Are We Thankful for Prayerful Dependence?

I want to welcome everyone this morning. It’s nice to see so many familiar faces. But, i’d like to especially welcome those of you who are here for the first or second time.

Know that you are surrounded by some pretty amazing people. This is a community on a mission. We don’t all share the same story; in fact, we come from many different paths. But here, we are one people giving our all to love god, love others, proclaim Jesus, and make disciples in our generation.

I invite you to sign in and let us know you were here. We have a connect card in the pew in front of you. Please be sure to include your name, email, and address. Also, notice your neighbors’ names. You just might make a friend today.

We have a great prayer team who stand ready to lift you up in prayer. If you have prayer request, you can leave those on the connect card as well.

As we are all signing in, I want to let you know why we ask this each week. It’s not so we can bombard you with information.

And it’s definitely not so that we can stop by unannounced and invite ourselves into your living room and test you on your biblical knowledge.

We simply want to provide you with the information you need. We want to help you decide if this is a place you’d like to become a part of. So, for those of you new to Ephesus Baptist Church… welcome! I hope you will find the people sitting next to you are real, and really great. Thank you for visiting with us today!

Scripture Memory

Colossians 3:15–17 ESV

15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Opening Scripture Reading

Ezra 9:5–9 ESV

5 And at the evening sacrifice I rose from my fasting, with my garment and my cloak torn, and fell upon my knees and spread out my hands to the Lord my God, 6 saying: “O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens. 7 From the days of our fathers to this day we have been in great guilt. And for our iniquities we, our kings, and our priests have been given into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plundering, and to utter shame, as it is today. 8 But now for a brief moment favor has been shown by the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant and to give us a secure hold within his holy place, that our God may brighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our slavery. 9 For we are slaves. Yet our God has not forsaken us in our slavery, but has extended to us his steadfast love before the kings of Persia, to grant us some reviving to set up the house of our God, to repair its ruins, and to give us protection in Judea and Jerusalem.

Introduction

How are we doing today? Are we thankful? I really hope so, because if you are in union with Christ, you have every reason to be thankful!

Most of us love to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas, but who does not get just a little weary from:

All the planning and preparation,

All the shopping and cooking,

All the events and parties,

All the people, our family, our friends, our coworkers,

5. All the people in need. Some know they are in need, others don’t. This one can really weary us if, in addition to all of what I just said, we are seeking to help others during this season: and that is the indifference to Christ, and the lack of hope in the Salvation He offers that is so prevalent in our Culture today.

If you are tired and weary of all of these things this morning, listen carefully, Jesus wants your soul to hear these words this morning:

Matthew 11:28–30 ESV

28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Last week we began a new sermon series called “Are We Thankful?

We looked at the question, “Are we thankful for being fashioned or made in God’s Image?

We learned that God made every man and woman, every boy and girl in His own Image, after His own likeness. Even after the Fall, the image still exists and is present on every member of humanity.

We learned that God mounted a rescue mission to save humanity and restore His image. That mission not only saves you and me, it also enlists us to serve alongside of our Father in completing that mission for others.

God’s desire is that all people will be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. The starting point for us is not in developing strategies, but in prayerful dependence upon God as we labor with him in this great privilege.

That is going to be the theme of our passage this morning as we ask ourselves, “Are we thankful for prayerful dependence?”

Now, if you have your Bibles, go ahead and grab God’s infallible Holy Word. 1 Timothy, Chapter 2 is where we will get started this morning.

1 Timothy 2:1–8 ESV

1 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is 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), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. 8 I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling;

From our passage this morning, I would like to share with you four benefits of living with a prayerful dependence upon God our Savior!

1.Prayerful Dependence Allows Us to Pray for Everyone.

Context:

Chapter one of 1 Timothy is basically an exhortation to confront error and heresy in the church, to take a stand for the Gospel, to defend the Gospel, to guard the Gospel and to proclaim the Gospel.

Paul has just written to Timothy of the wonderful grace of God revealed in Christ who “came into the world to save sinners” (1:15), followed by a remembrance of two men who had professed Christ (1:20), and yet whose faith became “shipwrecked.”

It must have reminded him of the many people who still had not heard of Christ, and also of the dangers inherent in the life of faith.

So what we have here this morning is not just a way to organize the church, but how to be diligent guardians of the Gospel of Jesus Christ before a world desperately in need of the Hope it offers. Listen to God’s heart pouring out of Paul this morning!

1 Timothy 2:1 ESV

1 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people,

Explanation:

Paul’s says to Timothy, to the church at Ephesus, and by extension to us, pray! When Paul says, “First of all,” he is stressing not the sequence in an outline, but the overall place of importance prayer plays in the mission of the Church.

Ephesus we are on a mission to share the only message that can heal, that can rescue, that can save. We are surrounded by people in Nash County who don’t know Christ. It is an enormous mission. What do we do? Where do we start?

Paul say’s we are to start by praying, praying evangelistically. By developing a prayerful dependence on God that allows us to pray for everyone, for all people!

He tells Timothy, “You want to have influence on people who are destined for an eternal hell around you? You want to have influence on people all around the world, even kings and rulers in high positions? You want to have influence? Pray. You want your life to count for what God is doing among people all around you? Pray.

Who do we pray for?

Everyone who is still under the wrath of God, every needy sinner—without prejudice towards age, religion, race, nationality, or social position. They must all receive our prayers without distinction of importance. Let your prayer life be diverse.

In verse 2, Paul adds the phrase, “for kings and all who are in high positions.”

Now, this is really amazing when you think about it. Paul was writing this under the reign of Roman emperor Nero. Nero persecuted Christians vehemently. He even bound our brothers and sisters, hung them from poles, and set them on fire, so that they functioned as street lights in Rome.

In fact, the reality is there were few, if any, Christian leaders in high positions in Paul’s day. Christian kings did not really exist. So, Paul is saying very intentionally to pray for even these leaders. Why?

Even under Nero’s harsh rule, the Roman Empire provided a useful structure for extending the reach of the Gospel. Roman roads and trade routes paved the way for the spread of the Gospel.

A prayerfully dependent church, prays for all people, including those we don’t like and those who may want to do us harm, because we have allowed our dependence on God to become greater than our situation.

Prayerful dependence allows us to pray for everyone.

The reach of the gospel is dependent on the prayer’s of God’s people in the local church.

Are we thankful for prayerful dependence?

2.Prayerful Dependence Amends Our Lives.

The purpose of praying specifically for kings and authorities is due to them having a direct bearing on our freedom to live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. Paul says,

1 Timothy 2:2 ESV

2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.

Paul desired that believers live “peaceful and quiet lives.” He did not mean that life would be free from all conflict and persecution. Christianity has spread rapidly even under conditions of severe opposition and persecution.

In 1 Thess 4:11–12 Paul urged the Thessalonian believers to live a quiet life in such a way as to win the respect of unbelievers.

1 Thessalonians 4:11–12 ESV

11 and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, 12 so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.

Strife and discord in the church causes outsiders to scoff at our churches in a way that prevents the spread of God’s glorious Gospel.

Paul also refers to the godly conduct of believers with the terms “godliness and holiness.”

Godliness involves a proper respect for God, and holiness demands a serious and earnest life-style before the observing world, even a world that is increasingly hostile.

The point of desiring a peace amidst persecution, however, is not for our own comfort. It is for the expression of godliness and holiness; it is for the Gospel witness.

Prayerful dependence on God changes us, transforms us, and it conforms us more into the image of Jesus Christ. Prayerful dependence amends our lives by disciplining us to become more godly, more holy. It makes us more like Jesus.

Are we thankful for prayerful dependence?

3.Prayerful Dependence Aligns Our Motives with the Motives of God Our Savior.

1 Timothy 2:3–4 ESV

3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

This prayer for all people finds its basis in the motives of God. Praying the way Paul instructs, for all people, aligns us with God’s will that all would be saved through our preaching of the Gospel.

We are to pray because God desires the salvation of all peoples. This does not mean that all people will be saved, nor does it mean that God’s will is insufficient.

There is a mystery here, about how our responsibility, our actions, work alongside of God’s sovereignty, but know this: God’s declared will cannot be thwarted. God’s desire is much different from His declared will.

We don’t have time to dive deeply in this right now, suffice it to say, what Paul is addressing here is the fact that God loves all people, but they must turn away from sin and repent and receive His loving gift of Salvation. That is the point!

Ezekiel 33:11 ESV

11 Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?

2 Peter 3:9 ESV

9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

Know this church: When we pray for our lost family and friends, for our coworkers and neighbors, even for our enemies, you are praying to a God who already loves these people and desires their salvation. That is why we pray. That is why it is pleasing to God our Savior when we pray for the salvation of others.

Are we thankful for prayerful dependence?

We pray for others because Christ died to rescue all who would believe.

1 Timothy 2:5–6 ESV

5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.

It has been said that these two verses are “the Bible in miniature and the gospel in essence.”

David Platt says,

“here’s the picture: there is one God. He is holy in all His ways, and He is just in all His judgments. Here we are, men and women, sinful in all our ways and deserving of all His judgments; separated from God by an infinite chasm. There is no way for you and I on our own to be reconciled to this God. We need someone to bridge this gap, to be a mediator and this is where Jesus comes in. Christ is unique in who He is. He is a mediator.

What makes Him a mediator is that He is able to identify with both parties. He is fully able to identify with God. He is fully God. He is divine. Uniquely able to identify with God, and at the same time, He is fully able to identify with man. He is the man Christ Jesus. Like us in every way, yet without sin. He is uniquely able to bring these two together. That’s what a mediator does.

Jesus gave Himself as a ransom. He paid the price that we rightly deserved to pay. We alone owed God this great debt due to our sin. But we were bankrupt and have no means to pay this price. God alone provided for us through the death of Jesus, the ransomed price required for our restoration.

Jesus was not just our mediator in the past, but He is our mediator in the present as well. He is seated at the right hand of the Father praying for us, mediating for us!

God’s motive is that all men will come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. His motive is that all men would be saved!

Prayerful Dependence Aligns Our Motives with the Motives of God Our Savior.

Are we thankful for prayerful dependence?

4. Prayerful Dependence Awakens Our Passion for Our Mission.

The implication is obvious: As our motives are aligned with God’s motives, as our lives are amended to look more like Christ, as our prayerful dependence allows us to pray for all peoples, we will awaken a passion inside ourselves to preach the Gospel to all peoples.

1 Timothy 2:7–8 ESV

7 For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. 8 I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling;

I believe Paul is speaking of a prayer driven form of evangelism. As we pray “in every place,” we are changed, as we are changed, our motives are changed, as our motives are changed, our passion for heralding, proclaiming, preaching Jesus increases.

Like Paul, we should be driven to share the good news far and wide. We should see the first step of this being prayer.

What would happen if we became known as a church that is prayerfully dependent on God for everything?

What if people saw us out prayer walking our community, placing a canopy of protection around and above and within Spring Hope?

What if people saw that you their neighbor was genuinely concerned enough for them that you would pray for them?

Do you think if you were praying for a common need with their ultimate salvation in mind that you would pray differently? Would they sense that?

Would God stand ready to answer a prayer that aligns with His desire to see your neighbor come to Christ?

Paul’s first objective with Timothy was to stress the importance of Prayer from the right perspective. God’s perspective!

Are we thankful for prayerful dependence?

Hymn of Invitation “Now I Belong to Jesus” Hymn No. 345

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