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Faithfulness in Ministry
66 Plays5 months ago
Series: Managing Ministry in the Local Church
1 Tim. 1:12-20
Recommended
Transcript
Job Interview Anxieties and Surprises
00:00:02
Speaker
Why would they ever choose me? This is what you're thinking as you sit in the lobby, nervously skimming through the magazines and reciting in your head the answers to the potential interview questions right around the corner. You've been preparing yourself for weeks now for this big day, for this opportunity that has finally arrived, the interview for your dream job.
00:00:32
Speaker
But as you sit there anxiously waiting your turn, you look over and you see another individual sitting there with you. And so you decide, hey, I'm going to start up a little conversation with this person. Only to quickly to realize that person too is a candidate for your position. And as you talk to them, you quickly discover they are much better qualified for the position than you are.
00:01:00
Speaker
Nevertheless, you go in for the interview. And a few moments, maybe after you leave, you shake your head. And you think to yourself, just not qualified. Maybe next time. But as you go home and a few days pass, you receive a letter. And that letter is a job offer. And it says, we'd love to have you. And you think to yourself, why did they ever choose me?
Divine Qualification: Paul's Journey
00:01:30
Speaker
I'm just not qualified. Friends, you might be here this morning asking yourself that very question. Why did God choose me? Why would He ever choose me? I'm simply not qualified. Hear me this morning if you hear one thing only today. It is this. God does not call the qualified. Rather, He qualifies those He calls.
00:01:57
Speaker
In other words, God calls you, He calls me into His service to further His kingdom purposes, not because you're qualified, not because I'm qualified, not because you have it all together, or you don't have it all together. It's by His grace and His mercy that He saves wretched sinners like you and me, like the Apostle Paul.
00:02:26
Speaker
And he appoints you and I into service. He equips you and I. He empowers you and I to discharge that service faithfully. So the question I had before you and myself today is simply this. Are you being faithful in that calling? Or are you waiting until you're qualified?
00:02:52
Speaker
Maybe you think to yourself, I'm not qualified this morning because of my checkered past. Oh pastor, I'm fully willing and ready to jump into what God has ready for me, but you don't know what I've done in the past. Well friends, we need to look no further than the Apostle Paul today who had quite a checkered past and just see exactly how God used him in a big and mighty way.
00:03:22
Speaker
This is what we're going to look at this morning. If you have your bulletin with you, you'll see in your outline. We're going to look at Paul's past, his present, his future, how that relates to you and I.
Passing on Teachings: Paul's Trust in Timothy
00:03:33
Speaker
His past of reprobation, meaning that he lived a very wayward life. The present is the rehabilitation, what God can do in your life. And then what our responsibility is once he saves us.
00:03:51
Speaker
This is the direction we're going today. You'll remember last week if you were here, we talked about passing on the baton, right? You and I as Christians, as Christ followers, we are charged with receiving the baton that was passed to us. This was the rightly handed scripture that was taught to you and taught to me. God has appointed the Apostle Paul last week and he entrusted him with this good news that he would pass it on to Timothy.
00:04:19
Speaker
But we'll see this morning as Paul thinks about this divine appointment that he's been given, he says to himself, why me? There's nothing all that great about Paul's past. Matter of fact, it's quite checkered. What in his checkered past would possibly make God want to choose him and appoint him and entrust him?
00:04:48
Speaker
It can only be the attributes of God's grace and mercy. If you're taking notes today, those are the two words that you're going to want to start by writing down is grace and mercy. And we'll get to those here in just a few moments. If you're willing and you're able, we're going to stand for just a reading of the Word, if you will. 1 Timothy chapter 1 verses 12 to 20, and it'll be on your screen. I'm reading from the New Living Translation.
00:05:16
Speaker
I thank Christ Jesus, our Lord, who has given me strength to do His work. He considered me trustworthy, and He appointed me to serve Him, even though I used to blaspheme the name of Christ. In my insolence, I persecuted His people.
00:05:34
Speaker
But God had mercy on me because I did it in ignorance and unbelief. Oh, how generous and gracious our Lord was. He filled me with the faith and the love that come from Christ Jesus. This is a trustworthy saying and everyone should accept it. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
00:05:57
Speaker
and I am the worst of them all. But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners.
Transformation Through Testimonies
00:06:10
Speaker
Then others will realize that they too can believe in him and receive eternal life. All honor and glory to God forever and ever. He is the eternal king, the unseen one who never dies. He alone is God. Amen.
00:06:27
Speaker
Timothy, my son, here are my instructions for you based on the prophetic words spoken about you earlier. May they help you fight well in the Lord's battles. Cling to your faith in Christ and keep your conscience clear. For some have deliberately violated their conscience. As a result, their faith has been shipwrecked.
00:06:48
Speaker
Jiminaeus and Alexander are two such examples. I threw them out and handed them over to Satan so that they might learn not to blaspheme God." This is the word of the Lord. You may be seated. R.W. Paulson, who is a theologian,
00:07:14
Speaker
He wrote this and I thought it was timely in response to Paul's charge to Timothy. He says simply this, no one is beyond the scope or power of God to save. No matter their checkered past, no matter how bad they've been, no matter how large their sin, God still saves. And he creates them to this day into the likeness of Christ.
00:07:42
Speaker
But this is quite apropos for our Apostle Paul today. I think quite often if we don't study the life of Paul, we get to the point where we can almost revere the Apostle Paul, that we somehow put him on a higher pedestal than he really should be. Friends, the Apostle Paul was simply known as a persecutor, is the word we see here, a blasphemer.
00:08:11
Speaker
One who denied Christ, this is his former life before he came to know Christ. He forced others to deny Christ. He persecuted others who used physical power, he used his physical power and literally tried to destroy the church. Acts chapter nine says Paul literally breathed out murderous threats. This is who he was as a person.
00:08:38
Speaker
He believed what he believed so strongly that he would go out and convict the early church. He stood by as they stoned Stephen. D.L. Moody says this, Paul was injurious. I love this word. You know this word? Marilyn is shaking her head yes. She knows every word. I just want to tell you that right now. It means proud and insolent.
00:09:09
Speaker
It's the modern equivalent of being a bully, basically. Paul was a big bully early on. He thought he knew it all, and he believed with full passion that he was meant to convict the early church. It gives us this idea of him throwing his weight around in violence.
00:09:34
Speaker
How would you like to be known as somebody who literally breathes murderous, violent thoughts? Just as young J.C. was known as somebody who's courtesy, courteous, it's her character. We get that character by displaying that over and over and over where somebody says, you know what, that young lady, she's courteous.
00:09:59
Speaker
Paul, before his conversion, is known as a violent man against the early church,
Grace vs Mercy: A Theological Discussion
00:10:09
Speaker
injurious, proud, insolent. And he's not using it in such a way to make an excuse, but he says, I'm doing this in complete ignorance because I didn't know the truth.
00:10:26
Speaker
He's a brilliant man, he's a well-educated man, but he's a misguided man, not knowing the truth. He's blinded from the truth, and he was a very religious man, one who was not headed for heaven. Some listening to this message today are in this exact same boat. They think they have all the check marks checked when it comes to being religious, and they're not headed for heaven. Friends, our former lives are just that.
00:10:56
Speaker
when it comes to proclaiming the gospel to somebody. What Paul is doing here at the very beginning of this message is he's giving his testimony. And if I was a really good Southern Baptist preacher, I'd ask right now, who would love to get up and give their testimony? Friends, do you know how powerful your testimony is to somebody who doesn't know Christ? Do you know your testimony?
00:11:27
Speaker
Have you practiced giving your testimony? Well, if you haven't, right after the summer on Wednesday nights, we're gonna work on that. I'm gonna teach a course on evangelism and knowing first things first. It is your basic doctrine of the church. It's how to go out and give your testimony and we will practice it on Wednesdays. So I hope you join me at that point.
00:11:55
Speaker
Paul here is giving his testimony. He's saying, I used to be this really bad person. But you notice he doesn't linger a long time on just how bad he was. He says, that's who I used to be. I was a blasphemer, I was a persecutor, but look what God's done. He's chosen me. This is why I read the passage this morning, the way I read it.
00:12:24
Speaker
You probably didn't even realize that. I paused and accentuated certain words that you would get the drift of what Paul's saying. He's saying, God chose me. He put me of all people into service. I'm so unworthy. Can you believe he did that? Do you know my past? Do you know what I did to his people?
00:12:54
Speaker
our testimony is quite powerful. And friends, the reason it's powerful is because you can point to somebody and say, this is the way I used to be. And you don't linger on it. They don't need to know all the gory details, but what they need to know is, oh look, you used to be this way and God has taken you and done something with you and transformed you into something fabulous.
00:13:21
Speaker
Paul tells us in Romans chapter 3 verse 23, a very well-known verse, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory. Everyone, that's what that word all means, by the way. All have fallen short.
00:13:36
Speaker
Why is this important for us to know? This is what a question I put today. Those of you who are on Facebook and follow our church Facebook feed, if you want to call it that, so the kids call it these days, the Facebook feed, you'll see I pointed out some false teaching this past week. And I know my wife is going, oh no, don't bring that up again. Why is it important that what the Pope said should be called out?
00:14:06
Speaker
Now, you can make any excuse you want, but when somebody says something like that, that all of us are pretty much good at heart, contrary to biblical teaching. What he's saying is we're pretty much all good people. We're fundamentally good. By the way, somebody else in Houston, Texas who has millions of followers said something just like that from the pulpit. 99% of us are good people.
00:14:36
Speaker
Friends, let me correct both of them, humbly telling you a hundred percent of us are bad. Why is that important to know? Because if we don't understand our current condition, we won't have a proper diagnosis. Without a proper diagnosis, we won't know just how dire our situation and our need for a Savior is.
00:15:03
Speaker
If we think we're pretty much good by ourselves, doesn't leave a whole lot of room for God to work in your life and my life. The Apostle Paul is just simply giving his testimony here. Friends, look what God has done with me. How could God ever save and use and forgive a wretched sinner like you and me and like the Apostle Paul
00:15:30
Speaker
And it goes back to these two words that you wrote down at the very beginning. The key words here in verse 13 and 14 are mercy and grace. And I want to make sure we have these two words nice and neatly defined. Somebody taught me this a long time and I want to teach it to you and it's catchy and it's easy to remember but you're going to want to write it down. Grace starts with a letter
00:15:58
Speaker
Oh, okay, that was, not everybody's awake yet this morning. Grace starts with the letter G. Okay, this is as you're taking notes. Grace, because it starts with the letter G, we're gonna start with the letter G. Grace is getting, we're gonna write that down, getting something you don't deserve. That's what grace is, getting something you don't deserve. Mercy, if you're still writing,
00:16:31
Speaker
Mercy starts with the letter. All right, thank you. M, well, I don't have another M for you. What I do have is the very next letter N. This is the way my mind works. This is the way somebody taught me. Mercy is not getting something you deserve. Does that make sense? Do you see the difference? Apostle Paul is saying God in His mercy
00:17:00
Speaker
did not give Paul what he deserved. Somebody who was murderous, somebody who stood by and persecuted and blasphemed. He's saying, I'm not giving you what you deserve. Rather, I'm going to, by his grace,
00:17:19
Speaker
not give you something you do deserve. I'm not giving it to you, but I'm going to give you something better. I'm going to transform your life, and you're going to use all that passion, all that thrust for convicting the early church, and I'm going to turn that around, and you're going to use that for Christ. And Paul is transformed on the road to Damascus.
00:17:45
Speaker
John Corson, who is a theologian, he says this, grace and mercy are God's love in action. God's love paying a price to save lost sinners. He goes on and says, it's not God's love alone that saves, for God loves the whole world. That's John 3, 16. He says, but it's by his grace that we're saved and because of his richness in mercy and grace that he shows us that we're loved.
00:18:16
Speaker
the grace of God turned a prosecutor into a preacher, turned a murderer into a minister, turned the merciless into a missionary. Paul is rehabilitated. This is the work of God. You'll notice the text doesn't tell us Paul did something.
00:18:42
Speaker
first to deserve this transformation. It literally said it's in God's grace that he's transformed. This is another very slippery slope that the Catholic Church falls under quickly because they tie grace and works very closely together. One is interdependent on the other. Where we're saying you're simply saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.
From Salvation to Service
00:19:11
Speaker
And we know that to be true, folks, and we just simply point them back to Genesis chapter 15 with Abraham. God took him out, look at the sky. By the way, you guys just wrapped up Genesis, so you should know this. And you're thinking to yourself, Genesis 15, where was it? Look at the sky, look at the stars. Abraham, if you'll just try your best, I'm gonna bless you. That's not what it says, folks.
00:19:41
Speaker
says he simply believed. It's all you and I are saved today. It's by God's grace and our faith in Christ, mercy and grace, two things that work closely in hand. And once we are saved, I just put down a note, it's not over.
00:20:05
Speaker
For many Christians, salvation is the end of the story for them. Whew, I made it into heaven. Thank you, Lord. Right? I'll just put down here, you have an appointment, by the way, reminded myself. Now that we've been saved, you have an appointment being placed into service. Now you're to do something because you're saved.
00:20:34
Speaker
The good works pour out because of what he's done in your life. God gave Paul this ministry, this appointment into service. Verse 12, verse 16 says that, he gives me the strength to do his work, not my work, his work. Verse 17, 16, 17, but God by his mercy, as he places it upon me,
00:21:02
Speaker
that Christ Jesus can use me. I love this term, right? He's taking you and He's placing you into service and He's saying, now go out, the baton's been past you, you have a job. And your job, Christ followers, brothers and sisters, is simply to go out and teach what you've been taught.
00:21:22
Speaker
You come here on Sundays to worship, but you come throughout the week and other opportunities where you've been taught the Bible so that you can be made disciples so that you can go out and make other disciples. That friends is the Christian walk. As you've been transformed, your job is now to go out. Your responsibility is therefore to go out and disciple others. God does not call the qualified. He qualifies those he calls.
00:21:53
Speaker
In other words, when someone obeys God's call to serve, to step into service, God always equips and enables that person.
Warnings and Spiritual Growth
00:22:01
Speaker
Why is that important for us to grasp? And young people look at me because as you are launched out into the world,
00:22:09
Speaker
Your parents have poured into you. They've enabled you. They've empowered you. And as you go out into college, they're still empowering you. And a lot of times, that's financially to start with. They're launching you, but your job is then to start running and doing and living in such a manner in which your parents have raised you. And my hope is that the church has helped raise you.
00:22:36
Speaker
Are you waiting to be equipped or are you simply ready to obey the call? It's our responsibility.
00:22:45
Speaker
We've been divinely appointed to step out into service, to live responsibly, and to faithfully hand on the baton to the very next person. And friends, we're told if we don't do this, I was going to tell you, I laugh sometimes when I read the scripture. Anytime they give somebody's direct name, and it's normally in twos, boy, you got to watch out for that. You never want to be Hemoneus and Alexander.
00:23:12
Speaker
Forever in scripture is known as the people who've been called out by the Apostle Paul. Oh, by the way, watch out for those guys. Right? Watch out for John and Kim. Whoo! If you've ever been in Cameron, watch out for those two. In all of scripture, for all of time, Hemanaeus and Alexander are an example of what not to do. Paul says, don't be like them. They literally are shipwrecked.
00:23:40
Speaker
Picture is here, you and I living a life with a clear conscience and one of faith is one who's persevering and going straight and this is two folks who veered off and have shipwrecked themselves. And he says, don't be like those people, they're blasphemers. And I love it because I go, Paul, who did you used to be? Oh, you used to be a blasphemer too.
00:24:07
Speaker
You notice what it doesn't say? It doesn't say they're just simply cast out. I read that this week again as I read back. It says, I threw them out and handed them over to Satan, meaning they've kicked them out of the community of believers and they're on their own now in the world where Satan rules. But it says, I did this so that they might learn, that they too might be rehabilitated.
00:24:37
Speaker
so that they will no longer blaspheme God. Paul's literally saying, watch out for these two. We need to teach those two that they might become like me who used to be like them, who's now rehabilitated. I'll just put down a note to myself this week. This may apply to you too. Are we quick to cast out or are we quick to rehabilitate?
00:25:05
Speaker
Are we quick to go, yeah, you know, I know that person's past. Oh, they were drag at it. They were an alcoholic. Friends, the church is quick to cast people out. A little slow in the rehabilitation. The apostle Paul is saying, here, watch out for those two, but we're going to give them some type of church discipline in hopes that they are rehabilitated.
00:25:35
Speaker
What do we do with this today? How do we apply this to your life and my life? I'm just gonna take application directly from the scripture today. If you'll look with me, verse 18, where am I at here?
00:25:56
Speaker
Verse 18, Timothy, this is Paul speaking to Timothy, saying, Timothy, here's your responsibility. Timothy, my son, here are my instructions for you based on these prophetic words that were spoken about you earlier. May they help you, in your translation, the ESV I don't think does great. The NLT does a little bit better. This is literally saying, fight the good fight.
00:26:17
Speaker
I've passed the baton on to you that as you step out young people into your college, out into your senior year, fight the good fight because it's not going to be easy. If it was easy, Paul would not be telling Timothy, fight the good fight.
00:26:33
Speaker
He's saying, expect hardships, but fight the good fight. In verse 19 it says, cling to your faith. So the first thing, how do we apply this this week? How do we fight the good fight? How are we faithful in the future? How do we persevere in our divine appointments? I put hold on or cling to your faith. Hold on to that which the church has entrusted you.
00:27:04
Speaker
that your Bible teacher has diligently worked over all week long, if not two weeks, in preparation to feed you the good news so that you can grow in faith, so that you can take that as you step out into the world and hold on to it. He's talking about here the
00:27:27
Speaker
the pure doctor, the knowledge of Jesus, the knowledge of Christ, God, the complete gospel, if you will, that has been handed to you, young people, by your Bible teachers here, by your youth teachers here. These people have passed the baton and said, now it's your chance to go out. My prayer for you is that you simply, and I like this vision, cling,
00:27:55
Speaker
Cling on to your faith. Hold on tightly. Because the world is trying to yank you in the false teacher direction. Like Jiminaeus and like Alexander. Oh, you'll meet them out there on the college campuses. They're just waiting for you like sheep to the slaughter. How do we hold on to our faith? And I put two words, if you're taking notes. Start small.
00:28:22
Speaker
Start small. If knowing the truth of God's word is our ultimate goal, start small. If you don't attend a Bible study class on Sunday, and let me just tell you this, and I tell you this with a pastoral heart, I love seeing some of you here at the 9.30 to 10.30 hour. You sit nicely back here, and you're quiet, and you're looking at your Bibles.
00:28:46
Speaker
I love that you're here. I would rather you be in a Bible study class. It is that important. And if it's not a priority to you, start small. Here's the excuses I've heard. 9.30 is very early. Pastor, can we make that noon? I'd come to a noon Bible study class. The laughter is convicting.
00:29:14
Speaker
I just don't know where I'd fit in in a Bible study class. Well, we've got several of them. I just don't know my Bible well enough. I feel like I'm gonna be outed because you all read the Bible all the time, right? That's what happens in the Bible study class. I don't wanna be put on the spot. Those are excuses that I hear. Friends, this is simply, and I'll pass on what somebody told me early on when I joined a Bible study class. You simply sit there
00:29:44
Speaker
and feed, and the Bible teacher teaches. He's the one preparing the meal. You simply show up and feed. You start small. It's that important. Why do I constantly bring it up? Are you in God's word? Are you in a Bible study class? Are you in worship service? Those three things, I really could sum up pretty much every sermon with those three things. Are you in God's word? It's that important, daily. And if you're not, is it a priority?
00:30:13
Speaker
Are you in a Bible study class? Why is it necessary you say, Pastor, I have my Bible at my house. I don't need somebody else. Oh, I've heard it from good friends. I don't need to be in church to receive Jesus. I've heard that. The Bible, friends, is very clear about the local body of believers.
00:30:39
Speaker
The reason why you aren't just left on an island with your Bible to learn it yourself is because you may very well become Himineus and Alexander, and you may start veering. But if you have other godly people studying the Bible with you, all empowered, all filled with the Holy Spirit, it's like those bumper guards that we talked about last week.
00:31:02
Speaker
It keeps everybody going in the same direction. I highly recommend Bible study. I can't do Bible study on Sunday morning. It's just too early. Great. Tuesday, in the evening, we have a Bible study on Ruth. And after that, there's another lady's one that's just queued up, ready to go. It's that important. I can't do Sunday or Tuesday.
00:31:30
Speaker
Matter of fact, any day that ends in the letter Y, pastor, is really tough for me to get there. Wednesday nights, like I said, as December passes, and I recoup, evangelism 101. First things first, doctrine 101. These are courses that you
00:31:50
Speaker
I would say must take, but you should take because you're gonna run into people as you step out into your business and you have an opportunity to share your testimony and when God presents that opportunity and you're like, um, um, uh, yeah, there was, I used to drink and the person's like, why would I ever come to your church? You don't even know what God's done in your life. And I'm not saying you have to be polished
00:32:17
Speaker
that you just have your testimony ready at Home Depot at any moment to jump out and buy a gallon of paint and tell somebody your testimony. It's not like that. But friends, God will, the more you're honed it, the more He's going to use it. And you'd be surprised as you just talk to people and get to know them and see their pain and their struggling, they're desperate for a Savior. And they're desperate for what you and I have.
00:32:44
Speaker
They just need to be guided. The Holy Spirit uses you and I in that way. All right, hold on to your faith. This is the second one. Hold on to a good conscience. That's also what he tells us here. What does a good conscience mean here? It's a life lived blameless before God and others. It's not a life of perfection.
00:33:04
Speaker
Hear me again. It is not a life of perfection, but is living a life against which no one else can bring a legitimate charge. It's a life that as you live it out, people go, that girl is courteous. How do I know? Because I'm around her all the time. She's a great kid. She would do anything. She'd give her shirt off her back for you. She's that type of person.
00:33:33
Speaker
Or are you that type of person that goes, you know, First Baptist Church, I don't know, they're always saying come to Bible study classes and then I see them on Saturday night, they're at the bar. And I'm not judging those of you who go to the bar. That's not my job. But is it an accurate representation
00:33:57
Speaker
Or do you live a life that follows your beliefs? That's what I love. Warren Wiersby says this, behave as you believe. If you say you believe something, it should be shown in the way you live out your life. We use those two fabulous theological words. Orthodoxy and orthopraxy. Orthopraxy is what you believe. Orthopraxy is how you live out those beliefs.
00:34:26
Speaker
And everybody's scrambling right now. I want to write those down. Oh, those are expensive words, friends. I spent five years in seminary for those two words. Orthodoxy, the truth of what the Bible tells you and I how we ought to live, orthopraxia is actually living that out. Do those two jive in your life? Do they match? Do we say one thing on Sunday and then live a different way during the week?
00:34:54
Speaker
and I'm not going to point out anybody in particular. There's no Hemoneuses and Alexanders out here tonight.
Conclusion: Faithfulness and Divine Purpose
00:35:01
Speaker
Friends, God calls you, and I'll end on this. He calls you, He calls me, He charges you, He charges me. Come into my service. I saved you for a purpose. I simply didn't just save you. I saved you for a purpose. Would you please get on board
00:35:24
Speaker
and serve that purpose. You don't have to be qualified. Matter of fact, he'd rather use you if you're not. Because as he works on you and he transforms you into the image of his son, you will become qualified. May we be found a people who holds on to faith and good conscience.
00:35:49
Speaker
as we faithfully live out the ministry God has called us to. Amen.