Let's open our Bibles together
to First Timothy, First Timothy, chapter one. I can remember as a boy, my mother
taking out these little thin paper patterns and laying them
over a piece of fabric, and I would help her pin those patterns to
the fabric, and then she'd take scissors and cut around the dotted
line on that pattern. And when we were finished, the
piece of fabric looked just like the pattern. Paul uses that example to describe
our salvation. Anyone who sees themselves as
a sinner, as Paul describes himself, will be interested in this pattern
of salvation. Look with me what he says in
chapter 1 at verse 16. How be it for this cause I obtained
mercy that in me first Jesus Christ may show forth all long-suffering
for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life
everlasting. They do that for me at my church,
so I don't have to. They give it to me already turned
on. They don't trust me to turn it on. Actually, it's my son
that does it, and he knows me very well, so he gives it to
me already on. In the verses prior to our text,
The Apostle Paul speaks of where he was when the Lord saved him.
And he says in verse 13 that he was a blasphemer, he was a
persecutor, and he was injurious, insolent, despiteful. Look down his self-righteous
nose at others. These three words describe unbelievers,
blasphemers who call that which is holy, unholy. They call that
which is profane, holy. We see that in religion all the
time. A persecutor, one who has a low
view of the church and of God's people. And an injurious man,
one who really believes himself to be holier than someone else. And he says the Lord delivered
him from that. He knew the difference now between
that which was holy and that which was profane. He now had
a love for Christ's church and for God's people and was not
interested in persecuting them, but rather he wanted to encourage
them and teach them and wanted to see them saved and wanted
to exhort them. And he was no longer injurious
in the sense that he thought himself to be better than others.
The Lord had saved him, delivered him from that. And yet he goes
on. He says, verse 14, And the grace
of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love, which is
in Christ Jesus. This faith that we have is our
faith, but it came from his faith. It's from faith to faith. We
have the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ as a result of his faithfulness. He was faithful to the Father. We were talking about this tonight,
coming here with Claire. We often quote the Lord's last
words as being, it is finished from the cross. And yet, those
weren't his last words. His last words were, Father,
into thine hands I commit my spirit. It is finished as critically
important for us to hear. The work of redemption is done. The Lord Jesus Christ has paid
the price and he's done everything necessary for our salvation.
And in a sense, he's speaking to us in those words. But his
final words were a declaration of his faithfulness to the Father. That covenant of grace that we
talked about this morning, the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary's
cross, when he said, Father, into thy hands, I commend my
spirit. He was saying to the father, Father, in that covenant
of grace and eternity past, you promised to give me a bride.
I've been obedient to you and I've done everything necessary
in order to redeem that bride, and I'm committing myself now
into thine hands, trusting you to the very last breath of my
life. knowing Lord that you're going
to reward me for this work and that you're not going to allow
your Holy One to see corruption. You're going to raise me and
give to me the covenant is a two-way promise. And the Lord Jesus Christ
in his last words will say to the Father, I've kept my end
of the bargain and now I'm trusting you to keep yours. You know, that's what he's saying
here about this faith that we have. The faith, the holdings
of that rope that's held to the anchor of our soul. That faith
that we have is based upon his faithfulness to the Father. From the beginning to the end.
Always, always, always faithful. And then he goes on to say, though
the Lord had delivered him from being a blasphemer and a persecutor
and an injurious man, though the Lord had redeemed him from
that. He did not. He's still a sinner. He's he's
still a man in need of grace. As a matter of fact, he's in
need of more grace now than he's ever needed before. These words
that he writes in First Timothy are written towards the very
end of his life. And he says here in verse fifteen, this is
a faithful saying and worthy to be accepted by all worthy
of all expectation. Worthy. Every word of it to be
accepted and all to accept it, that word all really has a double
meaning worthy to be accepted by all and worthy all to be accepted. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save centers of whom I used to be chief. Is that what he
said? He's in need of grace now more
than ever before. And he's in need of the long
suffering of God. More now than ever before. God's
people believe that about themselves, don't they? They really do. They
believe themselves, you know, to whom much is given, much is
required. Is that not true? Let me ask
you a question. Who do you know? Who do you know
that's been given more light? more blessings, more privileges,
more opportunities, more truth, and remain as unbelieving as
you are. You see, we're not competing
to see who's the greatest sinner here, but we're all saying of
ourselves, no, I don't know anybody. I don't know anybody that needs
more grace than I do. I can say with the Apostle Paul,
and what a wonderful thing it is for us to believe this about
ourselves. It just sort of puts away all
pretension, doesn't it? And all that that goes on in
religion of self-righteousness, it just puts it out of the way,
doesn't it? And it enables us truly from the heart and in sincerity,
with unfeigned faith, to esteem one another more highly than
ourselves. And that's what Paul's saying here. He said, I am right
now. The chief of all centers, and
then he goes on to say it. How be it for this cause? I obtained
mercy for what cause in order that I might show forth the long
suffering of God as a pattern of salvation to all them who
will believe on the Lord Jesus Christ after me. Long suffering,
you see, the point is that centers are interested in a God who's
long suffering. People who believe themselves to be the chief of
all sinners, they're interested in a God who's long suffering.
They're interested in a God who will show forth mercy. The long suffering of God is
one of his glorious attributes. The scripture tells us in Psalm
86, verse 15, Psalm 86, verse 15, But thou, O Lord, are a God
full of compassion, gracious, long suffering. Long-suffering
and plenteous in mercy and in truth. What is long-suffering? In short, the word actually means
to stretch without breaking. To stretch without breaking.
It describes patience, which is tried and tried and tried
and tried again and remains patient. Now, if you're a sinner, then
you're interested in a God who's like that. The God who continues
to be patient with you, continues to be long suffering. How can God continue to be so
long suffering? Well, the short answer to that
is that the judgment and wrath which the trying of his patience
deserves has already been spent. It's already been spent. Turn
with me to Romans chapter three. Romans chapter three. Look at verse 24. Well, verse
23, for all have sinned. We looked at this verse this
morning and come short of the glory of God. That's what sin
is. Everything in my life that's short of the glory of God, God
calls sin. Being justified freely by His
grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom
God hath set forth to be a propitiation Now that's a big word. That means
that God's wrath has been appeased. That's what it means. How can
it be long suffering? The wrath that the trying of
his patients deserves has been appeased. It's been put aside. It's been satisfied. through
the Lord Jesus Christ, who is himself the propitiation through
faith in his blood to declare his righteousness for the remission
of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God, to declare,
I say at this time, his righteousness, that he might be just and the
justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. You see, the truth
is that our God not only is a God of great mercy and great long-suffering,
but he's also a God who is holy and just. He is a God who must
punish sin. He must. And there are no loopholes
in God's justice. No extenuating circumstances,
no arguments that can be made for our defense. There's no mercy in God's justice,
all sin must be punished, must receive its just reward. God's
holy justice demands it. And the scriptures telling us
here that the Lord Jesus Christ himself has been set forth as
that propitiation. Through the shedding of his blood,
establishing righteousness for us in order that our sins might
be remitted. The truth is that when God saw
sin on Christ, when God saw sin on Christ, he could do nothing
short of wetting the sword of his justice in the blood of his
darling son. And unsheathing that sword, he
plunged it into the heart of his son and satisfied his justice
once and for all. And for that reason and that
reason alone, he is able to be long-suffering. Given the option
of forsaking his son and forsaking his justice, he said it pleased
the Lord to bruise him. The glorious truth to this is
that justice is satisfied. Sin has been put away. All God's
wrath is appeased. We have one who is our propitiation
so that we can say there is now therefore no condemnation to
them who are in Christ Jesus. That's what Paul is saying here
in our text. The Lord is using me as a pattern, the chief of
all sinners. who was a blasphemer, who was
injurious, who was a persecutor of the church, but who remains
the greatest sinner of all. The Lord in his long suffering
towards me is using me as a pattern of salvation to all those who
will believe on the Lord Jesus Christ after me. Scripture tells us that he passes
by the transgressions of his people and he retaineth his anger
no more. That is propitiation. That is
how and the only reason he is able to be long-suffering toward
us. His wrath has been appeased. Job was in search of a man that
could take him by one hand and take God by the other hand and
reconcile the two together and he could not find it. Job kept
pleading his case to God, did he not? I love the story of Job. Lord, let me bring my case before
your court. I'll prove to you that I'm innocent.
Turn with me to Job chapter nine. Job was looking for a man that
could reconcile him to God. He was looking for a ransom.
And his Friends who he calls miserable comforters were of
no help to him. They didn't tell him about Christ.
His friends kept saying to him, Job, you're obviously hiding
something. That's what his friends kept
saying, if you'll just come clean with us and with God, then the
Lord will take his hand off of you. Job knew that there wasn't
anything overt in his life that was that was that was causing
this. And yet he didn't know about
the man that would intercede for him either. Not till the
end. After the Lord spoke and revealed
himself to Job, you remember what Job said? Job said, Oh,
Lord, I had heard about you by the hearing of my ear, but now
my eyes have seen you and I repent in dust and ashes. The Lord met
Job, met the Lord through his trials. But look, look at Job
chapter nine at verse 33, Job speaking, neither is there
any daysman betwixt us that might lay his hand upon us both. Now, a daysman is an advocate.
Job saying, I can't find a man who will put one hand on me and
one hand on God and reconcile me to God. I keep pleading my
case to God, but God's not hearing me. I need an intercessor. I
need an advocate, and there is no daysman betwixt us that might
lay his hand on him on us both. Let him take his rod away from
me and let not his fear terrify me. Then when I speak and not
fear him, but it is not so with me. The Lord lets. Job's friends
speak. And then God sends A gospel preacher. His name is Elihu. He's the only
one of Job's four friends that preached the gospel to Job. And
the Lord tells Job through Elihu about this one that he's looking
for. This advocate. Turn with me over in Job chapter
33. Well, look at Job chapter 32. Here's man's natural condition
and not knowing that there is one who has brought propitiation
for him, one who has enabled God to have long suffering toward
him, one who has suffered the wrath of God in his place, one
who has bore his sins in his body on a tree, one who has been
cursed by God, one who has been forsaken of the father. That's
the one Job didn't know about yet. Look what God says in Elihu,
the gospel preacher now speaking to Job in Job, chapter 32 and
verse one. And look what he says. So these
three men, Bildad, Eliphaz and Zophar, they they quit speaking. They ceased to answer Job because
he was righteous. In his own eyes, then was kindled
the wrath of Elihu, the son of Barachal, the Buzite of the Kinmen
of Ram. Against Job was his wrath kindled
because he justified himself rather than God. Job knew he needed a man, but
he couldn't find one. And so he tried to plead his
case with God without an advocate. And God sent him a gospel preacher,
and the gospel preacher told him about the daysmen. Look what he says in chapter
33 at verse 23. If there be a messenger with
him, an interpreter, a gospel preacher, one among a thousand
to show unto man his uprightness. You see, man is in need of a
preacher. How will they hear? Without a
preacher. How can they believe in whom
they've not heard, and how will they hear without a preacher?
Faith comes by hearing. The Lord has made the ministry
of preaching the means by which he declares this truth to the
souls of his people and the hearts of his people. And Elihu now
says, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to show unto man
the uprightness of Christ, the uprightness of God. Then, if
the Lord does this, he is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver
him from going down to the pit, I have found a ransom." That
daisman I was looking for, the one who could plead my case before
God, the one who could pay for my sins, the one who could purchase
me. The interpreters told me about
him, and now I found him. Now I have an advocate. The long-suffering of God comes
only because God has satisfied his justice in the sacrifice
of his own son. Paul said, I'm trusting in God's
long-suffering because I remain a sinner. I remain a sinner,
I remain a person who tries and tries and tries and tries again
the patience of God. The will is ever present with
me to how to do that which is good. I find not. That which
I would, I do not. That which I would not, that
I do. This is the sinner's plight, isn't it? This is the believer's
life. Always in need of an advocate. Always in need of a daisman. Always in need of a ransom. always
in need of one who is long-suffering. Let me ask you this. When will the long-suffering
of God run out? When will God no longer be long-suffering? Turn with me to 1 Peter chapter
3. There's an answer to that question. 1 Peter chapter 3. When will the Lord end his long-suffering. When all those for whom Christ
died, all those for whom he offered
himself as the propitiation for their sins, all those for whom
he satisfied the justice of God and suffered the wrath of God
to provide the long-suffering of God, when all of them are
in the ark When all of them are on the ship,
then the end will come. God himself will close the door
and judgment will fall. That's when it's going to happen.
And there will be no long-suffering after that. Look at 1 Peter 3. Verse 18, For Christ also hath
once suffered for sins. This he did one time. He put
sin away one time. All the blood of bulls and goats
in the Old Testament never put away sin. But when Christ, the
Lamb of God, offered himself up before the Father, the Father
said, Now I'm satisfied. Sins paid for. He once suffered
for sins, the just for the unjust, the holy for the unholy, the
righteous for the sinner. The one who in and of himself
knew no sin, yet God made him to be sin that we might become
the righteousness of God in him. The just for the unjust that
he that word might doesn't mean what it means usually in our
in our conversation. I mean, we might or he might
not know he will. In other words, this is the way
in which God brings his people to himself. That he might bring
us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by
the Spirit, by which also he went and preached unto the spirits.
Now, there's a lot of strange ideas that have come from this
passage of Scripture. People thinking that Christ went into
Sheol or down into hell and preached to dead people after and got
them out of the pit, you know, during those three days. That's
not what this passage is saying at all. It's not what I'm saying
at all. He's telling us that that he
went back. Let's read it together. By which
also he went and preached into the spirits in prison by his
spirit is what he's saying. You see, he's quickened by the
spirit by which by which is speaking of the spirit in verse 18. The
spirit of God that raised Christ from the dead is the same spirit
of God that preached the gospel through Noah. a preacher of righteousness,
by which also he went. Christ went by his spirit and
preached unto the spirits that were in the prison of their own
unbelief. Who those people that lived in Noah's day, which sometimes
were disobedient. He's speaking of that generation
that Noah preached to. He's talking about Noah's preaching
of the gospel. Under the under the power of
the Holy Spirit, they were disobedient. Then, when the long suffering
of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing
wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. You notice that. They were saved
by water. It was the judgment of God that
fell, that caused that ark to rise. It's the same thing now. It is
the judgment of God that has fallen upon Christ that has given
the ark of God flotation. We're saved by water. And just
as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of
the coming of the Son of Man when all of God's people are
in the ark. God right now in longsuffering,
there it is right there, when once the longsuffering of God
waited in the days of Noah. The Lord is longsuffering right
now, but there is coming a day when his longsuffering will end. When the last of God's people
enter into the ark, the door will be shut and judgment will
fall. Who is the long-suffering of
God for? You're there in 1 Peter. Turn
over with me to 2 Peter chapter 3. 2 Peter chapter 3. And look at verse 8. But beloved,
be not ignorant of this one thing. that one day is with the Lord
as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is
not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness,
but is longsuffering to usward. To usward. That's who the longsuffering
of God is for. It's for the ones that Christ
has died for. It's for the ones that the procreation
has been offered up on behalf of. He is long suffering to us
word, not willing that any should perish what we see this morning,
though we make it not to grow the churches. I know my sheep. He's going to leave the ninety
nine. He's going to find the one people. People wonder, well,
what about someone that's in a place where they can't hear
the gospel? Lord, get the gospel, if they belong to the Lord, he'll
get the gospel to them. or he'll bring them to the gospel one
way or the other. I don't have a problem with that. He knows
his sheep. He calls them out by name and
they follow him. And he's not going to lose one
of them. Not a one. Not willing that any should perish,
but all, and they all will, come to repentance. Who is the longsuffering
of God for? It's for his people. Now, he's
enduring, the scripture says in Romans chapter 9. You know,
sometimes we think that the Lord just endures us. You ever feel
that way? It's not true. He endures with
much longsuffering the vessels of his wrath fitted for destruction.
Remember that? Turn with me there in Romans
chapter 9. Look at verse 21. Verse twenty one of Romans chapter
nine, hath not the potter power over the clay of the same lump
to make one vessel of honor and another of dishonor? Can he not
take the lump of humanity and fashion some individuals for
his honor and others for his dishonor? Is he not the potter?
Are we not the clay? But what if God? Willing to show
his wrath and to make his power known. Endured! Endured! Endure means to carry a burden. It is not a burden for the Lord
to carry his people. It was a burden for him to carry
their sins to Calvary's cross. But once he carried that burden,
He said, come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy burdened.
I'll give you rest. My burden is easy. My yoke is
easy. My burden is light. God's people
are not a burden to him. But the vessels of wrath fitted
for destruction, now simply put, that means that God, yes, has
created some men in order to damn them. That's what it means. They are vessels of wrath made
to be destroyed. Now, that's a that's a God that's
worth bowing to. That's a God, that's a God that
that that that we ought to worship. A God that holds our lives and
our souls, and he said, he said, don't fear the world, don't be
afraid of those who can kill the body. Don't be afraid of
your boss and take away you. You fear the one who has the
power to cast both body and soul into eternal hell. You fear him,
fear God. He's the one that has a right
to do that. He has he is now enduring. He is bearing the burden of this
unbelieving world, this blasphemous, injurious, persecuting, world
of unbelief. He's enduring them. Verse 23. That he might make
known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which
he hath afore prepared unto glory, even us. Whom he hath called. Oh, Lord, don't pass me by. Lord,
call me. Bid me to come. He said this
morning, come to Christ, but you can't. You remember when
Peter got out of the boat? Walked on the water. You remember
what he said before he got out of the boat? He wasn't going
to get out of the boat before the Lord gave him permission
to come. Peter said, Lord, bid me to come
unto thee. Lord, call my name. Lord, speak to me. Lord, open
my heart. Lord, reveal Christ to me. Those whom he has called, not
of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles, not of the religious,
but also of the irreligious. Who is the longsuffering of God
toward? It's toward us word. It's toward those whom he has
called. The rest of them, he's just enduring
until the day of destruction. What does the long-suffering
of God accomplish? You're there in 2 Peter. Look
at 2 Peter chapter 3. Well, you were in 2 Peter. Look at 2 Peter chapter 3 with
me. Verse 15. That word account means to impute. It also means to reckon. Now,
I guess we all use the word reckon here. This is still South, right? I mean, I'm really in the South.
But, you know, we say reckon lots of times when what we mean
is I think so or I hope so or maybe so. That's not what the
word reckon in the scriptures mean. It means just the opposite.
If you know anything about navigating, dead reckoning is a better reference
to that word. It means that you triangulate
positions to a particular point, and that point is sure. It's
to reckon. It's to give an account of. It's
to impute. It's to be sure of something.
When the Lord says He reckons, He's not talking about the same
way we talk about reckoning. Uh, he says, and now, and now
the Lord saying, reckon this to be true account, this impute
this as a fact that the long suffering of our Lord is salvation. We wouldn't be saved apart from
his long suffering. It's our, this, this attribute
of our glorious God is our very salvation. You remember when
Moses got the law from God on Mount Sinai, etched by the finger
of God in the stone, and took it down and found that the people
of Israel, under the leadership of Aaron, had fashioned a golden
calf. Moses, out of anger, broke those
tablets and then went back up. God threatened to destroy those
people. That's what the Lord told Moses. The Lord told Moses,
I'm going to start over. I'm going to destroy everyone,
I'm going to start over with you. Turn with me to Numbers chapter 14. Look at verse. Verse 15. And here's Moses' response to
the Lord when the Lord told him he was going to do that. Now
if thou shalt kill all this people as one man, then the nations
which have heard of thy fame, the fame of thee, will speak,
saying, Because the Lord was not able to bring this people
into the land which he sware unto them, therefore he hath
slain them in the wilderness. And thou, I beseech thee, let
the power of my Lord be great, according as thou hast spoken,
saying, The Lord is longsuffering. He has saved us for his great
namesake. And Moses pleads the long-suffering
of God for the salvation of Israel. The Lord is long-suffering and
of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no
means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon
the children to the third and fourth. Pardon thy beseech thee
the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of thy mercy. And as thou hast forgiven this
people from Egypt even until now, Lord, don't let your long-suffering
stop. Long-suffering is your It's who
you are. Look over with me to Exodus chapter
34. And verse four, here's another
account of the same story. And he hewed two tablets of stone
like unto the first. And Moses rose up early in the
morning and went up into Mount Sinai as the Lord had commanded
him and took his hands, took in his hands the two tables of
stone. And the Lord descended in a cloud and stood with him
there and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed
by before him and proclaimed the Lord. the Lord God merciful
and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in goodness and
truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and the transgression
of sin. Turn with me to Romans chapter
2. The longsuffering of God is salvation. It is salvation. We are to continue
to plead the longsuffering of God. Oh, Lord, be patient with
me. Lord, for Christ's sake, put
put the charge of my sin on your son. Lord, count him guilty for
on my behalf, be propitious towards me. Lord, let your wrath be appeased
for Christ's sake. Enable me to look to him as my
advocate and as the sacrifice of my sin. Lord, be long suffering
towards me for like those children of Israel. Are we? You know,
we think we look children worshiping a golden cap. We do the same
thing. We do the same thing. How many
times we we that's what that's what I'm the chief of all sinners. We can't keep our eyes on Christ. We can't even we can't even stay
focused on Christ for forty five minutes. Can we? We can't do
it. We want to. But this sin that's
so ever present with us keeps us from being what we ought. Romans, chapter two. Verse 4, despises thou the riches
and the goodness and the forbearance and the longsuffering, not knowing
that it is the goodness of God that leadeth thee to repentance. The threatenings of the law never
changed anyone's heart. The goodness and the mercy and
the long suffering of God. That's that's the motivation
for coming. That's what breaks the heart.
It is the love of God that leads us to repentance and the love
of Christ that constrains us. Do you not see that is the long
suffering of God that leads us to repentance? Back there in that mountain.
Moses asked to see the Lord, and the Lord said to Moses, Moses,
I'll cause my goodness to pass before you. And Moses was able to see the
goodness of God, and that's what we see in Christ. That's what
we see in Christ. We see the goodness of God, the
one who, well, he's the one who said, why callest thou me good?
For there is none good but God. In me, there's no good thing,
but in him, he's the mercy of God, he's the
longsuffering of God, he's the propitiation of God, he's the
goodness of God. He's the hope of our salvation.
Paul said, he's been longsuffering toward me and continues to be
as the chief of all sinners, and my salvation is a pattern. for all those who will believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ after me. What a wonderful pattern
it is. And that pattern that we cut
out to make garments out of, well, this pattern is God's way
of making for his people a robe of righteousness that will be
acceptable at that wedding feast when we stand before him. Pray
that he'll show us his mercy through his long-suffering. Remind
us often of what his son has done for us. It's been a blessing
to be here with you today, and I'm thankful for you and for
this church. Covet your prayers for us in Orlando, and we'll
continue to remember to pray for you.