Please turn in your Bibles with
me this morning to 1 Timothy chapter 1. I thought last night as Brother
Chris was preaching that he was just about to leave
me no Bible left on the subject that I have chosen. And I'll confess to you to start
with, I know very little, if anything, about preaching. In verse 8 of 1 Timothy, chapter
1, is an expression to my knowledge,
not used any place else in Scripture. But we know that the law is good
if a man use it lawfully. I'll try to talk to you a little
bit this morning on the lawful use of the law. Now I should like to read you
this passage in which this statement is found. Paul, an apostle of
Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior and Lord Jesus
Christ, who is our hope. Unto Timothy, my own son in the
faith, grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Jesus
Christ our Lord. And I besought you to abide still
at Ephesus when I went into Macedonia that you might charge some that
they teach no other doctrine. No other doctrine except the
doctrine of Christ. Neither give heed to fables and
endless genealogies which minister or produce questions rather than
godly edifying which is in faith, so do. Now the end of the commandment. is love out of a pure heart. We all have that pure heart,
don't we? Not unless God has given it to
us. And of a good conscience, of which Hebrews 10 is a wonderful
description of, no more conscience, no more conscience of sin. Did not say no more conscious
of sin. The law is not made, verse 9,
knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man. Therefore, it is very fitting
for all of us in this room. 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, and if you would please not fail
to consider the spiritual application of these terms. 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 has enabled me, for that he counted me faithful,
absolutely, and made him faithful, putting me into the ministry,
me who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious. But I obtained mercy, because
I did it ignorantly in unbelief." Now remember that little expression,
because I did it ignorantly, for it is about to be expanded
upon. and the grace of our Lord, not
by me, but by the passage, 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." And here's that expansion, how
be it for this cause, 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. The divine pattern. Now unto
the God, unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only
wise God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. Now before I come back to verse
8 and that expression, the lawful, having to do with the lawful
use of the law, I call your attention to this famous verse in verse
15, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of
whom I am chief. Let me put it in a question.
For whom is the gospel deliberately, purposefully designed? It is for a person called the
chief of sinners. And Paul uses that expression
here in this verse, not as referring to himself in the past, but as
a man about to be martyred for the faith of Jesus Christ. This man is about to leave this
world, and he still denominates himself the chief of sinners. Second question, which begs for
our careful consideration and meditation. Where do we find
this particular brand of sinner? They're virtually non-existent. No man calls himself the chief
of sinners on his own. without divine compulsion, look
at the man who spoke these words, as well as the man who penned
them, or for whom they were penned, called himself indeed the chief
of sinners. Somebody said a sinner is a sacred
thing. The Holy Ghost has made him so. Now has God made you and me to
call ourselves, right now this morning, not a year ago, not
twenty years ago, right now, the chief of centers. You can
hardly find one alive or dead. If you don't believe it, go to a
cemetery, particularly an old one, when people put more than
just dumb expressions on their grave markers. And you will find
out that every cemetery is full of good people. Preachers in this country of
ours, in this generation of ours, never do a funeral for lost people. Now, somebody's mistaken. It is a curse upon us all that
the minute a person quits breathing, instantly they become saints. I remember reading about old
John Berridge. An Anglican preacher in the second
half of the 1700s in England died about 1793, I think, or
two. When Mr. Berridge died, he left
a simple request as to where he was to be buried. That particular
church, built in about the 1100s and still is in use to this day,
The cemetery is just about inside the church. I mean, it comes
right up against the stone walls. And Mr. Berridge left this request. He was to be buried in a part
of that cemetery that was reserved for awful, terrible, despicable
sinners. And no sooner was he planted
there, and several people began to leave the same request. The
chief of sinners. Chief of sinners. You're familiar with the words
of a hymn titled, I Will Arise and Go to
Jesus. The problem is that the chorus
to that hymn was not originally attached to the words that formed
the stanzas. And I believe it's the second
stanza, perhaps the third, that says, Let not conscience make
you linger, nor of fitness fondly dream. All the fitness he requireth
is to feel your need of him. And the verse continued. It did
not end there. And here is how it continued.
This need of Him, this He gives you, this He gives you, tis the
Spirit's rising beam. It is the first indication of
a work of grace in the soul for a man to see himself the chief
of sinners. the chief of sinners. Now let's
go back to verse 8 and work on this statement. But we know that
the law is good if a man use it lawfully, perhaps you could
say rightly. I like the term gospelly myself,
for that is exactly the right use of the law. So let me talk
to you just a few minutes this morning in regard to the lawful
use of the law. First thing in verse 8 is this.
We learn that the law is good. It is good. Let's look at a few scriptures
in regard to this. Surely you know, as I do, that the law is necessary. What was it Brother James was
telling us last night? If these things did not exist,
there would be no commands against them. So it is then a very necessary
thing, the law. So let's look at a few scriptures
in regard to the good purpose of the law. If you would, turn
to Luke chapter 17. And Chris danced all around these
statements last night. I didn't know if I'd have anything
left. Verses 14 through 17 in Luke
chapter 16. Our Lord has just given that parable
of the unjust steward. And the Pharisees also, who were
covetous, heard all these things, and they derided him. They mocked
and laughed at him. And he said unto them, You are
they which justify yourselves before men, but God knows your
hearts. For that which is highly esteemed
among men, that which is highly esteemed among men, is abomination
in the sight of God. The law and the prophets were
until John. Since that time, the kingdom
of God is preached, and here's that urgency, Chris, and every
man presses into it. On a few occasions on the trip
over here, my driver and caretaker, I said, Doug, remember the kingdom
of heaven? Yep, I remember. The violent
take it by force. Of course, he was smart not to
listen to me most of the time in traffic matters. Now, verse 17. And it is easier for heaven and
earth to pass than for one tickle, one iota of the law to fail. Why? Because the law is good. Good. How about turning to Romans
7? And for the moment, look at just
one verse in Romans 7. This ought to settle it for good.
Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just,
and good. Good. The law is good. Can you say with David, Psalm
119 verse 128, Therefore I esteem, I value all your precepts concerning
all things to be right, and I hate every false way. Can you go that far? I know somebody
who can. They call themselves the chief
of sinners. Now we come to that expression.
And if you would, first of all, turn to Galatians chapter 3. That second expression in verse
8 of our text is if a man used it lawfully, lawfully. Galatians chapter 3. You will look at verses 10 through
12 in Galatians 3. For as many as are of the works
of the law are under the curse, for it is written, Cursed is
every man that continues not in all things which are written
in the book of the law to do them. We must discover, we must,
under divine instruction, learn how to use the law rightfully. If not, it becomes the very means
of our condemnation. So we've just read in that verse,
listen to verse 11 and 12, but that no man is justified by the
law in the sight of God, it is evident, for the just, the righteous,
the holy shall live by faith, which translates to mean shall
live by Christ and Him crucified. Verse 12, and the law is not
of faith. What? The law is not a thing. But the man that does them, that
determines to meet God on the basis of law obedience, it says,
shall live in them. The truth is, brutally speaking,
shall die in them. Flip back the other way to John
7. Here's a statement in our Bibles, and there are a bunch
of these, that until God opens our blind eyes and communicates
life to our dead souls, it is as if statements such as this
have somehow been erased from every Bible I ever own. I'm referring to verse 19 in
John chapter 7. Here's what our Savior said to
those who prided themselves upon keeping the law. Did not Moses
give you the law? And yet, none of you keep the
law? Now please understand that until
we are converted, We are Pharisees, every last single solitary one
of us, of one kind or another. And this statement is as much
mine and yours as any other in this book. You do not keep the
law. Never have and never will. except we find how it is to be
kept in a divine substitute. Did not Moses give you the law? Yet none of you keep the law. What do people do who claim to
keep the law? We kill the Son of God. Why go you about to kill me? Oh, but that was a long time
ago. No, that was me and you. Absolutely. Romans chapter 10
and verse 4 declares this simple declaration. Christ is the end
of the law for righteousness, to everyone who believes. Now you and I live in a world
full of religious people who claim to be trusting Christ and
keeping the law. This says Christ is the end of
the law for righteousness to everyone that believes. Now we come in verse 9 of our
text in 1 Timothy chapter 1. The purposes for which the law
was given. Knowing this, verse 9, 1 Timothy
1, knowing this, that the law is good. I'm sorry, I can't even
read the right verse. Verse 9, knowing this, That the
law is not made for a righteous man. It's tailor-made for the
chief of sinners. Now the question is, is it made
for me and you? One verse. I don't even know
what time I started, Donnie. Y'all get me so nervous I can't
even concentrate. Galatians chapter 3. After this thing is over, I'll
just be calm as any of you. Did I say one verse? Let me read
you a few. I'll just try to be really brief
about this. Verse 19, Galatians chapter 3. Wherefore then serves
the law. Translated, that means what is
the purpose for the law? I mean, if God does everything,
and He does on purpose, why did He give the law? My soul, it
was already being broken at the bottom of the mountain when it
was being issued. Why then, wherefore then serves
the law? It was added, Tim told us this
last night, because of transgressions. Till the seed should come to
whom the promise was made, and it was ordained by angels in
the hand of a mediator. Now a mediator is not a mediator
of one, but God is one. Is the law then against the promises
of God? My soul, it is the law that is
used to cause us to see how wonderful and blessed the promises are.
God forbid, for if there had been a law given which could
have given life Verily, truly, righteousness should have been
by the law. But the scripture has concluded,
all under sin, that the promise by faith, not in, of Jesus Christ
might be given to them that believe. But before faith came, Now, this
is not just referring to the order of events in the Old Testament
and into the New Testament, but this is a spiritual chronology. You follow me? Here's the order
divinely orchestrated and brought to pass Before faith, I'll just
say, comes. Before the faith of Christ comes
to us, we were kept under the law. Where else can you keep
lawbreakers? Under the law. Shut up! no other out but this,
shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed."
So the process of this blessed truth being unfolded before us
in the chronology of the Scriptures is a precise replica of how God
deals with our poor souls. Verse 24, Wherefore, the law
was our schoolmaster, leaving out the next three words that
are italicized in our Bibles. The law was our schoolmaster. The law cannot bring us to Christ. It can help us grow as Pharisees
quite well, but it cannot bring us to Christ. The law was our
schoolmaster unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. One other question. Well, I might
have two or three more, but this one in particular. Got to
go back to 1 Timothy, then we got to go to the Old Testament
a minute. Here's the question. For whom
was the law made? For whom was the law made? Verses 9 and 10 in 1 Timothy
chapter 1. Knowing this, that the law is
not made for a righteous man. First thing we've got to find
out is, am I righteous or unrighteous? Outside of Christ, without his
precious righteousness imputed to my soul, I am not righteous. But for the lawless and disobedient
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. Now, which of those have you
exempted yourself from? To be the chief of sinners, they
all describe me and you. Now how do we know this? Verse 11. In my Bible, there's no ending
punctuation at the end of verse 10. As a matter of fact, from verse
8 until you get to the end of verse 11 in one single sentence. According, here's how we know,
according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was
committed unto my trust. Now there ain't but one cure
for Phariseeism. And that's Christ. Right now, this very second,
I either know myself to be the chief of sinners, or I'm still
a Pharisee. One more verse, Psalm 36. And I'll confess something to
you that I'm very ashamed of, that for the last five or six
years we've been studying the book of Psalms in our Bible class,
of which generally I teach. And I got a hold of the writings
of a man named Robert Hawker. Oh, we were down to about Psalm
88 when that book came into my possession. And after reading
him, I became so ashamed of how I had treated the Word of God. Nowhere is this more true than
Psalm 36. The transgression of the wicked
says within my heart that there is no fear of God before his
eyes. Now whose heart is David talking
about? That's the whole question. David did not need to look at
his neighbor or to his enemies to find an evil heart. All he
had to do was look within. And that's how it is with us,
dear friends. We may not know it. We may bow
up and rebel against it with everything within us. But that's
the truth. Here's the cure for Phariseeism. The transgression of the wicked,
me, says within my heart, there is no fear of God before my eyes. God saved me or I perish.