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THE ESSENTIAL OF GODLY MEN 1 TIMOTHY 2:1-8 Pastor Stephen Muncherian January 24, 2010 |
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17% live
in poverty 26% are
children (living in poverty) 37% may go
hungry tonight known
unemployment is 19.8% 1 out of
every 18 girls (ages 15-19) will become a teenage mother over 1,000
children will be murdered this year 81% are
unchurched and live without Jesus these
figures are conservative… Zambia? Chad? Suriname? Merced Merced is a broken city. Broken people. Broken
homes. Broken families.
Broken down people - struggling - wounded - angry - bitter
- hopeless - who’ve turned to a number of different ways of trying to
cope with their brokenness. There are
broken down people right here in the church. Jesus is the only One who can
heal that brokenness. Which is where we
fit into this city. The bottom line of why we’re here - the mission of the Church is to take the
Gospel of Jesus
Christ into the
world - into the
place were we live life. Together we’ve been looking at
Paul’s first letter to Timothy - Timothy who is pastoring the church of
Ephesus. Ephesus which was a city broken
in many of the same ways Merced is broken. A
city
where people needed Jesus. As Paul deeply cares for Timothy
and the believers in Ephesus - and the not-yet-believers in Ephesus -
Paul is writing this letter to Timothy and the church - to focus them
on what’s essential to be focused on if they’re going to be effective
as the church that God will use in Ephesus. The essentials of the Church that we need to give our lives
to if we’re going to be the congregation that God intends for us to be
here in Merced . In past Sundays we’ve looked at
the essential of love and the essential of faith. This
morning
we’re coming to The Essential of Godly Men. Let’s
say
that together, “The
essential of Godly men.” Please turn with me to 1 Timothy
2 - starting at verse 1. One of the great desires that we
men share is the desire for our lives to have significance - for our
lives to count for something. And perhaps
- as we’re chugging along through life - working away at the stuff of
life - perhaps to gain some respect for what we’re accomplishing. To know that what we’ve done has counted for
something of significance. The reality is that without God - the best we can do
is go along confronted with our own inadequacy - asking ourselves, “What is the
purpose of this? What does my life really
count for?” With God we become the men - the husbands -
the fathers - that God has called us to be - has created us to be - making a real difference in our families - the congregation - our
community - our nation. What we’re coming to today - in what Paul writes to Timothy - is how we as men can be used
by God to make a real
difference. How our lives can count for
what’s really worth counting for. 1 Timothy
2:1: First of
all, then -
which is like a therefore - after having written about the essentials
of love and faith - First of
all, then, I urge that entreaties
and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men,
for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil
and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. Let’s pause there. Paul
begins
with The Priority of Prayer. Let’s
say
that together, “The
priority of prayer.” “First” is the Greek word
“proton” which is where we get the English word, “Proton.”
Protons, neutrons, electrons are the elementary particles
that make up the nucleus of an atom. First
of all - this is foundational - its elementary - its at the core of
everything else - before we move on to step two - step one is prayer. Paul writes, “I urge you. I beg you. I
implore you. As your brother in Christ -
from the core of what moves me - at the core of what moves you - give
yourself to this. Pray.”
Paul give four examples of what
that prayer can focus on. “Entreaties” are prayers for
specific needs. “God, we
need money to pay the bills this month.” “Prayers” are
requests for needs that we always have. “God, help
me to be the man you’ve created me to be.” “Petitions” which are requests
on behalf of others. “God, please
help Frank to get a job.” Fourth, “Thanksgivings” - a
reminder that God listens to our prayers - that He answers our prayers
and we need to thank Him. “God, thank
you for taking care of us.”
Then Paul says that the object
of our prayers are all men - in general - the people around us that we rub
shoulders with every day - at work - school - family - people in the
community. Specifically - Paul urges us to
pray for those in authority
over
us - public officials. Democrats
ought to pray for Republicans. Republicans
ought to pray for Democrats. Many years ago a chaplain of the
Senate was asked by a visitor, “Do you pray
for the senators?” He replied, “No, I look
at the senators, and then I pray for the country!” (1) We pray so that we can live a “quiet life
in all godliness and dignity.” We pray so that we can lead lives that are unmarred by political
and social disturbance - that are unmarred by inward - inside us - emotional and mental
disturbances. Lives that are characterized by righteousness
and moral excellence. Going on - verse 3:
This is good - all this praying and living a peaceful Godly life - is good and
acceptable in the sight of God our Savior; who desires
all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. Point being that all this
quietness and godliness and dignity isn’t about expanding our comfort
zone. The entreaties - prayers - petitions
- and thanksgiving - isn’t about what benefits us.
The priority of prayer is about expanding opportunities to
share the Gospel. The mission of the
church - to bring the Gospel into the brokenness of Merced and beyond. Verse 5: For there is
one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ
Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the
proper time. For this I was appointed a
preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying) as a
teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. There’s only one Savior who died
on the cross for each one of us. Only
through Jesus can our sins be forgiven and our relationship with God be
restored. Only Jesus can heal our
brokenness. How essential is the Gospel? How crucial? Absolutely. How essential is prayer? How crucial is prayer - pleading - for God
given opportunity to share the Gospel with those around us? That engages us in what is really significant
in life? Paul begins with the priority of
prayer. Then - coming to verse 8 - Paul
focuses us on The Heart of Prayer. Let’s say that together, “The heart
of prayer.” Verse 8: Therefore I
want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands, without
wrath and dissension. Therefore - because of the priority of prayer - because prayer is essential to the purpose of the church - to proclaiming the Gospel -
to transforming broken families and communities - Paul
writes, “I want - is a Greek word “boulomai”
that has passion behind it - I desire - I will with every fiber of
being - that men will pray.” We men are very linear in our
thinking - going from point A to point B. Maybe
you’ve
noticed that? Women will stop and ask for
directions. Men assume maps have never been
invented. Its an insult to our manhood that someone
should question our ability to get where we’re going.
Men conquer things. Life is a
challenge. We must be victorious. Its hard for us as men to admit
that we can’t always make it from point A to point B.
That we struggle with issues in our lives.
That we have these feelings of inadequacy. For
us
as men to take leadership in prayer is a level - a degree - of intimacy - of a touchy feely - hanging
ourselves out there vulnerability - that most of us - as men - are not
comfortable with. And yet, prayer is a priority that we
must engage ourselves in. Its not an option.
Its an essential. Godly men
pray. There are two things here in
what Paul writes that should give us some encouragement.
First - in verses 1 and 2 - where Paul is giving us
examples of what our prayer can focus on -
Paul touches where
we
live our lives. All the hassles we went through
this week. Our employment - sickness -
loneliness - inadequacy - what’s going on in our families.
Even the struggles we went through to get here this
morning. In prayer we recognize God and
His world. Who we are.
Who He is. How greatly He loves us - cares
for us - meets our
needs - even gives
us the ability to pray. Whatever the deep issues in our lives ultimately God is the only one we’re accountable to for those issues. And, God
will never reject us or laugh at us or humiliate us or look down on us when we come to Him in prayer.
That
should encourage us. Second - what Paul shares in
verses 4 to 7 about God’s desire for all men to come to salvation - prayer
puts us on the same page with God. What
God desires to do in us and through
us.
What God has created us for. In
prayer
our lives become about God - His great purposes - His movement
through history and what’s happening around us. In
prayer we begin to
focus on God’s power
and
purpose in our lives
- not our inadequacies. Prayer really is point A to
point B thinking. Prayer gets us focused
on - in the midst of the stuff of life - prayer focuses us on the basic
- this is what you need to be focused on - this is what leads to
success in life - the linear reality of what God is about doing in the
world and what He can and will do in us and through us. Touchy feely - maybe. Vulnerable - probably. But,
at
some point we need to get past ourselves and engage in what is
essential for a Godly man. Paul writes - “I
passionately will with every fiber of my being for the men to engage in
prayer.” Here’s how.
First: “in every
place.” Every place a Godly man finds
himself - work - home - church - school - restaurants - even watching football - in whatever situation or
circumstance - when
its popular or when its ridiculed - in public or in private - out loud
or silent - continually - boldly - courageously. Godly men pray. Prayer
is
an essential part of a Godly man’s life.
Second - Godly men pray “lifting up holy hands.” Its good that we’re getting a
freer around here about lifting up hands while we’re singing. There are a number of examples in Scripture where people are in all kinds of
body positions while they’re worshipping God - standing - bowing -
kneeling - lying flat on the ground - raising hands.
Its like almost Biblical or something.
What’s happening outwardly
should demonstrate what’s going on inwardly - what’s going on at the
core of who we are. There’s a relationship
between the inner and the outer. Hands lifted up - spread open -
shows a heart attitude of openness - of dependence - on
God - a humble expectation of receiving something from Him. “Holy” means that our hearts are pure. There’s no sin. Nothing
we’re
holding on to that holds us back from God. Paul writes about wrath and dissention - sin that was
going on in the Ephesian church. Unresolved
conflict
- unresolved
anger - animosity
that the men were hanging on to. Dissension
-
thoughts about
how to get even
because of what someone had done to someone else. We could add our own sins. What we look at. What
we
listen to. What we involve ourselves
with. What comes out of our mouths. The attitudes and actions towards others that
we know are sin. We know were damaging our
relationship with God. That were hindering
our prayers. That our sin effects our
effectiveness for God. That sin keeps us
from living in the fullness of who God has created us to be. Holy hands lifted up reminds us
that - coming before God in prayer - our hearts need to be free of sin. Confession needs to be made.
Our lives need to be surrendered. Are we grabbing what Paul is
getting at here? Prayer for the Godly man
is a priority. We must be in prayer -
whenever and wherever we are - and in whatever circumstance. That’s what a Godly man does.
To be ready to pray means learning to live with hearts
pure and open before God. That’s what a
Godly man is. Godly men are essential if
the church is fulfill our mission in places like Merced and beyond. I’d like to have us go further
with this. To do that I’d like to share
part of a sermon that’s been shared by David Wilkerson.
You all know who David Wilkerson is? David Wilkerson is the Founding
Pastor of Times Square Church in New York City. In
1958
he was called to New York to minister to gang members and drug
addicts. How many of you have heard of
“The Cross and the Switchblade”? Same
David Wilkerson. Since 1999, he’s been
traveling around the world holding conferences for Christian ministers. What I’d like to share with you
is about 6 minutes of his sermon “A Call To Anguish.” It would be so easy for us to
think to ourselves, “Man that
was a pretty good sermon on prayer. I
guess I need to pray more.” And to totally miss the
implications of what Paul is getting at. The
issue
of prayer is really about the issue of our hearts - what touches
us at the core of who we are and moves us to prayer - moves us to
respond to what we see going on around us - even within us - to respond
as men of God. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGMG_PVaJoI “Anguish
means extreme pain and distress. The
emotions so stirred that it becomes painful. Acute
deeply
felt inner pain because of conditions about you, in you, or
around you.” Nehemiah - living in exile in Babylon - when he hears of the ruin of Jerusalem - the
leveling of the city and the devastation of his people - Nehemiah is
brought to his knees. He weeps and mourns
and fasts day and night. He comes before
God in anguish - in prayer. Nehemiah cries
from the heart, “O Lord God
of heaven, the great and awesome God... we have sinned against You.” (Nehemiah 1:4-11) Isaiah - brought into the
presence of the holy sovereign God - Isaiah cries out, “Woe is me,
for I am ruined! Because I am a man of
unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes
have seen the King, the Lord of host.” (Isaiah 6:1-7) Daniel - in sackcloth and ashes
- in prayer before God - confesses the sin of his people - their
wickedness - their rebellion against God - the shame of their sin. Daniel prays, “We have sinned. O Lord, hear! O
Lord, forgive!” (Daniel 9:1-19) The brokenness of our community
breaks the heart of God. That burden -
that passion - that anguish should drive us to prayer - sinners crying
out to God for His grace and mercy and forgiveness and healing. Is your heart in anguish? Do you bear that kind of burden? For over two years now we’ve
been meeting on the first Thursday of each month - 6:30 to 7:30 - or so
- in the evening - in the Quiet Room - 2 years and 4 months
consistently meeting for prayer. With a
few exceptions - not many - those times of prayer have been attended by
3 or 4 women and the pastor.
I don’t know what else is going
on in your world on a Thursday night. Its
not my place to make accusations or to criticize. Because
you
all know what you all have to do. But,
where are the men? If not one hour one
Thursday a month - where are the men who are gathering and calling the
congregation to prayer? It was so great today to have 5
men gathered for prayer before the service. Men - prayer is a huge
opportunity for us to take leadership in what will make a significant
impact in this congregation. A huge
opportunity to lead this congregation closer to the heart of God. A huge opportunity to lead this congregation
in God’s mission of bringing the Gospel to the brokenness of Merced. One last challenge for us. Have you ever heard someone say,
“If it wasn’t
for the prayers of my mother I wouldn’t be here.” Have you heard someone share
memories of their mothers - Bibles open - each day - without fail - reading Scripture and praying.
Rarely - really rarely - do we hear someone say they were
following the example of their father in prayer. As fathers we too easily
abdicate this tremendous opportunity God has given to us to influence our children. Husbands - so many wives crave that their
husbands would take spiritual leadership in the home.
God has given men that opportunity. If
we anguish for our kids - for our marriages - we men need to lead in
prayer.
Paul writes, “First of
all I want the men to pray.” It is essential that men assume
the position of leadership that God has called us to - in love for our
wives and families and those who need to hear the Gospel. Which really is the essential
core of being a Godly man - a heart open - surrendered to God - and an
eagerness for the things of God. When men
pray they grow in Godliness. When Godly
men pray God uses them to make a significant lasting difference in the
lives of others. _________________________ 1. J. Vernon McGee, Through The
Bible Commentary,
vol. 5, pg. 436
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture taken from the NEW
AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE ®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968,
1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. |