Shabbat Shalom, everyone. Turn to the first epistle, the first letter that Shaul Paul wrote to this young man by the name of Timothy. He wrote this to him at about 65 A.D., and he really wrote a personal letter to him, but at the same time, it was given for the help of any local assembly, local church. And so, here we are today. We are in 1 Timothy chapter 1, and we are going to read from verse 12. And you can see the heart of Shaul Paul as he writes to this younger man whom he loved so dearly. Timothy was a real servant of the Lord. He paid a price in order to follow Yeshua the Messiah.

And so, the apostle Paul tells him in verses 12 to 20 of chapter 1, he said, "I thank Christ Jesus, our Lord, who has enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injures, but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus." "It is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief. How bit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all long-suffering, for a patron to them which should hereafter believe on him, to life everlasting.

Now unto the King, eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen." "This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience, some, having put away concerning faith, have made shipwreck, of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme." I'm going to stop here with the reading for us today, dear brothers and sisters. Well, here is the letter of Paul, who is writing to this younger brother by the name of Timothy, who he left him in the city of Ephesus, in order that he will help the local assembly at Ephesus.

It says in chapter 1, verse 3, he says, "I besought thee to abide still in Ephesus, when I went to Macedonia, why I have left you there, that thou might charge some, that they teach no other doctrine." You think you and I have a problem today with false doctrine and false teaching? They have had these problems many years ago. In the first early part of the ecclesia, they already had to deal with issues of false teachings that crept in. And here is the apostle Paul, who was called by the Lord for this ministry. He had such a burden for the people of God. He had such a concern for the glory of Yeshua the Messiah, that he was so much burdened with the concern of the believers in various areas in Asia Minor, that he left this younger brother Timothy in the city of Ephesus, in order that he, with the help of the Lord, will help to set things in order.

If you remember, if you just turn to chapter 3 of 1 Timothy, and there he said, verse 50, "But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how you oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, is the church or the assembly of the living God, the pillar and the ground of the truth." Look, beloved brothers and sisters, if you want to know truth, you don't need to find it in the world, you don't need to find it in any religious system, you ought to find it in the local church, in the assembly, which is the pillar and the ground of the truth. The world needs to come to hear the message of the word of God, and to learn it from believers who grow spiritually, because the believers are the ecclesia, the church, the called out ones, and the believers are the pillar and the ground of the truth.

And so Paul is writing to Timothy in this first chapter, and he gives him these charges. Three things he's telling him here, beloved brothers and sisters, in this first chapter. Number one, Timothy, make sure that you're charging others not to bring in any other teachings that I have taught Timothy. Secondly, beloved brothers and sisters, verses 12 to verse 17, he's presenting before Timothy his experience of the grace of God in his salvation. It is amazing to think how this man, by the name of Shaul, his Hebrew name, Polos, his Greek name or diaspora name, it is amazing how God has saved him. How God has brought him to himself to become a child of God.

And he rehearses this now before Timothy as he writes him this letter. He's saying to him, listen to this. Verse 12, The Messiah Yeshua placed me into this service. It was totally the grace of God. In verse 12, notice that. And I thank Christ Jesus, or in Hebrew, Mashiach Yeshua, our Lord, who had enabled me for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry. Now notice, by the way, that it's almost 100% when you hear the word Christ Jesus, instead of Jesus Christ, Yeshua HaMashiach, almost 100% it is a Pauline writing. You hardly don't find it anywhere else except the Apostle Paul. I think Peter mentioned it twice.

And why Shaul Paul changed the order? Instead of saying Yeshua HaMashiach, he said HaMashiach Yeshua. Instead of saying Jesus Christ, or Jesus the Messiah, he says the Messiah Yeshua. He said it many times. Not all the time, but many times. Why does he say it like this? Because he was the only Apostle who was not with Yeshua the Messiah when he was on earth. Paul, Shaul, received the revelation of the glory of Yeshua the Messiah when he was on the way to Damascus. And when he saw the Lord, he saw that vision of the person of Yeshua, he was on the way to Damascus when he was persecuting the early Hebrew believers.

Shaul on the way to Damascus have seen that vision, have heard that voice from heaven. And you remember Yeshua said to him, Shaul, why do you persecute me? Of course Shaul was persecuting the Hebrew believers. But persecuting the Hebrew believers or any other believers, it is persecuting the Messiah. He is the head. The believers are the body. When you persecute the believers, you persecute the head. The Messiah, the glorified person of Yeshua, the Messiah. So, he used oftentimes the reverse order. Not all the time, but instead of using Yeshua HaMashiach, he used HaMashiach Yeshua. Why? He saw the anointed one. He saw the glorified Messiah.

He heard his voice from heaven while on earth. He didn't have this experience like the other apostles. You see what the Lord did with Shaul, with Paul? He was so gracious to him that he counted him. Notice the expression, "The Lord enabled me that he counted me faithful into the ministry, into the service of serving the Lord and living for the Lord." Shaul Paul recognized the mercy of our Lord. He says, "The Lord have enabled me." You see, he could have not been in a ministry unless the Lord helped him. You and I can never serve the Lord unless he is enabling us. Because the natural man seeks glory for himself, superiority of others, seeks his own way, and to be able to be a servant of the Lord with humility and sincerity, the Lord has to enable one to do so.

We cannot do it on our own. We know very well the flesh in us is no better than any flesh in the unbeliever. But the Lord has to enable us to help us, as Paul is mentioning here in this verse. The Messiah, Yeshua, placed me into this service and he is the one that enabled me to do so. The apostle Paul mentioned here. And turn with me to Galatians chapter 1. In verse 13, 14, and 15. Notice what the Lord have done in the life of Shaul, Paul. Paul said, "For ye have heard of my conversation or manner of life in time past in the Jewish religion how that beyond measure I persecuted the assembly of God and wasted it.

And I profited in the Jewish religion above many my equals and my own nation being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers." But then he says in verse 15, "But when it pleased God who separated me from my mother's womb and called me by His grace." You see, beloved brothers and sisters, it was the call of the Lord who separated Shaul, Paul, from his mother's womb to become not only saved but also to serve our Lord Yeshua, the Messiah. And you know, you and I are no different at all. one of us who is truly, sincerely a child of God. We were chosen in the Messiah before the foundation of the world.

We have been brought in time to accept Yeshua, the Messiah, and we are called to live for Him and serve Him. With all the ups and downs and the failure in our lives, we are still called to serve our Lord Yeshua, the Messiah. the Lord enabled Him. You know, I want to challenge us all. There is no way that we are going to be able to serve the Lord if we are doing it to the power of the flesh. If we are doing it with a human effort rather than simply humility before the Lord and submissiveness to His word, we are never going to be able to be successful in our spiritual service for the Lord.

You notice that the word ministry comes from the Greek word diakonia, which means simply a servant. In Hebrew we call it mesharet, or sherut. Not everyone preach the word, not everyone do a public meeting, not everyone does one thing or another, but we are all called to serve the Lord and it is He who enables us to do so we have done so in the life of Shaul Paul. And you notice he thanked the Lord. It is a privilege to participate in the service of the Lord. It is for a blessing for the people of God and it is for the glory of our Lord Yeshua, the Messiah.

And so Paul began by sharing with Timothy his personal experience of how the Lord had brought him in and placed him into this place of service in this ministry. He continued now, notice that in verse 13, Paul now points to the Messiah Yeshua's mercy towards him. Oh, I am telling you, beloved brothers and sisters, you see, we needed the mercy of the Lord, Shaul needed the mercy of the Lord in his life. And so he says in verse 13, look at the mercy of the Lord. Look what he has done for me. I was before a blasphemer and a persecutor and an injurious or violent man, but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly unbelief.

Now Paul is recording now his past behavior. And you and I know very well when we read the word of God. Number one, he says I was a blasphemer. Number two, he says I was a persecutor. Number three, he says I was an injurious. I have injured. I was a violent man before I became a believer in Yeshua. You see what he is saying here? A blasphemer. He actually spoke against Yeshua, the Messiah of Israel and the Savior of the world. The Hebrew word blasphemer is the word megadef. Legadef means to speak against the things of God the person of Jesus, Yeshua, the Messiah. But not only this.

He was also a persecutor. When he first began his persecutions of the believer, he thought he was doing a favor to the God of Israel. He looked at those Jewish brethren who have accepted that Yeshua is the Messiah and said hey listen, you are violating the word of God. You are against the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And he began to persecute them. If you turn with me please to Acts chapter 8. And it says there how the persecution began. Acts chapter 8 and verse 1 it says and Shaul was consenting unto his death. This is the death of Stephen. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church against the church which was at Jerusalem.

And they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria except the apostles. And it says in verse 2 without men carry Stephen to his burial to his burial and made great lamentation over him. Verse 3 As for Shaul, Saul, he made havoc of the church entering into every house and hauling men and women committing them to prison. Imagine brothers and sisters what the early believers have experienced. Notice it says that it was the persecution of the church in Jerusalem. You see those believers were all Jewish. And as far as Shaul was concerned they were violating the truth of God. They were going against the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

They were embracing this man called Yeshua. And as far as Shaul was concerned they were believing in men making him an idol for them. But he didn't understand that he was the promised Mashiach. Our forefathers that spoke about him Isaiah and Jeremiah and Ezekiel and Zechariah they all prophesied concerning the coming Mashiach. How he will come into this world. Where he will be born. The city. And the place. And how he's going to live. And how he's going to die. And the price that he's going to pay as a substitution for the sin of this world. But not for Shaul. He didn't understand it. You see you can know so much truth.

Be a Pharisee of the Pharisees. Know all the learning of the Tanakh of the Old Testament. Even rabbinical teaching. And still reject the simple truth of the fact that we needed the Messiah. And so he persecuted his own Jewish brethren who believed in Yeshua the Messiah. the Messiah. And notice what it says. They were all scattered. Can you imagine? They had to leave their homes. They had to leave their land. They had to leave their possession. They had to leave every family members. And they had to be taken outside. You notice the only one who remained in Jerusalem were the apostles. The shlichim. They were the only one who remained in the city of Jerusalem.

Because Shaul and some like him have persecuted the believers. And he made havoc according to verse 3. He entered every house and he pulled people out and then he brought men and women and he committed them to prison. And what was their guilt? They are accused that they believe that Yeshua is the promised Messiah. That he came from heaven in order to save them. to save them. And that's how Shaul began his journey on the persecution of the believers. And it was so impressed upon his heart that he never forgot what he did to the early believers who trusted that Yeshua was the Messiah. You read every epistle almost.

He mentioned again and again about himself. How he was the one that persecuted the believers. it couldn't leave him. He couldn't forget it. Even though he was this great apostle that the Lord had called him for this ministry yet he knew that he was the one that persecuted the brethren of first century. And that's why he was saying look, I thank God. He said, I was the one that was blaspheming his name. I was persecuting the believers. I was injurious. As he said, I was a violent man. But God had mercy on me. You know, this is fascinating. You see, what we learn here that there is no one that God will not have mercy upon one if that person will realize his or her wrongdoing.

Sometimes we think that this person or that person is hopeless. You know, and I might give up on that person. that this person have no chance to come to Yeshua. And then Apostle Paul showed this to us that here is a man who was opposing the message of the Gospel, opposing the believers, opposing Yeshua the Messiah, and yet the Lord showed him mercy. Think about your life and my life. None of us ever deserve what we have received from the Lord. In fact, we deserve to be eternally separated from the Lord because of our sin nature. And yet the Lord showed us mercy. Have opened our eyes and it brought us to know Yeshua the Messiah.

So Paul is reminding Timothy and he says, "I was a blasphemer before, a persecutor and injurious, but I obtain mercy because I did it ignorantly and in unbelief." He was ignorant, misinformed, persecuting the people of God. He confessed here and now that he did it ignorantly. He was misinformed of the truth concerning the person of Yeshua, Hamashiach. He thought that he is doing favor to God and he is living for God and he is doing things such as this for the benefit of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Do you know how many people today in a religious world are so misinformed of the truth of the Word of God that what they do today, you and I, of course, we call it evil and wrong.

How can you kill other people in the name of your God? But they believe that what they do is right. And they need a revelation from the Lord to show them that they have sinned before God and they need to accept the Savior of sinners and we can pray for these individuals that the Lord will bring them to the knowledge of Yeshua the Messiah. So you notice he is developing now as he shares with Timothy his own experience and he is dealing with mercy but he also shares about the grace of God. Here is the next verse, beloved brothers and sisters. Look what he says in verse 14.

The Lord's grace towards Paul was exceeding and abundant in his grace towards Shaul Paul. He says in verse 14, And the grace, the chesed in Hebrew, the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. Notice this time he doesn't use so much the word mercy, rachamim in Hebrew, he used the word grace. grace. And the grace of God enriched him and pulled him out of all that which was against the Lord. And how many verses we have in scripture that tells us of the grace of God. Paul said in Ephesians chapter 2, By grace are ye saved. Through faith.

It is a gift of God. It is not of works that any man should boast. It is the grace of God that reached down to us. In 2 Corinthians 8, in verse 9, Paul said, Behold, the grace of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, that though he was rich, he made himself poor that through his poverty we who were poor would become rich. Spiritually rich because we have accepted the Lord. John, in John chapter 1, John chapter 1 said, the law was given by Moshe, by Moses. But grace and truth came by Yeshua, the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Again and again throughout scripture we see the grace of God and here Paul is saying the grace of our Lord was exceeding and abundant.

He says, with faith and with love which is in the Messiah. again notice, mercy, verse 13, grace, verse 14, love, verse 14, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. The love of God reached out to Paul. The love of God reached out to you and to me and even today he is extending his love and grace towards humanity today and asking people to turn to him to recognize that they need the Savior, the Lord Jesus, the Messiah as their Lord and Savior. I want to mention one thing that is often neglected to understand. People think that in past history before Yeshua came into this world that God was not gracious.

That there was no grace available for the people of Israel. In other words, God was a stern God in the past and a gentle God in the present dispensation. But it is not true because God was always gracious. God always reached out to mankind. But the time of the coming of the Messiah had to be waited until the fullness of time. But He always reached out to our people Israel and to humanity at large. If you turn with me to Exodus chapter 34, here is an exclamation that Moses put down for us when he was reminded of what God did for him. And this is a song that we often sing in the synagogues.

I remember that as a little boy when I was singing this song in Yerushalayim in the synagogue with my grandfather when we were singing when we were singing about the gracious God, the God of Israel. Notice what we read here in chapter 34 of the book of Exodus. It says in verse 6, "And the Lord passed by before him." This is Moshe, before Moses. And he proclaimed, "The Lord, the Lord, the God merciful and gracious, longsuffering and abundant in goodness and in truth, keeping mercy for thousands and forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin." You know, God is a gracious God. God has been always gracious with humanity.

And in the fullness of time, he sent the Messiah. But before God the Son entered humanity, God always has showed mercy and grace to the people of this world, Israel the nation and the people of the world. And hear Moshe, hear the exclamation of the Lord. In Hebrew we say, "Adonai, Adonai, El rachum vechanun erech hapaim v'rav chesed veemet." Lord, Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering and abundant in goodness in truth. This is the kind of a God we have. And he was willing to save a person like Shaul, Paul, who rebelled against the truth of the gospel when he first heard that Jesus was the Messiah.

He rejected it at first. and he did not want to accept him. He persecuted the believers and he scattered them abroad. They lost everything in their head in the city of Jerusalem. They were spread around Judea and Samaria, away from the city of Jerusalem. Paul could never, ever forget what he had done. And he remembered the grace and the mercy and the love of the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, towards him. So in verse 13 he points to the Messiah, Yeshua's mercy. In verse 14 he points to Messiah, Yeshua's grace and love towards him. And now notice this, in verse 15 what Shaul, Paul is saying, he gives us an exclamation.

This exclamation found a few times in the letters that he wrote. It says, this is a faithful saying. And worthy of all acceptation that the Messiah Jesus, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief. Apparently, beloved brothers and sisters, in the first century there was already a faithful saying that was among the believers. A true saying. Believers among themselves perhaps was already then saying, listen, if there is anything we must say, expound and speak about, is the person of Yeshua, the Messiah. It is a true saying. It is a faithful saying. And Paul was saying to Timothy, this is a faithful saying.

Paul, what is the faithful saying? Paul, what is the faithful saying? Well, notice it said, it's worthy for all to accept that Christ Jesus, that the Messiah Yeshua came into the world to save sinners. Then he added, of whom I am the chief. that the Messiah, this is a faithful saying. This is a faithful saying. And it's worthy of everyone to accept this fact, that the Messiah Jesus came into this world to save sinners. Now, when I heard this message of the Gospel about 40 years ago, I said, are you out of your mind? you calling me a sinner? And I needed quickly to realize that being a sinner does not mean that we murder somebody else.

But being a sinner is a person who have inherited a sin nature from our forefathers. We've all inherited this sin nature. When a baby is born into this world, he or she, one day old, one minute old, have inherited a sin nature. And the reason that the Messiah had to come from heaven to this world is in order to forgive a person of his or her sin, not only the fruit of the sins, but the sin nature. Somebody said this like this, man is not a sinner because he sins, but man sin because he or she are sinners. Let me repeat it. man or woman is not sinners because they sin, but we sin because we have a sin nature.

And it was necessary for someone to pay for sin if we were going to be forgiven. And so Paul is saying this is a faithful saying. And it's worthy of everyone to accept this truth to accept this truth because if somebody doesn't accept the truth that the Messiah Yeshua came to this world to save sinners, they will have to find out that God is going to have to tell them, depart from me, ye workers of iniquity. I can never allow you into my presence because you have a sin nature in nature and the only way for you to have forgiveness of sins. I have sent my son the Messiah to this world, the anointed one to this world.

He paid for your sins. He was judged for your iniquity. He was the just one and you were the unjust. He was the one that was punished in order to bring you to me. And so Paul is saying it is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation. If you turn for a moment to chapter 4 of 1 Timothy, Paul in verse 9 said the same thing. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all to accept it. He repeated this more than once. He said this as well to Titus in chapter 3 and verse 8. It is a faithful saying. It is really worthwhile to say it and it is worthy of all to accept this truth that Paul is going to present before us.

And this is important beloved brothers and sisters because the only way that a person will ever be able to be forgiven he or she have to accept the price that the Messiah paid when he died for us on the tree. Now notice let me just kind of connect some verses with it. If you turn to the book of 1 Peter chapter 3 look how Peter presents the substitutionary work of the Lord Jesus the Messiah. He came to this world to save sinners. Peter says in 1 Peter chapter 3 and verse 18 it says for Christ for the Messiah also has once suffered for sins the just one for the unjust that he might bring us to God.

There are three words here that Bible teachers use. the first one is the word propitiation. Propitiation means satisfying God. And so it says here for the Messiah has once suffered for sins. The Messiah propitiated God. He had certified the righteous requirement of a holy God with respect to sin and sinners. He met the need that God demanded. That's propitiation. Then secondly notice he says the just for the unjust. That word that Bible teachers usually use is substitution. He was the just one. We including Paul were the unjust. That's why we are sinners. We were unjust. He took the penalty that you and I deserve to take.

That's why Paul is saying this is a faithful saying. It is worthy of all to accept this. He is the one that propitiated God. Satisfied God. But also become a substitution. The just one. Jesus. Yeshua. The unjust. Paul. and I and every person that is here in this world. But then notice the third statement. And that statement is reconciliation. To be reconciled. Notice that's why it says that he might bring us to God. You see how can God bring a sinner to himself? God. It is not possible. It is not possible to be brought to God without judgment that had to be dealt with sin.

Sin has to be judged. So God did something about this. And it is indeed a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that the Messiah Yeshua, the anointed one, Christ Jesus, came into this world for the express purpose that he might save sinners. You see, we mentioned that before. If you are not saved, you are lost. If you are not in, you are out. If you are not going to heaven, you are going to hell. If you are not a believer, you are an unbeliever. There is no in between. There is no fence to stand upon. And that's what Paul is emphasizing here. He says this is a faithful saying.

It is beautiful. The Hebrew word here, Hadavar Haniman. It is a faithful word. It is true and it is faithful. That the Messiah Yeshua came into this world to save sinners. You just read throughout the scripture. For example, in Romans 3, verse 23, For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. God. The psalmist of Israel says in Psalm 14, God looked from above to see if there is anyone who understand and do good. And he found none. All have gone astray. That's the reason that Yeshua, the Messiah, had to come to this world to save us. No religion will save us. No man-made ways will ever save us.

No work system will save us. No money that we pay will ever save us. nothing will save us. Nothing but the blood of our Lord Yeshua, the Messiah. And so Paul is emphasizing this when he's writing to Timothy. You see, Timothy apparently needed to be encouraged by that. Why? Because already some have entered into the local assembly at the city of Ephesus and said to them, you know what? Yes, you know, certain things we believe, but there are certain things things we don't really need to embrace. And we know this today. Some tell us, you don't have to be saved only on the basis of the work of Yeshua, the Messiah.

Jesus did some, and you and I have to do some. You see, that's how we can get saved. And Paul says, no, I can tell you this, he says to Timothy. I'm telling you, I was a blasphemer, a persecutor, and injurious. I had mercy. I received grace. And I'm telling you, it is a faithful saying and it's worthy for everyone to accept that the Messiah Yeshua, Christ Jesus, came into this world to save sinners. Now, I don't know everyone here, at least I know 99% of everyone that are here at the meeting today, I want to tell you that you need to be saved. And if you do not know the Lord, I want to tell you that the best decision you'll make in your life is to turn your heart to the Lord and accept Him as your Lord and as your Savior.

This is the most important decision you'll ever make in your entire life. He's the one who woo us and draw us to Himself. But then notice what Paul says here. He adds at the end in verse 15, and he says, "Of whom I am chief." Paul always felt that he was the worst sinner ever. He was the chief of sinners. You and I might look at him and say, "Paul, how can you say this about yourself? You are the chief of sinners? Look what people do in the world today. Look how people live in the world today. Paul, how can you say this about yourself?" Well, notice, Paul did not say here in this verse, "I was the chief." But he says, "I am the chief." Even now, after I have accepted Yeshua the Messiah, I know very well my sin nature.

I know my condition by nature. Notice, if I would write it, I would say, "I was the chief of sinners." But he doesn't say, "I was." He says, "I am." You know, he teaches us a great lesson here, beloved brothers and sisters. Why there are so many frictions among the people of God? Why we always seem to be able to hurt each other? Why is it that always there's friction and division among Christians or Messiah followers, whatever you call yourself? Because even though we are forgiven and are saved, yet we have a sin nature that rises up every time in our day-by-day life. And Paul knew that.

He doesn't change the fact that he was forgiven because he does say, "The Lord had grace towards me. He showed mercy towards me." But I'm telling you, I know myself very well. I know my heart. I know that the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Jeremiah said this. Already in the book of Genesis in chapter 6, we have a record about the condition of the human heart. Moshe gave this to us when he wrote chapter 6. He said, "God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." In Hebrew, it's kol ayom, all day long.

And you and I know very well your own heart. You live with yourself. I live with myself. I know very well how evil thoughts coming, hatred rises up, envy rises up, pride rises up, lust rises up, all sort of things that rise up in our own heart and our own mind. Paul is teaching Timothy this wonderful truth to get a hold of. Timothy, yes, we are forgiven, we are saved, but we have this old nature that we are struggling with it every day. And that's why he never forgot the fact that he is a sinner that was saved by grace and by mercy. And he says, "For the Messiah Yeshua came into this world to save sinners of whom I am chief." And in fact, brothers and sisters, if you and I actually would write this statement, you and I will have to put the very same word of whom I, Gideon, am chief.

Because we all have this sin nature that we struggle with it every day of our lives. turn to Romans chapter 7, verse 18, 19, and 20. Here is a struggle of a believer. And this is Paul sharing his struggle in his life as a believer. He says, "For I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. For to will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good I found not. For the good that I would do I do not. But the evil which I do not want to do this I do." Now if what I do I would not and it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.

And then he says in verse 22, "For I delight in the law of God after the inward men, but I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members." And then he says, "O wretched men that I am." Again, if I would have write that, I probably would say "O wretched man that I was." But Paul doesn't say so. He realized the reality of the sin nature. And I understand from Scripture that many don't realize that they have a problem. problem. We have a disease called sin. And that's why we need a Savior.

If there is someone that is perfect, have no sin in him or her, he or she do not need a Savior. But a sinner needs a Savior. And that's why Paul is saying here in this verse that he is the chief of sinners. But it is worthy of all acceptation to understand and to accept that Yeshua the Messiah came into this world to save sinners. That's why we rejoice because of the fact that he came to save us. We have hope beyond the grave. We have eternal life because of what he has done for us. for us. We are forgiven because he paid for the price of our sin and sins.

That's why he had to come to this world. One more point about verse 15. It says, Christ Jesus came into this world. It also teaches us his pre-existence. He did not begin his existence when he entered humanity here in this world. He is the eternal Son of God. He is the pre-existence person. He is God the Son that entered into this world. Isaiah the prophet of Israel of our own people said, Unto us a child is born. This is his humanity. But unto us a son is given. This is his divine nature. He is God and men in one. taking union humanity with divine nature. So, beautiful verse.

Indeed, we can say with Shaul Paul, this is a faithful saying and it is worthy of all to accept this. That the Messiah Yeshua came into this world to save sinners. And each and every one of us can add, like Paul did, of whom I am the chief. You know, it is interesting that sometimes we look at somebody else and we say, how bad he is. And we look at another person and we say, boy, how bad she is. Look what she did. And we don't look at ourselves because we often compare ourselves. Oh, look what they do. But me, I would never dare to do that.

We don't realize it. If we really search our hearts and if the Lord who sees our hearts knows things about us, He already proclaimed the reality about the condition of all humanity. The human race. And you and I can definitely include ourselves. I am the chief. So let's go down now to verse 16 and verse 17 and here I would like just to mention a few thoughts. Notice in verse 16, God saved Paul so he will become now a patron for others that are going to come later on. You see what Paul is saying in verse 16? How bit, for this cause I obtained mercy that in me first Jesus Christ, Yeshua HaMashiach might show forth all long-suffering for a patron to them which should hereafter believe on Him to life everlasting.

You see, God used Paul as a patron, as a form in Hebrew we call it "ot" as a sign because others are going to come to know the Lord later on. And if God can save the chiefest of sinners, He can also save you and I. And if God can save the one who have done so much harm, a blasphemer, a persecutor, an injurious, he can save you and I. No one is in a position that he can say no, I have no hope. There is no way that I can be saved. Look what I have done in my life. What you have done in your life is sin, whatever wrong we have done, and that's the reason why Yeshua the Messiah came to this world to save sinners.

And so Paul become a beautiful patron of those that are going to come later on to believe in Yeshua the Messiah. Now one thing I noticed that when I read this text, notice the word first. Now was Paul first a believer in Yeshua or no? The early apostles there were believers long before Shaul became a believer. There were many Hebrew believers that have already trusted that Yeshua was the Messiah before Shaul have accepted him. So why does he use the word first here? Well, remember, Paul understood that Israel his people still have a glorious future when as a nation Israel will come to accept the Messiah.

And Paul, Shaul, looked at himself as one that was born, you might say, born again, believer, earlier than the rest of our nation, the nation of Israel. Israel. And what he's really saying here and thinking about in his mind here, I become as a patron, as a dogma for the rest of my people, the people of Israel, who will also see the glorified Messiah in the future day and will accept him. Now, of course, you can apply it to all humanity, but I can understand from this text and other texts that he had in mind his Jewish brethren. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 7 and 8.

Paul is saying now after the resurrection of Yeshua, the Messiah. In fact, the whole 15th chapter speaks about the resurrection. in Hebrew. And he says about the Messiah, notice that the gospel he says in verse 3, Christ Jesus, he says, that the Messiah Yeshua died for our sins according to the scripture. And that he was buried and that he rose again according to the scripture on the third day. And then verse 5, he was seen of Cephas. Verse 6, he was seen of above 500 brethren. Verse 7, he was seen of James, of Yaakov. But now, notice what he says, verse 8. He says, last of all, he was seen of me.

This is Paul. This is Shaul. As one that is born out of due time. You see, Shaul, Paul always look at himself as one that is born again of accepted the Messiah earlier, out of due time. because the whole nation of Israel is anticipating the day of restoration and accepting that Jesus is the Messiah. So, Paul became a pattern for all the nation of Israel who at the end of the tribulation, our own nation, will finally recognize who Yeshua the Messiah is. and while Israel rejected the Messiahship of Yeshua at his first coming when he was on earth, Israel will accept Yeshua the Messiah at his second coming when he is going to come from glory at the end of the tribulation.

And every eye shall see him. Just the same like the Apostle Paul who saw Yeshua, the glorified Messiah, the glorified Messiah, Israel, our nation, will finally recognize the Messiahship of Jesus at the end of the tribulation period. Before the Messianic kingdom when Israel will be restored as a nation and will be reigning and ruling with Jesus the Messiah for a thousand years in the Messianic kingdom. So Paul is saying I am a pattern. And that's why he used the word I am first. The rest of them will come later on. I am one that was born out of due time. The rest of them will be born in a future day.

You just need to read Zechariah chapter 12 verse 10 to chapter 13 verse 1 They shall look upon me whom they have pierced and they shall mourn speaking about Israel for his one mourn for his only son for his only child. You can read Daniel chapter 7 when the Son of Man will appear in glory when the Messiah will come at his second coming. You can read Revelation chapter 1 and verse 7 and every eye shall see him. When Israel the nation ultimately and the rest of the nations of the world will realize that he is the promised Messiah. You can read in Revelation chapter 19 when he is going to come at the end of the tribulation to this world to judge this world in righteousness.

And ultimately Israel as a nation will accept him. What a glory. You know, Paul loved his brethren the nation of Israel. And he has always connection. I persecuted the early Hebrew believers and I am longing to see them restored in a future day. that's the heart of the Apostle Paul. That's why he could say in Romans 9 that he wished to be accursed from the Messiah for my brethren my kinsmen according to the flesh who are Israelites or Israelis. Paul loved the people of Israel so much and he was sharing with Timothy his experience as the Lord has saved him and he became a patron. One that is born out of due time waiting for the national restoration of the nation of Israel.

Now quickly, notice he is now giving a doxology. After telling all this presentation about the grace of God he concludes with this statement here in verse 17 and he says, listen, now unto the king eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. He is now recognizing Yeshua as the king. He is the king. He is eternal. He who melech in Hebrew. He is the king of king and lord of lord. He is eternal. He never had a beginning. He is immortal. He is invisible. Invisible. Of course, he became a man and they could see him. They could handle him then.

But he is that eternal, immortal, and invisible, and all-wise God. To him belong the honor and the glory forever and ever, the apostle Paul is saying to Timothy. According to Psalm 47 and verse 7, he was the king of all the earth. According to Isaiah 44 and verse 6, he is the king of our people Israel. According to Matthew chapter 2 and verse 2, he was called the king of the Jewish people. According to Matthew chapter 27, we read, this is Jesus, the king of the Jews. That was the sign that was placed above his head as an accusation. He is the king, he is the king, beloved brothers and sisters. When he is going to come at his second coming in chapter 19 of the book of Revelation, he is called king of kings and lord of lords.

Today, he is rejected. Today, the vast majority of the world despise him. And so, we would have nothing to do with this man by the name of Jesus, by the name of Yeshua. But he is going to come again. And he is going to rule and reign over this world, the king of Israel, the king of the universe, the king of the Jews, Melech HaYehudim. Our people Israel will accept him in a future day, while today, they are still blinded and they don't accept that he is the promised Mashiach. And may the Lord help us to recognize that he also ought to be the king of our lives.

How often time, we reject him for being the king of our own lives. And that's why, often time, we have no joy in our walk here as believers as believers in Yeshua the Messiah. Now, let me just make a couple of remarks on verses 18, 19, and 20. So, in verses 12 to 17, Paul testified to Timothy about God's grace and mercy and how he saved him, that he is the one that came to save sinners. And Paul says, "I am the greatest sinner. I am the chief." And now, that he presented before Timothy the fact that he received salvation because of the grace and mercy of God. Then, in verses 18, 19, and 20, he charges Timothy right now to hold on to the faith which was once and for all delivered unto the saints.

And so, in verse 18, notice what it says here. He says, "This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee that thou by them might war a good warfare." Timothy, don't be timid. I'm charging you to fight a good fight. It is a warfare that is going on when you become a believer in Yeshua, the Messiah, you immediately enter into some sort of a warfare. And you know this, brothers and sisters, isn't it true? I thought when I became a believer in Yeshua that my problem is going to be over, everything is going to work fine, I'm never going to have any more problems because after all I'm saved, I'm forgiven, I'm right with God on the basis of the bloodshed of Yeshua, the Messiah, but immediately I found out that it's not really so, though I'm positionally belong to the Lord, but practically there is a constant friction, constant warfare that is going on in this world in which we live in.

And so Timothy was exhorted by Paul to fight a good warfare. What does that mean? Not to trust in yourself, Timothy. Lean on the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah. Humble yourself before the Lord. Don't fight with human ammunition. Because we wrestle not against flesh and blood, Ephesians 6, but against principalities and against powers in the heavenlies. Satan is attacking the people of God, using the people of God against each other. The world is tempting us. The flesh is rising to seduce us in one way or another. Timothy, fight a war in a good way, a good warfare. Don't use your nature to fight this war. You know, brothers and sisters, Christ, if we will allow the Holy Spirit of God to work in our lives, we will be able to be successful among the people of God.

There will be joy among the people of God. The Lord will be honored among the people of God. We can fight a good warfare, not with human power, but with submissiveness to the Lord. There is an interesting verse in 2 Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 4 where Paul wrote about the weapons of our warfare. He says, for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imagination and every high thing that exaltes itself against the knowledge of God and bringing down or bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ, of the Mashiach. Can you imagine when every time we think evil to bring these thoughts into submissiveness to the obedience of the Messiah?

That's why he said the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. We cannot fight or have a war with carnal weapons. What do you think? That your flesh is better than my flesh? Or that his flesh is better than her flesh? Or that our flesh is better than Paul's flesh? All flesh is flesh. And when we fight this warfare in the energy of the flesh, there is nothing for the Lord. It's not motivated by the Spirit of God. Galatians 5 said, the flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh and they are contrary to each other. No wonder at times we are defeated in a practical way.

And so, he teaches us the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. You can't win with carnal fighting. But they are mighty only through God to the pulling down of stronghold. You know, as we lean on God and trust in God and allow the Spirit of God to help us in the ministry, in the work, in our walk with the Lord, we will be able to be successful spiritually. Look at Paul. He suffered so much and yet he was victorious because he leaned on the Lord and he didn't trust in himself. And every time that we fail into sin is because we trusted in ourselves.

We thought we knew better than God. We thought, God, what does he know? I know better than him. And we find out that we fail him. Instead of waiting, they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. that's what we need in our personal life and we need it in every situation. And so, don't fight this warfare in a bad way, Timothy, verse 18 of chapter 1, but war a good warfare. Verse 19 now, hold the faith in good conscience. You know, the word conscience in Hebrew is the word matzpun. It comes from the Hebrew word matzpen, which is a compass. If you have a compass, it's always going north, right?

It's always pointing to the north. If you turn it this way, it's always going to point to the north. You've got to look from there always to another direction. And how many times we don't have a clean conscience? I don't have to speak for you, I speak for myself. And when we don't have a clean conscience, we, at times, we don't sleep at night. We don't have easiness in our lives because we have a bad conscience. And Paul says, listen, holding faith and a good conscience. With some, listen, beloved brothers, with some, having put away concerning faith, have made shipwreck. You see what happens when we don't have a good conscience and unfortunately at times we don't.

And if we continue instead of just submitting to the Lord and confessing and saying, Lord, I messed it up. And if we continue in our own way persisting in our own way as believers. Now, we can make a shipwreck. How many people gave up on reading their Bible, gave up on going to meetings, gave up on reading the scripture, gave up on prayer, gave up on all sort of things that related to the Lord. Why? Because they have no good conscience. They don't feel comfortable anymore. And you know, the Lord want to give us a clean conscience if we come to Him and confess it.

The Lord, Yeshua, the Messiah, cleanses us from all sin. And the Lord can restore us to Himself. And the fellowship can be restored and we can be used by the Lord. When Jonah, Yonah, Hanavi, went astray from the Lord, the Lord spoke to him and he was restored and he used him a second time. And you can see throughout history, whether it is Old Testament saints or New Testament saints, God is in the business of restoring His own people and therefore He wants us to fight a good warfare and to do so with standing, holding on to the face which was once delivered unto the saints, as Jude tells us.

And having a good conscience. Because otherwise we are liable of having shipwreck. You see, our salvation does not depend upon nothing else but the blood of Yeshua, the Messiah. But as believers, we can at times get away from the will of the Lord and end up to become a shipwreck. And so, he concludes here in verse 20 and he says, "Of whom? And he named for us two people, Hemanias and Alexander, whom I have delivered unto Satan that they may learn not to bless him." There were apparently two people in this local church of Ephesus and Paul says, "Hemanias and Alexander I delivered unto Satan." He had an apostolic authority.

He delivered them to Satan. He says, "Okay, they will learn. You want to live like this? Okay, go to Satan's domain and there you're going to see what's going to be happening." In 1 Corinthians 5, he took that man outside of the local assembly and he says, "I deliver him unto Satan." there he's going to learn to see that the life in that way is not pleasing to the Lord. And then later on he was restored to the assembly. Well, Hemanias and Alexander had been delivered unto Satan that they will learn not to blaspheme, not to speak against the truth of the word of God. Well, brothers and sisters, thank the Lord for these verses.

Paul is sharing with Timothy some things that were important for Timothy to help the believers in the city of Ephesus. May the Lord bless his word.