Happy New Year (2)

Brad Pearce

Durbin Memorial Baptist Church

Order • Sermon • Submitted 5 months ago • Presented 5 months ago

1 Timothy 1:12–17

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Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a great honor to steward the pulpit for the glory of God and the edification of His people.

We have made it to the last day of the year! New Year’s is a time in which many folks are ready to turn the page on one chapter of their life over for another to begin. This whole connection we feel with the calendar is interesting. You are probably familiar with the phrase, “New Year, New Me!” I know I see it all over Social media around this season. I understand this sentiment to some degree. The turning of the calendar is tangible way to set a boundary and start a goal. There are certainly things in my own life I have talked with Cassidy about improving upon in the New Year. But in some ways, isn’t it a bit arbitrary? There is nothing magical about turning one year into the next. Most calendar systems are based around Solar and lunar cycles. But while we think of the year turning from December 31 to January 1, the Chinese Calendar celebrates New Years sometime between what we refer to as January 21 and February 20, depending on the moon cycle. Modern Jewish people celebrate the New Year on Rosh Hashanah which is some time near the beginning of October on our Calendars.

Now, I know you did not come here this morning to survey all of the calendar systems around the world. But with the turning of our calendar and the significance it has for many people, I wanted to draw our attention to a New Year that is actually discussed in the Bible. Check out this New Year given all the way back in Exodus:

Exodus 12:1–2 ESV

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, “This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you.

Now this New Year on our calendars wouldn’t fall between December and January, but somewhere between March and April. Why would God choose this time to have His people celebrate a New Year? Well if you read through the book of Exodus, you will see that it tells the story of God delivering the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. The death of the firstborn son of each household culminates a series of plagues on Egypt that God uses to judge Pharoah and Egypt as a whole for their mistreatment of Israel. But they were not only being punished for their mistreatment of Israel. The One True God, our God, was also displaying His supremacy over the false gods of the Egyptians. The prevailing calendar of the day, the Egyptian calendar, was intertwined with references and allusions to those false gods. So God is delivering His people and tearing down the false gods. So “God didn’t wast any time disassociating Israel from the false God, right down to changing the calendar.”

Instead of having the passage of time defined by false Gods, the Hebrew calendar would be defined by God and His mighty acts on behalf of Israel. “His deliverance of Israel was so paradigmatic for how they were to see him that the month during the exodus defined the beginning of the year.”

In other words, God instructed His people to begin the year by remembering His sovereignty and deliverance.

I don’t bring this up so that we feel compelled to follow the Ancient Hebrew calendar and hold all of our New Years Celebrations until Easter. We learned when we walked through the book of Colossians that we have Christian liberty when it comes to celebrating festivals or particular days on the calendar. I’m not so much concerned with aligning everything with a specific calendar day. Rather, as we often think about the New Year as a turning of the page from one chapter to the next, I certainly do believe we would all be well served to begin that new chapter with a reflection on the sovereignty and deliverance of God.

May we use this day as a reminder that being a “new me” has nothing to do with a “new year” but instead, everything to do with “Christ who lives in me.”

If you truly want this year to be something special, then ensure you can join in singing with the Apostle Paul

Galatians 2:20 ESV

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

With that in mind, open your Bibles to the book of 1 Timothy. As we started walking through this book last week, we learned that Paul is writing to Timothy to help Timothy order the church at Ephesus. Due to the elders straying from the gospel, the church has begun to decay. They sought to use the Law for their own benefit and to promote vain discussions and speculations rather than seeing and preaching the gospel in truth.

Last week we ended with a reminder that the proper use of the Law is to show us how deeply we all fall short of the glory of God. We look to the law and see that we are all condemned in our sin. But then we saw that through Christ, there is salvation from our sins.

As we come to our text today, Paul is taking a bit of a detour from discussing the proper order for conduct in the local church, to simply bask in the glory that is the salvation of God. While at first glance, this may look like a pastor chasing a rabbit, It is actually fundamental to understand that everything that happens in the church happens in response to understanding the grace of God in truth made known to us through the life death and resurrection of Jesus Christ to pay the cost of our sins.

Today we are going to spend the rest of our time together simply basking in the great grace of God to save sinners through Christ Jesus. As we think about stepping into a New Year, I hope that we do so praising the sovereignty and deliverance of God. I hope that we grow in our appreciation an affection for the gospel of Jesus Christ. Let our New Year’s celebration begin begin with feasting on the buffet of benefit set at the table of God’s grace, known as His Word. Start with me in 1 Timothy 1 verse 12.

1 Timothy 1:12–14 ESV

I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

As we walk through the text this morning, we will find three truths about the gospel that serve as the primary outline of our section.

The primary truth of the gospel explained in verses 12-14 is

The Gospel is personal.

In verses 12-14 Paul explains the very personal nature of the gospel by talking about it in its immediate impact on his life. Before we get into the specifics of what all of this means, I want to point out that in three verse Paul refers to himself as an individual 8 times. “I thank Him” “give me strength” “judged me faithful.” and so on throughout these verse.

Paul is speaking to Timothy from a place of deeply personal experience. This section is saturated with gratitude because Paul had much to be thankful about!

Here is a refresher on the life of Paul just so we can really appreciate what he is saying here. As you survey the book of Acts we see that Paul, formerly called Saul, hunted down Christians. His goal in life was to decimate the Christian Church. Some describe him as, “a brutal, implacable, bloody man.” Even Dr. Luke described Paul as a religious predator:

Acts 9:1–2 ESV

But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

Paul sought out anyone following Christ so that he could quite literally destroy them. Paul was an exterminator, but instead of pests, he sought out Christians! Think about what Luke writes here! Saul, our Paul, was “breathing threats and murder”. Threats and slaughter had become the very breath of Saul! Look at how he describes himself!

Acts 26:9–11 ESV

“I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death I cast my vote against them. And I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme, and in raging fury against them I persecuted them even to foreign cities.

R Kent Hughes writes: “He was a callous, pious, self-righteous, bigoted murderer hell-bent on a full-scale inquisition. His hatred soon reached well beyond Jerusalem. He sought and received extradition papers from the Sanhedrin so he could go to Damascus and ravage the Christian community there as well. It was 150 miles to Damascus (about a week’s travel), but he would have traveled months for the privilege. Saul the hunter! Saul the man of blood!”

So then how can this blood thirsty hunter, this persecutor of Christ, write the words to Timothy we read moments ago?

Acts 9:3–6 ESV

Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.”

The Paul who wrote the letter to Timothy and the Saul who persecuted the early church may have looked the same on the outside, but Paul had been delivered from his sin and blindness by a Sovereign God! The man who once sought to lock up the followers of the Lord now thanks the Lord for his strength. The man who condemned the early saints has now been judged faithful and appointed to serve the saints. The man who was one a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent to Christ has received mercy.

Read with me again these verses, knowing the history of Paul to better appreciate what he is saying here:

1 Timothy 1:12–14 ESV

In this statement of Paul we see the deep and personal impact of the gospel. Paul did not deserve God’s mercy and deliverance. Nor did he do anything to earn it. It was in fact the grace of the Lord that overflowed for Him to come to faith and know the love of those who are in Christ Jesus. Paul understood who he once was and also understands that he is no longer that person but has been made new by the overflowing grace of God.

So what are we to make of this? Sure Paul had a miraculous transformation that filled him with gratitude but what does this mean for the rest of us today?

We should all note that there is no conceivable accumulation of sin that the grace of God cannot overflow! There are many, maybe some even in this room this morning with hearts like Saul’s, full of unbelief, full of bitterness and gall, full of personal performance and self reliance, but what we see in the extreme story of Paul is that by God’s beautiful grace not only are sins forgiven and their debt removed, but God grants to His people the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus!

This is personal. No one else can receive it for you. It wont always be as dramatic as Paul on the road to Damascus we read about a few moments ago, but the normative way of receiving this grace is hearing and understanding the Word of God, seeing that indeed you are lost without God, that you are dead and guilty in your sins, and that Christ lived and died and rose again to pay the cost of your sins. If you hear nothing else this morning hear this: you have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and the wages of your sin is death, even if you have not previously realized it! Look back to verse 13: “Paul recognizes, “I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief.” Paul’s ignorance does not imply that he was thereby innocent—as if he did not know any better. Paul means what Jesus meant when he prayed from the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). The men crucifying Jesus did not understand the full implications of what they were doing. Nevertheless, they were still guilty and in need of forgiveness. God holds sinners accountable even if they do not comprehend the full implications of their sin. It is the same here with Paul.”

We are all personally responsible, and personally guilty for our sin. We are all personally in need of a Savior. Which is what makes the grace of God all that sweeter. There recently was a post that went around online intended to mock Christianity but I’m not sure it had the effect it intended. The post said, “Christianity - the belief that a God created the universe 13.75 billion light years across containing 200 billion galaxies, each of which contains an average of more than 200 billion stars, just so He could have a personal relationship with you.” This post was meant to mock Christians and say we are narcissists for thinking a creator would care about us in a creation so Big. But the fact of the matter is that in this expansive cosmos, there is only one species whom God so loved that He gave His only begotten Son that Whosoever believeth in Him Should not perish but have everlasting life! Understanding this truth isn’t hubris, but humbling! Look back at verse 14! Paul didn’t do anything to be saved, But the grace of God overflowed on Him.

Oh how the truth of the gospel should inspire our humility and holiness! The God who created everything in Creation, loved me enough to die for me? The God who created everything in creation, died to pay for MY sin? If I see the sovereignty of God, the vastness of God, and the personal price He paid, you wont be filled with selfish pride, but humble submission to the God who is worthy to be served.

We see in this first section of Scripture that the gospel is intimately personal. Lets look to the next two verses for our next truth.

1 Timothy 1:15–16 ESV

The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.

So we have spent much of our time this morning seeing the personal nature of the gospel. We must understand first personally, but we ought to realize the second truth of the gospel. The gospel is expansive. Paul first explains his personal connection to Timothy because Timothy was disturbed by being young and feeling unqualified in the ministry. Paul says look at me! If God can save, equip, and send me he can certainly do the same for you, Timothy. The same is true for all of us here this morning. There is none among us who have dug a sin debt so deep that it cannot be covered by the overflowing grace of God, paid for by the all-sufficient blood of Christ.

So from a personal understanding of the grace of God for the individual insufficient sinner, Paul now draws our attention to the reality that the gospel is intended to be spread. God did not JUST deliver Paul. God did not JUST deliver Timothy. God did not JUST deliver Pastor Brad. God saved them and many more! The beautiful news of the gospel is that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinnerS! We do not know the limit to that plural! What we do know is that Who So Ever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life!

Church, right now, if you’re following along in your own Bible, or even if your using one of the bibles in our pew, underline the phrase, That Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners! That’s the punchline to this section of Scripture. Paul says, “Hey Timothy, what I’m about to tell you is trustworthy! What I’m about to say deserves to be fully accepted. Hey Timothy, there ain’t no debate on this thing right here:” That Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.

Whatever we have going on in our personal lives, let us now remind ourselves that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. When we turn on the news and no longer recognize our country because of the promotion of depravity on every street corner, let us remind ourselves, Christ came into the world to save sinners. When we are down on circumstances and surrounded by pain, difficulty, and doubt, let us now remind ourselves that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners!

Understanding and cherishing that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners changes everything! This plays out in a few ways:

When we see that we are indeed sinners ourselves, we clearly review our lives and see just how short of perfection we are, we are reminded that the God of heaven put on flesh to display His Love and give us His righteousness. We are reminded that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Christ has set us free from the consequence of the law! Dear Christian, you do not have to live in fear, you have been saved! Yes, our understanding of holiness leads us to continual repentance from our sins, but we can even repent with joy because we have been saved! Christ came into the world to save sinners and Christ Jesus said that the one whom He gives shall never perish, nor shall anyone be able to pluck them from the Father’s hand. When we are convicted of current or past sins, we repent and look to the father with Joy! He has saved us and not even our worst effort could void what Christ has done!

When we see the depraved state of the world around us, understanding that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners changes everything! How? Well we understand that the very people who’s actions cause our hearts to mourn, are the very people whom Christ came to save. Remember that Paul identified himself as the foremost of sinners. I’m not condoning the actions of the world nor saying that we should affirm blatant sin. Instead, I am saying that the very people that cause our hearts to mourn are the very people with whom we have been called to share the gospel! We don’t know who among those folks will hear, receive, and repent from the gospel, but we must remind our selves that Christ is saving sinners everyday!

When we are down in our circumstances, understanding that Christ came to save sinners changes everything. How? While you may be going through a trial today, you have been saved for eternity! While we appreciate this life and use it for the glory of God, this life will ultimately be an infinitesimally small portion of our eternal life. One of our members shared a thought online about the thief on the cross. It said, “Jesus didn't take way his pain, heal his body, or smite his scoffers. Yet, it was a thief who walked into paradise the same hour as Jesus simply by believing.” We are not ever promised in Scripture to have a comfortable existence, nor to receive the healing that we may desperately desire. However, we are promised better. We are promised eternal life with Christ Jesus our Lord. The Lord who came into the World to save sinners, now raises us up to be seated with Him in the heavenly places (eph 2:6).

Church, do you how the gospel changes everything? It is because of this that the gospel is so expansive. If you look back to verse 16, we see how God works through the lives of individuals to make His appeal to others. Christ displayed patience in Paul so that others would come to believe in Christ. Your story, the struggles of life, even the very sins you used to be defined by, are used by God to show others His goodness. Think about how amazing this grace is! The very sins you meant for evil, God uses for good to show others they too can be forgiven! This does not mean that rejoice in the sin of our past, but we rejoice in the God who uses bad for His ultimate good! The gospel is expansive and we are invited into the work of that expansion! God can use the testimony of your life to point others to the God of your salvation!

Before we close I want to quickly show you one more truth of the gospel contained in our text this morning. Look at verse 17

1 Timothy 1:17 ESV

To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

The final truth and a glorious truth for us this morning is this: The gospel is good. That is certainly an understatement, but we should note the gospel is good!

We’re all familiar with receiving gifts, something we think about often this time of the year. What do we when we receive a gift? Well first of all, if it is a good gift, we use it? My wife and I were laughing because literally everything I was wearing on Friday, my socks, shoes, pants, shirts, everything were gifts from my mother in law. You show appreciation for gifts by using it. Church, we use the gospel by remembering it, and sharing it as we have discussed this morning. But the other thing you do when you receive a good gift is say thank you. That is what Paul is doing here in verse 17. After expressing the personal and expansive nature of the gospel to his dear friend Timothy, Paul is compelled to lift up a doxology. Doxology comes from the greek word doxologia. It comes from “dox” meaning “glory” and “logos” meaning “Word or thought”. A doxology is an expression of glorious thought to God. It is praising God. Why would Paul start praising God right here? Because He understands the gospel is so so good. John Calvin wrote the following:

“His enthusiasm breaks out into this exclamation, since he could find no words to express his gratitude. These sudden outbursts of Paul’s come mainly when the vastness of the subject overpowers him and makes him break off what he is saying. For what could be more wonderful than Paul’s conversion? At the same time he admonishes us all by his example, that we should never think of the grace shown in God’s calling without being lost in wondering admiration. This sublime praise of God’s grace swallows up all the memory of his former life. How great a deep is the glory of God!”

Today we have seen three wonderful truths about the gospel to propel us into the new year. We saw that the gospel is personal. We saw that the gospel is expansive. And we saw that the gospel is good! Do you know the gospel? Have you received faith in Christ Jesus? If you have, then spend the next few moments singing in praise with me Jesus Paid it All. If you have never understood the gospel before, but see your need for it today, come forward during this hymn of response. May we all see the gospel is good!

Let’s pray.