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TIMOTHY'S PRIORITY!

If life has taught me anything, and it has, it has taught me to acknowledge a reality that many people, even within the church, ignore. It has taught me that we are a people at war. For whether I turn inward or look at the world in which I live I see conflict; conflict that litters our landscape with casualties.
Inwardly, Satan and the weakness of my own flesh continually assaults my faith. The world bombards my senses with all that glitters, my flesh persistently cries out to have its needs met with no regard for others, and Satan in a hundred and one ways tells me that God either doesn't exist or doesn't care.
When the apostle Paul came to the end of his life he wrote to Timothy in II Timothy 4:7 and said:
I have fought a good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful.
He wasn't boasting, he was simply saying that with God's help he had managed to remain faithful while others either became casualties, such as Hymenaeus and Alexander, or deserted. Demas, for example, deserted because he loved the things of this world more than he loved God.
Outwardly, things don't look much better. For whether we look north, south, east, or west the world seems to be at odds with each other. The long-time friendship between Canada and the United States seems to have taken some hits in the last few years. Likewise, tensions along our southern border with Mexico have increased dramatically since 9/11/01. True, we're not at war with either country but some of what or who is flowing across the borders is aimed at bringing us harm.
Then, whether we look east or west things only get worse. In the Mideast we're all at each others throat while in the far east, which would be west of us, North Korea continues to be schizophrenic while China flexes its muscles and continues to bully Taiwan. In the meantime there are so many civil wars in Africa it is hard to keep track of them. Then, in SE France, Nice is pronounced nes (niece) because the French apparently don't have a word for "nice." And, perhaps we too are loosing our ability to be genuinely nice to others as you can see by the above remark about France.
So what does this have to do with us? Two things! First, God is sovereign and he is at work in this war-ravaged world saving sinners, even the worst of sinners. For in his first letter to Timothy Paul testified to the goodness and power of God to bring the worst of sinners to faith. In I Timothy 1:12 - 18 he wrote:
How thankful I am to Christ Jesus our Lord for considering me trustworthy and appointing me to serve him, 13 even though I used to scoff at the name of Christ. I hunted down his people, harming them in every way I could. But God had mercy on me because I did it in ignorance and unbelief. 14 Oh, how kind and gracious the Lord was! He filled me completely with faith and the love of Christ Jesus.1
This is a true saying, and everyone should believe it: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners-and I was the worst of them all. 16 But that is why God had mercy on me, so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners. Then others will realize that they, too, can believe in him and receive eternal life. 17 Glory and honor to God forever and ever. He is the eternal King, the unseen one who never dies; he alone is God. Amen.
Humanly speaking, there was absolutely no hope for the likes of Saul. But in God's mercy, grace overflowed into Saul's life. So much so that his hatred and strife was replaced with faith and love, love for God and for others. The ultimate sinner became the finest saint.
Incidentally, for those of us who have a tendency to get down on ourselves Paul's testimony shows us how to put things in perspective. He knew he had been bad to the bone in the past and could've easily spent his time kicking himself for all the harm he had done to others. But instead of beating himself up, he eagerly turned his attention to the grace and sovereignty of God. Indeed, in v. 17 he underlined God's sovereignty over the ebb and flow of human history and this gave him hope.
He then turned his thoughts toward Timothy and wrote:
Timothy, my son, here are my instructions (my command) for you, based on the prophetic words spoken about you earlier (at your ordination). May they give you the confidence to fight well in the Lord's battles. 19 Cling tightly to your faith in Christ, and always keep your conscience clear. For some people have deliberately violated their consciences; as a result, their faith has been shipwrecked. 20 Hymenaeus and Alexander are two examples of this. I turned them over to Satan so they would learn not to blaspheme God.
Timothy, you know and I know, that you are in the middle of a war zone. Ephesus is one of the mostly hotly contested cities in all of Asia. If Satan loses his grip on it he loses his influence throughout the entire region. Consequently, he is going to come at you with every trick in the book so as to shipwreck your faith. And as you know, some have already been handed over to him as prisoners of war.
But have no fear, God is sovereign. In his grace and power he will hold you up. In the end, it is His Kingdom that will triumph over all other kingdoms even those kingdoms dominated by Satan. The cause of Christ will triumph so cling to your faith and keep your conscience clear so that you can fight the good fight.
Second, in regards to the household of God let me give you a few instructions so that the church will know how to conduct itself. With this thought in mind Paul penned the second chapter of I Timothy. In vv. 1 - 8 we read:2
I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. As you make your requests, plead for God's mercy upon them, and give thanks. 2 Pray this way for kings and all others who are in authority, so that we can live in peace and quietness, in godliness and dignity. 3 This is good and pleases God our Savior, 4 for he wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth. 5 For there is only one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and people. He is the man Christ Jesus. 6 He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone. This is the message that God gave to the world at the proper time. 7 And I have been chosen - this is the absolute truth - as a preacher and apostle to teach the Gentiles about faith and truth.
So wherever you assemble, I want men to pray with holy hands lifted up to God, free from anger and controversy. 3
We need to remember that this chapter was written in the immediate context of spiritual warfare within Ephesus and throughout the then known world. It was also written in the larger context of God's sovereignty being exercised in the lives of sinful men - saved or otherwise.
I say this because these eight verses will be robbed of their power unless we first and foremost see them in the context of warfare as well as in the larger context of God's sovereign power exercised on behalf of sinful man. When the church fails to see the context meaningful prayer is no where in sight. To update a statement made by John Piper years ago, "The primary reason prayer malfunctions in the hands of believers is their insistence on taking a wartime cellphone and turning it into a peacetime chatter box."
The prayerority, however, is to use this divine cellphone as a weapon against the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places. Men, yes men, are to pray for everyone. They are also to pray for kings and all those in authority. This means the men within the local church are to pray for people in positions of authority. To see how well aquainted you are with those we should be praying for match the following names up with the proper title.4
_____ 1. President George W. Bush A. Prime Minister of Iraq
_____ 2. Ghazi al-Yawer B. Victims of war
_____ 3. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi C. Our President!
_____ 4. Kofi Annan D. President of Iraq
_____ 5. Mahmoud Abbas E. Ambassador to Iraq
_____ 6. Ibrahim al-Jaafari F. Your Teacher!
_____ 7. Jalal Talabani G. Al-Qaida's leader in Iraq
_____ 8. Adel Abdel Mahdi H. Supreme Court Chief Justice
_____ 9. Zalmay Khalilzad K. U.N. Secretary-General
_____ 10. John Roberts M. Vice President of Iraq
_____ 11. Pappas School Kids P. Palestinian Leader
_____ 12. Gary Merrill
Why? Why would we pray for all sorts of individuals? We'd pray so that you and I, as well as all others, could live in peace and quiet. For where there is law and order it benefits the work of God.
At the time Paul penned this letter Nero was the Emperor of Rome. Under his rule the church faced greater persecution, in fact he was the one responsible for the deaths of Paul and Peter. So Paul must have had Nero in mind when he instructed Timothy to pray for kings and those in authority. For he knew that the church has an easier time of it when it has the cooperation of those in positions of authority.
We're also to pray for all people because it is God's desire that everyone come into a saving relationship with him. He even wants our enemies to be saved! Of course, there is no use praying for our enemies unless we believe in the sovreignty of God. Do we believe that God has the power to save those who have absolutely no interest in Him? If not, we then turn our cell phones into a peacetime chatter box!
There is also no use praying for our enemies and/or those in authority who mean well but don't know God unless we believe that there is only one God for everyone and there is only one Mediator - the man Christ Jesus. For it is through his death on the cross that a ransom has been paid for all mankind.

1 In v. 14, in the NIV, we read "the grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly" Paul used a word that is only used here in the New Testament. He used the word hyperepleonasen which means "to be present in great or superabundance." What this means is that when grace was extended to Saul it was super-sized!
2 You may be thinking that I am just assuming Paul had the church in mind when he penned the second chapter of Timothy. Not so! I'm sure of it for in vv. 14 - 15 of chapter three Paul looked back on his instructions to Timothy and said: I am writing these things to you now, even though I hope to be with you soon, 15 so that if I can't come for a while, you will know how people must conduct themselves in the household of God. This is the church of the living God, which is the pillar and support of the truth.
3 If you're a woman, you can simply tune out for the rest of this lesson! When Paul uses the word "men" in v. 8 he is not using the generic word for all of humankind. He is using the word andras which literally means "males." In other words, in regards to the church he first addresses his words to the men, the males, of the church! In v. 5 the Greek word used is the one for all mankind.
In the second half of the chapter he addresses his words to the women. So next week the men, the males, don't have to bother coming to class. Of course, you may want to come simply to see the fireworks display!

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