Spiritual Alzheimer’s

Illus: They say this is the only disease that has a positive side to it. There are some “good” things that come from Alzheimer’s, such as:

• You never have to watch reruns on television

• You are always meeting new people

• You can hide your own Easter eggs

Illus: Three sisters ages 92, 94 and 96 live in a house together. One night the 96 year old draws a bath. She puts her foot in and pauses. She yells to the other sisters, "Was I gettin' in or out of the bath?"

The 94 year old yells back, "I don't know. I'll come up and see." She starts up the stairs and pauses. "Was I going up the stairs or down?"

The 92 year old is sitting at the kitchen table having tea listening to her sisters. She shakes her head and says, "I sure hope I never get that forgetful."

She knocks on wood for good measure. She then yells, "I'll come up and help both of you as soon as I see who's at the door."

It is not only the older generation that forgets. For example:

• We all know families that many have sacrificed to help, but how soon these families forget the sacrifice we made to help them.

• Every church can remember how they reached out and helped a family in need, and how soon the family forgot what was done for them.

Illus: It has been said that you can do a hundred nice things for some people, and if you do one thing they do not like, the only thing they can remember is the one thing you did that they did not like.

The Lord did a great thing when He saved the Apostle Paul on that Damascus road, and Paul never forgot what the Lord had done for him. We see . . .

I. HE REMEMBERED THE PAST

Look at verses 13 through 15, we read, “Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.”

When the Lord saved Paul on that trip to Damascus, Paul never forgot what the Lord had done for him.

In these verses he listed all the things the Lord had saved him from.

But if you had known him when he was romping around the country persecuting the saints of God, you never would have dreamed that he would have become one of, if not the greatest servants of the Lord to walk on this earth.

Illus: In a lot of high school year books, they have a section for the Seniors that deals with:

• The best personality

• The best dressed

• The best looking

• Most likely to succeed

If you had known Paul before he became a Christian, you never would have thought that one day he would become the successful Christian we see in the Bible.

Many times when people acquire success they forget where they came from.

Illus: One of the things many people liked about Elvis Pressley was that he never FORGOT WHERE HE CAME FROM! In the entertainment world he is probably one of the most successful entertainers to ever live. But Elvis always seemed to remember where he came from.

Paul never forgot where he came from:

Look at verse 13, we read, “Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.”

A. HE REMEMBERED THE BAD THINGS HE DID

(1) HE WAS A BLASPHEMER

(2) HE WAS A PERSECUTOR

(3) HE INFLICTED PAIN ON THE BELIEVERS

Paul remembered the terrible things he did. Paul was not proud of these things, he was simply stating the facts

Illus: Sometimes when people talk about their sins, a smile comes on their face and they seem to be proud of their sins.

They remind me of children sitting around bragging about their evil deeds. When one tells how evil they have been, the other says, "That is notthing…let me tell you what I did!” They are bragging about their evil deeds like it is something to brag about.

I can assure you that when Paul was talking about his sins, HE WAS NOT PROUD OF BEING CHIEF OF SINNERS, he was simply stating the facts!

Paul does not cut himself any slack, in this letter he tells that HE WAS CHIEF OF SINNERS.

WHY WAS HE TELLING THIS TO TIMOTHY?

Because Timothy was a young pastor and he was having some very difficult times in the ministry.