Three Foundations
Rev Dr Mark Porizky
1
Timothy 1:12-17 (Bible Study)
(Doctrine versus “Usual”)
I thank him who has given me strength for this, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful by appointing me to his service, though I formerly blasphemed and persecuted and insulted him; but I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. And I am the foremost of sinners; but I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience for an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Almost nine years ago
many proponents of the death penalty stepped out of character momentarily to
plead for mercy on behalf of Karla Faye Tucker, a convicted murderer sentenced
to be executed by the state of
Once in prison, she met Jesus Christ
and her life changed dramatically. For 14 years she lived her faith as a model
inmate. As the day of her execution approached, the media spotlight was directed
toward her. She was the subject of Nightline and was a guest on Larry
King Live and the 700 Club. Those who saw her on TV had a hard time
imagining the cold-blooded murderer she once was; her life had clearly changed,
as those who knew her well would testify.
Karla Faye petitioned the authorities
for a change in her sentence from death to life in prison. Many people advocated
Tucker's cause, standing up for her as character witnesses or sympathizers. They
include prison guards, former prosecutors, the detective who arrested her, and
the brother of the woman she murdered. (The Pope and Pat Robertson also spoke in
support of her.)
Repeatedly, on national TV, she gave
credit for the change in her life to Jesus Christ. The petition was not granted;
on
Karla isn't the first "bad
sinner" to change her ways. Other notorious murderers have made the same
profession of faith, including David Horowitz (Son of Sam), Mark David Chapman
(murdered John Lennon), and even Jeffrey Dahmer (needs no explanation). Some
people suspect the validity of these jailhouse conversions, but the fact is many
times they are real and the changes they produce are permanent.
Another high-profile criminal
conversion in recent history is that of Charles Colson, former hatchet man for
Richard Nixon. Though he was not guilty of murder, he committed crimes during
the Watergate era that earned him a prison sentence. While in prison he met
Christ. The change in his life was dramatic, and it cannot be denied that the
church (and society as a whole) has reaped the benefits of his conversion. After
his release from prison, Colson established Prison Fellowship, a jail ministry
that spans the globe.
It's hard to imagine that a person's
life can move in one direction for decades, and suddenly, miraculously, change
its course. But it happens. Some of you here today, perhaps, are living proof.
This kind of phenomenon can also be
seen in Scripture. There are countless examples—probably the best known is
that of Paul. For years he was an enemy of the church. He considered it his job
to eliminate the threat of Christianity by killing Christians. Then one day, on
a trip to
These are all extreme examples, but I
hope they will remind you of a wonderful truth taught in the Bible: It doesn't
matter who you used to be. No matter how bad you think you are, God can and will
forgive you. He can and will give you the strength to change your life. In
today's text, Paul expounds this very principle. He mentions three important
truths that underline this fact. First of all...
1.
God loves you in spite of your past.
Paul acknowledges that he had a past
to live down. He said,
(v.
12-13) I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength...even though I
was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man...
In verse 15 he goes on to say that he
was the worst of all sinners. And I suspect that his sins were more vindictive
than most of yours. The fact is, God
loves you in spite of whatever sins you have committed. There is nothing you can
do to keep God from loving you. It doesn't matter who you used to be.
We see this throughout Scripture,
especially in the Gospels. Not once do you see Jesus judging an individual based
on their past. When people came to him who had committed sexual sin, or had
dabbled in the occult, or had spent their lives cheating others in business, his
message was the same: "I do not condemn you; go and sin no more."
People found love and acceptance in Jesus in spite of what their past had been.
The
late Cardinal Joseph Bernadin tells the story of a
woman who was dying of aids. One of the priests from his diocese was
summoned in an attempt to comfort her, but to no avail.
"I am lost," she said.
"I have ruined my life and every life around me. Now I’m going painfully
to hell. There is no hope for me."
The priest saw a framed picture of a
pretty girl on the dresser. "Who is this?" he asked. The woman
brightened. "She is my daughter, the one beautiful thing in my life."
"And would you help her if she
was in trouble, or made a mistake? Would you forgive her? Would you still love
her?"
Of course I would!" cried the
woman. "I would do anything for her! Why do you ask such a question?"
"Because I want you to know," said the priest, "that God has a picture of you on His dresser."
Friends, the Gospel states that regardless of what you have done, there
is nothing you can do that will cause God's love for you to change. He loves you
so much that he could not possibly love you more, and he will never love you
less. I am not saying this so you will have an excuse to sin; I am saying this
so you will have reason to hope.
No matter what you have done, or no
matter what has happened in your life, God doesn't view you as a second-class
citizen. He doesn't consider you a has-been. His love for you is as great as it
ever was. It doesn't matter who you used to be, God loves you in spite of your
past. Secondly...
2. God will save you in spite of your past.
Paul said,
(v. 14) The grace of our Lord was poured out on
me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
He goes on to remind us of this basic
Biblical truth:
(v. 15) Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
When I say that God will save you,
this is exactly what I mean. First of all, God will forgive you completely and
wipe the slate clean. Secondly, God will change you into the type of person God
wants you to be.
When a person accepts Jesus Christ, he
or she becomes a new creation (2 Corinthians
Too often we use the past as an
excuse: "I've always been this way...I've always had a problem with my
temper...Everyone in my family is overweight...I just don't have any
self-control...I come from a long line of alcoholics..." and on and on. We
tell ourselves that this is who we really are and there is nothing that can be
done about it.
I'm telling you today: there is
something that can be done about it. God can change you. The God who can raise
the dead to life, can certainly make the living more alive, a more complete
person. That’s really what it
means to be saved, to be made whole, made complete.
This God can do, for you.
One day John Wesley (founder of the
As the man took Wesley's money, Wesley
said, "Sir, you may someday regret this sort of life you are living. If you
do, remember, the blood of Jesus cleanses you from all sin."
Many years later, at the close of a
Sunday evening service in which Wesley had just preached, a man approached him,
begging for the opportunity to speak to him. It was the same man who had robbed
Wesley years before. Now he was a successful businessman and a faithful
Christian. The words Wesley had spoken to him proved to be life-changing. The
man said to Wesley, "I owe it all to you."
Wesley said, "No, not to me, but
to Christ who cleanses us from all sin."
God can save you and he can change
you—no matter what kind of past you've had. For some people this change is
immediate; for others it is a lengthy process. For everyone, it is a promise
that we can cling to: It doesn't matter who you used to be, God will change you
in spite of your past. Thirdly...
3. God can use you in spite of your
past.
If any man could have been written off
as being "washed-up," it would be Jim Bakker. When that whole scandal
hit in the eighties he became the object of world-wide ridicule from both the
church and secular society. He lost the enormous PTL empire, he was sent to
prison, his wife divorced him, and he hit absolute rock-bottom. More than a few
people said that he would never work in the ministry again.
While Bakker was in prison he read the
Gospels and made an amazing discovery: much of what he had preached during the
PTL heyday was not biblical. While in prison he committed his life again to
knowing and serving God. Jim Bakker now works in a church in South Central Los
Angeles. Gone are the Armani Suits, the cars, the jewelry, the
"air-conditioned dog-houses", and all the other symbols of excess that
characterized his PTL years.
Bakker is no longer a celebrity. He is
a support-staff member in an inner-city church, telling people about Jesus, and
he is being used by God to change people's lives. If God can use Jim Bakker
after the mess that he went through, he can use you, too. Paul said,
(v. 12, 16) [Christ] considered me
faithful, appointing me to his service...I was shown mercy so that in me, the
worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an
example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life.
Look at some examples from Scripture.
Moses was a great man of God; God used him after he committed murder. David was
As long as you have breath...as long
as you have a life that you can surrender to God, he can use you. It doesn't
matter who you used to be.
It comes down to this. You can let
go of the past, because God has forgiven the past. He is concerned with who
you're becoming, rather than who you've been. If there are mistakes you made
years ago, or months ago—or even days ago—I want you to know that God is
willing to put it behind you and give you a chance to start over. You may have
to live with the consequences of your mistakes, but you don't have to live with
the guilt or the shame. He will set you free from all of it, and he will give
you a chance to start again. It doesn't matter who you used to be. In spite of
your past, God loves you, God will change you, and use you—if you open your
heart to the power of God given through Jesus Christ.
This is the message Paul wanted to
convey in 1st Timothy. This
is the message God wants us all to hear. Three
foundations: God loves you in spite
of your past. God will save you in
spite of your past. God will use you
in spite of your past.
Will you pray with me now?
St.
Andrew Presbyterian Church,
Web Site: SAPC-CT.HOME.ATT.NET
Office Email: SAPC-CT@ATT.NET
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