“Preach the Gospel”

Spiritual Leadership in the Church Series

1 Tim 1:12-17

THEME: Faithfully fulfill the ministry committed to your charge.

RELEVANCE: discouraging and difficult tasks should not be permitted to force us to abandon the ministry committed to us.  We must be steadfast and faithful to our charge to keep the faith by teaching sound doctrine, proclaiming the Gospel, and defending the Faith.

INTRODUCTION:

If Jesus Christ had advertised for workers, the announcement might have read something like this:

“Men and women wanted for difficult task of helping to build My church. You will often be misunderstood, even by those working with you. You will face constant attack from an invisible enemy. You may not see the results of your labor, and your full reward will not come till after all your work is completed. It may cost you your home, your ambitions, even your life.”

In spite of the demands that He makes, Jesus Christ receives the 'applications' of many who gladly give their all for Him. He is certainly the greatest Master for whom anyone could work, and the task of building His church is certainly the greatest challenge to which a believer could give his life.

MESSAGE:

Proclaim the Gospel (1 Tim. 1:12-17)

The mention of "the glorious Gospel of the blessed God" (1 Tim 1:11) moved Paul to share his own personal testimony. He was "Exhibit A" to prove that the Gospel of the grace of God really works. When you read Paul's testimony (see also Acts 9:1-22; 22:1-21; 26:9-18), you begin to grasp the wonder of God's grace and His saving power.

A. WHAT PAUL USED TO BE (V. 13 A). 

          1. He Was A Blasphemer.

·       He was a blasphemer because he denied the deity of Jesus Christ and forced others to deny it.

·       The reason this was so striking to the apostle was that he knew so well the pit from which he had been dug.

·       When he gave this description of his past, he was a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, he was not exaggerating for the sake of effect. (See Acts 22:4-5, 19-20; 26:9-11 for the vivid truth.)

          2.  He Was A Persecutor.

·       He was a persecutor who used physical power to try to destroy the church. “Threatenings and slaughter” were the very breath of his life (Acts 9:1).

·       He persecuted the Christian church (1 Cor 15:9) and then discovered that he was actually laying hands on Jesus Christ, the Messiah! (Acts 9:4)

·       During this period of his life, Paul consented to the stoning of Stephen and made havoc of the church (Acts 8:1-4).

          3.  He Was Injurious.

·       Paul was injurious, a word that means “proud and insolent.”

·       A modern equivalent might be "bully,"

·       It conveys the idea of a haughty man "throwing his weight around" in violence.

          4.  He Was an Ignorant Unbeliever.

·       But the basic causes of his godless behavior were "ignorance" and "unbelief."

1.    Even though Saul of Tarsus was a brilliant man and well educated (Acts 22:3; Gal 1:13-14), his mind was blinded from the truth (1 Cor 2:14; 2 Cor 4:3-4).

2.    He was a religious man, yet he was not headed for heaven!

3.    It was not until he put faith in Jesus Christ that he was saved (Phil 3:1-11).

·       Yet Paul was shown mercy because his actions were the product of ignorance.

1.    Willful disobedience triggers God’s wrath (Num. 15:22-31; Heb. 10:26).

2.    But God deals gently with the ignorant and misguided (Heb. 5:2).

3.    The German philosopher Nietzsche said, “If you could prove God to me, I would believe Him all the less.” No such willfulness characterized Paul’s unbelief.

B. HOW PAUL WAS SAVED (VV. 13B-15).

1. How Could The Holy God Ever Save And Forgive Such A Self-Righteous Sinner

A) Through Mercy and Grace. (Vs. 13, 14)

·       The key words are "mercy" and "grace." 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 is God’s undeserved, unearned, freely given favor. Grace is God’s loving forgiveness, by which He grants salvation apart from any merit on the part of those He saves (see Rom. 3:24; Gal. 1:6).

·       “but I obtained mercy” If the apostle Paul could find mercy after the terrible things he did against Christ, then God surely offers salvation with “open arms” to all people (see 2:4). 

B) With Faith.

·       faith and love. Attitudes frequently linked with salvation in the NT (cf. Eph. 1:15; 3:17; Col. 1:4,23). They are gifts of God’s grace in Christ.

C) With Love.

·       Grace and mercy are God's love in action, God's love paying a price to save lost sinners. It is not God's love alone that saves us, for God loves the whole world (John 3:16).

·       It is by grace that we are saved (Eph 2:8-9) because God is rich in mercy (Eph 2:4) and grace (Eph 2:7).

2. What Did Paul's "Ignorance" Have To Do With His Salvation? (Vs. 1:13)

A) Is Ignorance An Excuse Before God?

·       Of course not! The fact of his ignorance is related to a special Jewish law (Lev 5:15-19; Num 15:22-31).

·       If a person sinned knowingly "with a high hand" in Israel, he was cut off from the people. But if he sinned in ignorance, he was permitted to bring the proper sacrifices to atone for his sins.

B) Jesus Recognized This Principle When He Prayed On The Cross, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34).

C) Their Ignorance Did Not Save Them, Nor Did Christ's Prayer Save Them; but the combination of the two postponed God's judgment, giving them an opportunity to be saved.

3. Paul Stated That It Took "Exceeding Abundant" Grace To Save Him!

     A) The grace given to Paul was “exceeding abundant,” overflowing beyond all expectations.

1.    Therefore the apostle received God’s mercy, not His wrath. God’s grace far outpaced even Paul’s grievous sin.

2.    Where there was once only unbelief, God poured out . . . “faith” . . . “in Christ Jesus.”

3.    Where there had been violent aggression against God and His people, now God poured out the love of Christ. (See 2 Tim. 2:10.) 

B) Everything Paul Lacked, God’s Grace Had More Than Amply Supplied.

1.    The term “exceeding abundant”, means “to be present in great or superabundance.”) Here may be seen the full measure of what Paul meant when he spoke of the empowering ministry of Christ (1 Tim. 1:12).

2.    “Paul liked to use the Greek prefix huper (meaning "an exceeding abundant amount"), and he often attached it to words in his letters. You might translate some of these as "superincrease of faith" (2 Thess 1:3); "superabounding power" (Eph 1:19); "superconqueror" (Rom 8:37). This same prefix has come into the English language as hyper. We speak of "hyperactive" children and "hypersensitive" people.” ---W.W. Wiersbe

4. Paul Makes It Clear That This Salvation Is Not For Him Only, But For All Who Receive Jesus Christ (1 Tim 1:15).

A) If Jesus Could Save Saul Of Tarsus, The Chief Of Sinners, Then He Can Save Anybody!

·       “This is a faithful saying.” A phrase unique to the Pastoral Epistles (cf. 3:1; 4:9; 2 Tim. 2:11; Titus 3:8), which announces a statement summarizing key doctrines. The phrase “worthy of all acceptation” gives the statement added emphasis. Apparently, these sayings were well known in the churches, as concise expressions of cardinal gospel truth.

·       World refers to all humanity.

·       Save means to deliver or rescue. Christ came to die for the sins of humanity.

·       This faithful saying was based on the statements of Jesus recorded in Matt. 9:13; Luke 19:10.

·       “The central thrust of Paul’s personal digression, begun in verse 12, now becomes clear. It is a testimony concerning the purpose of the Incarnation of Christ. Jesus came not merely to set an example or to show that He cared. He came to salvage sinners from their spiritual destitution—and Paul said he was the worst of that lot. There must be no misunderstanding of this most fundamental point. It is a truth that is completely trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. (Four other passages include this “trustworthy” phrase: 3:1; 4:9; 2 Tim. 2:11; Titus 3:8.)” ---John Walvoord

·       “Here we come to the very heart of the difference between true Christianity and all other teachings. False religions tell man that there is something he can do or be in order to win favor with God. The gospel tells man that he is a sinner, that he is lost, that he cannot save himself, and that the only way he can get to heaven is through the substitutionary work of the Lord Jesus on the cross. The type of law teaching which Paul described earlier in this chapter gives a place to the flesh. It tells man exactly what he wants to hear, namely, that he can somehow contribute to his own salvation. But the gospel insists that all the glory for the work of salvation must go to Christ alone, that man does nothing but the sinning, and that the Lord Jesus does all the saving.”  ---William MacDonald

B) We Admire Paul's Humility!

·       We note that he considered himself to be the "least of the apostles" (1 Cor 15:9).

·        And he referred to himself as the "least of all saints" (Eph 3:8).

·       Notice that Paul did not write "of whom I was chief" but "of whom I am chief." He was “first,” in rank.

·       Paul saw the degradation of sin and understood the sinfulness of human beings. Because of this, he placed himself first among sinners.

·       Few could be considered a worse sinner than someone who blasphemed God and persecuted His church (see 1 Cor. 15:9; Eph. 3:8). Paul’s attitude toward himself dramatically changed (Phil. 3:7–9; Rom 7:7–12).

C. WHOM PAUL BECAME (VV. 12, 16).

1.  A Minister. (Vs. 12)

A) The Grace Of God Turned The Persecutor Into A Preacher, And The Murderer, Into A Minister And A Missionary!

1) So dramatic was the change in Paul's life that the Jerusalem church suspected that it was a trick, and they had a hard time accepting him (Acts 9:26-31).

2) God gave Paul His ministry; he did not get it from Peter or the other Apostles (Gal 1:11-24). He was called and commissioned by the risen Christ in heaven.

3) “At this point Paul’s inventory of sinners, of which he knew he was the chief—combined with his remembrance of the gospel with which he had been entrusted—triggered within him a powerful surge of gratitude. Literally, the words “Thanks I have”—with “thanks” in the emphatic position—begins this section. Paul’s gratitude stemmed from the fact that God in His grace had provided Paul all necessary enablement (cf. Phil. 4:13) and, considering him trustworthy, had pressed him into a privileged place of service.”  ---John Walvoord

4) “Verses 12–17 seem to illustrate the lawful use of the law from Paul’s own experience. The law was not to him a way of salvation, but rather a means of conviction of sin.

First of all he bursts out into thanksgiving to Christ Jesus for His enabling grace. The emphasis is not on what Saul of Tarsus did for the Lord but what the Lord did for him. The apostle could never get over the wonder that the Lord Jesus not only saved him but counted him faithful, appointing him to His service. The law could never have shown such grace. Rather, its inflexible terms would have condemned the sinner Saul to death.” ---William MacDonald

B) God Saw That Paul Was Faithful, And So He Entrusted The Gospel To Him. (Vs. 1:12)

1) Even as an unbelieving and Gospel-ignorant Jewish leader, Paul had maintained a good conscience and he lived up to the light that he had. So often those who are intensely wrong as lost sinners become intensely right as Christians and are greatly used of God to win souls.

2) God not only entrusted the Gospel to Paul, but He enabled Paul to minister that Gospel (1 Cor 15:10; Phil 4:13). When someone obeys God's call to serve, God always equips and enables that person.

·       1 Cor. 15:10, But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

·       Philip. 4:13, I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

3) No person has the power to do spiritual warfare; no person can penetrate the spirits of other people. If a person is to minister to people, he must be empowered by Christ, for only Christ can penetrate the spirits of people.

·       Therefore, the minister must possess the power of Christ.

·       Thought 1. This is a critical fact. It means that a person cannot make himself a minister nor can other persons choose him to be a minister-not a true minister, not a minister who pleases Christ and can be blessed by Christ.

·       Why? Because no person can carry on a successful ministry in his own strength, not a ministry that truly reaches people for Christ and delivers them from sin, death, and the judgment to come. Only Christ can do this. This is the reason the minister must be enabled by Christ; he must minister in the strength and power of Christ.

·       The only way a minister can be what he should be...

1.    Is to be put in the ministry by Christ Jesus.

2.    Is to be enabled (strengthened and empowered) by Christ Jesus.

3.    "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you" (Jn.l5:16).

          2. An Example (vs. 16)

But Paul not only became a minister; he also became an example (1 Tim 1:16).

A) This Explains Why Paul Obtained Mercy.

·       It was so that he might be an exhibit of the longsuffering of Jesus Christ. Just as he had been the chief of sinners, so now he would be the chief display of the untiring grace of the Lord.

·       He would be “Exhibit A,” a living example, as William Kelly said, of “divine love rising above the most active hostility, of divine longsuffering exhausting the most varied and persistent antagonism.”

·       Paul teaches us an important lesson about lowering our guard as an evangelistic tool. Paul was not nearly as interested in creating an image as he was in being an example. He did not hesitate to share his past, because he knew his failures would allow others to have hope.

o   There are times when we hesitate to share our past struggles with others because we are afraid it will tarnish our image. This, however, creates an immediate paradox. For their knowledge of us is incomplete. They don't know us, and we are not sure they would still accept us if they did know us. But these problems are image problems; they are difficulties we encounter in trying to manage what others know of us.

o   Paul demonstrated that lowering our guard can be an important step in communicating the gospel. People will not believe the gospel is important if they can't see that it is crucial in our lives.

§  How has Christ shown patience with you?

§  Did he stay with you when you doubted and rebelled?

§  Did he remain faithful when you ignored his prior claim on your life?

§  Did he love you when you disregarded his help and his church?

§  Remember that his patience is unlimited for those who love him.

B) In What Sense Is Paul An Example To Lost Sinners Who Believe On Christ?

·       None of us has had the same experience that Paul had on the Damascus road (Acts 9). We did not see a light, fall to the ground, and hear Jesus speak from heaven.

·       But Paul is a pattern ("type") to all lost sinners, for he was the chief of sinners!

o   He is proof that the grace of God can change any sinner!

o   In the primary sense the verse means that none need despair, no matter how wicked they might be.

o   They can console themselves that since the Lord has already saved the chief of sinners, they too can find grace and mercy by coming to Him as penitents.

o   “All who follow can look back at Paul as a prototype or pattern (“example,” 2 Tim. 1:13). The ultimate sinner became the ultimate saint; God’s greatest enemy became His finest servant. Somewhere between these extremes fall all the rest. In studying Paul’s pattern, Christians can therefore learn about themselves.” ---Walvoord, J. F.

o   By believing on Him, they too can find life everlasting.

o   “believe on Him: Over 185 times in the New Testament the sole condition given for salvation is belief, having faith or trust in Jesus Christ. The gospel is that Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose on the third day. All those who place their trust in Jesus for salvation will be saved from the coming judgment. To add any other condition to faith for salvation is to make justification a matter of works (see Rom. 11:6; Gal. 2:16).” ---Nelson Study Bible

C) But There Is A Special Application Of This To Today's People Of Israel, Paul's countrymen, for whom he had a special burden (Rom 9:1-5; 10:1-3).

·       Paul’s case would be a pattern.

o   In the printing trade, pattern means a first proof. It signifies a specimen or a sample.

o   Paul’s conversion would be a pattern of what God would do with the nation of Israel when the Deliverer comes out of Zion (Rom. 11:26).

·       The people of Israel, like unconverted Saul of Tarsus, are religious, self-righteous, blind to their own Law and its message of the Messiah, and unwilling to believe.

o   One day, Israel shall see Jesus Christ even as Paul saw Him; and the nation shall be saved. "They shall look upon Me whom they have pierced" (Zech 12:10).

o   This may be one reason why Paul said he was "born out of due time" (1 Cor 15:8), for his experience of seeing the risen Christ came at the beginning of this Church Age and not at its end (Matt 24:29).

D) Reflecting On How Good God Has Been To Paul Stirred Him To Respond With Praise To God!

·       He who was a blasphemer and persecutor, is now a praise leader! This verse is a natural, emotional response to these reflections about the mercy of God. When Paul realized all that God had done for him, he was left with no other words than praise.

·       God, our King, is eternal and immortal -- that is, he can never cease to exist. He is invisible -- we cannot see him or touch him; he is Spirit. He is the only God -- not one of many, but "the only."

o   God is called King, this denote that he rules over the universe.  The meaning of this expression is-"the King of ages" he is a king who rules throughout all ages.  The rule of earthly monarchs does not extend into successive ages; his does. Their reign is temporary; his is enduring, and continues as one generation after another passes on, and thus embraces them all.

o   Immortal This refers to God himself, not to his reign. It means that he does not die, and it is given to him to distinguish him from other sovereigns. All other monarchs but God expire-and are just as liable to die at any moment as any other people.

o   Invisible 1Tim 6:16; see John 1:18.

o   The only wise God notes, Rom 16:27.   It is true that Yahweh is the only God; it is also true that he is the only wise God. The gods of the pagan are "vanity and a lie," and they are wholly destitute of wisdom; see Ps 115:3-8; 135:15-18; Isa 40:18-20; 44:10-17.

o   Be honour Let there be all the respect and veneration shown to him which is his due.

o   And glory Praise. Let him be praised by all for ever.

o   Amen So be it; an expression of strong affirmation; John 3:3. The solemn assent of the heart! (Matt 6:13; 1 Cor 14:16)

·       “As Paul thinks of God’s marvelous dealings with him in grace, he bursts out into this lovely doxology. It is difficult to know whether it is addressed to God the Father or to the Lord Jesus. The words the King eternal seem to refer to the Lord Jesus because He is called the “Kings of kings, and Lord of lords” (Rev. 19:16). However, the word invisible seems to refer to the Father, since the Lord Jesus was obviously visible to mortal eyes. The fact that we are not able to distinguish which Person of the Godhead is intended might serve as an indication of Their absolute equality.

The King eternal is spoken of, first of all, as immortal. This means incorruptible or imperishable. God in His essence is also invisible. Men have seen appearances of God in the OT, and the Lord Jesus fully revealed God to us in visible form, but the fact remains that God Himself is invisible to human eyes. Next He is spoken of as God who alone is wise. In the final analysis, all wisdom comes from God (Jas. 1:5).” --- MacDonald, W.

Paul gave a third responsibility for the local church to fulfill besides teaching sound doctrine and proclaiming the Gospel....