Power of God to save
Series- “Solutions”
1Timothy and 2 Timothy
Text- 1 Timothy 1:12-20
Well Good morning –
I am glad that you are here with us and believe that the Lord has a word for you today.
I hope you come with expectation and are open for him to do something amazing..
Have you found yourself asking the Lord questions like- How does this fit into your plan and into my life?
What can I expect as we move into the days, weeks, years ahead?
We are going to begin a new series called “Solutions.”
The purpose is to look into God’s Word particularly in the books written by Paul to Timothy and the church at Ephesus to find some answers “solutions” to some of the problems we are facing.
Prayer-
Father, this morning I ask you to fall fresh on hearts which need encouragement and hearts that are heavy. I pray Lord that as we look into your word that you would speak to us clearly and directly that we might get better understanding for what it means to be a believer in these tough days. I pray each of us would call upon you and rely on you to empower and strengthen us to be what you want us to be. May we be who you created us to be. In Jesus Name! Amen.
Apostle Paul in his Introduction letter wants Timothy and the church to know that he was a called servant of God to bring the gospel message to the Gentiles and that he understands that his commission comes from a good God not because of anything good he had done.
He was given the task of bringing the gospel and his goal was to do it with a pure heart, clean conscience, and a sincere faith.
1Timothy 1:12 (Passion) Paul’s words from his heart
“My heart spills over with thanks to God for the way he continually empowers me, and to our Lord Jesus, the anointed one, who found me trustworthy and who authorized me to be his partner in this ministry.”
Illustration-
When I was a kid, my grandmother made us bean bags. Hand sown, and my brother and I would play for hours tossing those bags to see who was the most accurate. Now they don’t call it bean bag toss, it is called Corn Hole and it is a professional sport played with professional teams.
Whoever would have thought that bean bags would be a paid sport?
The idea is to hit the target with accuracy and score the most points.
Apostle Paul was wanting the church at Ephesus and Timothy to hit the target with accuracy.
Some teachers strayed off course and were teaching false doctrine that polluted the gospel and was drawing people away from the truth.
HIT THE TARGET! HIT THE TARGET FOR WHICH YOU ARE AIMING! KNOW YOUR TARGET!
1Timothy 1:13-20 NIV
The apostle Paul who was the most unlikely guy to be picked to carry the gospel was commissioned by God to do it. He has a heart that is spilled out with gratitude for the mercy and grace of God on his life.
Paul describes his former life before Christ in the negative 3 ways;
As a Blasphemer- one who rejected Jesus Christ as Lord.
Acts chapter 6 Paul was there when they stoned Stephen a man full of faith. A man full of God’s grace and power.
Scripture says
‘They argued with Stephen, but they could not stand up against his wisdom or by the Spirit by whom he spoke.”
“Then they secretly persuaded some men to say, we have heard Stephen speak words of blasphemy against Moses and against God.” False Witness. Paul was a part of that.
He says that he was a persecutor of the church - Before his conversion he was a destroyer of the church.
Apostle Paul before King Agrippa Acts 26- “I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priest I put many of the saints in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. In my obsession against them, I even went to foreign cities to persecute them.”
He says he was violent to the church- Paul who had zeal for Jewish traditions, despised the Christian church and was willing to take lives, ruin lives and despised anything that had to do with a God who would include heathen people.
In spite of Paul’s actions of rejection, Christ showed him mercy and love.
The Damascus road experience changed his life forever! Acts chapter 9
“As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? Who are you, Lord? Saul asked. I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting, he replied. Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
Paul had a Jesus moment! Amen. He came face to face with Jesus! He had to do something with Jesus.
A problem today is we have Christians who have never encountered Jesus, they only know of Jesus. Jesus is looking to change your life.
When you experience Jesus, your life is going to change!
The target the church ought to be hitting is continually walking with Jesus so much that the world cannot tell the difference.
The best way to recognize false doctrine is to know sound doctrine.
Not everything matters equally- Christians fighting over things that don’t matter and keeping quiet on things that do matter.
Illustration-
You know how they teach government agents to detect counterfeit money? It is not by showing them all the different forms of counterfeit money. It is by teaching them to know the correct currency so well they can detect counterfeit money.
When you encounter Jesus, the Word of God begins showing things that are right and things that need to be changed and you are wanting more than anything else to please the Lord more than please the world.
Apostle Paul went from doing things in his strength and his wisdom to relying on the Lord to direct his path in every area of his life. Paul went from persecuting Jesus and the church to serving Jesus and the church.
It was Paul who later said; “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Gal.5:1
“Therfore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” Gal. 6:10
Ephesians 3:1-
“For this reason, I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles.”
EACH ONE OF US.
(7) “I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power. Although I am less than the least of all God’s people, this grace was given me; to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.”
Why did he do that- Ephesians 4:12
“To prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”
Come on church, our Spirit which bears his name ought to be coming out of our seats right now!
“Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly beloved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”
Let me read a verse from our text from the passion Bible to bring this home-
1Timothy 1:13-17
“Mercy kissed me, even though I use to be a blasphemer, a persecutor of believers, and a scorner of what turned out to be true. I was ignorant and didn’t know what I was doing. I was flooded with such incredible grace, like a river overflowing its banks, until I was full of faith and love for Jesus, the anointed one.”
Paul says that God’s grace and mercy kissed and blessed him while he was ignorant and didn’t know better- but when he realized and had an encounter with Jesus- He was so grateful and he has got his praise on!
Jesus is our hope! He is the main solution to the problems we face today!
Jesus is the hope for mankind
Jesus is the hope for our families
Jesus is the hope for the things that you and I are struggling with.
Things we need to live a godly life
God’s grace
God’s mercy
God’s peace
All come from our Lord Jesus Christ!
Fruit we bear when we are walking with Jesus-
Pure heart
Clean conscience
Sincere faith
All of us who know Christ can remember who we were before Christ- we all have skeletons in our closet we do not want let out. We all want to think that we are better than we are. Paul reminds us that if he can use Paul, he can use you and I. we all have history and we all have a past. It is hard to let go of the past if we have not learned from the past. For a believer, the past is under the blood of Christ. Paul understands that and has a heart of gratitude and love for the savior.
Paul remembers the time that Christ captured his heart on the road to Demascus. Paul remembers the mercy and love shown him in spite of his sins. Christ compassionate love that called him to a new life. Christ did for Paul, and for you and I what we cannot do for ourselves. And it draws us to realize that we may have sinned but when we encounter Jesus that sinners are shown mercy and love.
Paul says that he acted in ignorance and unbelief- it is evident when he encounters Jesus and asked who are you Lord? His zeal for what he wanted blinded him to be standing in front of almighty Jesus!
When Paul wrote to the Corinthian church about the foolishness of the gospel, he knew first hand that until he met Christ, he had no idea the goodness of God and what God expected from him.
He thought with his whole heart that the disciples were heretics and his zeal against Christ turned into zeal for Christ when Christ transformed his life.
We need to see transformed lives in Jesus- you and I daily need to be in His presence and at his feet learning his ways and living the lives that he has called his disciples too.
It cost Paul everything- we want to come to Christ and not give anything up- the cost is to follow Jesus, not just know Jesus.
Closing,
There is power in Jesus name… heaven takes notice and Hell shutters!!
When we say in Christ- it is personal. It identifies us to who we belong to. It is our faith, our beliefs, our actions, our attitudes, and our experiences.
Outside of faith in Christ, it is human effort to try to be a better person.
In Christ comes the gifts and blessings that are only found in Christ.
It is only the people who are in Christ that can receive the gifts of being in Christ.
You have to know The Christ before you can be in Christ.
We are in Christ and
His Spirit is in us.
I suppose you could say we're into each other.
Listen for a minute-
In Christ, you are a child of God with all the benefits of being His child.
Our sin caused us to be separated or alienated from God. In Christ we have the spiritual blessing of being reconciled. We are no longer rejected, we have been returned to a state of fellowship with God. 1 John 1:3, "that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ." Our sin caused us to lose our fellowship with God. "In Christ", we are reconciled to God the Father.
This morning if you do not know Jesus like that, today would be the day to seek Him and respond to his invitation of salvation. It is asking him into your life and asking him to be Lord.
Maybe today, you know of Jesus, but you have not surrender your life to him and it has been a roller coaster ride of faith- today surrender the things that keep you from having that cose relationship with Him.
Maybe today you would say that you know Jesus as Lord but there is no power in your life- today ask Him to fill you to overflowing with His Holy Spirit- less of you and more of Him! He is wanting to do something in each one of us this morning. He has a word for each of us today- we all can walk out of here this morning empowered and walking with Jesus!
Prayer-
