Devotional Materials. Week commencing 2nd January 2022
“Praise the Lord, O my soul, robed in majesty and splendour. Praise the Lord.” Psalm 104
“Who is like you- majestic in holiness.” Exodus 15:11
Opening Prayer
‘O Lord our God, enthroned on high, filling the whole earth with your glory; holy, holy, holy is your name. Our eyes have seen the king, the Lord almighty, but our lips are unclean. We cry to you in our sinfulness to take our guilt away.’
Thank you Lord, you forgive all who truly repent. Have mercy upon us, pardon and deliver us from all our sins, confirm and strengthen us in all goodness and keep us in life eternal through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Lord, accept and make holy all that we are, all that we have and all that we offer you. Keep us firm in our faith and strong in your service; create in us a new heart that we may respond to your great mercy; One God, our Saviour, now and forever. Amen’
Opening Hymn (Keyboards)
“Holy, holy, holy! Lord God almighty!” MP 237
Reginald Heber
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwuDSw-9cUQ
New Year. Today we will look at a passage from 1 Timothy 1:12-20 that will I believe help us as we move forward into a New Year. It will encourage us in evangelism, to see that the Gospel we share is a message of God’s mercy. Sometimes it seems impossible that someone we know who resists the Gospel will ever come to faith, but the example of Saul becoming reveals God’s patience with the most hardened of persons. This passage also encourages us to continue in the fight of faith and a good conscience.
Reading. 1 Timothy 1:12-20. Steve Lyes
I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, 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. 16 But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen
Timothy, my son, I am giving you this command in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by recalling them you may fight the battle well, holding on to faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and so have suffered shipwreck with regard to the faith. 20 Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme.
Hymns (keyboards)
“Jesus, lover of my soul” MP 997
Paul Oakley
https://www.invubu.com/music/show/song/Paul-Oakley/Jesus-Lover-Of-My-Soul.html
“Jesus Christ (Once Again)” MP 995
Matt Redman
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkK4YHy-wNg
Prayers
Dear God, Thank you that you make all things new. Thank you for all that you've allowed into our lives this past year, the good along with the hard things, which have reminded us how much we need you and rely on your presence filling us every single day.
We pray for your Spirit to lead us each step of this New Year. We ask that you will guide our decisions and turn our hearts to deeply desire you above all else. We ask that you will open doors needing to be opened and close the ones needing to be shut tight. We ask that you would help us release our grip on the things to which you’ve said “no,” “not yet,” or “wait.” We ask for help to pursue you first, above every dream and desire you’ve put within our hearts.
We ask for your wisdom, for your strength and power to be constantly present within us. We pray you would make us strong and courageous for the road ahead. Give us ability beyond what we feel able, let your gifts flow freely through us, so that you would be honoured by our lives, and others would be drawn to you. We pray that you’d keep us far from the snares and traps of temptations. That you would whisper in our ear when we need to run and whisper in our heart when we need to stand our ground.
We pray for your protection over our families and friends. We ask for your hand to cover us and keep us distanced from the evil intent of the enemy; that you would be a barrier to surround us, that we’d be safe in your hands. We pray that you would give us discernment and insight beyond our years, to understand your will, hear your voice, and know your ways. We ask that you would keep our footsteps firm, on solid ground, helping us to be consistent and faithful. Give us supernatural endurance to stay the course, not swerving to the right or to the left, or being too easily distracted by other things that would seek to call us away from a close walk with you.
Forgive us for the times we have worked so hard to be self-sufficient, forgetting our need for you, living independent of your spirit. Forgive us for letting fear and worry control our minds, and for allowing pride and selfishness wreak havoc over our lives. Forgive us for not following your ways and for living distant from your presence. We confess our need for you…fresh…new…again. We ask that you make all things new, in our hearts, in our minds, in our lives, for this coming year. We pray for your refreshing over us.
Keep your words of truth planted firm within us, help us to keep focused on what is pure and right, give us the power to be obedient to your word. And when the enemy reminds us where we have been, hissing his lies and attacks our way, we trust that your voice speaks louder and stronger, as you remind us we are safe with you and your purposes and plans will not fail. We ask that you will be our defence and rear guard, keeping our way clear, removing the obstacles, and covering the pitfalls. Lord, lead us on your level ground.
We ask that you would provide for our needs, we ask for your grace and favour. We pray for your blessings to cover us, we pray that you would help us to prosper and make every plan that you have birthed in our heart to succeed. We pray that others would take notice of your goodness and could not help but to say, “These are the ones that the Lord has blessed.”
Help us to be known as great givers, help us to be generous and kind, help us to look to the needs of others and not be consumed by only our own. May we be lovers of truth, may the fruits of your spirit be evident in our lives - your love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Shine your light in us, through us, over us. May we make a difference in this world, for your glory and purposes. Set you way before us. May all your plans succeed. We may reflect your peace and hope to a world that so desperately needs your presence and healing. To you be glory and honour, in this New Year, and forever. In Jesus’ name, Amen. (Debbie McDaniel. Crosswalk.com)
Hymn (Keyboards)
“God of grace, I turn my face” MP 833
Chris Bowater
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxpBw_cZJBk
Sermon. ‘Fight the good fight’
“It is indeed amazing that in as fundamentally irreligious culture as ours, the sense of guilt should be so widespread and deeply rooted as it is.” Erich Fromm (Psychologist)
“What I envy most about you Christians is your forgiveness; I have nobody to forgive me.” Margharita Laski, just before she died in 1988 (Novelist, secular humanist).
These show how the deep seated awareness of guilt is widespread and part of the human condition. Even Christians sometimes depressed at their own sins wonder if God can truly love, forgive and accept them.
If you have ever felt like that, 1 Timothy 1:12-20 is a good passage to meditate on. It’s a section full of Paul’s gratitude to God. Not because of Paul’s own law-keeping or efforts that Paul considers himself right with God. Rather, the Law opened Paul’s eyes to his moral failure and his misguided attempts to justify himself through self-righteousness
This is a passage full of Paul’s gratitude to God, on account of God’s mercy and power brought to bear on his life. In the face of our tendency to despair when confronted with our own sinfulness, Paul can cheerfully say, “Well, just look at how desperate I was, and what God’s mercy has done for me! Paul was convinced that if God could save him, then God could save anyone.
First we see that God’s unlimited patience with Paul is an encouragement to us all.
He says “I was shown mercy, so that in me, the worse of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.” (16).
In a way we could say Paul’s conversion was for you. God had you in mind when He brought Paul to faith. Paul is a prototype of Christ’s patience. The kind of patience we see in the Gospels where Christ weeps over hard hearted Jerusalem, who will not recognise Him and so will consequently suffer later at the hands of her enemies, for she did not recognise her Salvation. The kind of patience that rebuked James and John, when they wanted God to bring down destruction on the towns that had rejected Christ.
Paul’s own story is a vivid example of the patience Christ has with all of us.
You can see it in the way he describes what happened to him:
He was an utterly committed opponent of Christ. He was an anti-Christ; verse 12: a blasphemer and a violent man. An arch enemy of Christians.
Acts 8:3 tells us that “Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.”
Acts 9:1, 2 “Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the High priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.”
Paul was the sort of person you would never believe could be converted. God wants us to see in Paul’s conversion that the most unlikely people can be converted and are converted. God’s mercy and power are not limited to people brought up in a church background, a strong Christian family and clean, moral history.
The story of Jim Vaus is one of a turnaround from self- centeredness to unselfish service. A notorious phone tapper in America, Vaus was converted at one of Billy Graham’s evangelistic crusades. After he had begun to follow Christ, Vaus was approached by a man who offered him a $10,000 bribe if he would give false testimony in a libel case. Vaus said to the man, ‘Haven’t you heard?
‘Haven’t I heard what?’ replied the man.
‘Jim Vaus is dead.’
Vaus recalls that ‘The man’s chin dropped, his eyes bulged.’ He looked at Vaus as if he had gone mad.
Vaus continued, ‘That’s correct. The man you are looking for, who used to tap wires, make recordings and then sell them to the highest bidder, is dead. I am a new person, because it says in the Bible, “if anyone is in Christ, that person is a new creation.”
Perhaps you also know of someone who seems a ‘hopeless case’ as far as Christianity is concerned. ‘Not so’, says God. Paul was the ‘worse of sinners’. If it can happen to him- it can happen to the person you are thinking of who is so intractable. It might even be someone who has rebelled despite having a good Christian background!
And the Lord’s patience does not end when you become a Christian. The verse describes the lord’s unlimited patience towards Paul as an example for those who would believe on Him ‘and receive eternal life. The Lord continues to be patient with us throughout our Christian lives until we are received into Heaven. This is not an invitation to sin away and so presume on God’s grace. There are warnings about that kind of attitude in the Bible.
But those who love Christ the most are the ones who feel their weakness the most. They allow the light of His word to penetrate deeply into their motivation. They are more self-questioning and teachable, but also more aware of their sin and the seriousness of it.
You need to hear that you belong to Christ. You are part of His family. Isaiah 49:15 says ‘Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has born? Though she may forget, I will not forget you.’ However unworthy you feel, the Lord has not forgotten you. He holds you in the palm of His hand. The unlimited patience He shows Paul is an example of the unlimited patience He shows you now and will show you throughout this life, until He brings you into eternity. Nothing you can say or do will now shake that security you have in Him. Nothing can separate you from His love.
God’s unlimited patience with Paul is an encouragement to us all.
We also see that Paul’s conversion was a work of Divine Grace.
Verses 13 and 16 repeat the phrase ‘I was shown mercy.’ Humanly speaking there was no hope for someone as malicious and aggressive as Paul. But he was not beyond the mercy of God. Paul states in verse 13 ‘I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief.’
Paul is not saying by this that he deserved mercy because he couldn’t help himself- otherwise mercy would not be mercy. He was certainly acting wrongly towards God. In Paul’s case he wasn’t deliberately sinning against the light with eyes wide open. No. Paul admits he was deceived- self-deceived. Paul had persecuted Christians because he sincerely believed that he was serving God by stamping out this distortion of his Jewish Faith. Despite all of his knowledge as a learned Pharisee,(Acts 23:6), Paul remained in ignorance about Jesus’ true identity and stubbornly remained in unbelief- even after seeing Stephen’s unwavering faith and other Christians who he had persecuted to death.
But despite Paul’s actions, God showed Paul mercy. As verse 14 describes it, He poured out His grace on Paul abundantly. One person put it this way: “Grace flooded with faith, a heart previously filled with unbelief, and flooded with love, a heart previously polluted with hatred.” Conversion is a miracle. A direct work of God, and He still floods people’s lives with His grace:
Darren and Sarah Turney had a successful business and attractive home. But Darren developed a gambling addiction and Sarah was also discontent. She would use her wealth as a means of power over others and binge eat because she was unhappy. She also became agoraphobic. Sarah came into contact with a ‘lovely lady’ called Sally who was a Christian and, Sarah says, was very good to her. Sally gave her a ‘Why Jesus?’ booklet (written by Nicky Gumbel of the ‘Alpha Course’).
Sarah liked the booklet and decided to pray the prayer at the back, asking for forgiveness of sins and thanking Jesus for dying for her. She asked Him to come into her life.
Suddenly, she says, “all I could feel was this heat whooshing up my body…all of a sudden I felt that Jesus was standing next to me- He was more real than anything id ever felt in my life. I was like a little girl again. I was in this dress and he was holding my hand, swinging it, and we were walking along together. And He was looking down at me with this love that I had never experienced.” It took God’s direct involvement to also heal her marriage with Darren, and turn his life around too. Both are now free of their past addictions and following Jesus. Again, acts of Divine Grace. God Himself entering lives, filling hearts with faith instead of unbelief, healing with His grace.
Do you know God’s work of divine grace in your life?
Paul’s conversion was an act of Divine Grace.
Paul’s conversion also underlines the truth of the Gospel.
Verse 15: “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners- of whom I am the worse”
This saying was sure- unlike the nonsense served up by false teachers in Ephesus. These were interested in extra-biblical myths, motivated by mere curiosity and a desire to gain prestige as intellectuals. They promoted controversies rather than feed the sheep with the food of God’s Word.
But the Gospel message is true. It is trustworthy. It is God’s gospel. It is truly life changing. It has meat. It has content.
And it is a message that ‘deserves full acceptance’. It is not just true for some people. It is true for everyone.
David Burnett explores key ‘World Views’ in his book ‘Clash of worlds’. He looks at primal and Hindu worldviews, Chinese and Islamic, New Age and secular world views. He explores their understanding on diverse issues such as ‘the Cosmos- what is reality? ‘Self- what is human?’, Knowing what is Truth?’, and ‘Value. What is good?’
At the end of the study he concurs with Michael Green; “Christianity provides us with the most credible account of the Universe and man’s place in it, with the motive and dynamic for serving our fellow men, with the ability to face the harshest situations with realism, and with a message of urgent relevance to the many who suspect Christians of escapism, but are themselves running away from the Truth.”
The Gospel is a message of truth and universal relevance.
A final thing we learn from Paul’s life in our passage:
A battle mentality (verses 18-20)
When we consider Paul was training Timothy and others to succeed him, we realise that spreading the Gospel and taking it to the ends of the earth is going to be a long term mission. Especially since believers are going to meet hostility from people like Paul before he was converted.
We are going to meet opposition from others who want to justify their sins, including some who claim to be Christians:
Paul writes in verses 18-20 ‘Timothy my son I give you this instruction, in keeping with the prophesies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight of faith, holding on to faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith.’
Timothy is not going to find it easy at Ephesus. He is going to battle false teachers. And it will also be a battle for him personally to hold on to faith and a good conscience. He must fight if he is going to hold on to these two things. He must hold on to ‘faith’- he will need to fight to stay loyal to Paul and the Gospel Paul has entrusted to him. He must also hold on to ‘conscience’. He will have to fight to stay loyal to the Christian lifestyle.
Belief and behaviour go together in the Christian life. This is what some had failed to do in Ephesus; verse 19 ‘Some have rejected faith and a good conscience and so have shipwrecked their faith. Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, who I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme.’
Paul is referring here to excommunication. Paul is saying that he removed these two men from the fellowship of the church and back into the world- Satan’s domain. Paul did this so that they could see their error and repent. Discipline was needed in their case. And although it was tough to confront these men in this way, the end of the process was always love. To show mercy and restore those who have disobeyed; that they be brought closer to Christ and welcomed back into the church.
Belief and behaviour must go together. There must be integrity in the believer’s life. It is so sad when there is a mismatch between these, and you can see a person consequently wander away from the Faith:
Perhaps a Christian embarks on an affair. Perhaps there is a problem with pride- they want one thing, and God wants something else for them. Insisting on their own way they wander from God. Perhaps it is an issue of unforgiveness. A desire to hold on to bitterness against someone else. Perhaps a fear of opposition- of what others will think of me if I make a stand for Christ- cowardice. Perhaps an obsession with Money, or other forms of greed. This refusal to submit to the Lord on ethical matters so often sees them develop a hard heartedness and so wander from The Faith. Not straight away. Over time, but nevertheless, a falling away.
So we are in a battle! We need to be ruthless about anything that would cause us to compromise faith and conscience. We are reminded of Jesus teachings in the Sermon on the Mount: ‘You have heard that it was said ‘Do not commit adultery. But I tell you that anyone who looks lustfully at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin gouge it out…And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.’ (Matthew 5: 27-30)
Conclusion
There are helpful lessons here for us as we move into this New Year.
First we are greatly encouraged when we read of Saul’s conversion. It speaks of the Lord’s unlimited patience that such a man could come to faith, and it speaks of His patience with us all as believers until we are received into Heaven. It reminds us that when a person comes to Christ, it is all about what Christ does. Christ rescues rebels. He takes the most unlikely people. He can take a Christ hating, malicious man like Paul and fill him with His grace, mercy and love. Totally turn his life around. This should encourage us because the Lord could do that for someone in your family. It encourages us in our wider evangelism as a church. He can do it for you, if you do not know Him. Be encouraged.
But there is also warning in this passage as we venture into this New Year. Alternatives to the Gospel will always be around. Whether anti-Christian or masquerading as Christian thought. They have a superficial appeal, often to a person’s basic desire and wilfulness, but they are actually speculative nonsense. And you will need to fight to maintain a firm grip on faith and right living. But notice it is the good fight. The fight that really matters!
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Hymn (Keyboards)
“Fight the good fight.” MP 143
John Samuel Bewley Monsell. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgBjNWi2jzI
Benediction
And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year: “Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown”. And he replied: “Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God. That shall be better than light – and safer than a known way.” M.L. Haskins
David Barnes 29/12/21