If you have a Bible, convenient,
I'd like you to open it to the book of 1 Timothy. I'm going
to speak today from 1 Timothy 1, verse 15. Now, my subject
is the gospel we preach. The gospel we preach. And Paul,
in 1 Timothy 1, verse 15, said this, This is a faithful saying
and worthy of all acceptation or acceptation by all men that
Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners of whom I am
the chief. Now there are several things
that bother me about today's religion and today's preaching. I ask this question, I ask myself
this question, I ask you, are we actually preaching the gospel? Are we actually preaching the
gospel, or are we just talking about the gospel in general terms? I saw a television program a
few days ago about a certain television preacher, and the
news commentator asked this question, is he on television to raise
more money Or does he raise more money to stay on television?
And what I'm asking today is this. Are we really preaching
the gospel of Jesus Christ or are we just talking about the
gospel of Jesus Christ? I know this, giving our congregation
lectures on good government is not preaching the gospel. And
preaching on successful living is not preaching the gospel.
That's not preaching the gospel of Christ. It may be profitable
for some people. And setting forth laws of morality
and good works, that's not preaching the gospel. Promoting denominations
and building schools and healing the body, that's not preaching
the gospel. I don't care how much of it you
do and I don't care how commendable it is. It's not preaching the
gospel. Talking about myself and my program
and my church and my school and my denomination is not preaching
the gospel. Paul said one time, we preach
not ourselves, but we preach Christ Jesus. That's what I'm
asking. Are we preaching Christ or are
we preaching ourselves? Talking about heaven and hell,
singing inspiring songs, getting all these choirs and special
singers and orchestras entertaining men and women and singing gospel
songs and raising money to feed the poor is not preaching the
gospel. Now that's not preaching the
gospel. And I'm asking this question
as I listen to television preachers and preachers in the pulpit and
as I preach myself and as I read sermons that men have preached,
are we truly, are we really preaching the gospel? the gospel of Jesus
Christ, are we guilty of declaring our determination to preach the
gospel? For example, send me some money
and keep this program on the air so we can preach the gospel
all over the world. Are we really preaching the gospel?
Are we fulfilling our intentions? Are we making good on our promises? Are we really preaching the gospel?
Or have we allowed Satan to beguile us? That's what Paul talked about
in 2 Corinthians 11. He was fearful that Satan should
beguile us like he did our mother Eve. And distract us and take
us away from the simplicity of Christ. Has Satan turned us away
from the simplicity, from the singleness of Christ? From the
message of the gospel, from the testimony of the gospel to other
things? Are we really preaching the gospel
of Jesus Christ, or are we preaching prophecy? Are we preaching his
first coming, his crucifixion, his death, his burial, his resurrection,
his work for sinners, or are we preaching about his second
coming? His second coming will profit
you nothing if you know nothing of his first coming. Are we preaching
the gifts of the Spirit? Are we preaching the Holy Ghost?
Are we promoting programs and people? Or are we really preaching
the gospel? I ask this question. What is
there in today's preaching? What is there in our sermons
and in our messages and our Bible classes for sinners who need
salvation? People who need God. People who
need grace. people who need to know how God
can be just and justified. What is in our preaching for
men and women unlearned in the scriptures, uninformed in grace,
untaught in the gospel of Christ? What is there in our preaching
for the man who walks in off the street and sits down, and
who's a sinner, and whose sins are heavy upon his heart, who's
facing An angry God who's facing judgment without hope, without
help, without Christ, without hope, without mercy. What's in
our message for that man or that woman? Paul said this, God didn't
send me to baptize. He wasn't belittling baptism
or taking away from baptism. He was simply declaring what
God sent him to do, to preach the gospel. He said on one occasion,
woe is unto me if I don't preach the gospel. Our Lord Jesus Christ
gathered his apostles around him before he ascended to glory
and gave them this commission, go into all the world and preach
the gospel. I believe it's our responsibility
to walk in holiness, it's our responsibility to feed the hungry,
it's our responsibility to take care of the widows and orphans,
It's our responsibility to keep our neighborhood a good place
in which to live, but our chief responsibility is to fulfill
the commission of our master, and that is to preach the gospel.
Not just to talk about preaching it, not just to express our determination
to preach it, but actually to preach the gospel. My one great
desire is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ for those who
know it, And for those who don't know it, every time I stand before
you to declare in no uncertain terms ruin by the fall, redemption
by the blood, and regeneration by the Holy Spirit. Let's look
at our text again. Paul declared this. He said,
this is a faithful saying, and this is a saying worthy of acceptation
by all men, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners.
He came to save sinners. He didn't come to build a better
society. He came to save sinners, of whom
I'm chief. Now, if you look back in our
text, just a few verses, that's verse 15, 1 Timothy 1, 15. But
if you look back at verse 12, this is where this actually begins. Paul says in verse 12, God put
me in the ministry. God put me in the ministry. I'm
not the servant of a denomination. I'm not the servant of an organization. I'm not the servant of a people.
I'm not even my own servant. I'm God's servant. I'm God's
bond slave. And He put me in the ministry.
It's not a job. It's not a vocation. It's a divine
appointment. And I am an ambassador for Jesus
Christ to declare His gospel. I am His messenger and His ambassador. And his preacher, because he,
according to his own purpose and wisdom, put me in the ministry. I don't belong to a church. I
don't belong to a people. I belong to God. That's the first
thing he said. And then in verse 13 he tells
what he was. He was a blasphemer. He was injurious. He said, I was an unbeliever,
like everybody else. He said, it's not my goodness
that put me in the ministry, it's not my merit. It's His grace
that called me out of my blasphemy. It's His grace that lifted me
from the dunghill and set me among His choice princes. It's
His grace that revealed His Son in me. I was no good, a blasphemer. An angel couldn't preach the
gospel. What does an angel know about
the gospel? God uses sinners to preach the gospel. He uses
men who have in their own hearts experienced that gospel, and
that's what Paul is saying here. God put me in the ministry, and
before He found me and called me and put me in the ministry,
I was a blasphemer. I was injurious, I was a persecutor,
I was an unbeliever, though religious. And then he said in verse 14,
but His grace, His infinite abounding grace, His grace in Christ was
abundantly sufficient for me and it will be abundantly sufficient
for you. And I'll tell you this, and I
wish we could do away with this type of preaching like we're
hearing today. Paul didn't holler and scream
at people. Paul didn't get hold of his ear
and holler and scream and gasp for breath and call it preaching.
Paul didn't preach down to people in a holier-than-thou fashion,
get angry with them. Paul declared this. He said,
God called this old blasphemer, God called this old persecutor,
this old unbeliever, this old religious Pharisee out of darkness
and sin, and by his grace he put me in the ministry of Jesus
Christ. And by His grace, He manifested
His love to me in Jesus Christ. And God's grace, which is abundantly
sufficient for me, the chief of sinners, is abundantly sufficient
for you. And then He declared His gospel
message in clear, simple words. He clearly defined what He's
talking about. He said, God put me in this ministry. God gave me this call. And I
wasn't anything. I was a blasphemer, and a persecutor,
and injurious, and an unbeliever, but God's grace was abundantly
sufficient for me." And then he declared, and I'll tell you
this is a faithful saying, and it's worthy of acceptation by
all men, that Jesus Christ, God's Son, came into this world to
save sinners, of whom I am the chief, of whom I am the chief. That doesn't sound like present-day
preaching, does it? Most present-day preachers brag
about how much holier they are than their congregations, and
how much higher we've got the clergy and the laity, and how
much better they are. We give them special holy names
and special holy reverence. But Paul said, I'm the chief
of sinners. Now let's look at his gospel. What gospel did he
preach? What gospel do we preach? Here
he said this, he said, Jesus Christ came into this world.
Jesus Christ came into this world to save sinners. Now you can
remember this, I'll give it to you in four statements. First
of all, this gospel we preach is the gospel of a person. It's
not the gospel of a plan, or a proposition, or a program,
or a profession. It's the gospel of a person.
He said, this is the faithful saying that's worthy of all acceptation,
that somebody did something. And that somebody is Jesus Christ. And He's identified by His name.
He's called Christ because He is the Messiah. Throughout the
whole Old Testament, He's promised in picture, in prophecy, in type. He is the Christ. Jesus of Nazareth,
who was born of Maverick, is the fulfillment of all Old Testament
prophecies concerning the Christ. And not only that, but he's prophesied
by the Old Testament writers. Moses called him that prophet.
Also, he'd be a priest forever like Melchizedek, and he would
be a king like his father David. And he's pictured in all Old
Testament promises and pictures and ceremonies and sacrifices
and sin offerings. He's the Christ. This gospel
we preach is the gospel of a person who's identified as Christ the
Lord. Christ the Lord. And not only
that, but he's Jesus. When the angel came to Joseph
and told him that Mary would bring forth a child, he said,
now that child, which is conceived in her, is conceived by the Holy
Ghost. And thou shalt call his name
Jesus. That's the Old Testament word Joshua. And it means God
my Savior. And that's His earthly name.
This Christ, this Lord, who came in human flesh, is called Jesus. And Paul said, in the fullness
of time, God sent His Son into the world, made of a woman, made
under the law to redeem them that were born under the law,
and put those two names together, Christ Jesus, or Jesus Christ,
and you have the God-man, the God-man. You see, Jesus Christ
literally, actually, in reality, is God in human flesh. That's what the angel said to
Joseph. His being born of Mary, a virgin, conceived by the Holy
Spirit, is the fulfillment of the prophecy Isaiah wrote. Unto
us a son is born, unto us a child is born, a son is given, and
his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God. His
name shall be called Emmanuel, which is interpreted, God with
us. He's Son of God, He's Son of
Man. He's made of the seed of David,
according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God. So the
gospel I'm preaching, my friend, is the gospel of a person. A
person. Christ Jesus. Jesus Christ the
Lord. Jesus, Son of Man. Bone of our
bone, flesh of our flesh. Christ, God, their God or their
God, the promised Messiah, the Lord. In the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and all
things were made by Him. Without Him was not anything
made that was made. And the Word was made flesh and
dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the
only begotten of the Father. And this gospel is not only the
gospel of a person, But it's the gospel of that person's divine
visit to this earth. He came to this earth. Jesus
Christ came into this world. That's what it says. Jesus Christ
is God. The Father spoke about the Son
and said, Thy throne, O God, is forever. Paul told the elders
at Ephesus to feed the church of God, which he purchased with
his own blood. Then in John 10.30 he said, I
and my Father are one. And he literally, actually, God
came into this world. He clothed himself in human flesh. Our Lord in Hebrews 10 says,
A body thou hast prepared me, a body in which God dwelt as
he walked on this earth. Yes, Jesus Christ is God. He's
the second atom. He's the Lord from heaven. He's
the man by whom men are redeemed. By man came death, by man came
resurrection. That's right, in Adam we die,
in Christ we're made alive. By the disobedience of one man,
many were made sinners, by the obedience of another man, many
were made righteous. But this other man is the Lord
from heaven, this other man is the God-man, this other man is
the perfect man, representation. As a man, he is our representative. As a man, he is our righteousness.
As a man, he is our sin offering. So this gospel, and I'm trying
to tell you what the gospel is, it's the gospel of a person.
It's the gospel of that person's divine visitation. His coming
to this earth. He actually came to this earth.
And he literally actually died on a cross for our sins. And
it's the gospel of effectual deliverance. Jesus Christ came
into the world to save sinners. God is unchangeable, holy, just,
and righteous. Men are sinners, in the flesh
dwelleth no good thing. In order for that holy, righteous
God to forgive and receive and commune and fellowship with guilty
sinners, Almighty God's attributes must be honored and His attributes
must reign. Jesus Christ didn't come into
this world to change God, but to enable God to be just and
justify. Christ Jesus didn't come into
this world to change the law, to soften the law, to take the
edge off of the law, but to obey it on behalf of those whom he
represented. Jesus Christ didn't come into
this world to soften justice, or to take the edge off of justice,
to alter justice or change justice. He came to honor justice and
satisfy justice and fully paid the debt. He didn't come to help
us save ourselves. He came literally, actually,
to save us. And when He had by Himself purged
our sins, He sat down on the right hand of God. This is the
gospel. It's the gospel of a person.
That person and his work. That person in his glory, that
person in his visit to this earth, that person in his effectual
work, his effectual obedience, his effectual death, his actual
burial and resurrection, ascension, and his actual intercession at
the right hand of God. And this gospel is a command.
It's not optional whether or not you believe the gospel. God
commands men to repent. God commands men to believe the
gospel. It's not optional whether or
not a man believes God, but it's a command. So what is this gospel
we preach? The gospel of a person. It's
the gospel of that person's divine visit to this earth. It's the
gospel of that person's effectual work in redeeming a people for
the glory of God and in keeping with the honor of God. And it's
a command. All men are commanded to believe
it. Now, for whom is this gospel
designed? Well, it's for sinners. Christ
Jesus came not to call the righteous, but sinners. He's the friend
of sinners. He's the Savior of sinners. He
came to save His people from their sins, not pretended sins,
but from their sins, actual sins. And to offend in one point of
the law is to be guilty of the whole law. But you say, Preacher,
all men are sinners. Of course they are. But how many
realize it? How many will admit it? So many
religious sinners today do not even own their condition, and
they feel no need of mercy. They feel no need of grace. But
our Lord's grace is for the guilty. Our Lord's mercy is for the miserable.
Our Lord demonstrated that in His ministry here on the earth.
For whom did He come? To whom did He speak? To whom
did he preach? With whom did he eat? With whom
did he fellowship? Whom did he call sinners? The
woman at the well, Zacchaeus, Saul of Tarsus, the thief on
the cross, the man in the tombs, the woman who was a harlot. Go
all the way through God's Word. He said, I didn't come to call
the righteous, but sinners. And Paul said, this is a faithful
saying. And it's worthy of all acceptation
that Jesus Christ came into this world to save folks like you
and me. Sinners, people who know they're
sinners, sinners in heart, and sinners in thought, and sinners
in imagination, and sinners in attitude, and sinners in spirit,
and sinners in pride, and anger, and lust, and malice, and bigotry,
and all these inward sins that eat at your soul all the time,
and sinners in deeds. Sinners! Christ came to save. Paul said, I'm the chief of sinners. And he came to save me. Now how
do we preach this gospel? We preach it as a certainty.
It's a faithful saying. What does that word faithful
mean? It can be depended upon. A person who is faithful can
be depended upon. Something that's faithful is
certain. Something that's faithful is sure. And you can depend on
this. This is the record. John said,
this is the record. God has given to us eternal life,
and that life is in His Son. And he that hath the Son of God
hath life, and nobody can take it away from him. And he that
hath not the Son of God hath not life. All right, it's not
only a certain saying, but it's an everyday message. It's a saying.
This is a faithful saying. It's not just for the temple.
Somebody said, leave your religion in your church. Well, your religion
belongs there, but the gospel belongs with the people. Leave
your religion in the pulpit. Well, your religion belongs in
the pulpit. I agree. Just keep your religion in the
pulpit. But the gospel belongs with the
people. The gospel belongs on the street. The gospel belongs
in the home. The gospel belongs where sinners
are. This is a faithful saying. It's a saying. It's not just
for special days. It's a saying. It's not just
for special season. It's a saying. It's an everyday
saying. that if thou shalt confess with
thy mouth Jesus to be Lord, and believe in thine heart, God hath
raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. And it's worthy,
it's a common application, it's worthy of acceptance by everybody,
Jew or Gentile, Protestant or Catholic, male or female, old
or young, rich or poor, learned or ignorant, it's worthy of your
acceptation, of your belief, it's worthy to be believed. This
is our gospel. Let's preach it. Let's quit debating
and arguing and building and all these things are going to
pass away. The passion of this world passes away. You can write
my name on a half a dozen walls if you want to and dedicate all
these buildings to my honor and this sort of thing, but God's
going to burn it all. Here's the faithful saying. Here's
what's worthy of acceptation, that somebody came into this
world. And his name was Jesus Christ, and God sent him because
he is the God-man. And he came down here on a mission
to perform a task, and he said he did it. And that task is to
save people from their sins. Christ Jesus died, came into
this world, and lived a perfect life, and died, and honored God's
law and justice. And he did it to save people
from their sins, from their sins, completely from their sins, totally
and absolutely. Now, several weeks ago, I told
you about some Bible-class commentaries that I had written and prepared
for our people at 13th Street Baptist Church. I've written
all of the 21 epistles in the New Testament, verse by verse.
And these little booklets are written in plain, simple, everyday
language. I know many of you have commentaries
in your homes, and you say, well, they're just hard to read. They're
hard to understand. Don't get down to the point.
But these books that you see on the screen now, I've written
these, we've used them in our Sunday school classes for seven
or eight years, and they're being printed by a company in England,
the Evangelical Press. And I'm getting them wholesale,
and that's the way I'm letting you have them. Now, here they
are. Here's the little book, about
120 pages in each one. And it follows from Romans, clearly,
to Jude. I don't have all of them yet,
I have four of the booklets, I have Galatians, I have 1st
and 2nd Thessalonians, 1st and 2nd Timothy, I have Romans, and
I have Hebrews from which I'll be preaching next week. Now what
these books are, they're verse by verse study of these books
of the Bible. If you want all four of these
little booklets, You can have them for six dollars. You say,
well, I've already gotten three of them. I don't have Hebrews.
Well, send a dollar and a half and we'll send you Hebrews. That's
what they cost each. One dollar and a half each. And
you can have them all for six dollars. I'd be glad to send
them to you if you'll write to me. Now, this message I preached
today on the gospel we preach, it's on a cassette tape, along
with a message that I'll bring next week on Hebrews 10. Now,
if you want these little booklets, and believe me, they're very
helpful. They're in everyday language. You can understand
and I can understand. They get the clear point from
any verse in these books. And we'll send them to you for
six dollars. If you'll write, this week we'll mail them by
return mail. Join us next Sunday. Until then,
Henry Mahan bidding you a very pleasant, good day.