Date:   01/17/10

Text:   1 Timothy 1:12-16

Title:   Mercied

Theme: Since God has lavished His mercy upon us, we are to be thankful.

Introduction:

The news media is filled with images of destruction and death in Haiti . It is heart wrenching to see the death of at least 50K people, and many more severely wounded. Tragedies as such can bring out the good in human, galvanizing government and individuals to reach out to help. In less than two days, just a few clicks on our cell phones, with a choice of $5 or $10 donations, several millions of dollars were raised and sent to the Red Cross and other agencies. These are acts of Mercy, acts of compassion.

This morning we want to look at another form of mercy. We'll listen to Paul as he shares with us his being a recipient of God's mercy. By the time Paul wrote this letter to Timothy, he was considered advance in age, expecting his imminent death. On the one hand it is a letter to remind and instruct Timothy, the young minister at Ephesus . On the other, it is also a reflection of his life and ministry. This passage begins with ‘I thank him…. Christ Jesus our Lord,….” And ends with vs.17, ‘To the King of ages….” From thanksgiving to praise. It give us a snapshot of his life, a life full of gratitude because of being a recipient of God's Mercy. We'll take a closer look at Paul's gratitude.

I •  Give thanks for the blessings received. Vs.12

This passage begins with an outburst of gratitude. Vs.12, “ 12 I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service,” Paul thanked God for three things.

First, for the strength, inner strength. As he looked back in his life and ministry, he knew that without Christ's empowerment, he could not do anything. We call him the greatest apostle, or the apostle that has the most profound influence on the western culture. Yet, Paul knew nothing of this. All he knew was his total dependence upon God.

Secondly, Paul thanked Christ for considering him faithful. Faithful means dependable, trustworthy and ability to complete a task. Paul recognized that it was Christ who gave him the strength to be faithful. Very often we start a ministry or project with great enthusiasm and excitement. We are out to change the world or the church, the fellowship or small groups, bringing new ideas and vitality to them. But before long, we've lost our patience; we get disappointed and then quietly slip away. Paul knew it was strength from Christ that he could say, 2 Tim 4:7, “ 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. ..” He started and completed the task given to him. To be faithful in ministry requires strength from God.

Thirdly, Paul thanked God for appointing him to His service. The word ‘service' is a generic term, it could refer to many kinds of Christian services. To Paul, it is a clear reference to his apostle ministry, but to us, it could mean the ministry of an elder, a deacon, a minister, Sunday School teacher, a leader or co-worker in the fellowship or small groups. We are appointed by Jesus Christ to serve in these capacities. After the earthquake that devastated Haiti , president Obama appointed former presidents: Clinton and Bush, to be special envoys to spearhead the fund raising effort. It was an honor and privilege to be appointed by the president. Likewise, we also need to remember that we are being appointed by none other than Jesus Christ. It is a privilege and honor to serve. When it is an appointment from God, then we know he'll give us the strength to be faithful, to complete the task.

However, to help us understand this outburst of gratitude, Paul used three words to describe himself. Vs.13, “……”First, he was a blasphemer. Before Paul was converted, he used to speak evil of Jesus Christ. He forced the disciples to blaspheme against Jesus. He was a fierce persecutor of the church. His one goal was to arrest the believers and destroy the church. His words and actions intimidated the Christians, just the mention of his name would bring great fear among the first century believers. He was full of hostility towards Jesus and his followers. It was to a person like this that God called and appointed to be an apostle. To a sinner like this, Jesus gave him the strength to be faithful and appointed to him the apostolic ministry. This is the reason for Paul's outbursts of gratitude. Let's continue to look at his experience of God's mercy.

II •  Give thanks for the grace received. Vs.13-14

If someone repeatedly insults you, hit you and intimidate you, full of hostility towards you, would you like to take this person out for lunch? I will definitely stay clear out of his way. But God doesn't operate this way. Paul said, “But I received mercy…” he said it two times, once in vs13, the other time in vs.16. In spite of his attitude and behavior towards God and his people, he received God's mercy. A 17 th century puritan said that Paul had been bemercied. In today's language, we may say, Paul is mercied. How so? Vs.14, “ and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.”

When a river overflows, it will carry with it whatever is on both sides of the banks. Nothing can stop its movement. Now, when the river of grace flows into Paul's life, it carries with it not devastation but faith and love. Paul knew it was God's mercy, grace that brought him faith and love. Previously, he was full of unbelief. He considered himself a devoted worshipper of God, but now he realized that he was wrong. Previously there was no love, but full of hostility. Now, with the river of grace gushing into his life, it brought him faith, replacing the former disbelief. It brought him love, replacing hostility. Increasing his faith in God and love for God and men.

The same is true with us. Our increasing faith in God and our love for God and men, are all his grace. It had nothing to do with our own effort and merit. It's all grace. Nothing we can brag about.

III •  Give thanks for the gospel entrusted to him. Vs.15

Last Sunday we learned that the commandments were in accordance with the gospel. In vs.11, “ ….in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted.” Paul now returns to the gospel he referred to earlier. “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.” This is the first of the 5 trustworthy sayings in the pastoral epistles. This saying is the gospel in a nutshell. Let's briefly review what the gospel is.

First, the content is true and trustworthy. Last week we learned that there are true and therefore false doctrines. Here we are told again that the gospel message is true, it is trustworthy. Since this gospel is true, then any teaching and ideas that are contrary to it is false. This is the standard against which other religions and philosophies are to be measured. Secondly, “deserving of full acceptance…” Meaning the gospel is complete and universal. No matter what culture we go to, this gospel is complete and adequate. Yes, it is important that we communicate the gospel in a way that people in another culture can understand. However, the content of the gospel must not be diluted. We need to learn to communicate the gospel to people in China , Africa, Central Asia and other cultures in ways that they can understand. Those of us who graduated from college, and graduate schools, need to learn how to communicate the gospel to a high school graduate, or someone with a elementary or middle school education, or without an education. When I am in China , the greatest challenge is to teach or preach to individuals with little education. Yet I have to constantly remind myself that the gospel is for everyone.

In recent years, on different college campuses, there is this gathering called “The VERITAS Forum”. Christian groups will bring to campus some well known and respected philosophers or scientists to discuss matters of faith. The purpose is to clearly present the gospel message to the college students. The terms or communication styles used may be different from our Sunday sermons, but the message is clear: Jesus came to save sinners. The sinner can be a Buddhist, Muslim, Atheist or Agnostics. This sinner is you and I. This gospel is for everyone.

Thirdly, when we say Jesus came into the world, it implies that he has a pre-existence. He is God who came into the world and became man. He is God incarnate. This is the core of the Christian message. Lastly, this gospel must have a personal application. The moment Paul finished stating this gospel, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,..” he added this, “…of whom I am the foremost.” He was the number one sinner. We may say, yes, Paul may be bad by persecuting the Christian and the church, but he couldn't be the worst sinner. If we compare him with the murderers, the liars, the hypocrites, there must be some who are worse than he. I think Paul couldn't be worse than Charles Manson, or some dictators in our history, right? But there is one thing we notice, when we come before Christ, or when Christ comes to us, in the light of his light, we stopped all comparisons. All we can see is our sinfulness and, therefore, unworthiness. We only see the enormity of our corruption. You remember the story in the gospel about a Pharisee and tax collector going to the temple to pray. The Pharisee prayed, Lk 18:11ff, “….God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.' Sound familiar? I am so glad I am not like him. What about the tax collector? He could only say, “God be merciful to me, a sinner.”

John Stott told the story of Thomas Bilney, a British scholar in the 16 th century who was converted through this verse. Bilney was searching for peace but could not find it. Bilney wrote, ‘But at last, I came upon this sentence of St. Paul in 1 Timothy 1. “It is a true saying, and worthy of all men to be embraced, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am the chief and principal.” This one sentence, through God's instruction and inward working, which I did not then perceive, did so exhilarate my heart, being before wounded with the guilt of my sins, and being almost in despair, that even immediately I seemed unto myself inwardly to feel a marvellous comfort and quietness, insomuch that “my bruised bones leaped for joy” (Psalm 51). After this, the Scriptures began to be more pleasant unto me than the honey or the honey-comb …'

I am certain many of us can attest to this. There was a day when Jesus opened our eyes and we saw our sinfulness. Then we heard the good news that he came to save sinners like me. This may have happened last week, last month or many years ago. But isn't it true, whenever we think of this, our hearts are warm, and there was this comfort and quietness.

We now come to the last section of this passage. Why did God shower Mercy upon Paul?

IV •  We give thanks for the reason God showered mercy upon us.

As we have noticed that two times Paul wrote that he received Mercy (vs.13,16). Paul also tells us why God's grace was upon him.

1 •  God's big heart. Vs.13. Paul said that he received mercy because he had acted ignorantly out of unbelief. He recognized that before Jesus appeared to him, his was ignorant of God's heart. He had no faith, he did not believe in God's word. He did not know what he was doing. He was sincere, but he was walking down the wrong path. He was like those false teachers, confidently teaching something that was wrong. Because he was ignorant, God did not hold him to that. God did not keep a track record of Paul, 3 strikes and you are out. God's mercy is not affected by how we treat Him.

Most parents understand this. When our children are young, they have said words that hurt us. Such as: I don't like you anymore, you are the meanest mother on earth, you are so out of it, how come you can't be like so and so's mother? When such words come from a teenager, it really hurts, right? There is a chinese movie about a mother. She moved from the village to the city and made her living as a nanny. For this reason the son and his wife looked down on her and pretended not to know her. Yet she never gave up loving and helping them. Why do parents tolerate such abuse? We would say, the children are ignorant. They don't know what they are saying. One day, when they grow up, they will understand. It's ok. Sometimes, the older one gets, the more we'll brush aside comments and behaviors that seem to hurt us. we'll say, its ok, he doesn't know what he is saying or doing. Likewise, God knows that we are ignorant and so he doesn't hold it against us. You see, God has a big heart. He is not a bean counter. Second reason for God's mercy,

2 •  God's patience. Vs.16. “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.” Paul is saying, that God was merciful to him because of his patience. And more so, God is demonstrating this patience to others that will come to believe in him. In other words, God is saying, look at Paul, if I can be patient to a person like him, a blasphemer, persecutor and a violent man, I can certainly be patient to you. God not only has a big heart, but he also wants to demonstrate his patience and love toward them. God is telling the world if he can save a person like Paul, there is hope for every sinner. if God can save an intellectual, a morally corrupt person, a communist party member, a diehard evolutionist or atheist, he can certainly save you. There is hope for all of us. No one is beyond his reach.

Conclusion:

  Paul knew that he was the worst sinner, yet God showered him with His mercy. He was mercied. He experienced God's strength, appointment to be an apostle. He experienced God's grace, tolerance and patience. Having received such mercy and grace, his life was one filled with gratitude. He deserved nothing, yet he was given much. It's all free, all grace.

  In 1918 in Tokyo, Tokichi was hung for the many murders he committed. He had been sent to prison more than twenty times. He was as tough as men get. On several occasions, the prison guards had to restrain him by hanging him from the ceiling with his toes barely touching the floor. Before receiving his death sentence, he received a New Testament sent by two Christian missionaries, a Miss West and a Miss McDonald—resulting in the criminal's coming to know Christ.

Before his death, he wrote, “….But perhaps in the future, someone in the world may hear that the most desperate villain who ever lived repented of his sins and was saved by the power of Christ, and so may come to repent also …….” Tokichi died on the scaffold with great humility. His last words were, “My soul, purified, today returns to the City of God.” 9

God through his grace had reached a man who called himself “the most desperate villain who ever lived,” just as he had reached “the worst of sinners” 1,900 years before. God's grace can reach anybody .

“Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—number one sinners like you and me. It is all by his grace. If you have not already come, you can come now!