This past Wednesday, I was horrified as I watched on TV US citizens storming the capitol. These individuals destroyed and stole property, attacked authorities, broke onto the senate and house floors, and occupied offices.

I thought to myself, “I can’t believe what I am seeing!”

I never thought I would see the day when citizens of this country would storm the US Capitol to try and stop a lawful procedure. Something in this country has changed. There has been a shift.

Then I noticed something else. At first, I looked past it. But then I say it. The flags. The flags and banners came to the forefront of my view.

The rioters carried flags and banners.

Many of the flags were the US flag hung upside down. Others carried flags that featured President Trump’s name and image.

But in this crowd of rioters, there were several who carried flags that bore another name. And that name was Jesus.

The name of Jesus was on Capitol steps. The name of Jesus was climbing over the barricade. The name of Jesus was knocking down the Capitol doors.

Some of these people were doing these things in the name of Jesus.

So this raises some questions.

• Does Jesus approve of this protest?
• Does Jesus approve of this insurrection?

Or the question this message and the next will try to answer

Is it okay for a Christian to overthrow his country?

Today we will begin to answer that question – is it okay for a Christian to overthrow his country?

And in answering this question, we will learn our number one priority to our government.

 

Let’s Pray

Open your Bible to 1 Timothy 2

Our First Responsibility

In 1st Timothy, Paul lays out our first responsibility to our community and to our leaders.

What could it be?

Let’s read the passage:

Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.

The Bible is very clear.

Our first responsibility toward all humans is to pray for them.

Paul uses three general terms to cover the idea of prayer.

• Supplication – which is to ask
• Prayers – which is to communicate with God
• Intercessions – which is to ask on behalf of someone

Sometimes the Word is making a distinction within a list. Here I think the Word is using three ways to say the same thing for emphasis.

There is a fourth term that is a bit different from the first three – “Giving Thanks”

Two things immediately stand out.

1. Paul does tell us who to pray for – everyone and especially our leaders.
2. Initially, Paul does not tell us what to pray. He only tells us to pray. I say initially because I do think a verse later he gives us what we can pray.

So what would a first-century believer pray for on behalf of all men?

What do you pray for today?

• Health needs
• Work and financial needs
• Family struggles
• Marriage struggle

When you pray for leadership – for the president, for the governor, what do you pray?

• Protection
• Policies
• Moral behavior

The early church father, Tertullian, helps us understand what 1st-century believers may have prayed. He writes,

“We pray for all the emperors, that God may grant them long life, a secure government, a prosperous family, vigorous troops, a faithful senate, an obedient people; that the whole world may be in peace; and that God may grant, both to Caesar and to every man, the accomplishment of their just desires.”

1. It is one thing to pray for someone. It is another thing to give thanks for them.

You probably know 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

That means we give thanks for the people and circumstances we like AND for the people and circumstances, we do not like.

Why does God want us to give thanks for all men and all leaders?

Why even would God want us to pray for all men and all leaders?

When you sincerely pray for someone and give thanks for someone – if that someone is someone who you do not like – your prayers and gratitude for that person keep bitterness away.

Gratitude keeps bitterness away.

It’s easy to pray for the people you love.

It’s easy to pray for the folks you agree with.

But what about the person who has hurt you?

What about the person who has wronged you?

What about the leader who upsets you or disturbs you, or disgusts you?

That is not so easy.

When you pray and give thanks, God can use that to keep you from becoming bitter.

I also think God is doing something with what He is asking us to do.

• Ask for their needs
• Pray in general for them
• Pray specifically on their behalf
• Then give thanks for them

Think about that person you are very angry with. Think about that person who you do not want to pray for.

If all you had to do was pray for them then your prayers might be what theologians call Imprecatory Prayers.

What are Imprecatory Prayers? Well, the Book of Psalms has several Imprecatory Psalms. David wrote them while he was on the run.

Imprecatory Psalms are psalms when David asked God to judge, bring down curses, and calamity upon his enemies.

So yours might sound like this:

“Dear God, rain down fire on my ex-husband”

“Heavenly Father, strike my teenage daughter’s tongue!”

It’s hard to call upon God to curse someone when you must follow that prayer up with words of gratitude.

“Dear God, strike Joe dead! But thanks for the two kids he gave me” doesn’t ring true.

Prayer + Gratitude does not equal Bitterness.

Prayer + Gratitude gives you a look into the heart of God.

Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5:43-45

43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

There are people in your life who have hurt you. Pray for them and find a way to give thanks.

Even here in this church, there is probably someone who has disappointed you and you struggle to pray for them. They have wronged you and you omit them from your prayer list. They have hurt you and you want God to hurt them back.

God asks you to pray for them and to give thanks.

Do not let bitterness set in.

Do not let your prayers become a weapon.

 

No one has been wronged more than God. And He blesses even the worst of humanity.

When you pray and give thanks for all men then you get a glimpse into the heart of God. You live our life on earth as God lives in heaven.

Responsibility to Our Leaders

Let’s talk about our responsibility toward our rulers.

Our first responsibility as a citizen of this country is to pray for and give thanks for our rulers.

Think about the situation in Rome and what we have here in the U.S.

We have something that the Roman citizen did not have. We have the vote.

The great civil rights leader, The Honorable John Lewis, once said, “Voting is the most powerful non-violent tool we have.”

The ability to vote is powerful but I respectfully disagree with Mr. Lewis.

The most powerful non-violent tool we have is prayer. Every believer in every situation has the ability and opportunity to pray.

In the U.S. we have the vote and prayer. But a believer in North Korea does not have the vote. But they do have prayer.

I said earlier in this message that Paul does not initially tell us what to pray only that we should pray.

But in 1 Timothy 2:3-4 he does give us one thing we should always pray for on behalf of all men, especially our leaders.

For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

The one thing we should always pray for when we pray for all men and our leaders is for their salvation.

Over the years and over the presidents, my prayers have been varied. A few have even been Imprecatory.

But the most consistent thing I have prayed for in regard to our leaders has been for their salvation.

I pray even today that President Trump repents of his sin and turns to Christ for salvation.

I have prayed similar prayers for almost every president.

If we want true change in our country, true change will only come when our leaders believe on Christ. Not until then. So we should pray for their salvation.

Why Should We Pray?

We’re almost done. But I have held back the best part of this passage – the ultimate WHY WE SHOULD PRAY.

This is found in the second part of verse 2.

Our first responsibility is to pray and give thanks. Why should we do that?

...that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence

We pray for all men.

We pray for rulers.

We pray for their needs and their salvation.

Why? So they will leave us alone.

So we can lead a quiet, peaceable life.

So we can raise our kids, do our jobs, worship our God without them interfering.

Isn’t that what you want? Don’t you want the government to do its job to do and leave you alone?

Yes, but you’re thinking, “I already have that.”

But you’re looking at this verse through western eyes.

Think about the Christian family in North Korea, or Egypt, or Iran.

They just want to live a quiet life. They want to raise their kids. Go about their work. Worship the Savior without the threat of some leader kicking down their door and dragging them off to prison because they love Jesus.

Think about the people who originally received and read 1 Timothy.

In the recent newsletter, I told you to try and determine who the emperor was at the time Paul wrote 1 Timothy.

The answer is Nero.

What do we know about Nero?

• He covered Christians in pitch, hung them on poles, and set them on fire to use as torches in his garden.
• Nero murdered his mother, his aunt, his first wife Octavia (who was also his step-sister) and murdered his second wife by kicking her to death (She was pregnant at the time.)
• He then married two different men. The first he castrated and the second looked so much like his second wife that Nero dressed this man up in his second wife’s clothes and called him by his dead wife’s name.
• And he burned Rome down and then blamed it on Christians. This led to the empire-wide persecution of believers.

But Paul in 1 Timothy 2:1-4 says we are to give thanks for and pray for him.

If Paul can pray for Nero, you can pray for ___________________.

Next Sunday we will have a guest speaker, Pastor Matt Robinson. When I return on the 24th we will continue to answer the question,

Is it okay for Christians to overthrow their country?

But today you learned that your first responsibility is to pray for all men, especially your leaders, and to give thanks for them.