Latest / Tabernacle Talk - A Bible Study Podcast with Pastor Bryon Self / 1 Timothy 2:1-7 - Prayer, Politicians, and Evangelism

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1 Timothy 2:1-7 - Prayer, Politicians, and Evangelism · Tabernacle Talk - A Bible Study Podcast with Pastor Bryon Self

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  Welcome to Tabernacle Talk. Tabernacle Talk is a Bible study
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  podcast brought from Tabernacle Baptist Church in Essex, MD.
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  I'm your host, Brian Self. We hope this podcast encourages
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  you to know Christ, grow in his Word, and show his love to
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  others. Let's dive right in.
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  Welcome back to Tabernacle Talk. We are beginning first Timothy
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  chapter 2 today and we're going to be looking at verses one
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  through 7 with some specific instructions on prayer.
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  I don't know for you all what your prayer life looks like.
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  I don't know if you have maybe a list of things that you pray
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  over every day. If when you come to the Lord in
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  prayer, you just bring what's on your heart or maybe what God
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  brings to mind as you are praying.
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  Lots of people pray in different ways and I love hear that in
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  these verses we get a good small list of things that we need to
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  be praying for and we are given the reason why we pray for and
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  it's for a couple different reasons that we're going to look
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  at about. I'm just super excited.
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  This is a great portion of scripture.
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  Frankly, it's a portion of Scripture that I need reminded
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  of constantly. By way of review in First
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  Timothy, this is a letter written from Paul to Timothy.
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  Timothy is dealing with some false teachers there in the
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  church at Ephesus that Paul had started, and these teachers had
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  a lot of sinful and wrong things that they were teaching.
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  They were teaching things contrary to the Word of God.
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  They were teaching like speculative fables, myths,
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  genealogies, all of these things instead of preaching Jesus and
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  instead of preaching faithfulness to the Word of God.
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  And so as Paul is instructing Timothy on what he needs to be
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  looking out for, what he needs to be encouraging, what he needs
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  to be discouraging, he brings in these verses in chapter 2 and
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  verse #1 He says, first of all, then I urge that petitions,
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  prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for
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  everyone, for kings and all those who are in authority, so
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  that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and
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  dignity. This is good, and it pleases God
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  our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to come to the
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  knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one
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  Mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus,
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  who gave himself as a ransom for all a testimony at the proper
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  time. For this I was appointed a
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  herald, an apostle. I am telling the truth, I am not
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  lying, and a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.
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  So Paul begins in verses one through 4 by saying, here's what
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  I want you to pray for. And he says even within verse #1
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  this is not just an instruction for Timothy.
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  This is an instruction for the Ephesian church.
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  And we can extrapolate that to say this is an encouragement for
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  our churches and for those that are believers all across the
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  world. So what is Paul telling to pray
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  for? He says I urge that petitions,
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  prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings be made for
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  everyone. Now though the verse numberings
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  stop there, that is not the end of the statement that Paul is
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  actually making. He says I want these aspects of
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  prayer. So here we have petitions.
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  Those are things that we are specifically asking for on
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  behalf of another hear prayers. This would be request that you
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  are bringing from yourself both to the Lord and somewhat on the
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  behalf of either others or yourself.
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  So petitions, something I'm bringing, I'll put it this way,
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  I can make a petition to the Lord for my wife Samantha that
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  she would have a good day, that the kids would not get sick.
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  That's a petition that I am praying for her.
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  Then I can also be offering the Lord a prayer, something I am
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  asking him that I would say, God, would you help me to be the
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  husband that I need to be for Samantha.
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  So I've made a petition on her behalf.
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  I am praying personally here intercessions that I'm asking
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  for God's intervention within Samantha's life.
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  So not asking for a thing for her but I am praying to the Lord
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  for her. God would you help her to have
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  patience or would you help her to have joy today where I am
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  interceding on her behalf and hear Thanksgivings God thank you
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  for Samantha. So here, petitions asking for
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  something that someone else is asking for prayer, something
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  that I am asking the Lord for, for that person that there
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  hasn't been that request made, but I am praying for them.
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  Intercessions where I'm praying not for perhaps the person's
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  circumstances or possessions, but I'm praying for the person
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  themself. And Thanksgivings where I am
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  grateful to God that this person exists or that they are a part
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  of my life. So he says these things.
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  Petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings
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  be made for everyone. And then there's almost here.
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  You could take this in one of two ways.
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  One could assume that given the volatile nature of false
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  teachers and what we would read all throughout the New
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  Testament, that the false teachers did not particularly
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  care for any authority figures within the church or within
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  government. We would read about this in
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  several other places in Scripture.
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  The one that I'm thinking of offhand is in the book of Jude,
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  where in the churches that Jude was writing to, you had people
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  that were even snub and flippant against spiritual authorities
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  and angels. And Jude instructs them to have
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  a humility as they think about spiritual authorities.
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  And here Paul could be saying, the false teachers there in your
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  church at Ephesus, they do not appreciate or love or care for
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  or pray for those that are in authority there in Ephesus or in
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  the Roman Empire or in that particular region of the world.
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  And so he could be saying, I do want you to pray for and to care
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  for these people because God has a plan to use these individuals
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  for the good of the gospel and for the good of Christ's
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  Kingdom. But Paul could also be saying so
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  that that's one interpretation that Paul could be saying, I
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  don't want you to leave these people out of the everyone.
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  Or he could be saying, I just want you blanket across the
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  across the bow. What whatever the phrase would
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  be there, he could be saying I want you to pray for those that
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  you know, those that are in your life and especially for those
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  that are kings or that are in any form of governmental
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  authority. So whichever way you want to
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  take it, everyone is included in any case.
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  But he could be saying, I want you to take special attention to
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  care for in prayer those that are leaders.
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  So that's what he says that in verse #2 these petitions,
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  prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for
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  everyone, for kings and all those who are in authority, so
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  that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and
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  dignity. I do want to note here when it
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  says for kings and for all who are in authority, both here and
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  in Romans 13, I have at times seen people want to have an
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  insistence on disrespecting and not caring for those in
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  governmental authority. They would say, well, I live in
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  America. And so, if you will, the
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  Constitution is king. And that's that's what the Bible
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  says is the king is the one who whatever they say goes.
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  And so how does that work here in America?
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  Well, that's the Constitution. And so whatever the Constitution
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  says, like, yeah, I can, I can pray for the continuance of our
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  following of that, but I don't have to like or pray or care
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  for, you know, Obama or Bush or Biden or Trump or whoever will
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  be after Trump. That is not what is being said
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  here. You can even think in the world
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  that Paul was writing to, they did not have as the ultimate
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  ruler a king. They had an emperor, the Roman
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  Emperor, and the kings would be much more similar to what we
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  would have today, something like governors, those that were
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  taking care of a particular subset of the Roman Empire.
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  So you can think of King Herod, you can think of Pontius Pilate
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  and others like that, that they were over a specific subset of
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  of the empire, that they didn't have control of everything, but
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  they had control of this section and the decisions that they made
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  were important and impacted those that were living in a
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  specific area. Here as Paul's writing to
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  Timothy, he's saying there are kings, these rulers, those in
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  authority that are making decisions that affect the
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  believers. It it affects the cities that
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  you guys are living in here in Ephesus.
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  And he says, I want you to be praying for the individuals that
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  make these choices. Now, Paul himself knew that
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  these people did not always make the right decision.
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  So you can look at times even when Ephesian believers, when
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  Paul was pastoring there in Ephesus were beaten as a result
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  of their faith in Jesus. And so Paul knew these
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  individuals are not perfect and they do not always do what God
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  would have them to do, that they sin.
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  And we know obviously that God never leads or designs for
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  anyone to do what is wrong. And so Paul says you want to fix
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  some of what is wrong in your society.
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  The answer is prayer. Now, it's not the only answer.
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  Even as you look back at the book of Acts, you can see how
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  Paul used his rights as a Roman citizen to affect good change.
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  Sometimes he used his citizenship and the rights that
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  he had during the 1st century as a Roman citizen in order to
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  spread the gospel in order to allow for some freedom or safety
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  for other believers, just number of things.
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  So prayer isn't the only thing that we can do as we seek to
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  better our society. But I would say foundationally,
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  if we are not praying, then how can we expect for anything to
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  become better? If we don't ask the King of
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  Kings to if you will issue decrees and to make change
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  happen, then how in the world can we expect that anything that
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  we do on our own apart from from the blessing and work of God to
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  make an impact and then he gives at the end of verse 2.
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  What is the purpose of praying for these kings and those that
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  are in authority. These would have been often,
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  most often wicked and evil, vile people, and yet we are called to
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  bring petitions to God on their behalf that we would pray for
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  them, that we would intercede for them, and that we would pray
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  thanking the Lord for them. Can I ask you, when was the last
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  time that you prayed and thanked God for all?
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  Use the names for those that are like here in Maryland.
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  When was the last time that you prayed and thanked the Lord for
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  Donald Trump or the last time that you thanked the Lord for
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  Governor Westmore? That is a tough ask in today's
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  day and age. Can I say that honestly, there
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  are some of you that go, man, I could never thank the Lord for
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  Donald Trump or anything that he's doing.
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  And there's some of you that are like, listen, how dare you say
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  that? I need to thank the Lord for
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  anything that Wes Moore is doing or has done.
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  It is not that they are right in every decision that they make.
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  They might even be wrong the majority of the time.
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  But do you have any love, any care, any appreciation for the
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  fact that God knew what we during this particular time
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  period, what we needed, and part of what He has given to us as
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  believers for our sanctification is those that are in charge of
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  us from a governmental aspect. I got to be real with you guys.
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  I don't know how all of that works out.
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  I don't know how all of that looks.
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  And there's nothing more polarized right now than
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  politics. Back in these days, you didn't
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  get a choice on who your king was or who your governor was.
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  And so there was almost an aspect of you you had less to be
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  the temptation could be you would have less to be thankful
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  for, to be grateful for as regards that governmental
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  person, because they could have 0 redeeming qualities and yet
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  still be your leader. Nowadays here in America,
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  someone at least has to have some form of redeeming qualities
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  in order for the majority of people to vote them into office.
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  And if you're like, well, I just have no idea what would convince
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  someone to vote for the other person.
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  That might be an indication that we are harboring such the
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  hardness of heart that we can't see or imagine anything good in
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  our leaders. Let's follow the instruction of
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  the Lord given here from Paul to Timothy that we are going to
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  pray together for our leaders. Let's pray for right words and
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  right actions to be done. Let's pray for any evil designs
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  that they would have, things that go against the word and
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  will of God. Let's pray that all of those
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  plans of theirs fail. This is a little bit of what we
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  can see at the conclusion of the verse, He says.
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  We're praying for them so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet
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  life in all godliness and dignity.
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  The goal of our prayer is that we would be able, through right
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  decisions being made in government, we would be able to
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  just lead a peaceful life following what the Lord has for
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  us here with godliness and dignity.
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  We would be able to be godly, respectable people who live in
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  peace without fear of being assaulted by soldiers, by being
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  the recipients of unjust laws. And probably also that we would
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  not have to fear danger, that it wouldn't be a anarchy or a crime
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  ridden area. And those are things that we can
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  pray to the Lord for. That we would ask God that our
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  leaders would find success in their mission, which is the
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  punishment of evil doers and the praise of those that do good,
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  that do well. We would read that even in
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  Romans 13. That's when the government is at
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  its best is when it punishes evil and when it when it praises
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  and uplifts what is good. And so here Paul says, This is
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  why we pray. We pray so that we can just
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  peacefully live godly good lives.
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  Verse #3 He says this is good and it pleases God our Savior,
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  who wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of
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  the truth. When there is peace in a land,
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  we as the church are able to more easily share our faith.
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  I have friends that are missionaries in restricted
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  access nations and for someone to come to faith in Christ often
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  times is a little bit like signing your death warrant that
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  you are much more likely to be killed or harmed, imprisoned or
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  harassed as a result of the fact that you have chosen to become a
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  Christian. Whereas here in the United
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  States there is no difference for a person.
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  They they have to fear nothing from their government in
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  imprisonment or fines or any of that for being a Christian.
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  And so we are afforded great privileges here.
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  And so may we pray that that would continue, that when people
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  turn to faith in Christ, they would be able to do so with
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  freedom and they would be able to, with great joy and gladness,
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  be able to say, all right, I can become a Christian and I don't
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  have to fear as a result of it. I don't have to worry about, you
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  know, what will happen to my kids if the government finds out
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  that I'm a believer in Jesus. That's not something that we
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  have to worry about. And so here the goal of our
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  prayer, the goal of us praying for our elected officials, is so
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  that we can live godly lives. And it pleases God our Savior,
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  who wants everyone to be saved. And so may we pray as we pray
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  for our elected officials, may we pray for their salvation,
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  that they would come to know Jesus, that they would follow
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  him with their lives, and then that we would pray that others
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  would also come into that family.
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  Then Paul gives this, if you will, poem this, this creed of
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  belief, and he says, for there is one God and one mediator
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  between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself
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  as a ransom for all, a testimony at the proper time.
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  Jesus is the one that purchased our salvation, and He's the only
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  one that we need to go through in order to have a relationship
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  with God. There is no church, there is no
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  pastor, there is no Pope, there is no priest that you need in
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  order to have a personal relationship and conversation
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  with God. You do not have to have any
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  other individual in order to have a relationship with God.
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  This would run afoul of some of what would be claimed by the
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  various religions of this time, which would say maybe you need a
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  emperor or someone in order to communicate with the gods.
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  Or you can think back to ancient Babylon or Egypt, where those
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  rulers said that they were direct descendants of the gods
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  and that there was a, if you will, they needed to you needed
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  to talk to a ruler in order for you to have access to the gods.
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  And here Paul says that's not the way it is.
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  Instead, we have a ruler that we talked to that we get access to
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  God through, but it's not in the other human than the man Christ
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  Jesus, who is truly God of God and truly man.
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  And what a what an incredible thing that that is.
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  And I love that Jesus is called here the mediator between God
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  and man. He's the one that comes to us on
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  behalf of God, and he is the one that goes to God on behalf of
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  us. And verse 6, he says he gave
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  himself as a ransom for all that Jesus purchased us back, that we
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  were, if you will, we were property of the world.
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  We were property of Satan. And Jesus with his precious
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  blood, he bought us back. And what a joy that that is,
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  even as we would sing the song victory in Jesus, He sought me
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  and he bought me with his redeeming blood.
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  Then verse #7 Paul says, listen, this, this whole thing, this
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  about living godly, leading other people to faith in Jesus
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  because Jesus is the point of it all.
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  He says, I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a
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  teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth to declare this.
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  He says, this is the reason that I do everything that I do is to
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  tell people about Jesus for you. Are you praying for your elected
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  officials? Are you thanking the Lord for
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  the good things that they are doing?
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  And then are you utilizing the freedom that you have in America
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  to share your faith with other people?
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  If not, don't. Don't assume that freedom for
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  freedom's sake is what God has for you.
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  Freedom, especially governmental freedom right now, until Jesus
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  comes back, is to be utilized so that we would share our faith
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  with others. Let's do that this week and
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  let's pray and let's thank the Lord that Jesus is the only one
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  that we need to go through in order to have that relationship
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  with God and that Jesus made that path clear and open and
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  free for all who will call on him.
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  Thank you for tuning in today. Next episode is crazy.
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  Like honestly I'm asking for you guys by the time that you watch
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  this all already have recorded it.
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  But deeply appreciate your prayers.
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  It is a very difficult passage of Scripture, verses 8 through
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  15 of First Timothy 2, and it has been misused by a lot of
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  people. It's been ignored by a lot of
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  people. And so I'm hoping that it will
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  be a blessing and that it might provide some clarity for people.
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  Thanks for tuning in. See you next episode.