Apply Within

Bob Davis: Don't give up, Peter writes. The Lord is not slack or lazy or slow concerning his promise as some men count slackness, but the Lord is long-suffering. The opposite of short suffering, he's patient. He's calling, he's waiting on you.

He waited on me. He was calling and waited on me. Do you remember when you got saved? You might not remember exactly how old you were, you may remember where exactly you were, but he was patient.

Guest (Male): Welcome to Apply Within, a verse-by-verse study of the word of God with Pastor Bob Davis of North Country Chapel. We invite you to join with us as we, by the power of God's Holy Spirit, apply his word within our own hearts as we study line upon line, precept upon precept, verse by verse through the Bible. Continuing in 1 Timothy chapter 2 verse 6, Paul highlights Christ's sacrifice as a ransom for all and calls believers to faithful prayer. Here's Pastor Bob.

Bob Davis: Verses five and six, how about this? "For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ, who gave himself a ransom for all." How many? For all. He died for every human being, for everyone since Adam and Eve, all the way. He gave himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time.

You see, there is only one God. There's only one God. Right here, verse five, "For there is one God and one mediator between God and man." And that mediator is Jesus Christ. There is only one God. Do you know that there are people on the planet right now? Well, look at the Romans way back then, look at the Greeks, look at the Egyptians, look at the Mesopotamians.

Look at all these people who have all kinds of gods. The Greeks had hundreds and hundreds, maybe thousands. The Romans had different names and all that. Out there in Africa, some of the far-off tribes, and they've got the god of the moon, the god of the sun, the god of all kinds of things. Think about it. The Romans and the Greeks and many others worshipped thousands of different gods and goddesses.

But notice that there is only one God, only one. And that's the Lord God Almighty who inhabits eternity. But there are people today worshipping the hummingbird, worshipping Buddha, worshipping Krishna, and the list goes on and on. But the Bible is clear: there is one God, not many, not thousands, not hundreds, not dozens. There's one God. And the Romans and the Greeks worshipped all sorts of bizarre things, carried on through to this day.

Since there is only one true God, he desires the salvation of all men and women from Adam on. Adam and Eve on. God desires the salvation of all people, not just in America, but America too. Not just in Canada, but Canada too. Not just in South America or Mexico, not just in Antarctica for those twelve people that are there. It's cold. All over the world.

He desires the salvation of all men and women, loving them all. Jesus Christ died for every one of them, so we better stop counting them out. If there's somebody you're not willing to pray for, you need to check your own heart. I didn't say you need to fall in love with them and fix their hair. I said you need to pray for them. I'm telling you what God is telling us.

God loves them all and he wants not one to be lost. And who's he using to win them over? The church. Those are the ones who are ministering, administering the gospel all around the world. That's you and me. You say, "Well, I'm not there in Africa," but you're here in America. And you have people that you see and you can lovingly encourage them.

I don't have a problem saying to somebody, I don't know if they're saved or not. I've got neighbors and they're not saved, I don't think they're saved, but I tell them, "We'll pray for you. If you need something, you yell." Why? Because they're people. Also, there is only one mediator between God and man. How many? One. There's only one way between man and God. There's only one mediator. Pastor McDonald puts it this way: a mediator is a go-between, or you could say a middleman if you will, who stands between two and communicates with both.

Right, so you've got a mediator, he's in the middle. You've got God, the mediator. The mediator has to be able to talk to God and then talk to you and to them and to those. Jesus Christ, fully God and fully man, our mediator before the throne of God. That was a problem in the Old Testament. If you've never read Job, it's long, but oh my goodness, you need to read it. It's a little long, I get that, so you're not going to get it in three days, but take some time and read through Job.

To be the mediator between God Almighty and lowly men and women. So to be a mediator between God and mankind, that person has to be God and man. The only one that could communicate with God would be God himself. Man couldn't. So Jesus became flesh. So he's fully God and fully man. He's our mediator between God and man. He must be God and man.

Job cried out for someone like that. Job cried out for that very thing. He was sick, he couldn't die. He wasn't sure if he was ever going to not be sick again. And he was exhausted and he shouted out. He was hurting physically, emotionally, mentally, in any way you can think, and he was in such pain and he cried for help, but there's no help.

I'll read it to you. It's Job chapter nine and when I read it, you'll go, "Oh, I've read that." Job chapter nine, verses thirty-two and thirty-three. And here's what Job says about God: "He is not a man as I am that I should answer him and we should come together in judgment." He says, "I can't, he's God and I'm just a man." And what does he say? "Neither is there any daysman between us." That's what you and I would call a mediator, a go-between.

He says, "We don't have one. I can't talk directly with God. I'm a man. He is God Almighty. We need someone in the middle and we don't have one." That's his complaint. "He is not a man like I am that I should answer him and that we should come together in judgment. Neither is there anybody, a daysman between us that might lay his hand on both of us." He said, "I need somebody that can touch the heart of God and touch my heart too so that we could communicate. I can't. I'm too little."

And that's what he was crying out. The man Jesus Christ, fully God and fully man. He is our mediator. He's our daysman like Job says. We need a daysman between us so he could touch the Lord God and me and we could work together. So you had to be God to speak to God and he said, "I can't, I'm not God. I'm just a man and he was sick," etc.

Jesus willingly gave himself a ransom for everybody. Now that's hard to grasp because look at all the people that have rejected him. In the Old Testament alone, you don't have the number. It's huge. Look how many died in the flood. Some believe there may have been between eight and ten billion people at the time and only eight people lived through the flood. Noah, his wife, his three sons and their wives. Some say there may have been eight billion people at the time. Remember, they were living to be eight hundred, nine hundred years old. So a lot of people died.

Jesus gave himself a ransom willingly for all mankind, from Adam and Eve all the way through to however many it turns out to be in the long run. A ransom is a price paid to release or set free someone. Notice that the ransom is for all people. The Bible says Jesus himself willingly was a ransom for all mankind. Verse six, "Who gave himself a ransom for all." Not just me and you, but all people everywhere. Your brothers and sisters who aren't saved yet and you're still praying for them, you don't quit praying for them.

You don't want to do that because a ransom is a price paid to release or set free someone. Notice the ransom is for all people. Nobody got left out. Well then how come everybody doesn't go to heaven? Because love requires a choice. You have to choose. God's paid the price for you, you have to receive the gift. You ask him into your heart by grace through faith alone. Everybody gets a choice and he's not going to beat you up and make you. He won't force you to love him because forcing is not love. Love requires that choice.

Hear this, the work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross of Calvary was enough to pay for all sin for all eternity for every human being that will ever live. That's what the price was that he paid. That's big. There are right now, we're threatening close to eight billion people on the planet. But they want to kill a lot of us to get us down to two billion.

The work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross of Calvary was enough to save all sinners. How many humans are sinners? All. He paid for you, he paid for me. Have you opened your heart and said, "Here I am, Lord"? Like the little girl, just as I am without one plea. I have nothing to give you, Lord, I got nothing.

Then why will some go to heaven and some go to outer darkness? Why? If he paid for all? Again, a choice is required. You choose. God is a God of love. He is a gentleman. He invites you for all eternity. He is knocking and if you would open your heart, he is there. He'll come in, but that's a choice you make for you. So some will choose outer darkness, joking all the way.

I see people, I've met people, they're shovelling their way to heaven. They got shovels, they're literally just digging. They want to go with their friends because it's a joke now. It's a big funny thing. But it's real and it's not going to be funny at some point. And because it is a choice from your heart, notice salvation is free. Jesus paid the price free. But you choose for you where you would like to spend eternity.

Isn't that freaky that you can tell people there's a heaven and they go, "I don't believe there is"? Why would you say that? Because none of your friends believe it? Well, there's a good reason. Because all your friends are going to jump in the lake of fire, you want to jump in the lake with them? It's sad, but that's human nature, fallen. Jesus saw all of us like sheep without a shepherd. You get one sheep going the wrong way, forty or fifty are following, or more. Because that's what sheep do.

That's how they get themselves lost and killed. God will never force me or you. He never tricked me, tried to sneak me in, or tried to lure me. He just said, "I love you." And that's what he told you. "I'll give you eternal life. It's yours for eternity. It's a free gift." You say, "Lord, come on in. If you can make anything out of this, you're welcome. Take my life." But you've got to make your own choice.

Jesus loves you and he's calling you. In case you say, "I've never heard him," he's calling, you're not listening. Jesus loves you and he's calling, knocking on the door of your heart. If you will open your heart to Jesus, he will come in and he will be with you forever. When he says "sup with you" in Revelation 3, that means fellowship, not just have supper.

But remember, fellowship is when Jesus really wanted to spend good time and know people well, remember he went to their house, he ate with them. Christians do that all the time. You get together and you say, "Let's just have some fellowship." Well, fellowship's got to include food or none of us wants to go. Right? That's what we learned from Jesus. We were lost sinners and Jesus Christ paid our ransom. We're free if we want to be there.

Okay, almost done right here. Verse seven, "Whereunto," Paul says, "I am ordained a preacher and an apostle. I speak the truth in Christ, in Jesus Christ, I'm not lying. A teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity, truth." Verity is truth. I will therefore, I'm suggesting, he says, "I will therefore that men should pray. Not just men, all people."

That men should pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands without wrath and without doubting. When you pray, God hears it. So if you didn't get what you wanted and you prayed this morning, life's not over yet. Sometimes he says no, sometimes he says yes, sometimes he says wait. Wait kills me and he knows it. Some of you are just saying, "Well Lord, this is what I desire." Okay, hang on. And then you leave it with him.

Paul writes, "I am ordained." Look at that. He says, "I'm ordained and a preacher and an apostle." Man, he's got it covered. He says, "And I speak the truth in Jesus Christ," in other words, "I'm not lying about these things. I'm not making it up. I'm a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth." So I'm telling you, this is what God wants. That men, women, people everywhere lift up holy hands without wrath and doubting.

Paul writes, "I am ordained," meaning literally, "I've been appointed a preacher." What's a preacher? Kerux in the Greek. It means a herald, a messenger. When you say, "I'm a preacher," every one of you is a preacher. You're a messenger. God sent you out and he sent some of you to Target, and he sends some of you to Costco, and he's sending some of you to 7-Eleven.

I don't know where you work. Pick where you work. He's sending you there, isn't he? And you're the light there. You may not be the only one, I pray there's others, but you're the light. So you know, this little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine. We've got to let it shine. People have got to know. He says, "I am a preacher," literally, a herald or a messenger. One who gives out the good news, the gospel. That's us. Not just Paul, not just Timothy, you and me.

And he says, "But I'm also an ambassador, a representative of Jesus Christ." When he calls himself an apostle, you look the language up, that means an ambassador. What's an ambassador? He represents Jesus Christ. Are you an ambassador for Jesus Christ? Absolutely, don't look at me like that. Yes, where you go, you're carrying Jesus.

You're taking Jesus into where you're getting fuel for your vehicle, you're taking Jesus where you get your haircut, where you work, where you go to school. You are an ambassador. We're ambassadors and we're representatives of Jesus Christ. When we show up, don't yell it because it sounds tacky: Jesus is here. When you show up where you go to school, Jesus is there at school.

They say you can't bring Jesus to school, you take him every day. You take him to work every day. You drive him in your car, everywhere you go. They say, "We don't want religious anything." I'm not religious, I'm born again. We're just a representative of Jesus Christ and a teacher. What's a teacher? You look it up, it says one who explains or illustrates the word of God in a way that it will be understood by people.

That's easy, isn't it? You could do that. You could say, "For God so loved the world he gave his only begotten son," and you could just break that down into your simple little terms and people go, "Wow, I never heard it put that way. That makes sense in my head." Because we don't speak English, we speak American. So you've got to break it down for people.

Notice that Paul adds, notice in verse seven, that Paul adds, "I'm speaking the truth in Jesus Christ." Literally, "I'm not lying when I tell you what I just told you." He says, "I speak the truth in Christ, I am not lying to you. I'm not trying to get money. I'm not trying to get something out of you. I'm not trying to make you think I'm somebody important so you'll buy his magazine or watch his program or whatever."

He's saying, "I am not speaking anything that's fake. I'm speaking the truth in Jesus Christ, I'm not lying to you." Paul says, "I teach the Gentiles in matters pertaining to faith and truth." That's my whole life. What my whole life is anymore is trying to help people understand the words of the Bible. Just to break it down so simple that even Bob can understand it. Because when Bob can understand it, anybody can understand it.

That's what we do, isn't it, Christians? We come alongside. The Spirit does the work and we just encourage people. You can do that. And you don't need to have a little piece of paper or some kind of thing on your thing that says "holy." Leave it alone. Let God have all the glory and all the credit. They don't need to remember your name as long as they remember the name of Jesus, we got this.

Pray. Pray for all of us. Pray for everybody. Pray for our leaders. And I'm telling you they are messed up just like we are. But right is wrong over there. Dark is light over there on that side of the country in that little place called DC. Twenty square miles, I call it twenty square miles surrounded by reality. Pray.

Lord, we do that. We pray. Don't let us be the ones who don't know. As Paul was teaching, we look at him, Lord, and we're learning and we're growing. We don't need to sit and be anybody's teacher, but we want to help and encourage anybody who has a question, if it's legitimate, if it's real. And so, Lord, help us to pray, help us to remember to encourage each other and to encourage others that we see.

Many don't go to this fellowship, they go to the fellowship over there or back up back over there. And Lord, they're still people too that need to know that you're thinking about them and that you're loving them. Use us, Lord, every one of us, and you take the honor and the glory and the credit, and we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. God bless you.

Guest (Male): Thank you for listening to Apply Within with Pastor Bob Davis. Apply Within is a radio outreach ministry of North Country Chapel. Our Sunday morning Bible studies are 9:00 and 11:00 AM. We also have a Friday evening Bible study at 7:00 PM and a Monday evening Bible study at 7:00 PM. You can download today's message in its entirety at NorthCountryChapel.com/studies. That's NorthCountryChapel.com/studies.

If you would like a copy of today's message, write to us and ask for the message with today's date. The address is Apply Within, 2281 West Seltice, Post Falls, Idaho 83854, or call us at 1-800-572-8851. That number again, 1-800-572-8851. Our mobile app is available for iPhone and Android. Download it to listen to full-length studies, watch the live stream of our services, or to find out more about church events.

If you have been blessed by the teaching or have prayer requests that you would like to share with us, write, email, or call us as well. Please join with us every Monday through Friday as we study together verse by verse on Apply Within, sponsored by North Country Chapel. God bless you.