1 Timothy 1_ 8-17      The Worst Sinner

Rev. David Holwick   B                  1 Timothy - Clean Up the Church, #2

First Baptist Church

Ledgewood, New Jersey

January 10, 2010

1 Timothy 1:8-17


THE WORST SINNER



  I. We need to get tough on sinners!

      A. The miscreant has been caught.


           Ning Huang kisses his girlfriend on the other side of a

              security rope.

           As a result, Newark Airport is shut down for 6 hours.

           Yesterday he was arrested.

              A $500 fine is possible.

           Sen. Lautenberg wants a stiffer sentence - execution perhaps?


      B. We often look to laws to solve our problems.

          1) New laws are made; old laws are toughened.

          2) In the early church, there was a faction that thought

                Christians were getting too loose.

              a) The answer was an emphasis on Old Testament law.

          3) Paul strongly disagreed.

              a) He wants Timothy to oppose these people.

              b) Paul says we don't need more laws, but more grace.

                  1> Grace works better than law at transforming lives.

                  2> And Paul himself is the supreme example of this.


II. The law has its purpose.

      A. Opposing the law puts you in a dangerous place.

          1) It is like being against motherhood.

          2) Without laws, how can you keep evil at bay?


      B. Paul admits that law is a good thing.

          1) Other passages tell us the law reflects God's character.

          2) Paul notes it is good - if used properly.

              a) Elsewhere he says law makes sinners realize their

                    sinfulness, so they throw themselves on God.

              b) In Galatians, he says law puts limits on sin.

                  1> This seems to be his point here.

                  2> Law is not for good people, but bad people.  1:9


      C. There are lots of bad people out there.

          1) Paul lists 13 different varieties of sinners.

              a) These lists are very popular in the New Testament.

              b) Interestingly, no sin makes every single list.

          2) Much of this list parallels the Ten Commandments (5 thru 9).

              a) Kill parents - 5th commandment.

              b) Murder - 6th commandment.

              c) Adultery and perversion - 7th commandment.

                  1> (Pervert is a term for male homosexuality)

              d) Slave traders - 8th commandment (stealing)

              e) Liars and perjurers - 9th commandment.

          3) These are the big sins.

              a) They are the kinds of things God wants to prohibit.

              b) But they are not the reason Paul's opponents are

                    emphasizing the law.

                  1> They use it to promote controversy and speculation.

                  2> This is the opposite of the sound (=healthy)

                        doctrine they should be promoting.           1:10


III. The gospel is all about grace, not law.

      A. The gospel is not just good, but glorious.                  1:11

          1) It is good news from God himself.

          2) It was entrusted to Paul as his mission in life.

              a) However, it wasn't always his focus.


      B. Paul was once committed to the Jewish law - violently committed.

          1) This probably refers to his persecution of early Christians.

          2) Violence and faith still make a heady pair.


             Comment by Celeste this week concerning the "underwear

                bomber".

             "I have to give them credit - they are willing to die

                 for what they believe in.

              I am not so sure I would have enough faith to blow up

                 a plane and kill hundreds of people for Jesus' sake."


             What Celeste is too timid to do, others will gladly

                volunteer for.

             Since 2003, there have been 1,715 suicide bombers in

                Iraq alone.

             Almost all were motivated by religion - radical Islam.


          3) Before he was converted, the Apostle Paul was like this.

              a) He ran Christians down, even in foreign lands, and

                    arrested them.

              b) He participated in the first public execution of a

                    Christian.

              c) His opposition was so thorough he labels himself a

                    blasphemer, a defier of God.                     1:13


      C. Paul is now in service to the gospel.

          1) He gives all the credit to Jesus - looking at Paul's past,

                it is remarkable Jesus would consider him at all.

              a) He was shown mercy due to his ignorance and unbelief.

                  1> Are the ignorant off the hook?

                  2> Probably refers to the Jewish distinction of defiant

                        versus unintentional sin.      Num 15:22-29,30-31

              b) Nevertheless, God's grace was poured out on him.

                  1> God took the first action.

                  2> Paul always acknowledges this - "While we were

                        still sinners, Christ died for us."       Rom 5:8

          2) People who experience this, make an impact.


          In 1976, Jimmy Carter was invited to speak to the 17,000

             delegates assembled for the Southern Baptist Convention.

          Later that year he would be elected U.S. president, but he was

             asked to speak because he was an active member of the Brother-

                hood Commission, not because of his political status.

          Three people were asked to represent Baptist men, and they were

             requested to limit their speeches to five minutes each.


          Carter was very concerned when he looked at the program,

             because the first speaker was the eloquent and charismatic

                Billy Graham, and Carter had to follow him.

          But Carter was somewhat relieved when he noticed the person

             speaking after him was a truck driver.

          Carter had heard the man was not well educated, and he thought

             to myself, "Well, I suppose that at least I'll sound good

                compared to him."


          As they sat on the stage waiting to be introduced, the truck

             driver leaned over and told Carter he had never made a

                speech in his life.

          "I don't think I can live through it," he said.

             "I just can't do it."

          He was drenched with sweat, and Carter was barely able to

             prevent him from fleeing from the stage.

          Billy Graham gave one of his usual forceful and inspiring talks,

             and then Carter did the best he could with his own remarks.


          Then it was time for the truck driver.

          He moved to the podium, and for a long time he just stood

             there.

          Someone took him a glass of water, and he mumbled into the

             microphone.

          "I was always drunk, and didn't have any friends.

           The only people I knew were men like me who hung around the

              bars in the town where I lived."


          Then someone -- he didn't remember who -- told him about Christ,

             and he wanted to tell other people.


          He studied the Bible and talked to some men in the local church

             where he became a member.

          The only places he felt at ease were barrooms, and he began to

             talk to customers there.

          The bartender told him he was ruining his business and should

             find some other place to make a nuisance of himself.


          But he persisted, and eventually the folks in the bar looked

             forward to asking him questions.

          The truck driver said, "At first they treated me like a joke,

             but I kept up with the questions.

          And when I couldn't answer one, I went and got the answer and

             came back with it.

          Fourteen of my friends became Christians."

          He stood there a few seconds, and then returned to his seat.


          The truck driver's speech, of course, was the highlight of the

             convention.

          No one there will ever forget that five-minute fumbling

             statement, or remember what Jimmy Carter or even Billy

                Graham had to say.

                                                                   #29370


IV. Jesus came to save sinners.

      A. It is a basic truth of Christianity.

          1) Paul calls it a "trustworthy saying" - probably one of the

               basic beliefs taught to new converts.

          2) It is a common phrase in the Pastoral Epistles.


      B. It remains controversial today.

          1) This week Brit Hume got in a lot of trouble.


             He was on one of those cable news talk shows and the topic

                was Tiger Woods.

             The question was posed - do you think Tiger will recover

                from this scandal?


             Brit Hume replied:

             "Tiger Woods will recover as a golfer.

              Whether he can recover as a person, I think, is a very

                 open question.

              And it's a tragic situation....

              But the Tiger Woods that emerges once the news value dies

                 out of this scandal, the extent to which he can recover,

                    seems to me to depend on his faith.


             "He's said to be a Buddhist.

              I don't think that faith offers the kind of forgiveness

                 and redemption that is offered by the Christian faith.

              So my message to Tiger would be, `Tiger, turn to the

                 Christian faith and you can make a total recovery and

                    be a great example to the world.'"


             Others on the panel were stunned by Hume's comment.

             Certainly it is not very politically correct to run down

                the Buddhist faith.

             (Though even they admit that they don't have a concept of

                 sin and redemption like we do.)


             Can Jesus do what others cannot?

             Brit Hume himself was not always religious, but this changed

                when his son committed suicide.

             Last year he said this:


             "I want to pursue my faith more ardently than I have done.

                 I was kind of a nominal Christian for the longest time.

              When my son died, I came to Christ in a way that was very

                 meaningful to me.

              If a person is a Christian and tries to face up to the

                 implications of what you say you believe, it's a pretty

                    big thing.

              If you do it part time, you're not really living it."

                                                                  #36086


  V. How bad a sinner are YOU?

      A. Paul saw himself as the bottom of the bucket.

          1) Not "I WAS the worst sinner" but "I AM the worst sinner."

          2) He is not wallowing in self-pity but trumpeting God's

                wonderful grace.


      B. Good church-type people can miss their need for God.

          1) It is easy to slip into self-righteousness, to think we

                deserve heaven and all the good stuff.

          2) Salvation is all about grace, an undeserved gift.


             Dr. William Power describes an experience he had in Sunday

                School when he was a boy.

             His teacher was trying to explain to him and his rowdy

                friends the meaning of grace, but wasn't getting very far.

             She tried definitions and abstractions, to no avail.


             Finally, she realized something the boys had known from

                the start.

             She was not connecting.

                She was not getting through to them.

             They didn't have the foggiest notion what she was talking

                about.


             So she took a deep breath and tried again: "Look boys, grace

                is the break you get when you don't deserve it.

             That's the simple explanation.

             But you won't really understand it till you experience it."

                                                                    #4829


      C. Paul is an example for all of us.

          1) Believe on Jesus and receive eternal life.              1:16



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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:


# 4829  "Grace and Generosity," by James W. Moore in his book "Some Things

           Are Too Good Not To Be True" (Dimensions, 1994) p. 95, quoted

           in Rev. Brett Blair's Illustrations by Email,

           www.sermonillustrations.com, September 19, 1999.


#29370  "The Truck Driver's Powerful Testimony," by Jimmy Carter, from

           Christian Voices, www.christianvoices.org, quoted in Wit And

           Wisdom, www.witandwisdom.org, Richard G. Wimer, April 12, 2005.


#36086  "Jesus Can Tame You, Tiger," by David Gibson, <http://www.politics~

           daily.com/2010/01/04/brit-hume-jesus-can-tame-you-tiger>,

           January 4, 2010.


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