1 Timothy 2:1-6 1 “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; 2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. 3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; 4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; 6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.”
Notice: The Bible says we are to pray for all earthly authorities that they get saved, so that there can be world peace in godliness and honesty. It does not say we are supposed to sit back do nothing while the world goes to hell and just pray that Jesus comes back and brings world peace!
Since we are commanded to pray for world peace through the salvation of all people (Including and especially all earthly authorities), we are commanded to believe that it will happen.
Mark 11:24 “Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.”
James 1:6-8 “But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he 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 any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.
Since world peace through the salvation of all people is God’s will, God will give it to us if we pray and believe.
1 John 5:14-15 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.”
1 Peter 5:5b “Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.”
The words humble, humility, and meek all mean the same thing.
A humble Christian is willing to learn the Scriptures from anyone, including a child.
Even king Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, said in Ecclesiastes 4:13 “Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished.”
You know, when you study the Bible often and deeply, you can find out some interesting things that most people miss.
The Book of Ecclesiastes is the book of Solomon’s repentance. Solomon had married hundreds of heathen wives and they had turned him to worshiping idols.
Ecclesiastes 4:13 indicates that Solomon may have been turned back to God through a child.
1 Peter 5:5 makes it clear that all Christians are to be subject to each other.
Our standard is the truth of the Bible. If someone is speaking the truth of the Bible then everyone else is to be subject to them concerning that truth.
It does not matter if the person speaking that biblical truth is the Pastor or the janitor, young or old, black or white, rich or poor, educated or uneducated, male or female.
The Bible only forbids a wife from teaching her own husband in the church.
1 Timothy 2:12 “But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.”
Notice it says “the man” not every man. This is clearly speaking of a wife not being in authority over her own husband, and not teaching him publicly in the church.
The Bible does not teach that all men are over all women. It teaches that a husband is over his wife.A woman is equal with all men except her own husband.
Any man who says that he will not allow a woman to teach him the Bible is a fool! And any husband who refuses to listen to the wise counsel of his wife in private is a fool!
I heard of a Pastor once who said he would never allow a woman to teach him the Bible. Sometime later he ended up in prison for molesting a 16 yr old girl!
Proverbs 16:18 “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.”
A humble Christian will help the poor without looking down on them.
1John 3:16-17 “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?”
James 2:15-16 “If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?”
Ephesians 4:28 Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
I Timothy 6:17-19 “Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.”
Being humble also means that you do not put yourself above God, and that you accept His will in trials.
1Peter 5:6-7 “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.”
Romans 5:3 “And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;”
Now Meekness Is Not Weakness!
Being humble, meek, and having humility does not mean that you cannot rebuke someone for sin.
Jesus is God, therefore He is the meekest of all. Yet He ran sinners out of the Temple with a whip.He also called the Pharisees names!(snakes and vipers)He even called Peter Satan!
John2:14 “And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: 15 And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables; 16 And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise.”
Matthew 23:33 “Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? 34 Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: 35 That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.”
Mark 8:33 “But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men.”
Moses was very meek, yet he commanded the Levites to kill those who had worshipped the golden calf.
Exodus 32:19 “And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses’ anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount. 20 And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strewed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it. 21 And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them? 22 And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot: thou knowest the people, that they are set on mischief. 23 For they said unto me, Make us gods, which shall go before us: for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. 24 And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it me: then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf. 25 And when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies:) 26 Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the LORD’s side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him. 27 And he said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor. 28 And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men. 29 For Moses had said, Consecrate yourselves today to the LORD, even every man upon his son, and upon his brother; that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day. 30 And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses said unto the people, Ye have sinned a great sin: and now I will go up unto the LORD; peradventure I shall make an atonement for your sin.”
Therefore, a person can be meek and still harshly rebuke and even punish someone for sin.
This is what true humbleness is. If all churches taught this consistently, and all Christian obeyed this consistently, we could save the world, which is our duty.
Ezekiel 22:30 “And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.”
We are to fight against evil, so God does not destroy our land.
Ecclesiastes 12:13 “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.”
What Is Duty?
Duty is your moral obligations to God and others. It can also include legal obligations to others.
Christians have many duties.
It is true that all Christian duty can be summed up in one verse:
Luke 10:27 “And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.”
However, because of the moral decline of society and the apathy of the church, people are no longer taught what specific duties they have, and therefore they are neglecting them.
The end of Christian Duty is to create a better worldfor everyone
Seek to bring everyone to Christ
Mark 16:15 “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”
1 Timothy 2:4 “Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.”
It is God’s will for everyone to be saved, Therefore, it is possible for everyone to be saved. 1 John 5:14-15 “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.” Also, Mark 11:24 “Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.”
2. Pray that everyone comes to Christ
1 Timothy 2:1-4 “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.”
3. Seek peace and ensue it
1 Peter 3:10-12 ‘For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it. For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.”
1 Timothy 2:1-4 “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.”
Are you praying for your political leaders, or just griping about them?
4. Seek the happiness and prosperity of others above your own
1 Corinthians 10:24 “Let no man seek his own, but every man another’s wealth.”
Romans 15:2 “Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification.”
Love is sacrificially giving. Not selfish!
5. Seek justice for everyone
Isaiah 56:1 “Thus saith the LORD, Keep ye judgment, and do justice: for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed.”
Proverbs 21:3 “To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.”
James 3:17 “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.”
1 Timothy 5:21 “I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality.“
Deuteronomy 1:17a “Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; but ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God’s: “
Deuteronomy 16:19 “Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift: for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous.”
Proverbs 24:23 “These things also belong to the wise. It is not good to have respect of persons in judgment.“
Proverbs 28:21 “To have respect of persons is not good: for for a piece of bread that man will transgress.”
Proverbs 24:24 “He that saith unto the wicked, Thou are righteous; him shall the people curse, nations shall abhor him:”
Colossians 3:25 “But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.”
Proverbs 17:26 “Also to punish the just is not good, nor to strike princes for equity.”
James 2:1 “My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.”
James 2:9 “But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.”
Ezekiel 45:9 “Thus saith the Lord GOD; Let it suffice you, O princes of Israel: remove violence and spoil, and execute judgment and justice, take away your exactions from my people, saith the Lord GOD.”
God has made all Christians kings! Therefore, all Christians have the sacred duty to God and their fellow man to remove violence and spoil, and to make sure judgment and justice are executed in their Country and the rest of the world!
Revelation 5:10 “And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.”
Malachi 2:7 “For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts.”
To give up and neglect your Christian Duty to create a better world because Jesus is coming back soon is the ultimate betrayal of God’s trust, and you are trampling over the blood of Christ!
Jesus died to save the world and make it better!
John 10:10b ” …I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”
Jesus did not just die to save everyone’s souls! But also to make everyone’s physical lives better! How can we have “abundant life” if our world is full of evil and injustice? Therefore, in order to have the abundant life Jesus died for us to have we must diligently seek to remove evil from our world! If we don’t, then we are disregarding His death!
The Bible indicates that the world being full of evil hinders Christ’s return!
2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
The more evil the world is, the more longsuffering God is to wait for Christ’s return, because He wants to give people as much of a chance as possible to repent.Therefore, if the world became Holy, He would come back faster.
Romans 11:14-15 “If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them. For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?”
That “life from the dead” is speaking of the rapture! Therefore, if the whole world got saved, and especially Israel, then Jesus would come back faster!
Therefore, if Christians want Jesus to come back faster, then they had better stop being lazy and apathetic, and start doing their DUTY to diligently work and pray for the salvation of Israel and the rest of the world! And start doing their DUTY to diligently work and pray for the removing of evil and injustice in the world!
And Fasting and Praying is essential!
Jesus said one of the best ways to get rid of devils is through fasting and prayer.
Mark 9:25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him. 26 And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him: and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead. 27 But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up; and he arose. 28 And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why could not we cast him out? 29 And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.
The world is full of devils, who facilitate evil and injustice. Therefore, fasting and prayer is essential to riding the world of evil and injustice. Churches must start calling on their people to fast, and they must start having all night prayer services in order to save the world and make it fit for Christ’s quick return!
Only faithful Christians will rule and reign with Christ.
Matthew 25:23 “His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.”
Luke 16:10-12 “He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall give you that which is your own?”
Revelation 2:10 “Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.“
Jesus is our King! No king will reward a lazy unfaithful servant to a position of power!
Matthew 25:
24 Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed: 25 And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine. 26 His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed: 27 Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. 28 Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. 29 For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.
The Talent that God hath given to us is the abundance of the Christian life. If we do not seek to multiply that talent by bringing others to Christ, teaching them to observe all things that Christ has commanded us, and thereby removing evil and injustice from the world, then we have hidden our talent! If you shirk your Christian Duty to diligently seek to remove evil and injustice from the world because Jesus is coming back soon, you will not rule and reign with Him!
2 Corinthians 13:11 “Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.”
Romans 15:6 “That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
1 Corinthians 1:10 “Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.“
Philippians 1:27 “Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;”
These verses show that all Christians are to be unified in one mind in doctrine, comfort, peace, glorifying God, and in judgment. And this is made possible by us all having one Spirit- The Holy Spirit. Christians are not to be divided.
Now, if all Christians are to be of one mind, what is to be the foundation of that “one mind”? What is it that we must base our agreement on?
1 Corinthians 2:16 “For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.“
The Bible is the mind of Christ.
The only way we can know what Christ said, did, and taught is through the Bible.
Therefore, the Bible is the mind of Christ.
If all Christians would agree with Christ, then all Christians would agree with each other. That is True Unity!
True unity is not compromising on doctrine and holiness! It is agreeing with God on Both!
True unity is based on truth! Not on compromise of the truth!
True unity does not mean that all Christians do everything the same way.
Romans 14:5-6 “One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks.”
The Bible teaches that it is right for one person to worship on Sunday and another to worship on Saturday.It is also right for one person to eat meat, and another person not to eat meat.
Therefore, these people can be in unity with Christ and each other by not judging each other, and believing the Truth taught in the Bible that both is right!
If the Bible says something is wrong then it is wrong! If the Bible says something is right then it is right! And that is where Christians are to stand in unity, by agreeing with the Bible on what is actually right and wrong.Not squabbling over our own preferences!
