Let us turn to God's words once
again and return to the chapter that we read 1 Timothy 1 and
I'll read at verses 15 and 16 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 and 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. and particularly those words
in the 16th verse, 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. But in the 15th verse of course
we have one of those faithful sayings, and we find a number
of them, in Paul's epistles here as he writes to Timothy we see
something similar there in the opening verse of chapter 3 this
is a true saying if a man desire the office of a bishop or an
overseer he desireth a good work and then again in chapter 4 and there in verses 8 and 9 he
writes for bodily exercise profiteth little but godliness is profitable
unto all things having promise of the life that now is and of
that which is to come this is a faithful saying and worthy
of all acceptations and then we have other faithful true sayings
also in the second letter to Timothy there in chapter 2 and
verses 11 to 13, and also when he writes to Titus in chapter
3 and verse 8. But what a faithful and true
saying is this that we find in the 15th verse of this opening
chapter. Here we have the sum and the
substance of the Gospel. 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. If we follow the word order,
the syntax as it occurs here in the original Greek, it reads
like this in the middle of the verse. He speaks of Christ Jesus
who came into the world, sinners to save. Christ Jesus came into
the world, sinners to save. And how significant is the juxtaposition
of those two words, the word sinner and the word salvation. Christ Jesus came into the world,
this world that is sunk in sin, this world that bears all the
marks of the fall of our first parents. Remember how John says,
Love not the worlds, neither the things that are in the world.
If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in
him. For all that is in the world,
the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride
of life, is not of the Father. bodies of the world. It was into
this world of sinners that the Lord Jesus Christ came and he
came to say that was the point, the purpose of his mission and
his ministry. He is the Savior of sinners. And what do we read here at the
beginning of the 15th verse? This is a faithful saying. This is God's words. This is
God's promise. The God who is not a man that
he should lie, nor the son of man that he should repent. the
one who has said it and shall do it, who has spoken it and
shall surely make it good. This is a faithful saying. And that promise of God, we know,
is also confirmed to us by the oath of God. concerning the promise
when Paul writes in the opening chapter of 2nd Corinthians he
declares quite plainly that all the promises of God in the Lord
Jesus Christ are yea and in him are men there we have the promise
they are yea and there we have the oath they are Amen. And God made promise to Abraham
because he could swear by no greater, he swore by himself. What a statement then is that
that we have here in this 15th verse. This is a faithful saying
and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners. He came into the world sinners
to save, says Paul, of whom I am chief. How this salvation then
has been demonstrated, says the Apostle, in his own life and
in his own experience. Look at the context of verse
13. Who 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." Here
we have, as it were, two perspectives on the life of this man. Paul,
as he is writing to young Timothy in this particular epistle, two
perspectives. we see what he was before he
was a sinner he was a sinner before he became a saint who
was before a blasphemer and a persecutor and injurious but I obtained
mercy he says Paul First of all, before he knew the experience
of that goodness of God in the way of mercy, the pardon of sins,
reconciliation, the grace of God bestowed upon him. Before
that, he had to learn something of his own ignorance and something
of his unbelief. And isn't this how God deals
with the sinner? It's in that sense that Hart says a sinner
is a sacred thing. The Holy Ghost has made him so
and the Spirit comes and reveals to a man something of his true
state as he appears before the all-seeing eye of God who looks
into the very heart of man. Man looks on the outward appearance.
the Lord looketh upon the hearts. But what do we see in the experience
of this man? He says he was ignorant, he says
he was a non-believer, but then in verse 14 do we not see how
faith is given to answer to his non-belief and love is bestowed in the place of his ignorance. Oh, he has that loving knowledge
of God. The grace of our Lord, he says,
was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. And so, in the words of verse
16, he goes on to declare, albeit for this cause I obtained 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. In the New Testament, as we've
said so many times, this man is set before us as a pattern,
a pattern of them that Now, when we turn to the Old Testament,
of course, we see that the experiences of the people of God, as I recorded
there, throughout the Old Testament Scriptures, are all said to be
types. In 1 Corinthians 10, Paul says
that all these things happened unto them for examples. And the
word, as it says in the margin, is literally types. All these
things happened unto them for types and they're written for
our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come. The
ends of the world being an expression that applies to the Gospel day,
the last times. That period that follows the
appearance of the Messiah, the coming of the Christ, the day
in which we're living. This is the last time. And Christ,
of course, is to appear a second time without sin unto salvation
to them that love him. He will come again in all the
glory of his Father and usher in the end of time and sit upon
his throne of judgment. But these are the last times. And all those things that are
written in Old Testament scripture, all that we can read in those
historic books concerning the experiences of the godly, they
are for us. Not only there in 1 Corinthians
10, but again in Romans 15 and verse 4, Paul says, whatever
things were written aforetime, were written for our learning,
that we, through patience and comfort of the Scripture, might
have hope. Now, we sang just now in the
opening verses of the Metrical Psalm 71, and there, in the Psalm
at verse 7, David declares, I am as a wonder unto many. I am as a wonder. The margin
indicates that the word that is used literally means a sign
or a portent. David, of course, is that. He is a type of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And we see that so often, of
course, in the content of so many of the Psalms. The Psalms
that he writes are messianic, they are prophetic Psalms. And
they speak of him that was to come. even David's greatest son,
the Lord Jesus who comes of that very line of David's. David speaks of him. David in many ways is a type
of him. But when we think of David as
a wonder unto many, a sign unto many, do we not also see that
there in the Old Testament we have one who we might say is
a pattern of faith. We have his experiences recorded
in the book of Psalms and how many have found great comfort
in reading something of the experiences of David. How we can relate so
often to those things that he declares concerning the matters
of his soul as he seeks to pour out his heart in prayer in so
many of those Psalms. David we might say then, is there
in the Old Testament the wonderful pattern of what it is to be a
believer, to have that saving faith. But let us just now consider
something of the pattern that's set before us here in the experience
of Paul. Look at what he says here in
verse 16, For this cause I obtain mercy
that in my first Jesus Christ might show forth all longsuffering
for a pattern, to them which should hereafter believe on him
to life everlasting. Now observe the word, that, that
introduces the second clause here in verse 16. Now be it for
this cause, I obtain mercy, he says. Very significant, the next
word. That, I obtain mercy, and the
force is this, in order that, in order that, in me first, Jesus
Christ might show forth all longsuffering, for a pattern. in order that
in me first." Now the word first here we're not to understand
it in the sense of time. He was not the first person to
obtain that mercy that is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Those
saints of the Old Testament such as David who we just spoke of
also knew that same mercy And then when we come to the New
Testament, Paul is not the first to obtain that mercy during the
ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. There were many called before
him. He was the last of all the apostles, was he not? No, the
word first here is not to be understood in the sense of the
order of time, but it's to be understood in the sense are foremost. In fact, the particular word
that's used here, the Greek word, is that from which we obtain
our English word, a prototype. And that is what Paul is saying,
he is a prototype. In fact, it's the same word that
we also have in verse 15, but there the translators have employed
the English word chief when he speaks of himself as the chief
of sinners is the prototype of sinners just as he here is saying
he is the prototype of them that believe he sets himself before us then
as that one in whom The mercy, the grace of God is so demonstrated
that we can, with the Lord's help, draw some profitable lessons
by considering something of his experience. Does he not go on
to speak of himself in terms of a pattern? And again, it's
that word, type. As I said, when Paul writes in
1 Corinthians 10, verse 11, concerning the Old Testament, he says, all
these things happened unto them for ensamples, or types. Well, it's the same word really
that we have here in verse 16, which is now rendered a pattern,
an ensample, or a type. A pattern to them which should
hereafter believe and it's the same it's the same word that
we also find when he's writing in the second epistle in 2nd
Timothy chapter 1 and verse 13 he gives a word of exhortation
to young Timothy he tells him to hold fast the form of sound
words which thou hast heard of my And there, interestingly,
the word form is the same word. Hold fast the form, the pattern, the type, the example. These are the various ways this
word is used, but there, in 2 Timothy 1.13, we have the word form. the form of sound works, and
there surely it has this idea of an outline of truth, an outline
of doctrine as he is exhorting him, he is reminding him that
he must be aware of what the gospel is, as I said in verse
15 we have the very sum and substance of the gospel. And when Luke writes his gospel,
remember in the opening chapter, he begins with a sort of preamble. He writes to one, Theophilus,
and this is what he says, for as many have taken in hand to
set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most
surely believed among us, even as they deliver them unto us,
which from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of
the Word, it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding
of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order,
most excellent Theophilus." He is setting forth in the Gospel
the things most surely believed. and he is seeking, he says, to
set them before Theophilus in order. He's outlining something
of the life and the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
in so many ways, you see, it's in Luke's Gospel that we do have
more or less a chronological order of those events that occurred
during the ministry of the Lord Jesus. It's an outline of the
truth. It's that that Paul has in mind
then when he writes to Timothy in that second epistle. Hold
fast the form, the outline of sound words, the great truths
of the Gospel. Here then, when Paul is writing
in this first epistle, it's not so much an outline of doctrinal
truth that he wants to draw attention to, but it's how that truth comes
into the soul of a sinner, how that truth affects the soul of
a man. And so he speaks of his own experience,
the way in which the Lord has dealt with him. who was such
a great sinner, is a wonderful demonstration of the grace of
God and a pattern to others who should hereafter believe, as
you know. When we come to the writings
of this man, when we read the various epistles of Paul, we
see that throughout, in many of the epistles, we have left
on record something of his own experiences. We have in Paul
those three fundamental truths that are so necessary where there
is any real religion. There is doctrine, and there
is experience, and there is practice scattered throughout Paul's epistles. And in all of this, of course,
he's not just expressing his own opinions, he is writing as
he is moved by the Spirit of God. not so much the word of
Paul, but the word of God is what we have here. Now you know
the pattern that he normally follows in each of the epistles. He deals with great doctrinal
truth normally in the earlier part, the first part of the epistle,
and then having set forth these great gospel truths, at the end
of the epistles he comes to their bearing upon the lives of those
he's writing to. how the truth should affect them,
and he deals then with the practice of these doctrines. But also,
in various epistles, he does speak of himself, and he speaks
of his own experiences. He introduces his third element,
the experimental. And it's interesting to observe
how he does this. For example, he has to do it
when he's writing to the Corinthians. In 2nd Corinthians chapter 11
from verse 17, following right through into chapter 12, he says
a great deal about himself. And he has to do that at Corinth
because there were those in the church at Corinth who had risen
against him. There were those false teachers
who were seeking to undermine his ministry and his authority
as an apostle. And so he has the right to defend
himself, and in order to do that he speaks of his experiences,
but all under the hand of God, because this is necessary. And
we know there are those other passages, for example in Romans
chapter 7, at verse 7 following, and then in Galatians chapter
1 from verse 11 right through to the end of the second chapter
of Galatians again in Philippians chapter 3 at verse 4 and the
following verses we have these various portions where Paul speaks of
his experience, his experience of the grace of God and so there
is doctrine, there is the experience of the doctrine, and then there
is the practical outworking of the doctrine in the epistles
of the Apostle Paul. What a great favour it is that
God has granted to us such writings as these, wherein he sets before
us so plainly the great truths of the Gospel, and what it is
to experience that grace of God, and what it is to be those who
desire to live that life of godliness. Now, although Paul writes of
himself time and again in a measure of detail, and here he says he
is the pattern, the pattern to them which should hereafter believe,
I'm not saying that we all have to have the same, the exact same
experiences as Paul had. We're not going to know the same
depth of experience as this man. In many ways, is he not the greatest
of all those who have ministered since the coming of the Lord
Jesus Christ? Surely there's not been another
minister to compare to the Apostle Paul. There have been great men
raised up throughout church history. There were others of the Apostles.
They were great men. What a remarkable ministry this
man exercised as he was called to be the apostle to the Gentiles. And so in order to exercise that
ministry the Lord did deal with him in a very remarkable fashion
and he knew depths, depths of experience, a sense of his own
sinnership But not only that, the great sense of the fiver
of God in his soul that's not been experienced probably by
any other man in the course of Christian history. But, having
said that, whilst his experience is so profound, yet there are
those principles there are those principles that we can see in
Paul that are applicable to all them that believe. Isn't this
what he is saying? Not so much dealing with the
detail of his life, but the way in which this great sinner obtain
the mercy of God. How be it for this cause I obtain
mercy, he says, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth
all longsuffering for a patent of them which would hereafter
believe on him to life everlasting. What does he say to others? He says, be ye followers of me.
But it doesn't end there, be ye followers of me as I also
am of Christ. He desires to follow Christ and
as he follows Christ he will that others should follow him. Again in Philippians 3.17 he
says brethren be followers together of me. In what way are we to
follow him? Well in Paul we see so clearly,
do we not, the sovereignty of the grace of God. This is the
great truth that stands before us when we look to this man,
the sovereignty of the grace of God. Look at what he says
concerning himself in verse 13, he says, who was before a blasphemer,
and a persecutor and injurious, but I obtained mercy because
I did it ignorantly in unbelief." Now, what does he mean here?
Is he saying there were extenuating circumstances? Is he saying that
he was excused the things that he did, the wicked things that
he did? because he was so ignorant. Is that what he is saying as
he writes at the end of this 13th verse, because I did it
ignorantly, in unbelief? Well, the comment, the observation
that Dr. Gill makes in his commentary
is very telling. He simply says ignorance is not
an excuse, but an aggravation of sin. Ignorance is not an excuse,
but an aggravation of sins, says good Dr. John Gill. And so Paul is not excusing himself. He's not saying there were extenuating
circumstances, I was an ignorant man. That ignorance is a great
sin. Have we not recently been considering
on Lord's Day evenings those words of the same apostle Paul
in Colossians 3.10 concerning the renewal of man and have put
on the new man which is renewed in knowledge after the image
of him that created him. What was lost when man sinned
in the Garden of Eden? He lost the knowledge of God.
And men are born in that state, they are ignorant. Adam and Eve,
in that state of innocence, had the knowledge of God. They knew
God. And when the sinner is saved,
when there is the communication of that new life, where there
is the restoration of man, is there not that knowledge of God?
It is life eternal, says the Lord Jesus, to know thee, the
only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. And so the
new man is renewed in knowledge. Ignorance is sin. And so Paul
here is only confessing the greatness of his sin. Even in the Old Testament
do we not see that there was that provision made in the Levitical
law where some had sinned in ignorance. They had done a thing and They
were not aware of the gravity of what they did. They were ignorant
of the fact that it was a sin that they were committing. But
then the matter is brought to light and they can make a sacrifice. Ignorance was not a plea. With God there must be the shedding
of blood. Now we see it If you turn to
the book of Leviticus, there in the fourth chapter of Leviticus
we have that provision that is made for those who sin in ignorance. The Lord spake 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, if the priest that is anointed do sin according to
the sin of the people, then let him bring for his sin, which
he hath sinned a young bullock without blemish, unto the Lord
for a sin offering." And then again, that same chapter at verse
13, if the whole congregation of Israel sin through ignorance,
and a thing be hid from the eyes of the assembly, and they have
done somewhat against any of the commandments of the Lord
concerning 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 bullet for the sin and
bring him before the tabernacle of the congregation. And the
elders of the congregation shall lay their hands upon the head
of the bullock before the Lord, and the bullock shall be killed
before the Lord." There's provision 9. for what are called sins of
ignorance. But look at what the Apostle
is saying concerning himself. He was not only committing a
sin of ignorance, or a sin in ignorance, but he says, I did
it ignorantly, in unbelief. In unbelief. Here is the root. Here is the
root of all sins, is it not? Here is that sin which does so
easily beset us. Here is that sin that was so
evident there in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve transgressed. What does Eve do? She rejects
the truth of God. She embraces the lie of the devil.
God had said to Adam concerning the fruit of that tree of the
knowledge of good and evil, in the day that they meet us thereof
they shall surely die. Thou shalt surely die, dying
thou shalt die. And the devil comes and says
to thee, thou shalt not surely die. It contradicts the word
of God. And it's unbelief, is it not,
that we see in Eve, she also embraces that lie, rejecting
the truth of what God had said. Here is the root, here is the
root of sins, the sin which does so easily beset us. He was ignorant,
he says, and he did it in unbelief. Oh, it was a great sin. And are
we not, when the Lord deals with us in the way of mercy, made
to feel that great sin? Didn't John Newton know something
of it? When he penned the lines of the hymn, O could I but believe,
and all would easy be, I would but cannot. Lord relieve my help
must come from thee. All the impossibility of faith
because of our unbelief. There are many who imagine that
faith is such an easy thing, just an ascent, a mental ascent
to the truth, accepting the doctrine. that's set before us on the page
of Holy Scripture. Decisionism. How rampant it is
in so-called Christian circles. Easy-believers. We see it even
amongst those who call themselves Reformed. All the impossibility
of faith and how God deals with us. He shows us ourselves, as
I said. What do we see here with the
experience of the Apostle? He has to learn the truth concerning
himself. before he is saved. The Lord
shows him what he is. He is humble to the dust. He
has to receive that faith that is the gift of God. He speaks
of it in Colossians chapter 2 and verse 12 as faith of the operation
of God. How necessary it is because of
unbelief. Here we see Paul then, said before
us as a remarkable example of the great grace of God that
can overcome the greatest of sins, overcome unbelief, overcome
ignorance, demonstrated in the life of this man, albeit for
this cause I obtain mercy that in me, first me as a prototype,
Jesus Christ might show forth all long-suffering for a pattern
to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting. What is Paul saying? He is saying
simply this, that this gospel is for sinners. This is a gospel
that suits the sinner so well. That's why it is worthy of all
acceptation. It is worthy for the sinner to
receive such a gospel as this. Sinners can say, and none but
they, how precious is the Saviour. This was the experience of Paul,
was it not? But I don't just want to speak
of the Apostle. The Apostle says, be ye followers
of me as I am of Christ. And so we must, as we come to
a conclusion, turn to what he says here concerning the Lord
Jesus Christ. that in me first Jesus Christ,
he says, might show forth all long-suffering." All the long-suffering
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Here was this man, he was the
arch-persecutor, a blasphemer, a persecutor and injurious. how he might havoc amongst those
early Christian believers as we have it recorded in the early
chapters of the Acts of the Apostles and how he is going now from
Jerusalem to Damascus and he is bent upon the destruction
of the Christians he is going to bring them back to Jerusalem
to set them before the Jewish Sanhedrin. He wants to wipe this
sect of Christians from the very face of the earth. He was there
of course, remember at the stoning of Stephen and we're told he
was consenting unto his death and at that time there was a
great persecution against the churches of Jerusalem and they
were all scattered abroad." And then we see in chapter 9 of the
Acts, "...sore yet, breathing out threatenings and slaughter
against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest
and desired of him lessons to Damascus, to the synagogues,
that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or
women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem." And, well, you're
familiar, I'm sure, with the details. There, at the very gate
of Damascus, the Lord's arrested. He's apprehended. That's the
word he uses in Philippians 3. He was apprehended by the Lord
Jesus Christ. And it's interesting, is it not,
when the Lord speaks to him, Saul, Saul, he says, why persecutest
thou me? How Christ, you see, is one touched
with the feeling of all the infirmities of his people. Saul was persecuting
the church, but it's Christ who feels it. Why persecutest thou
me? How longsuffering the Lord Jesus
Christ was to this man, that in me first Jesus Christ might
show forth all longsuffering. And how, friends, the Lord is
so longsuffering. What is this longsuffering? It's
divine patience, is it not? A remarkable attribute of patience. that we see in God Peter says
the Lord is not slack concerning his promises some men can slackness
but is long-suffering long-suffering to us that none should perish
now there of course that long-suffering in God is something that is often
abused in that verse that we just referred to in 2nd Peter
3.9 Many would say that the reference is to the world in general. The
Lord is not slack concerning his promise, but he's long-suffering
to the world. But he doesn't say that, does
he? Peter says he is long-suffering
to Oswald. He's more particular. He's speaking
to a particular people. and it shows that he has in mind
as he writes those words concerning the Lord's long-suffering. In the opening of that third
chapter we read the second epistle, Beloved, I now write unto you. He's writing unto those for the
second time and he addresses them as the Beloved. And remember
how he addresses them when he writes in the first epistle.
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout
Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, elect according
to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification
of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of
Jesus Christ. Who are the Oswalds? They are
the same people that he is writing to there in the first epistle.
The Lord is long-suffering to all those whom the Father had
given to Him in the eternal covenant. He is long-suffering towards
the elect. And that long-suffering in God,
that great patience in God, is not a license for us to sin.
Oh, we're not to abuse the grace of God. It's no license to sin,
is it? No, with the elect, that long-suffering
in God will lead them to repentance, will it not? That's what it did
in the case of this man. The Lord was long-suffering,
but what is the consequence, what is the outcome? This man
is brought to repentance, this man is brought to faith in Jesus
Christ. He says in Romans 2.4, "...or
despise us out of the riches of his goodness and forbearance
and long-suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth
thee to repentance." Or we're not to abuse that long-suffering
mercy in the Lord Jesus Christ. But as God is so patient with
us, in spite of our foolish ways and our many sins, and our believers
are made to feel them, How sin is such a dreadful reality
in the life of the children of God. But does God's long-suffering
lead us to repentance? Remember, we refer to those words
in Romans 15 concerning the Old Testament writings. What things
were written aforetime were written for our learning that we through
patience. through patience and comfort
of the Scriptures might have hope. And what blessed hope we
see in what is written here in the New Testament concerning
this man and his experience. There is a principle, as I say,
that's set before us here and it is that of the greatness of
the grace of God and we see it demonstrated in Paul. as this man obtained
mercy. This man who was the chief, as
he says, of all sinners. I know, I remember a friend saying
to me on one occasion, quite provocatively, he says, you know,
I don't agree with all that the Apostle Paul writes. I think
he says things, or he says a certain thing that's not really true.
He says that he's the chief of sinners, but this man says he's
not the chief of sinners. I'm the chief of sinners. I'm
the chief of sinners. Is it not a truth, friends, that
those that the Lord deals with are made to feel the reality
of their sin? And we see it, I say, so wonderfully
said before us here. 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, albeit for this cause,
I obtain mercy that in order that in me, first me as a prototype,
Jesus Christ might show forth all unsuffering for a pattern,
for a type, to them which would hereafter believe on Him to life. everlasting. And then, what a
doxology! Now unto the King, eternal, immortal,
invisible, the only wise God, the honour and glory forever
and ever. Amen.