After Paul has stressed that we pray for all men, he singles out kings "and all in high positions" to make sure that we include them. Therefore, we have strong encouragement to pray for kings and for all in high positions, whether they are believers or not, because our God reigns, and none can stay his hand! Better than Noël knows it. First, prayer taps the power of God on behalf of others. For 33 years, he served as pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota. There is no explanation in John’s Gospel why Jesus changed Simon’s name to Cephas (Aramaic), that is, Peter (Greek)—no explanation as in Matthew 16:18 that Petros means rock and you will found my church. What you see is what you get. When Paul wrote this, he was probably under house arrest in Rome, awaiting trial before Nero who finally executed him. But there is more implied here. Regularly in this Gospel people are talking at the physical level, and Jesus is taking their language and leading them deeper to the spiritual level using the same language. We’re on a mission to change that. And if you believe that he loves you and that he is stronger than any force in the world—even all the terrorists in Mumbai or all the terrorists in the world combined—then the fact that he knows your circumstances is a great grace. Don’t make the mistake of thinking you don’t have to choose him. A good conscience is a conscience that does not condemn you for the things you do or don't do. The next two verses (40–41) show that they have indeed “seen.” “One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. We do not pray simply for the prosperity of any land. Some say the world will end in fire Some say in ice. RELATED RESOURCES. And then I think, No, I am not alone in this experience. And He is a good Father! That word alerts us to the fact that Paul's command to pray for all men is an inference or a conclusion that follows from something he had just said. The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. When our best dreams shrivel and die, and our best attempts fall short, God is still God and he is still writing a great story for those who love him. Without it we can influence things nearby, and if we wait long enough, our influence may spread around the world. In other words, following Jesus is not heroic. It requires no financial sacrifice and no great physical exertion. Because "this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior who desires all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth." The apostle Paul has a word from God which we need to hear all the time, but especially the Sunday before a presidential inauguration. I see at least seven ways John wants us to see the glory of Jesus—and receive more grace. We are foolish, and he is wise. We have a Savior, who has taken upon him not just the sins, but also “the pains and the sicknesses of his people … that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities” ( Alma 7:11–12 ). And not only nobody has been me in this experience, but nobody can be me—nobody can know this. You don't even have to get out of bed to pray for kings and all those in high positions. All God's instruction is summed up in this: Love God with your whole being, and love your neighbor as yourself. "The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will" (Proverbs 21:1). That covers everything, right? The point of John’s ministry was to call our attention to the superiority of Jesus. Why then do kings and those in high positions come in for special mention? They follow Jesus. Don’t miss the implicit authority in what Jesus does here in John 1:42. But God's influence is everywhere and immediate, so if we send our signals to him, we can reach around the world in an instant. Let your prayers embrace all kinds of people: high and low, white and black, democrats and republicans, Soviet premiers and Iranian Ayatollahs. Not “if you like it,” or “if it works out.” This is the absolute authority of Jesus to choose Simon and name Simon and determine Simon’s destiny. I’ll tell you how this has meant much to me recently. We receive grace upon grace from this fullness of authority. Jesus looked at him and said, ‘So you are Simon the son of John? We get as much time as we want to be in the Word and fellowship with Jesus. Third, he mentions the content or aim of these prayers: they include thanksgiving and the request that our lives be spent in peace and tranquility to the end that men might be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. As we learned in the preceding chapter, Ezekiel was in Babylon, living among his fellow exiles in a community by the river Chebar —evidently a navigable, man-made canal that branched off from the river Euphrates and later rejoined it. Fifth, Jesus has the authority to change our identity. So today that is what I am asking as we walk through John 1:35–51. He knows it better than any of you know it. (Daniel 4:30). We pray for magnificent advancement of the saving purposes of God in every land. Verse 41: “He [Andrew] first found his own brother Simon and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which means Christ).” We will say more about this next time. Have you ever been tempted to pray like this? And from the fullness of this glory we have received grace upon grace. Once Nebuchadnezzar, the great king of Babylon, said to himself: Is not this great Babylon which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty? This is very humbling for John. And in most countries around the world today I think it would still be true. But if I had to perish twice I think I know enough of hate To say that for destruction ice Is also great And would suffice. Blessings to share for you and for me. (Jesus isn’t commenting about Nathaniel’s sinlessness.) If I fall into a habit that my conscience condemns, what eventually happens is that my conscience begins to say, "Piper, all your talk about trusting Christ is a lot of hot air, because if you really trusted him, you wouldn't go on in that behavior or that attitude." You shall be called Cephas’ (which means Peter).”. That is the way it is with prayer. We can confirm that this is the way Paul is thinking when we take up our third and final major point, namely, the content of our prayers for kings and all in high positions. For example, let's look at the normal growth process both animals and man himself experience. One is: Nobody has experienced my circumstances. And therefore, I urge you first of all to fulfill the love command by praying for all men, because prayer taps the power of God on their behalf, prayer is the first and easiest step of love, and prayer reaches farther in its good effects than anything else we can do. And by prayer you can get as close as one of their intimate advisers. Most people in the world have no experience of lasting joy in their lives. The crowds asked for physical bread, but Jesus meant that he was the living bread (John 6:30–51). The increase of Jesus is the goal of John’s ministry. "God, bless everybody in the best way possible. I have been thinking a good bit recently about how good it is that Jesus knows my inner condition. Enlarge the circumference of your love. What was the setting of Ezekiel’s vision? He’s not two-faced. Jesus says in Revelation 2:17, “To the one who conquers [and the power that conquers is faith, 1 John 5:4] I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.”. Verse 39: “Come and you will see.” On one level, it could mean simply: You will see where I am staying. It is a blessing if we are not led into temptation but delivered from evil. I can see at least two reasons. In other words, following Jesus is not heroic. Go to school at Calvary until you can hate the bigotry and racism of the Ku Klux Klan and the neo-Nazis, but can pray with yearning love in your hearts for these men and women. So as I study this Gospel, my choices about what to say to you are governed in large measure by this: What in this text is going to show the glory of the only Son from the Father? In the preceding verses (1:18–20) Paul charged Timothy to "wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience." God has provided a partner, Someone to call my own. Amen." I came not to call the righteous, but sinners” (Mark 2:17). Second, Jesus is followed as “the Lamb of God,” the sin-remover of the world. And when Paul needed help, he asked it for himself in particular. Growing Together In Christ To Love and Serve All People Welcome! He knows what’s going on inside, and he knows what’s going on outside. The glory of being the Lamb of God who takes away our sin. Coming to Jesus in John’s Gospel means again and again entrusting yourself to Jesus, and receiving his promises (5:40; 6:35, 37, 44, 7:37). Therefore, anything we do to people that is unloving will prick our conscience and threaten our faith. Jesus would die in our place the way the Lamb was sacrificed in the Old Testament in place of the sinner. That is what I think Paul does in verse 1 of chapter 2. That’s not the point. The circumstances may be as old as the world. So if we want the best for people, if we really love them, of first importance will be prayers on their behalf. At least my experience confirms it. That’s part of the fullness of his divine glory, and that’s why his glory is full of grace and truth. The first thing Jesus says is, “You are a man without deceit.” That’s the truth about the inside. Of course, God's answer to your prayer will almost always include your work of love, but it will also include much more than you alone could accomplish. Enlarge your heart until it embraces the world. There were people who followed Jesus, seeking the wrong thing. But the main thing Paul mentions as the content of our prayer for kings and those in high positions is "that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and respectfulness" (verse 2). Most people in the world have no experience of lasting joy in their lives. And there comes a sense of relief that this utterly unique sorrow, that nobody else can share, Jesus totally, fully, completely understands. It is a remarkable blessing to serve in the Lord’s true and living Church with His authority and power. Notice the word "then" or "therefore" in verse 1: "First of all, then (or therefore), I urge that you pray for all men." And that brings us to our second major focus, namely, the breadth or scope of Paul's command to pray. Even in our own country where the Chrysler Imperial is called the "born-again car," I am not automatically enthused when a politician claims to have had a religious experience. Before the satellites were orbiting the earth we could broadcast a TV program live across the country but not around the world. As he shows the way, Unfailing love we’ll display. For example: So when Jesus says in John 1:37, “What are you seeking?” he was asking something deeper than they think. And he warns Timothy that, if you reject a good conscience, you may make shipwreck of your faith, like Hymenaeus and Alexander did. I pray that you will receive it. . Each week we gather to be fed and nurtured through the Word and Sacraments, and we find ourselves celebrating the mighty acts of God in Scripture. This grace is coming to you right now. And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.”. Then because they came to him and spent time with him, they saw. At the top of Paul's list of things that we must do in order to keep a clear conscience is to pray for other people. We are Blessed! Therefore, I do not think the demand of 1 Timothy 2:1 will be satisfied by praying, "God bless all men everywhere. No. But in the mind of Jesus and the mind of John this meant: If you will truly come to me, you will see spiritual reality. Why pray that rulers will keep the peace? In the book of Job we're told to let the natural world teach us lessons about the God we serve (Job 12:7-10) – and His creation of timing is certainly a fascinating one. Taken by itself, that request might seem to fly right in the face of everything we've said so far. Do not let your prayers be limited to any one group of people or kind of people. Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour [that is, about 4 p.m.—the tenth counted from 6 a.m.]. God approves of our prayers for peace and tranquility because he approves of the advance of the gospel. The first is that these people had characteristics that made it especially difficult for the early Christians (and for us) to pray for them. But that would be a terrible misunderstanding of God's Word. We follow him the way sheep follow the shepherd—because we need to be protected. Peace is not the main thing; salvation is the main thing. We have been taught to pray about particular kinds of problems. Notice how things have developed. And the third reason prayer is of first importance in keeping our consciences clear is that it reaches farther in its effects than anything else we can do. It is a great blessing if each day we have our daily bread. This was almost universally true in Paul's day. We are hungry, and he is bread. We are weak, and he is strong. That’s the first pointer to the glory of Jesus in this passage. But the little good that we could do by our little power is not worthy to be compared with the great good God can do for people that he sets out to work for. If I am commanded to believe the gospel, is faith something I create, or is it a gift of God? 4 Read Ezekiel 1:1-3. When we have done all that we are able, we can rely on God’s promised mercy. Seventh, Jesus knows our internal and external condition. But at least he’s not coy. The glory of being the goal of John the Baptist’s ministry. Verse 39: “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.”. We have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father full of grace and truth. John Piper is founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. Out of the hundreds of things that a preacher could focus on in the Gospel of John, I am strongly influenced in my selection by John 1:14–16, “And the Word [that is the eternal Word who is God, John 1:1] became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. You must pray for them: emperors like Nero, proconsuls like Gallio, governors like Pilate, kings like Herod. (John 3:28–30). Fourth, Jesus is the Messiah. ), but it is the purpose of the Lord that will be established" (Proverbs 19:21). Look how they do good to those who hate them, and bless those who curse them, and pray for those who abuse them (Luke 6:27f.)! And, therefore, what Paul is saying is that in order for your ship of faith to stay afloat, you need to see to it that you don't do the things your conscience condemns or leave undone the things which your conscience demands. We offer free and inexpensive, high speed, unrestricted application VPN Services. The year was 613 B.C.E. When life just doesn’t seem to make sense, or even when it seems void of any meaning at all, what can help us to know our purpose again? But Jesus does not teach us to say, "Bless the Lord." And now we hear Andrew say to his brother, “We have found the Messiah.” At first, they were only seeking where he was staying. Let us first recall the setting. They broke the First Commandment by putting their own judgment ahead of God’s. So it makes sense that Paul, in urging us to keep our consciences clear, would first of all urge us to do the easiest act of love, to pray for people. For example, in Genesis 3, we read of the rebellion of Adam and Eve against God by eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Jesus began the relationship by saying, “What are you seeking?” (verse 38). That’s probably not true. Verse 36: John said, “Behold the Lamb of God.” And so in verse 37: The two disciples “heard him say this, and they followed Jesus.” This means that discipleship is first and foremost the expressed need for a savior from our sins. And God took away his reason and made him eat grass like an ox until he learned this lesson (Daniel 4:34, 35): No king, no president, no premier, no Ayatollah can stay the hand of the Lord when he has purposed to do a thing. To you be the glory. “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out” (John 6:37). You will never be in a situation where Jesus is not fully aware of what’s going on in your life. We are protected and provided for, AND we get to just hang out with God for hours on end! Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. The first thing you do for a person, if you love them, is to ask God to work for them. A text like this, which commands us to pray for all men, might tempt us to pray in sweeping generalizations like that, since you can't begin to name all men. Therefore, Paul is not naïve when he says, "I urge that . Second, he mentions the wideness of its scope: "Pray for all men, especially kings and all in high positions." ", John Piper is founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. Even a bad king is better than anarchy. He had a broken body, a despairing mind, and a lonely soul. They may seem remote and inaccessible, but remember, they are not remote and inaccessible to God. When life just doesn’t seem to make sense, or even when it seems void of any meaning at all, what can help us to know our purpose again? If you are alone and get into trouble and no one knows what is happening to you, Jesus knows. Of all the forms that love for others can take, prayer is the easiest. Uplifting the King James Bible and the name of Jesus Christ in these Last Days, this website is a ministry—a pulpit—exposing false prophets, deceptions and all manners of evil in its ugly forms. You were under a fig tree when Philip found you.” That’s the truth about the outside. This is the glory of the Son of God. And suddenly they are gone. Do not be provincial, sectarian, nationalistic, elitist, or racist in your prayers. His wisdom, not ours. But here in verse 43, Jesus simply says to Philip: “Follow me.” Jesus is now taking the initiative. We see those blessings flowing to women, men, and children throughout the world. He must increase, but I must decrease. They are sinners. When our best dreams shrivel and die, and our best attempts fall short, God is still God and he is still writing a great story for those who love him. The glory of knowing our external and our internal condition. You shall be called Peter.” Period. He had a broken body, a despairing mind, and a lonely soul. He found Philip and said to him, ‘Follow me.’”. When the great and angry God has risen up and executed His awful vengeance on the poor sinner, and the wretch is actually suffering the infinite weight and power of His indignation, then will God call upon the whole universe to behold that awful majesty and mighty power that is to be seen in it. "Make supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings for all men, for kings and all who are in high positions." We are not at home in America or Russia or Israel or anywhere in this world. A second reason prayer is of first importance in keeping a clear conscience is that it is the easiest step of love. And there is no identity for your life better than the one Jesus gives you. “You are Simon. When Philip said to Nathaniel in verse 45 that Jesus was from Nazareth, Nathaniel answered bluntly from his heart without any posturing (in verse 46), “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” What will Jesus think of that? If Jesus is not the Lord God, then this is the ultimate blasphemy. First, he mentions its paramount importance: "First of all, I urge you to pray!" So, Paul's charge to Timothy to hold on to faith by keeping a good conscience is tremendously important, and any help Paul gives on how to keep a good conscience should be received with open arms. They simply say (in verse 38), “Where are you staying?”—we are seeking your address. It is important to pray for leaders because the conditions they create either advance or impede the gospel. Let's pray that God would cause his Word to sink into us this morning. He is author of. So the glory of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth, is glorious as the one who says with full authority to Philip, “Follow me.”. In John 6:26, he says, “You are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.” So he is asking John’s disciples here: What are you seeking? And the truth is that he does this for all of us. If a Christian wants to do the most good possible to the most people in the short time he has, he will turn to God first, whose influence reaches, without interruption, to every molecule and every mind in the universe. Ev’ry day we’ll serve our God above. You see the key that unlocks the ultimate meaning of all things. So, if we would not make shipwreck of faith, we must keep a good conscience. …Thank you all! Nicodemus is talking about physical birth, and Jesus is talking about spiritual birth (John 3:3–8). He’s not deceitful. But his allegiance to the cause of Christ makes the bleakness of his life glow with glory. The same emperor who executes Paul maintains the peace in the provinces where the gospel is spreading like wildfire. His following and his ministry are vanishing. I think we can all understand this connection between a clear conscience and a vibrant faith if we just think about our own experience. May we never forget, brothers and sisters in Christ, we are also aliens and exiles in this land. So they come to him, and they stay with him the rest of the day. But now we know also that God can do his good purposes even through rulers who remain impenitent. Jesus knows my heart and my mind and my body and everything about me. Verses 35–37: “The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God!’ The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus.”. When God wanted to punish his rebellious people, Israel, he turned the haughty king of Assyria into the rod of his anger (Isaiah 10:5) and stirred him up to attack Israel. . And the woman at the well is talking about water from the physical well, and Jesus is talking about spiritual water that he will give (John 4:7–14). And later on, he will say to his disciples, “You did not choose me, but I chose you” (John 15:16). Tranquility is not the goal; the knowledge of the truth of God, that's the goal. Jesus knew this about Nathaniel’s heart—his particular inner life—before he ever met him. . The point here is: Jesus has authority to give you whatever name he pleases and, in giving you a name, determine your destiny. We also reward users for protecting themselves with our VPN Usage Rewards. Yet, this difficulty must be overcome, Paul says. We follow him not the way David’s mighty men followed him to serve him and protect him as their revered sovereign. I think Jesus means: Now here is someone who tells it like it is. Now we are one; now there can be. This is only one study out of over 100 in depth lectures by Dr Johnson on Systematic Theology including studies of the doctrines of God, Christ, the Spirit, Prayer, Salvation, etc. Isaiah 9:6 verifies, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God… As we have vowed, so may it be. But this should not cause us to hesitate one moment to pray for them, first, because God may save them and bring them to a knowledge of the truth, and second, because God uses rulers to accomplish his purposes whether they believe in him or not. Here we begin to see the multi-leveled meanings in some of John’s simple language. Mighty Men’s Fellowship Salvation I’m New What We Believe The Good News ... We are local body of baptized believers called to make a difference. The glory of the only Son of God is the glory of the Messiah, the long expected one of Israel. Here is a message for this hour, isn't it! He is author of. Central to the life of our congregation is the community at worship. “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him” (John 6:44). This is the second reason I think Paul stressed that we must pray for kings and all in high positions, namely, because through them God is able to do so much good for others, whether the kings know it or not. Jesus made this crystal clear, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. We are living in the “perilous times” foretold in 2nd Timothy 3:1-7. You give so much! Nobody has ever brought my weaknesses and my sins and my experience to this moment of sorrow or anger or desire. In order to see why failing to pray for people will lead to a bad conscience and so jeopardize our faith, we have to ask, "What is it that will prick a Christian's conscience in his relations to other people?" . thanksgivings be made for all men, for kings and all in high positions." And then people will see that there is a God of grace in heaven and that he has on earth a peculiar people who are not conformed to this age or this decade. I see three reasons why prayer for other people is of first importance in keeping a clear conscience, in view of Jesus' teaching that love is our greatest duty. I believe that this Gospel was written by the eyewitness John so that, through his inspired testimony, we could join him in the “seeing” of verse 14. Isn't Paul's point the same as Jesus' when he said, To put it another way, there is no category of people of whom it can be said, "You should not pray for them." But let it be said, "Look how they love each other! All of our resources exist to guide you toward everlasting joy in Jesus Christ. We need to have our sins forgiven. If I am commanded to believe the gospel, is faith something I create, or is it a gift of God? Paul's thought seems to be something like this, "If you want your prayers to do the most good for the greatest number of people, be sure to include in your prayers those persons whose decisions create the conditions in which the purposes of the gospel prosper." Is it true in the last analysis that all we are really after in praying for our leaders is peace and tranquility? "Many are the plans of the mind of a man (of a king! The decade of the 80's is on the way to becoming the decade of hate and, O, how easy it is for us aliens and exiles on the earth to get sucked into one group and begin to hate the other. The Pharisees deal with a man who was given physical sight in John 9, and Jesus speaks of spiritual sight. The glory of being the giver of spiritual sight. (click for this extensive list) The point of the connection between verses 36 and 37 is that following Jesus calls attention to his strength, not ours. The answer to that question is clear from the whole Bible. His goodness, not ours. But God has not taught us to pray like that, and we can be sure Jesus couldn't have spent whole nights in prayer if that is how he prayed. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. I think he would ask you the same question. The restoration of the priesthood of God, including the keys of the priesthood, opens to worthy Latter-day Saints the greatest of all spiritual blessings. We follow him not the way David’s mighty men followed him to serve him and protect him as their revered sovereign. For example, they were so distant, so remote, if not in actual miles, then at least in accessibility. These are John’s disciples. The main point of the text is the command to pray, and Paul mentions three things about this command to pray that we should listen to very carefully. 4, 5. One implication of what I've just said is that our prayers for those in high positions go beyond a prayer for their conversion or even sanctification. We pray for magnificent advancement of the saving purposes of God in every land. And how is it that seeing this will give grace to you? We are thirsty, and he is living water. And isn't it true that if you are unwilling to do something easy for the good of another, then it is very unlikely that you will be willing to do something hard for them? He teaches us to say, "Give us this day our daily bread, forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil." With that as a foundation we can start to see why prayer for other people is at the top of Paul's list of things we must do in order to keep a clear conscience. Verse 42: “He [Andrew] brought him [Andrew’s brother Simon] to Jesus. But my experience of them is utterly unique. John had already said in verse 29, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” To call Jesus the Lamb of God meant that finally, at the climax of Israel’s history, God was sending the final sacrifice for sin that would end all other sacrifices. And so a bad conscience begins to drill its little holes into the belly of the ship of faith until one of two things happen: either we confirm the genuineness of our faith by changing our ways and plugging up the holes of a bad conscience, or we show that our faith never was seaworthy and sink into unbelief and blasphemy like Hymenaeus and Alexander. First, just briefly—since we have seen it before several times—John shows Jesus to be the goal of John the Baptist’s ministry. I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him. Amen. And, judged from a very limited perspective, we might do a little good that way. God loves sinners with an unconditional love—not because of who we are, but because of WHO HE IS. Seasons of joy, may we come to see. Another characteristic that makes rulers hard to pray for is that they are often godless men, insensitive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.
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