Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nyberg. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
9.45 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com.
Now here's our pastor, Todd Nybert. I've entitled the message for
this morning, Paul, the Pattern. My text is 1 Timothy 1, verse
16, but let me read a passage from Peter first that gives us
the import of what Paul is saying. Peter says in verse 15 of 2 Peter
3, and to count that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation. Anyone that the Lord exercises
His long-suffering toward is somebody He saves. Those who
perish, He's not being long-suffering toward them. He's giving them
what they deserve. But everyone who He exercises
His long-suffering toward is saved. Now, let me read this
passage of Scripture from 1 Timothy 1, verse 16. Paul says, how be it for this
cause, I obtained mercy. Here is why I obtained mercy. And notice he says, I obtained
mercy. And that's spoken of in the passive tense. It means God
just showed me mercy. He did something for me. He exercised
his mercy toward me. Howbeit for this cause I obtain
mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all longsuffering."
And remember, the longsuffering of the Lord is salvation. That's what Peter tells us. Now,
he's going to show forth all longsuffering for a pattern. which should hereafter believe
on Him, to life everlasting. Now everybody that believes,
with that exception, they're going to fit into this pattern. They're going to fit into this
form. They're going to experience the
same thing Paul experienced. Paul says, God save me. that
I might be a pattern of how he saves, how he exercises his longsuffering,
I might be a pattern to them which should hereafter believe
on him to life everlasting. Now let's see what led Paul to
make this statement. Beginning in verse 12, he says,
and I thank Christ Jesus our Lord. Now he's beginning where
he should begin. He doesn't say I thank my free
will that I was able to make a decision that somebody else
didn't make and therefore I'm saved and they're not. He said
nothing of that nature. He gave all the credit to Christ. I thank Christ Jesus, our Lord,
who hath enabled me. If I believe, it's because he
enabled me to. If I repent, it's because he
enabled me to. If I love, it's because he enabled
me to. He enabled me, for He counted
me faithful, putting me into the ministry." Who was before
a blasphemer and a persecutor and injurious? Do you have a
before like Paul did? There was a time when he didn't
know God. He was religious, very religious, thought he was serving
the God of the Bible. But he didn't know God, and he
said, this is all that can be said of my religion. I was a
blasphemer. Everything I said was blasphemous,
contrary to the truth. And I was a persecutor. I hated
Christ and his gospel, and I was injurious. I was ignorant and
proud and insolent. But, he says, I obtained mercy. I was so blasphemous. I was so
proud and insolent. I was so injurious. I was so
wicked. I was so evil. And he's looking
at his religious past, that the only way I could be saved is
for God to just show me mercy. because he's merciful. He's not
saying, God showed me mercy because I was not acting in a malicious
way and I didn't know any better. That's the way some people look
at that verse, where he says, but I obtained mercy because
I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And therefore my sin wasn't that
bad because I was ignorant. No, he was saying I was so desperately
ignorant. I was so taken up with unbelief
that the only way I could be saved is for God to sovereignly
show me mercy. Verse 14, and the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ was exceeding abundant with faith and love
which is in Christ Jesus. God's grace is always exceeding
abundant. Now verse 15, this is a faithful
saying. This is something that you can
personally rely on. This is something that you can
hang your hat on. This is something that you can
believe and trust. This is a faithful saying. And it's worthy of all acceptation. Everybody ought to receive this
as the best news they've ever heard. I ought to receive it
that way. You ought to receive it that
way. This is a faithful saying. It's worthy of all acceptation. It's worthy of your and my joyful
reception that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. That's why He came. And whatever
it was he came to do is precisely what he did. Whatever he intended
to do, he did it. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. Now let's think of that statement,
Christ. That's his offices. It's not
his last name or first name. Christ means the Messiah. God's
prophet, and he's like no other prophet. Every other prophet
said, Thus saith the Lord. He said, I say unto you. He's a priest like no other priest. Every other priest brought the
blood of an animal sacrifice that could never put away sin.
He brings His own blood into the Father's presence that completely
satisfied all the justice and wrath of God against sin and
put it away. He's like no other king. Every
other king has a borrowed authority. He has inherent authority as
the King of kings and the Lord of lords. He is the one of whom
it says, the king's heart is in the hand of the Lord. As the
rivers of water, he turneth it wither, so ever he will. Christ,
his office, prophet, priest, and king. Jesus, his name as
Savior. Thou shalt call his name Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sins. Christ Jesus
came into the world to save sinners. Now, what if it would have said,
Christ Jesus came into the world to save elect sinners? That would
have been true. What if it said, Christ Jesus
came into the world to save believing sinners? Well, that would be
true, too. What if it said, Christ Jesus came into the world to
save repentant sinners? That would have been true. You
know what? If it said something like that,
that would not give me any hope that he did anything for me.
But I'm so thankful there's no adjective before sinners. It
doesn't say he came to save elect sinners or believing sinners
or repentant sinners. It says he came to save just
sinners. I'm in that group. He came into
the world to save sinners. Now, let me do some defining
of the term sinner. What is a sinner? He's the one
who commits the sins. A sinner is the one who commits
the sins. Now, I've heard preachers say,
God loves the sinner, but he hates his sin. The Bible doesn't
say that. And God doesn't send sins to hell. He sends the people
who committed them to hell. The sinner is the one who commits
the sins. A sinner is someone who is sinful. That means he's full of sin. That means all there is is sin. That's all he sees. Like Peter
said, depart from me, I'm a sinful man, oh Lord. All he does is
sin. A sinner is someone who cannot
not sin. If he does it, it's sin. He cannot
perform an action of any kind that is not sinful in and of
itself. somebody, his sin's all his fault. He's no victim. He
can't blame God's providence. He can't blame his circumstances. His sin is all of his fault. And a sinner is somebody who
can't stand in judgment of anybody. He can't look down his nose at
anybody and say, well, I wouldn't have done that. No, a real sinner
won't say anything like that. He knows that he is worse in
himself. and a sinner is someone who cannot
obligate God to save him. There's nothing he could do that
could obligate God to save him. If God leaves him alone and lets
him go to hell, just and holy is his name. Now, is that you? Did I just describe you? Then
I can say without any worry of this being an inaccurate statement,
Christ died for you. And He saved you. When He said,
it is finished, you were saved by His grace. Christ Jesus came
into the world to save sinners. And that is exactly what He did. But don't miss the rest of this
verse. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of
whom I am the chief. Not, I used to be the chief,
but now, by the grace of God, I'm a lot better than I used
to be. I've got a changed life, and I can look in my life, and
I can see evidences that God has done something for me. I'm
becoming more holy and less sinful. I'm experiencing more of the
joy of the Lord. I'm just different. I'm better.
I used to be the chief of sinners, but no longer. You know, that's
really the way most religious people think. Well, I'm changed. I've changed.
My life has changed. Therefore, I must be saved. God
must have done something for me. You know, if Paul would have
said, I used to be the chief of sinners, but I'm not anymore,
you know what I can conclude from that? I'm not saved. That's
all I can conclude. But that's not what Paul said,
thank God. He said, Christ Jesus came into
the world to save sinners of whom I am. Right now, present tense. the chief. And that's how every
believer feels. Every believer feels that they
are the very chief of sinners, not that they used to be. Paul
said in Romans 7, verse 24, O wretched man that I used to be? No. O wretched man that I am, who
shall deliver me from the body of this death? Now, Paul said,
I am the chief of sinners. And Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners, of whom I am the chief. And here's our
text, verse 16. Howbeit for this cause I obtained
mercy. God showed me mercy, that in
me first, the chief of sinners, Jesus Christ might show forth
all longsuffering for a pattern to them which should hereafter
believe on him, to life everlasting." Now, I want to consider this
in two aspects. Paul is a pattern as to how God
saves a sinner, and Paul's conversion is a pattern for everyone that
is converted. Everyone will follow this pattern. Every believer will fit into
this molt. Now, first of all, He's a pattern
of salvation. In 2 Timothy 1, verse 8, he said
to Timothy, be not thou therefore ashamed of our Lord, nor of me
his prisoner. But be thou a partaker of the
afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God, who hath
saved us. That is our experience. He saved us. The us is every believer. Everybody
he saved, he saved us. I hear religious people saying,
I got saved or you need to get saved. You know that language
is so unscriptural. I didn't get saved. He saved
me. Now let's go on with this scripture.
He saved us and he called us with a holy calling. Not according
to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which
was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. Now note the order. He saved
us and He called us. The saving came before the calling. You see, I'm not saved because
of anything I have done. I'm saved because of what He
has done. He saved us, and He called us
with a holy calling, not according to our works, not in response
to something we have done, but according to His own purpose
and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world
began. Now, my salvation was accomplished
before time began. According as he hath chosen us
in him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before Him, in love having predestinated
us into the adoption of children by Jesus Christ Himself, to the
praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted
in the Beloved. My salvation was accomplished
before time began. In time, He came and accomplished
that perfect righteousness for me and accomplished that sin
payment for me all before I was ever born. And when I came into
this world dead in sins, He redeemed me. He justified me. He gave me life. He gave me hearing ears and a
receptive heart. He gave me faith. He gave me
repentance. He preserves me. He saved us. That's our testimony. You know,
people, religious people, love to give testimonies. Well, here's
the testimony of every child of God. He saved me. Now, He gets all the glory and
my salvation because He did it all. He did it all. I didn't contribute anything.
He did it all, and I wanted to be that way. I suppose this motive
might be somewhat selfish. I can't escape it. I want him
to get all the glory, because if he doesn't get all the glory,
that means something's expected out of me that I need to do,
and that takes away my hope. He saved us. Now, in our experience of salvation,
every believer's the same way. If you're saved, you're saved
the same way Paul was saved. God elected you. Christ died
for you. God the Holy Spirit gave you new life. He gave you
faith. He gave you repentance. You persevere
because of Him. Every believer has the same experience,
and every believer has the same conversion of experience. You
think of Paul on the road to Damascus. Somebody says, well,
not everybody sees a light like Paul did. Yeah, they do. 2 Corinthians
4, 6, but God who commanded the light to shine out of the darkness
has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Not everybody
hears a voice like Paul did. Yes, they do, maybe not audibly,
but the scripture says, our Lord said, the hour is coming and
now is when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God,
and they that hear shall live. Well, not everybody's knocked
down. Yeah, they are. Everybody God saves, they're
brought to the dust, and they can't even see until that takes
place. Now, let's look at Paul's experience
of conversion. Acts chapter 9, and Saul, yet
breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples
of the Lord, went unto the high priest, and desired of him letters
to Damascus, to the synagogues, that if he found any of this
way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound
unto Jerusalem. Now Paul's experience began with
his hatred of Jesus Christ. Now somebody says, well, I've
never hated Jesus Christ. Well, you haven't hated the Christ
that you believed in, but if you've never experienced hatred
of Jesus Christ, it's because you've never heard of him, not
as he really is. Let me try to make good on this. Every man does not understand
his hatred of Christ until he finds out who Christ is. He is
the Lord, and he's your Lord. Somebody says, won't you make
Jesus the Lord of your life? He already is. You are in His
hand right now. Your eternal destiny is in His
hand. He can choose to save you. or
He can choose to pass you by, and as to whether or not you're
in heaven or in hell, it's up to Him. You have no control. Now, Jesus you can control and
manipulate. Nobody hates Him. Nobody fears
Him. But here's the problem. He's
non-existent. That's an idol. The Christ of
the Bible is the one to, it's up to Him as to whether or not
He'll save you. He can save you, or He can pass
you by, and there's no way that you can manipulate Him. There's
nothing you can do to get Him to save you. It doesn't work
that way. That's not what mercy is. That's
not what grace is. This is the Son of God, and this,
when a man sees this, he sees his works don't count for anything,
and he gets upset. This Christ, men naturally don't
like. Paul didn't like him. He hated
him. Verse three. And as he journeyed, he came
near Damascus, and suddenly there shined round about him a light
from heaven. Now, if the Lord saves you, he's
gonna give you light. Light regarding who he is. Light
regarding who you are. When you see who He is and His
holiness, His sovereignty, His justice, you're going to see
your own sinfulness. And you're going to have light
as to how He saves sinners by Christ. He's made a way to be
just and justify the ungodly through Christ. And what did
Paul do when he saw that light? Verse 4, he fell to the earth. He's knocked out of his high
horse of pride and arrogance and insolence, and he is made
to make his headquarters in the dust before God. Knocked down. And I know whether someone has
any light from heaven, it's going to bring them down. Always, it's
going to bring them down. And he heard a voice saying unto
him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?" Now, I've not heard
an audible voice, but I've heard the voice of God in the gospel.
That's the authority of what's being said. I know this is God's
Word. This is not man's Word. This is not man's opinion. This
is God's Word. I've heard this voice. And he
found out what his real problem was. He said, why are you persecuting
me? You know what sin is when you
find out it's against Christ. Your problem is not so much the
things you do, but the one you have despised. Your sin is against
Christ. My sin is against Christ. And
I love the way he says, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
In this passage, we learn something about the union of the believer
with Christ. When Saul was persecuting Stephen,
he was persecuting Christ. When he was holding the coats
of those who stoned Stephen, he was holding the coats of those-he
was-here's what I'm trying to say. Christ was being persecuted
when His people were being persecuted, because Christ is one with His
people. If you persecute them, you persecute
Him. The thing of it is, your persecution
against Him isn't going to work. Look what He says. He says, Saul,
Saul, why persecutest thou Me? And He said, Who art thou, Lord?
You find out you don't even know him. Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus, whom
thou persecutest. It's hard for thee to kick against
the pricks. You're hurting yourself. That's
all you're doing. And he, trembling and astonished,
said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? When the Lord reveals
himself to you, you're going to ask this question. What must
I do to be saved? Men and brethren, what shall
we do? Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? You want to know. And the Lord said unto him, Arise,
and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou
must do. And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing
a voice, but seeing no man. And Saul arose from the earth,
and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man. When he saw the
light, that's when he was blinded. And they led him by the hand,
and brought him into Damascus. And he was three days without
sight, neither did he eat or drink. And there was a certain
disciple at Damascus named Ananias. You see, the Lord's going to
send him a preacher, and that's how he's going to hear the gospel.
If God saves you, he's going to cross your path with a preacher,
just like he did Paul. And there was a certain disciple
at Damascus named Ananias, and the Lord said in a vision, Ananias,
and he said, Behold, I'm here, Lord. And the Lord said unto
him, Arise, and go into this tree which is called Straight,
and inquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus.
For behold, he prayeth." He thought he'd prayed a lot before this,
but he'd never prayed, but he is now. And I know what he's
praying for, mercy, grace, the forgiveness of sins. And he has
seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming to him, putting
his hand on him that he might receive a sight. Then Ananias
answered and said, Lord, I've heard by many of this man how
much evil he hath done to thy saints in Jerusalem. And here
he hath authority from the chief priest to bind all the call on
thy name. But the Lord said unto him, go
thy way, for he's a chosen vessel unto me. Now I want to give in
closing Acts chapter 22 where Paul tells us exactly what Ananias
said to him. He said in verse 14, or verse 13, And the same hour I looked upon
him, and he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee. He elected you, first thing he
heard. That you might know his will, his will of redemption,
his will to save everybody that Christ died for. See that just
one. how he has made a way for God
to be just and justify the ungodly. And hear the voice of his mouth. You're going to hear this as
his gospel. For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what
you've seen and heard. And now, why tarryest thou? Arise
and be baptized. Wash away thy sins. Not by baptism,
but by what baptism depicts union with the Lord Jesus Christ. calling
on the name of the Lord. And that is the experience of
every believer. Paul is the pattern. Now we have this message on DVD
and CD. If you call the church, write
or email, we'll send you a copy. This is Todd Nyberg praying God
will be pleased to make himself known to you. To receive a copy
of the sermon you have just heard, send your request to todd.nyberg
at gmail.com. Or you may write or call the
church at the information provided on the screen.