Amazed by the Unexpected

INTRODUCTION:

Interest:

We all like things that amaze us. Much of the entertainment industry is built upon the premise that people will pay good money to be amazed. Magicians create various illusions for the purpose of amazing us…tricks like sawing a woman in half or pulling a live rabbit out of the hat. Escape artists amaze us by performing feats like being handcuffed and chained while dropped into a tank of water from which they must escape before their breath of air is exhausted. In fact, escape artists and magicians continually modify their feats so that what they do is unexpected as the unexpected increases our amazement.

I remember the first time in high school chemistry class when the teacher dropped a chunk of burning metal into water and it kept on burning. I’m not sure, but I think it might have been magnesium. I’m sure that Andy Gray could offer a more educated guess that I can. I remember though that the next thing he did was take a different metal, one that wasn’t burning at all…until he dropped it into the water and then it burst into flames. Such a reaction between a chunk of metal and water was completely unexpected. I was amazed. That was my first introduction to a spontaneous exothermic reaction…and it left quite a lasting impression on me.

Involvement:

Of course, leaving a lasting impression is the whole point of doing something amazing. The goal is to dazzle and impress. And as we will see tonight, our salvation should amaze us because once we come to really understand it, we will see that it was completely unexpected.

Context:

This evening, as you can see, we are continuing our look at Paul’s letter to young Timothy instructing Timothy to deal with the issues in the church of Ephesus. Timothy was left behind by Paul for this very reason, but Paul did not leave him without guidance. This letter was to aid in addressing the issues, created as we have learned over the past couple of weeks, by some unnamed false teachers in the church.

Preview:

At the end of the first 11 verses, which we looked at over the past two weeks, Paul mentions the glorious gospel which God has entrusted to him. That reference to the gospel leads Paul to launch into a personal testimony of the gospel’s work in his own life found in our verses tonight. At first, this seems like a bit of digression. I know some of you are good at chasing rabbit trails and it seems at first like this is what Paul is doing in these verses. Yet, we should remember that Paul clearly anticipated that this letter to Timothy would be read before the entire church. As one commentator expressed it, lingering behind every word of this digression are the false teachers and their teaching. Remember, their teaching emphasized the OT Law and various speculations that stood over and against the pure gospel of God’s grace. Imbedded within Paul’s digression, this personal testimony of God’s grace in his own life, are several points about what Christ actually does through the gospel.

Illustration

Last year, when Jeff Musgrave was here for the Exchange Seminar, those of us who went through the seminar were asked to write out their personal testimonies. Yet, these testimonies were not simply developed as a record of the time and place in which Jesus Christ saved us. We worked to polish our testimonies so that they became demonstrations of the gospel’s work in our lives, stories that would draw people in to the greater story of God’s greater work in every life, and specifically suggest what Jesus Christ could do in any person listening to us through the same gospel.

This is what Paul is doing with his testimony in our verses; he is showing us what Christ is, or at least could be doing, in our lives through His work in Paul’s life. These verses are rich verses; we could easily spend more than one night mining them. Tonight, though, I am going to pull out from Paul’s personal testimony five reasons that Christ saves us. Five amazing reasons that Christ saves us, reasons that are very unexpected.

Transition from introduction to body:

Let’s go ahead and read our verses…<read 1 Tim 1:12–17>.

Five reasons that Christ saves us…that is what we are looking for tonight. The first reason that we find is that…

BODY:

I. Christ saves us in order to place us into service.

This is the first thing that I want us to notice. As Paul begins the recitation of why he is thankful for the gospel’s work in his life, he begins with the idea that Christ Jesus has put him “into service.” “Service” in verse 12 is the idea of ministry; Christ has put Paul into active ministry.

Knowing Paul’s background, this is most unexpected. He alludes to a bit of that background when He mentions that he was “a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor.” Paul, when we first encounter him by the name Saul in the book of Acts, hated Jesus Christ and showed that hatred by seeking to destroy all who followed Jesus. He cheered as Stephen was killed. He imprisoned every Christian he could get his hands on. He chased believers all over the country. Who would have ever thought that Jesus would use Paul as one of His greatest servants in ministry, someone who would proclaim the name and work of Jesus throughout the Roman world? But that is exactly what Jesus did and Paul realized it was one of the reasons that Jesus saved him. Jesus saved him so that he could be used as an instrument of service.

Of course, Paul recognizes that there is no way that he could serve in ministry on his own; Jesus had enabled his service, giving him strength. He also recognized that this came because Jesus considered him faithful. That phrase “considered me faithful” assumes a period in which Paul’s faithfulness had been tested; he and been tested and found to be useful for service, just as Jesus intended that he would be.

Illustration

I expect that we all probably have some items stored around our house that are not being used for their intended purpose. We may have them stashed in our basement or stored in our garages, but we have them. Eventually, some of these items will probably find their way to a second-hand store or a garage sale. Then someone will come along and realize that our old item is exactly what they need. They will also likely test it in some fashion before they buy it…plug it in or work the hinges or hold it to the light looking for cracks…whatever is appropriate. And…if it passes all the tests, they will then take the item home and put it into use once again in its intended purpose.

Application

I’m afraid some of us have packed ourselves away on the shelves in the basement, retiring from ministry; but that is not our purpose. We have an intended purpose; we are to serve in ministry to others, magnifying our Savior. That is one of the reasons that Christ saved us. You don’t have to feel able; Christ is the One who enables you. You don’t have to feel that your background has prepared you; Christ is the One who unexpectedly chose you. You simply have to allow Him to put you into service; allow your Savior to take you off the shelf and to place you into service for Him.

Transition:

Christ saves us in order to place us into service. That is the first reason that Christ saves us. A second reason we find in our verses is that…

II. Christ saves us in order to show mercy and grace.

Mercy, not receiving what we truly deserve. Grace, receiving what we certainly do not deserve. Christ saves us so that we will unexpectedly experience both.

Paul is amazed that he was shown mercy. After all, he had worked for the death of believers in Jesus Christ. Why would the Almighty Son of God show him mercy when he deserved to have the cosmic book thrown at him for his crimes.

Well, it was totally undeserved, but Paul recognizes that Jesus chose to show him mercy because Jesus knew that Paul “acted ignorantly in unbelief”…verse 13. Paul’s unbelief did not excuse his sinful actions; his unbelief is culpable before God and worthy of condemnation. But Paul recognized that Jesus looked at the Paul’s ignorance, the fact that Paul thought he was serving God through his grossly misguided actions, and chose to extend mercy to him instead of condemnation.

But Jesus even went beyond mercy; He showed Paul grace. He extended the grace of salvation to Paul which was much greater than the ignorance that Paul was living under; God’s saving grace really is irresistible. Paul was hit by grace and became a new man, a man filled with faith and love located in the Person of the very One he had hated—Christ Jesus.

From Jesus’ perspective, Paul was a perfect candidate for mercy and grace…perfect because he was totally and rightly condemned without them.

Illustration

Think of it a bit like a bright spotlight that shines on a wall. The spotlight allows us to see the wall clearly. Paul’s salvation was like a spotlight showing the world what mercy and grace looked like.

Application

Friends, you and I were also perfect candidates for mercy and grace because we were just as condemned as Paul. Sure, maybe we never sought the death of Christians before our salvation, but whatever lives we lived were just as ignorant, filled with sinful actions of various sorts. We rightly stood condemned, but our Savior poured mercy and grace into our lives instead…turning a brilliant spotlight onto us that displays His mercy and grace.

Transition:

The second reason that Christ saves us; in order to show mercy and grace.

Thirdly,…

III. Christ saves us in order to accomplish His plan.

Verse 15 highlights this reason. Paul starts the verse with the phrase, “It is a trustworthy statement.” This is a phrase that only occurs 5 times in the NT, all within the Pastoral Epistles—the two letters to Timothy and the letter to Titus. It was apparently an idiom used to emphasize a true statement…not that Paul’s other statements are untrue, but he wanted to draw attention to what he was about to say.

What Paul says is that Jesus came for a specific reason, to save sinners. Jesus Himself made statements along this line several times in the Gospels and Paul is most likely referring to those statements. There is a focus here on two parts of God’s eternal plan: the incarnation of Jesus—He came, and the redemption accomplished through Jesus—to save. God’s plan required both components. But the overall plan that God had was to save sinners.

Illustration

Last Monday, the weather was beautiful, so Grace and I decided to paint our deck on my day off. It was in serious need last year already, but we didn’t get to it. So, Monday we decided to do it. Our plan was to paint the deck, but that plan required several steps. We had to acquire the supplies—paint, rollers, brushes, scraper, and so forth; some came from the basement and some had to come from a store. We had to prepare the deck by cleaning and scraping. And then we had to apply the paint. Our plan would have been incomplete…unfulfilled…if we didn’t include that final step. There were several components involved in accomplishing our plan to paint the deck.

Likewise, with God’s plan to save sinners. Jesus Christ had to do several things as part of that plan. Coming was one of them. Actually redeeming—saving—people is another. Christ has save sinners if He is going to accomplish His plan completely.

Application

You and I…our salvation is part of the final step in Christ’s plan. Christ’s plan would be incomplete without us. His incarnation—coming into the world—the Son of God taking on humanity to become the Son of Man—the God-man—would have been for incomplete without us. It really should astound us that we are not just a part, we are a necessary part, of Christ’s plan, the culmination of His intended purpose.

Transition:

Christ saves us in order to accomplish His plan. That is the third unexpected reason that Christ saves us.

A fourth reason is that…

IV. Christ saves us in order to serve as an example.

Look at verse 16 again, “For this reason I found mercy, so that as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe.” The idea of “foremost” is that of being the most prominent. Paul recognizes that he could be considered the most prominent sinner of his day…he would have been Time magazine’s Man of the Year as the foremost persecutor of the church if such had existed then. Yet the reason that Jesus chose to save him was so that Paul would serve as an example—a pattern, if you will—for others who would believe in Jesus by seeing what Jesus did in Paul.

Illustration

I think I mentioned a few weeks ago that Grace had taken up a sewing project while she has been laid off from work. Grace began making skull caps for the other nurses in her department. These cloth caps keep the elastic bands for face masks from getting tangled up in a nurse’s hair. After she made a couple of caps for one of the nurses, the requests just kept coming for more and more. Now, Grace is not really a seamstress, sewing is not her normal hobby so she couldn’t just wing it and create a useable skull cap. So the first thing that she did was to find a pattern. She found a pattern that she used as her template, her example, from which she created all the caps that she sewed.

Application

In a similar way, we all serve as patterns or examples to others of Christ’s ability to save. Christ didn’t save us because we were great people. Christ saved us because we were great sinners. By saving us, other people can look at us and see an example of salvation. They should rightly look at us and conclude that if Christ is able to save us, then He is able to save them as well. In us they see that Christ was patient with us when we were sinners, but they also see that we now have eternal life because we believe in Him. And our example should encourage them to do likewise.

Let me ask you, do you share your life—your salvation—as an example to others who need to believe in Jesus? Do you share your testimony as evidence that Christ is able to save them just like He saved you? Do you present yourself as a pattern to people of what salvation looks like? Doing so does not brag on ourselves; we share that we were great sinners. Doing so brags on Jesus Christ who demonstrates through the example of our lives that He is able to save great sinners! He showed us perfect patience waiting for us to believe; He is now showing perfect patience to others who can be saved by the same great Savior.

Transition:

Christ saves us in order to serve as an example—an example of a great sinner saved by a greater Savior. Christ saves us in order to serve as an example, reason number four.

Fifthly,…

V. Christ saves us in order to display God’s eternal glory.

The considerations of the four unexpected reasons that we have just listed that Christ had in saving him, caused Paul to burst out with a brief doxology in verse 17. A doxology is an ascription of glory to God by His creatures for who He. We find these doxologies sprinkled throughout Paul’s writings because he frequently contemplated the great unexpected truths that God had revealed to him. “Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.”

Application

Wow! Yet, really, how else can we respond when we think about our amazing salvation? God condescended to save us even though we were in rebellion against Him. He patiently endured our rebellion until He brought along the example of another believer who shared with us the truth of the gospel. He showed us mercy and grace. What an amazing God!

Yet we should understand that God did all of this for the purpose of displaying His eternal glory. God’s foremost motivation in all that He does is to bring glory to Himself. By saving us God displays His eternal glory to us and through us. The reason that God saved you and me was not because we were great; it is because He is great. The gospel as it comes to its full fruition in our lives puts His glory on display to the world…and it will do so for all eternity. Further praise and glory is reflected to Him by us because of our salvation. God rightly is the object of our worship. In fact, He saved us through Jesus Christ so that we would worship. Christ saves us for the same reason. Christ saves us in order to display God’s eternal glory.

Illustration

The school that I attended from kindergarten through high school in North Dakota was all contained in one building. Hanging along the main hallway were graduating class pictures that went back earlier than my father’s senior year. Every day as I walked to lunch, I could find my dad in his class picture on the wall. Under those pictures, near the main entrance of the school, were several trophy cases filled with sporting trophies that covered all of the years of the school. The trophies had changed over the decades in style, but each one represented the same thing…the sporting glory of a particular group of high school athletes at some point in time during the history of our school. Collectively, they displayed the past glory of the school.

You and I, great sinners that we were, are now trophies of God’s saving power. We display His glory through our transformed lives. Collectively, we will display His glory for all eternity. And it was for this purpose that Christ saved us. Christ saved us in order to display God’s eternal glory. What an unexpected turn of events!

Transition from body to conclusion:

Christ saves us in order to display God’s eternal events. Reason number five for why Christ saves us.

CONCLUSION

Five reasons for why Christ saves us: 1) in order to place us in service, 2) in order to show mercy and grace, 3) in order to accomplish His plan, 4) in order to serve as an example, and 5) in order to display God’s eternal glory. Five unexpected reasons that should prompt our amazement.

But now, as we wrap this up this evening, I want us to go back and put these truths into the context to see if we can draw them together in a single idea this evening. Remember, Timothy was going to have to deal with these false teachers who were leading the church astray through a focus on the OT Law and speculative application of those Laws. They were likely proposing a list of rules, as we talked about last week that the believers were to follow, placing all of the emphasis on duty and self-effort. This issue is clearly lingering behind every word of our verses this evening because our verses have made it clear that the gospel is not about a list of rules. The gospel is not about endless speculation. The gospel is about God putting His own glory on display. The main idea that rings out through this passage is that God receives great glory by saving great sinners through His great Son!

Application

What an amazing idea…completely unexpected; far beyond any magician or escape artist. God receives great glory by saving great sinners through His great Son!

Since this is the amazing idea that comes from our verses, let me leave you with two ideas by way of application. 1) Worship must be one of the chief activities in our lives. God saved us while we were still great sinners so that we would worship Him, ascribing glory. Let’s do that. Let’s make worship a priority because God receives great glory by saving great sinners through His great Son!

2) Sharing the gospel with others must be one of the chief activities of our lives. There is no one beyond the saving ability of the gospel. Paul demonstrated that through his salvation. You and I demonstrate that through our salvation. No matter how great the sinner we encounter, the Jesus Christ is able to save him or her. We need to share that unexpected truth because God receives great glory by saving great sinners through His great Son!