Key Scripture: 1 Timothy 1:12-2:6

Introduction:
            In 1 Tim. 1:15 Paul gives us the entire heart of God in one phrase- “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” Why did Jesus come? He came because God is out to save us.
            This phrase “Christ came into the world to save sinners.” was a common phrase in the early church. It’s one that the followers of Jesus really had imbedded in them, branded into them, and no one had it more branded into them than the apostle Paul. It is branded like a tattoo. It is our story, so elementary that it is easy to lose.
            Paul says, “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance.” (verse 15)
He is saying ‘Timothy, hold onto this truth. Never lose track of this.
            I have studied 1 Tim dozens of times. I’ve studied Paul’s directive to Timothy to pray for everyone. (2:1-2). I’ve wrestled doctrinally with 2:3-“God our savior who wants all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” And I’ve loved these verses that we are going to look at today, where Paul says, “of sinners I am the worst.” When you read this book you get this intensity of feeling expressed in Paul’s words. Paul speaks his very soul. Let me say this: I’m finding myself looking at every verse in this book differently. I have been undone, and literally, I too, like Paul, had to stop in the middle of my studies because I was melted by the extreme mercy of the Lord that went out to Paul. But it also goes out to each one of us here. God wants us to become undone by what Jesus came to do.
1Timothy 1:12-2:6 ( read all)

I. You have no idea how far Jesus is willing to go.
A. Or to put it another way, ‘Timothy, you know how far God is willing to go to save sinners, so don’t hold back, give up or get sidetracked.”
B. Paul says, “of sinners, I am chief…I am foremost…I am the worst of sinners.” (1:13)

I was a blasphemer- ( I spoke in wicked, hate-filled language against Jesus and against His church.)
I tried to force others to do the same. (Acts 26:9-11) “I, too, was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the Name of Jesus.” This man , Saul, hated Jesus with every fiber of his being.
I was a persecutor. (As one who chases like a wild animal.)
I was an insolent man. An insolent- (each term is worse than the other.)
I was ignorant of God. (Of what He was wanting to do.- verse 13)
I was unbelieving. -I received mercy. ‘Because’ is not an excuse. It is a complete admission of his guilt.
I was full of guilt. (I did it!) This is who I was; ignorant, unbelieving.
I blasphemed God, I murdered innocent people, I was filled with hatred of total strangers.
Of sinners I am foremost.- (I lead the parade of sinners.)

C. Lenski, in his commentary of 1 Tim. Helped me to piece some tings together, saying, “Now we see why we have such a long list of awful sinners in 1:9-10. Paul not only belonged to the list, he topped the list.” He was saying,” I am worse than them all.”

verses 8-11 (read all) Paul is saying, “Timothy, this is why Jesus came into the world- this is who He came to save, if He can save me Timothy, He is out to save all these, all the world. It is not a list of those God wants to condemn, but to save.”
Lenski- “Paul himself was the most outstanding example of what the right use of the law is able to accomplish when it is applied with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God. Jesus had applied the law to Paul in Acts 9:3-5, and then sent Paul where he could find the Gospel. Acts 9:3-5 ( ‘Saul, Saul, why are you doing this? Why do you hate me so much?’… ‘I don’t know who you are. Who are you?’…’I am Jesus…’)
Should Jesus not have struck Paul down and made an example of the Lord’s justice” Wouldn’t that have gotten people’s attention better?

D. This experience of Paul was confounding, confusing, wrestling, even a dreadful place.

“I saw the risen and glorified Christ.” Everything I had believed about Him was turned upside down. I went blind. I fasted… eating nothing nor drinking for three days. I was praying.’ What was he praying? He saw the Lord first, and then he was made an apostle. He wasn’t on the other side yet. He was still a blind man, confused, conflicted. Jesus left him that way for a while.
Revelation 1:16-17, 19:10 Two times John writes that he was ready to worship an angel. The angel says, “Don’t do that! Worship God.” John is twice so confused and overwhelmed by the presence of Christ that he fell down as one dead, and is ready to break the first Commandment, to worship something other than God. The words of Jesus can do that to us, to cut into our hearts and overwhelm us. He is wanting to do something for us.
You have no idea how far Jesus is willing to go to save you all the way.

II. You have no idea who you’re dealing with.
A. Paul says he obtained mercy (vs. 13, 16) In the Greek it is one word- ‘mercied’.

He was a ‘mercied’ sinner. “Grace was super-abundantly poured out on me.” Such is the greatness of the mercy and grace of God toward sinners. As great and horrible as Paul’s sins were, the Lord’ grace went beyond it in abundance.
Paul calls himself ‘an abortion’ in 1 Cor. 15:8. “and last of all he appeared to me a to one abnormally born.”
He said “I am foremost of sinners.”( vs. 15) Not was foremost. It is present tense. Why? Because Paul sees himself as one who is classed with sinners.

B. That’s what a Christian is…a saved sinner, a mercied sinner.

We think of saints as extra pious, holy, good. Saint Paul sees himself as one who ever lives in the mercy of Jesus because he classes himself with sinners.
That’s what a saint is… a mercied sinner.
Lenski- “Rather than striking him down, Jesus bore Paul and kept on bearing him until His mercy attained the success that Jesus wanted.” He should have been crushed by God’s wrath, but was crushed by His mercy instead.
How far is He willing to go to keep you to himself and to seek out sinners?
Jesus’ longsuffering allows mercy to do it’s work. He holds back in order to let mercy win it’s results. Paul was fighting, kicking, and wrestling against Christ.
Illustration: Evan, the little grandson of Phil and Deb throws fits, screams, gets mad at his brother. While he is doing it, Deb puts her arms around him and holds him until he stops. He resists her, struggles against her for awhile, until he lets the one who loves him hold him in her love.

C. Have you ever wondered why Jesus did not save Paul sooner? Why did He not convert Paul, or confront him before he killed others? Well, here is Paul’s answer:

It was the will of Jesus to use Paul’s case as a “display of all his longsuffering.” ( verse 16) display= a pattern, a prototype.
Ask yourself this: How might Jesus be using your life as a display of His longsuffering, to show how long He would wait upon someone.?
His plan is so much wiser and wider than we can see. We want to bypass what God wants to show to us and through us to others.
Extreme mercy- You have no idea who you are dealing with.!

III. You have no idea how Jesus wants to use you.
A. I Tim. I:12- “ I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, (enabled me, empowered me) that He considered me faithful, appointing me to His service.”

God doesn’t need our giftedness, our abilities. We deserved His wrath. That’s what God considered in Paul- his extreme sinfulness not his great abilities or qualities.
It means that the Lord made Paul something. He considered what He made Him before the divine encounter on Damascus Road.. God considered what He wanted to do through Him.
It is not: ‘What a great contribution Paul could make to the gospel.’
It is: ‘Let me show others through you how patient I am, how merciful I am, how kind I am, how grace-giving I am, how lavish I am toward those who hate me, who revile me.’
We think “if I could just get myself together, God could use me.” No, I am a trophy of God’s grace, an instrument in His hands.
Jesus appointed Paul, enabled him, saw him as faithful, not because of anything in Paul but because Jesus saw that He would make him faithful- so that He could use him in a certain way.
Illustration: Deb’s birthday card to Phil. Listed all the great things that Phil was to her. She wrote on the bottom “See, it’s all about me.” We think it’s all about us, but it is all about how Jesus shows me mercy, how He loves me.

B. Galatians 1:15- “ but when God, who set me apart from birth, and called me by His grace, was pleased to reveal Himself in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles…”

See, it’s all God’s working.
Do you realize that it is God who is your enabler, your appointer- so that He might display something of Himself through you.
Soul Revolution pg. 41- A story of a young lady who was a great sinner. She gave herself completely to God and experienced the extreme mercy of God.
You don’t have to be the worst of sinners, but Jesus Christ is calling you. He wants to appoint you. He wants to display something of Himself through you.

C. 1 Tim. 1:18-19 “This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may fight the good fight, holding on to faith and a good conscience.

It is about who I’ve placed my confidence in, not about me and my confidence. The good conscience is not in you, it’s in Christ saving you and appointing you.
“fight, hold onto faith and a good conscience.” “Hold on”- Hold on to the things you know to be true about Jesus Christ and about yourself= I am a sinner saved by the extreme mercy, and by the extreme patience, of a Savior who is out to save me and you, as a demonstration of the lengths He will go to save a person and to use him.

Discussion Questions:

Make a list of all your main sins. Can you compare them to the list of sinners in 1Tim. I9-10. Can you truthfully say, “ I am chief of sinners?

Why would Paul’s experience on the road to Damascus have been so confusing, confounding, even overwhelming to Paul? What do you think Paul might have been struggling with?

Have you ever had a similar experience with God, even to the point of being overwhelmed, or undone by His presence and then set aside for a while?
What do you now think that Christ was trying to do, or to show others about Himself through you?

Is it easier to see yourself as a saint or a sinner? Why?
How does this concept of being a “mercied-sinner” affect your attitude about yourself?

On what basis does Christ call us to do the work of the ministry? What qualities is He most looking for in us?