Four times in scripture, we read
this statement, this is a faithful saying. This is a faithful saying, a
true saying. In this world, and it seems to
get worse, maybe it doesn't, But it is so hard to know what
is true and what's just made up. And it seems to get just
more and more complicated. I had an email today that had
some fairly important information in it. And it stated, here's
the answer. And the people that sent it gave
actually three different references. And I immediately took that and
I sent it to some other folks that I knew that were looking
for the answer to that question. And about five minutes later,
the original person that sent me the email replied and said,
don't send this out. We haven't confirmed this yet. But that just seems to be such
a common thing. to be true, and they're not. Things that sound true, and they're
not. Isn't it comforting to know that
here in God's Word, in all of God's Word, but this says, this
is a faithful saying. This is a true saying. You don't have to worry about
saying this, come back something else, right? This is the truth. God's word is the truth. The first statement is found
in 1 Timothy 1 verse 15. 1 Timothy 1 verse 15. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. Look back with me at verse 12.
Paul said, I thank Christ Jesus, our Lord, who hath enabled me
He said, he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry,
who was before a blasphemer and a persecutor and injurious, but I obtained mercy. He said, 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." I wonder how
often Paul must have looked back, looked behind, looked at his
former life in just amazement. to think that the Lord would
be pleased to show him mercy, that the Lord would be pleased
to save him. Paul said, I was a blasphemer. He called Christ an imposter. He said, I was a persecutor. He persecuted the church. Listen,
he wasn't content to just blaspheme Christ. That wasn't enough for
him. He also went around putting God's people in prison, even
consented to their deaths. And he said, I was an injurious
man. He wreaked havoc on the church. He used force and violence trying
to blot out the gospel. And yet the Lord was pleased
to be merciful to him. Paul never asked. I don't know
that he was asking the Lord to save him. I don't see where he
was seeking the Lord. He was on his way to just go
persecute more of God's people. And we could certainly say he
wasn't deserving of God's mercy. But I guess it goes to say, if
you deserved mercy, it wouldn't be mercy, would it? Completely
undeserving of God's mercy. Do you ever wonder the same?
Do you ever just ask, think, how could God be merciful to
me? Or labor under a burden of sin,
wondering, would the Lord Be merciful to me. Why would he
be merciful to me? Well, let's look at these sayings
here together this evening. And Paul said, this is again,
this is the first one. He said, this is a faithful saying
and worthy of all exaltation. This is a faithful saying. This
is a true saying. This is a saying that it's not
to be doubted. It's not to be debated. It's
not to be discussed. It's not to be argued. It's simply
to be declared and believed. It's the truth. This first faithful saying lays
the foundation of our salvation. which can only be found in the
free grace of Almighty God through the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen
to it. Listen to this faithful saying,
Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. Now, if he came to save me, I
must have been in awful condition. He came to save sinners. Doesn't that just ring in the
ear? Don't you just rejoice in that
verse of Scripture that the Lord Jesus Christ came to save sinners? That's who salvation's for, sinners. Isn't that a clear statement? Doesn't need any explanation,
does it? Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. It doesn't say He came to save
believing sinners. It doesn't say He came to save
repenting sinners. It doesn't come to say He came
to save humbled sinners. You know, if Paul would have
said any of those things, What would our reply have been?
If there was anything attached to it, other than he came to
save sinners, what would we ask? Well, am I humble? Am I humble
enough? Am I repentant enough? Do I believe enough? I ask you,
what did he say? What is this faithful saying?
This is a faithful saint and worthy of all exaltation, acceptation. Jesus Christ came into the world
to save sinners. That just leaves one question.
Am I a sinner? If you are, Oh, there's good
news. There's good news. That is who
Christ came to save. You know, religious folks, self-righteous
folks, they say that kind of preaching, salvation by grace,
the salvation of sinners, eternal salvation, they say that just
encourages people to sin. I was just thinking about this.
I want to ask you this. Don't answer out loud, okay? Have you ever had to be encouraged
to sin? It comes pretty naturally, doesn't
it? They say this. They say, if I
believed what you believed, I could just sin all I want. I don't know if I send all I
want, but I tell you, I send more than I want. In Joe, we read that we are abominable
and filthy, and we drink iniquity like rainwater. Imagine, imagine this evening
if you were sitting on death row, convicted of some horrible
crime, minutes from death, and you were pardoned. Would that encourage you to go
out and just commit more crime? Or would it just cause your heart
to rejoice and be thankful that you were shown mercy? Listen one more time to this
faithful saying. Jesus Christ came into the world
to save sinners. I asked you again, are you a
sinner? Are you a sinner? Lord, I'm a sinner. That's who
you came to save. Well, the second faithful saying,
turn to just a few pages over to 1 Timothy 4. 1 Timothy 4, look beginning with
verse 8. Bodily exercise profiteth little, but godliness, godliness is profitable
unto all things. Having this promise of life that
now is, and of that which is to come, this. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation. The second faithful saying we
read here, it says, again, bodily exercise, it profiteth little,
but godliness profitable unto all things. having the promise
of life that now is and of that which is to come. Bodily exercise. Now that's not to say we wouldn't
benefit from a little exercise, right? That's not what he's saying
here. But he's not talking about getting on the treadmill when
you get home tonight, OK, or heading to the gym to work out.
Rather, outward actions of religion. Those things that are done to
be seen of men. We read that the hypocrites,
they love to stand in the street and pray. For what purpose? They'd go out there and stand
in the synagogues and out on the corner of the streets. Why? To be seen of men. Giving alms. so that others could see that. Maybe slowing down a little bit,
reaching out their hand just a little slower so everybody
could see that they were putting something in the offering. Outward
actions like kneeling, coming up to the front of the church, profiteth. Those things aren't
going to profit us anything. Fasting, eating, drinking, abstaining
from meats, they'll profit you nothing. But godliness, godliness
is profitable in all things. He who knows and loves the Lord
Jesus Christ, he who walks with God in truth and in sincerity, That man is a new creature. He's a new creation in Christ. And as a result, Christ dwells
in that man. He's filled with the spirit of
God and he lacks nothing. And that inward godliness, listen,
it's health to the body and it's health to the soul. to those who are saved, to those
who are in Christ. In the things of this world,
in this life, and in the life to come, eternal, eternal life. A double blessing obtained through
salvation, the blessing of time and of eternity. having the promise
of life that now is, our life in this present world and of
that which is to come. What is that life? Eternal life. This is the record. This is the
record that God hath given to us eternal life and this life,
where is it found? In His Son, in Christ. The third faithful saint. Turn
with me to 2 Timothy. 2 Timothy chapter 2. 2 Timothy 2, look at verse 11. It is a faithful saying, if we be dead with him, we shall
also live with him. Now this third faithful saying,
it shows the nature of life to which God's people are called. We are ordained to die with Christ. with this promise. If we've died
with Him, we will also live with Him. Consider a few things here in
regard to this verse, in particular as it pertains to the gospel. If we be dead with Him, what's
that say? Christ died. The Lord Jesus Christ
died. And that's pretty amazing to
think, listen, that one who was divine, that one who is God,
that one who is immortal, yet he died. God can't die. He's eternal. But in John 19.30, we read, listen,
God's word declares that when Jesus therefore had received
the vinegar, he said, it's finished. And he bowed his head and he
gave up the ghost. He died. He died. Again, God can't die. To do that,
he had to become a man. God had to become a man. We read being found in fashion
as a man, he humbled himself and he became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. Christ died. He died as a sacrifice. Sacrifice for us. That question
asked back in the book of Job. How can man be clean that's born
of a woman? How's that possible? How can
you or I be made clean? We that drink iniquity like water,
how can we be made clean? Here's the answer. He, the Lord
of glory, appeared. He came to this earth in the
flesh for this purpose, to put away sin. Past sin, present sin,
future sin. How? How did he do it? By the
sacrifice of himself. Christ also hath suffered for
sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God,
being put to death in the flesh, but quickened in the spirit.
He died as a sacrifice, a sacrifice for sin. He died as a substitute
That death that we deserved, that wage that we earned, he stood in our place. Scripture said, God hath made
him. God hath made the Lord Jesus
Christ to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made
the righteousness of God in him. And the Lord Jesus Christ, as
our substitute, he made complete satisfaction before God's holy
law and justice. He said, this is my beloved son. He died for us. Paul, he died for Paul. He died for sinners. He came
into this earth to save sinners. He died for you, if you're his. Listen, he loved us and gave
himself for us. He said, I lay down my life for
the sheep. He didn't say, I lay down my
life for the whole world. He said, I lay down my life for
the sheep. Consider the words from this
chorus. I need no other argument. I need
no other plea. It is enough. It is enough that
the Lord Jesus Christ died and that he died for who? For me. He died once, just once. Turn to Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews 10, look beginning with verse 11
of Hebrews 10. Every priest standeth daily,
ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can
never, those sacrifices can never take away sin. But this man, speaking of the
Lord Jesus Christ, this man, after he had offered One sacrifice
for sin. Forever. He sat down at the right
hand of God. The work finished. The work complete. When Christ died, we died with
him. As our representative, and listen,
we are alive to God forevermore. Here's the fourth faithful saying.
Turn to Titus chapter 3. Titus chapter 3. Look at verse 8. This is a faithful saying. And these things I will that
thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God
might be careful to maintain good works. These things are
good and profitable unto men. Now, the last faithful saying
here speaks of service, telling us, telling us to maintain good
works. Now, listen, this servant isn't
our salvation, okay? Be clear about that. But it's
evidence. It's evidence. This is a faithful
saying. Each of these sayings, listen,
are true sayings. Again, not to be doubted, not
to be debated, not to be discussed, not to be argued. Again, just
declared. Declared and believed. This is
a faithful saying. They which have believed in God
might be careful to maintain Good works. This is good and
profitable unto men. And Titus is cautioned here to
teach those things, listen, that are certain, to dwell on those
things and then leave that other idle talk behind those things
of no importance. And listen, one thing's quite
certain here. He said those who believe God,
those who are regenerated and renewed by the Spirit of God,
those who are justified by faith in the righteousness of God,
those who rest in Him for peace, for pardon, for righteousness,
for life, for salvation, for everything, are to maintain good
works. The love of Christ should constrain
us to do so. And listen, the only way a good
work can be performed is if Christ is in that, if Christ is in that
man. We're sanctified, we're made
meat, we're made partakers, ready for every good work, created
in Christ Jesus for them. The Spirit of Christ dwells in
them. The strength of Christ dwells in them. Without Him,
it'd be impossible. There's no such thing as a good
work outside of Christ. Believers are to be careful to
maintain works of faith and labors of love. Our faith and our conduct
should go hand in hand. In James chapter 2, 17, we read
this, faith, if it hath not works, what is it? It's dead. being
alone. Yea, a man may say, thou hast
faith, and I have works. Show me my faith, show me thy
faith without thy works, and I'll show thee thy faith by my
works. Thou believest there's one God,
thou doest well. The devils believe also and tremble,
but wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Consider what we are. Consider
what we are and consider what Christ, those of you who believe
God, consider what Christ has done for you. Consider this,
that the Spirit of God dwells in the believer. Listen, a tree, a tree is known
by its fruit. Now does that mean, does that
mean I'm standing up here preaching works to you? No. We preach salvation by the
grace of Almighty God. There is salvation in no other. But what do we read here? What
does scripture say here? They which believe God must be
careful to maintain good works. Paul tells Titus, he said, you
affirm these things constantly. That word affirm, it means you
state that as a fact. It's a truth. And you do so constantly. Because these things are good
and profitable unto men. Again, our conduct needs to be
consistent with our doctrine. Turn with me to Galatians chapter
5. I said this, a tree is known
by its fruit. That's a pear tree. It's pretty obvious what a pear
tree is when there's a pear hanging on it or an apple tree or whatever
kind of tree it might be that bears fruit. But look at Galatians
5 verse 22. The fruit of the Spirit. What
is it? I tell you what, look up at verse
19. There's the works of the flesh. Okay, we talk about works, here's
the works of the flesh. Adultery, fornication, uncleanness,
lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations,
wrath, strife, sedition, heresies, envians, murder, drunkenness,
revelings, and such like. Which I tell you before, as I've
told you in times past, that they which do such things shall
not inherit the kingdom of God, but the fruit of the spirit.
What is it? Love. joy, peace, long-suffering,
gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Against
such, there is no law. The fruit of the Spirit. The
fruit of the Spirit. The Spirit dwells in a man or
woman, a believer. Love, joy, peace, long-suffering,
gentleness, goodness, faith, temperance. And the law doesn't
forbid those things. He said affirm them constantly.
They which believe God, this is a faithful saying, they which
believe God might be careful to maintain good works. Well, that's four faithful saints. Most of you probably know that
outline as well as I do. Four faithful saints. I pray
God would bless those to our understanding and use them to
comfort us and cause us to more and more just rest in Him, rest
in Christ.