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I'll read beginning in verse 
1. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of 
God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ our hope. To Timothy, 
a true son in the faith, grace, mercy and peace from God our 
Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. As I urged you when I went into 
Macedonia, remain in Ephesus that you may charge some that 
they teach no other doctrine. nor give heed to fables and endless 
genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification 
which is in faith. Now the purpose of the commandment 
is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere 
faith, from which some, having strayed, have turned aside to 
idle talk, desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither 
what they say nor the things which they affirm. But we know 
that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, knowing this, that 
the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and 
insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy 
and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, 
for manslayers, for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, 
for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that 
is contrary to sound doctrine, according to the glorious gospel 
of the blessed God which was committed to my trust. And I 
thank Christ Jesus, our Lord, who has enabled me, because he 
counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry. Although 
I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent 
man, but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. 
And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant with faith 
and love which are in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying 
and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the 
world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. However, for this 
reason I obtain mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show 
all longsuffering as a pattern to those who are going to believe 
on him for everlasting life. Now to the King Eternal, Immortal, 
Invisible, to God who alone is wise, Be honor and glory forever 
and ever. Amen. This charge I commit to 
you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made 
concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, 
having faith and a good conscience, which some, having rejected, 
concerning the faith, have suffered shipwreck, of whom are Hymenaeus 
and Alexander, whom I delivered to Satan, that they may learn 
not to blaspheme. Amen. Well, this is one of the 
letters that the Apostle wrote after he was released from his 
first Roman imprisonment, A.D. 60 to 62, where the Book of Acts 
leaves off. Paul then went on and engaged 
in more gospel ministry. We see here specifically the 
purpose of 1 Timothy. He stationed Timothy, who was 
his companion, one he describes elsewhere as being like-minded, 
one who had affections similar to the Apostle Paul's, one that 
was a support and a benefit and a great help to the Apostle. 
Well, he stationed Timothy in Ephesus, and we see the charge 
specifically in verse 3. Remain in Ephesus that you may 
charge them that they teach no other doctrine. So, in accordance 
with Paul's words in Acts 20, for from among you savage wolves 
will rise up. That took place. And so, Paul 
takes Timothy, stations him there in Ephesus, and charges him to 
combat the heresy, to combat the false teaching that was going 
on. He then shows or demonstrates 
how these men desired to be teachers of the law. Verse 7, understanding 
neither what they say nor the things which they affirm. He 
highlights there is a lawful use of the law. He says we know 
that the law is good if one uses it lawfully. The law was not 
given as a means of justification. The law is a condemning thing 
with reference to showing our sin and our need for the Lord 
Jesus Christ. And I believe that's the specific 
application he's referring to here. And then he mentions that 
these things are contrary or what is contrary to sound doctrine. 
And then he says in verse 11, according to the glorious gospel 
of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust. And then 
in verses 12 to 17, he uses his own conversion as an example 
of the truth of the gospel. One man by the name of James 
Stocker said that Paul's conversion or Paul's salvation or his doctrine 
was nothing but the explanation of his own conversion. In other 
words, what Paul engaged in, seeking God as a Pharisee, seeking 
God according to the law, coming up short, being convicted of 
his sin, being justified freely by the grace of God, those things 
that happened in the life and experience of the Apostle, then 
became paradigmatic or an example or a pattern for all of his gospel 
teaching. And so verses 12 to 17 highlight 
that reality of Paul's conversion. And it is, again, to be an encouragement 
to Timothy to gird him up with the truth of the gospel. And 
I thought it would be a good thing for us to consider tonight 
as we looked at the need to be faithful witnesses. When we relate 
to people outside the church, when we relate to unbelievers, 
the thing that we most must be equipped with is the gospel. We must understand the truth 
as it is in Jesus Christ. There's a lot of differing opinions 
and a lot of different doctrines in the church. But on this one, 
we cannot mistake. On this one, we cannot be wrong. 
We have to understand justification. We have to understand the atonement. 
We have to understand the truth. of Christ and his cross work, 
if we will be effective witnesses. Because we can actually do more 
harm than good. If we have a distorted, fuzzy 
view of what the gospel is, we go out and witness, we're going 
to be witnessing a fuzzy and a distorted gospel, which is 
no gospel at all. So I thought it would be good 
for us to consider the Apostle Paul this evening with reference 
to this first faithful saying. There's two broad observations 
I want to make on our text. The first is that this faithful 
saying is a saying to instruct. It instructs us. It teaches us. It gives us understanding and 
knowledge specifically about Paul and about Christ. Now, it's 
not just about Paul so that we can sort of be, you know, worshippers 
of Paul. Paul as a man. Paul as a sinful 
man. Paul like us. So it is important 
for us to understand what this saying instructs us concerning 
Paul. And then secondly, a broad observation 
is that it's a saying to incite. And I mean by insight. To move 
to action, to stir up, to spur on, or to urge on. This is precisely 
what we find in verse 17. After recounting God's grace 
and the power of Jesus Christ in saving him, Paul then launches 
into a doxology. Verse 17. Now to the King eternal, 
immortal, invisible, to God, who alone is wise, be honor and 
glory forever and ever, Amen. So it is a saying that instructs 
us. It is a saying that incites us 
to worship and to praise our great God. Now notice, first 
of all, with reference to it being a saying to instruct us. 
We'll take up Paul first. He tells us a lot about his former 
state. He tells us a lot about his time 
before he was a Christian. And I believe in doing so, he 
magnifies the grace of God. He shows or demonstrates the 
glory of the Christian gospel. I think we see a similar convention 
used in the book of Jeremiah. In Jeremiah 2 and 3, the sins 
of Israel are highlighted and punctuated and described in great 
detail. You might get to think, why would 
He continue to parade all this garbage in front of us? I mean, 
there's idolatry. There's the forgetting of the 
true God. There's an exchange of the true and living God for 
idols of men. But what is another theme replete 
in that section is God saying, yet return to me says the Lord. 
I think the yet return to me says the Lord appears that much 
more beautiful and that much more glorious and gracious set 
with the context of their sin and depravity. And it's the same 
thing here. Paul makes a general reference 
to his sinful state before God saved him. He says that in verse 
15. This is a faithful saying and 
worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world 
to save sinners, of whom I am chief. Now, you may think that 
you're the worst sinner that's ever been. And that's okay. You should think that from time 
to time. But Paul, under the inspiration 
of the Holy Spirit, claimed that title. You may be second in line, 
you may be third, but you are not chief. Paul the apostle has 
that title to himself. That doesn't mean we're good, 
or we're somehow decent people, but we're just not the chief 
of sinners in this particular regard. And he doesn't leave 
us to wonder because he describes it in some detail. Notice that 
he was a blasphemer. Paul misspoke about God. Paul blasphemed the living and 
the true God. Paul blasphemed men, and by blaspheming 
men, the idea involved is abusive in speech or a slanderer. In fact, in the book of Acts, 
in one place, he says that he compiled the believers to blaspheme 
God. He did this so that he could 
get the conviction so that these men and women would be put to 
death for their devotion to the Lord of Glory. Paul was not some 
righteous, holy, upright dude that God one day just said, hey, 
I'm going to save him because he's worthy. No, he was a blasphemer. He goes on to say that he was 
a persecutor of the church. The idea involved here is one 
who pursues as a hunter. So, Paul got his 338 and he went 
out and instead of looking for moose or for deer or for elk, 
he looked for Christians. He was a persecutor of the church. He describes himself that way 
in Philippians 3.6. As to zeal, I persecuted the 
church. Look at Galatians chapter 1 for 
just a moment. Again, I think it's important 
for us to understand what Paul was and what he became by God's 
grace in his life. Galatians 1 at verse 13. For you have heard of my former 
conduct in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure 
and tried to destroy it. Don't let anyone ever say they're 
too sinful for Jesus to save. Right? This is why Paul was cheap. He tried to destroy the church. It was Saul that was standing 
there guarding the clothes and garments of those men who were 
engaged in stoning Stephen to death. It was Saul who got paperwork, 
who got extradition papers in order to go to Damascus and arrest 
Christians and bring them back and put them in jail. It says 
in one place, where he's recounting his experience, he said that 
I bound men and women. So we would walk into people's 
houses, people that were Christians. I mean, we read about that kind 
of stuff now going on in Muslim lands or the Hindus or the Buddhists 
who march into Christians' homes and they put their hands on them 
and they take them out of the sanctity of their home and they 
march them into prison. Well, that's the man we're looking 
at tonight. That's the man who said this 
is a faithful saying. He knows of what he speaks. He 
was a blasphemer. He was a persecutor of the church. And he was an insolent man. And this means a sadist, a violent 
person. One who really got into this 
sort of activity. Turn back to Acts 9 for just 
a moment. Acts chapter 9, verses 1 and 
2. Then Saul, still breathing threats 
and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high 
priest and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, 
so that if he found any who were of the way, whether men or women, 
he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. I mean, I don't think 
it's an accident that he mentions or he has Luke mentioned specifically 
women. I mean, that's pretty low that 
a man would grab a woman to bind her and take her away for being 
a Christian, for being a believer on the Lord Jesus, for being 
one who followed the Nazarene. I mean, when you study this and 
when you see this and when you read through 1 Timothy 1, stop 
for a moment and just ponder what it is he is recounting. 
I mean, there's people out there, I've seen it, we've gone out 
witnessing, and you go to an old man and he says, oh, I'm 
too bad for the Lord to save me, or I'm too sinful for the 
Lord to save me. It's like saying, I'm too hungry 
to eat a sandwich. I'm too thirsty to drink water. 
The fact that you're hungry or the fact that you're thirsty 
is the very reason you flee to the sandwich or to the water. 
The fact that you're a wretch, you're a sinner. The fact that 
you're a blasphemer, a persecutor, or an insolent man is all the 
reason why you should throw yourself upon the mercy of God in our 
Lord Jesus Christ. Notice in Acts 22. Acts 22, verses 
4 and 5. Paul is recounting his conversion. Pick up reading in verse 1 of 
chapter 22. Brethren and fathers, hear my 
defense before you now. And when they heard that he spoke 
to them in the Hebrew language, they kept all the more silent. 
Just by way of an aside, this is what he's talking about in 
Colossians 4. This wisdom. This redeeming the 
time. This knowing how to answer. Paul heard that they spoke Hebrew, 
so he accommodates himself to that audience and he speaks Hebrew. He buys up this opportunity to 
present the truth of the Christian gospel. He says in verse two, 
then he said, I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but 
brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, taught according 
to the strictness of our father's law and was zealous toward God, 
as you all are today. I persecuted this way to the 
death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women, 
as also the high priest bears me witness, and all the council 
of the elders, from whom I also received letters to the brethren, 
and went to Damascus to bring in chains, even those who were 
there, to Jerusalem to be punished." And then in Acts chapter 26, 
verses 10 and 11. I already alluded to this, but 
you should see it. Acts 10, verse 9. Indeed, I myself thought I 
must do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. 
This I also did in Jerusalem. And many of the saints I shut 
up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests. 
And when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. I wonder if as he's testifying, 
he's got tears streaming down his face. These are his brethren 
now. These are people he loves. These 
are people he's giving his life for. And he is recounting what 
had happened in his previous state, when he was unregenerate, 
when he was unredeemed, when he was unsaved. He is telling 
this audience that he delivered people up and that he himself 
cast votes to see judicially innocent people put to death. And then he goes on and says 
in verse 11, and I punished them often in every synagogue and 
compelled them to blaspheme and being exceedingly enraged against 
them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities. Some man with 
an axe to grind, says a man who is militantly opposed to the 
Nazarene, says a man who is undone in his own sin and depravity. So when in 1st Timothy 1, he 
says, this is a faithful saying, and he tells us that he is the 
chief of sinners. He is not kidding with us. He 
is not joking. He's not trying to give a bit 
of rhetorical effect. He's not sort of, you know, padding 
his testimony. He's not being paid high dollar 
to go to big stadiums so that he can weave a tale of just how 
bad he was so that everybody will who and all about what a 
what a great monster he had been and what a great guy he had become. 
He wasn't on the testimony circuit here. He is magnifying the grace 
of our God most high in the gospel of Jesus Christ the Lord. So 
he mentions his former state, then he goes on to tell us of 
his changed state. How did this happen? First, he 
was the recipient of God's grace. It was nothing he did, it was 
nothing he performed, it was nothing that he satisfied in 
terms of God's requirements. Notice the language of enablement 
in verse 12. I thank Christ Jesus, our Lord, 
who has enabled me. And then in verse 14. And the 
grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant with faith and love 
which are in Christ Jesus. That's what Paul lived to do, 
was to magnify grace. That's what we should do is to 
live to magnify grace. That's why when Paul tells us 
that we are to speak or let our speech always be with grace, 
it shouldn't be cutting. It shouldn't be vicious. It shouldn't 
be vile and caustic and rude. We are the recipients of God's 
grace. Let us reflect that grace in 
the way that we speak to others. in the household of God and outside 
of the church of Christ. Let us tame the tongue so that 
we truly reflect the gracious character of our God's mercy 
toward us. Now, sometimes people stumble 
a bit on what he says here in verse 13. Although I was formerly 
a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man, but I obtained 
mercy because I did it ignorantly and unbelieving. Sometimes people 
say, well, somebody's ignorant and they just don't know any 
better. Well, he's not trying to get 
himself off the hook. John Gill mentions this well. 
He said, this is not as an extenuation of his sin or as an excuse for 
himself. But this was not the apostles 
method, since in the next verse he calls himself the chief of 
sinners. Besides, ignorance is not an excuse, but an aggravation 
of sin. It's not an excuse, but an aggravation 
of sin. He goes on to say, especially 
when there are means of knowledge and these are not attended to, 
and when persons are not open to conviction and reject the 
fullest evidence, which was the case here. Nor can unbelief be 
pleaded in such a man's favor who heard what Stephen had to 
say, and though he could not resist his wisdom, received not 
the truth spoken by him, but consented to his death. Moreover, 
all sins spring from ignorance and are aggravated by unbelief. 
But this phrase describes the Apostle's state and condition. 
He was a poor, blind, ignorant bigot, an unbelieving and hardened 
creature, and so an object of mercy, pity and compassion. And he who has compassion on 
the ignorant and them that are out of the way had compassion 
on him. So he doesn't tuck that in there 
to show that God somehow owed him. No, it's just the opposite. It is to demonstrate and highlight 
God's grace toward an ignorant, unbelieving, hardened, wretched 
sinner. He was the recipient of God's 
mercy. Chapter 1, verse 16. We need 
grace, unmerited favor. We need mercy. God's pity toward 
His wretched creatures. However, for this reason, I obtained 
mercy. God gives this. God is merciful. God is kind. And then thirdly, 
he was a living example of the long-suffering of Christ. Notice 
in chapter 1, verse 16. However, for this reason I obtain 
mercy that in me first, Jesus Christ might show all long-suffering 
as a pattern to those who are going to believe on him for everlasting 
life. So, it's not whacked out or not 
illegitimate to take this passage and to set it up as a pattern 
or example, because Paul says that that's what it's about. 
The conversion of Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus demonstrates 
the great and glorious grace of God Most High. That's why 
he gives us this snapshot of what he was before and what he 
had become, and that by the grace of Christ. So, this saying instructs 
us about Paul, but it instructs us as well about Christ. Notice, 
Christ's grace is exceedingly abundant. I mean, isn't an abundance 
a lot? If I said to you, I have an abundance 
of oats and a great big container of oatmeal, I buy those $12 bags 
and I fill that up and I got oats for days. If I said I have 
an abundance of oats, you're thinking of a lot of oats. If 
I say I have an exceedingly abundant amount of oats, what's that? I can't even begin to picture 
it. That's what Paul says. There's times where it's as if 
the words themselves need more because of how good God is. He 
does this in Ephesians chapter 2 as well. In Ephesians chapter 
2, when he says, but God, after highlighting the depravity of 
man, he says, but God who is rich in mercy. He's not just 
merciful. This is why when we preach Christ, 
when we witness to sinners, we don't say He's a miser. He just 
has a little bit. He's just going to save a few. 
He's just going to dole out just enough. No, He's rich in mercy. This is our God. This is who 
He is. This is what He's about. But 
it's not just richness of mercy. Verse four, because of His great 
love with which He loved us. I mean, if you say to your son, 
I love you, that's great. But if you say, I greatly love 
you, you're heaping it on. You're pouring it on. You're 
showing just how much affection you have for that. That's what 
Paul does with God. You see, as Christian witnesses, 
we don't go out and say, well, God just kind of saved me. God 
is rich in mercy. Here's what I was. Here's how 
I rolled. Here's what I did. And God saved 
me. He is great in these good gifts. He is rich in mercy. This is what Paul is doing in 
1 Timothy 1. Jesus' grace is exceedingly abundant. William Bounce's commentary is 
beautiful. He says the triad, that means 
the three. The triad of blasphemer, persecutor 
and insolent man was obliterated by the triad of mercy, faith 
and love that Paul now possesses through his relationship with 
Christ. They're beautiful on the roads 
of Damascus. Jesus comes to deal with this 
blaspheming, persecuting, and insolent man. He doesn't come 
to do it by beating him up, by throwing him into hell, by casting 
him off forever. But He does it by pouring out 
His love, His grace, and His mercy upon him. That's what Paul 
is doing here. And in the context, imagine for 
a moment, these guys in Ephesus that are desiring to be teachers 
of the law. They don't have a clue. They're misusing the holy law 
of God. They're applying it in situations 
where it's not to be applied. They're not using it lawfully. 
They are contrary to sound doctrine. The gospel is about liberty. 
It's about blessing. It's about mercy and grace. This 
is what Paul is communicating to his young partner, Timothy. So, his grace is exceedingly 
abundant, but he goes on to say his coming had a definite purpose. You cannot read verse 15 of 1 
Timothy 1 and believe for a moment that our triune God is frustrated. To believe for a moment that 
our God does not get his man. When I was in America, the only 
thing I knew about Canadians or Canada was the Mounties. You 
know, we call them Mounties here, the RCMP. In America, we all 
refer to them as the Mounties, the Mounted Police. They were 
Mounties. They rode on horses, they wore 
red jackets, and they always got their man. Boy, that was 
wrong. We're so naive here in America, 
right? Now, if you said Revenue Canada 
or the Internal Revenue Service of America always get their man, 
I'll agree with you. God always gets his man. He's 
not frustrated, he's not there, you know, sort of doing this 
with his hands open and praying that sinners will come to him 
and accept Jesus. This is a faithful saying, Paul 
says, it is worthy of all acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the 
world to save sinners. He didn't come into the world 
to start a new religion. He didn't come into the world 
to be a moral example. He didn't come into the world 
just to set a pattern that we should all just follow Jesus. 
He came into the world, and it's literally, in the Greek, sinners 
to say. That's what Jesus is all about. There is definite purpose in 
the mission of Christ. There is a redemptive focus here 
that is obvious. He came into the world of sinful 
man. He came not, again, to do those 
things, but to die and to rise again. Because the scripture 
is clear. Without the shedding of blood, 
there is no remission. No forgiveness. Sin is not dealt 
with. unless one dies. And Christ fulfilled 
that. Christ satisfied the law's demands. Christ, in His active obedience, 
that means He fulfilled the law. And in His passive obedience, 
that means He gave Himself as a sacrifice. In those two elements, 
those two aspects of His obedient life, death and resurrection, 
He has secured the salvation of His people. He doesn't come 
to help men save themselves. He doesn't come to coach us into 
heaven. He comes with purpose in mind. 
He comes with focus. He comes with specificity. It 
is to save His people from their sins. or the word order rather, 
highlights the amazing character of his mission. He came sinners 
to save. Not the righteous, not the noble, 
not the polished, not the well conducted ones, not the beautiful 
ones. He came sinners to save. That's 
what Paul is highlighting. He was a sinner. He was a blasphemer, 
a persecutor, an insolent man. And Christ came into the world 
to save him. There's a quote from a man that 
said this, with reference to what we call Calvinism, which 
is simply, as Spurgeon said, a nickname for the gospel. So 
one man wrote this. He said, for to Calvinism, well, 
I'm talking about five points of Calvinism, contra the five 
points of Arminianism. This goes back to the Synod of 
Dort, the whole historical study and all that. But suffice it 
to say, he says this, for to Calvinism, there's really only 
one point to be made in the field of soteriology. That's the doctrine 
of salvation. Soteriology, something you ought 
to get in your head and mind and heart, it is the doctrine 
of salvation. He says there is only one point 
to be made in the field of soteriology, the point that God saves sinners. That's what those five points 
all testify to, is that one point that God saves sinners. He goes 
on to say, God, the triune Jehovah, Father, Son and Spirit, three 
persons working together in sovereign wisdom and power and love to 
achieve the salvation of a chosen people. The Father electing, 
the Son fulfilling the Father's will by redeeming, the Spirit 
executing the purpose of Father and Son by renewing, saves. does everything, first to last, 
that is involved in bringing man from death and sin to life 
and glory. He plans, achieves and communicates 
redemption. He calls and keeps. He justifies. He sanctifies. He glorifies. Sinners, men as God finds them. Guilty, vile, helpless, powerless, 
unable to lift a finger to do God's will or better their spiritual 
lot. God saves sinners, and the force 
of this confession may not be weakened by disrupting the unity 
of the work of the Trinity, or by dividing the achievement of 
salvation between God and man, and making the decisive part 
man's own, or by soft-peddling the sinner's inability so as 
to allow him to share the praise of his salvation with his Savior. This is the one point of Calvinistic 
soteriology, which the five points are concerned to establish, and 
Arminianism in all its forms to deny. Namely, that sinners 
do not save themselves in any sense at all, but that salvation, 
first and last, whole and entire, past, present and future, is 
of the Lord, to whom be glory forever. Amen. is a great summary 
of the biblical doctrine of soteriology. God saves sinners. That's what Paul says. He says 
this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance. Christ 
Jesus came into the world to save sinners. This was announced 
at his birth. You will call his name Jesus, 
for he will save his people from their sin. Jesus prays in his 
high priestly prayer in John 17. He does not lose any whom 
the Father has given to him. He secures our salvation. On the cross, the last statement 
before he said, Father, into your hands I commit my spirit, 
was that blessed declaration, it is finished. He finished the 
work of redemption. We might read that and go, wow, 
okay, he's just kind of happy that it's all over now. That 
was a cry of victory from the cross. It is finished was a cry 
of victory. He didn't say, I am finished. 
He didn't say, I failed. He said, it, the work the Father 
had given him to do was finished, was full, it was complete, it 
was fulfilled. So Christ saves his people from 
their sins. So in this passage, it is a saying 
to instruct us about Paul. It is a saying to instruct us 
about Christ. And then notice, it is a saying 
to incite us to worship and praise. After he rehearses these truths, 
after he celebrates this mercy, after he talks about the salvation 
plan of God affected by Jesus Christ, Paul can only praise. He can only worship. That's why 
when I've met people, it's, oh, you know, Sunday's kind of boring, 
church is boring, worship is boring, boring, boring. Well, 
you're saved! Now to the King eternal, immortal, 
invisible, to God alone is wise. I knew a guy several years ago, 
he went to a promise keepers convention. And he came and I 
said, how was that promise keepers convention? And not to get into 
all of the promise keepers and all that, you may not have even 
heard of that. But he said, oh, it was great when we sang, it 
was beautiful, it was wonderful, it was great to be with all these 
men singing praises. And he said, you know, I've always 
thought heaven was probably going to be a little boring if all 
we're going to do is worship there. My mouth dropped out. 
What do you mean heaven is going to be boring? How could you utter 
such a thing? How could it be boring standing 
in the presence of the One who saved us? When you turn to Revelation 
5 and 7, you don't see bored saints. They are praising. And 
you know what the focus of their praise is? Salvation is of the 
Lord! This is the stuff that's going 
to fuel you to praise and worship and sing throughout all eternity. John Newton wasn't kidding when 
we've been there 10,000 years, bright shining as the sun. We've 
no less days to sing God's praise than when we first begun. We 
have been the recipients or we have been the recipients of grace, 
unmerited favor. We boast in justification that 
God has pardoned all of our iniquities, that he accepts us as righteous 
in his sight only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, received 
by faith alone. How could we not respond with 
this kind of praise now to the King, eternal, immortal, invisible 
to God, who alone is wise, the honor and glory forever and ever? 
Notice what he says here. Amen. You know what he's doing? He's calling on you. He's calling 
on me to join him in praising God. This amen serves a very 
specific purpose. Let's read a couple of commentators. Calvin says by his example, he 
reminds us all that we ought never to think of the grace manifested 
in God's calling without being carried to a lofty admiration. You don't listen to things like 
this, or read things like this, or come away from a systematic 
theology dealing with trafficking and soteriology unchanged. Donald MacLeod says, God's not 
just a curious object for us just to sort of cast our gaze 
upon. Wow, that's interesting. Remember 
when Moses saw that burning bush? Initially, it was interesting, 
wasn't it? Well, I don't ever see that. I mean, face it, on 
his behalf, you don't see bushes that burn that aren't consumed. 
That is a curious and interesting observation. What happens upon 
his approach? God says, remove your sandals. 
The ground upon which you stand is holy ground. The cloud says 
that theology has lost its way. If we can study these things 
and not be exhilarated, and not be led to praise, and not remove 
our sandals, and not confess the fact that we're standing 
on holy ground, theology has lost its way. If it doesn't thrill, 
if it doesn't excite, if it doesn't incite, if we can read something 
like that and we can come away unaffected, or unmoved, or just 
hoping that this will end so that we can go home. Mount says Paul concludes the 
doxology with a man inviting congregational ascent with the 
meaning. So be it a man means. So be it a man there to join 
in and praise God. George Knight says it expresses 
the writer's stated confirmation of what he expressed in the doxology 
and most likely also seeks to invoke the response from the 
readers. I don't want you to just stand 
and go, wow, that's great, Paul, that's beautiful. No, I want 
you to stop and think. You may not have been a blasphemer, a 
persecutor, and an insolent man, but you may have been a fornicator, 
an adulterer, a thief, or a liar, or a cheat. And Christ came into 
this world, sinners, to save. So how do you respond now to 
the King Eternal? Immortal, invisible. To God who 
alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Another man 
said, the liturgical amen, or so be it, is an emphatic invitation 
to every believer to set his own seal to the truth, thus affirmed. So that is the biblical response 
to the grace of our God in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are to praise. We are to glorify. We are to honor him. And as Gordon 
Clark said, God doesn't want unthinking praise. unthinking 
praise. I just got this kind of undefined 
concept of a higher power. No. You have a God who is eternal. You have a God who is immortal. 
You have a God who is invisible. You have a God who is sovereign 
and omnipotent. You have a God who is gracious 
and merciful. You think about those things 
and then you return praise to this God. Eastern mysticism says 
empty your mind and just sort of meditate. Scriptural meditation 
is fill your mind with Bible truth so that you can respond 
biblically to the Lord God. and praise Him and honor Him. Well, from this study we learn 
at least a few lessons. The first, the depravity of man. If you miss that, you've missed 
Paul's description of his life before Jesus Christ. He was not 
a worthy man. He was not a righteous man. He 
did not deserve this position. He did not deserve any benefit 
from God Most High. He was totally depraved. He was 
totally unable to merit God's favor. He writes in Romans 8, 
7, and 8 that the carnal mind has enmity against God. It cannot 
please God. He writes of himself that when 
he was a non-Christian, he heaped up a lot of religious accomplishments. 
Philippians chapter 3 said, if people think they have cause 
to boast, I the more. And then he tells us all these 
things that he did. But he said these things weren't 
anything. When I met Jesus Christ, everything 
that was gained, I count lost for the excellence of the knowledge 
of Christ Jesus my Lord. Paul did not stand based on his 
works or his accomplishments. He stood on the grace of God. The depravity of man brings into 
sharp focus the glory of the atoning work of our Lord Jesus 
Christ. When we see, as this man says, 
that God saves sinners, We give the glory, we give the praise, 
and we give the honor to Him. And then the last thing. Not 
only does this saying, I'm not going to open up a brand new 
whole point here, but not only does this saying instruct, not 
only does it incite, but it also invites. This is a saying to 
invite. If you don't know this God through 
Jesus Christ, come. If you don't know this God through 
Jesus Christ, believe. Don't play games. Don't stiff 
arm him. Don't say no. You have in this 
description the very purpose and work and mission and focus 
of our Lord Jesus. If you're a sinner, come. If 
you're a sinner, believe. If you're a sinner, lay hold 
of Christ by grace through faith in him. Don't say no to this, 
don't reject this, don't harden your heart, but rather come under 
the influence of this blessed statement that is worthy, not 
of some acceptance, but of all acceptance. Every sinner here 
ought to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and they shall be 
saved. It instructs, it incites, it 
invites. to the Lord of glory, and he 
will save you from your sins. to live the way that he lived, 
to live in a manner consistent with your holy gospel. And we 
pray, God, that you would grant us the grace to be excited, to 
be exhilarated and thrilled with good theology, with what the 
Bible teaches concerning so great a salvation. May we indeed praise 
our great and living God, and may we seek to bring glory to 
your name. And for any and all who do not 
know you, God, we pray the power of your Spirit would come upon 
them and cause them to see the beauty of Christ, to believe 
the gospel, and to be saved. And we ask in Jesus' most precious 
name. Amen.