All Sermons

Watch video on Vimeo

1 Tim 1:12 By Geoff Reilly

it's a real joy to be with you today I met your pastor Oh three or four years ago in Northern Ireland and also the banner of truth conference in Leicester and we've met once again at Matt Murray's house down in Engadine a few months ago and so it's nice to come and see your church and to meet with you and to be with you today I did know I do know of that man that you quoted earlier TS Mooney he died I'm sure five to ten years ago in his 80s and he's a well-known figure in the denomination that I came from in Ireland man who worked in Derry City for years and the Crusaders was a boy's Bible class which met every Sunday and he took that as it says in the book for over 50 years every week a man who had a great influence and that was one story that was told of him there are many stories floating about and of his of his many quotes and but just that faithfulness over many years and the simple truths that he maintained is a great challenge to all of us but it's good to be with you I'm sure you were worried and maybe dawn was worried where I was I was sitting outside for a few moments I didn't see the little entrance down in here I knew that a lot of people are leaving Newcastle today but I'm glad to say that some of you are actually here today and I'm glad the church hasn't disappeared so let's just read together from 1st Timothy we want to read the second half of chapter 1 beginning at verse 12 remember that this letter is really a letter one of the last letters Paul wrote and although it is written to an individual it is really the teaching about a local church how a local church should be organized and how people should behave in a local church what a local church is and so on so there's many instructions for a benefit at regarding worship and leadership and men and women living in a local church but we want to read this passage in which Paul is really speaking about his own experience of coming to know the Lord Jesus Christ verse 12 I think Christ Jesus our Lord who has given me strength that he considered me faithful appointing me to his service even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief the grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly along with the faith and love that are in Christ
Jesus here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the worst but for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who believe on him and receive eternal life now to the King eternal immortal invisible the only God the honor and glory forever and ever amen Timothy my son I give you this instruction keeping with the prophecies once made about you so that by following them you may fight the good fight holding on to faith and a good conscience some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme we pray that the Lord will bless us as we look at this passage together there was a recent advertisement on TV in certainly in Brisbane I'm sure in this area as well and on it there was this sort of bald middle-aged man appeared and he told us that although he was conservatively dressed he was going to give free lectures in the Brisbane Convention Center and he said it was very important that you came to these four days of free lectures because he was going to impart not just information but brand-new information it was going to be focused on your mind and the power of your mind what you can accomplish with your thought he said your health your wealth and your happiness are going to be dealt with in these lectures how you can be healthy wealthy and happy your satisfaction in life was going to be helped by these lectures and he not only said that but he also said that your mind can influence the world around you the events in this world and the circumstances of your daily life can be affected by the power of your mind I guess it's just typical modern Western society it's not really any new information he's basically saying you can say I'm in charge and I'll run my own life that's not particularly new is it means as old as the hills I actually find his book in a bookshop I was just leafing through one day and I just flicked open in the middle of the book and he basically said that the crux decision you have to make in life is this that you influence everything in your life nothing outside of you could influence how you live nothing outside of you can influence your circumstances or how you get on in life you must decide in your mind that you and you alone will decide how you're going to get on in life I don't know how that happens when you take ill or or when some catastrophe happens that's outside your control but that's that's his new so-called information really he's saying I'm in charge really saying I can influence circumstances the environment around me I can influence the future it's up to me I choose what I'm going to do I manipulate things and circumstances I'm sure you're used to people saying that maybe in different ways since I came to Australia about a year ago I've heard this phrase over and over I haven't quite got to the bottom exactly what it means but it's the phrase the Aussie battler I'm sure you're aware of that but basically it seems to conjure up in my mind this man he just whatever life throws at him he stands and just goes on and he wades his way through all the difficulties of life as well as the joys and he's standing firm at the end that's the picture conjures up to me there's also a phrase about the Irish they talk about the fighting Irish which is literally true in many ways but again the whole idea is you know you just grit your teeth and you fight and you work your way through life no matter what comes at you you fight your way through and you battle on I know you like to think that the English are a nation of wimps or that they're always whinging well it's not actually true if you meet an Englishman you'll soon find out that on the surface he may seem to be like that but an Englishman is somebody who will keep going no matter what and that's why their phrase that sums them up as a stiff upper lip because that is how an Englishman faces life no matter what life throws Adam he stands tall and he's a stiff upper lip so you can call them whinging palms but you're not really at the truth if that's what you believe a member an aunt of mine who was living in New Jersey and she came home to Northern Ireland when she was diagnosed as having cancer and the last
time I saw her in hospital she wasn't a Christian this is what she said to me
she said when you're in a jam I'm your man that was her philosophy of life as
she lay dying in bed when you're in a jam I'm your man she could hardly speak
the words she was so weak but it's not how we view life I'm in charge I'm an
Aussie battler I'm one of the fighting Irish no matter what life throws at me
I'm an Englishman with a stiff upper lip when I'm in a jam I'm your man I'll
influence everything around me nothing nothing can stop me we all like to stand
tall we all like to stand on our own two feet and face the world whatever
comes I'm sure the players this afternoon the Newcastle Knights and the
team from Manly won't be going out and saying oh I wonder what's going to
happen they'll be going out with their chests out and their muscles bulging they
mightn't be like that after the game but that's certainly be the way they go
facing it you have to be a man you have to face the world you have to fight and
be strong and stand tall it's interesting when we turn to first
Timothy that's not how Paul speaks at all in this passage Paul says twice once
in verse 13 and once in verse 16 that he was shown mercy or he was shown pity not
that he showed mercy but he was shown mercy in verse 13 he says even though I
was once a blasphemer persecutor violent man I was once shown mercy and again in
verse 16 but for that very reason I was shown mercy he literally says I was
mercied I was mercied mercy was shown to me
my Paul wasn't saying I was going about the big strong apostle the great
preacher showing mercy and helping people when they were in trouble he's
saying I Paul was shown mercy though it's a passive word not Paul being
active but Paul being passive it's something not that Paul was doing but it
was something that was being done to Paul being shown to Paul mercy was shown
to him contrast that with the Aussie battler the fighting Irishman or or this
Englishman with a stiff upper lip going around with a swagger in their step and
pride flowing out of them as they face the world Paul was saying mercy was
shown to me I had to receive pity you know what mercy is mercy is really
pity being shown pity mercy is is one form of love it's love being shown to
the helpless mercy is love being shown to a helpless person who somebody who
can't help themselves who can't get out of the situation they're in the danger
they're in or the trouble they're in and so they have to be shown love they
have to be helped that's what it is to be shown mercy it implies that you have
some sort of need that you can't you can't sort out yourself it it also
assumes that there's somebody else who has what you need has the resources that
you need to help you and so you're what you're saying is when you say I I need
mercy is you're saying I can't help myself I'm not a battler I'm not going
to be able to fight through this when I'm in a jam I'm not your man you're
saying I need help under somebody else can help me
Paul mentions this mercy twice as we've said in verse 13 and 16 he also mentions
other blessings that he has received in his life in verse 14 he talks about
grace and grace is another type of love not it's not the love shown to the
helpless that's mercy grace is is love shown to the undeserving somebody who
doesn't deserve love that's grace let me illustrate it the difference in this way
maybe there's a trump or somebody who has no earthly possessions at all well
if you go along and help them that's mercy but what grace is is that if you
go along and help that man feed him maybe give him a bed for the night and
while you're sleeping he steals all the contents of your house and clears off
well grace is going after that man and bringing him back and feeding him again
giving love to the undeserving maybe somebody has robbed from you it's more
than just loving the helpless person it's loving the undeserving person the
person who deserves judgment and deserves condemnation from you not
deserving love or help but Paul you see verse 14 tells us received grace from
the Lord Jesus it was poured out on him and along with that he tells us that he
received faith and he received love so Paul has received all these things but I
just want to focus on mercy mercy just want to ask a question why Paul was
shown mercy or why did he feel he needed mercy why was he willing to admit that
he he was mercied why was he not frightened to say he needed help well
the first reason he gives us is in verse 13 it was because of ignorance Paul was
shown mercy because of his ignorance he says in verse 13 even though I was once
a blasphemer persecutor and violent man I was shown mercy because I acted in
ignorance acted in ignorance it literally means without knowledge I
acted without knowledge I acted without understanding that's what that word
ignorance in the new international version means it means without
knowledge or without understanding now that's quite an amazing thing isn't it
when you think of Paul he ever read his history in Philippians chapter 3 he
tells us in Philippians chapter 3 that then on the eighth day he was
circumcised he was of the people of Israel he was of the tribe of Benjamin a
Hebrew of Hebrews in regard to law he was a Pharisee as for zeal he persecuted
the church as for legalistic righteousness faultless Paul was no
mere Jew he belonged to the people of God he was able to say he was a pure
Hebrew a Hebrew of Hebrews I know in Australia you have Aborigines and New
Zealand where I've been there there are Maoris but it's very hard to trace a
pure descent isn't it a pure descent I wonder how many Australians can say they
are of a pure race not many you've come from all different countries all over
the world over many generations and if you trace your family history you're
probably from many different nationalities but Paul was able to say
I'm not half Jew and half Gentile he was able to say I'm a Hebrew of the Hebrews
he was able to say he had he was in regard to law of Pharisee he knew his
law in other words if we're talking about him in Christian terms he knew his
Bible he knew his holy book he knew how to live as a Jew he was zealous he
persecuted the church just with that with that legalistic righteousness
keeping the law he was faultless he was able to say and yet in all of that he
was acting without understanding as a Jew he lived without understanding of
God without as a Jew he lived without knowledge of God here he was handling
the the known Bible the law of God and yet he was without knowledge of God he
calls himself in verse 13 a blasphemer he was once a blasphemer without
knowledge he was ignorant the word blaspheme means means to to to speak in
a stupid way or particularly in a way that causes injury and whenever we use
the word blasphemy we think of it in terms of causing injury to God in some
way we injure God maybe we use God's name wrongly well that's what Paul was
even as a Jew he was a blasphemer even though he was handling the law of God
and think and thought he was serving God yet as he reflects on it he was
actually injuring God he was a blasphemer you see what Paul was in his
ignorance is what you and I are like by nature we are all when we're born into
this world and until we come to know Christ as our Savior we are ignorant we
are without knowledge of God we're without understanding of God we're
without a relationship with God but you see Paul obtained mercy what it simply
means is God came to him God loved him in his helplessness in his lack of
understanding God loved him and changed him and changed him and here was this
man who was a blasphemer he injured God by what he said and yet we see the
change that has occurred in him look at verse 17 and look at how he speaks of
God this man who was once a blasphemer this man who was without knowledge of
God ignorant look at how he speaks of God in verse 17 he says now to the King
eternal he now knows that God is the eternal King the King of the ages the
sovereign Lord who who does what he wants and purposes what he wants and
accomplishes all that he proposes to do he is from the beginning to the end he
was the God without change he is the King eternal and he is also the immortal
God that is he is free from death he is free from change God never changes he is
the invisible God he is not confined to any temple or place he's not confined to
our planet God is invisible he is a spirit infinite and divine and we learn
that Paul says he is the only God there are many gods and offer in the world
today there are many gods and offer in Paul's day you remember the time he was
in Athens and he saw all the statues of the gods false gods and they even have a
statue to the unknown God just in case there was a God they'd forgotten about
or didn't know about but here Paul knows that there is only one God and the God
whom he now worships as a Christian is the only God do you see the change that
has taken place in Paul he was once ignorant without God without knowledge
of God or understanding of God and now he knows him as the King eternal immortal
invisible the only wise and true God he knows God God has changed him and Paul
knew this and Paul experienced this change in relationship to God because of
mercy God showed mercy on him it was because of mercy that Paul came from
being a blasphemer and ignorant to knowing God personally God is a God who
loves God is a God who can change us and turn us into those who know him and have
a loving relationship with him Paul needed mercy because of his ignorance he
secondly needed mercy because of his unbelief he tells us in verse 13 the
word unbelief is simply means the exact opposite of faith to have unbelief means
you have don't have faith well when the Bible talks about faith it talks about
having a trust it has talks about being persuaded about something when you're
persuaded to the point where you'll live or die for thing that's having faith
it's faith is to place your confidence upon something it is to rest on that
thing to rely upon it Paul when he was a Jew rested all his confidence on his own
efforts as a Pharisee this is where he placed his confidence that he was a
Hebrew that his family line was pure he could look back to where he had come
from and the family he belonged to and the people he belonged to and he rested
his confidence in that but he also rested his confidence on what he did as
a Pharisee he was extremely zealous he killed many Christians he persecuted
many local churches and he rested his confidence on that on his own deeds on
his own righteousness on his own goodness but you see he had no belief in
Christ Jesus he was resting on unbelief but then a change came a change came
just as a change in his understanding of that had occurred so a change came in
terms of what he believed we see that he received faith is now what it says in
verse 14 the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ was poured out on me abundantly
along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus faith was poured out
upon on Paul he received faith faith is a gift we learn in Ephesians 2 verse 9
faith itself is a gift we can't believe in God we can't have faith in God we
can't have confidence in the finished work of Christ until we have the gift of
faith until it is given to us but Paul had the strong confidence upon Christ it
was poured out on him he received faith but there's another interesting thing
about faith in verse 16 it tells us not only was Paul receiving that not only
did he receive faith verse 14 it tells us that Paul himself will became the
example of faith for other people to see in verse 16 it says I was shown mercy so
that in me Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for
those who would believe on him Paul became an example of belief or an
example of faith the word literally means he became a pattern of belief for
other people he became a sketch outline if you like people would look at Paul
and see well look what God has done in this man's life look at the faith this
man Paul has in Jesus Christ he who once was relying upon his family history he
who was once relying upon what he did as a Pharisee he's now relying upon
Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone what a change Paul would be seen as an
example of faith and people would look at Paul and would see not only faith but
see him as an example of faith I wonder if you're a Christian today have you do
see yourself not just as having faith in Jesus but being an example to those who
aren't Christians or being even example to those who are Christians the people
might be encouraged to to go much deeper and be more serious about their
relationship with the Lord I don't know if it's the same in Australia but back
home in Ireland some Christians say something like well you know don't look
at me look at Jesus you know don't look at my life just just look at Jesus as
though in some way that you can divorce a Christian from his Lord you can't do
that if Christ is real to us then people ought to be able to look at our life not
see perfection but see something of Christ there and see something of faith
there of course Paul was a great apostle but he's still just a man like you and
me but you see Paul had one time lived in unbelief what he meant was he was
trusting not in nothing but he was trusting in his own efforts but now he
was trusting only in the finished work of Christ what enabled him to move from
trusting in what he did and his family background to trusting in Christ mercy
God's love and that's why we need mercy because all of us trust in something
some people today are trusting in the Newcastle Knights that's what's
consuming them and for some people it's not just consuming them for this
afternoon it consumes a lot of their time they're probably down at the club
drinking most nights or that's where their friendships are but we trust in
something for some people it is their families maybe not their family history
but their family they live within their family circle we trust in something but
to be a Christian we need to have mercy so that we trust only in Christ not in
Christ in the local church not in Christ in my own efforts but on Christ alone
and that's what mercy does that's why we need mercy that's why we need God's love
shown to us that's why we need the gift of faith so we can trust in Christ and
in him alone so Paul was shown mercy because he was ignorant he was without
understanding or relationship with God he was he also had unbelief he was
trusting in his own righteousness the third reason that he needed mercy we see
in verse 15 simply was that he was the sinner he was the sinner he saw himself
as the worst of sinners it says at the beginning of verse 16 but for this for
that very reason I was shown mercy what very reason well you see the beginning
of verse 16 points us back to verse 15 for that very reason I was shown mercy
the word but points us back to verse 15 the reason Paul was shown mercy is back
in verse 15 and what does he tell us well he tells us the reason he was shown
mercy or needed to be shown mercy was that he was a sinner Christ Jesus came
into the world to save sinners of whom I am the worst Paul saw himself as a
sinner the word sinner means simply to miss the mark I don't know if you've
ever played the game of darts and you try and hit the dartboard it's quite
easy when you're only nine was three meters nine feet away from the dartboard
but if I put the dartboard in that back wall and asked you to stand at that wall
and try and hit the dartboard well yes you might get a fluky one in the board
but if I put the board away over on one of the buildings over there and ask you
to stand there well unless you're a very good javelin thrower I don't think you
would hit the board but if I put the dartboard away down at the crossroads
over there so you couldn't even see it it's highly unlikely you'd hit it well
that's what simply means to be a sinner means to miss the mark to throw and to
miss that's what the word sin sinner means it means missing the mark and the
mark is God's standard God said you can get says you can get into heaven if you
keep my law God says you can be my friend if you keep my law and when we
distill the law down just to the Ten Commandments well let's just start there
can you keep the Ten Commandments every day every moment of every day and if you
break it in just one part and if you break it for just one moment then you've
broken the law you've missed the mark in other words what the Bible is telling us
is it's telling us we can't keep God's standard we can't keep his law we miss
the mark it tells us that there's not one person who can keep it not one is
righteous it says in Romans 3 we've all fallen short of the glory of God
not one of us can keep God's mark we're sinners that's what Paul realized he
realized he couldn't keep God's standard and not only that he was now under God's
judgment condemnation because he broke God's law it's a hopeless situation it's
a terrible situation isn't it we can't keep God's law because we can't keep it
God condemns us God won't let us into heaven in fact he'll cast us all out of
heaven forever and what Paul saw was that this sin was was the governing
principle in his life he was he was motivated by something and it was sin
and it was making him miss the mark falls short of pleasing God and Paul saw
himself not only as a sinner but he tells us that he saw himself as the
worst of sinners in some versions of the Bible it says of whom I am the chief
or the Greek word is literally the first Paul saw himself as this first sinner it
means first and rank and that's why the NIV translates worst Paul saw himself as
the very worst sinner he said everybody is a sinner but I'm the very worst I'm
the first time top of the list I'm the gold medal winner when it comes to
sinning he said but that's how you and I should see ourselves whenever we stand
before a holy God whenever you start to think well I'm better than so-and-so
well those are danger signals because we should see ourselves as the worst of
sinners do you remember the parable Jesus told in Luke 18 about the Pharisee
and the tax collector remember the two men were up at the temple worshiping God
and the Pharisee was standing member in the front where everybody could see him
saying well I'm not too bad Lord I'm a great man do you remember where the tax
collector was he was over in the corner carrying away maybe hiding in the
darkness behind a pillar he wouldn't even dare look up to heaven we read this
in Luke 18 verse 13 he would not even look up to heaven but beat his breast
and said God have mercy on me and literally says the sinner not a sinner
but the sinner there's a difference there and that's how we should see
ourselves as the worst of sinners the sinner do you see what the saying it's
saying that block out everybody else in the world it's only you and God when it
comes to sin you see yourself as the worst of sinners and that is the true
mark the true first step almost to becoming a Christian that they want you
see yourself as the sinner without hope at all under God's judgment because of
your sin there's no room for self-confidence there's no place for
pride no place for battling and fighting through that you're going to get to
heaven and your own efforts you simply acknowledge that you are the sinner but
there's only you and God you don't compare yourself to other people only
you and God and God's standard and you fall short of you are the sinner that's
how Paul felt he was said I of whom I am the worst a hopeless situation isn't it
that he was in he saw himself as the worst sinner but even if the rest of
humanity didn't exist Paul was going to be shut out of heaven but he was going
to have no relationship with the living God but what verse 15 tells us is that
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners you see whenever we talk about
mercy it's not an abstract thing it's not an abstract concept whenever we say
mercy means love to the helpless it's not some sort of abstract definition
mercy we see in the Bible in action God's mercy God's pity is not abstract
God has actually done something and he's shown us as mercy and we can define
mercy in this way mercy God's mercy is Christ Jesus came into the world to save
sinners that's a definition of mercy not just love to the helpless God's
definition of mercy is Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners he came
Jesus came he didn't sit in heaven he didn't send his power from heaven and
change people he actually came from heaven and he walked in this earth he
became a man though without sin and we can see God's mercy if we had lived in
Palestine 2,000 years ago we would have seen God's mercy walking around and
Jesus came and he came to save it's not a particularly fashionable word even even
in Christian circles we try to find different words to use instead of the
word saved but Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners not to make
you feel better not to help you get your personality together or whatever other
way you want to put it but he came to save sinners he came to rescue sinners
to rescue them out of ignorance out of a lack of knowledge of God to rescue them
out of unbelief trusting in their own efforts he came to rescue them to
change men and women to change them in such a way that it would be seen by
others and Paul says that this truth this definition of mercy that Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners is a statement that deserves
full acceptance when it says at the beginning of verse 15 here is a
trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance one commentator Lutheran
commentator Lenski has defined that phrase full acceptance in this way it
means deserving of complete acceptance in every way without reservation without
hesitation without the least doubt simply want to put that before you today
whenever you hear that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners one of
the advantages of coming as a visitor is I don't know you but I know that you're
a sinner when you were born in this world I don't know whether you claim to
be a Christian or not but I know that when you were born in this world if you
haven't become a Christian then you're still a sinner but I also know that the
Bible has a message of hope that God will not leave you in the ignorance
where you don't have a knowledge of God will not leave you in unbelief what you
have to do is to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ Jesus came into the world to save
sinners and you must have that belief that trust that faith that Paul had in
the finished work in the work that Jesus has done not your own efforts and this
phrase this this definition of mercy that Christ Jesus came into the world to
save sinners is a is worthy of your full acceptance accept it accept him
without reservation Linsky says without hesitation without the slightest doubt
don't put it off but trust Christ and do it now without reservation throw your
full weight on Christ may your faith be rooted in him and may your faith be
directed to him and his finished work alone and do it without hesitation don't
put it off don't let anything or anyone stop you why did Paul need mercy why was
he willing to admit that he needed God's pity because he was ignorant he was
without knowledge of God because he had unbelief he he trusted in his own
efforts but because he saw himself as the sinner whom Jesus had come to save
and just as Paul realized that he was the sinner it was only he and God so he
realized that Christ had come personally for him it's not a wonderful picture that
put out of your mind everybody else in the world just think of yourself and God
and look to Jesus the one who's come personally for Paul have you trusted in
him can you see him as the one who's come personally for you that's what it
means to become a Christian to put your full weight and trust and reliance upon
Christ for eternity let me give one final reason why Paul needed mercy it's
in verse 16 the second half it's that he might be a display of Christ's patience
that's why Paul was shown mercy that he might display Christ's patience verse 16
is a pivotal point in the argument for that very reason I was shown mercy so
that in me Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example
for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life there's a slight
difference the three things we have said already that Paul was showing mercy
because of ignorance and unbelief and because he was a sinner those were all
dealing with Paul's past life his life before he became a Christian his life
before he exercised faith in the finished work of Christ that all
belonged to his past life that is why he needed mercy but the second half of
verse 16 views Paul's future life or rather his future influence the
influence he would have after his conversion the influence he would have
as a Christian for the rest of his earthly days the second half of verse 16
is not so much why he needed mercy rather it was another reason why he was
shown mercy by God it's not why he needed mercy but why he was shown mercy
by God in other words it's not the reason he received mercy but it was the
purpose for which God showed him mercy God showed mercy for a particular
purpose you see whenever God saves us it doesn't just end with our conversion
once we've become a Christian then the rest of our life is living out as a
Christian we have a purpose to live for a bit like that phrase we heard from
the book that TS Mooney wanted every boy to have a Bible in his hand the Savior
in his heart and a purpose for living whenever you become a Christian there is
a purpose for the rest of your earthly days and that's what Paul talks about in
verse 16 he says that Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an
example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life a Christ
Jesus would display would show forth would put Paul in the shop window for
the whole world to see that's why God showed mercy to Paul and that's why if
you're a Christian you can't say don't look at me look at Jesus because you're
in the shop window people are looking at you and they rightly will look at you if
you claim to be a Christian if you claim to be changed then people have a right
to see that change in your life not perfection but a change and what should
they see well they should see Christ's patience with sinners they should see
that God is a patient God I love that word that the authorized version uses
for patience the word long-suffering God suffers long with people God should
destroy us God should destroy this world he could do it in an instant but
he is a patient God he suffers long he is long-suffering and the word here
used in verse 16 means long-tempered God is long-tempered he doesn't fly off the
handle in his anger because of our sin and destroy this work but he's a long
temper he's a patient God whether he is long-suffering or whether he is
long-tempered God is patient but be careful some people have misjudged God's
patience God may be long-suffering and long-tempered but his patience is not
eternal it will not go on forever there is a time limit to God's patience and
often people are mistaken into thinking that God isn't concerned about sin
or that God overlooks them or God has forgotten about sin but you see that's
not the case you have an opportunity to trust in Christ if you've not done that
but don't put it off because God's patience is not limitless and Paul was
converted so that future generations could look at him and see that this man
who had no knowledge of God now knew God that this man who was trusting in his
own zealous Pharisaical efforts now was trusting in the finished work of Christ
and that alone but this man who was once a sinner was now a saint belonging to
the people of God don't be put off don't be misled into thinking that you have
unlimited time in which to trust in Christ make sure you trust in him
without reservation or without hesitation let us pray father we thank
you that you are a merciful God that you are a God who loves the helpless and a
gracious God who loves the undeserving we thank you that your love was
demonstrated when you sent your son into this world that while we were still
sinners not when we were good or deserving Christ Jesus came in and died
for sinners Lord help us to trust in him help us to see that we are the worst of
sinners help us to see that as we stand before you we have nothing that is
lovely or acceptable to you nothing that can get us into heaven nothing that can
make us a friend of the Living God help us simply to trust in Christ and in his
finished work alone and may we do that before our time runs out give us the
grace give us the faith that we need for we ask it all in the name of our Savior
Jesus Christ Amen