Sermon for Sunday, October 13, 2024 at Outposts Retreat, Tuscarora Inn, Bethel, PA
Scripture reading: 1 Timothy 1:12-20
[1 Timothy 1:12-20 ESV] 12 I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, 13 though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, 14 and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 15 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. 16 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 were to believe in him for eternal life. 17 To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. 18 This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, 19 holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith, 20 among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.
Scripture Text: 1 Timothy 1:15b
[1 Timothy 1:15 ESV] 15 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that CHRIST JESUS CAME INTO THE WORLD TO SAVE SINNERS, of whom I am the foremost.
Introduction
The sermon this morning is titled JESUS SAVES. And that’s all in CAPS.
If you’ve ever gotten a message from an older friend or relative you might have found that it is in ALL CAPS. All capital letters. And I learned a while ago why that sometimes is the case. It’s not that they are angry, but that they can SEE ALL CAPS much easier.
So some people use ALL CAPS to see the text better.
Others perhaps are ANGRY. I’d be a bit alarmed to find an ALL CAPS message written to me, especially if it had a lot of extra exclamation points!!
Others may have just forgotten they have the CAPS LOCK on.
And engineers and architects use ALL CAPS because it looks better on their technical drawings.
But I, like most people, use ALL CAPS sparingly and for the purpose of EMPHASIS.
Today the title is JESUS SAVES (ALL CAPS) because both words are to be emphasized. And the two points I have for the sermon each emphasize one of the two words.
First we have “JESUS saves” with JESUS in ALL CAPS and saves in lower case.
Then we have “Jesus SAVES” with Jesus in lower case and SAVES in all caps.
This distinction helps us to focus on the two important truths, one at a time.
JESUS SAVES is the phrase you see on crosses throughout the land. One that comes to my mind always is in Jenison Michigan; a church I would pass as a kid on the way to our church. JESUS is on the horizontal and SAVES is on the vertical. And that match up with the S in the middle of Jesus and the S at the beginning of Saves.
I. JESUS saves
First we have “JESUS saves.”
A. Redundant? Tautological?
And this is a bit redundant. Why? Because Jesus means salvation. His very name in Hebrew “Yeshua” means “he saves.” So if we save “Jesus Saves” it is like we’re saying “He who saves, saves.”
It is as redundant as the La Brea Tar Pits. Have you ever heard of this place. Out in California, where amazing ancient specimens of animals are found in a tar pit. The place is known by its Spanish name “La Brea” means “the tar.” So “La Brea Tar Pits” are “the tar, tar pits.” What do you think they have there? Tar, I suppose.
Well, JESUS saves.
B. No one else saves.
That is, He saves and He alone.
There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. (See Acts 4:2)
Jesus is THE way, THE truth, and THE LIFE, no one comes to the Father but through Him. (See John 14:6)
This makes Jesus UNIQUE.
And it makes all other religions false and lying. There are not “many paths to the top of the mountain.” There is one narrow gate, one door, Jesus, through which we must go.
JESUS saves. This is why we worship none other but the Lord. While Peter, Paul, and Mary (the Biblical characters, not the band) are important characters, none of them save us. To pray to anyone other than God is foolishness. Only Jesus saves.
C. HE really does it.
Also when we focus on the JESUS of JESUS SAVES we see that “HE really does it.”
He doesn’t “make salvation possible” for you.
He makes salvation actual.
He really does it.
JESUS saves by HIMSELF dying on the cross. HE does it HIMSELF, not through a proxy, or a hired hand, or a simple donation. He laid down His life for our salvation.
He saves us from the wrath of God.
And he saves us from perishing.
It is not the doctrine of salvation by grace that saves, it is the grace of Jesus Christ that saves. And it is not the doctrine of salvation through faith that saves, it is the faith given of the Holy Spirit that makes salvation known. Because it is God who saves, and not us, we can understand that many who don’t have correct all the nuances of doctrine will yet be saved. If they trust in Christ, they will be saved.
[Romans 10:13 ESV] 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
II. Jesus SAVES.
So it is Jesus who saves.
And saving is what Jesus does. That is, we emphasized JESUS, let us now put emphasize on SAVES.
While Jesus came to do a few other things (fulfill prophecy, perform some miracles, teach the wisdom of God, etc.) above all else he came to SAVE his people.
John 3:17 tell us that “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
That is, condemnation comes because of sin. Jesus never condemns anyone. Even where he castigates someone, it is because of THEIR sin. Jesus didn’t cause anyone to sin.
Jesus said to the Pharisees in Matthew 23:13
[Matthew 23:13 ESV] 13 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.
He pronounces the woe, he knows their fate. But he is not the cause of their condemn. Our sins condemn us. Jesus came not into the world to condemn the world, in order that the world might be saved through him.
Jesus SAVES.
Now that is what we see in our verse today from 1 Timothy 1:15.
And I want to break down this single verse into three parts.
I’ll mention these parts in an odd order. A, C, B. The beginning, the end, and the midle.
A: the prelude: the saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance.
Apparently the saying is something known among Christians. It is not a new one generated by Paul.
This is a faithful saying.
This is the Gospel truth.
In fact, it IS the very Gospel itself.
C. the add-on: “of whom I am foremost.”
Throughout the passage Paul makes his sin to be past.
But here he says “of whom I am the foremost” making his status as sinner to be present. He doesn’t say “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I WAS the foremost.”
KJV says “chief of sinners.”
[1 Timothy 1:15 KJV] 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.
JFB: I am–not merely, “I was chief” (1Cr 15:9 Eph 3:8; compare Luk 18:13). To each believer his own sins must always appear, as long as he lives, greater than those of others, which he never can know as he can know his own.
You should each consider yourself the chief of sinners. This is not to advocate for sin in any way, but recognize the problem you have.
B. The center: “that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” JESUS SAVES.
This is “the saying.” I don’t think “of whom I am foremost” is part of the saying. Paul adds that.
This is Christ’s purpose: to SAVE sinners.
Jesus SAVES.
And the saying that Jesus came into the world to save sinners, is Jesus’s own saying.
[Mark 2:15-17 ESV] 15 And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 17 And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Jesus didn’t come to call the self-righteous. He came to call sinners.
Jesus didn’t come to call those who think they have their act together. Jesus came to call those who are downtrodden, those of poor spirit, those who need Christ and know they do.
Application: Jesus saves THIS SINNER.
Paul was foremost. He has persecuted the church. Had them KILLED!
But Jesus saves THAT sinner.
And Jesus saves THIS sinner. You and me.
Paul is an example for the grace of God.
Conclusion:
The Gospel is that Jesus Christ came to save sinners.
Faith is saying “Jesus Christ came to save sinners and he came to save me.”