Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of 1st Timothy, chapter 1. 1st Timothy, chapter
1. I'd like to consider a passage
of scripture tonight that we've looked at before, quoted, but
it's a passage It needs to be heard, considered, time and time
again. A passage that declares the glorious
truth of the gospel and the foundation of peace that is had with God
for a particular type of person. 1 Timothy chapter 1 verse 15. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners of whom I am chief. Sinners. Sinners are those that need a Savior
because they continually miss the mark. They miss the mark. They cannot of themselves Please
God. Christ Jesus came into this world
to save sinners. Now, I'm talking about those
who are made to know what they are right now and never go beyond
that state in this life. Man by nature sees himself like
this. Before I was saved, I was a sinner. Before I was saved. The Apostle Paul just gave the
revelation of the type that God Almighty saves in Christ Jesus. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners of whom I am chief. Those that the Lord saves are
needing to be saved right now. And if God tarries, they'll be
needing to be saved tomorrow. They're sinners. Sinners. Now, let me ask you something. When did this problem start?
When was it that we were found to be in trouble, being sinners? I used to hear a phrase when
I was growing up in religion called the age of accountability.
Y'all ever heard of that? I don't know when it is. But
evidently, it must have been something because I heard it
and I believed it, but I think our problem, no I know our problem
started long time before that. Our problem started when Adam
disobeyed God in the garden. Now that's when man's problem,
that one act of disobedience had universal consequences. This
is what scripture says, for as by one man's disobedience, many
were made sinners. And because mankind is made up
of sinners, those who died spiritually in Adam, there's absolutely nothing
that a sinner can do in word, thought, or deed He cannot reconcile
himself back to God from whom he has separated himself. Your
iniquities have separated between you and your God. Man himself
is nothing but a spiritually impotent sinner. No power whatsoever. And God
is going to have to deal with him. The scripture says, Ezekiel
18 20, the soul that sinneth is going to die. So here is our
problem. We're sinners. Now all men I
know are sinners. But almighty God in mercy makes
some to know it. Makes some to realize it. because he has been ruined in
the fall, tainted. Even in his birth, even in his
conception, the fall affected him. Scripture says, Psalm 51
5, Behold I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive
me. Sin. The transgression of God's
law is what we are. And because of what we are, we
commit these acts of transgression. And the acts that we commit of
transgressions because of what we are, that's just our nature. Now we We live in a world in
which Adam's one sin is completely defiled. The scripture says in
Psalm 14, 2 and 3, the Lord looked down from heaven upon the children
of men to see if there were any that did understand. If there
were any that did seek God. And they are all gone aside They're
all together become filthy and there is none that doeth good. No, not one. Men and women are sinners against
God. But I've got a word of hope for
sinners. That is a truly, I've heard Brother
Scott say that's a precious thing. because God has made one to be
so, made him know his need of a Savior. God Almighty has been
pleased to reveal to some what they are by nature. And these
that have been made to know what they are, Paul said, of whom
I'm chief, I'm the worst of them. But those that have been made
to know what they are, They know this, they are not righteous
in themselves. They're not good. There's none
good, no, not one. But listen to the word of hope.
If Almighty God has made you or made me to know what we are
by nature, right now, again, remember, not used to be, I'm
not talking about used to be. I'm talking about what we are
right now. The Lord has saved us, He's saving
us, and He shall save us. We're sinners. The Apostle Paul,
under the inspiration of God's Spirit, said, this is a faithful
saying. And it's worthy of all acceptation
that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. of whom I am chief." Now, every
sinner, everyone that's been given some light concerning what
he is, for that one, taught by the Spirit of God, I want to
just consider this scripture for just a few minutes. May the
Spirit of God give us some light, and some hope, and some comfort.
We know, those that know Him, we know what we are. We see that body of sin, that
body of death, it works in us. Paul says, I see in me, I see
in my flesh. There dwelleth no good thing.
We see something of our inconsistencies. But listen to this scripture.
This is a faithful saying. What did Paul mean when he said
that this is trustworthy? you can trust this word right
here. This word can be relied upon because of who said it. This wasn't said by the Apostle
Paul, this was said by the Spirit of God through the Apostle Paul,
the true and living God, He who is consistent, He who is trustworthy. God is faithful. by whom you
were called unto the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our
Lord, 1 Corinthians 1.9. He is the only one that we can
trust. We can't trust ourselves. Our heart is desperately wicked. It's deceitful above all things. Who can know it? This is a faithful
saying because He alone is the faithful and true witness. So this is a faithful saying
and it's worthy of all acceptation. The scripture is speaking to
everybody. Now I'm talking to everybody.
What do I mean by that? I'm talking about Jew, Gentile,
bond-free, male, female, everybody. It's worthy of all acceptation. This is to a people that need
a Savior. Those that are made to be what
they are in heart. They know. It's a word that's
not going to pass away. A word from the faithful God
who never changes. Word that's founded based totally
on His good pleasure to show mercy. Here's the mercy of God. He's telling us something. That
we know, that we understand what the Lord is setting forth. It's
a word that finds all of its merit. The eternal purpose of
God who has declared that He will have mercy and compassion
on whomsoever He will. This is a faithful saying. And
it's worthy. It's worthy of being heard. It's
worthy of all acceptation. And here's what it said. Christ
Jesus came into this world to save sinners. Now, I've got three
little questions. Number one, who came? The scripture declares Christ
Jesus. God's anointed Savior, the Messiah. Who is He? The scripture declares
that He is the Word. In the beginning was the Word. He who is the Prophet. of God. He is the communicator of God's
mind, will, and purpose to His people. In the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with God. He was ever His delight. Wisdom
Himself, Proverbs 8, we've looked at it so many times. The Word
was with God, and the Word was God. The same who was in the
beginning with God, this is the one who made all things, and
without him was not anything made that was made. The one in
whom was life, and his life was the light of
men. That is, all that was found in
men to have light and to be able to see the knowledge of God it
was Christ who is the life that gave them and is their light. So what did Christ Jesus, what
did God do? He came into the world. came as every other creature
of all of his creatures except Adam and Eve. Made them out of
the dust and made Eve out of a rib. But every other one that's
ever been born has been born this way. They were born of a
woman. He was made flesh. And this is
what the scripture declares Hold your place and turn to Luke 1.
This is how the scripture declares that He came. This is a faithful
saying. This saying is worthy of all
acceptation. Luke chapter 1, there was a woman
that was chosen of God to bear in her womb the Messiah. Her name was Mary, a virgin. espoused
to a man whose name was Joseph, Luke chapter 1 verse 28. And
the angel came in unto her and said, Hail, thou that art highly
favored, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was
troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation
This should be what kind of an address are you giving me? And the angel said unto her,
Fear not Mary, for thou hast found favor with God. And behold,
thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt
call his name Jesus. Now you listen to what he's about
to tell her. He shall be great and shall be
called the Son of the Highest. And the Lord God shall give unto
him the throne of his father David. And he shall reign over
the house of Jacob forever. And of his kingdom there shall
be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel,
How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered
and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee in the power
of the highest, shall overshadow thee, therefore also that holy
thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son
of God. You know, we mention that, talk
about that, say that He was born, but can you imagine the indescribable
wonder and power and mercy of God that God Himself would come
into this world, that the Holy Ghost would cause a virgin to
conceive And that which was conceived
in her was revealed to her to be God Himself. God. In whom this universe is,
God Himself would be conceived in the womb of a virgin. This absolutely must be. For Him to be our surety, He
must come into this world made like unto His brethren. A man must satisfy God by man
became sin. And by man must come righteousness. And almighty God came into this
world. This is a faithful saying. This
is faithful. You can depend on this. Believe
this. This is all the hope we got. That Christ Jesus came into this
world that he might live and die for his people that he might
come into this world and live and thereby earn the righteousness
that would be accepted of God because it is the righteousness
of God. Here he is born like unto His
brethren, the man, Christ Jesus, the anointed Savior, the Word
made flesh that dwelt among us, and He being made of a woman,
made under the law, made subject to the law, He came and He subjected Himself
to his parents. He subjected himself to authority. The scripture said that he increased
in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man. He aged in his subjection In His humanity
and His humiliation, He learned. He learned. He grew in favor. The Scripture declares He increased
in favor with God and man. I looked that word up. And the
word is actually He advanced. When it says He increased, He
advanced and proceeded in favor with God and man. As God He never
increased or grew in wisdom. He is wisdom. But as man, this
is a faithful saying. Now I can't go into the depth
of the explanation of it. I love what I heard Brother Scott
say. I don't explain it, I just proclaim it. But now, this is
a faithful saying. He increased in wisdom and stature. in favor with God and man. And this one that was made like
unto his brethren and submitted himself to the authority of his
parents, he submitted himself to the authorities of those which
he humbled himself under. At his baptism and on the Mount
of Transfiguration a voice was heard from heaven as to His faithful
obedience. And the Father gave this witness
of Him. This is a faithful saying. This
is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. So
who came into this world? Christ Jesus. Where did He come? He came into this world. And
why did He come? The Scripture said to save sinners. To save them. I love exactly
how the Scripture set that forth. He came to save them. He didn't
come to make them savable. He didn't come to make their
salvation possible. He didn't come as an example.
He didn't come as a martyr. He came to accomplish God's pleasure
and will and purpose. He came to save His people from
their sins. Those who see themselves and
know themselves to be right now what they are. Sinners. Sinners. And not one of us that
God Almighty has called out of darkness have gotten beyond that. What are you? I'm just a sinner,
saved by the grace of God. That's what I am. What did He
do? Hold your place, turn to John
6, 39. This is why He came. This is that faithful saving.
John 6, 39, 40. This is the Father's will which hath sent me. The Father
sent Him specifically for a specific reason. That of all which He hath given
me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the
last day. And this is the will of Him that
sent me, that every one that seeth the Son and believeth on
him, may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the
last day. Now let me tell you something.
This is the will of him that sent me, verse 40. Everyone that
seeth the Son, and all of those that seeth the Son, and believeth
on him, you know what they are in themselves? Sinners. That's what they are. They're
sinners. And every one of those sinners
that seeth the Son by faith and believeth on Him, He's going
to receive them unto Himself. That's a faithful saying. Here's
the promise. This is all we got. He came to
rescue from the penalty of the law He came to rescue us from
the just judgment of God that would surely be spewed out upon
all found, to have sin upon them of which they're accountable,
not justified, not forgiven. He came to deliver us a particular
people. Who are they? sinners of God's
choosing. Sinners. Vessels of God's mercy. He came into this world as their
true and absolute substitute. Made what they are. He was made them sin bore their guilt in His own body
and suffered the penalty that was due them according to God's
law and laid down His life and died being made a curse for them. All that the Father gave Him,
this was the Father's will. All that He hath given me I should
lose nothing. That's a faithful saying. All
that the Father has given me I should lose nothing. How do you know? How do you know
who they are? How do you know? He that seeth
the Son and believeth on Him. Not believing in themselves,
not believing in their works, not believing in their choice,
not believing in their will. He that seeth the Son, and believeth
on Him. He came to restore that, which
He didn't take away. Peace with God. Union with God. Life in Him. And He did it. He finished the work at Calvary's
tree. And the scripture says, when
he had done so, after he finished the work, he said, it's finished.
And he bowed his head and gave up the ghost. I like what one
writer said, I think it was Robert Hawker. He said, normally someone
dies, they give up the ghost and their head bows. Not him.
He said he bowed his head, then he gave up the ghost. He said, no man takes my life
from me. I lay it down. And Almighty God accepted his
sacrifice. This we know, because three days
later, God raised him from the dead. And not many days after,
the scripture declared that he ascended into heaven. Now the
Scripture says He's there and He ever liveth to make intercession
for His own. That's a faithful saying. Trust it. What do we believe
right now? Truly, you who are sinners, saved
by the grace of God, that God is keeping you from falling,
able to keep you from falling? What's He doing right now? You're
being kept right now. He's ever living right now. make
an intercession for you. You believe He's right there,
right now, praying for you right now. I believe He is. I believe
He is. I believe He's right there at
the right hand of the throne of God, and I believe He's right
here tonight. He came unto His own, and His
own received Him not, but as many as received Him. To them
gave He power, come the sons of God. Now friend, I want to
ask you something. I want us to consider, in closing,
something that the Spirit of God has revealed. We know this, that all have sinned
and come short of the glory of God. We know that man by nature,
that everyone is a sinner. But what I want to know is this.
I'm not asking you to see if you can look into the Book of
Life. I don't even know if it's a book.
I don't know if it's the eternal counsel of God. Scripture says
it's a book. It's a book of life. Whatever
that means, that's what it means. But I'm not asking you to look
to your election. I want to know this. Has the
Lord revealed to you that you're a sinner? That's the faithful saying. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. Paul said, of whom I am chief. If Almighty God has given you
a heart to realize, I cannot do anything But sin, that's all
that I see in me. I am convinced that I am spiritually
impotent. Do you need a savior? Do you need a savior? Because
you're a sinner. If you leave this world, Without
a need of Christ, I can tell you this. If you leave this world
without a need of Christ, I'm going to tell you this, He didn't
die for you. But friend, if you need a Savior tonight to save
you because you cannot save yourself, I've got a faithful saying from
God. Christ Jesus came to save such as you and I are. That's what we are. I can assure
you that that need didn't originate with you. I can assure you that
you were made willing in the day of His power. I can assure
you that the Spirit of God has removed the heart of stone. If
you need Him, and He's given you a heart of flesh, and I promise
you, if you have that heart's need and desire to come to Him
as a sinner in need of mercy, that's the word of a sinner that
needs a Savior. Listen to this, that publican,
here was his cry, God be merciful to me, The sinner. Listen to this out of scriptures. Have mercy upon me. O God, according
to thy loving kindness, according unto the multitude of thy tender
mercies, blot out my transgressions, wash me throughly from mine iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin. Lord, remember me when thou comest
into thy kingdom. I think of that thief on the
cross. I wonder how much he knew about
election. I love the precious truth of
electing grace. I love particular redemption. I love irresistible grace. I love those glorious truths. But I'll tell you where God meets
everyone of the objects of His mercy. He meets them right here
as a sinner. Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou
me? You know what he told Saul of
Tarsus? You're a sinner. And the Spirit of God moved upon
that vessel of God's mercy because of what Paul said. Saul of Tarsus
said, Lord, what would you have me to do? What would you have
me to do? This is a faithful saying, and
it's worthy of all acceptation. Christ Jesus came into this world
to save sinners. Paul said, of whom I am chief. I believe that's the confession
truly of everyone that the Lord has done something for. They
see themselves for what they know they are. Sinners. I pray that God bless this. I
wanted to just take a passage of scripture and just come back.
I was thinking to myself, I want to come back to square one and
just set forth. This is something that every
one of us can understand because we know something about it. And
I pray that the Lord blesses it to the salvation of His people
for Christ's sake. Amen.