The Lord has blessed us. Indeed,
I was thinking there, Brother Al was teaching there about the
Levites. And of course, as we are a nation
of priests and kings by the grace of God, and we have here no continuing
city. We have no inheritance in this
world. uh... this world not our home
but we're passing through and such as we see typified in the
uh... the Levites and the fact that
they had no inheritance among the nation of Israel neither
do we have any inheritance among those uh... men of this world And we're looking in First Timothy. And I wanna read, we've looked
at a couple of these verses before, but I wanna read them again. 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. For 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 obtain mercy that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth
all longsuffering for a pattern to them which should hereafter
believe on him to life everlasting. Now unto the king eternal immortal,
invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory forever and
ever, amen. This charge I commit unto thee,
son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before
on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare, holding faith
and a good conscience, which some, having put away concerning
faith, have made shipwrecked. of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander,
whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme. Now we've talked some last time,
last week about this matter here in verse 13. As Paul speaks about having been
a recipient of the grace of God, And some have read this passage
of scripture as though Paul is making kind of an excuse or a
reason why the Lord singled him out versus some other. When they
read this and it says, but I obtained mercy, and he uses the word because, I did it ignorantly and in unbelief. Now, two things I want to say
about that. Number one is the word because
is normally translated in the scripture as for, most every
time that it's used. I forget, I think it's 1100 times
that it's used. And here, it is, for whatever
reason, the word because is used. Now, I'm not saying there's anything
wrong with the word because, but we have to understand what
Paul is saying here, because some people use the word because,
and some people understand this passage of Scripture in a wrong
light, because they believe that he is saying that because I was
ignorant and in unbelief, God showed mercy to me. Now that's
not what it really means as we would understand it. But what
it means is that he's saying the amazement that I received
mercy was that I was in ignorance and unbelief. So that he's amazed
at that. Now some people think that ignorance
and unbelief is an excuse. Ignorance is not an excuse before
Almighty God. It doesn't make any difference
if a man is ignorant, he's still accountable unto the Lord. Because the Lord gives, there's
enough light in the world for a man to know that God is worthy
to be praised and that he should fall down before Him. And the
Lord has taught men that they are wicked. Now men do everything
they can to escape from that. They don't want to face that.
They don't want to admit it. In fact, a lot of people think
they're doing pretty good. There's very few people that
think they don't make some mistakes from time to time, but they always,
well, you know, I did it because of this. But that's not, Paul's
not saying because I was ignorant and unbelief. He's saying in
spite of the fact that I was ignorant and in unbelief, God
showed mercy. And we're gonna see in a moment
what the cause for God showing mercy to Paul was because there
was a cause. And he's gonna tell us what it
is here in just a minute. He said, because he describes
himself as a persecutor and injurious, a blasphemer. Now likely, Paul
being a Pharisee, I doubt that he went around with blasphemous
words in his mouth, as we would consider what blasphemy is. But
yet when he came to the place where he recognized how he had
fought against the way of God by opposing Jesus Christ as the
Lord of Lords, he could not look at himself as being anything
but a blasphemer. Now that word in our minds is
often a terrible thing. It's blasphemy and it is a terrible
thing. But blasphemy is a very common
thing. Because whenever men speak a
message which does not give all glory to Jesus Christ and the
salvation of sinners, that's blasphemy. Because he alone is
worthy of it. It's not a cooperative effort.
on the part of God and men. That's not how men come to know
the Lord. The men come to know the Lord
because the mercy and grace of God visited upon them and opens
their eyes that they might see. And to speak anything else is
indeed blasphemy. And Paul says, I was a blasphemer. Oh, how often we have spoken
blasphemy. Oh, how often we have been injurious
to the cause of Christ. but the grace of God, in spite
of that. That's what Paul says, in spite
of the fact that I was ignorant and unbelief. Not, God said,
well, he's only, you know, boys will be boys. That's not what
he said. He says, in spite of the fact
that I fought against Almighty God, he showed mercy to me. And the grace of our Lord was
exceeding abundant with faith and love, which is in Christ
Jesus. Oh, the abundance of God's grace. See, only as a man is
taught how far he is from God can he be amazed at the exceeding
abundance of the faith and love of the Lord. A lot of people
think God ought to love everybody. I mean, I would venture to say
that most people that go around with bumper stickers on their
car saying God loves everybody, they say that because, well,
they just think that's just the way it is. I mean, it shouldn't
be that way. God loves everybody. Why shouldn't he love everybody?
Well, see, when the Lord is pleased to teach a man what he is by
nature, he'll wonder why God loved anybody. And he won't be
mad at God because he doesn't love everybody. Now, that comes
as a shock. you know, to the vast majority
of people to say that God does not love everybody. Because somebody
that loves everybody, that's no love at all, is it? I mean,
if we say, we just love, and you hear people say, oh, I just
love everybody. That's the biggest lie anybody
ever told. You don't love everybody, you can't love everybody. God could love everybody if he
so chose to do so, but he did not. And he said this, Jacob
have I loved and Esau have I hated. Now you can, I've heard men dance
around that and trying to preach on it and just come up with something
that's just totally ridiculous. It is what it is. He said he
hated Esau. Now, can a man say anything about
that? Now, a lot of people do. Well,
that's not fair. It's not right. Well, who said?
I mean, if God says it's right, it's right. Doesn't make any
difference if you like it or I like it. That's what he said. Name it, old man. Who art thou
that replies against God? And Paul said, I was replying
against God daily. But God, who's rich in mercy,
with the great love wherewith He loved me, even when we were
dead in trespasses and sins, He sent forth His Son to die
for us. with faith and love, which is
in Christ Jesus. It's not anywhere else. Where
is faith? The faith of God's people. Now,
you hear all these preachers on TV telling folks, you just
gotta have faith. I mean, bring your faith down
here to God, and oh, if he'll see your faith, then he'll do
wondrous things if you'll just show him your faith. Well, brethren,
you don't have any faith. Faith is the gift of God, not
of work, lest any man should boast. God alone is the author
and finisher of our faith. Now what is our faith? Our faith
is Jesus Christ and Him crucified. That's our faith. But we don't
have any other. And if you have any other, you
will perish. Because there is no faith. Without
faith, it's impossible to please God. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation. Now this, you know, if somebody
comes preaching any other message than this, it's not a faithful
saying, but he said, this is a faithful saying and worthy
of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to
save sinners. Now, you'd think that since all
men sin, that all men would be sinners, wouldn't you? I mean,
that makes sense to the natural man, doesn't it? I mean, that
everybody's sinners. Joseph Hart wrote this. He said,
a sinner's a sacred thing. The Holy Ghost has made him so.
Of course, it's hard to find a sinner. There's some out there, but it's
hard to find them. Because most men think that while
they have done some bad things in their life, you know, their
good has outweighed their bad. They always tried to do what
was right. But Christ came into the world
to save sinners. Now, what's a sinner? A sinner
is somebody that knows he doesn't have any righteousness. See,
most all men think they've got some righteousness. Well, I'm
not just totally, completely wicked. Well, when the Lord showed
Paul what he was, and he had more reason probably than any
of us in here, and more than the most people to have considered
that he was righteous. He was a Pharisee of the Pharisees.
I mean, he was the most religious of the most religious people
on earth. But he said, I was the chief
of sinners. This is a faithful saying. Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. Now, there can only be one chief
of sinners. Paul laid claim to it, and I
can't dispute it. But I can say I'm right along
there with you. Because you see, a man who is
convinced of his sin believes he is the greatest of sinners. When David came to the Lord and
wrote the 51st Psalm, he thought he was the chief of sinners,
did he not? He said, against thee, and thee only have I sinned. and done this evil in thy sight."
See, sin is a crime against God. It's not chewing tobacco and
going to the picture show and all the things that men say,
oh, well, that's sinful. Now, don't get me wrong. There's
many things that the Lord said don't do that, okay? But sin
is that which is an evidence of the rebellion of the human
heart against Almighty God. Adam demonstrated The Lord said,
I'm giving you all these trees, but this one here, you're not
to eat of it. And the Lord told him what he
was gonna do, did he not? And Adam did exactly that. Because
he had a rebellious heart before Almighty God. And he's passed
it on to us. And it's the grace of God that
caused the man to see that. to know it, to feel it in his
heart. See, you can tell a man all day
long he's a sinner. He might even agree with you.
He might even intellectually say, well, you know, that sounds
right, it's probably true. But it's only when God is pleased
to send the arrow of his conviction from the bow of the Holy Spirit
to pierce a man's heart and to feel himself before Almighty
God as one unworthy of the least of his mercies. Such a man is
that as a sinner. And the good news is that Christ
died for sinners. Now see, a sinner is the least
likely one to believe and to receive that with gladness, is
he not? I mean, it takes a while to convince
a sinner that Christ is the Savior. Now he's glad when he's convinced
of it. But it takes him a while. Because
he knows what an unworthy wretch that he is. And he knows he has
no leg to stand on. And he has no reason to expect
that God should show mercy to him. But oh, you see that's why
we preach the gospel. Is to let men know. that there's
life and immortality in Jesus Christ. And see, a sinner, when
he is unable to hear that blessed message, he flees to it. He can't
go anywhere else. There's nothing else that's gonna
help him. Religion won't do him any good.
Good deeds won't help him out. He can't go away. He must come
to Christ, even as Peter. And we say it many times, and
it is a blessed truth. He said, Lord, to whom shall
we go? Thou hast the word of eternal
life. And we believe and are sure that
thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. The Lord said
to him, Peter, He said, flesh and blood did not reveal that
to you, but my Father which is in heaven. Oh, what a glorious
place that is when a sinner is brought to that place to recognize
that Christ is the Savior, that none other can save. And he desires
none other. See, we're not looking for somebody
else to come along. Some people's looking for the
next big thing. Most religious folks is waiting for the next
big thing. They want the next mountaintop experience, or they
want this, that, or the other. You know, they want to get juiced
up and fired up and everything else. A sinner just wants Christ. He doesn't care what else he
has, he wants Christ. And then he says he's going to
tell us what the cause that the Lord showed mercy to him. He
said, how be it? In spite of all of that, the
fact that I was injurious, I did all these things ignorantly in
unbelief, and God should have smoked me down and killed me
a hundred times over. He said, for this cause. Now
here's the because. You want to know, if you're looking
for a because, this is the because. He said, for this cause I obtained
mercy. that in me first, Jesus Christ,
might show forth all long-suffering. See, why does the Lord show mercy
to sinners? That he might be glorified. See,
he told Moses, he said, I'll show mercy to whom I will show
mercy. He said, this is my glory. See,
mercy belongs to the Lord. It's not something that men can
traffic in. It's not something men can sell
to somebody. It's not something men can do
for somebody. But it's only that which the
Lord alone can do for sinners. And he's pleased to do so. Why? So that his name might be glorified. And that's what he says here.
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. He said he made
me an example of how it is that the Lord saves men. You know, I want all the big
preachers of free will to tell me when it was that Paul sought the Lord according
to his free will. Is that what happened? No, he
was on the road to Damascus going exactly the opposite way with
no thought toward serving Jesus Christ. And in a split second
moment of time, without any operation of his free will, God, who is
rich in mercy, smote him down. And the first words out of his
mouth is, who art thou, Lord? See, it didn't take him long
to realize, buddy, he was in deep trouble. The Lord might show forth all
longsuffering for a pattern to them that should hereafter believe.
Now did he believe? I don't recall reading where he
said, I believe. But I see that he believed. I mean, did he not? He said, He's
able to keep that, which I have committed unto Him against that
day. He's my Savior. He's my hope. I don't need anything
else. That's all I need. Should be
a pattern to them. Now a pattern, what is a pattern? I remember my mother, she used
to sew, and I can remember her going to the store and buying
a pattern. And she'd lay that out on the
fabric, and she would cut out the pieces of stuff according
to the pattern. The Lord has a pattern. And he
demonstrated that pattern of salvation in the apostle Paul. Paul wasn't seeking him, but
God, who's rich in mercy, was seeking Paul. Oh, what a glorious thing. What
a glorious thing. Paul could have, humanly speaking,
Paul could have went on his way, could he not? I mean, he'd heard
some preaching, he heard Stephen preach, did he not? Did he say, oh, you know, I think
I'll make a decision? No, his heart was hardened. See, the gospel, which is sweet
and precious to those that believe, is foolishness to the world. The man who's not a sinner, he'll
look at the gospel and say, eh, you know, I don't have time for
that. I got too many things to do. I mean, that's all right
for people. I've had people tell me, well,
that's okay for you. And it is okay for me. Paul said
these things are a savor of life unto life unto some and death
unto death to others. Why is that? The grace of God. See, we're not amazed that the
gospel brings out basically condemnation unto men through the same mouth
of the one who speaks forth life and truth to others. The grace
of God alone is that which makes the difference, the mercy of
God. For a pattern to them which should
hereafter believe on him, their life everlasting. When can you stop believing? When can a man who's a sinner
stop thinking he's a sinner? You ever thought about that?
Did you ever stop thinking of yourself as a sinner? No, you
know you're a sinner. And the glorious thing is that
if you truly know you're a sinner, by the mercy and grace of God,
you know that Christ died for sinners. And see, that's what
gives us hope, is it not? That's why we come together.
Because we know we're a bunch of incorrigible sinners that
are not worthy of the least of the Lord's mercies, but we rejoice
that we have received mercy. Oh, what a glorious God He is.
The Savior of sinners. And He saved Paul. You realize
Paul wrote most of the New Testament. Most everything that we know
doctrinally, not saying everything, but most everything we know doctrinally,
we learned through the Apostle Paul. As the Spirit of God taught
us these things that Paul was pleased, the Lord was pleased
to give Paul the right. And so the Lord did make him
a pattern, you see, to those that would hereafter believe
to life everlasting. Because there are, there are
some who do. And everyone is exactly like
Paul. They're sought by the Lord and
they could not escape. Paul ran from the Lord. The Lord
said, Paul, it's hard for thee to kick against the bricks. See,
you're kicking back. But you see, a man can't escape
the mercy of God. I'm glad of that. And he'll save
every sinner that ever called upon his name who believed to
life everlasting. May the Lord give us such a mind
and heart today.