The importance of spiritual devotions within the church, drawing from 1 Timothy 2:1-7 to address difficulties in the church at Ephesus. It outlines the components of church prayer: supplications for known needs, general prayer and communion with God, intercession for others, and thanksgiving. The message emphasizes praying for all men, including those in authority, for the purpose of leading a quiet and peaceable life in godliness and honesty. It highlights God's will for all to be saved and come to the knowledge of truth, underscoring Christ as the one mediator and the necessity of his atoning work. The sermon concludes by stressing The passage's ordained role as a witness and teacher of God's truth.
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And now, as we continue with our studies and seek to learn some more lessons from the church at Ephesus, our reading today takes us into second chapter of First Timothy. First Timothy chapter two, I want to read the first seven verses of this chapter. 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.
For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour, who will have all men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time, whereunto I am ordained a preacher and an apostle. I speak the truth in Christ and lie not, a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity. I trust that God will bless the reading of these verses to all our hearts. Let us bow for prayer.
Blessed God, we bow our hearts again before thee. Our desire is that thou shalt instruct us, by thy Holy Spirit, help us to understand the meaning of thy word. Help us to take it in and to apply it. We would very specially ask at this time that in mercy thou won't remember all of thy people. We think of some in other lands who are facing greater difficulties than ourselves. We think, O God, of the abundance of material blessings thou has lavished upon the people of this country. Thou has been so kind to us. We thank thee for the liberties that we enjoy.
Many of these liberties that people have been denied in other parts of the world. O God, take our thanks for the multitude of blessings that we have. But be with us. Grant, O God, to the people of this nation. shall turn to thee in true repentance, that thy blessing may continue with them. Hear us in these things for the Lord Jesus' sake. Amen. Now I remind you that I indicated that at this particular junction in our studies, dealing with the first epistle to Timothy, we are looking at what we termed difficulties that had developed in the church at Ephesus.
Of course, again I remind you that the church at Ephesus is just a representative church. I've traveled around a good deal in my day, and I've yet to come across the church, the local church, that hasn't had difficulties at some time or another. They all face their difficulties, and even the church at Ephesus, where Paul had spent over three years And where he gave them such good instruction, and then he sent them that letter that we call the Epistle to the Ephesians, in which he outlined all the various doctrines that he had taught them while he was with them.
And then he warned them, regarding the things to expect later on, in spite of all the good teaching they received, there came the day when they drifted away, as it were, from straight line of sound doctrine. And we saw in our study of chapter one of first Timothy that men had arisen in their midst who were teaching things that were not healthy. That is, they were not healthy teachings and therefore they could not produce healthy spiritual Christians. And so therefore over against that there was the need for Timothy to ensure that he and others would give sound spiritual teaching, sound doctrine in the church at Ephesus.
We were to be sound with regards to the message of salvation and sound in the service that was rendered. Now when we turn into chapter two, the writer glides very graciously into an area where he's going to deal with another difficulty. Here he is given instructions for spiritual devotions, which means if in chapter one the emphasis is placed upon the need for sound doctrine, in chapter two there is set forth a great charter for church devotions.
It wasn't just a matter of every man doing his own thing and everyone doing it the way he wanted to do it or when. Here we have reasons stated for spiritual devotions. Now in the opening two verses I would suggest this to each one as you study this particular passage. that in the first two verses it is the welfare of the believer that is the central thought. And these things laid before us with regards to the spiritual devotions in the church had to have this in mind, the welfare of the believers.
But in verses three and four, this centers around the will of God. Then verses five and six, we are introduced to the work of Christ, the Son of God, and then in verse seven, the witness of the preacher. Let us look then at these things. In the opening two verses, here we're viewing some suggestions regarding the spiritual devotions of the church at Ephesus. Paul says to Timothy, I exhort therefore.
And he's giving this exhortation, that when the church came together for their spiritual devotions, here were some of the things they had to keep in mind. First of all, he deals with the question of their meetings for prayer. When they came together, he said, first of all, there are to be supplications. Then prayers, intercessions and giving of thanks. Now notice, supplications. When you make a supplication, that means you're making an earnest request because of a known need.
You're not walking around with your head in the clouds. It's not some kind of emotional imagination. Here is an intelligent understanding of a need. Knowing what the need is, then we can intelligently lay our earnest request before the Lord. But now in making this supplication, because of some known need, we come to the Lord believing. that not only does he hear the prayer, but is both able and willing to grant the thing that is requested.
And so in our prayers we come making supplications. We've not to be ashamed nor afraid to come into the presence of God and ask God. It seems to me that some people have ideas about God that are too small. Your God is too small. We should realize this, that we cannot crush God into some little box. God is not some little idol. Our God is a big God. And you cannot bring too big a request to our God. You come then with supplications beseeching God because of known needs.
But he moves from there and he says, following supplications, prayer. Now here is a general term, and I suggest to you this, my dear friend, that prayers here covers a whole idea of communing with God. You're in the presence of God, and as you commune with God, you can be speaking to God, and God can be speaking to you. And so he's suggesting that when they came together for their church meetings, there could be the presentation of supplications to God.
Then there are prayers communing with God in the form perhaps of worship and speaking well to God and allowing God to speak well to us. Then he uses another word, intercession. Now, an intercession is when we're submitting a petition to one who has the authority to grant it. And you can intercede with God on behalf of others. You read in the Bible about a man who interceded with God on behalf of his nephew. That was Abraham, the friend of God.
He interceded with God on behalf of Lot. who was living down in the wicked city of Sodom. And when God overthrew that wicked city, it says that he remembered Abraham. And so he remembered the prayers of Abraham and he delivered Lot. You can intercede with God. We read of a man who interceded with God on behalf of his nation. His name was Nehemiah. Also Daniel, they interceded with God on behalf of their nation. You'll find that Moses interceded with God on behalf of his sister.
My friend, such a thing as interceding with God. You can submit your petition, and you can submit that petition to God. Knowing this, that God has the authority and the ability to grant what you suggest in your intercession. And then he says thanksgivings. How often this comes up in the reading of the Word of God. Intercessions and giving of thanks. You know, it is a privilege as well as a duty to give thanks to God. We should be able to give thanks to God in all things.
Even when things seem to be against us, we'll find there are some things for which we can give thanks. He is a very poor man, or she be a very poor woman indeed, who has nothing for which to give thanks. And so says the apostle in writing to Timothy, Here is how your church meetings should be governed when they come together for spiritual devotions. Remember, there should be supplications. Then there should be prayers. There should be intercessions and giving of thanks be made for all men.
Now, he tells us some of the things here, perhaps, that should govern us as we present these supplications and prayers and intercessions and thanksgivings. First of all, he said, now you should remember the kings. and you should pray for them. And you can pray for all that are in authority. Now that's not an easy thing to do. Some people may say, but I can't vote for him, so therefore I can't pray for him. Then they might say, but we cannot pray for a man who is against our country. We cannot pray for these men who are trying to destroy us.
My friend, listen. The word of God distinctly says, that these prayers and intercessions have to be made for kings and for all that are in authority. Not only those who are in authority in our own land, but those who are in authority in other lands. Now, why should we pray for these people who are in authority? He tells us why. That we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. First of all, we want quietness. We do not want any disturbance from without, but we want everything to be in a state of tranquility.
We want peace. Now then, if there is to be quietness, that we may live our lives in all godliness and honesty, but it is to be quiet and peaceable. When we have peace, then there will be nothing to disturb from within. but we will be able to enjoy perfect peace with God. So in our prayer life, when the church comes together, there will be supplications, prayers, intercessions, giving of thanks for all men, including all those who are in authority, with this in view that we may be characterized by quietness and peace.
Ah, but it goes a little further than that. I said at the very beginning, that the first two verses deal with the welfare of the believer. And so when we come together for these devotions, we should have the welfare of all the Christians at heart. That's why we should pray with some zeal and earnestness, so that we may continue to have peace and that Christians will be able to live their lives in all purity. He said that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. Godliness, that means living a life with respect for men and a life wherein we are honoring God.
With all gravity, honesty, the Christian should manifest grace and dignity of character. But now in connection then with the spiritual devotions in the church. It seems obvious that something had gone wrong in the church at Ephesus. Wrong people were engaging in prayer and they were praying for the wrong thing. Now notice verses three and four. He introduces the will of God. These verses set forth the will of God in relation to salvation. He shows us the plan. This originated with God.
Therefore God is our Savior. He speaks, as it were, of the provision. God in his mercy has made a full provision. He sets forth a purpose that men may come unto the knowledge of the truth. These verses are not presenting a secret determination in accordance with the sovereign will of God, but rather the disposition of God in his mercy and his desire for sinful men to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. So we're thinking now of the will of God in connection with the desire of God towards men. And as we're praying and presenting our supplications and prayers and intercessions to God with thanksgiving, we're thinking of the will of God.
Who will have all men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge of the truth? Now in verse three he tells us, for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior. You see the whole thing is this, that if we're going to engage in prayer, if there is to be prayer meetings with God's people, then of course we have to do that which is good and acceptable in the sight of God. So therefore he centers all these things around the fact that God is our Savior. And it's God's desire that men and women should be saved. So therefore it's perfectly in order when you come together to pray that you pray there may be a movement of God wherein men and women will come to a knowledge of the truth.
The people don't know the truth today. They need to come to a knowledge of the truth. And when we're praying we should be praying for this. But now verses five and six. move around the work of Christ. Notice the unique man. Here is a perfect combination of humanity and deity. He is perfect man and perfect God. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. He is a unique man. He was the only one of his kind.
He was the perfect combination of humanity and deity. It was old Archdeacon Law who left on record these words. He says, Withdraw his humanity and no blood remains. Withdraw his deity and his blood cannot atone. but with the perfect combination of humanity and deity, we have a Savior who is able to effect the great work of reconciliation. He was a unique man, the only one of his kind.
He was a unique mediator, the only mediator provided by God and able to effect the work of salvation. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. Why should any man think or imagine that he can step between the sinner and God and act as a mediator for that person? No, my friend, there is one mediator, and the one mediator is the man Christ Jesus. And we must not displace him in any way. No person should ever think that they can take the place of the Lord Jesus Christ and act as mediator.
The scriptures distinctly says there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. And here is the unique method whereby he is able to effect this salvation, able to effect this reconciliation, being God and being man. He is able to take, as it were, God with one hand and man with the other and effect the reconciliation. He gave himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time. That's exactly what we read in verse six. See, God has his appointed times for different things in relation to his purposes.
There was an appointed time in preparation for salvation. When the fullness of the time was come, Christ came forth. There is an appointed time for the provision of salvation. There is an appointed time for the proclamation of salvation. This message of salvation could not be proclaimed before Christ died on the cross. Men were under the law then and had to keep the law. But now after Christ died and was buried and rose again from the dead, the message of salvation is proclaimed. And so now the message is being proclaimed. It's due time now for men and women to be told that a Savior has died.
A Savior has destroyed him with the power of death and has risen again from the dead and is able to deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetimes subject unto bondage. Here is the appointed time for the proclamation of salvation. And all this revolves around the work of Christ. And so when we are praying, when we are engaging in these spiritual devotions, we are conscious of this, that our one approach to God is through the man Christ Jesus. He who has effected this great work, he who is the one mediator, and the method is that the proclamation of salvation is made and men and women exercise faith because faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God.
And having said that at the end of verse six to be testified in due time, he moves on or glides from there and deals with the witness of the preacher in verse seven. Quiranto, I am ordained a preacher. and an apostle. I speak the truth in Christ and lie not. A teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity. And I want to press again upon the mind of every listener today that when he says he was ordained, he was not ordained by men to do this. He was ordained by God himself. Here is a herald, a preacher.
That's a man who simply speaks the message. You know, a herald is one who proclaims the facts. A herald gets his message. He doesn't add to it. He doesn't take from it. He simply tells out or heralds forth the message he's been given. So a herald is one proclaiming the facts of the truth, not altering it in one little bit. But he goes a little further and he says, an apostle. That is, he's an envoy. He's one going out. And one who goes out like this is commending or representing the truth. And then therefore he speaks a little further and he says, I speak the truth in Christ and lie not.
He presents himself here as a witness. A witness is one who declares the truth. He tells all the evidence that he knows. He doesn't tell what he thinks. He simply tells the truth as he knows the truth. And he simply states. what he knows. But he goes a little further here. And he says, A teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity. A teacher is one then whom you'll find explaining, one who can explain the truth, and thus leading men to understand the truth. And that therefore was the work of this great man.