Say It Out Loud – God Loves Sinners

Say It Out Loud – God Loves Sinners puts the watcher into the shoes of the Apostle Paul.  This is the second message in our summer sermon series.

A Violent Man

Do you know how Paul described himself?  He writes, I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, Paul thought he was serving God, but instead

• he blasphemed – that is, he spoke against Jesus, who is God over all.
• He persecuted Christians going door to door.
• And a violent man? Scripture doesn’t record for us everything that Paul did against Christians.

We don’t have any record that Paul stoned a man, but we do know that he held the coats of the Jews who stoned Stephen.  He writes Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.  Paul writes that he was the first sinner or the chief sinner, the worst sinner, public enemy #1 of God.  In Ephesians he says I am less than the least of all God’s people.   And in 1 Corinthians he writes 9 For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 

Not A Murderer

Timothy had never persecuted the church.

• I haven’t murdered anyone.
• I don’t think many of you have a rap sheet that can compare to Paul’s, yet each of you can see yourself in Paul’s story.

Yes each of us could have called ourselves a chief sinner.  I said that maybe we don’t feel worthy to share the gospel.  I don’t think we realize how unworthy we really were.   The Psalmist writes, 2 The LORD looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. 3 All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.   Where does such evil come from?  Before we look to Islamic terrorists or serial killers, listen to what God writes for us in the book of Hebrews, without faith it is impossible to please God.  Just like Paul, before we were Christians we could do nothing to please God.  The humanitarian of the year would be revolting to our Lord, if he or she wasn’t a Christian.  This is because to a holy, perfect, just God, anything but perfection must be punished, that is damned to hell.  Before we came to faith everything we did was unacceptable to God.  That is who we were, chief sinners.  That is who Timothy was.  That was Saul, the persecutor of the church.

Want to hear more?  Watch this week’s message from 1 Timothy 1, Say It Out Loud – God Loves Sinners.