Paul, an Apostle

Welcome to Cross Connection! If you are new here today, my name is Pastor Miles, and I am the lead pastor here at the church. We are going to be in the Bible today, specifically in First Timothy. If you don't have a Bible, you can raise your hand, and one of our ushers will bring you one. If you do have your Bible, please open to First Timothy or use your mobile device to get there. Most of you are standing, which is good.

First Timothy, chapter 1, is where we will be. Timothy is right near the end of your Bible. If you open to the last book, Revelation, and turn to the left, you will pass a number of books, including a big book called Hebrews, which we were just in. Just before that is Second Timothy, and then First Timothy.

In chapter 1, verse 1, the author writes, "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ our hope, to Timothy, a true son in the faith: grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord."

Father, as we consider Your word today, we ask that You would speak to us. Lord, it is our belief and conviction that these things were inspired by You and are written for our instruction and admonition. We want to know who You are, how You work, and how we are to follow You and walk with You. I pray, God, that You would continue to teach us those things today. Open our hearts and minds by the work of Your Spirit. Lord, use this time as we consider Your word to be a time in which You are transforming us. We ask this in Jesus' name. And all those that agreed said, "Amen." You may be seated.

Almost nine years ago, we started a journey here at Cross Connection Church. We began in November of 2008, going through the New Testament book of Acts. It took us a long time to get through the book of Acts because we have been using it as our timeline of the New Testament. The book of Acts is basically the early history of the early church. The Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—begin the New Testament and give us an account of the life and ministry of Jesus, especially leading up to...

To his death, burial, and resurrection, the most important event in all of human history, the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, we move on from that story. After He rose from the dead, He began to tell His disciples to go into all the world and preach the gospel. They were to go into all the world and tell the good news about who Jesus is and what He did.

The Book of Acts begins where the Gospels end, with Jesus ascending into heaven. The Book of Acts starts with the Ascension of Jesus, and then the disciples begin the work of going into all the world to preach the gospel and share the good news. The Book of Acts chronicles the first 30 or 33 years of the life and work of the church. It begins with the Ascension of Jesus, moves to the birth of the church in Acts chapter 2, and then details the growth of the church in Acts chapters 3, 4, 5, and beyond.

As the church begins to grow, we see the persecution of the church start. The church is pushed out into the mission that God called them to. Jesus had said to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations, but for the first six years or so, the church stayed in Jerusalem. To get the ball rolling, persecution came, and God is able to use those circumstances. The church began to move out of Jerusalem, that great city, into the surrounding areas of Judea, and then into another area called Samaria. The gospel began to reach non-Jewish people and spread to the rest of the world.

One of the amazing things that happens as we follow that story is that the church, being persecuted, is primarily targeted at first by one man, a guy named Saul of Tarsus. He was a zealous follower of Judaism and could not stand what was happening with the followers of Jesus, who followed what they called "the Way." Saul sought to stamp this movement out and put it to death.

As this was all taking place and the church was moving out from Jerusalem, the story of the transformation in Saul of Tarsus's life is told. He was on his way to Damascus, both then and now the capital of Syria, for one purpose: he was going with letters from the chief priests in Jerusalem that gave him jurisdiction to...

Saul of Tarsus was a man who actively sought out followers of Jesus of Nazareth, intending to take them captive and bring them bound back to Jerusalem to be tried, and possibly even put to death. This man hated Christians, the church, and Jesus.

Now, maybe you're here today and you're not a real fan of Jesus or His followers either; you would have a lot in common with this guy. However, while Saul was on his way to Damascus, he had an amazing experience—he met the risen Lord Jesus.

One of the remarkable things that happened just before this encounter is that Saul was one of the chief learners and pupils of a rabbi named Gamaliel. In Acts chapter 5, Gamaliel advised his friends on the Jewish leading council not to fight against the Christian movement. He warned them that if these people were following God and God was the one moving this, then fighting against it would mean fighting against God.

Despite this wise counsel, Saul, Gamaliel's number one pupil, did not listen at all to his teacher. He disregarded Gamaliel's advice and set out to destroy the followers of Jesus. On the road to Damascus, just outside the city, we find the story in Acts chapter 9, where he met the risen Jesus.

When Saul encountered the risen Jesus, his life completely changed. He was surrounded by a bright, shining light, fell to the ground, and heard a voice from heaven saying, "Saul, Saul, why are you fighting against me? Why are you persecuting me?" Saul responded, "Who are you, Lord?" The voice replied, "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting."

In that moment, I can guarantee you that Saul's heart skipped a beat, if not some other biological functions occurred—who knows? Everything came to a crashing halt for Saul, and he experienced a transformative moment with Jesus. It is our prayer that you would have a transformative experience with Jesus if you haven't already.

From that point on, Saul's life changed dramatically. One of the signs of this change was his name change from Saul to Paul, and we know him best as Paul the Apostle. The entire storyline of the book of Acts begins to focus on him, his life, and his ministry. After Saul became a follower of Jesus, he became solely and completely committed to the Commission of Jesus to go into all the world and preach the gospel to all people. He made it his aim, as he tells us in one of his letters in the New Testament, specifically in Romans chapter 15.

Paul made it his aim to preach the gospel where the name of Christ had not been named. What an awesome goal, focus, and purpose for his life! And that's exactly what he did. In Acts chapter 13 and Acts chapter 14, we read the story of how Paul, along with another man named Barnabas, set out to take the gospel to people who had not heard it yet. They left their home church in a place called Antioch of Syria and traveled north and west to what is modern-day Turkey, which at that time was called Galatia.

They planted churches in cities called Lystra, Iconium, and Derbe, which were the chief cities of Galatia. This man, who had formerly been a persecutor of the church, now experienced persecution as a preacher of the church. In Lystra, a group of zealous Jews, just like he had once been, did not like his message. They took him, dragged him outside the city, and stoned him with rocks, leaving him for dead. They thought he was dead, but by what may have been a miracle of God, he came back to life and went right back in to start preaching the gospel again.

So, Paul and Barnabas planted churches in Galatia during their first missionary journey, as chronicled in the book of Acts. After returning to their home church for a while, they were sent out again, this time with Paul and a man named Silas. Paul and Silas visited the churches they had established in Galatia and continued on their journey. Paul's aim was to preach the gospel where the name of Jesus had not been preached.

In Acts chapter 16, we see that Paul wanted to go to a place called Asia Minor, which is modern-day Turkey, located in the southwest of the country. However, for some reason, he was withstood; he said that the Spirit of God would not let them go into Asia Minor. Instead of going left to Asia Minor, they decided to turn right and head to a region called Bithynia, still in northern Turkey along the Black Sea. But again, the Spirit of God withstood them.

Now, they found themselves in a predicament. They could not go back, as that route was blocked. They could not go to the left, as God said no. They could not go to the right, as God also said no. So, they kept going straight until they reached a body of water called the Aegean Sea. It seemed they could not go any further. That night, while they were staying in a city on the Aegean Sea, Paul had a dream, a vision. He saw a man from Macedonia—now Greece—across the Aegean Sea, saying, "Come over here and help us." The next day, Paul and Silas prepared to respond to this call.

Now, another guy they picked up named Luke and another guy named Timothy will be talked about a little bit more today. They crossed over the Aegean Sea and planted churches in Macedonia and Greece, marking the first time the gospel came into what we know as Europe. We are really a product of the expanse of the gospel moving in that way.

After planting churches in Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, and Corinth, they went back home. Ultimately, they embarked on a third missionary journey, returning to a place called Asia Minor. This is all recorded in Acts chapter 18. They planted churches in Ephesus, the chief city of Asia Minor. God did a great work through the Apostle Paul, who stayed there for two to three years, teaching every single day. As he taught, he raised up disciples and followers of Jesus, sending them out to plant churches.

The churches mentioned in Revelation, the last book of the Bible, in chapters 2 and 3, are the product of that ministry Paul had in Ephesus. Names like Laodicea, Thyatira, Pergamum, and Philadelphia were planted during that period of time. In fact, if you're interested in that part of the world and the things God did there, I just firmed up plans yesterday for a trip next year, from November 2nd through the 11th. We will be visiting the ruins of the seven churches of Asia in Turkey. I will have more information soon. I know last service, many people went to Pastor Mark asking for details, but we only have the dates for now. If you're interested, it's going to be an awesome trip.

All of this was happening during that period of time, and the book of Acts tells us this whole story. At the end of those three missionary journeys, Paul went back to Jerusalem. His goal was to stop off in Jerusalem to deliver a financial gift to the church that was hurting there at that time. He wanted to keep going; remember, his aim was to preach the gospel where the name of Jesus had never been named. He went back to Jerusalem, but his whole point was to continue west to Spain and bring the gospel there.

However, how many of you have noticed that sometimes your plans don't come to pass the way you want them to? Paul had that experience. While he was in Jerusalem, a group of Jewish zealots who hated him and hated Jesus rose up against him. They made an oath with one another, saying they would not eat until Paul was dead. They were on a hunger strike until he was dead.

Now, the added problem to this is that this group of zealots oversaw a group called the Sicarii, or the dagger men. These were Jewish assassins in the first century, and they saw it as their goal to kill anyone who was going against or blaspheming their Jewish religion. They figured Paul was target number one, so they decided to get this guy.

By an amazing move of God, Saul, who became Paul, ended up under the custody of the Roman Empire. They thought he was a bad dude, so they arrested him. One day, they ended up protecting him because they found out that there was a plot against Paul. They also discovered that Paul had Roman citizenship, which at that time was a really big deal. As a result, he was now being protected by the Roman army. Their way of protecting him was to keep him in custody, kind of in prison.

He was on trial, with all these Jewish zealots coming against him. They wanted to kill him, and he said, "Listen, I'm not getting any justice here." So, he appealed to the highest court of the land. As a Roman citizen, he could do that, and he appealed to Caesar. This meant that, on the Roman Empire's dime, he was now going to be moved from Israel to Rome.

The last chapters of the Book of Acts chronicle that story of Paul's fourth journey under the Roman Empire as they shipped him off to Rome. The Book of Acts ends with Paul in Rome, awaiting a trial under house arrest. That's where it stops. We finished that back in 2014.

Since then, we have been going through the Book of Acts and the New Testament. During that history of the New Testament, many books were written. We have studied through First and Second Corinthians, Romans, Galatians, James, and a whole bunch of different books together. It took us a really long time, from 2008 to 2014, to get through the Book of Acts.

In fact, yesterday I was talking with my friend who pastors a church up north. We are working on this trip to Turkey, and he asked me what I was teaching through tomorrow. I said, "Oh, we're in First Timothy." He responded, "Oh, you finally finished the Book of Acts." I said, "Yes, we did, but we're not done." We are going through this timeline, which I created a long time ago, that takes us through that whole period of time and all the books of the New Testament in chronological order.

Since 2014, we have continued this journey and have gone through the books that were written while Paul was in prison in Rome. While he was imprisoned, he did some of his best work. It was during that time that he wrote Ephesians.

Colossians, Philippians, and Philemon were written during the same time that Jude, the half-brother of Jesus, wrote a little book called Jude, which we studied through. Peter, the Apostle, also wrote a couple of letters while he was in Rome during that time. We studied through 1st and 2nd Peter over the last couple of years. Just a couple of weeks ago, we finished studying the book of Hebrews, which was probably written at that same time while Paul was in Rome, Italy. Hebrews was written from Italy.

If you were with us when we were studying through Hebrews earlier this year, you know that I believe there was a different writer of the book of Hebrews than Paul. I believe it was written by a guy named Timothy. Now, we are going to be going through this book that was written by Paul to Timothy.

Let me give you a bit of setting. I’m providing a lot of history here, so just scribble it down quickly. I didn’t even give you notes on the back of your handout today, so you can listen to it again and slow it down later. Paul and Timothy were in Rome around the mid-60s AD, specifically 64 to 65 AD. Paul was under house arrest, and it seems that Timothy was also imprisoned during that period. At the end of the book of Hebrews, Timothy says to pray that he would be released from prison. Paul adds a little note at the end of Hebrews, saying he wants to let you know Timothy has been released, and he and I will see you shortly.

Tradition and history hold that somewhere in the mid-60s AD, around 64 AD, Paul and Timothy were both released from imprisonment in Rome. Paul then went back and visited the churches he had planted in Galatia, Asia Minor, and Greece. One of the churches he visited was the church at Ephesus, which was near and dear to Paul's heart. This was a great church that God had used Paul to plant in the ancient city of Ephesus. We will visit those ruins next year; we did so a couple of years ago as well.

While he was in Ephesus, Paul realized that this church was a mess. If you're new to this church, you'll find out quickly that we are all a mess and in process, and Jesus is transforming us. Thank God, amen! When Paul arrived in Ephesus, he saw that the church had all kinds of problems. He had already written one letter to them, called the book of Ephesians. Now, he was going to write another letter because he left Timothy in Ephesus and said, "You stay here; you fix it. I have to keep going, but you stay here and fix it."

Timothy suddenly became the pastor of the church at Ephesus. At this point in time, he was probably in his early thirties. When he first started ministering with Paul, he was about 17 or 18 years old, and now 15 years have passed. Paul has left Ephesus and gone to Macedonia, likely to the city of Philippi. While he is there, he writes the letter that we will be studying.

I had a plan to go through this letter over a certain period of weeks, but I completely scrapped that plan a couple of weeks ago. So, we are going to be in Timothy for a while. Just hang on; this is where we will be. Paul is writing back to Timothy to encourage and strengthen him as he pastors a church that has all kinds of problems. Timothy has been left there to get this church on course, which is why I am calling this series in First Timothy "On Course." We need to get this thing back on course, and there will be some course corrections for the church at Ephesus.

The things that Paul writes to Timothy in this book will also serve as course corrections for us. How many of you recognize that from time to time, we need a course correction? If you have kids, you know your kids need course corrections, just like mine. With small children, it feels like non-stop course corrections in the dynamics of this household. So, praise God for His grace! We all need a course correction because we can get off course; we can drift.

This last week, Pastor Mark, some of the other guys from the church, and I went scuba diving. We have been working on our scuba certification. My younger brother Danny is a scuba instructor, so we were down in Mission Bay, which is not the best place to scuba dive; it’s kind of gross. However, it was the only place we could go because there was a small craft advisory.

At one point, my brother Danny said, "You guys are going to buddy up. Mark and Miles, you guys are buddies, and we're buddies too." We were instructed to swim together and navigate through the murky water. Danny wanted us to swim about 75 yards underwater. We were not very deep—only about 18 feet down—but it was super muddy and mucky. As soon as we hit the water, everything disappeared. Mark was right next to me, but I couldn't even see him. The visibility was insane!

We thought we were going the right way. We were charting our course with the little compass, aiming for that 75 yards. We swam along, thinking we were doing great. Then, Mark and I decided to surface. When we came up, I looked around and saw the back of a boat. I realized this was not where we were supposed to be.

I have no clue where we are. I thought we were in the wrong place, and so we tried to get our bearings. We realized we did not do this right at all; we totally drifted. We thought we were going this way, but we were actually going that way underwater. It's easy to get off course, and sometimes we need a course correction. That's what Paul is going to do here in this letter to Timothy.

So, look at it with me, if you will. First Timothy, chapter 1, verse 1: "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ our hope." Paul announces who is writing this letter, as if Timothy would not know. Paul says, "Hey, it's me, Paul." There is so much in that name. I've already given a brief history about it, but Saul of Tarsus was a persecutor of the church, a hater of Christians, a hater of Jesus. God had radically transformed him, and everything about his life changed in that moment.

As I said a few minutes ago, you may come here today and not have the highest opinion about Jesus or the church. You might have some concerns about who this Jesus is, who this church is, and what this whole thing is all about. That's perfectly fine. We're glad that you're here, even if you have questions about who Jesus is and you're not a big fan of his followers.

Here's one of the amazing things you learn really quickly when you start to study the life of Paul. Point number one on your outline: God calls us to a higher life. He has a bigger and better plan and purpose for us than we could ever plan or purpose for ourselves. With Saul of Tarsus, that's very clear. As you look at his life, you realize that what he was trying to accomplish was to be at the top of the Jewish religion. He had his eyes set on that; he had a goal for himself, a purpose, a plan for his life. Then he met Jesus and realized that the plan and purpose Jesus had for his life was far superior to anything he could ever plan or purpose for himself.

If you don't know that today, I want you to know that God has a much higher purpose for your life than anything you could ever plan or purpose for yourself. This is really good news, especially for our...

Culture here today in the 21st century is an amazing thing. When I say "Western," I mean Western Europe and North America, specifically the United States and Canada. There is a growing group of people in our culture who say they don't believe that there is a God. They either identify as agnostic, meaning they don't know if there is a God, or as atheistic, meaning they believe there is no God.

Generally, at the foundation of these two philosophies—agnosticism and atheism—is the view that everything just happened by random chance and mutation over billions of years, which we call evolutionary theory. However, a very interesting article came out recently from a British news agency. A study conducted by a university in Birmingham, England, found that one in five, or 20%, of atheists in the United Kingdom, and more than one in three, or 33%, of Canadian atheists were not satisfied with evolutionary theory. Specifically, they agreed that the evolutionary process cannot explain the existence of human consciousness.

According to their research, they do not find that evolution provides a satisfactory explanation for the development of human consciousness and the origins of what can be called the spiritual aspects of human nature. Atheists and agnostics, who do not believe in God or the supernatural, are saying that atheism and evolution cannot answer where human spirituality came from. This is an amazing thought. There are people in our culture who have said, "I don't know if there is a God," or "I don't believe there is a God," and yet they find that atheism and evolution are not answering the deep philosophical questions of life, specifically the issues of origin, purpose, and meaning.

If everything just happened by random chance and mutation over billions of years, and we are merely products of evolutionary mutation, then where do we find purpose? Where do we find meaning? Where do we find value in this life? Evolution cannot answer that question, and human beings cannot live without an answer to it. We need a purpose.

You want to see a great illustration of this? I referenced it a few weeks ago: an awesome book called "Man's Search for Meaning" by Viktor Frankl. He was a man who survived the Holocaust, having spent time at Auschwitz.

We need to have meaning; we need to have purpose. When you begin to look into the claims of Scripture and read the words of Paul or about the life of Paul, you find that God calls us to a much higher life. God has a purpose; He has a plan. Now, what is that purpose? What does that plan look like? At least part of it is found in what Paul says here: "Look at me," says Paul, "an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ our hope."

This purpose involves, point number two, that God commands our witness to a lost world. This call, or what we might sometimes refer to as a commission, is not necessarily a vocational or an occupational call. What do I mean by that? It is not necessarily that God is calling every single one of us to a vocation of lifelong occupational ministry. He is not saying, "I want you to go be a pastor," or "I want you to go be a missionary," or "I want you to go be some sort of paid minister of the gospel."

Now, for some of you, that whole thing might sound a little great, but God still has a call for you, even if it is not a vocational call. Even if it is not an occupational call, God is calling you to be a witness wherever you are. One of the things you learn about Paul when you study his life is that he was not occupationally a minister; he was not vocationally an apostle. He was a tradesman. Paul, we are told in the book of Acts, was a leather worker, or sometimes he is referred to as a tentmaker. He had a day job that he did to provide for his needs.

I wouldn't be surprised if Timothy, the guy he is writing to, who was a disciple of his, was also apprenticed as a leather maker under Paul's ministry. Most of you will not be called to a vocational ministry position, but God has called you and placed you where you are—in law enforcement, in the medical field, as an engineer, as a construction worker, as a teacher, or wherever God has placed you. He has placed you there for a purpose.

He has a call upon your life, and part of that call and purpose is that you would share about Him, that you would witness to a lost world. I think we all recognize we're living in a lost and broken world. We see the lostness and the brokenness of it constantly. Especially over the last couple of weeks, we have watched the brokenness of a fallen world play out before us on TV as we've seen the things that have happened in Houston. We see the things that are happening at this very moment in Florida.

A lot of you have been pulled towards wanting to be involved and to help, and that's why we're going to be sending teams to Houston. We'll probably send teams; we'll see what happens with Florida. There is a desire to try and deal with the brokenness, a deep desire in all of us to address the brokenness, and that's a good thing. That's a God thing. God has placed that in us.

One of the bright spots in all the horrible things that we've been watching happen in Houston is all the people who showed up in boats to try and rescue others. All the people who are there trying to help in this process—that's one of the bright spots. But who compels us? Who gives us the moral instinct to do that? Not evolution. Evolution says to hightail it out, get to dry ground for yourself, and save yourself. That's what evolution says. The first law of human nature is self-preservation.

But what is it that compels us to go and help people? There is this instinct that God put in us. It's a God thing to want to share, to reach out, and to help people. In the midst of that, Christians need to understand that yes, we should reach out. That's why we'll send teams to Houston; that's why we'll give to the recovery efforts there.

However, more than that, the most important thing that this broken, fallen, lost world needs is Jesus Christ. He says, "I am Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ." An apostle is one sent with a message. He was sent by Jesus with a message about Jesus. If you're a follower of Jesus today, you have the same Commission. Jesus said to His disciples—what's a disciple but a follower of Jesus? He said to His disciples, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel," the good news.

You have that Commission just like Billy Graham had that Commission, just like I have that Commission. We all have that Commission. Wherever you are placed by God, He has placed you there for the purpose of sharing with a lost world about the goodness of Jesus, about the love and grace of Jesus.

God is our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ, our hope. In verse one, we see that God is our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ, our hope.

Point number three on your outline is that God desires humanity's salvation and eternal hope. This is important because I meet people from time to time, and probably you do too, who have a certain preconception about God. They see God as this angry, white-haired figure in the sky who is ticked off at everything. He is like the old man who would yell at you if you stepped on his lawn. You remember that guy; everyone had that guy in their neighborhood.

Some people think of God like that—just up there, mad at the world. They look at the mess in the world and think that God is responsible for it. There are even people who say that disasters, like what happened in Houston, were caused by God. This perception of God as an angry figure is common, but let’s look at what the Bible says.

In First Timothy, chapter 1, we see that God is our Savior. If we skip to chapter 2, verse 3, we find Paul saying that he wants people to pray for others. Why? Because it is good to pray, and not only is it good, but it is also acceptable in the sight of God our Savior.

In chapter 1, verse 1, Paul states that God is our Savior, and here again, he emphasizes that God is pleased when we pray for people. It is good to pray, and God is pleased with our prayers because He is our Savior.

In verse 4, we read that God desires all men to be saved. Women are included in that too; humanity is the focus. God's desire is for the salvation and eternal hope of humanity. He desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

In verse 5, we learn that there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all to be testified in due time. For this, I was appointed.

The preaching appointed a preacher and an apostle. I am speaking the truth in Christ and not lying, a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. Paul says God desires all men to be saved because there is one mediator between God and man, the man Jesus Christ.

Now, that statement in verse 5 causes a significant segment of 21st-century Americans to be tripped up. Verse 5 says there is one mediator between God and man, the man Jesus Christ. When polled, when asked what is your biggest objection to Christianity, among the top five answers is always the exclusivity claims of Jesus. Americans in the 21st century have a real hard time with these exclusivity claims. When Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but by me," this is one of the top objections of your friends, co-workers, neighbors, and family members who don't go to church. They object and say, "I have a problem with that."

They ask, "What about the Muslim? What about the Jew? What about the person, the pygmy in Africa? What about that?" Everybody seems to have this question. It seems really narrow for you to say there is only one way. That just seems arrogant, absurd, bigoted, and narrow. These are the things that have been leveled at the church today.

How do we answer that? Well, the Scriptures say very clearly there is one mediator between God and man, the man Jesus Christ. This even popped up in a very interesting sense just a few months ago. Back in June, in the early part of June, there was a Trump administration appointee who was going through the process with the Senate to be approved and confirmed, overseeing the management of the budget and office for the White House.

As he was before the budget committee on June 6th, I believe it was, he was being questioned by Senator Bernie Sanders, who was irate, yelling at this guy. You can search it; just search "Bernie Sanders Russell Vogt" on YouTube, and you can watch the video. He was irate at this guy. Why? Because Russell Vogt is a Christian who graduated from Moody Bible Institute, and he wrote an article defending the statement of faith of Moody Bible Institute and their position on the centrality of Jesus and salvation—that Jesus is the only way.

Bernie Sanders was yelling at this guy, "I know you're a Christian, but here's the problem: you really believe that Jesus is the only way to salvation. This nation is not for people like you." That's heavy.

That's pretty heavy coming from a United States Senator. This nation is not about people like you and me who believe that Jesus is central in salvation. So how do we answer that?

Let me tell you, this view on the Bible, which is clearly shown in the Gospels and in the epistles, the letters of the New Testament authors, is not politically correct in 21st century America. It's not called truly correct. So how do we answer? I answer like this, very simply: If you today were diagnosed with a terminal illness and they said you have 60 days to live, and you came down here asking for prayer because of this terminal illness, and while you're down here, someone is praying through the gate, "Hey, listen, there's a guy in Vanuatu who has the cure for this disease."

You're kidding! No, it's the absolute cure for this disease. You just need to fly down there, but there's only one flight. Only one flight leaves from LAX to Vanuatu; it's the only flight in or out. You have to take that flight. Would it be narrow, bigoted, and wrong to say that if that's the only flight to get there? Or would it be loving, if it's true that it's the only way? Wouldn't you want to know that that's the only way?

Here, God, who desires all men to be saved, reminds us that when it says there is only one mediator between God and man, it comes on the heels of His desire for people's salvation. He's not up in heaven saying, "Well, I guess you're out; you were on the wrong continent." No, He is saying, "I desire all men to be saved." Because there's only one way, I want you to know there's only one way.

Why did Jesus tell His disciples to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature? Because there's only one way. He wants people to know this, and it's a loving thing to say that there is only one way.

I have five minutes; I better hurry up. First Timothy chapter 1, verse 2: "To Timothy, a true son in the faith, grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord." Paul met Timothy on his second missionary journey, as told to us in Acts chapter 16. Timothy was probably 17 or 18 years old. Timothy's mom and grandma were Christians; they were Jewish first, but they were Christians. His father was a Greek man. So here is this man who is...

You have a Greek but Jewish grandma and a Jewish mom. Listen, moms and grandmas have a lot of influence in their grandkids' and kids' lives. They taught the scriptures. During Paul's first missionary journey, when churches were planted in the city of Lystra, Timothy's mom and grandma got saved. Ultimately, Timothy became a follower of Jesus and a leader in the church in Lystra.

When Paul went back to visit that church, he met Timothy and thought, "This guy is useful to the ministry. I want him to come with me." His mom agreed, saying, "Alright, Timothy, you're going with him." So, Timothy became the disciple of Rabbi Paul. For the next 15 years, he spent all that time traveling with Paul around the known world. He was there with Paul when Paul would write letters to churches. Timothy got to hear firsthand as Paul dictated the letters to the Thessalonians and to the Corinthians. Some of the letters were opened with Paul and Timothy writing to these churches.

Now, Paul says to Timothy, "You are a true son in the faith." As far as we can tell, Paul had no biological children, but he had children in the faith—those who came to faith through his ministry. He referred to them as his sons and daughters. Among them, Titus and Timothy were especially close to him. Here is Timothy, now in his early 30s, and Paul says, "Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord." What a great opening!

Pretty much every one of Paul's letters opens like this. He wrote 13 letters, and almost all of them are identical in the way they open, except for this letter and Second Timothy and Titus, which are a tiny bit different. In Romans, for example, he said, "Grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." To the Corinthians, he said, "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." To the Ephesians, he wrote, "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." To the Colossians, he said, "Grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."

But here, he says, "Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord." There is a lot written on why he includes mercy in this letter, as well as in Second Timothy and Titus. There are all kinds of speculations and differing opinions about why Paul added mercy. I have no clue, and neither do the speculators. Paul simply decided on "grace, mercy, and peace." I don't know a single person who wouldn't want grace, mercy, and peace in their life. These are good things; these are God.

Things everybody wants: grace, mercy, and peace in their life. Where does it come from? From God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Point number four on your outline: What is this grace, mercy, and peace? God's favor is unmerited, His compassion undeserved, and His peace unending. Grace is getting what you don't deserve.

Sociologists in our society over the last several years have been talking a lot about how they want us to live in a more meritorious society, a meritocracy. We need our society to be more of a meritocracy. In fact, the former President, President Obama, in the State of the Union following his reelection in 2012, focused his entire address on how we need to become a meritocratic nation. A meritocratic nation where we all have the opportunity to achieve the American Dream through our own merits and hard work.

This is as American as you can get. We all should have the ability to rise based on our own merits. That's all well and good for American culture, but every one of us should thank Jesus that the kingdom of God is not a meritocracy. God doesn't deal with you and me on the basis of our works. If God dealt with us on the basis of our works, we would be sunk—like category-five sunk. Thank God He does not deal with us on the basis of our works; He deals with us on the basis of grace.

If you're one today who is saying, "Well, I'm just hoping when I stand before God, He's going to look at my good works and my bad works, and He'll see that my good works outweigh the bad. I've been a pretty good person, so I'll be okay," if that's how you're dealing with it, you have a big problem. Isaiah the prophet, twenty-eight hundred years ago, said in Isaiah 64:6 that all of our good works are as filthy rags. Your good works might be a little cleaner than someone else's, but they are still filthy rags before a holy God. So, praise God, He doesn't deal with us based on our works.

God deals with us on the basis of grace, not merit. This isn't the Boy Scouts; it's not about merit badges in the Kingdom of God. For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, lest anyone should boast. If you want to deal with God on the basis of works, remember that the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus.

God, out of His vast riches of grace, has bestowed grace upon you and me, giving us the salvation that we do not merit. Beyond that, He has given us mercy. What is mercy? It is not getting what you do deserve. Every one of us, because of our fallenness and our sin, deserves the wrath of God. However, God has not given us what we do deserve. In His compassion, He has saved us.

Titus chapter 3, verse 5, says, "According to His mercy, He saved us." Because of His grace and His mercy, we can have peace—peace with God. There is no longer any hostility between God and man; the enmity has been killed. It has been put to death through the death of the cross of Christ. Therefore, we can have total wholeness with God, and the source of this peace is from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.

This is the part that people stumble at: God's favor, compassion, and peace are only for those who know Him as Savior and Lord. This is why we want you to know Jesus as Savior and Lord. In Jesus, grace, mercy, and peace are forever; they cannot be depleted. You will sooner deplete the riches of Warren Buffett and Bill Gates combined before you deplete the grace, mercy, and peace of Jesus. It is forever.

Oh, that you would know that grace and mercy! Oh, that we would be those who follow the command of Jesus to share it with others. Amen. Would you stand with me as we close?

Prayer. Lord, we thank You for Your unmerited favor, Your undeserved compassion, and Your unending peace. I pray, God, that it would be so evident in all of our lives that those we see on a daily basis—in our neighborhood, our work environment, or on the school campus—would see Your grace, mercy, and peace at work in us. As a result, may Your joy stir in us.

As we're going to see in the next section next week, may a love grow in us for others. Lord, work in us by Your grace, Your mercy, and Your peace. Help us to share it with others, we pray.

It may be that as we stand here this morning, you have never experienced the mercy, grace, and peace of Jesus, but you'd like to. Jesus came into the world to rescue and save sinners because He is the Savior. He desires us to know His salvation, to know His grace, mercy, and peace. That is why Jesus died on the cross, so that you would be able to know it and receive forgiveness of sins.

If today you'd like to receive that grace and His forgiveness, I want to give you a chance to receive it by faith. If that's you, while we're in an attitude of prayer, would you just lift up your hand high so I can see it? Is there anyone here this morning who would like the forgiving grace of Jesus? Lift up your hand. Praise the Lord, I see you there in the middle. Praise God, back here on my right. Anyone else? Praise the Lord, I see you.

If that's you, I want to lead you in a prayer. Prayer is simply talking to God. It's a prayer of faith and invitation, asking Him to come into your life and to forgive your sin. So wherever you're at, would you just pray with me out loud?

Dear Jesus, I recognize my need for You. I pray that You'd come into my life, that You'd forgive me of my sin and failure, and that You'd help me to follow You by faith. Lord, help me to know Your grace, mercy, and peace, and to share it with others. In Jesus' name, praise the Lord.

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