1 Timothy chapter 1, we are starting place this morning, 1 Timothy chapter number 1. Three passages in the New Testament combined to create an apparent contradiction, at least a curious word of testimony from the Apostle Paul. We will look at those and then helping us clarify the matter. 1 Timothy 1 verse 12, "'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.'" Blaspheme is to speak disrespectfully of God. 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. You ought to accept this truth, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners and whom I am chief." We are thankful this morning that the Lord saves by grace. We are thankful this morning that the Lord saves sinners who are ignorant of the sinful condition of their heart and of their lives. We are thankful this morning that Christ Jesus saves even the chief of sinners. So today whatever sin you have committed knowingly or unknowingly, whatever condition you find yourself in, in the eyes of God, whether you recognize or understand the peril of your condition, we can say of a certainty that God has already saved the person who required the most saving. The chief of sinners has been saved. So, whatever sin you have committed, whatever condition you find yourself in this morning you are not beyond the reach of the saving grace of God. Thank the Lord for it. The curious thing is to consider that this man writing, speaking under the inspiration of God's Holy Spirit, giving his honest, true testimony can call himself the chief of sinners in this place. in two other places can testify that He was the most deserving of salvation. No, the most deserving of eternal life if one could have eternal life without being saved. Paul's testimony and we read it in two other places is, if anyone could save themselves it would have been me before you. anyone could work their way into Heaven I would have gotten there before you had any chance of getting there. And so the mystery is, the curiosity is, how could someone who was most fit for Heaven but couldn't go, at the same time the chief sinner of Look with me in Philippians 3, Philippians 3 and Acts 26 and we will read the Acts passage first. Philippians 3 and Acts 26, in one of these cases Paul is speaking his testimony to unbelievers, in the other case he is writing his testimony to those who have already believed. In Acts 26 and verse 1, bonds in chains, arrested on trial. The Bible says in verse 1, then Agrippus said unto Paul, Thou art permitted to speak for thyself. Then Paul stretched forth the hand and answered for himself, I think myself happy. Agrippa, because I shall answer for myself this day before thee, touching all the things whereof I am accused of the Jews, especially because I know thee to be expert in all customs and questions which are among the Jews, wherefore I beseech thee to hear me patiently. My manner of--" Now wait, before I read his testimony, do you believe a man who has been arrested and may well be sentenced to death testifying on behalf of the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you think a man who has proven himself for years and possibly decades now to be led by, controlled by, directed by, empowered by the Holy Spirit, do you think that man would say to himself, I have a chance to witness to Agrippa, it will be more impressive if I lie? God, God will really get in this thing if I just make up a crazy story. Or do you believe this man is about to tell the truth from his heart? And listen to his truthful testimony before Agrippa. My manner of life from my youth, which was at the first among mine own nation at Jerusalem, know all the Jews, which knew me from the beginning, if they would testify, the most straightest sect of our religion, I lived a Pharisee." Let me explain. Among the Hebrews there were many different sects, S-E-C-T-S, sects, divisions, groups, all practicing Judaism, all practicing the same religion, but with varying degrees of devotion. varying levels of intensity. Think of Episcopalians and Presbyterians and Methodists and Baptists and then fanatics. The Pharisees were the group of those who practiced Judaism who sought to steadfastly follow Judaism as God gave it in the scriptures. In fact, even those who are fraudulent leaders in the Pharisees, Jesus said to the people, do what they say. Observe what they teach, just don't follow their example. They don't practice what they preach, but what they preach is correct. said, of all the different groups within Judaism I belong to the straightest sect of the Jews. The ones that didn't broaden the road to accommodate apostasy, didn't broaden the road to accommodate modernism, didn't seek to incorporate pagan religions and secular ideas. The Pharisees held the narrow road to And I lived it. Now those Pharisees that Jesus rebuked, taught it, didn't live it. Knew it, didn't live it. Had as their creed this straight down the middle doctrine, but didn't practice it. Paul said, I did. I didn't just join the Pharisees, I lived what the Pharisees taught. And what the Pharisees taught was the Word of God, the Law of God. I practiced it. From my youth, ask anyone who knew me, Now, this is what I would not do this afternoon if I was knocking on doors. This is not what I would do tomorrow if I was witnessing on my job. This is not what I would do Friday afternoon downtown to land if someone engaged me in a conversation. I wouldn't say, I belong to the church in town that holds the line on the Bible as close as any church you've ever been in, and everything they teach, I've done it since I was a little boy. Ask anybody who knew me. I wouldn't say that because I couldn't say that. You say, well at what point did you start living and practicing all those things? I'll let you know when I do. us here today would admit we agree to truth we haven't yet put into practice in our lives. We acknowledge things to be correct in the Bible and we wouldn't want one word of the Bible changed to suit us, but there are still some things in our lives we haven't changed to suit the Bible. Wouldn't you say that? Paul said, ask the kids I went to school with. I never used foul language. I never was disobedient to my parents. I never dishonored God. Ask anybody. When I hit my teen years and everybody started to waver, I never wavered. When some began to fall by the wayside, I never fell by the wayside. In fact, I've been an annoyance to those Pharisees that Jesus rebuked in so much that, you know, I think He was right. If He just hadn't gone so far as to call Himself the Son of God, sure was right about the compromise in Pharisees. I never was one. I'm going to tell you something if you could be saved by people saying, you try to give out tracts, I'm good, I'm good, I'm good. Probably the only person ever could have refused a tract and said, I'm good and not been lying was Paul. Ask my mother. Ask my father. Ask my teachers. Ask my neighbors. They'll tell you, I lived it. That's quite a life. Look in Philippians chapter number three. Philippians chapter three and verse number four. Philippians chapter three and verse four. Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. Watch what the Holy Spirit has this man write. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more. know how offensive it would be? If I said to you, you need Jesus, and you said, no, I'm good enough to go to Heaven. And I said, I'm more qualified to go to Heaven than you are. I'm a better person than you are. You know how offensive that would be? You know what the Apostle Paul said? I don't care who reads this letter for the next 2,000 years, I'm putting it in writing, I'm sending it out there, I'm more deserving of Heaven than you are. could get to Heaven by your good works, if you could get to Heaven on your merits I would get there before you." That's what the Holy Spirit had him write in the Bible. So, who do you think is the best Christian to ever live? I don't know who the best Christian ever lived is, but the best unsaved person who ever lived was Saul of Tarsus who became the Apostle Paul. That's what he said and God put it in the Bible. Well, how did he make those claims? Okay, first of all circumcised the eighth day of the stock of Israel." Ok, so out of all the people on the earth God chose one, the flesh and blood descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Saul of Tarsus, Paul the Apostle was born of that nation. So He's already got one step up on all the people who were born the Bible calls heathen. He's born into the God chosen nation. Then he says, of the tribe of Benjamin. That nation of Israel was reckoned in, divided into 12 tribes. When apostasy set in, and idolatry set in, and rejection of the Word of God set in, 10 tribes completely, completely went into error. Two did not. and Benjamin. Paul said, not only I belong to the right nation, I belong to the right two tribes in the right nation. I belong to the tribe of people whose parents and grandparents still adhered to faith in the God of the Bible, and faith in the Scriptures. I was born into that nation, into that tribe. Thirdly, I touching the law, no a Hebrew of the Hebrews as touching the law a Pharisee. So, think of it this way, if you are born throughout the centuries, the last few centuries, if you are born in Italy you are christened a Catholic. And you may never set foot in a Catholic Church again until they bury you. born in Germany you may be christened a Lutheran. If you are born in England you might be christened a Methodist or an Episcopalian and never read a page of the Bible a day in your life, and never hear one word from a minister until, well you can't hear it, your coffin is in a box in a church and they are talking about how you've gone to Heaven because you are a Christian. That's not Christianity. Christian in name but not in practice. Now you understand the rebuke throughout much of the Bible through the prophets, and later through John the Baptist, and then through Jesus Christ is you guys think just because you're born Hebrews you're practicing the Hebrew faith? kinds of people that are citizens of the nation of Israel but have no connection to Israel's God, Israel's sacrifices, Israel's altar, Israel's religion, none whatsoever. Your nation is filled with people who are Jews but wouldn't even know how to practice Judaism if they had to, and don't care to. Paul said, I wasn't just a Hebrew, I lived the life prescribed in the Law of God for the Hebrew people. He's already three steps ahead of you if you're just a good old American. And then he says, as touching the law, a Pharisee. And as we said, that's the group that actually believed the law was the literal reckoning of God's Word to man. Sadducees, for example, they are a group of religious Jews, they didn't believe in a resurrection, they didn't believe in angels, they didn't believe in an afterlife. What's the point? The scribes meticulously copied the pages of the Bible from one worn out scroll to another, and according to Jesus ignored it all. Pharisees they are making certain that you don't just tithe your paycheck, you tithe your groceries. You don't just tithe your net, you tithe your gross. And then you tithe the tax return. You can read that in Matthew 23. Paul said, I was of that nation, of that tribe, of those who sincerely held the religion and the straightest sect out of all. And then verse number 6, concerning zeal, persecuting the Church. We'll come back to that. Touching, now watch, touching the righteousness which is in the law blameless. Thou shalt not bear false witness, didn't do it. Thou shalt not covet, didn't do it. Thou shalt not steal, didn't do it. Thou shalt not kill, didn't do it. How about remember the Sabbath day, keep it holy every week of my life. How about thou shalt have no other gods before me, never had another one in my heart, in my mind, in my home. You couldn't blame me, observe my life, follow me on, I kept it. then he says in the next verse, well what things were gained to me those I counted loss for Christ. So he gave up, not a drunkard's life, not a drug addict's life, not a killer's life, this is no thief on the cross. He gave up the best, most moral, righteous life a man has ever lived because he came to the realization he was the chief sinner. couldn't get to Heaven without Christ. So I'm not preaching this morning to down and outers in the mission. I'm not preaching this morning at a revival meeting in the prison house. I'm preaching this morning to all those people who say, I'm good. I'm good. I'm good. So what if you are? Are you that good? This man was that good and he said, I'm the chief sinner. Now let's go back, let's go back. He said, as persecuting the Church, concerning his deal of persecuting the Church, how could a man be righteous and persecuting Christians? How can a man be blameless as touching the law of God Himself? people in prison, having some executed because they practiced another faith. Well, I'm glad you asked. Let's look in the Law of God in Deuteronomy chapter 13, the book of Deuteronomy chapter number 13. And as soon as you turn there I'm going to inject a political statement that should get your attention. Deuteronomy 13 and verse number 1 when you find that look up here and let me say something to you. The more churches involve themselves in secular politics the harder it becomes for Christians to win lost souls to Jesus Christ. Because historically when Roman Catholic nations or Protestant nations imagine themselves as substitute for the nation of Israel they feel inclined to apply the law which God gave to Israel to whatever land they are now controlling or trying to control. What the people of your land are afraid of, the college educated ones, is that evangelicals want to take over the government so they can kill people who disagree with them. do. If you listen to what they say, oh, what are you going to do throw homosexuals off the roof of buildings? Now that is another religion. But it is in the Old Testament law that certain people are to be put to death for certain practices including rebellious teenagers. You should solve your overcrowded school problems overnight. not trying to set up Christ's Kingdom on earth in our nation and govern our nation by the Old Testament law. But that's what the world thinks because they don't know Biblical Christianity, they know Catholicism and Protestantism and they look at history and they say, look what they do when they come over here on their Mayflowers, and look what they do when they travel west, and look what they do when they get to Africa. you have a problem because you are trying to speak about Christ to people who think Christianity is something that it has never been as falsely represented by those who claim to be Christians when they are not. Now that having been said, God gave the Old Testament law to the nation of Israel and within the borders God gave them they were to carry out this law. supposed to practice this law when they moved to South America. And they weren't supposed to practice this law when they moved to Canada. But when they lived in their land that God gave them they were to be a self-governing entity and to rule according to this law. And let me read you their law which applied to Saul of Tarsus in Jerusalem, in Judea, in the time of Christ, and the years following. Deuteronomy 13 verse 1, If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, that would be Jesus of Nazareth. And giveth thee a sign, or a wonder, that would be Jesus of Nazareth. And the sign or wonder come to pass, wherever he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them. Now wait a minute, Jesus says, I'm going to raise this man from the dead, and He does. And if Jesus says, I'm going to go wash in the pool of Siloam and you'll see, and He washes and He can see. If Jesus says, take up your bed and walk, and He takes His bed and He can walk, that's Jesus in verse 2. And if Jesus then says, I am the Son of God making Himself equal with God, you've got a problem. either He is God manifest in the flesh, or He's working signs, wonders, and miracles to turn you to another God that would be Himself. Keep going, verse number 3, Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, Jesus, or that dreamer of dreams. For the Lord your God proveth you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Now listen, listen, listen, Saul of Tarsus who became the Apostle Paul, he loves God so much he's not going to trust Jesus. So, what about his prophecies that come to pass? It's a test. What about his signs and wonders that he can perform? It's a test. What's the test? Do you love me enough to not follow that miracle working prophet if he seeks to turn you away from me to another God? keep reading. Verse 4, "...ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear Him, and keep His commandments, and obey His voice. Ye shall serve Him, and cleave unto Him. And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death." That's Jesus. spoken to turn you away from the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way, which the Lord thy God commanded thee to walk in, so shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee." Now listen, when those Pharisees came to Pilate and said, we have a law, and by our law he ought to die. It's that law. isn't He a prophet? He is. Isn't He a miracle worker? He is. Well then why do they want Him dead? Because He's claiming to be God. And Deuteronomy 13 says it's a test because your God brought you out of Egypt and this guy was just born 33 years ago in Bethlehem. Stay with me. Stay with me. Verse number 6, If thy brother, other Jews, son of thy mother, your next of kin, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known. Thou and thy fathers, namely of the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth, even to the other end of the earth. Thou shalt not consent unto him, thou shalt not hearken unto him, neither shalt thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him, but thou shalt surely kill him. Thine hand shall be first upon him, and put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. Thou shalt stone him with stones that he die, because he has sought to thrust thee away from the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage." Saul of Tarsus is persecuting the Church, listen, hear me, listen, it's because he loves his national God. And when he persecutes Christians, arresting them and consenting to their execution, it's because he so loves the Lord he is willing to do what God said must be done in His Word to keep the nation from turning away from the true and living God. rest of them knew the law but didn't have the courage to carry it out. The rest of them knew the commandment but didn't have the zeal and the dedication. Saul goes into the Pharisees and the council and says, give me letters, I'll do it. We've got to put these people to death. They're spreading their doctrine, Jerusalem and Judea and now in Samaria, we've got to stop this thing. And everybody else said, Paul, come on, Paul you're going too far. Too far, it's right here. have to do this. Oh, Paul, Paul you're just young, you're fanatical, just settle down. I'm not saying he's right, but he sure thought he was. And he is right unless one thing is true. Come to Acts chapter 8, book of Acts chapter 8. Acts in chapter number 8. And this is why you stay out of politics. And again this is the second political statement I'm only going to make two this morning. We don't know if the Jews and the Christians would unite on a common ground. There is no common ground. We both recognize the Old Testament as the Word of God, but Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to the world to be the way, the truth, and the life. And have you not repeatedly offered someone the Gospel and had them say, I don't want that, I'm a Jew? So what? What did Saul of Tarsus believe? I get to Heaven by being the best Jew I can be, and Jesus Christ plays no part in this. 2,000 years later men are still repeating the same error. I'm a Catholic. I'm a Baptist. I'm a Methodist. I'm a Jew. I'm religious. I'm an agnostic. I'm an atheist. It doesn't matter. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. You've told us what kind of sinner you are but you haven't admitted you are a sinner. Alright, Acts chapter number 8. Verse 1, Saul was consenting unto his death that Stephen, at that time there was a great persecution against the Church which was at Jerusalem and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria except the Apostles. Chapter 9, verse 1, And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, and desired of him letters to Damascus, to the synagogues. found any of this way, whether they were men or women, your brother, your sister, your son, your friend." Deuteronomy 13, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. And as he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven. And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? Lord is speaking to Saul of Tarsus from heaven." And as you read the account he doesn't seem surprised. He doesn't seem afraid. He doesn't seem bothered. Well if he was going to speak to anybody who would it be? His most devoted servant, zealously carrying out His law. said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest. It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And he trembling and astonished, stop right there. When the light shone from heaven, he's not trembling. When the voice spoke from heaven, He's not trembling. When the light shines from heaven, He's not astonished. When the voice spoke from heaven, He's not astonished. But when He found out the Lord of glory was Jesus, and Jesus was the Lord of glory, now He is terrified. He's not another God. He's the God. He's not a false prophet. He's the Lord Himself. It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. Now listen, listen. How does the best Jew who ever lived, how does he wrestle in his mind the idea that this man, Jesus, He's so far superior to me. I've kept the law. He loves people. I've kept the commandments. He's full of compassion. I've listened, I've sat at the feet of Gamaliel. Never a man spake like this man. Saul of Tarsus, who is as close as you can get to the real thing, encountered the real thing at various points. You don't think somebody that devoted to Judaism didn't sit in on some of those sermons? Didn't check out some of those miracles? How many times do the scribes and the Pharisees send people in, what did Jesus do to you? Tell us about this miracle. You don't think Saul, Tarsus, Paul you don't think he is in on some of those inquisitions? You know he was. And Jesus said, Saul you've been wrestling with this thing, I know you have. Let me fill you in. I am. And when I got down there, they called my name Jesus. But if the Lord of glory spoke to you from heaven, it would be me. Verse six, and he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? Come back to 1 Timothy. Come back to 1 Timothy. This is why we are not ecumenical and cannot be. And this is why we risk offending you by telling you we don't want to hear about your religion and we don't want to hear about your good works. 1 Timothy chapter 1 verse 13, Paul was a blasphemer. blasphemer. Verse number 15, Christ Jesus came to the world to save sinners of whom I am chief. Hear me carefully, if Paul is the chief sinner and he doesn't lie, and he doesn't steal, and he doesn't commit adultery, and he doesn't break the Sabbath, and he doesn't worship other gods, and he doesn't covet his neighbor's property, then what is the chief sin? It is blasphemy. It is speaking with disrespect of God. When did Paul ever do that? When he said, Jesus Christ was just a man and though he may be a good one, he may be a great one, he's just a man. He's speaking with disrespect for God because Jesus Christ is God. So what is the chief sin? It is to deny the deity of Jesus Christ. It is to deny that Jesus Christ is God. You couldn't commit a greater sin. Why? Because a man can't save you. You can be saved from a drunkard's life. You can be saved from a rebel's life. You can be saved from a thieving life. You can be saved from a lying life. You can be saved from an idolatrous life. But if you don't believe Jesus Christ is God, can't be saved. So, it's a chief sin. Listen to the verse we know and then I'll read you the follow up verses that we should know but we don't. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He that believeth on Him is not condemned, but he that believeth not, listen, is condemned already because he hath not believed. the only begotten Son of God." You are not condemned because you did drugs. You are not condemned because you shacked up. You are not condemned because you cheated somebody in a business deal. You are condemned because you haven't believed on the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. And a blameless man said, I was the chief sinner because I committed the one sin that would send my soul to Hell. I blasphemed. I Jesus Christ by reducing him to mere humanity. And on the Damascus road, I exalted him to the Lord of glory. And the moment I saw him for who he really was, I believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. And I became a part of the church I had been persecuting. And the hunter became the hunted. because now I had to tell everybody, even if it meant my own imprisonment and death, that Jesus Christ was Lord. Friend, if you're here today and I say you need to be saved, your heart will reply, I've never killed anyone. I'm not that bad. I've never gone that far. There's plenty of people who've done things I wouldn't do. I'm a good father. I'm a good husband. I'm a good wife. I'm a good mother. The chief sinner was all of that and more. The chief sinner said, I've been blameless my entire life. Ask anyone who knows me. I was just wrong about Jesus. And I would have been the, while thinking I should be the first one into heaven, I would have been the first one into hell. You don't need to be saved because you're the worst sinner in town. You need to be saved because you have committed the worst sin in town, not acknowledging Jesus Christ for who He is. Say, preacher, why don't we put the leaders of all the religions on a stage and let them hold hands and let people choose their favorite path to heaven? Because all of those other religions say he's something other than God. And they couldn't commit a graver sin. Because that error sends their followers to hell. Do you understand today the reason we go out into the world and witness to everyone is not because everyone's a terrible person. They might be the best person in town. But Jesus said, I'm the way, the truth, and the life, and no man cometh unto the Father but by me. And Paul almost missed heaven, trying to come the closest. One road comes a million miles short, and one road comes a thousand miles short, and one road comes ten miles short, and one road comes three feet short, but all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And the only way, the only way to heaven is Jesus Christ. There's a lot of ways to get close, but there's only one way to get in. And the man who came the closest said, and Jesus saved him. And he can save you. And what's great about Bible Christianity, Saul didn't enter a program or a monastery. He didn't enroll in a school. He didn't give up all his possessions and put on a robe and sit on the floor for a year. That morning, he woke up the chief sinner And that night he went to sleep, a blood-washed, saved, redeemed child of God with eternal life. Because you don't get saved by your works, you get saved by trusting the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Saul did everything but that, and it left him the chief sinner. When he did that one thing, God immediately put him in the ministry. His life was so radically changed. And we'll talk about that this evening. If you don't know Christ as your Savior, the question this morning is not, are you a good person? You're not as good as this man. Question this morning is, do you understand that Jesus Christ is the creator of the heavens and the earth who came down here as a man to die to save your soul? If you understand that, you'll trust him, and if you don't, you will leave here, please, don't be angry with me, you will leave here having committed the chief sin in all the Bible. Blaspheming the son of God. Speaking with disrespect of your creator. Hope you won't do that today. If you're not saved, I hope you'll be saved in this very hour. I thank you for every man and woman and boy and girl that is trying to be good, to live good. I thank you for every mother and father and grandmother and grandfather who have taught their children and trained them to be good. Lord, we've seen this morning that good leads to hell just like bad. Father, I pray if there's anyone here today who's been trusting their righteous living, their morality, their adherence to certain correct creeds and doctrines, that you would help them to see that only Jesus Christ can save the sinner and that He will. and that He will. We thank You in His name. Amen.