The Message of Hope 1 Timothy 1:12-20

-The Gospel of Jesus Gives us Hope

For the past five years, one of the most searched terms on Google has been “hope.” It has outpaced searches for political upheavals, technological breakthroughs and even the ever-popular “how to make money online.” If Google is the oracle of our collective consciousness, then we’re not just looking for the best oat milk latte near us—we’re looking for something deeper.

But what does it mean? Are people feeling more hopeful or are they just desperate to feel anything at all? There’s a stark difference between a world leaning into optimism and one frantically grasping for it. The data doesn’t tell us whether we’re inspired or empty-handed, only that we’re looking.

I. The Gospel Delivers Grace to Us vv. 12-15

In our passage this morning, Paul continues his instructions to Timothy with three reasons for us to find hope in the Gospel of Jesus

First, we see that the Gospel is the “how” of grace; it is the way that God’s grace is poured out on our lives

Paul gives us a picture of his current position, in Christ

He has been judged faithful by the Lord Jesus for service

Not smart, talented, or even gifted, but faithful

And this in spite of his past as a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent of Christ!

What has Jesus done for Paul?

He has shown Paul mercy because he acted ignorantly and from a position of unbelief

Now, Paul has received overflowing grace and everything has changed:

He has moved from ignorance of Christ to love for Christ

He has moved from unbelief to faith in Jesus

This is exactly what Jesus came for!

The purpose of Jesus’s coming was to save sinners, a work accomplished by His life, death, and resurrection

In light of this, we do not have to live a life of self-justification anymore

You do not have to be good enough for grace, because you can’t be.

You do not have to live in fear of the perceptions and expectations of others

He knows exactly who you are and what you have done and He is not ashamed to call you His brother, because He has walked in your shoes

Hebrews 2:10–12

[10] For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. [11] For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, [12] saying,

“I will tell of your name to my brothers;

in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.” (ESV)

II. The Gospel Displays the Glory of God Through Us vv. 16-17

We have a second reason for hope. If the first verses showed us “how” God gives us mercy, the second set of verses give us a “why”

Because, if we were honest, Paul didn’t really deserve mercy; As we saw, he was the worst kind of sinner!

Why then would God show mercy to someone like Paul?

The answer is stunning and surprising.

The mercy of God poured out in the life of Paul demonstrates the patience of Jesus towards sinners

It turns out that God’s mercy to Paul is not just for Paul

It displays the character of God- It is for His glory

We know that He is a righteous judge

Now, we find that He is also a merciful King

It draws others - It is for their good

When they see God’s mercy overflowing in the life of an enemy of the Gospel, it shows us the power of the Cross

If the Good News of Jesus can change Paul, it can change anybody!

The Gospel is not less than God’s grace to us, but is so much more fruitful; this is the wisdom of God and another reason for our hope!

From here, Paul seems to launch into spontaneous praise and God is worthy of all of our worship

Psalm 40:1–3

[1] I waited patiently for the LORD;

he inclined to me and heard my cry.

[2] He drew me up from the pit of destruction,

out of the miry bog,

and set my feet upon a rock,

making my steps secure.

[3] He put a new song in my mouth,

a song of praise to our God.

Many will see and fear,

and put their trust in the LORD. (ESV)

Do we worship like people who have been rescued, redeemed, and restored?

III. The Gospel Makes Perseverance Possible for Us vv. 18-20

Paul closes this section with words of wisdom and warning

He instructs Timothy to persevere

He must continue to wage spiritual war, fighting his way forward

There will absolutely be genuine hardships in our Christian lives and service to the Lord, but we are called to persevere in what we have been instructed

How can we do this?

With faith in Jesus, that He will complete the work He started in you

With a good conscience, that you have been cleansed of sin and you are walking in Christ’s righteousness

There is a warning here:

Some have rejected this; seemingly they have not rejected Jesus in an outright way, but they have tried to work for Jesus, apart from Jesus

They are trusting in themselves

They are living in self-justifying ways

The results of this are sobering, in the lives of Alexander and Hymenaeus

They make a shipwreck of their faith; these things come along suddenly and get out of control in a hurry!

They are turned out from the church into the world and face profound consequences

We must not fall into this trap

We do not persevere by our righteousness, but by His

We persevere by grace, not by works, so we must abide in Him and what He has done for us!

Are you willing to trust in the work that Jesus already completed for you?

We are all afraid that it’s too good to be true, but our hope is in the completed work of Jesus. When we moved to north Alabama in 2014, the good folks in Arab put us up in a nice hotel on Lake Guntersville and were excited to hear our kids report back on all that they had seen . They were expecting the children to be breathless at the sight of all of the water in the lake. I guess they didn’t give that one much thought, because my kids had come straight from the Gulf of Mexico. If you had only lived your life on the little streams of water in the hills, I don’t suppose you could imagine how much water is in an ocean. I think we all struggle to imagine that there’s enough of God’s mercy, enough of God’s grace, and enough of God’s righteousness to sustain us. But, there is! We see it when we look to Jesus.

-Have you trusted Him?

-Are you trusting Him?

-Is there a call you need to answer?