WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.000 --> 00:00:12.200 Turn with me again to this really precious book that we have, 1 Timothy. 2 00:00:12.200 --> 00:00:20.280 We are moving out of the first chapter into chapter 2 today. 3 00:00:20.280 --> 00:00:29.140 And before we read, let me just remind you once again what we've looked at in chapter 1. 4 00:00:29.140 --> 00:00:38.700 The issue is for the soul of the church at Ephesus. 5 00:00:38.700 --> 00:00:40.940 There's a struggle there. 6 00:00:40.940 --> 00:00:45.040 False teachers have infiltrated the congregation. 7 00:00:45.040 --> 00:01:02.160 They're promoting, as we have learned in chapter 1, Jewish myths, speculative genealogies, and they had a merit-based system of the Mosaic law that has taken the place of the true gospel of Jesus Christ. 8 00:01:02.160 --> 00:01:04.340 It's a serious problem in this church. 9 00:01:04.340 --> 00:01:09.560 This church would be lost if these serious problems are not corrected. 10 00:01:09.560 --> 00:01:13.100 And so Paul writes this letter to Timothy. 11 00:01:13.100 --> 00:01:19.080 It was a letter to Timothy, but it was a letter also to be read in the church. 12 00:01:19.080 --> 00:01:25.880 He writes Timothy to confront these teachers and restore the church to sound doctrine. 13 00:01:25.880 --> 00:01:31.020 Sound doctrine is the foundation for the very health of the church. 14 00:01:31.020 --> 00:01:34.980 How do you live your life before God in a godly way? 15 00:01:34.980 --> 00:01:42.860 How does a church conduct worship that is godly and received by the Lord? 16 00:01:42.860 --> 00:01:45.400 Chapter one moves from these things. 17 00:01:45.400 --> 00:01:59.400 In verses one and two, Paul has given the history of his call as an apostle which establishes his authority over the church. 18 00:01:59.400 --> 00:02:03.860 He also affirms Timothy in those verses. 19 00:02:03.860 --> 00:02:17.200 In verses 3-11 he talks about the charge, the command to Timothy to correct the false teaching and to correct these false teachers that are in the church. 20 00:02:17.200 --> 00:02:40.060 In the next section, verses 12-17, Paul gives his own testimony which shows how wonderfully superior the grace that comes to us through the gospel of Jesus Christ is over any merit-based religious system like those being promoted by these false teachers. 21 00:02:40.060 --> 00:02:44.980 And then finally, as we looked at last week, there's the solemn command. 22 00:02:44.980 --> 00:02:52.680 Paul, like a commander, is issuing a command to Timothy to fight the good fight. 23 00:02:52.680 --> 00:03:06.380 And then the chapter closes with a very solemn warning that has to do with these two men, Hymenaeus and Alexander, and the discipline. 24 00:03:06.380 --> 00:03:13.940 The warning is to make sure we don't suffer shipwreck of the faith as these men have done. 25 00:03:13.940 --> 00:03:27.760 And so then we move into chapter two, and verse one is a transition verse, but it focuses on something very important. 26 00:03:27.760 --> 00:03:32.240 It's the beginning of the instruction basically to the church. 27 00:03:32.240 --> 00:03:36.600 In chapter 2, we're beginning to talk about public worship. 28 00:03:36.600 --> 00:03:38.800 What's to take place in our public worship? 29 00:03:38.800 --> 00:03:47.200 How is that to be corrective to the church of Ephesus? 30 00:03:47.200 --> 00:03:50.080 And what does that mean for us today? 31 00:03:50.080 --> 00:03:53.180 That's where we're going with this this morning. 32 00:03:53.180 --> 00:04:05.120 So, we're talking about this call to prayer and to worship that is Paul's instruction. 33 00:04:05.120 --> 00:04:09.540 I'll read verses 1-7 and we'll consider these verses this morning. 34 00:04:09.540 --> 00:04:17.800 We'll survey these, and let me say at the beginning, there's a couple of very important doctrines that come up in these seven verses. 35 00:04:17.800 --> 00:04:29.800 So in the next couple of weeks we'll probably explore those in a little more depth. 36 00:04:29.800 --> 00:05:02.520 This is God's holy, inerrant word: First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. 37 00:05:02.520 --> 00:05:12.540 This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 38 00:05:12.540 --> 00:05:29.960 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time. 39 00:05:29.960 --> 00:05:48.280 For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying) as a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. 40 00:05:48.280 --> 00:06:04.860 Father, as we reflect on these words this morning, as we take in the truth of your word, Lord, we can't do that without the power of your Holy Spirit applying it to our heart. 41 00:06:04.860 --> 00:06:07.160 So we ask, Lord, your help. 42 00:06:07.160 --> 00:06:20.800 Father, I ask your help that as we explain this passage that we stay true to your word, that we explain accurately your word this week and in the next couple of weeks as we look at this passage. 43 00:06:20.800 --> 00:06:24.920 Father, I pray that you lead us into your truth. 44 00:06:24.920 --> 00:06:43.480 And Father, I pray for unity in this body in our thinking, Father, that we have unity as we pray our prayers before you, that we come together in harmony as only a church filled with your spirit can. 45 00:06:43.480 --> 00:06:59.640 We ask your help today as we glorify your name as we look at this passage and see the glorious truth of the nature of your great love for us, of the sacrifice and ministry of our savior, the Lord Jesus. 46 00:06:59.640 --> 00:07:09.320 Father, as we consider your glorious attributes, Father, lead our hearts to great thanksgiving for you. 47 00:07:09.320 --> 00:07:31.780 And Father, as we look at the practical entreaty that Paul has given us to expand our horizon and our prayers to consider all peoples and peoples around the world, Father, our nation and its leaders. 48 00:07:31.780 --> 00:07:35.340 Help us, Lord Jesus, as we consider these things. 49 00:07:35.340 --> 00:07:39.680 Father, everything depends on the truth of your word. 50 00:07:39.680 --> 00:07:45.880 Every revival comes about through your word being heard and responded to. 51 00:07:45.880 --> 00:07:53.060 Father, we ask your blessing on this word this morning that you begin this revival in our hearts. 52 00:07:53.060 --> 00:07:56.680 We ask this to the glory of our savior, the Lord Jesus. 53 00:07:56.680 --> 00:08:01.260 May you be honored through everything that happens today, we pray. 54 00:08:01.260 --> 00:08:15.880 Amen. 55 00:08:15.880 --> 00:08:20.240 We're going to talk about the priority of prayer and worship. 56 00:08:20.240 --> 00:08:25.460 Now, we've talked a lot since the beginning of this year about prayer. 57 00:08:25.460 --> 00:08:37.220 We've had several sermons on prayer and all of those really have been focused mostly on our individual prayer life. 58 00:08:37.220 --> 00:08:48.540 Today we're talking about something that's a little bit different than that, and that is corporate prayer—what we do when we come together to pray, what a church is to do. 59 00:08:48.540 --> 00:09:01.140 It's interesting that when Paul is beginning this section that has to do with what happens in a worship service, he says, "First of all." 60 00:09:01.140 --> 00:09:05.640 The priority is prayer. 61 00:09:05.640 --> 00:09:16.920 It's an easy thing, because of time constraints, to push out certain elements in your worship practice. 62 00:09:16.920 --> 00:09:36.020 And it's very important, I think, that we pay close attention to what it is that God wants us to do in our worship, because it is so easy for us to do what we want to do in our worship practice. 63 00:09:36.020 --> 00:09:39.720 And Paul puts this emphasis on prayer. 64 00:09:39.720 --> 00:09:51.300 The true value of united prayer is that God works wonderfully through the prayers of His church. 65 00:09:51.300 --> 00:10:05.360 I was thinking about people's practice in worship, prayer, and our attitudes. 66 00:10:05.360 --> 00:10:11.020 Sometimes we think we just need to pray a little louder or pray with more people. 67 00:10:11.020 --> 00:10:27.440 We pray and make a request to the Lord, and we aren't patient, but God is not answering our request right away and we solicit more prayer from other people. 68 00:10:27.440 --> 00:10:28.900 It's not wrong to do that. 69 00:10:28.900 --> 00:10:32.360 Certainly not. 70 00:10:32.360 --> 00:11:02.320 But sometimes we keep pressing that maybe if we do a little more, if we start practicing a few things called asceticism, if we fast longer—we can get to the place that's like the priests of Baal in Elijah's time where they're cutting their wrists, they're cutting their arms and bleeding, they're appealing to God and nothing's happening. 71 00:11:02.320 --> 00:11:05.740 And so they're doing all these things, crying out, wailing. 72 00:11:05.740 --> 00:11:13.300 You can do that, but that's not Christian prayer. 73 00:11:13.300 --> 00:11:26.220 What we're seeing in this passage, and what Paul is saying that a church needs to do when we come together for any of our public prayers, is we're to come together in unity. 74 00:11:26.220 --> 00:11:28.860 We're to come together in harmony. 75 00:11:28.860 --> 00:11:30.740 One person will be praying. 76 00:11:30.740 --> 00:11:33.920 Maybe the pastor of the church is praying. 77 00:11:33.920 --> 00:11:38.260 He's like the voice of the church lifting up requests to God. 78 00:11:38.260 --> 00:11:42.840 We're coming before our holy God to make requests for Him. 79 00:11:42.840 --> 00:11:48.100 We're in His presence making requests of God. 80 00:11:48.100 --> 00:11:59.740 And it's important that we have unity of mind and thought as we, as a whole, as a group of people in unity and harmony, are making these requests to the Lord. 81 00:11:59.740 --> 00:12:01.320 God honors that. 82 00:12:01.320 --> 00:12:05.620 That's what God is looking for in our corporate worship. 83 00:12:05.620 --> 00:12:11.540 We need t o be coming together first of all to pray. 84 00:12:11.540 --> 00:12:18.060 Prayer is literally having an audience with God. 85 00:12:18.060 --> 00:12:19.440 We're in His presence. 86 00:12:19.440 --> 00:12:26.620 We're coming directly into the presence of God to ask for and to receive things from Him. 87 00:12:26.620 --> 00:12:28.460 And so that's what we're to do. 88 00:12:28.460 --> 00:12:45.560 And then Paul explains and gives us several words to describe what that means: Entreaties: The root meaning of that Greek word has to do with a shortage, a lack. 89 00:12:45.560 --> 00:12:48.380 It's kind of interesting, isn't it? 90 00:12:48.380 --> 00:12:51.840 You're entreating for a need to be met. 91 00:12:51.840 --> 00:12:53.080 There's a need. 92 00:12:53.080 --> 00:13:19.960 The need in most of our prayers is in the person we're praying for. 93 00:13:19.960 --> 00:13:30.960 When we pray for mankind in general, we're generally praying that people come to Christ because there's a need for Him, but they lack it. 94 00:13:30.960 --> 00:13:33.320 There's a need in us as well. 95 00:13:33.320 --> 00:13:36.320 We don't have the power for that to happen. 96 00:13:36.320 --> 00:13:44.620 I mean, we're equipped with the word of God and we're given responsibilities and these things, but we can't make that happen. 97 00:13:44.620 --> 00:13:48.500 We're appealing to God to meet these needs. 98 00:13:48.500 --> 00:13:50.970 That's what it means to have an entreaty. 99 00:13:50.970 --> 00:14:01.300 Prayers: This is the very general word for prayer, and it is usually what we mean when we say pray. 100 00:14:01.300 --> 00:14:13.680 But one thing you should know is that whenever this word is used in the Bible, every time it's used, it's only used in reference to God. 101 00:14:13.680 --> 00:14:27.460 We can talk about pleading with people in all sorts of other contexts. 102 00:14:27.460 --> 00:14:31.080 But in the Bible, it's always used of God. 103 00:14:31.080 --> 00:14:33.900 And so it has to do with worship. 104 00:14:33.900 --> 00:14:40.340 We're coming together as a people of God to worship God in reverence and devotion. 105 00:14:40.340 --> 00:14:47.600 And we're speaking directly to our God. 106 00:14:47.600 --> 00:15:02.080 Petitions (or Intercessions): The idea has to do with falling in with someone to get involved with their struggles. 107 00:15:02.080 --> 00:15:10.720 You recognize this family is going through a difficult situation and so you lift them up. 108 00:15:10.720 --> 00:15:25.760 You feel the suffering that family, that person, that individual is going through, or you see the great need that they have because they may have a lack of wisdom that they need from God. 109 00:15:25.760 --> 00:15:41.760 So, we recognize that and we have compassion, and out of that compassion our prayers are offered up to God. 110 00:15:41.760 --> 00:15:51.500 Thanksgivings: This is talking about prayers of thanksgiving offered for others. 111 00:15:51.500 --> 00:15:59.020 And so we need to keep that in mind when we're praying and we're making these prayers on behalf of all men. 112 00:15:59.020 --> 00:16:05.260 If you read that as on behalf of all mankind you do no violence to this text. 113 00:16:05.260 --> 00:16:06.660 That's the idea. 114 00:16:06.660 --> 00:16:08.430 We're praying for mankind. 115 00:16:08.430 --> 00:16:10.080 We're praying for people. 116 00:16:10.080 --> 00:16:13.040 We're to be praying for all kinds of people. 117 00:16:13.040 --> 00:16:20.120 All people. 118 00:16:20.120 --> 00:16:26.080 Before I move to the kings, let me just think about the scope of this prayer. 119 00:16:26.080 --> 00:16:32.380 The universal scope being praying for all mankind. 120 00:16:32.380 --> 00:16:46.760 The reason he brings this up here in particular, the reason he exhorts the church at Ephesus to do this, is because it's corrective for the church at Ephesus. 121 00:16:46.760 --> 00:16:52.820 There's a correction that he's doing here because they're not praying for all people. 122 00:16:52.820 --> 00:16:56.900 They're not doing this. 123 00:16:56.900 --> 00:17:15.680 And that correction for the church at Ephesus is a wonderful guide for this church in Mayflower Hills. 124 00:17:15.680 --> 00:17:39.680 As we have looked in chapter one, as we've gotten to know the issues that these heretics had brought into the church, we recognize that they are coming from some type of Jewish expression. 125 00:17:39.680 --> 00:17:49.500 They're taking the principles of the Old Testament and applying it in a way to the church at Ephesus that is wrong. 126 00:17:49.500 --> 00:18:05.420 Among the things we've talked about is using the law of God as a means of merit to win merit with God to be saved through the keeping of the law. 127 00:18:05.420 --> 00:18:23.380 It is almost certain that they are looking with the kind of Jewish exclusivism that was characteristic in Old Testament times or among the Pharisees in the New Testament. 128 00:18:23.380 --> 00:18:32.360 These are people who have identified themselves as Christians but they're saying all this stuff we need to bring into Christianity. 129 00:18:32.360 --> 00:18:35.980 And so part of that was Jewish exclusivism. 130 00:18:35.980 --> 00:18:42.660 The idea that salvation belongs exclusively to law-keeping Jews. 131 00:18:42.660 --> 00:18:57.040 And if you want to be saved and you're not a law-keeping Jew, then you need to become a proselyte so that you can be embraced by the Jewish community and be a law-keeping proselyte Jew. 132 00:18:57.040 --> 00:19:04.320 That's almost certainly where these people are going and so what are they not doing? 133 00:19:04.320 --> 00:19:07.320 They're focusing completely on themselves. 134 00:19:07.320 --> 00:19:25.420 They think that they have a special unique knowledge and understanding and when we get this knowledge and become part of this inner group, this exclusive group, you have merit with God. 135 00:19:25.420 --> 00:19:27.720 And Paul is confronting that. 136 00:19:27.720 --> 00:19:30.540 It means they're not praying for all mankind. 137 00:19:30.540 --> 00:19:33.740 They're not praying for the kings and for all those who are in authority. 138 00:19:33.740 --> 00:19:41.460 So the corrective for the church at Ephesus is for them to see the need for this. 139 00:19:41.460 --> 00:19:47.080 They need to be praying for all mankind. 140 00:19:47.080 --> 00:19:59.040 I don't know if you noticed it when we were reading, but one of the really interesting things that happens in this text is this emphasis on all Did you notice that? 141 00:19:59.040 --> 00:20:25.600 I'm going to give you four of the six right now: In verse 1, all men In verse 2, all who are in authority In verse 4, all men to be saved In verse 6, a ransom for all You hear that repetition of that word all? 142 00:20:25.600 --> 00:20:32.840 He's saying we're not to be just praying for us in our group. 143 00:20:32.840 --> 00:20:45.500 Our prayers need to push out to the true mission of the church, the outreach of the church, the purpose of God's kingdom in this world. 144 00:20:45.500 --> 00:20:49.910 We're to be praying out not just for ourselves. 145 00:20:49.910 --> 00:21:08.380 So Paul in a very powerful way corrects their narrow thinking and he encourages them with these truths that God's desire is for all people to be saved. 146 00:21:08.380 --> 00:21:19.340 Christ gave himself a ransom for all, and Paul is appointed as a teacher and apostle to the Gentiles. 147 00:21:19.340 --> 00:21:35.480 The next thing he moves from this very broad general praying for mankind, specifically for kings and all who are in authority. 148 00:21:35.480 --> 00:21:53.220 Now, for us to really get this, to appreciate it, you need to think about the Apostle Paul and the church at Ephesus, Christians in the first century. 149 00:21:53.220 --> 00:21:59.200 Who was the greatest political authority over the church of Ephesus? 150 00:21:59.200 --> 00:22:05.340 Who was the ultimate political leader at that time? 151 00:22:05.340 --> 00:22:08.160 It was Nero. 152 00:22:08.160 --> 00:22:10.740 You remember that name? 153 00:22:10.740 --> 00:22:15.760 Paul is in prison. 154 00:22:15.760 --> 00:22:18.160 He's appealed to Nero. 155 00:22:18.160 --> 00:22:26.280 In a fairly short time, a few years later, Nero will have him executed. 156 00:22:26.280 --> 00:22:29.700 He will be put to death. 157 00:22:29.700 --> 00:22:33.980 Nero is not a friend to the church. 158 00:22:33.980 --> 00:22:39.860 The leaders in Rome are not friends of the church. 159 00:22:39.860 --> 00:22:42.140 These are the very enemies of the church. 160 00:22:42.140 --> 00:22:49.880 I mean, if you didn't worship Nero—and a Christian could not do that—you were persecuted. 161 00:22:49.880 --> 00:23:00.260 Paul says, remember, think about their needs. 162 00:23:00.260 --> 00:23:05.100 Pray prayers for them. 163 00:23:05.100 --> 00:23:12.840 Do so with compassion and thanksgiving for these leaders. 164 00:23:12.840 --> 00:23:15.540 You are to thank God for them. 165 00:23:15.540 --> 00:23:19.980 You're to lift them up because they have great need. 166 00:23:19.980 --> 00:23:25.010 We're to pray for our leaders. 167 00:23:25.010 --> 00:23:29.900 We're to pray for our president, for his cabinet. 168 00:23:29.900 --> 00:23:34.280 We're to pray for the Supreme Court, for Congress, both sides of that. 169 00:23:34.280 --> 00:23:35.910 We're to pray for these people. 170 00:23:35.910 --> 00:23:38.700 We're to lift them up before God. 171 00:23:38.700 --> 00:23:40.840 We should be doing that corporately. 172 00:23:40.840 --> 00:23:44.440 I think I've failed to do that in a regular way corporately. 173 00:23:44.440 --> 00:23:47.340 We need to do it far more often. 174 00:23:47.340 --> 00:23:52.360 We do pray often for issues like this. 175 00:23:52.360 --> 00:23:57.000 We get caught up thinking about issues. 176 00:23:57.000 --> 00:24:00.280 We pray that this bill would not be passed. 177 00:24:00.280 --> 00:24:03.400 We pray that this person would not be elected. 178 00:24:03.400 --> 00:24:05.893 We pray all sorts of prayers like that. 179 00:24:05.893 --> 00:24:23.480 And I'm not sure it's wrong to pray some of those prayers, but that's not the focus of this passage. 180 00:24:23.480 --> 00:24:39.780 The lens that I often pray with when I'm thinking about our political leaders, I pray with these glasses of our partisan politics and I can't help that's the way I think. 181 00:24:39.780 --> 00:24:50.460 And the prayers that I pray, a few of them, have a tendency to move toward the imprecatory side where I'm asking for God's judgment on this or that. 182 00:24:50.460 --> 00:24:53.670 It's easy for us to do something like that. 183 00:24:53.670 --> 00:24:57.280 That's not what he's talking about here. 184 00:24:57.280 --> 00:25:18.180 He is saying that we're to pray for our leaders through the lens of the cross of Jesus Christ, through the one who loves all mankind and wants everyone to come to faith in Him, whose heart's desire is for people to come to faith in Him. 185 00:25:18.180 --> 00:25:32.870 We're to lift up our leaders, the ones we hate, the ones we have a tendency to hate, we're to lift them up asking for God's blessing for them. 186 00:25:32.870 --> 00:25:37.710 It's hard to do that, isn't it? 187 00:25:37.710 --> 00:25:42.050 It's difficult to do that. 188 00:25:42.050 --> 00:25:46.520 We're to do that. 189 00:25:46.520 --> 00:26:00.400 You know, if you're lifting up someone to God in prayer, you can't do that and hate them. 190 00:26:00.400 --> 00:26:10.420 One of the ways that we are to love our enemies as Jesus instructed us to do is to lift them up in prayer and pray for them. 191 00:26:10.420 --> 00:26:56.080 We need to practice that and we need to begin with these leaders, so that God's church around the world can operate in peace and cultivate godliness and unity. 192 00:26:56.080 --> 00:27:03.800 One of the things that we need to move to now is the doctrines that drive this practice. 193 00:27:03.800 --> 00:27:09.780 And we see the first of these in verses 3 and 4. 194 00:27:09.780 --> 00:27:13.980 Why are we to pray these prayers? 195 00:27:13.980 --> 00:27:17.080 Because this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior. 196 00:27:17.080 --> 00:27:40.180 And I probably ought to back up because I skipped over this verse: "...for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity." 197 00:27:40.180 --> 00:27:57.040 What this verse is saying is not just that we are at peace, but that we are able to live the kind of life that reflects godliness. 198 00:27:57.040 --> 00:28:08.060 That's a word that flows through these books—1 and 2 Timothy and Titus—Paul goes back to that word over and over again. 199 00:28:08.060 --> 00:28:16.160 A godly life, a life that reflects the nature of God Himself, a life of piety. 200 00:28:16.160 --> 00:28:27.470 And dignity: we're to live a life that conveys unity. 201 00:28:27.470 --> 00:28:43.680 We're to pray this prayer so that we can sound forth the gospel of Jesus Christ to this world, because that's good in God's sight. 202 00:28:43.680 --> 00:28:48.900 He wants people to come to faith in Him. 203 00:28:48.900 --> 00:28:54.760 In the church of Ephesus, they didn't have that kind of unity. 204 00:28:54.760 --> 00:28:58.000 They didn't have dignity. 205 00:28:58.000 --> 00:29:02.600 They were arguing over trivial things. 206 00:29:02.600 --> 00:29:10.500 They're bringing up trivial things for people to debate. 207 00:29:10.500 --> 00:29:16.240 It's the sound of the purity of the church not going out. 208 00:29:16.240 --> 00:29:31.200 Every Sunday morning, David, just a few minutes before the service is ready to start, goes out and he rings that bell. 209 00:29:31.200 --> 00:29:33.660 You can hear that bell ringing in the park. 210 00:29:33.660 --> 00:29:36.420 You can hear it houses away. 211 00:29:36.420 --> 00:29:39.590 Pure and beautiful sound of the bell. 212 00:29:39.590 --> 00:29:54.060 If we had construction workers working on our duct system and they left some sheet metal against that bell when he got up to ring it, well, it wouldn't sound so pure, would it? 213 00:29:54.060 --> 00:30:00.600 It would be deadened by that sheet of metal and there would be a clamoring and a clanging. 214 00:30:00.600 --> 00:30:12.300 Now, for the purity of the gospel to go out, for us to be able to express that in a way that people hear and respond to it, we have to have been changed on the inside. 215 00:30:12.300 --> 00:30:20.200 We have to reflect the truth of God's word in our life, in our demeanor, in our fellowship. 216 00:30:20.200 --> 00:30:34.120 We're to have unity in our fellowship so that the sounding of the gospel goes out. 217 00:30:34.120 --> 00:30:56.540 For this reason, this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our savior who desires all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. 218 00:30:56.540 --> 00:31:27.340 The doctrines that come up here in the next section have to do with God's heart for all people to come to salvation. 219 00:31:27.340 --> 00:31:33.480 And the second one is that we have one God and one mediator. 220 00:31:33.480 --> 00:31:56.600 We live in an age today where truth is lost actually by making it universal for every group. 221 00:31:56.600 --> 00:32:02.520 In our postmodern age, truth is only true for your group. 222 00:32:02.520 --> 00:32:06.980 You decide on what's true for you and it's true for you. 223 00:32:06.980 --> 00:32:11.080 Another denomination or religion decides on what's true for them. 224 00:32:11.080 --> 00:32:21.840 Well, that's true for them, it's truly true for you, even if those truths contradict themselves completely. 225 00:32:21.840 --> 00:32:31.000 Religious pluralism says that everybody has truth that leads them up to heaven. 226 00:32:31.000 --> 00:33:09.240 And there's churches in this valley, all over the United States and all over the world, that teach this this morning—that Christians are approaching God through Jesus Christ, but a Buddhist comes to God through the teachings of Buddha, and a Muslim comes to God through the teachings of Muhammad, and Hindus come to God through their gods. 227 00:33:09.240 --> 00:33:15.240 Everybody is on their way to this glorious place and we come through different paths. 228 00:33:15.240 --> 00:33:23.540 Well, that's not true at all. 229 00:33:23.540 --> 00:33:29.460 If you believe what I've just said, then you are not a Christian. 230 00:33:29.460 --> 00:33:33.160 You don't believe what Jesus Christ has said. 231 00:33:33.160 --> 00:33:42.560 It's important that we recognize that there is a true exclusivism. 232 00:33:42.560 --> 00:33:56.620 Today if you say that your way is the only way to heaven, people treat that as if you are speaking hatefully for every other group. 233 00:33:56.620 --> 00:34:01.560 You're treated like a bigot. 234 00:34:01.560 --> 00:34:12.100 That's the way people view Christianity today. 235 00:34:12.100 --> 00:34:24.640 Exclusivism is the belief that only one specific religion or one particular interpretation within a religion is true and constitutes the only valid path to salvation or ultimate reality. 236 00:34:24.640 --> 00:34:30.800 Christianity is certainly not pluralistic in that sense. 237 00:34:30.800 --> 00:34:37.380 Jesus said: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me." 238 00:34:37.380 --> 00:34:47.480 This passage is saying that there is one God, one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. 239 00:34:47.480 --> 00:34:52.290 There is one bridge that leads us to God. 240 00:34:52.290 --> 00:34:54.000 There's one truth. 241 00:34:54.000 --> 00:35:01.040 Jesus is the ultimate reality and the source of all reality. 242 00:35:01.040 --> 00:35:04.420 He's the source of spiritual eternal life. 243 00:35:04.420 --> 00:35:18.317 "And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved." 244 00:35:18.317 --> 00:35:24.200 (Acts 4:12) "For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it." 245 00:35:24.200 --> 00:35:33.440 (Matthew 7:14) So, it's exclusive in the sense that the only people that are ever saved are those who come to God through Jesus Christ. 246 00:35:33.440 --> 00:35:35.120 No other way. 247 00:35:35.120 --> 00:35:38.820 And yet that way is opened up to all mankind. 248 00:35:38.820 --> 00:35:41.960 It's offered to all mankind. 249 00:35:41.960 --> 00:35:52.820 The gospel goes out to everyone and everyone is responsible to hear and respond to the gospel. 250 00:35:52.820 --> 00:36:07.800 It's offered to people equally whether they're Jews or Gentiles or good or bad or educated or uneducated, whether they're rich or poor. 251 00:36:07.800 --> 00:36:15.400 Jesus Christ gave Himself as a ransom for all. 252 00:36:15.400 --> 00:36:30.320 A couple generations ago, a preacher, Donald Barnhouse, used an illustration from Euclidean geometry, actually from Euclid himself. 253 00:36:30.320 --> 00:36:38.420 Euclid was a Greek philosopher considered the father of geometry. 254 00:36:38.420 --> 00:36:44.960 You can read the translations of his works and learn a great deal about how geometry works. 255 00:36:44.960 --> 00:36:47.180 He didn't happen yesterday. 256 00:36:47.180 --> 00:36:48.820 He didn't live a century ago. 257 00:36:48.820 --> 00:37:00.240 He lived 300 years before Jesus was born. 258 00:37:00.240 --> 00:37:12.260 One of his students was a prince of Egypt named Ptolemy Soter, and he became ultimately one of the kings of Egypt. 259 00:37:12.260 --> 00:37:22.860 While he was a student of Euclid, he began to complain about his studies. 260 00:37:22.860 --> 00:37:31.280 It was hard. 261 00:37:31.280 --> 00:37:41.080 He says, "Can't you make this simpler? 262 00:37:41.080 --> 00:37:45.980 Can't the study of mathematics be made easier for me?" 263 00:37:45.980 --> 00:37:56.400 Euclid regarded his pupil seriously and then in a serious voice he said something that has echoed through the ages. 264 00:37:56.400 --> 00:38:02.740 He said, "There is no royal road to learning." 265 00:38:02.740 --> 00:38:07.660 Just because you're a prince, there's no easy path for you. 266 00:38:07.660 --> 00:38:14.280 And it's true with salvation. 267 00:38:14.280 --> 00:38:15.680 There's only one way. 268 00:38:15.680 --> 00:38:19.260 And that way is through Jesus Christ. 269 00:38:19.260 --> 00:39:00.160 A king or a peasant, a righteous man or a monster of iniquity, they travel exactly the same road to find salvation. 270 00:39:00.160 --> 00:39:17.560 The way is open to all, but there is only one way. 271 00:39:17.560 --> 00:39:29.400 The Apostle Paul concludes this argument by pointing out that he was called as a minister, an apostle to the Gentiles. 272 00:39:29.400 --> 00:39:34.640 See how that contradicts the idea that it's exclusive to this Jewish group? 273 00:39:34.640 --> 00:39:44.440 No, it's open to all Gentile peoples, to every nation and group and every class of person. 274 00:39:44.440 --> 00:39:47.520 The gospel is available to them. 275 00:39:47.520 --> 00:40:02.380 Paul makes that final point and in doing that he's echoing the mission of the church: "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 276 00:40:02.380 --> 00:40:19.620 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." 277 00:40:19.620 --> 00:40:23.760 Let's put this into practice. 278 00:40:23.760 --> 00:40:28.880 I want to begin by praying for our leaders in our country this morning. 279 00:40:28.880 --> 00:40:49.300 This morning it came up naturally in the Sunday school lesson that the great revivals in history have come about through the reading and the hearing of the word of God. 280 00:40:49.300 --> 00:40:59.120 So here's an opportunity this week for us to pray for our leaders because there's a televised event happening this week. 281 00:40:59.120 --> 00:41:12.180 The Bible Museum in Washington DC is doing a reading of the entire Bible this week and it's televised. 282 00:41:12.180 --> 00:41:19.260 We should pray for the people who hear the word of God read. 283 00:41:19.260 --> 00:41:29.760 Many leaders and famous people, more than 400 of them, are going to be doing the readings, including a portion read by President Trump. 284 00:41:29.760 --> 00:41:33.380 His cabinet will do readings. 285 00:41:33.380 --> 00:41:41.720 Other governors and people from across the country are going to do readings to read through the entire scripture, the word of God. 286 00:41:41.720 --> 00:41:44.360 Now, I don't know their heart. 287 00:41:44.360 --> 00:41:51.220 They could be motivated because of politics to be doing this. 288 00:41:51.220 --> 00:41:52.800 I don't know their heart. 289 00:41:52.800 --> 00:41:59.120 But I do know this: the word of God is powerful and it changes hearts. 290 00:41:59.120 --> 00:42:06.140 And what a wonderful time to pray that this word changes people's hearts. 291 00:42:06.140 --> 00:42:11.500 So I'm going to begin with that as we pray and close our service. 292 00:42:11.500 --> 00:42:16.560 I want us to think expansively about our prayer life. 293 00:42:16.560 --> 00:42:22.160 Father, we thank you for this beautiful thing that's about to happen. 294 00:42:22.160 --> 00:42:25.540 It's always good, Lord, for your word to go out. 295 00:42:25.540 --> 00:42:31.720 We pray for your word going out through our nation and throughout the world. 296 00:42:31.720 --> 00:42:40.400 Father, we thank you for this work of the Bible Museum to televise this event of the full reading of the word of God. 297 00:42:40.400 --> 00:42:59.120 We thank you, Father, that many have consented to participate in this from our president and his cabinet to many significant leaders across this country and other people who are prominent. 298 00:42:59.120 --> 00:43:11.960 Father, we recognize they may not know you, but Lord, they're reading the very word that can bring them to you. 299 00:43:11.960 --> 00:43:24.620 We ask, Father, for the power of your word to make its place in their heart, that many would come to faith, not just them, but those who hear the reading of the word this week. 300 00:43:24.620 --> 00:43:26.840 Father, we pray for our nation. 301 00:43:26.840 --> 00:43:40.280 We pray that you do a work of grace, bringing many to faith in you, to those people that we would not want to lift up, not want to ask blessing on. 302 00:43:40.280 --> 00:43:46.300 First of all, Father, they so need you. 303 00:43:46.300 --> 00:43:50.760 And Father, we pray for your work going forth around the world. 304 00:43:50.760 --> 00:43:53.900 We pray for all mankind. 305 00:43:53.900 --> 00:44:02.480 Father, we support Heart Cry Missionary Society who have indigenous missionaries all over the world. 306 00:44:02.480 --> 00:44:04.000 We pray for that work. 307 00:44:04.000 --> 00:44:06.720 We pray for the individual missionaries. 308 00:44:06.720 --> 00:44:17.220 We pray for difficult situations like the orphanage situation in Myanmar. 309 00:44:17.220 --> 00:44:24.260 We ask Lord that you protect those Christians there and bless them. 310 00:44:24.260 --> 00:44:40.720 Father, we pray for the evangelism efforts, the gospel tracts that have been distributed, the thousands and thousands of tracts in East Asia, that you would bless that and bring people to faith through the work that's going on. 311 00:44:40.720 --> 00:44:51.120 We pray, Father, for people in that ministry who have loved ones that are so sick, it's even distracting from the ministry. 312 00:44:51.120 --> 00:44:52.840 Please meet needs. 313 00:44:52.840 --> 00:45:02.500 Father, we pray for safety for the missionaries and give them wisdom and encouragement in the difficulties that they face. 314 00:45:02.500 --> 00:45:07.700 Lord, we pray for another ministry, Gideons International, that we support. 315 00:45:07.700 --> 00:45:16.380 We thank you, Father, for this ministry because they distribute scripture all over the world. 316 00:45:16.380 --> 00:45:25.260 We pray that many individuals and whole families would come to faith through the reading of the Bible and the New Testaments that they put out. 317 00:45:25.260 --> 00:45:29.360 We pray that you open doors so that they can be distributed. 318 00:45:29.360 --> 00:45:32.680 We pray for safety in their travels. 319 00:45:32.680 --> 00:45:40.800 And we ask, Father, that you provide funds that are necessary for them, for these ministries, for other ministries, Father, that we're connected with. 320 00:45:40.800 --> 00:45:45.000 Lord, you have a great work going on throughout the world. 321 00:45:45.000 --> 00:45:56.160 And Father, we are connected directly with that work through the power of your spirit, through your word, and through the commission of Jesus Christ. 322 00:45:56.160 --> 00:45:58.360 We ask Lord your blessing. 323 00:45:58.360 --> 00:46:04.920 As we look outward, we look up to you in praise and adoration. 324 00:46:04.920 --> 00:46:24.300 We look outward to this needy world and ask, Father, for your redeeming grace, for your work to be done, that many would come to faith in you, that many would become worshippers of you, that many would for all eternity give glory to your name. 325 00:46:24.300 --> 00:46:35.920 May our savior be glorified in every way. 326 00:46:35.920 --> 00:46:42.400 We ask this truly to the glory of Christ in his name. 327 00:46:42.400 --> 00:46:44.400 Amen.