Transcript

Alright, grab your Bibles and go to 1 Timothy 4. There’s an aspect of this text in 1 Timothy that I intended to elaborate on and, ah, I didn’t do it and I want to do that tonight as your preaching exposition. We need to remind ourselves that exposition is not the end, a healthy church is the end. That requires exposition but always remember that a healthy church is the goal. As far as I know when the church is glorified and we are in the eternal state, there’ll be no exposition of Scripture but there will be a mature glorified church.

So while we are wholly committed to that, let’s never make an idol of that. I feel like I’m seeing some of that in Reformed circles where, ah, some folks are holding to exposition like it’s almost mystical that if you dot the i’s and cross the t’s in your verse-by-verse exposition, then that’s all that matters. No, there’s a sense of discerning the Spirit and following what God wants you to say to his church, always honoring the truths of proper exposition as you’re doing that. Saying all that to say, look at verse 16 of 1 Timothy 4 and let’s elaborate on the great theological truth that I’m convinced Paul is talking about here when he says this interesting statement, 1 Timoth 4:16,

16 Pay close attention to yourself and your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hears you.

You will ensure salvation for yourself and for those who hear you. Now what does that mean? What is he talking about here? Well, I would say, first off, I think he’s certainly talking about sanctification. We have three aspects to our salvation and in the Scripture, by the way, they’re interconnected and overlapping and, um, ah, our efforts in theology to sometimes just separate them out so clearly might be helpful for our understanding but might be hurtful for our actual grasping and living them out.

Ah, for example, justification is one aspect of our salvation, that is, your standing before God is not based on your merit or achievement, you didn’t change anything about you, you didn’t, um, observe any law, you didn’t merit anything at all, God just, the moment of your faith being placed in Christ and Christ alone, you stand justified in the eyes of God. It’s a new standing, a new position you hold not based on any works whatsoever. But justification is never never never separated from sanctification. Sanctification, you might say it three ways, justification is saved from the power of sin, though it is more than that, but it certainly is that; sanctification or justification is being saved from, from the penalty of sin, I should say; then sanctification is being saved from the power of sin; and then ultimately glorification is being saved from the presence of sin, and I think one of the things that’s coming out here as Paul says this to Timothy, “If you’ll faithfully do these things, Timothy, you’ll ensure salvation for yourself and, in effect, for your church who is under your ministry is this, sanctification is the only real assurance of justification.” Did you hear that? Sanctification is the only real assurance of justification.

Now we have to be careful there and don’t come up with some simplistic, subjective definition of what sanctification looks like because it looks different for all of us. We all come from different, um, propensities and, ah, tendencies in sin and certain difficulties. I know as, ah, medical and authorities and psychologists through the years have begin to tell us that there seems to be certain people who are born with this bent to, or this, ah, propensity to sin. Well, they wouldn’t use the word sin but behave in this way, become an alcoholic perhaps or whatever it is. I’m convinced that’s true. I believe all of us came forth as depraved sinners but all of us have different things that we struggle with in different ways and, ah, some people’s sins are all out before them, some of them come from behind and you find out about them later. And so be careful that you define what sanctification looks like for everybody in some cookie-cutter fashion. This brother may be fighting harder than you know, he’s just got things that are tougher for him and, ah, you’ve got private sins nobody else knows about and you’re not really doing as well in your sanctification as the brother that has a couple of public things he’s wrestling with.

I often use the example of smoking cigarettes. You shouldn’t smoke cigarettes. Nothing good about smoking cigarettes, but I’ve known brothers and sisters who I know love Christ and honored Christ and devoted themselves to the church and were blessings to their pastors in the church, and they were not proud of that and they struggled with that addiction in their lives, and I think they were humbled about it and even repenters toward it, but it was a burden in their lives. At the same time, there have been folks in our churches through the years who never had any of those outward sins, they didn’t dip or smoke or chew or drink or whatever else, but, boy, they had a tongue that was 12 foot long and they could destroy people right and left with that tongue, full of self. Here’s my point: be careful with defining how sanctification must look person to person. That’s hard to do. Well, we might say that’s impossible to do.

So Paul, I think, as he’s writing to Timothy says, “As you, as you persevere in these things.” Well, what things he’s talking about? Well, several things but the primary and central factor is his public teaching and preaching of the word. Verses 13 and 14, ” Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching. Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you,” which was the gift of preaching or the gift of teaching, “which was bestowed on you through prophetic utterance with the laying on of hands by the presbytery.” So I think primarily, “Timothy, as you persevere, first of all, making sure you live the truth,” we talked about Timothy’s character and, ah, conduct and purity and faith and love, he said, “make sure you’re living right, don’t be a detraction to the message you’re preaching, and faithfully study, read the word, exhort and teach in sound doctrine, and when you persevere in that, over time you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you.”

I think part of what God is saying here is, should I say the, not just one of but the primary means of you growing in sanctification is the faithful Spirit-empowered preaching of the word of God. And I, I thought about that. I’ve been meditating on this, on this this last couple of weeks and I thought isn’t that just like God that your growth in sanctification – now listen – and your assurance of sanctification depends upon a fellow sinner that God gifts and calls to preach his word to help you continue and maintain some progress in sanctification so that you can be assured that you, indeed, are one of God’s justified ones, one he is now sanctifying and one he is going to glorify later.

In, in, in our efforts I think to help the Holy Spirit, when if you think about that is an absurd blasphemous concept, but in our efforts to help the Holy Spirit Baptists and evangelicals have dumbed-down these glorious and I might say complex, and I might say beyond the human capacity to comprehend without the Spirit’s help, we’ve tried to take those truths and dumb them down to a little simple once saved, always saved formula, or eternal security. I believe those things but you can’t just grab that without grabbing the totality of what God teaches in salvation. I think if you studied early Baptists and the early theologians in, in, in let’s say Protestantism in, in general, you’d find much more of a teaching that your progression in sanctification is essential to know you have the assurance of salvation. It’s not based on works but the works prove the evidence of true spiritual regeneration.

So let me talk just a little bit about this doctrine of sanctification that I think he’s talking about. I don’t think he’s talking about justification, though I think he is talking about proof of your justification, he’s not talking about obtaining justification, he’s talking about growing in sanctification which in God’s eyes and in God’s heart is as valued as your justification. God’s not interested in just justifying you. If he justifies you, he wants to sanctify you and therefore one day glorify you. It’s all one package in God’s mind. Though you do need to understand in the context of each verse, now what aspect of salvation is God talking about here? If you ask me that question, I’m gonna say this part of this chapter, verse 16, where he talks about “you will ensure salvation for yourself and for those under you,” that’s talking about sanctification.

Now sanctification has two basic ideas and that is I’m set apart for a special purpose, and I am set apart to be made holy. We are set apart by God to be holy, and to honor in our lives his holy purposes. Now that’s a very important thought, to be holy and to honor in our lives his holy purposes. You see, regeneration plants the seed of holiness in our hearts, sanctification is the germination of that seed. In, in, in regeneration and then the coming sanctification, the rule of sin is broken and we begin to learn how to live under the rule of King Jesus. And that’s what we’re talking about here. The old phrase, maybe we’ve heard evangelists say it, that if Jesus isn’t Lord, then you’re not saved. You know, there was an old debate going around a decade or two ago about Lordship salvation and to me that’s the most foreign thing possible. If there’s not at least the germ in your heart that says, “I hate my sin and I hate my waywardness, and I hate my spiritual laziness, I hate my propensity to love things that God dislikes,” and there is in my a desire to honor my King Jesus, if that’s not there, regeneration’s not there. I don’t know how strong and weak it may be time to time, week to week, month to month, but you can’t go long term without something in your heart that says, “I love and want to honor my new King, though I fail him often.” There’s no such thing as being saved and not knowing him as the, at least not knowing a desire to honor him as Lord.

I don’t know who was the first person to ever verbalize this to me but it’s a beautiful truth and I, I love it dearly and that is this: heaven is heaven because I will finally serve Jesus perfectly. I’m so tired of me. It’s not my brother, it’s not my sister, it’s me, O Lord. We are, we are, we’re learning – now listen – two aspects here, we’re learning to treasure and live out the honor of King Jesus from the moment we’re converted.

Why are you here? This is a pretty good Sunday night crowd. Why are you here on Super Bowl Sunday? I’m here because when I was regenerated and justified, what I did when the church meets was settled. It was just settled for me and I went to some pretty dead church services. Bad, boring, weak. Not gonna name the church names but for me, I was saved, I’d go to church. I don’t have to debate that, discuss that, whatever. Now we’re not legalistic about that here, but I would say those who don’t come on Sunday night are probably 50% more likely to not never had, to not have ever experienced regeneration than those who do come on Sunday night. You say, “Pastor, should you say that?” Okay, 40%. I, I, I just don’t understand the capacity to say the church is meeting and I’m exempt. Who told you that? Well, I don’t need to say did you, but you know, this is what I’m saying: is the desire not there? The desire that says, “Now I’m gonna whip my dog on flesh in line. I’m not, the flesh is not my master, Jesus is my Master and His children are meeting together and I need to be there, and I need to be there on the Sunday nights when I least want to be there.” And typically you get more out of those Sunday nights than the other Sunday nights.

Well, we start out as babes. When we’re converted and born again, we’re these little infants spiritually speaking. 1 Corinthians 3:1, “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ.” Now notice that, as newborn babes in Christ, he said, “You’re like men of flesh.” That is so good because I remember my early Christian days, I was, I loved Jesus but I was so ignorant of what that meant and how that ought to look, and I was so, there was such an intermingling of old flesh, selfish, pride motives with the new me that was to be a spiritual man, and it took sanctification to kind of start sorting that out. So we’re brand new babes and we’re as Paul said to the Corinthians, “You’re like men of flesh.”

Ephesians 4:13, “until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.” We’re increasing in sanctification until we get to that mature man. Now in reality, ultimately the mature man doesn’t appear until the day of glorification.

You know, I thought about something just sweet to my soul while we were singing a while ago. What, what, what was the lyric? I’m sorry. It’s been a long day. I’ve traveled a lot today. But the lyric was about, um, the lover of my soul, and I thought for the most of us, you’re gonna be in a place one day where your lungs are not working well, your kidneys are shutting down, your heart’s growing very weak, your cognitive mental capacities are dwindling, and the dearest dearest loved one on this earth might not even be discernible to you if they’re present or speaking to you, but Jesus who communes with me through the person of the Spirit who lives in me can be just as powerful and real to me as any other time. I never lose his reality and his nearness and his love no matter how weak my emotional, physical being may become. I’m gonna tell you, that’s a sweet thought right there. He’s the lover of my soul. Matter of fact, at the risk of almost sounding morbid, it’s kind of a, it’s kind of an enticing thought to be at the end of all of this and be wrapped up in the greatness of all of him. There’s something alluring to that. Absent from the body, present with the Lord. Could it be? We can’t commune really with those people who get in that position but could it be as we’re in those final stages, that there is a communion with Jesus that’s beyond comprehension? Just wrapped in his love. I don’t know. It just, just came to my heart listening to that music.

Well, back to sanctification. Now everything from the moment you’re regenerated and you have the standing of justification until the day that you’re the true final spiritual man, mature man which is glorification, everything in between is sanctification and there needs to be some of that there. Now originally there was only one will in the universe but this was marred in the fall of man when Adam and Eve sinned in the garden of Eden. Sanctification is God’s work in us and through us conforming us more and more back to the will of God and to his rule in our hearts and lives, and ultimately his rule in everything. You see, everything’s gonna be restored back to God’s rule through his Son Jesus Christ. Everything. Everything. Listen, everything that’s happening in the universe, everything is marching toward that final ultimatum of Jesus being King and Lord of all. As a child of God, when you begin to treasure and see, “I want to live under and I want to walk under his Lordship,” you’re just getting a head start on the rest of the universe. You’re just getting a head start on where everything’s going. Christian, child of God, you’re not getting behind by loving Jesus, you’re way ahead. The rest of the world just can’t see it. “Unless you’re born again,” Jesus told Nicodemus, “you cannot see the kingdom of heaven.” You don’t know what’s up, you don’t know what’s right, you don’t know where things are going until you get born again and the picture gets clearer and clearer and clearer through the process of sanctification and Paul tells Timothy, “Timothy, the best means God’s given us to get you down that road of being sanctified, set apart to God, loving God, treasuring God, walking under King Jesus’ Lordship, is if you will persevere faithfully in all of your pastoral duties but primarily your pastoral duty of preaching the word of God.” That’s why I’ve said many times I’d drive two hours one way to get my family under the faithful Spirit-anointed preaching of the word of God. It’s that important.

When we’re reborn, when we are reborn, we’re reborn to begin walking in works pleasing to the will of God. Now listen, before you’re born again, no matter what, I don’t care how much good you think you do, how you give yourself to serve mankind and help others, but before you’re born again you can do nothing to honor and serve the will of God. Only the redeemed have that grand privilege because heart motive to God is everything. Before you’re saved, you can only have one heart motive and that’s pride and self. You may be religious and dot the i’s and cross the t’s and be morally upright and keep the 10 Commandments or whatever it may be, but at the end of the day the only motive you really can have is, “God, did I do enough? Are you please with me?” Well, who’s the focus of that? You are. But in regeneration, do you know what it is? It’s, “I’m a bankrupt wretch. How could You save me and change me? And I am so grateful that You saved such a wretch. Will You help me learn to love, embrace, treasure, honor and serve You, King Jesus?” Those are two totally different things.

Only the reborn, only the regenerate of God can desire and walk in this sanctification and it’s all, God is the force behind all of it. Ephesians 2:10, “For we are His workmanship.” You might remember when I preached through Ephesians, when you get to Ephesians, ah, 2:10, there’s something of like a crescendo in an orchestra. Things are building and building, then, boom, the climactic point comes out. In, in, in the original language it should say, “His workmanship we are.” It’s all of God. He justified me and now he’s working through the Spirit and the ordained means he’s given us centered in preaching of the word to continue justifying, or rather sanctifying me.

Let me ask you a question as we sit here on this Sunday night. Go back two years, go back five, go back seven, do you desire Jesus more now than you did then? Do you treasure him more now than you do then? Does he mean more to you now than he did? I mean just generally speaking. Unfortunately our sanctification is not like this. You know what your sanctification is like? It’s but this ought to be better than this. You ought to see a projection.

“His workmanship we are,” Ephesians 2:10, ” created in Christ Jesus,” listen, “for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” God ordained beforehand, before he put into action his sovereign plan of sovereign grace to save for himself a people for his own glory and for his own pleasure. By the way, you’re saved because it pleasured God to save people like you. For his own pleasure and his own glory before God put any of the works of sovereign grace in actual fruition, God ordained, “When I save them, I’m saving them that they might begin a sanctification process to walk in good works.” As if God said, “Ah, finally.” Now I’m just, this is anthropomorphically speaking. God’s not like this but it’s almost like God said, “They’ve had the 10 Commandments, they’ve had the law of Moses, they’ve had the prophets, they’ve had the light and the truth come through Israel though not come through very well, and none of them have gotten anything, so I’d better step in in the person of My Son and bring about a changed heart in them so that they by the changed heart I create in them, can begin a process of honoring Me and walking in My will, and learning to treasure Me and serve me as their King. My workmanship they are.” Man, I, I don’t care, I don’t care, I don’t care. You can get a better preacher, I know that, but he can’t preach a better Gospel.

Philippians 1:6, “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” But, but, but, 1 Timothy 4:16, but that perfection greatly depends upon God’s ordained means of local church membership and sitting under the faithful Spirit-empowered preaching of the word of God. Do you not like, do you like that? Are you okay with that? Do you ever say, “God, why would you do it that way?” And there’s always these independent spiritual elites, the modern Gnostics, who say they don’t need the local church. “The preaching’s good, we probably ought to hear preaching but we don’t need preaching. We’re so godly, we’re so holy, we’re so elite and superior, we don’t even need God’s revealed means. We can have our own home Bible studies with 4-5 couples that are like us and we’ll just learn to love Jesus.” Well, then God’s a fool. If that, if you can do it that way, then why did God give us all these instructions on how this ought to be done? I think there’s something wonderfully mysteriously wise and beautiful that God makes your salvation, the assurance of salvation, dependent upon this preacher. Not in the ultimate sense because any good that comes through a preacher comes from God, but he’s ordained that. Not a priest in a Catholic system but a God-called preacher of the Scriptures. Is that, I’m gonna tell you, that’s humbling and it shows the Spirit of God enabling you to honor God’s beauty and wisdom to say, “I submit to that. I receive it.” It’s not Jeff Noblit. It could be Matt Fowler. It could be Steve McAllister. It could be Tim. It could be any of our brothers who are excellent preachers and teachers. The instrument can change but God’s means is primarily the preaching of his word.

“Timothy, persevere in these things so these people can continue in sanctification which is the only real assurance of salvation.” Now we passed this, um, gate years ago. The assurance of salvation is not did you pray that prayer. The assurance of salvation is not did you mean it. The assurance of salvation is not did you walk to the front. Did you fill out the card. Did you raise your hand when the evangelist said ask to receive Christ. That is absolute error to teach that. The Scriptures teach look for the evidence of progressive sanctification in your life. That is the assurance of salvation and this might encourage the Sunday night Super Bowl crowd what I’m about to say. If you sit under my preaching and are drawn to it, I think that’s pretty good evidence God’s done something in you. I mean that. Do you know why? Because I’m doing the best I know how to pray and humble myself and give you the truth of God’s word, and if you’re drawn to that, to me that’s a pretty good evidence you belong to him. Now I’m not the only one. There’s other good brothers around that, that, that preach the word, at least faithful enough that the Spirit in you will be drawn to that. I’m not saying just me.

Ephesians 2:13, “For it is God who is at work in you both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” One of the glorious joyous assurances of salvation is that God has commanded this thing. You just think you can decide to not come to church. You just think you can decide to quit treasuring Christ and enjoy your sin. You just think you can decide to begin to love this world and diminish your love for God and the things of God. No, it’s God who’s at work in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure. It, look, it gives God immense pleasure to see his children progress in sanctification until he gets them all the way home to glorification, and I’m telling you, you cannot thwart what God has fun doing. Go out there and just, just decide right now, “I’m gonna go out there and sin. I’m gonna love the world. I’m getting away from that Noblit guy and Grace Life Church. They make, they want to look at my W2 anyway and see what I give and what I make,” and all this crazy stuff. Just go on out there. I’m gonna tell you what, God’ll put a ring in your nose and drag you back in under the word of God. It may not be me but you can’t go without that if you belong to him. Bill Stafford used to say, “I’m so saved it’s pitiful.”

Colossians 1:10, “so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.” That’s sanctification, increasing in the knowledge of God, and that doesn’t just mean an intellectual knowledge, it means a knowledge of understanding what he is or what he’s like and how he works, and enjoying the wisdom in him saving me through his Son, and all that he’s about in his purposes in the universe, and it’s all about his glory and the centerpiece of his glory is always his local churches. The church is the centerpiece of God’s purposes and God’s glory for both time and eternity, but it does require in the balance and the mystery of things, it does require our choice to work at it. Our choice to decide, “I’m gonna serve God today.” You get up in the morning and say, “I’m not gonna sin in this way today. I’m not gonna let my mind go there today. I’m not gonna let my temper do that today. I want to honor Christ today.” Child of God, I think some of us have grown lazy in grace. There needs to be something in you that says, “I’m doing better. I missed church too much last year, this family’s not doing it next year.” Whatever it is. “I want to serve my Lord.” It requires us choosing to be diligent to honor our King. Small groups helps us a lot there, doesn’t it, brothers and sisters, that we can check on each other, challenge each other, encourage each other. I don’t know how churches grow in sanctification much without small groups. Those are so essential.

I’ll close down with this. “So then, my beloved, just,” this is Philippians 2:12-13, “So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation,” he didn’t say work for your salvation, work out your salvation, what God’s already given you now in the process of sanctification, let’s get it working in our lives. “Work out your salvation,” notice this statement here, “with fear and trembling.” I’ll tell you, the doctrine of once saved, always saved while true is very misleading. Our forefathers, so many of them would have taught, yes, once God regenerates a soul they’re secure forever, but you should strive to prove to yourself you’re one of his in the way you repent of sins, and the way you commit together with God’s people, and the way you give yourself to promote God’s purposes in the world. That’s how you prove to yourself, “I’m one of His.” Now of course, you, a person can get in the flesh and do everything Jeff Noblit tells him to do and dot the i’s and cross the t’s and never be God’s. I understand that well. But on the flip-side of the coin, those who know the Lord need to have a determined commitment to please him and honor him and be a continual repenter and a continual re-yielding ourselves to his Kingship and his Lordship. “Work out your salvation,” Philippians 2:12, 13, “with fear and trembling,” here it is again, “for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”

One little girl who came to genuine salvation and began to grow some, somebody asked her about, “What’s different in your life now?” She said, “Well, the difference now is I’m a sinner running from sin.” Now think about that, I’m a sinner running from sin. I used to be a sinner running to sin but now I’m a saved, forgiven, cleansed sinner striving to run from sin.

Paul says, “Timothy, persevere in these things because as a pastor of this church if you persevere and are faithful, if you live the kind of life that’s not a distraction to the message, and you read the word of God, study the word of God, read it before the people, exhort them and teach them sound doctrine, if the Spirit empowers that, then they will continue on in sanctification and you will too, and that will be assuring your salvation and theirs.” So just some thoughts this evening on the doctrine of sanctification with those three golden links always always always linked together: justification, sanctification and, hallelujah to his name, one day glorification. And just on a tender note again, if you’re his, he said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Your eyes may blacken in blindness, your physical heart may come to one beat a minute, your lung capacity may be diminished to almost nothing, your cognitive abilities may be blank, but Jesus who communes with you through the Spirit, I promise you, child of God, will be mighty strong and real to you in those hours.

What a Savior. What a salvation. Why wouldn’t we want to serve King Jesus? We have something the world can’t even begin to comprehend. Amen and amen.