Godly Men Who Pray

 1Tim 2.1-8 Virtually everything I’ve ever heard from those who’ve had back surgery is how totally it impacted them! Everything in our bodies seems to hang, connect, relate, or rely upon our back structure, our very backbone! We could use this same essential imagery when speaking of the Body of a Church, our church, any church. I read of a Church described by 5 Types of Bones . . . 1. Wishbones—People always wishing for better things, but they never do much and never seem willing to make it happen— Wishbones. 2. Jawbones—Those who keep everyone informed of everything they’ve ever heard or thought— Jawbones. 3. Funnybones—Not humorous but that ultra-sensitive bone that causes a tizzy when it’s touched! These are touchy ones you really don’t want to come in contact with— Funnybones! 4. Drybones—They may be Orthodox but there’s not much connected to these fossils— Drybones! 5. Backbones—These people are the spiritual support of the body that keeps the body standing, moving, serving, and helping— Backbones! There is likely more truth here than fiction! And, thinking again about backbones— It’s a solid backbone which holds things together, brings the support needed! Although not using physiology, I’d suggest the Apostle Paul speaks of the backbone of a healthy church as he writes to Timothy, whom he has left in Ephesus to establish the Church there. This BACKBONE is made up of three things. First, godly men. Second, godly women. Third, godly servants, and this third part breaks into two parts, the ministry of godly shepherd elders and the ministry of godly servants— what we call “Deacon Ministries.” We’ll look at each of these separately because they are the very backbone of the Church of the Living God! Interestingly, the backbone of the healthy church isn’t about all the things our consumer society clamors over, e.g., the style of music, whether there’s a choir, or they have, or don’t have, a particular musical instrument, or pizza night, or fellowship dinners, and many more things! There’s also nothing here about “membership” either! I’m of the opinion that God’s plan has never been to create a “club” where some are “in” and others are “out.” The Church of the Living God is about a movement of believers calling to sinners, because God made provision through Jesus’ sacrifice for sinners, 1Tim 2.6, Jesus is “a ransom for all”! 1Tim 2.1, 1 First of all, { “therefore” } then, I urge { exhort, encourage— not a command— you can’t command this calling out, reaching out, crying out, singing out, praising out to God! This 1 comes from our hearts to “the Living God” who unfolds his glory and our highest good! To him we are exhorted to call . . . } that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings { Paul uses a variety of terms speaking of the breadth of our expressing our needs before God, speaking with God, intimately calling out for the issues of life, family, work, friends, giving him praise and gratitude and celebrating his work in and through our lives! John Phillips well says regarding our God to whom we pray, “We can rest assured that He is too wise to make mistakes, too loving to be unkind, and too powerful to be thwarted.” Prayer is the first order of a healthy church and the standing order of a healthy church! And, this talking with God is openly and extensively done— A healthy church doesn’t just talk to God about ourselves! We talk to God with our eyes on the people around us, the city around us, the state around us, the country around us! Indeed, the world around us! Hear me carefully— there is absolutely nothing wrong with calling to God about the things in our lives! God wants us to very personally call to him! BUT— we spend FAR TOO MUCH of our focus PRAYING FOR OURSELVES in the midst of a world ravaged by sin! In the midst of neighbors, friends, coworkers, teammates, and families ravaged by sin! Of PRIME IMPORTANCE for the Church of the Living God is prayer— } , be made on behalf of all men, { Why “all” men? Because “all men” are sinners needing the Good News of God’s Grace through our faith in Jesus— the truth we are to guard, as Paul began this letter! While we pray for “all” men, we pray in particular for— } 2 for kings and all who are in authority { Why? Because this “authority” under which we live will have a significant impact on our ability to move about proclaiming Jesus! } , so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. Dr. Tony Evans comments about this important focus of our prayer, “Do you want a more peaceful neighborhood? Do you want an environment of peace and tranquility in which the church is able to maximize its ministry unhindered by hostile authorities? The first thing you need to do is not petition the city council or try to get your party elected into power.” “The first thing to do, Paul says, is to carry those public officials to the throne of grace in prayer. We must pray for them because it is the people in authority who can influence and shape the quality of life for those in their domain.” Why this is not some selfish prayer for, as Francis Schaffer said, “Personal peace and affluence,” is — 1Tim 2.3-4, 2 3 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. Have we considered that fundamental to the prayer of the Church of the Living God is — TO TELL GOD ABOUT MEN!??? At the heart of our prayer as the Church of the Living God is our ability to proclaim the Good News of Jesus to all! And— To equip, disciple, teach, enable, encourage those who come to faith in Jesus! Our concern, as the Church of the Living God, is the Good News of Jesus brought and taught to all people, indeed the world around us! The “why this is important” is because it’s important to God! 1Tim 2.5-6, 5 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man { Messiah } Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time. There are some wonderful truths in this powerful statement from the Word of God which are worthy of our time and our expansion! One we certainly don’t want to miss is the term translated “ransom” in 1Tim 2.6. The root { λύω } means “to loose, or release.” It, and the compound terms formed around it, can well be a slave market term and would have registered powerfully in the thinking of these readers about a release, ransom, or ransom price paid. Our term here in 1Tim 2.6, has a preposition added for emphasis, { ἀντίλυτρον } and is used in post-biblical secular Greek for the means or price paid for a ransom! I want us to step back and look for a moment at this great work of Jesus’ sacrifice for mankind’s sin . . . Three Major Things— 1. Propitiation: God is satisfied, His wrath against sin is appeased. [focus to God] 1John 2.2 — Extent: whole world 2 and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world. Rom 3.25 — Basis: Jesus’ Blood 25 whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. . . . 2. Redemption: Jesus paid the price demanded by sin, which is death, so that we are ransomed to God. [focus to sin] 2Pet 2.1 — Extent: whole world 1 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. 3 Rev 5.9 — Basis: Jesus’ Blood 9 And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. 3. Reconciliation: Man’s state of alienation from God is changed so that he is now savable. [focus to man] 2Cor 5.19 — Extent: whole world 19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Rom 5.10-11 — Basis: Jesus’ Death 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. 11 And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. These 3 Great Works of Jesus— propitiation— FACES TOWARD GOD— God’s righteousness is satisfied, redemption— FACES TOWARD SIN— God’s justice is paid, and reconciliation— FACES TOWARD MAN— Our alienation from God has been removed and we are now savable— ALL of this and more is in Jesus’ sacrifice, it’s called Substitution: Jesus died in the place of sinners. 1Tim 2.1-6; 2Cor 5.21— and the EXTENT of Jesus’ substitution is the WHOLE WORLD! This is very much part of the Gift of God’s Grace! Yet, this does not say the whole world is saved— because we must trust, believe in God’s Gracious Provision! Our salvation is through faith! And, we, who are part of the New Life of Jesus’ Body, His Church, are to pray that we can continue to proclaim to all people this wonderful Grace of God in Jesus . . . 1Tim 2.1–6, 1 First of all, { therefore } then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. 3 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. 5 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man { Messiah } Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time. This wonderful work of God’s grace can be summarized in a variety of ways— Christ Fellowship’s statement of salvation states . . . 4 We believe that God makes a sincere offer available to every person through Jesus death on the cross for the sins of the world, the realm where all humanity lives; that God loves every person with a redeeming love; and that every person is savable provided they place their faith in Him. (John 1:9, 29, 3:16, Romans 1:16, 5:8, 1Tim. 2: 3-6, 4:10, Titus 2:11, 2Peter 2:1, 3:9, 1John 2:2) It takes but a momentary glance at the world around us, including many of our families, friends, coworkers, classmates, to realize this world is shattered by sin! Thousands of years of “new and improved” societies have done nothing for our helplessness and hopelessness of people enslaved in sin! BUT, God has done something! 1Tim 2.5-6, 5 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man { Messiah } Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time. 1Tim 2.7, 7 For this I was appointed a { proclaimer } preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying) as a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. This is apostolic direction for the Church of Jesus consistent with the Good News of Jesus! 1Tim 2.8, 8 Therefore I want the men in every place to pray { present tense— a regular practice of men, not just leadership, but men leading public prayer! Engaging Divine Truth with Daily Life in our Darkened World for the Declaration of Jesus’ Good News! And, what is most important in prayer? That we may lead life and ministry unhindered by authorities in our physical realm so we can be about our spiritual service proclaiming Jesus— the mediator between God and mankind! Here’s how— } , lifting up holy hands, without wrath and dissension. While posture isn’t the main focus— although praying with “holy hands lifted” is most communicative, character is crucial! Prayer is with unstained testimony! This is what the Word of God means, 1Tim 2.2, “with all godliness and dignity”! The Backbone of the Church of the Living God has Godly Men who pray . . .  Prayer is, 1Tim 2.3, something God endorses, it’s “good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior”!  Prayer is, 1Tim 2.4, in accord with God’s saving purpose, God “who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth”— which is about Jesus!  Prayer is, 1Tim 2.5-6, according to God’s Great and Gracious provision for our salvation, 1Tim 2.5, 5 5 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man { Messiah } Christ Jesus, . . . who has satisfied God’s righteousness . . . who has paid God’s just demand for sin before him— death! . . . who has removed our alienation from God so that we are savable . . . And this great salvation, our New Life, comes when we place our faith in Jesus . . . 6 who gave Himself as a ransom for all— Jesus has a universal mediatorship!— the testimony given at the proper time. And, today, right here, right now, is a wonderful time to place your faith in Jesus who brings New Life to you when you put your trust in him who loves you so much he laid down his life for you! And, if your faith rests in Jesus, this is also a wonderful time to affirm God’s Divine Truth— mesh it with your Daily Life in our Darkened World— and pray— and this is exactly what I want to encourage all, but especially our men, to do, right here, right now! May God grant us strength and wisdom and safety and opportunity to proclaim Jesus in this world which cries for real life! The Backbone of the Church of the Living God is Godly Men Who Pray— 1Tim 2.1-8, 1 First of all, { therefore } then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. 3 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. 5 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man { Messiah } Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time. 7 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. 8 Therefore I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and dissension. Would you stand with me as we pray, and I want to encourage our men to pray for what is good and acceptable in the sight of our God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth . . . 6