From time to time, we all need to hear hard truths.
We all need to hear hard truths. Even preachers need to hear hard truths. The reality is that our hearts can become rather impure. Our faith can become insincere. Our talk and our worship can become meaningless and empty. Our confidence can be misplaced and directed toward self. Our conscience can become seared and our works can become unloving. At times, we're prone to wander far from God.
Maybe this morning you find yourself far from God. Maybe you've been humbled recently. Life can sure be brutal. There is nothing more humbling then reaping what we've sown. Your health isn't what is should be, and your marriage, your family, and your relationships are perhaps failing. Maybe your thoughts aren't healthy, your choices aren't right, and your intentions aren't good. Maybe you can't keep yourself sober, focused, or your body disciplined.
If you come today with a broken and contrite spirit, you needn't descend a step further into guilt, or shame, or self-contempt. You are ready to receive the glorious gospel of the blessed God!
What if you don't have a broken and contrite spirit? Are hard truths meant for you?
But suppose you don't have a broken, contrite spirit? What if you are a lawbreaker or a rebel? What if you are ungodly and sinful, unholy and irreligious? Suppose your conscience is seared and your heart has been hardened? Suppose you are stubborn and unrepentant, on a fast track away from God? In confronting your wickedness with the word of God, I take an extraordinary risk of pushing the truly broken and contrite deeper into their guilt and shame, while you remain unresponsive and unconvicted by the Holy Spirit.
There was an American preacher in the 1740's named Jonathan Edwards who preached a sermon titled, "Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God." His goal was to prepare people to receive the gospel by evoking a fear of God's judgment and wrath against wickedness. After hearing this sermon, some were filled with such utter dread and despair that they went out and committed suicide.
Such is the danger of speaking hard truths. Hard truths are for the hard-hearted, the spiritually arrogant, and the self-righteous. Hard truths are for the wicked and unresponsive. As Paul says in 1 Timothy 1:9-11 (NIV), "...for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and perjurers-- and for whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine that conforms to the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God..." Some of you aren't ready to hear the blessed gospel today because your spirit isn't broken and contrite. You're arrogant and proud. I pray that God's Holy Spirit will burn in your conscience and bring you to repentance.
There is a danger in preaching God's grace.
Just as there is a danger in preaching hard truths, there is also a danger in preaching God's grace. The danger is that we might gloss over our offense against God, and that we wouldn't appreciate the high price God paid when he sent his one and only Son, Jesus Christ, to die on a cross for our sins. God sent Jesus so that we might not perish, but have eternal life. There is the danger of taking God's gift of grace without truly acknowledging our countless offenses against God, and without acknowledging how costly our redemption is to God. The living God had to break his body, and shed his blood, and lay down his life, and pour out his mercy in order to save us. That's a high price for God to pay.
Last week, I risked the danger of preaching hard truths. This morning, I risk the danger of preaching God's grace. Let's not forget how personally costly God's grace is. Let's not cheapen God's grace by receiving it with ingratitude or indifference. Let's receive it with a broken and contrite spirit.
In
1 Timothy 1:12 (NIV) after speaking some hard truths, Paul proclaims the glorious gospel of our blessed God. He begins with these words,
"I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength..." On your sermon notes write down these five gospel truths.
God takes the initiative.
In 1 Timothy 1:1 (NIV) Paul introduces God as, "God our Savior" and Christ Jesus as, "our hope." In 1 Timothy 1:2 (NIV) he reminds us that, "grace, mercy and peace" come from, "God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord."
Truth be told, we are weak in our natural selves.
Psalm 29:11 (NIV) says,
"The Lord gives strength to his people; the Lord blesses his people with peace." Psalm 105:4 (NIV) says,
"Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always." Philippians 4:13 (NIV) says,
"I can do everything through him who gives me strength." Our culture thinks that strength is good and weakness is bad. But with God, it's just the opposite. When God saves us, he saves us by his strength, not by ours. We don't get a single shred of credit. He gets all the glory.
Romans 5:6 (NIV) says,
"You see, at just the right time, while we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly." God's perfect timing is in our moment of weakness. In our greatest moment of weakness, God does his greatest work of redemption. So this is why Paul says,
"I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength..."
God sees our potential.
In
1 Timothy 1:12 (NIV) Paul adds,
"...that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service." At first glance, Paul appears to be boasting in himself. But let me assure you that this in not the case. In
2 Corinthians 3:5 (NIV) Paul says we are not,
"...competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves; but our competence comes from God."
No, what God sees in Paul is his potential to be faithful. He sees Paul's capacity to be trustworthy and his capacity to be God's servant. In
Acts 9:15-16 (NIV) Jesus says of Paul,
"This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name."
You may not have the capacity to leap like Michael Jordan, bull rush a quarterback like Julius Peppers, or sing like Adele. But you do have the capacity to be God's man or woman. You have an extraordinary capacity to serve God, far beyond anything you could imagine. You dwell on your shortcomings, but God sees you potential. God sees what extraordinary words you'd speak, and what extraordinary works you'd do, were you to rely on his strength instead of your own.
Without faith, it is impossible to please God. But with faith, trusting in God's strength, nothing is impossible for you. You have been created in the image of God. You have the capacity to reflect God's character, to be holy. You have extraordinary potential!
God shows us mercy.
I already know what you are telling yourself. I'm a mind reader. You are saying, "I'm a lost cause. It's too late. I'm too far gone. Get away from me Lord, because I'm too sinful. I've made too many mistakes. My reputation is shot. I've been branded a sinner by everyone who knows me. I'm an adulterer, a pervert, and a liar. I'm..."
When we first meet Paul in
Acts 7 he is culpable for the brutal execution of Stephen, the first Christian martyr. In
Acts 8 he's destroying the Church by going house to house, dragging off men and women to put them in prison. From all appearances, Paul is a lost cause. But there is no such thing in God's eyes. You're not a lost cause. That is lie of Satan.
Look what Paul says in
1 Timothy 1:12-14 (NIV).
"...He (God)
considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service. Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus."
I want you to notice three pairs of words. Paul says he was once a blasphemer, persecutor, and a violent man. Paul spoke words of blasphemy against Jesus Christ, and against the Church of Jesus Christ. That is a grave sin indeed, would you agree? But more than words, Paul persecuted Jesus Christ and persecuted the Church. You're not listening. Paul was taking murderous actions against God's people! Look what he says. He was a violent man. He had a violent mentality and a violent nature. To Christians, Paul was an unredeemable terrorist, too far gone, too steeped in violence to be salvaged.
God can redeem anyone.
What words have you spoken that are worse than Paul's? What actions have you taken that are more murderous than Paul's? What mentality is more unredeemable than that of a Jewish jihadist hellbent on terrorizing Christians? Oh, you think you're too big a challenge for the grace of God? You're in the little leagues. Paul was in the big leagues. Your words, your actions, and your mentality don't even begin to rival that of Paul, and yet what does he say? He says, "The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus." Paul's reckless words, actions, and sinful mentality were no match for the abundant grace, faith, and love God was willing to pour out on him. God gives grace to the undeserving, faith to the faithless, and love to those filled with hate. It's God's specialty. You're no match for God's mercy.
What Paul actually says in
1 Timothy 1:14 is that God is hyper. Our word "hyper" comes from the Greek prefix "hyper" which means "hyper." Hyper-active. God's nature is hyper-merciful and hyper-graceful. He pours out his love abundantly, hyper-actively.
1 John 3:1 (NIV) says,
"See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!"
You thought God was a jerk, but it's just the opposite. This is why in
Ephesians 3:18 (NIV) Paul prays for the Ephesians,
"...to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ." God's love is so hyper-active that we struggle to grasp it! But here is a clue in
John 3:16 (NIV).
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
Nothing is impossible for God.
In
1 Timothy 1:15-16 (NIV) Paul says,
"Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into world to save sinners-- of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life."
Nothing is impossible for God. You are not mission impossible. You think you are, but you are not. There are two reasons God wants to save you and me despite all our stubbornness and sin. Do you know what they are?
Reason number one: God loves you.
How do you know Christ loves you? It's because he died for you. Didn't you see the news this week? Men were knocking down women and children, and a captain abandoned his ship in a cruise line disaster. No one was willing to die to save another. 1 John 3:16 (NIV) says, "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us." God's love for you was settled on the cross. His shed blood is your proof.
Reason number two: God is a showboat.
I know, it sounds a little funny, but it's true. God "wants" to show his mercy for the very worst of sinners in order to showcase his unlimited patience. When God shows you mercy, it's like he's telling all the world, "Look how patient I am. I love Jon Morrissette. No one else loves Jon like I love Jon." It's true. You think other people love you more than God does, but you are wrong. You think other people are more patient with you than God, but you are just wrong.
What does 2 Peter 3:9 (NIV) say? Read it out loud, "...he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." Again, you came here today thinking God's patience had run out on you, but just the opposite is true. You cannot exhaust God's mercy. He is hyper merciful, hyper loving, and hyper patient.
Reason number three: God wants to make an example out of you.
Okay, there are really three reasons that God wants to show you mercy. God wants to make an example out of you because of those who would believe on him and receive eternal life. God wants to leverage your influence with your wife, husband, kids, and family. God knows that when you believe in grace, others will see and follow your example. How cool is that?
God is worthy.
In
1 Timothy 1:12 (NIV) Paul begins,
"I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength..." But look how he wraps things up in
1 Timothy 1:17 (NIV).
"Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen."
Do you want to be saved today for all eternity? If you have a broken and contrite spirit, you only need to believe in God's hyper love, hyper mercy, hyper grace, and hyper patience. And all the rest? Be patient. It will follow. Repent and believe.