Jesus is our God and Mediator

Praying for Leaders

Grace to you, Shalom from God our father, from Jesus our Messiah and from the Holy Spirit who gives us faith!

When you heard the first verse read today, I bet you thought I was going to repeat what I said last week about being subject to Rulers.

Let’s look at that verse again.

1 Timothy 2:1 NKJV

Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men,

There is a slight difference here. Today Paul is encouraging us to PRAY for the leaders of our Nation, as well as leaders throughout the world.

We are told here, as intercessors to pray in three different ways:

A. Make Supplications (requests )on behalf of leaders.

What if the leader, or leaders in your life are atheists? Then who is going to pray, making requests on their behalf if they don’t even have faith to ask God for anything? You are, and so am I

B. Make Intercessions for them.

Intercessory prayer is what we do on our email prayer chain all the time. Like when someone is going to have surgery, we intercede on their behalf. Etta Lewis and I are both going to be having surgery on Tuesday, and we would both love for you to be interceding for us that everything goes well.

C. Give Thanks For All Men!

Now this is the season of Thanksgiving! We can all think of people we can be thankful for. But let me ask you one question: Is there anyone in your life who has harmed you? Perhaps you have said you could never forgive them.

Can you give thanks for them? Your initial reaction, as well as mine is: “Absolutely Not!!!” Let me point you back to verse 1 today.

1 Timothy 2:1 NKJV

Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men,

Does the final portion of this verse say, “giving of thanks be made for SOME men? No. Does it say, “giving of thanks be made for “MOST” men? No!

Indeed, it says “Giving of thanks be made for ALL men!” Which means even the people you have sworn you could never forgive? I would say it includes them above all others.

Now, I am not here to make you feel guilty if you think you could never possibly pray for someone who has hurt you, or for a leader you think has betrayed you, or the principles of this nation.

It is natural to feel like you cannot forgive, or even pray for someone like this. Which brings me to verse 5. This is the verse I used for the sermon title today.

1 Timothy 2:5 NKJV

For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,

You and I both know there is truth to the old saying: “It’s not what you know, but who you know.”

We all have been in situations where something happened because someone who had the knowledge, skill and authority to make it happen, took the initiative.

We also know how frustrating it can be when you cannot get ahold of the right person, or to use the language of this verse, the right mediator!

Now, let me give you my recent example of not getting through to the right person (Mediator).

I am supposed to have Sinus surgery on Tuesday. I was told that I was to get a Covid 19 test 3-4 days prior to surgery. I got an email from the doctor’s office and didn’t open it until 4 days before the surgery, so I could print out the order to go take my Covid test. This was on Thursday.

I printed out my order and began reading other instructions. One which caught my eye was that I am not supposed to be on any ASPIRIN products for 14 days before my surgery.

OOPS!

I take a baby aspirin every day, and had taken one that morning, which was 5 days before surgery.

It was 3:30 pm on Thursday. I immediately called the person who schedules the surgery, but got a voicemail. I left a message saying what had happened and I needed to know if this would cancel my surgery.

By 5:30 pm, I was sure that I was not going to get an answer that day.

Now it is Friday, and I am still waiting. About 11:30 am yesterday, I called and left another message. This time I said I needed to know if my surgery was cancelled or not. If not, I need to go and get my Covid 19 test done.

By 5:30 pm on Friday, I was sure that I was not going to get an answer that day.

On the outside chance, I even thought I might get a call on Saturday, but no call. I decided to drive out to get a Covid test in North Hagerstown off Maugens Ave. They were open until noon on Saturday.

I pulled up there about 11:40, and my-oh-my, the line of cars wound through the parking lot and out onto the side street for about a block and a half!

They had someone at the back of the line saying, they wouldn’t take any more people that day. So, I don’t know know if I’ll be able to have my surgery on Tuesday or not.

Now, I didn’t tell you all of that just to make you feel sorry for me. No, this illustrates the point perfectly. What if I had been able to speak directly with the Doctor who will do the surgery?

Well, if I could have done that, I would have had my answer immediately. He would have said either. (1) “No, that is too risky for bleeding. Let’s reschedule.” Or, (2) “That is not a problem, we’ll go ahead with the surgery. And, by the way, go get your Covid test today.”

When you look at verse 5, how many Mediators are involved? ONE MEDIATOR!

One mediator can make all the difference in the world!

Jesus has access to the Father 24/7, 365 days a year, year after year. You don’t need an appointment! You don’t need to go through a lengthy list of options trying to narrow down your request. You don’t get a message assuring you that you are in line and you will get a chance to speak to someone.

You don’t need to know different Saints and what each of them is responsible for. Seriously, for the Roman Catholics, there must be some kind of book where you can look up what you are requesting and cross reference it with the appointed Saint for that issues.

Really, this communicates that God is not OMNISCIENT, OR OMNIPOTENT! I don’t know about you, but I find that kind of belief system actually degrades what the Bible teaches that God is all about.

And if you throw in purgatory into the mix, you get the message that Jesus’ death on the cross was not enough. You and I and everyone else have to work off our sins in purgatory before we can go to heaven.

Ridiculous! This diminishes Jesus and throws out the idea of grace.

Jesus’ took every one of your sins upon Himself on the cross. Because He alone is the Sinless God/Man, then His blood alone paid for every one of your sins!

What did Jesus say on the Cross

John 19:30 NKJV

So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.

IT IS FINISHED! Those are the final words of Jesus. The Greek for this phrase is a single word

Tetelestai

What does that word mean? PAID IN FULL

Have you ever had a bill which you couldn’t pay in full? Think of a mortgage on a home.

When Jesus said, it is finished, did He leave a debt to be cleared up by you and me? NO, NO A THOUSAND TIMES NO.

The Roman Catholics teach that you have to go to purgatory and work off the rest of your sins which Jesus failed to pay for completely. Nonsense!

This too degrades Jesus. It is like saying, Jesus couldn’t have possibly died for every one of everybody’s sins. So, it is up to us to make up the difference.

This flies in the face of Grace.