51.279 --> 00:12:53.759 through his sacrifice, through his blood, through 00:12:53.759 --> 00:12:56.059 his crucifixion, and through his resurrection. 00:12:57.379 --> 00:13:00.399 And that's exactly what happened to Paul. We 00:13:00.399 --> 00:13:03.519 don't come to Jesus Christ without an encounter 00:13:03.519 --> 00:13:07.120 with Jesus Christ. So one day Paul, thinking 00:13:07.120 --> 00:13:09.019 he's doing the Lord's work, he's going down the 00:13:09.019 --> 00:13:11.320 road and Jesus Christ comes and he appears to 00:13:11.320 --> 00:13:12.940 him and he says, why are you persecuting me? 00:13:13.809 --> 00:13:18.710 Holy smokes. Paul goes blind, but instantly his 00:13:18.710 --> 00:13:23.929 eyes are open. Spiritual eyes, that is. Instantly 00:13:23.929 --> 00:13:28.750 he realizes. The very gospel he was trying to 00:13:28.750 --> 00:13:35.549 squash, he realizes it's the truth. He realizes 00:13:35.549 --> 00:13:38.990 that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. That he 00:13:38.990 --> 00:13:42.799 is the Messiah. And all of the energy and effort 00:13:42.799 --> 00:13:46.240 Paul had been pouring out was to try to quiet 00:13:46.240 --> 00:13:50.019 this movement. And now all of a sudden he encounters 00:13:50.019 --> 00:13:56.580 Jesus Christ. And as bad as his past was, Jesus 00:13:56.580 --> 00:14:01.580 Christ says, I'm going to use you, Paul. His 00:14:01.580 --> 00:14:06.899 life is changed through Jesus Christ. And then 00:14:06.899 --> 00:14:11.929 we see in 1 Timothy chapter 1. Verse 15. He says, 00:14:12.149 --> 00:14:15.269 this saying is trustworthy and deserving of full 00:14:15.269 --> 00:14:19.629 acceptance. Christ Jesus came into the world 00:14:19.629 --> 00:14:25.830 to save sinners and I am the worst of them. Some 00:14:25.830 --> 00:14:28.509 of your translations may say, and I am the chief 00:14:28.509 --> 00:14:32.139 of these. I am the chief among sinners. Of all 00:14:32.139 --> 00:14:34.500 the sinners in the world, I am the leader of 00:14:34.500 --> 00:14:37.299 them. I am such a great sinner and I have sinned 00:14:37.299 --> 00:14:40.159 in such great ways against God that I am the 00:14:40.159 --> 00:14:43.019 chief among all sinners. I am the worst of the 00:14:43.019 --> 00:14:48.580 worst of the worst. But good news, he says. Good 00:14:48.580 --> 00:14:52.899 news. Jesus Christ came into the world to save 00:14:52.899 --> 00:14:58.600 sinners. Now we see that all throughout the scriptures. 00:14:59.950 --> 00:15:03.009 And that's good news for you and I today. And 00:15:03.009 --> 00:15:07.309 do you know why? Because we're all sinners. Every 00:15:07.309 --> 00:15:10.830 one of us is sin. And some of us in some ways 00:15:10.830 --> 00:15:15.470 that are just so horrendous. You don't even want 00:15:15.470 --> 00:15:18.360 to think about it. It's things that are so bad 00:15:18.360 --> 00:15:20.899 that you are so ashamed of and maybe even living 00:15:20.899 --> 00:15:22.980 in right now that you wish that you were not 00:15:22.980 --> 00:15:25.980 and things that you know are horrible and sinful 00:15:25.980 --> 00:15:28.179 and against the word of God and the commands 00:15:28.179 --> 00:15:31.620 of God and the desires of God and we get into 00:15:31.620 --> 00:15:35.980 this state of despair because our sin just crushes 00:15:35.980 --> 00:15:41.919 us. It just eats us up. And we come on Sundays 00:15:41.919 --> 00:15:45.139 and maybe we sit on a pew and we say, Man, I 00:15:45.139 --> 00:15:48.659 know God is good. I know Jesus Christ is good. 00:15:48.759 --> 00:15:54.980 But I am so bad. I am so horrible. I am such 00:15:54.980 --> 00:16:02.100 a sinner. And I don't know what to do. Paul was 00:16:02.100 --> 00:16:06.100 in the same boat as you. He was the worst of 00:16:06.100 --> 00:16:09.740 them. He was the chief among sinners. And maybe 00:16:09.740 --> 00:16:11.940 some of us today would say, yeah, I'll give Paul 00:16:11.940 --> 00:16:13.759 a run for his money. Maybe I'll knock him out 00:16:13.759 --> 00:16:19.200 of that seat of chief. And maybe we would. But 00:16:19.200 --> 00:16:22.840 praise the Lord, Paul says, Jesus Christ came 00:16:22.840 --> 00:16:29.240 to save sinners. What a beautiful truth. What 00:16:29.240 --> 00:16:31.179 a beautiful truth. That's why we are here today. 00:16:32.100 --> 00:16:34.879 Because if Jesus Christ had not have come to 00:16:34.879 --> 00:16:37.259 save sinners, we'd all be walking around in despair, 00:16:37.500 --> 00:16:41.860 hopeless. But praise the Lord, Jesus Christ came 00:16:41.860 --> 00:16:46.139 to save sinners. And you may say to yourself, 00:16:46.320 --> 00:16:50.519 I'm too far gone. Well, hold up. Maybe you're 00:16:50.519 --> 00:16:54.159 not. Maybe you say to yourself, well, yeah, God 00:16:54.159 --> 00:16:57.700 could use Paul, but he couldn't use me. Well, 00:16:57.759 --> 00:16:59.700 I want to encourage you to read the Word of God. 00:17:01.560 --> 00:17:03.740 Because when we begin to read the word of God, 00:17:03.919 --> 00:17:08.579 we begin to see that God uses some pretty questionable 00:17:08.579 --> 00:17:11.799 people. Anybody in here ever heard of Moses? 00:17:12.079 --> 00:17:15.980 Pretty popular guy. You know what Moses did one 00:17:15.980 --> 00:17:20.440 day? He murdered a man. Killed a man. Anybody 00:17:20.440 --> 00:17:23.200 in here ever heard of Noah? Probably so if you've 00:17:23.200 --> 00:17:25.259 ever been to Sunday school as a kid. If you hadn't 00:17:25.259 --> 00:17:27.599 heard of Noah, he was a righteous guy. And his 00:17:27.599 --> 00:17:29.700 family was righteous. They were the only righteous 00:17:29.700 --> 00:17:32.619 people on the whole planet. The rest of the planet 00:17:32.619 --> 00:17:34.579 was evil. And all they thought about evil was 00:17:34.579 --> 00:17:35.960 all the time. You say, wait a minute, is that 00:17:35.960 --> 00:17:38.400 now? Nope, that was back in Noah's day. And God 00:17:38.400 --> 00:17:39.900 said, I'm going to save righteous Noah and his 00:17:39.900 --> 00:17:41.759 family. I'm going to flood the whole planet. 00:17:41.880 --> 00:17:43.940 And everybody else is going to die but Noah. 00:17:44.099 --> 00:17:47.619 And so God does this miraculous work. He saves 00:17:47.619 --> 00:17:50.140 righteous Noah and his family. The waters go 00:17:50.140 --> 00:17:52.740 down. Noah gets off the boat. And you know what 00:17:52.740 --> 00:17:58.579 the scripture says he does? He gets drunk. You 00:17:58.579 --> 00:18:02.200 ever heard of Peter, Apostle Peter? Pretty famous 00:18:02.200 --> 00:18:05.680 guy. Really close to Jesus. You always see him 00:18:05.680 --> 00:18:09.160 with Jesus in a lot of these stories. He's one 00:18:09.160 --> 00:18:12.160 of the closest ones. You know what Peter did? 00:18:13.279 --> 00:18:17.319 He denied Jesus three times. He denied Jesus. 00:18:17.660 --> 00:18:20.960 I don't know the man. I've never been with the 00:18:20.960 --> 00:18:23.920 man. I'm not associated with him. He completely 00:18:23.920 --> 00:18:30.470 denied Jesus Christ. If you're reading the Old 00:18:30.470 --> 00:18:32.750 Testament, you may recall reading about a guy 00:18:32.750 --> 00:18:36.869 named Samson. He's a pretty hot -headed guy. 00:18:38.650 --> 00:18:40.750 Just worried about his own desires, doing what 00:18:40.750 --> 00:18:42.430 he wanted to do, the way he wanted to do it. 00:18:42.730 --> 00:18:45.309 Act now, think later. That was his motto. Should 00:18:45.309 --> 00:18:50.930 have been. Hot -headed guy. Even in the middle 00:18:50.930 --> 00:18:53.269 of his hot -headedness, though, God still was 00:18:53.269 --> 00:18:56.250 able to use him. Maybe some of you have heard 00:18:56.250 --> 00:19:00.900 the story of Jonah. Jonah was a guy. He was a 00:19:00.900 --> 00:19:02.700 preacher. God said, I want you to go to Nineveh. 00:19:02.920 --> 00:19:04.599 Things ain't good there. You need to go preach 00:19:04.599 --> 00:19:06.140 to these people. I'm fitting to destroy them. 00:19:07.900 --> 00:19:10.940 Jonah, a godly man. Know what he did? He ran 00:19:10.940 --> 00:19:15.359 the other way. He completely ran from God. He 00:19:15.359 --> 00:19:17.759 completely ran away from what God was calling 00:19:17.759 --> 00:19:21.339 him to do. Maybe you've heard of King David. 00:19:22.640 --> 00:19:28.130 Pretty popular guy. King David. The man after 00:19:28.130 --> 00:19:30.509 God's own heart, the scripture says. This must 00:19:30.509 --> 00:19:33.309 be a pretty good guy. You know what he did? He 00:19:33.309 --> 00:19:35.210 slept with another man's wife and then killed 00:19:35.210 --> 00:19:39.309 the man to cover it up. Now you may be saying 00:19:39.309 --> 00:19:42.410 to yourself, why didn't God pick better people 00:19:42.410 --> 00:19:47.470 than this? I can tell you why. Because there 00:19:47.470 --> 00:19:51.089 ain't no better people than this. Because we're 00:19:51.089 --> 00:19:54.569 sinners. And maybe some of these things are our 00:19:54.569 --> 00:20:00.140 story. Maybe they're not. Read the Bible. There's 00:20:00.140 --> 00:20:03.160 a lot of other people God used. And almost all 00:20:03.160 --> 00:20:06.420 of them have some major flaw or have some major 00:20:06.420 --> 00:20:10.079 sin that they commit. Even people who are godly 00:20:10.079 --> 00:20:14.640 people or people when we turn to Hebrews chapter 00:20:14.640 --> 00:20:19.460 11 and we celebrate these people. And some people 00:20:19.460 --> 00:20:22.500 say, well, read the Bible. And these people ain't 00:20:22.500 --> 00:20:24.480 nothing. What kind of God is this? And these 00:20:24.480 --> 00:20:27.819 people are horrible people. Well, praise the 00:20:27.819 --> 00:20:30.940 Lord for that. Praise the Lord that Jesus Christ 00:20:30.940 --> 00:20:33.259 came into the world to save sinners because that's 00:20:33.259 --> 00:20:35.880 what the world is full of. That's all that's 00:20:35.880 --> 00:20:40.359 in the world is sinners. And even these people 00:20:40.359 --> 00:20:43.079 that we see in Scripture, even though they had 00:20:43.079 --> 00:20:45.140 all this sin in their life and they did some 00:20:45.140 --> 00:20:50.779 horrible things, their sins... are forgiven through 00:20:50.779 --> 00:20:55.759 Jesus Christ. Even though their past is checkered, 00:20:55.839 --> 00:20:58.740 even though their past is full of things that 00:20:58.740 --> 00:21:02.480 they probably regretted, there's still hope for 00:21:02.480 --> 00:21:09.079 them in Jesus Christ. And praise the Lord that 00:21:09.079 --> 00:21:14.059 even though Paul, as bad as his past was, God 00:21:14.059 --> 00:21:17.119 still wanted to use him. God still wanted to 00:21:17.119 --> 00:21:20.009 save his soul. And you know the same... It may 00:21:20.009 --> 00:21:23.369 very well be true for you today. If you hadn't 00:21:23.369 --> 00:21:25.109 put your faith in Jesus Christ, I don't know 00:21:25.109 --> 00:21:26.549 what your sin is. I don't know what you struggle 00:21:26.549 --> 00:21:30.769 with. But I know this, that Jesus Christ wants 00:21:30.769 --> 00:21:34.970 to forgive you of your sins. He wants you to 00:21:34.970 --> 00:21:36.910 trust in Him and follow Him. He wants you to 00:21:36.910 --> 00:21:39.289 repent and stop living in those ways. Now look, 00:21:39.349 --> 00:21:41.470 these people are full of flaws just like us. 00:21:42.140 --> 00:21:43.779 No, I'm not saying that, oh, we'll just keep 00:21:43.779 --> 00:21:45.900 on on our sin. These people were godly people 00:21:45.900 --> 00:21:47.839 and they sinned and I sinned too, so I'm just 00:21:47.839 --> 00:21:49.740 going to keep sinning. No, our sin's not good. 00:21:50.259 --> 00:21:52.440 It's not a good thing when we do these things, 00:21:52.519 --> 00:21:54.799 but it's a good thing that we serve a good God 00:21:54.799 --> 00:21:58.759 who forgives bad people. And we praise the Lord 00:21:58.759 --> 00:22:03.420 for that. So your sins can be forgiven today. 00:22:04.420 --> 00:22:08.980 And God can still use you today. He still used 00:22:08.980 --> 00:22:11.509 Jonah. Jonah ran the other way. And then God 00:22:11.509 --> 00:22:13.750 got a hold of him. Sometimes God gets a hold 00:22:13.750 --> 00:22:16.710 of us through some pretty tough times. But God 00:22:16.710 --> 00:22:18.509 got a hold of him, and guess what? He still used 00:22:18.509 --> 00:22:21.150 Jonah. Jonah went and he preached the message, 00:22:21.190 --> 00:22:25.490 and all those people were saved. God still used 00:22:25.490 --> 00:22:29.109 these people. Even though the things they did 00:22:29.109 --> 00:22:31.509 weren't good, they weren't right, God didn't 00:22:31.509 --> 00:22:35.529 celebrate that they did wrong. God celebrated 00:22:35.529 --> 00:22:37.910 that faith that they had and that little righteousness 00:22:37.910 --> 00:22:41.039 that they had. God doesn't rejoice when we sin 00:22:41.039 --> 00:22:43.819 today, but he will rejoice if we would seek him, 00:22:43.839 --> 00:22:46.019 if we would repent, if we would come to him today 00:22:46.019 --> 00:22:51.140 through Jesus Christ. Paul is a living example 00:22:51.140 --> 00:22:54.680 of what God can do. He can forgive us of the 00:22:54.680 --> 00:22:59.440 worst of sins, and he can still use us in a mighty 00:22:59.440 --> 00:23:01.359 way for the kingdom of God. He says in verse 00:23:01.359 --> 00:23:06.940 16, But I receive mercy for this reason, so that 00:23:06.940 --> 00:23:11.240 in me the worst of them, Christ Jesus might demonstrate 00:23:11.240 --> 00:23:15.700 his extraordinary patience as an example to those 00:23:15.700 --> 00:23:20.220 who believe in him for eternal life. Paul says, 00:23:20.259 --> 00:23:22.720 look, I was saved for this reason, so that my 00:23:22.720 --> 00:23:25.599 life would be an example. So that those who come 00:23:25.599 --> 00:23:28.279 2 ,000 years after me will read this scripture 00:23:28.279 --> 00:23:31.720 and know that I was a wretched and horrible sinner. 00:23:31.880 --> 00:23:34.759 But God was patient with me. And through Jesus 00:23:34.759 --> 00:23:37.619 Christ, my sins were forgiven. And by the power 00:23:37.619 --> 00:23:40.660 of God, God used me to do great things for his 00:23:40.660 --> 00:23:44.119 kingdom. And Paul says, I am an example for those 00:23:44.119 --> 00:23:46.960 who come after me. That if God would save me, 00:23:47.119 --> 00:23:49.980 Paul, the worst of them, that there is hope for 00:23:49.980 --> 00:23:53.980 you too. And praise the Lord. There is hope for 00:23:53.980 --> 00:23:58.400 us today. Paul says, I'm living proof that God 00:23:58.400 --> 00:24:03.920 is with the worst of the worst. So where is our 00:24:03.920 --> 00:24:08.039 hope today? It's in Jesus Christ and Christ alone. 00:24:09.160 --> 00:24:12.559 And we have to trust him. Because we are sinners 00:24:12.559 --> 00:24:14.819 and we do struggle. We struggle with the same 00:24:14.819 --> 00:24:17.359 things that we see some of these that I mentioned 00:24:17.359 --> 00:24:20.359 just now. And there's so many others that struggle 00:24:20.359 --> 00:24:22.740 with so many sins in so many ways in Scripture. 00:24:23.000 --> 00:24:25.980 And how will we overcome them? It will be through 00:24:25.980 --> 00:24:29.019 Jesus Christ. And life will not always be easy. 00:24:29.960 --> 00:24:31.980 I'm not telling you today that if you trust in 00:24:31.980 --> 00:24:34.759 Jesus Christ, your life is always going to be 00:24:34.759 --> 00:24:37.019 easy and you'll never sin again and you'll never 00:24:37.019 --> 00:24:40.880 be tempted to sin again. We'll constantly face 00:24:40.880 --> 00:24:44.240 those temptations. Our flesh will always wage 00:24:44.240 --> 00:24:48.700 war against our spirit. But when we're grounded 00:24:48.700 --> 00:24:51.079 in Jesus Christ and we trust in Jesus Christ 00:24:51.079 --> 00:24:54.140 and we know that our sins are forgiven and we 00:24:54.140 --> 00:24:56.140 know the will of God and we seek to do the will 00:24:56.140 --> 00:24:58.680 of God, even if we fail, the Holy Spirit will 00:24:58.680 --> 00:25:04.519 draw us back to the Lord. So maybe some of us 00:25:04.519 --> 00:25:08.700 today are in our struggle with sin. Maybe some 00:25:08.700 --> 00:25:11.700 of you today have lost so many battles to sin 00:25:11.700 --> 00:25:13.900 and maybe you've come to church some, but you've 00:25:13.900 --> 00:25:19.059 never really trusted in Jesus Christ. Maybe some 00:25:19.059 --> 00:25:21.960 of you today, you are trusting in the Lord, but 00:25:21.960 --> 00:25:24.619 you know you've sinned in some ways. You need 00:25:24.619 --> 00:25:26.720 to repent. You need to turn from those ways. 00:25:27.660 --> 00:25:29.960 What the Holy Spirit speaks to you today, you 00:25:29.960 --> 00:25:34.799 need to listen. I want to read one final verse 00:25:34.799 --> 00:25:39.279 here in Romans chapter 7. verses 18 through 25. 00:25:39.380 --> 00:25:42.819 If you want to flip, you can. If not, you can 00:25:42.819 --> 00:25:47.960 listen carefully. Romans chapter 7, verses 18 00:25:47.960 --> 00:25:54.599 through 25. Now Paul, we just read, we just talked 00:25:54.599 --> 00:25:58.460 about, he's a man who's saved by grace. But even 00:25:58.460 --> 00:26:00.180 though he was a man who's saved by grace, listen 00:26:00.180 --> 00:26:02.279 to these words that he writes in Romans chapter 00:26:02.279 --> 00:26:05.640 7. Listen to his struggle and see if you... if 00:26:05.640 --> 00:26:12.920 you can relate to this possibly. Verse 18. For 00:26:12.920 --> 00:26:16.819 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, 00:26:17.000 --> 00:26:21.859 in my flesh. For the desire to do what is good 00:26:21.859 --> 00:26:25.940 is with me, but there is no ability to do it. 00:26:26.599 --> 00:26:31.180 For I do not do the good that I want to do, but 00:26:31.180 --> 00:26:34.079 I practice the evil that I do not want to do. 00:26:35.599 --> 00:26:39.700 Now if I do what I do not want, I'm no longer 00:26:39.700 --> 00:26:42.200 the one doing it, but it is the sin that lives 00:26:42.200 --> 00:26:47.319 in me. So I discover this principle. When I want 00:26:47.319 --> 00:26:51.440 to do what is good, evil is with me. For in my 00:26:51.440 --> 00:26:55.440 inner self, I joyfully agree with God's law. 00:26:56.460 --> 00:26:58.819 But I see a different law in the parts of my 00:26:58.819 --> 00:27:03.480 body. waging war against the law of my mind and 00:27:03.480 --> 00:27:06.720 taking me prisoner to the law of sin in the parts 00:27:06.720 --> 00:27:11.819 of my body. Now, can we relate to that? Maybe 00:27:11.819 --> 00:27:15.339 you can, maybe you can't. But that's kind of 00:27:15.339 --> 00:27:19.650 our struggle, is that we know that... We want 00:27:19.650 --> 00:27:21.970 to do good so many times. We want to do good. 00:27:22.009 --> 00:27:24.329 We desire to do good. We know what the Word of 00:27:24.329 --> 00:27:27.210 God says is good and what God's commands are. 00:27:27.309 --> 00:27:29.369 But then we have to struggle because there's 00:27:29.369 --> 00:27:32.690 a part of our flesh that just draws us back to 00:27:32.690 --> 00:27:35.369 that sinful thing, that vice that we have, that 00:27:35.369 --> 00:27:39.410 sin that so easily ensnares us. And it's just 00:27:39.410 --> 00:27:42.690 a constant battle that we are just in, probably 00:27:42.690 --> 00:27:45.730 for every one of us, daily. That we want to do 00:27:45.730 --> 00:27:47.670 good, and even though we want to do good, we 00:27:47.670 --> 00:27:50.000 do bad. Even though we want to keep our mouth 00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:52.140 shut, we open it. Even though we want to love 00:27:52.140 --> 00:27:54.180 people, we end up harboring hatred toward them. 00:27:54.299 --> 00:27:56.619 All of these things. It's just a battle every 00:27:56.619 --> 00:28:00.019 day. Even for the Christian. Even for the one 00:28:00.019 --> 00:28:03.180 who knows God. Even for the Apostle Paul who 00:28:03.180 --> 00:28:05.559 had encountered Jesus Christ whose life had been 00:28:05.559 --> 00:28:08.900 changed. He says, I still have to struggle because 00:28:08.900 --> 00:28:13.920 I want to do good so bad and I fail. And maybe 00:28:13.920 --> 00:28:17.079 that's some of us today. You come into this building 00:28:17.079 --> 00:28:19.910 today. and you've been struggling last week and 00:28:19.910 --> 00:28:22.230 struggling last month or struggling for a lifetime, 00:28:22.470 --> 00:28:24.930 and there's something in you, and you say, I 00:28:24.930 --> 00:28:31.210 want to do good, and I'm tired of failing. Well, 00:28:31.250 --> 00:28:35.089 there's hope for us, but only in Jesus Christ. 00:28:35.210 --> 00:28:40.529 Listen to what he says in verse 24. What a wretched 00:28:40.529 --> 00:28:46.309 man I am. Who will rescue me from this dying 00:28:46.309 --> 00:28:52.069 body? Perhaps that's been your heart. Perhaps 00:28:52.069 --> 00:28:55.369 that's been your prayer. God, I am worthless. 00:28:55.890 --> 00:28:59.730 God, I am wretched. God, I'm tired to give an 00:28:59.730 --> 00:29:02.329 end to the flesh and the sin. God, I'm tired 00:29:02.329 --> 00:29:04.630 of living this way. I'm tired of struggling. 00:29:04.769 --> 00:29:08.650 I'm tired of failing. God, who will help me? 00:29:09.690 --> 00:29:13.869 Who will rescue me? There's so many people in 00:29:13.869 --> 00:29:15.710 this world, and maybe some of you here or some 00:29:15.710 --> 00:29:18.210 watching online, there's so many people in this 00:29:18.210 --> 00:29:21.049 world who are saying today, who's going to rescue 00:29:21.049 --> 00:29:24.829 me? Where will my hope come from? Where is my 00:29:24.829 --> 00:29:29.069 help in this world? What a wretched man am I? 00:29:29.269 --> 00:29:34.369 Who will help me? Listen to what Paul says in 00:29:34.369 --> 00:29:41.250 verse 25. I thank God through Jesus Christ our 00:29:41.250 --> 00:29:45.680 Lord. He says, I thank God through Jesus Christ 00:29:45.680 --> 00:29:49.680 our Lord. And why does he say that? Because Paul 00:29:49.680 --> 00:29:54.980 knows, as we see in 1 Timothy 1, verse 15, that 00:29:54.980 --> 00:29:59.000 Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. 00:29:59.700 --> 00:30:02.240 That even though we struggle with our sin and 00:30:02.240 --> 00:30:05.460 sometimes we fail in our sin and we are wretched 00:30:05.460 --> 00:30:09.299 men and wretched women today, Paul knows that 00:30:09.299 --> 00:30:12.920 Jesus Christ came to save sinners. Do you know 00:30:12.920 --> 00:30:16.220 that truth today? That he came to save the worst 00:30:16.220 --> 00:30:19.700 of the worst. He came to save those who were 00:30:19.700 --> 00:30:22.000 just religious. He came to save those who were 00:30:22.000 --> 00:30:24.819 horrible and doing horrible things. He came to 00:30:24.819 --> 00:30:27.759 save any who were apart from him. He has been 00:30:27.759 --> 00:30:30.660 patient with you. And maybe today the Lord wants 00:30:30.660 --> 00:30:32.680 you to put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ. 00:30:32.759 --> 00:30:34.599 And maybe you realize it for the first time. 00:30:35.700 --> 00:30:37.539 Maybe you realize you were no better than the 00:30:37.539 --> 00:30:39.990 Apostle Paul. That you've come to church a lot, 00:30:40.049 --> 00:30:41.970 you do all the religious things, but you've never 00:30:41.970 --> 00:30:44.529 encountered Jesus Christ. And maybe today, through 00:30:44.529 --> 00:30:47.049 the word of God, you have encountered Jesus Christ. 00:30:47.789 --> 00:30:49.990 Maybe today in your struggle with sin, you have 00:30:49.990 --> 00:30:52.470 failed so many times, and you wonder where your 00:30:52.470 --> 00:30:54.970 help comes from. Your help comes from the Lord, 00:30:55.049 --> 00:30:58.589 the maker of heavens and earth. Your help and 00:30:58.589 --> 00:31:03.849 your hope come through Jesus Christ. Are you 00:31:03.849 --> 00:31:06.190 following Jesus today, or are you trusting in 00:31:06.190 --> 00:31:11.400 Jesus today? If not, I would hope that you would 00:31:11.400 --> 00:31:14.519 repent of your sins this morning, that you would 00:31:14.519 --> 00:31:17.779 ask the Lord to forgive you, that you would seek 00:31:17.779 --> 00:31:19.660 to serve Him and follow Him, that you would know 00:31:19.660 --> 00:31:24.160 that you are not worthless. God loves you, that 00:31:24.160 --> 00:31:27.319 God cares for you, and no matter how horrible 00:31:27.319 --> 00:31:31.839 your sin may be, it is not too big for the blood 00:31:31.839 --> 00:31:37.000 of Jesus Christ to cover. Let's pray. God, we 00:31:37.000 --> 00:31:38.940 come to you today. We thank you for your word. 00:31:41.000 --> 00:31:43.279 God, I pray that maybe there are some in here 00:31:43.279 --> 00:31:45.339 that don't know Jesus. Maybe they know a little 00:31:45.339 --> 00:31:46.980 bit about your word. Maybe they come to church 00:31:46.980 --> 00:31:50.880 some and they realize today, God, that they've 00:31:50.880 --> 00:31:56.599 never really trusted in Jesus Christ. God, I 00:31:56.599 --> 00:31:58.160 pray today that they would just humble their 00:31:58.160 --> 00:32:00.960 self before you, that they would repent. God, 00:32:00.980 --> 00:32:02.420 maybe there are some and they're not even very 00:32:02.420 --> 00:32:07.240 churchy. They just know, God, that there's something 00:32:07.240 --> 00:32:11.480 that's missing though today. I pray, God, that 00:32:11.480 --> 00:32:14.380 if the Holy Spirit is convicting anybody today, 00:32:14.500 --> 00:32:17.279 God, that as we sang in a moment, dear Lord, 00:32:17.440 --> 00:32:20.000 that you just help them to come forward, God, 00:32:20.099 --> 00:32:23.200 that even now, God, that they would just repent 00:32:23.200 --> 00:32:25.160 of their sinfulness. That's what your word calls 00:32:25.160 --> 00:32:28.920 us to, God. There's no fancy prayers we have 00:32:28.920 --> 00:32:31.220 to say. We just have to ask you to forgive us. 00:32:31.960 --> 00:32:35.400 We just have to repent, dear Lord. Stop living 00:32:35.400 --> 00:32:38.819 for us and start living for you. We just have 00:32:38.819 --> 00:32:41.279 to trust that Jesus Christ is your son who gave 00:32:41.279 --> 00:32:43.359 his life on the cross so that our sins could 00:32:43.359 --> 00:32:46.740 be forgiven. God, maybe there are some here today 00:32:46.740 --> 00:32:49.559 that have never trusted in you. They've never 00:32:49.559 --> 00:32:51.380 asked for forgiveness. They've never trusted 00:32:51.380 --> 00:32:54.619 in Jesus Christ. I pray that today that they 00:32:54.619 --> 00:32:58.400 would. God, maybe there are some here today and 00:32:58.400 --> 00:33:01.839 they're just struggling with their sin. Maybe 00:33:01.839 --> 00:33:05.839 they're yours. Maybe they're not, God. They're 00:33:05.839 --> 00:33:09.640 just struggling wherever they are. I pray, God, 00:33:09.680 --> 00:33:13.059 that you'd give them hope today, that you'd give 00:33:13.059 --> 00:33:16.599 them strength to not give in to the sin, but 00:33:16.599 --> 00:33:20.140 know that there is hope to overcome it through 00:33:20.140 --> 00:33:23.660 Jesus Christ. So, God, I just pray for anybody 00:33:23.660 --> 00:33:25.519 today that's struggling, whatever their struggle 00:33:25.519 --> 00:33:30.720 is, that you just meet them where they are, that 00:33:30.720 --> 00:33:32.819 they would leave with hope from this building 00:33:32.819 --> 00:33:36.079 today. And I ask these things in Jesus' name. 00:33:36.700 --> 00:33:37.180 Amen.