DOES ALL REALLY MEAN ALL?
1 TIMOTHY 2:1-7
INTRODUCTION… Lieghton Ford, Good News is for Sharing, 1977, David C. Cook Publishing Co., p. 67
I was speaking at an open-air crusade in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Billy Graham was to speak the next night and had arrived a day early. He came incognito and sat on the grass at the rear of the crowd. Because he was wearing a hat and dark glasses, no one recognized him.
Directly in front of him sat an elderly gentleman who seemed to be listening intently to my presentation. When I invited people to come forward as an open sign of commitment, Billy decided to do a little personal evangelism. He tapped the man on the shoulder and asked, "Would you like to accept Christ? I’ll be glad to walk down with you if you want to." The old man looked him up and down, thought it over for a moment, and then said, "Naw, I think I’ll just wait till the big gun comes tomorrow night." Billy and I have had several good chuckles over that incident. Unfortunately, it underlines how, in the minds of many people, evangelism is the task of the "Big Guns," not the "little shots."
Yet, all of us as Christians need to be concerned with personal evangelism. Research (www.barna.org) tells us that on average only 35% of Christian adults feel it is their personal responsibility to share their religious beliefs with others. That number varies in different parts of the country… the South peaking at 41% and the Northeast being the lowest at 26%. We each have a responsibility to share our faith with all those we come across in our lives.
READ 1 TIMOTHY 2:1-7
The Apostle Paul, in 1 Timothy 2, is giving the church instructions for proper worship. He is giving advice to Timothy to help him in his ministry. At the beginning of chapter 2, though, I see a few nuggets that speak to evangelism and sharing our faith before the instructions on worship. The verse that I think brings these thoughts into focus for me is verse 4. Verse 4 shows us that Paul is thinking outside of himself and towards those around him. Paul tells us that sharing our faith begins with prayer, it begins with a right attitude, and it begins with living and speaking the truth.
I. EVANGELISM BEGINS WITH PRAYER (VERSES 1-3)
Paul begins this section of Scripture by speaking about intercessory prayer. Prayer is the absolute best thing you can ever do for anyone. Paul considers it of extreme importance... he mentions this in verse 1... “first of all.” Now I realize that intercessory prayer sounds complicated, but intercessory prayer simply means that you are praying for other people instead of for yourself. Paul tells us that we are to pray for everyone. Does this mean I just pray, “God help the world Amen” and I have done what Paul has asked? I am not so sure that is what Paul meant. I think that Paul means on a regular basis we are to be people who pray for others we know. We are to pray for everyone we know on a regular basis... God wants to hear their name. There should be no one left out of your prayers.
We find intercessory prayer all throughout Scripture. In Genesis 18, Abraham prayed for the people of Sodom in an effort that all of them should not be lost. In the end, Lot and his family were saved, but all others perished. In Exodus 32, we find Moses praying for the people of Israel that God would deal with the nation of Israel mercifully. In Isaiah, 36-39, we find the prophet Isaiah praying with King Hezekiah to save the nation from the attack of the Assyrians… and the armies were defeated. In Acts 12, the people of God prayed, Peter’s chains fell off, and an Angel of the Lord led him out of prison. I hope that you believe that the Lord hears our prayers and He delights in us praying for others and lifting them up to Him in prayer.
Paul, in verse 1, is telling us that praying for others is supremely important. In verse 2, Paul adds another dimension to our prayer lives as Christians. Paul instructs us to pray for the “kings and all those in authority.” For us, this means we bathe the President and his Cabinet in our prayers. It means we pray for the Senators and Representatives of Pennsylvania. It means we pray for the mayor and leaders of our community. We are to pray for them. Why? What should we pray for? Paul continues in verses 2 and 3 and shares that these prayers will produce peace and quietness in the land and this pleases God! It pleases God that we pray for our leaders that they would be men of integrity and live in goodness and holiness. The desired result of our prayers is all people living together in holiness and peace. That is certainly something to pray for!
How, might you ask, does this relate to evangelism? I guess I see the flow of this passage intersecting at verse 4. God wants all people to be saved. In our efforts to win them to Christ, God wants us to first pray for them.
Do you have people in your life that do not know Jesus?
Do you have family members that came to church once and now have nothing to do with God?
Do you have co-workers that maybe only go to church on Christmas and Easter?
Do you have a neighbor that is not a Christian?
If you can answer yes to any of these questions, then your first step in reaching out to them with the saving message of the Gospel is to pray for them. It is the first step.
o Pray that their hearts and ears would be open to the “knowledge of the truth” when it is presented to them.
o Pray that God will provide situations for you to witness to them and ask the Holy Spirit to give you the right words to say.
o Pray that you will have eyes to see what God is doing in their life, even if they cannot see it.
II. EVANGELISM BEGINS WITH THE RIGHT ATTITUDE (VERSES 3-6)
I want you to notice as well that in these verses of 1 Timothy there are a great many truths presented. The truth that I believe anchors this passage, and I know that I have already shared this, is the truth that “God our Savior wants all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” There are other truths as well: 1) there is one God, 2) one mediator between God and man, 3) Jesus gave Himself as a ransom for many.
Yet, it is that first truth that catches my eye. Does Paul really mean all? Does Paul mean that anyone can become a Christian? Does this mean that anyone can come to Christ? It most certainly does. It means that Jesus died for the people we don’t like as much as He died for the people we do like. You see, evangelism begins with the right attitude. Sometimes we may feel that God is too good for some folks or He didn’t die for those kinds of people. In the Old Testament, that was the prophet Jonah’s problem. He felt that the message of God was good only for Israel and not for others in the world. This is simply not true. Jesus died for the rich, the poor, the ugly, the pretty, those with manners and those without. Jesus died for white folks, black folks, Spanish-speaking people, and yes, even the Muslims. Paul tells us that it pleases God when someone understands and comes to the knowledge of the truth. Paul tells us that it pleases God when anyone understands and comes to the knowledge of the truth.
ILLUSTRATION...Crabs (http://www.bible.org/illus/a/a-98.htm#TopOfPage)
The man went into the restaurant and said, “Do you serve crabs here?”
And the waiter said, “Why, yes sir, we serve anybody here
The right attitude that we should have about evangelism is that “all people can be saved.” Salvation can be accepted by anyone from any walk of life. That must be our attitude. Attitude determines so much in our lives. Luke 18:9 and Philippians 2:3 warn us not to have a ‘holier than thou’ attitude, but to look to the interests of other people. Romans 1:16 encourages us not to be ashamed of the Gospel. All of these are part of the right attitude when speaking to someone about your faith.
III. EVANGELISM BEGINS WITH SPEAKING AND LIVING THE TRUTH (VERSE 7)
Verse 7 tells us that evangelism also begins with the truth, speaking and living the truth. Paul says, “And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle—I am telling the truth, I am not lying—and a teacher of the true faith to the Gentiles.” Paul says to Timothy and others listening to his message that he is one who speaks the truth and lives out his life as an apostle. This gives Paul credibility. This gives Paul proof that what he is teaching and preaching is true in his own life.
ILLUSTRATION… Daily Bread, June 22, 1992
Have you checked the labels on your grocery items lately? You may be getting less than you thought. According to U.S. News & World Report, some manufacturers are selling us the same size packages we are accustomed to, but they are putting less of the product in the box. For example, a box of well-known detergent that once held 61 ounces now contains only 55. Same size box, less soap. How something is wrapped doesn’t always show us what’s on the inside. That’s true with people as well. We can wrap ourselves up in the same packaging every day -- nice clothes, big smile, friendly demeanor -- yet still be less than what we appear to be.
One of the biggest turnoffs to people in the church and especially outside of the church is a hypocrite. Hypocrites are people who confess Jesus with their lips, but with their lives they deny Him. Hypocrites are people not committed to the truth. They lie to others around them and make a favorable impression as one who walks in the light, but they are not. 1 John 1:6-7 says, “If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” They lie to themselves in thinking that they are not living in sin and that everything is fine between them and God. 2 Samuel 11:12 describes David plotting and planning to kill Uriah the Hittite to gain Bathsheeba, and acted as though he had done nothing wrong. Hypocrites also lie to God. They have made themselves liars, now try to make God a liar! They contradict His Word, which says, “all have sinned,” and they maintain that they are exceptions to the rule. They apply God’s Word to others but not to themselves. They sit through church services or Bible studies and are not touched by the Bible’s teachings. Believers who have reached this low level are usually highly critical of other Christians, but they strongly resist applying the Word to their own lives. 1 John 1:10 says, “If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.”
What kind of witness would this person have? Why would anyone want to attend church with them? Why would anyone wish to take time out of their day to listen about their fake faith? The answer is that they would not. Our witness must be bathed in truth. We must talk the talk and also walk the walk. You will have credibility on the day you share your faith if you live out what you believe. You will have evidence of the power of Christ on the day you share your faith if you live out what you believe. You will have a clear conscience before God on that day if you live out what you believe.
CONCLUSION
