INTRODUCTION: YOU REMEMBER THAT WE ARE STUDYING THE BOOK OF 1 TIM. SO
FAR WE HAVE LEARNED THAT PAUL WROTE TO YOUNG TIM TELLING HIM THAT HE WANTS
HIM TO STAY AT THE EPHESUS CHURCH AND RIDE HERD ON THIS GROUP THAT ARE
TEACHING FALSE DOCTRINE. ALTHOUGH WE DO NOT KNOW THE NATURE OF THE FALSE
DOCTRINE, WE LEARNED THE RESULTS OF FALSE TEACHING.
WE STOPPED LAST TIME AT THE POINT WHERE PAUL IS EXPLAINING THAT HE HAS
BEEN ENTRUSTED WITH THE GOSPEL. THIS WEEK WE ARE STUDYING 1 TIM. 1:12-20.
SO LETS JUMP INTO IT.
I. WHY GOD CHOSE PAUL
A. READ 1 TIM.1:12-13. TELL ME WHAT YOU KNOW ABOUT PAUL’S BACKGROUND?
1. DOESN’T IT SEEM OBVIOUS THAT GOD WOULD NOT CHOSE HIM TO BE AN APOSTLE?
(ACTS 9:1; 26:11; 22:4,7)
2. WOULD YOU HAVE CHOSEN PAUL? 3. SO WHY DID GOD? CAN YOU THINK OF ANY
REASONS WHY HE WOULD?
B. PAUL SAYS THAT HE THANKS GOD FOR SEVERAL THINGS, LETS GO THROUGH
AND IDENTIFY THEM: (WRITE ALL THREE DOWN TO BEGIN WITH: GAVE HIM STRENGTH;
CONSIDERED HIM FAITHFUL; APPOINTED HIM TO HIS SERVICE.) LETS LOOK AT THIS:
1. FIRST: “GAVE HIM STRENGTH” “EMPOWERED” HIM. WHEN
WE FEEL THAT WE MAY HAVE BEEN CALLED TO DO SOMETHING FOR CHRIST, SHOULD
WE ASK OURSELF, “AM I QUALIFIED TO DO THIS?” (JESUS DOES NOT
GIVE US A TASK TO DO WITHOUT GIVING US THE POWER TO DO IT. IF WE KEEP THAT
IN MIND WE WILL NEVER BE TAKING CREDIT FOR WHAT GOD DID!)
a. DO YOU THINK THAT PAUL MIGHT NOT HAVE HAD THE POWER TO DO THIS? (PERHAPS
HE FELT SO BAD ABOUT HIS BACKGROUND THAT HE NEED EXTRA STRENGTH TO MOVE
FORWARD WITH THIS.)
2. SECOND: “CONSIDERED ME FAITHFUL.” “FAITHFUL”
IS THE GREEK “PISTOS:” IN THE ACTIVE SENSE MEANS “BELIEVING,
TRUSTING.” HE TRUSTED SAUL.
a. DO YOU THINK THAT TRUST WAS A BIG ISSUE FOR THE EARLY BELIEVERS WHEN
IT CAME TO THE NEW CONVERT SAUL?
b. WHAT ABOUT FOR THE JEWS WHEN DEALING WITH THIS MISSIONARY TO THE
GENTILES? (PAUL SAYS THAT GOD TRUSTED HIM!)
3. THIRD: “APPOINTED ME TO HIS SERVICE.” THIS GOES BACK TO
PAUL’S STATMENT THAT HE HAS BEEN ENTRUSTED WITH THE GOSPEL. THERE ARE TWO
POINTS TO THIS: THAT GOD CHOSE PAUL AND THAT HE CHOSE HIM TO SERVE.
a. ARE WE LIKE PAUL IN THAT GOD CHOSES US OR DO WE CHOSE GOD? (GOD COMES
LOOKING FOR US! MATT. 18:12-14 (LOST SHEEP). IN THE TEACHER’S HELPS FOR
SUNDAY THERE WERE SEVERAL TEXTS GIVEN ALL OF WHICH SHOWED THAT CHRIST WAS
LOOKING FOR SINNERS!)
b. WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE, WHO CHOSES WHO? (EVERYONE LIKES TO
BE CHOSEN. NOBODY WHO WAS ONCE BETWEEN 10 AND 20 DOUBTS THAT. IF SOMEONE
CHOSES YOU AS OPPOSED TO YOU DOING THE CHOSING, THEN YOU KNOW THAT YOU
ARE REALLY WANTED.)
c. WHAT WAS PAUL APPOINTED TO? (SERVICE)
d. THIS WORD TRANSLATED SERVICE, IS “DIAKONUA” FROM WHICH
COMES THE WORD DEACON. PAUL IS NOT SAYING THAT GOD CHOSE HIM TO BE AN EXECUTIVE
MANAGER, HE CHOSE HIM TO SERVE OTHERS.
(1) NOW DO YOU WANT TO BE CHOSEN? e. BILL BARCLAY’S COMMENTARY TELLS
THAT THE SPARTANS WHO WON OLYMPIC CONTESTS WERE GIVEN AS A REWARD THE OPPORTUNITY
TO STAND BY THEIR KING IN BATTLE. SO YOU WIN AND YOU GET TO BE A HUMAN
SHIELD FOR YOUR KING. WHAT ABOUT THIS IDEA? THAT GIVES YOU THE IDEA OF
SERVICE AND NOT HONOR.
C. READ v. 14. HOW DOES THIS VERSE SUGGEST THAT PAUL WAS SAVED FROM
HIS TERRIBLE PAST? (GRACE WAS POURED OUT ON PAUL. I LIKE THIS WORD PICTURE:
THE GRACE JUST FLOWED OVER HIM IN MASSIVE STREAMS AND WASHED AWAY HIS SIN!)
1. BUT WHAT EXACTLY DO YOU THINK PAUL MEANS WHEN HE ADDS, “ALONG
WITH THE FAITH AND LOVE THAT ARE IN CHRIST JESUS?”
2. ARE THE FAITH AND LOVE SOMETHING SEPARATE FROM GOD’S GRACE? (A COMMENTATOR
NAMED E.F. BROWN SUGGESTS THAT THE REFERENCE TO THE “FAITH AND LOVE”
IN CHRIST MEANS THE FAITH AND LOVE THAT ARE IN THOSE WHO ARE BELIEVERS.)
3. IF THIS IS WHAT PAUL MEANT, HOW IMPORTANT TO CONVERSION IS THE INFLUENCE
OF A CHRISTIAN SHOWING FAITH AND LOVE TO THE PERSON BEING CONVERTED?
4. IS SHOWING THIS FAITH AND LOVE A ONE SHOT DEAL? ONCE WE GET THEM
CONVERTED WITH GRACE AND FAITH AND LOVE WE CAN THEN MOVE ON TO SOMEONE
ELSE?
D. READ v. 15-16. DO YOU THINK PAUL WAS SERIOUS WHEN HE SAID THAT HE
WAS THE WORST OF SINNERS? WHY? (PAUL SAYS IN ACTS 22:4 THAT WHEN HE WAS
SAUL, HE PERSECUTED CHRISTIANS TO THEIR DEATH– BOTH MEN AND WOMEN. IDEA
I NEVER BEFORE THOUGHT OF IS THAT THEIR WILL BE MEN AND WOMEN IN HEAVEN
WHO WERE PUT TO DEATH BY PAUL. IMAGINE THEIR SUPRISE!)
E. PAUL GIVES US A SPECIFIC REASON IN v. 16 WHY GOD SHOWED MERCY TO
HIM. WHAT IS IT? (DISPLAY GOD’S UNLIMITED PATIENCE)
1. CONSIDER THIS FOR A MINUTE. WE THINK (AND SOME SUGGESTED AT THE BEGINNING
OF THE LESSON TODAY) THAT JESUS WENT AFTER PAUL BECAUSE HE KNEW HE WOULD
BE SUCH A WONDERFUL LEADER AND WORKER. BUT PAUL SUGGESTS THAT GOD WENT
AFTER HIM BECAUSE HE WAS SO BAD. DOES THAT MAKE ANY SENSE TO YOU? DO YOU
AGREE WITH PAUL? (I PREACHED A SERMON NOT TOO LONG AGO THAT HAD THAT SAME
THEME: THAT GOD LIKES TO WORK THROUGH WEAKNESS. THE MORE IMPOSSIBLE THE
SITUATION, THE MORE GOD LIKES TO MAKE IT RIGHT SO THAT THERE CAN BE NO
POSSIBLE DOUBT ABOUT WHO DID IT. EXAMPLES: GIDEON AND THE 32,000->300
(JUDGES 7); DAVID AND GOLIATH))
2. TELL ME WHY PAUL SAYS IN v. 15 “I AM” AS OPPOSED TO “I
WAS” THE WORST OF SINNERS? (HE STILL REMEMBERS THE SERIOUSNESS OF
HIS PAST SIN? THE MORE LIKE JESUS WE BECOME, THE MORE CLEARLY WE SEE OUR
OWN SINS?
F. WHEN YOU FIRST LOOK AT PAUL TELLING TIM THAT HE SHOULD STOMP ON THE
FALSE TEACHERS BECAUSE THEY ARE WRONG AND PAUL HAS THE GOSPEL, IT SOUNDS
PRETTY EGOTISTICAL FOR PAUL, RIGHT?
1. WHAT IS PAUL REALLY SAYING? (THAT HE WAS CHOSEN BY GOD BECAUSE GOD
CAME LOOKING FOR HIM AND CAME LOOKING FOR THE HARDEST CASE!)
2. IS THIS ENCOURAGING TO US? (IF THE CHIEF OF SINNERS CAN HAVE MERCY,
IN FACT GOD IS LOOKING FOR THE “CHIEFS” OF SINNERS, THEN WE KNOW
THAT WITHOUT A DOUBT HE CAN SAVE US FROM OUR SINS–AND MORE, HE CAN MAKE
US A GREAT GOSPEL WORKER.)
G. READ v. 17-20. v. 18 IN THE NIV SAYS, “INSTRUCTION,” BUT
THE OTHER VERSIONS I LOOKED AT SAY, “CHARGE.” I GIVE YOU THIS
CHARGE. WHAT IS THE CHARGE? (HOLD ON TO FAITH; KEEP A GOOD CONSCIENCE;
AND BY IF HE DOES THAT HE CAN FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT AT EPEHSUS (AND A FIGHT
IT MAY BE!))
1. WHAT DOES PAUL MEAN, AS A PRACTICAL MATTER, WHEN HE SAYS HOLD ON
TO FAITH AND A GOOD CONSCIENCE? (FAITH IS THE SPIRITUAL SIDE OF THINGS
AND A GOOD CONSCIENCE IMPLIES BEHAVIOR.)
II. NEXT WEEK: CHAPT 2. I SURE WISH I WERE TEACHING THAT LESSON, BUT
I WILL BE GONE AT LEAST THE NEXT TWO WEEKS. I WANT YOU TO FIGURE OUT THIS
WEEK WHY WOMEN HAVE TO BE MODEST AND MEN DON’T, WHY WOMEN HAVE TO BE QUIET
AND MEN DON’T.
AT LEAST THE NEXT TWO WEEKS. I WANT YOU TO FIGURE OUT THIS
WEEK WHY WOMEN HAVE TO BE MODEST AND MEN DON’T, WHY WOMEN HAVE TO BE QUIET
AND MEN DON’T.
