Our Calling In This Troubled Time

1 timothy 2:1-7

GBC
June 12,2016
• There are news reports of a new natural
disaster; hurricanes, typhoons,
earthquakes, wild-fires, global climate
change.
• Ebola,Zika
• Economies struggle
• Christians are the most persecuted
minority of all.
• In light of all of this, how are we as
followers of Christ to think, feel, act and
respond? What should we be doing?
• 1 Timothy 2:1-7.
• First of all, then, I urge that supplications,
prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be
made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are
in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful
and quiet life, godly and dignified in every
way. 3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the
sight of God our Savior, 
• 1 Timothy 2:1-7.
•  4 who desires all people to be saved and to
come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For
there is one God, and there is one mediator
between God and men, the man Christ
Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all,
which is the testimony given at the proper
time. 7 For this I was appointed a preacher and
an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not
lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and
truth.
The setting for Paul’s words
• 1 Timothy is one of Paul’s Pastoral
Epistles, written near the end of his life
and ministry to his son in the faith,
Timothy.
• He is giving Timothy instructions on how to
conduct his ministry in the local church,
and how to teach and equip his people for
life and ministry.
• The emperor on the throne of Rome when
Paul wrote was the notorious Nero.
• Major persecution of Christ’s followers was
heating up.
Why do I point this out?
• Persecution of Christ’s followers and the
church are not new. Every era, every age,
every civilization has its crises, its
catastrophes, its wars.
• What should our response be as God’s
people?
Three calls upon us.
•  A Call to Prayer.
• 1 Timothy 2:1: First of all, then, I urge that
supplications, prayers, intercessions, and
thanksgivings be made for all people.
• Supplications”- urgent pleas in a time of need.
• “Prayers” - God is the One to whom we go.
• “Intercessions”- pleading on behalf of another.
• “thanksgivings”- to give thanks for what we
do have, for what we have been spared,
for the deliverances we have experienced.
And above all, as Christ’s followers, for the
eternal hope of salvation that we have in
Christ.
• 2:1: First of all, then, I urge that supplications,
prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be
made for all people. Such prayers are to be
made “for all people.”
• Refugees pouring across borders and fleeing
into the mountains to escape the fighting.
• regardless of ethnic, racial or religious
differences. Pray for them!
•  2 for kings and all who are in high
positions.
• Such people carry great responsibility.
Their actions affect the lives of many.
Their decisions, for good or for evil, affect
us and many others in countless ways.
• When Paul wrote these words, the king
was Nero, one of the most notorious and
capricious tyrants to ever sit on a throne.
Yet Paul urged the Christians of his day to
pray for him.
• : that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life.
• “Peaceful” refers to outward circumstances,
a lack of turmoil, and external conflict.
• “quiet” describes an inner tranquility of life,
an inner calm.
• A Call to Please God.
• : that we may lead a peaceful and quiet
life, godly and dignified in every
way. 3 This is good, and it is pleasing in
the sight of God our Savior…
• The word “godly”. A life that centers around
God and his character and living in a way that
reflects his values and his attributes.
• The word “dignified”. The kind of life,
character and behavior that demands respect
from the people we live and work with.
• This kind of life is good and it is pleasing in the
sight of God.
• We can pray, and we can live in a way that
pleases God.
• Pray for your boss, your principal, your
supervisor. Pray for just enough calm and
quiet to enable you to live in a way that is
both godly and dignified; to live in a way
that pleases God.
• A Call to Preach Christ.
• 3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the
sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all
people to be saved and to come to the
knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one
God, and there is one mediator between
God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 
• A Call to Preach Christ.
•  6 who gave himself as a ransom for all,
which is the testimony given at the proper
time. 7 For this I was appointed a preacher
and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am
not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith
and truth.
• 3 This is good, and it is pleasing in
the sight of God our Savior, 4 who
desires all people to be saved
and to come to the knowledge of
the truth. 
• 5-6: For there is one God, and there is one
mediator between God and men, the man
Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a
ransom for all…
• There is only one mediator who is able to
bring them into a right relationship with
God and to “save” them.
We are called to preach.
• :For this I was appointed a preacher and
an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not
lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith
and truth.
• Paul makes it clear that if we have been
reconciled to God, we too have been given
the ministry of reconciliation and been
entrusted with the message of
reconciliation; to be Christ’s ambassadors
and to plead with all men to be reconciled
to God.
• This is our calling. We are called to pray.
We are called to please God by living in
godliness and dignity. And we are called to
preach Jesus, who is the only hope of the
world.