First Timothy lesson 7 cont
1 Timothy · Courtney Hemenway · Jun 23, 2024
1 Timothy, No. 19
Holly Hills Bible Church
https://www.hollyhillsbiblechurch.org/teaching/messages/49261935405723

Transcribed from the recording by SermonAudio, so expect the occasional misheard word.

All right, we are in Lesson 7. I think we got through three questions last week, so we are in Question 4. Lesson 7, I always like to go over the verses just so we know what we're talking about in whole, instead of dicing it up into the words and individual verses. So, I like to, for the context, I've been doing 1 Timothy 1, and we'll go 12 through 17, just to give us the context and where we're at today with this lesson.

I thank Christ Jesus, our Lord, who has strengthened me because he has considered me faithful, putting me into service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus. It is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am the foremost of all. Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever.

Amen. So that's the section, and we got through a bunch of things about Paul and where he was. He was a blasphemer, violent aggressor, and now we're seeing on the flip side where Well, we'll continue on on question four, and then how the Lord used all of that, his history, as a great witness. So, question four, what was Paul the foremost all in?

And from verse 15, it is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. So what was he the foremost of all? Sinners. Sinners. He's foremost of the sinners. So does that mean he was the chief sinner? He was the sinner?

No? Yes? Everyone's a sinner until they come to know Christ. Right. So everyone's a sinner. What did he put on himself, or what did he say? He said he's the foremost of that. The first? No, he's not the first. We know who the first was, and that was a catastrophic mistake, because all of humanity went down with him. He was the first. So the foremost. So he was the foremost.

What was he saying? He wasn't the chief, he wasn't like the top, but he was saying he was one of the worst. He was one of the worst ones, because what was he doing? He was attacking the church. He was doing everything in his power to suppress and remove Christians. So he basically says, I was the foremost because I was trying to kill the way, is what they were called, or the Christians, I forget which way they finally called Christians, but it was the way. He was the foremost because he was trying to just annihilate that. So he says he's the foremost.

Do you agree with that? Was that a good assessment? If he had just murdered other people that were not Christians, would that have disqualified him as the foremost? Or that was a lot? Good distinction. So if he just was a random killer. Yeah. Because there were lots of murders, I'm sure. But he was attacking the body of Christ. Right. And that's a good distinction, actually, when you think about it.

Which we'll get into in the following questions. Had he just been a murderer, would that be as impactful of a witness as one who was actively attacking the church and then turned around and came to know the Lord? Would that have the same witness? I think it would have a witness because I think, you know, whoever, I don't know, mass murder today, came to know the Lord, that's an amazing thing. Charles Manson. Charles Manson or whoever, you know, any some of Ted Bundy or all these guys who are horrible people, the guy who shot up the Aurora Theater. If they come to know the Lord, that's an amazing thing. But would that have the same impact as what Paul did? Actively going after Christians, only Christians, imprisoning him and putting him to death in several instances, is that the same impact? I don't think so. Go ahead.

It was the church in Jerusalem. No, he was going after, where do you think he met him on the road? He was going out of town. He'd done enough work in Jerusalem, he wanted to expand his ministry of destroying the church. Okay, was the church born then? Yeah, the church was at that point. Yeah. After Pentecost. This is well after Pentecost. Oh, okay. Yeah. So Pentecost, the church had been established. Right.

And so Paul was doing everything he could to eradicate it at this point. It's small, so let's try and eradicate it before it gets too big. So again, I think we'll get into the next questions about why Paul is used. I'm the foremost of the sinners. Why did he use him? We'll see that in the following questions. But it's basically, he's the representation of sinners. He's the foremost because he was not only just a sinner, even though there's not real ranks. If you're a sinner, you're a sinner.

I mean, I guess we're trying to, is Charles Manson a worse sinner than you were when you were saved? I don't think Manson was, but Ted Bundy was. Well, I mean, before he was, were you any better than him? Oh, no. No, and that's an amazing part when you think about it.

You were every bit as much of a sinner and could have done any of those things that any of those people did. You're equally as capable of doing that, because the same sinful nature is in every one of us. It's just for some reason, some of us are restrained, I guess, that we don't do mass murders and do all this stuff, but we're all made out of the same material. before a believer. Once you're a believer, the scary part is that's still inside of you, but you also have a new life in you. So, again, I guess the question is, do you find it strange or comforting that Paul considered himself the foremost sinner? Is that strange or somewhat comforting to you? In some respects, we can all say that, right? Yeah. That we're the foremost? Yeah. Yeah. So I guess I see that as a comforting statement that, you know, we can all say the same thing.

And what did Paul go on to do? You know, as a believer. Did the church go under any persecution before then? There's pressure from the Jews. And remember, who gave Paul the authority to go after him? Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin. So they were all in favor of this. And remember, who was it? One of the Pharisees was saying, it was Paul, and he said, is it good to get rid of one man, or do we let this run out of itself? Do you nip it in the bud, so to speak? So I think their thought was, let's get this taken care of before it spreads.

Kind of like the Jews in Hamas today. Yeah, they're trying to eliminate them. I think from a historical standpoint, you have a fairly accepting Jewish setup until Stephen. And when Stephen goes before the Sanhedrin and really drills them on their not accepting Christ as the Messiah, and then they take him out and stone him, that's when it starts.

Paul's there. when that happens, he's assenting to it, and probably speculating, probably at that time thought, oh, these are the guys I ought to be after. See, I think it started before that. Remember Peter and... Oh, that's right, they kept calling him in. They kept calling him in, in the carpet, you know, and they were the first ones. Peter, that's what I say, you know, the other, when I said, who were the, in one of the previous questions, it said, who were other ones like that? Well, Peter was one.

He denied him three times, then what happened immediately after, Well, see, he's in front of the Sanhedrin going, by the way, you just killed the Messiah. You guys, you guys did this. And I read this week that the Sanhedrin had a protocol. The first time, you got the warning. The second time, you got the whip. And the third time, they put you in jail or kill you. Three strikes, you're out. But so I think the persecution had already started. They didn't like Peter and them in the synagogue. No, because they wouldn't comply. They wouldn't comply. So be quiet, or we're going to bring you back in again.

Well, and that other incident happened where Peter cures the man. They want to know, by what authority did you do that? And they did it on the Sabbath. One of the things this question brought up, and I probably didn't express it very good, was Paul thought he was the head of one of the lists that represented the long-suffering of Christ. That God waited, and waited, and waited, and let Paul do his thing. And he said, that's the list I'm the head of, because he could have shut me down any time, but he didn't. And so I think that's important for all us believers, and people we're praying for to become believers, that God is long-suffering.

His timing is impeccable. And sometimes we think, well, let's hurry up. See, I'm a little different on that. I can see that point. But the other point is almost kind of what Donna was saying. We're all that way. And the thing is, I look at God's timing. He could have converted Paul way before. Anytime. Anytime. Sure. He wanted it at a certain time. That's right.

In my life, I could have accepted the Lord a lot. He could have made it a lot. I told you the guy who buttonholed me on an airplane. I could have accepted the Lord at that point, but I didn't. God uses his timing. I don't know about the long suffering.

I think it brought him to the exact point he needed. with all, so they knew he was a violent aggressor. Everybody knew that. If he did it early on, they wouldn't have known. And what's the witness, as we see in the following questions? He was to be the greatest example or demonstrate.

So I don't think it's much long suffering. It's God's timing. God's timing said, Paul, you are feared by everybody. Now's the time. So I think it's both, long suffering. I see that. I'm different than you that I got saved at 35, and trust me, the Lord long suffered for me for lots of years. But he knew when you were going to, you know. He did. And he brought you to the point where, you know, just like me, it doesn't matter what time. Let me put it this way. He let me offend him a long time before he stopped me. And me too.

I mean, you know, in the scheme of eternity, a few more years really isn't anything in God's economy. You know, so I don't see it as much long-suffering. It's like, okay, he has to do this much to you before you turn your eyes up. Well, and you look at what Paul was actually, what his sin was. was persecuting, when the Lord Jesus said, you're persecuting me, that's where the suffering comes in.

Right. Yeah. Well, yeah. I mean, from that standpoint. Yeah. And when you realize that the suffering, when he points to me, he's saying that the church as a whole, Christ is the head. You're getting me. But when you're getting me, you're getting the entire body of Christ. Right. Like I said, I find it comforting in this. Do you find it strange or comforting that Paul considered himself the foremost sinner?

I look at myself, and many times, I think this one, witnessing to somebody or thinking about bringing somebody to the Lord, all I do is look in the mirror and go, Because is it impossible for you to really, I can't, he's such a hard nut to crack. Would he ever become a believer? I look in the mirror and I go, that guy did it. And as hard as I am.

As a believer, should I have somewhere in my psyche that I'm a big time sinner? and I'm saved by grace, I only exist because of God's grace. Not only if you think you're the sinner, because your past is gone. Yeah, I'm not talking about being morose about it, or that I can't function because I'm a sinner. It's just that...

If you're thankful, thankful in that, yes, I think you should be. You know, that's what I say, when I say, like, witnesses, I mean, like, somebody that, man, that guy is just like a guy in a drill rig, you know, and I'm like, how does this guy come to know the Lord? And then I look in the mirror and I go, how did that guy do it? Yeah.

I'm no, I'm no better than that guy. I'm no better than Paul beforehand. I'm no better than Ted Bundy. I'm no better than any of those. and God will work in the hearts of all people. It's just, you know, will they by faith believe? So. Because it's not about merit mentality. No, no, it's not at all. It's by grace. Grace. All right.

So, you know, I said basically we'll kind of move on in this and answer the question in question five. What is the reason Paul found mercy? So we see that in verse 16, yet for this reason I found mercy. So what was the reason he found mercy? He acted ignorant and unbelief. So mercy was he didn't know what he was doing? God showed mercy because he was... I didn't know what I was doing. I think, in some respects, that's true. He says, I acted ignorantly.

So, verse 15, you see, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. And then, in verse 15, we also saw that he was the foremost of sinners. So, what does Paul attribute the mercy that the Lord showed him after the fact that he was a sinner and foremost among all sinners? We see it in the next verse.

You know, he demonstrated his perfect patience. Right. He found mercy. Yeah. He attributed... Everyone dwells in eternity. He knew exactly... I mean, he... Exactly. Every person, everywhere present at the same time. Right. And... And Paul's... is now saying, he attributes the mercy to the fact that God was going to use him. I think that's what he's saying here.

Because it says, so that in me is the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate his perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in him for eternal life. So Paul's saying Jesus could use in a mighty way through him to demonstrate his perfect patience with him, and his grace, his mercy, all of those things. So I think Paul says he knows he got mercy because now God's using me. He knows that I was terrible, but now he's using that in a positive way. God knew about it. And now he's saying, God's using me in a tremendous way, even though I was a horrible person, He did it so he could use me now in a powerful way.

So. I like what Macaulay said there that did Paul consider himself savable. Yeah. You know, it's interesting. We were studying Romans chapter one. The question was asked, what do you have to do to qualify to be savable? The answer is you have to be lost. Well, be born. That is, from my perspective, as a candidate for salvation, I don't need to be saved unless I know and understand that I'm lost. Oh, yeah. I think that's everybody. Well, you have to know that you need a Savior. How do you come to the Lord without knowing that? You have to know that you need a savior.

And it's kind of, we touched a little bit about that maybe last week, or in one of our discussions, or maybe all the discussions with people, and they've had over the few weeks now. You know, in Romans 1, everybody knows there's a God. And most of them feel that they need to keep him happy. And so there's that innate quality that in Romans 1 says everybody knows that. And so you know that there's a God, and you know he could be kind of angry at me, or there's something.

What you need is the final, is that general revelation doesn't give you anything other than there's a God, and maybe he's mad at me. And he's powerful. He's powerful. That's all I get in general revelation. So, you still need to have the knowledge, know the tracts and the facts, you need to know that before you come, and the knowledge is that I'm a sinner, and that there's nothing I can do about it in myself. You have to come to that point.

And that's really the conviction of the Holy Spirit working on every human being. I think every human being has the Holy Spirit trying to work on them. Because, you know, John 3, 16, it's God's desire that nobody should perish. So I take that to be that the Holy Spirit is working on every single person. And it's their rejection of Him and the rejection of the Holy Spirit working until such time that He convinces them. And there are millions who do, and billions who don't.

So, I think it's, in each of us, we have that knowledge of God, but we need that specific revelation of Christ. We need to know that. So, and you know, that's the other is that, you know, what about the deepest, darkest Africa? You know, I always bring that example. How do they know?

Well, do you think God would bring somebody before him if he got somebody to a point where they're really searching for God? I think he'd bring a missionary or something, drop a Bible out of the sky or whatever, you know. God will work on it, can bring that special revelation.

There's plenty of stories like that. Yeah, I mean, way too many of those. All right, so let's move on to question six. Under this plan of God's, of God's, who gets the credit? I'll put my note in here. Is this the easy Luke Jenkins answer? Jesus! Jesus!

So, is there a reason why, or a verse that you might quote here that would say where Paul found mercy from the Lord, explains how he found mercy from the Lord, how he was to be used. We see that in verse 16, and then what did he state after all that, about being demonstrated an example? What does he say after that? Verse 17. Now to the king, eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, what the honor and glory forever and ever, amen. So after all of this is, the credit goes to God.

He was so, so far out and a blasphemer, an aggressor. The only thing, give credit, is when Christ appeared to him and said, you know, who are you persecuting? You're persecuting me. I'm Christ. And so the credit goes to God. And, you know, we see that. I was thinking about this too. Where's another point where Paul kind of gives direct credit to God or that's the only answer? Maybe it's too general of a question. Romans 7, at the end of Romans 7, what happens? I'm a wretched man. There's nothing good in me. I'm a horrible person. I want to do good. I don't do good. How do I get out of this mess? What's he say?

Thank God. Thanks be to God. Same thing here. At the end of this, he's the foremost of sinners, foremost of all this. How did I get out of this? Now to the king, eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, what the honor and glory forever and ever. The credit goes to God.

What I find interesting about the series of questions and Paul's attitude here is that we live in an era today of Reformed theology, and the problem with Reformed theology is that there's enough little works put into salvation that when I am saved, I think I'm responsible to some degree for my own salvation, and then if I'm educated as just as a churchgoer after that under a law system, then that's all I'm learning. And so who does get the credit there? I'm taking it all. And I think that's a huge problem in Christianity today is that people really do think Well, he's going to save me, but he's going to need my help to do it. Well, or the theory I think is more prevalent is, I'm saved now. Now God will use me, and I can now be a good person. It's me, me, me. Sure. That God now has empowered me to do through myself. And it's not. It's a new life in me.

See, and I think Paul is displaying an attitude here of complete dependence on the Savior and the life that he has, and the fact that there wasn't any reason that God would save him. It was mercy alone. Yeah, grace. Grace. That's it. Which means you can't take any credit, and as long as you somehow harbor a person harbors that they have at least a little bit to do with their own salvation, they're never going to grow because there's no dependence. I think that's the question. We've talked about this. I think there's billions of people who are believers, but they're stuck in the nursery because they've got You know, I've been saved by grace through faith.

Simple process, but they add stuff on it. And when the adders get on, that's when you get the purpose-driven life, the prayer of Jabez, you get all the things that I have to do. And you get that adder. There's an add-on right now. with Franklin Graham.

And he shows, you know, sets up the scenario that Jesus came into the world to save sinners. So if you want to be saved, then you must confess your sins, receive Jesus into your heart, and go through this litany rather than just simple faith in the Savior. And it's such a disservice to believers because If that's the premise on which they're saved, when they get to the Roman 7 experience, it's got to be, oh man, was I really saved? Yeah, and the doubt and all that. I'm not working hard enough. Did I really believe?

And all that. Again, I still think Franklin Graham and that, they'll be believers. They've got a weight on their foot. They've got a shackle on their foot, slowing them down in their growth. that, you know, this and a little bit. If you do this or you do that, and it's not. And I think they're believers, because it's simple faith. And I think that they trust in the Lord. Well, they know they're lost. They're a sinner. But now they add these things on. I think the adders are the retainer in the nursery.

Would you say that's because there's a misunderstanding of what faith is? Sure. Well, not only faith, but the process of our identification with Him. And what it is, it's simple faith. The Ephesians, I've been saved by grace through faith. Faith in what? The finished work of Christ on the cross. That's it. His death, burial, and resurrection. And that's the simple part of this.

And it even says, I think when Christ is speaking, you need the faith of a little child. A little child can figure this out. Anybody, go into camp. We have third graders who are coming to know the Lord. And it's simple. The trouble is we get the adders on it that put the binders on things. It's you and doing this. You got to do this.

And that's where the trouble comes in and the restrictions and the no growth. And we talked about this, I think, with the McCullies and the Dredgers the other night. We had them for dinner. We said, when I first came here and started to learn about the identification structures, I was really nervous that we were a cult, literally a cult. Because why isn't this widely known? You know, why isn't this, why don't we have a mega church that's identification truths?

And for some reason, we've talked about this, some reason it's more on an individual basis. And when people come to know, then the growth happens. But up until that point, there's a restriction. And I think there's ups and downs in the, you know, I'm failing, oh no, I'm good, I'm failing, I'm good, I'm failing, I'm good, I'm failing, I'm good, and you get this. When you get to the identification truths, it's much more level, I think. Because you're not going by feelings. Yeah, feelings. And you know what? I mean, you have a life in Christ. That's your life. As Michael would say. Yeah.

So I think that's a real hindrance to people, is when you don't know that. But I still, if I had the ability, and I won't care at all when I get to heaven, ask him why he did it that way. Why isn't there a megachurch of identification? Why isn't there mass people understanding this? And I don't know, but he's chosen to have it more on an individual basis.

I think it is. It's the way that Paul got saved really tells the message. It's one at a time. Right. And each salvation is a witness to somebody else. If you had 400 people coming at the service this afternoon, Yeah, and maybe that is it. That's a good point. Paul's a single, and that's the way he works.

And I think it's by even what we call the hungry heart. People who have a hungry heart are searching for something more. Yeah, they are. They're a believer, but they're searching for something. They know something is failing when I'm up and down and all around. And that's when they come to... got to be more to this than just salvation. Just salvation. Or, why am I up and down? I should be living the victorious life. Why am I doing this? And they're searching, and hopefully they find us. I know. All right.

Let's pray. coming by the way thank you thank you again for the time we have and uh... as we discuss why you do it your way and we should never question your ways uh... our ways are so much inferior and uh... fought with disaster versus yours and we just uh... rest in the fact that you know what you're doing and that uh... you're uh... bring individuals uh... to the knowledge of identification truths and just the uh... the solid ground in the base and uh... the comfort of knowing the identification truths, where we are identified in your death, burial, and resurrection, and that we have new life in Christ.

And what a joy and what a peace that gives to us, understanding that once we're in Christ, there's no way we can get out of that life, and that life will never change. And so we just derive great comfort from that and understanding that. And we just pray for all those who have a hungry heart, that they will begin to understand through your word, especially as we go through Romans, And just the foundational aspects of the identification truths there, as well as in others, in Galatians, others, where it's clearly pointed out that we've been crucified with Christ, and it's no longer I live, but Christ in me.

And so all those different things, Father, we just pray for those, pray for those all heading down to camp, that they receive that word. without hindrance of trying to do human interference in this. So we just pray for that. Pray for all those down there that they'll just hear the clear gospel and just the identification in the death, burial, and resurrection of your son. So we just thank you for that. Pray for the next meeting as we delve into Romans. And again, pray that this day, all that we say and do will honor and glorify you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen.