Happy New Year! (If I had some way to insert the little kazoo sound effects I would do it here.) I hope you all had a memorable and enjoyable time welcoming in another beautiful year in the Lord. The time Marge & I had last night was truly fantastic. Our nice dinner was so enjoyable. Beautiful environment, attentive service, stellar food, and it’s so fun to be in a place where everyone is dressed up so nice. Since it was New Years Eve, almost everyone was in their best for the night, black and sparkles abounded.
The show we saw was nothing less than fantastic. The singer, Cary Hoffman, is a life-long Sinatra fan and was singing Sinatra even back when Sinatra was alive (and even met him once.) His dream was to keep the music alive and he has been afforded that opportunity with a Broadway show that commemorates the life of Frank Sinatra while relating how his own life intertwines. The real star of the show though was the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. He was backed by the ENTIRE symphony! The effect was literally jaw-dropping.
You know, Sinatra had one of the best voices ever, I rank him right up there with Elvis and a few others. But the genius of Sinatra was not just his voice but how he treated his material. He had the best musicians, arrangers, writers and composers at his command and he used them to create music that truly stands the test of time. My favorite Sinatra song is Summer Wind and I have never heard it like last night. To hear a voice similar to Sinatra’s crooning those beautiful words as the entire string section weeps with emotion, was just an awesome life experience. What a beautiful thing God gave us in music.
Well, here we are January 1, 2019. Margie and I both have the day off and we are going down to spend it with Mom & Dad to help them take down and pack up all their Christmas decorations. It will be a great time of visiting as we get their house back to normal. Side note…what’s up with that crazy feeling you get as you finally put up all your Christmas decorations and then look around the house? At first it seems you doubled the size of your house with out the tree and all the other stuff, right? But even after a day or so it just seems there’s something missing as you look around. I think it’s God’s way of saying, don’t forget me. You see we put up all this stuff about Jesus for a month and then take it all down and nothing is left behind. I think the feeling we get is Jesus saying to us metaphorically, “don’t take me down from your life.” It makes me think what we have around our house that reminds us of Jesus the other 11 months of the year.
Today we’ll be studying chapter 2 of 1 Timothy. We started the book of 1 Timothy yesterday and touched heavily on the background and purpose of the book, if you missed it double back and catch it on the5MC.com. I built the entire website for you guys and I hope you and your friends and families can use it as a tool to help however it can. We’ve already covered the first fourteen books of the New Testament and they’re all there, chapter by chapter, archived and easy for you to find. Just scroll down to the posts and then select the book you’re looking for and then the chapter. I pray that the 5MC can be a resource that aids you in your daily study of God’s Word.
Here in chapter 2 of 1 Timothy, Paul covers a mixture of topics that he thought Timothy needed to address and be aware of. Remember this is one of the three “pastoral epistles” from Paul and he was writing to Timothy, a young pastor, in an effort to guide him and help him. Paul starts off with a message that we need so desperately today.
“I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— 2 for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” 1 Tim 2:1-4
Let’s dig into this great verse section by section to really see what Paul is telling us. He starts out with a list of things to do for all people, including those in authority and kings. You probably already see where this is going as Paul has taught this before, how we are to treat our leaders and those in authority. This is a huge problem in our world today. We live in such a selfish world today that we believe that freedom means that if someone else doesn’t completely agree with our opinion that we have the right and the freedom to verbally attack them for disagreeing with us. This is a cancer in our land and it will not bear any good for God. God will not bless this type of treatment of our leaders and others.
Now you might be saying, “but Dan, Paul didn’t have so and so president that we had 12 years ago, 4 years ago or today, he just doesn’t understand how bad this president was/is.” At the time Paul wrote this Rome was in control of almost the entirety of that part of the World and do you know who was in control of the Roman Empire at that time? Nero. Or as some called him in the day ‘Bloody Nero.’ He was closely associated with tyranny, corruption, murder and extravagance. Nero was famous for a few things. The first was burning Christians alive. He did this seemingly not for punishment or public justice but just out of personal cruelty. Nero was also believed to have orchestrated the great fire of Rome that burned down an entire section of the city. The reason? To build and expand his palatial complex. You see, there were public buildings in the way and he could not annex them, so he burned a huge part of the city and then took the now burned land. Hundreds died and thousands were left homeless. What did he do then? He raised taxes and used the tax dollars to undertake the single biggest building project in history at that time…for himself…right there on the land that had miraculously now become available. How do our leaders sound know? And yes, this Nero is the leader that Paul is telling Timothy to pray for here.
We are so hard on our leaders and our government. Now, I’m not so naïve to say that there is not great corruption within our government. This should not surprise us, it’s operated by men and women and ALL men and women are imperfect sinners just like you and me. Anywhere men and women touch something it too becomes imperfect. In fact, I would go a step farther and say that if you and I were placed in an office of prominence, that we would eventually make the same mistakes that the current men and women make. A sinner is a sinner.
But even a tainted government is better than none. My job requires me to work within the political climate of China quite a bit and what a difference 8,000 miles can make. There is no freedom of religion and just 3 weeks ago a Christian home church was raided and over 100 people arrested and imprisoned indefinitely. Just a month ago a photojournalist that was photographing government injustice in China disappeared and has yet to be found. You see, before you come down hard on the US for being such an unjust government, do this. Take one hour and use google to research the world’s governments and the top stories. We live relatively in a very safe, organized, clean, sanitary country compared to many others.
So Paul doesn’t just command us to pray for our leaders he gives us an entire list of things to do for them. Lets look at the list.
Petitions (supplications) - This is the action of asking or begging for something earnestly or humbly. This is how we should speak with those in authority over us when making requests of them. With humility, which is a modest or low view of one's own importance. Remember the great verse in Matt 23:12, “For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
Prayers – Going to God and asking that He bless, guide and protect these men and women that He has placed in these positions. Yes, they are there because of God whether it pleases us or not. If you don’t think every world leader is placed by God, please recall Romans 13:1, its very clear, “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.”
Intercessions - prayer, petition, or entreaty in favor of another. It could also be seen as a prayer that asks God to help other people. Notice that this is externally focused. We are praying that God’s Will be done through other people. It has nothing to do with us, what we want or what we think is right.
Thanskgiving – this one is pretty straightforward but one that we might struggle with more than the others. It reminds me of when I was a little kid. My parents would ask me to do something and I would say, “well, I’ll do it, but I won’t like it!” I see so much of that treatment concerning our leaders today. They will tolerate them, maybe even say a half-hearted prayer for them, but they are definitely NOT thankful for them. When I struggle with thanks, I run a little drill in my head and ask myself, how could it be worse? It doesn’t take long for me to realize things could get worse really quick. What I’m seeing as a huge problem can also be seen as God protecting me from just how bad it could really be.
So as Paul commands us to do these things for our leaders, there is an outcome that pleases God. Look at the last portion of the verse.
“that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” 1 Tim 2:1-4
You see, Paul was a real common sense guy. I grew up with the saying, “you get more flies with honey than vinegar.” Or as God’s Word beautifully phrases it, “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.” (Gal 6:7) Basically how you treat others, you will be treated. I mean come on, this is basically the entire theme of the bible as far as dealing with others. Love others as God loves you and died for you. If this is true, why do we think that our President, Senate or governors are somehow excluded from this love?
But key in on the last of that verse, “that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” 1 Tim 2:1-4. You see the goal of all this?
That God’s Word be allowed to go forth.
Paul wasn’t running a popularity contest. He was using the commandments of God to treat others as he was instructed so that he would be allowed to give out the Word of God. That’s the whole point. Pray for your leaders and treat them well. Do not speak ill of them. Be thankful for them. This is God’s Will so that our country would continue to allow us to be able to freely give out the Word of God. “This is good, and pleases God our Savior.”
I’m thankful for this amazingly practical message from God this morning. God’s Word is so relevant to our lives today and it hits us where we live and walk. Paul’s message is as relevant today as it was over 1950 years ago when he was dealing with an evil, maniacal, tyrannical leader. We need not analyze the situation and apply our own beliefs, but simply believe in and perform what God’s Word instructs.
I pray that your personal time in God’s Words today lifts your heart to the Heavens and grants you peace and joy.
Happy New Year.
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