Let's open the Word of God to 1 Timothy 1. Let's read together the whole of the chapter. In Acts 4 this morning's communion service will be verse 15. 1 Timothy 1. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God, our Savior, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope. Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith, grace, mercy, and peace from God, our Father, and Jesus Christ, our Lord. I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mayest charge some that they teach no other doctrine, neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies which minister questions, rather than God the edifying which is in faith. So do. Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart and of a good conscience and of faith unfeigned, from which some having swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling, desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor whereof they affirm. But we know that the law is good if a man use it lawfully. knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for men-stealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be 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 hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, who was before a blasphemer and a persecutor and injurious, but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief. How be it for this cause I obtain mercy that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all longsuffering for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting. Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory forever and ever, amen. This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare. holding faith and a good conscience, which some, having put away concerning faith, have made shipwreck, of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme." We end our Scripture reading at that point. The text for this morning's sermon is verse 15. This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief." Beloved congregation, after a week of self-examination, what assessment do we have of ourselves? In other words, Analyzing our hearts and lives in the light of God's Word, and particularly in the light of His law, what conclusion have we come to about ourselves? Is it, well, I know that I do some things that are wrong, but overall I'm a pretty good person, Or is it, yes, I understand, I am a sinner. Not just I do some sinful things. I am a sinner, but at least I'm not as sinful as some others in the congregation. Or, is our conclusion this? the chief of sinners. That was Paul's conclusion. In other words, if Paul were sitting here in the pew, or more likely to be the case, if Paul was the one standing behind this pulpit, leading this worship service, after a week of self-examination, the conclusion in his heart would be to say, of all the sinners saved by grace, I am chief. I am the foremost of them all." That was his humble confession about himself. Now, praise be to God, that's not the only thing that he confesses in this passage. The Apostle Paul does not wallow in his sin and in his misery. But instead, he confesses that Christ Jesus came into this world to save such sinners. He points us to our Savior and with the eyes of faith, that is where we must look this morning. Having examined ourselves, we come to church this morning to hear the good news proclaimed in the gospel and presented in the sacrament that in Jesus Christ, there is indeed salvation, there is forgiveness. even for the chief of sinners." And it's that good news that we want to consider this morning using as our theme, salvation for the chief of sinners. First, we'll look at the humble confession. Second, we will look at the saving advent. And then third, the faithful saying. Here in this passage, Paul confesses, I am the chief of sinners. He says in verse 15, that Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. In other words, he's saying, I am the chief of sinners. And he says this about himself, mindful of his sinfulness, and in particular, his past sins. He has those on his mind as is evident from verse 13 where he says, who was before a blasphemer and a persecutor and injurious. He says, I was a blasphemer. I spoke evil about God, against God in particular. I spoke evil about Jesus Christ. For before I was brought to saving faith, I denied that He was in fact the Son of God. I refused to believe that He was the promised Messiah. I spoke evil. I'm a blasphemer. I was at least, says Paul. Then he adds a persecutor. And not just a persecutor among many, but the most bitter persecutor of them all. Paul tells us elsewhere that he was one who breathed out threatenings and slaughters. It was his life's goal to destroy the church of Jesus Christ. And he adds still further that he was injurious or insolent, and one who's insolent is one who's so filled with pride and arrogance that he is always looking down on others and casting reproach, insults at them. And almost certainly Paul refers to himself as injurious, mindful of his past as a Pharisee. One who in his pride and self-righteousness thought that he could keep God's law in such a way so as to be right with God. And thus he looked down on everyone else. He judged others. who did not meet his same standard of external obedience to man-made laws. Paul was mindful of his sinful past, but it was not merely his sinful past. He recognizes, I'm still a sinner. Because notice the wording of the text is not that, he does not say, of whom I was chief, past tense, but of whom I am chief, present tense. This is a man who still wrestled, who battled against that old man of sin. This is the same Paul who wrote elsewhere that the good that I would do, I failed to do it, and the evil that I would not do, that's what I find myself doing. And it's in light of both his past sinfulness as well as his present sinfulness that Paul reaches this conclusion. This is his assessment about himself. The chief of sinners. It's the same humble confession he makes elsewhere. For example, in 1 Corinthians 15 verse 9. For I am the least of the apostles that am not meet to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God." In Ephesians 3 verse 8, he says about himself that I am less than the least of all saints. That is, of all the sinners saved by Jesus Christ, Surely I am the chief among those sinners. God's grace is most magnified in me more than anyone else. That, I believe, is the proper way of understanding what the Apostle Paul says here. And I put it that way because there is debate about how to understand the words of the Apostle Paul. And among the various views that are out there, one of them is that when Paul says, I am the chief of sinners, that this is true from an objective point of view in the absolute sense of the word. That is, if it were possible to number all of the sins of all of God's people, and to assign to every one of them a certain degree of severity and seriousness, and then you did all the math, you calculated out how bad someone's sin was, that if you did that, of all those saved by grace, Paul was, in fact, the very worst sinner of us all. That's an interpretation of this passage. But it's the wrong interpretation of this passage. Because that's out of harmony with Scripture. For Scripture does not invite us to try to compare ourselves to other believers, to set side by side one saint and another saint, and let's see who is more sinful here. Yes, Scripture makes clear there are degrees of sin that some are more serious than others, but we're not to try to determine who is the worst. But more importantly, we reject that wrong notion that Paul really was, from an absolute point of view and from an objective point of view, the worst sinner saved by grace. We reject that because think of the implication of that. It means we all could breathe a sigh of relief this morning. Well, at least I'm not as bad as Paul. Yes, I'm a sinner, but At least I'm better than one other person. That's not how we're to understand the passage. But instead, we must understand these words as the confession of every single child of God who comes to see and understand his sin in the light of God's law. That is, for each one of God's children, When we look at our hearts, our lives, in the light of God's law, we conclude, surely, there is no other Christian so sinful as I was and still am. And we make that confession because each one of us knows our own sins by our personal experience. Whereas with regards to the sins of others, we only know them based on what we see about that person or what we hear from them. And even then, it's not so much a comparison between myself and the other person, but it's a comparison between myself and the standard that is God's law. And I see just how far short I fall of that law. So that when I hear the Apostle Paul say, I am the chief of sinners, my response is to say, Paul, I respectfully disagree. Because I am, in fact, the chief of sinners. And let me tell you why, Paul. Because, Paul, I know the sins that I commit behind closed doors. Yes, you can say that you were a blasphemer. That's sinful. But Paul, you have no idea what I have done when no one else was looking. I know the sins that I have committed in the privacy of my own home. I know the sins that I commit when I'm all alone And God knows them too, because the eyes of the Lord are in every place beholding the evil and the good. But it's not just the sins that I commit behind closed doors. I'm the chief of sinners because I know the sinfulness of my thoughts, of my desires. Yes, Paul, I hear you when you say that you were a persecutor But I know the sinfulness of my mind. I know the sinfulness of my heart. And it's so ugly that if everyone else could see it, I'm not sure I could ever show my face here again. I'm not sure anyone would ever want to talk to me again. And God knows those sins. Because He's the searcher of the heart. The omniscient One. The omnipresent One as we learned last week. Paul, I'm not finished explaining to you why I am the chief of sinners. Because it's also that I sin against grace. Yes, Paul. You say that you were injurious, you were insolent, you were a proud, self-righteous Pharisee. Well, let me tell you that I'm really not any different than you. But it's worse because I sin against grace. I have so much to be thankful for, but yet my heart is often filled with ingratitude. I've been given the gift of faith, but yet my heart is so often full of unbelief. I've been justified freely. Be it I sin again and again and make myself guilty before the law again. I've been set free from the bondage, the slavery of sin, but yet like the Egyptians of old, I want to go right back to that bondage. I am that one who seeks to justify his sin by thinking in his heart, well, it'll be forgiven anyway. Let's just go on sinning that grace may abound. I am a practical antinomian if there ever was one. And it gets still worse because it's not just that I know the sins I commit behind closed doors. It's not just that I know the sinful heart and the sinful mind that I have. It's not just that I sin against grace, but Paul, I sin against better knowledge. And therefore, I cannot say what you said. You told us, Paul, verse 13, but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. Well, I cannot say that. Because I'm guilty of presumptuous sins. I'm guilty of high-handed sins. I'm guilty of the same thing that Adam was guilty of. God told him in no uncertain terms, do not eat. of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and he ate it anyway. And God tells me in no uncertain terms, thou shalt not do this or that, and then I go and do the very thing he told me not to do, willingly, knowing full well that it's wrong. And so, Paul, you may think that you are the chief of sinners, but let me tell you, I am. the chief of sinners. Is that your confession this morning, child of God? We're tempted to think otherwise, aren't we? We're tempted to try to compare ourselves Whether it's to compare ourselves to the wicked world out there or to compare ourselves among each other and to think, well, at least I'm not as bad as that guy over there. Yes, I'm guilty of certain sins, but I would never do what I know so-and-so has done. Do you see that temptation? underscores the importance of God's law for us and the process of self-examination. The law is useful for the child of God. Yes, we are no longer under the law in the sense of being required to keep God's law in order to be right with Him, But the law is still useful. That's verse 8. But we know that the law is good if a man use it lawfully. And what's a lawful use of the law? Well, a lawful use of the law is to use it as a mirror to see ourselves accurately. To have it point out to us to expose our sin. And we need that. It's also good that we examine ourselves. to see afresh with renewed understanding the depths, the seriousness of our sins so that we come to conclude with the Apostle Paul, I am the chief of sinners. Because when I stand before God, I cannot imagine that there is any other Christian so sinful as me. Is that your confession? If so, then hear the good news of this passage, that Christ Jesus came to save such sinners That brings us to the saving Advent that's taught in this text. The passage speaks of Christ's coming and we speak of the saving Advent because Advent is simply a fancy word, children, for Christ's coming. The passage says this, this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Notice first of all, He came into this world. That is, in the fullness of time, God sent forth His Son to be made of a woman, to be made under the law. He became partakers of our flesh and blood. He was made like unto His brethren in all things. The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. He came. And understand, that very language implies that He existed prior to this, that He is, in fact, the eternal Son of God, because the language in the passage is not that Christ Jesus was born into this world to save sinners. That would certainly be a true statement, but that's not the language we find here. The language is that He came into this world indicating He existed before He came. So that clearly implied is the truth that this Christ Jesus is not a mere man. He is a man. He is Jesus of Nazareth. But He's more than a man because He's Christ Jesus who came into this world. His birth in Bethlehem was not His beginning. He is the eternal Son of God. Though it meant humbling himself, for this was indeed an act of humiliation. For understand, for him to come into this world involved more than a change of location. It did include that. For he left heaven, that's one place, one location. He came into this world, another place, another location. But more than that, coming into this world meant a change in condition. This meant a change in the spiritual and moral environment of the Son of God. He left heaven. The place of glory and majesty. The place of eternal joy and bliss. The place where He dwelt in the bosom of the Father for all eternity. And He came down into this world. into the realm of sin and misery, into the sphere where God's curse resides. He came into a place where he'd be surrounded by sinners and their sin, all of which is repulsive to his very being and existence as God. And does that not underscore his love and coming? This is the climax of His condescending grace toward us. But why? What was His purpose in coming? Was it to solve all the problems of the world? To abolish war? To end poverty? To bring about social justice? Did He come to reform the world? Establish a spirit of brotherhood to bring peace and prosperity to all so that we could all live happily ever after? No. Christ did not come to set up, to establish some earthly kingdom. But His purpose in coming was to save sinners. That's the explicit testimony of this passage that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Literally, sinners to save. It's specifying, it's clarifying the type of salvation He came to accomplish. He came to save sinners, to save us from the guilt of sin, to save us from the power, the corruption, the influence of sin, to save us from the consequences, the punishment we deserve for our sin. And not just save us from sin, from a negative point of view, but positively to give unto us righteousness so that we might be accepted of God. to set us free from the power of the dominion of sin, to give us new life, and to give us all those blessings of salvation, above all, eternal life with our God. The passage speaks of Him coming to save sinners, and we must understand that word, to save in the broadest sense possible. Deliverance from the greatest imaginable evil, and being given instead the greatest possible good. In congregation note well, he came to save. He did not come to tell us how to save ourselves. He did not come to make salvation possible if only we accept him by a choice of our own free will. He did not come to help us save ourselves. But Christ Jesus came to save sinners. He came to do the thing Himself powerfully, irresistibly, efficaciously, sovereignly to save sinners. And how does He do that? By His life, death, and resurrection. and understand all that's in view. Yes, the passage speaks of him coming into this world, and that points us to his incarnation, the word being made flesh, but his coming includes not just his birth, but really the whole of his saving work. It includes his lifelong suffering. It includes his perfect obedience to the whole of God's law. It includes his saving death at the cross of Calvary. And all of that is clearly in view because Christ Jesus came into this world ultimately to die on the cross. That especially is how he saves us from our sin. And having laid down his life, he then arose. on the third day so that He might make us partakers of that salvation, so that He might bestow upon us all of the blessings that He earned. And all of that is set before us this morning in the Lord's Supper. In the Lord's Supper, we are reminded of His incarnation. For there's bread. There's wine. Reminding us that He really became partakers of our flesh and blood. We're also pointed to His death. For that bread is broken. And that wine is poured out pointing us to the reality that His body was broken on the cross of Calvary. That His blood was shed for us. But we're also reminded of His resurrection. Because this morning, His body, His blood are given to us. We are made partakers of them, and that's only possible because Jesus Christ arose again from the dead, so that He might impart to us His own life. And now consider, congregation, the blessed implications of all this. It means there's forgiveness for those who believe in Jesus Christ. Forgiveness for sinners, beloved congregation. Not for the righteous. That is, not for those who think they're righteous in themselves. For Christ said, I'm not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. There's forgiveness for sinners. For the type of sinners that are mentioned here for us in verses 9-10. Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient. for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for men-stealers, for liars, for perjured persons. There's forgiveness for all those people. Which is to say there's forgiveness for the sins we commit behind closed doors. There's forgiveness for those sinful thoughts of the mind, those sinful desires of the heart. There's forgiveness for the sins that we commit against grace. There's forgiveness for the sins against better knowledge. And all of this is to say, congregation, there's forgiveness for the chief of sinners. That's the point. There's salvation, there's forgiveness for Paul, the persecutor. For Matthew the publican. For Rahab the harlot. For Manasseh the idolater. There's no sin too great to be forgiven. Congregation, away with that false humility and piety that says, well, I'm such a great sinner. I'm not sure he could ever really forgive me. I've done too much wrong. their salvation for the chief of sinners. Which means we must also say away with that notion of thinking, well, I have to improve myself first. Surely, I have to get into spiritual shape before I could ever have the forgiveness of sins. That too is all wrong. That makes it backwards. Because we're talking about a gracious salvation. He forgives us just the way we are this very moment. And He does so righteously on the basis of Christ's saving work. And that means the books are clear. He gives an utter absolution. And He takes all of your sins and He casts them into the sea of forgetfulness. All because Christ Jesus came into this world, sinners to save. But there's still more good news. Because it's not just that there's the forgiveness of sins, but the good news includes the gift of new life. That's a part of salvation. We said we must understand that word to save in the broadest sense possible. And that includes, therefore, not only Christ's saving work for us on our behalf, but also His saving work in us and upon us by His Spirit. Which includes His work to take dead sinners and to make them alive again. and to change them by the power of His grace. And that grace is sufficient, child of God. For consider what change God wrought in the Apostle Paul. This one who was a blasphemer and a persecutor and injurious. By the power of God's grace, put those sins behind Him. Notice there it is past tense. Who was before a blasphemer, a persecutor, and injurious, but now by the power of God's grace, He's preaching the Gospel. That's real change. Accomplished by God's all-sufficient grace. And what an encouragement for us who battle against sin. who have this sin that we've been trying to put away, but we've been unable to do so. His grace is sufficient. And you can count on that. Because this is a faithful saying. That's really how Paul begins the verse. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation. This was a saying. That is, evidently, these words that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, evidently, they had become A common expression among Christians in that day to articulate the heart, the kernel of the Christian faith. This is the essence of it. This was a saying. And Paul says this is a faithful saying. It's dependable. It's reliable. It's trustworthy. And therefore, it's worthy of all acceptation. That is, of all accepting. This is something to believe in. This is something to embrace. This is something to make your own. And do so without any reservation, without any doubt. It's a faithful saying, worthy of all acceptance. And if we ask why, what makes it so faithful, worthy of all acceptance? Well, on the one hand, because it's tried and proven. It has sustained the fiery test of experience. Paul himself is living proof. For what else could possibly explain how this proud, self-righteous Pharisee who always looked down on others, is now making this humble confession, I am the chief of sinners, but saved by grace in Jesus Christ. It's tried. It's proven. And therefore, it's faithful and worthy of all acceptation. But on the other hand, that's true because, and this is really the more important reason, This is the Word of God in Christ. This is not just something that the church in that day came up with. This is not just some phrase Paul decided to coin. But this is the teaching of Christ Jesus Himself. How many times in the book of John does not our Savior speak of His coming into this world? And then He goes on to tell us why He came. He came to save. This is what Christ taught His people. Because this is Christ's Word. It is, therefore, a faithful Word worthy of all acceptation. So have you accepted this saying? Which is to say, have you believed in Jesus Christ? Then come, come to the table of our Lord Jesus Christ. Making the humble confession, I am the chief of sinners. And hearing by faith him say to you, I forgive you. Amen. Father in heaven, we thank Thee for feeding us with Thy Word, and we pray that Thou wilt now feed and nourish our souls unto everlasting life by means of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. Hear this prayer for Christ's sake. Amen.