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APPOINTED A PREACHER, AN APOSTLE AND A TEACHER

the answer to prayer!

A teaching by Paul Galligan

Prayer for all men 1Tim.2:1

Paul exhorts us in 1 Timothy 2:1 that it is of first importance  [or first of all ] that supplications, prayers, intercessions and giving of thanks be made for all men . He mentions three kinds or ways of praying for all men and as well there should be the giving of thanks.

Supplications

What are supplications? The dictionary says they are entreaties, or humbly begging, making petition. It suggests a serious pleading and crying out to God for particular people [all men].

Prayers

What are prayers? Prayers include supplications but more generally prayer is our communication with God. This means prayer is a dialogue and we should listen for His answers. Philippians 4:6 tells us that it is by prayers and supplications that we make our requests known to God.  We know God has answered by the witness of the peace of God  (v7) coming into our spirit.

Prayers and supplications are to be made in the Spirit  (Eph.6:18). This means that in our prayer life we are to move from the soul realm to the spirit realm, where God is able to guide us.

Intercessions

What are intercessions? To intercede is to go on behalf of or to go between. It is to plead in favour of someone else. It can mean to mediate.

Giving of thanks

1 Thess.5:17-18 tells us to pray without ceasing  and in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.  Eph.5:20 tells us to be giving thanks always for all things.  The giving of thanks is the attitude of a spirit-filled believer and thankfulness to God is the attitude to undergird all prayer.

Prayer is to be made for ALL MEN.

Prayer for kings and all in authority 1Tim.2:2

We are to pray for all men and then we are to pray specifically for kings presidents, prime ministers, and all in authority, that is, in positions of prominence in our society and nation.

The result of such prayer will be quietness and peace . How many nations and how many cities do not have the blessing of leading a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence ? Does the church stop to ask ourselves the question: Why is there not peace in our nation? In our city? The answer is: because the church is not giving first priority to prayer for the nation, for all men, for rulers and authorities.

God s will is good 1Tim.2:3-4

It is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour  for us to pray diligently and committedly for all men and for the government of our nation. It is God s will for us to be able to live a quiet and peaceable life .

The goal of our prayer for all men, including the rulers, is their salvation. God desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.  God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance  (2Pet.3:9). Men will be saved when they come to the knowledge of the truth. How shall they hear the truth?

In the Lord s Prayer Jesus told us to pray thy kingdom come  (Matt.6:10). How does the kingdom come? How does any man receive or enter the kingdom? Answer: by being born again (Jn.3:3-6). The first transforming way that the kingdom comes is for men to be born again, that is, to be saved by coming to a knowledge of the truth. 

There is a Mediator 1Tim.2:5

Job knew his need for a redeemer; he needed someone to go before God on his behalf. His friends could not help him (Job 19:25). Once Christ has come, Paul declares, There is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus.  The core message of the New Testament is that Jesus is the Christ  Acts 5:42. The result of Christ dying is that we can come boldly to the throne of grace  (Heb.4:16) and we can boldly enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus  (Heb.10:19).

He gave Himself a ransom for all 1Tim.2:6

A ransom is the cost of redemption. This concept comes from the market place and referred to the buying of a slave s freedom. The ransom for all men to be saved was the blood of Jesus: His life. He gave His life so that we could be set free from the bondage and corruption of sin and death.

It can become a snare for the Christian to be glad to be saved but to forget that Jesus gave His life for all men. The practising church so often is only concerned for themselves and for the institutional entity that they are. The message that must be testified is that Jesus gave Himself a ransom for all.  This is to be testified in due time. 

This is the issue: the truth of who Jesus is, that He is the Christ [Messiah Acts 2:36], that He is the Son of God [God manifest in the flesh 1Tim.3:16], that He is the only way to the Father (Jn.14:6), and that through His death men can be saved. Therefore the truth of who Jesus is and the Scriptural reality of what His death on the cross has done, is to be testified in due time .

Appointed a preacher, an apostle, a teacher 1Tim.2:7

The expected result of the church fulfilling its responsibility to pray for all men, for kings and all who are in authority , is that God will appoint preachers, apostles and teachers of the Gentiles in faith and truth.  It is these appointed ministries who carry the primary responsibility to testify  concerning Jesus the Christ and the ransom He paid for men to be saved. It is these appointed ministries who carry the primary responsibility to preach and teach the knowledge of the truth  so that all men  can be saved. This is God s will and for God s will to be done there is to be the appointment of preachers [this includes both prophets and evangelists as both these ministries are preaching ministries], apostles and teachers again today.

These appointed ministries are to convey the message of the gospel to the Gentiles. Gentiles are those who are not saved. The majority of the human race is not saved. There is a huge need for concerted committed prayer for all men so that God will respond and appoint again preachers, apostles and teachers of the calibre of Paul. Paul s calling was to bear My name before Gentiles, kings and the children of Israel , Paul was to suffer many things for My name s sake (Acts 9:15-16). In these days God is sending us to the nations as preachers, apostles and teachers and He has authorised us to testify to the Gentiles [often it is the lost sheep of Israel , that is, the church] that Jesus is the Christ [Messiah the King who came], that Jesus is God manifest in the flesh.

These appointed ministries are in faith and truth . Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God  Rom.10:17. The faith here refers to the doctrines, the apostles doctrine (Acts 2:42, Jude 3). Thy word is truth  Jn.17:17. The preaching and teaching of the truth is the preaching and teaching of the word of God which engenders faith in the hearers. This is God s means by which all men can be saved .

Because of the ineffectiveness of the church in making disciples of all nations, some have doubted the God given means of fulfilling the Great Commission. The God given means are the way to reach the nations. The problem has been the disobedience of the church. We have spread denominationalism [denominated doctrines] rather than the gospel in faith and truth .