1 Tim 1:12-17

An Exposition of 1 Timothy
Sermon 4
A Trophy of Grace: 1:12-17

Ø Why does The Holy Spirit include this testimony at this place and time?

(1) It almost looks out of place
(2) Some think was a digression, a tangent that Paul went out on
(3) The truth is, that he gives his testimony at this time to show that God can and does convert and use the most unlikely people in His service.
(4) Paul is saying, “look, I was a false teacher, I persecuted the church, I murdered Christians, and God turned me around….”
(5) We must never forget that false teachers, against whom we MUST defend the faith, are still potential converts to the Truth—as was Paul.

1. Grace For Paul

a. A Great Trophy: “…And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry…”

b. “I Thank…” Thanksgiving to God is often a missing element, even in the lives of true believers
(1) We forget what we were
(2) We forget what He has done for us
(3) We forget where we would be without Him
(4) We forget His many Providences for us
(5) We forget that He is the Source of life, breath, and all things—Acts 17:24-27

c. Christ Jesus our Lord—the Lordship of Christ is a major doctrine that cannot be soft pedaled. If Christ is not Lord, He is not Savior

d. What did Christ Jesus Our Lord do for Paul?

(1) “…Who enabled, strengthened…”

(a) The word refers to empowerment, it is related to dunamis, God’s dynamic power
(b) Paul knows he can “do all things…” but only “through Christ, who strengthens me…”

(2) “…considered me faithful…”

(a) God had counted Paul’s faith as righteousness, as with Abraham, and as will all believers (Gen 15:6, Rom 4:6-8)
(b) Now God “considers” Paul to be faithful—He counts Paul as faithful because God’s grace going to make him faithful, and God’s hand is going to guide and mould him.
(c) God is the source of Paul’s faithfulness to his calling. It is God alone who sustains him.

(3) Putting me into the ministry—

(a) First, God Chose Paul for this ministry—

(Acts 9:15-16) "…Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. 16 "For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name's sake.""

(Gal 1:15) "But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb and called me through His grace,"

(b) Putting—Paul was placed in the ministry by God

(c) “…ministry…” The word here is “table servant…” Paul did not consider his ministry to put him in an exalted position.

(d) William Barclay compares this to the Spartans’ practice of rewarding athletic champions. When a Spartan warrior won an athletic contest, he did not receive any tangible reward. Rather, he won the right to stand next to his king during the next battle
(e) For Paul, the honor was in being put into the ministry by God



e. Paul had a great need for Great Grace— “…13 although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man,,,”

(1) "although I was formerly…” Before his salvation he had been a gross sinner, a truly evil man

(2) “…a blasphemer…” He had denied the true God and the Truth about Jesus, he had slandered God—to the Jew, blasphemy is a capital crime

(3) “…a persecutor…” “…one who pursues like a hunterè He had persecuted true believers, hunted them down like rats

(4) “…an insolent man…” ὑβριστήν,..” …sadist, a violent person. The word indicates one who in pride and insolence deliberately and contemptuously mistreats, wrongs, and hurts another person just to hurt and deliberately humiliate the person. It speaks of treatment which is calculated publicly to insult and openly to humiliate the person who suffers it…” (Rogers and Rogers, page 488)

(a) Paul had been a sadistic hater of God’s people

(b) Paul himself had been the ultimate in false teachers—he hated the Truth so much that he was willing to do anything to stamp it out

(Acts 8:1-3) "... At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2 And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him. 3 As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison."

(Acts 9:1-2) "Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem."


f. The distinction between ignorance and willful disobedience—“…I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief…”.

g. Paul Received Great Grace —14 And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.

(1) Is always the LORD’s grace, lest we should ever think we added anything to it at all

(a) 1 Cor 1:29, Eph 2:9—
(b) we have no grounds to boast

(2) Exceedingly abundant
(a) The literal Greek is “hyper-abundant.”
(b) It means that the Grace of God is ‘way far more than we will ever need
(3) In Christ Jesus—We are Accepted in Him—

(Eph 1:6) "to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved.

(Gal 2:20) ""I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."

h. Paul, the example of What God Can Do—16 However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life.


2. Grace for Ya’ll “…This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief…”

a. There were many things for Jesus to do on Earth

(1) Fulfill the Old Testament Law—Mat 5:17,18

(2) Witness to the Truth—John 18:36-38

(3) To Teach and Preach—Is 61:1 "The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, Because the LORD has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound…”

(4) Fulfill all the prophecies about Him: Ps 22, Is 61, many more.

(5) Heal, cast out demons, and comfort the broken hearted, and work miracles

(6) To found His Church—“…I will build my church…” Mat 16:17

(7) To fulfill all righteousness—(Mat 3:15) "But Jesus answered and said to him, "Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he allowed Him."

b. But the great Mission that was over all and had priority over all was to Save Sinners

(Mat 1:21) ""And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.""

(Luke 9:56) ""For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them."

(Luke 19:10) ""for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.""

(Heb 7:25) "Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them."


c. We ALL have a great need because we are not just hurt or wounded by sin, we are dead in our trespasses and sins, and unless God makes us alive, we will never be Saved.

(Eph 2:1) "And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins…”

d. “…You must be born again…”, does not speak of our actions—God must cause us to be born again by His Great Grace, because the dead can only live when God makes them alive. You had nothing more to do with your second birth than you did with your first birth.

(James 1:18) "Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures."

(1 Pet 1:22-23) "Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, 23 having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever,"


3. Glory To God—(1 Tim 1:17) "Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever….”

a. To which of the Persons of the Trinity is this exclamation addressed?
(1) To the Invisible God—John 1:18
(2) To the Father

b. Attributes of God mentioned in this verse
(1) Sovereignty—God is King
(2) Eternality—God is without beginning or end
(a) We are without end—we will always exist—but every creature has a beginning.
(b) Only the Eternal Spirit (Heb 9:14), and the Son, who has always been (John 1:1-2) and the Father, are without beginning or end.
(c) Immortality—God has life in Himself, and He cannot be hurt, killed, assassinated, etc.
(d) Invisibility—God is Spirit
(e) Only wise—Omniscience

c. Praises to God mentioned in this verse
(1) Honor—God is to be honored and respected,
(2) God is to be glorified, to be spoken of and praised as one who has “kabod,” weight, importance. All of this is His Due—Ps 96:8

4. “… Amen..."

a. ON the Surface, such a small word, one which many say without a thought, and others with great thought

b. Some interesting facts—

(1) Amen is probably the most universal word in human language. According to the Zondervan Pictoral Encyclopedia of the Bible, only “ma” comes close as a word used in many languages
(2) Its meaning in each language is the same—“truth.”
(3) It is used 51 times in the New Testament as “amen,” a direct carry-over from the Greek, but 126 times in all. Every time Jesus says, (depending on your translation) “verily, verily”, or “most assuredly,” he is saying “amen up front.”

c. Here are some of the many things that the New Testament “amens”

(1) Jesus Amens the authority of the Bible. (Mat 5:18) ""For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled."

(2) Jesus Amens the authority of the Local New Testament Church. (Mat 18:18) ""Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."

(3) Jesus Amens discipleship. (Mat 28:20) ""teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen."

(4) Jesus Amens the necessity of the New Birth— (John 3:3) "Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.""

(5) Jesus Amens that Faith in Christ yields eternal life. (John 6:47) ""Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life."

(6) Jesus Amens that He is Jehovah God. (John 8:58) "Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.""

(7) Paul Amens that Satan will be crushed under the feet of God’s people. (Rom 16:20) "And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen."

(8) Paul Amens that the church is to glorify God. (Eph 3:21) "to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen."

(9) Peter Amens that men of God should speak with all authority and lay it on the line for the Lord. (1 Pet 4:11) "If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen."

(10) The Risen Lord Amens that He has the Keys—(Rev 1:18) ""I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death."

(11) The Living Creatures around the Throne and the Saints who are to be saved in the Great Tribulation Amen the Glory of God— (Rev 5:14) "Then the four living creatures said, "Amen!" And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever." (Rev 7:12) "saying: "Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom, Thanksgiving and honor and power and might, Be to our God forever and ever. Amen.""

(12) The last two Amens of the Bible tell us Jesus is coming Soon and His Grace is here to sustain us until Heaven. (Rev 22:20-21) "He who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming quickly." Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! 21 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen."

And you know what I say to that?

AMEN!