Jesus Christ Came Into the World To Save Sinners

9-14-25

Hoonah-Hadley

1 Timothy 1:12-17

Call to Worship Psalm 51:1-11

Daily Verse 1 Timothy 1:15

“This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.” If these sermons sound personal it’s because they are. The goal every day is for the gospel message to become more and more personal for me, and, for you. We talked about being “thankful” our last Sunday in August, our lesson begins today confirming the importance of giving credit where credit is due in God’s economy. Vs. 12 “And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord…” This is largely Paul’s testimony, or part of it, it is a blue print for what our testimony should look like, beginning with gratitude to the one who saves, the only One who can save. Without His saving grace, without His mercy that is new every day, this conversation would never take place. Actually the fact that we are having this conversation is evidence that His amazing grace is just that, amazing. Lamentations 3:21-23 “Yet this I call to mind, therefore I have hope. Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, says my soul, therefore I hope in Him.”  You’re welcome to take a praise break anytime you want, He is worthy, thank Him, praise Him, exalt His name, He is our portion, without Him we are bankrupt, lost, starved, without hope. It is because His mercy that we are not consumed for our God is an unquenchable fire. God’s love saves us from His wrath, God saves us from Himself. Our lesson begins with thanksgiving as should each of our days, giving credit where credit is due, with Jesus Christ.

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One final note on praise and thanksgiving, scripture confirming scripture, in my morning reading, one of the duties of the Levites, 1 Chronicles 23:30 “to stand every morning to thank and praise the Lord, and likewise at evening.” These are men, appointed, hired, employed, called upon to stand every morning and evening, to thank and praise the Lord, this was their job. To the best of our understanding, in its simplicity, Levites were priests. We can only make some suggestions here, we could say if you are called, chosen, elected, predestined, you have been appointed to preach the gospel. There is sufficient evidence that sends us out into the world with our lamps lit. What’s the saying, “Preach the gospel, and whenever necessary, use words”? You can decide if it’s your “job”, if it’s volunteer work, but if the hills cry out, even the trees will clap their hands, we can suggest that thanking and praising the Lord is a natural result of His love, mercy and saving grace on our behalf. Our message on 8-31-25 “Continually Offer Praise and Thanksgiving to God” ends the argument and sheds abroad the duties of Christ’s chosen. One of the greatest pieces of literature given to humanity for this very purpose is Spurgeon’s “Morning and Evening”. Vs. 12 in our lesson continues, “…who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry.” This is the NKJV and it is massive. Other versions include, “given me strength”, “for considering me trustworthy”, either way, it is the Lord that calls us, equips us, strengthens us, enables us, why? Because “He” counted us faithful. We can pat ourselves on the back here for being faithful, run off and quote all the supporting scriptures on how we are so, but this institution does not have it’s beginning nor end in the first person of I, me, or mine, no, faith has it’s beginning, its foundation, its authorship in the Trinity, the works and person of Jesus Christ.

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In truth, if you are in the hearing or reading of this message, Christ has set you smack dab in the center of His ministry, what you do with it is your choice, but it is Him that enables us and it is Him that set us here. We can paint it anyway we like, but if we track it back to the foundation of the world, we’ll find there are no accidents, this very moment in time, this day was ordained in our lives before there was yet none of them. Psalm 139:16 “Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book, they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them.” His call on our lives may come overnight in a burning bush, it may be a result of years of forest fires, earthquakes and tornado’s, either way, if our names are in the Book of Life, He’ll call us and call us and call us until His faith does its work in us, enabling us to be found faithful, putting us into His ministry. Vs. 13 “although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man…” We all have a story, and many of them are not pretty, some, downright shameful, but Paul takes the cake. Blasphemy is a contemptuous or profane act, utterance, or writing concerning God. Persecute is to harass or oppress with ill-treatment. And insolent is abrasive, arrogant. Paul was all of this and then some. Acts 7:58-59 “and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God…” Acts 22:4 “I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering into prison both men and women.” Acts 23:6 “I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee…” A Pharisee was one who observed the Mosaic law both orally and in written form. Any Pharisee’s here persecuting to death, stoning, binding and delivering men and women to prison? Vs. 13 begins with “although”. Write your story here beginning with “although”.

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Vs. 13 continues, “…but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.” Ignorance, unbelief, anybody? You can raise your hand if you want to, I will. If there is a scripture that describes my life, it’s this one, actually he’s describing humanity in general. We are all ignorant in one way or another, biologically, medically, scientifically, biblically, mechanically, operationally, financially, name your ignorance. I have no idea how the earth, spinning, while simultaneously rotating around the sun at a 23.5-degree axis, and all the planets are moving as well, millions of miles away, and we can land a space craft on Mars? Both of our orbits are elliptical but on average Mars is 140 million miles from earth, that’s farther than Iowa, who figures these things out? Was I ignorant biblically? Nearly completely. “Unbelief”? Absolutely. Mark 9:23-24 “Jesus said to him, ‘If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.’ Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, ‘Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!’” We can run off and list a bunch of verses on belief and unbelief and the corresponding fruit of the two, but Hebrews 11:6 should be sufficient. “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for those who come to God must first believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” Pick me Lord! There is a reward for believing and diligently seeking Him. Vs. 14 “And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.” Grace has led me safe thus far and grace will lead me home. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. 2 Cor. 12:9 “His grace is sufficient.” His strength is made perfect in our weakness. Vs. 15 “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners…” 3 things here, sinner, Savior, salvation. He that saves is faithful, accept that. Amen.