I exhort, therefore, that first of all supplications, prayers, intercession, 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 peaceful life in all jolliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who will have all men to be saved and determined to the knowledge of the truth. We need to realize, as young Timothy spoke, that he was telling us, you know, I exhort, therefore, first of all, what is important for all of us to do, and that's supplications, prayers, and intercessions, giving of thanks be made for all men. We will note that this prayer was not just that God's people living a quiet and peaceful life, but it also states that God's will is that all men would be saved and for all men to have the knowledge of the truth, even if they are not saved. We need to understand that When a man dies and goes to hell, he doesn't go to hell because he wasn't one of God's elect, he goes to hell because he refused to receive Christ as his Lord and Savior. And I believe in election, as strong as, stronger than some, but as strong as any. But we need to realize that as long as we're here on earth, and I personally believe, as I say about every time I have an occasion to, I'm getting up early in the age and I'm not in good health, but I believe that Christ is going to come before I die. I believe that. And so that means that that's how close it is. But you'll notice that this prayer was not just about God's people living a quiet and peaceful life, but it also states that God's will is that men would be saved and for all men to have the knowledge of the truth, if they are saved. If there is anything that we ought to be praying about as children, it is that His will would be done on earth. Just notice in Matthew chapter 9, or chapter 6, excuse me, and verse 9, Matthew the 6th chapter and the 9th verse. God said that after this manner, therefore, pray ye our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, forgive us our debtors as we forgive our debtors. and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine, thine, not ours, but thine, as we look here in God's word, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. And when we understand that verse, although we're not preaching that verse today, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven, that we are to live a peaceful and productive life, when he's talking about spreading the gospel and realizing that it is not you that is successful, It is God that has blessed you with the ability to be successful. Now, the reason I say that, because I talk to a lot of people over the years that says, well, you know, if you're not in that, if you're not making X number of dollars, it's your fault, because God's will is forever going to be wealthy, and you can't find that in the scriptures at all. You know, God knows every need that everybody has. But we need to understand that we note again in 2 Peter chapter 3 and verse 9, God's will for the lost. Because he says, the Lord is not slack. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise as some men count slackness. But he's long suffering. He's been long suffering. to me, he's been long suffering to you. Because that's the unfaithfulness that I have experienced in my lifetime would be enough to send me to hell. Because I'm saved, I have the ability to live a life that pleases him. But sometimes our life doesn't please him. So is it biblical to pray for the lost? That's the question in our study this morning. But as we look here in 2 Peter 3, 9, you know, the Lord is not sly concerning his promise. He will save every man, woman, boy, and girl that comes to him in faith. Now see, that's man's responsibility. When we go the other way and say, well, if I'm one of God's elect, I'll be saved. If I'm not, I won't be saved. You're stepping in the territory that you really don't have any control over. God said, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. So our job as missionary Baptists is to live a life that is different from anybody else's life, but also that when the opportunity comes that they may see something in our life that is different from other people. And, you know, I'd rather for a church member to live like the Lord than to talk like the Lord, because words are cheap. The life is sacrifice. You know, there's a lot of people that have said, you know, I was saved, and I was saved at a very young age. I was in the Christian family. I was, I was, I was, I was. All that gives you and all that causes you is that you're going to have more to answer for. If you come out of a home that is a Christian home, what God expects of you and I would be much more than a heathen in Africa or a heathen in Sydney or Georgetown or Carlisle or anywhere we may live. So we can boldly and confidently pray for Pacific lost people to be saved and know our prayers are in the will of God. It is his will. He died. A person cannot get up and say, well, if I'm one of God's elect, I'm going to be saved. If I'm not, I'm not. And that statement is true on the face of it. but God's elect will never be saved until they hear the gospel, God grants them repentance, God grants them faith. It is pretty sad when people take the doctrine of God and twist it around so it will fit their theology. Exactly opposite is what should happen The theology that's in the Bible ought to change our life, and if it's going to change my life, where will it start? It'll start in my mind. We are what we think. Amen? If I think evil, I'll become evil. If I think that I'm a child of God, God is with me, even though times are bad, times are rough, God is still my Lord and Savior, and he's allowed this to come into my life for a purpose. He does all things well. So it means that when I fell and broke my arm, it was for my good. Now you tried to get me to understand that, I haven't understood it yet, except the fact that God knew before the foundation of the world that I would fall. At the time I fell, I would break my arm, where it would be broken, and everything that has happened now almost four months later. Either he's in control or he's not. So is it biblical to pray for the lost? Well, sure. I don't know whether that lost man is one of God's, but how do you tell? How do you tell? All we can see is the actions, how the person handled things, because saved people handle things different than lost people. No doubt in my mind about that. Now, a second point, you know, we can boldly and confidently pray for specific lost people to be saved and know that our prayers are in the will of God because it is the will of God that all be saved. But we also know that God teaches that all will not be saved. So, as we go to our second point in Romans chapter 10 and verse 1, when he said, brethren, my heart's desire and prayer is, my prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. Now notice, brethren. Not talking to lost people, he's talking to brethren. My heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel. Why would we use Israel? Israel is God's chosen people. Israel is God's chosen land. And if Russia, China, or anybody else think they're gonna destroy Israel until the time of the rapture, they don't know what they're talking about. Because Israel is God's people. The Jews are his people. So he says, brother, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. So the lost need our prayers because of the devil, the terrible condition that they are in. Whether it's in my family, your family, your neighbor, they need the Lord. And if you have a lost neighbor, the greatest influence you can have on them is how you live, not what you say. Why? Because they are blind. They are blind. Follow me now. Blind person comes in this door this morning. They haven't been in the building before. They don't know where the seats are. They don't know anything. They need a guide. Right? Everybody would agree to that statement. But if a lost man comes through that door, they're also blind, but not physically blind, but spiritually blind. And so they can't come. So what has God provided? God has provided the preaching of the gospel to save them who would believe. Our job is not to save them. Our job is to preach the gospel. And I believe that gospel that makes the most difference is not what we say, but how we live. Notice in 2 Corinthians, God speaks to us here as we look at this portion of Scripture and we see what God says for us, to us. You know, we need to look at Him and we need to realize that God has a purpose. So in 2 Corinthians chapter 4, 2 Corinthians chapter 4. In verse 3, God says, But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost, in whom The God, little g, of this world have blinded the minds of them that believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. The loss. God said if the gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost. those that have not yet been dealt with by the Spirit of God, but the Spirit of God will only deal with a lost person after they have heard the gospel, because the gospel is what they have got to believe and understand. The gospel, what is it? The death, the burial, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He can join church, he can be baptized, he can stop drinking, he can stop doing anything that he may do or that I may think is wrong, but unless the Spirit of God bears witness with that man, he's not going to be saved. His goodness won't save him, his giving won't save him, only the blood of Jesus Christ can save a man. So there is none, as Romans chapter three in verse 11 says, there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. Now does none here in Romans chapter three mean none? And what does none mean? So you said, but we hear people said, I have decided to follow Jesus. We sang that little unscriptural song here every once in a while, and it is unscriptural. You did not decide to follow Jesus. A dead man can't follow Jesus. But when it is our job as the Ammon Road Baptist Church and as individuals to take the gospel to a lost and dying world, In a few days, we will celebrate what the world calls Christmas. And the families usually give something. You don't go out here and give gifts to the lost world now, do you? You know, I mean, as I'm talking about as a way of life. Well, God tells us that there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. You know, when we look at that, as he says here in Romans chapter three and verse 11, there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. So if you know what it takes to be saved, if you know that Jesus died for you, was buried for you and arose for you, who showed that to you? You know, but more and more, if I get the opportunity to talk to somebody and say, well, I just decided that the lost world wasn't for me, so I decided I would follow Jesus. No, he didn't. He didn't. Now, if he tells me that he did, I'm not going to argue with him. You know why? Because he really believes Now, let me give you one figure that—and I looked that up in a book that I have. I'm assuming it's true, but I don't know whether it is or not. But one-third of all church members that are members of Baptist churches was re-baptized. And that's a statement that is not true. Because if you were lost and some priest would tuck you under, you weren't baptized. You went through the motion. So that's why when we realized that, I know I'm saved, but I was saved after I was baptized. Which means, hey, I was not saved when I submitted to baptism and the church voted to. Why? Because you never experience baptism unless you're saved. And that's really not complicated when you take the simple scripture as we read in Romans 3, 11. And then also in 1 Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 14, when we go to the Word of God and we get our answers out of the Word of God, and we believe that that Bible we open up is true. So we look at 1 Corinthians chapter 2, 1 Corinthians chapter 2, and we see exactly what God says. Here in verse 14 of 1 Corinthians chapter 2, when God says, but the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, they're foolish unto him. The world thinks you're foolish when you get up on a cold morning like this and you come to church to hear something that you probably already heard a dozen times. But God said, but the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they're foolish. They're foolish unto him. Neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. That's not saying that they're not smart. It doesn't say they're not successful or they're not intelligent. are spiritually discerned. They don't have the ability. They may have it up here, but it hasn't entered the heart. See? That's why a lot of marriages are not successful. They love that person in the head, but not the heart. What we need to understand, is it biblical to pray for the lost? And the answer is yes. If you got a husband, a wife, a child, you ought to be praying for that individual. The gospel, the gospel, my friend, is spiritual. They do not comprehend the need for us to give them the gospel life, and they need our prayers. But this is just personal opinion, so you can believe it or not believe it. But I believe that if a Christian lives a life, it's better than the Christian trying to tell somebody how to be saved every time they see him. because I believe that actions, you know, you know, you can tell your wife that you love them. You can tell your husband you love them. But if it never goes beyond that, do you? Or is that what you expected to say? I believe that we have Christians that they are expected and they think they are expected to do something that is not real to them. As we look at 2 Timothy 2, we look at 2 Timothy 2 and verse 25. Notice 2 Timothy chapter 2 verse 25. In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves. Who are those who oppose themselves? If you've got a friend, she's a friend of yours, but she's lost, she will talk to you about anything except the Lord. You can say, man, that's an ideal friend. But what does, do you want your friend to go to hell? Do you want your friend to, you know, just because they're your friend? I'm not saying shove the gospel down them. They're always all you talk about. But, you know, the best way to do that is that you don't do what they do. See, God said here in 25 and 26, and meekness instructing those that oppose themselves. Who is the lost person's greatest problem? They are. Because they cannot understand if they're lost, God hasn't given them the ability to understand. Repeating facts is not understanding. God said, if God pre-eventually will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth. If God does, see, That's what we need to understand. It says, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves, if God pre-advances, we'll give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth. If God gives it to them, they'll understand. If God doesn't, a lost man doesn't have the ability within himself. And that's what happens on these surveys when they go out. People ain't going to say, yeah, I'm lost. I died last night. I'd be in hell this morning. You wouldn't be talking to me. They're not going to say that. I think Steve is going to bear this out. A lot of times they told us they were saved. Why? To get us to move on. Because lots of people don't want somebody that said, have you repented? Have you believed? What's different in your life now that you're saved? They don't want that. So the surveys that people take and say, yes, you know, 95% of Cythiana is lost. If you believe that, I'll sell you some wasteland out there somewhere. It's not. They're not. Because it's just facts. So when God says that to us, and we see in verse 26, and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil who are taken captive by him at his will. And what do we learn in verse 26? You're no mess, I'm no mess for the devil. If I don't have the Spirit of God living in me, then I'm fighting an enemy, which is Luther, which I cannot win. But we that are saved, the Holy Spirit lives in me. And when I do say, think anything that is contrary to what a child of God should say, I dream the Holy Spirit. And the reason this is not taught in churches is because people don't want to hear it. But I believe everybody needs to hear it. Probably everybody here has heard it, at least for me, a half dozen times if you've been here alone. But, you know, I kid people, they say, how old are you? I say, I don't know, let me get my license out. We know it, but we don't know it. So in Ephesians chapter two, you know, God talks about wherein time passed, he walked accordingly. How did your walk? And I think that's really a good way that I can tell, you know, a self-check. We have them on our cars, you know. either a light or flashing or tone, depending on what kind of car you drive, that will tell you that it's time to change the oil or it's getting hot. There are gauges. And God said in Ephesians chapter two and verse two, where in time past he walked according to the course of this world. But you notice it said in time past. Just a simple way that you can tell if I am saved, what excited me may not excite me now. And I'm not interchanging at all that a Christian cannot be happy, a Christian cannot have fun, a Christian cannot laugh. I don't believe that for a moment. Because I believe Christians should be the happiest people in the world. because nothing can happen to them here on earth unless God permits it. And when it happens, if we are where we are to be spiritually, we will say, why is this happening? Why is this happening? So God said, we're in time past. He walked according to the course of his world, according to the principle of the hour. The spirits are now working in the children of disobedience. See, when I see that man that's cursing, that used to be me. I see a man that's drinking, that used to be me. I see this man that's lying, that used to be me. But in time passed. So those that are held in bondage by Satan, he seeks with all his might to keep them in his grasp, that they might live and die in disobedience. I mean, that's what Galatians chapter one, verse 13 tells us. He wants us to go back to the back, you know, where we started from. Well, I had problems, but I didn't have these problems. But see, if you know the scriptures, what does God say? Life is short and full of trouble. Life. You know how you not have troubles? You die. As long as you're living on this face of the earth, you're going to have problems. Now, when we're used to the blessings of God and we used to feel good reading the Bible, we, you know, it's just what we've done. So it's like we eat when we're hungry. But, you know, and a person may say, but I do read my Bible and I do pray and I do this and I do that. But that doesn't save you. That gives self-assurance. Because I don't remember ever picking up the Bible daily when I was lost. But I eat once a day, twice a day, three times a day, snacks in between and all that to take care of my physical body. But what about my spiritual body? What about my spiritual life? In the book of John, chapter 3, verse 18, we all know what John 3, 16 says, but John 3, 18 says, he that believeth on him is not condemned. But he that believeth not is condemned already. So what just a man lost? Drugs? Alcohol? Illicit sex? Stealing? Lying? And the average person will say, yes, all of those. But God's word says, he that believeth on him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already. He that believeth on him is not condemned. If I believe that Jesus died for me, was buried for me, arose for me, coming back for me, I'm not condemned. But the closer I get to the Lord, the harder Satan is on me. But he tells us. He tells us. He that believeth on him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. Read the last part of 18 in John 3. It doesn't say because he have not believed in the name of the only. It doesn't say because he did this, he did this, he did that. All of the sins, it's just the fruit of a lost man. The righteous acts, it's the fruit of a saved man. And then when we look at the word of God and we look at Ephesians, you know, we see how the, what God said in Ephesians chapter two and verse three. I like this verse. Among whom also we all had our conversation, our way of life. In times past, in the lust of the flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others." You know, so if you're a good Presbyterian and you have a baby, you're going to have it baptized. Why? I'll always remember that. Jay was sick. I called the hospital. Dr. McKinney was there, and he was going to have his baby baptized that day. And I asked Frank, why are you going to have your baby baptized? Because that's what they believe. But see, so deep in this Presbyterian theology, they have got to believe that baptism has a part of your salvation. But it doesn't. The only thing John the Baptist missed by not being baptized, he can't be in the Bride of Christ. Isn't that amazing, a man like John the Baptist? So as we go to a couple more points, they are helpless, you know. Read John 6, 44. Memorize that verse. It says, no man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him. But how many times on this station have we heard people say, oh, I'm gonna get saved. But God's Word says, no man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me. Draw him, and I will raise him up at the last day. It is God that does the saving. You can't pick out a day and say, oh, I'm gonna get saved on March the 8th, 2015. Doesn't make any sense. Ephesians chapter 2 verse 1 talks about, and you have he quickened who were dead and trespasses and sins. I mean, it makes pretty good sense when Martha and Mary was at that grave and Jesus came and they said, Lord, you're late. He's already been dead this number of days. Well, how long were you dead before God saved you? You were spiritually dead, and God made you alive. How did he do that? He chose the foolishness of preaching to save those who would believe. You ain't saved no other way. So, as we close, The lost are helpless to change the course of their eternal destiny. Without the work of God's spirit and the witness of his word, they will remain lost. Believers need to join God's redemptive work through prayer, evangelism, witness for this to be done. The greatest gift you can give your family at their loss is to pray that God will save them. Because if they can't save themselves, no matter how hard, only God can do that. And lastly, a lost man is hopeless. Ephesians 2, well, says that at the time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenant promise, having no hope without God in the world. That's exactly Ephesians 2, well, if I got a lost friend, and I have some people that are lost, that I would trust them, come in my house by themselves, but they also, unless the word of God is made manifest in their life, they'll remain lost. Father, we thank you for this day, and we thank you for the privilege.