Christ, the Saviour of Sinners

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Please enjoy the It was in the year 1531 when

Martin Luther began a series of lectures that many have considered to be his best and the most important works of his life.

Beginning in July of that year, 1531, he took to the podium at Wittenberg University in Germany and for the better part of six months, he delivered what

I am calling a world -changing exposition of the book of Galatians.

Early in the treatment of his book, in chapter 1 in verse 4, he stood before his students and he read this passage aloud.

In Galatians chapter 1 in verse 4, he said, and I'm going to borrow a little bit from verse 3 for context, he said,

Jesus Christ gave himself for our sins,

I want to repeat that, for our sins, to rescue us from the present evil age according to the will of our

God and Father. Here, as Luther was speaking on this, he marveled at what he called the genius of Christianity.

That Christ came not to lay down his life for the righteous, but that he came to lay down his life for sinners.

And speaking to the great sinfulness of man, Luther remarked, he said this, he said, we are not to look upon our sins as insignificant trifles.

Learn to believe that Christ was given not for petty and imaginary transgressions, but for mountainous sins.

Not for one or for two, but for all. Not for sins that can be discarded, those that we hold further away from ourselves, but for sins that are stubbornly ingrained.

And going on, he added, he said, practice this knowledge and fortify yourself against despair, particularly in the last hour when the memory of past sins assails the conscience.

And say with confidence, Christ, the Son of God, was not given for the righteous, but for sinners.

If I had no sin, I should not need Christ. But the truth is,

I am all sin. My sins are not imaginary transgressions, but, and it's interesting, it echoes what we heard last week, he says, my sins are against the first table of the law.

My sins are against the second table of the law. And therefore, I am a transgressor of all the commandments of God.

Here Luther wanted his students to understand, I think, two truths that must exist in harmony with each other.

The first truth is this, that there is a great gravity to our sinfulness.

It is not, to use his words, a trifling matter, but a mountainous matter. When a man hears the clear word of God to him, and then he elects to do something else instead, in rebellion.

It is of no inconsequential, it is not an inconsequential mistake when a mere mortal thumbs his nose, as it were, at the sovereign and omnipotent creator of all things.

Luther's message to his students was clear, sin is a deadly, serious matter, and all of us have sinned, not only against each other, but against this good and gracious God.

But Luther had a second truth that he wanted to put before his students, and it was this, that he explained that though man's sinfulness is indeed great,

Christ's atoning work is greater still. And Christ did not come to save man from small sins, but he came to pay the penalty for big, ugly, soul -destroying sins.

And every Christian, it is our call to fortify ourselves with this knowledge that Christ came for this very purpose, not to purify the righteous, but to rescue vile and wretched sinners.

Luther would conclude that portion of his lecture there saying, do not permit yourself to be robbed of this lovely conception of God, that Christ gave himself for our sins.

And speaking about sinful men, sinful women, like the ones in this room, he said, he does not trample the fallen, but he raises them.

Would to God that he could impregnate our hearts with these truths. Today we're arriving now with our third sermon in this first chapter of 1

Timothy. And this afternoon, I think what the Lord has given us is the opportunity to see again for ourselves what

Luther calls this lovely conception of Christ. How often do you feel like you are beyond Christ's saving ability?

Does that enter into your mind from time to time? Or to put it another way, how often are you tempted to feel that God has no desire to save you in Christ because you are such a persistent sinner?

As if he is, you are within his reach, but you are, as it were, untouchable because of your sin.

In all of my pastoral care and counseling, it seems like if there is one issue that seems almost always to be universal in the hearts and minds of conscientious

Christians, it is this, they will tell me, I know myself. I know that God knows me even better.

And I struggle, frankly, to understand how Christ would ever, not that he could never, but would ever save a wretched sinner like me.

In this passage today, I think we discover these two simultaneous truths that Luther was putting before his students almost 500 years ago, which is that we are brothers and sisters in this room.

I intend to make the case that we are great sinners. You might be visiting us for the first time.

You might not be a Christian. I intend to make the case you are a great sinner. And we need to come to terms with this fact.

But also, that second truth, that Jesus Christ came into this world for the very purpose of saving sinners.

Even the worst of the worst of the worst, even for sinners like you.

This is a wondrous truth, is it not? And yet how often it escapes us.

So, turning to our text, we are going to begin in 1

Timothy chapter 1 verse 12. I am going to highlight three truths today that rise to the surface of this passage.

We will read the text as we go through those. And the first truth that we find here is what

I am calling man's sinful condition. Man's sinful condition.

And we find this in verses 12 through 14. Paul says to Timothy, I thank him who has given me strength,

Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service. Though formerly

I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent, but I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief.

And the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

As Paul begins in verses 12 and 13, he touches on something that we already dealt with at good length last week.

Namely, his checkered past before the Lord called him to his service.

Beginning in verse 12, Paul speaks to his current position as he serves

Christ as an apostle. So verse 12 is Paul in the present. And we see this because he compares himself with Paul in the past when in verse 13, he says, though formerly, speaking of what he was before Christ had called him.

Now some observers, even as we come to verse 12, have questioned why Paul would begin this section in this way.

Some seeing what they perceive to be an incongruity with the rest of the section have wondered, why is he going on about how the

Lord called him? And I think the most compelling answer is that here, Paul is seeking to be an example to Timothy.

We see this all throughout the first and second letter that Paul wrote to Timothy.

He is one who ministers the gospel by the strength that Christ provides. He does not possess a power that is inherent in himself, but he is dependent on the

Lord in the same way that Timothy should be also. So he's saying,

I am or that I thank God that he has given me strength. There's that strength from Christ.

And he judged me faithful, meaning that he, he judged Paul as being reliably dependent upon God, which then makes him a trustworthy servant with the message of the gospel.

Now, we're not going to dwell on that passage, but where I really want to focus in this first point is in verse 13.

In verse 13, Paul gets to the substance of what he is seeking to convey to Timothy.

Last week, we saw how Paul spoke about the lawful use of the law. And the law, we'll remember, is not laid down for some hypothetically righteous person who can enhance their standing before God by obedience to its commands.

But as we saw last week, the law was given principally that first use of the law to silence every mouth.

To condemn all people, as it were, and to consign all people to sin.

It was given to convict the world of sin, that we might know that we are sinners, that there might be an objective moral standard that we do not attain to.

And though we're now in a new paragraph, Paul has not yet moved on from this theme. To counter the false teachers that Paul is dealing with, we've heard them already with their speculation and their genealogies and their other things.

To counter these, who are misusing the law, here Paul shows that even he, even

Paul, a man who now serves as an apostle, was condemned under the law before Christ called him to himself.

And I find it fascinating that Paul relies on three tremendously potent words as he describes the extent of his sinfulness.

I like to point this out as often as I can, that I know the way I read my Bible and I trust that in many cases you read the

Bible the same way, which is we read it and we consider what we're reading for a moment and then we carry on and we don't often look much deeper.

But Paul is saying something tremendously important as he uses these three words speaking to his own sinfulness.

What are those words that he uses? At least if you have the ESV, he refers to himself as a blasphemer, as a persecutor, and as an insolent opponent.

And to get to the bottom of what Paul is trying to say here, we're going to look a little bit more closely at each of these words.

A blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent opponent. When Paul says that he is a blasphemer, what is it that he means?

What he is telling us is that that he is guilty of slandering or of speaking evil of God.

Elsewhere in Scripture this word is used to speak of those who slander God in the end times.

We see it in 2 Timothy 3, 2. You don't have to turn there but it's there in 2 Timothy 3.

Among those who slander God are those who are lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, and unholy.

Elsewhere Paul uses this word for blasphemers to describe those false teachers who, in 2

Peter 2, pronounce blasphemous judgments before the Lord. Even as Paul kicks off this vice list, which is, some see it as an addition to that first vice list that we see in verses 9 and 10, even here he chooses one of the least flattering words in the

Christian's vocabulary. To be a blasphemer is one who, in the words of John Stott, speaks evil of Jesus Christ.

And so Paul is telling us that he was completely lost, and not only completely lost, but lost and leading others astray.

But Paul goes on. He adds another word saying that he was a persecutor. Now most of us know what a persecutor is.

Persecutor, maybe if you were to ask for a basic definition, is one who oppresses others for one reason or another.

Now no doubt Paul, this is speaking to Paul's being an approving accomplice in Stephen's murder, and the imprisonment of Christians well beyond the confines of Jerusalem, as he was going out to arrest and bring back

Christians across at least that part of the Roman Empire, what would be Israel.

But again here Paul does something that's a bit different to demonstrate the severity of his sin.

He uses a variation of the word that is used nowhere else in scripture. Does anyone remember what that's called?

A word that's used nowhere else in scripture? A hapax legomena. There it is.

That one word. I didn't expect most of you to get it, but I'm glad someone got it. Here he uses a hapax legomena, a word that he uses nowhere else, perhaps to make it stand alone.

To demonstrate that his persecution was truly loathsome. It's closely related to a word that we find in the

Greek translation of the Old Testament, that speaks to the harsh treatment of the Egyptians towards the nation of Israel, just before the

Lord delivered them from the nation there. If you look, because we talked about this last time, with hapax legomena, oftentimes you need to look outside of scripture.

When we look at how this word is used outside of scripture, it speaks to the master of a quarry who treats his employers like slaves, driving them to the bone as they work in a rocky pit.

And so Paul calls himself then a blasphemer, a lost man who leads people astray, a persecutor, a slave driver literally, and then as an insolent opponent.

Now some will say that's two words, not one word. In the original language it's one word. Sometimes we see it translated as violent aggressor, this insolent opponent, and it denotes an air of brutality.

In the Old Testament it's used to describe, in fact, the violence that awaited Babylon for their cruel treatment of the nation of Israel.

And so it's true violence. And so here Paul describes his former life before Christ, and he uses these three terms, and then adds with them these other two, ignorance and unbelief.

And though our familiarity with this passage may soften the blow, what this amounts to on Paul's part is a self -description that is nothing less than utterly despicable.

Paul is trying to paint himself as the lowest of the low. In fact, some scholars have looked at this passage, and scholars are going to scholar in this way.

It speaks to, I think it was Dietrich Bonhoeffer who said that scholars, might have been

Dietrich Bonhoeffer who was quoting someone else, who said that scholars exist simply to explain away the passage so that they don't have to obey the passage.

Well, we'll hear what scholars have said, some at least, is that this passage cannot possibly be genuine.

And why? Because it goes too far. Because no self -respecting person would ever describe themselves in these three terms, let alone an apostle, let alone the

Apostle Paul. They've said it is inconceivable that Paul would ever speak about himself in such scathing terms.

But they don't understand the point of the passage, hence why they doubt what Paul is saying.

Paul is saying, even I, as an apostle of Christ Jesus, am no better off than you.

I am no better off than all those that were listed in verses 9 and 10, what we looked at last week.

It's interesting, even some have have drawn that connection. They've seen the similarity in the language that Paul is using here, and related it back to verses 9 and 10.

And you know how I to use examples of people who I even disagree on their conclusions, but I can't disagree with their ex -Jesus.

John MacArthur says, as a blasphemer, Paul violated the first half of the Ten Commandments through his overt attack against Christ.

And as a persecutor, an insolent man, Paul violated the second half through his attack on believers.

And so here Paul is saying, as it were, that he is a violator of both the first table and the second table of the law, just as he consigned all people to last week.

And this is where we need to arrive at, I think, the conclusion that Paul is getting at.

Whether you are a believer, or not a believer, or you might put yourself somewhere in between, the core of Paul's message is this.

That he is a sinner. That I am a sinner. That you are a sinner.

That we all together are sinners. And to add to that, we are all great sinners.

That we have sinned against a good and holy God. And that we have sinned against our fellow man.

It wasn't enough to sin against God, we had to sin against each other as well. In the words of one

Puritan, he says, sin goes about to un -God God. And that is exactly what we have done by our sin.

We have sinned against the first table, the first four commandments concerning God. And we've sinned against the second table, those final six related to man.

We have sinned against all of God's commandments because we are sinners against God. And here

Paul is painting us, and some of you might not think, I know for sure Joel Osteen would not be pleased with this because he doesn't like to use the word sin in his sermons.

But here what Paul is doing is he is taking a broad brush and he is painting us all scarlet, as it were, as sinners.

And I know that in many cases, a lot of cases, I might be preaching this and you might be thinking to yourself,

I know this. You're preaching to the choir. But let me assure you that we do not know the half of it.

We do not know half of the great cosmic treason that is our sin.

What does our sin look like, not from our perspective, but from Almighty God's?

I think about my role as a parent. And when my children sin against me, how much it grieves me, especially when they sin against me, not just by accident, but when they look at me and they hear my very words and then they do the exact opposite.

And this is not limited to my children alone. This is everyone's children and this is all of us that we have sinned against God.

Ralph Robinson, who was an English Puritan who lived in the 1600s, I think he describes it in better words than I can.

He says, sin is the most loathsome disease in all the world and the most infectious.

He says, the smallpox, the pestilence, the leprosy, these are delightful, pleasant diseases in comparison to sin.

Sin does not pollute. Sin does, sorry, pollute everything. It comes near. It pollutes the conscience, the ordinances, relations, persons, and nations.

If it were possible that one drop of sin could enter heaven, it would turn heaven to hell.

It is compared in scripture to all loathsome things. It is compared to the plague of pestilence and of leprosy.

It is compared to poison. It is compared to the vomit of a dog. It is called filthiness, abomination, lewdness, all things that are loathsome in the world are used in scripture as a shadow to point to the loathsomeness of sin.

All of us, Paul is telling us, himself included, are plagued with that sin.

And it is a terrible affront to God. But Paul has more to say.

Not only must we see man's sinful condition, but we see in verses 14 -16, the second truth that I think rises to the surface of this text, and that is

Christ's saving power. And we read this in verses 14 -16.

He says, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom

I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me as the foremost,

Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.

Paul does something amazing here. He paints us with this broad brush as sinners, not so that all of us together would fall into the slew of despond, if you know the

Pilgrim's Progress, that bog where Christian falls and he cannot get up, and he is despondent and feels wretched and is unable to move.

He does not do that to put us into the slew of despond, but he paints us with this broad brush, so that we, all being sinners, knowing that we are sinners, that he might apply the truths of the gospel, not to some of us, but to all of us.

This point might just as well have been called something along the lines of Christ's kind disposition to sinners.

And I want you to see this with me. These are verses we are familiar with.

As I sent out the order of service to the people that received it every week, I said, please pray, because I know that our familiarity with this passage is likely to make us deaf and blind to its truths.

But come with me through verses 14, 15, and 16. Paul has just told us how bad we all are.

At this stage, you would think that all Christ has for us is wrath.

But alas, the words in verse 14 come as a great and awesome surprise for those of us who, like Paul, are sinners.

He tells us that even as we and he are sinners, that the grace of Christ overflowed for him.

What a word picture that is, again, that we so often miss.

It is conveying a super abundance of grace. And it's not just like all of us when we were kids and we're learning how to make macaroni.

You boil water over the top of the pot on the stove. But it is a super abundance.

And the best picture that I can think of is actually a picture from my childhood. I want you to think with me for a moment.

Just picture this. What it would be like to stand in a deep valley with rocky crags on your right hand and on your left hand.

And you look down. You're on a creek bed. You can look downward and you see just a trickle of water down a creek.

And then you turn around a full 180 degrees. And you look up and in front of you is a giant concrete slab that forms a massive dam.

Almost as high as you can bring your neck up. Sometimes what we will do,

I suppose the Lord has blessed me in this respect, is we can sit around the island at our kitchen and my children want me to just tell stories about all the precarious situations that my dad got us into.

My dad really has given me an endless supply of sermon illustrations. In one particular summer, we spent the whole summer in Kananaskis country.

If you drive towards Canmore, there's a place called Akshaw. It's where they're literally grinding a mountain down into cement.

My dad was working there all summer and so he would work all day and then in the evenings we would go down and he would take us to his favorite fishing spot.

Now most people's favorite fishing spot is on the edge of a lake with the mountains in view or fly fishing on the

Bow River or something like that. But my dad was more unconventional and he found that the best fish were to be had at the bottom of the dam there in Kananaskis.

And if you've ever driven that secondary road that goes past Akshaw, you'll see there is a giant reservoir of water.

And my dad somehow discovered that there is an old service road that you can take down to the bottom of that dam.

You can climb down the rocky cliffs and there at the very base of the dam is the best fishing.

And my dad would take us there several times, probably a couple dozen times. And I remember my dad being maybe somewhat disappointed in me that I never wanted to go fishing.

And the reason was because as he and my brother fished, I would stand and look at this giant dam and look for any sign of water coming through the floodgates.

Understanding, though I was young, I was not a fool, I understood that on the opposite side of that giant cement wall were millions and millions and millions and millions of gallons of water being held by this structure devised by men.

And all that needed to happen was that the gates could be opened and that rocky creek bed with a trickle of water and some good fishing would turn into a torrential river that would carry us away.

And I remember as a child standing there looking in fear.

I don't know if I prayed at that time, but if I did pray, I assure you that it would have been at that time.

Now I want you to picture with me for a moment that you and I are standing there in that creek bed looking up at that giant dam.

And we, standing in that creek bed, come to an appreciation of what we have just been told in verses 12 and 13.

That we are great sinners. That we have violated all of God's commands.

And standing there, we are told, somehow, that what

God has on the other side of that dam is something that he has devised for us as sinners.

A holy, holy God. There with a reservoir full of what he has for us.

And as the floodgates open, what do we expect to receive?

I tell you, if I was not familiar with this passage, I would say that that reservoir is full of God's white, hot hatred.

Not only for sin, but for me. That that reservoir is full of God's just wrath that I so deserve.

That that reservoir is full of every bad thing that God has ever devised for sinful and wicked men.

And as that floodgate opens, what comes out of the dam? But Paul says,

The grace of our Lord overflowed for me. That it is all grace.

That it is all grace for his people. What is in that reservoir?

But it is grace abounding. The grace of God abounding for the chief of sinners.

That is, in fact, as we have been reading through that book by John Bunyan, Grace Abounding for the

Chief of Sinners. He got the title of that book from these verses. In verses 14 and 15.

It is not revulsion towards sinners. It is not his anger and his seething wrath.

But it is grace. And coming over the banks of that dam is not just grace, but we're told faith and love.

What is that? Does Christ possess faith and love in the same way that he possesses grace?

Perhaps love. But Christ has no need for faith. What that is telling us. This is the doctrine of grace.

The doctrines of grace. What we would call the doctrines of God's sovereign grace. Here coming over that dam in full measure.

That not only do we receive grace, but we receive the faith that we are lacking.

That our unbelief is replaced by belief. By faith in Christ. And our hatred towards God and towards one another is replaced by love for God.

Love for Christ. Love for one another. That we receive the twin gifts of faith and love from Him.

And now verse 14 isn't enough to keep us occupied for all of eternity.

Which I think it most certainly is. There is more. That reservoir has not run dry, but it's barely empty.

Because in verse 15, Paul begins with this formula. He's saying the saying is trustworthy.

He uses that phrase. This saying is trustworthy. Only in his pastoral epistles.

He uses it five times. And the question is why? Why does he use it?

I think he's using it for two reasons. I think because or maybe three. It's an expression that gets our attention.

This saying is trustworthy. Deserving of full acceptance. I think he says it because he's going to give us a maxim that sticks to the mind.

And it's possible that he says it because this is a saying that was already being repeated.

He says the grace of Christ, it is over flooding the gates.

And he says the saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. That Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.

Of whom I am the foremost. Some have said about this passage that it epitomizes the cardinal fact of Christian truth.

And here there are several elements that we need to do well. That we would do well to take note of. First that we're told that Christ came into the world.

Now what does that mean? But his incarnation. That even when Christ came into the world, he came to rescue sinners.

That his grace abounding is not communicated to sinners apart from anything whatsoever.

But that Christ himself had to come. He had to come to the world that he made.

He had to make satisfaction for God's justice. In order for that flood to come over and for it to be grace.

Christ had to come. And therefore, God the

Son, Jesus Christ came to the world. That he created to accomplish the redemption that was planned before the foundation of the world.

And we see this. I think this is something that escapes our view so often. That scripture always makes it clear.

That when Christ came, he did not come for the righteous. But he came for sinners. In Luke 5 .32,

Jesus said, In Luke 19 .10,

he said, The lost.

Not the found, but the lost. But in order to save the lost.

As he says, he came into the world to save sinners.

In order for him to save the lost. It would come at a great cost to himself.

Christ did not come to this earth only to live for sinners. But Christ came to this world that he might die for sinners.

Christ came for this world that he might pay the penalty that we deserve. I want you to think about this for a moment.

That as we are standing in that valley. Looking up at the dam. And the gates open. And all that is full in that reservoir is grace.

God the Son came to this world. Christ incarnate came to this world.

That he might stand in that valley. So that when the flood gates opened. It was the wrath.

And the white hot hatred of God. Towards sin and sinners. And there in that valley.

Or on that cross on Golgotha. He took the full penalty for our sins. We read these things.

And we gloss over them. That Christ came into the world to save sinners.

And he did this at the cost of himself. At the cost of his own precious blood.

We're told Christ suffered once for sins. The righteous for the unrighteous.

That he might bring us to God. Now if that isn't enough.

To keep us occupied for all of eternity. That beyond that flood gate is grace.

And that grace is there because Christ took the wrath. And Paul goes even further.

At the end of verse 15 he says. That he came for sinners.

Of whom he says, I am the foremost. That Christ came.

Not just for sinners in general. But even for the first. For the chief.

For the worth. The worst. And here we see a view. Or a glimpse into how

Paul views himself. I want to ask this.

It's a rhetorical question. So don't answer it aloud. When you think about how sinful you are today.

How does it compare to your view of yourself. Maybe a week after the

Lord saved you. Do you consider yourself more sinful? Or less sinful?

Are you more aware of your indwelling sin today.

Than you were five years ago or ten years ago? Or has sin become a small thing to you?

I want to submit to you that what Paul is doing here. Amongst many things is he is showing us.

What it looks like to grow in maturity as a Christian. That we not only have a deeper appreciation.

For who God is. And who Christ is. And what he has done for us. But we have a growing appreciation.

For just how depraved we are. He says.

Speaking of sinners. That he is the foremost of sinners. And I want you to see the trajectory.

That Paul is on here. Earlier in his ministry. We see Paul use very similar language.

In speaking about himself. In 1 Corinthians chapter 15. In verses 8 and 9. He speaks about his call as an apostle.

And he says. Last of all. As to one untimely born. He appeared to me. And then he says.

Speaking about himself. For I am the least of the apostles. And if you can think of.

Maybe the ranks of a Christian. I picture an apostle being higher in the ranks.

Than your ordinary saint. And here he says. I am the least of the apostles.

But he doesn't stay there. Because a few years later. As he is writing to the Ephesians. In Ephesians chapter 3.

In verses 8 and 9. He goes further. He says to me. Though I am the very least of the saints.

This grace was given. To preach to the Gentiles. The unsearchable riches of Christ. So he went from the least of the apostles.

To the least of the saints. And then where does he go. In verse 15. But he has.

As it were. Reached the climax. Of the Christian life. Because he says. Jesus came into the world.

To save sinners. Of whom I am the foremost. He went from the least of the apostles.

To the least of the saints. To the worst of the worst. Of the worst of sinners. This is the progression.

Brothers and sisters. It is healthy. If you come to appreciate. At some point.

That I am more sinful. Than I ever thought imaginable.

And I like what one commentator says. He says. Every child of God. Being aware of the sinful inclination.

Of his own heart. Will likewise humble himself before God. And his fellow brethren. With a similar confession.

And I don't know about you. But I often think. I think some of you have heard me say this before.

There is no error in scripture. Scripture is inerrant.

It is authoritative. It is perfect. But if there is one verse. That I am inclined to doubt. The full truthfulness of it.

It is the end of 1 Timothy chapter 1. And verse 15. And it's for this reason.

Because I want to say. Paul. You are not the greatest of sinners. I am the greatest of sinners. Paul might have been the greatest sinner.

In his generation. But I am the greatest sinner in mine. I know my heart. And God knows my heart greater still.

And here Paul is not talking in the past tense.

But in the present tense. Meaning that he knows. That he knows. That he knows now. That he is the first and the chief and the worst of sinners.

Some of us will read this passage. Who struggle with assurance. Who struggle with this idea that Christ could save us.

And we might say. As we are looking at this passage. That here

Christ can save Paul as the chief of sinners. But that's because Paul is special.

That's something that is particularly his. But what does it say in verse 16? That Paul received mercy for this reason.

He said that in me is the foremost. There it is again. As the worst. As the chief.

Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example.

That Greek word could be translated as a prototype. To those who were to believe in him for eternal life.

We might feel that burden of sin. John Owen says it in a wonderful way.

He says, He is no true believer unto whom sin is not the greatest burden, sorrow and trouble.

That must be the greatest burden of our lives. And yet even as great as the worst.

As the least. As the chief of sinners. Christ came to die for sinners.

Not for the just but for the unjust. That he might bring us to God. So that we should not be surprised when it says in scripture.

That consequently Christ is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him.

Since he always lives to make intercession for him. We should not be surprised when scripture tells us in John 6 and verse 37.

All that the Father gives me will come to me. And whoever comes to me I will never cast out.

You might be sitting here. I can never say this but I'm sitting with you today.

And I'm sitting here saying I am the chief of sinners. I am the worst of the worst.

If anyone does not deserve salvation it is me. And for you it is you.

And yet Christ died for sinners. Great sinners. The worst of sinners.

The foremost of sinners. And that all of us now can be perfectly at peace with him.

Not by adding anything. Paul has excluded that all through this first chapter.

But by what? By the very gifts that he gives us. By what comes over that dam. Grace and with it faith to believe in Christ.

To believe on him alone. So that we cannot take credit for anything. Not even our believing. That is what it means to be saved by grace through faith in Christ.

And so when Luther says, Do not permit yourself to be robbed of this lovely conception of Christ.

He does not trample the fallen but he raises them. Brothers and sisters

I come to you with that truth. That he does not trample the sinners that are his own.

But he raises them up. And I love what Luther said elsewhere. It might be my favorite quote from Luther.

He says, When I look at myself I don't see how I can be saved. But when

I look at Christ I don't see how I can be lost. If God gave his son.

His only son. If he made him to stand before that dam. And take the full wrath of his father.

Then it is done. It is finished. And he is able to save the chief of sinners.

And how do we respond to a truth like this? We've looked at man's sin. We've looked at Christ saving power.

The last truth that we'll look at very briefly. In verses 17 through 20 is what

I'm calling the saints doxology and devotion. In verse 17 we read this.

Paul finishes this section off. And then in verse 17 he says,

To the king of the ages. Immortal. Invisible. The only

God. Be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. This charge

I entrust to you Timothy. My child. In accordance with the prophecies previously made about you.

That by them you may wage the good warfare. Holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this some have made shipwreck of their faith.

Among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander. Whom I have handed over to Satan.

That they may learn not to blaspheme. When a Christian rightly understands that we are sinners.

That we are great sinners. And that when we rightly understand that Christ came into the world to save great sinners.

Then we can say. We must say. We will say. With the apostle Paul. To the king of the ages.

Immortal. Invisible. The only God. Be honor and glory forever and ever.

I told you at the beginning of our study that I would. Every time we come across one of these little storehouses of gems.

I would point it out to you. Because Paul is writing to Timothy. Timothy understands his doctrine.

Paul is not writing a doctrinal letter. And yet here we see that doctrinal view of God overflowing.

In Paul's writing. As he lists off these attributes of God. To the king of the ages.

This is likely a Jewish expression. That recognized. That their view of the ages.

That there were two ages. This age. And the age to come. God is king of them all.

That he is immortal. Romans 1 .23. We're told.

That those who turned away from God. Exchanged the glory of the immortal God. For images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

That he is invisible. Colossians 1 .15 says. He is the image of the invisible God. Speaking of Christ.

The first born of all creation. God said to Moses. In Exodus 33 .20.

You cannot see my face. For man shall not see me and live. And then speaking to God's singularity.

That he is the only God. Jonathan Edwards. Was converted as he read these verses.

If you know Jonathan Edwards. I feel like that tracks. He reads a verse on the attributes of God.

And the Lord saves him through it. And he says this. We are told. Nope.

That's not what it says. He says this. That as his conversion. He said

I had a sense. Reading this passage. Of the glory of the divine being.

And Edwards made this prayer right then and there. That he might enjoy this great

God. The Lord has saved us to himself. The foremost of sinners.

He has saved us to the uttermost. And when we understand it. We don't just go back into the world.

And sin more boldly. We come to God. And we give him all of the glory.

We say to the only wise God. Be glory forever more. Through Jesus Christ.

Amen. When we arrive at the knowledge of this. All we can do is erupt.

In worship and praise to God. This is. This truth of the gospel. Is the great fuel for worship.

And it's not only the fuel for worship. But it is the fuel for devotion. And we see that in the remaining verses.

It's hard to make sense. Of verses 18 through 20. In some ways.

As it relates to this passage. Except that. Paul. Conveys the truths of the gospel.

And then he charges Timothy. To go. And to do.

To serve. In devotion. Of him. He uses that military word.

That we've looked at already. This charging. It's a strong. Urgent. Obligation.

And the two weapons. That Timothy is to use. Is faith. And a good conscience.

Brothers and sisters. We are to go. Into the world. And to serve our God.

Understanding that He has saved us. And called us to Himself. And we are to do so.

By faith. Believing in this Christ. Trusting in Him. And serving

Him. And then seeking to maintain. A good conscience. Calvin said.

At one time. A bad conscience. Is the mother of all heresies. We're to avoid this mother of all heresies.

And to serve our God. By faith. By the faith that He supplies. And with the good conscience that He supplies.

And we're to avoid being like these two men. These are interesting men. Hymenaeus and Alexander.

We actually learn about Hymenaeus. In 2nd Timothy chapter 2. In verse 16.

There is Paul is writing his. The last letter before he goes. To meet his

God face to face. He says. But avoid irreverent babble. For it will lead people into more and more ungodliness.

And their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus. And Philetus.

Who have swerved from the truth. See how Paul is using his language. Are you seeing the repetition of these words?

Swerve from the truth. Saying that the resurrection. Has already happened.

So here you've got Hymenaeus. Who is essentially a full preterist. Saying don't be like Hymenaeus.

They are upsetting the faith of some. At the same time he mentions Alexander. Now there is some debate about who

Alexander was. But we read about an Alexander. That seems to fit the description.

In Acts chapter 19. We remember that Timothy was in Ephesus. As Paul was writing to him.

There was a man in Ephesus named Alexander. Who we're told in Acts 19 .33.

When the crowd erupted. This is when the silversmiths were losing business.

Because no one was buying their idols. And so they came to the defense of Artemis. Great Artemis of the

Ephesians. And as this crowd went to the theater. And they were erupting. And there was pandemonium.

We're told some of the crowd prompted Alexander. Whom the Jews had put forward. And Alexander motioning with his hands.

Wanted to make a defense to the crowd. But when they recognized that he was a Jew. For about two hours.

They all cried out with one voice. Great is Artemis of the Ephesians. Now it might be.

That this is the same Alexander. That Paul was talking about in 2 Timothy 4. Verses 14 and 15.

When he said to avoid Alexander the coppersmith. I'm not sure if Alexander the coppersmith.

Could speak relevant or authoritatively. To what the silversmiths were complaining about.

But he said avoid Alexander the coppersmith. Who did him great harm. Brothers and sisters.

We have been called by. A good and gracious God. Whose grace overflows.

For his sinful people. Who sent his son. To pay the penalty for us.

That we might worship him. That our theology. Of the substitutionary work of Christ.

Might turn to doxology. That we might give God our glory. Honor and praise forever.

And that we might serve him faithfully. Rejecting those things. And rejecting those who reject him.

And carrying on to the end. I'll finish with this little account.

It's about a man named Thomas Bilney. He was called Little Bilney. Because he was a short man.

And like many men in his era. He grew up. This was during the Protestant Reformation.

He grew up under the dark auspices. Of the Roman Catholic Church. He often struggled with a defiled conscience.

He never knew how God could save. A sinful man like him. And then one day he heard.

That Erasmus' Greek New Testament. Was made available. And being that he could read

Greek. He went and purchased a copy of this New Testament. He literally locked himself in his room.

And there with Erasmus' Greek New Testament. He read scripture. And as he was reading scripture.

What verse do you think his eyes fell upon? 1 Timothy chapter 1.

And verse 15. The saying is trustworthy. Deserving of full acceptance.

That Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Of whom I am the foremost.

And in an instant. God used that word to pierce his troubled heart.

He said it was as if an arrow sent from heaven. Came directly into his heart.

And he began to grasp the meaning. Of the words that he was reading. And as he did. He said this.

What? Saint Paul the chief of sinners. And yet Saint Paul is sure of being saved.

Oh assertion of Saint Paul. How sweet you are to my soul. I also am like Saint Paul.

And more than Paul. The greatest of sinners. But Christ saves sinners.

At last I have heard of Jesus. Jesus Christ. Yes. Jesus Christ saves.

I see that all my vigils. All my fasts. All my pilgrimages. My purchase of masses.

And indulgences. Were destroying me. Instead of saving me. And Bilney wrote later.

He said I felt a marvelous comfort and quietness. In so much that my bruised bones leapt for joy.

After this the scriptures began to be more pleasant unto me. Than the honey or the honeycomb.

Do you not see that when Paul consigns us all to sin. And then he tells us that Christ died for sinners.

He says that we qualify. And that that atoning work is for us.

And then Bilney were told. He gave the rest of his life to reading, studying and preaching

God's word. But it was a short life. Because in his 30's.

Bilney was arrested for heresy. And he was told you can go if you recant.

And usually the story goes that they didn't recant and so they died. But little

Bilney. Recanted his faith. And they released him from prison. And upon being released.

He became so grieved. That he was like Hymenaeus and Alexander. Here in 1

Timothy chapter 1. And he said I'm going to do everything I can to be re -arrested.

And so doing everything that he could to be re -arrested. Before long he was re -arrested.

And there he was sentenced to death. And as they marched him to the stake. Where he would be burned.

And people whispered that this is little Bilney. The one who recanted his faith. He will recant his faith once more.

And we're told this. That the crowd had gathered in the streets. And as he walked resolutely to the fire.

They said he will recant again. But as the wood was piled around him. Little Bilney raised himself to his full height.

Maybe this is a good time for me to stand. And said in a firm voice.

Good people. I have come here to die. He recited

Psalm 143 from memory. He took off the outer layers of his clothing.

And he was bound to the stake. A fire was lit. And he was burned alive there before the people.

We are the greatest of sinners. We are greater sinners than we will ever conceive of in this life.

It will take us an eternity of eternities. At the same time to conceive of why and how

Christ died for such great sinners. And we might not be able to explain the how or the why now.

But it does not do away with the fact that this he has done. And because we are great sinners.

And because Christ came to die for great sinners. We might be forgiven of our great sinning.

Oh that the God of the ages. That immortal and invisible

God. Would impregnate our hearts with these truths. That we might live forever for his praise.

Let's pray. Thank you for listening to another sermon from Grace Fellowship Church.

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