Sermon Notes-"What's Your Focus?" Based on 1 Timothy 1:12-15

Introduction: As I was preparing, I decided I wanted to start by sharing some optical illusions with you.  What you focus on determines what you see?  Paul helps us to see in 1 Timothy 1:12-15 what we should be focusing on. 

 

 

Who I am (vs. 12, 15)

·         Thankful-why? (given strength and appointed)

o   Given Strength

§  Notice the focus is not on Paul’s strength, but on Christ giving strength.

·         Philippians 4:13-“I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

§  Is this strength available to you?  Notice the phrase “our Lord”^[1]

·         Paul recognizes that the strength given to him is also available to every believer.

o   Faithful

§  Was Paul chosen by God because of what He would do?  Was Paul appointed because he was a good guy? NO. Paul being called faithful is a focus on what the Lord would do through him and that he would be reliable for the task.

·         Greek “pistos”-in addition to faithful, can be translated trustworthy, reliable, trusting, believing

·         It is not that Paul at the time of his conversion had already proved his faithfulness, but that the Lord was willing to consider him then and there worthy of trust and therefore as one who would be faithful. Paul’s gratitude is to the strengthening Christ who transformed him forthwith from the persecutor to the trustworthy servant.^[2]

o   Appointed

§  Paul was not suggesting he had received the appointment to ministry because God thought so well of him. He was amazed that a man from his background would ever be entrusted with the gospel at all.^[3]

·         Worst Sinner

o   Paul calls himself “the worst” sinner.  Do you agree? We will look at some of the things Paul did in just in a minute.

o   Paul uses a present tense: I am chief. Or foremost. Probably every believer could and should view themselves in this light^[4]

o   Woe is me.  Look how bad I am.  Or does this allow us to see what a life transformed by grace looks like?

o   Some believe that if we preach grace alone, faith alone, Christ alone that it will give people license to sin.  They think we need to use guilt, shame, punishment, fear to get people to behave.  But for someone who understands grace, the opposite happens. The deeper I go into grace, the more I realize my own sin.  Grace does an amazing work on my heart that allows me to see my own sin as the worst rather than focusing on everyone else’s sin.

o   As we understand what Christ has done for us, like Paul, we don’t minimize our sin (thought, word, deed), we recognize the magnitude of it but quickly look to the Cross.

Who I was (vs. 13)

·         Blasphemer

o   “one who is slanderous”-He denied that Jesus was the Christ.

o   Acts 26:9-11

·         Persecutor

o   Acts 9:4; Acts 22:4

·         Violent

o   Greek word also means insolent, sarcastic, carries the idea of bully. One who is characterized by offensive disrespectful acts or statements.

o   As I read earlier from Acts 26:9-11-Paul locked in prison, cast votes to put them to death, punished them

·         But God showed Paul mercy

o   God in His mercy did not give Paul what he did deserve; instead God in His grace gave Paul what he did not deserve. Grace and mercy are God’s love in action^[5]

o   Because he acted in ignorance & unbelief

§  Root word for unbelief is opposite of faithful—not trustworthy, refusing to trust, not believing

o   How should we respond to friends, family, neighbors, culture who oppose Jesus or disagree with our beliefs?

§  It’s not us vs. them.  There is only us.

§  Realize they “don’t know what they don’t know”

§  As God showed mercy to the blaspheming, persecuting, violent Paul, ask for strength to show that same mercy to others.

Who He is (vs. 14-15)

·         Grace--What is grace? We get what we don’t deserve.  Unmerited favor. It’s One Way Love. It’s for all of life.  It changes everything. 

·         We are justified by grace; we are sanctified by grace (motivated to obedience, enabled to serve); we are glorified by grace. The entire Christian life is lived under the reign of God’s grace. (Jerry Bridges)

·         “Grace was not an addition to God’s plan; grace was a part of God’s plan from the very beginning. God dealt with Adam and Eve, patriarchs, nation of Israel in grace; He gave the Law through Moses, not to replace His grace, but to reveal man’s need for grace. Law was temporary, but grace is eternal.”^[6] (Warren Wiersbe)

·         “The law was never intended to provide salvation but to convince people of their need for it.”^[7] (R. H. Mounce)

·         Tim Keller in Prodigal God writes, “What makes you faithful or generous is not just a redoubled effort to follow moral rules. Rather, all change comes from deepening your understanding of the salvation of Christ and living out of the changes that understanding creates in your heart..”

·         No matter how great human sin becomes, God’s grace overflows beyond it and abundantly exceeds it.^[8] (J.A. Witmer)

·         We think that God’s grace covered us up to the point of salvation and somehow we must now get it right to continue as Jesus’ disciple. (Jim Putman, DiscipleShift)

·         Abundance

o   It’s not just enough. Paul liked to use the Greek prefix which means “an exceeding abundant amount”^[9] The result--Faith & love came as a response to God’s grace^[10]

·         Came to save sinners

o   The saying is trustworthy-it is reliable, it is true.

o   The saying itself, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,” is a compact statement of the gospel.^[11]

o   Incarnation-Came into the world-

§  John 3:19-the light came into the world ; John 9:39 I came into this world, that those who do not see may see; John 12:46- I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness; John 16:28- I came from the Father and have come into the world

o   Luke 19:10-“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”

§  Who is lost and who needs saving? You and Me.

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^[1] Knight, G. W. (1992). The Pastoral Epistles: a commentary on the Greek text (p. 93). Grand Rapids, MI; Carlisle, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press.

^[2] Knight, G. W. (1992). The Pastoral Epistles: a commentary on the Greek text (p. 94). Grand Rapids, MI; Carlisle, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press.

^[3] Lea, T. D., & Griffin, H. P. (1992). 1, 2 Timothy, Titus (Vol. 34, p. 73). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

^[4] Wilkin, R. N. (2010). The First Epistle of Paul the Apostle to Timothy. In R. N. Wilkin (Ed.), The Grace New Testament Commentary (p. 965). Denton, TX: Grace Evangelical Society.

^[5] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 212). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

^[6] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 529). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

^[7] Mounce, R. H. (1995). Romans (Vol. 27, p. 145). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

^[8] Witmer, J. A. (1985). Romans. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2, p. 460). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

^[9] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 212). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

^[10] Lea, T. D., & Griffin, H. P. (1992). 1, 2 Timothy, Titus (Vol. 34, p. 74). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

^[11] Knight, G. W. I. (1995). 1-2 Timothy/Titus. In Evangelical Commentary on the Bible (Vol. 3, p. 1103). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.