[0:00] The Bible says that a thousand years is but a day with the Lord. And so the thing is, and significant to us, is that thousands of years have already passed by. And now Israel again is in the land and is a nation. And so we, as the Bible declares, is the generation to see the culmination of the end times. and it's unfolding before our eyes. How much more should we be saying Maranatha? And yet, you know, it's important that we stay in the word and stay in fellowship. And just know this, that at one time Israel had the Masada complex. That's when Rome put a siege upon Masada and there was the last holdout for Israel up in that place. And they weren't able to get to them, so they built a ramp. It took them a year and 10,000 slaves. And finally, just before they entered Masada, when they knew they could not hold back the Roman legions, they committed suicide. And so when Rome finally broke down the gates and entered Masada, they were all dead.

[1:21] Now they have the Samson complex. We're going to take more of you out in our death than we did in our life. There's no way they're going to allow their enemy to come in against them. And the Lord's blessed them with nuclear capacity and cutting-edge technology. Since they've been in the land since 1948, nobody can explain how they could be so prosperous and so fruitful and so strong as a nation. and explain to me why all eyes have been on Israel for decades. If you turn on the news, it's the size of New Jersey. Why is it that it's in the forefront of our news and worldwide news? Why? Well, because that right there is the focal point of the end times and what God's doing and how much the devil hates the promises of God towards his people. So we need to pray for Israel. continue to pray for Israel and I pray that we have a strong enough nation for a while to keep blessing Israel and supporting Israel until the rapture of the church because I believe when we're raptured out of here this place is all done, it'll be globalization at that point.

[2:39] Having said that we're in 1 Timothy chapter 1 back in 1 Timothy chapter 1 and back to the same verses i didn't really get a chance to go over all that that i wanted to last week and so i think this is a very important portion of the letter here as timothy gets his marching orders from paul stand with me as we read verses 8 through 11.

[3:08] The title of the message is the whole truth verse 8 but we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully knowing this that the law is not made for a righteous person but for the lawless the insubordinate for the ungodly and for sinners for the unholy and profane for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers for manslayers for fornicators for sodomites for kidnappers for liars for perjurers and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust. Again, Lord, we thank you for your word. And together as a church, we do pray for Israel right now. And just all that's going on, we ask for your strength, for your blessing, for your insight, for your protection, that you would be that strong tower for them, Lord, and keep them safe and protect them. And we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. You can all be seated. And so, a medical doctor, a medical doctor is given a license to practice medicine.

[4:27] And hopefully, he had to take an oath that he would be responsible with that license to care for patients. Not irresponsible, but responsible. Was it the Hippocratic oath or something that they had to take? And so, now if a patient came in for a routine test, maybe just an extensive examination, and in their follow-up appointment to discuss the results of the testing, if the doctor at that point proceeds to talk about how great his blood pressure is and that his circulatory system is working wonderfully. His heart and his lungs are just operating perfectly and his brain function is just amazing. And the doctor at that point would recommend, hey, whatever you're doing, just keep on doing what you're doing. And that patient, he leaves so happy.

[5:36] I just love my doctor. He's always so upbeat. He's always so positive. He always has good news for me. He makes me feel so good and so and on and on and, you know, blah, blah, blah. And he says to him, I'll see you at your next visit, he says.

[5:57] What the doctor failed to tell him was, he had a growth in his pancreas that didn't look good. But he didn't want to be negative or bum them out. So he kept back that information that would be using his license unlawfully. The license that he had an oath to practice responsibly. And it's not that all that he said wasn't true. It's not that all that he said wasn't encouraging. And all that. But by not giving him the whole counsel, then it was a false report and it was deception. And you couldn't say of that doctor that he had good intentions because there's nothing good about what he would have done. The deception and the lie was a warped intention. That would be the truth. Like that, false teachers will do that. You know, they will speak of joy, of the Lord.

[7:17] They'll speak of how amazing God's love is. They'll speak of God's faithfulness. And they'll tell you about his creative genius and on and on. How wonderful and how true and how blessed, but will fail to speak of sin and judgment, man's responsibility, repentance. And by not giving God's whole counsel, they present a false message and people can attend and attend feeling really good and yet live apart from God in a very dangerous situation but think this is the greatest church my pastor is the greatest pastor this is so wonderful he's so upbeat they're the same ones that would say i serve a god of love not a god of judgment i and i've run into it it's true and it's spreading.

[8:26] The false teachers that Timothy was instructed to deal with were, in another way, teaching the law and the requirements of the law, which would condemn, and the message they would fail to say was God's grace. So they were misrepresenting the counsel of God and the truth and that grace that delivered Christians from judgment that the law brings and so is a false unlawful use of the law you know we read that verse 8 but we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully it's not good if you use it.

[9:16] Unlawfully so we return to these same verses and last week you know I stopped at verse 9 where we spoke about a righteous person, a righteous man, a righteous woman, and what makes a man or woman righteous. Remember last Sunday, we focused on that, and we are not made righteous. We are not right with God by our wonderful selves, as wonderful as you might think you are. All the great things that you have done that we do or just how wonderfully that we don't do certain things bragging about all of that not by living squeaky clean lives.

[10:04] Not by all we give none of the above as a matter of fact if you get all wrapped up in yourself you might find out how small of a package that really is and miss out anyone caught believing that is believing the lie that would be the bad news the lie that would be what the false teachers would be promoting how well you should do to be right with God and how perfect you must perform in order to experience the love of God and relationship and all of that. They would have been promoting teaching. And Timothy was sent to correct that false teaching. Not an easy ministry to have to correct false teaching, you know there are pastors and leaders that are called to write books and address those kinds of things very difficult ministry, every pastor intermittently is going to be dealing with that just going through the word.

[11:25] And that would be a message, a teaching against sound doctrine, which Timothy was instructed to teach and to adhere to, which would be the whole council, which would be rightly dividing the word of truth. That's teaching sound doctrine. And it is what pastors are to teach, and teachers are required today to teach and to represent in the church. And so we are told the law is not against the righteous, but the law breakers.

[12:03] And not the righteous. Not for any of us who have acknowledged, recognized our sin. We have come to terms. We realize our sin is inexcusable. I have no excuses before God for my sin. We come to terms we realize we're bonafide sinners every one of us come to terms and we make no excuses for it instead we have admitted it and we've turned to christ for forgiveness because we have learned we realize through the word of god by the gospel of truth you notice in verse 11 there you know where it says according to the glorious gospel of the blessed god which was committed to my trust the word of God this understanding we have is according to again verse 11 according to there means by this truth by God's word we know this to be true and this is the good news.

[13:12] And this is what we need to know. The glorious good news. It's spectacular, is the idea. This good news is magnificent. This good news should be shouted to everyone. This is excellent news. And so we can be delivered, set free on the merit of Jesus Christ.

[13:35] That's good news. Because as soon as you become introverted in that sense where you're looking to perform to perfection, or to have that relationship with the Lord, you're going to find yourself failing miserably. But if you keep your eyes on Jesus Christ and you follow him, that's excellent because he never has failed and never will fail you. And he's always there for you that's the good news in verse 8 Paul had stressed the law is good if and that would be if not misrepresented and Paul in a very simple simple word he says in galatians they were struggling with this whole thing as well and paul wrote but before faith came or before you believed.

[14:38] We were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. Therefore, the law was our tutor, or I think the King James says schoolmaster. The law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. And so now all believers guess what we have dwelling within us the holy spirit guess who fills our life to overflowing the holy spirit guess who instructs us guess who leads us guess who gives us a heads up guess who gives us the red flags now because our eyes are open spiritually we're alive it's the holy spirit all of us have the holy spirit and all that's necessary to draw us closer to jesus and to understand these things we have the holy spirit and so it's a short but sweet word and that is the law being used correctly and good and lawfully outside of christ the law condemns a man within or inside Christ, that law is rendered powerless to condemn us.

[16:06] Although when you read the law, you think, I'm guilty. But now in Christ, there is no condemnation. That's the proper use of the law. To call it the way it is, but then comes God's grace. No longer under that condemnation. And I'm glad the word tells me that. Paul here in these verses gives a short list of terrible sins.

[16:38] That has to be confronted by Timothy in verse 9 and 10 there. But he says in verse 10, he said, And at the end of this list, if there's any other thing, any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine. So in other words, this list could be very long. If you started listing everything that's against sound doctrine, the list could be very lengthy and when we're teaching through the word of god the whole counsel of god we touch on all of it but here paul's making you know he's launching timothy.

[17:25] And here's some main issues. It's interesting because Paul kind of follows the order of the Ten Commandments, in part as he lays these things out. And then, you know, the Ten Commandments, you know, we find in Exodus 20, and this is where we get the law, which would be, used to be on the, you know, public, in the public school rooms. I remember that. The law of God, the Ten Commandments, used to be posted in the school room. And I guess unless it's a Christian school now, it's not. But I remember it when I was in school.

[18:09] You know, in Exodus chapter 20, where it says, Thou shalt have no other gods besides me. Thou shalt not worship any graven image. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. honor thy father and thy mother thou shalt not kill thou shalt not commit adultery thou shalt not steal thou shalt not bear false witness thou shalt not covet anything that is thy neighbors and so you have those 10 commandments and they're broken up in two sections kind of categories they're divided the first four deal with our attitude towards god The second six deal with our attitude toward and dealing with man, with one another. That's the two areas. And Paul kind of hits both of those. You know, Jesus condensed them into two areas.

[19:13] Hitting both of those categories, Jesus said, and he's talking to a lawyer of the Pharisees who came to question him, and they were trying to entrap Jesus. They said in Matthew 22, Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?

[19:31] Jesus said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment taken in that first category. The second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

[19:49] On these two commandments, hang all along the prophets. Jesus simplified. If you love God with all of your heart, you're going to not do those things in that first section of the Ten Commandments. If you love your neighbor as yourself, that second half is going to be covered as well because love is the driving force and motivation of your heart and life and God is love and so then you know we move forward and so Paul had these 10 commandments in mind as he gives Timothy this short list it it follows the order of the 10 commandments and again in verse 9 the law is for the lawless in other words it means in violation it means also the wicked like you know those wicked to the core because without without christ you're wicked to the core to the bone you're wicked there's no hope without christ they would be still under the penalty of the law the lawless and then also verse 9 the insubordinate the king james says the disobedient and it means the unruly those who had been told and are not willing to yield or to submit to god the insubordinate.

[21:05] And so he's addressing those. He said, you know, in this short list Paul gives here, we'll look at that. And again, Paul doesn't quote the Ten Commandments, but these things that he mentioned are categorized in the Ten Commandments, and so by application. And so again, mentioned last Sunday, Paul is urging Timothy, remember verse 3, to deal with these false teachers who do not know what they're talking about these false teachers i urge you to go there timothy and then they don't but they don't know what they're talking about he says that in verse 7 desiring to be teachers of the law understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirm and so they're wannabes they're self-promoted but, would instead be putting Christians in bondage.

[22:04] Throw grace under the bus, you might say. You know, I recently had talked to a couple who, I didn't do anything, but in a talk just kind of confirmed that their suspicions were true, that they were kind of dealing with that. And the Holy Spirit just gave them an alert, and they were absolutely right. We can trust the Holy Spirit to do that because there's that kind of element out there just, you know, putting themselves in that place.

[22:42] But they say, it says, understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirm. So they're being dogmatic. They're being insistent about these things. they'll say my way or the highway, and I've encountered the type but they don't know what they're talking about they would say something like let me be clear, Or have always been clear on this. That kind of an individual. I've always been clear. Let me be clear. And then they say nothing. Or they say the wrong things. That kind of an individual. Wannabes. Self-promoted. But we know, verse 8, that the law is good if one uses it lawfully. Now that's a big two-letter word, if.

[23:37] And if one uses it lawfully. So unlike the false teachers.

[23:46] That we need to know the word so we're quick to dismiss the false teaching, to understand it. You know, the Bible tells us in Psalm 19, 7, the law of the Lord is perfect. There's nothing wrong with the law. Converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure. Making wise the simple. So God's word is life-giving. It's good. It's good when you say to somebody that you're a sinner that they admit it. The law says, this is sin.

[24:27] I want to repent. I want to be right with God. That's law used lawfully. But after somebody comes to Christ, the person that's hitting them over the head for submission to the law is using it unlawfully. Legalistically. And it happens. Beware. Knowing this, verse 9, that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless. Who are the lawless? Those still under the law, under the penalty of the law. They're insubordinate. And they're rebels against the word. And so the lawless, the insubordinate. And for ungodly and for sinners. And that's a reference again to those rejecting God for the unholy and profane and again those separated from God they remain in their wickedness there is no neutral ground.

[25:34] Positionally for all mankind there's no neutral ground it's black and white it's the righteous and there's the unrighteous and there's the holy and there's the unholy There's no gray zone like some religions push, and how the pressures are put on those who have died are in the gray zone and somehow or another now we can still help them out. Give me more money. That'll help them out because I've got special connections, they say. Light so many candles. Give so much money. Jump through so many hoops because your loved one, your uncle or your aunt or your mom or your dad and on and on are suffering in purgatory you know how they live their life and so now if you just give more money say certain prayers a certain way, you're going to deliver them from who knows maybe thousands of years of suffering and so because people don't know the word the false teachers come in and they've got them how horrible of a daughter you might be if you don't do all these things to make, when I could still help my... My dad or my mom, what kind of son would you be if you didn't do these things? And so they give, give, give. They light candles. They live their life that way. And the false teachers got them. Why? Because they don't know the word.

[26:59] And so there is no neutral ground.

[27:06] When a person dies in this physical body, we go to judgment. There's a duration of time, maybe for before judgment but if you die in these physical bodies and you know the lord guess where you go into the presence of the lord to be absent from the body this physical body is to be present with the lord in spirit and then at the resurrection you're rejoined with your body to ever forever be with the lord that's what the scriptures teach that's what we need to know So when the devil comes in to try and put a heavy hand on us, and so that first, the lawless, the insubordinate, the ungodly, the unholy, the profane, that's all in that first four commandments. Those who don't love God. Then they have all the idols, they have all that. But the second section is for murderers of fathers, for murderers of mothers for manslayers and so there you have that second category there you have it starting off with you know honor thy father and thy mother thou shalt not kill.

[28:25] And so right there, not only is it not honoring father and mother, it's killing them. That's the most extreme against that law, you might say. And murder. We're talking about unlawful, premeditated killing one human being to another. And Paul, of course, uses the extreme example, the killing of a father and a mother. It's just horrible. and for fornicators for sodomites the sexual immorality and then next in line number seven in the Ten Commandments is thou shalt not commit adultery and so here he mentions, fornicators for sodomites the sexual immorality would include homosexuality, and what in all is sexually immoral and so fornicators or for sodomites it speaks of male prostitutes male prostitutes which was part of that pagan ritual in ephesus and again not an exhaustive list of all that was going on there but the greek word is pornos which is where we get our english word pornography.

[29:48] And that kind of thing was part of all the grecian roman world the culture that they that they lived in was steeped in this system of worship that included all of that in worshiping their false gods i remember when a group of us were over in italy and we went to pompeii, and pompeii was that city that was destroyed by is a mount vesuvius erupted and in my mind i always thought it was the lava that came down and destroyed it no there's a body of water between mount vesuvius and pompeii what had happened was is when this thing exploded and that was in 79 a.d there was 1.5 million tons per second of lava pulverized pumice and hot ash 1.5 million tons a second thrust into the atmosphere and it had the energy of the atomic bombings it had a hundred thousand times the thermal energy of the atomic bombs that we dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

[31:04] So what happened to this place across the ocean? They were covered with about 20 feet of ash. How long would you last trying to breathe under 20 feet of ash? Where would you go? Where would you hide? So it killed them. They were steeped in this immorality. When we were there in Pompeii looking at all little things and stuff that you look at, we had a weird guide talking about greek gods the whole time it was horrible it was it was depressing and as we're walking through the streets i looked down and carved in the rock street was a male genitalia there with a little arrow and i looked down and she looked over and she goes well i know you're a christian group you probably don't want to be going there and tell you about all that happened in that room no we opted out we kept we couldn't wait to get off of that place, you know, with all the stuff that she was talking about. They were steeped in it. And the way I look at it is, that was judgment that came upon that place. The horrible things that you hear took place in there. You know, God, he holds back his judgment. According to his time, we don't know his time when it comes to judgment. We say, you know, Lord, destroy him now. This is horrible. But then again, God, what would happen if he did that in our lives?

[32:32] You know so god knows when it comes to judgment we don't but we know judgment will come and so he says and then you notice after sexual immorality you see for and for kidnappers for kidnappers well guess what's next in the law there that thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not steal and the king james says men stealers.

[33:02] And they would steal men, kidnap them, sell them into slavery and do you know since all our borders have been open there are as I heard 300,000 children of illegal immigrants missing. Nobody knows where they're at. 300,000 missing. And we know there's sex slavery everywhere. This is happening today like no other time. We know we support Destiny Rescue. They're delivering girls, well, everyone from sex slavery. Men, women, girls, boys. It's rampant. It's rampant in this country as well. You never hear about it.

[33:50] Kidnappers, and the worst kind of kidnappers. You know, there's your typical, when you think about kidnappers, you kidnap somebody and you ask a ransom for them. No, this is far worse than that. Thou shalt not steal. Then it says, for liars, for perjurers. What's the next commandment? Thou shalt not bear false witness. And so Paul definitely had this in mind as he continued through this list. And if there is any other thing. So Paul writes there and says, I can go on for good with this. I can't do that. No, if there's anything else, he says, the list would be lengthy that is contrary to sound doctrine. The words are wholesome. Not a tickle gospel, but a true gospel. Paul writes in the second letter to Timothy just before he's about to leave this earth, He says to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4, 3 and 4, for the time will come, and I'd like to add the time is here, when they will not endure sound doctrine. But according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers. They still want to be religious. They still want to say, I believe in God. They still want to go to church. They still want to do all these things.

[35:17] So they heap up for themselves teachers and they will turn their ears away from the truth and be turned aside to fables. I don't want you telling me what i don't want to hear basically.

[35:35] I don't want you telling me what I don't want to believe. I'm paying you to tell me something different. I'm paying you to tell me what I do want to hear and what I do believe, Something that makes me feel good. Something that's upbeat. Something that's positive. I want you to tell me how much God loves me.

[36:00] And accepts me and my lifestyle. That's what I want you to tell me. That's the kind of pastor. That's the kind of teacher I want to sit under.

[36:14] And that's what's going on. and it has come to us. Those rejecting God's counsel, rejecting the word of God, sound doctrine.

[36:28] And then the last verse, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust. And so Paul stresses the glorious good news. It's good news. Oh, so refreshing. It's so good. It's good news that we do not have to live any longer subjugated to these persuasive powers of immorality that appeal to our flesh. We no longer have to be subservient to that. You can be disobedient and then repent, certainly. But do you realize the only reason that you no longer have to submit to these things is because you have the Holy Spirit that gives you power over these things and now it's a matter of you deciding to stand or not stand with the Lord so we're set free that's good news rather not only would we know better by sound doctrine but we'd also know by a secure relationship because we know God and he's speaking to our hearts and so we know that in our relationship that God will be faithful in our lives so we trust him as we walk with him he doesn't kick us to the curb because you've sinned.

[37:49] He deals with you as a father would deal with a son. Yeah, he'll take you to the woodshed. I've been there. I don't like the woodshed. And as I said, probably didn't sound good. I like learning from other people going to the woodshed. And here's the crazy thing. Remember I said, I don't know about how God does his judgment thing. But I would know that the Lord was speaking to me about something that somebody else went into the woodshed for. And I think, I'm like, okay, I know better. I was telling you about that accident one time. I was going down the Highway 101 in Southern California, and a car went like this and then flipped over and ended up in the middle. So I pulled over and I ran back. When I got to the car, there was a Bible open on the back seat because it came back to upright. And the Bible was open on the back seat. I don't think that was a coincidence. And I looked at the Bible. First thing I said to him, I think God Is trying to tell you something. I didn't ask how he was. I said, I think God Is trying to tell you something. He says, he is, and I know what it is. That was our conversation. And then I said, oh, you're all right. He wasn't wearing a seatbelt.

[39:06] His window was down. He had dirt in his hair. So when the car flipped, his head hit the dirt. He was totally fine. He had a little bump on his elbow, a little drop of blood right there on his elbow. That was it. Then when I had the conversation with the highway patrol afterwards, he just wasn't thinking, I don't think, because he said, was he wearing a seatbelt? And I go, no, he wasn't. If he was wearing a seatbelt, he would have escaped all injury. And I'm thinking like he did escape all injury. You know, maybe if he had a seatbelt on, he wouldn't have escaped call injury.

[39:41] So, you know, we have that secure relationship. God graces you, seems to grace out more people more than he does others. He has reasons for all that. If it seems like one person does one little thing, they get busted right away. What's that all about? And somebody else seems to get away with everything. And God doesn't like bust them right away. I don't know. I don't know I'm one of these guys that seem to get away with a lot and God busts somebody else and then he says do you want to be that person no Lord sorry Lord and I learn.

[40:16] And like I said, I'd been busted too and up in the woodshed. Why? Because God loves me. And he didn't want me going that direction anymore. And so he does what he does. And so we cannot do it on our own. The false teachers would be promoting that we could. You can do it on your own. That's what they promote. But Jesus said clearly, he said, I am the vine, you are the branches, he who abides in me, and I am him, bears much fruit, for without me you can do nothing. I take that literally to my next breath. I trust the Lord. I'm confident in my days. I have a feeling that, I mean, you know, this doesn't necessarily have to be for everybody, but I have a feeling that the Lord, if the Lord tarries, he's going to give me a heads up when it's my time to go. And that's just my feeling. He has in scripture, scriptural, he gave a lot of his servants heads up. Said, okay, do this, talk to that person, do that. You're coming home. And I have that sense. But I think that it's going to be in the rapture.

[41:38] And I think that the times that we live in are unique. They line up with so much scripture. And I think we should be excited, and I think that Maranatha should be at the tip of our tongue. And we should say Maranatha to one another, and we should also say, see you there or in the air in our parting. Like, see you next time, maybe. Might be in the clouds. Watch out. Wait for it. Wait for it. That's what the Bible teaches us, to wait for it. Amen. All right, let's stand together. 

[42:17] To get all those coffees. And fellowship is always sweet. And also prayer. If you need prayer, come forward hereafter, okay? And the guys will be here to pray with you. Lord, we thank you so much for loving us and for your word and how you instruct us and just the peace that passes understanding that comes, Lord, because we know it's you who speaks to us. You know the message that you have for us. I mean, in each heart here, in each mind, In each application, Lord, it might be so different because our relationship is intimate. Lord, you know what we're wrestling with, the little details, the thoughts that we have. Lord, you meet us here. You speak to us, Lord. You calm our hearts. You know our fears. You know what it is, Lord, that catches us off guard. You know when we're weak. And yet you're always there to comfort us, Lord. You're always there when we call upon you. You never leave us or forsake us. We thank you for the good news, the glorious gospel that comes to us, that you've opened our eyes to see and understand. We thank you for it, Lord, that we can live the rest of our days confidently, and expectantly looking for your soon return. We thank you for that, Lord, in Jesus' name. Amen. God bless you.