If we look at 1 Timothy chapter 2 verse number 8, 1 Timothy chapter 2 verse number 8,
it says, I will therefore that men pray everywhere. The title for the sermon tonight is Pray
Everywhere. You may recall we've now just started a new book, 1 Timothy, and you may recall once
again that I had mentioned that this is a book primarily for pastors, and of course not just
because it's for pastors means we can't all learn something, and I wanted to look at this topic here
where, you know, we looked at praying everywhere. We'll notice that prayer is a significant portion
of this chapter. So let's start there in verse number 1. It says, I exhort therefore that first
of all supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men.
I want you to notice that when it says that first of all, you know, remember the book of 1 Timothy
is a direction for pastors. The apostle Paul is telling Timothy what his role is, what his job is
as a pastor. If we tend to think about what is the primary role of a pastor or a bishop,
we would often think about feeding the sheep, and I do believe if we're going to prioritize any
role above anything else, that is definitely number one. But notice also up there something
that is also a primary job of a pastor. First of all supplications, prayers, intercessions, and
giving of thanks be made for all men. You see, once again, it is a primary job for a pastor
to be a praying man, to be a praying pastor. These are things that are unseen in by the church.
You know, when you think about what keeps a pastor busy, well, you know, we know he preaches sermons,
we know he prepares sermons, we know that he may take phone calls and emails and respond to
different questions, but one thing that definitely is not seen in a pastor is his prayer life.
And once again, this is a priority. Pastors ought to be praying for all men, that it should be made
for all men. What is it once again? It says, I exhort thee therefore, I exhort therefore.
To exhort is to strongly urge. I think the reason the apostle Paul is saying I strongly urge, I exhort
therefore, is because this can be a part of the pastor's life that he tends to drop, that he tends
to maybe forget about. And you know, I would easily put my hand up and say, you know, I can definitely
be praying more. I can definitely be going to the Lord a lot more in prayer for my church and
for the people that are under my authority. And that's why I believe, you know, Timothy has been
urged, strongly urged, that he ought to be a praying pastor. What's the first thing that gets
brought up? Supplications and prayers. Well, supplications is basically to entreat in a humble manner.
You know, the word supplication in the prayer, it can be very interchangeable in the Bible,
but supplication is more about the attitude you have when you go to prayer. It's about being
before coming, before coming to an almighty God in a humble manner. But even though we ought to
go to God humbly in prayer, we also need to remember that we can go boldly before the Lord
because it tells us in Hebrews 4 16, let us therefore come boldly until the throne of grace
that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. And so we can go to God boldly
in prayer. We don't have to be ashamed or feel that we're sort of not worthy to stand before
God in prayer. Now let's go boldly because we're a child of God and pastors ought to go boldly
before God because they have a massive responsibility on the earth for the kingdom of God's sake.
So there's a boldness as we come before God in prayer, but as we go to God in prayer, we ought
to be humble, remind ourselves of this great God, remind ourselves about, you know, we are but dust,
you know, saved by the blood of Jesus Christ but given the honor of going to God before him in
prayer. You know, we ought not to think of God as like this magic genie out of a bottle or something
that comes and grants us wishes. We need to remember the great mighty and high God that we
serve and worship. So that's what supplications are. It's more about the manner in which you come
before God, which is to come in a humble way. And the next thing that's mentioned there is prayers.
So supplications then prayers. Of course, prayer is to ask to bring your needs before the Lord.
You know, God wants to hear the things that we're lacking, our needs that we have to bring before
him. He then says intercessions. Intercessions is intervening on the behalf of another person.
Okay, so this is why often as a pastor, I'll often, I mean, I reckon I'll go almost every day
with someone calling me asking me to pray for them about a certain situation where I'm interceding
for that person. And, you know, that is definitely the job of a pastor. If they know that there are
people struggling with needs and this can be church members, sometimes it's the people that
just have heard me online and they just want someone else to be praying for them. I'll get a
call, I'll get an email, can you please pray for so-and-so. You know, I ought to make that
intercession. I ought to be taking that in prayer before the Lord as well. One thing I do often say
to people that when they ask me to pray for them is I say to them, you know, at the end of the day,
I'm just another man. Okay, don't forget that you need to go in prayer as well. You know,
don't just think, you know, my pastor will pray for it and I don't need to worry about it. No,
of course, you know, yeah, you let your pastor know to pray for a need that you have but you also,
you're also a child of God if you're saved. You ought to be going for the Lord boldly as
well before his throne of grace and asking him for your needs. And then it says and giving of thanks.
And I think this might be the most forgetful aspect of answered prayer. You know, quite often
we'll pray for things and God answers and we just forget to thank God. You know, and this can happen
in a church where we know sometimes we're praying as a church for multiple things where someone's
willing to just publicly say to the church, can you pray for this or pray for that? And then we
see it come to pass and many times we just forget to thank God. And so it's the pastor's job once
again to give thanks for all men. Okay, so if I see answered prayer for other brethren, I ought to
be going to God. God, thank you for answering this prayer for this brother or for that sister
or for my situation, etc., etc. We must forget, I mean, sorry, we must remember not to forget to go
to God with thanksgiving once we receive the answer to our prayers. And also at the end of
verse number one, it says be made for all men. Is this saying that I should just as a pastor be
doing this just for my church members or just for my family? What does all men actually mean? Well,
it's actually a much broader range than just the people that I personally know because verse number
two says for kings, hey, these are people in authority. You might say, well, Pastor Kevin,
we don't have any kings in Australia, right? So maybe this doesn't apply to us. I don't really
feel like praying for people in authority because we know that our governments are wicked and maybe
I can get away with this because it says kings. Well, then it says and for all that are in
authority. And so whether we have a king or not, it's whoever is in authority over our state and
our nation that we ought to be praying for, that pastors ought to be praying for. And I know for a
lot of Christians, they don't like that. It makes them feel uneasy. They don't like this verse in
the Bible. Pray for politicians. Pray for these people that bring in laws that are contrary to
God's word. Pray for these people that put us on the lockdowns, that mandate masks and mandate
vaccinations. Why should I be praying for them? That's what the Bible says for kings and for all
that are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
And so when it says all that in authority, I know we often and I do believe because there's kings
here, we're talking about people that are, you know, over, you know, over, they have power in
a nation, okay? Your politicians, for example, our prime minister, our premiers of our state,
we ought to be praying for them. But then again, it said for all that are in authority.
And so we ought to be praying for other places of authority. So that's other pastors. You know,
hopefully you're praying for me as well as someone that has authority in the house of God.
For husbands that have authority in their house, we ought to be praying for them. Hey, if you're
an employee, you're working for an employer, pray for your employer. He has authority of you for
those seven, eight hours that you work every day. You ought to be praying for them. Why do we pray
for these people in authority that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and
honesty? What kind of life do we want to live? We want to be able to live a life where we can
be godly, where we can be honest, where you can be true. That is the true quiet and peaceable life.
You know, when we're praying for our politicians, we're not praying that they would get reelected
necessarily. We're not praying that they would get a pay rise. We're not praying for their wickedness
they do. Hey, we're praying that these people would have a fear of God, that they would allow
us to continue with our religious liberties, that they wouldn't make our lives difficult,
more difficult than they have to be. We have to be praying these things to ensure that we live
that quiet and peaceable life. You know, something that we've experienced over the last, you know,
year and a half or so, we've not really had that quiet and peaceful life. We've had elements of it.
But again, the restrictions, the lockdowns, the mandates, the frustrations, you know,
we've not had really that quiet and peaceful life. There's been times we've not been able to
meet for church. There's been times that we've not been able to go soul winning, for example.
Okay, you say, why did that take place? Why did that take place? My question to you, brethren, is
how often have we prayed for those in authority? How often have we prayed that God will work in
their hearts and work in their minds and that God will elevate the right kind of people in
parliament to make sure that we haven't lost our religious liberties and our freedoms? I don't
think we've prayed about that all that much, Reverend. You know, I do believe the whole COVID
experience is the judgment of God in this nation. And it may very well be that Christians have
contributed to the judgment of God, because we've not been praying for our authorities. We don't
like it. We don't like praying for our premiers and our prime minister. We know how wicked they
are, you know, it's, you know, but we may have brought this upon ourselves. Maybe if we were
humbly bringing these people before in prayer, praying for them regularly, and maybe it's the
role of a pastor, if I was doing this more, other pastors of like minded churches of safe
pastors preaching for the same thing, maybe we would not have, you know, dealt with so much
restriction in COVID as like other places, you know, Sydney, for example, Melbourne,
Melbourne is actually the most locked down city in the world. It's had the most, Melbourne in
Australia, Australia, we think it's, I used to think it's one of the best countries, I still kind
of think that to some extent, but boy, for one of our main cities to be the main, the, you know,
the most locked down city in the world, you know, people laugh at us, people mock at us and think,
man, these Australians are crazy. You know, how can we have these politicians in power? How is
it that people allow these politicians to get away with it? Or maybe as Christians,
we've just not been praying hard enough. Maybe we've not been praying enough for these people
that oversee our nation. And so, yeah, people just, you know, laughing at our country, you know,
we have the rest of the world, over the last, what, six months or so, they've already gotten
used to the idea of having to live with COVID. And here in Australia, our politicians are panicking,
as soon as COVID numbers gets in the double digits, you know, it wasn't New Zealand,
for example, was Auckland went in the lockdown when there was just one case,
panicking about these things, you know, this side of the world, and it may very well be because
we've just not been praying enough for kings for those that are in authority. And so, you know,
we can't forget that it can't just be imprecatory prayers all the time, it can't just be constantly,
God destroy the wicked. And we shouldn't be praying that which I'm not saying don't pray
for that. When they show themselves to be wicked, when they show themselves to be ungodly,
let's pray those imprecatory prayers. But before we got to this point in time,
we should have already been praying that God will grant us a quiet and peaceful life,
and praying for these politicians, praying for these people that are in authority.
Let's keep going verse number three, for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our
Savior. So what is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, that we're praying for
all men, that pastors are praying for all men, that the pastors are praying for kings and all
those in authority. This is acceptable by God, okay. And so this is, you know, if you have a
desire one day to be a pastor, you need to understand that one of my key responsibilities
is to be spending a lot of time in prayer. And you need to just understand that people aren't
going to see that part of your life, you know, and they might think that you're lazy, and you
don't get up to anything, you know, the pastor do all day, you know, this is just how it is,
people are going to think that. But you know, if you if you get into this road, you need to
understand that God expects a pastor to be a praying man. Verse number four, who will,
who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. So verses four
and five are going to give us the platform to basically preach against some false doctrines
that are out there. So it's very clear here that God says that he will have all men to be saved,
and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. Of course, salvation can only come once somebody has
understood the truth. You know, only when someone has had a soul, when it comes to them and presents
the truth of the gospel, they've acknowledged that to be the truth. Yes, that's the truth.
And of course, they've believed on it. And that's how someone is saved. And the Lord will have that
all men to be saved. Now, there is a false doctrine called Calvinism, taught in, you know,
some Protestant churches, even some Baptist churches teach on Calvinism, I have some Calvinist
friends, I have some Calvinist family, you know, and one thing that I've discovered Calvinism,
there's just there are different, like, different ranges of how far you get into this doctrine.
But one of the major problems of Calvinism is this topic of limited atonement, okay,
that God would not really have all men to be saved. He only wants some men, in fact,
very few men to be saved. And this would fly in the face of verse number four.
I looked up on Wikipedia, just for a quick summary of how you would describe this term
limited atonement. But it says limited atonement implies that only the sins of the elect were
atoned for by Jesus's death. Calvinists do not believe, however, that the atonement is limited
in its value or power, but rather the atonement is limited in the sense that it is intended for some
and not all. Some Calvinists have summarized this as atonement is sufficient for all and
efficient for the elect. So you notice that this strange doctrine of Calvinism, you might be
familiar with the acronym TULIP, that's what they use, and the L in that word TULIP represents
limited atonement. They teach that when Christ came to die on the cross for sinners, that he
only died for those that he knew would be saved. That really Christ did not die for all, you know,
and, you know, it's just those few that will be saved. It's very few that will be saved,
you know, and when you think about this in a greater context, it basically means that God,
before you even had an opportunity to come to the knowledge of truth, God already fought
God already planned for some people to believe on Jesus and some people to just be damned,
and I think this is God's decision. God wants the majority people damned and only very few
to be saved, and, you know, that is a false doctrine. That is nonsense. It's stupidity.
It is so contrary to God's word, you know, and I'll just show you some other evidence of this,
but once again there in verse number four, just to make it very clear, who will have all men to
be saved? All men, and we already saw in verse number one, we saw at the end of verse number one
where it's talking about prayers and supplications being made for all men, okay, so and then when we
talk about who all men are, it includes kings. It includes those in authority, okay, includes all
people, and so when we get to verse number four, we can't just say, well now the all men just
represents the saved. Not all men continue, including those that are not even saved yet,
because Christ has died for all. All men deserve the opportunity to have the gospel preached unto
them, so that they can make their own free will decision on whether they're going to believe on
Jesus Christ or not. You're in 1 Timothy. Please go to 1 Timothy chapter 4. Go to 1 Timothy chapter 4,
and verse number 10. This is one of the best verses, I think, that basically reinforces
the doctrine that Christ has died for all, the truth that Christ has died for all.
It says in verse number 10, for therefore we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the
living God, look at this, who is the savior of all men. There's a phrase again, the savior of all men.
You say, hold on. He doesn't save them all, because some people die, but look at this. It says here,
especially of those that believe. And so yes, he's the savior of all those beliefs, especially those,
but he's also the savior of all men, meaning that he's died for all. Now it's up to that man whether
he wants the salvation or not. It's up to him to decide whether he's going to believe in the free
gift, the free gift gospel, the free grace that's offered to us by Jesus Christ, his death bearing
resurrection. But notice that the Bible is very clear that Jesus Christ is the savior of all men.
And then it says separately, especially of those that believe, because those that believe will have
salvation, will have righteousness imputed upon that person. And when they die, they will go to
heaven. But Christ has come to die for all men. Just another passage, the most famous verse in
the whole Bible, for God so loved the world. You know, I was once talking to a Calvinist family,
and they were telling me that they taught their children to memorize John 3 16.
And I said to them, why would you get them to memorize John 3 16? That is contrary to Calvinism,
because it says for God so loved the world. It doesn't say for God so loved just the elect,
God so just loved the elect, just just God just loved very few that Christ died for. No,
it says for God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever, what's the
whosoever, the whosoever in the world, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
but have everlasting life. You see, salvation is open to whosoever believeth in him. Anybody in the
world because God so loved the world, he gave Jesus Christ to the entire world. He's the Savior
of all men. Another passage I'll read to you is Hebrews 2 9. Hebrews 2 verse 9 that says,
But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death,
crowned with glory and honor, that he by the grace of God, look at this, should taste death for every
man. Jesus Christ tasted death for every man. When he died, he died for all men for every man.
Okay, when he rose again, he rose again for every man. He's the completion of salvation
available just by believing that he did it for you, just by trusting Christ, death bearing
resurrection, trusting that Christ died for you, that he paid for your sins. That's all that's
necessary, but he tasted death for every man. That means every sin, every curse that comes with sin,
all the consequences of sin, all the illnesses and sicknesses, all the pain of sin was put on
Christ and he's paid the penalty for us all. Another very famous passage is 1 John 2 1.
1 John chapter 2 verse number 1, which reads,
My little children, these things write I unto you, that you sin not. And if any man sin,
we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and he is the propitiation for our
sins. This is all about believers. We're beginning to say, my little children, talking about the
safe, the children of God, when he is the propitiation for our sins. Oh wow. So yeah,
he's the Savior of the believers. Praise God. But then it says, and not for ours only,
but also for the sins of the whole world. Just in case John 3 16 was enough for God to love the
world. You know what, really, he just meant the believers. No, because then it says here,
he's the propitiation for our sins, and not ours only, but also the sins of the whole world. Okay,
everybody that makes up the world, Christ came and died for them. This is the greatest
gift that God could give mankind. The greatest show of love to sacrifice his son. How important
is it for us to take this wonderful gospel, this free gift of salvation, to this lost and
dying world? So limited atonement is ridiculous. And basically all the rest of Calvinism is built
on this idea that God died for the very few, and then it's kind of basically built on. All
the other doctrines of Calvinism is built on that thought. Okay, and every point of chiller, every
aspect of Calvinism is false. Okay, it's completely false. Okay, back in 1 Timothy chapter 2 verse
number 5. 1 Timothy chapter 2 verse number 5. It says, for there is one God and one mediator
between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. Listen, in order for us to get right with God,
there is one mediator. There is one person that we need to go to, to get right with God. That
mediator between God and men is the man Christ Jesus. Okay, the man Christ Jesus came in the form
of a man manifest in the flesh to die on the cross, to open the doorways for salvation through
him. Salvation is through Christ. And this is such another very basic doctrine, that it's only
through Christ. Jesus Christ said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the
Father except by me. You know, salvation is exclusive by Jesus Christ. There's not any other
way. Okay, the Muslim that rejects Christ as the Son of God does not go to heaven. He's not made
right with God. Okay, the Roman Catholic that doesn't believe the sacrifice of Christ is enough,
they need to keep up the, you know, the good works of the Catholic Church and the ordinances of
getting baptized and confessing your sins to the priest, etc, etc. You know, they're not saved.
They're not saved. Okay, we see that salvation is only by the person of Jesus Christ, plus nothing,
minus nothing. Okay, the only way is through Christ. And the reason I'm bringing this up
is because the Roman Catholic Church, it refers to Mary, the mother of Jesus, you know, Mary,
who gave birth to Jesus, they refer to her as the mediator, the mediator, mediatrix, they call it.
And again, I've looked up Wikipedia just for some information. Let me just read it to you. It says,
in Catholic Mariology, the title mediatrix refers to the intercessory role of the blessed
Virgin Mary as a mediator in the salvific redemption by her son, Jesus Christ, and that he
bestows graces through her. So what do we believe? We believe to receive the grace of God, we have
the one mediator, Jesus Christ. Okay, he is the ultimate fulfillment of the grace of God. We
receive God's grace by believing on Jesus Christ. The Roman Catholic Church teaches no, in order to
get the grace of God, it's given to us through Jesus, but then it's received through Mary. Okay,
Jesus Christ said, I am the way the truth and the life. The Roman Catholics think no, it's the way
the truth and life is Mary. She's the mediator. Okay. So the Roman Catholic is damned. They're
not saved. Okay. They're not saved. Yes. Do they, do they believe that Jesus is the son of God? Yes.
Do they believe in the Trinity? They do. Do they believe that Jesus died on the cross, was buried
and rose again from the dead? They believe all that. Okay. But they don't believe salvation is
through Jesus Christ. They believe it's through his mother, Mary. Okay. Which is just the craziest
doctrine. Okay. The craziest thought that the one who suffered for them is not their way to heaven.
It's through Mary. Ridiculous. Roman Catholics are not saved. Okay. They're not true Christians.
They follow Mary. They follow the saints before they have any kind of faith on Jesus Christ.
And let me just read some other passages. In fact, actually, you might want to turn there.
Keep your finger there and please go to Hebrews chapter 8. Turn to Hebrews chapter 8.
Hebrews chapter 8 for me, please. And verse number 6.
Because we just want to reinforce this doctrine from the Bible and just show you how ridiculous
the Roman Catholic doctrine of Mary is. Okay. But Hebrews chapter 8 and verse number 6 says,
But now have he obtained a more excellent ministry, the storm at Jesus,
by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which is established upon
better promises. Who's the mediator of the better covenant, the new covenant, the New Testament?
It's a he, by the way. It's not a she. It's of course, Jesus Christ. Please go to chapter 9,
Hebrews chapter 9, verse number 14. Hebrews chapter 9 and verse number 14,
which says, How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered
himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God.
And for this cause, for what cause? That he shed his blood for us. Amen. For this cause,
he is the mediator of the New Testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the
transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise
of eternal inheritance. By the way, I also want to draw your attention that it's by the blood
of Christ, the redemption that comes through Christ, that even those under the first testament,
under the old covenant, the old testament was saved as well. This makes it very clear.
They weren't saved by sacrificing animals. They weren't saved by keeping the commandments of God.
There's a false sanction out there, even amongst some independent fundamental Baptist churches
that say the old testament saints were saved by keeping the old covenant. That's false. It's very
clear here that was saved the same way by the shed blood of Jesus Christ that brought us into
that new covenant, into salvation. But what I'm trying to draw your attention here is that he is
the mediator. Why? Because his blood was shed, because he died for man. Mary did not shed her
blood. Mary did not die for our sins. She could not do that because she was a sinner, just like
anyone else. Hey, the Mary of the Bible is a godly woman. A great example for the ladies to look up
to, okay? But the Mary of the Roman Catholic Church, that's not even the Mary of the Bible.
It's idolatry. It's a false god, okay? It's got pagan roots, that god, that Mary that they worship.
It has nothing to do with the Mary of the Bible who was a godly woman. Hey, you know what? She
came bringing a sacrifice unto the temple of God, demonstrating that she recognized herself as a
sinner and she recognized that she was going to give birth to the Lord, the Savior, her old Savior
as well. Even Mary needed the mediator, the mediator being Jesus Christ. Please go to Hebrews 12.
Hebrews 12 and verse number 24. Hebrews 12 and verse number 24, which reads, and to Jesus the mediator,
just in case it's not clear, Jesus the mediator of the new covenant and to the blood of sprinkling
that speak of better things than that of Abel, okay? So once again, Christ the mediator, why is
he the mediator? Because he's the one that shed his blood for us, that cleanses us with his blood,
all right? Back to 1 Timothy chapter 2 verse number 6. 1 Timothy chapter 2 verse number 6,
which reads, who gave himself a ransom for all. Let me just, for all, there it is again, okay? He died
for all. He's a ransom for all to be testified in due time. You know what? If you've been ransomed
by Jesus Christ, you ought to be prepared to testify of that ransom in due time. Basically,
whenever you get the opportunity to give the gospel, you need to be prepared to testify
of how Christ has come and delivered you from your transgressions. The word ransom, you know,
we often think about maybe someone that might have been kidnapped or someone that's a prisoner.
You'll hear about a ransom being offered and a ransom is basically a price paid for the
redemption of a prisoner, okay? The price paid. Jesus Christ is the payment to deliver us from
our sins, to save our souls, to deliver us as a prisoner as it were from the power of sin and
the power of the devil and we've been made free through Jesus Christ. I'm going to read to you
from 1 Corinthians 6 19. 1 Corinthians 6 19. And I want to bring this to your remembrance because
if you believe in Christ, you're saved. Praise God. You're going to heaven. Nothing's going to
change that, okay? You believe in Christ, you're going to heaven. But I want you to remember that
the price paid is not just one of salvation, but the price paid has also paid for your body.
Because it says in 1 Corinthians 6 19, what? Know ye not that your body is the temple of
the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which you have of God and ye are not your own?
Reverend, this body belongs to the Lord. You've got the Holy Spirit living in this physical body,
okay? The Bible says this body is not yours, okay? It belongs to the Lord. Therefore,
what we do with this body ought to honor what God wants from this body because then it continues by
saying in verse number 20, for ye are bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body and
in your spirit, which are God's. Your body belongs to God. Your spirit belongs to God. The moment
you've believed on Christ, yes, he's delivered you free. You were a prisoner. You've been saved now.
But now that you are saved, you ought to live for the Lord, okay? Now, whether you live for the
Lord or don't live for the Lord, you'll still go to heaven, okay? But because you've been purchased,
you ought to be saying, hey, this body no longer belongs to me. I'm not going to just give it to
my own personal wills. I want to make sure that what my body does lines up with the will of God.
And so we ought to be battling the sins that we struggle with. We ought to be seeking a holy
living, righteous living, living a life that's going to please God. He owns your body, okay?
Don't forget that. Don't forget it's not just salvation. Praise God. Paid for. For now, your
body's been paid for. Every single day you live for, you live, sorry, has been paid by the blood
of Jesus Christ. Let's keep going. Verse number seven. It says wear unto, I am ordained a preacher.
Let me just, I'll read verse number six of seven so it makes sense. Again, I'll read verse number
six says, who gave himself a ransom for all to be testified or that to be witnessed as it were
in due time. Wear unto, I'm ordained a preacher. A preacher of what? Again, to testify of the ransom,
okay? Of Christ's payments. Wear unto, I am ordained a preacher and an apostle. I speak
the truth in Christ and lie not. A teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity. All right. So Paul
is saying I'm ordained a preacher, okay? Again, what is he preaching? Salvation, the gospel,
the ransom, the payments for salvation. And you know what? We've all been ordained for that
ministry. That ministry is for all believers. And yes, that ministry ought to be for apostles.
That ministry ought to be also for pastors, deacons, and definitely evangelists, but it's
for all of us. It's all our jobs to testify of what Christ has done for us. But not only is he
saying that he's ordained a preacher, but then he says and an apostle, okay? So the preacher,
of course, is the one that's preaching to the lost and his ordination or his position, his office as
an apostle is one to oversee the churches that he's planted, okay? He had authority in the
churches. He had authority over the pastors that he put into place. The office of the apostle no
longer exists today, but that was his appointment. He was appointed an apostle by Jesus Christ.
And then he writes in brackets, I speak the truth in Christ and lie not. Why would he write that?
Well, if you're familiar with the Epistles of Paul, he's constantly being challenged about
his apostleship. You know, in his time, there was a very clear rejection within some churches.
Many false prophets, many false apostles would reject and challenge whether Paul was a true
apostle. And I kind of understand maybe some of that thinking. It's because the other apostles,
you know, the main apostles, 12 apostles, you know, knew Christ. They were there with Christ,
and they would train with Christ those three years or so that Christ was on this earth,
and Paul comes much later on the scene. And so because he's been constantly challenged,
he's always having to bring up the fact, you know, it's true. No, I'm not lying. I've been
ordained by Jesus Christ, and he's just reinforcing again his authority. And I feel like I can kind of
personally relate to this a little bit because I've personally been challenged, you know. Do I
really hold the office of a bishop? You say, why? Because I've been, I was ordained by a man who now,
you know, believes in in oneness theology, a man who no longer believes in the eternal sonship of
Jesus Christ, and a whole bunch of other damnable heresies, you know. And, you know, but here's the
thing, you know, was I ordained? I was ordained. I was in that church. I was ordained. I was brought
before the church. I was commissioned. I was appointed. I had the laying of hands upon me.
I was ordained by another man holding the office of a bishop. As far as I'm concerned, you know,
as I've got a clear conscience, you know, I followed things as best as I knew how, you know,
lined up with the scriptures, and, you know, I'm a bishop. I'm a pastor. I don't think anyone in
my church debates that, but it's something that has been challenging in the past, not so recently,
but it has, you know, people have brought that up, and they try to, are you really a pastor?
You know, I had one man who tried to re-ordain me. He wanted to get me re-ordained, you know,
thinking that my appointment, my ordination was invalid, but I would say my ordination was much
more valid than his, you know, ordained by his own dad, probably in his house, not through a church
or anything like that. And, but yeah, these are things that come up, so I feel like I kind of
relate. I'm actually happy that people are challenging the Apostle Paul because this is just
the way things are, you know, just, it's just how it is. And again, Paul would often speak about
his fruits, you know, his accomplishment, his work for God as the proof and the evidence
that he was legitimately ordained as an apostle. So you have that one extreme that of people that
wanted to reject Paul's apostleship, but what's strange today, we have another extreme. We have
other people who basically are Paul only listeners. They say, well, the whole Bible is written for us,
but it's not written to us. They'll say the only things that are written to us is what Paul wrote,
his epistles, his epistles to the churches, and they're called mid-Acts dispensationalists.
They'll say, why is it mid-Acts? Because obviously at the beginning of Acts, we don't have Paul.
Paul comes onto the scene much, you know, a bit later in the book of Acts. So they say,
basically once Paul is ordained as an apostle and starts his first churches, that's all we care
about. Paul is our apostle and no one else is apostle, you know, we shouldn't be listening or
following the instructions of Peter or of John or of anyone else. I say Paul is our man and he's
our only man and that's it. It's again, what is that? That's another extreme, another extreme,
but it exists today. I can't believe it exists. So you have these crazy extremes. Paul is not an
apostle and then you have the other extreme. He's our only apostle. Don't worry about anything else
that's contained in the Bible, which is ridiculous, but this is just how the wicked are. They just
can't grasp the Bible. They can't understand. They can't put it together. They can't piece
it together and many times it's because these people aren't even saved. Okay, let's just, you
know, cut to the chase there. People aren't saved. They're teaching nonsense. They're teaching
damnable heresies. They're teaching stupid things that defile the minds of the simple
and that's just how it is. But again, you know, one of the things that we're learning here through
in 1 Timothy is how important it is for pastors to make sure that their churches are grounded
in doctrine and that we're not being tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine. Let's keep
going. Verse number eight. It says here, I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up
holy hands without wrath and doubting. Now, one thing about Baptist, we don't like to lift up our
holy hands when we pray because we often think about that associated with Pentecostalism, right?
I mean, if you walked into a church and people are praying, everyone's got their hands lifted
and maybe even waving, right? You think you walked into a, you know, a charismatic church
or something. And I understand that. Now, I'm not against people raising their hands. I'm not
against that, okay? But one thing you need to understand about this, this may, yes, this might be
literal, the lifting up of hands, or it could also be symbolic, okay? And I think the symbolism is
actually much more important in this verse than the literal raising up of the hands because it
says, I will therefore that men pray everywhere, which is where we get the title for the sermon
from. And by the way, just in case you walk away thinking, you know, yeah, pastors should be
praying. Well, again, what does verse number eight say? I will therefore that men pray everywhere.
It's not just pastors. We should all be praying. And guess what? We all should be praying
everywhere. We don't just come to church to pray. You know, that's one great place to pray.
We should be praying upon our beds. We should be praying at home. We should be praying on our
journeys, on our trips. We should be praying everywhere. That's what's wonderful about being
a Christian. We don't have to go to this one place. We don't have to just pray at one certain
time. Just at every moment, every opportunity, we have the boldness to go before God in prayer,
humbly seeking his help, seeking his aid, and this is what we're all commanded to do.
But when it says the lifting up of holy hands, this ties in with the fact that it says, without
wrath and doubting. You see, sometimes people might go in prayer before God with wrath, with
anger. Anger toward what? Anger toward the Lord, okay? Wanting the Lord to answer a certain way
and angry, God, you've not given me what I want. You're not helping me in this situation. God,
why aren't you doing what I want? And so some people can sometimes become angry at the Lord
and doubting. They might doubt whether God is even hearing. They might doubt whether God loves them.
That's not how we ought to go before God in prayer. We ought to go before him with holy hands
and the symbolism behind the holy hand because holy means separated. It means sacred. It means
consecrated. You know, we ought to be going God and before we seek and ask him for things,
we should come clean. This is why we need to confess our sins on that regular basis.
Go before God. God, I'm sorry. Please clean me today. You know, please forgive me for the wrong
that I've done for my sins. And then when you've got your holy hands, as it were, spiritually
speaking, then we can raise those hands up symbolically referencing that we go before God
in prayer, not angry at God, not doubting. We go in faith. We know knowing that God's will be done.
We know that God can answer prayers and has answered prayers and we go before him with
thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is so important because it reminds us that God does answer prayer. We can
look back in our life and say, yes, God, you've answered me in this scenario or that scenario,
that scenario. And I know you can answer me in this scenario as well. And that's what I believe
it's referring to as far as the lifting up of the holy hands. And so when it's all about not
doubting, of course, this is not about being faithless. And if you can keep your finger there
and go to James chapter one, James chapter one, verse number five.
James chapter one and verse number five, which reads, if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask
of God, what's asking? Prayer. Okay, same thing. Let him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally
and upbraideth not and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For here
that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man
think that he shall receive anything of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.
If you go to God in prayer, and you're doubting whether God can answer, whether God will answer
or how he wants to answer, you don't believe that God cares enough about you, then verse number seven
says, for let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord. If you go with a
lack of faith, you go doubting, you go wavering, not thinking that God cares for you or will answer,
you're not going to have the answer in prayer. You have to go before him in prayer. It's faith
that pleases the Lord. Okay. And if you struggle with that, once again, remind yourself of how
God has come through in your life, how God has already saved you, saved your soul, he's given
you, he's helped you in life, he's gotten you to this stage in life already. He's answered your
presence in the past, remind yourself of that and know, yes, you know, Lord, your eyes are upon me.
I'm important to you. I'm a child of God. And I know you're going to hear me, Lord. And I know
you're going to answer. It might not be exactly how I want it to be answered, Lord, but you'll
answer in accordance to your will. Back in First Timothy chapter two, verse number nine,
which says, in like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel with shamefacedness
and sobriety, not with broidered hair or gold or pearls or costly array, but which become of
women professing godliness with good works. Now verse number nine begins by saying in like manner
also, in what kind of like manner also? Well, don't forget what verse number eight said,
which it stated, lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting, okay. And so when a woman
considers how she ought to dress herself, she ought to be saying, hey, am I dressing myself in
a holy way, okay, in a way that pleases the Lord. This is a big struggle with ladies. And I understand
because the fashion industry, you know, the clothing shops that you go to, they're not set up
to present holy clothing, okay. It's clothing that is sexualized. It's clothing that does not
please the Lord, okay. It almost seems like the less clothing, you know, that's going to be more
fashionable, more acceptable by the world. And it can be very hard on Christian women to dress
in a modest way. But remember, in like manner also, she ought to be dressing herself
wholly. She ought to be considering that I need to dress in a modest way. And again, in verse
number eight, it said without wrath and doubting. Because sometimes ladies, when they understand
that they need to dress modestly, when they understand that they need to change their
clothing, okay, they might become wrathful. They might become angry and say, why is it that I need
to get rid of these clothes? Why is it that I, you know, these clothing that does not line up
with God's will, you know, yes, even pants on women, okay, they might get angry. They'll get
angry at their husbands. They'll get angry at the preacher. Why is that? Because they're lacking the
holiness. You know, the same holiness that you require to go before God in prayer is the same
level of holiness that you ought to consider yourself, ladies, when you dress yourself,
when you dress, not just for church, but when you dress yourself for every day of your life.
How they are to ordain themselves, the ladies, in modest apparel. The word modest or modesty
is basically not seeking attention from man, but seeking attention from God. Modesty. You're not
trying to draw attention to yourself. You're not trying to show other women how wonderful you can
dress. You're not trying to attract other men. And this is a challenge. Once again, it's a challenge
for many ladies. I understand the struggle. You know, I don't want you to think that this pastor
does not understand. I've got a wife. I've got three daughters. I understand the struggle.
Understand it completely. All right. You know, if you want to talk to my wife, there was a time
where I was taking my wife to church, and I did not like the way she was dressed. And I said,
this was before, this is when we were dating, before we got married. And I told her, look,
you need to change that. You know, we're going to church. And, you know, she got angry at me. I
understand. I understand the struggle. Okay. I'm not this sort of guy living in my own bubble here.
You know, I understand the ways of this world. And it can be tough. It can be very tough on
ladies. Now, obviously, when we talk about being modest, again, you're not trying to draw attention
to yourself. This is why it says we've shamed facelessness and sobriety, not we've broided hair
or gold or pearls or costly array. Is this saying that it's wrong to put on gold? Is it saying that
it's wrong to broid or fix up your hair? It's not saying that. And I'll show you another passage
that actually clarifies this in a lot more detail. But if you can turn to our 1 Peter
chapter three, go to 1 Peter chapter three and verse number three. Go to 1 Peter chapter three
and verse number three. And let's just read it here because it's basically the same language,
but it's a little bit clearer. Okay. 1 Peter chapter three, verse number three
says, talk about the ladies whose adorning, let it not be the outward adorning of plating
of the hair and of wearing of gold or of putting on of apparel, but let it be the
hidden man of the heart in that which is not corruptible, even the ornaments of a meek and
quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. So when ladies, you decide,
hey, I need to dress myself to go out into the world or to go out to whatever shopping or to
go to church. You need to say, how, how am I dressing myself? Okay. Is that, am I trying to
impress by my gold? Am I trying to impress? Am I trying to bring attention by the way my hair is
done? Rather the ornament that you should be putting on before you head out and, and, and you,
you know, you're fully dressed. You say, have I put on the ornaments of a meek and quiet spirits?
You know, am I showing modesty in my behavior? Am I walking in the new man? Because said the
investment for, and let it be the hidden man of the heart, the new man, the saved born against
spirit that should be on show, not this flesh. Okay. That should be on showing that ought to be
the question. Ladies, when you dress yourself, is this pleasing the Lord? What did it say again?
The meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sights of God of great price. When you dress, ladies,
you should be saying, how, if God looked upon me right now, what would he say? That's how you
ought to dress yourself. Would God be pleased with my clothing right now? Have I put on the
meek and quiet spirits? Am I in the new man? Am I making sure that I'm here? My body has been bought
with a price. Remember we saw that already and making sure that my body is presenting the Lord
God, you know, in my modest apparel, in my modest dress. Anyway, I haven't got time to go through
all of that right now. We can go, we can preach a whole sermon on modesty and dress standards,
but this is something that is important. It's repeated for us multiple times in the Bible.
And if you look at verse, go back to first Timothy chapter two and verse number 10,
which says, but which become of women professing godliness with good works. So what should be on
show your good works? Okay. Doing good, you know, serving the Lord, you know, you know, serving
your husband. That should be the standard. Okay. Now let's go, let's keep on going. Verse number
11, some other instructions for the ladies. It says, let the woman learn in silence with all
subjection. Remember Timothy is written to a pastor. Okay. So the pastor has been reminded,
hey, don't allow your women to teach here. Okay. They need to learn in silence with all subjection.
Okay. Subjection means they're under another authority and that authority when it comes to
church will be the pastor. Okay. But look at verse number 12, it says, but I suffer,
not a woman to teach what stuff there is to allow, but I allow not basically a woman to teach
not to assert authority over the man, but to be in silence. So you see women are not to teach
in the church. I know of several churches. I've been to Chile and I've seen several and actually
the decent churches overall, they're good churches overall. They're some of the best churches,
but it's filled with women that get up and basically teach. It might not be a whole sermon.
It might be just a little five minute, 10 minute word, but they'll teach. Okay. It's wrong.
All right. This is not my personal preference. This is what God's word says. Okay. And if we're
going to be obedient to God's word, if I'm going to be a pastor that loves the Lord and wants to
do what's right with God, and wants to have a clear conscience, then I must have that same
rule in my church that women are not allowed to get up behind the pulpit and teach the men.
Women are not to assert authority over the man. What is the definition of the word assert?
It basically means to seize and hold by force without legal rights to commit forcible or
illegal seizure of an office or power. You know, all the women preachers that you're familiar with,
the Joyce Meyers and the, I don't even, I don't know that night. I know Joyce Meyers. That's all
I know. I know that. Isn't that a white, something whites. I can't remember her name, but there's,
there's, there's so many women preachers out there. You know what? They've assert authority.
They've done this illegally. They seized control. They see power illegally. They say, no, no,
it's not illegal. Pastor Kevin, those churches allow it's legal within those churches. No,
no, it's illegal against God's word is what I'm saying. Okay. It's illegal against God's word for
a woman to serve and have authority over a man. This is why God has also put the husband,
you know, the father to be the head of his family. This is the right and proper way.
Okay. And if we keep going, look at verse number 13, it says for Adam was first formed,
then Eve. So God's saying the reason I first created Adam and then Eve is once again,
to demonstrate that authority structure, that Adam is over Eve. Okay. A husband is the head
of his wife, but then again, God created Adam. So God is above that authority himself. Okay.
That we got that order. And this also reminds us about marriage. You know,
Adam and Eve got married on the very first day that they were created.
You know, Eve is to be subject to her husband, Adam. I'm not teaching here that all women are
under the authority of all men. I'm not teaching that. Okay. And even within church, I've got the
authority as a pastor, but ladies, if I say one thing and your husband says something else,
your husband is right and I'm wrong. Okay. Your husband is the one that has authority over you.
He's got the authority over the house, over the family, over the children. All right. If I say
something and your husband doesn't want to apply that in his household for whatever reason, you
can't turn around to your husband and say, well, pastor said so and so, and he's got the authority
in the church. Your husband has the authority in the church and I will back your husband as long
as it's not something sinful or wicked, but I'll back your husband's authority over mine. Okay.
That would be the right thing. And, you know, any man should be able to say the same thing
to a lady and say, Hey, your husband, or if you're not married, your father has authority of you.
Whatever he says goes, don't worry about what I have to say. I've got no matter. I've got nothing
to say on this matter. It's not your issue. Okay. It falls under the right level of authority.
But then it says in verse number 14, and Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived
was in the transgression. So we know that Eve was deceived by Satan when she ate of the tree.
Adam was not deceived. Okay. Adam knowingly ate of it, knowing that he was going to sin against
the Lord by doing this. Okay. Verse number 15, notwithstanding, she shall be saved in childbearing
if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety. All right. Let's understand what's
going on here. Eve was the one that was deceived by the devil. This is why, and this is just a part
of a woman's makeup. God created women to be this way. Women are not to be an authority over man.
They're not to be teaching the church because they're more easily deceived. Again, this is not
teaching that men cannot be deceived. Of course, men can be deceived as well. Okay. But women are
more likely to be deceived. This is why they should not be in positions of authority. Okay.
And then it says in verse 15, not we sin and she shall be saved in childbearing. It's not saying
that in order to be saved, your soul to be saved, you have to have children. What is the salvation
from? The salvation is from being deceived. If a woman does not want to be deceived by the devil,
the best thing she can do is get married and have a family, have children. Why? Because then she's
preoccupied with the things that God wants her to be preoccupied on. She's busy raising those
children, taking care of her husband, taking care of the house, and the devil can do nothing to that
woman. He can't deceive that woman, right? She's being protected in her home under the authority
of her husband. That is the best place for a woman. And if you truly ask those hardworking,
career-minded women deep down, they know they wish they were married with children. You know,
I'm reminded of our premiers, the ex-premier of New South Wales, Gladys Berejiklian, and up there
in Queensland, you know, Anastasia Palijay. Neither of those women were married. Neither of those,
actually no, Anastasia was divorced twice, but currently they're not married. None, neither of
them have children, okay? They've not been saved with childbearing, and they've usurped authority
of the man. See, it's legal, Pastor Kevin. It's legal in Australia. Again, it's illegal against
God's word, okay? It's illegal against God's word, but they've given themselves authority. You know
what that means? You've got a woman in authority like that with no kids? Then expect our premiers
to be deceived by the devil, and they have definitely been deceived. Once again, I'm not
just pointing to the ladies and the chief health officer, I don't know about them, but hey, Dan
Andrews in Victoria as well, pretty deceived man, wicked man. But I'm just saying, you know, it's
not the right place for ladies, and I know it's old-fashioned. I know that it's not compatible.
Probably someone's angry with me right now for saying these things, but this is the word of God,
okay? Men are the ones to hold authority, okay? And ladies, if you're not unmarried,
your authority is your father, and when you get married, your authority is your husband, okay?
He's the one that you are to listen to, and God wants to save you, okay? God doesn't want you to
be deceived by the devil. So the best thing for you to do is give your attention and focus on
raising your family in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, okay? Let's pray.