Sermons of Redeeming Life Church

“A Gospel For All” (1 Timothy 2:1-7)

Why is it important to pray for our leaders and those in authority? What does the Bible say about the government and how we should pray for our politicians? Who is the Gospel really intended for? What is the relationship between the government and their Christians citizens? In his message, “A Gospel For All” based on 1 Timothy 2:1-7, Pastor Josiah answers these questions and more as he shares how as followers of Christ, we are called to pray for all who are in authority because it pleases God and leads to a peaceful life. Pastor Josiah also shows us how the gospel is not intended for a small group of people, or an elite club or Righteous Christians, but that the Gospel is intended for all who would believe. God’s Word encourages us to pray for others with the hope that they, too, will one day be saved and redeemed from their sins. We pray this message would be a blessing to you and that it inspires you to lift up others in prayer as you intercede for them and petition God for their salvation. This sermon was preached on July 7th, 2024. Copyright 2024. For more information, please visit RedeemingLifeUtah.org.

Duration:: 32m
Broadcast on:: 07 Jul 2024
Audio Format:: mp3

You're listening to a sermon preached at Redeeming Life Church. Church, if you have your Bibles with you, please turn with me to the book of 1 Timothy. We're going to continue our series on Be The Church. This morning we're going to be starting in chapter 2. Look at the first seven verses of chapter 2 this morning. If you're using one of the red church Bibles near or around you, we're going to be on page 1051. If you're using the U version Bible app, all the verses are on there as well. As you're making your way over to 1 Timothy, I want to ask you this question this morning. Where is the but in your prayers? Where's the exception in your prayers? Think about that for a minute. Where do you put a but when you're praying to God? As you think about that, let's turn to God's word, and I'll explain what I mean here in a minute. Let's look at 1 Timothy, chapters 2, starting on the first verse. Paul's speaking, continuing his letter to Timothy, and he says, first of all, then I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, for kings and all those who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all goodliness and dignity. This is good, and it pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and humanity, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, a testimony at the proper time. For this, I was appointed a herald, and an apostle. I'm telling the truth, I am not lying and a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. This is God's word where you vow your heads with me as we pray this morning. Dear Heavenly Father, I could do nothing apart from you. So Lord, as we seek to examine your word and know you better this morning, Lord, I pray that you would use me today. Speak through me through the power of your Holy Spirit. Open our minds and ears to hear your voice and open our eyes to see the truth of your word this morning. But we know not Lord, I pray you would teach us. Well, we see not Lord, I pray that you would show us so that we could leave here changed by the power of your gospel. It's in your holy and precious name, Lord, we pray. Amen. All right. Well, as I mentioned at the start of this series, Paul is writing to Timothy not only to encourage him, but also to instruct him on how the church is the function. As a result, here in the opening verses of chapter two, Paul has shifted his focus off of Timothy specifically and is now looking to the church as a whole. So as we spend time together this morning unpacking these seven verses, it's my aim that by the time we are done, we will clearly see the vital role that prayer holds, not only in the personal life of the believer, but also the importance of intentional time spent in prayer during our corporate worship gatherings as well. So with that in mind, let's dive in and unpack these verses. Paul begins by saying, first things first. Imagine if you were baking a cake or cooking a pizza. The first thing you would probably do is preheat the oven, get that thing started and going. There's a priority in the steps of how we do things. If you get everything ready and then you preheat the pizza, you're gonna have to wait longer for that to be ready to put that in. Things have a certain order that they need to be done in, right? When pilots start planes, they do things in a certain order. And here, Paul's statement of first things first, signals the reader that he's beginning with the most important thing. The first thing Paul says the church must do, they wanna be healthy and they wanna achieve the mission that God's called them to of being the pillar and foundation of truth because they need to pray. We need to pray, if we're not a praying church first and foremost, it doesn't matter what block parties we have or how big our field up families event is or even how many mission trips we go on above all else. The church must be a congregation that spends regular time in prayer and worship to God. Not only must the church being a praying church, but the types of prayers we pray is important as well. Our prayers can't just be focused on ourselves or in the inward direction, we have to be directed outside the church. God has called us to lift up and prayer those who are outside this local body of believers. Paul tells Timothy that the church must pray for everyone, for everyone, as Christians, we are to offer up petitions, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings for everyone. But just in case the word everyone's not clear enough, Paul then goes on to share specifically how the church is to pray for kings and rulers and everyone who is an authority over us. Here in the opening verses of chapter two, there are two main thoughts or key ideas that Paul shares that really go hand in hand with one another. At first glance, it might appear that Paul is only talking about prayer, but if we dig deeper into the text, we'll see that's not the case. This entire text is about prayer and salvation. There are two main topics that Paul's addressing in verses one through seven, prayer and salvation and how our prayers lead to the salvation of those who are lost and perishing. Let me show you what I mean. If you're a note taker, you're gonna love this sermon because I actually have an outline. I have some bullet points. I'm slowly figuring out what I'm doing up here. I'm learning things out. Repetition's the motor of learning, so I'm catching on. So if you're taking notes, there's four main points that I want you to see from God's word this morning. The first thing I want you to notice is that the church's prayers should concern all people. Emphasis on all, right? The first thing that Paul tells Timothy is the church needs to pray for everyone. Look at those first two verses again. Paul says, first of all then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings be made for everyone, for kings and all those who are in authority so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in goodness and dignity. Before we jump to the application and deal with the difficult reality that God's called us to pray for every president and government leader, regardless of our personal feelings towards them. Let's take a moment first and really consider the context of this letter that Paul's writing to the church in Ephesus. It's really easy for us to immediately look at these verses through the lens of our current context. But if we don't first take a moment and consider the historical context of what's happening here, we're actually doing ourselves a grave disservice. So let's consider the setting surrounding Paul's letter. Remember Ephesus was not founded on Judeo-Christian values. At the time of Paul's writing, there are no Christian or God-fearing rulers and people in authority. No politician is being sworn into office with their hand on the Bible. It's quite the opposite, in fact. Nero is the reigning emperor at the time of this letter. Nero, if you don't remember Nero from your 10th grade world history class, let me remind you, his vanity, his cruelty, his hostility to the Christian church were widely known to the readers of Paul's letter. The persecution of the church was a difficult fact all too real to the first century followers of Christ. Nero arrested, tortured, and executed Christians living in Rome. Some of these guys were crucified. Some were fed to wild beasts. Others experienced the joy of being burned alive as living torches. It was not a fun time to be a Christian. This is the type of ruler and authority that Paul's calling the church to pray for. Can you imagine being called to pray for rulers like that? How often are we spending time in prayer for our current rulers who are nothing like that? Paul is charging Timothy and the church to pray for their leaders and rulers. He's very specific and is reasoning why. Paul's not calling the church to pray for their leaders so they can lead a quiet and enjoyable middle class life that stress free and relaxing. It's not the reasoning behind Paul's charge here for prayer. Paul makes it abundantly clear in his follow-up letter to Timothy that as Christians who are committed to the word of God, we're going to be persecuted for our faith in Christ. Paul's not calling on the church to pray for their leaders and hopes that we can all live life on easy street, but rather Paul's encouraging the church to pray specifically for peaceful conditions. So the church can freely live out their faith and practice its teachings. One of the reasons behind Paul's charge to pray is that there are benefits. There are rewards that stem from a good government that's peaceful from war and civil unrest. If you were with us during our study in the book of Acts, then you've seen how the government authorities intervened in Paul's life to bring about peace and protection for that persecuted and hated apostle. Remember in Acts 19, when Paul himself was in Ephesus and there was a great disturbance that rose up about the way and before Paul could even open up his mouth and defend himself, the city clerk stepped in and he put an end to all the arguments surrounding Paul. Based on what we see in the early church and throughout church history actually, is that peaceful conditions help facilitate the propagation of the gospel. Look at the packs from Hannah. Look at how that time of unprecedented peace helped pave the way for the rapid advancement of the gospel across Rome. Oftentimes we want to argue about the importance of the separation of church and state, but we often overlook and neglect to consider the vital role that both the church and the state play in society. Even when our government leaders are not believers, it is the function of the state to protect its citizens from anything and everything that would disturb them, to preserve the law and order, to punish those who break the law and honor those who do good things. It's within these societies that the church is able to freely worship our creator, obey his laws and share the gospel with others. As a result, it's our responsibility as Christians to lift up our government leaders and those in authority, not just here in America, but across the world in prayer, interceding for them and asking for God's blessing on them and their families. Both of these entities, the church and the government, have a divine purpose. Both exist to help each other and be a blessing to one another. Good government is a gift of God's grace to mankind and the church. The church is God's instrument to reconcile people to himself and prepare them for glory. When everything is said and done, the best argument for and against Christianity is Christians. How we live our lives and how we act is oftentimes the only gospel message that others will ever see or hear. As a result, we have to ask ourselves, what kind of Christian are we being? What type of Christian are my neighbors witnessing? What type of Christian am I modeling for my children and my coworkers? How often are we truly praying for those in authority? I'm not talking about predatory prayers where we ask God to just rain down fire from heaven on the ones that drive us crazy, rather, how often are we interceding for our government leaders? Not just here in America, but around the world. How often are we praying that God would bless them, that he would give them wisdom regarding the decisions that they are cast to make every day? Can you imagine? Can you imagine the incredible change that would happen around us if Christians everywhere were praying daily for others with a passion and a commitment to see our world redeemed? Time spent on our knees and prayer serves as a reminder of our dependence on God and places our trust in God's sovereignty rather than our own abilities. Something really powerful happens when we realize we can't fix everything on our own. We can't fix everything simply by rolling up our sleeves and just working harder. When you realize that the salvation of your lost friends and family members is more dependent on the Holy Spirit than on your best argument you can come up with. What other choice do you have than to put your trust in God and turn your attention to prayer? Robbie and I say all the time that prayer is the work. You're probably tired of hearing us say that, but we say that prayer is the work because prayer is the work. Prayer is what changes things. Prayer is what changes the hearts of others and draws them to Christ. As a result, we need to ensure that we are praying for the salvation of anyone and everyone, even our enemies, even those we don't like. Picture for a moment the last person you want to be sitting in church with today. Who is the last person you want to have sitting next to you today? I want to challenge you. Make that person the first person that you pray for each day. Make that person the first person you pray for each day and watch what happens. See if God doesn't soften your heart towards them and maybe even draw that person close to him as well. How would your relationship with this person change if Christ were the center of your relationship? One of the major issues that Timothy was facing here in Ephesus was the idea that the gospel should be contained to a certain group of people, rather than being shared with outsiders or with those that they didn't really like. There's an elitist or a VIP club mentality that Christ came to say but selects you who are better than everyone else or more righteous than others. Part of Paul's concerns surrounding false teachers like Hymanaeus and Alexander, that their actions were contributing to turning the congregation into cliquey groups of people focused on myths and endless genealogies rather than the life-giving power of the gospel. This is in part why Paul mentioned in verse seven that he's been sent to the Gentiles. Thus the gospel is not just for a select group of people, but for all who would receive it. The gospel was not intended only for the Jews or to be contained within a small group of elite individuals. Paul's primary test was to take the gospel to the outsiders. Paul's reminding the church that the gospel is to be proclaimed around the world and he's charging them to pray for everyone in hopes that those who don't believe would believe and be saved. There's a major emphasis on prayer here in chapter two. And while prayer is important, it's not the focal point of our text. Paul's using prayer as the stage to set up his main point. Prayer is the context, but salvation is the content. Prayer is one of the primary tools that God uses to save others and draw them to him. So in addition to praying for our leaders and asking God to bless us with good leaders and a peaceful life, Paul tells the church that we're to pray for others with the goal that they too would be saved by the redeeming power of the gospel. Just like we were. I don't know if we'll ever fully grasp on this side of eternity, the weight and significance that faithful prayers of men and women have played in the role of our salvation here on earth. I think we're all gonna be shocked when we find out how many people prayed for us. How many prayers were prayed for us during our lifetime? By people we don't even know. Paul has charged Timothy and the church to pray for others so that they might be saved. God's plan and our responsibility is to pray for others and share to the gospel with everyone around us because God cares for everyone. God cares for everyone. That's the second thing I want us to see this morning. That God's desire concerns all people. Look at 1 Timothy 2 verses 3 and 4 again. Paul says we need to pray for everyone because this is good and it pleases God our Savior who wants everyone to be saved and come to the knowledge of truth. Paul tells Timothy it's good when we pray for our leaders because it pleases God. Paul tells us we need to pray for everyone around us including those in authority because it pleases God who wants everyone to be saved. At the end of the day, the gospel's for everyone. The gospel isn't just for the Jewish people. It's not only for the first century church and those who consider themselves a part of the way. The gospel isn't just for those we like or those we want to invite into our special group. The gospel's for everyone. That's the main thing I want you to see this morning. The gospel is for everyone. So as a result, we have a divine responsibility to spend serious time and prayer each week interceding for and praying for our lost friends, family members, neighbors and even our co-workers. We need to pray for the barista who makes our coffee in the mornings. We need to pray for the mail carrier who delivers our mail or the Amazon driver who delivers our packages especially those of us who make the same Amazon guy come multiple times in the week. As Christians, we spend time and prayer because it helps us to live peacefully with others. It pleases God and because God uses our prayers to lead others to Him. Our prayers serve to help advance the gospel around the world. This is important to remember because the gospel is universal and Christ's death concerns all people. That's the third thing I want to show you today from Paul's letter. Christ's death concerns all people. Look at verses five and six again. Paul says there is one God and there is one mediator between God and mankind. The man Christ Jesus who gave himself as a ransom for all a testimony at the proper time. Paul, divinely inspired by the Holy Spirit, shares how there is only one cod and one mediator between God and man. The exact verbiage of this verse is vitally important and incredibly crucial to the supremacy of the gospel. Once again, it's helpful for us to understand the context and the background surrounding the words from Paul's letter to young Timothy. There is one God, period. If this were not true, if there were more than one God, imagine what that would look like. Do you understand the kind of mess we would be in if there was more than one God? If, as the Greeks believed, there are many gods or as the Hindus believed, there are millions of deities, then all these various gods would be forced to divide up the human race and share us among all of them. How does that work? How would they divide us up? Is it on a first come, for a serve basis? Is there a struggle or a battle between all the gods as to who gets who? Do they get free reign to influence our lives in an effort to garner our favor and our affection and allegiance? These thoughts might seem crazy to us, but these are the types of ideas that were represented in the grotesque mythologies of ancient Greece and Rome. One Bible commentator I read this week put it this way. The universality of the gospel, invitation, rests on a double foundation, namely the true truths that there's one God and only one mediator. Praise God, there's only one God. Praise God that he alone is God and praise God that there are no other gods, nor will there ever be any other gods. Praise God that the Old Testament scriptures like Deuteronomy and Isaiah speak against these ludicrous speculations. And Deuteronomy six, God says, listen, Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Then through the prophet Isaiah, the Lord says, I am the Lord. There is no other, there is no God but me. And then the New Testament affirms what was spoken through the prophets of the Old Testament. In addition to saying that there's only one God, Paul rightly affirms that there's only one mediator between God and mankind. Christ Jesus, it's pretty easy for us to accept the fact that there's only one God. Many people today would say, yeah, there's only one God, but the dangerous pitfall for many people today is the idea that there are many paths to heaven or that all roads lead to eternal life in some form or fashion. But here Paul reminds us that there are no roads to heaven. The only access we have to God is through Christ Jesus, our mediator. Christ is our mediator. He's our advocate. Think about the picture that Paul's painting here in 1 Timothy. I've sat in rooms with a mediator before. I've sat in a meeting with my opponent across the table from me and a mediator at one end seeking to help us find a solution that we could both agree to and a resolution to our issues. Because Christ is both 100% God and 100% man, he is able to function as our advocate. There's only one God. There's only one mediator between him and us. And therefore, there's only one way for salvation as well. Christ was born to die. His death served as both a sacrifice and a ransom for the redeemed. When Paul writes that Christ gave himself for us, what Paul means is that Christ sacrificed himself, offering himself intentionally and voluntarily as a sacrifice to pay the penalty for the sins that we've committed against God. A ransom has been paid. A ransom was paid for the release of those held in bondage or captive to their sins. As sinners, we are in bondage to sin and judgment, and thus unable to save ourselves, praise be to God for the price that was paid, for the deliverance through the death of Christ in our place and his victorious resurrection over death and the grave. It is through Christ alone that we too can be victorious over death as well. If you've yet to take advantage of the ransom that was offered up on your behalf, now is the time to confess your sins and place your faith in him. If you're sitting here today or you're listening to this message online, and you are not a Christian, there are two things you need to know this morning. One, Christ died for you. Two, faith in Christ is the only path to eternal life. Now is the time to put our faith and hope in him. So, in light of everything that we've discussed, because God's desire concerns all people, and Christ's death concerns all people, and our very own prayers should concern all people, then the church's proclamation must concern all people as well. That's my fourth and final point that I want you to see this morning. The church's proclamation must concern all people. Look at verse seven with me. Paul says, for this, I was appointed a herald, a herald, or a preacher, a pastor, an apostle. I am telling the truth, I am not lying, and the teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. Here in verse seven, Paul reminds his readers that God has called him as an apostle to the Gentiles. The reason for this is because the gospel's for everyone. It'd be really easy to take our texts this morning and use it to argue the finer points concerning the doctrine of election, but this isn't the text for that. That's not the point that Paul's driving home here in his letter to Timothy, or to the church. The point that Paul's making is that the gospel's for all. The gospel is for all. Depending on the Bible translation that you're reading from today, it might be really easy to see that common theme from our text. If you're reading from an ESV this morning, you'll see the word all repeated in these verses four times. In the CSB, they've broken it up, and the translators have used the word all, or they've used the word everyone. So if you write or you highlight in your Bible, I'd encourage you circle that word all. Circle the word everyone or highlight these repeated words. Repeated words are a helpful tool that aid us in the study of God's word. Repeated words help to show us a common theme or a main idea, and in today's text, we clearly see the main point that God's word is showing us through the Apostle Paul is that the gospel's for everyone. The gospel is universal and available to all who would believe. That is why Paul makes a point of sharing how he has been appointed by God as an apostle of Jesus Christ, sent to herald or proclaim the word word to the Gentiles. His very purpose was to help advance the gospel outside of the typical circles that it was found in, and the clicky groups of Christ followers seeking to keep it from themselves. The gospel's not intended for a small group of individuals wearing members only jackets. It's for the Jews, it's for the Gentiles, it's for sinners and everyone in between. Christ came to seek and save the lost. It is because God's desire and Christ's death concern everybody that our prayers and proclamation in the gospel must concern everyone as well. So that being said, where is the but in your prayers? God is calling us to pray for everyone. So in order to no live and proclaim the gospel, we must live it out first. Part of living the gospel means praying for and interceding on behalf of our lost friends. Our lost family members, government leaders, and even our enemies. Prayer is the work. Imagine if we spent five, 10, 15 minutes a day in prayer. Imagine what would happen if we spent more time in prayer than we do crushing candies on our phone. We don't pray enough, not nearly enough. I'm talking mostly to myself. I can tell you that prayer is important to me, but if I'm not living that out, if I don't spend regular intentional time in prayer, how important is it to me really? So once again, where is that exception in your prayers? Where's the but in your prayers? Who is the one person that you refuse to pray for? Our president, your mother-in-law, your neighbor. Who is the person or group of people that you don't want to pray for? Let alone share the gospel with your neighbor, the annoying guy in the accounting department. How about the checkout girl who drives you nuts 'cause she always puts the cans on top of the bread? Who's the Holy Spirit nudging you and calling on you to pray for this morning? Here's the deal. If we were to look back and reflect on who we were and where we were when God saved us, were we really all that special? Were we really that different than everyone else? What makes us more deserving of the saving grace of Christ Jesus than the other sinners around us? The great theologian and country western artist, George Jones, once said this, the only thing different between sinners and saints is one is forgiven and the other one ain't. The point he's making, or I would say he's making, is that if we're perfect, we don't need God's forgiveness. We talked about that last week, but if we're honest with ourselves, and we're honest with God, the only thing we've contributed to our salvation is the sin that made it necessary in the first place. At the end of the day, we all need the redemption that's found in Christ. God's word clearly shows us that the gospel's for everyone. We all need the gospel. There isn't one person on this planet not in desperate dire need of the gospel. So with that in mind, who in your life needs the same wonderful gift of salvation that you've received? Let's pray for that person right now, shall we? Will you pray with me? Dear Lord, I thank you so much. Lord, I thank you for the free gift of salvation that you've lavished upon us, not because of anything you've done, but because of the redemptive work that you accomplished on the cross. Lord, I am far from special. Lord, I am far from special. I am far from deserving of the grace that you've bestowed upon me. So Lord, we ask you today that you would show the same mercy on grace, on others that you've bestowed on to us. Lord, there's someone on my heart this morning who needs the gospel just as much as I do. I pray right now, in this moment, that you would save that person, that you would draw how them close to you. Lord, I know many of us in this room are thinking of individuals as well. Maybe we need to send a text that says, "Hey, can we grab coffee?" Maybe that person's about to send us a text saying, "Hey, we need to get together." Whatever the case may be, Lord, whether it's this afternoon, Monday morning, or even in the weeks ahead, when faced with the opportunity, Lord, to share the gospel with others and help point others to Christ, I pray, Lord, that we would be faithful. Lord, that you would fill us with your Holy Spirit and give us the words to say that would draw others close to you. And Lord, I lift up our government leaders to you this morning. Lord, you say in your word that you rise, kings and authorities and you place people in positions of power and you remove people from positions of power. Lord, I pray that you would give us Godly leaders, that you would give us good leaders, Lord, that you would draw our leaders towards you. That they would seek your will in your direction for the areas that they're in charge of. Lord, I confess I do not pray for our leaders enough. Help me in that. Help me to be faithful to lift up those in authority. Help us to be a church that intercedes on your behalf to the world around us. May we always be a praying church first before we do anything else. May we always be a church that seeks your face, your will, your direction for our lives before we make any decisions. I pray that you would continue to lead us and guide us, direct our steps, Lord. Help us keep our eyes focused on you. Help us to put our faith and hope in you alone. It's in your name, Lord, I pray. Amen. (upbeat music) - We'd love to have you as our guest. For more information, visit redeeminglifeutah.org. (gentle music) (upbeat music)