Some years ago now, as a novice
in preaching, the man you all know quite well, Henry Mahan,
a faithful pastor for over 50 years, gave me some godly advice. I think about his words of wisdom
to me very often. He told me that in preaching,
to always make the object of my message the Lord Jesus Christ. He told me to always make the
motive of my message the glory of God. To always preach, he
said, in the language of the people. Now what he meant by
that was to preach with simplicity. Easy to understand words. So that the smallest of children
can understand. He told me to always preach in
love. He said if the message doesn't
grip and bless your heart, it won't grip those that hear you.
That's good advice. And the one thing that he told
me that still burns in my heart even this morning was expect
men and women to believe. If we preach and don't expect
men and women to be saved, will our message ever be effectual?
I've never, not once, in the times I've preached before coming
here, in the five years that I've been here, have ever stepped
down from this pulpit when I've truly felt that I've done these
things justice. Not once. But I tell you this
much, that what I preach I do expect you to believe." Well,
is that being presumptuous? Call it what you may. For to
do otherwise would be a disservice to God who commands men and women
to believe. It's a commandment. God says
very plainly in Scripture to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. It doesn't say if you feel like
it, if you want to, if you get the urge. It says believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. What a promise. What a certainty. This morning
I want to look at one verse, well really a few, but I want
to concentrate on one verse that I pretty much quote every message
I try to preach. Somewhere or another in the message
it's either mentioned, quoted, or read. Most of you know it
by heart. Some of you know it in your heart.
And it's found in 1 Timothy 1, verse 15. And as I've told you
many times, I feel like sometimes, especially on these familiar
passages of Scripture, we just read over them real quick and
don't really give them the consideration that we should. That's how Paul
starts out this verse in verse 15. He said, this is a faithful
saying. This is something worthy to be heard. It's worthy of all
acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to save who? Sinners. Sinners of whom I am
chief. Now let me say something else
I know to be true in our day. There are many preachers who
preach about the gospel and never preach the gospel. Now, do you
know what I mean by that? I think you do. Are we really
preaching the gospel of Christ, the good news for needy sinners,
or are we just preaching about it? Preaching the gospel is not
telling men and women what the gospel isn't. Preaching on successful
living is not preaching the gospel. It's not preaching the gospel
of Christ. Telling people how to live, that's
not preaching the gospel. Building schools, feeding and
housing the poor are all good things. Things we ought to do.
But they're not preaching the gospel. Paul said we preach not
ourselves, but we preach Christ Jesus. And this is what I'm asking
you. Are we preaching Christ or are
we preaching ourselves? The verse that I've chosen this
morning from my text, this verse that I quote practically every
time I stand to preach is what the Gospel is all about. It's
a faithful saying. It's a faithful word. And it's
worthy of all acceptation. It's worthy of all creation to
bow and to believe. And it's the heart of the Gospel. And it's worthy of every single
one's acceptance. It's the good news that God has
for sinners. And it preaches itself. This
is a faithful saying, Paul said, and it's worthy of all acceptation.
I have four things I want to give you. First is that Christ
Jesus. Let's just break this down. In
high school, we used to call it dissecting sentences. It's
a faithful saying worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus,
the gospel is about the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what it's
about. The gospel is about a person. The gospel always begins and
ends with Christ. The Gospel is about God's Son
who died for ungodly sinners. Romans 5, 6 says, "...for when
we were yet without strength..." That's a good picture of us.
No strength, no ability. No man can come to me. You will
not come to me that you might have life. We don't have the
ability nor the will to come when we were without strength.
In due time, Christ died for the ungodly. That gets my attention. You know why? I'm ungodly. I'll be the first to admit to
you, well David, you seem like a pretty good guy. You don't
know my heart. You don't know what goes through
my mind. I'm ungodly. I'm ungodly. Now if you'll hold your place
here, just put your marker there because we'll refer back to this.
I want you to turn with me to Ephesians chapter 2. It's a faithful
saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus, that's what
this is about. Ephesians 2 and verse 1 it says,
And you hath He quickened. That right there tells us that
we were dead. Spiritually dead. When Adam partook
of the forbidden fruit, the Lord said, In the day thou eatest
thereof, thou shalt surely die. And he lived 930 years, but he
died spiritually. And every man and woman after
him died spiritually. And Paul says, And you hath he
quickened who were dead in what? Trespasses and sin. Dead in trespasses
and sin by inheritance, by birth, and by practice. Verse 2, Wherein
time passed, ye walked according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit
that now worketh in the children of disobedience. among whom also,"
notice these words, "...we all had." Every single one of us
had our conversation in times past in what the lust of our
flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind,
and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. I'm
here to tell you this morning, friends, the only difference
between me and a murderer on death row is the grace of God. That's the only difference. Our
hearts are deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.
We read in Genesis chapter 6 that man's heart is only evil continually. Oh, we all had our conversation
in times past, lust of the flesh, fulfilling the desires of the
flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath,
even as others. Now here's the gospel, but God. Two of my favorite words in all
of Scripture, but God. who is rich in mercy, for His
great love, you're talking about great love, wherewith He loved
us. It'd have to be great love for
Him to love me. Even when we were dead in sins,
hath quickened us together. How? With Christ. You know what
your Bible says? By grace are you saved. And hath
raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places. How? In Christ Jesus. that in the ages to come He might
show the exceeding riches of His grace and His kindness toward
us. How? Through Christ Jesus. For by grace are you saved. How? Through faith. And that
faith is in Christ Jesus. The object of our faith is Christ. And that's not of yourselves.
It's not anything you muster up. This ain't anything that
you can devise of your own, that you can earn, that you merit.
It's a gift of God. Now when someone gives you a
gift, was it a gift? Was it something that was given
to you or was it something you earned? Merited? Deserved? If
so, then it ceases to be a gift. It's the gift of God. Everybody
in the world knows passage of John 3.16. You see it on bumper
stickers. You see it on everything. John
3.16. You'll see a man, you'll drive down the road and there's
a man holding a sign, John 3.16. And they don't have a clue what
it means. Not a clue. For God so loved the world that
He gave. It's a gift. What did He give?
Well, the question is, who did He give? For God so loved the
world that He gave who? His only begotten Son. That whosoever
believeth what? In Him. Should not perish, but
have everlasting life. This is a faithful, sane, and
worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus. That's where it
begins. That Christ Jesus. The salvation
of sinners, the good news for sinners, that's what gospel means,
good news. The gospels for sinners is always
first and foremost that Christ Jesus. Now, second thing, what
did He do? What did He do? He came into
the world. He came into the world. God's
beloved Son left His throne on high, left His majesty, left
His glory, and came into the world. Now that's good news.
If He had not come into the world, dear friends, we would have never
come unto Him. Turn with me to the Gospel of
John, easy enough to find. Chapter 1. I know most of you
know this by heart, but I want you to see it in your own Bible.
John 1, verse 1. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. God is this
Word. The same was in the beginning
with God. Now who's he talking about there?
He's talking about God the Son. All things were made by Him. Remember in Genesis where He
said, Let us make man in our own image? Who's God talking
to? He's talking to His Son. The one who created the whole
shooting match. I'll prove that to you in a second.
The same was in the beginning with God. And all things were
made by Him. And without Him was not anything
made that was made. And notice verse 4. In Him was
life. That's where life is. It's in
Him. And the life was the light of
men. Now, look down at verse 14. And
the Word. Now, who's that speaking of?
That's speaking of Christ. He just told us who He was. The
Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld His glory,
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. Let me read Galatians chapter
4 verses 4 and 5. It tells us, But when the fullness
of time was come, God sent forth, who? His Son, made of a woman,
made under the law. Why? to redeem them that were
under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. No longer a stranger, no longer
an alien to the covenant of promise, but now made a son, a joint heir,
and all that's his is now mine. That's the best news I ever heard.
Let's read our text again, 1 Timothy 1.15. This is a faithful saying
and worthy of all acceptation. This is the truth if it was ever
spoken. That Christ Jesus came, and He
came into the world. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. Why did He come? Third thing,
to save sinners. Is that what it says? That He
came into the world to what? Save sinners. This is what threw
most of His followers off. They thought He'd come into the
world to set up an earthly kingdom. To deliver them from the Roman
bondage that they were in. That He was going to set up an
army and take over and rule and reign. But He came into the world
to save sinners. And His kingdom is not an earthly
kingdom. It's a heavenly kingdom. How
does Christ save sinners? Well, the Apostle Paul tells
us very plainly in 2 Corinthians 5. He says, For he, God, hath
made him, Christ, to be sin for us. Who knew no sin? Let's make that perfectly clear.
He didn't know sin. There was no guile found in his
mouth. He was made to be sin for us
that we might be made what? The righteousness of God in Him.
Do you know what God requires from you in order to be saved,
in order to be reconciled unto Him? Perfection. Perfection. Now I know we use those terms
of good old boys. Just a good old boy. There's
nothing to do with good no one. But God requires much more than
a good old boy. He requires perfection. And this
is how we get it. He who has made sin for us and
knew no sin is the same one that made us the righteousness of
God. Where? In Him. In Him. Can I say it again? I say it
all the time. Y'all haven't gotten rid of me yet. This is a Him
book. Not H-Y-M-N. H-I-M. This book's about Him.
from beginning to end. He was perfect. The Lord Jesus
Christ was made flesh and dwelt among us so that He might die
in our place being made sin for us and imputing His perfect righteousness
to us. That's how this sinner is saved.
And that's what I cling and hold on to and that's all I care to
hear. Don't try to tell me how to live because I'm not going
to be able to do it. Don't tell me to straighten up and fly a
riot. I can't straighten up and I definitely can't fly a riot.
My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. That's my hope. That's my hope. He was perfect. He never had
an evil thought. How many evil thoughts have you
had since the beginning of this, sir? You don't have to answer.
You know. You know. I've often said that
if my mind could be projected upon a board, I'd run out of
that back door screaming at the top of my lungs that you would
see what's truly in my heart. And I suspect it's no different
for you. My mind and heart, as we read in Genesis 6, is only
evil continually. His heart was pure and righteous. Mine is deceitful above all things,
and desperately wicked. He never spoke an evil word.
And Romans 3.13 tells me that my throat is an open sepulcher,
my tongue is full of deceit, and the poison of asp is under
my lips. Now, in other words, my throat
is a gaping, broad grave. The only thing that comes out
of it is dead things. Dead. And my tongue is as slippery
and slick as a mudslide. And every word I speak is flavored
with poison." That's what God said. I don't much appreciate
you saying that about me. I didn't say it. God said it.
And He said it about me, and He said it about you. If you
have a problem with it, take it up with Him. But Christ came
into the world to what? Save sinners. That's for sure
what I am. That's what I am. I'm a sinner.
I'm not a good old boy. Now in John chapter 5, you don't
have to turn there. You remember the story. Our Lord
came to Jerusalem. I like that language because
our verse says He came into the world to save sinners. He came
to this pool of Bethesda and there were a multitude of sick
and impotent folk, blind, afflicted, withered and hauled. I mean these
people were in bad shape. And the scriptures say he saw
a certain man. Out of all those folks that lay
there, his attention was directed to one certain man. And he goes
up to that man and there was a superstition. I guess it was
a superstition. I don't know. I've read different
men's opinions on that. But there was an opinion that
But every so often an angel came down and stirred the water, and
the first one that could get in that water was healed. Sounds
like superstition to me. I don't know. It may not have
been. I'm going to tell you this much. That ain't much good news
for somebody that's crippled. That's not much good news for
somebody that's paralyzed. And what did that man say? He
said, I don't have any man to put me in the water. I can't
do it. That's what He was saying. I
can't do anything to save myself. Have you seen that? Have you
seen that you can't do anything to save yourself? I don't have
any man to put me in the water. And our Lord Jesus Christ looked
at him and He said, Take up your bed and walk. He said that to
me one day. Take up your bed and walk. And
the Scriptures say immediately The man was made whole and took
up his bed and what? He walked. Oh, he walked. 38 years He lay. Now He walked. Christ Jesus came
into the world a safe center. Do you believe that? The Lord
Jesus came. One day He told His disciples,
He said, I must need to go through Samaria. Oh man, they didn't
much like that. Samaria? What a hideous place
full of no good half-breeds, the disciples thought. That's
what they were. They were most of them half-Jew and half-Gentile.
And the Jews despised them. If you saw a Samaritan, if you
were a Jew and you saw a Samaritan on the street, you would walk
across the road and down the other side and then cut back
over after you'd passed them. That's just how they felt about
them. But you see, he must needs go
through Samaria. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. He must needs go to Samaria.
You know why? Because there was a woman that
came to draw water from a well every day at the same time. She
came in the heat of the day. You know why? Because she was
ashamed. She was a woman of a notorious
reputation. Been married five times. The
man she lived with wasn't her husband. Christ told her all
these things. And He asked her for a drink.
And she said, you being a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan, for a drink? And He said, if you ask for the
water that I give, you'd never thirst again. You know what He
did? He gave her that water. And she went and told everybody
in town, come hear about a man that told me all things concerning
myself. And here they come. And many
people in that city were saved. Christ Jesus came in the world
to save sinners. Are you a sinner? One day the
Lord said to His disciples, He said, I've got to cross the waters.
They said, Lord, there's a storm coming up. They forgot He's the
Lord of the storm. You remember that time they were
crossing and He was asleep in the back of the ship and their
ship was tossed to and fro. They were about to sink and they
woke Him up and they said, Lord, don't you care that we perish?
And He stood up and He said, Peace, be still. And the storm
came to an end. Oh, can you imagine? I can just
see the sun coming out and birds chirping and the water just is
calm because the Lord of the Sea said, Peace be still. But anyway, they crossed this
body of water in the great storm. Why? There was a madman in Gadara. who was possessed with a legion
of devils. And when he had come out of the
ship, the Scripture said, immediately they met him out of the tombs,
this man with a legion of unclean spirits." This man lived in a
cemetery. And no man could bind him, the
Scripture said, not even with chains. Man, they had tried several
times. They had taken him and bound
him in chains and fetters, and he broke them like they were
nothing, like Samson would have. But this was no ordinary man. that had come to him this day.
This was the God-man. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. Does that mean anything to you?
If you're a sinner, it does. And whoa, what a picture this
is of me. That man at the Pool of Bethesda. That woman at the well. And this
mad maniac. Boy, that picture's big! That's
what I was! And I'm telling you, the Lord
cast out those devils into the swine and the whole town came
out to see. And this wild man was now, Scripture
says, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed. And in his right
mind, no ordinary man can do the things that he does. Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners. It's a faithful
saying. It's worthy of your acceptance,
my acceptance, everyone's acceptance. We ought to bow to it now. That's
what God says. And then He says, "...of whom
I am chief." The result of Christ Jesus coming into the world to
save sinners is just this. All believers whom He saves will
see themselves as the chief of sinners. Not just sinners. They'll
tell you, I'm the worst. I'm the worst of the worst. about
themselves. If you're still with me in 1
Timothy 1.15, I'm almost finished. If you'll look back a few verses
in verse 12, this is where this dissertation actually begins.
Paul says in verse 12, he said that God put him into the ministry. He said, I thank Christ Jesus
our Lord who hath enabled me for that he counted me faithful.
What? Putting me into the ministry. Now, He's not a servant of a
denomination. He's not a servant of an organization. He's not the servant of a people.
He's not even His own servant. He is God's servant, God's bond
slave. He said, He put me in the ministry. This is not a job. This is not
a vocation. I have people ask me all the
time, what do you do for a living? Well, this is not a job. This
is not a vocation. It's a divine appointment. And
nobody's more surprised about it than me. That's why I'm his
messenger. I'm his ambassador. I'm his preacher.
Because he, according to his own purpose and wisdom, put me
in the ministry. Paul didn't belong to a church
of people. He belonged to God. And in verse 13, he tells us
what he was. He said, I was a blasphemer.
And I was injurious. He said, I was an unbeliever
like everybody else. And it's not my goodness that
put me in the ministry, nor is it my merit. It is God's grace
that called me out of my blasphemy. And you know his story. He was
Saul. And the Lord saved him on the
road to Damascus. Now let me say this, because
I want you to understand that God uses sinners to preach the
Gospel. Don't ever put a man up on a
pedestal. He's nothing but a sinner just
like you. Don't ever put me up on one. He uses men who in their
own hearts have experienced the gospel that they preach. That's
what Paul's saying here. He said, God put me in the ministry.
Before Christ found me, called me, and put me in the ministry,
I was a blasphemer. I hated God. I threw people in
prison and held the coats of those that stoned God's people. I was injurious, a persecutor,
and I was an unbeliever even though I was religious. I've
had friends say to other friends, David got religion. No, David
didn't. No sirree, don't you accuse me
of that. Religious people are mean. They
are. Paul was religious and he threw
people in prison. to believe the gospel. There's
nothing for God's servant to take pride in. Let me tell you
something, preachers that are haughty, and I've seen them on
TV, I've heard them on the radio, those that are haughty, proud,
arrogant, and give that holier-than-thou attitude, I'm gonna go out on
a limb here, they don't know God. Oh, when God saves a sinner,
let me tell you, first and foremost, he's humbled. He's humbled. He's
not arrogant, proud, didn't think he's something special. Preachers
are nothing more than unprofitable servants who plant and water
and beg God to give the increase. And that's what Paul said. He
said, some say I'm of Apollos and some say I'm of Paul. He
said, who's Paul and who's Apollos? One of us plants and one of us
waters, but only God can give the increase. Don't put men on
a pedestal. So the gospel that I'm preaching,
dear friends, is the gospel of a person. Christ Jesus. Jesus
Christ the Lord. Jesus the Son of Man. He's bone
of our bone. He's flesh of our flesh. And
He's God. He's a God-man. He's 100% God. He's 100% man. He's as much God
as if He wasn't man, and as much man as if He wasn't God. And
don't ask me if I understand that. But I believe it. I don't
understand everything that I believe. That's why it's called faith.
But this is the record, and I leave you with this. God hath given
to us eternal life, and that life is wherein His Son. That's where it's at. He that
hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son hath
not life." Now what are you going to do with that? Are you going
to believe? Are you going to ask God to cause you to believe,
help you to believe, make you to believe? Or are you going
to ignore it? May God grant you to come to
Him that came into the world to save sinners.