Good evening, you may be seated. Well, as always, it is a privilege to be here with you all this evening. And I also do bring with me greetings from Black Forest Reformed Church. We are happy to just have you here in the Springs along with us. Well, if you will please turn in your copies of God's Word to 1 Timothy 1, and we'll be reading in verses 15 through 17. Hear now the word of the Lord. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of who I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who are to believe in him for eternal life. To the king of ages, Immortal, invisible, the only God, the honor and glory forever and ever. Let's go now to the Lord in prayer. Our almighty God and gracious Heavenly Father, Lord, we do thank you and praise you for your wondrous works, your mighty acts, Lord. Lord, and as we have the chance to come together tonight to see Paul in the book of Timothy declare one of the greatest truths, that we see that you sent your son into this world to die for us. Lord, that he came to do your will, to glorify you. So Lord, as we now turn to this word, would you please help us to hear and to understand and to act. We pray all of this in your son's precious and matchless name. Well, dear congregation, this evening I would like you to imagine hearing of a man that is most feared by Christians. One who had been hunting them down, throwing them into prison, and even approving their deaths. And I want you to also imagine hearing that this man had suddenly became a Christian or a believer himself. What would your first reaction be? How would you react to this news? Could it be that you would say this can't be real? It's impossible? It's too good to be true? Well, this is precisely and exactly what happened to the Apostle Paul. As we know from the scriptures, he was a zealous Pharisee known for his intense hatred of the followers of Jesus. But we know from the book of Acts that everything changed for Paul on that road to Damascus. In a single moment, Paul encountered Christ. He went from being a persecutor to a preacher, from a destroyer of the faith to a defender of it. And it was the same reaction that I mentioned beforehand that the early church had. They struggled to believe it initially. Think of Ananias in chapter nine. If you remember, Ananias receives this vision from the Lord to go to Paul. And he begins to doubt knowing who Paul was. But the Lord tells him to go. Or even again, later in chapter nine, when Paul sought to join the other disciples, they were afraid. They literally say they did not believe that he was a disciple himself, in verse 26. They must have been thinking, how can someone like him truly be saved? And sadly, for most of us, we think this too often. Whether it's about others, our opinions about who they are, or what they have done, or it can even be the opinions we have about ourselves. When we reflect and go into deep introspection into our hearts, we begin to recall the sins that we have committed, and we see this immense guilt, and we have this immense guilt of the record of debt that stands against us. But why is this? Why do we begin to think this or doubt the promises of God? Well, it's because if we really begin to think about it, God's promises far exceed human hope. They far exceed our expectations. And we often struggle to believe them. God has graciously given us things that our minds, the minds of man have never looked for, that we have never even considered. And it's for this reason that we see the apostles spend much time in their epistles securing our belief or the belief in the gifts that God grants to us. I want you to think about it this way. When we receive good news or this great good or something good comes to us, sometimes we wonder if it's true ourselves. We have a hard time believing it. And it's no different, no different concerning the gifts of God. And I would actually argue it would be, if it's easy to not believe something that's given to us that's very human, very material in a lot of ways, why would it not be hard to believe the promises and gifts of God? But what is it that is so incredible about this truth that's hard to believe? Well, it's that we were enemies and sinners We could not be justified by the law or our works. This is who we are, but immediately, through faith alone, we are advanced to the highest favor that man can receive. And again, how is this? How is this for us? And the answer is Christ, the author and finisher of our faith, the great redeemer who secures our salvation, the one who is the glory of God. And as we consider tonight as our theme of God's glory and our salvation, I wanna look at how the gospel reveals Christ's mission, mercy, and majesty. And this will be our three headings tonight, as you have in your bulletin. We will look at the mission, the mercy, and the majesty of Christ. Well, first, the mission of Christ. I want you to look with me again at verse 15. Paul says, the saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. In one sentence, Paul shows us the mission of Christ and dispels any notion that this truth should not be believed or considered too good to be true. He states that it is trustworthy and it's deserving of full acceptance. It means it's reliable, dependable, It's tried and true. It's sure and steadfast. It's proven and constant. And it is to be received without doubt or wavering, but with full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. But how do we know this? We have Paul testifying of it here, but the entire scriptures confirm this. It was like this from the beginning. It was declared in the beginning. This has always been the case. And if we had the time tonight, we could go through and trace all of redemptive history from the garden in Genesis throughout the Old Testament into the new. But we just don't have the time for that. But if we were to do that, we would see this has been and always will be the case. It points to the scriptures. They point to, they center upon Christ. He is the pinnacle of the scriptures. Christ himself affirms this great truth in Luke 24, 44, where we read, these are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. His mission from the beginning has always been to bring glory to His Father and to bring salvation to His people. This has always been the case. The Son of God, Christ, the mediator of the covenant, came. This is the Jesus who was the seed of the woman who would crush the serpent's head, the promised offspring of Abraham, the scepter of Judah, the Passover lamb, and the suffering servant. This is the one that was born of a virgin who went out from the Father, who came to call sinners to repentance and to give his life a ransom for many. The mission of Christ in the scriptures is very straightforward. Again, he came to do the will of his Father, thus bringing him glory and to save sinners. But these aren't just my words, they're not just Paul's words. We see this from the opening of the New Testament in Matthew 121, where we read the words that the angel declared to Joseph, that Mary would bear a son, and that they should call his name Jesus, for he will save people, his people, from their sins. Again in John 129, John the Baptist declares this wonderful truth. Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. See it again in Matthew 9, 13, Christ declares this truth. He says, go and learn what this means. I desire mercy and not sacrifice. For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners. And again in Luke 19, 10, for the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. It's testified in the epistles. We see Paul again in Romans 5, 6 through 8, saying this. For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person, though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die. but God shows his love for us, that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. John also declares this in 1 John 3, 5, where he says, you know that he, speaking of Christ, appeared in order to take away sins. There are countless many other testimonies, but yet, Paul has already stated this. This saying is trustworthy. It's deserving of full acceptance. I want you to think about this. I want to, for a point of application for you tonight, do you wholeheartedly believe this truth, that Christ died for you? Do you believe it well enough to go and proclaim it to others? When you doubt whether Christ can save you, do you use this verse as a shield against doubt? As an undoubted truth that you can turn to to gain strength from? When you're in despair, when you're drowning in sin, and you call to mind and you see all of that guilt within, do you call to mind Christ? Do you remember that Christ came into this world, as Paul declares here, to save sinners? That's his mission. His mission, as we see tonight, is to come into this world and to save you. That should bring you hope, that should strengthen your faith, that should give you hope to repent and to move forward and to grow. It should be a truth that you seek to declare throughout this world to your neighbors, to your coworkers, to those beyond. So I ask you, do you believe this truth that Paul declares? Do you believe it is something that is trustworthy, something that can be received, it's worthy of full acceptance, that there should be no reason to doubt it? Are you searching the scriptures intimately to become more familiar with Christ, who he was, What he was declared to be. What he's done for you. How he glorifies the Father. As Christ, you're all in all. Because the truth of the matter is that Christ came for us. He came for you. Let this truth strengthen you tonight. But as we consider this great testimony of Paul, as we consider the mission of Christ, that Christ came to save, the natural following of that is the mercy, the mercy of Christ. Look with me again at what Paul says here in verse 16. He says, but I receive mercy for this reason. That in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who are to believe in him for eternal life. Not only is this a natural following, it's also further strength to believe that great truth of salvation of sinners through Christ. Paul declares here that he received mercy, the mercy of Christ. If we were to study this through scripture, we would see, especially in the New Testament, just how merciful Christ really was. Matthew 9, 36, we see him healing the sick and afflicted. Or again in Luke 17, 12 through 14, he heals the lepers. He demonstrates his mercy to those who are ostracized and suffering. He has compassion for the lost and the suffering. Again, if we were to go back, if you're familiar, Isaiah 53, I mentioned earlier the suffering servant. This declares the mercy of Christ. It says, surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem him stricken. He was smitten of God and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. And the chastisement of our peace was upon him. And with his stripes we are healed. What mercy, what ultimate act of mercy that Christ would die for us. It should give us so much great hope. Paul himself here is a testimony of this truth. If we were to go back in 12 through 14 in 1 Timothy 1, he says this, I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service. Though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But again there he says, but I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief. Paul is an example of this great mercy that Christ has for sinners. There are many more. Think of the woman caught in adultery in John 8. This woman who is standing there waiting to be stoned. Now, there's a lot I can get into here with that text, but the point of it is that I don't believe Christ just forgave her without any sense of justice, but that he did so because of his mercy. She's a perfect example of what a sinner can receive. Luke 23, 34, Jesus says this. Father, forgive them, this is on the cross. Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. What mercy, again, does Christ have for his people? That he would intercede for his persecutors. This demonstrates the utmost mercy. Again, we read in Romans 5 earlier that Christ came into the world to die for the ungodly. It says above, what man would die for even a good man? But Christ would die for us, would die for sinners. I want you to think of this as Paul points out here that he received mercy. Why did he receive mercy? He calls himself the chief of sinners Or the foremost as their translation here, but also the chief He says that He received mercy for this reason, that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who are to believe in him for eternal life. We have the mercy of Christ, but what do we do with it? Jesus tells us in Matthew 5, verse 7, This is the Beatitudes. He says, blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Is this you here tonight? Are you merciful? Are you merciful? When you come into interactions with people, are you merciful? When you see the lost, the broken, the downcast, the suffering, the poor, the sinner, are you merciful? Is mercy an attribute of yours because you yourself have received mercy? Is this you? This is what we are called to be. We're called to be examples. Paul here calls himself the chief or the foremost again. I keep saying chief. You can tell which version. I probably learned that in. But he was the foremost of sinners. He was the chief of sinners. This is who he was. But why did Paul call himself that? If we looked at Paul in Philippians where he puts out his, His accolades and who he is would we consider Paul the Pharisee of Pharisees a righteous man a holy man Will we consider him the chief of sinners? Why would he do this? I had a pastor one time, and I'm not the biggest fan of drawings and illustrations, but he talked about the knowledge of God and the knowledge of our sin, and the more and more of those come, it's like a chasm forms, and this great chasm forms between these two lines of our knowledge of God and His holiness and our sin, and the cross gets bigger and bigger. And I believe that it's here what Paul is telling us tonight as the chief and the foremost, he knew his heart, he knew who he was before God. Is that you? Do you consider that you are the worst of all sinners? That you are the chief? And does this cause you to run as we've already seen to that great testimony of the gospel that Jesus Christ came to save sinners? He came into the world for this purpose. And do you experience and receive that mercy that Paul talks about here? Is this you tonight? I hope it is. I know myself struggle with the same thing each and every day throughout my work, with my coworkers, with people I meet as I work for the city. It becomes hard to be merciful. It becomes hard to declare what Paul declares here, this great truth of receiving mercy, receiving salvation and receiving mercy and then to be an example. But why are we to be this example? As Paul says here, that in me is the foremost. Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who are to believe in him for eternal life. Paul wanted his life to be a testimony so others could come to know the Lord Jesus Christ, that they could see that Jesus has the power to save the worst of sinners, that there should be no doubt in the Christian, should be no doubt in the person who struggles with their sin to come to this great truth. There should be no doubt Because Christ would display his perfect patience in Paul, he can also do so in you. And he can do so in others. Talked a lot about ourselves, but I also know, just as I struggle with assurance in my own right, and I know many of you do, because that's just the Christian life. Just as much as I struggle with that, I also struggle with the truth of looking down upon others or coming to judge others for what they may have done or how they act. I've got to remember deep down inside I know myself better than anyone and I would ask you to look inside and say I know myself better than anyone and we can declare that we are the chief, we are the foremost. So I want you to think about it like this. Is your life, as you recount your day-to-day, is your life an example of Christ's perfect patience? Do people know, just as Paul declares who he is, do they know who you are? I'm not saying to get into the nitty-gritty of your life. But do they know that you are a sinner just like them? And that you were saved because you needed a savior, you needed a mediator to come between you and God. Do they know this truth? Do they know the mercy you received for all of the wickedness and all of the sin and all of the iniquity that lies within? Do they know this? Is your life an example? to those who would believe to eternal life. It's hard for us often. It's hard for us often. It's hard for us to receive this trustworthy and faithful saying or teaching. It's hard for us, for even ourselves, to believe that Christ would die for us. It's hard for us to trust that he shows us and gives us mercy each and every day. This is a daily struggle. It's a battle that we all have. But we must believe it. We must come to this truth, receive it for all that it's worth, more than gold, more than anything in this life we can imagine. We must believe that there is mercy for us in Christ. And because of this great truth, we should turn to praise and adoration. And that's why I wanna finish tonight looking at the majesty of Christ. Notice with me again here in verse 17 what Paul does. After declaring these great truths, and declaring the great mercy of Christ. He then turns to a benediction, and he says, to the king of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever, amen. Is this something you tend to do as you think upon the gospel? Do you turn your thoughts and minds to the majesty of Christ? Is your heart filled with praise and adoration? This is what Paul's doing. He admonishes us all to this example. We should never think of the grace shown to us in God's calling to be without a wondering admiration. We should never think this. For Paul, the sublime praise here in this verse swallows up all the memory of his former life. And it causes him to say how great and how deep is the glory of God. There never comes a time in our life to leave off the praising of God for what he has done. Never. How is this the majesty of Christ? We see here Paul give this Wonderful benediction to the king of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Most scholars and many commentators believe that Paul turns his attention now from Christ to God the Father. So how is this the majesty of Christ? Without getting into the triune praise of God, I already mentioned Christ is the pinnacle of the scriptures. The ultimate glory of God is Christ. All of this, all that we have here, all that is contained in the 66 books of this Bible, they point to Jesus, they declare Jesus, and it centers on Christ. There's not one page you can't turn to that does not point to Christ. Literally declares him to us Yes, it refills God's plan. But in that plan of Redemption and salvation there was one key aspect and that's the mediator of the covenant Theologians speak of of the pactum salutis or the the covenant of redemption this this act that happened before the world or this covenant and impact that happened before the world began and God the Father would send the Son and then the Spirit would become the Would would work to apply that redemption to his people And as we think about that, as we have no necessarily clear verse to go through in scripture, but we see all throughout this unfolding of redemption. We see Christ in the beginning in Genesis. John declares that in John 1.1 when he says, in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. He was in the beginning with God, and all things were made through him, and not anything made that was made was all through Christ. Christ was in the beginning. I already mentioned this once, but I want us to see it in Genesis. Right as they sin and fall, what does God promise? He promises the seed that would crush the serpent's head, and from that moment on, every single act in Scripture points to the fulfillment of Jesus Christ. There's so many shadows and types in the Old Testament that you can go and study And usually for us, we get caught up just with salvation, and that's great. And I don't wanna take that away because, again, I said that is Christ's mission. He came to redeem a people for himself. And in doing so, he glorified the Father. It's our salvation, but that salvation is in Christ, and it's to the glory of the Father. but we don't stop at salvation, we don't stop at redemption, we move on like Paul does here, not move on in a sense that we leave behind and forget, but we move on to praise and admiration. We move on to a place of worship and praise for the Lord for what he has done, for all of the promises that he made and the promises that he's kept and that he's gonna continue to keep. We know, as Paul says here, that we serve the one who is the king of ages. This is the king of all time. This is a king above every king. This is a king that has been there. This is the creator of the world. The king of the ages. This isn't a king that sits on a throne in a different country or the kings of the Old Testament. No, this is a king that was and is and always will be. It's one who is immortal. Immortal. God has no beginning or end. He's invisible. He's the only God. This is the praise that Paul gives him here. He said, because of this great truth, because Christ Jesus came in the world to save sinners, and because I have received mercy, I praise this God, he says, to him be honor and glory forever and ever. We read earlier David in our call to worship at the end of his life, and he gives a very similar praise to the Lord. I've been here and I've mentioned David many times and I see a lot of myself in David. I wish I saw the good things. Let me rephrase that. A lot of times we think of David as a man after God's own heart. But I see a lot of David's weaknesses that are clearly displayed throughout the Old Testament. I see his doubt in the Psalms and I can relate. But David was a man who struggled most of his life, and a lot of his sins had earthly consequences for him. But the one thing we see David holding on to and declaring, knowing that he had been redeemed by God, was that he looked forward to that promised Savior, and because he knew that what God had said and what God had promised That was truly his, and it caused him to praise and admiration. Look at all of the psalms we sing tonight, declaring the beauty of God's word, or how we should praise him. There's so much in the scriptures that should cause us to turn and praise. So I want to end with this. Believe this truth. Take Paul at his word, but more than just Paul here, even though this is scripture and it has a perfect testimony, we have more than just Paul's word. We have the scriptures that declare to us that Christ Jesus came into this world. We know very clear the mission of Christ throughout the whole book of the Bible. And just as we see in Paul and the many other examples, we know that upon salvation we receive mercy. We receive mercy for so many of our sins. So many of our sins. You know, there's so much guilt within that sometimes it just causes a wave to come over us. But we can go back to a trustworthy saying. to grab hold of in truth. And we can trust that just as Paul and many other very broken sinners receive mercy, we too have that same hope. And we can be an example to others. But let us never leave off the praise and admiration, looking at the majesty of Christ. What he came to do and to accomplish. how He gave His life not only for us, but to do the will of His Father. He came to save sinners. He came to glorify His Father. He was our great King and Lord. And trust yourself to Him and Him alone. Let us pray. Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, we We do thank you that even for a brief moment we can Consider your gospel But in that we could consider your son Well, none of this is possible without Christ He is our great God our King our Savior our Redeemer Or turn our hearts to Hold him so highly to to let him be Our focus That in everything in life that we do we do for the glory of our great king Father help us when we doubt As we began tonight we often struggle to believe your promises. We have doubt, we are unassured, and we so desperately seek for assurance. But Lord, you have declared in your words so many times the mission of Christ, that he came to save us, to bring us, to redeem us, to be a mediator between you and us. that we would no longer be at enmity with you, Father, that we would be in perfect peace through your Son. Father, through Him we have received the greatest mercy. Our sins, which are worthy of death, have been placed upon Him. He took our sins. As the scriptures declare, he who knew no sin became sin, that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Father, thank you for these great truths and turn our hearts when we doubt to them. Let them strengthen us and guide us. But also, Lord, help us in our day to day to be an example. This is not a truth that we hold to ourselves, but we declare openly to the world. We testify of the glorious grace of Jesus Christ. Lord, help us to continue this evening as we finish up with a song in benediction, but also throughout this week to not leave off the praise and admiration that you deserve. Let our hearts be filled with worship. We pray all of this in your son's matchless name.