Prayers, Petitions, and Thanksgivings

Genuine prayer is unbiased and without prejudice; it’s also deeply personal and very mysterious. Followers of Christ are commanded to pray for their enemies and their friends. They are commanded to pray for those they love being around and those they dislike being around. They are commanded to pray for those who love them and those who hate them. Genuine prayer is completely foreign to the way the world believes. The world curses those who do it wrong, genuine followers of Christ pray for those who do them wrong. Prayer will always be misunderstood by an unbelieving world. Why? Because only those who have an intimate connection with Jesus Christ have an understanding of God’s heart.

Paul writes the letter of 1 Timothy to provide Timothy instructions on how to confront and respond to the false teachers who had infiltrated the church in Ephesus. Thus, after making it clear that the church must return to doctrinal purity Paul wrote this about prayer, “…I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority…” (NASB) (1 Timothy 2:1, 2).

The first thing Paul commands Timothy to do is pray. There is a lot Timothy could do; he could confront the false teachers, he could preach, he could go door to door ensuring people were clear about the doctrine of Christ; nevertheless, Paul calls Timothy to pray first. In fact, Paul commands Timothy to pray in four different ways. First, he was to pray through “entreaties,” which means he was to present to God his needs with the hope of having them met. Second, he was to pray through “prayers,” which we know as the act of calling on God. Third, he was pray using “petitions,” which means he was to have informal and intimate conversations with God at all times, and fourth he was to pray with “thanksgivings,” which meant he was to express gratitude and appreciation in his prayers.

Finally, Paul commands that prayers “be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority.” “All men” means all men and “all men” means everyone. Followers of Christ are to pray for Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, atheists, democrats, republicans; essentially anyone they know who is without salvation. Paul’s intent was that believers are to be concerned with those who are on a path to eternal hell. The challenging part of this verse comes when he calls believers to pray “for kings and all who are in authority.” This is challenging because emotions are involved. This is not a suggestion, this is a command. Believers are commanded to pray for their bosses and anyone in authority, to include the President. Even when believers greatly dislike a President for his beliefs and decisions, and completely disagree with him, they are still commanded to pray for him; just like Paul prayed for the Roman Emperor Nero who was killing Christians when he wrote this letter to Timothy.

Is your heart prepared to pray for “all men?” Complaining won’t change things, but praying will change you and the situation.

Every Eye Will See

Everyone sees the world through a different lens, which is one of many reasons why we have so much conflict in this world. However, when Jesus returns to the earth “every eye will see Him.” There will be no doubt that Jesus’ is descending to the earth for His second coming. He will arrive back on earth with clouds of glory that will be unmistakable and undeniable. There will be no red carpet rolled out on top of the Mount of Olives and there will be no time to display gigantic welcome back banners, nonetheless, “every eye will see Him.”

But let’s back up for a moment. Envision Jesus seated at the right hand of the Father where He has been serving as Mediator, Intercessor, and High Priest while governing with absolute authority over the universe. Then God the Father tells Him its time, it’s time to return to earth. Jesus rises from His heavenly throne, puts on His mantle as Judge, His robe as the King of Kings, and descends through the clouds to the same city where He was crucified. The end has finally arrived. There will be no more opportunities for salvation or mercy, the only event left for this world will be judgment and hell.

With an introduction a King deserves, Paul introduces Jesus as “the One who is and who was and who is to come,” “the faithful witness,” “the first born of the dead,” and “the ruler of the kings of the earth” (Revelation 1:4, 5). The he writes “Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him…” (Revelation 1:7).

Jesus is coming back, that is a guarantee, and His return will be completely visible. Jesus will reveal Himself to an unbelieving world that is about to face final destruction and judgment. In fact it was the prophet Daniel who predicted that Jesus would come with the clouds (Daniel 7:13) and in this one moment every argument, doubt, or debate about Jesus being real will be put to an end. Those who are alive will stand in either jubilation or fear, depending on who their hearts and souls belong to.

Finally, “even those who pierced Him…” will see. But who are “those who pierced Him”? These are the Jews who were ultimately responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus. But you might say, these Jews died thousands of years ago, how will they see Him? Because scripture tells us so. The prophet Zechariah foretold that “the house of David” would pierce Him and they would mourn for Him as one mourns for an only son (Zechariah 12:10). Peter also referred to the Jews as the ones who “nailed Jesus to a cross” (Acts 2:23). The Jews living during Christ’s second coming will mourn and weep with genuine repentance for what their ancestors did to Jesus on the cross.

The reality is that our sinful nature is what pierced Jesus and nailed Him to the cross. While being completely undeserving God’s mysterious grace saves those who genuinely believe and repent.

Do you mourn over your sin? You should; it’s what draws you closer to Christ where inner peace and rest are found.

The Gospel

In the two thousand years since Jesus arrived on this earth, the gospel has been contaminated to the point where not even church members in good evangelical churches understand it in its purity, nor can they even begin to articulate it. Pastors have abandoned it in order to grow their suburban churches, leaving local churches powerless and dying. Leave no doubt there is only one gospel and it is simple, yet mysterious, meaning it is difficult to fully grasp God’s power to save through Jesus.

We are saved by grace and grace is undeserved. Paul writes that "for by grace you have been saved through faith" (Ephesians 2:8). Its God showing undeserved favor upon humanity when what we all deserve is eternal hell. So here’s the gospel (good news). You can avoid eternal hell by receiving the finished work of Jesus. Jesus was crucified, buried, and resurrected to defeat Satan’s hold on humanity and redeem humanity back from its slavery to sin.

But a person must receive this and believe this. For belief (faith) in Christ and His gospel to be genuine a person must see themselves as wicked, evil, sinful, and deserving of eternal death. If a person can acknowledge this within themselves they will have that inward desire to repent and they will be saved!

Genuine belief is always followed with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the regeneration of the human soul. If this doesn’t occur, then there is no salvation, because there was never true belief.

What the gospel does is humble a person. When the gospel is properly understood a person is humbled because they understand they deserve death, but Christ has saved them. That is good news! That is why the gospel is life changing and transformational. Any other so called gospel is worthless and leaves person unchanged and deceived.

The gospel message must remain unchanged when sharing it with children, adults, or people from other nations and cultures. The approach can change, but the message must not.

True belief leaves a person broken, yet joyful. True belief empowers a person to pursue the will of God. Finally, true belief enables a person to surrender themselves to Christ and die to self. But leave no doubt; belief is very spiritual and mysterious. I am still amazed at the different ways in which people come to understand the gospel, however there is no mistaking a genuine follower of Christ. Genuine followers of Christ hate sin and demonstrate a supernatural love for humanity.

This is the gospel!

Share this message and people will live.

By His Blood

When it comes to our bodies, all we are able to clean is our exteriors. There is nothing we can do to cleanse our hearts and minds. We can’t meditate on good thoughts, we can’t isolate ourselves from the world, we can’t work harder at becoming good people, we can’t become more educated or enlightened, nor can religion help. These things can do nothing to cleanse us from our inward sinful nature. There is only one person who can cleanse us, free us, and wash away the filth and impurities found within our hearts and minds, Jesus Christ. Our hearts are not made clean by a system of religious beliefs, or a pilgrimage, or rituals, or religious traditions, or sacrificing more, or through a religious/spiritual leader, but a Person, the Person of Jesus Christ. In fact, it has already been done; it was accomplished on the cross.

While not everything in Revelation is meant to be clear, Jesus wants everyone to be clear that He loves the church (His disciples), He has washed it from sin, He has freed it, He has made them kings and priests, and that He has done all of this by His blood.

In Revelation 1:5 the apostle John writes “To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood…” Translation, Jesus loved the world so much, that despite our sin and despite the fact we are completely undeserving, He has chosen to wash us and free us from our sin through His divine blood.

The word “washed” is better translated as “freed” in the Greek language. When Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation  Proclamation he declared “that all persons held as slaves within the rebellious states are, and henceforward shall be free.” This is the perfect illustration of what happened on the cross. Jesus willingly shed His blood, freeing those who would come to believe, from the slavery of sin and Satan’s grip. In other words, Jesus emancipated humanity from their slavery to sin. This freedom and cleansing is available to all who acknowledge their sinfulness and truly believe upon Jesus’ finished work on the cross.

But what about His blood? Most people do not want to talk about blood because the thought of blood being shed is gruesome and traumatic. However, the scriptures tell us that “…all things are cleansed with blood and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22). Nevertheless, there was no way animal blood could forgive human sin permanently. Only the blood of Jesus’ could completely satisfy the wrath of God and His judgment against sin.

Jesus wants to free you from sin and wash it away forever as a free gift, but His work on the cross will demand a response from you. Will you believe, repent, and follow Him?

The gospel will cost you nothing, but it will demand your whole life.

The Time Is Near

Visualize yourself living under constant persecution and being hunted for your allegiance to Jesus Christ. Imagine all of your closest spiritual brothers being killed through unimaginable brutality. Envision being imprisoned and brought before the Roman Emperor to be slaughtered in front of thousands. Now picture yourself being lowered into a tub of boiling hot oil and finally, imagine being exiled to an isolated rocky island for two years. These events represent some the last years of the apostle John’s life. Miraculously John was unharmed by the boiling oil and his time on the island of Patmos was spent receiving a vision of the final events of world history that we now call the book of Revelation.

The first couple of verses of Revelation tell us this book has “unveiled” Jesus Christ’s full identity and God’s plan for the end of the world. To accomplish His plan the Lord delivered John from Roman persecution for the very purpose of receiving this apocalyptic vision. Please don’t miss the sovereignty of God as He intervened to preserve the life of John. It once again proves that nothing can thwart God’s plans, not even boiling oil and ruthless Emperors determined to exterminate Christians.

The book of Revelation should be viewed as a blessing, why? Because God says so. Revelation 1:3 states “Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it, for the time is near.” (NJKV)

What does the apostle John mean by “blessed is he?” He means if believers will read the words of Revelation, hear the words of Revelation, and most importantly keep in their heart all that is written inside of it they will experience a life in the center of God’s will, they will grow spiritually, and they will possess a tremendous confidence about the future. Translation, you will be blessed if you are a genuine believer. However, don’t miss this. It is never sufficient to simply read, hear, or even study any book of the Bible. A believer must “keep those things which are written in it,” meaning they must obey and apply what they learn. This is the first of seven different blessing statements in the book of Revelation.

Finally, John states “the time is near.” In our modern world just about everything is scheduled or on a timetable; jobs, school, vacation, church, sports, etc…We live our lives in constant anticipation as our scheduled events and responsibilities approach and then quickly pass. Almost 2,000 years have passed since John wrote “the time is near,” which could certainly lead a person to doubt his statement or even doubt God. Nevertheless, God’s timetable is His and with each passing day we are closer to His second coming than before. Thus the prophetic events found inside of Revelation are “nearer”  than before. Our responsibility is to be ready, live as faithful witnesses to Christ, and keep the gospel before us.

The time is near…are you ready for Christ to return?

There will be no second chances once He does. 

Dead To Sin, Alive In Christ

Whether you acknowledge it or not, grace has been and will be poured out upon you during your life more times than you can count. Grace has been shown to you by people and most importantly by God and there are three ways to receive grace; with thankfulness, with contempt or by abusing it. Grace is defined as undeserved favor, graciousness, and mercy. That is exactly how the first century church understood it and it is precisely how Paul understood it. God’s grace not only saves you and forgives your sins, but it will also deliver you from sinning in the future. Grace transfers a person from his or her sinful state into a state of righteousness. A follower of Christ is no longer “in sin,” even though a follower will still sin. When a person is in Christ there is complete freedom from condemnation (Romans 8:1). The gospel of grace should fill your heart with gratefulness or you simply don’t understand the grace of the gospel.

In Romans 6:1, 2 Paul proclaims “…are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?” For some reason the people in Rome seemed to believe that God’s grace gave them the right to sin even more. Most likely, the people with this belief were those who assumed their new found freedom from the Law gave them permission to sin without consequence. However, they could not be more wrong.

This scenario would be like the child of a county sheriff who feels he or she can break the law anytime they want simply because his or her father is the sheriff and will show them grace. The Roman believers Paul was addressing behaved this same way, believing that God’s “grace would increase” as they continued in sin. Thus, Paul firmly corrected them and reminded them that if they were truly in Christ they had died to sin. So, does a genuine believer persist in sin? Absolutely not.

What does it mean to die to sin? It means the mind and soul have a new found sensitivity to sin and have come to hate it. It means a believer now views themselves dead to the appeal and power of sin because of the victory of Christ. It means a believer now understands the sinful nature that still exists inside of him or her. It means believers have been given the Holy Spirit so they are able to walk in the Spirit and not in sin (Galatians 5:16). Finally, it means that because of Christ death and resurrection, believers will never have to die for their sin eternally. The transformation comes as a believer dies to sin and is made alive in Christ.

Have you died to sin?

Are you alive in Christ?

Examine yourself and find out…your life and eternal destiny hangs in the balance.