GUARDING THE GLORIOUS GOSPEL Part 2 (1 Timothy 1:3-20 May 28, 2006)

Transcription

1 GUARDING THE GLORIOUS GOSPEL Part 2 (1 Timothy 1:3-20 May 28, 2006) Yesterday was Warrigal Road fete day. Being a bit of a book junkie I found my way to the used book table and began flicking through the books. The title of one book caught my eye The Trivialisation of God. I had never heard of the author Donald W. McCullough. But the opening words of the book got my attention. Visit a church on Sunday Morning almost any will do and you will likely find a congregation comfortably relating to a deity who fits nicely within precise doctrinal positions, or who lends almighty support to social crusades, or who conforms to individual spiritual experiences. But you will not likely find much awe or sense of mystery. The only sweaty palms will be those of the preacher unsure whether the sermon will go over; the only shaking knees will be those of the soloist about to sing the offertory. 1 He then quoted Ann Dillard: On the whole, I do not find Christians, outside the catacombs, sufficiently sensible of the conditions. Does anyone have the foggiest idea what sort of power we so blithely invoke? Or, as I suspect, does no one believe a word of it? The churches are children playing on the floor with their chemistry sets, mixing up a batch of TNT to kill a Sunday morning. It is madness to wear ladies straw hats and velvet hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares; they should lash us to our pews. For the sleeping God may wake some day and take offense, or the waking God may draw us out to where we can never return. 2 I shelled out the $1.00 they wanted for the book and as Peter roared around the rides at the fete I stood there reading this book. I asked do we have a sense of the awe of God on Sundays? Do we understand the true majesty of God Almighty? Do we really grasp what God has done for us in Christ? I asked myself, when was the last time I walked in here on a Sunday morning with sweaty palms because I was going to encounter the risen Lord Jesus. God Himself? The One who ordered Moses to take off his sandals for this is holy ground. The One who left Isaiah crying, Woe is me for I am a man of unclean lips. The One who revealed His glory on the Mount of Transfiguration, and the cross and the resurrection. When was the last time I came on a Sunday desperate to hear again the old, old story of unseen things above, of Jesus and His glory, of Jesus and His love? When I just 1 Donald W. McCullough, The Trivialisation of God, (Colorado Springs, Navpress, 1995) p As cited in Donald W. McCullough, The Trivialisation of God, (Colorado Springs, Navpress, 1995) p

2 needed to hear of Jesus who came into the world to save sinners. When my heart was warmed by knowing though I am a wicked sinner Jesus will save me. It has been awhile. McCullough was dead right I have committed one of the worst sins possible I have trivialised God. I have domesticated Him. I have lost the fear of God and the awe of His grace. This was further emphasised to me this week because of the passage I was preparing to teach here this morning. This passage deals with one of the most basic truths grace and yet I was struggling to understand three verses from this morning s passage basically they didn t make sense to me. 1 Timothy 1:13-15: 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. 2

3 I didn t understand Paul s words because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The commentators also stumbled here. Was Paul saying that because he sinned ignorantly God granted him mercy? As if ignorance of the gospel was an excuse deserving mercy. Was Paul saying If I truly believe good works will get me to heaven then God will have mercy on me because I was sincere in my ignorance? I don t think so! This is at odds with everything the Bible teaches. This led some commentators to say that Paul s sin was lessened because it was a sin of ignorance rather than a sin of presumption. He was a sinner but not that bad. But that isn t what Paul says. He says he was the worst of sinners. 3

4 And I also struggled with that. Paul was saying that even now as the Apostle to the Gentiles he was the worst of sinners. Yes he was a sinner our theology tells us that all men are sinners but come on the worst of sinners? Who here really thinks the Apostle to the Gentiles the man who laboured so faithfully to spread the gospel was the worst of sinners? Methinks he doth protest too much. A little hyperbole. But then as I read through this chapter over and over I was struck by a decidedly unpleasant thought. Perhaps I was struggling because I didn t really grasp the full glory of gospel. I had trivialised God, sin and grace that is why I struggled to understand what Paul was saying. I didn t really understand the holiness of God, the ingrained horror of my sin or the true wonder of grace. Perhaps I saw myself differently to the way Paul saw himself. You might be thinking come on now it is Craig who is protesting too much. I tell you I m not. I have been a Christian for 22 years, a pastor for 16 years and on my wall it says I am a Master of Divinity. But the truth is that I am only just beginning to scratch the surface of the glory of the gospel. Today s passage has shown me just what an infant in understanding grace I am. But it has also given me a new appreciation of the absolute glory of the gospel. Let me take a moment to remind you of the context of our passage in 1 Timothy 1. After being released from prison in Rome, Paul and Timothy began to visit the brethren. When they marched up the dusty road to Ephesus they found a church in the grip of savage wolves and Paul was shattered. This was a church he founded, ministered to, loved and warned and now it was under attack. And he knew that there was only one hope to preach once more the glorious gospel of the blessed God. Of course that begs the question of what the glorious gospel of the blessed God is? Paul summarised it in 1 Timothy 1:15: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. 4

5 Christ Jesus [who is God] came into the world to save [from hell] sinners [men and women who were completely incapable of saving themselves]. There is nothing new here. The gospel is pretty simple isn t it? Years ago I was taught a three point Gospel Outline and I have never forgotten it. It is God, Man, Grace. God is perfectly holy and just. Man is entirely sinful without any way to ridding ourselves of sin and so we are destined to be destroyed by the wrath of a holy God. But, here is where we encounter the glory of the gospel. Grace! Grace is the good news that God chose to do what we could not do He chose to save us by sending Christ Jesus His beloved Son into this world to save us. It sounds basic. You would think that it is really hard to mess this up. But the truth is that churches rarely keep the purity of the gospel for long. Our hearts are so sinful and wicked that we move away from the gospel at one or more of these three places God, Man, Grace. 5

6 And the result is RIP the Gospel Rest In Peace the Gospel. We kill the glorious gospel of the blessed God. How? RIP. Replace God preach a domesticated God. Make Him less awesome. Downplay His absolute holiness, His justice, His wrath. We make God more like man. Inflate Man Make him good. Give him the ability to earn his salvation. We make man more like God. Pervert Grace Make our salvation based on something we do rather than what Christ has done. And here is one that churches stumble over making grace necessary for salvation only not after salvation. We make grace more about us. The result? Rest In Peace the Gospel. Paul knew this had happened in Ephesus. The glorious gospel of the blessed God had been tainted. Listen to his words in 1 Timothy 1:3-4: As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. These promote controversies rather than God s work which is by faith. These men were teaching false doctrines. Last week I told you that it seems that at the heart of their teachings was a belief that the resurrection has already taken place. And false teaching led to false living. But the question is: How did these men move from the glorious gospel to false teaching and false living? 6

7 The basic answer is that they focussed on legalism and myths and endless genealogies which led to less emphasis on the glory of the gospel. We have seen this happen again and again in history. Here is the gospel: It is all about Jesus! The fact it took the death of Jesus God Himself to save us shows us the glory of God, the sin of man and the wonder of grace. When you keep your eyes fixed on Jesus the gospel stays in view. Everything else is secondary. When it is not about you when it is all about Jesus then the gospel is preserved. But when you take your eyes off Jesus, when He fades and secondary issues come into focus. They grow and become the focus. Churches become known for being an end times church not a Jesus church. For example we have all seen how a focus on end times can lead to a fascination with looking for signs of the end rapture countdowns prophetic calendars. And then with our eyes off Jesus it can so easily lead to sin. The Branch Davidians of Waco Texas who were so convinced the end was at hand they torched their compound under David Koresh. Their eyes were off Jesus and His gospel. It happens again and again doctrines take on a life of their own the gospel is sidelined and sin slips in. Don t misunderstand me. I am not saying that we ignore doctrine. Far from it. 7

8 My point is that Jesus and the gospel are to be centre of every church. He is to be our focus. And the purpose of doctrine is to point to the glory of Jesus and His gospel. The right place for doctrine is not to point to itself but to point to Jesus. When we talk about the end times it is to show the glory of Jesus in returning to complete the work He began. Jesus is the centre of eternity. Music is to unite us in praise of the glory of Jesus. Church government is to be undershepherds of the Great Shepherd. Law shows the necessity of the cross. Doctrines are to be Christ-centred not have a life of their own. But when you take your eyes off Jesus when you Replace God, Inflate Man or Pervert Grace then your church has begun to drift onto the rocks that can lead to heresy and sinful living. And that is what had happened here in Ephesus. In 1 Timothy 1 the manifestation of the error Paul was dealing with was legalism. A false understanding of the Law and grace led to a very insidious and dangerous sin. 8

9 Last week, I told you that this chapter was structured in such a way that it highlighted the main point the glorious gospel of the blessed God. In verses 3-7, Paul makes the point that: Legalism leads men astray Legalism is incredibly insidious and dangerous. There is something in the hearts of men that tell us we can do something to merit salvation or to keep ourselves saved. I don t care which religion or philosophy you pick the word do is prominent. What must I do? Keep the five pillars of Islam. Keep the Law. Earn karma. And here in Ephesus the cult of do had arrived. It seems that these men were teaching the church that now that they were saved and raised with Christ they could do something to make themselves stand out in God s eyes. Now they were in Christ, their good works were sources of God-given merit. Now before we condemn these men too much I suspect we often do the same thing. When someone applies to join our church do you know what the first question on our membership application is: If you were to die today and stand before God and He were to ask you, Why should I let you into My heaven? what would you say? 9

10 If anyone answers Because I am a good person or I tried to obey your commands we don t let them join the church. If they say I come trusting in nothing but Jesus we let them in. But you know what listen at funerals. At times we seem to reverse things. A saint dies. The obituary doesn t go like this: We say: Fred was a scoundrel, a sinner of the worst stripe until the day he died. But Fred trusted Jesus. Fred was a good man. Served as a deacon for twenty years. Loved his wife and kids. Served the church faithfully. Led sixteen men to Christ. We will miss him. Its hard to find men like Fred. Don t misunderstand me. If in saying this we make it clear that the fruit in Fred s life is entirely a gift of God fine. But I suspect that most often somewhere inside us we think Fred deserves to be in heaven because he was a good man a model Christian. And we praise Fred more than Jesus. Something about this finds a home in our hearts. I know I am susceptible to this. It found a home in the hearts of many in Ephesus. Note that this legalism is tied up with myths and genealogies. Something similar was affecting the church in Crete. Titus 3:9: Avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless. It seems that a misunderstanding of the Law and its place led to these controversies. Paul says they promote controversies rather than God s work which is by faith. Salvation the work of God comes by faith not by Law. Then verse 5: The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Paul commanded these men not to teach these false doctrines. His motive is love. His love for the church and the saints. 10

11 It comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Paul has no sinister ulterior motive here. His heart is to see the gospel the truth that can set men free proclaimed in Ephesus. Look at verses 6 and 7: Some have wandered away from these and turned to meaningless talk. They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm. Some in the church had wandered from the love that flows from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. I am sure that they did not set out to pervert the gospel. But because they didn t understand grace they did pervert it. And like most false teachers they said it with such conviction men listened. Instead of focussing on the gospel they focussed on peripheral matters that amounted to no more than meaningless talk. They considered themselves teachers of the law but didn t even understand the reason for the Law. So Paul takes time to explain the reason God gave the Law. Verses 8-10: Law shows the need for ongoing grace. We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. We also know that law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious; for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for adulterers and perverts, for slave traders and liars and perjurers and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine Why did God give the Law? Why do we need it? There are several reasons but the main one is the one Paul focuses on here to show us how sinful we are and how much we need Christ and His grace. If a man could be righteous holy then he has no need of the Law. The Law is for sinners the lawbreakers and rebels it shows them their sin. It shows where they have deviated from the sound doctrine the commands of God it shows them they stand in judgment. Our conscience is certainly not an infallible guide. Society changes right and wrong at will. How would we know what is truly wrong unless God tells us? 11

12 But once we have the Law we can see how far short of God s standard we fall. We know we are sinners. But what is not immediately clear and only comes out later in the chapter is that the Law serves the same function in believers. You know that you are still a sinner even today because you transgress the Law of God. The Law shows us that even after salvation we are still sinners in need of God s ongoing grace. We still lust, we still gripe, we still struggle with every manner of sin. And it is the Law of God that tells us we are sinners in need of the glorious gospel of the blessed God the heart of Paul s argument in verse 11. And then we come to verses Here Paul uses himself as an example of the glorious gospel in action. Paul shows the provision of ongoing grace. I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, 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 unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life. I told you that I had been struggling to understand this passage. What did Paul mean I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief? And in what sense is Paul the worst of sinners? The key to understanding this is verse 16 look at it: But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life. What Paul is saying is this. He was the hardest case on the planet the man furthest from God. And even now he is the man most in need of God s grace. Think about Saul the Pharisee. 12

13 Listen to Philippians 3:4-6: If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless. Paul was raised in the womb of Pharisaic Judaism. He had it pounded into his head that if you were a Jew who kept the Law well this was the road to being accepted by God. And by his very nature Paul dotted his legalistic i s and crossed his legalistic t s. He was a zealous keeper of the Law. Kept every Sabbath. Tithed honestly. Memorised the Torah. He said of himself as for legalistic righteousness I was faultless. So when he heard of this Christian doctrine of salvation through faith in a crucified Messiah he saw red they were tainting the Law. Imagine saying sinners could get to glory. He became a zealous persecutor of the church. Now I ask you. Was there a more zealous Jew than Paul? This man travelled the globe hunting down Christians. I doubt it. I think that if you could have got into his soul I think that he would have seen himself as the greatest keeper of the Law on the face of the planet the head of the pack if anyone was going to heaven it was Paul. He would outdo everyone in zeal. His pedigree and life showed this. But the reality is these very things put him as far from heaven is as humanly possible. Unless you know you are totally sinful, totally lost, bereft of any good thing you will not cry out for a Saviour. Paul never saw himself as lost and bereft. If you think you are doing enough to get to heaven you won t listen to the gospel. One of the most fruitful ministries on earth is prison ministry. One of the most difficult ministries on earth is Muslim evangelism. The great advantage prisoners have is that they know they are sinners. If God grades on a curve they are in trouble. The Law and society have declared them as sinners. Their prison bars cry out that they are sinners. So when we come declaring Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners their ears prick up. 13

14 Muslims are raised like Paul the Pharisee. Do good and if you are good enough Allah will reward you. And they zealously strive to please Allah. Go to a good, pious Muslim and they will not recognise themselves as sinners in need of a Saviour. This is the same reason it is so hard to reach the faithful Catholic, the zealous Mormon, the pious Jew and the moral man. But of everyone who ever lived perhaps the man farthest from God may well have been Saul the Pharisee. He saw no need of grace. He was doing fine on his own. He doesn t mention his ignorance and unbelief to make excuses in fact on the contrary they his ignorance was pushing him as far from God as possible. He didn t see how lost he was. He was so lost he didn t know he was under the wrath of God. The point is this. Who could ever save a pious blinded Pharisee? A man so ignorant and unbelieving he counted his blasphemy, persecution and violence as merits that made him acceptable to God. Who? Jesus! In me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life. The glorious gospel of the blessed God can save anyone. If Jesus could save Saul He could save anyone. Sometimes I despair that my brother will ever come to Christ. Each of you has that hard case the one that seems humanly impossible. Paul says don t despair look at me the man least likely to be saved. God saved me. That is the power of the gospel. On the road to Damascus God saved the worst of sinners. Keep praying. Keep sharing. God can save anyone. But Paul also knew his need of the power of the gospel did not end at his salvation. Think now about Paul the Apostle. Paul is still a man in grave danger. Think about who he is. He is the Apostle to the Gentiles, he has planted churches, discipled men, led sinners to Christ, he has performed miracles. He has a lot to boast about. In fact probably more than just about any man. 14

15 And somewhere his Pharisaic training would be straining to rise up and say Paul you have done well, you deserve the first place in heaven. But Paul knows how insidious and dangerous this is. He is still the chief of sinners. His heart is still sinful and wicked. He is one step away from renouncing the grace of God. He knows that all his works are chaff. Listen to Philippians 3:7-9: But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. Do you know what was the greatest danger Paul faced in his ministry? Not Satan or hostile crowds or Caesar it was himself. If he ever started thinking of himself as a good man a faithful Apostle doing a good job he was doomed. He would move from grace to Law and the glorious gospel he proclaimed would be perverted. He is an Apostle but only by the command of God our Saviour. If he had any strength it was because Jesus gave him strength. He is who he is because the grace of the Lord was poured out on him in abundance. He is still an example but an example of a man who knows that despite salvation he is the worst of sinners who needs grace moment by moment. John Newton knew this: T is grace hath brought me safe this far, and grace will lead me home. When Paul died he would not have wanted Timothy to stand up in the Ephesian church and say what a great man Paul was. He would have wanted Timothy to stand and say: Brothers, Paul is with Jesus. Paul was once a man as far from God as possible. But by the grace of God he was made an Apostle. By the grace of God he was used to share the gospel. By the grace of God he was faithful. Paul is a wonderful example of the power and grace of God. That is us. We have to know the holiness of God, the depth of our sin and our ongoing need of grace. 15

16 I am convinced that one of the greatest problems we face is that we don t know we are the worst of sinners. Most of us here have things to boast about. Fine families. We aren t involved in bad sins. We are respectable. And if we are not careful we can rely on those boasts and we can forget that we are the worst of sinners. I know it from my own life. This week I have sinned against a holy God and shrugged and gone on with my life without realising that the only thing that stands between the wrath of God and me is God s grace. Men you see that good looking girl and that lustful thought comes and you simply shrug it off. You didn t commit adultery you did far less with the thought than most men would and you move on with your life. Ladies you allow dissatisfaction to enter your heart. You deserve to be treated better by your husband, you would like a better house or car but then you shrug it off and move on. Why do we shrug it off and move on? Because we are better people than we were. Our sin wasn t that bad. Bad but not horrible. And anyway God s grace covers us. Paul would never countenance such a thought. I am the worst of sinners. The reality is we are sinners of the worst stripe. That lustful thought, that dissatisfied thought is enough to send you to hell forever. And the fact you are saved, you have the power of the Holy Spirit, you know better only makes your sin worse. You should be on your knees begging God to forgive you to pour out his abundant grace on you. We fail to grasp the holiness of God, the depth of our ingrained sin and our ongoing need of grace. If you did not walk in here this morning needing your soul to hear about Jesus who saves sinners of whom you are the worst then you have trivialised grace. That is why what these teachers in Ephesus were doing and it was so dangerous it undercuts grace. When we think we are OK it opens the door to sinful living and heresy. Paul never allowed himself the luxury he thought only of himself as a wretched man, the worst of sinners, a worm in need of grace. He never forgot he was that Pharisee so lost he had no idea he was lost. 16

17 I think that is why those who grow up in a Christian home have to battle harder to grasp the fullness of grace. You haven t experienced the full unrestrained depth of your sin. It is there just grace has restrained it. But that is who you are. So keep your eyes fixed on Jesus the author and perfector of faith. Paul is so overcome by grace he has this spontaneous outpouring of praise in verse 17: Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen. We must never trivialise God and his grace. It must remain a constant source of wonder. On Friday, a number of us were at the Brisbane Bible Talks. David Cook shared something which struck me. He said that a man who had been a Buddhist who came to Christ asked him to meet to study the Bible. They met every week for a year. David said that every single week, before they began their study this man asked the same thing. He asked, Tell me again about justification? This man had been a Buddhist. You do good deeds to improve your karma. Now he is a Christian. He knows he is a sinner and unable to do anything to please God. But through Jesus he is justified made holy made righteous. Not through anything he had done or could do. It was food for his soul. He could not get over the awe and wonder of the gospel he had to hear it again and again. It was joy to his heart. That was what Paul was like. He never got over the fact that God had saved a selfrighteous Pharisee like him. I want to know the glory of the gospel. I never want to get over the fact that God saved me the worst of sinners. I want to be awestruck every Sunday by the gospel. I want to be stunned by the love of God to save a sinner like me. I never want to think I am doing well. I never want to forget who I am at heart the worst of sinners. I just want to know that God is pouring his grace on me a rebellious, arrogant, disobedient, lustful, ignorant man. Brothers and sisters this is the glorious gospel. You were the worst of sinners. Even now, you are the worst of sinners. And God loves you anyway. And He saves you anyway. 17

18 Finally in verses we see that: Timothy must reject legalism which leads men astray and focus on grace our only hope. 1 Timothy 1:18-20: Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight, holding on to faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith. Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme. The glorious gospel of the blessed God. Cling to it Timothy. This is the good fight. Move away and you shipwreck your faith. Here is the danger. We trivialise grace. Yes we are sinners but saved sinners. Since I am saved my sin isn t so bad and I am certainly better than I was. God becomes too small. Our sin becomes too manageable. And grace fades as something we need to survive. In my ministry so far, I have not had to visit with many saints who were nearing the end of their life in this world. But what I can say is that the few I have visited and spent time with have all asked the same thing of me. They all asked, Craig, tell me, once more, the old, old story of unseen things above, of Jesus and His glory, of Jesus and His love. Tell me about Jesus who saves the worst of sinners. Tell me about His grace and love for someone as unworthy as me. Read to me from His precious Word and sing to me the hymns that tell of Jesus and His glory. I can also tell you that not one of them said to me, Craig, I am about to die. So tell me again about the glories of premillennialism. I am about to die so please recount again the wonders of our philosophy of music. Tell me about our view of church government. Nor did one person ever say to me, Craig, tell me that I have been good enough to gain eternal life I need to know I have been good enough. The coming of death brings a wonderful perspective. As they left this world they knew that they were sinners who had done nothing worthy of praise, they could have done nothing to merit God s favour, nor at the very last could they do anything to gain eternity. Their only hope was in the glorious gospel of the blessed God the gospel of Jesus the Saviour of sinners. When I die here is what you can chisel on my tombstone. No more, no less: 18

19 Here lies Craig Lloyd, a wicked sinner, whose only hope is the glorious gospel of the blessed God. If only we lived every day with that perspective. I need grace moment by moment. I am a sinner who cannot survive another moment without God s grace. Then perhaps Donald W. McCullough author of The Trivialisation of God might visit this church on a Sunday Morning and find a congregation in awe of a holy God who has been gracious to the worst of sinners. 19