Prayer Propels the Gospel Message 2 1 Timothy 2:1-7
We are to pray for our Authorities
This was not a prayer to live a quiet middle-class life, free from stress, as some critics have charged
The indisputable fact is, the best argument for and against Christianity is Christianity—or more precisely, how Christians practice their Christianity! Christianity lived out can make inroads where few other things can.
As far as we know, Thomas Huxley, the famous agnostic, never put his faith in Christ, but he did experience some degree of conviction. Toward the end of his life, Huxley was a guest at a retreat in a country home. Sunday came, and most of the guests went to church. Naturally, Huxley did not go. Alone, he approached a man known to have a simple and radiant Christian faith. Huxley said, “Suppose you don’t go to church today. Suppose you stay at home and you tell me quite simply what your Christian faith means to you and why you are a Christian.” “But,” said the man, “you could demolish my arguments in an instant. I am not clever enough to argue with you.” Huxley gently replied, “I don’t want to argue with you; I just want you to tell me simply what this Christ means to you.” The man stayed and did as Huxley had requested. When he finished, there were tears in the old agnostic’s eyes.
In fact, prayer brought down the Berlin Wall. In May 1989 at Leipzig, in the historic Nicolai Kirche (St. Nicholas Church) where the Reformation had been introduced exactly 450 years earlier, a small group began to meet in one of the church’s rooms to read the Sermon on the Mount and pray for peace. The group expanded and moved to a larger room and finally began to meet in the church’s nave, which began to fill up. Alarmed, the Communist authorities sent officials to attend. They threatened the gatherers and temporarily jailed some. On prayer nights they blocked the city’s nearest Autobahn off-ramp. Then on October 9, 1989, some 2,000 individuals crowded in to pray for peace, and another 10,000 gathered outside. And soon the Berlin Wall came down. Coincidence? No. This was the kind response of a caring, all-powerful God to the prayers of his people.
⇒ No matter how good or how bad they are, pray for them.
⇒ No matter how moral or immoral they are, pray for them.
⇒ No matter how just or unjust they are, pray for them.
The thought of praying for evil rulers is shocking to some people. Just think of the evil rulers in the world even today. But remember: Nero was on the throne in Rome when Paul charged believers to pray for the king or emperor. And Nero had already burned Rome and had blamed it on Christian believers. In fact, he was presently launching a violent persecution against the believers.
Donald Guthrie says, “This Christian attitude towards the State is of utmost importance. Whether the civil authorities are perverted or not they must be made subjects for prayer, for Christian citizens may in this way influence the course of national affairs, a fact often forgotten except in times of special crisis.
Matthew Henry says, “Pray for Kings … though the kings at this time were heathens, enemies to Christianity, and persecutors of Christians … because it is for the public good that there should be civil government, and proper persons entrusted with the administration of it.
There are two reasons why we are to pray for rulers.
1. We pray for rulers so that we can lead quiet and peaceable lives. The only way the citizens of a nation can live quiet and peaceable lives is for the ruler to be filled …
• with wisdom and knowledge
• with morality and justice
• with courage and boldness
• with compassion and understanding
Therefore, believers must pray for the rulers to be filled to the brim so that the rulers can bring about peace and security throughout the land. Then and only then can the citizens of a land live quiet and peaceable lives.
2. We must pray for rulers so that we can live godly and sincere lives. Believers want freedom of worship for all citizens.
⇒ They want freedom of worship, and freedom of life and choice, the right to worship and live for God without being opposed and persecuted.
⇒ They want freedom of life and choice, the right to live sincere or purposeful lives, the right to pursue their own lives and wills without being opposed by a ruler.
Thought 1. People desire, even crave freedom: freedom of life and choice and freedom of worship. This is the reason we must pray for rulers …
• for wise and knowledgeable rulers
• for moral and just rulers
• for courageous and bold rulers
• for compassionate and understanding rulers
1. First, God is our Savior and He wills all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. As pointed out earlier (1 Ti. 1:1), God our Savior is one of the great titles for God. God is our Savior, the source of our salvation. God is the first Person who has cared for and loved man. God loves us and He is not willing that any should perish; therefore, He has taken the initiative and provided the way for us to be saved.
Note: God wills all men to be saved, but not in the sense of a decree. God has not decreed that all men be saved. This is evident by the ungodly and unrighteous lives lived by so many. God wills all men to be saved in the sense that He loves and longs for them to be saved. If any man perishes, it is his own fault. God has done all He can. He has provided the way for man to be saved. If a man is now lost, it is his own choosing.
Note the words “the knowledge of the truth.” What truth is it that God wants man to know? The truth that is covered in the points that follow: that there is only one God, and there is only one Mediator who gave Himself a ransom for all—the truth that all can be saved from sin and death and judgment to come through the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. God loves man so much that He has provided the way for man to be saved. That way is the truth, and that truth is the truth that God wants man to know.
“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (Jn. 14:6).
This is the reason we should pray for all men, both rulers and citizens, high and low, educated and uneducated, moral and immoral, just and unjust, civilized and savage, saved and lost. God wants all men to be saved regardless of who they are and no matter how evil they may be.
“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Pe. 3:9).
“Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?” (Eze. 33:11).
2. Second, there is only one God, not the many gods of men. If there were many gods, then there would be many ways to reach the heavens of the gods. But there are not many gods. Logically, there could not be many gods. When we speak of God, we mean the Infinite and Supreme Majesty of the Universe. There can be only one Supreme Being, only one Infinite Being. If there should be many gods, then they would not be infinite or supreme; therefore, they would not be God.
The point is this: since there is only one God, there can be only one way to reach Him—only one way to be saved. Why? This is the discussion of the next point.
“There is none other God but one” (1 Co. 8:4).
“One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all” (Ep. 4:6).
“For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one” (1 Jn. 5:7).
“Wherefore thou are great, O LORD God: for there is none like thee, neither is there any God besides thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears” (2 S. 7:22).
“For thou art great, and doest wondrous things: thou art God alone” (Ps. 86:10).
“Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no savior” (Is. 43:10–11).
“Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his Redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God” (Is. 44:6).
“For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD and there is none else” (Is. 45:18).
3. There is only one mediator between God and men. Man must have a mediator if he is to be saved, if he is to approach God and be acceptable to God. As asked above, why? Because there is only one perfect Person: God Himself. No man can stand before God, not in his own name or righteousness. Man is imperfect, and God is perfect. Man cannot make himself acceptable to God no matter what he does. Imperfection is unacceptable to perfection. If perfection accepted imperfection, it would no longer be perfection. Perfection has to be just and righteous, which means that it has to reject imperfection. God cannot accept imperfect man. God has to be just and righteous and reject man in all the imperfection of his thoughts and behavior.
How, then, can man become acceptable to God? God has to make man acceptable. God Himself has to handle the sin, condemnation, and death of men. But how? There was only one way: God, the Perfect Person, had to become Man. God had to come to earth in such a way that man could understand Him and understand what He was doing. This He did by partaking of flesh and blood and coming to earth in the person of His Son, the Man Christ Jesus.
⇒ God Himself had to conquer sin. He had to live a perfect and sinless life as a man in order to handle sin. By living a perfect and sinless life, He became the Ideal and Perfect Man, the Ideal and Perfect Righteousness that could cover and stand for all men (He. 2:14–15).
This is part of what is meant by Jesus Christ being our Mediator. He stands before God as the Perfect Man, and He also stands between God and men as the Perfect Man. He is the Ideal Pattern of all men, of just what a man should be. Therefore, when a man really believes in Jesus Christ …
• God takes that man’s belief and counts it as the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
• God accepts the man’s faith and honor in His Son as righteousness.
• God lets the righteousness of His Son, Jesus Christ, cover the man.
• God accepts the man’s faith as the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
Very simply stated, the man is not righteous, but God takes the man’s faith in His Son and credits his faith as righteousness. Jesus Christ stands as the Mediator between God and men; He stands as the Mediator of perfection and righteousness for man. The point is this: since there is only one Mediator, we must pray for men to come to know Him. And we must rush to proclaim Him to all men so that they can know about Him and have the opportunity to follow Him.
“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth” (Jn. 1:14).
“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (Jn. 14:6).
“Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake” (Jn. 14:9–11).
“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Ti. 2:5).
“But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises” (He. 8:6).
“And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance” (He. 9:15).
“For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us” (He. 9:24).
“And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven” (He. 12:24–25).
“My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 Jn. 2:1).
4. The man Christ Jesus gave Himself a ransom for all. The word ransom (antilutron) means to exchange something for something else. The man Christ Jesus exchanged His life for the life of man; He gave up His life for the life of man. How? By the cross. Jesus Christ took the sin and condemnation of men upon Himself and bore their judgment for them. Christ died for man; He bore the judgment of God against sin for man.
As the Ideal and Perfect Man, Christ could do this for man. Since He was the Ideal Man, His death was the ideal death. Therefore, His death can stand for and cover the death of all men. If a man really believes and trusts that the death of Jesus Christ is for him …
• God counts the death of Christ for the man.
• God actually counts the man as having already died in Christ.
• God accepts the man as free from the guilt and condemnation of sin because Christ has already paid the ransom price for sin and death.
This is the glorious gospel of God: man can now live forever in the presence of God. Jesus Christ gave Himself as a ransom for sin and death. When man receives Christ Jesus into his heart and begins to follow Christ …
• God gives him life now and forever, abundant life and eternal life. When the man finishes his task upon earth, God will transfer him right into His presence—quicker than a flash of lightning. The man never has to taste death.
The words “testified in due time” mean that God sent His Son in the fullness of time. When it was time for Christ to come to earth, He came.
Now note: we must pray for men to believe that Christ died for them—pray that they might be saved. And we must rush to proclaim the glorious news that Christ Jesus has paid the ransom price for us: we can now be set free from sin, death, and condemnation. We can now live with God eternally.
“For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul” (Le. 17:11).
“Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Mt. 20:28).
“Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Ro. 3:24).
“For ye are bought [redeemed] with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Co. 6:20).
“Ye are bought [redeemed] with a price; be not ye the servants of men” (1 Co. 7:23).
“In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace” (Ep. 1:7).
“In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins” (Col. 1:14).
“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time” (1 Ti. 2:5–6).
“And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance” (He. 9:15).
“Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Pe. 1:18–19).
“And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation” (Re. 5:9).
5. Ministers are ordained or appointed to proclaim the salvation of God. Note: Paul said three things about himself.
a. God had appointed Paul to be a preacher (kerux): a herald, an ambassador who was appointed by a king to go forth and proclaim the message of the king. The minister is a preacher who is sent forth by God to preach the truth about Jesus Christ …
• that He is the Mediator between God and men
• that He has given Himself as a ransom for all
“And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach” (Mk. 3:14).
“And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mk. 16:15).
“Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life” (Ac. 5:20).
“Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine” (2 Ti. 4:2).
“For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect” (1 Co. 1:17).
“For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!” (1 Co. 9:16).
b. God had appointed Paul to be an apostle (apostolos): a person who had been sent as a very special witness and on a very special mission. The minister is sent forth on the special mission to bear witness that Jesus Christ is the Mediator between God and men. Jesus Christ has paid the ransom price for man.
“Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you” (Jn. 15:16).
“Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Co. 5:20–21).
c. God had appointed Paul as a teacher (didaskalos): a person who instructs people into the faith and truth of God’s Word. It is the gift to root and ground people in doctrine, reproof, correction, and righteousness.
Note Paul’s stress upon his call from God: “I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not.” God had called him to proclaim and teach the salvation in Christ Jesus. Apparently, there were some at Ephesus who questioned Paul’s call and ministry.
The point is this: God has called ministers to proclaim the faith and truth of the Mediator and the great ransom price that He paid for man’s salvation. Therefore, we must pray for all men—that they will receive the message of the minister and be saved.
“Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: for I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city. And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them” (Ac. 18:9–11).
“And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him, preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding” (Ac. 28:30–31).
“And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues” (1 Co. 12:28).
“And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers” (Ep. 4:11).