There's a verse of Scripture
that most all of you know, found in 1 Timothy 1, verse 15, if
you would turn there with me. You know this verse by heart.
And let me say while you're turning that this may be the only message
that I could have preached this morning, because it comes after
the Lord once again in His mercy and grace has given me a good
whiff of myself and my sinfulness, rottenness. I say with some shame
and personal disgust, but often when I preach, I feel somewhat
like a hypocrite. That word means a pretender,
an imposter. Why? Because I fall so terribly
short of what the Lord deserves from me. And that's one of the
things that makes it very difficult to stand before men and women,
the sinners that we are. And I include myself in that
because that's what preachers are. They're sinners just like
those that hear them. to stand and to speak for God
when I myself fall so way short of what God deserves. Now, I
don't mean to compare myself with Paul, the apostle, but I
will say this, I have no doubt that he must have felt the same
way about himself. Why else would he have referred
to himself in 1 Corinthians 15, verse 9, as the least of the apostles, not meet, not
fit, he said, to be called one because of his former actions
of persecuting the church. You know, that's something Paul
never got over. As Saul, who held the coats of
those who stoned Stephen, you know that I can just imagine
that Stephen's, the look on Stephen's face was on Paul's mind and heart
all the days of his life. the look on small children as
he drug their mother and father out of their home and threw them
into prison. Can you imagine? Why else would Paul describe
himself in Ephesians chapter three, verse eight, as less than
the least of all saints to whom this grace is given? That he
should preach, me, should preach the unsearchable riches of Christ
And then again here in 1 Timothy 1, verse 15, he writes, this
is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners. And then he added
these words, of whom I am chief. Every time I read this verse,
I think to myself, what does that make me? I suppose one of
the truths of Scripture that the Lord has made known better
to me than any other truth, teaching, or doctrine found in the Bible
is the truth, the revelation of my depravity. I'll add that
hasn't always been the case. There was a time when I knew
that I wasn't perfect, but I still didn't believe that I was all
that bad. I can remember one time a believer asking me, at
the time I didn't know he was a believer, at the time I didn't
know that I wasn't. But he asked me, he said, are
you a sinner? And you know what I answered?
I used to be. But now I know that's not the case. I don't feel that way anymore.
God has revealed to me what I am. I now know, I now see, and even
feel what I am. That word depravity, not a popular
word, it means moral corruption. Corruptness, having or showing
a willingness to act in a sinful, rebellious manner. It means to
be contaminated with the corrupting smell of death. That's what sin
does to us. You remember Lazarus, when he
died, the Lord said, open the tomb, and his sister said, oh
Lord, we don't want to do that. He's been dead four days, by
now he stinks. Well, that's the way all of us
smell in the nostrils of God. We're corrupt. We smell like
dead things, contaminated with corruption. That word depraved
means perversion, pervertedness. You know, that word pervert or
pervert, however you want to say it, is an offensive word. It's a verb the word means to
alter from an original course. We all have, in and of ourselves,
certainly done that. We've altered from the original
course that God made us to be. Pervert means to alter to a state
of distortion and corruption from what was first intended.
Sin is certainly Corrupted and distorted, perverted us. Sin
has certainly altered us from what God first intended for us
to be. Provert means to lead someone
away from what is considered right, natural, and acceptable. And we've all, at one time, been
guilty of that, especially concerning ourselves. You see, I now see,
after several years of endeavoring to walk with the Lord, that I'm
my own worst enemy. There's no one out to do me harm
like I'm out to do me. And depravity also means defiance,
degeneracy, and degradation. It means immortality, debauchery,
lewdness. It means wickedness, sinfulness,
vileness. It means to be brutish, vicious,
even criminal. And the bad adjectives just go
on and on. And many folks are offended by
such a description, but not God's people. They know that's what
they are. And they love the fact that that's
who God came to save. Well, that's good news. No, the message of our depravity
is not a popular message, That's what happened to man when he
disobeyed God. He died spiritually. He lived
on physically, but he died to God spiritually. He fell out
of communion with God. He fell out of fellowship with
God. He died to God. And he died to
life, spiritual life, eternal life. And the doctrine of total
depravity did not begin with John Calvin. It began with Adam. And it's continued on until all
who were born of him. Adam's son Cain, his first son,
committed murder. Killed his brother, Adam's second
son. It wasn't anything that Cain
had to learn. It came natural to him because
of his depravity. He murdered his brother out of
envy and jealousy. And envy and jealousy come from
the heart. You see, that's where we died.
We died here in the heart. Depravity comes from the heart.
Our Lord said, but those things which proceed out of the mouth
of man are not what defiles him, but out of the heart proceed
evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, communications, thefts, false
witness, blasphemies. These are the things that defile
a man. And let me clarify something.
There are some that think that Calvinism is what we preach and
believe at Bible Baptist Church. It's not. It's not. We preach the gospel. Everything
that we preach comes out of the Bible. It comes out of the scripture.
Calvinism is not the gospel. I know many people that believe
in Calvinism and do not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. I don't
profess to be a Calvinist. I profess to be a Christian.
I profess to be a follower of Christ. But I will be one of
the first to say without any reservation that John Calvin
did have five very valid points. And the first one listed is total
depravity. You see, it's not just enough
to put the title depravity on it, we've got to be accurate,
put that word total in front of it. Because that's what we
are, we're totally so. Men are by nature not only corrupt,
perverted, degenerate, debauched, wicked, sinful, and vile, but
they are totally so. And that's what Paul was saying
when he referred to himself as the chief of sinners. I once wrote a little article,
thought about it many times, about if someone asked you to
think about the most hideous, repulsive, disgusting thing that
you could think of, we all could think of some pretty disgusting,
hideous, and repulsive things. But I doubt very seriously if
any of us would think of ourselves. And yet there's nothing more
repulsive, hideous, and repulsive to God himself. We're the cheap. This is the evaluation that every
child of God has of themselves when God reveals their sin to
them. They consider themselves to be
the cheap, the biggest and the worst of sinners, the best sinner
in the worst way. The number one sinner. Now, 1
Timothy here, look up at verse 12. Paul writes, And I thank Christ
Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful,
trustworthy, putting me into the ministry, 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. Listen, the mercy and grace of
God is exceeding abundant, but it's only in Christ. And this
is why the gospel, this faithful, this most acceptable, true teaching
and doctrine, this faithful saying, worthy of all acceptation of
Christ coming into the world to save sinners, meant so much
to Paul and every saved sinner for that matter. Those of you
this morning that are here and God has revealed to you what
you are, isn't that the most wonderful message you've ever
heard? That God Himself and the person of His Son came into this
earth, came into this world to save people just like you. That's why we can't live without
it. That's why some can't. We see
how desperately wicked and unworthy that we are of such mercy and
grace, but it's what we need the most. And that's the question,
is that the case with you? Do you see yourself as a needy
sinner? Do you see your need of such
mercy and grace? Do you see that you not only
need it, but desperately so? One who has no need of Christ
doesn't see it. One who has no interest in Christ
doesn't. One who doesn't attend where
the glorious gospel of Christ coming into the world to save
sinners is preached obviously doesn't see their need of it. If they did, they would enthusiastically
go where it's preached to hear it. Not everyone preaches it. Matter
of fact, not many do. and simply put from the lips
of the Lord Himself were these words, they that are whole, those
who are well and righteous in their own estimation, have no
need of the physician, the physician. Not a physician, the physician. There's only one physician who
can heal the disease of sin, and that's the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the great, the great physician,
is He not? Who needs this specialized physician? They that are sick. I'm sick. I'm diseased with sin,
and I know it, and I need help, and we all are. Some don't know
it, but God has revealed it to some. Has He revealed it to you? Do you still think that you have
something to offer God? Do you still feel as though you
have some worth, some merit, some righteousness that God will
accept? The Lord said, I came not to
call the righteous. There are none righteous, no,
not one, but I came to call sinners, those who know that they're sinners,
to repentance. You might say, preacher, are
you a mind reader? You might say, preacher, do you
know my heart? Well, the answer's no, no on
both accounts. How then do I claim the no? Because
you don't demonstrate a need. You can take the gospel or leave
it. I don't understand that. I don't
see how anyone can profess to know Christ and can take him
and leave, or leave him. You can't take Christ or leave
Him if you truly see your need of Him. To you, this message
is not a faithful saying. You don't accept this message
as the gospel truth. Therefore, you don't demonstrate
the need of a true sinner. The Lord said in Luke chapter
15 verse 7, I say unto you that likewise joy shall be in heaven
over one sinner that repented. More than over 99 just persons,
those who are righteous in their own eyes, trusting in the righteousness
of their own, which need no repentance. But you take a sinner whom God
has revealed his sin and showed him his need and gives him Christ,
while the heavens rejoice. What a sound that must be. One
sinner coming to repentance. A sinner who needs mercy will
show repentance. A sinner who displays true repentance
will receive mercy every single time. How do I know that? Because the gospel message is
for sinners. Christ came into the world to
save who? Sinners. For the Son of Man has come to
seek and to save that which was lost. If you ever see that you're a
lost sinner, you'll have a need to be found. God will see to
it. And she shall bring forth a Son,
and thou shalt call His name Jesus. Why call Him Jesus? Why call Him Savior? For He shall
save His people from their sin. If you ever see yourself to be
a sinner, you'll have a need to be saved and you'll trust
in Christ to save you because God will see to it. Who in this world did Christ
come to save? Well, we just read it. He came
to save His people. And what did He come to save
them from? Their sin. That's the best news this depraved,
wretched man ever heard. For God so loved the world that
He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him
should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son
into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through
Him might be saved. Saved. He that believeth on him
is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already. Why is he or her condemned? Because he or she hath not believed
in the name of the only begotten Son of God. Look at verse 15 again here. How, let's... No, verse 16. Paul writes, how be it for this
cause, I obtain mercy. What cause? The
cause of being a sinner. The cause of being a sinner,
it always comes back to need, always. The Syrophoenician woman
needed help. What was her prayer? We looked
at it a couple weeks ago. Three words, Lord, help me. Then Jesus answered and said
unto her, O woman, great is thy faith, being unto thee even as
thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole
from that very hour. He helped her. When Peter walked
on the water, bid the Lord to allow him to come and walk on
the water, he began to look at all around him, the boisterous
winds and the waves, and he began to sink. What did Peter need?
He needed saving. He needed deliverance. What was
his prayer? Lord, save me. And immediately,
Jesus stretched forth His hand and caught him. Two blind men in Matthew chapter
20, had a great need. What did they need? They needed
mercy. What did they pray? Lord, have mercy on us. And Jesus stood still and called
them and said, what will ye that I shall do unto you? Any who have a real need and
a real desire for that need to be fulfilled, if they cry out
to the Lord for it, they will have their need fulfilled. I'll put that in writing for
you if you want me to. Nowhere in the Bible will you
find one denied. People have not because they
ask not, and they ask and receive not because they ask amiss that
they may consume what they ask for upon their lust. And that
word there means pleasure. But if you have a real spiritual
need, and you ask the Lord to grant it, it will be granted. Again, how do I know? Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed
us with all spiritual blessings. All of them. In heavenly places. That's not
all. In heaven. Now look closely at what Paul
says here in verse 16. This is where I give my title
this morning, For This Cause. That's the title, For This Cause.
How be it for this cause? What cause? As I said, the cause
of being a sinner. How be it for this particular
cause I obtain mercy? You see, those who truly need
mercy, obtain mercy. Now pay close attention to the
words of Paul that follow here. He says, that in me first, Jesus
Christ might show forth all longsuffering for a pattern to them which should
hereafter believe on him to everlasting life. Now, Paul is not saying
here that he was the first man who was ever converted upon Christ
coming to save sinners. There were many sinners converted
before Paul was. And Paul is not saying here that
he was the first great sinner that was converted and saved.
There were many great sinners that the Lord saved before Paul. This word first here is not an
adverb of time. It's a noun expressing the character
of the Apostle Paul. You see, the long-suffering Christ
showed here to Paul was foolproof. that this man called Saul, who
held the clothes of those that stoned Stephen, was forgiven. Paul made havoc in the lives
of those who followed Christ. He threw men and women in prison,
as I said, persecuting them to their death. This was the pattern
of the kind of man that this grace was shown to. Now, do you
know what that does? That gives me some great hope. If he would save the chief of
sinners like Paul, if he would change one who considered himself
less than the least, the least of all apostles, just maybe he'd
save me. You think? By this instance, an example
of grace to Paul, one who blasphemed, one who persecuted, one who injured
others. Every sinner should be encouraged
to believe in Christ for life and salvation. All sinners in
every age should be awakened, should be convinced, and have
hope of salvation in Christ for themselves. Do you? Some of you remain indifferent. Since God spared and showed such
patience, such long-suffering, such love, such mercy, such grace,
such forgiveness and salvation to a great sinner like Paul,
what great confidence we should all have that he would do so
for us. And this is what I want a real
sinner to see. And if such grace was bestowed
and experience on such a horrific sinner as Paul, even the chief
of sinners, should never believing sinner be encouraged who's found
trusting in Christ alone, you better believe it. But brother,
you don't know what still goes on in my mind and in my heart.
Oh, I got a pretty good idea. Because it goes on in mine too.
But God don't look at me and base my salvation upon what I
think and what I do. He bases it upon what Christ
did and has done for me. Now, I won't continue in sin. The grace may abound. I hate
myself. I abhor myself. I wish I wasn't
like I was. But Christ is our object of faith. Saving faith looks and believes
on Him. Believing sinners seek eternal
life in Christ. Paul is a pattern to the kind
of sinners that God saves. That being the worst, the cheap,
the sick, the diseased, not the well, not the self-righteous,
but those who have great what? Boy, that's a word that's missing
in our day, isn't it? Everybody's got too much, don't
have much need. Those who are sick, diseased,
having nothing but wounds, bruises, and putrefying sores from head
to toe. They haven't been closed up,
neither bound or mollified, doctored with ointment. That's who the
Great Physician came to save. And that's who we are. Now, are you offended at that
description? Do you disagree with that assessment
of yourself? If so, sadly, Christ didn't come
to save you. He came to save sinners. Bad
sinners. Bad sinners. The chief of sinners
wretched and depraved. This is the same Paul who said,
oh, wretched man, that I am, not that I was, but that I am. When I told that believer I used
to be a sinner, he just smiled, shook his head. Paul asked, who shall deliver
me from this body of death? Who can deliver me? He said,
I thank God through Jesus Christ. That's who can. So is that describing
you? Do you see that you're wretched?
Well, that certainly describes me. And it's the only hope, now
listen to me, it's the only hope and assurance that I have I come before you this morning
with no merit or righteousness of my own that would qualify
me to stand and proclaim God's word. As I said in the beginning,
if we could play my mind and heart on a movie screen back
here, I'd run out the door here screaming. But among men, there's none righteous,
no, not one. And this is why a man's work
of so-called righteousness is so obnoxious, such an obnoxious
odor in the nostrils of God. Men who think that they have
some righteousness that God will accept are ignorant of God's
righteousness. That's what the scripture says.
They go about to establish their own righteousness, And when they
do, they do not submit themselves to the only righteousness that
God will accept, and that being Christ's perfect righteousness. Men have a zeal of God, but it's
not according to knowledge. Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness to everyone that believes. What does that
mean? It means that the finished work of Christ's righteousness
for His people to put away their sin was the end of all ordinances
and all sacrifices that were made. All they did was shadowed
Him. The blood of bulls and goats
put away the first sin. All they did was picture Christ
who would come and who would put away sin by the sacrifice
of Himself. The finished work of Christ's
righteousness. That's what I put my trust in.
All these other sacrifices and ordinances and all, they ended
when He came. He fulfilled, He finished, He
accomplished what they only pictured. Well, the law was our schoolmaster. Why? To bring us to Christ. And
the schoolmaster instructed us and directed us until Christ
came and no longer. Christ fulfilled the law. Our
Lord put an end to the law. The Lord disannulled the law.
The law has nothing to accuse me of. Christ has already fulfilled
it. Christ has completed it. Christ
has finished it. He's the end of the law for righteousness. He is my righteousness. He blotted
out the handwriting of ordinances that was against you and I. And
He's the end of the law for righteousness Himself, being the very righteousness
of God and the life of man. Do you love that? He brought in an everlasting
righteousness. It's not going to get used up. It will last for eternity. I don't need to add anything
to it. If I add anything to it, it takes
away from it. That perfect righteousness that
no sinner can obtain for themselves, a righteousness that came only
by a perfect fulfilling of the law, because it must be perfect
to be accepted, and it was perfect, and God accepted it. He's the end of the law for righteousness
to everyone that believes. This righteousness is for those
who have faith in Christ. Do you have faith in Him? His righteousness is
the cause of being accepted by God. And that's why all who trust
in Christ are accepted in Him, the Beloved. We don't dare insult God by presenting
to Him our filthy rags of righteousness. That's to be ignorant of God's
righteousness. When you see what you are, you'll
know that in and of yourself, you have nothing to offer God. Nothing that He'll accept. Because it's got to be perfect. This righteousness is for those
like Job who abhor themselves. Those who confess, behold, I
am bile. For those who with Isaiah say,
woe is me. I'm undone. I'm a man of unclean lips. Everybody around me in the same
condition. It's for those who would David
say, out of the depths have I cried unto thee. For those who claim
that thou shalt mark iniquities, who can stand? Surely not I. It's for those who can say when
they have it, but there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be
feared, that you may be reverenced. It's for those who with David
say, I've sinned against the Lord. And it's for them who afterwards
are told, the Lord has put away your sin and you shall not die.
Isn't that what Nathan said to him? Thou art the man, I've sinned
against God. Yes, you have. But because of
one who loved you and gave himself for you, you shall not die. Boy, that's good. And it was for this cause that
we obtained mercy. Every sinner to whom God has
revealed their sin know that they're abominable, filthy, and
drink iniquity like water. We obtained mercy because we
needed mercy. God showed us that we needed
it, and he's still showing us that we need it. He causes us
to cry out for it. He gives it to us when we cry
out for it, because He delights to show it. We receive mercy and we faint
not. If not, we fall over right now. Now in closing, I want to remind
you once again of what you already know. I want you to turn with
me to Galatians chapter 1 real quick, just back a little bit. Ephesians and Galatians, chapter
one. And let me say while you're turning,
this gospel that I preach, this gospel that many of you believe,
this good news that many of us find all our comfort and assurances
in, excuse me, is not a man. It's not a man. Why should we be surprised if
man hates it? Why should we marvel when men
don't believe it? It's not a man. Paul told the church here in
Galatians verse 6, he said, I marvel that you are so soon removed
from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another
gospel, which is not another, but there be some that trouble
you and would pervert. There's that word again, the
gospel of Christ. Remember what perversion is?
It's a perversion of the true gospel, a false gospel, another
gospel, which is not another. If salvation is of the Lord from
start to finish, if salvation is by grace alone and Christ
alone, if only Christ can put away His people's sin by His
work of perfect righteousness, what would be the perversion
of that? To pervert something is to alter it from its original.
It means to distort and corrupt that which is true. It means
to lead someone away from what is considered right, true, and
acceptable. To pervert grace is to alter
it to works. Right? The opposite of grace
is works. To pervert the truth that God
saves by grace. through faith, not of yourselves,
not of works, lest any man should boast, is to claim that a man
can be saved by works. It's to lead someone away from
Christ. It's to convince them that they don't need Him. How does someone convince you
that you don't need Christ? To endeavor to convince you that
you already have what you need, that you can already do what
you can't do. That's why this, this ain't just
a little matter of difference in opinion. These folks that are trusting
in a walk down an aisle, a prayer that they make, a membership
that they become part of, a tithe that they give, a baptism that
they partake in, It's not just a difference of opinion, it's
a difference of life and death. Look what Paul says in verse
8, But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other
gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let
him be accursed. As we said before, so now I say
it again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that
which you've received, let him be accursed. Now that's how important
this is. He says it twice. Verse 10, for
do I now persuade men or God? Now the word persuade there means
to teach. Are we endeavoring to teach men
or are we endeavoring to teach God? No one can teach God anything.
God is to be heard and obeyed. Paul continues on and he says,
or do I seek to please men? For if I yet please men, I should
not be the servant of God. Now listen, Paul had formerly
studied to please men when he held the clothes of those that
stoned Stephen. He sought to please men when
he made havoc of the church. And no man pleaser can be a true
and faithful servant of Christ. In verse 11, Paul continues,
but I certify you, brother, that the gospel which was preached
to me, it's not after man. Verse 12, I neither received
it of man, neither was I taught it by man, but by what? The revelation of Jesus Christ. The gospel is not preached to
please man. It's not of human origin. God
uses the means of preaching by man, but divine revelation comes
by Jesus Christ. It is written in the prophets,
and they shall all be what? Taught of God. Every man therefore
that hath heard and hath learned of the Father." What does he
do? He comes to me. He comes to me. Paul went on
and said, now you've heard about me. You know what I did. I persecuted
the church of God. I wasted it. I profited in the
Jews' religion. No one did so more than I did. But, there's that blessed word,
but, when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's
womb." Who did? God did. And He called me by
His grace. Why did He do that? To reveal
His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the heathen. Immediately,
I conferred not with flesh and blood. Now listen, this morning,
you've come face to face again with the truth, and you're not
conferring with flesh and blood. You're dealing with the God of
the Bible. Don't care how old you are or how young you are. And you're without excuse. What
think ye of Christ? You're without excuse. You've seen from the scriptures
that you're a sinner, a totally depraved sinner. You've seen
that Christ came into the world to save sinners, the chief of
sinners. You've seen that He does so by
a perfect work of righteousness, perfect righteousness, that He
alone finished the only perfect work that God will accept. Christ
fulfilled the law of God. He satisfied the holy justice
of God. Did He do this just to make salvation
possible? Absolutely not. And if you dare
to add to it, Try to do something, if you try to add to it to make
it certain, then as I said, you take away from it. That's not
the gospel I preach. And that's not what you hear
in this place. A true gospel is not after man. It's the revelation, the revealing
of truth by God to his people. What is the truth? It's a faithful,
trustworthy saying. Christ came to the world, safe
center. came into the world to save the
chief of sinners. Are you a sinner? Or are you well? He didn't come
to call the righteous. Are you righteous in your own
sight? Those that are well have no need, no need of the great
position. Who does? Sick, depraved, wretched, evil sinner. Well, Not a very uplifting message.
If you're a sinner, it is. Because that's who He came to
save. It's pretty uplifting to me. Come ye sinners, poor and needy,
weakened, wounded, sick and sore. Jesus Christ stands to save you,
full of pity. love and power. Come, you thirsty,
come and welcome God's free bounty glorified, true belief and true
repentance, every grace that brings you nigh. Let not conscience
make you linger, nor a fitness fondly dream. Well, let me sit
here and think about all my good points and give God a few reasons
why He would save me. No, not a fitness fondly dream. All the fitness that Christ requires
is that you feel your need of Him. Do you need Christ? Well, He's the one thing needful. And God promises that He'll supply
all your need, singular. My needs, that seeking first
the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these other things, plural,
will be added unto you. But He's the one thing needful,
and God will supply that need in Him. Boy, that's the gospel. That is the gospel. There's nothing
else that would give a sinner any hope or comfort apart from
that, what God has done for us in the Lord Jesus Christ. And
I thank God that He shows me over and over and over again
that I'm a sinner in great need. It's painful. It's shameful. but a snake.