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High Fidelity By David Jones

 And from the first epistle of Paul to Timothy, 1 Timothy chapter 1, we'll read the first 17 verses. Paul an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope. To Timothy my true son in the faith. Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. As I urged you when I went into Macedonia stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. These promote can prophecies rather than God's work which is by faith. The goal of this command is love which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Some have wandered away from these and turned to meaningless talk. They want to be teachers of the law but they do not know what they're talking about or what they so confidently affirm. We know that the law is good if a man uses it properly. We also know that law
is made not for good men but for law breakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy
and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for adulterers and
perverts, for slave traders and liars and perjurers, and for whatever else is contrary to
the sound doctrine that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which he entrusted to
me. I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has given me strength that he considered me faithful
appointing me to his service. Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent
man I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out
on me abundantly along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Here is a trustworthy
saying that deserves full acceptance. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am
the worst, but for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me the worst of sinners Christ
Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and
receive eternal life. Now to the king eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, the honor and
glory forever and ever. Amen. Just a word of explanation if you if you look at the the order
of service where I've changed my mind since going to print. I had intended to preach on from where
we were in the book of Nehemiah, but I felt that we had a long chapter from the Old Testament this
morning to look at and I felt that the only way for me to deal with what I wanted to it would be
to take Nehemiah chapters 9 10 and 11 and that was too much I think with a communion service. And so
I want to just draw attention to one verse tonight the 15th verse of the first chapter of the first
epistle to Timothy. 1 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 15. Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full
acceptance. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the worst. Now I don't
know what the latest in sound systems is. I find that whenever I confess my ignorance from the
pulpit I have a queue of people lining up afterwards to fill me in and to give me all
the necessary information that I need. So I'm sure that I'll look forward to that after the
service. I don't know what the latest is in sound technology but in my day, and this really dates
me, it was hi-fi. That goes back a long way doesn't it to the ark almost. I think hi-fi
is an abbreviation for high fidelity and we were told then when I was a teenager in those
long ago days that it was the latest in sound systems. There was no distortion at all. It was
as if you were in the in the concert room yourself listening to the music. Well the apostle is
telling us here in this verse tonight that nothing comes with higher fidelity to the truth than this.
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. This is a faithful saying he says in the
authorized version. I prefer the authorized version here for this verse. This is a faithful
saying and worthy of all acceptation. This is a trustworthy saying the NIV says and and deserves
to be accepted fully. That Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. This is the
gospel without any distortion. This is his master's voice speaking if you like. This is God speaking
to us tonight in words that you and I can absolutely rely on. Trustworthy. Worthy of all
acceptation. Worthy of being accepted in other words not only by everybody present but worthy
of being accepted in the fullest possible sense of the word. With our minds, with our hearts,
with our wills. Worthy of full acceptation. So let's tune into this text tonight. Don't switch
off like most people do when the sermon comes around. I can see them sometimes switching off.
Don't switch off. Tune in to this verse and let's just spend a little bit of time thinking about it.
I want to draw your attention first of all to its pedigree. You notice the apostle puts it like this.
He says this is a faithful saying. This is a trustworthy saying. This is you may, if you're
familiar with your Bible and you know the Pastoral Epistles Timothy and Titus, then you'll know that
there are five of these faithful sayings in the Pastoral Epistles and nowhere else in the New
Testament do you find this formula. But five times in the Pastoral Epistles you find these faithful
sayings. And you notice it's a saying not just a statement. A saying is something more than a
statement isn't it? It has a special status in the church. A saying has a track record, a proven track
record in people's lives. It is a truth so universally known and accepted by these early
Christians that it's become a household word amongst them. It's on everybody's lips. This isn't
just some pious platitude. It is a faithful saying and you can stake your life upon it. You can hang
the whole of your eternal destiny upon this saying. It has stood the test of time. It has
been tried in the crucible of experience. It has come through the flames of persecution. It is a
faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
I wonder my friends if that is so here at St. John's. Is this a household word amongst us? Is it
true that strangers coming into this church and into this congregation, is it true that they would
say about us after they've been around for a little while? That's one of their sayings. That's
what they stand for there. That's what they believe in there. That Christ Jesus came into
the world to save sinners. You can trace the pedigree of this saying right back to the actual
words of Jesus himself, can't you? I came, he says, not to judge the world but to save the
world. The Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost. I have come not to call the
righteous but sinners to repentance. So this is his own testimony about himself. This is something
that has been tried and tested and fully accepted by these early Christians. So it has a pedigree.
But then in the second place, I want you to notice something else about this verse. And in a way
we're only just sort of skimming the surface of it, but I just want you to notice not only that
this is a saying with a pedigree behind it, if you like, but I want you to notice the pithiness
of it, if I can put it that way. In other words, here is a verse which has in it all you need to
know to get you to heaven. It has the very essence of the gospel in it. Everything you need to know
to be right with God and to go to heaven is in just these few words. Literally in the Greek it
reads like this, Christ Jesus came into the world sinners to save. All you need to know is in those
few words. The person of the Savior is here, Christ Jesus. Why is it not Jesus Christ? Don't
know if you ever thought about that, but 25 times in the pastoral epistles you find Christ Jesus,
only six times do you find Jesus Christ. Now why is that? There's a reason for it. Why does the
apostle refer to the Lord Jesus Christ in this way? Well because he wants to make a point, and
the point that he wants to make quite simply is this, Christ is his title. It isn't his surname,
it's his title. It's like talking about President Clinton or Prince Philip or Prime Minister Keating,
just to keep equal. It's his title, and so it's Christ Jesus. Jesus is his personal name, it was
the name given to him you remember by the angel. The angel said to his father, call him Jesus,
because he's going to save his people from their sins. Here is someone, here is a child who's going
to live up to his name. Call him Jesus, the salvation of Jehovah. This is God coming to the
rescue. Call him that, call him Jesus, because he's going to save. He's not just going to make
salvation possible, he's actually going to save his people from their sins. Call him Jesus,
that's his name. And Christ is his title, and it means that this Jesus of ours is the official
Savior of the world. He is the Savior of the world who has been appointed by God before the beginning
of time, and anointed by the Holy Spirit at his baptism. This is the official Savior of the world,
divinely appointed and spirit anointed. Remember he warns us doesn't he in the Gospels that there
will be many people who will come in his name claiming to be official, claiming to be the
Christ, but he alone is Christ Jesus. When I was a schoolboy, my parents persuaded me to learn the
violin, or to try and learn the violin. They must have been masochists I think. I spent many unhappy
hours scraping away at the strings of that violin, and then one day I happened to notice, I noticed
that there was a label inside the violin. I started to scrape, it's all covered with dust, I started to
scrape away, got a needle or something, started to scrape away inside the voice box of the violin,
and I managed to uncover this label. Antonius Stradivarius, Creminense, Pachyabat, or something
like that, and then there was a date. I couldn't quite make out the date. And I'd known, I'd heard
enough to, I knew enough to know that a Stradivarius violin is a very valuable instrument. It's worth
hundreds and thousands of dollars. I couldn't wait to get to school the next day to my violin
teacher and show him this violin. You can imagine my disappointment of course when he said to me
there are hundreds of these. They just put the label in. Just because it's got a Stradivarius
label on it doesn't mean that it's a genuine article. And Jesus says there are going to be
many many Christs, there are going to be many so-called saviors of the world, and there are
lots of them around today aren't there? Lots of people who are going to appear on the scene of
things and claim a hearing from people. But this alone is Christ Jesus, by royal appointment,
Savior of the world. That's what it means, Christ Jesus, God's anointed, God's appointed,
Savior of the world, Prophet, Priest, and King. So our attention is drawn to the person here,
Christ Jesus. Our attention is drawn to the price that he paid. Christ Jesus came into the world,
we're told. Not so, you and I. I know we sometimes talk loosely like that, but we didn't come into
the world did we? In some mysterious and miraculous way when sperm meets ovum, you and I begin to be.
We come into being. At the moment at the point of our conception, we come into being, but we
don't come from anywhere. He does. Over and over again you find this claim. He keeps on making
this claim in the New Testament. He claims again and again to be one who has been sent into this
world. And he expects us to believe that, that he has come into this world. Look at who he is there
in verse 17 of this chapter. The King, eternal, immortal, invisible. Just think of that my friends,
the only God. Think what it cost him to come into this world. For the eternal to come into time and
space. For the invisible God to be made visible in the womb of the Virgin Mary. For the immortal
to suffer and to bleed and to die. Tis mystery all, says Charles Wesley, I've chosen that hymn
tonight. Tis mystery all, the immortal dies. Who can explore that strange design? In vain the
firstborn seraph cries. Just think of it, what it meant for him to come into the world. Why did he
come? What was the purpose of his coming? Well the Greek here is very interesting you see because
I don't know why I suppose it isn't very tidy in English to translate it like this but in the
Greek it reads like this Christ Jesus came into the world sinners to save. And the juxtaposition
of those two words world and sinners is very important. Those two words are put side by side
back to back as it were because the Apostle wants us to understand something. It isn't just that he
came to planet Earth. It isn't just the world as a geographical entity that is in view here. It
isn't just that the Creator came into his own creation. No no it is that the Holy One was
numbered amongst the transgressors. That's the point. It was into this world thought of as sinful
humanity arraigned against God. That's the meaning of the word world in Scripture sometimes. That's
what it means here. It isn't just planet Earth. It's sinful humanity in rebellion against God.
Christ Jesus came into this world. The Holy One was worshipped by angels. They keep on crying
out. They can never get over it. They keep shouting out to each other. He's holy. He's holy. He's
holy. This is the endless ceaseless theme of heaven. We need to be reminded of that in today's
church. He's holy. He's holy. The angels keep shouting out to each other. He's holy. Oh how
holy he is and now this Holy One comes into this sinful world which is in rebellion against him
and he's numbered with the transgressors and he goes to the cross and he was made sin for us and
everything ugly and everything horrible and everything dirty and filthy is laid upon him
and he becomes something grotesque so that God has to turn away his face in disgust from him
and he did that for us. It's all here in this little verse. This is a faithful saying says
Paul worthy to be received by everybody in the world. Christ Jesus came into the world. He saw
our oppression. He heard our cries and he came down to deliver us. He came into this world we're
told sinners to save. Not just to show solidarity with us like the parents of a criminal perhaps
standing by their son. Sometimes you see that it's quite moving isn't it when someone is in
court and it's the television cameras are there and the newspaper reporters and some terrible
crime has been committed and the parents perhaps or the family of that convicted criminal they
stand there in the full glare of publicity and they share the shame of what has been done by
that son or daughter of theirs and that's very moving and there's something very impressive
about that when you see that. Solidarity in a family if you like or amongst friends but our
Lord Jesus Christ has gone much further than that. He hasn't just suddenly come into this world as it
were to show solidarity with us. He hasn't come into this world simply to share our shame and
our guilt. He's come into this world to bear our sin and our guilt. To bear it away. Bearing shame
and scoffing rude in my place. Condemned he stood sealed my pardon with his blood. Hallelujah. What
a Savior. He came into this world we're told sinners to save. Not simply to stand by them
and to support them but to save them by not saving himself. To rescue them. If I were to
say to you tonight I I really you know I have a great concern for you and I want to show you
just how much I'm concerned about you. I'm going to go down to the to the front there
tonight and I'm going to jump into the Derwent River. You'd think I'd taken a leave of my
senses wouldn't you? How could that possibly help you if I were to jump into the Derwent River
tonight? Wouldn't help you at all would it? It would make any sense at all. It's sheer nonsense
for me to talk like that. There's only one way in which that would make sense and that would be of
course if you were in the Derwent River drowning then it would make sense wouldn't it? That's where
you are my friends if you're not a Christian here tonight. That's what the cross is saying
to you. That's what this text is saying to you. That Christ Jesus came into this world sinners
to save. You need to be rescued. Do you realize that? The cross isn't simply an example of love.
It doesn't make any sense as an example of love. The cross isn't simply a way for you to follow.
It doesn't make any sense in that way. How can Jesus show his love to you by dying on a cross
unless by dying on that cross he actually rescues you? Do you realize my friends tonight if you're
not a Christian you're on a collision course with the God who made you. You're heading for
judgment. You're heading for endless eternity of woe and punishment and pain. Do you realize that
you need to be rescued? That's what this is all about. That's why Jesus has given us the table
to constantly remind us of this. Do you think, do you think that this is necessary? That Jesus
had to come and die upon a cross for you? Unless, unless you needed saving. This is a faithful
saying worthy of all acceptation says the Apostle. That Christ Jesus came into the world to save
sinners. There's just one other thing I want to draw your attention to. The pedigree of this
saying, the pithiness of it, everything is here. The person of the Savior, the price he paid,
the purpose for which he came. But then finally I want you to notice this. Did you notice how Paul
personalizes it? This is a faithful saying he says worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus
came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief, of whom I am the worst, he says. He
personalizes it. And that's what you and I must do, you see. I don't mean that we just have to
insert our name in there somewhere. You know, some people preach the gospel like that, don't they?
Like, like a circular letter that comes around this. It's one of my pet hates, one of the things
that really annoys me when you get some of these circular letters that come around the doors. And
they've made an attempt to personalize the letter and they've typed in your name with a different
typewriter to the way in which the letter has been set out. It's just so artificial, isn't it?
And there's some people who preach the gospel in that kind of artificial way. Jesus died for
sinners and you're a sinner, aren't you? Therefore Jesus died for you. Well, there's nothing much
wrong with the logic of that, but there's something artificial about that sort of thing, isn't there?
Jesus died for sinners and we're sinners, therefore Jesus died for you. Oh no, that's too
slick. That's too easy. Just put your name in here. Sign on the dotted line. No, my friends,
it doesn't work like that. This is how it works. This is a faithful saying. This is worthy of all
acceptation. Christ Jesus came into the world, sinners to save. Of whom, says the apostle,
I am chief. There's conviction there, isn't there? Conviction of sin. That's how you'll
see yourself when the Holy Spirit begins to work in your life. You'll see yourself as though you
were the only sinner in the world. You'll stop comparing yourself with other people. Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Of whom, I am chief, he says. It's not false
humility. It's not preacher's rhetoric. It's how he sees himself. It's how you will see yourself
if the Holy Spirit has begun to work in your life. Remember the prophet Isaiah in chapter 6? On the
day that we're told in the year that King Isaiah died, Isaiah went to church. He'd been to the
temple. He'd been to the temple many times before. He'd been a preacher. He'd been a prophet for a
number of years. But in that year, and he remembers it. It's on his calendar. It's in his diary. On
that year when King Uzziah died, he went up to the temple and he says, I saw the Lord high and lifted
up, surrounded by the seraphim. And he heard the cries of those seraphim. Holy, holy, holy is the
Lord. And he said, woe is me, for I am undone. I've found out I'm a man of unclean lips. I live
in the midst of a people of unclean lips. It's interesting. You read the early chapters of the
prophecy of Isaiah. In the first five chapters, he's been hurling anathemas around left, right,
and center. Woe unto them that do this. Woe unto them that do that. That's his stock in trade. He's
a prophet. Prophet of doom. He's been hurling anathemas around all over the place. Woe unto
them that do this. Woe unto them that do that. But in the year that King Uzziah died, he was
brought into the presence of a holy God. And he cried out, woe is me. It's not my brother or my
sister, but it's me, oh Lord, standing in the need of prayer. Have you ever been brought there? Stop
comparing yourself with other people. It doesn't matter about other people. It's not your brother
or your sister. It's you, my friend. It's you who need God's forgiveness. It's you who need God's
mercy. Remember the parable of our Lord in the Gospels? That parable about pride and prejudice.
The parable about the publican and the Pharisee. Both of them went to church. And there's the
Pharisee down the front of the church, comparing himself with other people. I thank you, Lord,
that I'm not like this person. I'm not like that person. I don't do this. I don't do that. I come
to church. I give money to the collection. And the publican, we're told, could hardly get into
the door. He was sitting at the back. And he cried out, God be merciful to me. And in the
original language, it is, the definite article is there. God, he said, be merciful to me. The sinner.
The sinner. That how you see yourself? When God begins to move by his Spirit, that's what happens.
You see yourself as though you're the only sinner on the planet. And if you were the only sinner on
the planet, still he would come. Christ Jesus would come into the world and go to that cross
and die for you. And it's interesting, isn't it, that Paul uses the present tense here. He's been
a Christian now for 20 or 30 years, but he still sees himself this way as the chief of sinners.
He's nearing the end of his life. These epistles were written towards the end of his life. He's
about to be executed. And he still sees himself in this way. This is his only hope for the life
to come. This is his only confidence in the face of death. Not that he's been serving the Lord for
20 or 30 years. What is his only confidence as he faces his own death? His only confidence is this.
I am a poor sinner and nothing at all, and Jesus Christ is my all in all. Is that your confidence?
With regard to your own death? It goes even further than that, doesn't it? Because although
the apostle here is in one sense speaking subjectively, as I've tried to show you,
though he's talking about his feelings, and this is how anybody will feel under conviction of sin,
although that's true, at the same time he also wants us to understand him objectively, doesn't
he? Look at the context here. He says there in verse 12, I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who's
given me strength that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service even though I was
once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man. Can you hear the echoes here from his past
life? He's been a Christian for 20 or 30 years and still you can hear these echoes from his past,
can't you? Blasphemer, persecutor, violent man. That's what they said about him when Ananias was
told to go and meet up with him in the street called straight in the city of Damascus. Remember
Ananias said, I can't go and see that man, Lord. He's a blasphemer. He's a persecutor. And the
early Christians gave him a wide berth. They didn't want anything to do with him. They were
frightened of him. He'd been a violent man. He came to Damascus breathing out threatenings
and slaughter, we're told, against the church, against the people of God. That's the kind of
man that he was. And he wants us to understand that. He doesn't want to play that down in any
way. He wants us to understand that because he goes on then to say here, you see, in these verses,
this is a trustworthy saying and one that deserves full acceptance. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners of whom I am the worst. But for this very reason I was shown mercy so that in me
the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those
who would believe on him and receive eternal life. In other words, if he did it for me, he'll do it
for you. That's what he's saying. If he saved me and surely he says by any standard, I am the worst
of sinners. I'm a blasphemer. I'm a persecutor. I'm a violent man. I'm a murderer. I've shed
innocent blood. None of you here tonight have done that in the same way that Paul did. Spurgeon
has a lovely comment on this. He says, if a bridge is strong enough to bear an elephant,
it will certainly carry a mouse. And if the greatest sinner who ever lived has entered
heaven by the bridge of the atoning sacrifice of Christ, no one who has ever lived may say,
my sin is beyond forgiveness. Let me encourage you then, my friends tonight, those of you who
are not yet Christians, this is a faithful saying. And worthy of all acceptance, Christ Jesus came
into the world to save sinners. And what an encouragement that ought to be to us as we
embark upon three weeks of outreach here in this city. How relevant this testimony is, you see,
to the church at Ephesus. This was a church which was fast losing its confidence in the gospel. You
read between the lines of the epistles, of the pastoral epistles, and you will see that that's
the case. This was a church that was fast losing its confidence in the gospel. They lived in
Ephesus. Look at verses 9 and 10, you see. The law is made not for the righteous, but for law breakers
and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers
or mothers, for murderers, for adulterers and perverts, for slave traders and liars and perjurers,
and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine. That's the kind of society they lived
in. And when you live in that kind of society, the danger is that you want to withdraw, you want
to beat a retreat and pull up the drawbridge, you see. And that's what they were doing at Ephesus.
And so instead of going out into the into that society and preaching the law of God, like a
plow as it were, to break up the ground, instead of preaching the law of God to those people who
needed to hear the law of God, what were they doing? They were staying behind locked doors and
preaching to the converted. And the apostle has to remind them, he has to encourage them. Look,
he says, look what the gospel can do. It turned a persecutor into a preacher. That's the wonderful
thing. You see, if someone let you down badly, you might forgive them, but you probably wouldn't
trust them very much afterwards, would you? I mean, if they'd fiddled the books, for example,
you might forgive them, but you wouldn't reinstate them as treasurer, would you? And here's a man,
you see, who's been persecuting the church. Here's a man who has been violently opposed to the
message of Christ. And what does God do? He converts the man, and then he puts into his
hands the very message that he's been persecuting. He turns the persecutor into a preacher. That's
the grace of God, where sin abounds, grace does much more abound. And what an encouragement that
ought to be to us then as we embark upon three weeks of outreach here in the city of Hobart.
It is the gospel which is the power of God unto salvation. It ought to encourage us to see that
it's this message, this good news, which is the powerful thing that God uses to rescue people,
to save them. Men have their sayings, they're too a penny, aren't they? All the rage one day,
stale the next, and forgotten the day after. But this is a faithful saying. And worthy of
all acceptation, Christ Jesus came into the world, sinners to save.