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[3:26] 5210. 551. 551. 561. 552. 552. 561. 552. are perfect you are lovely you are majestic you're mighty you're everything that we're not for lord we recognize that we are failing and faulty and yes sinful and lord we're just not on the same level with you and yet such is your love for us such is the amazing grace with which you have chosen to save and to bring us to yourself lord we can come we can come knowing that our sins have been forgiven through the sacrifice of jesus on the cross for us paying the price of our debts of our sins paying the very cost lord that we have incurred against you we thank you oh lord that he is the one who is everything to us he is the one who is the joy of our hearts he's the one who is the delight of our lives for lord he is our savior our rescuer our redeemer he's the one who has come to us we could never get to you not by any of our efforts or good works or religion we could never get to you but lord you've come to us you came to us in jesus the man god taking on our frailty and weakness you came to us lord not just to show us the way or to tell us the way or to show us how bad we are but you came to rescue and to save us you came to be our savior and to bring us into that loving embrace that that forgiving embrace of the heavenly father we thank you that this was a great cost to you but freely offered and given to us and lord we do stand amazed before you again and say what a mystery it is what a marvel it is to us that you should even consider us and think about us never mind do all that you've done to make us your people and to bring us into your family and pray that this morning even though some of us may be a little tired and jaded from yesterday lord we pray that our minds and our hearts may be centered upon you that we might bring you lord as it were our faith and our trust again that we might bring you our thanks that we might come and enter into your presence once more and know your nearness know your holy spirit meeting with us speaking with us encouraging us enlightening us and lightening us changing us that's our desire as we meet with you oh lord our god how can we go away the same people before we've met with you how can we be unchanged change in fashion change and shape us lord we pray that in our lives more of you may be seen that in this dark world which has no knowledge of the wonder of your love and care that we might be your witnesses that we might be those lights to the world that others may come to trust in you too we ask these things and ask your blessing upon our time now in jesus name amen we're going to turn together now in our bibles and we're going to read from 1 timothy and chapter 1 1 timothy and chapter 1 if you've got one of the red church bibles which were given to you when you came in then that's page 1191 1191 1 timothy and chapter 1 we're going to read from verse 12 and read into chapter 2 and verse 7 so 1 timothy chapter 1 beginning at verse 12 page 1191 i thank christ jesus our lord who has given me strength that he considered me trustworthy
[7:26] appointing me to his service even though i was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man i was shown mercy because i acted in ignorance and unbelief the grace of our lord was poured out on me abundantly along with the faith and love that are in christ jesus here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance christ jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom i am the worst but for that very reason i was shown mercy so that in me the worst of sinners christ jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life now to the king eternal immortal invisible the only god be honor and glory forever and ever amen timothy my son i'm giving you this command in keeping with the prophecies once made about you so that by recalling them you may fight the battle well holding on to faith and a good conscience which some have rejected and so have suffered shipwreck with regard to the faith among them are hymenaeus and alexander whom i've handed over to satan to be taught not to blaspheme i urge then first of all that petitions prayers intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people for kings and all those in authority that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness this is good and pleases god our savior who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth for there is one god and one mediator between god and mankind the man christ jesus who gave himself as a ransom for all people this has now been witnessed to at the proper time and for this purpose i was appointed a herald and an apostle i'm telling the truth i'm not lying and a true and faithful teacher of the gentiles we thank god for his faithful word if the young let's come to the lord again in prayer pray for needs and concerns within the fellowship and uh within the church world wide as well let's pray together once again father in heaven we want to give you thanks for yesterday thank you for that wedding service for dave and miriam we pray you'll be with them and bless them as they travel and go away on their honeymoon we pray again lord and reaffirm the prayers of yesterday that you would strengthen them in their faith and in their walk with you and that this marriage may bring glory and honor to your name that as they live out their faith in as a married couple as the beginning of a new family we pray lord that those around about them may see the power of your holy spirit at work in their lives the reality of what it means to follow christ lord as a married couple faithful to one another we pray that you would bless them in their own careers in their own work situations too and we thank you for those who were there yesterday who came along to the wedding out of friendship and love for dave and miriam but who do not share their faith and do not know what it is to love the lord jesus christ we pray that you would have spoken to them and that lord you would be still speaking to them that they might have seen something very different in that marriage service that they've not seen before they may see the power and the goodness of god and that they might be drawn to seek after you and put their faith and trust in you for themselves and to bring glory to jesus give us ears to hear as we come to your word lord give us
[11:31] that ability by your holy spirit to know your word apply to our lives for we ask it all in jesus name amen if you'd like to open your bibles to one timothy in chapter one where we read uh just a few moments ago as a church here we've been uh thinking about the 500th anniversary of the beginning of the reformation on october the 31st 1517 a monk by the name of martin luther a lecturer at the university of wittenberg nailed and pinned uh what's known as the 95 theses to the door of the church it was in fact really uh an invitation to the world to discuss questions that he was wrestling with and struggling with and concerned about and that's often marked as the beginning of the reformation the beginning of the the rediscovery of the wonderful truths of the gospel of jesus christ and we've been thinking about that in the past weeks uh at the five aspects or the five pillars or the five central truths of the reformation and uh they were summed up in simply two words in latin beginning with the word sola only or alone so we looked at sola scriptura uh scripture alone the bible alone we looked at sola fide faith alone and this morning we're going to look at the third together so luther pins these 95 questions in one sense statements to the door of the church and these were questions and concerns that he had had for some time but there were questions and concerns that were aggravated by the arrival of a certain man named tetzel in nearby villages tetzel had been drawing huge crowds of people to himself because he'd been making promises promises to them for pardon for sin not just for those people who come but even for their deceased relatives or loved ones who had died the pardon that he offered them was in the form of a certificate authorized by the pope in rome the more money you paid the more pardon you could get for yourself for your loved ones and of course naturally everybody wants pardon for sins and so many people even people from uh luther's own church in wittenberg were going and traveling and taking their money people who couldn't afford it were spending money on these pardons for sin with the hope that they would go straight to heaven without having to go through what was then considered to be a purgatory a purging and cleansing after death before you get to heaven a teaching of the church at the time business was really booming for tetzel many people were coming and wherever he went he drew this crowd and he was getting a good slice of the action he got a quite a bit of money for that but most of the money was going back to rome to the pope because he wanted to build a new cathedral saint peters and it was being gathered for that but luther was really upset and many others as well like him by what was going on can the pope and the church supply pardon for sin do they have the ability to make a person right with god fit for heaven are they really acting with god's authority in the things that they were doing ultimately martin luther and the reformers came to the conclusion that there was only one person who can pardon sin only one person one unique individual who can make us right with god and give us the assurance of our sins forgiven and being able to go straight to heaven for those who trust and put their
[15:36] faith in him and so the fifth or the third of the solas was sola christos christ alone was one of the great declarations of the reformation christ alone and they understood that christ alone meant that jesus was the only savior for sinners who had offered the only sacrifice for sin and he was therefore the only mediator between men and god now how did they discover that how did they come to that conclusion that jesus was alone the savior the sacrifice and the mediator well of course it goes back to sola scriptura they studied the bible they recognized that the bible taught what was the source of faith faith and belief and belief and belief and practice and what the catholic church at the time was doing was actually bypassing the bible and adding things which it had invented the catholic church then and even today acknowledges that jesus is the only savior but it believes that other people namely people like mary and the saints those have been canonized by the church also contribute to a person's salvation each saint like mary and others has lived such a good life such a righteous life that their goodness has saved them but they're so good they got goodness left over righteousness left over and it's been deposited in the church's spiritual bank accounts so like the fort knox reserve treasury in america with all the gold or the bank of england gold reserve the church believed that it had this great abundance of spiritual goodness righteousness which was enough to give to people if it wanted to to make up for their lack of righteousness so that they could go to heaven if they deserved it then they could have it or pay for it or work for it or so on for nearly a thousand years that had been something of the belief of the church they had lost the understanding that jesus alone is sufficient and enough to be our savior and so from the bible luther recognized and the reformers that this truth that jesus was exclusively our savior exclusively the one that we used to put our faith in and no one or nothing else became for them a wonderful joyful liberating truth and they saw it very clearly because they only had to look at the life of jesus and the teaching of jesus and he makes that exclusive claim of course himself one of the most famous sayings of the lord jesus i am the way and the truth and the life no one comes to the father except through me and earlier on in john and chapter nine he'd said i am the gate whoever enters through me will be saved jesus's own words were being ignored not just jesus's words but the very teaching and preaching of the apostles in acts those first disciples of jesus as they went and proclaimed the good news of the gospel made it clear that jesus was the only way for a person to be right with god as john and peter stood before the religious leaders of their day they said this in acts chapter four salvation is found in no one else for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved and when they met with people and people were searching in and longing to know what it was to know god there was man who was a jailer at philippi he turned to them and he said what must i do to be saved they gave him the
[19:40] very simple answer believe in the lord jesus and you will be saved not believe in jesus and not believe as they believe in jesus and do not believe it in jesus and keep these commandments of the church just believe in jesus and be saved and of course when we turn to the new testament we turn to the writings of those apostles as they begin to send letters out to the churches to give them clear instructions so they can understand what they've believed and trusted and again there is one voice one declaration one clear message concerning the only source of salvation paul writes to the corinthians christ jesus who has become for us wisdom from god that is our righteousness holiness and redemption everything that we need is wrapped up in the person of jesus christ in titus and chapter two verse 13 paul encourages and looks forward to the day the glorious appearing of our great god and savior jesus christ question to us you might say what has that got to do with me today here i am 500 years later than luther and his 95 thesis what has this got to do with me well the question is simply this who are you trusting to make you right with god what is your hope of getting to heaven one day are you hoping that by being brought up in a christian family that's enough your parents faith or your parents trust is enough for you so that well you'll be okay are you trusting in something that's happened perhaps you're trusting in as you take a communion this morning that that doing this because jesus commanded it means that i'm okay with god and right with him are you trusting perhaps that you were baptized now that is what has made you right with god you've done that you've been obedient perhaps your quiet time each morning because you read the bible because you pray because you do all these things because you don't do the things your friends get up to at the weekend and you behave yourself and you keep your nose clean well these are things that you're hoping and trusting will be the things that will along with what jesus has done will get me into heaven let me say this to you there is only one savior for you it's not anything that you can do but anything that anybody can do for you or has done for you it must be that jesus is your savior the one in whom you've put your trust but you may come back to me and in fact many people came back to luther and say what makes you say that jesus is the only savior how can you say that people today of course in our society where we have multi multi-religious society multi-faith society will say well you cannot as christians say that jesus is the only way you cannot say that jesus is the only savior what about muhammad what about buddha what about these other religions well the reason that we can say that jesus is the only savior is not only because the bible declares that to be so but because of what jesus did because he has made the only sacrifice sufficient to purchase salvation jesus has done that unique thing which nobody else could do in the offering of himself upon the cross as our sacrifice for sin this is again something that jesus made very clear something jesus made absolutely plain when he spoke and taught himself he says to the his disciples in mark and chapter 10 even the son of man that's his title for himself even the son of man did not come to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom
[23:41] for many we understand that the concept of ransom don't we somebody who is kidnapped somebody who's held captive a price must be paid to set them free jesus says i am the one who's paid the price to set these people free jesus went to the cross determined to die nobody forced him nobody made him do it he wasn't dragged away by the soldiers in that sense jesus went willingly to the cross he knew that was his mission he knew that was the very purpose and goal of his life being born into that stable living that life he knew that there was only one way he was going and that was to his death and so he says even to his disciples in john chapter 10 i'm the good shepherd the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep again and again he kept telling them that he must go to jerusalem and suffer at the hands of the gentiles and die it wasn't just that he did that as an example of how much god loves us and it is a wonderful demonstration of how much he loves us but the but the central message of the whole of the gospel the central message is all about the cross of jesus and what he has accomplished so paul the apostle made it very clear when he writes to the corinthians 1 corinthians 1 he says we preach christ crucified later on chapter 2 for i resolve to know nothing while i was with you except jesus christ and him crucified the cross he said is a stumbling block to people they can't understand why god should come into the world and die what sort of god is that who is murdered and killed in the most terrific way but he recognized that the death of jesus was uniquely the source of our salvation the source of our forgiveness a sacrifice for sins had to be paid the apostle john knew that and he writes about it in his first letter jesus is the atoning sacrifice for our sins and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world what does he mean by that what's an atoning sacrifice sacrifice it's to do with a substitution it's to do with somebody paying an outstanding debt for somebody else to atone for to pay a ransom as we thought before jesus's death upon the cross was an atoning sacrifice not for his sins or for one other person's sins but for our sins the debt that we had incurred against god by our sin i don't know when you were a child perhaps you were taught the lord's prayer if you were taught it from the authorized version it would say along with part of the prayer forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors when we say it nowadays to forgive us our trespasses or forgive us our sins it's the same thing sin is to rob god of what he rightly deserves sin is to rob him of the worship he deserves the love he deserves the trust he deserves to rob him of our obedience to keeping his commandments sin is depriving god of that which is rightfully his and there's a price to be paid for that we know that very well if you have a credit card and you pay it and use it and you build up a debt on it you know you've got to pay it off you can't just leave it there say well i've taken all these things but it doesn't matter so it is with our sin we have taken from god received from god been blessed by god he has given to us we've given him nothing in return and now we are in outstanding debt towards him and there's nothing you and i can do as it were to pay off that debt but jesus on the cross paid it for us suffered in our place and his sacrifice for our sin was a once for all final payment
[27:43] when jesus went to the cross it wasn't if he said well i'm just going to make pay the monthly amount that so and so needs john needs this much per month to pay off so this sacrifice will pay him off for a year no it was once for all forever there's nothing more to be added nothing more to be given once the debt is cleared it's cleared that's what jesus did for you and i the writer of the hebrews makes this very plain for by one sacrifice jesus has made perfect forever those who are being made holy those who are being made right with god and he says later on in the same chapter 10 we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of jesus once for all that's the incredible message that jesus christ has not just made it possible for us to be good enough for god not just that jesus has made it possible for us to find the way back to god but jesus christ has done everything to clear your debt and to bring forgiveness for all and every single sin whatever it may be and only he could do that but again in the catholic church both then and now the teaching is that more sacrifices are needed there is ongoing sacrifice that needs to be made by us to keep us right with god or to make us right with god particularly at the mass when there is a sacrifice again that takes place as jesus had offered afresh to god and when we do good things we're making sacrifices for god giving money to the poor carrying out works of penance going on pilgrimage all these things adding to what jesus has done for us as if his death on the cross was not enough but luther the reformers and we have realized that the bible makes it very clear that there is no further sacrifice there's nothing we can contribute to our salvation to what jesus has done in fact to try to contribute to try to add to or to have the impression that somehow god wants more from me than what jesus has done is to insult jesus is to say that what you did jesus wasn't enough were you jesus what you did was was you failed you you didn't you didn't pay for my sin i've got to add to it as well i've got to contribute it too is to pour slander upon jesus this jesus who from the cross at the very end as he had borne the sin of his people as he suffered and died was able to declare it's finished it's completed it's done it's absolutely accomplished calling jesus a liar by saying we've got to make more sacrifices we've got to do more things to make ourselves right with god hebrews 10 17 where these sins have been forgiven sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary so again let me come back to us today is jesus my savior do i really believe that on that cross he died for my sin perhaps the problem is maybe is that i don't really think myself too much of a sinner i don't think i'm really all that bad i think really i'm quite a good person a nice person a person who surely god will accept just on the basis of who i am and how i live my life i i don't try to be harmful or or horrible to people i don't try to uh to deny god or reject god but the trouble is that you are a sinner and i am a sinner it doesn't matter how good we try to live our lives we have not loved god and the and the very clear and first commandment that the bible gives
[31:45] us is this love the lord your god with all your heart with all your mind with all your soul with all your strength well we haven't done that any of us none of us we know that we give our love to other things and to other people we know that we put our trust in ourselves rather than him we know that we we we serve our own purposes and desires rather than god he's not number one we're number one that is the epitome of sin not giving god his rightful place in our lives we do need forgiveness and dear friends the only way and the only place that we can be forgiven and right with god is through the sacrifice of jesus believing and trusting and thanking him took all my sin all the blame all the guilt and again let me say that to you perhaps there's some of you who can say well i really know i am a sinner and so i'm not somebody you have to convince about sin i know i look at my life i look at the failures and the and the problems and the things my problem is not that my problem is this i don't see how god could possibly forgive me i feel so ashamed of how i lived i feel so guilty about how i lived i feel so bad i don't think god could ever forgive me except me let me say this to you dear friends the cross of jesus has paid for all and every one of your sins he was able to turn to a man who was crucified next to him a murderer and a robber and say to him today you'll be with me in paradise when you look at the life of jesus all through the people he goes to are the people who are it was once considered to be the lowest of the low the scum of the earth the prostitutes the tax collectors the publicans that he went to them so much so that the people who hated jesus said he's a friend of sinners that's the wonderful good news if you're a sinner then he's your friend he's your friend who willingly forgive you willingly accept you willingly receive you dear friends it's not whether you're too bad for jesus the real problem for many of us is that we think we're too good for jesus if you know that you're a sinner then come to him his sacrifice cleanses from sin and since jesus is the only savior and jesus is the only sacrifice then it's beyond doubt of course that jesus is the only mediator between us and god the only one who can reconcile us to god the only one who can bring god and us together sin has separated us sinners sinners as it were pushed god away from us and and god has pushed us away from him because he is holy and sin is horrible and ugly and vile and filthy and disgusting and there's this great vast chasm between us this this separation that nothing that we can do can fill but jesus who is our savior who died for us has has bridged that chasm he's the mediator he's the one through whom we can come to god through whom god's blessing can come to us again this was a big problem because the catholic church of luther's day and even today had to say if you want to come to god you've got to come yes through jesus but first you've got to come through mary or one of the saints one of the good people who can speak on your behalf you're not good enough to come to god directly or to jesus directly so these good people will speak up for you they'll put a good word in for you so that jesus will listen and god will listen to jesus and the same thing is on the way down you can't receive from god his blessing because it needs to be filtered as it were needs to be filtered through the church only the church can give you the assurance that your sins are forgiven only the church can can can can filter the blessings of god got to come through the priests so that's why you would go to confession uh and speak to the priest tell the priest your sins and then he would pass on god's pardon to you and say yes if you do these things and you can be
[35:45] forgiven the church has the authority to forgive sins and not forgive sins if it didn't want to you have to obey its laws its rituals as it tells you now luther and the reformists so this is completely unnecessary what an absolute mess of complicated strings as it were complicated pipes and networks of how you could receive grace and how you could reach god and and it was impossible to get through to him with all these people in the way no jesus was the only mediator the only one to whom we can come to god and receive his forgiveness and grace and only one that we can bring to god our prayers that's why we read from one timothy these wonderful words of the apostle paul for there is one god and one mediator between god and mankind the man christ jesus it's only one not the church not the priests that's why we don't call ministers priests there are no priests in that sense anymore in fact luther and the reformers and us believe that every one of us is a priest every one of us can come and draw near to god and bring our praise and worship and thanks to him jesus was the only mediator because he was the one who made the ransom for his people there's one god and one mediator between god the man christ jesus who gave himself as a ransom for all people when there's a problem between two people and a mediator steps in the gap they have to be in one sense neutral when jesus the mediator came into this world he is neutral in the sense that he is both man and god he represents us because he took on our full humanity he represents people because he is one with us as a man a human being but he represents god because he is has been an everlastingly god that's why he's unique that's why no other religion no other person no other prophet no other pope no other founder of any religion can actually do the work of a mediator in god and man apart from jesus because he was both man and god muhammad never claimed to be god and he wasn't buddha never claimed to be god and he wasn't none of the religious leaders of the day or of any time have ever claimed to be truly human and truly god in that sense and even if they did claim to be they weren't only jesus is and so because he was a human being he could suffer and die in the place of human beings but because he was god his life was of infinite value so that he could die not just for one person or two persons or three but for an infinite number of people for as many people as put their faith and trust in him his life has the value to pay the debt for all people and all sins and because he rose again from the dead he continues to act as our mediator he continues to live as the one who brings us to god even today hebrews in chapter 7 because jesus lives forever he has a permanent priesthood in the words of he permanently does this work of of standing in the gap therefore he is able to save completely those who come to god through him because he always lives to intercede for them no human priest is required no other go-between is needed all the complex and complicated rituals and laws of the church
[39:47] were useless and pointless because what they could never do jesus did once for all and forever and so in hebrews 10 we have this wonderful encouragement brothers and sisters since we have confidence to enter the most holy place by the blood of jesus by a new and living way open for us through the curtain that is his body since we have a great priest over the house of god let us draw near to god with a sincere heart and the full assurance that faith brings what was closed to us because of our sin what was what was separated from us because of our sin jesus has dealt with once and for all and forever and continues to deal with today so that even today dear friends here we are in church we don't need to be in church we can be at home we can come to god we can know god we can be in fellowship with god we can share with god we can pray to god all the barriers all the barriers are removed and simply and only through what jesus has done and who he is that we know god as our heavenly father as our friend as our savior and the assurance that we shall be with him when we die is jesus your savior is he the one that you have placed all your faith in are you confident that your sins have been taken at the cross and dealt with once and for all and do you enjoy fellowship with him day by day is it your delight and your desire to be with god let me say this because if it's not what's the point because if you are hoping to get to heaven but you don't actually enjoy being with god now why do you want to go to heaven because you're going to be flooded with his presence for all eternity he's going to be there all the time in the most perfect and wonderful and glorious way well if you don't love him now if you don't delight in him now heaven's going to be an awful place do you love him do you love jesus for all that he's done for you do you love him and say oh thank you are you trusting him and are you enjoying fellowship with god each day that's one of the evidences don't put it that way if you're not sure whether you're a christian or if you're not sure whether christ is the one who has died for you and saved you and rescued you the big question is this are you every day spending time with him every day talking with him and praying are you trusting him not just for what he's done at the cross what he's doing for you day by day he ever lives to make intercession he ever lives to help us to strengthen us to encourage to support us if jesus isn't part of your daily life today then i would say to you dear friends it's unlikely that he is your saviour it's unlikely that you've put your faith and trust in him it's unlikely that he's come to live in your heart and life you may have all the outward signs all the outward pictures of being a christian maybe even in your head all the beliefs as it were and what i've been saying yes yes i agree with that but what about there what about in the heart what about in the life is it how you live out each day let me urge you let me urge you more than anything else to make sure that jesus is your only saviour to make sure that your sins have been laid upon him at the cross make sure that he is the one who is your way your truth your life because if you've got your hope or trust in anyone
[43:47] anything else but him then you are headed for a terrible terrible shock let's pray together now thank you lord our god for the things that we've been thinking about this morning thank you for jesus your son our saviour thank you that he willingly came from heaven to rescue us willingly went to the cross and died for us thank you that he now delights and loves reuniting us with god and we do pray again for any of us here this morning who have never known what it is to have jesus as their saviour maybe in the head but not in the heart not in the reality pray oh lord that you would speak with them and make yourself known to them now for those who have no knowledge or consciousness of their sin lord i ask for that convicting work of the holy spirit that he may show them their sin and the wonderful provision of forgiveness in jesus for those who feel too bad and look at their lives and say i'm just not good enough for god help them lord to see that no they're not but that jesus has done everything for them to forgive and to cleanse and to deliver from guilt and shame to make them to know that they are loved lord we pray that you would do a work in each one of our hearts according to our need and that each of us lord may day by day live out sola christos christ alone the very centre of our lives help us too lord as we come to this communion table this lord's supper now help us lord to eat and drink with faith knowing that in doing so we are remembering and rejoicing in what jesus has done once and for all for us amen you you you you you you you you you you you you you you