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I Obtained Mercy 1 Timothy 1:12-17 - The Apostle Paul is writing to Timothy in the book we'll discuss today - And Paul, in the short section we address, is praising God for His mercy - He is reminding Timothy of the mercy he has received - He is reminding anyone who reads it after Timothy of the mercy they have received - Today, it serves as our reminder - We're in 1 Timothy 1:12-17 - "I Obtained Mercy" is the theme - The most unusual people are selected by God and used in His ministry - This has been the case from the very beginning - His mercy and grace are at play in the lives of all His servants - And it is only by them that we are made usable - Paul the Apostle was greatly used by God - But look at his background - He was hardly the ideal candidate by man's standards - Perhaps he was the last one we would have imagined to be the servant he was - What happened? - Our text begins to explain… 1 Timothy 1:12 12 And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry; - No one has a place in ministry that is not given by God - We serve at His direction and at His choosing - He knows our faithfulness or lack thereof and provides enablement - All our resources for success come from Him - For this, He deserves to be thanked - Paul was thankful for his place of service - Partially, because it was so unlikely - Do you remember his testimony? - He begins to explain… 1 Timothy 1:13 13 Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. - When Paul was a religious, but lost man, he blasphemed against God, persecuted God’s people, injuring them - He deserved punishment for this, but received none - This is mercy - He did these things because he didn’t believe in Jesus and because he was ignorant about who the Messiah was - But he did it - You don’t have to be committing these types of sins to be considered “in need of mercy” - All are sinners - The wages of sin is death - All must pay for their sin - When we don’t, it is because of God’s mercy - There was more at work here, just as there is more at work for any believer in Christ - Let’s read on… 1 Timothy 1:14 14 And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. - The word for exceeding abundant is overflowing - Grace is a gift from God, which we don’t deserve - And that gift overflowed in Paul’s life - And with the grace came the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus - We’re getting a picture of all God does when He saves us and sets us to work in the great commission - No matter what our background or depth of entrenchment in sin - He pulls us out - Setting us aside for His use - Because of mercy we avoid punishment - Because of grace we are given an immeasurable gift - All comes through God’s son Jesus - Who took the punishment we deserved for sin on the cross - And it seems Paul is constantly aware of this… 1 Timothy 1:15 15 This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. - Here is a true statement that should be accepted without question, Paul declares - Jesus came into the world to save sinners - Paul regards himself as the worst of them - Chief of sinners - But we are really no different - We are all sinners by birth and sinners by choice - Violating His law, missing the mark, acting as our own gods, far from Him - For each of us, the story is different, but there is no human story without sin - And this sin is more than enough to separate us from God for good - For He is altogether holy - Nothing defiled or unclean enters His presence - This is the wonder of Jesus - Leaving heaven to dwell among us - A sinless man among none but sinners - Submitting Himself to an unjust execution - Willingly dying in our place and for our sins - Paul had first-hand experience… 1 Timothy 1:16 16 Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting. - Paul is indeed an example to us - A trophy of God's grace - A testimony to the mercy and longsuffering of our God - One who shows us no one is too far gone - His grace extends even unto us - For it extended to Paul, right? - God deserves praise for all this… 1 Timothy 1:17 17 Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen. - We know that this merciful God is the eternal King - He rules forever - He is not seen by mortal eyes - The only-wise God - Worthy of honor and worthy of glory - Paul's personal testimony should remind us of this - Our personal testimony should constantly remind us - We are the recipients of wonderful gifts - Gifts that can only come from Christ
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