Rev. David Holwick D 1 Timothy - Passing the Torch, #4
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
January 24, 2010
1 Timothy 2:1-8
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I. Christians love to narrow it down.
A. Evangelist Jack Van Impe's experience.
Beginning in 1969, Jack Van Impe led crusades which reached
more than 10 million people.
In the early days he invited any evangelical church to
participate.
But soon his co-workers began to grumble.
They complained about liberal denominations taking part.
They said he was allowing weeds to infiltrate his wheat.
So he allowed only Baptist groups to participate.
Nazarenes, Methodists, Mennonites, and others were banned.
Then they began cutting out questionable Baptists.
-- Baptist General Conferences, Free-Will Baptists, etc.
Finally, the few independent churches who were left
started to ban each other.
It got to the point where purity was defined as pantsuits,
hair over the ears, and wire-rimmed glasses.
Attendance at his crusades went from tens of thousands to
a few hundred.
In 1980, disgusted, Jack Van Impe quit.
He stopped organizing crusades.
With a broken heart he wrote in a religious magazine:
"The only meaningful label in eternity will be 'Christian.'"
#1060
1) The issue goes back a long way.
a) The New Testament itself is filled with examples of
people who wanted to limit salvation with rules
and litmus tests.
b) Certainly salvation has some requirements.
1> Jesus calls for belief and repentance.
2> But he also asks us to cast our nets wide.
2) Paul did that.
a) Almost single-handedly, he expanded the church into
the Roman Empire.
b) But he was opposed by people who would rather fight
than evangelize.
B. Some see this part of 1 Timothy as a "church manual."
1) How to pray, how to control your family, picking leaders, etc.
2) But a close look shows it continues the theme of chapter 1:
false teachers are causing dissension and must be stopped.
a) Connecting phrase - "...then..."
b) Verse 8 makes a good summary - pray with each other,
don't fight each other. 2:8
c) Christians should exhibit peace, with God and society,
rather than arguing with each other.
II. Prayer is important.
A. First of all means first in importance.
1) No doubt they are already praying, but their hands are
dirty instead of holy. 2:8
B. Paul lists four types of prayer.
1) There is a lot of overlap in terms.
a) It's probably not necessary to make fine distinctions.
2) NT has seven nouns for prayer, and four occur in 2:1.
a) Requests - true prayer begins with a sense of need.
b) Prayer - praying to God (here, publicly).
c) Intercession - general way of prayer, used in sense of
having a conversation.
d) Thanksgiving - thanking God for what he has done for us.
1> One scholar has said that this is the one aspect
of prayer that will last for eternity.
2> (The same could be said of prayers of praise.)
C. How to pray is not the real focus here.
1) This is not a "model of prayer" like the Lord's Prayer.
2) Instead, his emphasis is on the wide focus their prayer
should have.
a) The dissenting leaders are using controversy to exclude
people.
b) True prayer aims at including people - all people.
III. Praying for the top dogs.
A. Paul calls for prayers for political rulers.
1) This is an amazing sentence when you recall that Nero was
Rome's emperor at the time.
a) Nero murdered his mother and stepbrother to stay in
power.
b) In a short time, he executed both Peter and Paul.
c) Early Christians considered Nero the first great
persecutor.
2) Yet we should still pray for our leaders.
a) We don't have to agree with everything they do.
b) But we always respect their position of authority.
1> God is behind that. (Romans 13)
B. We need peace and quiet.
1) View of many - we should pray for a stable society so our
churches can grow.
a) The turmoil in Haiti shows the dangers of chaos.
2) But it is better to see the focus being on having a peaceful
reputation with the outside world.
a) The controversial church leaders were making the church
look bad in the eyes of the authorities.
b) This was a very big concern of Paul's.
1> 3:7 - church leaders must have a good reputation.
2> 5:14 - families must have a good reputation.
3> 6:1 - even slaves need to watch their conduct so
the gospel is not slandered.
c) This interpretation is supported by 1 Thess. 4:11-12.
1> Similar language - "lead a quiet life."
2> Similar reason - "win the respect of outsiders."
3> Similar issue - busybodies were disrupting things.
C. What kind of reputation are you presenting to the world?
1) Is it obvious to others that you are a Christian?
2) What kind of Christian would they say you are?
a) Some Christians are better off keeping quiet.
b) Believers who are argumentative, judgmental and unkind
don't do God any favors.
IV. God has an agenda of expansion.
A. He wants everyone to be saved. 2:4
1) This verse has generated a lot of theological debate.
a) Some say it teaches universalism, that everyone gets
saved in the end.
1> If God wants something, he gets it!
2> However, "wanting" is not the same as "willing."
3> The focus is on the broad appeal of the gospel.
b) Others teach that God really DOESN'T want everyone saved.
1> Hypercalvinism - God only wants to save those he
has predestined, or elected.
A> There is nothing you can do about those who
aren't predestined.
2> Controversy at American Christian School a few years
ago.
A> Principal said that Jesus only died for
Christians.
B> They lost a lot of families over this.
3> Jesus' death is only effective for those who
believe, but his desire is for all to be saved.
A> And he wants us to desire the same thing.
2) Do you desire it?
What is 750,000 miles long, reaches around the earth
30 times, and grows 20 miles longer each day?
Give up? Here's the answer:
The line of people who are without Christ. #29322
B. There is only one connector between us and God.
1) People love connectors.
a) The Erie Canal connected the Hudson River with the Great
Lakes.
b) The English spent $21 billion to connect to France
through the Chunnel.
2) But only Jesus can connect us to God.
a) There are no other options.
1> Not works, religion, morality.
b) There is only one mediator.
V. He's not just a mediator, but a ransom.
A. Ransoms can be expensive propositions.
Irene Seale of Lebanon, New Jersey, got out of jail this week.
She had been in federal prison for 17 years.
You don't get that much time for stealing hub caps.
Irene and her husband Arthur had been in deep financial debt.
The solution for the couple was to kidnap the president of
Exxon Oil.
As Sidney Reso struggled with them, he was shot in the arm.
Still alive, he was put in a box and stashed in a storage
facility on Route 31.
He died in the box in a few days.
For the next two months, the Seales left messages demanding
$18.5 million in ransom for Reso's return.
It was one of the highest ransoms ever demanded in the United
States.
Finally, after leading FBI agents on a four-hour trail of ransom
notes and phone calls, they were arrested in Hackettstown, NJ.
Now Irene has paid her debt to society and is free.
Her husband will be free eventually too - in 2075.
#36114
1) This was a high ransom, but not the biggest.
2) The biggest was the ransom Jesus gave for you.
B. Most mediators try to split the costs - this one paid it.
1) Has he paid your cost?
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
# 1060 "The Only Meaningful Label In Eternity," by Jack Van Impe,
Fundamentalist Journal.
#29322 "Riddle of the Lost," contributed by Guy Glass,
www.sermoncentral.com, newsletter; March 28, 2005.
#36114 "The Biggest Ransom," by Loren Fisher, edited By David Holwick,
<http://flemington.injersey.com/2010/01/21/hunterdon-county~
-woman-released-from-jail-on-kidnapping-charge/>,
January 21, 2010.
These and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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Study Notes
Expositor's Bible Commentary
I. Instructions for public worship.
A. "First of all" - of prime importance.
B. NT has seven nouns for prayer, and four occur in 2:1.
1) Requests - true prayer begins with a sense of need.
2) Prayer - praying to God (here, publicly)
3) Intercession - general way of prayer, used in sense of
conversation or petition.
a) Origen - bold access to God's presence.
4) Thanksgiving - thanking God for what he has done for us.
a) Trench - this is the one aspect of prayer that will last
for eternity. (also true of praise in prayer)
II. Pray for kings.
A. Nero was the Caesar at that time, so we should be able to pray
for any political leader.
B. Those in authority - other levels of government leaders.
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