Calvary Road Baptist Church
“TO SAVE SINNERS”
First Timothy 1.15
I read select portions of God’s Word, the Bible:
“when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman.”[1]
“the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.”[2]
The Lord Jesus Christ
“grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.”[3]
Thus, a span of thirty years in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ is described in the Bible. Then came His preparation for public ministry:
“Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him.”[4]
“Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.”[5]
After His temptation in the wilderness
“John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”[6]
The earthly ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ lasted three and a half years and culminated with His crucifixion outside Jerusalem, His burial in a rich man’s tomb, and His glorious resurrection from the dead three days and three nights later.
But let us not pass too quickly over our Lord’s passion. After all, the writer of Hebrews points out that since the Lord Jesus “endured the cross, despising the shame,” we should “consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself.”[7]
What did the Lord Jesus Christ endure during His earthly sojourn, but especially during the last 12 hours before He gave up the ghost? We can divide up His experiences into two categories; that which He suffered at the hands of men, and that which He suffered at the hand of His heavenly Father:
First, WHAT THE LORD JESUS CHRIST SUFFERED AT THE HANDS OF MEN
I cannot be exhaustive here, but I do seek to give you some idea:
Hebrews 12.2 labels it shame, which is a way of saying disgrace. The Lord Jesus Christ endured shame and disgrace at the hands of creatures of His Own making. Think about it. This same Jesus, long before His incarnation, on the sixth day of creation,
“formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”[8]
Yet this same Jesus, Who could have called twelve legions of angels to His aid[9], Who could have called down fire and brimstone on His enemies, Who could have opened up the earth to swallow His enemies as He’d done when Korah opposed Moses, did nothing when they came to the Garden of Gethsemane to forcibly take Him.
Isaiah chapter 53 predicted it seven centuries before it occurred:
“He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.”[10]
“He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.”[11]
“He was cut off out of the land of the living.”[12]
“He had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.”[13]
The Gospels also carefully recorded the events that unfolded. The Lord Jesus was arrested without legitimate cause, subjected to illegal trials in the middle of the night, condemned by the testimony of false witnesses, and turned over to the Romans for execution. The Roman governor Pilate directed that the Son of God be scourged.[14] When that was done, he delivered Him to be crucified, after which the Roman soldiers took the Lamb of God into the common hall, and gathered around Him the whole band of soldiers. There they stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him to mock Him. When they had made a crown of thorns, they put it on His head and placed a reed in His right hand to ridicule Him. Then they bent the knee before Him, and feigned respect, saying to Him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” But they weren’t done. They spat upon Him, and took the reed and hit Him on the head with it. After they had mocked Him in that way, they took the robe off from Him, and put His Own clothes back on Him, and led Him away to be crucified.[15] After they had crucified Him, while He was still alive, hanging naked on that cruel cross, they divided up His clothes and gambled for them.[16] But the Romans weren’t the only ones who sought to shame Him. Those who passed by reviled Him, wagging their heads.[17] As well, the chief priests came and mocked Him.[18] And if that wasn’t enough, even the thieves He was crucified with ridiculed Him.[19]
On the Day of Pentecost, Simon Peter summarized what his Lord Jesus had suffered at the hands of men. In Acts 2.23, only fifty days after the King of the Jews had been crucified, Peter told the thousands who had been gathered by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and by the sound of the mighty rushing wind, and by the sight of the cloven tongues as of fire, that they had taken Jesus of Nazareth, and by wicked hands had crucified and slain Him.[20] Think about it, my friend. Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of the omnipotent God, the One Who fashioned Adam and Eve, the One Who delivered Israel from Egyptian bondage with a strong right arm, the One Who but spoke the universe into existence, Who cast the stars into the nighttime sky, allowed Himself to be shamed, degraded, humiliated, and ultimately crucified. All this suffered at the hands of men.
Then, THERE IS WHAT THE LORD JESUS SUFFERED AT THE HAND OF GOD
“The LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all,”
Isaiah 53.6. We flinch when a preacher speaks of the beard of Jesus Christ being plucked from His face, or when a graphic description is made of the crown of thorns pressed onto His head and digging into His scalp.[21] We cringe at the thought of lashes lacerating the blessed Savior’s back.[22] But how are we to understand the foul stench of our iniquities being placed on His holy soul, on His pure spirit, on His pristine conscience? Many consider the weight of the cross on Him without ever pondering the weight of man’s sin on Him.
Isaiah 53.4 says,
“stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.”
Verse 5 says,
“wounded, bruised.”
These words all refer to God’s wrath being poured out on His sinless Son. You see, sin against an infinite God is an infinite sin, requiring corresponding punishment and justice. So, when God placed upon His Son, the precious Lord Jesus, the sins and iniquities of all mankind, your sins and iniquities and mine, God’s holy character demanded that sin be punished, even though that sin was now Jesus, His Son.[23] On the cross, as He hung between heaven and earth, rejected by God and rejected by men, He received the full weight and fury of God’s pent up rage. All the anger, all the resentment, all the punishment, all the vengeance, all the retribution, all the fire and torment that humanity’s collective wickedness and guilt deserved, was in a moment rained down on God’s Son, Jesus, the Lamb of God.
But before that happened, culminating in His death on the cross, something else had to happen. What of the whining compromisers who feel sorry for the wicked, but who feel no responsibility toward the innocent? What of those who are willing to crucify their loved ones so that they might feel good about dispensing their putrid brand of fake mercy. What of those who are too gutless or too foolish or too lazy to make a break from those they know are wicked and evil and foul and, most of all, dangerous to them and their kids and families?
Some think they can play both sides of this fence. They think they can go to Church and salvage their kids they bring to Church, while still trying to hold on to the wicked children who insist on doing evil, who insist on defiling the nest, who would lower their family’s spiritual standards. Others think they can play with the bad boys at school or work, and then pretend to be holy when they are around their parents or at Church. Do people think God is going to let such conduct slide by? Do people really think God is not going to remember what they are doing? Do they imagine God ignores their refusal to put Him first before wicked family members, before wicked friends, before wicked coworkers? Think again. Throughout the Bible we see God admonishing His people to separate from sin and to distance ourselves from sinners. “Be ye holy for I am holy” is a message that resonates through God’s Word and down through the centuries.
Do they think God is pleased when they refuse to choose Him over sinners when they refuse to choose communion and companionship with Him over communion and companionship with the evil and the rebellious? Think again. When God’s Son, Jesus, became sin when He took upon Himself your iniquities and mine, what did God then do? Matthew 27.46 shows us what God then did. Please turn there:
“And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
Those who will not separate from the wicked ones they know, who will not distance themselves from those who have turned their backs on God and have chased after sin as fast as their feet will carry them, should pay attention to what God did. When the Lord Jesus sinned God turned His back on Him. Understand, my Lord Jesus did not sin by personal conduct or behavior. But when Jesus became a sinner by imputed sin, by taking on Himself our sins, God separated from Him. So, what God demands of His Own, that we separate from those who are ungodly, that we no longer companion with those who are fornicators, with those who are covetous, with those who are idolaters, is what He did when the Lord Jesus became sin. Yes, Jesus Christ experienced separation, isolation from His Father, Who then poured upon His beloved Son His wrath.
SERMON:
Oh, my, what the Savior suffered on the cross of Calvary. Thank God, Who reigns above in majesty supreme, that Jesus Christ rose from the dead after three days and nights. Thank God, we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. But the question that must be asked is “Why?” Why did the Lord Jesus suffer such contradiction of sinners? Why did He let those men do those horrible things to Him? And why did God do to Him those things that God did to Him?
Those are the questions that need answers. Why did Jesus suffer His creatures to do to Him what we did to Him? And why did God the Father do to Him what He did to Him? These questions, this one question, really, is answered in our text, First Timothy 1.15. Please turn there and stand with me for the reading of God’s Word:
“This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.”
Let’s stop there. The focus of our attention is on that last phrase, which reads in our English Bible, “to save sinners.” The “Why?” behind the doing and dying of Jesus Christ can be explained in this one simple phrase.
Notice, if you will, the components of this phrase:
First, THERE IS THE PREPOSITION
We read the word “to,” what grammarians call a preposition.[24] The word “to” shows us that there was a purpose to Jesus Christ’s coming into the world. And by His coming into the world is meant all that He purposed to do, culminating in His crucifixion and resurrection.
You see, Jesus Christ’s coming was no accident. It was no afterthought. It was no chance occurrence. Remember, He is the lamb slain from the foundation of the world.[25] We never see God in any way responding to an unforeseen turn of events or striving to recoup after a setback.
Go back to Daniel 9.25-27, and you will see that the precise time of Messiah Jesus’ coming to Jerusalem just before His crucifixion was predicted, more than seven centuries before the prophecy was finally fulfilled. And the purpose of His coming was explained in Isaiah chapter 53, while the stunning details of His crucifixion are found in Zechariah 12.10:
“and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.”
But when did the Lord Jesus decide to do what He did? When did He plan and purpose to come and offer Himself a ransom for sin? When were these things all worked out in the council chambers of the Triune Godhead? James tells us in Acts 15.18:
“Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.”
Jesus Christ came into the world “to save sinners.” Not something sudden. Not a reaction by God to an unanticipated rebellion by first Satan and his angels and then Adam and Eve, but something that had always been in the mind of God and the heart of His Son, Jesus.
Next, THERE IS THE VERB
There are certain words that mean more to some folks than to others. And those words mean more at certain times in history than at other times. Such a word is the verb “save.” Because there is so much confusion about words these days, I usually make it a point, when I am counseling sinners, to ask them to define what the word “save” means. You would be flabbergasted how many times people shrug their shoulders and say, “I don’t know.”
People who are dug out from under an avalanche of snow by the Ski Patrol know what the word means. The swimmer who gets caught in an undertow and panics, and then is pulled to safety by a lifeguard, knows what the word means. The little girl who slipped down an old pipe in Texas some years back, who was pulled up after being trapped for days, knows the meaning of the word. The soldier who was wounded by a mine in Viet Nam, and then carried to safety under a withering barrage of machine-gun fire, by then Captain and later General Norman Schwartzkopf, knows what the word means.
There are times when you are in trouble. Your life is in danger and if someone doesn’t come along and pull you to safety, if someone doesn’t come along and lay hold on you to pull you up from the quicksand, or to lift you to safety off the face of that cliff, or to snatch you from that burning automobile, or to reach down into the water to hoist you up where you can breathe, you’re going to die.
In the same manner, does the Lord Jesus save. Here you are, helpless and hopeless, in a canoe on a rapidly flowing river with no paddle, heading for a thundering waterfall, about to be plunged over and dashed onto the rocks below. The river is sin that sweeps you along, no matter what you do. The waterfall is God’s judgment.
When it comes to salvation, you don’t need Jesus Christ to help you. Help implies that you can do part of the saving yourself, and you can’t. You’re standing at the edge of a cliff after a volcano erupts. All around you is molten lava, moving toward you inch by inch. To the front of you, to the left of you, to the right of you is lava. And behind you is a cliff. You don’t need help; you need deliverance. You need rescuing.
Only with Jesus Christ, the saving isn’t salvation from physical danger. It’s not even salvation from Hell. What you need, and what Jesus Christ, the Son of God provides, is salvation from sins. Oh, my friend, don’t you want to be saved from your sins? That is why Jesus Christ came. To save from sins, with that verb, that action word, being the word save.
Third, THERE IS THE NOUN
“Sinners.”
What is a sinner? A sinner is a person who sins, by doing wrong things, and by being wrong things. It is wrong to lie. It is wrong to cheat. It is wrong to steal. It is wrong to have sex with someone you are not married to. It is wrong to think sinful thoughts. It is wrong to hate someone. It is wrong to murder someone. It is wrong to treat your mother or your father dishonorably. It is wrong to do what your parents tell you not to do. It is wrong to take the name of the Lord in vain. It is wrong to drink liquor, beer, and wine. It is wrong to take illicit drugs. It is wrong to encourage others to do wrong. It is wrong to be lascivious, to make yourself look sexy and alluring and enticing. It is wrong to dress immodestly. It is wrong to be worldly, to appear to have the values of a Christ-rejecting world. It is wrong to have the appearance of evil. It is wrong to do what God doesn’t want you to do. A person who does such things is a sinner.
But that’s not all a sinner is. A sinner is also a person who sins by not doing right. It is wrong to not love God. It is wrong to not love your neighbor. It is wrong to not do your best in school. It is wrong to not give tithes and offerings to God. It is wrong to not love your wife. It is wrong to not serve God in your Church. It is wrong to not attend Church. It is wrong to not take communion. It is wrong to not read your Bible. It is wrong to not hide God’s Word in your heart. It is wrong to not witness to the lost. It is wrong to not invite the lost to Church. It is wrong to not swat your children when it’s needful. It’s wrong to not train your children to be servants. It’s wrong to not break your willful child’s will. A person who does not do these things is a sinner.
But even that’s not all a sinner is. You see, a sinner is not only one who does wrong and who does not do right. A sinner is also one who is wrong. Quite aside from your actions, your behavior, your impulses, your deeds, your thoughts, your motives, and your aspirations being onerous to God, unpleasant to God, irritable to God, noxious to God, vile to God, it just so happens that you are onerous to God, irritable to God, noxious to God, and unpleasant to God. If you examine the problem of sin carefully in God’s Word, you will see that the fundamental issue that separates you from God, that alienates you from God, that outrages God, isn’t what you do, but what you are. For you see, just as Jesus Christ is holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners, you are unholy, harmful, completely defiled, and you actually are a sinner. If ever a human being deserved the wrath of God, it’s you. If ever a person’s nature warranted the flames of God’s vengeance, it’s yours. And what compounds your wickedness, your guilt, your culpability, is your self-righteous and hypocritical insistence on comparing yourself with other people, your despicable efforts to justify yourself by saying, “Well, at least I’m not as bad as ....” “Comparing themselves among themselves,” you are not wise.[26] Yes, you are a sinner. You are as guilty as guilty can be, as deserving of Hellfire as any man or woman who has ever lived. As well, you are precisely the kind of person my Lord Jesus Christ came into this world to save.
WE CLOSE WITH A LOOK AT THE ADJECTIVE IN THIS PHRASE
Adjectives, of course, are words that modify nouns, that set limits and boundaries on nouns, that inform us what the limitations and the scope covered by nouns is. Take a close look at this phrase which comprises our text and take note of the adjective:
“... to save sinners.”
Have you noticed that there is no adjective here? That’s right. No adjective modifying the noun in this phrase, no adjective telling us what kind of sinners Jesus Christ saves.
Think about that. No adjective! The word “sinners” is not modified in any way. What can that mean? It means that Jesus Christ came to save sinners just like you. If an adjective had been used to modify this word “sinners,” then the scope of Christ’s mission would have been limited. He would then have come to save only certain kinds of sinners. But that’s not what we have here at all. That means, my Lord Jesus came to save sinners like you, even if you are not a penitent sinner. “Oh, pastor, I don’t feel bad enough about my sin."
Though all sinners should feel bad about their sins, you can still be saved if you don’t, because Jesus Christ didn’t come to save penitent sinners. He came to save sinners. It also means that Jesus came to save you, if you are not a particularly awakened sinner. “Oh, pastor, I don’t feel spiritually awakened to my sinfulness.” Though it would be good for a sinner to be spiritually awakened, you can still be saved if you’re not, because Jesus Christ didn’t come to save particularly awakened sinners. He came to save sinners. It also means that Jesus came to save you if you are not a grieving sinner. “Oh, pastor, I don’t grieve over my sinfulness.” Though it would be good for sinners to grieve over their sinfulness, you can still be saved if you don’t grieve, because Jesus Christ didn’t come to save grieving sinners. He came to save sinners.
When I deal with sinners I usually try to persuade them to come to Jesus Christ immediately. But they usually won’t unless they are more penitent, or unless they are more awakened, or unless they are more grieved, or unless something. When I see that’s the case I try to encourage them to become a bit more of what I think will be helpful to them in their particular case. But understand this: All that’s needed to be saved by Jesus Christ is to be a sinner.
If you know you are a helpless, hopeless, Hell-deserving sinner, no matter how you may feel about yourself, Jesus Christ came to save you. I declare this on the authority of God’s Word, which says that Christ Jesus came “to save sinners.”
Are you a sinner? Then come to Jesus, my friend, and do not delay. Come to Jesus Christ right this moment. Trust Him to save your wretched soul and forgive all your sins. It is what He does.
__________
[1] Galatians 4.4
[2] John 1.14
[3] Luke 2.40
[4] Matthew 3.13
[5] Matthew 4.1
[6] John 1.29
[7] Hebrews 12.2-3
[8] Genesis 2.7
[9] Matthew 26.53
[10] Isaiah 53.3
[11] Isaiah 53.7
[12] Isaiah 53.8
[13] Isaiah 53.9
[14] Matthew 27.26
[15] Matthew 27.27-31
[16] Matthew 27.35
[17] Matthew 27.39
[18] Matthew 27.41-43
[19] Matthew 27.44
[20] Acts 2.1-23
[21] Matthew 27.29
[22] Mark 15.15
[23] Isaiah 53.6
[24] It has been pointed out to me that this is properly an infinitive. I stand corrected, as a former engineer and not an English major who went to public school.
[25] Revelation 13.8
[26] Second Corinthians 10.12
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