Why He Came

1 Timothy chapter 1 at verse 15.

1 Timothy 1 · chapter mention

This saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners sinners of whom I am foremost.

!

Those who are at either the holiday club or the family service, it's nice to see some of the young ones who were there last week out here tonight as well.

You may remember that this was one of the verses that we were looking at, one of the passages that we looked at during that service last week.

And it reminds us in a week when we are remembering, it's Christmas time, is remember the birth of Jesus, that our focus is to be on that, that Jesus came into the world.

That amazing wonder of Jesus coming into the world, of God sending his son.

Because we are a forgetful people, one of the things that we thought about looking at this verse was how easy it is to forget.

And we're asking the young ones a question, what did you get for Christmas last year?

Some could remember, some forgot.

But then when you start going back further and further in the years, it's often we've forgotten what we got in these previous years because we are very forgetful people.

And in this week we can become so distracted by these things that we forget the main purpose of what it is we are to remember.

There's a well-known, very famous Christian book.

It's called The Pilgrim's Progress.

Many will have heard about it.

Many of you, I'm sure, have read that book.

It's a book about a man called Christian.

And it's a journey he's going on.

And it's full of different characters, people who have given names, and each name has meaning, and different places that the journey takes him from and leads him to along the way.

He begins his journey in a place called the City of Destruction.

That's a place where he is just lost.

And his journey ultimately takes him to another city, to the celestial city, which is really what we would call heaven.

And the Christian is taken there.

But on the journey, he passes through many different places and meets many different people.

And at one point in his journey, he comes to Forgetful Green, a place called Forgetful Green.

But in this place, there is someone who is able to remind all who are on this journey of what is important.

And the man is called Great Heart.

That's the man's name, Great Heart.

And it really means this man called Great Heart.

He's almost like a preacher who is there to guide people along the way.

He's got a heart for the people to guide them along the way.

And when they come to Forgetful Green, Great Heart says to those on the journey that Forgetful Green is the most dangerous place in all of these parts, he says.

For if at any time the pilgrims meet with any pressure, it is when they forget what favors they have received and how unworthy they are of them.

We forget the favors that we have received, all that God has done for us.

It's a dangerous thing.

And how unworthy we are of them.

And so it's important for us to remember what is right, what is important at this time of year.

And indeed all throughout the year.

Because as we approach Christmas time, we can be forgetful.

And at other times in the year, we can be so forgetful.

When you think of the two really most significant dates in the Christian calendar, when the birth of Jesus Christ is remembered at Christmas, and when his death is remembered at Easter time, where our focus should be clearly on the wonder of these things,

it is the two times in the year that have almost become the most materialistic.

Where it becomes all about gifts and giving, and we so easily forget about the Lord Jesus.

And it's something we can all be guilty of.

It's something we've maybe been guilty of in this past week, and maybe guilty of in this coming week.

We're caught up in the busyness of everything that's going on, and we forget what we should be really remembering.

How significant it is that Jesus came into the world, that he was born into this world.

And how significant it is that he had a purpose in coming into this world, that he would ultimately give his life for his people.

So we are a forgetful people.

But when we turn to the Word of God, to the Bible, it reminds us of the real significance of all of these things.

So that when we have the likes of the first chapter of John, and you start to read there, it says,

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

That Jesus came into this world, that God sent his Son into this world.

Isn't it amazing to think of that?

How we've forgotten the wonder of it, that Jesus came into the world.

It's not just a story for Christmas.

It's not just a story for Easter time.

It's not a story confined to the history books.

It is the most important thing we can hear today and every day of the year.

The love of God towards us.

The grace that he has shown to us in providing a Savior.

Giving a Savior for all who will put their trust in him.

And here in 1 Timothy 1, verse 15, Paul is showing just how important, just how significant this was for himself.

1 Timothy 1:15

And how it is to be important for us too.

Why did Jesus come into the world?

Why do we remember his birth and his death, his resurrection and his ascension?

Well, Paul reminds us here in this verse, the saying is trustworthy, deserving of full acceptance,

that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.

Why did he come to save sinners?

To offer every one of us that hope of salvation through faith in him.

We looked at it last week, but I want to just look at it in a little bit more detail this evening, this verse.

And really we're going to break it down into three bits, using the words that we find in this verse.

The first thing is that it is a trustworthy saying.

And then it says it's deserving of full acceptance.

So these are our first two points.

A trustworthy saying.

Let's think a little bit about what this means.

As Paul writes here, he's writing to Timothy.

And Timothy is much younger than Paul.

Paul is an older man now.

He's experienced much in life.

And now he's passing the gospel on to Timothy.

And as he's doing so, he's not just someone who has been at a distance from life and all that it means.

All the challenges and now having faith in the Lord Jesus.

It's not just something that he's heard about or just learned in a classroom or anything like that.

It's through very practical experience.

His life has been full of thinking he was doing right with God only to realize he was miles away from God.

But he says to us here that something changed his life.

Verse 12 to verse 17.

It's almost like a small digression.

A little diversion that Paul takes.

And it's really reminding us and speaking about his own experience of the wonder of the grace of God.

In verse 14 it says,

The grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

He's got this amazing testimony to give.

The grace of God has overflowed to him.

This grace that is in Christ Jesus.

It is what has completely transformed his life.

So here is someone who knows what he's talking about.

He's experienced it in such a wonderful way.

His life has been totally changed and transformed by this grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And so he's saying here in verse 15,

This saying is trustworthy and true.

I'm sure Paul maybe at times came along to this forgetful green himself.

Times when he was maybe distracted and was starting to forget things.

But what you often find with Paul as he's writing is he takes frequent trips down memory lane.

He always comes back to reflect on his life in a way where he doesn't forget what he was.

He realizes how far away from God he was.

How bad a person he was.

But then he comes to marvel at the grace of God.

He's reminding us of his past, of his sins.

It says that in verse 13,

He was formerly a blasphemer, persecutor, insolent opponent, but I received mercy.

So he's talking about his past, but he's seeing the wonderful mercy of God.

And as he goes on speaking in this way, he's speaking about it in this grace.

It is something that is trustworthy.

Something that you can rely on.

Because it comes from God.

Paul uses this phrase, this is a trustworthy saying, five times.

As he writes to Timothy and also to Titus.

And as he's writing to them, he's trying to put across a particular point saying,

This is so important for you to remember.

This is a trustworthy saying.

It's important for you.

And he's saying this in light of others who are coming and telling lies and seeking to lead them astray.

You see that in verse 3 and 4 of this chapter.

Where he's saying to Timothy,

I urged you when I was going to Macedonia,

Remain at Ephesus that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine,

nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies.

So there's all of these other things that people are teaching.

And they're not trustworthy.

They are lies.

They are taking them away from God.

But here is Paul saying,

But this, this is trustworthy.

This is the very word of God.

This is God speaking to us.

And so it's important for us to listen.

Do you believe the Bible?

Do you believe everything that the Bible says?

Do you see it as trustworthy?

When you think of the wonder of Jesus coming into this world,

when you think of the suffering of Jesus,

when you think of all of the people that are mentioned throughout the Bible in the Old and the New Testament,

do you believe what it says?

Do you believe that God is speaking to us?

Well, it is all trustworthy.

Every word that God has given is trustworthy for us.

To give you an example,

there was a man called Matthew Morrie.

And he was a naval officer in the 1800s.

He had been at sea for many years.

But as he was getting older,

he became unwell.

And during his time of being unwell,

he was reading the Bible.

He was a Christian man.

And as he was reading the Bible,

two things stood out to him.

One was Psalm 8 and verse 8.

And there it speaks about,

whatsoever walketh through the paths of the sea.

And this resonated with him,

having been at sea,

whatever walketh through the paths of the sea.

And he started repeating this phrase,

the paths of the sea,

the paths of the sea.

And what he began to realize was

that there were paths in the sea.

There were currents in the sea.

And he realized this over his years at sea,

that there were places where

there were times when you were going against the current

and it was slowing you down.

And other times you were going with the current

and it was helping you go faster.

So this verse began to speak to him.

And another verse spoke to him as well.

Ecclesiastes 1 verse 6.

Ecclesiastes 1:6

The wind blows to the south

and goes round to the north.

Around and around goes the wind.

And on its circuit, the wind returns.

And again, he began to realize this.

This is trustworthy saying.

This is the truth of God.

He's speaking about the paths of the sea

being these currents that are in the oceans.

And the wind,

how the wind has a prevailing direction it comes in.

And all of these things helped him

to draw charts for seafarers.

And if you look at the currents,

there are general currents in all the oceans of the sea

that have a general direction that they go in.

You think of the North Atlantic drift,

that current that comes across from America and Canada,

across to our own nation.

When you're in that drift, it's pulling you along.

It's helping you to go fast.

If you're going against it,

it's slowing you down.

And there is God speaking of these things in his word.

And this man realized it and made up charts

that showed it to seafarers.

God's word is trustworthy.

That's just something that seems a little maybe simple to us.

But every word that God speaks is trustworthy.

So when you think of words like in John,

the word became flesh and dwelt among us,

it is trustworthy.

Christ Jesus came into this world.

When you think of reading of Jesus dying on the cross,

it is trustworthy.

Because he died on the cross for sinners such as we are.

And so Paul is speaking from his own experience here

that the gospel, the word of God,

is all trustworthy.

Through experience, he has realized it for himself.

Is that what you can say today?

Is this word of God trustworthy to you?

Because it is what speaks about our greatest need

in this world,

which is a savior who is Christ the Lord.

So the word of God is trustworthy.

The second thing we see here is Paul says

it's deserving of full acceptance.

Deserving of full acceptance.

So before he actually comes

to what the trustworthy saying is,

he says it is worthy of full acceptance.

It needs to be accepted.

It needs to be believed.

What does Paul mean here?

What he's about to say?

What this message is going to be?

This trustworthy saying?

He's saying the hearer,

the one who hears it,

needs to listen and needs to respond.

Needs to accept this word.

It is deserving of full acceptance.

He is speaking about as one who heard

the word of God.

But not just heard it in the sense of

he listened and did nothing to him.

But he heard it in light of what it was really saying.

The warnings it was giving.

We all get warnings in our lives.

We see it often at this time of year.

Heavy rain warnings.

Gale warnings.

We hear of them and sometimes we pay attention.

But other times we choose to ignore them.

There are many warning signs,

excuse me, that you see around us.

One of the ones I often see and think,

well, how can people not listen?

It's the warning on cigarette packs.

It used to be that cigarette packs

didn't have any warnings.

And then it went to,

it can cause you harm.

But then it went to something else.

It went to cigarette packs.

It now say smoking kills

in big, bold writing.

And yet people still choose to smoke.

And you think to yourself,

but why?

The warning is clear.

In front of you,

there's smoking kills.

But so many will have that attitude,

but not me.

And that's the way we are

with the warnings

that the Word of God gives to us.

Warnings that we are sinners,

that we need a Savior,

that without Him we will perish.

And yet so many will say,

no, not me.

Sin won't touch me.

Sin won't kill me.

But the reality is

it doesn't matter who you are.

We are all sinners.

But the reality of that too is

that it doesn't matter who we are,

that there is a Savior on offer.

That this trustworthy saying

is deserving of full acceptance.

So it doesn't matter your background,

it doesn't matter your nationality,

your age,

your education,

whatever it is in life.

This is for all.

This is to be accepted

by all.

There's no reason,

no valid reason

by anybody who could turn around

and say,

but it's not for me.

This is not speaking to me.

It is speaking to every one of you,

to myself as well.

God is speaking,

a trustworthy saying

that's worthy

of full acceptance.

Can you imagine

a world

in which these words

were not given?

Can you imagine

a world

without the Bible,

the Word of God?

Imagine you wake up

one morning

and there's no Bible

to read.

Not just that you've lost

your own copy,

but there's no Bible

anywhere.

God has stopped

speaking.

What kind of world

would it be?

What kind of life

would we live

if we didn't have

God speaking to us,

a trustworthy saying,

worthy of full acceptance,

all of these warnings?

Our world

would soon tumble

into chaos.

We don't have to think

about it as

what if

because we see it

with so many people.

They want nothing

to do with the Bible.

Let's get rid of it.

and our world

just descends

into chaos.

Values

become meaningless.

Life

becomes

of little importance,

of little value.

So many things

are meaningless,

tragic,

tedious.

Nothing

would make sense

without the Word

of God.

We'd have

no direction.

Some would be

happy enough

to say

that's the world

we should have,

but it wouldn't

benefit us.

And that's why

this week

is so important

to us.

The Word

of God,

the Word

became flesh

and dwelt

among us.

It says

in other parts

of Scripture

that in the past

God spoke

through the prophets

in the Old Testament,

but now

He has spoken

to us

through His Son,

Jesus Christ.

God is speaking

and thankful

He is

that He has not

turned His back

on us,

but that we have

God's Word,

that it is

trustworthy

and that it needs

to be accepted.

Here,

Paul is saying

this is what

gives life

purpose.

This is what

gives meaning.

This is what

should be the

foundation

of everything

that we look at

in this world.

The Word

of God

contained in the

Scriptures of the Old

and New Testament.

It's the only rule

to direct us

how we may glorify

and enjoy God.

So we need

this Word.

I've mentioned

recently the woman

at the well

in Samaria.

There's another point

in that account

where Jesus meets

with her

and He says

this to her.

Whoever drinks

of the water

that I will give

him will never

be thirsty

again.

The water

that I will give

will become

in him

a spring

of water

welling up

to eternal life.

There is this

offer of the

water that

springs up

to eternal life.

What is the

response of the

woman?

The woman said

to him,

Sir,

give me this

water so that

I will not be

thirsty or have

to come here

to draw water.

Give me this

water.

And here

is Paul

saying,

this is the

water of life.

This is the

Word of God.

This is a

trustworthy saying.

It is deserving

of full

acceptance.

Let us not

ignore this

Word.

Let us not

ignore the

importance

of Jesus

coming into

this world

when all

around us

is the

temptation

to get

distracted

away from

the real

meaning of

Christ coming

into this

world.

Let us

remember that

Christ came

into this

world with

a purpose.

And that's

the third

thing that

Paul tells

us here.

He tells

us the

reason why

Jesus came.

It is a

trustworthy

saying.

It is

deserving of

full acceptance.

Now what

is it?

That Christ

Jesus came

into the

world to

save sinners

of whom

I am

foremost.

So here

is the

trustworthy

saying.

Here is

what needs

to be

accepted.

Christ

Jesus

came into

the world

to save

sinners

for our

salvation.

You see

the birth

of Jesus

it's not

an excuse

for a

party.

His

death

and his

resurrection

is not

important

because it

gives us

an Easter

holiday.

it is

not meant

that we

should give

and receive

presents at

Christmas time.

Easter time

is not just

about Easter

eggs.

Now you

would say

here comes

the Christmas

Scrooge.

He's going

to tell us

why we

should not

enjoy any

of these

things.

But when

you look

back to

Pilgrim's

progress and

think of

that man

Great Heart

as he was

warning the

people on

forgetful green

what was

his purpose.

Not that

their fun

would be

spoiled

but that

their joy

would be

complete.

And

saying these

things

that Christmas

is not

just about

parties or

families being

together that

is not the

reason for

saying these

things.

But it's

to get

things right.

To get

things in

order.

because you

see to

enjoy these

things to

the full

what you

need to

see is

the importance

of why

Jesus came.

Christ Jesus

came into

the world

to save

sinners.

If we

acknowledge

that,

if we

receive that,

if we

trust that,

if we

accept that,

then we

can enjoy

all of

these things

in a much

fuller sense.

That our

life may

be full,

that our

life may

be complete

with Christ

at the

very heart.

Putting him

first in

all of

these things.

Paul's

trustworthy

saying is

not something

he made

up himself.

He is

reiterating

what Jesus

taught in

the Gospels

in Mark

Mark 2:17

chapter 2

verse 17.

Jesus

told them

it is not

the healthy

who need

a doctor

but the

sick.

I have

come not

to call

the righteous

but sinners.

In Luke

Luke 19:10

19

verse 10

Jesus

says for

the Son

of Man

came to

seek and

to save

that

what was

lost.

So

there is

the purpose

of Jesus

coming.

And so

to enjoy

all of

these things,

to enjoy

the birth

of Jesus,

the word

becoming

flesh,

to enjoy

the fact

that Christ

died for

our sins,

to get

the real

blessing

out of

us,

to have

our focus

right,

not to

forget him

but to

remember him

in the midst

of it all,

to give

thanks to

him,

to praise

him who

has come

to save

us from

our sins.

And Paul

here says

in verse

15,

that he

has come

to save

sinners.

And look

at the way

Paul describes

himself,

of whom

I am

the foremost,

of whom

I am

the chief.

He sees

himself as

the worst

of sinners.

We can

see ourselves

as the worst

of sinners.

You might

feel like

the worst

of sinners

here tonight.

But as

he's saying

these things,

he's reminding

us this

trustworthy

saying,

this saying

that is

worthy of

full

acceptance,

that Christ

Jesus came

to save

sinners.

It rules

nobody out

because it's

given for

all.

And so

what is

important for

us to

remember in

this coming

week and

in all our

days is

this trustworthy

saying and

to accept

this word

of God,

that he

came,

the Lord

Jesus Christ

came into

this world

to save

sinners.

That is

what we

need.

A minister

reflecting on

this time of

year said

this,

none of us

want to

appear

ungrateful

when someone

has taken

the trouble

to buy,

wrap,

and deliver

to us

a present.

But my

suspicion is

that most

of us

have experienced

that sense

of disappointment

or even

bewilderment

when opening

a parcel

to find

that either

we already

have the

item in

question or

we simply

have no

need for

such a

thing in

the first

place.

Isn't that

true?

Bewilderment

on opening

parcels when

we either

have the

item or

we have

no need

for it.

How many

of us just

put things

to one

side and

say,

oh,

that's

lovely,

forget

all about

it.

But he

went on to

say this,

yet the

great

leveler

of the

Christian

gospel

is that

there is

not one

person in

the history

of civilization

who does

not need

the gift

of God's

Son,

Jesus

Christ.

The greatest

gift of

all is

often the

most neglected,

that Jesus

came into

the world

to save

sinners.

the light

has come

into the

world.

The darkness

cannot

overcome

it.

But you

decide.

Do you

accept

or do you

reject?

Do you

put it

away for

another

time?

Or do

you see

the importance

of these

words?

This saying

is trustworthy.

It can

be believed.

But it

is also

deserving

of full

acceptance.

To

receive

the Lord

Jesus

Christ

through

faith

is to

recognize

that he

came into

the world

to save

sinners.

We are

all

sinners.

We all

fall

short.

but Jesus

came

to save

us

from our

sins.

Let us

remember

that

in this

coming

week.

Not just

remember

it,

but accept

it.

And as

you accept

it,

may you

realize

then the

greater

meaning

of Christmas,

of Easter,

of life.

That Jesus

came that

we might

have life

to the

full.

let us

pray.

Lord,

our

gracious

God,

we do

thank you

for every

gift that

we have

in this

life.

We thank

you for

all the

good

things

that we

enjoy

from day

to day

and all

the many

blessings

that we

will have

in these

coming

days ahead.

But Lord,

help us

not to be

forgetful.

Help us

to remember

the real

purpose

for which

your Son

came into

this world,

that he

came,

that sinners

might be

saved.

And so we

pray to

know that

joy of

salvation,

to know

that delight

in the

word that

became flesh

and dwelt

among us,

so we

might receive

him with

all joy

and gladness

and be

blessed

through faith

in him.

So hear

our prayers

and go

before us

as we

ask all

in Jesus'

name.

Amen.

We're

going to

conclude

by singing

to God's

praise

in

Psalm

111,

Scottish

Psalter

version,

page 391

of the

psalm

books.

We'll

sing from

verse 6

down to

the end

of the

psalm.

Psalm

111

at

verse 6,

We're

going to

sing from

verse 6

down to

the end

of the

psalm.

The tune

is

forest

green.

It's

not a

tune we

sing very

often,

but you'll

recognize

it as

we sing

it.

So we

stand to

sing these

verses to

God's

praise.

He did

the power

of his

works

and to

his

people's

show.

When

he

like

he

and

he

and

he

and

the

and

his

up

up

He sent redemption to his soul, his son of a man for the day.

He did come unto his spirit, and heaven and his soul be.

With what he did in his love to give, good understanding may.

And all that is called and fulfilled, his grace endured for thee.

We'll close in prayer.

Lord, we do thank you for your goodness to us.

We pray your safekeeping over us in these days.

We ask your blessing to continue with us as we go from here this evening.

And as we go through to the hall, Lord, we ask for your grace and your blessing in all that we do there.

We thank you for the food prepared for us.

May you bless it to us and watch over us in all of these things.

And now may grace, mercy and peace from God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit be with you all now and forevermore.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Thank you.