1 Timothy 2

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0:00 You guys, this is not a test, I'm just curious, we can close our eyes. But who would say that people, who would say that they pray very often? You can raise your hands if you pray very often. Or not, yeah. I have gone through seasons of praying regularly and not praying regularly. The prayer that's most helpful for me right now is the Jesus prayer, the breast prayer, that I feel like encompasses all my prayers and I can do it while I'm running,

0:32 while I'm swimming, or when I'm sitting and meditating. I use this like this little Apple Watch, it takes me to breathe, like, hey, breathe. And so whenever it brings me to breathe, I'll stop and do the breast prayer with its prompting. But it does a posture of approaching God, whether you have particular petitions or not, is infectious in your approach, your demeanor,

1:03 your capacity to handle, your openness to the divine. So a posture of prayer, whether you have any particular petition or not, can be very valuable and helpful. And sometimes we understand prayer as children well, where we go to the Lord with things, that our notion of prayer doesn't evolve past what we've learned as kids. And it's no longer as helpful for us if we only think about prayer as writing letters to God about things that we...

1:38 That can be valuable, but prayer, a conversation with God is much deeper and broader. And you would do well to allow your notion of prayer to mature as your faith has matured, as you have matured. Not that we don't teach our kids the importance of prayer as letters, but that we allow it to evolve for us. And the way that masses our life and don't give up just because you don't need no longer feel like you need the right letters to God. Our prayer is still valuable.

2:08 And I was afraid that I wasn't planning on crying about that. A breath prayer is where it's based on the prayer of the public in this Lord Jesus Christ that mercy on the Earth's dinner. And that's all you say. And as you're breathing in, you say, Lord Jesus Christ. And as you're breathing out, you say, have mercy on the Earth's dinner. And so that as you sit, you slow your heart down and your breath becomes the prayer of Lord Jesus Christ that mercy on the Earth's dinner.

2:38 And the reason I like that is because it is it's oriented to God and that Jesus is the Christ of bridge between God and man in a way that I am not. And then it says, have mercy on me. Anything I might need from God goes under the rubric of mercy and then orient me as persons who need mercy on the dinner. And so I come back to that. So your mind can go to petitions if you have them areas of life you're worried about. But the words go with Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on you. Yes, I want to say that.

3:11 Let's look at the text that that comes from the kids message that we talked about. It's in first Timothy. First Timothy attracted to. And this is one of Paul's pastoral letters. It's kind of crazy to think about. Maybe it's not crazy for you.

3:44 It's a little crazy for me to think about the way that the novelty and the creativity that goes into cults of the world. Cultivating congregations in first century. Wrong grief Israel. And that. That they're having to start something new and it's so new that they don't have all the the the gospel's written down yet even right.

4:19 So the text that they have to draw from they may have one of the gospel or something. Like they may have gotten a copy of Mark of John as they have a congregation left behind from the preaching of Paul but mainly what they know about Jesus of Nazareth who is the Christ comes from what Paul has told them like stories. And maybe if there is their. They have someone one of the five hundred who was in the presence of the resurrected Christ before he ascended in their midst.

4:59 Learn what he taught about the reign of God. But that's it. They got oral history of the magic and then a rudimentary understanding to some of them a nuanced understanding of the Old Testament and now they're trying to figure out how to live. And it says simple as Paul is having the right to letters to remind them to do this. To help them to understand what it means now that Jesus is their king and they don't which things of Rome do they follow which things do they not.

5:30 What are we trying to accomplish? Are we kicking off authorities are we engaging in commerce? Like how do we live now that Jesus is the king of all the king. It says simple as he's having the right letters give it to some dudes and do their walking for days across the death team roads to give it to the church. They make a copy give it to the other church. I mean that's what's going on. It is like there. Certainly if you are the divine creator of the universe capable of dispatching the primordial spirit the lucky original life-giving spirit.

6:03 If you're capable of dispatching it into all humanity young and old men and women indiscriminately. Certainly you can think of a more efficient way to inaugurate the church into the world than have some go write a letter and give it to another dude and carry it and transcribe it like certainly there's a cleaner. We can learn a lot about the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the God of Christ and the church from the past is a way to prove evolve in a big old man. What God is worried about, what God is not worried about by the fact that he needs it up to this people to build for him to think.

6:42 So it's enough for us to think about those who keep going. It's enough for us to think about this is the mechanism for the church letters from Paul to do his blood Tennessee trying to figure out how do we organize ourselves. And that's what these pastoral letters are. It's why they're really kind of intriguing. There's some cultural stuff that is quite intriguing for the challenge is you got to figure out if you're always with the whole thing will stop before we get to those this morning. We're just going to look at first and it's going to be chapter two. This is the first couple versions.

7:15 First of all then he says. I urge you. I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgiving be made for all people. For things and all who are in high positions. That we may leave a peaceful and quiet life. Godly and dignified in every way. This is good and it is pleasing in the side of God.

7:46 Okay. Sounds great. Pray for all. Or supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgiving be made for all people for things and all who are in high positions that we may leave a peaceful and quiet life for all people. Let's pray for all people. That makes sense. Then this is the interesting part for me that we support teams and all who are in high positions. And what does the after the make person's supplications for that we would be able to live a peaceful and quiet life.

8:18 Let's pray for all kings and those that they were just like leave us alone. This like we would like a peaceful and quiet life. Isn't that interesting? Paul is on this like it's really weird mission to get to the Emperor of Rome, right? He brought up all these charges.

8:49 The charges are going to be released before they can be released. Well is on house arrest as a Roman citizen. He demands an audience in front of the Emperor. So the story of Paul for us and the scriptures ends with him in house arrest in Rome waiting for a case to be heard. They could have let him go, but he demanded that he because he wanted to chance the priest. So he was trying to get to the leaders in order to preach them. But when he writes a letter to Timothy in order for Timothy to tell the folks in wherever Timothy passes their chaplain.

9:20 Have you ever said to us? Yes. Where Timothy is pastry and obviously he's like just tell them to pray that the jokers will leave them alone. Isn't that interesting? That we could live a peaceful and quiet life. You know part of the reason, part of the ras and now for the church killing Jesus was that when they'd seen dudes say the things

10:03 Jesus said before, they took up pitchfork and rock and tried to overthrow Rome, like beat back the authority and launch the reign of government. Like in so when they saw Jesus coming, they thought this guy's going to create problems for us. Whenever the Messianic types would come and try to check off Rome, Rome would sell down all the hardens.

10:38 They had the science of warfare. They knew how to impose their will on a group of people, especially a small little band of folks on the wrong side of the desert. Like without money or means. Like we handle these people so they would make their life harder for the church. When they saw Jesus playing, he was the Messiah, they were like, he's never going to make it. Just let's get this guy out of the way so we have Rome off our backs. What they didn't realize and they didn't always believe or understand is when Jesus said,

11:08 making him is no longer of this world. The thing they didn't understand is because that was a departure from how the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob had worked leading up to that point. I went back and looked. One of the stories I love is the story of, I mean I love a lot of the stories. One of the ones I thought of when I was reading this was the story of Joshua and Caleb. Come on. You guys, when they came out of Sinai and now they have been and enslaved people for 200 years and visitors in a foreign land for 200 years before that.

11:48 400 years, 1500 as long as they've been a country and they're leading the place, right? And they go to Sinai and they get a new identity now. You are no longer enslaved. You are no longer foreigners. You will be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. There's your land. I'm going to give it to you. Go and get it. So they've got the tablets, the out of the remade tablets. They've got the strategy for the presence of God. They walk straight to the promised land.

12:18 They tend to do in to reconnaissance the promised land. They're like, this place is amazing. We think that they mainly went to like Hebron and a couple of the hills. Hebron, look it up and look at the media. It's known still for its fantastic, great and figs and infused milk production is happening there. That's what Wikipedia says about Hebron today. And they went to look at Hebron in BC and they're sparingly great life on between two men, like the grapes are so big and the figs and the milk and the honey.

12:52 It's a beautiful place and 10 out of the 12 that went in. There's no way we can do that. But who said yes, I'll take it. If God says we can have it, we can have 10 of the 12 to do no less. I'm telling you, it is entirely two groups. 10 out of 12 said it is too good. And y'all, we are just saying we need to just go back where we know we got some meat punch to sit around.

13:28 And we can put up with the brick making and whatever else. Two of them said if God says that's our land, it's our land. Of course it would be beautiful. The God is giving it to us. The two, Japha and Drayker. God gets so frustrated with the last, I mean, we could say lack of faith, but it's almost like unwillingness to receive. Like, no God, you can't give us that.

14:00 He is so frustrated. He says, yes, this whole generation is going to die. That's why they wandered in the desert for 40 years. They're waiting for a generation to die. And they do. All of them. Even Moses, except the Alpha and K. Those dudes, yet with their remaining four. There's a famous story in, or famous little session in Joshua, chapter 14, where Caleb gets it.

14:41 This book had a real file. This book is worth appreciating that there are ones called the dude named Caleb who let God give him the thing. Joshua chapter 14. Then the people of Judah came to Joshua at Gilgau and Caleb's son of Jephthon and Pentatite, said to him, hey, you know what the Lord said to Moses, the man of God in Chagaspornian, concerning you and me. Hey, Jephthon, you remember what he said about me and you?

15:14 Like, what kind of comoraderie and teamwork do these guys have? Like, in front of the whole group of people, well, kind of their fellows were saying, no way we can do it. These two held on. Yes, it can. And so, after everyone from their generation has died, they're the only two left.

15:44 They've crossed over Jordan. They've seen another river. They're the only ones that remember the Red Sea. And now they see him stop Jordan and they walk across and Caleb is like, you remember what he said to me? Oh, my gosh. I was 40 years old when Moses, the servant of the Lord, sent me from Peter's party at his fire up again. And I brought him word again as it was in my heart. But my brother, who went up with me, made the heart of the people melt.

16:16 Yet I wholly followed the Lord, my God. And Moses, more on that day, thanks, surely the land on Richard Foote has trotted, shall be your inheritance for you and your children forever. Because you have wholly followed the Lord, my God. And now, your whole, the Lord has kept me alive. Yes, as he said, these 45 years since that time, the world's broke, the world to Moses. What is your walk in the wilderness? And now, the whole, I'm this day, 85 years old.

16:46 And I'm still strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me. A strength now is as my strength was then. He goes on and says, I'll wipe everybody out. Don't worry about it. Then verse 13, then Joshua blessed him. And he gave Hebron the table, the son of Daphneh, for an inheritance. Therefore, Hebron became the inheritance of the table, the son of Daphneh, the king of Huygah. To this day, because he wholly followed the Lord, the God of the Spirit.

17:20 Now, the name Hebron was formerly. Huygah, God, his land. And it was an actual place with grapes and cities and walls. And when he finished the session, they started throwing a couple of places in chronicles and droughts and droughts. After he takes it, he says, and then the land rusted from war.

17:54 And Caleb oversaw the area in peace and quiet. This is interesting. God makes an earth for humanity in the beginning and sets them there in order that they would just be able to live. And over and over again in the story of Scripture, he finds this gives humanity a chance to live.

18:26 These people all be God, live in peace and quiet. And so when Paul writes the Timothy, because young Timothy, you're going to be gathering a congregation of people in the midst of all of the things of the world. He's going to pray that everything would go well that they could live peaceful and quiet life. I don't know why I thought about the story of Caleb.

18:56 It's because of what comes next and what Paul was saying. He says, pray for all these rulers, the people that are organizing the things. And he doesn't say pray that they would think the way that you do.

19:30 He doesn't say pray that you would go on the crusade. He doesn't say tell them to pray that they would be sent out. He says, tell them to pray that the rulers would stay out of the way and let them live a peaceful and quiet life. And then look at what comes next. Peaceful and quiet life, God may be dignified in every way, verse 3.

20:00 This is good and it is pleasing inside of our Savior who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. It's so interesting to me that these two things go together. That we would have peaceful and quiet lives and that God has ruined that none should perish for all to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. If that were the case, it seems like Paul would be saying, pray that the leaders would stay out of the way or convert and then that we would all get large,

20:37 large, large megaphones and be able to announce the thing forever all over the place because God has ruined that none from Paris would also come to the knowledge of the truth. But he doesn't say that because he should try to pray that these rulers would stay out of the way that they would have a peaceful and quiet life because God has ruined that none from Paris would also come to the knowledge of the truth. This is he thinks that a peaceful and quiet life must be really nice. Like like a trash of life sitting on a hill.

21:10 Like if there is a group of people who in the midst of the world can live a peaceful and quiet life, it would blow some folks months. That's what I'm certain to think is that that Paul would say in evidence where you are, it is crazy and it is going to be crazy. Teach your people to pray that these folks will pray for all people and especially for these rulers and that they can have a peaceful and quiet life because God has ruined that none from Paris would have a common knowledge of the truth.

21:45 When you have a peaceful and quiet life, people will come and say, oh man, how do you navigate the world? Most of the stories I've heard about and seen about people coming to say, like in the course of the world I live in, whether it's been in high school or college or here working in the city.

22:23 Most of the stories I've heard is when people see a person for whom or whom is able to navigate the difficulties and trials of a man who has a particular perspective, a joy about them that is compelling and attractive.

22:54 Rarely do I hear stories of people argued into the pain. Though I have heard it, but not as often. More often it is, they had something different in the way they approached life than the rest of the people. They had a peace, they had a joy, they had a contentment. I wonder what Caleb, like what kind of peace he had when finally left the desert and walked into his promised land.

23:45 When he sat down in his place and he watched his kids run. I think what Paul is saying is that now we don't have to take over the feet of our rulers, we don't need to conquer the kingdom anymore. Because the promise land for us is in a kingdom that comes. We can have a peaceful and quiet life, but the peaceful and quiet life, real experience here that we ask God to make room for us to know is a forte of the thing that is coming.

24:28 This is an apopology. You and I in our apopist or Orlando will get little pieces, little blimpses in fifth and stumps of a peaceful and quiet life. All our lives here, we are wandering in the desert, surviving on the promise. We will have the day, one day, like Caleb, where we walk up to a place at St. Lord, you have told me that you went to prepare a place.

24:59 I am ready. And like Caleb, you will see that God makes good on this promise to co-view. That you have a peaceful and quiet place prepared for you, where you will finally sit and rest in all the competing struggles and confusion, all the naysayers and detractors, all the authorities and powers will be cut away, and he will sit and the ones you love will be assembled with you in a place prepared just for you.

25:42 He did it for Caleb. He has done it for Paul. He will do it for you. He will. In the meantime, like the church in Ephesus and Timothy and Paul before us, we pray for all people that lead my mind a taste of the peaceful and quiet life here. And when you do understand, you prepare for people to ask you what, how did you figure that out?

26:18 I just found a little taste of what I know is coming. I found a little taste of what I know is coming. On the correct. People like Caleb will be a lead in your capacity to give us good beyond reason or measure. To defeat enemies larger than we could defeat our own comp of problems that you don't understand and can't get around,

26:51 or make us people like Caleb that have faced the lead that you can give us good things. And then Lord, give us a taste of those good things now. We might endure until the day that you call us home. In Jesus' name is Brad.