I want you to turn, please, in
your Bibles to the book of 1 Timothy. I'm going to be speaking from
1 Timothy 1, verse 15. Now, the title of this message
is, This is a Faithful Saying. And that's the way the verse
begins. This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation,
that Christ Jesus came into the to save sinners, of whom I am
the chief." Now, let me talk to you from my heart for just
a few moments. I want you to listen very carefully
to these things that I have to say. Now, I realize, as much
as any of you, that I'm out of step with the great parade of
religion today. I'm not marching to their tune.
I know that, and you know that. We're out of step with today's
parade of religion. And I realize that we're putting
a serious question mark on some very successful operations, organizations,
and some mighty powerful denominations. We're questioning what they're
doing and the way they're doing it, and most especially the message
which they're preaching. And I realize thirdly that we're
charging some recognized popular and powerful preachers and religious
leaders with compromise. We're charging that they are
not preaching the gospel of God's true grace. We're saying it's
another gospel. The Apostle Paul declared, if
any man preach any other gospel than the gospel that I've preached
unto you, let him be accursed. I've said before, he said, and
I'll say it again. If we or any man, be it an angel
from heaven, preach unto you any other gospel, let him be
accursed." Now, we're not in step with today's modern religious
movement. We're putting a question mark
on some very successful operations, some high-priced religious operations
and organizations. And we're charging some religious
leaders, powerful, popular preachers, with compromise. compromising
the gospel of Jesus Christ for the sake of gain and greed. And the question comes, why?
Why buck the system? Why not go along? Why challenge
that which is approved by the majority of people? Why make
enemies? Why divide institutions of religion? Why divide organizations which
are promoting social improvement Why do it? I'll give you three
reasons. And the first reason is this,
that we and our heroes may be saved. That's the first reason. The Apostle Paul said in 1 Timothy
4, 16, talking to young Timothy, here's the old veteran, the warrior,
the preacher of God's grace, speaking to the young man who
would take up his mantle and follow in his footsteps. Take
heed, he says, to yourself and to your doctrine. Take heed to
yourself, that is, your conduct and your message. Continue in
the doctrine, for in so doing thou shalt both save thyself
and them that hear thee. That's the first reason. The
first reason to take heed to thyself and to thy doctrine is
that you might be saved. The Apostle Paul said, My heart's
desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be
saved. That's my concern. I want them
to be saved. I bear them record. He said they
have a zeal for God. They have enthusiasm for God.
They don't deny that there's a God, but it's not according
to knowledge. This zeal, this enthusiasm for
God is not according to knowledge, for they being ignorant of God's
righteousness are going about to establish their own righteousness
and have not submitted to the righteousness of God. For Christ
is the end or goal of the law for righteousness to everyone
that believes it. Again, the Apostle declared,
I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. It's the power of
God and the salvation to everyone that believes it, to the Jew
first and also to the great. You know, the Apostle Paul said
this one time. He said, Necessity is laid upon
me. I must preach the gospel. But
then he followed it with this statement, Woe is unto me if
I preach not the gospel. Why buck the system? Why challenge
that which is approved by the majority? Why not go along in
order that our people to whom we preach might be saved? And
then secondly, that God may be glorified. That's why we buck
the system. That's why we do not compromise.
that God may be glorified. Listen to the Apostle Peter,
1 Peter 4.11. If any man speak, let him speak
according to the word of God, the articles of God. If any man
speak, if you must speak, if you take upon yourself to be
a preacher, if you take upon yourself to speak to God's people,
to the congregation of the righteous, then speak the word of God. If
any man minister, let him do it as of the ability that God
giveth, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus
Christ. That's got to be the first motive
for preaching or ministering, that God may be glorified. That's
the first motive. We want to see people saved.
We want to see the believer mature in grace. We want to see the
church strengthened in this day. We want to see the hungry fed
and the poor visited. But, my friend, the first motive
for all that we do is that God may be glorified. Whatever you
do in word or deed, do it for the glory of God. First Corinthians
chapter 1 verse 29 through 31 is very explicit on this matter.
It says God had chosen the foolish to bring to naught the wise,
and God had chosen the base and the and the mean things of this
world, that those things which claim to be something may appear
to be what they are nothing, that no flesh should glory in
his sight. He that glorieth, let him glory
in the Lord. Some of us today are weary of
men glorifying men. Some of us are weary of this
self-promotion. It's just like one worm bragging
on another worm. That's what it amounts to, one
worm bragging on another. God must be glorified, not self. Our names are not to be declared
to the public. The Apostle Paul says, who is
Paul? Who is Cephas? Who is Apollos? Just ministers
by whom you believe the gospel. God give us the increase. And
he said, though I be not one whit behind the chiefest apostle,
I'm nothing. None of us are anything. It's
God that must be glorified. All right, here's the third reason.
Why book the system? Why challenge that which is approved
by the majority? Why go another route? That we
might be saved, that God might be glorified, and that we might
be true to divine revelation. Again, the Apostle Paul said
to young Timothy, preach the word. That's my direction to
you. Those are my orders to you. That's
my advice to you. Preach the word. We preach not
ourselves, but Jesus Christ the Lord. Paul wrote in Romans 3,
4, let God be true and every man a liar. It's not what we
think, it's what God says. This is to be our message. Romans
10, 17, declares faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the
word of God. And the prophet Isaiah said to
the word, to the testimony, if they speak not according to the
word of God, it's because there's no light in them. what a serious
charge to bring against those who claim to be ministers of
God. They speak not according to the word of God. If they speak
not according to the word of God, it's because there's no
light in them. All scripture is given by inspiration of God,
and it's profitable for doctrine, for correction, for rebuke, for
approving men, for instructing men in righteousness. We must
be true to divine revelation. This is our ministry. that we
and those who hear us might be saved, that God may be glorified,
that we may be true to divine revelation. This is our ministry.
This is our message to declare what one old-time preacher said
is the infallible, inerrant, unbroken, verbally inspired word
of the living God. It is faithful and true. It is
sure. It is the true word of God who
cannot lie. And Paul says it's worthy of
acceptation. Listen to him again. This is
a faithful saying, meaning it's true. It's sure. It's without
question. And it's worthy of all acceptation. That is, it's worthy of universal
acceptation. It's worthy of acceptation by
all men, Jew and Gentile, white and black, old and young, rich
and poor. It does not matter. It's the
word of the living God. I want us to look at five things
from this text. I suppose all of us have what
we call favorite verses of Scripture. Well, no Scripture is of any
private interpretation. We do not seek to take a verse
out here and take a verse out there, but to receive all the
Word of God. But this particular verse to
which I'm referring this morning is a message in itself. And I
want to break it up into five parts. First of all, he said,
now, this is a crusade. This is certain and as sure as
the throne of God. We preach God's word. This is
what God says. This is a true saying. This is
a faithful saying, and it's worthy of acceptation by everybody listening
to my voice. That young man sitting there,
mother, dad, grandmother, grandfather, male or female, it's worthy of
universal acceptation. It's worthy of your acceptation.
Notice these five things. First of all, he says, Christ
Jesus, Christ Jesus came into the world. What think ye of Christ? Whose son is he? Jesus Christ
I'm talking about, born 2,000 years ago of the Virgin Mary,
Jesus Christ. What think ye of Christ? Whom
do you say that I, the Son of Man, am? This is, our Master
speaks and says, Whom do you say that I, the Son of Man, am? When he came into Jerusalem,
riding on that on the donkey, and the people were casting the
palm leaves in front of him. They were crying, Hosanna, Hosanna,
hallelujah to the one who comes in the name of the Lord. People
around there began to say, Who is this? Who is this? Who is this man? Who is this? What would you answer? Who is
this man? What think ye of Christ? Whose
son is he? Whom do you say that I, the Son
of Man, am? Well, I could spend my time today
talking about who he's not, or who men say he is, or what men
say about him. But I choose to declare unto
you what the Father says about him, and what the Word of God
says about him, Jesus Christ. This is a faithful saying, and
it's worthy of acceptation by all men, that Christ Jesus, now
he's the subject, Christ Jesus, who is he? Well, let's see what
the Father has to say. Listen to the Father. When he
was baptized, when Jesus Christ was baptized of John in the River
Jordan, the scripture says, the heavens opened and the Spirit
of God descended upon him in the form of a dove, and a voice
spake from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I
am well pleased. This is my Son. That's what the
Father said. And then one day when Christ
Jesus and three disciples, Peter, James, and John, went to the
top of the Mount of Transfiguration, and he appeared there with Moses
and Elijah, and the glory of God shone about him, again the
Father spake from heaven and said, This is my beloved Son. Hear ye him. Hear ye him. And then in Hebrews, chapter
1, verse 8, the Scripture says the Father speaking, Unto the
Son, he saith, unto the Son, unto Jesus Christ, the Father
saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and for ever. A scepter of righteousness is
the scepter of thy kingdom." Who is he? He said in John chapter
5, John the Baptist bore witness of me. He said, Behold the Lamb
of God that taketh away the sin of the world. My Father bore
witness of me. My father said, this is my son,
hear ye him. The miracles that I do bear witness
of me. You saw the miracles, but you
didn't believe. And the word that you read, he
said to the Pharisees, you search the scriptures, you're busy searching
the scriptures, you're busy studying the scriptures, you're busy studying
theology, but the scriptures are they which testify of me.
Yes, he's a man, but he's no ordinary man. Christ Jesus was
born of a woman. But the angel said to that woman
who had conceived by the Holy Ghost, That holy thing which
is born of thee shall be called the Son of God. Again the angel
said, On the year is born this day in the city of David a Savior
who is Christ the Lord. Christ the Lord. He said, I and
my Father are one. Philip said, Well, show us the
Father and we'll be satisfied. He that hath seen me hath seen
my Father. And one day when Moses went to
the top of the mountain, and God spake to him out of the bush
that burned, but was not consumed, and told him to go down into
Egypt and lead from Egypt captivity, God's people. And Moses asked
God to identify himself. He said, Now when I go down there,
And tell them to leave the people go, let the people go. Whom shall
I say has sent me? And God said, I am that I am. I am that I am. Jesus Christ,
on several occasions, used this same figure of speech. He said,
if you believe not that I am, you'll die in your sins. When
the soldiers came to arrest him, And they said, we seek Jesus
at Nazareth. He replied, I am. And they all fell backward in
amazement, overcome by the very power of those words. Whom do
you say that I am? Christ Jesus, Christ anointed,
Christ appointed, Christ ordained, Christ Messiah, the one for whom
Simeon looked. The Lord said to that old man
in the temple, Simeon the priest, You're not going to die until
you see the Messiah. And when Jesus Christ was brought
in as an infant child by his mother Mary and this man Joseph,
when Simeon looked upon him, he raised his eyes to heaven
and he said, Lord, now let me depart in peace. I've seen thy
salvation. Christ appointed, anointed, ordained
Messiah. the Savior, Jesus, the Son of
Man and Son of God, thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall
save his people from their sin." Notice the second part now, Christ
Jesus. Now, we know who we're talking
about, don't we? He came into this world. He lived before the
world was. When he prayed in John 17 to
the Father, he said, Glorify thou me with the glory which
I had with thee. before the world was. Now, my friend, if you have any
other ideas about Jesus Christ, you didn't get them from the
Bible. He was before the world was. And not only that, but He
made the world. The Scripture says He was in
the world and the world was made by Him. Did you get that? He
was in the world and the world was made by Him. In the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And all things were made by him,
and without him was not anything made that was made. And he came
into this world, literally, actually, not figuratively, literally he
came into this world. In the fullness of time, God
sent his son made of a woman, made under the law. God sent
his son, not the woman's son, his son. Now over in Isaiah chapter
53, it says under us, or chapter 9, it says under us, A child
is born unto us, a son is given. Many people think the prophet
is saying the same thing, but far from it. He's not saying
the same thing. He's saying a child is born.
A child is born into this world, a child in Jesus of Nazareth,
Jesus Christ. But a son, the Son of God, wasn't
born into this world. The Son of God existed before
this world was, and he made this world. And he has all preeminence
in the universe. That son was given. He came into
this world. Christ Jesus came into this world. He came into this world in human
flesh. He came into this world obediently. He came into this world for a
purpose. He was sent into this world by the Father. He was sent
into this world by the covenant of God's grace. He was sent into
this world to accomplish a task. He came into this world. He came
from heaven. He came from his glory. into
this world, made in the likeness of sinful flesh, bone of our
bone and flesh of our flesh, he lived on this earth which
he himself had made and was subject to the laws of this earth and
to the trials and sorrows of this earth. He was a man of sorrows
acquainted with grief. Or at the next point, Christ
Jesus came into the world to save. That's why he came. The angel said to the shepherds
on the Judean hillside, unto you is born a Savior. Thou shalt call his name Jesus,
for he shall save." Again, he said, the Son of Man is come
to seek and to save. You see, that's the theme all
the way through, talking about his coming. The angels, the first
ones to announce the fact that Christ had come, said he came
as a Savior. And he said himself, I've come
to save. And here Paul said, this is a
true saying, and it's worthy of acceptation, universal acceptation
by all men, that Christ Jesus came into this world, incarnation,
to save. That's why he came. He didn't
come to condemn. We were already condemned. The
law had condemned us. The justice of God had condemned
us. Our sins had condemned us. We
were already condemned. And on the cross, in his coming
into the world, did not condemn us. The Son came not to condemn
the world, but that the world through him might be saved. And
he didn't come to help us save ourselves. One man asked Christ
one day, who then can be saved? He said, with me it's impossible.
Man can't save himself. He can't help save himself. He's
without hope, without help, without strength, without God, without
Christ in this world. Christ came to save. He didn't
come to save us in part. and leave the major portion for
us to perform. He came to save. That's why he
came. I was preaching on this broadcast
a few years ago, and a 75-year-old man got in touch with me. He'd
been watching the broadcast, the telecast, and the Lord had
done a work of grace in his heart, and he asked me to come and visit
with him, which I did. And he said to me, you know,
he said, I've gone to church in my lifetime occasionally,
I read the Bible a little bit, but he said, you know, I never
knew why Jesus Christ came into the world. I knew that he did,
and I knew he died on the cross, and I knew he rose again, but
I didn't know why. He came to save. There was something that had
to be done by man in reference to the law. It had to be obeyed.
There was something that had to be done by man in reference
to God's justice. Man had to die. You see, man
cannot satisfy God's law nor satisfy God's justice. He can
suffer. God cannot suffer, but God can
satisfy. And Christ, as the God-man, satisfied,
fulfilled, obeyed, kept the law in every jot and tittle in a
perfect way as a human being. And he met the justice of God,
the wrath of God, the judgment of God, the hell which we deserve,
and bore it, and bore it effectually to the salvation of all who believe
on him. Then the next word is sinners.
Christ Jesus came into this world to save. He came to save effectually. He came to save sufficiently.
He came to save eternally. He came to save completely. He
didn't come to offer anything. He came to give something. The
wages of sin is death, but the gift of God's eternal life through
Jesus Christ our Lord. But the word sinner, the world
don't need a doctor. The well do not need a physician. Christ said, I didn't come to
call the righteous but sinners to repentance. He came to save
sinners. You know, a sinner's hard to
find. What are you saying? No, everybody's a sinner. Ask
them. Ask them. Qualified sinners,
yes. Not too bad, yes. Not a real
bad sinner. A pretty good sinner. But everybody
qualifies this term sinner, but a bona fide, unadulterated, self-confessed,
hell-deserving sinner is hard to find. But Christ came to save
sinners, sinners as they are. He came to save sinners of all
sorts, all nations, all kindred, and all tongues. He came to save
sinners who have no other qualification, they're just sinners. He came
to save sinners from their sins and You may not like this too
much, but he came to save them in their sin, just like they
are. He doesn't ask them to improve before they come to him. He does
the improving. If they do not come to Christ,
they'll always be in sin as they are right now. There's none good,
no, not one. There's none righteous. There's
none that seeketh after God. All we like sheep have gone astray.
We've turned everyone to his own way. God hath laid on him
the iniquity of us all. Yes, there's none good. All is
sin and comes short of the glory of God. He came to save sinners,
just like they are. The songwriter put it this way,
Come ye sinners, sinners. And you read the ministry of
our Lord while he was here on this earth, it was sinners that
he saved. When he went down to the land
of the gathering and he saved the man, he was the man in the
tomb, naked, cutting himself, He had lost his mind, and Christ
saved him. When he went down into Jericho,
he came back with Zacchaeus. When he went down into Samaria,
the woman at the well. When he went to the cross, the
thief. You see, ever before our Lord went, he came back with
a real bona fide sinner. When he went to the home of the
Pharisee, there was a harlot whom he saved. We miss that. We think Christ came into this
world to save good folks, nice folks, religious folks, sweet
folks, and he's the friend of sinners. And if you're a sinner,
I've got good news for you, Christ died for sinners. Come ye sinners,
poor and needy, weak and wounded by the fall, Jesus ready stands
to save you, full of pity, love, and power. Let not conscience
make you linger, nor fitness fondly dream. All the fitness
that Christ requires is to feel your need of him. That's all. Now here's the last word. He
came into the world, Christ Jesus, the God-man to save sinners of
whom I am the chief. I am the chief. Notice the Apostle
Paul did not say, of whom I was chief. He didn't say, of whom
I have been chief. I believe it reads, of whom I
am chief. Every man whom God saves is conscious
of his sins before God met him. And he's conscious of his sins
since he met God. All believers are conscious of
their sins. We long to be perfect, but we're not yet. I like what
John Newton said, I'm not what I want to be. The Apostle John
wrote, if we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive
us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Our Lord taught
us to pray, forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against
us. But Newton said, I'm not what I want to be. I'm not what
I ought to be. I'm not what I'm going to be.
But thank God, by the grace of God, I'm not what I used to be."
This is a true saying. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners, of whom I'm chief.