Category: Practical

Why Should We Pray for All Peoples, Including Our Leaders?

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Practical3 Comments

I have talked about prayer in my last two posts, specifically for whom we should pray and what it takes for us to be able to pray for all people. If you haven’t read those two posts, I encourage you to do so. Today I’m going to end the series by providing motivation to pray.

Why Should We Pray for All Peoples, Including Our Leaders?

Paul tells us in 1st Timothy 2 that we should pray for all people’s including our leaders in order:

“that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior,” (1 Ti 2:2–3)

In other words, Paul wants us to pray for all people’s including kings and all those who are in charge so that we can lead a life that is free from turbulence, uproars, and persecution.

Why this Type of Life?

The reason he wants us to lead that type of life is not just so we can be comfortable. Certainly being comfortable is a benefit. But if you know anything about Paul, you know he is all about the spread of the gospel. He knows that if we live in a persecution free society, the gospel will be spread more easily.

Our Experience

Think about America as opposed to North Korea or China. We are free to live out our faith and share the gospel with others. The worst thing we have to worry about is someone giving us a dirty look or saying something unkind, or maybe losing our job, but that is few and far between. We don’t, however, have to worry about the police showing up at our front door to arrest us, or being prosecuted and sentenced to death for our beliefs. We are free for the most part to share our faith.

What we are experiencing now is exactly what Paul longed to see — a society where Christians could live and share their faith freely, so that others would know the hope we have and come to faith in Christ. If you think about it, the freedom we have in the United States has led to many people coming to Christ.

So you can see why Paul tells us to pray for all peoples. It’s not just so we can be comfortable, but so the gospel can be freely advanced for the glory of God.

What We Should Want and Do

If you want to see the gospel advanced for the glory of God, and you should if you are a Christian, then pray for all peoples, including those in leadership. Pray God would work in their lives to change their heart so that they come to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Pray also that they would see the benefit of living and directing society according to biblical principles.

The cultural war we are fighting in our country right now isn’t going to be won on Facebook or Twitter, it’s going to be won on our knees in prayer.

That’s not to say that we shouldn’t try to influence our friends and family with arguments and reason, we should. We, however, must know that arguments, reason, and posts alone won’t do the job. Only the work of the Holy Spirit turning the hearts of man will. So pray and continue to pray for all peoples!

 

Question for Reflection

  1. Are you taking advantage of your freedom to share the gospel with others so that they might be saved?
  2. Are you continuing to pray for our leaders, so that our society remains free and the gospel is able to be freely spread?

Resources

Post adapted from my sermon For Whom Should We Pray and Why?

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What Does It Take For Us To Be Able To Pray For All Peoples?

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Practical3 Comments

In my last post, I explored who should receive our prayers. Ultimately, we landed on the idea that we should pray for all peoples. No one, including our enemies, should be left out. We are to pray for all peoples regardless of how they treat us.

I don’t know about you, but for me, praying for all peoples can be difficult. Especially, if they have wronged me or aren’t governing in the way I believe they should govern. What, then, does it take for us to be able to pray for all peoples?

What Does It Take For Us To Be Able To Pray For All Peoples?

First, it takes a proper view of the gospel.

In 1 Timothy 2:3-4 Paul tells Timothy,

“This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Ti 2:3–4)

Essentially what Paul tells Timothy is that the gospel is for everyone. As one commentator says,

“The apostle’s meaning here is simply that no nation of the earth and no rank of society is excluded from salvation,”

In other words, Jesus did not discriminate on the basis of race, color, gender, ethnicity, or economic status, so neither should we. The gospel is for everyone. We should, then, pray for everyone to be saved and for God to work in everyone’s life. Whether we agree or disagree, whether they treat us fairly or not, we should pray for everyone.

We should specifically pray for their salvation because God’s salvation is exclusive.

In the same chapter, starting in verse 5 Paul says,

“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, which is the testimony given at the proper time. (1 Ti 2:5–6)

You see, there is only one way for us to be saved and that’s through trusting in Jesus as our Savior. There is no other way. Jesus is the only One who is able to serve as our Mediator — as the link between man and God. As well as Jesus is the only One who is able to serve as our ransom.

“Ransom” is a marketplace term indicating that something has been bought back; the price has been paid for its release. The One who pays the price for our release is Jesus. Through His death and resurrection, He ransoms us from God’s wrath and the power of sin over our lives.

We need Jesus to ransom us because we can’t pay the price for our own release. That’s because the price is a perfect sacrifice. We aren’t perfect. Instead, we are sinners who deserve God’s wrath. But not Jesus. He doesn’t deserve God’s wrath because He is perfect, He’s sinless. As the perfect God-man, He is able to pay the perfect sacrifice for our sins.

So we pray for God to save all peoples through Jesus because He is our only hope of salvation.

Second, it takes us being changed by the gospel.

Those who have experienced God’s forgiveness and love won’t hesitate to pray for everyone. That’s the power of the gospel. God’s love and forgiveness should change us from unloving, unforgiving people to loving and forgiving people who want what’s best for others because we have experienced what’s best for us.

The gospel should change us. It should warm our heart to others. It should cause us to be loving and forgiving people who want to see others changed. If you don’t desire that for others, you might not have been changed by the gospel yourself.

Third, it also takes a proper theology of authority.

There are a number of texts that provide a proper theology of authority, but the first part of Romans 13 seems to cover this idea well. We don’t have the time to go into detail, but let’s look at the highlights.

In verses 1 and 2 Paul tells us that:

Governing authorities are appointed by God; anyone who resists them resists God. 

“Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.” (Ro 13:1–2)

Then in verses 3 and 4 we are told that:

Authorities are set in place to maintain order and justice.

“For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.” (Ro 13:3–4)

Moving right along, in verses 5-7, we are told that:

We are to live in subjection to the authorities God has placed over us.

That looks like us abiding by their laws, paying taxes, and giving them respect and honor, not just to avoid punishment but for the sake of conscience. In other words, living in subjection to the authorities God has placed over us is the right thing for Christians to do because it’s in accord with God’s command.

“Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.” (Ro 13:5–7)

This, then, is how God wants us to think of governing authorities. Once we arrive at this type of thinking, we should be lead to pray for them.

Are you willing to pray?

In theory, praying for those who govern us might sound doable.

  • But what happens when your political party is not in charge?
  • Do you find that you still respect and honor the President God has placed over you, or do you defame his name, dragging it through the mud?
  • Do you pray for your President and elected leaders, even if they aren’t your political party?

That’s where the rubber meets the road. That’s when a text like this becomes difficult and convicting. That’s why it’s necessary we have a proper view of the gospel and a proper theology of authority. If we don’t, we aren’t going to do what God calls us to do — To pray for all peoples.

Question for Reflection

  1. Does the gospel and a proper view of authority motivate you to pray for all peoples?

Resources

Post adapted from my sermon For Whom Should We Pray and Why?

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Who Should Receive Our Prayers?

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Practical5 Comments

Prayer is something all Christians are called to do. We pray for a lot of different people, but have you ever thought about who should receive our prayers? Paul, writing to Timothy, answers that question for us. Let’s see what he has to say.

We Are to Pray for All People’s

At the end of verse 1, Paul tells Timothy that he, and we, are to pray for all people,

“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people,” (1 Ti 2:1)

At first, praying for all people doesn’t sound too controversial. We are used to praying for a lot of different people. If your church is like mine, you hold a prayer service, where you pray for those in and out of the church. People in the community and those who live elsewhere. You probably ask the Lord to heal them, to give them wisdom, knowledge, comfort, and joy; to provide them with jobs, and so on and so forth. Nothing really controversial. We are usually happy to pray for others.

But when you really start to tease out what “all people” means, this idea gets a little more radical. What about those in the Middle East who hate us? What about ISIS and Boko Haram? What about them? Should we pray for them? According to Paul, we are supposed to pray for them as well.

For many, that’s difficult. These folks have done some horrible things. Thinking about those things can make it hard to pray for them. It may even lead us to be like Jonah who was reluctant to pray and preach because he wanted to see his enemies punished, not saved. If I’m honest, I know I’ve thought like Jonah. These groups are murdering innocent men, women, and children. They are cutting heads off Christians. So if I’m honest, I’ve certainly thought like Jonah.

But God, through Paul, tells us that we are to pray for all people, even our enemies.

As one commentator says,

“All needy sinners—without distinction of race, nationality, or social position—must receive our prayers” [1].

We Are to Pray for Our Governing Authorities

After telling us that we are to pray for all people’s, Paul drills down a bit further and specifically tells us that we are to pray…

“…for kings and all who are in high positions,” (1 Ti 2:2)

This may not sound like a radical idea, but in Paul’s day, and maybe soon in our day, this was a radical idea. Most commentators believe that when Paul wrote this letter to Timothy, Nero was in charge of the Roman Empire.

If you remember from history class, Nero was a bad dude, a major persecutor of the church. One of the things he did was blame the fire that decimated a large portion of Rome in AD 64 on the Christians. A fire many believed he started. Having blamed this fire on the Christians, he rounded many of them up and punished them for a crime they didn’t commit. Another thing he did to the Christians in the empire was to impale them alive on large poles, and then light them on fire in order to provide light for his parties. There was more Nero did, but I think you get the idea — Nero was a bad dude.

Paul tells the church at Ephesus to pray for this guy! A guy they probably wished had never been born. A guy they most likely wanted God to punish. But Paul tells them to pray for him.

When it comes to our leaders, we are to do the same. We are to pray for our President, Congressmen and Congresswomen, our Supreme Court Justices, and our local leaders. We are to pray for all those in leadership over us, interceding on their behalf, asking God to work good in their life and save them, if He hasn’t already. We are to do this even if we are being persecuted by them, disagree with them, or believe they deserve God’s wrath.

Question for Reflection

  1. Do you only pray for those you believe deserve it?

Resources

Post adapted from my sermon For Whom Should We Pray and Why?

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[1] Thomas D. Lea, Hayne P. Griffin, 1, 2 Timothy, Titus, New American Commentary, 87

Fight for What Matters

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Practical7 Comments

Over the last several months I have been studying Paul’s first letter to Timothy for a series I am preaching entitled: Be the Church. Through this series, our church is exploring Paul’s wisdom and commands to Timothy in an effort to be the church that God desires. One of themes Paul explores in his letter has to do with battling false teaching. In 1 Timothy 1:18 in an effort to encourage Timothy to keep fighting Paul says,

“This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare,” (1 Ti 1:18)

While the passage as a whole is helpful, the last phrase – “wage the good warfare” – is what I want us to explore in today’s post.

This phrase indicates that some battles matter while others don’t. So let’s think about that for a few minutes.

What battles don’t matter?

If you remember, in 1991 the US went to war with Saddam Hussein in what was known as Operation Desert Shield, or the Persian Gulf War. By all accounts, the US and it’s coalition forces were successful against Saddam’s army. In all, an estimated 8,000 to 10,000 Iraqi forces were killed in comparison with only 300 coalition troops.

While the number of those killed on our side was low, when you look at the statistics you find that 24% of the US troops who lost their lives were killed by friendly fire. The very people our troops were supposed to be fighting with against the enemy killed them.

You know what? Friendly fire can take out those in the church too. That is especially true when we fight battles against each another, which more times than not end up being battles that don’t really matter. The fights that I have in mind are those over:

Non-Essential Doctrines

These are things that don’t determine whether a person is saved or not. Things like:

  • The mode of baptism. Should we dunk, sprinkle, or pour?
  • When is the rapture going to take place, if it is going to take place at all?
  • When is the millennium going to occur, if it is not occurring right now?

All these are important doctrines that should be studied, discussed, debated because they are will determine how your church functions. But it’s not necessary for us to beat someone up over them, or kick them out of the church because someone holds a different view. We can still fellowship with people who believe a little different than we do in these areas.

Other fights that don’t really matter are typically fought over:

Church Traditions

How we have always done things. If someone wants to change the way something has always been done, then they better be ready to duke it out. But is that how it should be?

Still other fights that don’t really matter have to do with:

Practical matters that have little spiritual consequence.

I was reading a book recently where one pastor lamented over a dispute that happened in his church over a coffee stand. The hospitality committee had put a coffee stand in the foyer for that Sunday’s service. The Monday following the service the head usher of 25 years quit saying it was a sacrilege to the church to offer coffee before the service.

The head usher quitting wasn’t the end of the conflict. A fight over whether the coffee stand should stay in the foyer or not went on for weeks, causing a huge division in the church. Eventually, the issue was resolved but not before a lot of time, energy, and resources were wasted on this matter instead of actual ministry.

Battles, then, over non-essential doctrines, church traditions, and practical matters that have little spiritual consequences are battles that don’t really matter in the grand scheme of things.

If you are still wondering how to determine the difference between a good and bad fight, let me give you a few questions to ask yourself before you take up the fight.

(1) Will this matter a year from now? – If it won’t matter, then it probably doesn’t matter much now. And it’s not worth fighting over.

(2) Am I enjoying the dispute and conflict it causes? – If so, you may be fighting for the wrong reasons.

(3) Am I fighting for myself or others? – It is one thing to defend someone else’s spiritual interests, or the glory of God himself; it is a very different thing to look out for your own interests.

(4) Am I constantly justifying my actions, either to myself or to others? – Something really worth fighting about is too obvious to require much explanation.

What are the battles that matter?

The battles that matter are those battles over the essential doctrines of the Christian faith. These are all first level doctrines. Things you must believe in order to be considered a Christian. Things like:

  • The reality of the Trinity – Is God three persons, yet one?
  • The deity of Jesus Christ – Is Jesus God?
  • The necessity of Jesus’ atoning death for sin – Is it Jesus’ sacrifice that reconciles us with God or does our works?
  • The sufficiency of Christ’s death on the cross – Is Jesus alone all we need for salvation, or do we need something more?

Another I will include, even though it does not determine whether a person is saved or not, but is crucial to the faith since not believing it will make it hard for you to believe and hold to the above, and probably lead to all kinds of error and heresy, that is:

  • The inerrancy of Scripture – Is God’s Word in its original form without error?

These, then, are the battles that matter and are things we should fight over because they represent the core of the Christian faith.

We need to do everything we can to make sure we are fighting for what matters. If we aren’t vigilant in this area, we can easily crawl out of the trenches and back into the barracks where we end up fighting one another instead of our true enemy, which is sin and the ideas and practices of the sinful world.

Question for Reflection

  1. Are you currently fighting a battle that doesn’t matter?

Resources

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Post developed from my sermon: How do Christians do battle against sin and the sinful world?

How Can I be Assured of My Salvation?

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Practical1 Comment

How can you be assured of your salvation? Should you look to a past event like walking an aisle, saying a prayer, or being baptized? Is it found in a hyper-spiritual activity such as speaking in tongues. How about church membership? Does it seal the deal when it comes to assurance of salvation?

While all the above can hint at one’s salvation, they don’t necessarily mean someone is saved. You can walk an aisle, say a prayer, be baptized, join a church, and even act as if you are speaking in tongues, and not be a Christian. I don’t believe, then, that any of the above provides the assurance many want and desire.

How Can I be Assured of My Salvation?

The Bible, however, doesn’t leave us high and dry when it comes to the question of assurance. While I can’t provide every biblical reference related to assurance in this post, here are a number of them paired with 7 questions to ask yourself. As you work through these questions, notice the continual nature of each question.

1. Do I have a present trust in Christ for salvation?

  • Colossians 1:23 —> Do I continue to trust that Jesus is my Savior who has repaired my relationship with the Father by dying in my place? See also Hebrews 3:14 and John 3:16 where “Believes” is continual, meaning you continue to believe.

“if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.” (Col 1:23)

2. Is their evidence the Holy Spirit is at work in my life?

  • Galatians 5:22-23 —> Fruit of the Spirit. Do I sense these in myself? Can others see them?

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” (Ga 5:22–23)

3. Do I continue to believe and accept sound doctrine?

  • 1 John 2:23-24 —> What you heard from the beginning is the teachings about Jesus, God, Sin, Man, and Salvation found in God’s Word.

“No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father.” (1 Jn 2:23–24)

4. Do I continue to read and delight in God’s Word?

  • 2 Timothy 3:16-17 —> Does knowing that God’s Word provides everything you need for life and godliness regularly drive you to Scripture?

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” (2 Ti 3:16–17)

5. Do I continue to abide in Jesus?

  • John 15:4, 7 —> Abiding not only means that you continue to trust Jesus, but you fellowship with him regularly in prayer, worship, and Bible study.

“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….If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” (Jn 15:4,7)

6. Do I continually live in obedience to God’s Word?

  • 1 John 2:4-6; 3:9-10, 24; 5:18 —> You will never be perfect in this life, but do you strive to live for and like Christ?

“Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.” (1 Jn 2:4–6)

“No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.” (1 Jn 3:9–10)

“Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.” (1 Jn 3:24)

“We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.” (1 Jn 5:18)

7. Do I continually love my neighbor?

  • 1 John 4:7-8 —> If you don’t love your neighbor, then you haven’t experienced God’s love.

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” (1 Jn 4:7–8)

Question for Reflection

  1. After working through these texts, do you have a greater sense of assurance?

Resources

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Guard Yourself: False Teaching Can and Does Arise From Within the Church

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Practical2 Comments

We often think of the church as a safe place, which is certainly how it should be. Everything we hear at church should be truth. Sadly, however, that’s not always the case. People in the church can and do spread false teaching, either knowingly or unknowingly.

False Teaching Arises from Within the Church

Consider what Paul tells Timothy in 1 Timothy 1:6-7,

“Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions.” (1 Ti 1:6–7)

The certain persons to whom Paul is referring are not those outside the church, rather they are those who are members of the church at Ephesus. These folks have sate under Timothy’s preaching week in and week out. Despite hearing the truth, they have started spreading a false message.

The Importance of Recognizing False Teaching Can and Does Arise From Within the Church

Since false teaching is spread both out and in the church, we have to be vigilant in comparing everything we hear with what God’s Word says. Every sermon, Bible study, conversation, and saying has to be run through a biblical grid.

In order to for us to run everything we hear through a robust and accurate biblical grid, we have to be biblically literate, which means we have to put a premium on reading and studying God’s Word. We have to know our Bible’s.

How Could Those in the Church Start Spreading False Doctrine?

Presumable Timothy was preaching the truth of God’s Word, expounding the text, and proclaiming the gospel week in and week out. How could someone sit under Biblical teaching week in and week out only to start spreading false doctrine?

Paul says it happens when we swerve from the truth. Specifically, he tells us in verse 5 that those in the Ephesian church have swerved from “a pure heart…a good conscience and a sincere faith” (1 Ti 1:5b). Leaving these things behind, some in the Ephesian church ventured into false doctrine.

A few explanations for why they swerved toward false teaching are possible that they sought to puff themselves up, gain a reputation, or even power in the community. We aren’t told exactly why, but what we do know is that their motives for doing so weren’t pure.

It didn’t matter, then, if they knew what they were talking about or not. They just started talking, making things up as they went. They didn’t check what they were saying against Scripture. They just said it.

We Can Easily Spread False Doctrine If We Aren’t Careful

Honestly, that can happen to us. If we don’t check what we are saying against Scripture, we might end up spreading false doctrine. Let me show you how easy it is for that to happen. I came across an article just the other day highlighting common sayings of church goers. Consider some of the ones they mentioned:

  • God helps those who help themselves.
  • God wants me to be happy.
  • We’re all God’s children.
  • Cleanliness is next to godliness.
  • God won’t give you more than you can handle.
  • When you die, God gains another angel [1].

I’m sure most of these are familiar to you, you may have even said one or two of these before. You know what? They are all false teaching. Not one of them is true. When we say them, then, we are spreading a false message.

Sure, we may be doing so unknowingly. Today maybe the first time you heard these were false teaching. But do you see how easy it is for false teaching to creep into even a biblically minded church? Do you see why it is important that we are always on guard, even at church? Do you see why we always have to check the things we hear against Scripture?

False teaching can and does arise from within the church, so we have to check everything we hear against God’s Word in order to guard ourselves and others from it.

Question for Reflection

  1. Do you have a well developed biblical grid by which you can protect yourself and others from false teaching and teachers?

Resources

[1] http://www.relevantmagazine.com/god/7-unbiblical-statements-christians-believe

Post developed from my sermon: How Do We Guard Ourselves and Others From False Teaching and Teachers?

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