Using our Testimony as a Guard

I know that when I’m not concentrating, it is easy to start a conversation with someone new, start with the introductions and about 3 sentences into the conversation completely forget who you are talking to. It’s embarrassing when we you have to ask their name again, and it is even more embarrassing when you have to ask further times after that.

It’s a funny thing memory. I know that some people are naturally better at remembering compared with others, but there is an interesting thing about memory. We are all usually much better at remembering stories, and all the more so if they have some relevance to us.

I remember hearing a strategy once from someone who was really good a remembering the sequence of random playing cards. They would develop a story in their mind, linking each card to a part of the story.

Now if you try that, the story is often so random that you are no better off trying to remember it, but if you can somehow link it to something meaningful to you, it is a whole lot easier.

Link to passage

What I want to do today is actually to show how important memory becomes in our own Christian journey.

Remembering names is one thing, but there are actually even more important things to remember. What we find is that as we move into the future, it is so important to remember things of the past, or we will make all sorts of mistakes.

There is a saying from a philosopher of a few centuries back, who ironically isn’t remembered by many people, but his saying is often repeated: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”.

Well let’s look at how this sentiment fits into the passage we have before us today.

Into the passage

Last week we started a new series on looked at the evidence that Timothy is a young, timid, and frail young man but who God has placed in the city of Ephesus, tasked with looking after the church there.

As we explored last week, the beginning of the letter opens with a command for this young, timid man to stand up against those who are trying to pollute the gospel. We looked briefly at the beauty of that gospel, and what it looks like when people stray from that beautiful gospel.

Well as we move into the second half of the first chapter, Paul is actually still on the same idea, but you could be forgiven for thinking he is making quite a tangent.

You see, Paul moves into some personal reflection - but what I’m going to argue today is that what Paul is doing, is actually showing how such personal reflection can help us in guarding the good gospel.

Our testimony

Now when I say the word testimony, our minds probably race towards evangelism, and for good reason. You see, if we’re going to share the love of Jesus with others, it’s always wise counsel to start with your own story.

But while testimonies have much value for evangelism, as we’ll see today, that can also serve another purpose.

So, the basic argument that I’m going to try and make today, is that by reflecting on our own testimony, we can guard ourselves from polluting the good gospel.

As I make this argument, I want you to think for yourself what your story is and how you can use it to strengthen you own resolve in clinging to the word of God.

Paul’s Testimony

Well, what we see in 1 Timothy is not the full detailed description of how Paul became a follower of Jesus.

Paul certainly loved telling that story. That story is written in for us, and then Paul repeats this same story for us in and .

I won’t repeat it in detail now, but for those unfamiliar, it’s the story of a man who was zealous in his persecution of the church. His hatred for this new way was so intense that he went to other cities to reign in these new believers. But it was on one such journey, namely on the road to Damascus that he had his own encounter with the risen Lord Jesus. An encounter that initiated a radical transformation in his life.

In his reflections in , there are elements which refer back to this story, but he doesn’t need to go into all the detail.

I think this is an important observation, because sometimes when we refer to a testimony, we can become very specific about what we mean by that. We can sometimes think of our testimony as our full life story.

But our testimony from a Christian perspective, just means recounting the good ways in which God has worked in our past. It can include our conversion story, but it can also just be about certain experiences we have, say for example, when God helps us through a particularly difficult time of life.

So as we look at the specifics of what Paul talks about, he refers to his time as a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man. Knowing the story from the book of Acts, we can know that he is referring to the time when he persecuted the church in those early days.

But Paul also reflects on the great mercy of God - a mercy that takes Paul, the self-confessed worst of all sinners, to a place where he can now be right before God.

On a slight tangent here, we can ask the question if Paul is exaggerating here when he talks about being the worst of all sinners (actually, for those who are part of the Tuesday night bible study group, we did in fact ask this question when we came to a similar statement in the book of Ephesians). Well, I don’t think that Paul has somehow considered every person on the face of the planet and compared each of their sins, but I think the point he is trying to make is that the sins he committed where particularly heinous in the sight of God, particularly as they were directed at believers.

Lessons from Paul’s testimony

Well, what I want t do, is explore Paul’s reflections a bit further, and in particular look at how they can be a help in guarding against polluting the gospel.

Testimony leads to thankfulness

The first thing we see from verse 12, is that Paul’s reflections lead him to thankfullness.

Verse 12 starts with the words: “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord”.

Now sometimes we can say such thanks in a very cliched way. You know, when you say something like: ‘thank God she’s alright’ - generally when people say this they aren’t so much interested in actually giving God thanks, more just expressing relief that everything’s okay.

But Paul isn’t just repeating a cliche, he is actually genuinely thankful. That’s clear because he lists three things that he is thankful for.

First he lists the strength that the Lord had given him.

Second he lists the incredible truth that he was considered trustworthy, despite everything that has happened in his past.

And third, he lists the fact that he has been appointed to a service in God’s kingdom.

Now I want to suggest that there is actually something really important about giving thanks.

You see, when we give thanks we are orienting our thoughts away from ourselves and onto the one we give thanks to. Now I do recognise that the primary purpose of us giving thanks is actually to honour the one we give thanks to, but yet we find this flow on effect whereby our own thought patterns are changed.

Being in such a self-centred culture, it is hard to change where are thoughts are focused, but if we make an effort to give thanks, we can be well on our way.

So what part of your story leads you to thankfulness?

Can I suggest writing it down can really help you to crystallize your thoughts. Sometimes if we just do it mentally I think we can be really vague with our thoughts - for example, it’s easy to go - thank you Jesus… because you’re with me.

But I think it is better to go a bit deeper - how do you know Jesus is with you? Try to find the words to express is in more real terms.

The power of the gospel

So firstly, our testimony reminds us to be thankful with the flow on effect that our thoughts are oriented to God.

Secondly, I want to argue that our testimonies remind us of the power of the gospel.

If we are real with ourselves, then our testimonies remind us of where we’ve come from and what Christ has done.

Just look at verse 13 - it starts with Paul explaining what he was. He says: “…I was once a blashemer and a persecutor and a violent man”.

I touched on this before when I briefly considered Paul’s conversion story - this was no exaggeration.

But despite this very real and let’s face it, destructive nature, particularly when it comes to Christianity, Christ showed him mercy.

If you think about it, it really is bizarre. Jesus chose the person that was perhaps causing him the most grief.

Now perhaps you might think that Jesus is just following the sometimes quoted advice which says: keep your friends close and you enemies closer.

But the reality is, Jesus is actually working in a very different paradigm.

He didn’t choose Paul because as an enemy he wanted to keep him close.

If God wanted to eliminate him as a threat, he had many other means to do so, but that’s not God’s normal mode of operation.

Rather God’s mode of operation is mercy - with the whole thing being predicated with love.

Verse 14 describes this - “The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.”

You get the sense that Paul really gets the fact that the mercy shown to him wasn’t deserved.

And just to make sure you really get the point, he then goes on about this mercy for another two verses.

In fact in verse 15 he gives the first of five trustworthy sayings that we find throughout the pastoral epistles, that is, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy and Titus.

The trustworthy saying on this first occasion is: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners - of whom I am the worst”.

But he wasn’t finished with that saying in verse 15 - he wanted to say more. And so, harping on the fact that he was the worst of sinners, he showed what is at the heart of the gospel - that is the mercy that Jesus showed us.

You see, the gospel, being the good news given to us by Jesus, is all about Jesus helping people who can’t help themselves. If there was no need for mercy, that is you could save yourself, then what Jesus did was all in vain.

But it wasn’t. Within the gospel is real power.

How the testimony helps

Now let me just take a step back and see how this fits together.

Remember, we are in this larger context of Paul commanding Timothy to guard against those spreading false doctrines. So often, the reason that those false doctrines get such a run is because we forget what’s happened.

You see, it becomes so easy to start thinking it’s all about us.

What you’ll notice as a Christian is that despite being aware of your sinfulness, you actually do start to become more Christ like. If you want the fancy word, it’s called sanctification. But the unfortunate consequence of sanctification is that as your character improves, you think that this is what it’s about.

The corrective can come from reflecting on our own testimony.

As you do, what you will notice, is that those improvements are not because you are clever, but because Christ has been working in your life.

Have you ever tried to improve something in your own life by your own strength?

As some of you know, time management is not one of my big strengths. Quite often, I make a decision that I want to change. So I say, right, from now on, I’m going to be better at managing my time.

Do you know what happens? Well sometimes I have a bit more luck than at other times, but basically speaking, when I just try to will myself to do better, not much happens.

That being said, I have seen improvements in this area of my life, and I honestly believe that it is God working in me making these changes.

Now time management is one thing, but it’s good to reflect on various character trait and how God has helped you improve.

Can I suggest, a good place to start is on reflecting on the fruit of the Spirit, that is, love, joy, peace, patience and so forth. Spend the time thinking how you have grown in those fruit, and reflect on how God has helped you in that way.

But while it’s great to reflect on those incremental changes in recent times, it is also good to go back to the start, just like Paul, and think what you were before you even knew Christ.

Now I know that this will be different for each of you. I know some of you have stories similar to mine where you grew up in Christian households. If that’s the case, then praise God - I’ve come to realise there is no greater blessing. But I’m sure that you will still be able to see a time when it wasn’t as meaningful - certainly that was the case for me.

Though I was brought up on a good solid foundation of God’s love, I still struggled with fighting off the temptations of the world.

Summary of Paul’s testimony

So as we see Paul’s reflections here in this first chapter, we see that Paul first is brought to a point of thankfulness, and then moves to remember the great change the gospel made. He is remembering the gospels at it most beautiful, the way it was always intended.

He then concludes this little reflection with what you might call a doxology.

You see, once you reflect on the amazing things God has done in your life, you should be left with nothing left other than to praise God.

And so Paul gives Jesus the titles he deserves - the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God.

And then he bestows on him the honour he deserves for one who holds such titles. Jesus truly does deserve all honour and glory for ever and ever.

This is the gospel at its best, and a true reflection will show that if you try to add anything to the gospel, it will become polluted and ugly.

The charge to Timothy

In verse 18, Paul comes back from what you might think of as an interlude, and remembers the command he gave back in verse 3.

But what you’ll notice is that Paul adds the words - “in keeping with the prophecies once made about you”

Now we can speculate what these prophecies were. Some suggest it was perhaps something that happened at his commissioning. To be honest, it doesn’t really matter, but what it does show is that Paul is bringing him back to something in his past to help him in the future.

He knows it will be a hard road, and he is well aware that some have fallen off the road.

Conclusion

The conclusion is clear though. If you cling to the truths that became evident to you when you first committed yourself to Christ… When you remember the way you were and what Christ did to you… When you allow the changes Christ made to you alter your thinking so that you are now oriented towards God… then you will be in a much better position to guard against the pollution that so easily happens to the gospel.

It’s funny how we sometimes think we can improve things . But when God has given us something perfect, there is nothing to improve on.

That fact is only really going to start sinking in when we focus on the great things that God has already done in our lives.