Pray, because by his blood you can

This is an exegesis of 1 Timothy 2:1-8.

In this podcast we understand what Yahweh is communicating to us through his words in this letter.

Transcript

WILDFIRE, the youth branch of Hope to Families, seeking unity and community,  helping people come to know Jesus  and pointing people  to the local body.  of life finds itself  in the redemptive narrative, a unified story that scripture points to one person,  Jesus.  Jesus is this person that the Bible is all about and we are the bride of Christ, the church that was established by Jesus and we look for the finale of this  marvelous redemptive story of scripture which is the return of Jesus. That's where we're at. But what about this letter that we're about to read? Written by Paul to Timothy, where does it find itself in the redemptive  narrative? Well, this was written in the first century around 62 to 65 AD, around 30 years after the life, death and resurrection of our savior Jesus. Jesus, who by his blood birthed the church. An amazing design that sees God's people as living stones, which Jesus is the cornerstone. This is the emphasis of this letter, which along with 2 Timothy and Titus  has been labeled the pastoral epistles  because their content is focused on talking about all things church. This is helpful for us to know when coming to read this letter. But what's going on historically during this time that this letter is written? Well, as we mentioned, it's written by Paul, who we know,  to Timothy to provide practical and pastoral advice.  from the aging Apostle Paul to the younger pastor named Timothy, who was ministering in a newly formed church  in  Ephesus. So what about the literary context? What's actually happening in this letter? What's happening before the portion that we're reading and what's happening  after? Well, Swindle summarizes this letter better than I ever could, so let me read his summarization of 1 Timothy. 1 Timothy presents the most explicit and complete instructions for church leadership and organization in the entire Bible. This includes sections on appropriate conduct in worship gatherings, the qualifications of elders and deacons,  the proper order of church discipline. Paul advised Timothy on these practical matters in a way that would have helped the young pastor to emphasize the purity that should characterize Christian leaders and the gatherings. that they oversee. But what's the focus  of our letter, the portion that we are reading? It's talking about instructions for worship,  specifically  the worship expression of prayer.  In the middle of this portion that we are reading, I want you to watch out for the good news that is embedded into the center of these instructions  of this prayer. And ask yourself, why is this there, Lord? So watch out for that. But let us begin by reading the text. If you join with me, 1 Timothy 2 verse 1. I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them, intercede on their behalf and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by galliness and dignity. This is good and pleases God our savior. He wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth. For there is one God and one mediator who can reconcile God and humanity, the man Christ Jesus. He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone. This is the message  God gave to the world at just the right time. And I have been chosen as a preacher and apostle to teach the Gentiles this message about faith and truth. I'm not exaggerating, just telling the truth. In every place of worship, want men to pray with holy hands lifted up to God, free  from anger and controversy. These are the words  of Yahweh. And in verse one,  Paul just before this,  he said to Timothy, I'm gonna give instructions to you. Step into the sandals of Timothy for a second. He's right in the thick of his own personal walk with Jesus. He's been saved. Yet here he  finds himself in Ephesus, dealing with so many difficulties that every town and city and nation would have. But he's also ministering in a church that also has its own difficulties.  It's talked about earlier in the letter in chapter one. False teaching, corrupt leaders,  idol worship, sin, shipwrecked faiths, and those being removed from the church. The conclusion is Timothy is hard pressed. and he needs divine counsel from the Lord. He wants to know how his church, how he should conduct himself. He's in desperate need. So what's the revelation going to be given to Timothy that will revolutionize his church? Paul has set it up. I know you're in need Timothy and here is my instructions to you and what does Paul say? What's the 10 step program? What's the new youth ministry? What's the economic strategy or the 12-year plan that Timothy so desires? And Paul begins,  I urge you first of all to pray. Who for?  All people. You see, the Christian walk, it's not difficult in the sense that we just need to pray. Life as a Christian has all of its difficulties. Church has its difficulties. We know this.  But the Lord's response  for us as followers of Jesus is to pray. To get on our knees and say to the Lord, I'm in desperation and I need you. and we're actually giving guidance and help on how we should pray. Who for? All people. There's no prejudice, there's no bias. We don't pray for the people  that we desire, that we want, we pray for all people. How is it that we're called to pray for these people?  Ask God to help them,  ask on their behalf or intercede, and give thanks for them. This is our prayers. It's an invitation to all of us, young and old. The Lord says in our churches, would we pray? Would we pray for all people? And the means to which you're called to pray, He even tells you. Pray for individuals, ask God to help them. Lord, help them, please. Intercede, that is, come on their behalf and say, Lord, they might not be praying. They might not be seeking you. But you know what? I'm going to pray. I'm going to seek on their behalf. Our church does this whenever we pray for the prodigals  on Thursday. People who are wandering away, walking away from God, we're gonna step in and take seriously this command and pray on their behalf to pray that the Lord would help them. But also we're called to give thanks. I know that there's difficult people in our lives.  I myself can be difficult and I'm sure the pastoral team, Dave and Johnny I work with, they've had to go to the Lord. Too far. That was too far. They've had to go to the Lord and had to say, Lord, I don't have a desire to pray for Luke right now, but I know it's what you've called me to do. Instead of being annoyed and frustrated, instead I'm going to pray. I'm going to give thanks for Luke. Let us model that in our own walks. That's what I mean by the simplicity of the Christian walk. and that all of us can do it, all of us can pray. In verse two, we're told, pray the same way, ask the Lord to help, intercede, give thanks for who? For kings and all who are in authority. Why should we do this?  We're told verse three. So we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. This is good and pleases our God  and savior. You know, I was the one preparing this teaching. And even after reading it and preparing it,  I did not pray for kings or those in authority.  I don't want you to miss that because it's very easy for you to come and sit here  and have knowledge of what was talked about.  But you don't understand that that's actually something we need to do. It's something the Lord expects of us. And we have to actually start doing it. So as I sat on the airport floor like a weirdo as people were walking by, I just started praying for Keir Stormer  and politicians.  And that's beyond me, I know. But somehow the Lord has said that me, the nobody, has been saved and I'm saved to pray. To ask the Lord to help these men in authority. To help the Lord to help them and to say, Lord they may not be seeking you, but I'm praying in their behalf. that you would have mercy on us.  That's the invitation to all of us. Isn't that amazing? There's no one here who's disqualified. As I see  the young people, like you guys are called to pray for governments and authorities. How remarkable is that? You guys have power in your prayers to do that. And that's the same for all of us.  The Lord's not telling us to pray just for the sake of it. He's saying, want your prayers.  pray for those in authority, for kings. This is what God desires. This is what we must proclaim to the world, live out in the world, what we must answer objections  from. From those who are in this world, they question suffering and evil and where is God? But our God tells us in verse 3, He wants us to live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. This is good and pleases our God and Saviour. This is what He wants. Our God wants peace, not war. Our God wants quietness, not chaos. Our God wants holiness, not sin. And our God wants His image bearers to know their worth, not feel worthless. The conclusion, verse four, our God is the one who wants everyone to be saved. Our God is the one who wants everyone to understand the truth. This is our God. Verse five. We have now come to that  gospel proclamation that I told you to keep an eye out for. It's anchored right in this portion of the text that we're reading on prayer. Let me read it again. There is  one God and one mediator who can reconcile God and humanity, the man Christ  Jesus.  We  are broken in our relationship with God. We humanity are disconnected from the God who created us.  And how is it that that relationship can be restored? Just as there is one God, there is one  mediator, the man Christ Jesus. But all of us are asking the golden question, how Lord, how is this mediator, this man Christ Jesus going to restore our broken relationship because of our sin? Verse six and seven. He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone. This is the message God gave to the world at just the right time. That's how he did it. The mediator stepped in, closed in humanity and said, I'm gonna restore your relationship and the means, the only means to which that can happen is my death. My death is the means to which you can be saved and you can pray. Why is this here? It seems somewhat disjointed from the instructions that we've just read about it in prayer. Without the gospel, this man Christ Jesus who is also God mediating for us,  we cannot commune with God and step into the power of prayer. The gospel permeates everything about the Christian life and everything about our worship. When we gather as we do tonight, it's because of the death of Jesus Christ and his resurrection. The good news of gospel will be in everything that we say, do and think. It will always come back to that. And when Paul is writing this, he's giving instructions about worship, but he's reminding them whenever you're in church and you're deciding  how you should do things, remember the gospel, the mediator who makes all of this possible. In verse 7, Paul reaffirms his authority  and is calling to preach and teach this message of faith and truth. And he brings our portion of the letter that we are looking at now to a close in verse 8 when he says this,  In every place of worship, I want men to pray with holy hands lifted up to God, free from anger  and controversy.  To the men of the church, although this principle does apply to all, When we worship, what God desires of us  is that we pray, that we are holy, unashamed, that we are free from anger and divisions.  He purchased our freedom so that our hands could be clean, so much so that we would raise them  unashamedly high as we pray for Him  all He has done. as we pray to him for everything that he has done in our lives. This is what he desires of us.  But yet the irony of this verse  is that people actually get trapped by anger and controversy over these very verses. As to whether or not we shouldn't or should raise our hands. The Lord tells us, be holy, worship me not with anger and controversy. And yet we read that verse, we bypass getting angry and controversial and we instead say why are they raising their hands?  Why are they not raising their hands?  The bigger picture is don't be angry. Don't be controversial. know that everything is centered upon Jesus Christ and what he has done and if that is our driving force, that's what motivates us,  if we are abiding in him always then we cannot get angry or controversial. Jesus gave his life to purchase my freedom, your freedom, so that in places of worship like this,  I will pray with holy hands lifted up  to God, not to man. It's not for man, it's for God, knowing this has been made possible by his blood. And I do, we'll do so without anger and division. If we were to distill this down  and ask the Lord, what are you instructing Timothy and what are you instructing me tonight? It is  very simple. The simplicity of the Christian walk that is for all of us.  The instruction for all of us tonight is this. Pray. Because by his blood you can. Let me pray. Lord, it is by your blood that I get to pray with hands lifted high to you for everything that you have done. I'm thankful for my church, Lord. I'm thankful  for them releasing and equipping. And I'm thankful for your scriptures that we get to live it out, that we get to step into the power of prayer all because of your blood. Without you, Jesus, we wouldn't be here. Without you, Jesus, we wouldn't be able to pray. Talk with you. Thank you.  In your name we pray, Jesus.  Amen.