1 Timothy 2, go over there, 1
Timothy 2. I want to deal tonight with three
vital things in the life of a believer. Three vital things. The word vital means something
that's necessary to life. Vital in the life of a believer. This is addressed, this message,
is addressed to believers. That's who Paul addresses in
this epistle to Timothy, a young man who's a believer. And he
tells him to pray and to read and these things. And that's what I want to deal
with tonight. I'm not going to talk too much about each thing. I'm not going to deal with them
per se so much as just encourage us all to To pray and to read
God's Word and to hear it preached. Okay. Now in salvation, in salvation,
the first thing that comes is hearing it. Listen to Romans
10, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be
saved. But you don't call him till he calls you. How shall
they call on him whom they've not believed? How shall they
believe in Him whom they have not heard, and how shall they
hear without a preacher? So you go backwards. You hear,
they believe, and they call. That's when you call, after you've
heard. Okay, so in salvation. Our Lord said, My sheep hear
My voice. Life is given. when the Lord
speaks to you. And He says, like in Ezekiel
16, I pass by you and I said, live, and you live. Can these
bones live, Ezekiel? Preach to them. When they preaches,
they live. It's the Word of life. So life
is given by hearing the Word. That's where it began. Life is
proved We know that we have life when
we believe. We call. He that believeth hath
life. And call. We call. All who truly
hear Christ's voice, he will hear theirs. They will call. Saul of Tarsus, when the Lord
saved that self-righteous Pharisee, the first thing he said to Ananias
was, you'll find he's praying. Well, didn't he pray before?
Yeah, but it was like the Pharisee to hear himself speak. He loved
to be heard. And now he's calling on the Lord.
So all who Christ calls, they call on him. And he continues
to call. And all whom he calls, they keep
calling for the rest of their lives. They never quit calling.
He calls them. And they never quit calling on
Him. That's how you know. Listen to 1 Corinthians. He says,
to those that are called to be saints, to all that in every
place call on the name of the Lord. God is faithful by whom
you were called. So, God calls, we live, we believe,
and then we call on Him. And Peter said, to whom coming.
Didn't he? That means to keep coming. How's
that? Keep coming to hear the Word.
Keep coming to read the Word. Keep coming to pray and call
on Him. These three vital things in the life of a believer. Vital
for faith. I got a hold of three preachers
that I value their judgment and I asked them for the best title
for this message. individually, and I thought I'd
take the consensus. And of the four of us, three
of us came up with this title, praying, reading, preaching.
That is an ongoing thing, isn't it? Praying, it's continual. Reading, never quit, always reading. And hearing, we never quit. Hearing. the preaching here in His Word.
Three vital things. Vital for faith, vital for growth,
vital for growth and grace, the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The more you call, pray, communicate with Him, the more you'll know
Him. You hear it? Draw an eye unto God. What does
it say? Draw an eye unto Him. The more
you call, the more you communicate. It's like anybody else. The more
you talk to Him, the more you know Him, don't you? He knows
all about us. He sure does. He knows our praying.
Call Him. Talk to Him. The more you read
of Him, the more you'll know Him. Paul wrote about this, that beholding
His face in a glass would change from the same image. Behold Him. The more you read
of Him, the more you'll know about Him. The more you hear
about Him, the more you'll know Him and love Him. Vital things. Not necessarily in this order,
because they always all go together. Right? Can't do without any of
the three. OK? But praying, if you'd ask
me, though, praying, because before you read the Scriptures,
you're not going to get anything out of the Word if you don't
ask the Lord to speak to you. It's just not. I know that from experience
and from the Word about it. You'll probably not get anything
out of the preaching if you don't ask the Lord to speak to you.
Right? So praying is vital. Your nurses, we've got some nurses
in here. I'm laughing because I asked
Robin a question about the heart. stroke, and I wanted to use an
illustration. She gave me a three-page dissertation
on strokes and all that. Okay, thank you. Well, I wanted a simple answer,
but I'm glad you gals are so proficient at this. But you take Bible science, don't
you? You go to the doctor. I went there today. I went every
day. And the first thing they do is they take your vital signs.
What's that? Your pulse. Your pulse. Are you living? Is your heart
beating? Your pulse. And your temperature. Take your temperature. They took
mine. It said 97. They run that thing
over your head, you know, and says, is that my IQ? 97. 97.
You want to cool down. Your breathing, your oxygen rate,
you know, and then the blood pressure and other things. But
these are vital things in the life of a believer. Okay? Reading,
prayer, reading, and hearing God's Word. First thing, 1 Timothy
chapter 2. Look at this. Paul is exhorting
this young preacher, and here's what he said, verse 1. I exhort
therefore that first of all, first thing, supplication, prayers,
intercession, giving of thanks be made for all men. He goes on to talk about kings
and opposing authority and so forth. And if the following verses,
God will have all men to be saved, keep it in context now. All right? That doesn't mean God's going
to save every single human being. It means God will have all sorts
of men, kings, even kings. Paupers and kings, presidents
and laborers. But the first thing here, he
impresses upon young Timothy and exhorts him is to pray. First
thing. First and foremost, this is it.
First thing. First part of the day. First part of the day, one
of the old writers, I've got a bunch of quotes by
preachers in this next bulletin on praying, reading, and hearing.
And one of the old preachers said, if you run from God in
the morning, you're going to have a hard time finding Him
the rest of the day. That's a good statement. First
thing, first thing each day, before you utter a word. I mean, this is ideal and we
all know we don't do it, but wouldn't it be good before you
before you speak, before you answer anybody to ask the Lord
to tell you how to answer. You know, the scripture says,
answer not a fool according to his father, you'll be just like
him. Isn't that what it says? And then the next one says, answer
a fool according to his father, lest he be wise in his own conceit.
You need to know when. Before we utter a word, before
we give an answer, study. Wise men study it to answer.
Ask it. Seek it. James said, if any lack
wisdom, let him do what? Ask. We're faced with decisions of
not of the magnitude of Solomon. Those two harlots, you know,
and the baby. But we've still got decisions to make and we
ask. Lord, I need wisdom from above. I need the same wisdom. Ask before
any action, before we take any action. Oh boy, don't we make wrong moves. Utter wrong words and wrong moves. Lord, order my steps according
to thy words. Let no iniquity have dominion
over me. Pray, call, ask, seek. The Lord in Luke 18 gave a parable
to this end, to this person, a parable of a widow who called
on a judge to help her. And she kept calling and kept
calling and kept calling until that unjust, ungodly man said,
I'm going to answer her. And the Lord gave it to this
end that men are always to pray and not to faint, not quit, don't
ever stop. Paul said this over and over,
didn't he? Pray without ceasing. Without ceasing. And I listened
to a whole message by my pastor on prayer. And like I said, I
don't have time to go into it, but it's not the posture. You can't physically get on your
knees all the time. You can't do it. It's not necessarily
praying out loud. It's just the heart going out
to God. And one of the old writers did say this, better to have
a heart without words and words without
heart. So prayer is not your posture. It's not. It's the heart
going out to God. Pray without ceasing. You can
do that. Can't you? Jane said, if you lack wisdom,
I just quoted that. He said this, beloved brethren,
let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to rap. In
that sense, shouldn't we be swift to speak to God to keep us from
being swift, swift to speak to men, swift to hear the Lord,
and slow to speak? This wisdom must come from God,
and we need to ask for it. Prayer is communion. That's what
it is. It's communicating. That's the
word, communicate. It's calling on. In any relationship,
any relationship, if it's a good relationship, the more you speak,
the more you talk, the more you communicate, the closer you'll
be, right? The more you understand each
other, and the closer you'll be. No communication, no relationship,
right? And you'll feel estranged. How
much more, our God, That much more. Prayer is communion with
God. Prayer is made up of these things. Praise. You don't have to ask for anything
every time you pray. You know that. We pretty much
do. But it ought to be more praise
than anything, shouldn't it? Thanksgiving. Philippians 4. Everybody knows these verses,
but you need to read them. You know, I have you turn because
And I don't quote those verses for you every Monday morning.
There's a reason for that. I don't want to do the work for
you. I want you to look at it. There's something to be said
for seeking. And it'll mean more to you. I
can quote it to you, but it won't mean the same as with you looking
at it. Right? You know what I'm saying?
Philippians 4 verse 6, be careful for nothing but in everything
by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, always with thanksgiving. Let your request be made known
unto God and the peace of God which passeth understanding.
Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there. Oh, what
peace we often forfeit. Oh, what needless pain we bear. All because we do not carry everything
to the Lord in prayer. That's what it said. Peace of
God. Keep your hearts and minds. And keep that place right there.
But prayer is praise. Prayer is thanksgiving. Prayer
is confession. Isn't it? Confession, confessing our sin.
Don't confess your sins to one another. Don't do it. Confess
your faults, not your sins. If we confess our sins to the
Lord, oh, he that confesses his sins and forsakes them shall
find mercy. The Lord is faithful and just
to forgive us, to confess our sins. Confess our sins to the
Lord in petition, supplication. You can ask the Lord to take
anything, everything to They find a dog. Brother Bruce
set me straight on that. In everything. It says everything,
doesn't it? So, prayer first and foremost. James said you have not. Why?
Because you ask not. We look at Philippians 4. He
goes on to say in Philippians 4, the peace of God passes understanding. And then finally, verse 8, brethren,
finally, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest,
whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things
are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, good news,
there be any virtue, any praise, think on these things." What
things? Now what's he talking about? You got it in your hand
right there. God's Word. That's what's true. That's what's honest. This is
what's just, pure, lovely, good news, virtue, praise. Think on these things, the things
of God. It's all written right here in your lap. What a blessing. What a blessing. Reading, reading
God's Word. The things of God, the will of
God, the mind of God. Oh, brethren, read God's Word. Read it. Read it. Put everything
down and read God's Word. These things are a scourge on
our society. The only good that this and computers
have done is for the furtherance of the gospel somehow. I wish I'd never been in it.
It keeps people from doing the things they're needed for. Reading
God's Word. Read God's Word. Read. Read God's
Word. Read. Read. Read God's Word for
your faith, for your peace, for your joy, for your comfort, for
your relationship with Him. As we said, the more you read
of Him, the more you come to know Him and love Him and appreciate
Him. 1 Timothy 4. Now go over here.
1 Timothy 4. This is an old preacher to a young preacher. And in Acts,
when Paul told the church, I think it was Ephesus or Antioch, to
seek out men and make deacons out of them, he said, we're going
to give ourselves to prayer and the ministry of the Word. He
said, you seek out people to wait table, but us, me, Timothy,
Silas, we're going to give ourselves to prayer and the Word. That's
what he said. So he tells young Timothy, and
this all applies to every believer. 1 Timothy 4, look at verse 13.
Oh, verse 12. Verse 12. This is so good, so weighty. Let no man despise thy youth.
Be an example of the believers in word. I believe that means in speech,
but also believe it means in your knowledge of the word. I
remember when I first became a pastor of this church, I thought,
I'm not ready. I don't know God's word. How
am I going to teach it? I can't, I can't quote it like
I want to. So what did I do? Read, read, read, read. And preaching, oh man, I couldn't
get enough preaching to hear it. Read on. Be an example in
a word, in conversation, that's your conduct, your course of
life, that's what that means. What you're all about. In charity,
love, spirit. Attitude, faith, purity. Till
I come, give attendance to reading. See that? Exhortation is preaching
the doctrine. Give attendance to reading. He's telling young Timothy, like
he told the Colossians, like he tells us, let the word of
Christ dwell in you richly. Immerse yourself, like Brother
Chapman. He heard that message. Immerse
yourself. He said, if we would immerse
ourselves in God's Word, we'd know what way to take, how to
think, how to act, how to walk, what to do. We'd know. We wouldn't
be in the dark. The entrance of thy word, give
it The Word is a lamp unto my feet,
a light unto my path. We're in the dark and we won't
stumble in the light of it. Immerse yourself in the Word. Read the Word. Read Him. Read
Him. He's telling young Timothy that
and he's telling her that. David was a man after God's own
heart. Don't you love David? We love
to read David's psalm, don't we? Was David a praying man? Was David close to the Lord?
We hear his prayers. Not all of them. Not all of them
by any means. He prayed all the time. We just had some praying man. Was he a reading man? Oh, my. He said the Word meant more to
him than life. Let me just show you something. Psalm 119. Go back there with
me. This is what we're doing now, isn't it? Reading God's
Word. And these are just some scriptures that speak of the
Word. A hundred and seventy-some verses speak of the precepts
and law and so on. That's the Word. But look at
these, and they mean something to those of you who know them,
don't they? Psalm 119, look at verse 49. Remember the word unto thy servant,
upon which thou hast caused me to hope. How many times have
you looked at that, sister? When you need. Verse 50. This
is my comfort in my affliction, thy word hath quickened me. I'm so dead and it's brought
me back to life. And people, it's not a book.
If you read it like a book, it won't mean anything to you. It's
God's word. You ask him to speak to you.
It's called the living word because it's his word. If he doesn't
speak to you, you're not going to get anything. So that's where
prayer is so important. Look at verse 65, Psalm 65. These are verses you've looked
at for years. Verse 65, Thou hast dealt well
with thy servant, O Lord, according unto thy word. You've dealt well
with me just like you wrote. It's all going according to your
book. You know what? We can read the
last chapter. We can read the last chapter. We know the end
from the beginning. Why would we fear? Look at verse
67. Before I was afflicted, I went
astray, but now I've kept your word. The word chastens us, doesn't
it? Oh, how the word chastens us.
If you be without chastisement, you're a bastard. Doesn't the
word chasten you? Does the word make you, you know,
just rebuke you and reprove you and correct you? Good. Warn you? Look at verse 76. Let, I pray thee, thy merciful
kindness be for my comfort according to thy word." Comfort. Kindness. Oh, if God speaks to us, it'd
be a kindness. Verse 81, My soul fainteth for
thy salvation, but I hope in thy word. Verse 82, Mine eyes
fail for thy word. Have you ever just looked and
looked and looked for a word That's what David's saying. When
will you comfort me? The only way he does is through
his word. Right? Look at verse 103. How sweet
are thy words unto my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth. Often I quote verses that you
know and love so well, some of you, and I see a big old smile
come on your face, just like you ate a big old spoonful of
honey. It is, isn't it? Nothing sweeter.
Sweet words. As cold waters to a thirsty soul. Verse 116. Uphold me according
to thy word. The Word lifts us up. The Word
holds us up. The Word keeps us from being
down. Number 123. 123. My eyes fail
for thy salvation, for the Word of thy righteousness. 133. 133.
Order my steps in thy Word. Let not any iniquity have dominion
over me. 140. Shall I go on? I'm telling you to read the Word. I'm doing it for you. Verse 140,
Thy word is very pure. Thy servant loveth it. There's
nothing you hear or read in this world that's got any purity at
all to it. Don't you hate it? You can't
read or hear anything left in taking our Lord's name and vain
it. It sickens me. This book is so... Don't you? God's Word. Pure Word. Verse 148. Mine eyes,
he said, I stayed awake at night that I might meditate in thy
Word. That would be a good thing to do if you can't sleep. If
all else fails, get up and read the Word. Read Psalm 121. If you have trouble
sleeping, read Psalm 121. You know what that says? He that
keepeth Israel does not sleep. So you can go to sleep. And look at a couple more, okay? 158. I beheld transgressors and was
grieved. They keep not thy word. 162. I rejoiced that thy word
is one that findeth great spoil. 170. Let my supplication come
before thee, deliver me according to thy word. 172. My tongue shall
speak of thy word. That's a good conversation there. It's a good and profitable time
when you get together and you talk about God's word. If you
don't, you feel like it's been a waste of time. Read. Read. How long did that
take for us to read that? And we'd sit and watch stuff
for two hours. It ain't worth watching. And
that didn't take us long. But did it bless you? Did some
of those words bless you? Nothing else will. Oh, boy. Deuteronomy 17. These are verses that I wrote
in the front of my Bible when I first started preaching. Deuteronomy
17, and so I wrote them in every single Bible I've had since then.
I've got five or six in various places, so wherever I can turn,
I'll have one. By the bed, by my chair, in the
study, in the attic, in the basement, in my truck. Honestly, don't
use this. There's no effort involved in
it. None. Dig. Search. That's what God
blesses. Dig. It's a treasure to be dug. Don't let somebody else do it
for you. You do it. Deuteronomy 17. I wrote this in front of every
single Bible. Look at verse 18. It shall be when this king sits
upon the throne of his kingdom. You have it? Deuteronomy 17,
18. When the king sits upon the throne
of his kingdom, he shall write him a copy of this law and a
book out of that which is before the priest of the Levite. And
it shall be with him, he shall read therein all the days of
his life, this ruler over men. read it every day of his life,
that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the
words of this law and these statutes, to do them, that his heart be
not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from
the commandment to the right hand or to the left, and that
he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children,
and the missionaries." We all write that in front of our Bible. Read it every day. Don't be lifted
up with pride. You can't read God's Word and
have any pride. You can't pray continually and
have much pride left. You can't. You know that? You
can't be in God's presence having pride. So, read, brothers and
sisters. If I can encourage you to do
anything tonight, it would be this. Pray. Call on the Lord. Read God's Word. And in hearing,
in closing, Revelation 1, and I close with this. Revelation
1, I've done 31 minutes. Revelation 1, look at this. You know these verses. Hearing
as with prayer and reading cannot live, cannot grow without hearing
God's Word. Cannot live without it. It's
a vital sign, proof of life. You've got five physical senses,
don't you? Touch. What are they, Robin? Don't be so smart. Touch, taste,
smell, hear. You are smart. I'm just kidding.
I'm being smart here. But touch, taste, and all these
are spiritual senses. Touch for the feeling. Taste,
taste the Lord's grace. Smell, sweet smelling savor.
Hearing. Hear Him. If you're alive, you're
going to hear Him. Sight. See. Hear. Revelation
1. Look at this. I love this. Verse
1. The revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave unto him to show
unto his servant. Oh, I need Christ revealed to
me, don't you? Where is it? Right in front of you. And I'm
preaching it to you. You're reading it, and you're
hearing it. It takes both. Things which must shortly come
to pass." What's that? Him. And he's sent and signified
by his angel unto his servant John, who's also an angel, a
messenger, who bear record of the Word of God, you see that?
And the testimony, gospel of Jesus Christ, of all things that
he saw. Blessed is he that readeth. And they that hear the words
of this prophecy and keep, lay hold of these things, that time
is at hand. Isn't that wonderful? Behold, he cometh, verse 7, he
comes with clouds. What do we say? Even so, amen. Verse 9, John, he says, I'm your
companion. I was in the isle for the word
of God. I was there to receive the word
of God. I'm so thankful. That was a real trial, wasn't
it? John to be exiled by himself. He was all alone on that island
for a long... Oh no, he wasn't. Oh no, he wasn't. He wasn't alone. He couldn't
have been in better company. He was sure glad, like Paul in
prison, that the Lord put him there, for the Word of God, for
the Gospel. He said in verse 10, I was in
the Spirit on the Lord's day. How do you get in the Spirit? Praying. Praying. Paul said in Romans 12, I think
it's verse 12, pray always in spirit. How much more shall he give the
Holy Spirit to them that ask for it? Lord, on the Lord's day,
I need the Holy Spirit. So you know what the Lord did
when John asked? He heard a voice. And he turned
and he saw his face. Here, Isaiah said, come unto
me. The Word, I the Word, here and
your soul shall live. Pray. So I hope I've encouraged
all of them, myself included. To call, to pray without ceasing.
First thing, always. Don't quit. Read. Read this book. Read this book. And then when
you come on the Lord's Day, you ask Him, and you read the text
beforehand, and you come and sit and ask for the Holy Spirit. And I believe the Lord will give
you a blessing. A double portion. I hear it. Okay. Stand with me.