Be seated. And let's pray. Heavenly Father, it's our prayer this morning now as we direct our attention to your word. Our prayer is that you would indeed speak to us. We pray, Lord, that we would hear you, that we would have eyes that are open to see you, ears that are open to hear You. Lord, we pray that the distractions of this world, all those burdens that we carry from living in this broken world, we pray, Lord, that they might not distract us or take our eyes off of You, but rather that they would encourage us to see You and encourage us to focus on You Lord, I pray that the words I speak this morning might be true. And Lord, should there be any errors in them, I pray that You would correct them in the hearts and the minds of those who are listening. Lord, we pray that You would use Your Word to strengthen our faith, to strengthen our belief in our Savior Jesus Christ, that we might live holy and righteous lives, lives that are pleasing to you. And we pray that your word this morning might drive us to our knees in gospel prayer. And we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. What's wrong with this statement? All I can do is pray. All I can do is pray. What's wrong with that? First glance, perhaps nothing. I know I've used that phrase a few times, rightly or wrongly, I know I've used it. All I can do is pray. What's wrong with that statement is the word all. It implies that were there something else that I could be doing, I'd be doing that instead of praying, right? All I can do is pray. At least, that's what it seems like most of the time, right? Where prayer is this last resort. We can't do anything else, so, well, we need to pray. Now, I know sometimes the word all expresses or carries with it this concept of only. So we say, All I can do, we're saying, the only thing I can do is pray. And many times that's true. We're the only thing we can do is pray. But how often do we, how do we get to that place? A lot of times it's by trying other things. I've tried this, I've tried that. So the only thing left for me to do is pray. I suspect I might be making some of you uncomfortable starting my sermon this way. I'm a little uncomfortable doing it this way. Because I know that's the way I've often treated prayer myself. Prayer is the last resort. Prayer is what I do when nothing else works. Why is it that prayer is so often our last resort? Or maybe, why is it that prayer is not our first option? I suspect the reason is self-efficacy. Self-efficacy, a good word for you all. Self-efficacy is the belief that one is capable of performing in a certain manner in order to attain certain goals. Victoria has a little postcard on one of her mirrors at home so that when she's working out, she can look at it. And it's a constant reminder, an inspiration to her. She needs to press on, work hard. And it's good that there is a certain degree of self-efficacy. belief that we are capable of performing in a certain way in order to achieve certain goals, when those goals are of some physical or physiological target, such as lifting weights or accomplishing some yard work. However, when it comes to our spiritual life, whether it is spiritual warfare or justification or sanctification or glorification or any of those other big theological terms, when it comes to spiritual things, there's no room for self-efficacy. There's no room for self-efficacy. And such a view works against us spiritually. And I think it's this belief in the self that we are capable of attaining certain goals on our own. I think it's that attitude that keeps us from running to prayer first and foremost. It's that attitude that since there's nothing else we can do, we can pray. Consider, though, what Scripture says. Scripture teaches us really just the opposite. Scripture doesn't say that prayer is always the only thing we can do. But Scripture does say it's the first thing we should do. Instead of prayer being at the bottom of our priority list, prayer ought to be the top. It ought to be first. It ought to be the highest priority. This is why Paul begins his instructions here in 1 Timothy chapter 2. He begins, first of all, First of all, this expression, first of all, is not simply first in a list of things to do. This expression refers to its priority among everything that we are to do. First of all, our highest priority, our chief priority is prayer. That's what we see over in Acts chapter 6. Acts chapter 6. The church is growing numerically. The church is growing in cultural diversity. And the church runs into some problems there. Some problems about how they're going to be caring for their widows. And so the apostles begin to deal with it. And the apostles begin to take gifts in and distribute those gifts. And then they come to this realization. By the apostles taking care of the money and taking care of the widows that are in the church, they realize that they're being drawn away from that which they are called to do. from prayer and preaching. And so the apostles appoint deacons at that point. And the deacons' primary responsibility there in Acts chapter 6, contrary to the way deacons are often portrayed today, the deacons of Acts chapter 6, their primary responsibility was to enable the apostles and the elders to pray and to preach. And in that setting, it meant that they had to take care of the needs of the widows in the church. And so we read in Acts chapter 6 verses 3 to 4. And by the way, I put up the wrong verse list. So if you're looking at that verse list, don't pay any attention to it. Acts chapter 6 verses 3 and 4. The Bible says, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the spirit and of wisdom who we will appoint this day. But we, being the apostles, will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word. You see the order there. It's not just a random thing that they're ordered the way they are. The apostles are devoting themselves to prayer and the ministry of the word. Prayer gets highest priority. Now, why does prayer get this highest priority in the life of the church? Turn with me over to John. Gospel of John, chapter 15. Gospel of John, chapter 15. It is on page 901. I want to read verses 4-8 to you. This is Jesus speaking to his apostles. And he says to them, Abide in me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away like the branch and withers, and the branches are gathered and thrown into the fire and burned. If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you." Jesus is explaining here how we abide in Him. You know, branches draw their life from the vine. And it is in the drawing of life from the vine that the branches are then able to produce fruit. In the same way, Christians have to draw their life from Christ if they're going to produce fruit, like the fruit of the Spirit. Love, joy, peace, patience. Galatians 5.22 The question is, how do we draw life from Christ? The answer is we pray. We pray. We pray the Gospel. Gospel prayer is the power line or the umbilical cord, if you will. It is that which gives life to believers. The benefits of grace, of the grace of Christ, flow through prayer. You know, today, prayer is often portrayed as the means by which we can manipulate God. Now, of course, most people won't say it that way. But if they're honest, that's what they're expecting to do. They're expecting to somehow manipulate God by their prayers. They take the attitude, if I have enough faith when I pray, God's going to have to listen to me and do what I ask him to do. Or if we can just get enough people praying, the mere number of people that are praying, well, God will have to listen and answer. There is a group that's meeting monthly for prayer here in Palm Harbor. When I first heard of this group, there were some things that made me a little uncomfortable. The attitude that I sensed was this. The attitude was, if we can just get enough people praying together with us, that we can change the culture here in North Pinellas County. If we can get enough people praying, we can take Palm Harbor, Dunedin, and Tarpon Springs for Jesus. And let me tell you, it is true that there is power in prayer. And I'll get to that in a second. But the power of prayer is not to affect culture change. The power of prayer is to connect sinners to the grace of God. And this is where Paul takes us in verse five. I didn't read verse five, but if you want to, you can read it this afternoon, prepare for next week. But verse five speaks of there being one mediator between God and man, and that is Jesus Christ. The fullness of the grace of God is found only in Jesus Christ. And when we pray, what we are doing is we are petitioning God to unleash this grace through Jesus. Therefore, our prayers are to be gospel prayers. And here's why prayer, gospel prayer, is to be the highest priority in the church. See, a church that doesn't pray the gospel is a church that will not preach the gospel. You don't have to go too far than your, you know, your run of the mill word of faith churches to see what happens to see a church that doesn't pray the gospel and to see that they don't preach the gospel either. And if you study such churches, you quickly discover that what they're almost consumed with is getting the gifts, instead of getting the giver of the gifts. A church that doesn't pray the Gospel is a church that won't preach the Gospel. And a church that doesn't preach the Gospel is a church that won't survive very long. So Paul writes to Timothy, Timothy, chiefly, of highest importance, is that you pray, and specifically, that you pray the Gospel. And that's what the cumulative effect of these four terms that he gives for us here. These four words are not synonyms. They're different types of prayer that emphasize the widespread nature of the gospel that covers every aspect of our life. Let me quickly run through these four things. First of all, there's supplication. John Gill writes that these are petitions for things that are wanted by men, either by themselves or for others, and that these are for their bodies or for their souls as food or clothing. And he is emphasizing that supplications are petitions for the things that are vital for life. First Timothy 5.5 is an example. She who is truly a widow, left all alone, has set her hope on God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day." Supplications are entreaties to God for specific life-giving needs. This is the prayer that says, God, You give life. And if you don't give life, if you don't provide the things that sustain life, we're going to suffer the consequences of sin, which is death. So, Lord, in our supplications, we are pleading that you grant the grace that we might live. Those are supplications. Prayers, on the other hand. Prayers, sometimes this word is used in a general sense. But when it's used in a list like it is here, it places an emphasis on our desires or on the devotional aspect of our communion with Christ. So this is not necessarily the prayer, Lord, I need a new job. That may be the case. But these type of prayers are prayers that are gospel prayers where the desire is to enjoy communion. It's a prayer of devotion to God. And so it would be something more like this, Lord, my job situation is not good. Therefore, either grant me a new job or enable me to enjoy you in my current employment. This is the type of prayer that was prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane by Christ. We said, Lord, not my will be done, but yours. There is a devotion here. There is a desire to draw near and do the will of God. And then there are the intercessions. These are petitions for God to intercede on behalf of someone else. The imagery of this prayer is like someone coming before a king. and coming in to see this king, they say, oh king, please be benevolent to so and so over here. They need your benevolence because of what they're going through in their life. I think of Esther. She went before the king. Remember this story. She went before him pleading for the Jews. She was making intercession. And then, of course, finally there is the Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving prayers are just that their prayers expressing gratitude for God granting to us that which is not deserved And so these are the types of prayers are our gospel prayers Each type takes us into the throne room of God by the grace of Jesus And was actually being sought for here is that that God whatever in this case may be Was actually being sought for in gospel prayers that God is glorified And so a prayer, a gospel prayer, is the first priority of the church, since the gospel prayer connects sinners to the pipeline of grace. And this raises the next question in our text. For whom are we to pray? For whom are we to pray? And the answer, he says, is for all people. Now here we come to an interesting predicament in our text. What does Paul mean by the word all? Is Paul really saying that the highest priority of the church is to pray for each and every individual on earth? Do you think he's really saying that? Because if he is, we'd better get started, right? In 2010, the world population was at 6.8 billion people. Even if we were to name one person per second, that's 6.8 billion seconds. I have no idea what the math, I mean, hours that turns out to be, or years. But here's something else. We don't know their names, do we? We don't know the names of everybody on the earth. So how can we possibly pray for people whom we don't even know? We don't know who they are. We don't know where they are. We know absolutely nothing about how can we pray for them? I don't know if you've ever thought about that before. You know, is Paul really saying that we have to be in prayer when we gather for each and every individual on this planet? Of course not. He can't be. Not only do we not have enough time to do that, we have no way of compiling such a list that would enable us to pray for each and every person in the world. But here's another alternative. When Paul uses the term here, he's not saying you have to pray for each and every person without exception, but rather he's saying you have to pray for every person without distinction. Every person without distinction. See, this is what the Jews did in their prayers. They made distinctions as far as who they would pray for and who they wouldn't pray for. The Jews made distinctions between themselves and Gentiles. It was not at all uncommon for Jews to pray and to thank God. Oh, I thank you, Lord, that I'm not like the Gentiles. Or I'm not. Thank you that I'm not a woman. Or I thank you that I'm not a slave. The Jews in their prayers all the time were making distinctions as far as who would be recipients of God's grace and who wouldn't be a recipient of God's grace. And so when Paul is saying here, pray for all people, pray for all people without distinction, this is something radical to the Jewish mindset. It's not something that they came naturally into. This would almost be equivalent to us going over to Westboro Baptist Church out in Kansas and telling them, you know what? You need to pray for the gays and the homosexuals, and you need to pray the gospel prayer for President Obama. Or going over to the church in Ocala, the Koran-burning church, and telling them, you need to pray gospel prayers for Muslims. There's a disconnect here. This is something pretty radical that Paul is telling Timothy to do. Timothy, pray for all people. Don't make any distinctions on who is worthy to be prayed for. It doesn't matter whether they are Jew or Gentile, male or female, slave or free. Pray for everyone without distinction because there is nothing in a person that puts them outside of Gospel prayer. There is nothing in a person that disqualifies them from being prayed for. You realize what that means for you? It means there's no one for whom you should not be praying. There's, you know, that co-worker, perhaps, trying to get you fired. You pray for them. You pray that God is being gracious. That God would save them. The car you see is swerving in and out of traffic, right? And they cut you off. Instead of getting angry, what do you do? You pray for them. We pray for all people without making a distinction as to whether or not they are somehow worth it or not worth it. This is Paul's instructions of the church. Pray for all without distinction because there are no distinctions within the body of Christ. All are saved by grace. And so we pray for all without distinction. Now, Paul goes out of his way to drive this point home in verse 2. As an example of praying for all people without distinction, Paul says, to pray for kings and all civil authorities. Now, you remember who was the Roman emperor here in the 60s when he writes this in the early 60s? None other than Nero. That's right. None other than Nero. Paul is saying, pray for God's grace to be on Nero of all people. And pray for all other authorities in your life. And again, Paul uses the word all here. By the way, Paul uses this word all eight times in this chapter. Six times are in these first four verses. Paul is commanding Timothy and the church, make gospel prayers for all civil authorities without distinction. Whether they're at the top, like Nero, or whether they're at the bottom, like the local mayor. Why? Why? What comes from praying the gospel prayers? What comes from praying grace for our civil authorities? What do we get out of it? Well, there are three benefits that we get out of praying the gospel for our civil authorities first. there is a quiet and tranquil life. A quiet and tranquil life. Now, this quiet and tranquil life is not a life that is sheltered from all problems and all tribulations and all trials. That's not what's being prayed here for. That's not the benefit that is being sought here. It's a very specific thing that Paul has in mind. Paul, in fact, I think is reminding the Ephesians of something they enjoyed early when Paul first came to visit them in Ephesus. In Acts chapter 19, Paul came to Ephesus and he began to preach the gospel there. And people began to get saved. And they turned to Christ and they stopped buying idols. And Demetrius, one of the silversmiths, he got upset at Paul. And he began all these riots there in the city of Ephesus. And Paul had to go into hiding for his life. until Alexander came out and calmed the crowds down. And then we read in Acts 20 verse 1, After the uproar ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, and then he encouraged them. This is the tranquility that Paul had in mind. A quietness enforced by civil authorities so that the church can preach the gospel. so that the church can engage the culture with the gospel. So Paul says, pray for those in authority to receive grace. Pray that they may maintain a sense of peace and order in the community so that there's not anarchy, but so that the church can preach unhindered to sinners. That's the first benefit. A quiet and tranquil life. The second benefit to the church is a godly life. In these times of civil peace, in this time of civil rest, we can devote ourselves to the study of God's Word. We can devote ourselves to our growth and sanctification, to wrestling with the many variety of doctrines and issues that we face. Issues that we couldn't face if we were engaged in dealing with persecutions. It's no mistake that shortly after the Reformation that we have this great advancement in doctrinal truth. And so in every area of our life, we want to grow in sanctification. And when there is civil rest, we're able to pursue an in-depth study of the Word. especially to prepare us for those times when there is not a peace in the culture. The third benefit is honesty or dignity. This word reflects the way we are to walk in relation to the world. We're to walk shamelessly before the world. Our business dealings are always to be on the up and up. Matthew Henry says this about these last two things. He says, here we have our duty as Christians summed up in two words. That is the right worshiping of God and honesty. That is a good conduct towards all men. These two must go together. We are not truly honest if we are not godly and do not render to God his due. And we are not truly godly if we're not honest for God hates robbery for burnt offering. So here it is. We have these three benefits of gospel prayers for our authorities. And these are great benefits, too, by the way. We take them for granted here in America right now. But nonetheless, these are astounding benefits that we have. When the authorities over us are recipients of God's grace, the church is going to be in a place where it can preach the gospel to the culture. where believers can wrestle with their sanctification and wrestle with doctrine that they might grow to become more like Christ. And this is also a setting in which we can live out our Christian life, where we can grow in respect and in influence. So how powerful is gospel prayer that these things are afforded to the church? And yet, gospel prayer is even more powerful than what we see in these community or in these cultural benefits. There are spiritual benefits to gospel prayer that far exceed these three cultural benefits. So what are they? What are the spiritual benefits of gospel prayer for all people? Number one, gospel prayer pleases God. Verse three begins, this is good. The question, what is this? Praying for kings? No, it's praying for all people. Praying for all people without distinction. This is good. Prayer for all people. Why is it good? It pleases God in the sight. It is pleasing in the sight of God, our Savior. See, prayer for all people acknowledges that all people have to have the same Savior, that there is only one Savior and it is none other than God himself. This is an amazing thing. that we can please God by simply praying to Him. You know, how do we typically think of pleasing God? If we want to please God, we typically think, well, we need to go out and we need to do something. We need to go out and give food to the hungry. Or we need to go out and give clothing to the naked. Or we need to go out and care for the sick. I mean, that's typically the way we think we have to please God. But here He is saying, we please God by praying. by praying the Gospel for people. Why do such prayers please God? Here's the answer. It's because we are affirming who God is and what He has done. This is what God said about Himself in Isaiah 45. He said, God speaking, He said, There is no other God besides Me, a righteous God and a Savior. There is none besides Me. Turn to me and be saved all the ends of the earth, for I am God and there is no other." The gospel prayer is saying that very thing. The gospel prayer is saying that God, you alone are Savior. You alone have the power to save. You alone have the power to redeem. You alone, therefore, are worthy of all glory. And that's where the gospel prayer ends. It always has to end there. To thy be the glory. So no wonder God is pleased with our prayers. This takes us to number two. The second spiritual benefit of gospel prayer is this. God accomplishes his plan of salvation through prayer. It pleases God for all people without distinction. It pleases God to pray for all people without distinction because God saves all people without distinction. Verse 4 says, God who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now, sometimes this verse is used to argue that God could not possibly elect people unconditionally. That if God were to elect people, He does it because they're the ones It was mentioned in Sunday school. They're the ones that made a decision for God. So God elects them conditioned upon their response because God wants everyone without exception to be saved. I don't believe that's what Paul's saying here. And again, the. I think that might have been my battery. No. What Paul is saying here is that It's not that all people without exception, but it's all people without distinction. And this becomes even more obvious when we get to verse 6. If you were to skip down to verse 6, which we get to next week, here we see all cannot mean all without exception, because that would leave us as a universalist. Verse 6 says, Jesus ransomed all people. Did He really ransom all people? If He ransomed all people, all people would be in heaven. If He ransomed all people without exception, that is. But if He ransomed all people without distinction, what you're saying is that everyone whom He ransomed, He ransomed without a distinction for who they were, whether or not they earned it. Of course, we know they couldn't earn it. So, for everyone whom Christ died as a ransom, He died without making a distinction. And so to be consistent in our understanding of this term, God desires all people without distinction to come to Him. This verse is speaking of the universal free offer of the gospel. No one is disqualified from the gospel of Jesus Christ because they are a Gentile, or because they are in a place of authority, or because they are any other thing. You know, I was a youth pastor down Sebring. I had a conversation with this guy. I define him as a redneck through and through. And we're talking about the gospel. We're talking about who the gospel gets to be preached to. And this guy flat out told me, there is no reason whatsoever to preach the gospel to black people. Because they still bear the mark of Cain. He was dead serious. It completely took me by surprise. Let me tell you, such arrogance flies in the face of what Paul is saying to Timothy here. Paul is saying to Timothy, God makes no distinction based upon race or sex or ethnicity to whom He offers the Gospel. The Gospel is freely offered to all people without distinction. The Gospel does not belong to any certain class of people or any group of people. Let me tell you, this is one of the major errors in liberation theology which says that the gospel is just for the poor people. That's not true. The gospel is for the rich people. The gospel is for white people. The gospel is for black people. The gospel is for Americans. The gospel is for foreigners. The gospel is for everyone without distinction. And when God's people have this attitude in prayer, there is no one for whom the gospel is not offered. And therefore, we will preach the Gospel without distinction. John Chrysostom, the early church father, once said, no one can feel hatred towards those for whom he prays. As you pray for people, you begin to love people. You remember what the goal of Paul's charge to Timothy was in this book? Back in verse 5 of chapter 1, Paul says, the goal or the aim of this charge is love. It's love. I suspect the Ephesian church didn't follow through on this highest priority. To pray the gospel to all people without distinction. Because in a few years time, John wrote Revelation chapter 2, where he said to the Ephesian church, they had lost their first love. And because they had lost their first love, they were about to cease being Christ's church. Now, we don't know how much persecution was directly happening in the church in the city of Ephesus at this point. We know it was fairly widespread under Nero. But there was persecution going on. You know, it's a regular occurrence in human experience that people hurt us, isn't it? It's a common experience. We all have had that experience and we will again have that experience where people hurt us. Sometimes it'll be strangers that are hurting us. Sometimes it'll be those in authority that are hurting us. Sometimes it'll be those in our own family that are hurting us. And how are we to respond to them? I tell you, the common response is to get angry or to get bitter. How do we not get bitter? We love them. And to love them means we must proclaim the gospel to them. And to be able to proclaim the gospel to people that hurt you, you have to be praying for them. See, the church that does not pray for people will not preach to people. And the church that does not preach to people will not love people. And the church that does not love people will not love Christ. But the flip side of this is also true. The church that loves Christ is a church that will love people. And a church that loves people is going to preach the Gospel to people. And a church that preaches the Gospel to people is a church that's going to be praying for them. See, prayer is the pipeline that connects sinners to the grace of God. That's why Timothy says, first of all, pray. Amen? Good. Bow your heads with me in prayer. Heavenly Father, Lord, we do thank You for Your Word. Lord, we thank You for this exhortation from Timothy. This reminder that our highest priority is to be on our knees in prayer. Lord, we pray that You would drive us to our knees As we go from here, as we go out and do our normal weekly things, Lord, we pray that we will be reminded that we ought to be praying without ceasing. That we ought to be praying about any and all things. That prayer ought to be the first thing that comes to our minds. Prayer ought to be our highest priority. Lord, we pray that you would indeed impress this upon our hearts and our minds. and press upon us that this is our first responsibility, that until we are praying for someone, Lord, we won't really be able to love them. Lord, we pray that you will strengthen our faith, strengthen our faith in the power in you, and then give us the confidence, Lord, that there is power in prayer. Lord, we need your grace. We need it today, and we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.