First Timothy chapter 1 let's
read beginning begin reading at verse 1. We read the first
17 verses Paul and an apostle of Jesus Christ By the commandment
of God our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope unto
Timothy my own son in the faith I 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 jaggling, 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, Thank
Christ Jesus our Lord who had 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 a 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. How be it for this cause I obtained
a mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all long-suffering
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. Amen. I'd like to take
just four words from verse 13 as our text. And they are these. Paul says,
but I obtained mercy. But I obtained mercy. David sang
last night, how can it be? Oh, how can it be that God should
love a soul like me? Oh, how can it be? This is Paul's
solo of gratitude. This is a song that he never
tired of singing. He never got over it. He never
got over it. I obtained mercy. That's an astounding statement,
isn't it? Isn't it? I obtained mercy. Darvin mentioned earlier your
church here. And it is kind of out in the boondocks. And people drive by. And most people, no doubt, don't
even notice, don't pay any attention. And as Darvin was saying that,
I thought, What a marvel it would be if God Almighty, this very
day, came here, this place, this out of the way place, and someone,
some sinner, some sinner that's been made aware that they're
the sinner, and they're crying with a heart burdened with sin,
with a burden on their back like Bunyan's pilgrim. And God Almighty
comes to where they are. And here, this very day, in this
place, they would obtain mercy. Wouldn't that be something? Wouldn't
that be something? Paul said, I obtain mercy. What an astounding statement. Or is it? Let me ask you. Or is it? Is it an astounding
statement to you? If you have some idea of what
you are, as David said earlier, not what you've done, but what
I am, the problems in here, the publican knew that. The Pharisee
didn't. The Pharisee talked about outward
things. Oh, I don't touch this, and I
don't wear that, and I don't go there. And he looked down
his nose and said, I'm so glad I'm not like other men, like
that fellow down there, that publican, that publican. Oh, he wishes today he'd been
like that publican, doesn't he? Since he lifted up his eyes in
hell, he wished he'd have been like that publican, that poor
sinner who said, I'm the sinner. There's not another one like
me. I'm the sinner. And he smote
on his breast. That's the problem. That's my
problem. He said, I need a new heart. I'm the sinner. Have mercy on
me. Paul never got over it. This religious generation, sad
to say, that you and I live in, doesn't have a clue, do they?
They're born with a nature, just like we all were, that feels
like they deserve God's mercy. It's just inbred. God is obligated
to have mercy on me. And sad to say, that false notion
is fed more by them being told that that's so. God's obligated
to save you. God's trying to save everybody. He's doing all He can to save
everyone. If you'll just help Him, I declare,
a God, a so-called God, that needs my help, we're both in
trouble. I'm in trouble, and He's in trouble. But there's no marvel to that,
is there? And you know what that produces?
You know what that sort of preaching produces? It tells men that God
is in their hands. It produces no fear whatsoever
in the heart of the sinner. No sense of urgency. None at all. I remember hearing
Brother Henry Mahan Say, he was talking to a lady one time and
asked her if she was a believer, if she were a Christian. And
she said, oh, Brother Henry, I've been a Christian all my
life. And Henry said, lady, that's too long. That's too long. Oh, no. There must be a time
when God comes to us, as old Newton wrote, and by his grace,
by his grace, he teaches my heart to fear. That's a necessary work,
absolutely essential, gets me lost all but to marvel. The wonder when that same grace,
that same amazing grace, relieves my fear and takes away my sins. Old Joseph Hart asked this question
in one of his hymns. It's a good question. What comfort
can a Savior bring to those who never felt their woe? What comfort does God give to
any sinner who's never felt their need of His mercy? And the answer is none. He won't. He won't comfort a
sinner that's never felt his woe. What he will do when he
is merciful is strip us, strip us before he closes. He must
bring us down before we're lifted up. We must be lost before we
can ever be found. We must be made to confess, I'm
the sinner. It's not my neighbor anymore.
It's me. My sin has found me out and be
made to cry out, cry out from the depths of our heart, oh,
depth of mercy, depth of mercy. Can there be? You recall that? Recall that? Oh, depth of mercy,
can there be mercy still reserved for me, a sinner like me? Because that's the issue. Isn't
it? Is sin no longer the issue? People say, preachers ask folks,
buttonhole them, you know, ambulance chasers. You don't want to go
to hell, do you? You ever heard anybody ask you,
you don't want to go to hell? When I was a young man, I'd get
buttonholed down to him. Oh, don't you want to accept
Jesus? You don't want to go to hell, do you? And I thought,
do I look like a blooming idiot to you? No, of course not. But that's not the issue. And
they say, well, if you don't want to go to hell, why don't
you accept this Jesus? Step on this fire escape. I'm
calling Jesus out of hell. No, no, no. That's not the issue. No, old Hart went on to say,
a sinner is a sacred thing. The Holy Ghost has made him so. Paul is nearing the end of his
life's journey. Not long after this, he would
write to his beloved Timothy and say, the time of my departure
is at hand. He's near the end of the road
now. But you know what? He's never got over the wonder
of God's mercy to him. I heard Brother Tim James a few
weeks ago, and I've heard him make this statement before. He
said the reason he preaches against self-righteousness so much is
because he's self-righteous. He says he speaks about it so
often because he has a problem with it. And I have a problem. within
gratitude, Don. God, help me. Give me grace not
to get over the wonder of your mercy. Paul says, who was before
in verse 13? Before. He never got over that,
did he? Never forgot what he was before,
a blasphemer. a persecutor, self-righteous,
deceived, trusting in his own works, didn't know God whatsoever,
but was exceedingly zealous of the tradition of the fathers. Oh, he thought he was doing God's
will. He thought he was pleasing God
when he was murdering God's people. How blind. And Paul knew he would
have remained in that darkness. He would have remained in that
blindness. He would have remained self-deceived
and clothed in his own self-righteousness. He would have stood before God
in those filthy rags except for one thing, but God. But I obtained mercy, Paul said. Look at me. Does anybody want
mercy? Is anybody seeking mercy? Is
there any lost sinner that desires God's grace, forgiveness? Look at me, Paul said. Look at
me. I'm an example of God's marvelous
mercy. He met grace that day. on the
Damascus road. Grace personified. He meant not
Jesus of Nazareth, the deceiver. Not Jesus of Nazareth, whom he
thought to be an imposter. Oh, no. He meant King Jesus,
the mighty God, who said, Paul, that's as far as you're going
to go. Not another step come down, come down off that high
horse, Paul, and he bows before King Jesus, Timothy, Timothy,
I obtain the mercy. Oh, amazing grace! God helped me never to forget
before. Before, where I was, what I was,
except But God. Isaiah 53, our Lord says, look
back or 51 rather, look back to the rock from when she were
in and to the whole of the pit from when she were did. Samuel
Rutherford wrote, and I believe if I remember correctly, in his
day, folks referred to him as Holy Rutherford. They felt he
was so separated, dedicated to God. He didn't refer to himself
that way. Listen to what he said about himself. When I look at
my sinfulness, my salvation is to me my Savior's greatest miracle. Is that not so? Martin Luther
said this. When a man like me comes to know
the plague of his own heart, he is not miserable only He is
absolute misery. He is absolute misery itself.
He is not sinful only. He is absolute sin itself. Jonathan Edwards said, it has
often appeared to me that if God were to mark the heart iniquity,
or rather to mark my heart iniquity, my bed would be in hell. No wonder, Paul said, What a
marvel, God's mercy. Turn, if you will, back to Job,
Job chapter 42. Job 42, he and his friends had
for days set around trying to figure out God. Job, you've had to sin. No other explanation for what
God's brought up on you. And then, God himself appears
on the scene. Verse 1 of chapter 42, Then Job
answered the Lord and said, I know that thou canst do everything,
and that no thought can be withholden from thee. Who is he that hideth
counsel without knowledge? Therefore, have I uttered that
I understood not things too wonderful for me, which I knew not? Job
said, I didn't know what I was talking about. Here I beseech
thee and I will speak. I will demand of thee and declare
thou to me. I have heard of thee by the hearing
of the ear. But now, but now, my eye seeth
thee. And what effect does that have
upon you, Job? You see God. You've been made
aware of God. What will you do now? How does
that affect you? Will you stand up and strut around
like a peacock? What did that do? That awareness
of who God is, Job, made him aware of what he was. And this
is what it did for him, verse 6, "...wherefore I abhor myself."
Oh, in the light of God's holiness, my sinfulness is so evident. "...and I abhor myself, and repent
in dust and ashes." Oh, but I love that word, don't you? But God,
what a blessed word it is. I'm not what I once was. Why, Paul? But God. Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter
15. But God's marvelous mercy is
the only reason. And Paul mentions it over and
over again. In 1 Corinthians 15, you know
the passage. Paul again is speaking of God's grace. He says in verse
nine of first Corinthians 15. For I am the least of the apostles. They am not meet to be called
an apostle because I persecuted the church of God. But but by
the grace of God, that sweet grace of God grace. greater than all my sin. Grace that reaches deeper, like
David said, than the stain is gone. But by the grace of God,
I am what I am. And His grace His grace which
was bestowed upon me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly
than they all. Yet not I, but the grace of God
which was with me." Turning to Galatians chapter 1. Galatians chapter 1. Paul again speaks of what he
was before. In verse 13. But you heard of
my conversation, my matter of life, how I lived in time past
in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the
church of God and wasted it and profited in the Jews' religion
above many my equals in mine own nation, being exceedingly
zealous of the traditions of my fathers. But, but, But I opened up my heart and
let Jesus come in. No. But I took the first step. No. No. What happened, Paul? Explain to us the great change
that took place in your life. You are now preaching the gospel,
that gospel that concerns his son. You're preaching that gospel
that you once destroyed. Why is that so, Paul? But when
it pleased Do you hear that? Do you hear that? When is a man
saved? When will a sinner bow to the
sovereign rule of the Lord Jesus Christ? When will that take place? How can that only take place
when it pleases God? That's when sinners are saved,
when it pleases God, who separated me from my mother's womb. and
called me by His grace to reveal His Son in me." Amazing grace,
old Newton wrote. He also said this. In his old
age, Newton said, my memory is nearly gone. Darwin, you said
you've got to write everything down. Me too. Then forget where you wrote it,
where you put it. Newton said, my memory is nearly gone, but
two things I still remember. And God helped me to remember
it too. Newton said, two things I still remember. I'm a great
sinner. Oh, wasn't he? The captain of a slave ship. making merchandise, selling other
men. Yes, I'm a great sinner, but
he said, I remember this too, Christ is a great Savior. He
saved me. I was a blasphemer and a persecutor,
but I obtained mercy. And Newton said, how can I express
it? What shall I render unto God
for all His benefits toward this unworthy sinner? So he dipped
his quill in ink and put it to paper, and he wrote, Amazing
Grace. Oh, can't you just see him writing
as he looks back? on that rebellious life of debauchery
and depravity. But he obtained mercy, and he
wrote, oh, I once was lost, but now I'm found. I was blind, but
now I see. Scoot over, Mr. Newton. Move
over. Let me sit down there. Let me
borrow those words. Because I once was blind, but
now I see. I once was lost, but now I'm
found. Bless God, I have obtained mercy."
Any great sinners here, any great sinners, all Paul says, look
at me. God delights to show mercy. David told us a moment ago. God
takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Turn ye, turn
ye and live. Oh, why will ye die? Look unto
me, God says, and be ye saved. What happened to you, Paul? I
obtained mercy. Old John Bunyan wrote, come and
hear all ye that fear God. And I will declare what he hath
done for my soul, grace abounding to John Bunyan, the chief of
sinners." Turn back, if you will, to Exodus chapter 14. In Exodus
chapter 14, we're told about God bringing the children
of Israel through the Red Sea. The last two verses sum up what
took place. Do you remember, some of us older
folks do, remember when Walter Cronkite used to give the news
every evening, national news? Remember Walter Cronkite? And
you remember how he would close, how he would end each broadcast
every evening? He went in with these words,
and that's the way it is. Remember that? That's the way
it is on this date, whatever it was. Well, God's Word tells
us here, and this is the way it is. This is how God saves
sinners. Verse 30. Verse 30 of Exodus
14. The children of Israel have been
brought through the Red Sea. They stand on the other side
and see Pharaoh and his chariots and his armies and his mighty
horses floating in the waters. Verse 30, we're told, thus, The
Lord saved Israel that day. He did it all. He did it all. Well, what did they do? They
blamed Moses. Were there not enough graves
in Egypt? We knew better. Something told
me not to follow you. Something told me not to come
out here. We knew it would end like this.
What did God say? Moses, tell them to shut up.
Just tell them to be quiet. Just stand still and see the
salvation of the Lord." And they have now. Thus the Lord saved
Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians. And Israel
saw the Egyptians dead up on the seashore. And Israel saw
that great work. great work, which the Lord did
upon the Egyptians. And the people feared the Lord
and believed the Lord and his servant Moses. Then sang Moses
and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord, and spake,
saying, I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously."
He always does. He always does. The horse and
his rider hath He thrown into the sea. The Lord is my strength
and song and has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will prepare
Him a habitation, my Father's God, and I will exalt Him. The Lord is the man of war. The
Lord is His name. Look at verse 6. Thy right hand,
O Lord, has become glorious in power. Thy right hand, O Lord,
hath dashed in pieces the enemy. And in the greatness of thine
excellency, thou hast overthrown them that rose up against thee.
Thou sendest forth thy wrath, which consumed them as stubble."
Verse 9, the enemy said, I will pursue. Ooh, listen to this. I will pursue. I will overtake. I will divide. My lust shall be satisfied upon
them. I will. I will. Pharaoh's saying,
I will. My will's going to accomplish
all this. I will draw my sword. My hand
shall destroy them. I will. And God says, no, I will. I will. You no idea. Like the speck of
dust on that Bible. Look what God did. Verse 10. Thou didst blow with thy wind,
the sea covered them, they sank as lead in the mighty waters. Thou stretchest out thy hand.
Or rather, verse 11, I'm sorry. Who is likened to thee, O Lord,
among the gods? who is like Thee, who is like
Thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders. Thou stretchest out Thy right
hand and the earth swallowed them. Thou and Thy mercy has
led forth the people which Thou has redeemed. those you redeem. Thou has guided them in thy strength
unto thy holy habitation. I obtained mercy, Paul said. Remember, brothers and sisters
in Christ, remember when mercy was all you wanted. Remember,
remember, as old Rolf Barnard said, when God got you lost,
Remember when the cry of your heart day and night was this
all that I might have mercy That I might have mercy Nothing else
was important as that Can my God? Can my God is wrath forbear
and me the chief of sinners spare? Oh, I must have God's mercy Don,
you may remember this. Years ago, Lindsey Campbell,
Rex Bartley, these are men in the church in Danville, and Lindsey's
son, Michael, went out west somewhere, Lindsey was telling me about
it, and hiked up some very, very high mountain. And they said from That mountain
peak you could see for miles and miles and miles. Almost in
the clouds. The psalmist said the heavens
declare the glory of God. But the apostle Paul stands on
the mount called Calvary. And he looks up at the cross
and he says, I obtained mercy. And he says, that's the greatest
wonder in the world. Would you look at that? Would
you look at that? I hear men talk about mysteries
in God's Word. I'm sure you've heard conversations
about that man whose number is 666. Who is that? Who could that be? Oh, we've
got to figure this out. We've got to get to the bottom
of this. Paul says, the greatest mystery, the greatest wonder
is this. Standing there and looking at
Him who knew no sin, being made sin for me, that I might be made
the righteousness of God in Him. My soul, what a mystery! What
a wonder, what a marvel that is. Oh, the love that drew salvation's
plan. Oh, the grace that brought it
down to man. Oh, the mighty gulf that God
did span at Calvary. Mercy there was great and grace
was free. Part in there was multiplied
to me. Turn, if you will, to Ephesians
chapter 2. Ephesians chapter 2. Again, the
apostle calls on us to remember that God would be pleased to
draw back the curtain, allow us to remember. In verse 11 of
Ephesians 2, he writes, wherefore, remember that ye being in times
past Gentiles in the flesh who are called uncircumcision by
that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands, that
at that time, at that time, you were without Christ. Without Christ. Being aliens
from the Commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants
of promise, having no hope. Without God in the world. Without God. But now, there's that word again. But now, in Christ Jesus, ye
who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. Eternity itself won't exhaust
the wonder of that blessed truth. In Christ Jesus, but now have
attained mercy. The next note in Paul's song
is that word obtained, obtained, not earned, not earned because
God gave it to him. Absolutely free, free grace. This is what our Lord spoke of
in Luke seven concerning those two debtors when they had nothing
to pay, nothing to pay. He free. He freely forgave them
both. Any here in that condition? I
have nothing. I am nothing. I can do nothing. I've got nothing to pay. Nothing to pay. Oh, here's good
news. You can't earn mercy. You don't
deserve mercy. But God delights in mercy. delights to show mercy. Paul
in Philippians 3 again mentions what he once was, what he once
trusted in. But now he says, my one desire,
my one hope is to be found in Him, to be found in Christ. I don't want my own righteousness,
filthy rags, but I want to be found in Him. In that day, when
I stand before God, I want to be wrapped up in the perfect,
pure righteousness of the Son of God Himself. Which do you
want? His righteousness or your own? Your own filthy rags or the perfect
robe of Christ's righteousness? When I was a kid back in the
mountains of West Virginia, We didn't have all these distractions. You had to entertain yourself. And near dark in that coal camp
where I lived with my friends, our daddies all worked in the
coal mines there, as it near dark, we would play hide and
seek. Do kids even do that anymore? But someone would hide their
eyes and begin to count. And while they counted, the rest
of us would run and hide. And after they counted to a certain
number, they would turn and say, ready or not, here I come. Ready or not. Ready or not, soon. Every one of us, soon. When a
few days are come, we're going to go to the way from whence
we shall not return. Ready or not, we're going to
be ushered into the presence of God Almighty. Prepare to meet thy God. And when we are, will you be
found? in your own righteousness? Or
will you stand there as accepted as the Son of God Himself? Would God look at you as accepted
as He accepts His Son? Oh, if you are clothed in His
righteousness, He will. If you are found in Him, He will. Oh, to be found in Christ! Remember what Moses asked God
on one occasion. Exodus 33, show me your glory. Show me your glory. God said,
Moses, I'll do this. I'll do this. There is a place
by me. Behold, he said. Look at this. There's a place by me. I'll put
thee upon a rock. in the cleft of the rock, and
I'll pass by. Behold, there is a place by me,
and behold, there is a place at God's right hand. Jesus, the
Son of God, exalted to be a Prince and a Savior." Paul says, oh,
I want to be found in Him. Rock of ages, cleft for me, let
me hide myself in Thee. In Christ Jesus, isn't that a
blessed word? Isn't that a blessed expression?
To be found in Him. And the last note in Paul's song
is this, mercy. Mercy. But I obtained mercy. Paul doesn't say I obtained apostleship
or revelations when I was caught up in the paradise that wasn't
lawful for me to even utter, but the greatest marvel to Paul
was God's mercy. Many can speak about their knowledge
and love to do so, of their doctrine, their gifts. One thing matters. Have I obtained mercy? Nothing
else matters. Nothing else is as important
as that. We want our children to obtain
a good education, and we should. A good job. Marry well, as we
call it. But most of all, ever since I carried them into
the house from the hospital when they were born and placed them
in that crib, God, have mercy on them. Don't leave them to
themselves. Because if God leaves you to
yourself, if God leaves you to yourself, you'll perish. You'll perish. May God have mercy. Remember those ten lepers? Our
Lord passed by and ten lepers stood afar off. Ten of them,
but they united in voice as one. One desire. One plea. Have mercy. Have mercy on us. And the Lord did. Go show yourselves
to the priest. He pronounced you unclean. Go
show yourselves to the priest. And we're told, as they went,
they were clean. Can you imagine, as they go down
that road, one looks at the other and says, I'm clean. I'm clean. I'm whole. I'm whole. I can go back home
now. I can go back home to my wife
and my children. I'm not an outcast anymore. I'm
not unclean. One, just one, turned around
and went back and fell down at the feet of Jesus Christ and
said, thank you. Thank you. Remember what the
Lord said. Were there not ten cleansed?
Ten voices cried, have mercy, and only one comes back and says,
thank you. Thank you. I want to be that
one, don't you? I want to be that one. God, give me grace not to take
the marvel of your mercy for granted. He loved me and gave
himself for me. Years ago, one of my brothers
was visiting me, and he at that time was sort of taken up with
astronomy. We sat in the backyard, it was
night, clear night, stars all out. And he just got pretty wound
up. Larry, do you realize all these
stars, these planets, I mean just endless? And Larry, do you
realize that's just our galaxy? And scientists don't know how
many galaxies there are, and all that we see, that's just
one. He said, isn't that something,
Larry? And I said, yes, Ernest, it is. But you know something
that's even greater than that? And he looked at me and said,
what? I said, I know who did all that. I know Him who spoke
it into existence. Oh, that's the wonder. That's
the marvel, that they might know Thee, the only true God. and
Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." Verse 17 in 1 Timothy
1, and we'll close. Paul said this. Verse 17. Now unto the King eternal, immortal,
invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory forever and
ever. Amen. Amen. God bless you. Thank
you for your attention.