1 Timothy 2:3-4
“For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth”
Shakespeare’s character, Juliet, is famous for her statement, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” To her, a name meant nothing and love meant everything. Biblically speaking, there is much to a name. Throughout the Bible, God is called by a variety of names, each of which details certain aspects of His character. Here, Paul describes Him as, “God our Savior” and explains His deepest desire; “who desires all men to be saved.” The word desire means to take delight in, to love, and to determine to resolve. Paul is declaring that the determined purpose of God is for every person to be saved. He loves you, your family members, your neighbors, acquaintances and those who you have never met or been concerned. God’s desire is unlike our desire in that it does not stop with a wish or an ambition, but is worked out in action. It is because of the desire of God for all men to be saved that Paul goes on to say,
1 Timothy 2:5-6 “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time”
In other words, when there was no way, God made a way. The Father sent His Son to bridge the gap between sinful men and a holy God. In order to build that bridge, Jesus gave His life as a ransom. The penalty of sin was paid and a way was made for us to come to God. Most of us are familiar with Job. His trials are infamous and his faithfulness serves as an inspiring example to us in the midst of difficulty. In the crux of his trial, as he is being confronted by his friends, Job expressed man’s greatest problem. He said,
Job 9:32-33 “For He is not a man, as I am, that I may answer Him, and that we should go to court together. Nor is there any mediator between us, Who may lay his hand on us both.”
In Job’s day, there was no one who stood between man and God to make a way for us to be saved. To resolve that dilemma, God sent His Son to the cross, where He laid down His life for your sin and mine. All this was done that the desire of God might be fulfilled, and we might be given the free gift of eternal life. Paul goes on to say,
1 Timothy 2:7 “. . . for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle—I am speaking the truth in Christ and not lying—a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.”
God’s desire led Him to send His Son to the cross, and His servants into the world. Paul lived his life with the determined purpose of bringing the good news of salvation to all people. Writing to the Roman church, he said he considered himself to be in debt to all men and that this debt was paid through declaring the Gospel message. Paul faced hardship, want, persecution, danger, and imprisonment, all because the desire of God is for all men to be saved. Think about how amazing the love of God is. He allowed His only Begotten Son to be ransomed, and He allows His precious children to be mistreated, all so you and I might hear the message of the cross and be saved. As you sit back in a comfortable seat at church, hearing the Word of God proclaimed, don’t forget that the simple message of salvation came at the highest price. While salvation is free for the taking to any who believe, it was certainly not cheap to attain. The desire is met because the price was paid.
Pastor Jim
The Bible teaches that we are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14). Our bodies, designed by God, are amazing machines. One of the more important functions of the body is the Central Nervous System. This elaborate system is responsible for communication between the brain and the members of the body. Information is passed to the brain through ventricles and the spinal cord. Although we may not understand the intricacies, we have all experienced the process. If I twist my ankle and the ligaments stretched beyond capacity, the injury is reported to the brain. The brain responds by telling the nearby muscles to be on high alert and treat the injured member with care. Simply put, God designed the human body to take care of the weak and injured members by treating them gently, and seeking to restore them to proper health. Isaiah reminds us that God feels the same way about the struggling believer.
Life is filled with reasons to fear. We fear the unknown and the known, we fear change, and often fear that things will never change, we fear for ourselves, our families, and especially for our children. It would not take any of us very long to be crippled with fear, if we chose to dwell too long on any of those things. Isaiah is reminded, in the midst of frightening times, there are some pretty valid reasons not to fear. The first of the list is God’s promise to be with the believer.
As Paul traveled the world to preach the Gospel, he had the great joy of seeing many come to Christ. Sadly, however, he also had the difficult experience of seeing some fall away from the Lord. Here he mentions two such individuals and describes their backsliding as being shipwrecked. They once had sails unfurled on course for the Kingdom, but had drifted off course and were no longer serving or following Christ. He mentions them as a warning to us of the dangers of falling away from Christ. A shipwreck is an appropriate analogy for the Christian because of the dangers we face on our journey towards what John Bunyan called “The Celestial City.” Unfortunately, shipwrecks, like backsliding, have a variety of causes.
The Psalmist declared we are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14). The implication is that we were designed by God and everything about us is purposeful. We are the way we are, not by accident, but by design. God created us with weaknesses so we would have to rely upon His strength. One of those weaknesses is the fact that our bodies, like a motor, run out of gas and need to be recharged. No matter how strong we think we are, we get tired. Obviously, there are natural things we can do to “recharge our batteries.” At the end of each day, or perhaps even for a short period in the midst of it, we sleep. During that time the body has a way of strengthening itself. What looked impossible when we were tired, seems to be a whole lot easier with a fresh set of eyes. What we often forget is, in addition to rest, God has designed us with a need to wait on Him. He promises if we do, we will receive new strength which enables us to accomplish what He designed us to do.
Imagine the scene in the ancient world where nation after nation had been defeated by the Assyrian army. No matter how strong their defenses were or who they allied themselves with, no one was a match for the that ruthless nation, who not only defeated their enemies, but humiliated, tortured, and displaced them as prisoners of war. Then suddenly a tiny little country not much bigger than a large U.S. county, struck Assyria with such a devastating blow that they retreated to their homeland, and their king was assassinated for his failure. This would certainly get the attention of the nations around Judah. It did not take long before word spread to Babylon and delegates were sent to king Hezekiah to see how they had accomplished such a feet. It is interesting that he takes them to the storehouses and shows off his treasures, instead of taking them to the temple and showing off his God.
I don’t know who thought this was a good idea, but when I was in the eighth grade, all students were required to take a semester of Home Economics. The eighteen week course was divided between cooking and sewing. In the sewing section we learned the basics of operating a sewing machine and were required to make a pillow as a final project. Most of the students went to the local fabric stores and purchased a pillow pattern. I may have had a slight advantage in that my mom was a seamstress and actually taught textiles and design for fashion students at the university level. When I arrived home with my assignment, instead of purchasing a standard pillow pattern, she made me one in the shape of a surfboard. Needless to say, at the end of the term when I turned in a polka dot pillow, fin and all, I received the highest marks.
When Hezekiah heard the report that his condition was terminal, and death was knocking at his door, he immediately began to pray. His prayer recounted the way he had lived his life in commitment to the Lord. All that was left was to beseech the mercy of God, for an extension of days.
As this chapter opens, Judah is a on the brink of destruction. The Assyrian army, who had conquered all of Judah’s enemies, was encamped against the city of Jerusalem. The small army of Judah was no match for the Assyrian forces. It looked as though the nation would fall and the people would become prisoners of war. In the midst of this, Hezekiah saw what seems to be a universal struggle. The people who had made an initial decision to follow the Lord seemed to lack the power to walk it out. They had experienced the power of conversion, but were now facing obstacles bigger than their faith. Hezekiah poetically declares,
One of the primary themes of Paul’s letters to the Thessalonian church is the return of Jesus Christ. Paul lived with the expectation that Christ would return in his lifetime, and urged others to always be on guard. He had warned in his first letter that, “the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night” (1 Thessalonians 5:2). Looking around at the condition of the world they lived in, through the lens of Biblical prophecy, had caused some of them to be alarmed, and even gripped with fear. Paul mentions how they were shaken in mind and troubled. The term ‘shaken’ would describe a ship being tossed to and fro by the raging seas. The word ‘troubled’ carries the idea of crying out for help. Paul had written to a group of Christians facing turbulent times, with the purpose of encouraging them with the “blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.” Yet the message designed to give them hope, had actually robbed them of peace, filled them with fear, and was causing them to cry out in despair.
Jim Gallagher 