Foremost Sinner
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Intro
Intro
A Letter from Paul the Apostle to Timothy - the young pastor deployed to Ephesus
This letter gives instruction to Timothy about how he is to lead the church and organise the church.
This ancient wisdom is for us today, it tells us how God wants his church to function.
Last week we saw Defending Doctrine is not just the purview of scholars with PHDs coming out their ears, or gifted apologists in heady Oxford debates, it is the job of every local pastor to be able to clearly teach the faith and respond to those who try to slip in destructive lies.
We were also reminded last week that God’s law, in particular his moral law is still good when used lawfully. Pastors
This week, as the letter continues, we get some reflections from Paul on his own history and in particular his movement from being a lawless and disobedient, to being just and right with God. He starts talking about his Former way of Life. This is the first of 4 sections in this passage.
Former Way of Life
Former Way of Life
v12-13
Each of us loves the Law of our country at some level right? We might balk at the innumerable laws pumped out by parliaments on a weeks by week basis, but at the end of the day we’re happy that the police arrest murderers. We’re happy that we can get from A to B with a reasonable expectation that the cars going the other direction will stay on their side of the road.
Law can be good. And if the laws of this country, made up by the parliaments can be good, how much more will God’s law be good!
We have reason to be concerned if we are on the wrong side of local law. And we have greater reason to be concerned if we’re on the wrong side of God’s law!
Paul, the author of this letter used to be very much on the wrong side of God’s law. His former way of life was not good at all.
You might think that he moved from being a lawbreaker to being a law-keeper by pulling up his socks and trying harder, but that’s not what happened.
Lets look...
I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief,
Paul thanks Jesus for the strength he has given. Jesus has commissioned Paul as an apostle and given him the strength he needs to carry out the mission.
Paul was judged faithful now, but that’s not how it used to be. He is able to be a Christian leader because he is not what he once was.
What was he formerly? A lawbreaker.
Blashpemer - saying untruths about God.
Persecutor - throwing Christians in jail and overseeing executions
Insolent opponent - violent, trying to cause harm to others.
This was all evident in Paul’s previous commission, where he traveled around jailing Christians.
But then he received mercy in the midst of his ignorance.
BTW ignorance didn’t remove his guilt: “The point is that his salvation was undeserved; his ignorance did not excuse his sin or warrant God’s mercy.”)
It’s not like mercy is deserved if you’re ignorant, the mercy is still undeserved, but the only way out for Paul was mercy from God, so God broke into his unbelief and ignorance
Seems to be In contrast to the false teachers who appear to willfully act this way… They profess Jesus, yet they are being blasphemous and opposing truth. It’s one thing to do it in ignorance, but these guys are without excuse.
Lets think about ourselves for a minute. Does v12-13 have any parallels in our life?
What sins are in your life?
Yes! Each of us has a history with varying shades of good and evil.
Have you ever said anything untrue about God? Have you rejected his authority over your life?(blasphemy)
Have you ever joined in persecuting Christians? At a guess I imagine none of us have been involved in jailing Christians, but perhaps you used to sneer at them, call them names, write on social media about how dumb they were.
Have you ever wished to hurt or harm others? Wishing that someone would die? Perhaps you have actually assaulted someone or manipulated situations to try and make them fail.
Unbelief - this is a sin.
Even if these things are not in your history, we know that each of us has been a lawbreaker. And not just once or twice, but we have had a pattern of sinning against God both in the world, and in our heart.
Perhaps even today you have been acting in ignorance, and walking in unbelief
But like for Paul, there is mercy on the horizon. There is hope for a future where you look back on these descriptions as your “former” way. And the way is through the mercy of God where he pours out Overflowing Grace!
God gives Overflowing Grace
God gives Overflowing Grace
v14-15
This is section 2.
Grace is something that many of us hold in high regard. Grace
What is grace?
Grace is unmerited favor. It is undeserved blessing.
I would suggest to you that the kind of grace we like in everyday life is not really grace. Imagine for a moment there was a single mum who didn’t pay her taxes for five years. Things were a bit tight, and she thought she could get away with it.
She got caught, and now she’s facing a prison sentence. She’s got kids to look after. In this case we might plead for mercy, that the judge would be gracious and somehow lessen the sentence. But do you see what we did? We brought in mitigating circumstances and used them as a reason why we thought she should get grace. We empathise with the lady because of the circumstances she’s in.
If grace is extended on the basis of some qualification of of the recipient, then it’s not grace. If there is anything about the circumstances that means she deserves favour, or a lesser sentence on the basis of merit, then it’s not truly grace.
God, our God, is just. Perfectly Just. He is the very definition of true justice. And every sin of ours, like those we looked at in the previous section, deserve a righteous and fair judgment from God.
It is as though we stand in the dock in God’s courtroom, with guilt written all over our face, and we have a rap sheet so long we’ve lost track of all the stuff on it. Satan stands there to accuse us - “I’ve got all the evidence right here, in fact I personally incited half the things on the list”
Our guilt is not in question. Like Paul, anyone who knows us can look back into our history and see the dodgy things we have done in the past. It’s no contest, we’re obviously lawbreakers. We do not deserve any lighter sentence, or any reprieve from justice.
So what happens next?
We deserve no reprieve. Paul in his blasphemy and persecution and violence didn’t deserve any thing good, yet what does he tell us happened?
and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
God took a terrible sinner, gave him grace and brought him to faith.
Grace overflowed to Paul, with what? How did that grace take shape? The grace was evident in bringing Paul to faith! Bringing him to Love. All in Christ.
This was undeserved! But God in his boundless grace brought good to Paul when he only deserved punishment.
Notice how faith comes from God? Some of us Christians sometimes get into the habit of thinking about faith in Jesus as something that we have brought to the table. “If I bring faith in God, he gives me grace” No! There is nothing we bring to the table, even faith itself. We can only have faith when we receive it from God by his grace.
So how can faith and love deal with our previous lawlessness? God would be unjust if he just came to us and said “don’t worry about your previous lawbreaking, it doesn’t matter” To say it doesn’t matter is to undermine justice! So, to pour out grace and save sinners, God sent His Son Jesus to accomplish salvation:
The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.
Jesus came into the world as God & Man
He lived the righteous life, he suffered in our place. He died on a cross and entered the grave. But he also defeated death!
Paul, as “the worst” of sinners was one for whom Jesus came.
We are each terrible sinners in our own right, and Jesus came to save sinners just like you and me.
We only deserve punishment, but God overflows grace for us to bring us to Faith and Love in Jesus.
This saysing is trustworthy, because it is the crux of the Gospel message. Christianity is built or falls on this one saying.
Is there anything you have done that God can’t forgive? How far can God’s grace go?
Why does God show his grace and mercy to people? He doesn’t have to be merciful (otherwise if wouldn’t be mercy!).
God Displays his Patience
God Displays his Patience
v16-17
Section 3
Paul reflects on why God saw fit to show him mercy. It was not just for his own benefit, but for the benefit of others!
But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.
As a “worst” sinner, Paul was a perfect candidate to show God’s overflowing grace & mercy.
It shows how patient God is to put up with ongoing blasphemy
He has been ana example down through the ages.
You’re not too far Gone! God’s patience is for you today!
God shows patience in you who became believers later in life.
Paul responds to this wonderful new with praise to God
To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
God deserves praise and honour for all he’s done!
How does Jesus display His perfect patience in us?
After this brief moment of benediction, Paul returns to the theme that opened the letter...
Fight the Good Fight
Fight the Good Fight
v18-20
Section 4
Returning to the charge to respond to bad teaching and it’s corollary: preach the gospel faithfully.
This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith,
among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.
How should pastors fight?
So What?
So What?
We do not deserve mercy or grace as lawless sinners.
But in grace, God can overflow faith and love in Jesus into our lives.
Jesus came into the world as a man for that very purpose, to save sinners like you.
God’s patience to Paul reveals the love and patience of God toward all people