Sermon Tone Analysis

I Timothy 1:12-17

 

! Introduction

Phil Callaway article.

Paul would agree and in I Timothy 1:12-17, he gives his testimony and teaches us the wonderful truth that Christ came into this world to save sinners.

!

I.

A Testimony Of Grace I Timothy 1:12-14

!! A. I Am A Sinner

!!! 1. Was A Sinner

            Paul begins his testimony by admitting that he was a sinner.

He gives three words which describe his sin.

He admits that he was a blasphemer.

He said the same in other places.

In Acts 26:11, another time when he gave his testimony, he said, “Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme.”

In saying this, he admitted that not only was he speaking against Jesus, but he was trying to get other people to speak against Jesus.

He also says that he was a persecutor.

In the same passage in Acts 26:11, he goes on to say, “In my obsession against them, I even went to foreign cities to persecute them.”

He worked very hard against Jesus and anyone who claimed to know Jesus.

It seems that persecution was not just something that he did once in a while, perhaps teasing a neighbour who was a Christian.

It was his life vocation to persecute Christians.

He also admitted that he was a violent man.

In Acts 9:1, we read, “Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples.”

“Murderous threats” reveals the violent nature of his work, passions, indeed his life.

As we see what kind of a sinner Paul was, we wonder what could ever become of such a man.

Most people wondered what could become of such a man and even after he changed, many were afraid of him because of what he had been.

In Acts 9:13, when Ananias was sent to show Paul the way of salvation, he was afraid and said to God, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done…” Then later in Acts 9:26 we read that, “When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him…”

            Paul was a sinner and from our perspective, we would say he was a sinner for whom there wasn’t much hope.

!!! 2. Am A Sinner

            But isn’t it interesting that Paul never changed his view about who he was.

Although he says in verse 13, “I was…” he says in vs. 15, “I am the worst…” Notice that he says, “I am,” which is present tense and tells us that at the time of this writing, a time when he was getting old and had been a Christian for a long time, Paul still thought of himself as a sinner.

He never viewed himself as righteous or perfect, but knew that he was nothing but a sinner who needed God.

!! B. Christ Poured His Grace On Me

But sinner does not define all of who he was.

In verse 13, we read the wonderful experience he had when he says, “I was shown mercy.”

!!! 1.

Because I Acted In Ignorance

            He explains why he was shown mercy when he says, in verse 13, that it happened “because I acted in ignorance and unbelief.”

Is he saying that ignorance is an excuse?

Does that mean that if we sin and don’t know it we don’t need salvation?

Not at all, rather it reveals the basis from which salvation can come to a person.

In claiming ignorance, Paul was recognizing that there is a difference between “unwitting” sins and “presumptuous” sins.

When Jesus talked to the Pharisees, he accused them of presumptuous sins.

We read in John 9:40,41, “Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What?

Are we blind too?” Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.”

The problem with the Pharisees and with us sometimes is that we know the right thing, but refuse to do it.

That is presumptuous sin.

Presumptuous sins are like the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.

It is knowing what God wants and deliberately rejecting God.

That was not what Paul was doing.

Paul was blind.

He sincerely believed that he was doing the right thing.

In giving his testimony in Acts 26:9, he said, “I was convinced that I ought(to persecute).”

That was still sin and still required forgiveness, but it was a different nature of sin, it was unwitting sin.

The difference, however, is not in knowing or not knowing that we sin, the difference is how we respond when we know our sin.

When Paul met Jesus on the Damascus road and literally and spiritually saw the light, he repented of his sin.

Unwitting sin did not become presumptuous sin when knowledge came, but rather became repentance and that is why He was shown mercy.

!!! 2. Christ Poured Out Grace, Faith and Love

            And so Paul indicates in verse 14 that this was exactly his experience.

God did this amazing work in his heart.

His testimony is, “The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.”

We notice that there are three things poured into Paul’s heart when he repented of his sin.

First of all, grace was poured out on him.

Romans 6:23 says that “the wages of sin is death” but God reversed this solemn condemnation for Paul.

He knew that he did not deserve salvation, and he recognized that it was only God’s grace that could forgive all the things he had done wrong against God.

He also indicates that faith was poured into his heart.

In place of the unbelief that had been in his heart previously, now there was faith in his heart.

This also was a gift of God, as we read in this verse.

We think that faith is our part, and it is, but if we incline our hearts towards God in the slightest, God helps us to believe and that gift of God is what Paul recognized.

The third thing that happened was that in place of the hatred that had been there as a persecutor and a violent man, God poured His love into Paul’s heart.

What a great change!

What many thought could never happened, did happen because of the grace of God.

Often we tell our testimonies to describe what we have done.

“I changed my mind,” “I put my trust in Christ.”

Paul does not do that.

He recognizes that the only reason he is now called a child of God is because of what God did.

God poured out grace, God gave him faith and God put His love into Paul’s heart.

How many of us think we have saved ourselves?

Paul knew that he had been saved by Jesus.

!!! 3. Appointed Me To Service

            The evidence of God’s grace in Paul’s life is that Paul was not only forgiven, but, as we read in verse 12, he was also allowed to be a servant of Christ.

So Paul thanks God for appointing him to service.

What a radical change has taken place in this man.

What an amazing thing God has done.

He has taken a man who was a terrible sinner - a murderer, a blasphemer and a persecutor and has turned him into a highly regarded servant of Jesus Christ.

Only amazing grace could accomplish such a thing.

Paul shares His testimony of what God has done for Him and gives Him the glory for it.

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II.

The Truth About God’s Grace I Timothy 1:15-17

            After giving His testimony, Paul universalizes it.

What happened to me, he says, is a truth about God and can happen to everyone.

He uses this interesting phrase in verse 15, “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance.”

He uses this kind of a phrase several times in Timothy and Titus.

Each time it speaks of a different issue, but it always reinforces a significant point which we need to take note of.

The significant point here is that the grace which Paul experienced in his own life and has just shared with us, is a grace which all of us can experience.

!! A. Why Christ Came!

The universal truth is that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.”

This is what God is like!

Even from Old Testament times, in passages such as Exodus 34:6, 7, God’s mercy is demonstrated.

When God passed in front of Moses, he declared, “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.”

Because it is in the foundational nature of God to extend mercy, He sent Jesus into the world to do just that.

The Christmas story, which we review every year in December is a story of Christ coming into the world.

The Easter story, which we just reviewed less than a month ago, is a story which tells us the purpose for which Christ came into the world and that is to save sinners.