Scripture referenced 5 passages
The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
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1 Timothy 1 (opening verses) the aim of our charge is love from a pure heart, good conscience, and sincere faith
1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ according to the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ our hope;
2 to Timothy, my true child in faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
3 As I urged you when I was going into Macedonia, stay at Ephesus that you might command certain men not to teach a different doctrine,
4 and not to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which cause disputes, rather than God’s stewardship, which is in faith—
5 but the goal of this command is love, out of a pure heart and a good conscience and sincere faith;
6 from which things some, having missed the mark, have turned away to vain talking;
7 desiring to be teachers of the law, though they understand neither what they say, nor about what they strongly affirm.
8 But we know that the law is good, if a person uses it lawfully,
9 as knowing this, that law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,
10 for the sexually immoral, for homosexuals, for slave-traders, for liars, for perjurers, and for any other thing contrary to the sound doctrine;
11 according to the Good News of the glory of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.
12 And I thank him who enabled me, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he counted me faithful, appointing me to service;
13 although I was before a blasphemer, a persecutor, and insolent. However, I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.
14 The grace of our Lord abounded exceedingly with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.
15 The saying is faithful and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.
16 However, for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first, Jesus Christ might display all his patience, for an example of those who were going to believe in him for eternal life.
17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
18 This instruction I commit to you, my child Timothy, according to the prophecies which were given to you before, that by them you may wage the good warfare;
19 holding faith and a good conscience; which some having thrust away made a shipwreck concerning the faith;
20 of whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I delivered to Satan, that they might be taught not to blaspheme.
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
Keep this verse
1 Timothy 2:1-7
the main passage read and preached through in full
1 I exhort therefore, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and givings of thanks, be made for all men:
2 for kings and all who are in high places; that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and reverence.
3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior;
4 who desires all people to be saved and come to full knowledge of the truth.
5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
6 who gave himself as a ransom for all; the testimony in its own times;
7 to which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth in Christ, not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
Deuteronomy 6:4-9
the Shema quoted in full to show Paul's Jewish foundation of one God
4 Hear, Israel: Yahweh is our God. Yahweh is one.
5 You shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might.
6 These words, which I command you today, shall be on your heart;
7 and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up.
8 You shall bind them for a sign on your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes.
9 You shall write them on the door posts of your house, and on your gates.
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1 John 1:9
God is faithful and just to forgive sins and cleanse from all unrighteousness
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
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Colossians 4:5-6
closing benediction about being wise toward outsiders and conversation full of grace
5 Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time.
6 Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.
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Recap
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
The pastor opened First Timothy 2:1-7 by asking a question he kept returning to throughout the message: what is this passage actually about? He made the case that, read as a whole, it is not primarily about prayer styles or government or a defense of universalism, but about the universal scope of the gospel, the good news that God's saving purpose extends to every kind of person without exception.
What was said
Before getting into the text, the pastor reminded the congregation of the frame Paul sets for the entire letter. The aim of the charge Paul gives Timothy, and by extension every Christian, is love that issues from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith. He said he wants that stated at the front of every message in First Timothy because it colors how every passage in the book should be read.
He read the passage straight through and then asked the room to sit with a question: what is it about? He walked through several readings a person might reach for. Is it a lesson on the varieties of prayer? A text about civic responsibility? A proof of universalism? A claim to apostolic authority? He acknowledged that people in seminary debates, and in ordinary church arguments, tend to grab single lines out of it and pit them against each other.
He then pointed to a Greek word that runs through the paragraph like a thread: pantone, meaning all, the whole, every kind. He said he could not help thinking of the Pantone Matching System used in screen printing, where every color is represented. That is the word Paul keeps using, and the pastor argued it is doing real rhetorical work. Pray for all people. For all who are in high positions. God desires all people to be saved. The word is not accidental.
The pastor said Paul was writing into a specific conflict. Jewish believers who had grown up praying the Shema, the declaration that the Lord is one, had spent their whole lives drawing a clean line between God's people and the Gentiles. Even after coming to faith in Christ, that habit of separation was persistent. Paul was pushing back on people who were only praying for their own, who saw Gentile inclusion as a rare exception rather than the whole point of the mission.
When Paul writes that there is one God and one mediator, the man Christ Jesus, he is extending the logic of the Shema. His Jewish readers already agreed there is one God. Paul is saying the same oneness applies to the mediator, and that mediator is not Moses and not the law. It is Christ, who gave himself as a ransom for all. The pastor said that word, all, is what made the gospel real to him as a ten-year-old at camp, when a pastor told him that if he had been the only other human being who ever lived, Christ would still have died for him.
He tied that directly to why the church sends missionaries. Jill Schmidt was in Kenya while the message was being preached. Thirty-three people were preparing to leave for Guatemala. Paul's three titles for himself, preacher, apostle, teacher of the Gentiles, are all ways of describing someone who carries that ransom-for-all news outward to people who have not heard it.
He closed the sermon portion by coming back to the command to pray, and said he does not care what anyone's politics are. Nero was emperor when Paul wrote this letter, and Paul still told the church to pray for those in authority. He asked whether anyone in the room was praying for Pete Muldoon, Jackson's mayor. The point was not partisan. It was that you cannot stay quietly angry at someone you are actually praying for, and that God can change people even when arguments and online debates cannot.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
- The pastor opened by saying the aim of our charge as Christians is love that issues from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith. What does each of those three things mean to you personally, and which one do you find hardest to maintain?
- The pastor walked through several possible interpretations of 1 Timothy 2:1-7 before landing on the universal scope of the gospel as the central point. Before he gave his conclusion, what did you think the passage was about, and did his reasoning change your reading of it?
and 3 more questions in the guide
Read the full transcript 7,436 words
0:00
Speaker 1Try to sing y'all in but I wanted to give you a chance. Florina is going to be leading off with the call to worship this morning from were you there? We're looking forward to Easter. I know a lot of us are not Lenten observers but this is that time that is leading up to Easter and so, Florine, would you lead us?
0:24
Speaker 2Were you there when they crucify my Lord? Oh, are you there when they crucify my Lord? Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble. Tremble. Tremble.
1:12
Speaker 1Amen. How would you stand and we're going to sing glory to his name. Hymn number four ninety three if you'd like to find your part. Glory to his name.
1:31
Speaker 2Down at the cross where my savior died down wherefore cleansing from sin I cried bear to my heart was the blood applied glory to his name glory to his name glory to his name there to my heart was the blood applied glory to his name I am so wondrously saved from sin Jesus so sweetly abides within there at the cross where he took me in. Glory to his name. Glory glory to his name there to my heart was the blood applied glory to his name oh precious fountain that saves from sin I am so glad I have entered in there Jesus saves me and keeps me clean glory to his name glory to his name glory to his name there to my heart was the blood of life glory to his name come to this mountain so rich and sweet cast thy poor soul at the savior's feet plunge into day and be made complete glory to his name glory to his name glory to his name his
4:02
Speaker 1Amen. Sound good this morning.
4:04
Speaker 2Have you any room for Jesus?
4:06
Speaker 1Hymn number four seventy eight.
5:00
Speaker 2For pleasure room for for Christ the crucified not a place that he the heart for which he died for Jesus king of glory hasten now his word obey swing the heart's door widely open bid him into while you may and while you time now give to Jesus soon will pass God's day of grace soon your heart left cold and silent and your savior's pleading for Jesus king of glory haste and now his word obey swing the hearts to a widely Amen.
6:28
Speaker 1It's been a while since I've heard that one. Can y'all have a seat and I'll have a few announcements for you. Monday nights at first B. Monday nights at first B is happening at 06:00 tomorrow evening. Meal, music, and a message.
6:40
Carl will be preaching the message from the book of Luke and it lines up, dovetails very nicely with today's sermon. So, Monday nights at first be happens at the same time as Awana. Awana happens starting off in this room right here but then they spread out all over the church. Kids coming in, their minds are being filled with scripture and their hearts with the love of God because kids matter to God. I want us happening at six tomorrow night.
7:05
That's a good time. Youth is happening Tuesday nights from 06:30 to eight. So that's both middle school and high school youth, 06:30 to eight. The baby bottle campaign, if you have not noticed, there's a bassinet out in the foyer out there. There are just a few empty baby bottles remaining out there.
7:24
And I have noticed today some full bottles are starting to come back in. The turning point is our local pregnancy resource center and one
7:31
Speaker 2of
7:31
Speaker 1their fundraisers is handing out empty bottles, asking people to fill them with checks, cash, coin, and bring them back in. And so those are starting to show back up. If you have them, they were asking that we get them in this month. But there are a few empty bottles if you'd like to grab one. Guatemala, the mission trip is happening.
7:51
You all know that we've been doing lots of fundraisers lately, and I pray that we're not taxing you beyond what you're capable or happy about. We are getting together this week, Wednesday, the whole team. If you are going to Guatemala or you're very interested in that trip, would you come? There are 33 of us that are planning on going to Guatemala, and that's happening the last week of March, first week of April during spring break. This morning, we raffled off this, and Maddie Casey won, by the way.
8:23
Maddie Casey won the Mangelson photograph, and then a guy named Joey with a phone number I didn't recognize won the snowmobile. So hopefully, Joey will come take his snowmobile. It's not the Joey that was sitting there
8:35
Speaker 2this
8:36
Speaker 1morning. So the spaghetti dinner that was scheduled for March 16, if you've been looking forward to it because you love spaghetti, or because you love missions, or because you just wanted to be here, it has been canceled. So mark that off of your list of things to do on March 16 at 06:30. You'll see that it has been canceled. For any other announcements, is there anything else?
8:59
Anybody else? There was one more announcement I had in the early service this morning. I don't know if you all know but we have several things that we do as first B like Florine preaches mostly in song at the Living Center on which Sunday each month? It's the second Sunday of the month. He does that at the Living Center.
9:18
It's a great time. It's a lot of fun, mostly music. On Thursday evenings, the third Thursday evening of the month, First B is responsible for preparing a meal for the Good Samaritan Mission And so the family, the Fishers, John and Heather Fisher, usually do that, but they're not able to this week. So they ask, if anyone would like to help with preparing the meal, would you contact Heather Fisher? So, there's anyone in here who would like to do that, like to help out with that, let me know and I'll get you in touch with Heather.
9:47
Okay? Anything else? Any other announcements that I haven't mentioned should be in your bulletin and I want to highlight this like Blake did. He he changed the color of prayer request. If you don't know, there is on that back flap, an opportunity, every all the opportunities that we know of for prayer that people have reached out and said, hey, would you pray for this?
10:09
And a lot of y'all are very diligent about taking that home with you and praying over that list. A couple of that have been on there lately are Ben Upton. Ben Upton is Mark Upton's son, and he went down to Salt Lake City to have a tumor removed from his liver this week, and things went very well. So they had expected for him to get out of surgery and go to the intensive care unit for two days and then fifteen days in recovery. And he came out and did not have to go to the intensive care at all.
10:38
The tumor was easily removed, the doctor said, and probably will be able to just have less than a week in the hospital before coming home. So, praise God for that and if you have other prayer question, you would like for us to pray, you can let us know. We'll put em in there so other people can share the word. Anything else? If y'all would stand and greet one another and we will bring you back together with a song.
12:17
Speaker 2Out a song I sing out a love song to Jesus in moments like these I lift up my hands I lift up my hands to the singing I lord
12:50
Speaker 1love Let's sing that one more time.
13:08
Speaker 2In moments like these, I sing out a song I sing out a love song to Jesus in moments like these I lift up my hands I lift up my hands to the singing I love you lord
14:07
Speaker 1where the spirit of the Lord is. I think we're going to skip that one, Blake. Let's say, the spirit of the Lord is here but we're going to skip that song, okay? And we're going to the to the next song though. Is there another one?
14:25
Speaker 2Yeehaw. Oh, boy.
14:33
Speaker 1Okay. Let's go back to where the spirit of the Lord is. Alright. Thank you, Blake. You are the only one that was right.
14:46
In between the two of us.
15:09
Speaker 2Is power when the spirit the spirit
15:37
Speaker 1Amen. Thank you. Y'all can have a seat. Can I get the frontline team to come forward? Lord, in Jesus name, we ask your blessing on this community.
15:55
We ask your blessing on this state and on this country and lord, we extend that to the absolute uttermost parts, the ends of the earth. God, I pray that you'd use first B, this little local church to extend your good gospel to the absolute ends of earth. So, lord, where we are inadequate, we pray that you would make us out. Where we carry no good of our own, we pray that you would give us something that is good, that we can carry to the nations, and you have your gospel. So Lord, would you advance your kingdom through your willing servants?
16:38
I pray that right now during this offering because we, Lord, want to give the resources to advance your gospel. Use it as you would. I ask that you'd bless it, multiply so that your son's name may be known and glorified. To the outermost in Jesus name, amen. Thank you.
21:02
Amen. Thank you. This morning, I just the the message this morning we're going to talk about just a minute. I I was impressed by a couple of things. This morning, in the first service, I was looking out and saw eight different countries represented that are all here gathered together.
21:18
All these people, eight different countries this morning that I knew of And then when I got sat down the hall, I'd missed one. And then I'd there's another one, France and Romania, actually born in Morocco, French. That's pretty amazing to me. We are one body. We are one church.
21:36
Capital C Church. It's just great to me. So, that's warms my heart. I love to see it. I'm glad to hear it this morning.
21:42
So, we're up to first Timothy two one through seven in our chronological study. We're going forward, right? We've been doing this. We went through the life of Jesus in the book of John. First, which is a late book written but life of Jesus in the book of John, the life of the early church in the book of Acts and we've been going forward using Acts as a framework and we're up to first Timothy two.
22:04
So, we've covered a lot of the letters of Paul. We've covered the book of James. We're up to first Timothy two and the verses are one through seven this week and I want you to consider something if you would. Well, that too. Wanna remind myself of this before every message I think we're going to do in first Timothy, I want to start off with the right heart.
22:28
The aim of our charge, Paul says this, Timothy and he's saying it to us, the aim Christian of our charge, the challenge that we have been handed and given is the aim of our charge is love. Agape love, God's love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Sincere faith in Jesus Christ and that becomes evident on in every message, in every passage, all the way through this but pure heart, good conscience, sincere faith. We'll be going into a time of communion at the end of the service and I want for you as we go through this to be thinking about that. A pure heart.
23:09
God is the one who purifies heart. So, I pray that as we are studying his word together today, you're asking him, lord, would you purify my heart? Would you examine me, see if there's any wicked way in me, and then change me, lord because he can do that. Give me a good conscience so that I don't have to dwell on what I've done that's wrong, what's between me and another person, or what's between me and you God. I want a good conscience.
23:34
I want to know that I'm forgiven and can go forward and I want that to be a sincere faith in Jesus Christ that does that. That's the aim of our charge is love that issues from pure heart, good conscience, and sincere faith but what I was asking about first Timothy two one through seven is what is this passage about? So, I was taken aback as I was studying for this. I'm preparing for next week and I'll say, go ahead. Read next week's passage.
23:57
Study it. Think about it. I want you to think about the context of it. Examine it because there are few hot button issues in the book of first Timothy that I think if we studied in the context of the whole, it helps. This one is, what is this passage about?
24:12
When I was looking at it this week, I thought there are a lot of one liners in there that are used often in debate. Where are you saying? But this, but that, kind of debate. Does this make sense? I went to seminary and in seminary, there's a lot of arguing back and forth about points and people are constantly grabbing on to texts to use as their proof text about what it is that they're saying.
24:34
So, what is this passage about? I'm going to read it. I'm going to try my what I I usually read it but I preach my way through the passage. I'm going read the whole passage today at the beginning and I want for you to think about what is this passage about. First of all then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people.
24:53
For kings and all who are in high positions that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good and it is pleasing in the sight of God, our savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there's one God, there's one mediator between God and man, the man, Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time and for this, I was appointed a preacher and an apostle. I'm telling the truth. I'm not lying.
25:28
A teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. So, what is this passage about? Now, I could just open it up. I don't think anybody's going to answer back but what is this passage about? When you saw that, read just straightforward, what do you think it's about?
25:42
Some of those verses, you're like, oh, I remember that one. That's an Awana verse or oh, I remember that one. That's something that I defend myself against this other heretic over here with, okay? Is it about prayer? Is the primary concern of this paragraph and it is a paragraph.
25:59
It's one unit of thought in this book. It goes with the overall purpose that he's writing but is it about prayer? Because it starts off this way. First of all then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made. All of those are different words for prayer.
26:16
So, there's supplications which has one connotation I'll come back to. Prayers has another connotation. I'll come back to that. Intercessions is something else and Thanksgiving is something else. If you're visiting here, this building creeks like that all of the time.
26:31
All seasons of the year. It's not because you're here that it's caving in, alright? It's just like that. That's the way it sounds all the time. First of all, then I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and Thanksgivings be made for all people.
26:43
Is it about prayer? That's what he leads off with. Is it about government? What are they praying for? For kings and all who are in high positions.
26:55
Actually, if you go back to this, I think a four point sermon out of this would be really easy to make, right? I could describe all the different types of prayer but is that what the passage is about? Is it about government? For kings and all who are in high positions. That's what we're praying for.
27:10
Is it about our inner peace? Oh, is it about our inner peace? That we may lead a peaceful and quiet life. Godly and dignified in every way. Is that what the major thrust of this passage is about?
27:28
Is it a clear statement of universalism? So, universalism, do you know what that is? It is a convenient heresy. That's what it is. Universalism has a long history even in the early church.
27:41
Occasionally, it would arise that all people will ultimately be saved. That's what universalism means. Universally, everyone comes to heaven. Is this a statement of that? This next set of verses.
27:57
This is good and it's pleasing in the sight of God, our savior, who desires all people to be saved. Does God get what he wants? He's desiring that all people be saved. In fact, some translations say that he does not will that any would be lost. He wills that all come to be saved.
28:13
Come to the knowledge of the truth. Is it a statement of universalism? It goes on. If you're looking for it and you want to use it as a proof text, there's one God, there's one mediator between God and man, the man, Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom. Christ Jesus gave himself as a ransom for all.
28:30
It says, if you're looking for a convenient, proof text for the heresy of universalism, you'll find it. Is it about that? Is that what it's about? Is it Paul, the great apostle Paul, changed from Saul, right on the Damascus Road. He is Paul and he's received this mission from Jesus.
28:48
Is Paul taunting, touting his own authority? Again, because he's already done it in the first couple of verses. He said that he was by the commandment of God, an apostle. A witness and he was putting a seal of approval on Timothy, his apostolic emissary to the Ephesians. Is Paul touting his own authority again?
29:08
He says, I was appointed a preacher, an apostle, a teacher. He gives three different slightly different terms for what he is of the Gentiles in faith and truth. Do you think that's what it's about? What is the passage about? So, my task every week is to understand what it says and you do have to interpret what it means.
29:30
You do because we're separated by a couple thousand years. You do have to pay attention to historical context, grammar, rhetorical features, everything else. You have to figure out exactly what it means. So, what does it say? What does it mean?
29:44
And then, how are we going to apply it to our lives? So, what's passage about? I'm going to highlight things because it matters how you highlight em, right? I'm going to highlight things the way that I think that this paragraph is intended. It's context clues throughout the whole book that lead me to my conclusion but I think we have to pay attention to whole books.
30:04
We have to pay attention to whole chapters. We have to pay attention to whole paragraphs and he says, first of all, then, I'm highlighting that. All in Greek is pantone. Pantone. Pantone.
30:15
All, the whole, every kind of, pantone. Has anybody in this room ever worked in screen printing or in paint or painting cars, anything like that? I know that Eric does and I know a few of you have in the past, artists have. Do you know the Pantone Matching System? Have you ever heard it?
30:31
The Pantone Matching System. I used to work in screen printing and we used Pantone Matching System when someone say, want a t shirt for, you know, Jackson Hole Bronx, Whatever you pick, the type of orange, use the Pantone matching system to do this. And I thought, man, those people are cool. They used a Greek word that means all because every color is represented, right? All, every kind of the whole.
30:53
So that's Pantone matching system. And they I thought, man, that's really cool because it's Pantone. That's wonderful. And I thought, what foresight? What a smart person that did that.
31:06
And then I see that the abbreviation is PMS color so and so and then I think, maybe they missed it on that. All, the whole, every kind of. It's Pantone and we see that right here. First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and Thanksgivings be made for all people. It's Pantone.
31:26
Yeah. All, the whole, every kind of, all people, all people, the whole of humanity, every kind of person. Just like Pantone matching system, it is every color, every nation, every tribe, every tongue, every kind of person. Make your prayers for all people, all, the whole, every kind. For kings, and all who are in high position.
31:53
So, kings is all kings and all who are in high positions, government officials. All, it says, pantone. The whole, every kind. I honestly, really don't care what your politics are. At all.
32:09
Not at all. You have no idea how little I care. Not at all. What I care is that you pray for. The whole, every kind of and that stands out.
32:25
The all, all, all is a rhetorical feature. I believe that it is something that Paul's trying to tell us and then he does say that and in fact, this is a henna clause and henna is a so that. So, as a pastor, as a preacher, when I'm trying to decide what it is that I'll preach and how transmit it, it's really nice for Paul to tell me exactly why he says what he says and he says, so that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. It's not the same exact word as pantone but it's pass which is the same family. It's every way.
32:57
It's a rhetorical thing that he's coming up with and he's saying, all, all, all, apparently, from the text and from the context. Paul is struggling with people who are presenting the fact, the facts in a skewed manner. Paul was Saul. He was raised, believe in the Old Testament. He was raised to have a very specific way of interpreting the Old Testament and he had been separating out for his whole, the first part of his life.
33:28
He had been separating out Jews and everybody else, Gentiles. In Christendom, in Christianity, when he comes Christ, he realizes especially because Jesus told him directly that he was going be his messenger to the Gentiles that they were not cut off from God, that it was not just these chosen few and no more that They were supposed to be transmitting who God was to the rest of the world. They were supposed to be a light to the nations and the Gentiles so that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly, and dignified in every way. He is saying, y'all have not been and you're insisting that other people not pray for all people. You're just praying for your people.
34:16
So that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way and this is good and it's pleasing in the sight of God, our savior. All, all, all, every, and this is good. Does that have any kind of a connotation for y'all of this? God did something and it was good. It's good and it's pleasing in the sight of God, our savior.
34:44
Who desires all people to be saved. Woah. He's not just not just his chosen few, this little family right here. No, he is desirous that all people be saved. Okay.
34:59
He doesn't have the boundaries that we have. He doesn't have the walls that we have. He desires all people to be saved. Now, if you're a universalist, you look at this and says, he desires all people to be saved. They're going to be saved.
35:11
No matter what they believe, no matter what they say. That goes contrary to the gospel, goes contrary to the book. This book that this is in, it goes contrary to the New Testament. It goes contrary to the Old Testament. He desires it and wants it and he's made a way so that you can be saved.
35:28
Each one of you, everyone of you, all of you is desirous that all would come to him for salvation and that they would come to the knowledge of the truth. So, Paul is helping them to understand the truth. It's not just for you, you're for, and no more. It is for all and every. The universal scope of the gospel is what this passage is about.
35:53
For there is one God. He's actually saying, consider this. You already know this part. There's one God. You with me?
36:02
Yes. There's one God and he's saying that to them. Well, hero Israel, the Lord our God. The Lord is one. This is what Paul had prayed every single day.
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Morning and night. It's the first thing you whisper to a Jewish child and it is the last thing that they whisper in their ear and if you have breath, you're supposed to say this, here, oh Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Everyone of these guys that grew up with a Jewish background would know this very well. There's one God but he extends that. So, Deuteronomy six four, this is the Shema.
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It's the Shema prayer in the morning and in the evening. It goes on depending on if you're a man or woman. It goes on but hero Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.
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You shall teach them diligently to your children. You shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up, you shall bind them as a sign on your hands, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on your doorpost of your house and on your gates. That is what he had as his foundation. His opponents, the ones who are setting themselves up and believing myths and actually in Titus, it says, Jewish myths?
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It was written about the same time. First Timothy, Titus, and second Timothy were all written in a compact time. He says, you're believing myths and you're going on and on about endless genealogies. When you've been brought up, believe in one thing for so long. Even though you really do trust in Jesus and you really are saved.
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It is hard to get away from that which you've always done. There's one God and he extends this and he says, there's one God and there's one mediator. Now, who would a Jewish person in the first century have said was their mediator between them and and God? Moses, the law. He's already said that there's one God and we're with you there, Paul and there's one mediator.
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Okay. Between God and man, the man, Christ Jesus. He's it. Moses is not it. The law is not it.
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It is grace and it is the grace of God through the man, Christ Jesus. When we come to celebrate at the table, this is the Lord's supper. It was his perfect life that was given sacrificially to pay the penalty for our sin. It's his blood, innocent blood that was shed, that makes us right with God. There's one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all.
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All, Pantone, each and everyone. The thing that made a difference in my life when I was a little kid, I had heard the message of the gospel my whole life. My brother's here today. Yeah. He's heard it too.
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We had heard it every Sunday. We'd heard it all the time. We had an invitation every single Sunday to come forward and when I went to a camp, I was 10 years old and the pastor presented it like this. And it's it's it reminds me of a Billy Graham approach to this. He said, because of verses like this one, he gave himself as a ransom for all.
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The pastor confidently said that if you had been the only other human being ever, Christ would have still died for you. The individuality of this all is I can proclaim with confidence that he died for you. But you have to accept it. It was that individuality and that all that actually helped me to see that wow. The profundity of it all that he did that for me.
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He gave himself as a ransom for all which is the testimony given at the proper time. For me, that proper time was when I was 10 years old at Camp Joy. Jesus, others, and you in Hamilton, Georgia. I had a foundation of the scriptures. I had a foundation of being taught right from wrong and the ways that we do things but when I realized that it was individually for me and I I appropriated the actual grace of God and I have now an incorruptible hope.
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This testimony given at the proper time has to be about Jesus because there is one mediator between God and man. This is the reason we go on mission. This is the reason Jill Schmidt right now is in Kenya. We've got folks spread all over the place. We're going to Guatemala soon.
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We carry the testimony, the witness, what we have witnessed firsthand of Jesus That he mediates between us and God and Paul goes on. His he actually makes three points about this. They would agree that there's one God. And he says and there's one mediator. When he gets down here to this, he says, I was appointed as a preacher, a herald, a preacher, a proclaimer.
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Do you remember old movies about Rome often times use this as a segway? Town Cryer and it maybe even in the in the colonial days of The US. There's a guy who stands up on a box and he says, hear ye, hear ye, be it known to all present that such and such has happened. This is Paul uses this twice and Peter uses it once. Heralds, we are heralds, hearkening people to the truth of the gospel.
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He says, I'm proclaiming critical news for the public, for all, all, all. For this, I was appointed as a preacher, a herald of God, and an apostle. He sent me out and then he goes into, I'm telling the truth. I'm not lying. I know.
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I came from the same place that y'all came from. I know all of the arguments that you're going to make. He appointed me as a teacher of the Gentiles. Now, if those guys were honest with themselves, if the Jewish opponents were honest with themselves, they knew that there was a way for a Gentile to come into the family of God but they saw it as a very, very, rare exception. They didn't even feel they had to pray for them.
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In fact, in a in a little quirky side note, if they they didn't do the blessing at the beginning of the meal, they did the blessing at the end of the meal and if the if the meal wasn't good, they didn't bless it. That's weird, isn't it? That's religious thinking and religious thinking is very very persistent and so, he's saying, it's for everybody. You have got to open your minds. You're in Ephesus.
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These people used to worship Diana and they're coming into the family. They don't know all of your rules. They're not going to follow all of those rules. A teacher of the Gentiles in faith and in truth. This is what he's appointed me to.
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So, what's the passage about? I think I've I think it's about the universal scope of the gospel. Not the universal nature of salvation because clearly, you have to believe in order to be born again and in order to be saved. I'm going read it again all the way through. I'm going let you listen to it.
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Watch over it. See, see how you feel about it. First of all, then, I urge that supplications. Supplications, you can see the word supply in their kind of supplications. Are humble requests from someone who's experiencing knows their lack and they are asking humbly before God, the one who can fill whatever it is that lacking.
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So, it is a request. Sometimes, this is translated as a request. Usually, it's a personal request. Prayer. Prayer is bending the knee and communicating with God.
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It is bending the knee in humility and worship, recognizing that he is able. It is communication with God but it is not just one-sided request but it is also listening to what he would impress and say in return. Intercession. Intercession is when I pray for another person. Intercessory prayer, I think of Margaret Searles.
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Margaret and Bud Searles, y'all knew. Bud, well, and he was a pastor for a long time and she said that being a pastor's wife is not an easy job. Her main role, the whole time that Bud was a pastor was interceding for other people. Praise God for those people who are constantly in prayer for others. Interceding for other people and then Thanksgivings and Thanksgivings are to be made for all people, even the people you don't like.
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Even the people you don't like because they are far away or even the people you don't like because you've had experience with them and you don't like em. Not prejudice. This is judging someone that you know and you know they're bad, alright? They're probably worse than you think. But he says, pray for em and be thankful for them.
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The challenges that they present rub a lot of rough edges off of us. First of all, then, I urge that supplications, request, prayers, communication, intercession for other people and Thanksgivings be made but be made for who? For all people, for kings, and all who are in high positions. So, I I honestly don't care like I said about your politics. If you thought that the last administration was the absolute worst or you think that this administration is the absolute worst.
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Are you praying for em? Will you pray for them? He's saying, pray for them. Can you change them by arguing against them or by arguing against them with your computer? Can you change someone's mind that way?
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It's very seldom. We're in camps that are so far apart. I want you to consider this, kings and people in high position. Nero was in charge when he wrote this letter. I don't care what you think about the last administration or this administration.
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They ain't as bad as Nero. Set Rome on fire. Blame the Christians. Martyred Paul, Martyred Peter under him, right? Kings and all who are in high position, pray for them.
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Do you all know who Pete Muldoon is? He's the mayor of Jackson. Whether you like his politics or not, are you praying for him? Can you imagine being the mayor of this town? I can't imagine being the mayor of that little town I grew up in a 500 people that basically agree.
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I cannot imagine being the mayor of Jackson. He's our neighbor. He lives right there. He's at our back door right there. Would you pray for Pete Muldoon?
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The so that there, so that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life. Godly and dignified in every way. You cannot change people but God can change people. You're interceding for other people makes a difference and you're commanded to do it. Pray for all.
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Whatever your prejudice or limitation, he's saying, get over that and pray for it. It's hard to stay mad at somebody you're praying for. It's possible but it's hard. It is hard. Lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.
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This is good. It's pleasing in the sight of God, our savior. What is it that's good and pleasing in the sight of God, our savior? To live a peaceful and quiet life, godly, dignified. In the next few verses, he's going to talk about being quiet and dignified and it is something that just rips people apart to hear that because we want to be heard.
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We want for people to listen to us. Our voice matters. It does matter. But there's nothing wrong with living a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified. In the sight of God, our savior, who desires all people to be saved.
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And to come to the knowledge of the truth. The way we live our life makes a difference in the kingdom of God. There's one God, there's one mediator between God, and man, the man, Christ Jesus. Actually, it's Anthropos. It could be the human or the person.
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To me, it seems that it is really pointed that direction. There's one God and there's one mediator between God and humanity. The human being, Christ Jesus. Who gave himself as a ransom for all, who's the, which is the testimony given at the proper time. When we go to the Lord's table, we're considering Christ's life.
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Perfectly lived. No sin. Though he was tempted just as we're tempted in every way, he was without sin which gave him a special place to be that only mediator and he sacrificially gave his life. So that anyone who believes would have eternal life and for this message, I was appointed to proclaim it as a herald, as a town crier, as one who is sent out not just in this town but in every town I pass through. Paul says, I stand up and I say the truth and I'm telling you the truth right now.
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I'm not lying. I'm a teacher of the Gentiles. Everyone in faith and in truth. So, looking back on this, name of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith. We're going to go into a time.
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The Lord's table, communion, and I want to give you the chance because it does have a very strong warning when Paul tells us about this in Corinthians. He says, let not any of you take this unworthily. Well, the pure heart. God is able to purify your hearts. First John one nine, he says, if you are confessing your sins, I'm faithful and just to be forgiving your sins.
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Elsewhere, he says, I'll throw em into the sea of forgetfulness and remember them no more and I'll throw em as far as the east is from the West and remember them no more. But first John one nine does not stop right there with forgiving what you're confessing. He says, and furthermore, cleanse you from all unrighteousness, a pure heart. He can give a pure heart. It takes your confession and your willingness to walk in his way.
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So, I'm going to give you a chance to do that. I'm going to ask the frontline team to come forward. And Lord God, would you please bless as we distribute these little crackers, this little bread that's a representation of your body that walked this Earth, that was tempted in all the ways just as we're tempted, yet you are without sin. Lord, I pray that each one who partakes this morning, lord, would sense the purity of heart that you give. Lord, I pray that their conscience, though it may have been seared against someone or some group, that lord, you would remove that barrier, that your mercy, that your grace would flow through them towards others, and that they would have a good conscience, quiet their heart.
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And lord that their faith would be strengthened and sincere without any hypocrisy whatsoever. They're not just doing the thing that they know to do because they were brought up that way. But they're doing it because of a direct one to one relationship with you. The one who this bread represents. In Jesus name, Lord, would you bless each one who partakes and each one that may have to let this pass because they don't believe.
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Today, Jesus' name. Betrayed, Jesus took bread after supper and after he had given thanks, he broke it and he said to his disciples, that this is my body that is given for you. Take this and eat and do it in remembrance of me. Lord Jesus, we're thankful for the example that you gave and to examine your life is a blessing for everyone of us, lord, but that beautiful teaching and that beautiful manner that you displayed, lord, would be only that if it were not for your blood. So, God, I'm I'm thankful for the blood of Jesus, the innocent lamb of God that was slain.
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As a payment for the penalty of sin for everyone who would believe. In Jesus name, lord, I pray that you'd bless this cup, this little plastic cup of grape juice. We are saying is representative of the blood of Christ which cleanses though our sins be as scarlet. His blood can make us white as snow. In Jesus name, would you bless each one who partakes?
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Lord, if there be anyone present who does not believe and must let this cup pass. I pray that those of us who are in this room right now would live our lives in such an exemplary manner that they would be drawn into close relationship with us and you. Our God in Jesus name. In the same manner that he had taken the bread, he took the cup after supper and he told his disciples and he tells us here today. This is the new covenant.
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Much of what Paul's been writing about is old covenant thinking and the new covenant time. Jesus says, this is the new covenant in my blood. Take this, drink, and do it as often as you will in remembrance. Paul tells us that as we do this, as often as we do this, we proclaim Christ's death until he comes again. His death means an end to sin.
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The power of cancelled sin. In Jesus name, lord, I pray that we would walk with pure heart and a good conscience and our sincere faith would be in Christ and Christ alone. Amen. Would you stand with me as we close with a song? How about the doxology?
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Let's go with that. We're going to do it Acapulco style. I'm number 91. No.
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Speaker 2No. No. We'll do
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Speaker 1sing an acapella. Just like this. Alright. Here we go.
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Speaker 2Praise God from whom all blessings flow praise him all creatures here praise him above you heavenly host praise father son and holy
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Speaker 1And as a benediction today, I want you to consider something from Colossians. Be wise in the way that you act towards outsiders. Make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace. That's the unmerited favor of God.
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Seasoned with salt so that you may know how to answer everyone. In Jesus name, lord, would you give us the words to say as we seek to follow you. Amen.
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