Well, please turn with me in your Bibles to 1 Timothy Chapter 1. 1 Timothy chapter 1, I'll read the chapter and then our focus will be on verses 15 to 17, the gospel committed to the apostle Paul. So 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 obtained 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, let us pray.

Opening Prayer

Father in heaven, we thank you for your word, we thank you for all the blessed, wondrous truths that you set before us, and that chief one contained in this section, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. We rejoice in your your plan to save a great multitude that no man can number. We rejoice that in the fullness of the time you sent forth your son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law. And we praise you for his work, his life, his death, his resurrection, and for the ministry and the power of the Holy Spirit applying these benefits to us.

And we ask now that as we ponder these blessed words, our hearts would be encouraged that we would indeed direct our worship unto you, that the doctrine of salvation would lead us to praise the way it does with the Apostle Paul here. Do forgive us now for all of our sins and guide us and illumine our hearts and minds by your Spirit, and we pray in Jesus' name, amen.

Introduction

Well, as we have seen, the apostle Paul refers to the gospel, the gospel of the blessed God in verse 11, that had been committed to his trust. He then goes on to explain that glorious gospel of the blessed God. He does so by rehearsing his own conversion in verses 12 to 14, and now by declaring the truth of the gospel, specifically in verses 15 and 16, and then doxology or praise to God flows from the apostle's heart as he ponders what it is the Lord has done in terms of so great a salvation.

The Gospel Committed to the Apostle

So we'll look at first the gospel committed to the apostle in verses 15 and 16, and then secondly the doxology expressed by the apostle in verse 17. So look with me first at verses 15 and 16. There are three things we ought to observe here. First, the faithful saying.

Secondly, the glorious content. And then thirdly, the merciful application. But note what Paul says in verse 15.

The Faithful Saying

This is a faithful saying. and worthy of all acceptance." When you look at the pastoral epistles, those letters written by Paul to Timothy and to Titus, there are five of these faithful sayings. This is the first one. Notice with me in chapter 3 at verse 1, this is a faithful saying. If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good word.

The next is found in chapter 4 of 1st Timothy, specifically at verse 9. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance. Over in 2nd Timothy, chapter 2, at verses 11 to 13. This is a faithful saying.

For if we died with him, we shall also live with him. If we endure, we shall also reign with him. If we deny him, he also will deny us. If we are faithless, he remains faithful, he cannot deny himself.

And then the final of the faithful sayings is found in Titus chapter 3, specifically at verse 8. This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men. So basically, these faithful sayings were standard truths received by the church and confessed and owned by the church.

Remember that this was written about 30 years after the ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ. So early on, within the context of the churches of Christ, they had a common confession. They had central truths. They had those things most surely believed among them.

And in fact, if you look at 1 Timothy 3, verse 16, without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up in glory. Early on, the church was creedal. Early on, the church confessed.

Early on, the church made clear what it was that they believed concerning the great redemptive act of God Most High in and through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. So this faithful saying in 1 Timothy 1, verse 15, he goes on to say it's worthy of all acceptance. In other words, the scope of this particular faithful saying is worthy of all acceptance. The church needs to hear it over and over and over again.

The church needs that balm of Gilead. The church needs that refreshment of looking to the Lord Jesus Christ, of being reminded that He came into the world to save sinners. to be reminded that His power is such that He can save the chief of sinners. And so this faithful saying needs to be known over and over and over again. It needs to be held on to.

It needs to be treasured. It needs to be guarded and it needs to be fought for. But it's worthy of all acceptance, not just for the church who already believes it and needs to be reminded about it, but it's worthy of all acceptance throughout the world. Again, that common confession in 1 Timothy 3 at verse 16.

He says, 1 Timothy 1.15 is foundational for the health, the life, the benefit, the progress of the church, but it is that message that is desperately needed throughout the world. God has purpose to save a great multitude that no man can number, and he does so through the foolishness of the message preached. And so the church must take this standard truth, the church must raise men up and send them out with this faithful saying in order to call God's elect out of darkness into marvelous light to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ that they may be saved. So the faithful saying is a standard truth received by the church.

The Glorious Content

Now notice secondly the glorious content of this particular saying. So he says, 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. And there's two emphases here. First, the mission of the Son, and then secondly, the power of the Son.

The mission of the Son.

The Mission of the Son

Why did Jesus come into this world? Was it simply to model a good ethic? Was it simply to start a new religion? Was it to launch a revolution against the Roman state?

No, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. And notice that He doesn't come into the world to make them save a bull. He doesn't come into the world to help them save themselves. He doesn't come into the world to give them a bit of aid and encouragement such that they may eventually be saved.

It's a definite statement. It is a definite proposition. It is effective. It is effectual.

And what we find here is that Christ Jesus came into the world, not again to help sinners, but to actually save them. So with reference to the mission of the Son, two further points we ought to develop. First, the incarnation of the Son, and then secondly, the work of the Son.

The Incarnation of the Son

Note the emphasis on the incarnation. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world. What does it mean that Christ Jesus came into the world? What is the manner in which Christ came into the world?

I think that John Gill gets it right. He says Christ came into the world and this was not by local motion or change of place, but by assumption of nature. Christ came into the world via the incarnation. Christ came into the world in the fullness of time, born of a woman, born under the law to redeem those under the law.

When we consider the mission of the Son of God with reference to the salvation of sinners, we have to take notice of the incarnation of the Son. That is the manner in which He comes into the world. As Gil says, it's not by local motion or change of place, but by assumption of nature. And the truth of the incarnation is all over the New Testament.

It is prophesied in the Old Testament, but it's certainly displayed in clear colors in the New Testament. John 1.14, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory. Turn back to 2 Corinthians chapter 8, texts which highlight the assumption of our nature as the manner in which our Lord Jesus came into the world. 2 Corinthians 8, 9, For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor. Did he become poor by divesting himself of what he was?

Absolutely not. The poverty is seen in the assumption of our nature. Yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty might become rich. Philippians chapter 2, a passage we worked through several months ago.

Philippians chapter 2, specifically at verse 7, but he made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. And then Hebrews chapter 2. Hebrews chapter 2, specifically at verse 14, inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared in the same, that through death he might destroy him who had the power of death, that is the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

For indeed he does not give aid to angels, he does not take on angels, he does not assume an angelic nature. Rather, He does give aid or take on the seed of Abraham. He assumes the nature of man in order to save us from our sins. So the manner in which He comes into the world is the Incarnation.

The Bible everywhere upholds the doctrine of the Incarnation. The sinless, holy, harmless, undefiled one was born of a woman, born under the law. And before we proceed, I just want to make a note with reference to the incarnation. Some in the church have posited or have taught that Christ would have been incarnate even if there was no sin.

That Christ would have been incarnate even if there was no sin. And that's not the case of the majority, it's a minority position. But I thought Thomas spoke to this well in his commentary on this passage. He says, suppose no one had sinned.

Would Christ still have come? It seems not, because he came in order to save sinners. Otherwise, there would have been no need for the incarnation. Hence, too, a gloss says, remove the disease, and there is no need for the remedy.

The answer to this is clear from the words of the fathers. But this question is not one of great importance because God decreed the plan according to which things are to occur. And we do not know what he would have decreed if he had not foreseen sin. Nevertheless, the scriptures seem to state expressly that there would have been no incarnation if man had not sinned.

This is the opinion that I'm inclined toward. I agree with that. I think the incarnation is because of sin. In the fullness of the time, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law.

Our text, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. That's the redemptive focus with reference to the incarnation of the Son. And as I mentioned this morning, when you look at this particular text, it sounds very much like John. It sounds very Johannine.

It has the aroma of John's Gospel. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. As I mentioned this morning, it's not because the world is good and worthy.

It's not the case that we're just such an upright, wonderful people, of course the Incarnate Son should come down and hang out with us. No, the world here underscores the reality of the wretchedness, the badness, and the unworthiness of it. God so loved the world, not because the world was lovely, But because God in His mercy had purposed and planned to save a great multitude that no man can number. This is the manifestation or demonstration of God's love for the world, the incarnation of His Son to come and save us from our sins.

So the nature of the world that he came into is illustrated by the Apostle Paul in this very passage. The Apostle highlights what he had been, a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man. He highlights in verse 15, of whom I am chief. There's no worthiness in Paul.

There's no idea in Paul that he's good or that he is deserving of any mercy from the hand of God. Mercy and grace wouldn't be mercy and grace if we deserve that. They're mercy and grace specifically because we don't deserve that. So then

The Work of the Son

moving from the incarnation of the Son, we should consider the work of the Son. Notice this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world, incarnation, and what's the work? To save sinners. That's the emphasis.

Again, not to start a new religion, not to start a revolution, not simply to model biblical ethics, but he came to save sinners. The Jews seek signs. The Greeks seek wisdom. But Paul says, we preach Christ and him crucified.

To the Jews, a stumbling block, and to the Greeks, foolishness. But to those of us who are being saved, Christ is both the wisdom and the power of God. The emphasis all throughout Scripture with reference to the Incarnation, with reference to the mission of the Son of God, is to save His people from their sins. This is announced in Matthew chapter 1 in the birth narrative of our Lord.

You shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins. Or in the calling of Levi and the feast that happens after that, and the Pharisees are whining and complaining, Jesus says in Matthew chapter 9, I did not come to call the righteous to repentance, but sinners. Matthew 20, 28. The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many.

Or the account with Jesus and Zacchaeus. What's the underlying principle? What's the point of the passage as it were? Brethren, that's good news.

That's why we call it gospel. He doesn't come to make us save a bull, He actually saves. He doesn't come to simply help us, He actually saves. He doesn't come just to model a better way for us to live as men and women in this earth, but He comes to save us.

Our problem is such that we don't need just a little bit of help or just a bit of aid or just an example. We need Christ and Him crucified. We need Christ and Him resurrected. We need all of the benefits He secured through His work so that we may go to heaven, so that we may have everlasting life, so that we may know the joy of the Lord as our strength.

The work of the Son is the execution of the decree of God. Remember in Ephesians 1, the Apostle Paul says, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should become holy and without blame. In love, He predestinated us unto adoption as sons. Christ comes in the fullness of the time to make good that purpose, to make good that plan, to execute the decree of God to save his people from their sins.

After highlighting the specific works appropriated to the Father in Ephesians 4, one, four to five, he goes on in verse six, or verse seven, rather, to say, in him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of God's grace. You see, the execution of what God does in eternity past played out in earthly history by our Lord through His work, the fulfillment of the mediatorial office of the Son of God. How does He save sinners? He saves sinners by living for them.

He saves sinners by satisfying all that was laid upon him as described in Psalm 15 verses 2-4. He saves sinners by never having sinned himself. He saves sinners by his active obedience. He saves sinners by always doing that which is pleasing to the Father.

He saves sinners by never having a lustful thought. He saves sinners by never stealing. He saves sinners by never coveting. He saves sinners by never having a false god.

He saves sinners by never breaking the Sabbath day. He saves sinners through his law keeping. But as well, he saves sinners, not as well in addition to, but the culmination or fulfillment of his work. It's both active obedience and passive obedience.

Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. The passive obedience of Christ. Not passivity as if he was somehow uninvolved. He gave himself up for us.

But with reference to the two aspects, we see His life in the act of obedience, His sufferings and death in the passive obedience. And what does He do on that cross? Does He just show us a better way? Does He just model for us what love looks like?

Does He just display how we ought to live with one another? No, He satisfies divine justice through His own suffering, through His own curse bearing, through His own propitiation. What He is doing on that cross is satisfying the justice of God that was owed to us. He took our debt.

He took our sin. Paul can say God made Him, who knew no sin, to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. God takes our sin, heaps it upon His Son, punishes Him in our place, takes His righteousness, and heaps it upon us. We receive it not because we already have a free will with a predilection toward this, but because God awakens us, God regenerates us, God grants us the graces of faith and repentance.

We need a hand to receive the righteousness and God gives us that hand to receive the righteousness. He gives us the gifts of faith and repentance. How does Jesus save sinners? He does it through His life, through His death, and through His resurrection.

He does it in the manner in which Paul says in Romans 4.25 that Jesus was delivered up because of our offenses and He was raised for our justification. So with reference to the work of the Son to save sinners, you've got the execution of the decree of God, you've got the fulfillment of the mediatorial office of the Son of God, and then just that, the redemption of the elect. What does it mean to be a saved sinner? Paul's going to make that clear in verse 16, he obtained mercy.

What does it mean to be a saved sinner in confessional language? The application of the benefits of Christ to the elect. the effectual application of His benefits to the elect. So God chose us in Him before the foundation of the world. In time Christ comes to live and die and rise again.

He fulfills all of the obligations placed upon Him and He does it successfully as our covenant mediator. As a result of that Christ then enters into glory and then He brings many sons with Him. God blesses the people of God based on the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. The intercession of Christ for the elect.

This is right out of our confession in terms of the benefits received by man with reference to the redemptive work of our Lord. The intercession of Christ for the elect. He always lives to make intercession for us. And brethren, I don't suppose it's an intercession where there's some hypothetical possibility that what he's interceding for isn't going to come to pass.

No, the intercession of Christ for his people is effectual, just like his bloodshed for his people was effectual. He's our advocate with the Father, 1 John 2. If anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, even Jesus Christ, the righteous. Brethren, use His advocacy.

You need the advocacy pretty much always. Never tire of going back to the Lord and confessing your sin and praying for grace and strength and the power and the presence of the Spirit so that you don't continue to go out and do those things. And then the uniting of the elect to Christ by His Spirit. So the execution of the decree of God, the mediatorial function of the Son of God, and then the redemptive benefits accrued to the people of God.

That's what it means to save sinners. Again, not to make them savable, not to assist them along the way, not to give them a bit of a helping hand, but to save them to the uttermost. That's what the apostle says in Hebrews chapter seven. He's able to save to the uttermost.

He saves completely. We're not adding to that. We're not contributing to that. We're not helping them along.

We're not supplementing that. That's the whole point of Romans. That's the whole point of Galatians. The free grace of God.

The blessedness of the Son of God in the salvation of all those whom the Father had given Him. You see why this is a faithful saying. You see why it's worthy of all acceptance. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.

Brethren, that's the meat and potatoes of church. That's our message. That's what we've got. I mentioned this morning, based on Psalm 14 and our own personal sort of interpretation of the world around us, it's a mess.

It's not a little off, not a little dark, but it's a mess through and through. What is it that the church offers to the world in our age? More entertainment? We always thought that's very intriguing, churches that engage in entertainment.

As if this generation doesn't have enough entertainment? I mean life is entertainment at this stage of the ball game in western civilization. What is it that the church has to bring to the world today? This is a faithful saying.

It's worthy of all acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. You see, this is what Jesus mandated, didn't he? In the Great Commission, go, make disciples, baptize those disciples, and then teach those disciples to obey all that I have commanded you. How do we make disciples?

By entertaining them. How do we make disciples? By feeding them? I'm not against feeding them.

How do we make disciples? Is it by whatever means the church has sought? It's by proclamation. For since in the wisdom of God the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.

That's The job of the church. That's what it's about. That's why Paul will talk about the church as the pillar and ground of the truth. What's the central, fundamental, cardinal truth? capitulated in this faithful saying in 1st Timothy chapter 1.

Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. That's the emphasis. That ought to be the recurring emphasis. And if you're a believer, that's an emphasis you want in your church.

That's something you and I need to hear each and every day. We need to be reminded about the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. We need to be reminded of that imputed righteousness of our Lord Jesus and received by faith alone. We need to be mindful of those realities because ultimately that is what gives us the perseverance and the endurance and the steadfastness.

Not because we think we're going to be saved, but because we are saved. And then notice, the power of the son is displayed in the last three words. Well, five words. Counting is not my forte.

Of whom I am chief. This is the apostle's assessment of himself. And in the context, we can see why he would assess himself thus. a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man. Notice that in verse 16, Paul functions as a pattern.

Paul functions as a paradigm. Paul functions kind of like this. If you're a sinner sitting here tonight, you haven't believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you're wondering, would he save one like me? Paul is gonna answer you, yes, he would.

If you look at this passage and you say, does Christ have the power, the efficacy to save the really bad sinner? Paul's emphasis is absolutely, positively. It's not only the apostle's assessment of himself, but it's his appreciation for Christ, his approbation. And those words are probably too weak.

His absolute mind-blowing delight in the reality that Christ's efficacy, Christ's power, Christ's benefits accrue to someone that was a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man. To someone who stood by while godly Stephen was being stoned to death. to someone that was on his way to Damascus, extradition papers in hand, to go and put his hands on men and women and bring them back to Jerusalem so that they could be punished for following this Nazarene. For the Apostle Paul, this is mind-blowing. For the Apostle Paul, this is paradigmatic.

For the Apostle Paul, this is much of an invitation. If you think you're too sinful, Hey, I'm the chief. If Christ is able to save the chief, he's able to save you as well. Christ is saying, or Paul is saying rather, that the efficacy of Christ's work is such that those who come to him in faith will not be cast out.

The apostle's commendation of his gospel is what's at stake here, of whom I am chief. Go back to the earlier part of chapter one. Look at what the false teachers in Ephesus were sort of teaching or commending or talking about. In 1 Timothy 3, 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.

Notice down in verse 6, 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. Do you see the contrast there? Do you see the difference there? Do you see the chasm between the two?

The false teachers are taken up with Jewish fables. The false teachers are taken up with genealogies. The false teachers are taken up with disputes that ruin, that disturb, that ultimately destroy the church. Paul's like, I don't have time for that.

Timothy, you certainly don't have time for that. And the sheep of Christ don't have time for that. And the unbelieving sinner doesn't have time for that. What do they have time for?

This is a faithful saying. It's worthy of all acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief. The Apostle is getting right to it with this faithful saying. The Apostle is showing the stakes.

He is showing the differences. He is showing in his own conversion, in his own declaration, and then in his own example, what is the difference between the Apostle Paul and Timothy, his true son in the faith, and these false teachers that are out there just distorting and twisting and engaging in all manner of wretchedness and lawlessness with reference to the church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Merciful Application

Now then notice the merciful application. We see the faithful saying in 15a, the glorious content in 15b, we move to the merciful application in verse 16. However, for this reason I obtained mercy. As I've mentioned before in our studies thus far in Timothy, the Christian in the final analysis is simply a man or a woman who's received mercy.

The Christian in the final analysis is a recipient of grace. We didn't get what we deserve, we didn't get what we are owed, but we got the glorious benefits of our Lord Jesus Christ as prophet, priest, and king given to us, received by the faith that was given to us. The Apostle says, however, for this reason I obtained mercy. I think he means this.

I was a blasphemer. I was a persecutor. I was an insolent man. He's not saying because I was those things, God rewarded me with mercy.

No, because I was those things, it was only mercy that would deliver me from those things. Whether it's righteous Rabbi Paul in Philippians chapter three, or it's sinful chief of sinners Paul in first Timothy chapter one, this is a faithful saying. It's worthy of all acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Not that there's two Pauls, but two specific games.

In Philippians chapter 3, he wants to shut down that nonsense of a works righteousness. He wants to shut down the idea that you can have a little Jesus, have a little works, and then make it into heaven. No, he says, if that ever was the case, he would have been the chief recipient. I mean, he had a great religious pedigree.

He had a great religious amount of accomplishments. And yet, those things I count loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. Here he's talking about how merciful our blessed Savior is with reference to the salvation of one who was a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man. The apostle is saved because of the gospel committed to his trust and proclaimed to others.

The apostle is saved based on that glorious proposition that encapsulates the entirety of the gospel. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. This is why he is putting this here in this part of his epistle. He's shutting down the false teachers, he's establishing Timothy further in his work of ministry, and he's encouraging the church in Ephesus in the first century and all churches ever since because this is precisely the type of faithful saying that the church needs in whatever situation she finds herself.

Paul as Pattern for Believers

Notice he then moves on to this pattern of redemption. 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." The apostle, just by way of a quick observation, knew the longsuffering of the Lord. Notice that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering. Don't we all know that longsuffering?

Don't we all understand what he's talking about there? Paul the Pharisee of Pharisees, Paul the accomplished man, Paul the religiously oriented man, Paul the man who could actually say, if anybody could make it on their resume, it would have been me. And all that while denying Jesus Christ as the Messiah, all that while refusing his own sinfulness, but as well as his own ignorance, to bow the knee to this Christ. Of course there's longsuffering.

The Apostle Paul was a It was a blasphemer. The Apostle Paul was a persecutor. The Apostle Paul was an insolent man. And yet there was that long-suffering Lord.

He bore long with him until that day on the road to Damascus when he comes and he conquers him and uses him then as the Apostle to the Gentiles. As well, I think we ought to observe, the apostle was not the first person saved. He was first in order of a pattern. Again, whether self-righteous men, Philippians chapter 3, or godless, lawless sinners, 1 Timothy chapter 1.

Paul shows us you can have the best of both those wretched things, right? Or the worst of those things. When you saw Paul prior to the cross, I mean by him believing on the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, he was both self-righteous and absolutely wretched. Most of us are just absolutely wretched.

Well, probably throw in some self-righteousness. I think we all like to delude ourselves that we're doing a whole lot better than we really are. The Apostle Paul understood. The Apostle Paul serves as a pattern.

The Apostle Paul says, however, for this reason I obtained 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. In other words, sinner, look to the Lord Jesus As well, look to the Apostle Paul. If a self-righteous, proud, arrogant man, who's also the chief of sinners, can find mercy with this God, can find grace from this God, can be included in the redemptive plan of God, that ought to serve or function as a great pattern for you to look and live. George Knight says, verses 12 to 14 convey Paul's own experience.

But Paul's experience is not unique. Verse 15 gives the general truth of which Paul's experience was a particular example. Philip Towner comes at it the same, but as well encompassing the false teachers that were plaguing Ephesus. He says at no point in this depiction of his gospel and his role as an apostle does he confuse his experience with the gospel.

Faith must be in Christ and the gospel is about Christ, not Paul. However, in the polemical contest where his mission and authority are under fire, in 2 Corinthians as well and Galatians, and the church has been placed in danger of missing or distorting the truth of the gospel, Paul is not slow to put his call to apostleship and his understanding of the gospel on the line. He insists that only the gospel he endorses is true. God ordained his mission and calling and his own experience of Christ's mercy demonstrates the power of the gospel he preaches and his authority to do so.

Don't forget verse 11. The glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust. What is Paul saying? Speculation about Jewish fables.

Speculation about endless genealogies. Speculation that leads to dispute and discontentedness and division within a professing church. Those things which just ultimately reduce to idle talk. That's not the gospel.

The gospel was committed to Paul's trust. It's illustrated in his salvation. He is a pattern for all those out there who are going to believe. You wonder if there's grace sufficient for one like you?

Paul got it. You wonder if there's hope for heaven for a self-righteous, proud, arrogant man? Paul got it. Do you ever wonder if in fact Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world?

Paul understood it all too well, and that is precisely his emphasis. And then

Doxology Expressed by the Apostle

that brings us finally and quickly to the doxology expressed by the apostle. This is patterned in Paul as well. You see it in Romans, you see it in Galatians, you see it in Ephesians, you see it in Philippians. What happens when Paul talks gospel?

Paul worships. What happens when Paul rehearses that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief? He praises. He stands in awe.

He ascribes blessing to God Most High and that is precisely the function in verse 17. How could he not engage in verse 17 in light of verses 15 and 16? It's a no-brainer. Don't we preach the guilt, grace, gratitude motif?

That is precisely what we see, is guilt, verse 13, grace, verses 15 and 16, gratitude in verse 17. Notice, he praises, now to the king eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever, amen. God is indeed the king of nature and providence and grace. The prophet asked the question, who would not fear thee, O God, for indeed you are the king of all the earth?

Jeremiah 10.10. It's repeated by the seer in Revelation 15. God is King. And then we have all of these other things predicated of Him.

He's eternal. That means He has an existence and continuing without beginning or end and apart from all succession and change. He's eternal. He's not like us.

We have a point in time where we start. God never had a point in time when He started. There's never been no God. That's a tough one to get our minds wrapped around, but that's what the Bible teaches.

That's what Paul is predicating of God, and I think as well the implication we ought to arrive at is not only does soteriology promote doxology or praise to God, but it's only the God described in verse 17 that could save the mess that is you and I. There's no sort of lesser God out there that could accomplish the job. No, this God is what sinners desperately need. He moves on to say immortal.

Immortal. He is incorruptible. He is immune from decay. Being incorruptible and immune from decay certainly implies unchangeability.

Immutability, impassibility. Turretin said, God can neither be changed for the better, because he is the best, nor for the worse, because he would cease to be the most perfect. He then speaks of God's invisibility. The invisible God.

What does that mean? Again, I think it distinguishes him from the creature. He has no bodily form. He doesn't have parts.

He doesn't have passions. He doesn't extend into space. God is invisible. Again, Muller makes the observation that spirituality or the spirituality of God implies his invisibility or insensibility and indeed the reverse is also true.

God's invisibility implies his spirituality. Now, if you didn't get that, that's okay. It's late. You can email Cam and ask him to explain Moeller at that particular point.

And then he highlights the only wise God, or in other translations, the only God. The only God, Bavinck comments on the unity of singularity. We mean that there is but one divine being, that in virtue of the nature of that being, God cannot be more than one being, and consequently, that all other beings exist only from him, through him, and to him. Hence, this attribute teaches God's absolute oneness and uniqueness, his exclusive numerical oneness, in distinction from his simplicity, which denotes his inner or qualitative oneness.

And then notice, he moves from this to the specific expression of praise. He says, be honor and glory forever and ever. Now, the nature of the expression is not, God, I hope that you grow in honor and glory. God, I hope that you get more honor and glory.

Theologians make a distinction between the essential glory of God and the manifested glory of God. There's no more glory that an already all-glorious being can have. God doesn't grow in glory. God doesn't grow in honorableness.

But the manifestation of that through the proclamation of the gospel and the salvation of sinners, honor and glory be to you forever and ever. In other words, cause to shine forth your splendor, cause to shine forth your power, cause to shine forth your grace and your mercy in the redemptive preaching of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ so that more sinners ascribe praise, more sinners ascribe glory, more sinners ascribe honor to you. Not so that you can grow in it, but that you can demonstrate it and manifest it and shine it forth to the entirety of all creation. And then he ends on Amen.

Amen functions here I think to confirm what he has said is in fact the case. Did you know in the early church they said the Amen? They said the Amen, brethren. In 1 Corinthians chapter 14, I think there's an argument to be made for the public saying of the amen by the people of God to close in prayer or at other times to confirm the truthfulness of a saying made.

Paul ends here with amen. Listen to Calvin. He 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 lofty admiration. So by his example he reminds us all, this confirmation, reminds us that we too should engage in this.

George Knight goes even a step further than Calvin. He says with reference to the Amen, it expresses the writer's stated confirmation of what he expressed in the doxology and most likely also seeks to invoke that response from the readers. All of you should stand in awe of this God. All of us in response to that grace of God should say, now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever.

Amen. It is an invitation to celebrate with the apostle what Christ did when he came into this world, namely to save his people from their sins. That is the gospel committed to Paul's trust.

Application

For the people of God, may this be an encouragement to us. May we always keep in our minds and at the forefront of our hearts the blessed reality that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Don't ever stray from that. There's a lot of stuff you may not ever know in theology.

There's a lot of stuff you may forget in theology. There may be things you don't remember about the construction of the tabernacle or the temple, but this faithful saying, never forget, church, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, really bad ones, the chief of sinners. He knocked him off of his proud high horse onto that ground in the road to Damascus and saved him by his grace and for his glory. He saves the likes of you and I.

But as well, if you're an unbeliever, you need to hear that faithful saying, too. And you need to give it thought. Better, you need to give it belief. You need to own it for yourself.

You need to confess this Christ. You need to realize that if God saved the chief, then He can save me, too. And he saves to the uttermost all who draw nigh unto God through him. Do not resist that, do not reject that, do not forsake that, but rather say, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. and you will find grace, you will find a fountain of joy, a fullness of joy in the presence of God most high.

Well, let us pray.

Closing Prayer

Our Father, we thank you for your word, and we thank you for the apostles' faithful saying in 1 Timothy 1.15. And God, may we always live in light of this truth, may it be that which encourages us, may it be that which strengthens us and help us to run the race that is set before us with endurance and to do so joyfully. knowing that our sins are forgiven, knowing that we have a righteousness that avails with you. And God bless the preaching of your gospel, the preaching of the mission of the Son of God all throughout this earth. May your word run swiftly and may it be glorified.

And we ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Scripture References

• Psalm 14; 15:2-4
• Jeremiah 10:10
• Matthew 1:21; 9:13; 20:28
• John 1:14; 3:16
• Romans 4:25
• 1 Corinthians 14:16
• 2 Corinthians 8:9
• Galatians 1:6-9; 4:4
• Ephesians 1:4-5; 1:7
• Philippians 2:7; 3:4-8
• Hebrews 2:14; 7:25
• 1 Timothy 1:3; 1:15; 3:1; 3:16; 4:9
• 2 Timothy 2:11-13
• Titus 3:8
• 1 John 2:1
• Revelation 15:3-4