Good morning. Let's all turn
together for our scripture reading this morning to the book of 1
Timothy chapter 1. In case I forget to announce
it and you may have missed it, we're not having service tonight
either. Our next meeting will be next
Sunday morning. Our pastor, Lord willing, will be back with us.
1 Timothy chapter 1. Good to see everybody out this
morning. Cold, cold morning. Pray that the Lord will bless
us as we study his word together. I'd like to read the first 17
verses. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
by the commandment of God, our Savior, and Lord Jesus Christ,
our hope. That's a good hope, isn't it?
Hope in him. Unto Timothy, my own son in the
faith, grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Jesus
Christ our Lord. As I besought thee to abide still
at Ephesus when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some
that they teach no other doctrine, neither give heed to fables and
endless genealogies which minister questions rather than godly edifying,
which is in faith, so do. Now the end of the commandment
is charity out of a pure heart and of a good conscience and
of faith unfeigned, from which some, having swerved, have turned
aside unto vain jangling, desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding
neither what they say nor whereof they affirm. But we know that
the law is good, if a man use it lawfully, 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,
according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was
committed to my trust. And I thank Christ Jesus, our
Lord, 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 in unbelief. 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. Howbeit 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. Now unto the King
eternal immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and
glory forever and ever, amen. Turn back with me to 1 Timothy
chapter 1. My subject is found in verse
15, one that's very familiar to us all. But as an introduction, I want
to draw your attention to verses 3 and 4, where Paul writes to
Timothy and he says, I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus
when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that
they teach No other doctrine neither give heed to fables and
endless genealogies which minister questions rather than godly edifying. And as I try to preach this morning,
I don't want anyone to leave here tonight asking questions
such as, I don't know about that. What was said? What was trying
to be taught? What was his point? But rather that you'll leave
here saying that that was the truth. And I believe that because
that's what God's Word said. So I want to be clear. Preaching
that causes men to question and wonder and causes confusion,
I want to be clear. I want you to believe what God's
Word says and by His Holy Spirit be convinced of the truth of
it. Something that you can lay hold on and stake your very life
on. And you can do that. If it's
God's Word, you can believe it. There's nothing ventured in believing
God. Nothing ventured in believing
God and trusting His Word. But you know, there are many
that would lead us away from the simplicity that's in Christ,
the simplicity of Christ alone. Many are not impressed when we
can only say our confession is this one confession that continues
to be our confession, that I'm only a sinner and nothing at
all, and Jesus Christ is my all in all. And that's my confession
Day one, when I first believed, is my confession today. It will
be my confession when I lay on my dying bed. I'm only a sinner
and nothing at all, but Jesus Christ is my all in all. I was
reading some writings of some people who were criticizing sovereign
grace preachers And they said those folks believe
that the only thing you have to be is a sinner to be saved. That says a lot. That tells you
a lot, doesn't it? So I need to be something other
than a sinner? Where is that standard? Who determines
that standard? You see, we are what we are,
and we can And God comes to where we are, saves us where we are,
as we are. And we're not called upon to
be anything than what we are. And what gives me hope and assurance
is not that I'm a sinner, but that Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners. Sinners. Well, let me start out. By answering this question, what
does the Bible mean when it talks about being a sinner? What is
the biblical definition of a sinner? There's a verse over in Genesis
chapter 6 and verse 5 that says, when God looked down upon the
earth, he saw that all the thoughts of the imaginations of every
man was only evil continually. A sinner is one who all they
do is sin, can do nothing but sin. Secondly, it is a man who
cannot not sin, a man who is in bondage to his nature. He
cannot do good. That which is of the flesh is
flesh and can be nothing else. How can a clean thing come out
of an unclean thing? We're in bondage to our nature. Can the Ethiopian change the
color of his skin? Can the leopard change his spots?
Neither can ye do good. You cannot do good that are accustomed
to do evil. The third thing that a sinner
is, he or she has absolutely no claim
on God. All we are is sin, and we're
sinners. We have no claim upon God. We
cannot come to God and say, God, you have to save me. You have to consider me. You have to consider my family.
No, he doesn't. We have no claim on God. We cannot
make God do anything. no standing before God other
than as a sinner. And then fourthly, a sinner,
one who's a sinner, cannot look down his nose at anyone. I can't
look down my nose at anyone as being superior. We've all sinned
and come short of the glory of God. We'll never rise above that. We're sinners. So take heart
in this. Though our condition is grave
and it's hopeless, we cannot be what we are not. Though we may claim to be, though
we may deceive ourselves in getting better, think that we're getting
better or doing better, we can never rise above being a sinner.
But take heart in this. If you see yourself as a sinner
without hope, in bondage to your nature, your sinful nature, if
God's revealed to you that you need a Savior, that your only
hope is that a Savior comes where you are and provides for you
what's required of us by God, then take heart. And that's why
I love this scripture that we're about to enter into. The Lord
showed me a few years ago that I need a Savior. And then He
showed me there is a Savior, a Savior for sinners. Paul gives an account. He was once the chief of saints
in his own mind. He said, I was circumcised the
eighth day of the tribe of Benjamin. the stock of Israel, a Hebrew
of Hebrews, a Pharisee. He said, it's touching the law. Blameless. Blameless. Before
God unhorsed him on the road to Damascus and shined the light
on him. He said, Saul, Saul, why persecutest
thou me? And after that encounter, And
we read in this text here, once the chief of saints is now the
chief of sinners. What a change. What a change. You know, men like to think themselves
something more than just a sinner. They're better than some lower
sinners. But if you're not a sinner, absolutely
so, then there's no gospel for you. I have nothing to say to
you. This word has nothing to say
to you. Our text says this is a faithful saying, worthy of
all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to
save sinners. We read of the two men that went
into the temple to pray. One said, I thank God that I'm
not like other men. I'm a step above some of you.
Some of these folks I see, I thank God I'm not as low as they are.
I'm a step above them. The publican smote his breast
and said, God be merciful to me, the sinner. And he went down
to his house justified. May God bring us down into the
dust and keep us there as sinners in need of his mercy. If you're not a sinner, there's
no gospel for you. But in this letter of Paul to
Timothy, Paul gives an account of his apostleship and also of
his conversion to the encouragement of sinners. He says he's a pattern
to them which should hereafter believe unto eternal life. An encouragement of sinners and
to the glory of the grace of God. He gets all the glory. God must show us grace by his
choosing, by his electing grace, setting us apart. And as we know, our Lord stopped
Paul on the road to Damascus. We've touched on that just a
minute ago and immediately thereafter was a follower of Jesus Christ.
He said, Lord, what would you have me to do? And he was put into the ministry,
Paul said, he put me in the ministry by commandment, enabling of God
himself. And we know from scripture of
Paul's pursuit and hatred of God's people and persecuting
them even under their death. And he writes of it here, we
just read it a moment ago. He was before a blasphemer, a
persecutor, injurious, He consented under the death of Stephen, held
the coats of them that stoned Stephen to death. We read of
that. But he said, I obtained mercy. That is, God had mercy
on Paul. And Paul didn't ask for mercy.
He wasn't seeking mercy. He didn't merit mercy. God had
mercy on him when he was in the career of his sin. God came to
where he was as a sinner, as a rebel, as a hater of God. And we are by nature haters of
God. We would kill God if we could. It's in our nature, if God does
not restrain us, to do away with God. We would wish there was
no God and we could be our own God. And if we were not restrained
by God's grace, it would be all about me, me and mine. Me and mine would have preeminence
over all things and all people, wouldn't we? That's the nature
of sin that's within all of us. Thank God He does restrain us.
and doesn't put us in a place or a position or give us the
opportunity, or he withdraws his hand from us, his restraining
hand, but he does restrain us. And that's the only reason we
don't do worse than we do. But I want us to examine today
what's being taught beginning in verse 15, which is very striking
and unusual to me. First of all, Paul says, this
is a faithful saying. It means, first of all, that
this is a true saying. It's a true saying. It can be
believed. This is God's word. All of God's
word is true and faithful. But this, Paul writes, by the
inspiration of God, as though what's about to said will be
doubted. But the Holy Spirit affirms its truth by pronouncing,
what I'm about to say is a faithful saying. And it's faithful to
God. It's faithful to God's purpose
in Christ Jesus. This saying is consistent with
all of scripture. This is a faithful saying that
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. It's faithful
and consistent with all of Scripture. Christ's coming was foretold
from the book of Genesis throughout. And it's faithful to the purpose
of God and the salvation of His people. It's a faithful saying.
It's a true saying. It's consistent with God and
His purpose and the Holy Scriptures. And then we read that this saying
is worthy. It deserves Acceptation. It's worthy of all. Acceptation. Absolutely. It doesn't say it's worthy of
your consideration. It's worthy of thought. It's
worthy of acceptation. All acceptations. It's not said
that it is hoped that someone will accept it. It's a command. God doesn't suggest. or offer, but he commands. It's worthy of all acceptation,
and we are to accept it. Whoever you are, whoever we may
be, it's worthy of all acceptation. It's faithful, and it's worthy
of acceptation. Worthy. It deserves acceptance. And notice, as I've touched on
a minute ago, it's worthy of all acceptation. All sorts of
persons are to receive this saying. It's to be received in all ways,
by all people, by all types of people with wholeheartedness.
What a blessed thing that we can read God's word and without
reservation and wholeheartedly, we can lay hold on it and stand
on it and count on it and rely on it and believe it and trust
it. Only God's word allows us to do that. But it's to be received
in all ways with wholeheartedness and readiness. It's entirely
true. It's eternally true. It never
changes. It shall always be so, and it's
absolutely necessary and suitable to the case of all. All of us here today can, by
the warrant of the Word of God, fully and wholeheartedly and
without reservation, accept this saying and believe what it says
to us. We can trust it is true and be
confident and beyond any doubt regarding its actuality. Isn't
that an amazing thing? There's nothing in this world
you can say that about, nothing, but God's word. We can rely on
it, we can lean on it, we can proclaim it boldly to any and
all who will hear. We can comfort ourselves with
it, and we can most assuredly take it to heart. Boy, I need
a word from God to speak to my heart. I do. That's the only
thing that blesses me and gives me hope and is sweet to my soul
and enters into my soul and cheers my spirit, lifts up my spirit. A word from God that I can take
it to heart and I can take it to my grave. I'm so thankful
for the Word of God and its absolute proclamation of truth. Absolute. There are no theories. There
are no conditions to be met. It doesn't say he died for sensible
sinners, for believing sinners, for aware sinners. He died for
sinners. No conditions to be met. Not
a certain kind of a sinner, but sinners. Don't you love the plainness
of that and the all-encompassing scope of that? Sinners. No conditions. There's only absolute
truth proclaimed, which is merely to be believed. And I said at
the outset, Nothing is ventured believing
God. Abraham believed God. It was
counted to him for righteousness, but it's never something ventured
to believe God. But let's go on and look at this
faithful saying that's worthy of all acceptation. Christ Jesus
came into the world to save sinners. What a statement. Simple statement
on the surface, But boy, what it tells us. Christ Jesus. Who is Christ Jesus? He's God. And God became a man. He became
Jesus. Thou shalt call His name Jesus,
for He shall save His people from their sins. God became a
man and came to this world to save sinners. Men that are sinners. What a statement. But let's confirm
this by other scriptures for just a moment. If you turn a
couple places with me over in Mark 2. Mark chapter 2. And these are just a few scriptures
that confirm what's being taught here in 1 Timothy. Verse 17. When Jesus heard it, he saith
unto them, they that are whole have no need of the physician,
but they that are sick, I came not to call the righteous, but
sinners to repentance. Over in Romans 5, look there
with me for a minute. In verse 6, For when we were without strength
in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. The ungodly. Look down at verse 8. But God
commendeth his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us. And then verse 10. For if when
we were enemies, We were reconciled to God by the death of his son,
much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. He
came to die for sinners, for the ungodly, for his enemies. We are by nature the enemies
of God. Yet he came into the world to
save such as we, his enemies, sinners. My dear Pastor Scott up in West
Virginia said this many times. You all have heard him say it,
I know. The more you can convince me that I'm a sinner, the more
I'm entitled to the free grace of God in Christ. That's right. And these words may not mean
a whole lot to some, and we may not fully grasp, and I'm sure
that's the case, What a wondrous and blessed truth this is. But
when you discover the fact that you're a sinner, have always
been a sinner, will never be, will never and can never be anything
else than a sinner, then you rejoice in this blessed truth that Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners. The mission of our Lord is related
to sinners. The Gospel has an eye to the
guilty. Are you guilty? The Gospel is
for you, for those that are guilty. Oh, and I'm so glad that the
Lord has brought me to the place that I gladly take my place before
Him as a sinner. Don't you? I followed His feet
as a sinner. I rejoice not that I'm a sinner,
but that Christ died for sinners, among whom I'm numbered as the
Apostle Paul. When we begin to study the gospel
of the grace of God, we see that it turns its face always towards
sin. Even as a physician looks toward
disease, he goes where there's sick folks. or as charity looks
toward distress. Our Lord said, I'm not come to
call the righteous but sinners to repentance. And it's said
of him, this man receiveth sinners, and he eats with them. He was often found in the company
of sinners, men that were known to be sinners. He said, I'm not
ashamed to call them my brethren. And he sat and ate with them. And those who imagine that they
have some excellence before God, above being a sinner, will never
care to be saved by sovereign free grace. That's our only hope. As a sinner, the gospel looks
to sinners. If God does not come to us in
free grace, and remember we have no claim upon God, and say it's
not fair that you elect some and pass by others, it is. God's the potter, we're the clay.
He can do with us as it pleases Him. It's all of grace if He comes
to us. If He chooses to come to us in
electing grace, we'll praise Him for all eternity. But He
must be willing. And in the day of His power,
He'll make us willing. But we have no claims upon God,
because we're sinners. in need of mercy, and he must
choose to show us mercy. And that's where we're at. But
thank God he delights to show mercy. That's where our hope
is. If the gospel looks toward men
in a certain state of heart in which there are commendable virtues,
then how long will it take me to raise my heart to that state?
Well, where is that state? Where is that standard? The blessed thing about the gospel
is we're not called upon to be something we're not. God doesn't
look to me and you for anything. He looks to His Son. And if we're
found in Him, He sees us as He sees His Son. What a blessed
gospel. Isn't that good news? I'm not
called upon to do anything or to be anything, but to just fall
before Him as I am, where I am. and he comes to me and puts me
in Christ, well, I'll say he has put me in Christ. I've always
been in Christ, but he makes me to know that I'm in Christ
in time. The very best thing I can do,
since the gospel looks towards sinners, is to get where the
gospel looks, and there we'll be in our rightful place. In
truth, we're already there. But God must bring us to that
knowledge. The gospel comes to sinners where
they are as they are, no effort required on our part. We're not
called upon to be something we're not or to pretend to be more
than we are, but only to resign ourselves to the teaching of
scripture that we've all sinned and come short of the glory of
God. And if I'm to be saved, God will have to save me. And he's elected a people which
shall be saved. And he teaches them this. And
there's rest and peace in a God who's not trying to save, but
one who does save, who has saved, and will save, willing to save. And he's plenteous in mercy and
delights to show mercy. There's rest and peace in this.
We quit our efforts trying to Trying to get right with God,
they say. We'll quit our efforts and our strivings, our self-righteous
attempts to reform and commend ourselves to God. We own what
we are. God will bring us to own what
we are and rest in his salvations that was wrought for sinners
such as we. The gospel's not sent as a reward
for the good and excellent or those with a measure of fitness.
But for lawbreakers, the undeserving, the ungodly, lost sheep that
have gone astray. And then it's truth, this saying
that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. It sets
forth a God of purpose. His name shall be called Jesus.
That's his name, Savior, for he shall save his people from
their sins. And we can't even imagine that
Christ, the God of the universe, God in flesh, can't even imagine
that he would not accomplish his divine purpose in saving
his elect. He shall save his people from
their sins. And then Paul writes that among
those sinners for whom Christ died, he is the chief of them. Paul said, I'm the chief of sinners.
Paul, no doubt, remembered His past sins, they abode with him
and kept him humble all these days. He was always ready to
acknowledge them and express his vileness and unworthiness
on account of his sins. And notice he doesn't say of
whom I was chief of sinners, but rather of whom I am chief.
I'm still the chief of sinners. And we believe that about ourselves,
don't we? When God reveals who we are to us. Could this be? Isn't that striking
to you? Could this be? This is the Apostle
Paul. One mightily used of God. A preacher. A writer of Holy Scripture. I'm the chief of sinners, he
said. Read Paul's writing over in Romans 7. You're all familiar
with that. We can all identify with this
to a measure. It talks about these two natures. I am the chief of sinners. Paul said in verse 18, For I
know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing.
For the will is present with me, but how to perform that which
is good I find not. For the good that I would, I
do not, but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that,
I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwells in
me. That sin is still in me. I still
have that Adam's nature. I find in the law that when I
would do good, evil is present with me. Evil is present with
me. For I delight in the law of God
after the inward man, but I see another law in my members warring
against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to
the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that
I am, there it is again, not that I was, that I am. Who shall
deliver me from the body of this death? Oh, wretched man that
I am. Still a sinner. Will never be
more than that. In Christ, we're perfect. See, in Christ, we're perfect.
But in ourselves, we're still sinners. Never be any more than
that. I am the chief of sinners. Oh, wretched man that I am. You know, this is one of the
most wondrous things about the gospel. In me, Paul says, I know
that in my flesh dwells no good thing, which leaves me hopeless.
No good thing, nothing I could put my finger on, that there's
any soundness in it, that there's anything I could commend myself
to God with. It leaves me hopeless. But in
my hopelessness, the gospel brings me a sure and steadfast hope. When hope is gone, then hope
appears. That's how the gospel is. In my nothingness, my emptiness,
I'm filled with the fullness of God. When I'm lost in the
darkness of sin, I'm freely given light and life and righteousness,
which presents me holy and righteous before God Almighty. And though I lay prostrated at
his feet, yet he lifts me up to sit among princes as a son
of God, an heir of God. And in my shame and in my disgrace
and my dishonor, I'm honored to be seated in Christ. That's
the gospel. That's what the gospel does. takes us from the dunghill and
sits us among princes. We're seated in Christ at the
right hand of God, sinners though we be. And again, as I already
said, no effort is required to be what we are, and we are sinners,
and Christ came to save sinners. God doesn't need my help. He
doesn't look to me for anything. He looks to his son for everything. and we'll never be anything but
saved sinners. Nothing to boast in, nothing
to brag in, nothing in ourselves to give us confidence or assurance.
Our eyes are fixed on Him who died for us and Him alone. When I lay in my dying bed, by
God's grace, I'll be looking to Him. Not looking back, not
looking in, but looking out and up to Him. and I can die in peace
looking at him. Christ, our hope. Nothing more
but save sinners. Sinners for sure, but through
our blessed substitute, viewed by God as though we had never
sinned. We're actually righteous. And
as Scott used to say, and it's not a pasted on righteousness,
we have the very righteousness of God himself, the righteousness
of Christ Jesus, our Lord. And then we read this in verse
16. Turn back there to 1 Timothy
1. I'll try to start winding this down a little bit. Paul's conversion was a pattern.
He said 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 Paul has exhibited an instance
of God's Abundant, long-suffering. Oh, our God is long-suffering. Thank God He is. Thank God. Thank God He's long-suffering.
As exhibited in Paul's case, abundant, long-suffering exercise
toward His elect for their salvation. He waits to be gracious. He waits. He waiting in the midst of all
their sin and rebellion lets them go on in their sin and rebellion.
In us, he waits to be gracious to them in his time. And there's
full proof of this in the Apostle Paul, which he said it's a pattern
to them. Oh, our God's long-suffering
with us. He may let us live to an old man, old woman, before
he speaks to us. What patience and long-suffering
were showed while Paul held the coats of those that stoned Stephen. And when he made havoc and hailed
men and women to prison and persecuted them to death, God graciously
waited, was long-suffering, didn't send him to hell right then and
there, which he deserved, which you and I deserve, be sent to
hell the day we're born. It's what we deserve. Sin deserves
that. We have a light view of sin. We may agree with Paul when he
says, I am the chief of sinners. I feel myself to be the chief
of sinners. I don't know how fully we believe
that about ourselves. There is still that pride within
us. Scott used to say, you know, that the gospel will take the
pride out of you, but not all of it. There's still pride in
our hearts. Our flesh rejects such language. But what patience and long-suffering
our Lord has as we rebel against Him and fight against Him, Paul
said this was done for a pattern to them which should hereafter
believe on him to life everlasting. So, sinner, hear this word. Though you come, the Scripture
says, let us reason together. Though your sins be as scarlet,
they shall be white as snow. Your sin will not keep you from
coming to Christ. your self-righteousness and your
self-reliance will. However deep and far you've gone
into sin and rebellion, and you feel and know your hatred of
God in your heart, don't let that keep you from coming to
Christ. That's the very reason you need to come to Christ, and
you must come to Christ to be delivered. I've never found anything
in the whole of scripture to discourage a man from coming
to Christ. Surely not sin. Don't say you're
too great a sinner. That's even the more reason to
come to Him now. Come quickly. Flee to Christ
for refuge. Never found in Scripture anything
to discourage a man from coming to Christ. He doesn't come because
he doesn't want to come. He doesn't see the need to come.
But I see rather the opposite. Our Lord cried in that great
day of the feast as men were departing. He said, if any man
thirst, let him come to me. Any man. You're thirsty. Come
on. Come to me. I'll give him life. He'll never thirst again. There's
nothing keeping you from coming to and believing in Christ but
your own self-will and your own self-righteousness. Cast it off. Scripture says, you will not
come to me that you might have life. Scripture says, and I mentioned
this a minute ago, come and let us reason together. Though your
sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow. And the conversion
of Paul attests to this. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. Remember this. It's a faithful
saying worthy of all acceptation. Though our sins are ever so great,
he that believeth shall not be condemned. Where sin abounded,
grace did much more abound. Don't those Scriptures encourage
you as a sinner? The Gospel and the Scriptures
addresses our sin and our need of a Savior. We need a Redeemer,
and there is a Redeemer who died for sin and put it away, paid
the penalty, so we don't have to. And some say that this doctrine
leads men to sin, encourages them in it. They say we put a premium on
sin by saying that Christ came to save nobody but sinners and
does not call anybody to repentance but the sinful. Well, quite the
opposite is true. Sin to the believer is exceeding
sinful in that his sin is against such goodness. When God turns
on the light, you see the goodness of God in Christ, and sin becomes
exceedingly sinful, painful. We hate it. The free, unmerited
love of God in Christ toward the sinner which is shed abroad
in the hearts of his people brings about a hatred for sin and a
love for righteousness. Don't you want to be righteous?
Don't you want to be perfect? Don't you want to be done with
sin? Sin nailed our dear Savior to the cross. Sin killed God. How evil is sin? How sinful,
how wicked is sin? What does a believer say? Has
God freely forgiven me all my offenses for Christ's sake, says
the believer? Does He love me notwithstanding
my sin? How great is that love! How great
is that love to sinners! A love so great that a new heart
is created in regeneration that loves God and hates sin. Oh my! Talk to a man about doing
good and about right and justice and reward and punishment. You
do this and you'll be rewarded. You don't do that, you'll be
punished. Though it may have a measure of influence upon him,
he does not deeply feel it and doesn't love, obey, obedience. That's law keeping. And such
teaching, the law, rules, and regulations, and do's and don'ts,
It's too cold to warm the heart. It's cold. But speak to him of free, redeeming
grace and pardon and dying love. And that God, out of his free
mercy, in spite of what we are and what
we've done, God, out of his free mercy, forgives the guilty. This
awakens the sinner. stirs him up, touches the fountain
of his tears, and moves his whole being. Look over in Luke 7. Luke chapter 7. Begin reading in verse 36. And one of the Pharisees desired
him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee's
house and sat down to meet. And behold, a woman in the city,
which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meet in
the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment
and stood at his feet behind him weeping and began to wash
his feet with tears. and did wipe them with the hairs
of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.
Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within
himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have
known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him,
for she is a sinner. And Jesus answering said unto
him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee, and he saith,
Master, say on. There was a certain creditor
which had two debtors, the one owed 500 pence and the other
50. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them
both. Tell me, therefore, which of
them will love him most? Simon answered and said, I suppose
that he to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, thou hast
rightly judged. And he turned to the woman and
said unto Simon, seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house,
thou gavest me no water for my feet, but she hath washed my
feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou
gavest me no kiss, but this woman since the time I came in hath
not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not
anoint, but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. Wherefore
I say unto thee, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she
loved much. But to him little is forgiven,
the same loveth little. And he said unto her, thy sins
are forgiven. And they that sat at meat with
him began to say within themselves, who is this that forgiveth sins
also? And he said to the woman, thy
faith hath saved thee. Go in peace. Her sins were forgiven. They were many, and they were
forgiven. And she loved him much, and she
expressed her love to him. And that's what happens to the
believer. We see what we are, and what
God, in spite of us, has done for us. And it brings a tear to the eye.
It breaks the heart. And God uses that to cause us
to hate sin and flee from it, to resist it, and to love righteousness,
to love his truth, and to love his son. May God richly bless
us with a sense of his love. Oh, how he loved us, elected
us, called us by his grace, sent his son to die for us. You remember
when God had Abraham go up onto the mountain
and said, and commanded Abraham to slay his son, his son Isaac. And I can't imagine what Abraham
must have thought as he raised the knife to plunge it into the
heart of his son. But God stopped him. Don't harm
the lad. But then think God the Father
raised a knife to plunge into his son. There was none to stop
him. He plunged it into the heart
of his son. Now, can you imagine doing that
to your son? What must it have been for God
to do that to his son because he loved you and me? Doesn't
that break your heart? May we all take our place as
sinners, the sinners we are, and be recipients of God's salvation,
Christ dying for sinners, for whom is the gospel meant, Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners. That's an astounding
statement. I like what Spurgeon said as
a word of encouragement in closing. blistered, leprous, filthy lips
may touch the stream of divine love. They cannot pollute it,
but shall themselves be purified. Hear the dear Redeemer's voice
as he cries. If any man thirst, let him come
unto me and drink." May God bless his word.