E2 - The Pastoral Epistles: Biblical Ministers & Biblical Ministry - Traits Of An Effective Leader

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learn from God's Word together. If you would like more

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Amen. I pray that it is truly the

desire of your heart is to delight in the Lord.

Thank you, Casey and our praise team, for reminding us of the

importance of delighting in the Lord.

You know what it was like, All of you who are in Christ, you

know what it's like to delight in your flesh.

You know what it was like to delight in this world.

Those things used to thrill you. And now that you were in Christ,

you know what it's like, and you were welcome to delight in the

Lord Himself as He commands us in His Word to boldly come

before His throne of grace. I'm thankful today that we can

come before that throne of grace and we can delight in Him.

We can bask in His love and in His glory.

We can, those of us who were once alienated from God and

counted as enemies, we can now approach our heavenly Father

crying out ABBA unto Him, knowing that we have that

intimate relationship because of his love and his love that was

displayed for us in Christ. So if you have your Bibles this

morning, let's turn to first Timothy.

First Timothy, and we're still in the 1st chapter as we are

walking through these pastoral epistles of the apostle Paul in

a series entitled Biblical Ministers and Biblical

Ministries. So today we're going to be

talking about the traits of an effective Christian leader.

Now, if all of us today were to think of some of the most

influential and the most effective Christian leaders

throughout history, we would all come up, I'm sure with a lengthy

list of people that we would somehow, because in in our human

thinking, we like to rank things, we would rank those

things in the order in which they have been used and have

affected our lives. We know at the top of that list

hands down would be the Lord Jesus Christ himself and we can

argue about most of the others on that list, right?

Some of you would say 1, some of you would say the other.

But I think if we were to all be honest, that number 2 on that

list of effective Christian leaders as we open up the New

Testament this morning as we see a letter that God used the

apostle Paul to pen to Timothy, his Co labor in the faith and

his true son. As we saw last week there at the

church at Ephesus, we would have to say that the apostle Paul

would be somewhere near the top of the list in effective

Christian leadership and. So today, that's what.

We're going to look at, we're going to see some traits in the

life of the apostle Paul that are evidenced not only in what

he writes here to Timothy and to the Ephesians, but we know these

traits are evidenced in his life throughout his entire earthly

ministry. And so there's no need to argue

where Paul would fit on the rankings of the most effective

Christian leaders of all time. It would be somewhere near

Christ there at the top. And he's one that we can, as we

will see, we can glean much insight from.

We're going to do just that in today's lesson.

But many of you at this juncture would say, you know what, Kirk,

I'm not really a leader. So I really don't need to really

pay attention to this. I'm simply just a stay at home

mom. Let me remind you, is leading

and discipling the next generation of believers, just as

we know. And we learned last week that

Timothy had his mother and his grandmother in his life,

discipling him and teaching him the Scriptures at a young age.

You as a mother have a very important role to lead your

children and to be an example to your children, to be an

effective Christian leader. I know that's a difficult task.

Many people are referred to it, just as I did a moment ago, just

to stay at home. Mom, no, You have been entrusted

with one of the most important jobs in all of humanity.

I have two believing children today.

Now I have two believing children #1 because of Jesus

Christ and what He did. We're gratefully indebted to His

grace, but also because they had a loving mother who led them

every day in prayer, who led them every day in Scripture.

While I was ministering to others, she was ministering to

our family. It is very important that you

see how important your role is after your dad's who were here

today. So you know, I'm, I'm a dad and

I'm just a worker. Your leader, you're leading your

home. If you're doing what the Bible

tells you to do, you are leading your home, you're leading your

family. You are a leader.

You need to pay attention to the model that Paul is going to give

us today so that you don't just settle for being a mediocre

leader, so that you realize I'm called to be an effective

Christian leader. I'm called to make an impact.

I'm called to make an effect. I'm to be intentional in my

leadership. And so we're going to learn from

one of the best. Today, doesn't that stand the

reason if if you want to be a great leader, you have to learn

from great leaders that you don't want to learn from someone

who was a failure in their leadership?

You want to learn from someone who would be on the top or near

the top of that list of effective Christian leaders.

And that's what we're going to do as we look at the life of the

apostle Paul today, as we examine some traits that I can

tell you this, Paul didn't intend on us to look at this and

see his traits that he demonstrates as a leader because

of the work of God and his life through Jesus Christ.

Those things just came out of his life.

We're going to see those things come out of his life today.

My prayer is this that we would see those things coming out of

our lives because all of you under the sound of my voice, if

you are doing what Jesus Christ commanded you to do and that is

to make disciples, you are at least being a leader in one

person's life. Are you being an effective

Christian leader? Let's look and see what Paul

says to Timothy into the church there at Ephesus.

Here in verse 12 of chapter 1 he says, I think Christ Jesus our

Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful,

pointing 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. 15 says 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 the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus,

might display His unlimited patience as an example for those

who would believe on Him and receive eternal life.

Now to the King, eternal, immortal, invisible, the only

God be glory and honor forever and ever, Amen.

Let's pray together. Father, in the name of Jesus.

We thank you so much for how Your Word guides us, how it is

truly a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path.

Lord, as you lead us today by the example that you raised up

through the apostle Paul what it means to be an effective

Christian leader, may we do the same.

May we strive to bring You glory in our leadership.

May we strive to point others to Christ, and may we see the

effective way in doing that through the example that we've

been given of Paul. God, I pray for the person who's

here today who does not know Christ.

I pray that today they would see Paul's need for mercy and grace

and forgiveness, and that they would reconcile in their heart

that if the apostle Paul was in such great need of mercy and

grace and forgiveness, they too are in need of the same.

That it would propel them to cry out to Jesus, to have mercy on

their soul, to forgive them, to wash them and cleanse them of

their sin as they surrender their life to Him as Lord and

Savior this very day. Lord, we will be careful to give

you all the glory and all the praise for what you're going to

do as your word goes forth today.

We thank you in advance and we pray all these things in the

mighty name of Jesus, Amen. So as we consider what it means

to be an effective Christian leader, Paul begins in this

section. With this he said, I think

Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he

considered me faithful, appointing me to his service.

You write this down, one of the traits of an effective Christian

leader is this. This person will be thankful,

thankful and thankful unto Christ for what he has done.

And there there is an absence of this and so many Christian

circles in regard to leadership. The leaders are self promoting.

They are actually selfishly driven.

There's never any turning and re giving that thinks back to

Christ who deserves it. It's simply look at me and look

at what I've done and look at what I've accomplished and and

aren't I really great. However, Paul does not take that

stance. Paul says I think Christ Jesus

our Lord, he begins with that a thankful heart.

If you're going to be an effective Christian leader,

whether that's in the pulpit, whether that's around your

dinner table, whether that's in your playroom while you're

reading Christian books to your children, If you were going to

be an effective Christian leader, listen to me.

Be a thankful leader and nowhere to properly place.

That things Paul does just this, he says, I think Christ Jesus

our Lord, he's thankful first of all for God's work and his life.

I think Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, he's

thankful for the strength that he receives from the Lord,

strength to endure persecution, strength to endure temptation,

strength to continue preaching the gospel and places that the

gospel had not yet reached and and even places that are hostile

to the gospel. The apostle Paul was continually

being strengthened by the Lord. In fact, as you know, it is Paul

who wrote to the Philippians and he said in chapter 4 verse 13, I

can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

I know that's often taken out of context.

When we put it in its proper context, Paul says I am able to

do whatever it is that God wants me to do.

However it is and how difficult it may be in that particular

situation, I can have strength to do it because of Christ who

is living in. And he begins with thanking

Christ for that strength. He has given me strength.

Strength to go against everything that he had ever

known in his prior life. Strength to lose every friend

and every family member who thought he was foolish and crazy

because he was following after this Jesus.

Strength to endure persecution in many places and imprisonment

and ultimately death. He says.

I am thankful to Christ Jesus because he's given me this

strength. He knew that in his weakness

Christ was his strength. And when he was weak, he was

strong because of Christ. And Christ would receive all the

glory for his life, and to that he was thankful.

He was thankful for the Lord's work of graciously strengthening

him. Are you thankful today that the

Lord does as He has promised, give you strength to do His will

and every situation that He leads you into?

He did the same in the life of the apostle Paul, and he's

returning that thanks unto the Lord to which it belongs.

He's thankful that the Lord would graciously strengthen him

to do the task that was laid before him.

He's also thankful to the Lord for graciously saving him.

He says I thank Christ. Jesus our Lord, who has given me

strength, that he considered me faithful, that he considered me

faithful. And I want you to pay close

attention to that phrase. He considered me faithful.

As we read the entirety of the text just a moment ago, we saw

that he was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent

man. It doesn't sound like he was

very faithful. In fact, it sounds like the

opposite, that he was very unfaithful.

But what Paul is recognizing here, he is recognizing God's

grace in saving him, because it was God who graciously

determined that Paul would be faithful even when Paul was

unfaithful. It was God who graciously

considered Paul faithful in eternity past.

Before Paul was ever born, it was God's will that he would

raise up a man who would be the apostle to the Gentiles and he

would sovereignly save him and he would sovereignly make him

faithful. Paul is recognizing that that I

think Christ Jesus my Lord, not only who strengthens me every

single day of my life. But that who considered me

faithful even long before I was ever faithful.

Do you know that, Christian? Long before you were ever

faithful to the Lord, the Lord considered you to be faithful,

and He did everything within His power to make sure that that

would be what you became. Many people get this backwards

in the theological sense. Did you know Abraham, who was

considered righteous, was not considered righteous because he

did something right first. In fact, he was a Pagan chasing

after idols, and God considered him faithful.

And God, because he had considered Abraham to be one of

his faithful ones, then did everything that needed to happen

so that Abraham would become exactly what God had decreed him

to be. He became faithful and that was

displayed through his obedience. We know the same from Noah.

Back when Noah was just a simple drunkard, he found favor in the

eyes of God. Do you think that he found favor

in the eyes of God because he was a drunkard?

No, he found favor in the eyes of God because of God's grace.

And it is God's grace that we see here that Paul is thanking

the Lord Jesus for when he says this, he says he considered me

faithful. You know this, none of you who

are faithful unto the Lord woke up one day and said, you know

I've been unfaithful to this point.

I think I want to be faithful now.

No one did that of their own. Accord.

In fact, it was even the Apostle Paul on the road to Damascus

being totally unfaithful to the Lord, persecuting his church,

the church that he's writing to in this letter that we're

reading this morning. And Christ revealed to him that

God had a completely different plan for his life, that he was

going to raise up for himself a faithful minister of the gospel

to the Gentiles. And Paul proved that God was

right in raising him up as a faithful minister of the gospel.

He then dedicated his entire life.

Being faithful to the one who had considered him faithful long

before he was ever giving any evidence of faithfulness in his

life. That's God's grace.

Are you thankful for that this morning?

That long before you ever had one inclination of faithfulness

in your life, God consider you faithful.

And then He did everything in His power to make you the

faithful one that He considered you to be.

All glory and honor and praise and Thanksgiving unto Him.

We see Paul expressing that very clearly here.

That he's thankful that God considered him faithful, that he

graciously saved him. He's thankful here for God's

work in his life, acknowledging the grace that had been given

unto him to believe, to follow Christ, that God would in

eternity past foreknow him, considering him faithful.

So we see that he's thankful for God's work in his life, but he's

also thankful for God's will in his life.

What's one thing thing to think about that God in his will has

sovereignly saved us? Let me just make this very

clear. If God hadn't willed to

sovereignly save you, you wouldn't be saved here this

morning. You would still be lost and dead

in your sin as you were when you came to Christ.

Paul recognizing this, but then he takes it a step further and

he says, I'm not only thankful to the Lord Jesus who gives me

strength every day and who considered me faithful before I

was ever born and graciously enacted that throughout my life.

I'm also thankful that he would ever appoint me to his service.

Oh, you see the humility there, especially in the day and age

that we live where so many so-called Christian leaders are

ineffective because there's a lack of humility.

They act as if they are somehow God's gift to ministry, or God's

gift to pastoral service, or God's gift to whatever under the

sun they endeavor to do. However, Paul's not approaching.

It like this. In fact, he's approaching it

from the opposite perspective. He's approaching it with utter

humility. He says I'm thankful to Christ

Jesus our Lord, who would appoint me to his service, that

He would not only graciously save me, but that He would

graciously allow me to accomplish His will with my

life, that I could now bring Him glory.

A man who once brought reproach upon his name and reproach upon

his church. Now in Christ I am thankful He

allows me. To serve him.

He's humbled by this thought. Wasn't it sad in the church

these days? We're not humbled by that

thought because I believe this. We were humbled by that thought.

There would be a whole lot more of us serving him.

Thank you, Lord. You would even consider me to be

one of your servants. Is that not what the psalmist

said? He said I would rather be a

doorkeeper in the House of God than to dwell in the tents of

the wicked. I would rather be the lowest

servant in God's house than to be what I once was.

Here's Paul saying, I'm so thankful that God has considered

me for service that he lets me minister for his glory.

May we remember that as we strive to be effective Christian

leaders. Moms, you have children because

God has graciously blessed you with them.

Fathers, you have a family because God has graciously

blessed you with them. Steward them properly.

And how do we do that? With compute complete humility,

we say. As the Apostle Paul, I am

thankful that you ever would consider to appoint me in

service to you. Every ounce of ministry that you

participate in ought to be a humbling experience, not a an

experience that causes you to stick out your chest or pat

yourself on the chest. Did I cause you to fall on your

knees as Paul is doing here and saying thank you Lord, that you

would even consider me to do such a thing?

There's so many people in our time who are so wrapped up in

themselves, right? They say things like it's my

ministry, this is not your ministry.

This is the ministry of Christ, it is the ministry of

reconciliation and we are sharing the gospel with others,

whether there be members of our family, whether they be Co

workers during our lunch break, whether they be people in the

church. This is the ministry of

reconciliation that was given to us by Christ himself.

This is Christ ministry. Paul is understanding that and

he's humbled that I would ever be counted as someone who would

be worthy enough to be a part of Christ ministry.

Here he finds himself. Thanking God for His will in his

life. In fact, in First Corinthians

1 Corinthians 15 · chapter mention

chapter 15, Paul expresses just how humble he is about this.

The fact that God would use him, he says in verse nine, First

Corinthians 15, he says, for I am the least of the apostles and

do not even deserve to be called an apostle.

What humility there? One who wrote over half of the

New Testament. He says I'm not even worthy to

be called an apostle because I persecuted the Church of God.

He said I'm not worthy because I remember what I was.

Watch what he says in verse 10. But by the grace of God, I am

what I am. He says it's God's grace.

This made me what I am, not my choice, not my ability, not my

desire, but God's grace. And he said in his grace to me

was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of

them, yet not I, but the grace of God that was within me.

What is Paul saying here? He's saying I'm thankful to God

for His grace and allowing me to be one of His servants,

fulfilling His will for my life and bringing Him glory through

that will. He was honored that God would

ever choose him to be a vessel for His glory.

I want an honor. It is week after week after week

to have the privilege, and I do say privilege, being able to

stand behind this pulpit and open up the very word of God and

to lead God's people to know Him more through the Scriptures.

I'm so thankful to the Lord Jesus Christ for that grace in

my life, appointing me to His service.

But did you know this? He has appointed all of you to

His service. If you were in Christ, He has

gifted you with gift from the Holy Spirit.

And those gifts are to be used in ministering to His people and

to ministering to the loss, to shining the light of Jesus

Christ and to serve Him. And if you would truly see the

honor that it is, you would not be lazy in your service, but

you'd be thankful. But I'm thankful that I can wake

up every day and I can serve you and I can bring glory to your

name. He was honored that God would

ever choose him to be that kind of vessel.

Ephesians 3, verse seven, He says about himself, I became a

servant of this gospel by the gift of God's grace given me

through the working of his power.

He says I'm a servant of the gospel because God has worked

his power graciously in me. Although I'm less than the least

of all the Lord's people. This grace was given me to

preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ.

Now Paul really wrecks the modern worship yourself

ideology, doesn't he? You're good enough and you're

smart enough and you got lots of things to offer.

Paul says I don't have anything to.

Offer his theology, Rex human psychology in our day, he said.

I have anything to offer. I am the least of the apostles

and I am thankful that God would ever even begin to consider me

one to be saved. But.

Secondly, to be used for His glory in ministry.

What an effective leader here to remind us that we are to be

thankful in our leadership, to be thankful every day that we

have been given that role in that position.

Moms, I've already mentioned you in the sermon.

I'll mention you again. I know some days it's difficult.

Someday it's days. It's difficult.

It's difficult. To teach your children and to

endure the things that you have to endure as a mother, you've

already made a sacrifice, right? While other families, they have

two incomes, you guys are pinching pennies because you

only have one, because you're still fit to lead your family

and to disciple them. For that I commend you and let

me. Just say this for free and God's

going to take care of you. He always has.

He always takes care of those who are seeking to do His will.

And I know you had this frustrating day.

Instead of being frustrated, why don't we try being thankful?

Why don't we, as the apostle Paul say, I thank Christ Jesus

our Lord that he has appointed me to raise up and to teach the

next generation of believers that will follow after us.

As I know, you have to go to work every day and then on top

of that, you have to lead your wives and you, you have to lead

your families and you, you have to devote yourself to the Lord

and you have to continue to grow so that your family will

continue to grow. And sometimes this is difficult.

I don't stand before you saying this is an easy task.

It's a task that most of the world just doesn't even consider

at all. But yet you've considered it.

And now through the help of the apostle Paul, I want you to be

effective in it. And how can we be effective in

it? Every day that you get to serve

your family, every day that you get to minister to your wife

who's ministering to the next generation.

Every day see it as a privilege and get on your face and say

thank you God that you have entrusted me to lead a home for

your glory. For those of you who serve the

Lord in any other ministry capacity.

Do the same. Perhaps you serve the Lord here.

You find yourself on things like the lawn crew or the janitorial

crew. You might find yourselves

unclogging a stuffed up toilet or cleaning a nasty bathroom.

Can we do it with thankfulness in our heart?

I'm thankful God, that you would even consider me a fit candidate

to scrub a toilet in your church for your people.

You say, well, Kirk, how can you be thankful for such things that

that's grace you deserve hell everlasting.

And He's let you serve Him by bringing Him glory through

something as simple as cleaning a bathroom.

Paul is a thankful leader. You want to be a an effective

leader. Wherever you find yourself

leading, be thankful. Secondly, he goes on and he says

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. We see the second trait here of

an effective Christian leader, and that is the trait trait of

being transparent. That's transparency.

And so we see in Paul's life, he is very transparent.

He's not hiding from anyone what he.

Used to be. He's not trying to be

self-righteous any longer. He's already done that in his

past life, hasn't he? He was climbing the Pharisaical

ladder, a Jew among Jews, a Pharisee among Pharisees,

looking the part, cleaning up the outside, but knowing full

well that on the inside, as Jesus declared about the

Pharisees, it was nothing but dead men's bones.

He's not seeking to do that in his leadership in the church.

No, he values transparency, and he's not afraid to say exactly

what he was before Christ mercifully saved him.

He says I was a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man.

He says exactly what he really was apart from Christ.

You want to be an effective leader, Be transparent.

Be honest about your depraved condition.

That's what he's doing here. He's being honest about his

depraved condition. He's saying to everyone who's

listening that I have a past, but Christ has rescued me from

my past and my past. Was this?

I was a blasphemer. I was a persecutor of the

church. I was a violent man bringing

violence and even death to those who would follow Christ.

He was honest about this. Can I?

Can I say to all of you, you want to be an effective

Christian leader? Be transparent.

Don't ever jump into the self-righteous pharisaical

attitude of teaching your children that you're perfect

when you're not. They know you're not perfect.

If they spend any time in the Word of God, they'll know no one

save Christ. Was ever perfect.

But what so many times parents do in the church, you know what

they do? They present themselves to their

children as if they have it all together.

Do you know what you do when you do that?

You teach your children self righteousness and not to depend

on the righteousness that is apart from the law of

righteousness that comes from God according to what Paul

teaches the church in Romans chapter 3.

Romans 3 · chapter mention

You teach them to base their righteousness upon themselves or

to base their righteousness upon what they do.

You also teach them to hide the fact that they don't do things

right all of the time and they are in need of grace and they

are in need of mercy. Paul, you're being transparent.

He's being honest about his depraved condition because the

self righteousness that once held him captive no longer has a

hold on him. He's not trying to impress

anyone. He wants them to be impressed.

With Christ and Christ alone. And he clearly states I was a

blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, and I was shown

mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief.

He was honest about his depraved condition.

He was transparent. Not only was he honest about

that and his transparency, he was honest about his desperate

need for Christ. When we're honest about who we

are apart from Christ, and then we can be honest about how much

we desperately need Christ. Paul knew that he desperately

needed Christ. He knew that the people

listening to this letter, when they would have received it and

Timothy would have read it to the church, that there would be

some there who desperately needed Christ, and if he would

have presented himself as someone who had his act all.

Together, instead of being transparent about what he once

was apart from Christ, he would have kept them from seeing their

true need for Christ. But he doesn't do that.

He was honest about his depraved condition.

He was also honest about his desperate need for Christ, that

he was completely dependent upon God's mercy and that had God not

shown him mercy, he would still be lost.

He would still be headed straight to hell with all the

religiosity and all the self righteousness that he had had

his entire life. But because of Christ's mercy,

he now has hope and forgiveness, restoration.

He was eternally indebted to God for the mercy that he had been

given. That mercy was, as we see here,

abundant. He says the grace of our Lord in

14 was poured out to me abundantly.

You know, I was poured out to him abundantly because he needed

a lot of it. I made you think that God pours

out His grace abundantly in our lives.

I made you think that God's words.

Says that were sin increased, grace did that much more

increase that His grace is always bigger than our sin.

Paul and his transparency clearly communicates that he's

being honest about his desperate need for Christ.

I wish we would see some leaders raised up in the church in our

time who would be honest about their desperate need for Christ,

not only at salvation, but continually.

I desperately need Christ. Why?

I don't want to return back to being the blasphemer and the

persecutor and the vile and wicked, violent man that I once

was. I want to constantly depend upon

Christ, desperately needing him. Paul here showing his

indebtedness to Christ, what Christ had done for him.

He says the grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly.

Watch this along with faith. Faith being a gift for all you

people who think faith came from you.

Faith came from God. It's a gift.

He says. The faith and the love that are

in Christ Jesus. He's saying I received believing

faith because of the grace that I have been given in Christ that

was abundantly poured out on me. Not only that, but I received

love, enduring everlasting love that God has for his children.

He was indebted to Christ. He was being honest about his

desperate need for what Christ had provided for him.

He personally understood the things that he's writing here.

He's not writing these things secondhand.

Paul is saying I'm that guy. The one who was a blasphemer, a

wicked man, a persecutor of the church, violent even.

This is what God in Christ showed me, my desperate need for

Christ, and I desperately need him, and you desperately need

him as well. And is he the Lord who pours out

grace upon those who desperately need him?

In fact, Ephesians chapter 2, Paul who wrote this same text in

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

Ephesians that we're reading from here in first Timothy, he

says this verse 2, As for you, you were dead in your

transgressions and sins in which you used to live when you

followed the ways of this world and of the ruler, the Kingdom of

the air, the Spirit who is now at work and those who are

disobedient. He's talking about your past

life and his past life where he followed after sin and Satan.

He says in verse 3, in case you think that this doesn't apply to

you, All of us lived among them at one time.

And those who follow sin and those who followed Satan, he

said, gratifying the cravings of her flesh and following his

desires and thoughts like the rest.

We were by nature deserving of wrath.

Watch his indebtedness here, he said, but because of his great

love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with

Christ, even when we were dead in transgressions.

And he says this famous saying, it is by grace you have been

saved. Paul personally understood what

it means to be saved by the grace of God, by no, no, no work

of his own, by no merit of his own, but to be saved by God's

grace. He's being honest here about his

desperate need for Christ because he was desperately in

need of God's grace. So we see this effective leader

doing what so many are afraid to do in the church today.

That is to be transparent. I stand before you today a

transparent man. Oh, please put no faith in Kirk

Hall. Why?

Because I was once a blasphemer. I was once a wicked Sinner.

I was once anything that you can think of that would describe

someone who was in opposition to God.

But His grace and the grace that he poured out on me in an

abundant fashion allowed me to believe by the faith that He had

given me and allowed me to experience the love that He had

for me that I never otherwise would have experienced.

So we see Paul's transparency here again.

Mothers, fathers, leaders of any kind, it is important that we

are. Transparent to those who are

following us parents, show your children that you are flawed and

you are in need of Christ. Why?

So that they will see that they are flawed to and in need of

Christ. I have seen family after family

in churches for for years making this mistake.

Now when you're around people don't do this, this and this.

Play like you're perfect when you're not around them.

Do those things. No teach your children this.

You are always in the presence of God.

Live your life, Cormdale, like you really are in the presence

of God. And when you blow, it depend on

the grace of God, because it's only the grace of God that will

rescue you from you. Yet instead, oh, let's just

learn how to play the Christian part and never be transparent.

Parents, you will raise up the next generation to be

self-righteous hypocrites. If you do one thing on a Sunday

morning and you come in here and you pretend to be perfect and

that everything is all right, and then you live your life not

depending upon the grace of God, hiding all the things that

you're ashamed of instead of being honest about them, You are

not being an effective leader. Oh, you're a leader all right.

You're going to lead them down the path of self righteousness

with it, which is as detestable of a sin as any you will read

about in Scripture. Be very careful.

An effective Christian leader will always be transparent as

Paul is here. Thirdly, he says in verse 15,

here's a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance.

So this is important. Pay attention to this.

It's a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance.

This is something that we need to fully embrace.

There is no discussion about this.

Christ. Jesus came into the world to

save sinners. And then he adds this little

footnote there, of whom I am the worst.

Now I want you for a second to imagine what's going on here,

because this is really how it happened.

Often we forget this. This was a letter Paul wrote to

his, as we saw last week, true son in the faith, Timothy.

And he's writing him because Paul has left him in Ephesus to

pass through this church, and he knows that he needs some

leadership in his life still, don't we all?

And he's writing him this letter.

And he knows that this letter is going to be written to the

churches, and it's probably going to, as all the letters did

in the New Testament, be cycled around to all of the churches of

the day. Can you imagine when, Timothy?

Stood up to read this letter there in Ephesus because Ephesus

was a place that we know historically was prone to

idolatry. They would worship the goddess

Artemis or otherwise known as Diana.

And in those temples of Artemis or Diana, there were temple

prostitutes. And did you know this, the

gospel going forth in Ephesus, It was probably under the sound

of Timothy's voice when he read this letter the first time.

A former temple prostitute had come to faith in Jesus Christ,

who still kind of sat in the back of the church because she

knew that people knew her past and knew how awful she was and

knew that her whole life she had been a prostitute.

She was potentially sitting in the back when this was read, and

she would have heard this. Here's a trustworthy saying that

deserves full acceptance. Christ Jesus came into the world

to save sinners, and you know, it entered into her mind as it

once entered into my mind. Yeah, but not sinners who are as

bad as me. Have you heard that lie before?

Only to have Paul follow up with this, of whom I am the worst.

She is hearing a letter from the apostle to the Gentiles read by

her pastor. And the apostle to the Gentiles

says to the church, I am the worst of sinners.

And I needed Jesus to come to this earth.

And the purpose that he came to this earth was so that sinners

could be saved. Do you see what's happening

here? Oh, don't read past these things

in Scripture. Paul's letting you know that God

can and does save the most wicked of sinners.

He saves all of those who like he are fully trusting in Jesus

atonement. That's what he's doing here.

Paul understood that that his once thought righteousness

counted for nothing and the only thing that counted for his

salvation is Christ, the one who came to save even the worst of

all sinners. Paul says this about himself in

Philippians chapter 3 verse four.

Philippians 3 · chapter mention

He says, though I myself have reasons for such confidence, if

someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the

flesh, I have more right. There were those who were saying

that I have confidence in my flesh because I've done certain

things. Paul says I've done good things

too. They were often the wrong

motives. He says in verse 5 circumcised

on the eighth day of the people of Israel of the tribe of

Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews in regard to the law of Pharisee.

As for zeal persecuting the church As for righteousness

based on the law faultless. He said I lived what people

would say was a pretty righteous.

Life. But it was nothing because he

did it in his own power and he did it in his own strength.

He wasn't fully trusting in the atoning work of Jesus Christ, he

says in verse 7. But whatever were gains to me, I

now considered a loss for the sake of Christ.

What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the

surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord for his

sake. I have lost all things, he says.

I've lost it all and I'm gladly in a position where I have lost

it all. I'm thankful that I have lost it

all because I've gained Christ, he said.

I consider everything else that I've lost.

I consider it to be garbage. Skibulan in the Greek, he says

that I'm a gained Christ to be found in Him not having a

righteousness of my own that comes from the law.

Why He knew what a righteousness that come from the law.

Looks like I left him empty. He just said that, He said.

As for the law, righteousness. I lived a good life, man.

People would look at me and think he's got it all together.

I didn't have anything together. About that which is through

faith in Christ, the righteousness that comes from

God on the basis of faith. Faith in who faith in what faith

in Christ and who he is and the atoning work that he did at the

cross. Here we see Paul fully trusting

in Jesus atonement and that alone for salvation.

He understood and he wants everyone else to understand that

the. Law can never save.

Only Christ can save sinners. He plainly says that here.

Now look at it in the context of his life.

He was obedient unto the law, but yet he was lost.

He was a Pharisee among the Pharisees, but yet he was lost.

He was of the tribe of Benjamin, circumcised on the 8th day, but

yet he was lost. And all those things mean

nothing, why? They were all done in the flesh,

but he is fully trusting his fully putting his faith and his

trust in the atoning work of Jesus Christ to save him because

he knew the law never could and it wasn't designed to do that.

Romans 8 verse one. There he says, therefore there

is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus because

because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life

has set you free from the law of sin and death.

What the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the

flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of

sinful flesh to be a. Sin offering.

And so he condemns sin in the flesh.

He's saying my hope is not in observing the law.

I once put my hope in that and it was futile.

My hope is in Christ. Galatians 2 verse 16 He gives

Galatians 2:16

clarity to the Galatians. He said no, that a person is not

justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus

Christ. So we too have put our faith in

Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and

not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law

no one will be justified. This is Paul fully trusting in

Jesus atonement. An effective Christian leader

will always be trusting in the atoning work of Jesus Christ and

that alone. Not their ministry accolades,

Not their achievements. Not awards, Not success.

They will be trusting in Jesus atonement.

Paul understood this. That's why he says here's a

trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance.

You can take this to the bank as 100% true.

Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am

the worst. What was he saying?

I even I needed salvation from Christ because I was the worst

of sinners. I was the one who was a

blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man against God's

people. Yet by fully trusting in the

atoning work of Christ, I even I can be washed and can be

cleansed and can be for forgiven of all of my sin and my

defilement. Not only do we see him trusting

here, fully trusting in Jesus atonement, he's also fully

trusting in Jesus ability. I told you he put that tag on

there, of whom I am the worst. He was putting that on there

because there would be people who were in the church again who

thought there's no way that he could ever save me.

Paul put himself in the position of the worst so that others

would realize. He can save the most wicked and

the most vile. He can save the drunkard and the

adulterer and the sexually immoral.

He can save the coveter. He can save the murderer.

He can save anyone if he can save the one who is the worst of

sinners. Paul is saying see this as the

example that it is and fully trust in Christ's ability to

save anyone. I don't care how vile or how

wicked they are. Paul said if he saved me, he can

save anyone. Paul clinging the words of God

in Isaiah chapter one verse 18. The Lord says through Isaiah,

come now, let us settle the matter, says the Lord.

Let's settle this once and for all.

Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as

snow. Though they are red as Crimson,

they shall be like wool. What confidence Paul had, what

confidence Isaiah Speaking of, and the fact that we can trust

in Jesus ability to cleanse us from the dirtiest, the most

wicked, the most heinous sin in our lives.

Paul wanting them as a good and and effective Christian leader

to learn how to trust not in themselves.

He had already spent his life trusting in himself.

And he learned the hard way that we're not to trust in ourselves.

Why? Because you can be self

deceived, but to instead fully trust in Christ.

I know what some of you do because I've done it in my life.

Or you take inventory of your life and you say, you know what

man, I've really blown it this time.

I just don't know if God's going to forgive me of this.

And you know why you think like that?

Because what you're doing, you're putting yourself in the

position of God. What you're really saying, if I

was God, I wouldn't forgive me. Aren't you thankful today that

you're not God? Let me say that again.

Aren't you thankful today that you're not God?

God can and he does forgive. According to our example today,

the worst, those sinners, Paul was the worst until I was born.

He's now second worst. I stand here before you today to

say, as he has said, if God can forgive me of all the vile and

wicked things that I have done and I have thought in my

lifetime, there's not a person under the sound of my voice in

this room today who He will not forgive if you repent of your

sin and you turn to Christ this very day.

Paul teaching those who are following him to fully trust not

only in the atoning work of Christ, but also in the ability

of Christ to do exactly what he said that he can do.

And what is that? That is to save all who call

upon His name. Stop gauging the magnitude of

your wickedness by your sin. Look to the ultimate sacrifice

of Jesus Christ that relieves you and frees you from that sin.

Effective leader will constantly be reminding others to do just

that. Trust in Christ, reminding them

what John said in his gospel as he penned the words of Jesus in

John 638 where he says, For I have come down from heaven not

to do my will, but to do the will of him who sent me.

This is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of

all he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.

For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son

and believes in Him shall have eternal life.

And I will raise them up at the last day, even the worst of

sinners who fully trust in Christ.

Paul being an effective Christian leader by teaching us

to be people who are trusting Christ in every situation, His

atonement, his ability, we moved to the 4th trade of an effective

Christian leader today. He says in verse 16.

But for that very reason 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 on

Him and receive eternal life. Paul begins talking about this

fourth trait, which is the fact that he has been transformed.

He begins talking about. This.

By letting us know that this transformation that he has

actually experienced in his life through Christ, it is a

compelling transformation. Paul, as he wrote in 2nd

Corinthians 517, he said if we're in Christ, we're in new

creation. All the old is gone.

Behold, all things have been made new, not some things, all

thing. And this is a supernatural

transformation that is only done by God through Christ.

And it is a compelling transformation.

Watch how Paul actually worded that.

He said, But for that very reason, the fact that I am the

worst of sinners, who was once a blasphemer, A persecutor, and a

violent man, and I have been saved simply because Christ came

into this world to save Sinner. Of which I am the worst, and he

says, and the reason that he saved me and he showed to me

mercy, He who's the worst of sinners.

So Christ Jesus might display His unlimited patience as an

example for those who would believe on Him and receive

eternal life He. Says, because God has

transformed me through the gospel, let that be an example

to all of you that he can as well transform you and it just

ought to compel you. When you see the worst of

sinners being transparent, telling you exactly who he once

was and now who he is in Christ. It ought to compel you to say, I

need that kind of transformation in my life.

Now don't be that person who sits back and says, well, I need

that kind of transformation in my life.

But man, there's no way that God could ever save me because I've

been too awful. Paul is taking that away from

you right here. He's saying there's no one who's

been as awful as me, and let this serve for you as an example

of God's patience. If God was patient with me,

bringing me to salvation, he's also been patient with you,

bringing you to salvation. And you were here this very

morning to hear the gospel message and to believe that

message and to turn from your sin so that your life will be

transformed just as He has transformed my life.

Wasn't it amazing when we read the Bible instead of just

reading the Bible? We see what he's really getting

at here. We put it in the right

perspective that this is a real man, a real leader in the

church, writing to real people. We struggle with the real things

that we all struggle with. To all of us.

He's saying this as an effective Christian leader.

If God can transform me, and He did, he can transform you in

Christ as well. In fact, that's what He came to

do to save sinners, of whom I am the very worst.

And if he can save the worst, he can save you and he can save

you, and he can save you and he can save you and he can save you

and he can save you and you and you, and you, and you, and you,

and you, and you, and you and you and you.

He can save all who repent and turn to Christ by faith,

trusting in Him. Oh, this should compel us to

desire that transformation today.

Hear the words of the apostle Paul that I was transformed by

the grace of God, the patience of God.

And he too has been patient with you so that you can hear the

same message today and believe on Christ as Lord and Savior,

resulting in eternal life for you, just as it resulted in

eternal life for me. He says, But for that very

reason, I was shown mercy, so that in me the worst of sinners

Christ Jesus might display is unlimited patience as an example

for those who would believe on Him and receive eternal life.

I'm so thankful for God's unlimited patience in my life.

Oh, how many times I have looked back on my life and I've asked

this question, God, why didn't you just kill me and sentence me

to hell? Because that's what I deserve.

Why didn't you just let me die in my sin?

Why would you so graciously, lovingly and kindly and

mercifully rescue me? Well, the answer is this.

So that others would see that if he can rescue Kirk Hall and he

can be patient with Kirk Hall, he can rescue me.

He can save me. One effective leader will speak

of this compelling transformation so that others

will be compelled to follow Christ.

Galatians chapter 1 verses 13 through 24 and rather lengthy

Galatians 1:13–24

portion of scripture. Apostle Paul gives us a

description of what happened in his life and I want to read it

with you if that's OK. He says where you have heard of

my previous way of life and Judaism, how I and intensely

persecuted the Church of God and tried to destroy it.

I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among

my people, and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my

father. But when God, who set me apart

from my mother's womb and called me by His grace, was pleased to

reveal His Son and me so that I might preach Him among the

Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human

being. I did not go up to Jerusalem to

see those who were apostles before I was, but I went into

Arabia. Later I returned to Damascus,

Paul going to Arabia, being taught by Jesus himself there in

verse 18 it says. Then after three years I went up

to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Cephas, that's Peter, and

stayed with him 15 days. And I saw none of the other

apostles, only James, the Lord's brother.

I assure you before God that what I'm writing you is no lie.

Then I went to Syria and Cilicia.

I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in

Christ. They only heard the report.

The man who formally persecuted us is now preaching the faith he

once tried to destroy. And they praised God because of

me. How do you see how this

transformation is compelling? These people heard of Paul.

They knew him when he was still referred to as Saul, the

persecutor of the church. And he said they, they they had

no other way of knowing me other than by mouth.

And what they heard by mouth was this, this vile, wicked

persecutor of the church and blasphemer and violent man.

He has been transformed. And if he can be transformed,

anyone can be transformed. What a compelling

transformation. An effective leader will always

speak of that transformation, not that he has something to

offer, that he has any wisdom of himself.

So he will always speak of the transformation and live that

transformed life that only the gospel bring.

You see, this compelling transformation before can be a

compelling transformation. It has to be a complete

transformation. They noticed that the man who

formally persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once

tried to destroy. That is the exact opposite.

That is what we call repentance. He was a persecutor of the

Church. And a violent man toward the

church and a blasphemer toward God.

And now he has turned 180°. And the message and the people

who preached the message that he once persecuted, he's now

preaching the same message. All glory and honor and praise

be unto Jesus Christ our. Lord an effective leader.

We'll be a transformed leader. He'll be completely transformed

from Violet blasphemer to a true worshipper and a follower of

Christ. Watch what happens next in this

text, verse 17. The Apostle Paul has a moment

here, as we all ought to have moments when we think back on

what we once were apart from Christ.

He says I was a blasphemer and a persecutor of the church and a

violent man. I am the worst of sinners and

apart from God's grace I am nothing.

You know what he doesn't do? He doesn't say, oh, we look at

me now. No, he breaks, breaks into a

doxology unto the Lord now, to the King eternal now.

Because of all of this, now here's my response to him.

He is King, eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, and to

him be honor and glory, forever and ever.

Amen. Because he has been totally and

completely transformed from a blasphemer and a persecutor and

a man who did violence to the church.

Now he is a true worshipper. Falling on his face.

I'm saying it's you, King. It was done at all.

It is you, O God, King, eternal, immortal, invisible, the only

one true God. Honor and glory to you forever

and ever. Amen.

We see that complete transformation, that violent

blasphemer transformed into a true worshipper of the one true

God, King, eternal, immortal, invisible, his entire life

transformed for his glory and for his praise.

Acts chapter 22, verse 3. It says this Paul giving an

Acts 22:3

account of himself. He said, I am a Jew, born of

Tarsus and Cilicia, but brought up in this city.

I studied under Gamma Liu and was thoroughly trained in the

law of our ancestors. I was just as zealous for God as

any of you are today. I persecuted the followers of

this way to their death, resting both men and women, throwing

them into prison as the high priest and all the council can

themselves testify. I even obtained letters from

them to their to their associates in Damascus and went

there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be

punished. About noon, as I came near

Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around

me, and I fell to the ground, and I heard a voice say to me,

Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?

Who are you, Lord? I asked.

I am Jesus of Nazareth whom you were persecuting, He replied.

My companions saw the light, but they did not understand the

voice of him who was speaking to me.

What shall I do, Lord, I ask. Get up, the Lord said, would go

into Damascus, and there you would be told all that you have

been assigned to do. My companions led me by the hand

into Damascus because the brilliance of the light had

blinded me. A man named Ananias came to see

me. He was a devout observer of the

law and highly respected by all the Jews living there.

And he stood beside me and said, Brother Saul received your

sight, and at that very moment I was able to see him.

And then he said, The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know

his will and to see the righteous, 1 and to hear words

from his mouth. You will be witness to all

people of what you have seen and have heard.

Or what grace is this, that God would completely transform a man

simply by encountering the Lord Jesus Christ?

We see this example of that kind of transformation, a man who was

on his way to Damascus to arrest more Christians and bring them

back to Jerusalem to be tortured and even killed.

And Jesus could have, with that same light that he blinded him

with, struck him dead on that road right in front of all of

his companions. God had a different desire, and

his desire was to transform him completely.

Take a blasphemer and the persecutor, the wicked and vile

and violent man, to use him for the will of God and the glory of

the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

A once totally sinful blind man, spiritually dead.

He receives Christ and he's completely transformed.

Paul in writing this letter, when he gets to that part, can't

help fall on his knees and praise and adoration for the

king who rescued him, lover of his soul, who did not let him

die in his sin, but who paid the penalty for his death on the

cross so that he could be saved. Or the 4th trade in the final

trait that we will see today of the effect of Christian leaders.

It's obvious, isn't it? They will be transformed, and

they will be transformed because they have truly encountered the

Lord Jesus Christ. He has truly transformed them.

That transformation will be compelling to others, and it

will be complete as long as the apostle Paul lived.

He lived all of his days to bring glory and honor and praise

to God and to bring others to faith through the gospel message

that he preached. And he did it with honor for God

because of the glory of God, seeing it as a privilege that he

would ever be counted worthy to live and to even suffer for the

Lord Jesus Christ. What an effective Christian

leader. As I told you when we started

this morning, you're all leaders to some degree.

If you're in Christ, you're a Christian leader.

If you are doing it ineffectively, you are leading

people to get the wrong idea about Christ, maybe even members

of your own home, maybe those you work with.

But if you're doing it effectively, you'll be thankful

and they'll see it. You'll be transparent about who

you once were and how much you need Christ, and they'll see it.

You'll be trusting. You'll be trusting in everything

that Jesus did on the cross and nothing that you have done.

You'll see that you'll be transformed.

Why? Because if you're in Christ,

you're a new creation. You are transformed and they

will see it. They will desire the same

transformation when they see you.

The worst of sinners receiving grace and mercy and forgiveness.

They will ask you about that hope that you have, the only

hope that can save sinners. So whether your dad leading your

home, your mom teaching her children you're a Bible study

leader or reach group leader in this church, you're one of our

pastors. You're one of our elders.

Whoever you are, you can settle for being a mediocre leader.

You can see the example of the life of Paul, what an effective

Christian leader he was, and watch this even 2000 years

later, still is. May we desire to be leaders who

lead in that way. Perhaps you're here today and

you're an unbeliever. I would encourage you to look to

the honesty and the transparency of Paul today.

You've made excuse after excuse, week after week after week, and

hearing the gospel that God could never save you because

you've been too bad. Oh, you might have been bad, but

you're not the worst of sinners. And through the apostle Paul and

his leadership, God raised him up to show you that if He can be

patient with Paul, the worst of sinners, and exercise His grace

and His mercy upon him, He can do the same for you today.

Repent of your sin and cry out to Jesus desperately to save you

from the wrath and the hell that you deserve.

Trust in Jesus Christ today as Lord and Savior and be saved.

Stop making excuses and inventing clauses that God does

not state. You are not too far gone.

In fact, you were brought here today.

You are hearing my voice today because God wants you to know

there is still hope for you, and that hope is in Christ.

Turn to Christ today and be saved.

Let's pray together. Father, in the name of Jesus, we

thank you for your word. We thank you for all the lessons

that you give us. But as we have discovered today,

we are all leaders to some capacity, and You have entrusted

us with that as Christians. May we do it effectively, may we

do it for Your glory, and we do it according to Your word.

Lord, I pray for the soul who's here today does not know Christ.

Whether they know it or whether they don't know it at this time,

they are completely dependent upon Your mercy.

They are not dependent upon a message from a preacher.

It has already gone out. I've done what I can do.

I've done what I've been entrusted to do.

Lord, they are dependent upon Your mercy, and I pray that You

would have mercy on them, drawing them unto Yourself

today, out of darkness and into Your marvelous light as You have

revealed the gospel to them. May they see their sin.

May You by Your grace give them faith to believe and strength to

repent. By Your Spirit may they follow

Christ all their days. From this point forward, we pray

and we ask these things in the mighty name of Jesus, Amen.

Once again, we like to thank you for joining us online this

morning. We pray that if you have any

questions about the sermon today or perhaps you would like more

information on how to know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, please

click on the QR code there on the screen and it will give you

all the information that you need.

Also, if you have any prayer requests or would like to talk

to a pastor, we would love to hear from you.

And again, May God bless you as you seek Him and His will for

your life. You've been listening to Key

Life Fellowships Pulpit Ministry podcast.

Join us each week for more teaching from God's Word.