The Transforming Power of Grace

1 Timothy chapter 1 1 Timothy chapter 1 tonight we'll be from uh verses 12 to 17 uh this a continuation from uh the last time that Pastor John talked about uh the passage before this was on misusing the law and so we just going to go right into our our passage tonight uh but before I do let's pray and then we will uh start our lesson father we love you so much and we thank you for this opportunity that you've given us to be able be here together uh to worship you and to praise you for all that you do uh for us and for who you are in our lives father as we get into your lesson tonight your your word tonight would you help us to learn something would you help us just to be able to uh be

challenged be encouraged and uh be able to be convicted Lord so father we love you so much in Jesus name we pray amen um think of the worst sinner that you can think of that is in your life please don't say any names out loud but just think of somebody that you would consider the worst sinner in your life I know we don't compare but we know that there's somebody that we we think of did you know that God Can Transform their lives as well that God can save that person that you're thinking of did you know that God is his grace is able to save people like that I heard um I Heard a gospel from a very young age and later on in life I realized that the gospel changes lives but early on in my in my

life as a as a child I I I went to church with my family so we we heard the gospel being preached over and over again it wasn't until my teenage years that I finally understood what the gospel was and what it meant to me but when I think about my gospel I almost feel like it's not good enough like when I compare it to others who have a more drastic testimony I'm just like man mine is boring and uh but then I but then I realized I came to the realization that the truth is the gospel did an amazing thing in my life the same way it did in somebody else's life that had a more drastic or crazier life than I did and I praise God for that I didn't have to go through that but I still had to same the

gospel still had the same impact in my life and tonight in our passage we're going to learn that Paul had a crazy testimony I mean we know this from studying his his letters but Paul really did have a crazy testimony and tonight we're going to look at 1 Timothy 1:1 12-17 and here what Paul has to say about his calling and about his testimony so in verse number 12 down we're going to read the the passage for first and then we'll get into our outline for our sermon for tonight but Paul says this to Timothy and I thank Christ Jesus our L our Lord who had enabled me for that he counted me faithful putting me into the ministry 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 and 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 how be it for this cause I obtain Mercy that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all longsuffering for a pattern to them which should Hereafter believe on him to life Everlasting now unto the king Eternal Immortal invisible the only wise God be honor and Glory forever and ever amen first of all in our passage tonight we're going to look at how Paul was thankful for his calling he says here and I thank Christ

Jesus our lord he is thankful for his calling Paul here mentions that Jesus Christ is the one who enabled Paul it enabled him uh the word enabled here is from the Greek word uh which combines n and uh Dynamo which pretty much just means in power but uh essenti what it means is to empower or strengthen so what Paul is saying is that God is the one that that allows him and gives him the ability to be able to serve serve God uh he said it in Philippians chapter number four uh verse 13 Paul said I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me and so what Paul is saying here his ability to work for God comes from God and his ability to be even even a servant of God comes from God God is

the one that gives him that ability uh Paul is clear his ability to serve didn't come from himself Christ is the one that gave him the power and ability to do what God has called him to do then Paul goes on to say that Christ is the one that counted him faithful the word counted here uh means to judge or um to consider or deem uh in another text it means to govern or to appoint as far as like leadership and so here if we refer back to 1 Thessalonians chapter number 5 verse 24 the Bible says this Faithful Is He that calleth that calleth you who also will do it and so what what here what Paul is saying here is that God saw what Paul would become through his grace and don't get me wrong go uh

Paul is not saying that because God looked at my life and he saw that I'm going to do good for him that's why he C he counted me faithful what what um Paul is saying is that because of his grace I'm able to be faithful to him because of what God has done and because God is the one that has enabled me I am able to be faithful to him in uh in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 if you would turn there 1 Corinthians chapter 15 Paul wasn't faithful on his own because later on he says that he was a blasphemer he was a a persecutor and he was injurious Paul is faithful because God is the one that has allowed him that has enabled him to be faithful Paul said in 1 Corinthians he said um he said this for I am

the least of the Apostles that I'm not me to be called an apostle but then he says but by the grace of God I am that I am and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain and so what Paul is saying is that Paul acknowledges that it was God's grace not his own Merit that made him faithful if you turn to Ephesians CH 2:10 Ephesians 2:10 Paul also said this for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus and two good works which God had before ordained that we should walk in them again God is the one that allows Paul to be able to do what Paul is doing for God and uh we often Overlook God's grace in people's lives because we see the good that they're already doing when we see a

pastor or we see somebody like Paul we see their faithfulness and we commend them which is which is good that we should commend them and encourage them but we commend them and miss the fact that it is truly God that has allowed them to be faithful that every single Glory that a person receives should be for God because God is the one that allows them to be to be able to serve him God is the one that gives them the ability to be fa faithful so when we look at Paul we think of course God counted Paul faithful because look at what Paul has done for God he he's written much of the New Testament he's planted so many churches of course when God saw Paul he would count him faithful because look at

this this just just the list goes on and we forget that Paul prior to Salvation was an enemy of God and it is the Paul before salvation that we should look at and say wow Paul can do all of this because of what God has done at the moment of Salvation because PA because God has saved Paul if we met Paul at the moment of of his salvation or prior to his salvation we would question God counting Paul faithful I mean we we do that when we look at others and we think he he dresses differently he doesn't look like a Christian he cannot be used of God when we look at people and we say oh that guy is not nope there's no way God is going to use that person and Paul as he's trying what he's what Paul

is trying to say is I'm just like that person because prior to Salvation I was the one that was fighting against God if you read Paul's testimony in Acts 7-9 you see just a story leading up to Salvation Paul Paul is the one that is killing Christians persecuting Christians harming Christians and God truly has the amazing ability to transform people's lives including Paul his grace has reached so many people I mean I think of PE people like the apost like the disciples and the apostles as we read of their their stories like P pastor Wayne is going through the dirty dozen series and we read about Peter and we we hear about John and all of these disciples that were with Jesus and we just

question H how can these people be used of God if they're faulty and their failures and but it's because it is the grace of God that has enabled them to be able to work for him we think of I I think of people like zakus who was a traitor to his own people because he collected taxes for the Romans and the the Israelites hated zakus but because of Jesus zakus climbed that tree and he looked and he saw Jesus and something just changed he he was so curious he went up to Jesus and Jesus said I'm going to come to your household today and ever since that day zakus was different because the gospel changes lives think about Mary Magdalene who was a who was demon-possessed and yet Jesus Christ was

able to to change her life completely around I think of uh other uh well-known uh Christians in in our world today were like CS Lewis who was a former atheist and Oxford scholar who became one of the greatest Christian writers and Defenders of the faith I think about um Lee strobo who was a former atheist as well an investigative journalist who set out to disprove Christianity and then ended up being a Christian later I just read about um Charles Cen a former Aid to President Nixon and a key figure in the water Scandal uh he went to prison for his crimes but in prison his he heard the gospel and his life changed and be and after prison he he found that the prison fellowship which is a

Ministry to bring the gospel to inmates worldwide and it's still going I think about our own pastor pastor Wayne surface you look at him now and you say of course God can use him look at what he's done but if you hear his story and what he had he grew up with it's the grace of God that has changed our pastor to be able to be faithful to Ohana Baptist Church These past years 30 plus years I think about my father-in-law uh Pastor Reyes who was a Catholic and if if you knew him before he got saved you would I mean I I I hear stories from my my wife I'm not going to talk bad about him because he's my father father-in-law and I want those brownie points but if you just just just ask him and he

would tell you his life before salvation and when you look at him now you're going to think how are you able to do the things that you're able to do today it's because it's the grace of God that changes lives I think about tupu who was in prison and when you look at tupu today I mean you kind of get scared still but the grace of God is amazing to be able to change someone like him and be able to use him Faithfully I mean he's been faithful to AA for a long time and it's not because of who he is and that's what Paul is trying to say it's because of God God has changed his life and given him the grace to be able to be where he is today and and just think about you I mean think about your own

story like where where have you come from and when you consider that you would you would be amazed at how far God's Grace has taken you and we are all undeserving of his grace yet in his love and compassion he has chosen to give it to us at the cost of his only begotten son it is God who enables us to serve him and it is God who allows us to stay faithful to him and so Paul says I'm thankful to God for saving me and for allowing me to serve him to be faithful to him and then Paul's gratitude leads to him to reflect on his past and the mercy that God showed him which he explains next in verses 13 uh down to verse number 15 the the next Point here is Paul recalls his misuse of the law which

was the the point in Pastor John's uh passage last uh two weeks ago when he when he uh taught us of 1 Timothy chapter number 1 verse 8-12 but here in verse number 13 the Bible says this 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 um last week uh two weeks ago when Pastor John preached uh he taught about how the law is meant to reveal our sin and point us to the need for salvation but it cannot save

us and this is what Paul is saying before this passage uh Paul said that misusing the law happens when people try to justify themselves by it instead of recognizing that only the Gospel of Jesus Christ can offer forgiveness and transformation the law and the gospel are connected the the law shows our sin but can't save us what Paul is saying is that the gospel is the means of Salvation and misusing the law is when it's seen as the way to justify oneself apart from Christ so you you misuse the law when you rely on all your efforts and all the trying to justify yourselves instead of relying on what Jesus Christ has already done for you and instead of relying on the grace that he continues to

give to be able to continue to serve him this was the case for Paul he tried to attain favor with God by fulfilling the law and in Paul's eyes just think about it in Paul's eyes when he's persecuting these Christians he's thinking these Christians are the blasphemers they're worshiping somebody else other than the god that I'm serving but then we but then here in his own testimony Paul is saying no I was the blasphemer because I was the one that was fighting against God and Paul says that he's a blasphemer because he spoke against Christ who is God he said that he was a persecutor because he sought to imprison and kill Christians all over Jerusalem he was injurious because he brought harm to

Christians physically and probably emotionally just imagine all the Christians that tried to avoid Paul because they knew that this guy is passionate about his religion and he's going to kill us if he sees us worshiping Jesus but Paul didn't know better and he and he said it here he said he did it ignorantly and in unbelief and I think most of most of us here can understand Paul in this situation because I think most of us have gone through similar situations like Paul you know we we might all have different backgrounds but I think much of our Lives was shaped by what information we were given we grew up in different households we have different backgrounds we have different cultures we come

from different places if you grew up Catholic you live cathol if you grew up with strict rules you lived with strict rules if you grew up believing a certain way you lived according to those beliefs and I think for most of us we didn't question what we were taught and in Paul's case Paul believed a lie because persecuting Christians and attacking Jesus Christ was a lie that's not something that God in the Old Testament ever commanded or ever said to do and he believed he was right but we know that he was fighting against God and I think that's why Paul was able to make the next statement when he said that 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 and I think Paul truly believed that he in fact was the worst sinner ever and that's hard for us to believe because when we read it we're like Paul you're like the best Christian ever like look at what you've accomplished for Christ but Paul even after all of the accomplishments that he's made for Christ is so humble enough to say I am the worst of the worst and I think it's just a hum it's a humbling moment for Paul to admit because he understood that even though I was being passionate in serving God I was not serving the right God I was fighting against Christ then Paul says this he says in verse number 16 how B it for this cost I obtained Mercy

that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all longsuffering for a pattern to them which should Hereafter believe on him to life Everlasting and I think we do this sometimes um we make statements like that to get people to do things right uh when somebody is reluctant to try something we say hey if I can do it so can you and I think I think what Paul is trying to do here he's trying to encourage people that if I'm the worst sinner then who cannot get saved if I've done the worst and committed the worst for God and yet God's grace is able to save me and transform my life then that means that the worst sinner that you are thinking of can also be transformed by the grace of God because if

Paul who was a blasphemer who persecuted Christian is attacking God is saved it was saved and is now serving God then anybody else can get saved too and that is an encouragement I think Paul believed that he was he was a sinner and he was he really believed that he was he was the worst Sinner and it's funny because God said it's okay for him to actually make this statement and record it in the book so that everybody else after him can look at it and read it and read it and that's a humil humil humiliating sorry humiliating place to be in to admit and write it for all of future to see that you are in fact the worst but this should cause us to thank God for saving even us and when we look at

the people in our lives it should draw us closer to God and be able to say you know what if God can save me then he can save my cousin if God can save me then he can save my uncle if God can save me then he can save my coworker you can just fill in the blank and and put somebody that you think is past the point of being saved Paul is trying to make a statement here that nobody is past the point of getting saved because he was worse and yet others can also get saved after this reminder to Paul leads him to utter a doxology a doxology is just a word of Glory which we see in verse number 17 last point is this Paul Praises God for his attributes he says now unto the king Eternal Immortal

invisible the only wise God be honor and Glory forever and ever amen and here's what Paul is saying Paul is saying first of all God is the king Eternal meaning that he is he reigns forever God is Immortal meaning that he he is Everlasting and and that he is not subject to death or Decay um he is invisible though unseen his presence and works are evident still and he is the only wise God meaning God's wisdom is unmatched and I think it's very important that Paul made this statement because it's it it just kind of refocuses his mind and puts himself in the right place because you can't truly work worship God if you don't first humble yourself and realize who you are and then you put him in his

rightful place and what Paul is saying here is look the creator of this world who is far greater than anything in this world was compassionate enough to look at me the worst of the worst and save me if that can happen then anybody else can get saved and God does the saving we just have to be faithful to to share that gospel and allow the gospel to be heard by everybody else so they have that opportunity to hear it and respond to it but I think it's so important that Paul did this this way in in writing to Timothy to format his writing this way Paul's response to Grace Just Paul can't help but worship God after reflecting on his mercy and the transformation in his life and I think when we

remember what God has done for us our natural response should be to praise and worship God but why does this matter to First Timothy like why is Paul writing this important to the entirety of what we're studying which is first the the letter to Timothy here well first of all I think Paul writing this to Timothy is important for Timothy because Paul's Story show Timothy that God God's grace is enough for everyone um Timothy was a was in a tough Ministry and so leading a church surrounded by false teachers and and cultural challenges Timothy needed to hear Paul's testimony again and Timothy needed to hear that you know what Paul was probably worse than the people that I'm facing right now the

people that are spreading this false Doctrine and the people that are are just not doing what they're supposed to be doing if God can save Paul then it should be okay for me to to face these challenges here at this church and so uh I think Paul really needed to to encourage Timothy because as we learned uh just from our context of First Timothy Timothy was probably already on his way out he was he was done with Ephesus and yet Paul had to urge him to stay in Ephesus just so he could encourage these people and be able to to fix the things that were being broken and and be able to uh preach the word of God to these people that were causing all these problems in this church and so uh Paul or

Timothy needed this encouragement and then for the church in Ephesus the church needed to see how the gospel transforms lives even the worst of Sinners Paul's story reminded them that no one is too far gone for God to save and use and it was a call to humility and Trust in God's power to change hearts and grow their church but here's what it means to us today for us today God God's grace hasn't changed if he could save and use Paul then he can save anyone else and that's encouraging because it would encourage us to be faithful to God because that's how powerful the gospel is in our lives we might limit it and be like judging people and say you know what I don't think it'll reach that person

but if we just do our part then God can can do the work because it's it's not us saving people it's God and it's the Holy Spirit working out that the word of God and being able to fulfill that like Timothy and the church in Ephesus we need to remember that Ministry isn't about our strength it's about God's power and working through us and I think it's a good reminder for us Christians because so many times when we're serving him we're using our strength and it's good to use our strength but we need to rely on God because when we rely on God and be able to to to ask him for that help then in the end who gets the glory it's God not us and praise the Lord for what we've done for him praise the Lord that Ohan Baptist Church has done service for God but it's God using Ohan Baptist Church and it's God using Pastor surface to be able to remain faithful here and be able to uh spread the gospel here in Honolulu so it's God that does the work