Let's turn again to that chapter
that we've just read, and I'll re-read the verses from verse
12 to verse 16. 1 Timothy chapter 1, verses 12 to 16. We're going to consider more particularly
the 16th verse, but in the previous passage we see something of the
context of course. And I thank Christ Jesus, our
Lord, says Paul, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful,
putting me into the ministry who was before a blasphemer and
a persecutor and injurious. But I obtained mercy, because
I did it ignorantly and on belief. And the grace of our Lord was
exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. 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 being 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. It's one of those passages in
which Paul speaks of himself. Remember there are those passages
scattered throughout his epistles in which he relates something
of his experience and this is one of the passages. He speaks
here then of his call by grace but also makes mention of his
call to the ministry, his call to be an apostle. We have his
conversion to the Lord Jesus Christ spoken of here in verses
13 and 14 and we see that experience from two particular perspectives
in verse 13 he says it was before I blasphemer and a persecutor
and injurious but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly
in unbelief before He was a saint. He was certainly a sinner. He first learned his own ignorance
and his unbelief. And he must of course be that
way. Christ himself said he came not
to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. And here Paul tells us quite
plainly what he was before. Before anything else he was a
blasphemer, he says, a persecutor, injurious. How he hated Christ,
how he hated those who were followers of the way of the Lord Jesus
Christ. He was one then who was in unbelief. He says that at the end of verse
13. He was also one who was very
ignorant. I did it ignorantly, he says,
on belief. But then in verse 14 we have
the answer to what he was. He says, The grace of our Lord
was exceeding abundant where sin abounded, grace did much
more abound, as he says to the Romans. The grace of our Lord
was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. How this faith in Christ answered
then to his unbelief, spoken of at the end of verse 13. He
was an unbeliever. He could not have himself produce
any saving faith. No man can, of course. The natural
man cannot receive the things of the Spirit of God. He was
an unbeliever, but he obtained that faith which is in the Lord
Jesus Christ. and now as faith answers to his
unbelief so that love answers to the the ignorance and the
enmity that he manifested towards Christ and his followers. Faith
and love he says which is in Christ Jesus and so here in these
verses verses 13 and 14, he does speak of himself in terms of
his experience of the grace of God in conversion, but also,
previous to that, he has spoken of his call and his commission
to be a preacher of the Gospel. In verse 12, remember, he said,
I thank Christ Jesus, our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that
he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry. Who was it who appointed him,
who made him an apostle? It was not himself. He was not
a self-appointed preacher. It was the Lord who put him into
that work of the ministry. And now there is a contrast here
in this chapter between this man Paul and those who were the
false teachers. He speaks of those false teachers
earlier. In verse 7 we read of some desiring
to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor whereof
they affirm. They were legalists. They didn't
understand the real significance, the right ministry of the Lord
of Gods. They didn't use the law lawfully. They wanted to
bring believers back under the Lord of God. Whereas the law
is not made for the righteous man, that is a justified man,
it is for the lawless man. The ministration of the law then
is to make a man aware of his sinnership, so that he is brought
to see what he actually is. What a contrast between those
false teachers then and this man, Paul the Apostle. It was the Lord who put him into
the ministry. And of course, he declares his
very plain when writing in the opening chapter of the epistle
to the Galatians. And there, in Galatians 1, at
verse 11, I certify you, brethren, he says, that the gospel which
was preached of me is not after man, for I know that I received
it from man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of
Jesus Christ. He pleased God 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, He says.
And so too, here in verse 11 of this first chapter of 1 Timothy
He speaks of the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was
committed to my trust. The Lord put him into the ministry
and committed this gospel to his trust. It was what he received
from the Lord. It wasn't what he was taught
by men. He was a faithful sent servant of God. He was called
then and commissioned to preach Christ's gospel. He's called
by grace. in verses 13 and 14, he's called
to the ministry in verse 12, and then in verse 15 he gives
us the sum and substance of the gospel. And it is this, that
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. This is a faithful
saying, he says, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners. It's interesting to observe the
syntax of the word order which is somewhat different here in
the original. This of course is translated
in accordance with the way we would express ourselves in English.
But the original is somewhat different in the word order.
It says Christ Jesus came into the world, sinners to save into
the world sinners to save and it's interesting that the words
world and sinners there stand side by side he came into the
world sinners to save in other words he came into a sinful world
love not the world says John, love the things that are in the
world for all that is in the world is not of the Father All
that is in the world is that that is evil, the pride of life
he speaks of and those other aspects of worldliness. And the believer is not to love
the world, the believer is called out of this present evil world. And this is the ministry that
Christ came to perform, the mission that he had to accomplish to
save sinners. It's a faithful saying, he says.
It's a faithful saying. It's the faithful saying of God.
It's the promise of God. That's what the gospel is, is
it not? It's God's great promise. God's great promise of salvation. And that promise, of course,
confirmed by the oath of God when he gave promise to Abraham
because he could swear by no greater. Paul tells us what did
God do? He swore by himself. His very
name, His being, was committed to His word. He has exalted His
word above all His name in that sense. We know that all these
promises of God in the Gospel are yea and amen in Christ Jesus. This is the faithful saying.
The faithful saying of God in the Gospel is worthy of acceptation. And it is the fact that Christ
has come into a sinful world. He who is the eternal Son of
God, the Holy One of Israel Himself, how He condescends to come into
this sinful world that He might, in the fullness of the time,
be made sin. As He suffers in the room and
in the stead of His people, in order that they might know the
salvation of God. Here then we have the gospel
that Paul was called to preach, the gospel that was committed
to him. And then, coming to the words of the text in verse 16,
he speaks of his experience of gospel grace. Howbeit for this
cause, he says, I obtained mercy that in me first Christ Jesus
might show forth all longsuffering for a pattern to them which should
hereafter believe on him to life everlasting. And as we come to
the words of the text tonight, I just want to mention two things
briefly. First of all, to consider Paul
as the pattern, believer, a pattern, he says. to them which should
hereafter believe, and then in the second place to consider
what he says here concerning the long-suffering of Christ
Jesus. In me first Jesus Christ might
show forth all long-suffering. These two things then. First
of all, we see Paul as the pattern. The pattern to them which should
hereafter believe. It's interesting to examine the
various words that he employs in this verse. Look at that word,
that, which introduces the second clause. He says, Be it for this
cause I obtain mercy, that. Literally, it introduces a purposive
clause. He's literally saying, in order
that. He obtained mercy In order that Jesus Christ might show forth
all longsuffering there was an end that was in view as Paul
obtained his mercy from God. There is a purpose here in what
God was pleased to do in the soul of this man. What does he
say concerning himself that in me first Jesus Christ might show
forth all long-suffering. The word that he employs, the
word first, it's an interesting word because our English word
prototype is derived directly from the particular word, the
Greek word that is being used and is translated first, a prototype. You know what a prototype is
when Men are maybe developing a car or an aeroplane or some
piece of machinery and it's the first work in time. And that's what we have here.
Paul is the first, not the first in time. It doesn't mean he was
the first to obtain the mercy that is in Christ Jesus. We know
that others were called by grace before ever Paul was called. That's the case with the other
apostles. We're not to understand this
then in terms of time. Rather, are we to understand
that word first, or prototype, in terms of foremost. I obtain
mercy in order that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth
all long suffering. The same word is also used in
verse 15 where it's translated chief. It speaks about Christ came to
save sinners of whom I am chief. I am the first sinner. I am the
greatest in it, it's the same word that we have in verse 16
that in me chiefly Jesus Christ might show forth all longsuffering
and then he goes on to say that he is a prototype in the sense
that he is a pattern as we've said many times he is the pattern
of what it is to have faith, what it is to be a believer,
a pattern to them which would hereafter believe, he says, unto
life everlasting. Now the word that he uses here,
that's rendered pattern, is only used on one other occasion in
the New Testament. It's also used as he writes to
Timothy, but it's in the second epistle, in chapter 1 and verse
13, where he says, hold fast the form or the pattern of sound
words which thou hast heard of me. Now clearly there, when he
is speaking of the form or the pattern of sound words, he has
in mind the idea of an outline, a summary of Christian doctrine,
a confession of faith we might call it, hold fast the form of
sound words. There is support you see in scripture
for the very idea of having a basis of faith, an outline of doctrine,
articles of faith, which we would of course employ as a local church. This is what Paul is speaking
of there then in that second epistle, where he speaks of the
form of sound words. But the word that we have here
is to be understood in a different sense. It's not to be understood
obviously in terms of a confession of faith. Here we have the idea
really of a type, a pattern, a type, to them which should
hereafter believe on me to everlasting life. Paul is the type of true
conversion. As we've said on other occasions,
isn't this the reason why, as he writes in his epistles, and
he writes of course under the immediate inspiration of the
Holy Spirit, there are those portions where he does have to
speak of himself, he writes of his experience. In the epistles
there is doctrine, Often the first part of the epistles of
Paul are very doctrinal and then after setting forth the great
verities of the faith, the second part of the epistles is the more
practical aspect, the outworking of the doctrine, how it is to
affect the believer in his life, how he is to live according to
these great truths. but then also woven into the
epistles we find Paul at times speaking of experience, how God
dealt with him, what his experiences of the grace of God were. And
we can think of such chapters as Romans 7, Galatians chapter
1 and also in chapter 2 of Galatians. Or we can think of 2 Corinthians
chapters 11 and 12. These are great chapters where
Paul speaks of himself and his experiences. Philippians chapter
3 of course. There are these portions in the
epistles of the apostle there where he speaks of his experience. And why? Well there's a purpose
in it. There's a purpose in what God
did in the soul of this man, as he is saying in our text.
In order that, in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all longsuffering
for a pattern, for a type, to them which should hereafter believe. Now it doesn't mean, when we
think of Paul, and these experiences that we're all to have exactly
the same experiences that we're all going to have exactly the
same depth of experience and if we don't have the same depth
of experience we're not really Christians we're not saying that
at all we're not called to be apostles like Paul was as an apostle of course he
had to be equipped by the manner in which the Lord dealt with
him but there are principles There are those principles that
we can take from what we read concerning this man and God's
dealings with him and we can apply those principles to ourselves
and to our experiences. We can examine ourselves in the
light of what we are told concerning this particular man and the way
in which God was pleased to deal with him. It's interesting in
Philippians chapter 3 he says brethren be followers together
of me and there he's not so much speaking of his experience but
he's speaking of the more practical aspect of Christianity where
to follow his pattern then in godly living as well as in experience
but we are only to follow Paul as he is a follower of the Lord
Jesus Christ we are not followers of Paul we are followers of the
Lord Jesus Christ and so in the opening words of 1 Corinthians
11 he says quite plainly quite clearly be ye followers of me
even as I am of Christ we follow Paul as Paul follows
in the steps of the Lord Jesus Christ and no further than that. We are those who are professed
Christians. We do not seek then to follow
a man. Ultimately we are to follow the
Lord, but we recognise that the Lord was pleased to deal with
this man in such a way as to teach us what it is to have a
real experience of the grace of God. We see it in God's dealings
with him. is clearly a wonderful example
to us of the sovereignty of the grace of God. Look at what he
says here in verse 13. He speaks of what he was, remember,
before, and he speaks of what he became. he was a sinner but he obtained
mercy but then he adds this at the end of verse 13 because I
did it ignorantly who was before a blasphemer and a persecutor
and injurious but I obtained mercy he says because I did it
ignorantly now we must be careful as to how we interpret that last
clause in verse 13 Paul here is not pleading extenuating circumstances. Paul is not here seeking to excuse
himself when he says I obtained mercy because I only acted in
ignorance so I wasn't really guilty of anything. He's not
saying that. He's not excusing his behaviour
at all. This is the comment Dr. Gill says ignorance is not an
excuse but an aggravator of sin ignorance is not an excuse but
an aggravator of sin it's no use us saying well I didn't realize
I didn't realize that was a sinful thing that's no excuse The ignorance
aggravates the offense. That's what Dr. Gill is saying. Now we know in the Old Testament
that there was that provision made in the law for sins of ignorance. With regards to the children
of Israel there were offerings, sin offerings that were to be
made where they may have committed some sin in ignorance. In Leviticus 4, the Lord spoke
unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying,
Give 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, the young bullock,
without blemish, unto the Lord for a sin offering. And then again there, in that
chapter at verse 13, if the whole congregation of Israel sin through
ignorance and the thing behead 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 bullock for the sin and
bring him before the tabernacle of the congregation. They are
not excused because they did it in ignorance. When the sin
is discovered, they are to make an offering, a sin offering.
It's still a sin. It's still a sin. And what is
the sin of Paul here at the end of verse 13? He says, I did it
Ignorantly, in unbelief, in unbelief. Now that, of course, is the very
root of all sin. It's that sin that we see in
the Garden of Eden, it's that sin of Adam and Eve when they
transgressed God's commandment, it's unbelief. They reject, they
disbelieve the word of God and they embrace the lie of Satan. God said thou shalt surely die
and Satan through the serpent says thou shalt not surely die.
The very contradiction of what God had said and sooner embrace
that lie of the devil and partake of the forbidden fruit than to
embrace and obey God's commands. Thou shalt not eat of the tree
of the knowledge of good and evil. It's unbelief that lies
at the very root of our sin. It is the sin which does so easily
beset us. And as those who are the natural
descendants of Adam and Eve, that's how we're born. We're
born in unbelief. In our fallen natures we're full
of unbelief. And do we not discover that when
God begins to deal with us? John Newton says, Oh could I
but believe, then all would easy be. I would but cannot. Lord
relieve my help must come from Thee. We cannot of ourselves
produce faith, not saving faith. It's so alien to our very nature
now, our fallen nature. It's that awful sin then of unbelief,
and this was the sin of Paul, you see. Ignorantly he sits in
unbelief. Albeit, albeit for this cause
I obtain mercy, that in me first, in me chiefly, Jesus Christ might
show forth all long-suffering. He is a wonderful pattern is
this man, a wonderful example of the sovereignty of the grace
of God. Then sinners black as hell might
fear, for hope have ground, for whom of mercy need despair, since
I of mercy found. Says Joseph Artie, speaking of
his own experience, of course, he saw. and he thought if he
had found mercy if Joseph Hart had found the mercy of God then
surely none need despair and it's the same really to a far
greater degree of course with Paul he calls himself here the
chief of sinners Christ Jesus came into the world he says to
save sinners of whom I am the chief I'm the greatest of sinners,
I'm the first of sinners. Remember the word chief in verse
15, the word first in verse 16, they're one and the same really.
Of whom I am the first, make a list of sinners. Says Paul,
make a list of the sinners, all the sinners in the world that
Christ came to save, whose name stands there in the first place?
Who is the greatest of all these sinners? It's all of Tarsus. Now, to the Ephesians he says
something quite different. There he speaks of himself as
less than the least of all saints. Make a list of the saints, those
who are saved, and where does the name Paul the Apostle stand? It doesn't stand at the head,
he's the least. It must be put at the bottom. In fact, he coins
a word there He says, literally, I am the leaster of all sons. You can't get lower than the
least. And yet Paul says he's less than the least. He's the
leaster of all saints. What a wonderful example, what
a wonderful pattern then we see in this man of the sovereignty
of the grace of God. This is what he's saying here.
He's not seeking to preach himself. He's not some
sort of egoist who wants to exalt himself as the one who is the
greatest amongst believers. No, he doesn't say that at all.
He's the chief of sinners, the least of all saints, less than
the least of saints. But he's a pattern, you see,
of the wonderful sovereign grace of God. The pattern then that
we see in Paul, the type that we see in Paul, the type of a
true believer, and the true believer will manifest that same humility
that was in Paul, that same humility that Paul learnt from the Lord
Jesus Christ, who made himself of no reputation, who took upon
him the form of a servant, who was made in the likeness of men,
or let this mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus says this
apostle to the Philippians. Well let us come in the second
place to say a little with regards to the lung suffering or the
patience of the Lord Jesus Christ spoken of here. That in me first Jesus Christ
might show forth all lung suffering, lung suffering, divine patience,
how the Lord is long-suffering, how God graciously forbears with
us. Often times we are made to feel
that we really deserve nothing because His hand, the Lord, would
be just if He just wiped us off the face of the earth, to feel
our lives sometimes to be such unprofitable lives. And God would
be just, He owes us nothing really, but He is a long-suffering God.
He does manifest in all his dealings with us such grace of forbearance. He bears with us. He is patient
with us. Now Peter says, The Lord is not
slack concerning his promise, as some men can slackness, but
is longsuffering to us, Lord, not willing that any should repent. That's an interesting statement. and it's a part of scripture
that is often misinterpreted and abused. Those words that
we just referred to are found in verse 9 of chapter 3 and 2
Peter. The Lord is not slack concerning
his promise as some men can slackness but his long-suffering to us
not willing that any should repent, but that all should come to repentance.
They say, you see, that God doesn't want to see anybody perish, that
God really wants to save everybody, and He is longsuffering to everybody.
But that, I say, is a false interpretation. The reference here in verse 9
is not to the world, He doesn't say He is longsuffering to this
world, He says He is longsuffering to us all, Now, who are we to
understand by that reference to Oswald? Well, it's not the
world, it's those that he is writing to, those who are being
addressed in this epistle. Now, who is he writing to? Not
to the world, he's writing to the elect. In this chapter at
the beginning, he says, the second epistle, Beloved, I now write
unto you, in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of
remembrance." And so on. The second epistle,
Beloved. It's the second epistle. Well,
what does he say in the first epistle? If we go right back
to the beginning of 1 Peter, in the very first verse he says,
or the first and second verses, It's Peter, an apostle of Jesus
Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontius, Galatia,
Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, elects, according to the foreknowledge
of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience
and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ, grace unto you
and peace be multiplied. The Osward, that God is long-suffering
to. He's long-suffering to us all,
the ones he's writing to, and he's writing to those who are
elect. It's not the world you see. God
is long-suffering to those whom he has chosen in Christ and appointed
to salvation. And God's forbearance and God's
long-suffering and God's patience is not a license to sin in the
elect. But with the elect, those attributes
in God lead him on to repentance. That's what Paul says in Romans
2, 4, "...despise us, however, riches of his goodness and forbearance
and long-suffering." His goodness, his forbearance, his long-suffering,
not knowing that the goodness of God lead us, see, to repentance."
Oh, that's what God's long suffering does. It leads His people to
that wonderful grace of repentance over their sins. They're amazed
that God should bear so long with them. And as they come to
the Scriptures, as they read the Scriptures, this is what
they discover. Through patience, through comfort
of the Scriptures, they have hope and we see it of course
here in the example of this man the pattern that he set before
us in the way the Lord dealt so graciously with this arch
enemy this terrible blasphemer and persecutor that's what he
was but he became by the grace of God a pattern to those who should hereafter
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ to life everlasting. May the Lord be pleased to bless
to us these things for his name's sake. Before I ask Andrew to
lead us in prayer we'll sing our second praise and the hymn
is 765 the tune is all well 201 in 765 and does thy heart for
Jesus pine and make a secret moan he understands the sigh
divine and marks a secret groan 765 And does thy heart for Jesus
pine, and make it secret more? He understands the sigh divine,
and marks a secret way. These paintings prove that Christ
is near to testify His grace. Call on Him with unceasing prayer,
For He will show His face. Though much dismay, take courage
still, And knock at mercy's door. A loving Saviour surely will
Relieve his praying poor He knows how we can faint thou
art And must appear at length and all from Him will cheer thy
heart and bring renewed strength.