Turn with me, if you would, to
1 Timothy 1. 1 Timothy 1. I have three things. three truths to declare to you
this morning. This is the morning of threes.
I had three things to tell you in the Bible study. I have three
things to tell you in this message. I wanna read and expound on some
of these verses for a minute, and then I'll tell you what these
three absolute truths are that I have to declare this morning.
Let's begin in verse five. This is where we started our
Bible study. First Timothy one, verse five,
it says, now the end of the commandment is charity. Charity means love,
but it also means Christ. The end of the law, the goal
of the law is Christ. Christ is the character of the
law. The law is describing, when you
look at the law, it is describing and pointing men and women to
Christ. It's showing the standard of
the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what it's showing. Verse
5 says, Now the end of the commandment is charity. Out of a pure heart
and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned." The word
unfeigned means sincere, not in insincerity. Sincere faith,
looking to Christ. Verse six says, from which some,
having swerved, have turned aside unto vain jangling. Just empty
rambling. Just empty, foolish rambling. Verse 7, desiring to be teachers
of the law, understanding neither what they say nor whereof they
affirm. They don't know what they're
talking about. and they don't have any grounds
to prove what they're talking about. If anybody tells you something
that you know is just vain jangling, you say, chapter and verse, show
me. They can't affirm it. They can't
confirm it. They don't know what they're
talking about and they cannot prove it in this word. They cannot
confirm any of their empty babblings on the subject of what God has
to say about His own law. In their foolish, ignorant talk,
they are teaching God's law wrongly, unlawfully. Verse 8 says, But
we know that the law is good if a man use it lawfully. And what is using it lawfully?
using it in love as it points us to Christ, as we're looking
to Christ and following Christ. Verse 9 says, knowing this, that
the law is not made for a righteous man. If a man is righteous, in
order to be righteous, you cannot commit one sin. The moment you commit one sin,
you're a sinner. All right, in order to be righteous,
you cannot commit one sin. If a man is righteous and obedient,
he doesn't need the law. You know, if the speed limit's
55 and he just naturally goes 55 or less at all times, he doesn't
need that sign. He doesn't need that posted sign. He naturally is everything the
law demands. Verse 9 says, knowing this, that
the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and
disobedient, for the ungodly, and for sinners, for unholy and
profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for
manslayers, for whoremongers, for them that defile themselves
with mankind, for men-stealers, for liars, for perjured persons. And if there be any other thing
that is contrary to sound doctrine, that's who the law is for. We
read something like that and we think, well, yeah, those people
need the law. That's exactly who the law is
for. The law needs to come get them. Well, before we go too
far in our judgment on that, turn with me to 1 Corinthians
6. 1 Corinthians 6 verse 9 says, Know ye not that the unrighteous
shall not inherit the kingdom of God? It's not happening. No
sinner is entering into His high, holy, glorious heaven. It's not
happening. Sin shall not enter in. Know ye not that the unrighteous
shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived, neither
fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor
abusers of themselves with mankind. That's homosexuality. Nor thieves,
nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners
shall inherit the kingdom of God. Now watch verse 11. And
such were some of you. Such were some of you. We got to realize that when our
Lord, the Spirit of God has inspired all of this writing, And our
Lord looks on the heart, not just the things you and I see.
There are things going on in our hearts and in our minds that
we cannot see. Thank God. We wouldn't have anything
to do with anybody if we could see the thoughts and intents
of the heart. Does this not reveal something
of God's mercy? He looks right on the thoughts
and intents of the heart more clearly than anything we can
see, more deeply than anything we can see. He speaks of fornication
and we think, well, you know, you really shouldn't do that. He speaks of all of these things
and it's the mind, the heart, the deed, it's everything. It's
everything. And such were some of you. And
that word some means everybody. It means all. That's what God's holy law does
to men and women. That's what the law does. It
tells them, thou art the man. That's what the law does. It
says, you're the woman, but it says sinners can't go to heaven.
And I'm a sinner. The law says, that's right. That's
you. Can't go. I think maybe I'm included in
this. The law says, yep, it's you. You're the one, thou art the
man. We are the wicked sinners that
the holy law of God speaks of when it's talking about these
vile, wicked people. You can just put the name, if
you want to, you can just write Gabe Stoniker over those two
verses. You just put my name right there. We are the wickedness. We are the sin that the holy
law of God condemns. All that vileness, all that ungodliness,
that was you. That was me. The law says in
verse 11, in such were some of you Do you see the word after
that, you such were some of you, you see the next word right there.
Thank God, but you won't get excited. You want to be thankful. Thank God. The gospel immediately
cries, the law pierces, pierces. The law is that needle that pierces
the heart. And with that needle and piercing,
a way is made for the thread of the gospel to come and sew
everything up. It says, but you are washed. But You are sanctified. You're washed in the blood of
the Lamb. You're sanctified in the setting
apart of the Father. You are justified in the name
of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. That right
there is the glorious gospel of the blessed God. That is. In spite of what we are, I cannot
deny it. I cannot hide it. in spite of
what we are, but God. That's what Paul declared in
our text. Go with me back to 1 Timothy
1. 1 Timothy 1, the end of verse 10, Paul said,
the law was made for anything that is contrary to sound doctrine. The only doctrine that there
is to teach. The only doctrine that God has
declared in His Word. The only declaration. And what
declaration is that? Verse 11. It's the glorious gospel
of the blessed God which was committed to my trust. Paul said
this declaration of truth. This message of truth. We're
speaking the truth. Paul said, that has been committed
to my trust. The responsibility of declaring
it has been laid on me. And Paul said, I'm thankful for
it. Oh, I'm so thankful for it. Verse 12, and I thank Christ
Jesus, our Lord, who hath enabled me for that he counted me faithful,
putting me into the ministry. He didn't say the Lord saw my
faithfulness. He didn't say that. He said,
the Lord enabled me and counted faithfulness to me. What he's
saying is it was God that worked in me both to will and do of
His good pleasure and I'm thankful for it. He gets all the credit. He gets all the glory. The only
thing that can be credited to me is blasphemy and persecution
and harm. Verse 13, Paul said, who was
before a blasphemer and a persecutor and injurious, but I obtained
mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. He said, I was ignorant. Can't we all say that about ourselves?
I was so ignorant, just so ignorant in unbelief. That means I wasn't
looking to Christ. Everything was right here. Everything
just, I kept looking right here. Everything was right here and
I was not looking to Jesus Christ. Not seeing what I truly was in
the flesh. And He's not saying that that
was a thing of the past and His flesh is now above sin. He's
not saying that at all. What He's saying is, verse 14, 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. How be it 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. What he's saying
is, but God. What he's saying is grace and
mercy saved me. That's all I can say about myself.
God's grace and God's mercy in Christ saved me. Now I have three
things to declare this morning. These three things are absolute
truth. These are absolute truth. I'm gonna go ahead and tell you
all three. Verse 15 says, this is a faithful saying, this is
the truth. And you can believe it, it is
worthy of all acceptation that, number one, Christ Jesus came into the world. Number two, to save sinners. Number three, of whom I'm the
chief. Jesus Christ came into this world
to save sinners of whom I'm the chief. I say that to you on my
own behalf. I pray that you can hear it and
say it with me on your behalf, your own behalf. If we get ahold
of these three things, we will get ahold of the truth and we'll
get ahold of the gospel. This is the truth and this is
the gospel. Number one, Christ Jesus came
into this world. That is the first declaration
of the truth and the gospel. Christ Jesus came into this world. That promise and gospel declaration
was given to the first man and woman on this earth. As soon
as Adam and Eve sinned against God in the garden, God slew a
lamb. As soon as they sinned. The law convicted them. They
realized what they had done against God. They realized their state
and condition and immediately, but God. He slew a lamb and he
covered them and he gave them the promise of the woman's seed,
which is Christ. He said, the woman's seed given
to her by the Holy Ghost, not a sinful man. David said, I was
conceived in sin, because sin is what conceived me. But the
woman's seed was given by the incorruptible Holy Ghost. The
incorruptible seed of the Holy Ghost. And that's Christ. And He said, the woman's seed
will come. This was the promise. The woman's
seed will come. And everything in the Old Testament
pointed to this and tells us this. The Ark, which is Christ, everybody
in that Ark was saved, and everybody outside of that Ark was damned.
Noah, the Ark will come. It may take a hundred years,
but it's coming. Your salvation's coming. Moses, that brazen serpent,
who is Christ, made to be the very thing that was killing all
the people. That brazen serpent, Moses, will be lifted up. He
will be. Job said, I know many people
consider Job to be the first book ever written in the Old
Testament, the oldest book in the Old Testament. And from the
oldest book, that man said, I know that my Redeemer liveth right
now. Way back, I know my Redeemer
liveth and that He is going to stand on this earth in the latter
day. My Redeemer, I know He's gonna
come and redeem me. Isaiah penned, a virgin is going
to conceive and bring forth a son. A child is going to be born.
A son is going to be given. He's going to be the governor,
the counselor, the mighty God. Emmanuel will come. And you know
what? He did. Thank God He did. God Almighty was manifest in
the flesh. God came. Turn with me to Luke
chapter one. Luke chapter one, verse 26. And in the sixth month, the angel
Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee named Nazareth,
to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the
house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel
came in unto her and said, Hail thou that art highly favored. That means graciously accepted,
much, much graced. Hail thou that are highly favored,
the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women.
And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying and cast
in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel
said unto her, fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favor with
God. And behold, thou shalt conceive
in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name
Jesus. He shall be great, and shall
be called the Son of the Highest. And the Lord God shall give unto
him the throne of his father David, and he shall reign over
the house of the sinner, the trickster, the supplanter, Jacob. forever and of His kingdom there
shall be no end. Look at Luke chapter 2 verse
6, And so it was that while they
were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.
And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling
clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for
them in the inn. And there were in the same country
shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock
by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord
came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about
them, and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them,
Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy,
which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day
in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto
you. You shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes,
lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the
angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying,
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will
toward men. Look at verse 25. And behold,
there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, And the
same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of
Israel, and the Holy Ghost was upon him. And it was revealed
unto him by the Holy Ghost that he should not see death before
he had seen the Lord's Christ. And he came by the Spirit into
the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to
do for him after the custom of the law, then took he him up
in his arms and blessed God and said, Lord, now let us thou thy
servant depart in peace according to thy word, for mine eyes have
seen thy salvation. Salvation is a person. which
thou hast prepared before the face of all people, a light to
lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people, Israel. Mine eyes have seen the glory
of the coming of the Lord. Thank God Jesus Christ came into
this world. Thank God. Hope came. Good news came. Redemption came. Deliverance came. That's the
first declaration of truth that I have for us this morning. Jesus
Christ came into this world. Here's the second declaration.
He came to save sinners. He came to save sinners. There
are many people in this world who believe that Christ came
to save those who are not sinners. But that's just not so. That's
just not so. Men and women all over this world
are trying as hard as they can to not be sinners so Christ will
save them. Men are trying as hard as they
can to not be sinners so they can be saved. Men and
women are living lives of bondage and fear trying to achieve something
that with man is impossible, sinlessness. And even though they'll never
achieve it, by clinging to their efforts,
because they are clinging to their efforts and hoping in a
self-righteousness, that they're trying to establish
on their own. Because they're doing that, they're
only bringing themselves into greater ruin. That's all they're
doing. Greater ruin. Because they are pleading before
God a condition that is not acceptable to Him. They are pleading something
that's not acceptable. They say, save me because in
the works of my flesh, I'm righteous before you. I come in my own
righteousness. I plead a self-righteousness
before you. The only problem for men and
women who plead that is he did not come to save the righteous. He came to save sinners. Look
at Luke 5. Luke 5, 27. After these things, he went forth
and saw a publican, that is a member of the mafia, named Levi, sitting
at the receipt of custom. And he said unto him, follow
me. And he left all, rose up and followed him. And Levi made
him a great feast in his own house. And there was a great
company of publicans and of others that sat down with them. But
their scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples saying,
why do you eat and drink with publicans and sinners? And Jesus
answering said unto them, they that are whole need not a physician,
but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance." The gospel is good news for sinners. The gospel is good news for those
who don't have anything in themselves to even pretend that they're
righteous before God. The gospel is for those who know
what they are and acknowledge what they are and confess to
God what they are and find all of their hope of salvation in
the fact that Christ came to save sinners. That's the only
hope I have. That's the only hope I have.
That's the only thing I have to hang on. This is the absolute truth. This
is the absolute gospel. Jesus Christ came into this world
to save sinners. That's the first two declarations
of truth that I have. Here's the third one. I'm the
chief. I'm the chief. That's the truth. That's my hope in the gospel.
That's my hope in the gospel. That's my hope of glory. Christ
came to save sinners. This man receives sinners. If this man received billionaires,
would anybody feel good about going to him? Anybody here today? I'm not a billionaire. I don't
think I'm ever gonna be one in this life. Could be wrong, I
don't know. But if it said this man receives billionaires, I
don't think I would go. But do you know who this man
receives? Sinners. Sinners. David said, I acknowledge my
transgressions. My sin is ever before me. The publican in the temple said,
God be merciful to me. I am the sinner. I say that. I believe you say
that. All of God's people say that.
I'm the sinner. Charles Spurgeon said one time,
and the first time I read this, I was taken back. He said, I
take issue with the apostle Paul. I have an issue with him. As soon as I read that, I thought,
whoa, He said, he has taken my seat
as the chief of sinners. I would feign tap him on the
shoulder and say, sir, go up higher. You're sitting in my
seat. You're not the chief, I am. You're
not the chief, I am. And that's where my hope lies.
That's where my hope lies, not in the fact that I'm a sinner,
but in the fact that that's who Christ said He came to save. He could have written anything
in this book that He wanted to write. That's what He wrote. That makes me happy, because
that's what I am. Our brother Todd Nybert said
one time, he said, I am so glad that that verse does not say
Christ came to save Todd Nybert. Because he said, if it said that,
I would lose all of my hope thinking that there was another Todd Nyberg
in the world and he wasn't talking about me. But he said, thank
God it doesn't say that. It says Christ came to save sinners. And he said, I know I'm a sinner. Therefore, I know he's talking
to me. Sinners, if there are any sinners
here today, Believe and find comfort in this right here. Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners. And if you can
say and believe in your heart, I'm the chief, I'm the chief,
then you rest in the salvation of the Lord Jesus Christ. You
come to him. You come running to Him. This
man receives sinners. Paul said, that's the very reason
why I found mercy and grace. It's because he receives sinners. Sinners, the Lord Jesus will
receive. Sound this word of grace to all
who the heavenly pathway leave. All who linger, all who fall,
sing it over and over again. Christ receiveth sinful men. Make the message clear and plain.
Christ receives sinful men. We're going to sing that. Brother
Eddie, you come.