Let us turn once again to God's
Word and the second portion we were reading in 1 Timothy chapter
1. 1 Timothy chapter 1 and the text
I want to direct you to is found here at 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. 1 Timothy 1.15, 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. In the chapter you may have observed
how the Apostle clearly makes reference to his call to the
ministry of the Gospel and how he gives thanks to God there
at verse 12, I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me for
that he counted me faithful putting me into the ministry. We read two portions didn't we?
We read this chapter but we also read the opening part of the
epistle to the Romans but I was also minded in some ways to read
what Paul says in the opening part of the epistle to the Galatians
because as with Romans and here in Timothy even there in the
opening part of that epistle he also speaks of that ministry
of the gospel to which he was called and remember how he makes
it so plain writing in the Galatian epistles, in the epistle that
this was something that had been revealed to him in a very sovereign
manner. It was something that came direct
from the Lord God and from no man. I certify you brethren,
the gospel which was preached of me is not after man, he says.
for I know the receiving of man, neither was I taught it, but
by the revelation of Jesus Christ." He's echoing what he had said
in the opening words of the epistle. Paul an apostle, not of men,
neither by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who
had raised him from the dead. And then he goes on in some way
to explain how these things were brought to him. It pleased God,
he said, who separated me from my mother's womb and called me
by His grace to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him
among the heathen. It was an inward revelation.
It was the work of the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ,
in the heart of the Apostle. And it all centers in the Gospel.
is called to the gospel but here also of course in the first chapter
of 1st Timothy he speaks of the call by grace in verse 13 he
says that he was before a blasphemer and a persecutor and injurious
but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief
and the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith
and love which is in Christ Jesus. In many ways he is called to
the ministry, he is called to be an apostle, he was bound up
with his call by grace and all of it of course is the sovereign
activity of God himself, the very idea of the gospel. not something that any man would
ever dream up but it is that that has come direct from heaven
it's amongst those eternal things remember how when the apostle
is writing to the Corinthians he speaks of the things being
seen around us are the temporal things he says and the unseen
things are the eternal things. And what could we know of the
gospel and the gracious purpose of God but for that revelation? It's a mystery. It's that that
was previously hid from man. He speaks of it again in the
various epistles in terms of a mystery. Writing to the Ephesians
he speaks of the mystery of the gospel. right into the Colossians
he calls it the mystery of Christ. Mystery there in the sense that
it's something that has come from God and been revealed to
men that they could know nothing of but for such a revelation. And Paul is amazed that such
a gospel was ever entrusted to him. Look at how he speaks here
at verse 11. of the glorious gospel of the
blessed God, he says, which was committed to my trust. And I
want us tonight to consider something of this gospel. And here in the
words that I've read as our text, what he says concerning this
faithful saying in verse 15, it is a gospel for the chief
of sinners. Isn't that part of the mystery
of it, part of the wonder of it? It's a gospel for the chief
of sinners. He says, this is a faithful saying
and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners, of whom I and chief. And just to deal
with some three headings as we consider the text. First of all,
to say something with regards to the grace of God in the Gospel.
And then secondly, the faithfulness of God in the Gospel. And then
thirdly, the experience of that grace of God in the Gospel. First of all, the grace of God.
And we have it surely in these words, Christ Jesus came into
the world to save sinners. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. How remarkable. And Paul is clearly
all together taken up with this theme. He speaks again in verse
14 of the grace of our Lord. He says it was exceeding abundance. It's an abundance of grace. It's
matchless grace. And what is this grace? Well
it's the unmerited favor of God. In many ways it's difficult for
us to define exactly what grace is. It's certainly that. it's
the very opposite of works by grace are you saved through faith
and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God not of works
lest any man should boast we're all familiar with these various
texts he says doesn't he there in Romans 11 If by grace then
is it no more of works otherwise grace is no more grace. If it
is of works it is no more of grace otherwise work is no more
work. Grace and works why they are
mutually exclusive one of the other. Grace is the unmerited
favor bestowed upon those who are not deserving of any blessing
only deserving of the wrath of gods. But in the gospel of the
grace of God we see something of the character of God. How
God is good, how God does good. There is something pleasing,
pleasant, favorable in the way in which God is pleased to deal
with those who are only deserving of his wrath and the punishment
of their sins. It is clearly the gospel. the
good news of the grace of God. And remember, when he addresses
Titus, there in Titus chapter 2 and verse 11, he writes, teaching us that denying
ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live. Rather, verse
11, the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all
men. teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts
we should live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world. All the grace of God that brings
salvation, he says, it has appeared. The day of the Gospel has come
and it has appeared of course with the incarnation, the great
mystery of godliness, that God was manifest in the flesh. Now the law was given by Moses,
but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Now that doesn't mean
that we are to imagine that there was nothing of grace in the Old
Testament. There were sinners saved by grace
from the very beginning. Even our first parents Adam and
Eve, were they not saved by the grace of God? Did He not make
coats of skins to cover their nakedness? Were they not those
who were accounted righteousness before God by the covering that
was provided by another? Do we not see something of the
mystery of the coming of Christ in that provision that God makes
for them? It takes the skins of animals. They must have been
sacrificed. The shedding of blood. But there's
also a covering of their nakedness. There even in the very chapter
that recounts the entrance of sin into God's creation, we see
the Gospel. And of course we have that great
promise there in Genesis 3.15, the words of the arrest of the
serpent. It's the first Gospel promise. that he will bruise
the heel of the seed of the woman, but the seed of the woman will
bruise his head. All the gospel is there in the
Old Testament, but it's not till we come to the New Testament
that we have the fullness. of that revelation with the coming
of the Lord Jesus as a God in these last days has spoken unto
us by His Son. But what do we see with regards
to this grace of God in the Gospel? Well, we see surely the amazing
condescension of God. The significance of the language
and the name that is used here in our text This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. Usually, of course, the order
of the names is Jesus Christ, as we see in verse 16. But here in verse 14 and verse
15 that order is reversed and the authorized version is obviously
following the syntax. That's the order that we have
it in the original. The interesting thing is that
the name moves from the official name, the Christ, to the human
name Jesus there's a sort of descending we might say in the
name from the official to the human the Lord descending from
above invites his children near while power and truth and boundless
love display their glory here. What is the gospel? It is the
Lord Jesus Christ himself descending to this wicked sinful world It
is that great mystery. And we have it stated so plainly
there in the well-known portion in Philippians chapter 2 where
we see him as one who is equal to the Father, equal to the Holy
Spirit in the great mystery of the doctrine of the Trinity. He thought it not robbery to
be equal with God. We read of him being in the form
of God. He thought it not, probably,
to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, and
took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness
of man. Oh, what a descent this is! He is one with the Father, one
with the Spirit, and yet he, in the eternal councils of God,
in the covenant, he becomes the servant of God. And then in the
fullness of time, He is made in the fashion of a man. He appears
upon the earth. What a blessed descent! Oh, you know the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes
He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be made rich. Christ Jesus, what does He do? He came into the world. And the reference here is not
just to the terrestrial world in which we live our lives. Of
course that is a truth. He became a real man. That is
the mystery of the incarnation. What was conceived in the womb
of the Virgin Mary, that holy thing, that true human body,
that human soul, was mysteriously joined to the eternal Son of
God and the child that was to be born was to be called the
son of God because he is the son of God and never anything
less than the son of God but he has also now become the son
of man he has come into this world but when we read that expression
came into the world we're not just to think in terms of this
planet earth where we live our mortal lives surely we can think
of the word in an ethical sense. What is this world? Well, the
whole world, we're told, lies in wickedness. The whole world
lies in wickedness. It's a fallen world. God created all things at the
beginning and God created man and made him in his image and
set him in the garden the paradise of God but man transgressed,
man sinned, sin entered into the creation and the whole creation
growneth and travaileth together until now because of the sin
of men the whole world it lies in wickedness and so John gives
that exhortation love not the world neither the things that
are in the world for all that is in the world the lust of the
eyes and the lust of Life are not of the Father but are of
the world. Oh it's a wicked world and yet
this is the very world into which the Lord Jesus Christ has come.
God sending his own Son we're told in the likeness of sinful
flesh and for sin. Again look at the words and observe
the syntax. It says here He came into the
world to save sinners. But if we go back to the order
that's there in the original it runs like this that Christ
Jesus came into the world sinners to save. He came into the world sinners
to save. The juxtaposition of those two
words world and sinners. It's a world full of sinners.
And yet it was into this world that the Eternal Son of God came
and became a man a sinless man and lived a sinless life all
his days in this sinful world and then at the end of that life
became the great sin-bearer bearing in his own person the very punishment
that was due to a multitude of sinners that he had come to save. How remarkable! is that that's
revealed to us in the gospel the amazing condescension of
our Lord Jesus Christ but then also are we not to remember that
here we see something of the simplicity of the gospel and
we see it in contrast to the law and to the activity of the
legalists Because previously in the chapter the apostle has
much to say with regards to that Lord of Gods. He speaks of fables and endless
genealogies which means to question rather than godly edifying. And
he says the end of the commandments is charity after the pure heart
and of a good conscience. and the faith on fines. There's
that of course it is good in the Lord, it's God's law. The
law is good. The commandment is holy and just
and good. There's nothing wrong at all
with the law of God. What can the Lord do for sinners? What do sinners do with the law
of God? The end of the commandment is
charity out of a pure heart and a good conscience and the faith
on fines. but men by nature are dead in
trespasses and sins and what is the human heart is not a pure
heart it's a sink of iniquity they have no good conscience
many have their conscience sealed as it were with a hot iron all
the law is good Paul says as much doesn't he at verse 8 we
know that the law is good if a man use it lawfully But what
are these people doing? He's speaking in a sense of those
who are abusing the word of God and misusing the law of God.
He says at verse 6 that they've swerved. Some having swerved,
swerved from what he has said in the previous 5th verse concerning
the end of the commandments. from which some, having swerved,
have turned aside unto vain jangling, desiring to be teachers of the
law, understanding neither what they say nor whereof they affirm. But we know that the law is good
if a man use it lawfully." And then of course he goes on to
speak of the lawful use. It's not made for a righteous
man. It's not made for the man who's a justified sinner. There's
no justification for sinners in the law. the justified sinner
is that sinner who is clothed in the righteousness of Christ
and this was the great truth that this man Paul had to learn
he was once a Pharisee but he had to see that all his
supposed righteousnesses were nothing but filthy rags and then
his one desire to be found in Christ not having his own righteousness
which is of the law but that which is through the faith of
Christ the righteousness which is of God by faith the Lord is
not made for a righteous man he says but for the lawless and
disobedient for the ungodly and for sinners for unholy and profane
and so forth all that ministry of the Lord of God that's the proper use of it to
bring the conviction of sin to the soul of the sinner but there
were those who had come into the churches who were saying
that it wasn't enough to have the grace of God in the Gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ they needed also to be brought to
the law and of course we know that the epistle in which he
deals with this in a very particular manner is that to the Galatians
remember the language that we have there in Galatians in Galatians chapter 3 O foolish Galatians, who hath
bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth before whose
eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?
This only would I learn of you, received ye the Spirit by the
works of the law, or by the hearing of faith. Are ye so foolish,
having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? They're being ensnared by these
men who have come amongst them, trying to bring them into bondage
to the Lord of Gods. And he reminds them how the Gospel
had come to them. They received the Spirit by the
hearing of faith. Faith comes by hearing, hearing
by the Word of God. Now, Paul is dealing in many
ways with the same in other epistles besides the
Galatian epistles, even here in Timothy. Why the law is good
if a man uses it lawfully? There is a lawful use of the
law. And these who are abusers of
the law, Paul speaks of them. He left Timothy there in Ephesus
to deal with these false teachers. He says in verse 4, neither give
heed to fables and endless genealogies, which means the questions rather
than godly edifying which is in faith. And he goes on later
in chapter 4 to still speak of this. He says at verse 6, if
they put the brethren in remembrance of these things they shall be
a good minister of Jesus Christ nourished up in the words of
faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou wast attained, but refused
profane and all wise fables, and exercised thyself rather
unto godliness." Or the confusion that the legalists were bringing.
These young believers, they were being ensnared. by the law of
God in the mouths of these men but they were not those who were
rightly dividing the word of truth. They were not using the
law of God in a lawful manner. If salvation is of grace it's
no more of works. Otherwise grace is no more grace. There is in many ways such a
simplicity in the Gospel. It's the denial of self. It's
the embracing of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's Christ in you, the
hope of glory. Or there is a simplicity, even
the Lord Himself remembering the cause of His own ministry.
Asserts that truth, verily He says, except ye be converted
and become as little children ye cannot see the Kingdom of
Heaven. Or we have to be converted and
become as little children. simplicity. We know there's a
great difference between the simplicity of faith, the simplicity
of the gospel and easy believism. We're not saying for the moment
that it's easy to believe. Oh dear John Newton, he knew
it. Oh could I but be there, then all would be easy. I would
but cannot, Lord relieve. My help must come from Thee.
No easy thing to be brought to the end of self. And to see that
our only hope is in another. How the Lord has to deal with
us in that manner. He brings us to that place. He turns us
to destruction. And then He says, so graciously
return. He shows us Christ. But in the
Gospel you see, we see His wondrous grace of God. The descending
of the Lord Jesus. Christ coming where the sinner
is. Made in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin. He comes to
sinners. He's a friend of sinners. He
receives the sinners. He dies for the sinners. And
He makes known to them the blessings, the simplicity of the gospel,
of the grace of God. But turning in the second place,
to say something with regards to the faithfulness of God in
the gospel. There's the grace of God. It's
a revelation of that grace. But what does the text say? This
is a faithful saying. and worthy of all acceptation
that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners all God's
faithfulness now I'm sure you're probably well aware that there
are as many as five faithful and true sayings in these epistles
these epistles which we call pastoral epistles 1st and 2nd
Timothy and Titus there are five such faithful and true sayings. We have the first one here in
our text tonight, there's another one in chapter 3 and verse 1,
and another in chapter 4 and verses 8 and 9. And then there's
one in 2 Timothy chapter 2, 11 and 13, and the fifth one in
Titus chapter 3 and verses 4 to 8. But I would say that this is
the most significant of all the faithful sayings. This one that
centers very much in the gospel and God's faithfulness in the
gospel. What is the significance then of the word faithful, a
faithful saying? Well it reminds us of the certainty
of salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's a faithful gospel. And surely that is the gospel
of sovereign grace. Neither is there salvation in
any other. There is none of the name under
heaven given amongst men whereby we must be saved. There's a must. There's a certainty. Christ is
able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him. This is the gospel of sovereign
grace, isn't it? Christ hasn't just come and lived
and died to make salvation a possibility. He has made salvation that that
is sure and certain. That's particular redemption. those that Christ has died for,
they must be saved. Therefore, those who believe
in universal redemption, that Christ died for every man who
has ever lived on the face of the earth, if they are true to the faithful
gospel, they must be universalists. There's no hell. Christ has died
for everyone, everyone's going to heaven. But the evangelical
Arminian doesn't say that. So what he really says is that
by his dying upon the cross, all that Christ did was make
salvation a possibility. He made men salvable. But something
else has got to be done. They've got to some way or other
do their part. They've got to come to him and
that will actuate the salvation that's in him. But then we might
ask the question, what if those who never actuate the salvation,
those who die having never come to faith in Christ. Didn't Christ
die for them? Now if Christ has died for them,
how can God punish them? Because that would be so unjust.
Well you see the confusion. The confusion that men bring
into the Word of God by their foolish notions. No, the Gospel
is the Gospel of Sovereign Grace. And what Christ has done has
established a sure and certain salvation for the multitude of
sinners. The Lord knoweth them that are
his. We don't know who they are so we proclaim the gospel. Isn't that the commission? Go
into all the world, preach the gospel. We seek to proclaim that
great message. But how sure is this salvation?
Why is it sure? Well, I mention a threefold fashion
in which we see the certainty of it. whereby we must be saved. Firstly, there's God's promise. God's promise. All the promises
of God in Christ Jesus are yea and amen to the glory of God
by us. God is glorified in the salvation
of all those people that were given to the Lord Jesus in the
eternal covenant. All that was promised Christ
in the eternal covenant. He is that one of course, He's
the mediator of the covenant, He's come, He's stood as the
surety of His people, He's died as their substitute. All the
promises of God in Him are yea and amen to God's glory by us. They must have their accomplishment
in us. Oh, there's God's promise. But there's not only God's promise,
there's God's oath. When God gave a promise to Abraham,
the father of all them that believe, the father of the faithful, when
God gave promise to Abraham, we're told there in Hebrews 6,
because he could swear by no greater, he swore by himself. God has sworn an oath on himself. He has magnified his word above
all his name in the language of the psalmist. That's what
he's done. He's magnified his word. His
word of promise is as sure as his name. In other words, his
word of promise is as sure and certain as himself. If his promise
fails, God is no more. That's the oath. That's the impossibility,
you see, of that word of promise ever being broken. There's the
promise of God, there's the oath of God, and there's something
else, isn't there? There's the precious blood of
the Lord Jesus Christ that was shed. He's the mediator of the
covenant. He's the testator of the testament. One and the same thing, really.
And where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the
death of the testator. Because the Testament is only
in force after the testator has died. And Christ has died. And how has Christ died? Why?
He has poured out His soul. He poured out His soul unto death. His precious blood was shed.
All the life is in the blood. And that blood has been shed.
He has poured it out for sinners. how right are the words of the
hymn writer the gospel bears my spirit up a faithful and unchanging
God lays the foundation of my hope in oaths and promises and
blood I often thank God you know there's such good theology in
the hymns that we sing that's why we have to sing them that's
why we must keep on singing them and not the trite stuff that
so many people seem to be very satisfied with in our day to
sing theology, to sing the blessed truth of the everlasting gospel.
The salvation ordered in all things and sure. Here then we have the grace of
God in the gospel, the amazing condescension of the Lord Jesus
that he should come into such a world as this is, and God's
faithfulness to that old purpose and plan of salvation. This is
a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation. Oh, do we
accept it? Do we recognize it? We want that
the Lord should make it real to us that we might see the wonder
of it. Worthy of all acceptation that
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am
chief. So finally this evening to say
something with regards to the experience of grace and God's
faithfulness in the Gospel. The Gospel is worthy. But what
do we see here? The sinner is so unworthy. That's
the Gospel of God, you see. The Gospel is worthy. Think of
the person who stands at the very heart, that person who is
the sum and substance of the Gospel. It's the Gospel of our
God and Savior Jesus Christ. I think he used to say that,
you know, at the beginning of the New Testament in old Bibles,
the New Testament of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, you'd
often find there at the beginning of the New Testament, the New
Testament. It centers in Christ, the one
who is worthy, but how unworthy is the sinner? And we see it
here, Paul knew it, he's the chief. He comes to save sinners,
who is the chief of sinners? I've heard men say, you know,
I don't agree with Paul. He says things that aren't really
true. And you think, well, what's his
person on about? Doesn't he believe that the writings
of the Apostle in these epistles are all part and parcel of the
Word of God? Well, the man would go on and say, well, I don't
agree with what he says in 1 Timothy 1.15, because I'm the chief of
sinners, not Paul. I'm the chief of sinners. I've
heard men say that. I understand why they say it. Maybe we feel it. We do feel,
why me? Why has God dealt so graciously
with me? I know a little of my own heart.
God knows me through and through and yet, why does the Lord save
such a wretch? Oh, that's the grace of God in
the Gospel. But you see in this man, Paul who was sold, We see
so remarkably, don't we? The sovereignty of grace. What does he say in the following
verse? How be it for this cause I obtain
mercy that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all longsuffering
for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life
everlasting. We many a time refer to the fact
that he is the pattern. It was dear old Sidney Norton
who first drew my attention to this verse. He said, you know,
Paul's a pattern. He's the type of the true believer.
If any manuscript is a pattern, I would say all that we read
of all the experience of the saints here in the Word of God,
they're all patterns to us. But now strikingly, is this particular
man a pattern of what faith is and what faith means. who is one who is saved by the
wonder of the grace of God. He was a self-righteous Pharisee
and yet he becomes the great apostle to the Gentiles. But
what is he saying here? Is he in some way excusing himself
for what he had done? he speaks of doing things in
ignorance doesn't he? back in verse 13 confesses what
he was I was a blasphemer a persecutor injurious but I obtained mercy
because I did it ignorantly in unbelief he says is he saying
well I obtained mercy because there were extenuating circumstances
I didn't realize what I was doing, I was ignorant. And so God dealt graciously with
me. Well, I think Gil is right. Gil simply remarks, ignorance
is not an excuse, but an aggravation of sin. Surely that's what Paul
is saying, he's not excusing himself. He is saying that his
ignorance was a real aggravation. In other words he should have
known better. And as I understand it if you're
guilty of some offence and you say well I didn't know that law
existed therefore how can I be guilty of breaking the law? It
doesn't matter. You should have known the law
was there. You should have kept the law. It's interesting, isn't
it, because when we go back to the book of Leviticus we see
that there were sin offerings for ignorance. In Leviticus chapter
14 mention is made quite specifically of offerings for sins of ignorance. The Lord spoke unto Moses saying,
this shall be the... Oh, that's the wrong... that's
the wrong reference. that's the law of the leper it's
chapter 4 not chapter 14 in Leviticus chapter 4 the Lord spoke unto
Moses saying speak unto the children of Israel saying if a soul shall
sin through ignorance against any of the commandments of the
Lord concerning things which ought not to be done and shall
do against any of them And he goes on in verse 13, it's
the whole congregation of Israel have sinned through ignorance.
And the thing be hid from the eyes of the assembly and they
have done somewhat against any of the commandments of the Lord
concerning these things which should not be done and are guilty.
When the sin which they have sinned against it is known, then
the congregation shall offer a young bullock for the sin and
bring him before the tabernacle of the congregation. there was
provision made then under the Levitical laws for offerings
to be made where they had sinned in ignorance. So Paul is not
in any way suggesting that he was to be excused the things
that he had done. I did it ignorantly, he said.
But he doesn't just say that, does he? He says I did it ignorantly
in unbelief. All that compounds the ignorance,
you see. It's a sin of unbelief that is
really at the root of all that this man had done. The persecutor,
the blasphemer, injurious, set on the murder of Christian believers. He did it all in unbelief, the
root of all our sins. Oh, it is the sin which does
so easily beset us and yet what amazing grace there is in the
gospel because even that sin is forgiven in the grace of God
even a man like Saul of Tarsus he was as I said such a self-righteous
man as a pharisee touching the righteousness which is of the
law a pharisee that's how he boasts at the beginning of Philippians
chapter 3. And then he says, touching the
righteousness which is in the law blameless. He really thought
he was without any blame, he was a law keeper. Self-righteousness
is the most dreadful sin. It's a spiritual sin. And aren't spiritual sins in
many ways worse than sins of the flesh? Self-righteousness
the Lord tells that parable doesn't he of two men who go to the temple
at the hour of prayer and the one was a Pharisee the other
was a publican and all the Pharisee who is so full of himself commends himself before God he
prays last with himself I thank thee I'm not as other men are
congratulating himself awful, awful the worst of all sins how
being it says Paul for this cause I obtain mercy
that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all longsuffering
for a pattern all this forgiveness to the greatest of sinners the
chief of sinners can know the grace of God in the gospel and
the pardon of sin in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ what a message is this but how
solemn, how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation
if we neglect this salvation if we don't make it our chief
business to know that we have this salvation that it's ours and we want to know it and we
want the assurance of it the forgiveness of sins, acceptance
with God in the Lord Jesus Christ all this is a faithful saying
and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners, sinners to save that's why He came He
came into the world full of sinners, He came to save the sinners and
even the chief of sinners can know the forgiveness of sins
and peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ oh God be pleased
to grant that we might know that blessed assurance that that salvation
is ours and only in Christ and only through Christ and nothing
of ourselves that we acknowledge our complete and our utter dependence
upon that grace of God's and His faithfulness to us in the
Gospel of the Saviour. The Lord bless to us His Word. Amen.