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Living Waters of Grace 12.24.25 · Living Waters of Grace / Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland Sunday Services

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  This is Living Waters of Grace, the teaching ministry of Lewis
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  Harold, assistant pastor of Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland
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  County in Greensburg, PA. Now here's Pastor Lewis as he
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  continues teaching through God's Word.
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  The world makes things controversial, but it's the word
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  of God. It's the word of God.
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  And before we even go there, I just want to go to second
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  Timothy real quick. Chapter 3, Second Timothy
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  chapter 3, we're going to just look at verse.
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  Just going to read for verse 16. All Scripture, not some, not
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  parts of it. All Scripture is given by
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  inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine and for
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  reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.
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  We just talked about that. How much is all?
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  Well, all means all. When God says that all of His
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  word is good for us, He means what He says.
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  All of it is good for us. And yes, that does include those
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  long lists of genealogies with names that no one can pronounce.
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  Today, Pastor Lewis shares with us that God's Word is good for
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  even the most controversial of subjects.
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  He points out that what the world calls controversial is
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  actually clear as day in the Word of God.
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  That is, if we accept it just as it is written now.
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  Here's Pastor Lewis in the Book of First Timothy, chapter 2,
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  with today's edition of Living Waters of Grace.
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  Even Jesus himself said whoever believes shall not perish.
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  Whoever believes or whoever will be saved with those who believe,
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  all who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
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  Everybody's not going to do that.
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  Everybody's not going to do that.
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  So when he says all men, you know, be saved, this is not
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  saying that all men, as in all men without exception, will be
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  saved. That's not what he's saying.
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  He's saying that he, he desires that all men without distinction
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  be saved. This is all men without
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  distinction. That means he doesn't care if
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  you're a Jew, if you're a Gentile, if you're a woman, if
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  you're a man, if you're black or if you're white, if you're a
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  Pagan, A Gentile Jew. He doesn't care about that.
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  All men can be said. The gospel goes out to
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  everybody. It goes out to everybody.
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  So it's not a distinction by what a person is.
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  Doesn't matter if it's man or woman, everyone, the gospel is
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  there for them to be able to believe and receive.
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  That's all men. And then he says and come to the
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  knowledge of the truth after you get saved, then we need to be
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  sanctified, right? We need to move on and grow in,
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  in God. We need to grow in God
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  sanctification. That means we, we're, we're
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  working toward being set apart for God, for the use of God.
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  It's our growth. It refers to the Christian
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  growth after being saved to become a disciple of Jesus
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  Christ and not to be LED astray by the false doctrines of false
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  teachers, the doctrine of false teachers.
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  We can't be LED astray by that if we are growing in Christ.
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  Second Peter 318. It tells us to grow in the grace
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  and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
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  So why are we doing that? Why are we doing that and how
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  and how and what is the means to be saved?
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  Well, he says that in the next line.
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  Look at verse 5 for this. For there is one God and one
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  mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.
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  So what is the means for all men to be saved?
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  Or what is the means for men to be saved?
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  First of all, because of one God.
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  We have one God. We don't have many gods.
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  There's one God, one true God, one true and living God.
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  A lot of people like to say God, and then he, they talk about all
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  these things that God is not. If it's not the God of this, the
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  God of the Bible, then he's not a true God.
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  It's an idol. This is the one and true God,
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  the living God. And he gave us his word so that
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  we know who he is. He wants to be found of us when
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  he says seek me and and you'll find me because he wants to be
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  founded. But he's not hiding from us.
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  He's not planning hide and go seek from us.
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  He wants to be found of us. He wants us to know him so that
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  we're not LED astray. So he says, so he says here,
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  first of all, there is one God and one mediator.
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  Now, there may be some people out there that might even agree
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  with us and say, yeah, there's one God.
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  But when you say there's only one way to God, when you say
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  there's only one mediator between man and God, there's
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  only one way that you can get to that God, that's when you have
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  problems. People hate us for that.
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  People call us names for that. People ridicule what?
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  They slander us because of that. They call us intolerant because
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  of that. Narrow minded.
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  We're narrow minded by thinking it's only one way.
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  How fair is that? It's true.
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  There's one way, and that way is Jesus Christ the man.
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  And he said the man because the reason why he said the matter is
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  because he's truly God and he's truly man.
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  He's fully God and he's fully man.
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  But we but he's the mediator between God and man, the man
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  Jesus Christ, because it was the you humanity of Jesus Christ
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  that died for us on the cross. It was in his humanity that he
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  died, and in his humanity he was yet without sin.
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  That's why he was the accepted sacrifice.
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  He was a man without sin, and he's the only mediator between
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  God and man. There is no other.
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  There is no other. I don't care what argument they
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  try to make to try to make it seem like there's other ways to
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  the Father, there is none. Jesus Christ himself said it was
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  only one way, he said, and John 14, six, I am the way, the truth
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  and the life. And John 10/7 he says I am the
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  door. And then in Hebrews 9 and 15, he
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  said the Bible says he's the only mediator of the new
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  covenant, the only mediator of the new covenant, the man Jesus
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  Christ. And how is it that this mediator
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  works? What is the work of this
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  mediator? Look at what he says here in
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  verse. In verse 6 he says Who gave
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  himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time he gave
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  himself a ransom of all. That word is actually in the
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  Greek called anti lutron, anti lutron.
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  The word anti actually refers to the substitutionary.
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  It's the substitute. And of course, Lutron refers to
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  the fact that it is the ransom or the price of freeing a slave
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  anti Lutron and, and, and, and that's how he is the work.
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  That's the work of the mediator. The fact that he gave himself,
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  he died for our sins. He paid the cost of what we
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  could not pay. So He was the full cost to
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  substitute for us for sin. Galatians 313 say that it tells
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  us that Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law.
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  The law held us captive in its in its condemnation.
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  And no one but Jesus Christ could have paid the price to
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  free us from that bondage. No one but Him.
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  Thank God for that. Huh?
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  That He sent his Son to die for us?
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  That was costly. That was costly.
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  And we talked about on Wednesday night that, you know, that this
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  was not just, it was not a pretty crucifixion, it was a it
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  was a true sacrifice. A true sacrifice, just like all
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  the animals in the Old Testament was a sacrifice.
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  And how bloody those sacrifices were.
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  That's how bloody the cross of Jesus Christ was.
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  It's not the cute little pictures that we see where He
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  has a little blood on his around his head or a little bit of
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  blood on his hands. A little bit.
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  No, it's not that. We're talking about a brutal,
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  brutal sacrifice. He took on the sins of the whole
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  world. He paid the sins of the entire
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  world, of everybody. You want a reason to be
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  thankful? There's another one.
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  Think about Him on the cross and then think about the fact that
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  it was meant for you because we were guilty.
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  He wasn't even guilty. We were guilty of the sin.
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  Bless your name Lord in the Old Testament.
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  Now there were other go betweens, you know the Old
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  Testament, the priest in the high priest.
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  They were the mediators between God and man because the you
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  know, the children of Israel didn't want to speak to God
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  anymore. They were fearful.
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  Moses was a type of mediator or go between between God and man
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  are the 1st covenant, but it's only Jesus Christ and that all
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  all all those mediators pointed to the mediator Jesus Christ,
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  the true mediator, the one and only mediator.
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  And then we go over here to verse 7.
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  It says for which I was appointed A preacher.
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  I was appointed A preacher and an apostle.
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  I am speaking the truth in Christ and not lying.
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  A teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.
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  You know what's amazing is that Paul's now saying that I'm
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  qualified. I was anointed.
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  I was called to this ministry. And the ministry that he was
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  called to was what was described in the verse before.
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  The verse before where it says he gave himself a ransom for all
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  to be testified in due time. The message that we give, the
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  true gospel message, is the fact that Jesus Christ gave his life
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  for our life so that we would have salvation.
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  It's a simple gospel message. Jesus Christ died according to
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  the Scriptures, and he was buried, and on the third day he
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  rose again according to the Scriptures.
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  It's a very simple gospel, but there's power in the gospel
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  message. There's power, and Paul says
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  that I was a preacher of that message.
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  What does he mean a preacher? A preacher is one who heralds.
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  He had the authority to herald that message publicly and
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  proclaim the gospel message to all men.
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  He said I was a preacher of that, and then he said I was an
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  apostle. That means he was 1 cent.
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  He was given a special mission from God himself.
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  He was called and and then he says that I am speaking the
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  truth in Christ and not lying A teacher of the Gentiles.
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  Is there a difference between being a teacher and a preacher?
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  Absolutely a teacher, a preacher heralds the message.
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  He cries out the message he he he tells what the truth of the
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  he tells the truth. That was the message that the
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  message that he was sent to deliver.
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  Most evangelists are your preacher.
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  They just give the message. This is the truth.
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  This is the true message. But the teachers, they actually
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  teach us. They instruct us in the way of
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  righteousness. They break down the message,
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  they expound the message. That's a teacher.
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  Teach us in the way of righteousness.
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  Teach us in a way of holiness. Teach us in a way that's
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  pleasing to God. Teach the doctrine that was
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  given to us from the apostles. That's a teacher explains the
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  right way. So yes, Paul was a preacher and
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  he was a preacher of the Gentiles according to Acts 9 and
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  15 said that he was sent to the Gentiles, but he was also sent
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  to kings and he was also sent to the Jews as well.
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  So this message he was sent to for everybody and, and it was A
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  and it was a teach the Gentiles in faith, which again was
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  justification, just as if you had not sinned.
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  We are all justified. We're justified righteous by
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  God. We're decreed, we're called
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  righteous by God, not that we are righteous in what we do, but
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  we're decried. We are declared righteous by God
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  the Father. And that's the faith.
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  And then in truth, that's the sanctification he teaches.
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  Also, He makes disciples of men and women.
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  He makes disciples, and that's what we should be doing.
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  You see, after you are saved, then it is necessary for us to
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  grow and the way we grow, and that's called the process of
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  sanctification. We're learning the way of
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  righteousness. We're learning the way of
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  holiness. We're learning to walk more in
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  the spirit and less in the flesh.
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  We're learning that and that's how as a church body we tend to
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  grow closer to the Lord. And now that he's talked about
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  that and all this is coming through prayer.
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  Keep that in mind. He's all dealing, He's still
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  dealing with the issue of prayer there.
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  You know, we should pray for, for the word to get out to
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  everybody, We should pray. I heard one teacher say that you
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  know it in the church now, there's more announcements and
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  things of that nature than there is prayer.
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  And we really need to focus on prayer.
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  I'm glad that we have so many avenues here in this church that
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  offer prayer. So many, so many.
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  And you can all plug yourselves into it.
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  We invite you to plug yourselves into those avenues of prayer
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  because every one of those groups, whether it's a Thursday
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  night Zoom group or whether it's the Thursday night group that
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  meets here to pray about certain things, the the all of the Bible
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  studies that should include prayer.
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  I'm sure it does. When those things happen, that
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  is all in worship to God. It's all in worship to God.
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  So we pray because he died for all and his death was sufficient
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  for all, but it's only efficient for those who believe, for those
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  who believe. And then he goes to verse 8.
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  And as we move to verse 8, we come to see now that we're now
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  moving into an issue which is seen as being controversial, but
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  it's not really controversial. If it is rightly divided, it's
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  not really controversial. The world makes things
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  controversial, but it's the word of God.
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  It's the word of God. And before we even go there, I
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  just want to go to second Timothy real quick.
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  Chapter 3, Second Timothy chapter 3, we're going to just
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  look at verse. Just going to read for verse 16.
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  All Scripture, not some, not parts of it.
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  All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is
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  profitable for doctrine and for reproof, for correction, for
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  instruction and righteousness. We just talked about that, that
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  the man of God or the woman of God may be complete, thoroughly
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  equipped for every good work. So what we're about to go in
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  here into here, this is not Paul's opinion.
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  This is not just Paul's opinion. All scripture is inspired by
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  God. It's in the Canon of Scripture.
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  This is coming from God. So he, she, he says here in
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  verse 8, I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting
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  up holy hands without wrath and doubting.
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  Let's stop there, he said. I desire, therefore, that the
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  men pray everywhere. Now he's talking about not just
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  mankind, meaning everybody. He's talking about men as in
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  male gender, that they pray. And Paul is saying here that men
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  should lead prayer in public services.
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  Men should lead prayer. I know growing up I didn't see a
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  lot of men leading prayer in public services.
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  It was most leading women. I just see a lot of men leading
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  it. But Paul says here that men
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  should lead prayer. We know women will pray, but
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  Paul's saying we want to see more men praying.
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  Men pray leading. And now this is not a
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  prohibition to say that women shouldn't pray in public.
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  That's not what this is saying, and we want to get to that over
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  in verse 9. But here he is making a point to
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  say that men should be praying and should be leading and
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  praying in public services, lifting up holy hands without
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  wrath and doubting. So Paul's mentioned in three,
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  three things that are essential. And we know with men praying in
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  public, three things. First of all, he says lifting up
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  holy hands and lifting up holy hands is actually cultural.
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  It's Jewish culture that the men at that particular time when
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  they prayed, they would pray extending their hands to heaven.
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  Now that gesture of extending the hands of heaven, when you
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  look at it, it really has a lot of different meaning or
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  connotations to it. First of all, it's the
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  connotation of surrender. It's surrender when a man lifts
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  his hands, when a police officer tells a suspect to come out with
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  your hands up, that means you are surrendering, that that
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  person is surrendering to the authority of that police
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  officer. He's surrendering.
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  He is putting himself into custody, willingly putting
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  himself into custody of that police officer.
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  And that's exactly what we're doing when we lift our hands to
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  the Lord. Back in the Old Testament, this
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  was a sign of surrender to God. God, I surrender, I place myself
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  under your authority. So the prayers that go up are
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  prayers to the Lord submitting to his authority.
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  And there's several scriptures that talk about the lifting of
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  the hands. Turn with me really quick to
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  Psalm 63 and look at verse four. He says thus I will bless you
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  while I live. I will lift up my hands in your
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  name and then go to Psalm 134 and Psalm 134 reads this way.
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  Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and bless the Lord.
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  And we know we read the story back in First Kings chapter 8
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  and 22 that when Solomon prayed and he dedicated to temple.
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  He lifted up his hands to heaven and he prayed when David prayed
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  several times it's mentioned that he lifted up his hands to
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  the Lord when he prayed. So that is a, it's a cultural
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  position, but I just want to mention that we need to
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  understand the lifting of the hands.
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  It's an outward expression of where our hearts should be.
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  It's not that important what we do with our hands.
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  Now, God is more interested in the position of your heart when
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  we pray. And then he goes in and he goes
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  into that. So he says without wrath and
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  without wrath means that it's, you know, you first of all,
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  you're you. The hands that you're lifting up
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  have to be holy hands. So it's got to be pure hands,
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  right? Hands that we, we're not talking
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  about, you know, practicing sin and then coming up and lifting
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  your hands to pray. You know, that doesn't mean that
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  if you have sin that you can't pray, you repent.
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  And the repentance cleanses us. We confess, and that cleanses us
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  before God and we can lift up our hands and pray.
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  It's about lifting up cleansed hands.
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  That means the heart is cleansed from whatever sin is morally or
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  spiritually cleansed. But it's without wrath.
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  And without wrath simply means without anger.
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  It's without resentment. We should be praying without
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  resentment. I shouldn't be up here praying
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  and knowing I got something against that brother sitting
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  back there or something against a sister sitting over there.
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  Can't pray like that. I got to go make it right with
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  them first. I got to go make it right with
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  them and then I can pray. I don't want my prayers hindered
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  by having all these ungodly things in my heart towards
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  someone else, have an ought in my heart against a brother.
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  I can't pray that way, Davis said.
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  If I regard iniquity in my heart, he won't hear me.
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  God won't hear me. So we have to have pure hearts
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  and clean hands when we pray. And he said, and doubting,
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  doubting actually means that we must pray in faith.
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  We shouldn't be praying doubting.
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  James said that when you pray, you know you, you, you should be
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  praying without doubting. You ask without doubting.
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  He said he who doubts is like a wave of the sea tossed to and
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  fro by the wind. It it's an unstable person who
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  doubts. When we pray, we pray believing.
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  We pray believing, so we pray without doubt.
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  So then we go on to verse 9. And this is where things get
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  kind of interesting because he says here in like manner also,
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  and don't miss that line, in like manner also, in like manner
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  also, women adorn themselves in modest apparel with propriety
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  and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly
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  clothing. So what is he saying here?
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  This is actually evidence to some degree that women can pray
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  in public. It's fine for women to pray in
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  public because he said in like manner.
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  Also. In other words, in the same way,
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  when women pray, their praying should be with adorning
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  themselves in modest apparel. Men should pray with their
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  hearts, not having wickedness or anger or art in their hearts.
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  He emphasized that for men, not that anybody should, but that's
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  what he emphasized for men And but for women, he said when you
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  pray, if you want to, you know, when you pray, have modest
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  apparel. Thank you for tuning in to
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  Living Waters of Grace with Pastor Lewis Harrell.
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  We're currently in the books of First and Second Timothy.
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  Some of the things included in these New Testament letters from
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  Paul are that the young and newly established Pastor Timothy
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  was being encouraged to hold fast to what was true.
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  He was challenged to confront and address the false teachers
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  that were rising up. He was also reminded to accept
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  his calling to the ministry with gratefulness and to address the
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  happenings going on in the Ephesian church.
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  Paul was imparting his experience and knowledge to the
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  next generation. Timothy was receptive to
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  learning and gleaning what he could from Paul's wisdom.
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  This is how it should be in ministry across multiple
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  generations. Those who have lived a little
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  more life should be open to sharing their successes and also
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  things they've learned along the way.
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  That we're not a wind. The younger generations coming
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  up can learn and appreciate much from those ahead of them, and
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  perhaps avoid some of the same pitfalls that their mentors work
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  through mentoring. It's a beautiful relationship
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  when the hearts are in the right place to learn and grow.
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  We trust that you're in a community where this is
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  happening. Older ones providing advice and
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  wisdom, and each side learning and growing from one another.
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  This certainly was the case for Paul and Timothy as they were
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  comrades for the sake of the gospel.
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  For more information on where this teaching came from, go to
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  calvarychapelonline.com. There you can also learn about
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  our service times to join us in person.
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  This has been living waters of grace.