Salvation is for All Men
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Salvation is for All Men
Salvation is for All Men
Advent season is upon us:
Expected waiting, anticipation and preparation
You can make yourself ready, all pretty spiritually, spiritual singing voice, perfect attendance, best outfit, a deep sincere “Hello brother” as you enter God’s sanctuary, but I think what pleases God all the more is dirty hands and a dirty face and dirty “knees.”
Are we a praying church? Are we real praying church? Is it in your nature to take time to pray?
Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men,
Why? Why Pray? Why does Paul exhort us so? What is the issue he wants to resolve through prayer?
who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Saved from what?
We wont develop a prayer life, we won’t pray for others, until we understand a few truths:
God is Holy
We are not.
Sin is imbedded in us and we must put it off.
Without the blood of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit we cannot.
We must develop, learn, understand, and be able to articulate what sin is. We must develop a theology of personal sin.
Why? Because God has a standard. Personal Holiness.
Be Holy therefore, because I am holy.
You shouldn’t make it up
Shouldn’t get it from a friend, relative, grandma, or a country song
You must take the authority of scripture here and make the Scripture our standard
No other doctrine will suffice
No other document will ever take its place
Heaven and earth may pass away but my words will never
Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.
Questions the church must answer if we are going to develop a prayer for all people
*Should the church permit constant sinning?
*Is justification viewed as a theology of love that allows the sinner to keep on sinning?
*Does the scripture teach new birth provides a measure of grace sufficient to keep us from willful sin?
We don’t consider ignorance sin. So you missed an appointment, so what. So you forgot an important date, so what. There is a difference between a forgotten promise and a broken promise. We consider the commandments, Old and New Testament, the law. Sin is ethical in its conduct, it implies “conscience choice.” “A voluntary transgression of a know law of God: Wesley stated. It is what we do!
Can we walk our christian life every day with the intent of living a life of love, perfect before God?
Well to do so, we must keep the commandments. What are the commandments?
Glad you asked. Love God. Love your neighbor. No coveting, no stealing, no murdering, honor mom and dad. No lust in your heart. No hatred, love your enemies, do good to those who persecute you, give your coat, go two miles, turn the other cheek, bless and don’t curse, forgive as you have been forgiven, love unconditionally.
Do you see any problem being this man or woman 24/7?
Yeah. It’s hard word. But it gets easier as God’s grace consumes us and we look through Him, through His eyes into the life that obstructs us.
How many times must I forgive my brother? Seven times? No, seventy times seven. As you have been forgiven.
Without a theology of sin, without an understanding of what we can become, what they can become, we won’t develop a life of prayer.
I don’t need God’s grace if I’m perfectly ok with what ever comes out of my mouth. If there is no standard, no judge, no law, what would we pray against?
But there is.
Men need our prayers
Kings and those in authority need our prayers
And we are to give thanks for them, pray for them, seek God’s best interest for them.
(King and preacher story)
Without a theology of salvation, what is our end goal?
That all men be good?
That all men be like us?
Same personality, same likes, same discord, some demeanor, BORING!
No, but Paul calls us to this truth:
For 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.
1 Tim 2:3-4
What does it mean that all men are to be saved?
What does it mean that all men are to be saved
Saved from what?
What is truth, where does it come from?
And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”
The very nature of our Lord and savior, given by Divine command, lays a firm foundation for the trust of the guilty; open a most glorious hope to man, even that of salvation from the guilt and penalty from the power and pollution of sin in this life and beyond. It is a power for the resurrection from the dead, immortality and eternal happiness.
Paul wrote about this, understood this and walked according to His precepts and promises.
But I know that when I come to you, I shall come in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ.
Horrible! No defense on the field whatsoever!
Why is Paul stating we pray for all men, kings and those in authority?
I want you to consider this;
Back to earth:
Why is Paul stating all this?
Having been released from prison, Paul knows the deteriorating climate. He knows the resentment, and the Jews are part of the problem. After all they were the reason he had been beaten, stoned and thrown in prison.
Government was the ruler, Kings were the rulers. They could make it hard on the spread of the gospel, or easier on the spread of the gospel.
Isn’t God’s economy interesting. The harder life is, the more the church prospers. The easier life is, the worse off the church is financially? No, spiritually.
We begin to take God for granted. We create our own, self pleasing theologies.
re: God doesn’t want people to go to hell, He loves everyone. All go to heaven
There are many ways to God, you Christians don’t have the only answer, there’s no monopoly of God ya know.
Only __________ (our denomination) has the “real” way to heaven
1 Way!
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
Now if you are Nero, the Roman Governor, and you are tired of all this “Christ” talk, what are you to do? Burn the city and blame it on the “Christians” and send the troops to round them up and slaughter them.
What is the church to do?
Pray
Pray more: but don’t pray many prayers! (Isn’t that splitting hairs?)
Yes. Acceptable prayer is for the salvation of all men, it is His will that all men be saved, and if we ask according to His will
Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
Want church growth? Want 12 new members before the end of April, want 4 baptism’s … pray!
Want a healthy church, pray?
Want a better pastor, pray!
Back to 2:1
Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men,
The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
Pray with thanksgiving
Pray for the souls of men
Pray for your enemies
Don’t pray as the Pharisees, Lord, I’m glad I’m not like one of them...
Live peaceably and quiet loves in all godliness and holiness
Times of political and social upheaval are excellent times in which to die for Christ, but hard times in which to live for Him
Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of thieves in your eyes? Behold, I, even I, have seen it,” says the Lord.
Even them I will bring to My holy mountain,
And make them joyful in My house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices
Will be accepted on My altar;
For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.”
Isaiah
My House shall be called a house of prayer. But what is a name?
1. There is only one God
2. There is only one way to approach Him: through the God Man Christ
3. This Jesus gave himself to die as a ransom
In preparation for this advent season:
Prepare yourself
Pray for your neighbor
Expect salvation to come
Expect Jesus to come back again
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;
Take your bulletin and write the names of your prayer requests on the front and bring them to the front.
Closing Prayer