The Chief Sinners Objects of the Choicest Mercy

Lightly modernized for today’s readersThis is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.-1 TIM. 1:15.I. Obs. The salvation of sinners was the main design of Christ’s coming into the world.II. God often makes the chiefest sinners objects of his choicest mercy. Regarding the second point, it should be noted that: 1.God has previously extended invitations to such sinners. Look at how sinful they were, as described in Isaiah 1. They were rebels, and rebels against the one who had nurtured them: 'I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me' (verse 2). In this respect, they were worse than the animals they owned; the dull ox and the stupid donkey were more clever: 'The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s crib; but Israel does not know, my people do not consider' (verse 3). God calls on heaven and earth to judge them (verse 2). He appeals to men and angels as a jury to give their verdict, whether these people had not been the most ungrateful and disingenuous people in the world. If by 'heaven and earth' he meant magistrates and people, as is usually the case in prophetic language, then God is appealing to them to let their own natural consciences and common sense judge between them. He accuses them of being 'laden with iniquity' (verse 4). They had such heavy burdens on them that they could not move, or they were burdened like crabapples with sour fruit. They had come from a wicked stock; they had corrupted one another by their society and example, as rotten apples putrefy the sound ones that lie near them.