John K. Jenkins Sr - Why I'm So Thankful

Father, we thank You for waking us up this morning and giving us the activities of our limbs. Thank You for Your mercy and Your grace. I pray that You take these next few moments, speak to our hearts, and allow Your truth to prevail, so that You may get the glory, in Jesus' name. Amen.

All right, you can be seated in the house of the Lord. I want you to turn to the book of First Timothy. The Apostle Paul writes to his son in the ministry, his spiritual son, Timothy. It is this first epistle that Paul writes to him; he writes two, but in this first one, he’s giving instructions to the young pastor, Pastor Tim. He’s trying to make him understand the heavy weight and burdensome responsibility that he will have as a leader in God’s Church. As a matter of fact, I didn’t tell the AV team or the production team this, but I’m going to start at verse one. I know I didn’t tell you that, but just start at verse one and go down through verse 14. I’m going to give you a minute, so when you’re ready, just put it on the screen so I know you’re ready. I have to keep you on your toes every now and then; I’ve got to come up with something just to make sure you' re paying attention.

So it says, «Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ, our hope, to Timothy, a true son in the faith.» How many of you know it’s important to have true sons? I have people who call me their father, but they’re not all true sons. «Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord, as I urged you when I went into Macedonia, remain in Ephesus that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine, nor give heed to fables.» Stick a pin right there; this is just preliminary, just preliminaries. We have a country that has been tricked into believing fables and myths, and Paul says to him, «We don’t want to give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification, which is in faith.»

Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith. Those are three things I could preach from, but I’m not. Let me just say: from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith, from which some, having strayed, have turned aside to idle talk, desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirm. But we know-somebody say «we know " — that the law is good if one uses it lawfully. Stick a pin there; we’re not saved by the law. We 're not trying to get to Heaven by obeying the law; we can’t keep all the laws, but if you apply the law to your life, it will benefit you even though it may not save you. Somebody say, «The law will benefit you.»

Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous person but for the lawless and 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.

Go back through that list and ask your neighbor which one of them they are guilty of. Go ahead, ask the person next to you which one they are guilty of. He’s addressing Paul. By the way, the title of this message is «Why I’m So Thankful.» I forgot to tell you that. Why I am so thankful! I’m going to finish short; it will be a real brief message. I' ll let you out of here, and you can get home. I promise I’ll be finished before the game starts. I forgot to pray for the Commanders to upset the Cowboys today. Lord, if there’s any way possible — I know You can do impossible things, Lord! Do it, so I can just shut the mouths of the Cowboy fans. Today, I want it done!

I forgot where I was. Which one of these things have you been guilty of? And this is the world that Timothy has to try to lead the church in-a world of fornicators, sodomites, kidnappers, liars, perjurers, the profane, and murderers of fathers and mothers, of men, slayers, and unrighteous, lawless people. Sounds like today! People have dismissed the word, dismissed the Scriptures, and dismissed the church. But in the midst of him having this dialogue with his son Timothy, he blesses me by giving God some thanks.

In verse 12, he says, «And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord.» By the way, I have five quick points for you. Four of the points all have «P.S.» So here’s the first point: he says in verse number 12, «And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has enabled me.» Here 's what I call that: He gives us power. That 's what «enabled» means. It means that God gives you strength to do what you cannot do on your own. And I wish you would be honest and confess that you…