PARDONED and BEYOND (September 11, 2022)
Text: 1 Timothy 1:12 -17
1 Timothy 1:12-17 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service. (13) Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. (14) The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. (15) Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. (16) But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Today is the twenty-first anniversary of the terrorist attack on our nation. Four planes were highjacked. Flight 11 struck the North tower at 8:46am. Flight 175 struck the South tower at 9:03 am. Flight 77 struck the Pentagon at 9:37 am. The intended target of the hijackers on Flight 93 never reached their target because a group of passengers had banded together and charged the cabin, overcame the hijackers and spoiled their plans. https://timeline.911memorial.org/#Timeline/2/ImageEntry/542/1 All of the hijackers thought they were justified in their violent attacks. But they were wrong!
Paul thought he was on the right path. His path got derailed one night when Jesus confronted him on the road to Damascus while on his way to arrest more prisoners and take them to Jerusalem (Acts 9:2 – 6). Think about what happened here in this moment of Paul’s life.
Paul deals with many of the same things we have all had to deal with before we became a Christian. Everyone has a past, everyone needs a pardon and everyone is called to proclaim the Gospel.
PAST
Who among us can honestly say that they have always chosen the right path?
1) Confession: Think about how Paul was brutally honest about his past as a blasphemous unbeliever who was both ignorant and violent in persecuting and arresting Christians (1Timothy 1:12- 13).
2) Crime: In his book Chuck Colson Speaks, the late Chuck Colson said, “Crime is a mirror of a community’s moral state”. (Chuck Colson. Chuck Colson Speaks. Uhrichsville, Ohio: Promise Press, 2000, p. 12). At this time in his life Saul was a practicing Pharisee who certainly reflected the Pharisaical mindset of his community in arresting Christians.
3) Condemnation: Having letters and the support of the High Priest Paul went to Damascus to arrest men and women and haul them to prison in Jerusalem (Acts 9:2). He was there when they stoned Stephen to death (Acts 7:54 – 60). Paul said that he had voted for many of those that he arrested to be put to death (Acts 26:10). We do not know the total number who were executed because of Saul’s efforts.
Who among us can say that he or she never did any thing that we were not ashamed of?
We might not have done anything that was deadly, but we have all done something that was stupid and sinful. I once knew a family who had a son that got into some legal trouble and his parents had to bail him out. They tapped into their savings account to pay the attorney. Their son learned a lesson that he may day have to practice bailing out one of his children. The most valuable lesson that he learned was that his parents never quit loving him. That is the way God is with us----unconditional love! Jesus went to the cross to shed His blood (Hebrews 9:14) as the sacrificial lamb of God to wash away our sin (John 1:29).
PARDON
Have you ever received mercy when you deserved justice?
1) Mercy: God could have wiped Saul (aka Paul) out as quick as God had opened the ground to swallow Korah--- an Old Testament trouble maker (see Numbers 16:23 – 35). Korah and those who were associated with him went down to the grave, [the pit, sheol, hell] depending on which Bible translation you use. God could have done the same thing to Saul (in Acts 9) whom we now call Paul. But, the Lord Jesus Christ showed Paul great mercy (1 Timothy 1:13).
2) Grace: Paul (formerly know as Saul in his days as a Christian bounty hunter) said with great gratitude that the “grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 1:14). Paul went on to exhibit his gratitude for Jesus in the ways that he would “Produce fruit that shows that he had turned away from his sins” (Matthew 3:8 NIrV paraphrased).
3) Acquittal: “Legal term meaning “acquittal,” a declaration that someone is in the right. Sinners are in the wrong before God. They have broken his laws, they deserve punishment, but on the cross Christ took their place. Now, when they put their trust in Christ, they are declared to be in the right, acquitted, justified. The cross shows God to be just, not simply in the fact that he forgives, but in the way he forgives. To pass over sins would show mercy, but it would not show justice. Forgiveness by the way of the cross shows both (Rom. 3:25–26)”. Galaxie Software. (2002). 10,000 Sermon Illustrations. Biblical Studies Press. [source of origin:The Shaw Pocket Bible Handbook, Walter A. Elwell, Editor, (Harold Shaw Publ., Wheaton , IL; 1984), pp. 351-352
4) Ex-convict evangelist: Chuck Colson was one of President Nixon’s hatchet men who wound up in prison for his role in the Watergate scandal. During his time in prison he became a Christian and went on to help develop what became known as a Prison Fellowship ministry.
5) Ex-slave trader: “ John Newton was one of the great preachers and the supreme hymn-writers of the Church; but he had sunk to the lowest depths to which a man can sink, in the days when he sailed the seas in a slave-trader's ship. So when he became a converted man and a preacher of the gospel, he wrote a text in great letters, and fastened it above the mantlepiece of his study where he could not fail to see it: "Thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt and the Lord thy God redeemed thee." He also composed his own epitaph: "John Newton, Clerk, once an Infidel and Libertine, a Servant of Slaves in Africa, was by the Mercy of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, Preserved, Restored, Pardoned, and Appointed to Preach the Faith he had so long laboured to destroy." (William Barclay. The Daily Bible Study Series: 1 & 2 Timothy, Revised. Philadelphia, Westminster Press, 1975).
Has the Lord shown you great mercy when you deserved the pit?
1) Avoiding the pit: I once heard the story about how the Lord showed a mean alcoholic man the pit that Satan had already dug for him in Hell. That pit was going to be a rut that he would be stuck in for all eternity where there would be unending torment. The Lord gave him a second chance, so he took it because he did not want that pit!
2) Presdestined for salvation: Paul reminds us that we are predestined by God for our adoption as children through God’s only begotten Son our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. [Jesus] predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— …. 1:11 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will (Ephesians 1:5 NIV). There are tenets of both predestination (Calvinism) and Armenianism where God initiates what John Wesley called “prevenient grace”---[the grace of God that reaches out to all sinners] but the individual decides whether or not to receive God’s gift of grace.
3) Pardon free zone: There are no pardons in Hell! How many have been shown by the Lord their pit that made them repent? The choices we make about where we will spend eternity are choices that we make while we are here!
How many times are we like the elder brother who condemned the prodigal son?
Though it may be a parable (The Parable of the Prodigal Son Luke 15:11 -32) that we are speaking of, are we not capable of condemning another of their sins when we ourselves are sinners? What did Jesus say to those who wanted to stone the woman caught in adultery (see John 8:1 – 11)? Answer: Let he who is without sin cast the first stone” (John 8:7). The elder brother was ready to throw stones at the prodigal son for his sins. He was blind to his own sin. How many times are we like that? How many times have we heard the adage “That those who live in glass houses should not throw rocks?”
PROCLAMATION
What is our mission beyond being pardoned?
Remember what Paul told Timothy? Paul said “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. (16) But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life” (1 Timothy 1: 15 – 16). Paul was telling Timothy that we are saved for service to proclaim the Gospel!
Together Paul and Timothy were the first two Christians to proclaim the Gospel on European soil. (Thomas C. Oden. Interpretation: First and Second Timothy and Titus. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster Press, 1989, p. 4).
What hinders us from being the “examples” God is calling us to be?
Paul thought of Timothy like a son (I Corinthians 4:17). He was teaching Timothy how to weather the storms of evangelism.
1) Conflict with and without: “The church at Galatia had been troubled by outsiders while In Ephesus the trouble was within as the church was being led astray by its own ordained elders”. (Oden, p. 6).
2) Intimidating forces: He knew that Timothy could be feel intimidated and he encouraged him to fight the good fight and keep the faith and to remember his calling (1 Timothy 6:12). Paul told Timothy to “Be committed to teach the believers all these things when you are with them in the presence of the Lord. Instruct them to never be drawn into meaningless arguments, or tear each other down with useless words that only harm others” (2 Timothy 2:14 TPT). How much are “meaningless arguments” and “harmful words” being used like weapons to divide our world today?
3) Spirit guided wisdom: Jesus taught us that the Holy would be our Advocate and not only remind us of what Jesus said (John 14:26) but also what we will need to say but also how we need to say it as we proclaim the Gospel (Matthew 10:19). Then, like Paul was teaching Timothy, we can “ Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction”. (2 Timothy 4:2 NIV).
The enemy wants to use his minions to divide us with our quarrels, harsh words and judgmental attitudes that divide people! We have been called by the Lord Jesus Christ to be a Holy Spirit guided unifying force to make disciples (Matthew 28:19) who will influence others by our love (John 13:34 – 35)!
“Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners…” (1 Timothy 1:12 – 17). Like Paul, we have been called, “pardoned” and “appointed” to be Christ’s “trustworthy” examples in word and deed! May we keep the faith, share the Gospel and demonstrate the unconditional love of our Lord Jesus Christ! Amen.
