God’s Priorities for You
1 Timothy 2:1-8
Sermon by: Rick Crandall
McClendon Baptist Church, West Monroe, LA
Jan. 16, 2005
*What really matters?
-This week I watched part of a documentary about the crash of a Concorde jet in France.
*Over 100 people died, and it all started because of a strip of metal that had fallen on the runway.
*It was only 16 inches long.
-I could hold it here in my hand.
*Sometimes it’s hard for us to see what really matters, but God knows.
-God knows what’s most important in your life & mine.
*So let’s look into the Word of God this morning & see some of the greatest priorities He has for our lives.
1. God wants you to be happy.
-(This is surely one of His priorities & we see this in vs. 1-3.)
*God wants you to be happy.
-I’m not talking about the surface, selfish happiness the world is grasping for, but deep, abiding joy.
*The world can’t give it & the world can’t take it away, but Jesus can give us joy, and God wants us to have it.
1-So He gives us a picture of a happy life in vs. 2:
*It’s a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
-A happy life is a quiet & peaceful life, not marked by storms & turbulence, but by tranquility.
*Peace in your heart & peace in your home...
-That’s what God wants for you.
*But a happy life is also Godly & honest...
-Not burdened with guilt, but blessed by goodness.
*A life where integrity blossoms, while our hypocrisy withers away.
-God wants us to be living in all godliness and honesty, so we don’t want to be half-hearted about our honesty.
*Like Dennis the Menace was when he gave some advice to his friend Joey.
-Dennis caught Joey trying to get a paper out of the machine without paying.
*And he said: -"Wait, Joey!
-First you have to put the money in...
-Then you can get all the papers you want." (1)
*We can do better than that!
-And if we do, we will be infinitely more happy in the long run.
2-God wants you to be happy.
*That’s why verses 1&2 give us one of the greatest helps to happiness you will ever find:
-And it’s prayer.
*Paul said:
"I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty."
*God gives us 4 words for prayer here, and the first 3 are similar, but each gives us a little more insight on prayer.
*Supplications: It’s the idea of having a need & asking for help, but the root word is "to bind"...
-So there is a great strength here, binding ourselves as with chains to our purpose in prayer.
--But also binding ourselves to God & His will, no matter how He chooses to answer.
*We offer our supplications, and our prayers.
-This is also asking, but this word was only used to describe asking God for help, so there is the idea of reverence & worship.
*And as Barclay said, the understanding that:
"There are certain needs which only God can satisfy. There is a strength which he alone can give; a forgiveness which he alone can grant; a certainty which he alone can bestow."
*We offer our prayers, and our intercessions.
-This is standing in the gap for other people, but it also carries the idea of a close, personal conversation with the King:
--Pleading with the King on behalf of a friend...
--Coming before Him with childlike confidence.
*I like what Russell Brownworth said about intercessions:
"Let me take a crack at describing Intercessory Prayer. I am the youngest (by four years) of my Mom & Dad’s two offspring. I am also the shorter, fatter and better looking of the two.
The fact that I have a big brother came in quite handy early-on, mainly because Eddie and Artie Mountford were not nice people. (I have not kept up with those two since school days, but I do sincerely hope they’ve managed to keep off death row.
I was certain back then that they were related to Osama bin Laden. They took it upon themselves to be my personal terrorists!)
Now, Eddie and Artie were older and bigger than me, but they were much smaller than my big brother.
Get the picture?
No matter what torture they dreamed up for [me], Thom could always get in-between the trouble and his little brother. He stood in the gap for me!
That is what intercessory prayer is like; at least it is similar. We have a big brother named Jesus who is willing to stand in [the gap for us]. [And] Intercessory prayer is [us] standing in the gap, taking the matter to Jesus on behalf of [another] brother in need." (2)
*We offer our intercessions, and we give thanks.
-Coming before God with grateful hearts for all that He has done and all that He will do.
*We offer our prayers:
-Big prayers, world-changing prayers...
-Prayers for all leaders... --Prayers for all men.
*And prayer is a great help for happiness, because it can change our situation. And even when it doesn’t change our situation, it will change our state of mind.
*So, if you want to be happy: -Pray.
2. God wants you to be happy, and He wants you to be headed to heaven.
-(That the 2nd priority here & we see it in vs. 3-6)
*Does God want Osama bin Laden to be saved?
-God will have all men to be saved...
*Does God want Howard Stern to be saved?
-God will have all men to be saved...
*Does God want you to be saved?
-You never have to doubt it, because God will have all men to be saved.
*But there is only one way to be saved, and that is through our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ.
-In vs. 5, Jesus is the only mediator or peace-maker between God & man.
*The man Christ Jesus: God the Son come down to earth as a man.
-He is the only bridge between us & God the Father.
*And in vs. 6, we see that Jesus is the only Savior, because He is the only One who could pay the price for us: The ultimate price that He paid when He died on the Cross for our sins.
*Katie gave me a Chris Rice CD for Christmas.
-It’s got a great Christmas song called Welcome to Our World.
"Fragile fingers sent to heal us.
Tender brow prepared for thorn.
Tiny heart whose blood will save us,
Unto us is born
So, wrap our injured flesh around You.
Breathe our air & walk our sod.
Rob our sin & make us holy,
Perfect Son of God... Perfect Son of God." (3)
*I heard that & I thought: Rob our sin, Rob our sin.
-What is he talking about?
*Then it crashed in on me.
-Jesus took something that didn’t belong to Him.
*He took our sin when He died on the Cross for us.
-He took our sin so we could go to Heaven with Him.
*Just outside of Orlando last Sunday morning a Presbyterian minister died as he was preaching his sermon.
-Maybe you saw it in the paper; his name was Jack Arnold.
*And of course it was traumatic to the church, but the Associate Pastor later pointed out how wonderful it was that he died in his own church among the people he loved the most.
*And here’s what I really want you to hear:
-Before he collapsed, Bro. Jack quoted John Wesley:
"Until my work on this earth is done, I am immortal. But when my work for Christ is done. I go to be with Jesus."
*Then, the last thing the preacher said was:
-"And when I go to heaven..." (4)
*Before he could finish that sentence, he did go to heaven.
*Unless the Lord comes back first, we are all going to die.
-The only thing that matters is: Where are you going when you die?
*Jesus Christ wants you to go to heaven, and you can, if you will open your heart to receive Him as your Savior & Lord.
3. God wants you to be headed to heaven, and He wants you to be a helper.
-(That the 3rd priority we see in these verses.)
*It’s one of the main reasons why Paul wrote this letter.
-Paul wanted to help Timothy.
*Now God wants us to be helpers, and verses 6-8 show us 2 of the best ways we can help people.
1-First, we can talk to God about people.
*Paul already mentioned this in vs. 1...
-But it is so important that he tells us again in vs. 8:
"I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting."
*Yesterday morning about 40 people gathered here to pray for 40-Days of Purpose.
-What a blessing!
*What an awesome, amazing thing it was to go from place to place in this church...
-Lifting up believers to grow in the Lord...
--And lost people to know the Lord...
*Lifting up every facet of our church...
-Lifting up every age group in our church before the Lord God Almighty.
2-God wants us to be helpers: So talk to God about people, then talk to people about God.
*In vs. 6, Paul said that Jesus Christ gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time...
-Now is the time for us to testify about Jesus Christ:
--Who He is, and the wonderful things He has done in our lives.
*Then in vs. 7, Paul said he had been appointed to be a preacher, apostle & teacher.
-Those were his assignments, but God’s got an assignment for you too.
*I still remember the bulletin board Becky Silmon put up in the hall 20 years ago:
-"We can’t all be teachers...
-But we can all be reachers."
--And we can!
*One of the best things about 40-Days is that it will give us a super opportunity to help other people hear.
-We can invite them to our homes & to our church.
--We can help them hear about God & His wonderful purposes for our lives.
4. God wants you to be a helper, and He wants you to be holy.
-(That’s the other priority this morning & we see it in vs. 8)
*Lift up holy hands he says.
-How should we lift our hands?
--Sometimes we worry about that.
*Most of us are comfortable lifting up our hands together like this or this...
-And some want to go higher like this.
--And we worry about that.
*Years ago I went to a Sandy Patty concert with Werner Aswell...
-Some of the people there were lifting their hands.
*Werner looked at me & laughed & said:
"Want to see how Baptists raise their hands? Like this: (He started to raise his hand, but then scratched his cheek.)
*We worry about how high to raise our hands, but that doesn’t seem to matter to God.
-The thing He says is lift up holy hands.
--That’s God’s priority.
*Holy hands:
-Hands that are set apart & different.
-Hands that are devoted to Jesus Christ & ready to serve.
*Hands that will hold a baby in the nursery, help wipe away a tear, and help lift up someone who is struggling.
*Hands that are pure & holy, because God is holy.
-Hands that are holy wherever we may go.
*God wants us to be holy...
-I pray that He will have all of our hearts, because then we will have holy hands.
*And Christian, if you are struggling today with something that is keeping you from being holy.
-Don’t give up!
-Phil 2:13 tells us that God is at work in you both to will & to do His good pleasure.
*Trust God to make you holy, because it is 1 of His great priorities for your life.
Conclu:
*God cares so much about you that He has set great priorities for your life.
-He wants you to be happy.
-He wants you to be holy.
-He wants you to be headed to heaven.
-And He wants you to be helping others along the way.
1. SermonCentral illustration contributed by: Greg Yount
2. Adapted from SermonCentral Standing In the Gap Russell Brownworth 1 Tim 2 1; Also see SermonCentral First of All Pray Roger Thomas 1 Tim 2 1 8; Also see the Barclay Study Bible
3. Song: Welcome to Our World By Chris Rice
4. Adapted from (AP) Jan 10, 10:43 PM (ET), 2005 OVIEDO, Fla. (As reported on My Way News)
