Old Town Christian Fellowship
1 Timothy 2:1-8
One God and one Mediator.
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  • I Timothy 2:1-8

    Good morning church! Open your Bibles with me please to 1 Timothy chapter 2 for a message entitled One God and one Mediator. Let’s pray: Father, we ask this morning that you would be our teacher, that by the same Spirit that these Scriptures were inspired, you would illuminate our understanding, and bring these old words to life. Give us understanding, and application for our lives today. We ask this in Jesus name, amen.
    We began our study of this little letter a couple of weeks back now and we have been taking our time, trying to see what we can see, and discover all that is to discover in here for us today. I won’t review the whole history, but there have been several different things that we have looked at.
    We discovered that Paul had to travel on to a place called Macedonia and when he did, Timothy, a young pastor was asked to stay at the church in Ephesus and really to clean up some messes, and redirect those that had gotten off track.
    The church in Ephesus was a very busy church, they were active, but their talk and their walk had strayed away from keeping the main thing the main thing. It wasn’t even necessarily that they had drifted into heretical things, but Jesus was no longer central, and priority was no longer given to the Word of God. So Paul instructed Timothy to charge them or command them to stick to Sound Doctrine, that taught by the Apostles and what was found in the Word of God... and have no other doctrine.
    Later in the 1st chapter Paul gave us a picture of his story. Told us about the man that he was before Jesus. He was a blasphemer, he trashed the name of Jesus, he persecuted the church, I don’t have to go through the whole list, but he ended with that he was the Chief of all sinners, but yet he obtained mercy. He was counted faithful, and put into the ministry.
    We looked at how the church in Jerusalem responded to Paul when he came to Christ and wanted to join them. These church people, all of them sinners saved by grace, were afraid of Paul, didn’t really want him as part of their church, it was as if they doubted that Jesus could radically save wretched sinners…they must not have had mirrors back then I’m guessing.
    Now Paul begins to transition and begin a series of instructions about what church should look like, how we should act toward one another. Remember we identified the theme of this book from Paul’s statement in chapter three that he was writing these things so we would know how to conduct ourselves in the House of God.
    SO we read on week one that this is the house of God, it’s not your house, it’s not my house, it is God’s house, we, you and me are the church, which is identified both as the Body of Christ and the Bride of Christ. So Paul lays out for us now what Body Life should look like. The roles of men, the role of women, yes the Bible recognizes both a difference between men and women, and a difference between the roles of men and women. It’s His house, His rules. So we will get to all that fun stuff, but probably not today.
    Let’s read through the beginning part of this chapter because I think there is more to chew on here than what first meets the eye.
    1 Timothy 2:1–4 NKJV
    1 Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. 3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
    1 Timothy 2:5–8 NKJV
    5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time, 7 for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle—I am speaking the truth in Christ and not lying—a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. 8 I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting;
    So again, Paul is talking about when we gather together corporately, he says I want you guys to pray together. When we go all the way back to the book of Genesis, when Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden, the Bible talks about them hearing the sound of the Lord walking in the Garden in the cool of the day and they were afraid and they hid from God.
    Why were they afraid? Because they had both sinned and that sin separated them from that fellowship with God. But that description gives us an idea of what kind of relationship that Adam and Eve had with their Father in Heaven. No hindrance in their relationship, nor in their communication. But with sin, separation happened.
    God desires us to pray, to talk with Him, not just at Him. In fact, as Paul begins here, understand that he is not rattling off a list of thing for us to do, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, but He is saying start with this, 1st in priority. 1 Tim 2:1
    1 Timothy 2:1 NKJV
    1 Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men,
    So the idea is first of all things prayer. First in priority, prayer. He then gives us 4 words describing different aspects of prayer. The first being supplications, or asking. Letting our needs be made known to God and talking to Him about them. One of the benefits of this I have found is He will help us discern between our needs and our wants. My wife knows this. Often times I’ll say to Nicole, hey Honey, you know what I need? And it will be something really awesome like a new motorcycle or something, and she’ll say, huh, well why don’t you pray about that.
    And God will show me what I thought was a need, maybe really wasn’t. Pretty sure the two of them have something cooked up together. But supplications can be pouring our hearts out before God. And asking Him to heal, to strengthen, to give us endurance, provision, supplications are our asks of God. Now the entirety of our prayers shouldn’t look like one big Christmas list. Our communication shouldn’t just be asking Him for stuff, but we can pray the promises that are found in His Word for ourselves. There are Gifts of the Holy Spirit that we can ask for.
    Then we have the word prayers. Now this is the biggest, most general word here for prayer. It can simply mean any communication that we have with God. And understand that all true prayer is directed to God. We don’t pray to each other, we don’t pray to those that have gone before us, we don’t pray to Saints. Prayer is directed to God alone.
    He then speaks of intercessions. You guys have heard of intercessory prayer. The idea being that you are praying on behalf of someone else. Asking God to meet their need. Asking God for what they can’t or won’t ask for themselves. But you are standing in the gap for them. Asking God to move for them, through your prayers on their behalf.
    And finally prayer is never complete without the giving of thanks. Acknowledging that all good gifts come from our Father above…but wait, here specifically he mentions the giving of thanks be made for all men. This is a general term to refer to humanity, both men and women. Most of us don’t have a problem thanking God for our families, our friends, the people that we like or love. Our church family, maybe our neighbors, the people on our block with the same political signs as us.
    But it says giving of thanks be made for all men. Now if some of you are starting to wonder if last weeks Growth Group question about are there certain people that you tend to identify by their sin, rather than as people that Jesus came to save, was a set up for this…maybe.
    If you think it might just be a translation thing, Paul wanted to make it crystal clear so he says it here giving thank for All men, those words all men are used again in verse 4, and again in verse 6.
    So when the church gathers to pray we should be making supplications, we should be thanking God, not just for the folks that bless your kids in Children’s ministry, or make your favorite coffee drink in the cafe and serve it with a smile. But we’re to thank him for the guy that was ahead of you this morning driving 10 mph under the speed limit. Thank God for the one that you struggle to love and honestly don’t like. How in the world do you do that? That is a good thing to talk to God about in supplication tell Him you need His help on that one.
    Please, please, please intercede in prayer for me, for my family, for pastor Jim and his family, for those that serve in the leadership of this church, for those that attend this church. AND, pray for those within our reach that don’t plan on ever going to a church in their lives, those are the ones your pastor came here to reach. Let me remind you church. We are having a breakfast here on Resurrection Sunday before the service, so that we can celebrate the greatest day in the history of mankind, and so that you can invite someone that needs to know that they are loved by God and can be forgiven of every wicked thing that they have ever done. Even the things they have trouble forgiving themselves for. Invite someone to freedom from bondage, freedom in Christ.
    And just in case we are wondering if the all men is limited to just the good guys, nope Paul says pray for those in government as well. No, read Romans 13, God says those are the good guys. Romans 13:3-4
    Romans 13:3–4 NKJV
    3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. 4 For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil.
    So, Paul tells us to pray for all men,
    1 Timothy 2:2 NKJV
    2 for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.
    and then he gives us the why…that we may...
    So if we have leaders that are followers of Christ, pray for them. Pray that they would be bold in their faith, strong in their convictions, and be men and women of integrity that will fight to keep an even playing field for the church. That in our ever growing world of tolerance, the church would not be persecuted in this nation.
    Now what about our leaders that are not followers of God. What about our leaders that are like Paul was, blasphemers, enemies of God, persecutors of the church. Well then we should pray for all men, for kings and all who are in authority. Pray that by the grace and mercy of God, that they would be overwhelmed by the love of God, and recognizing their need for a Saviour would surrender to Him.
    Notice there is no distinction of political party here, no qualifier of agreement on positions. And before you say well this Bible guy Paul didn’t have to live with the Governor we have, or the president that we have, well, ok you’re right, he didn’t. You know who he did have to deal with, who was in power at the time that he wrote this? Crazy Caesar Nero, who I can’t even give a just description of in church. If you’re curious, look him up. He would set Christians on fire as human torches to illuminate his gardens. He would strap dead animal skins to them to entertain himself and watch them be attacked and killed by dogs.
    Notice though that Paul give us a purpose for doing so. He gives the instruction to do it, but then shows us the application in our lives, pray for them that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. Is that how you would currently describe live in the United States, or in the State of Maine in 2023? Think maybe we should start praying instead of complaining? Listen that is not an accusation toward you, I’m just telling you what God has told me to do.
    Verse 3 1 Tim 2:3-4
    1 Timothy 2:3–4 NKJV
    3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
    Notice verse three, who is our Savior? God, the Lord Jesus is God. Who desires all men to be saved, that means your friends that aren’t saved that you’re going to invite for church and breakfast. Tell them you’ll pay. He wants them to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. What is the truth? According to Jesus it’s Him John 14:6
    John 14:6 NKJV
    6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
    Notice He doesn’t say there are many ways, or that all ways lead to Heaven, He says that the only way is through Him.
    and we just read that 1 Tim 2:4
    1 Timothy 2:4 NKJV
    4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
    God desires, and has made the way available to all men, but does that mean that all are saved? No. He loves us enough not to force us. Loves us enough to make us all free agents with the right and the responsibility to chose, alone with the consequences of those choices, but God doesn not want to be worshiped by an army of puppets. But He wants you to be saved and to know that the words that I am saying are the truth.
    Much of the world has bought into what is sometimes called universalism. The idea that everybody goes to Heaven in the end, or that when we die we all go to a better place, and it is simply not true. Proverbs tells us…Prov 14:12
    Proverbs 14:12 NKJV
    12 There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.
    ​
    Check out verse 5 and I could camp out here for weeks! Let me read it. 1 Tim 2:5
    1 Timothy 2:5 NKJV
    5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,
    This is such an amazing truth. This is part of the reason that Jesus was sent, so that we could once again walk with God and talk with God, like in the Garden, so that could be restored. Whenever tragedy strikes, people seem to point to Job in the Bible. If you don’t know his story, Job was a righteous man, who lost everything that he had and everyone that he loved. I shouldn’t say that. His wife was still there telling him to curse God and die, I assume he loved her.
    But Job is crying out in anguish, unspeakable pain, lack of understanding and he says, Job 9:32-35
    Job 9:32–35 NKJV
    32 “For He is not a man, as I am, That I may answer Him, And that we should go to court together. 33 Nor is there any mediator between us, Who may lay his hand on us both. 34 Let Him take His rod away from me, And do not let dread of Him terrify me. 35 Then I would speak and not fear Him, But it is not so with me.
    It is not so with me, there isn’t any mediator between us, and in response He sent His Son. We now have what Job did not. We don’t need to go through a temple priest, we don’t need the pastor to be our mediator, we have the man Christ Jesus. The One with the holes in his hands testifying of His great love for us. The God man Christ Jesus. The only One who could mediate for us with a hand on God and a hand on man. And He remains to this day, fully God and fully man, interceding on our behalf. AND this affirms Him as the only way to Heaven.
    1 Timothy 2:6 NKJV
    6 who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time,
    His death on the cross was sufficient for all. None that come to Him will be turned away, but they must come. The bible is clear that the penalty for our sins is death, separation from God for all of eternity in a place called Hell. But this One Mediator, came, lived a sinless life, and then suffered a horrible death to pay the price we could never pay, if we come and ask Him to forgive us of our sins, and to put our debt on His account.
    1 Timothy 2:7–8 NKJV
    7 for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle—I am speaking the truth in Christ and not lying—a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. 8 I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting;
    Grace and Peace!

        • 1 Timothy 2:1–4NKJV

        • 1 Timothy 2:5–8NKJV

        • 1 Timothy 2:1NKJV

        • Romans 13:3–4NKJV

        • 1 Timothy 2:2NKJV

        • 1 Timothy 2:3–4NKJV

        • John 14:6NKJV

        • 1 Timothy 2:4NKJV

        • Proverbs 14:12NKJV

        • 1 Timothy 2:5NKJV

        • Job 9:32–35NKJV

        • 1 Timothy 2:6NKJV

        • 1 Timothy 2:7–8NKJV

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