This morning I want you to look
at 1 Timothy chapter 1 with me. 1 Timothy chapter 1. I want to look at verse 15 in
particular. Many of you already know the
text without even turning there. 1 Timothy 1.15 This is a faithful saying. This is a trustworthy, sure,
true saying. And worthy, deserving of all
acceptation, of all acceptance, all believing, all trusting.
What is this faithful, trustworthy saying worthy and deserving of
all acceptation? Christ Jesus came into the world. to save sinners, of whom I am
chief. I would dare that say all who
call themselves preachers have preached from this text. False
preachers have preached from it. Old preachers, young preachers,
women preachers, most definitely God's true messengers have, and
yet those who preach from this text differ greatly in their
interpretation of it, in spite of how simple the verse reads.
And it does read simply, doesn't it? Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners. And Paul said, of whom I am chief.
This verse deals with three prominent things. The sinner, the savior,
and salvation. And how you interpret this verse
depends on your understanding of those three things. What do
you think a sinner to be? Does a man's sins make him a
sinner or does he sin because sin is what he is? Are there
degrees of sinners? Are there different qualifications
for different sinners? Will God save one type of sinner
and not another sinner? Does God deal differently with
one sinner and another? What do you think a sinner to
be? What do you consider a Savior to be? Is a Savior one who makes
salvation possible? Or is He one who makes it certain?
If my salvation depends on me in any way, then Christ only
made salvation possible, but dependent on me. Is that your
idea of a Savior? What do you think salvation would
be? Is salvation something that you can achieve? Is salvation
something that you can earn? Is salvation something that you
deserve? Is salvation something that you
do for God? Or is salvation something God
does for you? For a few minutes, I want to
talk about those three things. Christ Jesus, the Savior, came
into the world to save, salvation, and he came to save sinners.
And Paul adds, of whom I am chief. Now, the object of salvation
is the sinner. The instigator of this salvation
is the Savior. He came in the world to save.
The verse is very plain about that. The result of this mercy
from the Savior is salvation. So let's deal first with the
sinner. Paul wrote, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,
of whom I am chief. Now did you notice that there's
no adjective placed before the word sinner? The only qualification
for being saved, now this is very important, the only qualification
for being saved is to be a sinner. Did Christ come to save hardened
sinners? You know, when we refer to the
worst of criminals, we say He's a hardened man, hardened woman. Sin has hardened every man and
woman. Yes, the hardened man or woman
shall be saved. There's no qualification given.
Christ came to save sinners, even the hardened ones. Especially the hardened ones.
Christ came to save lost sinners that the Lord Himself said, for
the Son of Man has come to seek and to save them which are lost. Christ came to save dead sinners. Dead sinners, that's very important
if you see that you're dead. That'll mean something to you
if you see your condition. And you hath he quickened, made
alive, who were what? Dead. dead in trespasses and
sins. And you being dead in your sins
and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath He quickened, made
alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses."
I see right there that this thing of life has something to do with
my sins being forgiven. God putting my sin away. Christ
paying my sin debt for me. I often think about what the
scripture calls us here, being dead. You know, if a dead man
can take the first step, he can walk all the way to heaven. But
our Lord said, no man can come to me except if we're given unto
him of my Father. What's it going to take for us
to come? It's going to take life. God's
going to have to first give life. Life's got to be given. Ability
must be given because no man can come. No man has the ability
to come. Now I'm going to ask you my Lazarus
question again. And those of you who hear me
often probably know what that is by now. Did Lazarus receive
life when he came forth from the tomb? Or did Lazarus receive
life before he came forth from the tomb. Well, some would say,
well, that's ridiculous. It had to be before. A dead man
can't walk. Exactly. That's exactly what
I'm trying to say. And a right understanding of
that simple truth is the difference between life and death. It's
the difference between life and death. Lazarus came forth after
Christ gave him life. The scripture says, and he that
was dead, came forth. Lazarus was dead before Christ
called him, but he wasn't dead after He called him. And the
call Christ gave of Lazarus come forth. It was effectual, wasn't
it? Isn't the calling of the Lord
effectual? Lazarus come forth. And the Scriptures say, He that
was dead came forth. Christ came to save sinners. There's no sinner that God cannot
save. What are the qualifications for
being saved? Just one. Just one qualification. You've got to be a sinner. You've
got to be a sinner. That's the only qualification.
Christ came to the world to save sinners. Christ came to save
drunkards. Christ came to save thieves. Christ came to save liars. Christ came to save whoremongers
and adulterers. Christ even came to save murderers. There's no sinner too bad to
be saved, but there are some that are too good to be saved.
Now, did you hear what I said? I said it on purpose. I said
it deliberately. There's no sinner too bad to
be saved, but there are some that are too good to be. Our
Lord said, they that are whole, that word whole in the Greek
means good. Those that are good, good in
their own right, good in their own eyes. Those that are good
have no need of a physician. And those words just jump out
on the page to me. They have no need. Do you have
need? Those that are whole don't. When
do you go to the doctor? Do you go when you're well? Do
you go when you're feeling good? Folks ask, how are you doing?
And our response is, I'm good. I'm good. Well, how are you feeling
these days? Oh, I'm feeling good. Feeling
good. Don't have any need. Doing good. Everything's good. Good, good. But they that are sick, it's
a different story, isn't it? But they that are sick, and the
Greek word for sick here means diseased, miserable, evil. How are you doing? Not good.
Not doing good. How are you feeling? Oh, I'm
not feeling good. Why don't you feel well? Oh,
you haven't heard? I have a horrible disease. This disease has made
me quite miserable. I'm not doing good. Where are
you going? Well, I'm going to the doctor.
And not just any doctor, I'm going to a specialist. He's so
good that they call him the great physician. I need someone who
can make me whole. I need somebody that can make
me well. I need someone that can save
my life. What did that leper say? Lord,
if you will, I know you can, but if you will, you can make
me clean, you can make me whole, you can make me well. Our Savior
said, I came not to call the righteous the well, but sinners,
the sick to repentance. No, your sin, your sin will not
keep you out of heaven's glory, but your self-righteousness will.
He didn't come to call the righteous, but sinners he came into the
world to save. Now, what did Paul say here?
Very simply again, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. And Paul adds, of whom I am chief.
Paul refers to himself as the chief of sinners. That word chief
means foremost. Foremost means the most prominent,
the most well-known, the most notable, the most acclaimed.
Paul said, I'm the worst sinner. I'm the most well-known sinner
among you. Everybody's heard of me and what
I've done. After the Lord saved Paul, Paul knew that he was a
notable sinner. He was the chief of sinners.
And in our day, the word sinner has become a bit cliche, that
the term sinner has become a common thing, just like grace in our
day has become a common thing. There's an article in today's
bulletin about that, common grace. Sinners have made too little
of grace and sinners have made too little of sin. Folks talk a lot about being
sinners, don't they? Oh, they say, I'm a sinner. You're
a sinner. We're all sinners. Everybody's
a sinner. But there's no woe in their voice. There's no pain in their cry. There's no repentance in their
heart. It's just a flippant thing. Oh, I'm a sinner. You're a sinner.
Everybody's a sinner. And when people admit to being sinners,
I'm convinced that what they really mean is I'm not perfect. But I don't do too bad. I'm not
sinless, but I'm no worse than anyone else. I'm a sinner, but
I'm as good as you are. But not Paul. No. Paul said Christ came into the
world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. I'm the foremost. I'm a notable sinner. You know, I was surprised to
discover that many of the commentators tried to play down Paul's statement
and opinion of himself. They said, like, well, he was
the greatest apostle of all. Surely he didn't think himself
to be. He wrote the majority of the
New Testament. It goes on to say that he was
a pattern of what we all are. Well, I know a little about how
Paul felt about his sin. You know why? Because by God's
grace, I know how I feel concerning mine. How can I think the things I
think? I often ask myself that question.
How can the things that go through my mind go through my mind and
me profess to know God? How can I say some of the things
that I say? Sometimes out loud and sometimes
under my breath, but I say them. How can I do the things that
I do? How can I feel the way that I
feel? Cuz I'm the chief. I'm the chief,
the worst of sinners. And I'm telling you, Paul hadn't
always felt this way, and neither have I. Like Paul, there was
a time that I didn't feel that way at all. And it hadn't been
too long since Paul had stressed great confidence in his flesh.
In Philippians chapter 3, you don't have to turn there, but
he said, if any man thought that they had good hope or reason
to trust and have confidence in their flesh, he said, I had
more. I had more than that. He said
he was circumcised on the eighth day. In other words, he'd kept
the law since his birth. He said he was the stock of Israel.
He was a natural born Israelite. That meant something among the
Jewish people. He said that he was of the tribe
of Benjamin. He was a direct and legitimate
descendant and son of Jacob. He said he was a Hebrew of the
Hebrews. His mother was a Hebrew. His
father was a Hebrew. He said it's touching the law
of Pharisee. He was among the most strict
sect of the Jews when it came to the observance and the obedience
to the law. He said Pharisee. He said, concerning
zeal, persecuting the church. Paul had a zeal, but like his
Jewish brethren, it was not according to knowledge. And he said, touching
the righteousness which is of the law, blameless. All those civil, ceremonial,
moral laws that were thought to be perfect enough to provide
righteousness for a sinner, Paul said, I'm blameless. I kept them
all. I wasn't guilty of offending
any of them. No, it hadn't been too long ago
that Paul thought highly of himself. But not anymore. And many would
say, what made the difference? The child of God says, who made
the difference? He said, all those things that
were once gained, those things that I thought to be profitable
to me, I count, I now see, and I now consider them to be loss,
to be nothing but foolishness, things that were keeping me from
trusting in Christ alone. And anything and everything,
hear me on this, Anything and everything that gave competition
with Christ in Paul's heart, he considered them to be dung,
garbage, waste, rubbish, trash. And that's exactly what it is.
Anything we trust in that promotes man's will, man's work, man's
way in the matter of salvation will be nothing but a hindrance.
I'm telling you, nothing but a hindrance in your worship of
Christ. And before God knocked Paul off
his high horse on the way to Damascus, he thought himself
to be alive unto God according to his own will, work, and way,
but not anymore. Not anymore. Hold your place here in 1 Timothy
and turn with me to Romans chapter 7. Many of your Bibles probably
just fall open there. In Romans chapter 7, I want you
to look at verse 9. Paul wrote here, he said, I was
alive without the law once. You see, he thought the law was
his friend. He thought the law was his way
to God. He thought the law had no demand
on him because of his obedience to it. The law had not yet entered
into his heart and to his conscience. He had yet to see what the law
really said. He didn't know that he was dead
in trespasses and sin. He wrote later, he said, tell
me ye that desire to be under the law, do you not hear the
law? Do you not hear what the law is saying? You must be perfect
to be accepted. The law demands perfection. He said, I was alive without
the law once. But when the commandment came,
now what does that mean? But when the commandment came,
it means that when God calls to the guilt and the condemnation
of the law to come in power and in grace to Paul's heart. And
when it did, you notice what he cried? He said, sin revived,
sin came alive. And I died. In other words, I
saw that I was guilty. I saw that I was a sinner. I
saw that death was what I deserved. I saw that I was dead in trespasses
and sin. And Paul's high opinion of himself
changed drastically. If you belong to Christ, yours
will too. Yours will too. Paul now said, oh wretched man
that I am. He didn't talk about his pedigree,
did he? He said, I'm wretched. I am a
wretched man. Paul now said, I'm less than
the least. You take the least, the most
insignificant, I'm less than that one. Paul now said, I'm the chief
of sinners, the chief. And as I said a moment ago, some
declare Paul to be the greatest apostle of all. He wrote much
of the New Testament scriptures I know. But what did Paul write
about himself? He said, I'm the least, least
of the apostles. I'm not meet, I'm not fit to
be called an apostle because, and then he tells us why he felt
this way. He said, because I persecuted the church of God. Now I want
you to notice something here. When Paul said, I'm not meet,
not fit to be called an apostle. Why would he say that? Well,
he tells us right there. He said, because I persecuted
the church. Paul never got over that. He
never got over that. He never got over how God could
or would be gracious and merciful to him. You know what, I haven't
gotten over it either. I just, I can't get over it.
That God would be merciful and gracious to me, the sinner that
I am. How often do you think Paul's
mind went back and thought of the day that Stephen was stoned? Well, how often do you think
back on your past? There are some things, I'm telling
you, there are some things that still plague me about mine. Some
things I wished I could forget and just can't. I'm certain Paul never forgot
about that day. According to Acts chapter 7,
they cast Stephen out of the city and stoned him. And it says
that the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's
feet whose name was Saul. And in Acts chapter 22, verse
20, Paul confessing his sin, said of himself, and when the
blood of the martyr Stephen was shed, I was standing by and consenting
unto his death. I was all for it. I was all for
it. He said, I kept the raiment of
them that slew him. Now in Acts chapter 7, it said
of the witnesses, but here he said, I held the cults of those
that actually threw the stones. Have you ever thought about Paul
holding the coats of them that stoned Stephen? There's no doubt
in my mind that Paul was behind the stoning of Stephen. I'm just
convinced of it. Would you leave your coat with
someone you didn't know? Would you hold the coat of a
stranger? Well, you better not in this
day and time. Paul knew the murderers of Stephen quite well. They were
his friends. They were his like-minded friends. And there's no doubt that Paul
and the status that he had in the church, that he was in charge
and behind all this. He held the coats of his friends
while they did his bidding. And I'm telling you, he never
got over it. Never got over it. In 1 Corinthians,
he said, I'm not fit to be called one of Christ's apostles because
I persecuted the church. I beat and imprisoned believers
who trusted in Christ. I split up families. I was responsible
for many deaths. Oh, don't you know that this
plagued his heart? But one day, one day Paul heard
the greatest news that he had ever heard. And he heard it from
the very mouth of the one that he had persecuted. And he proclaimed
and he preached the rest of his days that Christ Jesus came into
the world to save sinners. And he said, of whom I am chief. Oh, does that not give you some
hope, sinner? Are you too bad for God to save
you? No, no, no. There's no sinner
too bad for God to save. He came to save sinners, even
me, the chief. So we've seen this verse deals
with sinners. Here's the second thing. There
is a Savior. Turn back to 1 Timothy with me, chapter 1. Let's read the verse again. This
is a faithful, this is a trustworthy saint. And it's worthy, it's
deserving of all acceptance. It's worthy of all reverence,
servitude, humility, that Christ Jesus came into the world to
save sinners, of whom I am chief. I love this title of our Lord
here, Christ Jesus. I love that title. I love it
because of what it means. Christ means anointed. Jesus
means Savior. So Christ Jesus means anointed
Savior. That's the kind of Savior it
takes to save a sinner like you and I. An anointed Savior. There's a Savior and He came
to save sinners. That's what this verse is about.
That's what this book is about. Christ didn't come to condemn
sinners, He came to save them. Mankind's already condemned,
John 3.18. He that believes not on Christ,
condemned already. You and I were born condemned.
born deserving the wrath and judgment and justice of God. Christ didn't come into the world
to condemn sinners. They were already condemned.
You and I don't need any help with that. No, sir. God sent not His Son
into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through
Him might be saved. Anyone who views Christ coming
into the world to be an act of condemnation is just flat misinformed. Condemnation does not come through
Christ. Condemnation comes by rejecting
and hating Him. The Son of Man has not come to
destroy men's lives, but to save them, he said in Luke chapter
9. And here are two more words. that have just become common
in our day. And that's Savior and that's
salvation. Just common where I can't ever
remember going to a funeral where the deceased wasn't saved. Brother Montgomery asked a funeral
director right here in town one time. I sung at the funeral. He preached it. And he asked
the funeral director, I asked one in Texas the same question.
And that question was something like this, has any deceased person
ever passed through this place that wasn't saved? And I remember
the director here told Maurice very quickly, no. And I really
remember what that old director in Texas told me in his southern
drawl. He was almost ready to retire. Over 55 years, I think, he'd
been director. And I rode with him to the cemetery,
and I asked him that question. And he said, never conducted
a funeral where the deceased didn't love Jesus, Muhammad,
Allah, Buddha, or somebody, and would say, And I couldn't help
but to chuckle a little bit. And then he said, I never held
a service where the departed hadn't been sprinkled, dipped,
splashed, dipped, or dumped. And because of that, they were
saved. Not in 55 years. Everybody's
saved, aren't they? Everybody's saved. You just ask
them. Everybody loves Jesus. Everybody loves God. Salvation
don't mean much anymore. Today it's easy to get saved.
Raise a hand, walk an aisle, say a prayer. Let Jesus come in the yard. While
He's softly and tenderly calling, won't you just let Him do so?
Oh, God's salvation's been cheapened. People are not being taught what
true salvation requires. Paul knew. Paul wanted to share
it with others. He knew that he could not provide
what God required. Do you know that? Do you know
that you cannot provide what God requires? Perfection. Can't provide. And the best news
that Paul ever heard was that Christ Jesus, the anointed Savior,
came into the world to save sinners. Sinners like him. The worst. The least. Less than the least. The Lord had taught Paul some
things, and the Lord brought him down so that he could raise
him up. Now let's finish up on this matter of salvation. Christ
Jesus is the anointed Savior. He came into the world to save
sinners. Isn't that what we read here?
That's not hard, is it? He came to save the chief of
sinners. You can't be too bad for God
to save you. What is salvation? We've talked
about what a sinner is. We've talked about how Christ
Jesus is the Savior. Well, what is salvation? Well,
verse 16 gives us a pretty good idea. Look at verse 16. Howbeit for this cause. What cause? The cause of God
showing Paul that he was a sinner. For that cause, Paul said, I
obtained mercy. Salvation has to do with obtaining
mercy. It has to do with obtaining God's
mercy and grace. Who obtains mercy? Sinners. Who gives this mercy? The Savior. Christ Jesus, the anointed Savior. That's who gives it. Salvation
is the sovereign act of Christ giving mercy to the sinner. Don't
make this hard. Look at verse 13, Paul confessed,
he said, I was before a blasphemer and a persecutor and injurious. But I obtained mercy because
I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And then Paul continues here
in verse 16 by saying that in me first, Jesus Christ might
show forth all longsuffering. Salvation has something to do
with the long-suffering of God. What abundant long-suffering
the Lord showed to Paul. What abundant long-suffering
the Lord showed to me. Has God shown abundant long-suffering
to you? I know that He has. thinking about God being slow
to wrath, long-suffering. The world, with the exception
of eight people, would not be drowned until Noah preached the
gospel, the message of righteousness for 120 years. That's how long-suffering
God is. Sodom, with the exception of
four people, would not be burned or destroyed until they were
outside of the city. And even then, Lot and his wife
and his daughters, the scripture says they lingered. And the angel
of the Lord had to take them by the hand and lead them out.
You tell me God's not long-suffering and gracious and merciful. to
his people, how long-suffering God is. And even then, Lot's
wife looked back and was forever lost. That's how long-suffering
God is. God would not smite Nineveh until
he first sent Jonah. Salvation has to do with the
worst of sinners obtaining mercy. Salvation has to do with the
patience and the long suffering of God. And notice the last thing
that verse 16 tells us. It tells us that Paul was a pattern
to all who should after believe on Christ to everlasting life. Now the word pattern there in
the original Greek means type. We often talk in our studies
of Genesis about pictures and types of Christ. Well here, Paul
is a type of the believer. The word actually means a sketch,
a picture. Paul is a picture here of who
the kind of folks that God saves. Paul gives us a picture, a type,
a pattern of those who would hereafter believe. That's talking
about me. That's talking about you that
know Christ. Paul is a pattern of all who
will believe on Christ afterwards. Now all who believe, like Paul,
as their pattern, will see that they're sinners. Like Paul, their pattern, they'll
say of themselves, I'm chief. I'm the most notable among all
of us. You look up sinner in the dictionary,
and there's my picture. That's the way God's people feel.
With Paul as our pattern, we believe that Christ Jesus, the
anointed Savior, came into the world to save sinners such as
we are. He's a pattern. He's a type.
And like Paul, we believe that Christ came to save wretches
as we are. By Paul's example of grace, God's
elect will see that everything but Christ is but dung, garbage,
and rubbish. And with Paul as our pitcher
of grace, we're gonna have to obtain mercy from God. We're
gonna have to know that mercy and grace is found only in the
Lord Jesus Christ. And like Paul, we're gonna understand
that believing on and in Christ alone leads to eternal life.
Is that not what verse 16 says? We're gonna have to say with
him, and we are going to say with him, what he says in verse
17, look at it. Now unto the King eternal, immortal,
invisible, The only wise God be honor and glory forever and
ever. Amen. God gets all the glory in the
sinner's salvation. What a type, what a picture Paul
is of those. Oh, God make it so for Christ's
sake. God make it so for Christ's sake.
May God show you that you're a sinner. May God point you to
the Savior. And may God save you by His mercy
and grace. That's the only hope any of us
have.