HONORING GOD’s INVESTMENT-II—1Timothy 1:12-17
Attention:
A young man writing at the post office desk was approached by an older gentleman with a post card in his hand.
"Sir, I'm sorry to bother you," the gentleman started. "But could you address this post card for me? My arthritis is acting up today & I can't even hold a pen without sharp pain."
"Certainly sir," said the young man. "I'd be glad to."
He wrote out the address, a short dictated message, & signed the card for the man. Finishing, the young man asked, "Now, is there anything else I can do for you?"
The older gentleman thought for a moment before he finally said, "Yes, at the end could you just add: 'PS: Please excuse the sloppy hand-writing?'"
The elderly gentleman’s ‘thankfulness’ became suspect if not offensive!
Need:
Paul reminded Timothy of the significance/gravity/weight behind God’s investment in us.
We must recognize the significance/gravity/weight of God’s investment.
When do we honor the gravity of God’s investment?
We honor the gravity of God’s investment when we are Thankful.
Before thanksgiving, we discovered that
We honor God’s investment thru Thankfulness for...
1. His FAITH In ME/Us(:12)
2. His MERCY(:13)
3—We honor God’s investment thru Thankfulness for...
His EXCESS(:14)
Explanation: (:14)
:14—“And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith & love which are in Christ Jesus.”
Regarding God’s mercy, there was an “exceeding abundance” of the Christian’s “Lord’s” “grace” which was responsible for bringing the mercy to Paul. He was totally unfit to be the recipient of mercy.
God’s grace came to Paul abundantly with the “faith & love” which both are had “in Christ Jesus.” Without the gracious advent of Jesus we would know nothing of the fullness of either “faith” or “love.”
Gal. 5:6—“For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.”
“Grace”—cariv—Grace; Good-will, loving-kindness, favor; What is due to grace.
“Exceedingly abundant/More than abundant/Overflowed”—uperpleonazw—To be exceedingly abundant; To overflow; To possess in excess; Thanks, (for benefits, services, favors), recompense, reward. Strong—To superabound. Used 1X.
“Faith”—pistiv—Conviction of the truth of anything, belief; Fidelity, faithfulness.
“Love”—agaph—Brotherly love, affection, good will, love, benevolence; Love feasts.
Argumentation:
1Cor. 15:10—“But by the grace of God I am what I am, & His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.”
2Cor. 3:2-6—“You are our epistle written in our hearts, known & read by all men; clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart. And we have such trust through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”
2Cor. 9:8-15—“And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. As it is written: “He has dispersed abroad, He has given to the poor; His righteousness endures forever.” Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, & bread for food, supply & multiply the seed you have sown & increase the fruits of your righteousness, while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God. For the administration of this service not only supplies the needs of the saints, but also is abounding through many thanksgivings to God, while, through the proof of this ministry, they glorify God for the obedience of your confession to the gospel of Christ, & for your liberal sharing with them & all men, & by their prayer for you, who long for you because of the exceeding grace of God in you. Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!”
Col. 1:24-27—“I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, & fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God, the mystery which has been hidden from ages & from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
Eph 3:14-21—“For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven & earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted & grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width & length & depth & height-- to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever & ever. Amen.”
Illustration:
Christmas presents/Geared around extravagance/That’s why we feel guilty when we can’t provide such extravagance/It is taken up even by the secular lost world unbeknownst to them/That the grace of God in Christ we receive is far beyond our ability to repay, though we try to emulate it!/His EXCESS
Thanksgiving celebrations/Cornucopias—picture of God’s abundant provision/Overabundance/His EXCESS
Citizens of 3rd world countries who come to America/They walk in a grocery store & are overwhelmed by the Abundance & EXCESS/His EXCESS
Application:
?You Thankful for God’s EXCESS granted to you?
?You Thankful for God’s Investment?
4—We honor God’s investment thru Thankfulness for...
His SIMPLICITY(:15)
Explanation: (:15)
:15—“This is a faithful saying & worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.”
Concerning his previous statements regarding God’s mercy, grace, faith & love, Paul then explains simply that there is a “faithful saying” which sums it all up. This statement is “worthy of” “acceptance”—by “all” of faith.
Its truth is summed up in the fact that Christ Jesus(anointed Messiah of YaHWeH’s salvation) actually entered “the world,” i.e, the world of mankind—the one in which we live—with the express purpose of “saving sinners.” And Paul recognizes himself as the “chief” of sinners.
When a person sees himself/herself as ‘the chief of sinners,’ such a person is able to receive, as did Paul, the gracious mercies of God by the faith & love had in Christ. They are able to live by God’s power rather than by the calling of their own flesh.
“Faithful/Trustworthy”[See :15]—pistov—Trusty, faithful; Easily persuaded
“Saying/Statement”—logov—Of speech....A word, What someone has said, Discourse, Doctrine, teaching, Anything reported in speech such as A narration, narrative, Matter under discussion, thing spoken of, affair, a matter in dispute, case, suit at law, The thing spoken of or talked about; event, deed.; Its use as respect to the MIND alone....Reason, the mental faculty of thinking, meditating, reasoning, calculating, Account, i.e. regard, consideration, Account, i.e. reckoning, score, Account, i.e. answer or explanation in reference to judgment, Relation, i.e. with whom as judge we stand in relation, Reason would, Reason, cause, ground; In John, denotes the essential Word of God, Jesus Christ, the personal wisdom & power in union with God, his minister in creation & government of the universe, the cause of all the world's life both physical & ethical, which for the procurement of man's salvation put on human nature in the person of Jesus the Messiah, the second person in the Godhead, & shone forth conspicuously from His words & deeds. Strong—Something said (including the thought); by implication, A topic (subject of discourse), also reasoning (the mental faculty) or motive; by extension, A computation; specifically (with the article in John) The Divine Expression (i.e. Christ).
“Worthy”—axiov—weighing, having weight, having the weight of another thing of like value, worth as much; Befitting, congruous, corresponding to a thing; Of one who has merited anything worthy.
“Acceptance/Acceptation”—apodoch—Reception, admission, acceptance, approbation. Used 2X.
“Save”—swzw—To save, keep safe & sound, to rescue from danger or destruction
“Sinners”—amartwlov—Adj.—Devoted to sin, a sinner—Not free from sin, Pre-eminently sinful, especially wicked.
“Chief/Foremost”—prwtov—First in time or place; First in rank; First, at the first. Strong—contracted superlative of pro; Foremost (in time, place, order or importance)
pro—a primary preposition; "fore", i.e. in front of, prior (figuratively, superior) to.
Argumentation:
1Cor. 15:1-4—“Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received & in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you--unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, & that He was buried, & that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,”
Col 1:27-28 “To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we preach, warning every man & teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.”
2 Cor. 11:2-3—“For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.”
The ‘simple’ fact is, that Eve fell to the temptation to trust complication rather than the simplicity of God’s desire in the command that she & Adam avoid only one tree in His magnificent & lavishly abundant garden!
Gal. 1:6-9—“I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you & want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.”
Gal. 3:1-3—“O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?”
1Cor. 14:33—“For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.”
2Cor. 1:12—“For our boasting is this: the testimony of our conscience that we conducted ourselves in the world in simplicity & godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom but by the grace of God, & more abundantly toward you.”
2Pet. 3:1-18—“Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, & of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord & Savior, knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, & saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, & the earth standing out of water & in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. But the heavens & the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment & perdition of ungodly men. But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, & a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, & the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth & the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct & godliness, looking for & hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, & the elements will melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens & a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot & blameless; & consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation--as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught & unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures. You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; but grow in the grace & knowledge of our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now & forever. Amen.”
What makes Paul’s Good News “hard to understand” is that he attempts & succeeds in forcing us to reckon with the fact that sin is a very real factor in our flesh(decisions/wants/desires) & that Christ is the ONLY One who can & has accomplished freedom from it.
Illustration:
Baseball—An engineer trying to accomplish what an accomplished baseball player does at the plate/The engineer can diagram every action & chart exactly what action is required to produce a needed outcome/But what it comes down to is an innate & trained ability to hit & field the ball on the part of the player—Just do it!/His SIMPLICITY
I don’t need a manufacturing plant to drink hot chocolate/Handy but not necessary/
I don’t need a dishwasher/It seems a necessity but I can wash our dishes very easily in the sink & get them cleaner/His SIMPLICITY
Washing clothes/We don’t have to commit thousands of dollars to a washing machine or dryer/Causing ourselves to work extra hours or even jobs to afford it/His SIMPLICITY
KISS— ‘Keep It Simple Stupid’
‘God said it, I believe it, that settles it!’
Application:
?You Thankful for God’s SIMPLICITY for you?
?You Thankful for God’s Investment?
CONCLUSION:
Visualization:
'PS: Please excuse the sloppy hand-writing?'"
Action:
We honor God’s investment thru Thankfulness for...
3. His EXCESS(:14)
4. His SIMPLICITY(:15)
1. His FAITH In ME/Us(:12)
2. His MERCY(:13)
Pts. 3-4 Presented 11/30/2014pm to:
FBC Cbelle
206 Storrs Ave SE(Ave A)
Carrabelle, FL 32322
Pts. 1-3 Presented 11/13/2011pm to:
Needmore Baptist Church
1620 Needmore Rd.
Woodleaf, NC 27054
