The Worst of Them - September 11, 2016

1 Timothy 1:12-17 (NIV) 

The Lord’s Grace to Paul 

12 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service. 13 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. 14 The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 

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. 16 But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life. 17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen. 

This is not the typical thanksgiving, this time Paul is giving thanksgiving for himself and what God has done for him. 

What God did (1:12, 14-15) 

1. He saved Paul (1:14-15) 

He says there is a trustworthy statement, Something Paul says when talking to pastors if you look at 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus. These are his sure sayings, you can be sure of it, you can believe it, the statement is faithful and worthy of all acceptance. What is it that you can believe? You can believe that Christ came into the world to save the sinners.   

Watch the text here, Christ came into the world, Christ came, not Christ born, Christ came, Christ was her before the world was formed.  

John 1:1-5 (NIV) 

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. 

John 1:14 (NIV) 

14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. 

Revelation 19:13 (NIV) 

13 He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. 

Christ was there in the beginning and the text says he came.  

What did Christ come to do? He came into the world to save the sinners. 

Isaiah 53 bullet points 

He is despised and rejected by men, 

Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken 

But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. 

He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth. 

And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors 

Christ stepped out of eternity, put on human flesh, and lived a life so that we could have eternal life. God loved us so much that he sent his son Jesus to die for us, his name wasn't Jesus for all those super scholars out there, Jesus is just what it translates in to English but he came into this world to save us, save us from what, death hell and the grave, the penalty of sin. We all are subject to the penalty of sin, ever since the fall of man, ever since Adam and Eve were kicked out of the Garden of Eden, we have lost that direct access to heaven. But God sent his son to change all that. Through Christ coming into this world, living a perfect life, dying for our sins and being raised from the dead, whoever believes that can no longer face the penalty of sin. Paul is letting us know, because of what Jesus did, Paul doesn’t have to worry about the penalty anymore, and neither do any of you if you choose to believe.  

2. He selected Paul (1:12) 

God has a plan for you, you may not realize it yet but as long as you have breath in your body God has plan for you. He had a plan for Paul, he had a plan for Timothy, he has a plan for everybody, it is up to us to find that plan and say "here I am Lord, send me." Just as Paul was selected to do something great for God so are we. Paul was commissioned to do a work for the Lord.  

 When God did it (1:13)  

At the time the apostle was a blasphemer and violent persecutor of Christians. Paul was a persecutor of the church, reading Act 8-9, and 22, and 26, you see what Paul was doing when he came across Christians, he went from house to house putting men and women in prison. He got the High Priest involved and got letters from him sent them to the synagogues.  

He was on his way to Damascus and got blinded by the light and heard a voice saying Saul, Saul, why do you persecuting me. He asks who was he talking to? The voice said "I am Jesus you are persecuting." He was blinded for days and eventually met up with Peter who helped him understand.  

Paul did not know what he was doing nor did he know who he was doing this against, but God still chose to save him, the worst  of them, and if God has done it before, God can do it again.  

During the Watergate Scandal Leon Jaworski special prosecutor for the case was attending church at the New York Ave Presbyterian church in Washington DC. He looked at the Lincoln pew one Sunday, the Lincoln pew was reserved for visiting presidents because that is where Abraham Lincoln once sat when he visited the church. But this Sunday President Nixon came in and sat down, so the special prosecutor began to imagine if President Nixon asked for a moment of the Pastor's time during service and said:  

 

"I want to say today that, as president of the United States, I have sinned before God and I have lied to you. I have asked his forgiveness and I now ask yours. I have come to this church today to make full disclosure of who and what I am and what I have become. I promise you from this day forward I'm going to do better."  Leon Jaworski said if he had done that as he had turned it in his mind, we would have probably gathered the president up and put him on our shoulders and carried him back to the White House. It is a thought worth thinking about for all of us to acknowledge our sins.

1 John 1:9 (NKJV) 

9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 

This is not a pass to do what we want, this is not to downplay Sin, but it is to let us know that we need to confess them. Not to everybody but at least to God.  

Why God did it (1:16-17) 

He did it to demonstrate his amazing grace to even the worst of sinners.  

That makes me happy, because I may not have been going church to church fighting, killing people, and putting the rest in prison, but I have certainly done some things not worthy of salvation, not worthy of Gods grace overflowing. This is not to brag, or flaunt a get out of jail free card but to show others that God's grace is available for all. It is a gift that you cannot earn, something you cannot work for. Amazing grace how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me, I once was lost but now I'm found, was blind but now I see. If left to my own devices, I know I could not save myself, if left to my own devices I could not work my way into heaven with these hands. But if not for Gods grace, Gods unmerited favor, God's showing the ultimate act of love.  

17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.