Today's message will come out
of 1 Timothy 1.15. Verse 15 reads like this. 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. Paul, writing to Timothy,
assures him that the gospel that he believes is of God. men did
not make this up, this is what Peter says in 2nd Peter 1 16. Peter writes this, but we have
not followed cunningly devised fables when we've made known
unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ but
were eyewitnesses of his majesty, we didn't make this up, we have
actually seen and touched and beheld the Lord Jesus Christ. This is what John says in 1 John
1. Listen to this. That which was
from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen
with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have
handled of the word of life. For the life was manifested,
life was manifested, we have seen it and bear witness and
show unto you that eternal life which was with the father and
was manifested unto us that which we have seen and heard declare
we unto you that you also may have fellowship with us and truly
our fellowship is with the father and with his son jesus christ
so peter says that They have not followed cunningly devised
fables. And John says, we are eyewitnesses.
We've handled him. We've seen him. We've touched
him. We know what we're talking about. If men made up the way
God saves sinners, it would be by works. It would be by works. It would be by class distinction. It would not be for sinners.
It would not be for the ungodly. But God in grace has purpose
to save a multitude of sinners through his son, Jesus Christ.
He's gonna make them trophies of his grace and he's gonna conform
them to the image of his son. He's gonna populate heaven with
a people just like his son. Now, Paul says to Timothy here
in his verse 15, this is a faithful saying. The gospel is a true
report. It is a true message. It is a
true message of grace and mercy. It is written in Isaiah 53, who
has believed our report or our message and to whom is the arm
of the Lord revealed? The message we have to preach
is one of grace, is one of mercy, and it's true. It's true. it's
for sinners. It's for no one else but sinners.
Christ died for sinners and he's going to save every sinner for
whom he died. God devised the gospel before
the world began. The gospel was not an afterthought
with God. It was not a knee-jerk reaction
with God. Jesus Christ is called the Lamb
of God slain before the foundation of the world. Now back to this
report that Paul speaks of this or saying it's a true saying
or true report. It is a true report because it
came from God who cannot lie. It is written in Hebrew 618 that
by two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to
lie. It is impossible for almighty
God to tell a lie. scripture says let God be true
and every man a liar and then it is a faithful saying because
it has never changed the message is still the same today as it
was from the beginning it's it's a faithful saying is it never
altered it has never been changed altered it's the same it's a
faithful saying Abraham heard and believed the same gospel
we hear and believe It's not a different gospel. There was
not a different gospel for the Old Testament and one for the
New Testament. The Old Testament is the gospel
in picture and in type. The New Testament is the gospel
fulfilled in Jesus Christ. All those types and pictures
fulfilled in Him. Now this true saying, this true
message of grace and mercy to sinners in the Lord Jesus Christ,
it is worthy of all acceptation. The gospel fits all class of
people, the rich, the poor, the young and the old, the educated
and the uneducated, for all are dead in trespasses and sins. When we strip everyone down,
we all come short of the glory of God. It does not matter what
your education level is. It does not matter what part
of society you've been brought up in. we all have come short
of the glory of God. Now, it's worthy of all acceptation
because of who it is about. The message of the gospel is
about a person. It's not a system. It's not a
system of doctrines to be believed. It's a person to be believed.
Now, Christ is not without his doctrines or that he's without
his teaching, but salvation is to believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ. It's not just to believe some facts. It's to believe on,
love the Lord Jesus Christ, God's only begotten son. Listen to
Paul in Romans chapter 1 verses 1 through 4. Paul a servant of
Jesus Christ called to be an apostle separated unto the gospel
of God which he had promised to for by his prophets in the
holy scriptures concerning his son Jesus Christ our Lord which
was made of the seed of David according to the flesh declared
to be the son of god with power according to the spirit of holiness
by the resurrection from the dead but the gospel is concerning
god almighty's son jesus christ the gospel is about a real living
person jesus christ it's about his person he's god he's god
manifested in the flesh and he's a very real man the old writer
said he is God very God as though he were not a man and he's a
man as though he were not God but he is the God-man he is the
God-man he is the messiah he is the savior he is the sacrifice
he is the atonement he is the high priest he is the altar he
is absolutely everything we need to stand before God he is the
righteousness of all whom he saves he's their righteousness
by nature we had no righteousness. Self-righteousness is not righteousness and it's about his mission. He
came to save sinners. You will not read in the Word
of God where Jesus Christ came into the world. That means he
was in heaven. That's where he was. He was with
the Father from the beginning and he came from glory. he came
into this world this fallen ungodly world this world of sinners who
by nature hate God the scripture says that the natural mind is
enmity against God he came into this world and he came into this
world on a mission he came into this world to save sinners and
you'll not read where he came to this world to try and save
Jesus Christ has never ever tried to save anyone. When the Lord's
mercy is set on a man or woman, they are going to experience
salvation. He's going to save them. It is
written in Psalm 110, thy people shall be willing in the day of
thy power. Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners
and sinners are going to be saved. But that's the only ones he's
going to save is sinners. It says Christ died for sinners.
Christ died for the ungodly. You will not read where he died
for good people because there's not any. God said there's not
any. God's the one that said that. There's none good, no,
not one. He came to save sinners. The whole need not a physician,
the sick do. He healed all that needed healing,
it says in the Gospels. As many as needed healing, he
healed. And then his mission is one of
mercy and grace. It's not an offer and see what
you're going to do with it. It is not what you're going to
do with Jesus Christ. It's what is Jesus Christ going to do with
you. Because his mission was to come into this world, save
sinners and to save sinners by his grace. It says in Ephesians
2, for by grace are you saved. That's how you are saved. If
you are saved, And whomever he saves, he's saved by grace. It's
not a cooperative effort on mine and his part. He does all the
saving. All the saving is all of grace.
Now, seeing that he has saved the chief of sinners, Paul said
he was the chief of sinners. He'll have no problem saving
anyone else. If he's already saved the chief of sinners, he
can save me. He can save you. The Lord Jesus
Christ came to the world to save sinners. If there's a sinner
out there who needs his or her sins forgiven, but not only forgiven,
but completely wiped away before God, because God's the only person
I really have to stand before. There's over 7 billion people
in this world, and I won't meet not even hardly a recognizable
percentage. But I will meet God. Every person
in this world will meet God. God is the last person. Every
living person on this earth that has lived, living, and ever shall
live, will have to deal with God. God Almighty. Now listen, Jesus Christ came
to save sinners. Are you a sinner? Now someone's
gonna say, everyone are sinners. In a sense, yes. But you just
try to find one. A sinner is one, John Bunyan
called it this way. John Bunyan called them Jerusalem
sinners. It's like David. David said, against thee and
thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight. Speaking
of his sin with Bathsheba. He didn't blame God, didn't blame
his parents, didn't blame circumstance. He didn't blame anyone but himself. This is when you take sides with
God against yourself. You can go to prison, you can't
find sinners. Everybody has a reason for why they are there. They
have an excuse for why they did what they did. But a bona fide
sinner saved by the grace of God makes no excuse. He knows, she knows, and if God
condemns him or her and sends them to hell, he's a just God.
Now that kind of sinner God's gonna save him because it's evident
he's already started to work with grace because it takes grace
to come to that point. Listen to the scripture again
and I hope maybe the Lord will apply this to someone. This is
a faithful, sane, and worthy of all acceptation that Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief. May the Lord bless you.