Petitions and Prayers

Gen. James Green

"FIRST OF all, then, I admonish and urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be offered on behalf of all men" (1 Tim. 2:1, Amp. Bible).

P ERSONALLY, I do not want to see people, any people, be LOST. I don't want to see anyone go to Hell forever. Those that believe that God selects only the Elect for Heaven, and rejects the rest for Hell must ponder the above text. Paul writes (1 Tim. 2:1-7) about the universality of the Christian faith that reaches out to ALL MEN.

Verse one is grounded in verses 3-6; since "there is one God and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all," and since God "desires all men to be saved," the Christians should pray for the CONVERSION of ALL MEN/WOMEN/BOYS/GIRLS, including those in royalty (power).

"Therefore, Father, we bring the LOST of the world this day—from every nation of the earth, before you. As we intercede, we use our Christian faith, believing that many millions will make Jesus Christ their Savior and Lord."

Let us not be satisfied with our personal salvation; we do thank God for it, but let's INCLUDE ALL. It is wonderful to "Delight thyself…in the Lord" (Ps. 37:4), and have that inner experience unknown to the LOST, but we can also SHARE THIS EXPERIENCE with those who know not the Lord.

Paul's Admonition

Note the strength of the English verbs used in the various translations: "I exhort" (KJV); "I urge" (RSV); "my very first counsel is" (Moffatt) etc. Here we find a matter regarded by various writers as of central importance. I think the "Christian" church has lost this importance. In fact, today's church has lost the importance of repentance and cross-bearing altogether.

"This is a problem for many people who recognize the subjective benefits resulting from prayer but find it difficult to believe that prayer has efficacy beyond the interior life of the person who prays" (Dr. Morgan P. Noyes).

You see, true Christian prayer begins in true Christian faith in a personal God who is concerned with His created individual being. It is foolish to think that God selects/elects some for Heaven and damns others to eternal separation from Himself. The truth is, humans have the right to accept or reject the call to Salvation. JESUS DIED FOR ALL, BUT NOT ALL WILL BE SAVED.

Verse 4

"Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth" (1 Tim. 2:4, KJV). The RSV uses "Who desires all men to be saved…"

"Knowledge of the truth," according to Greek scholars, is a technical term in the Pastorals (see 2 Tim. 2:25; 3:7; Titus 1:1; elsewhere in the New Testament only Heb. 10:26). It is, they tell us, the equivalent of "to be saved" or "to become a Christian." "Knowledge" here is not the familiar "gnosis," but a special Greek compound word, ἐπίγνωσις (epignosis, Strong’s #G1922), perhaps used to avoid a word with such heretical connotation as "gnosis." And "truth" here is almost the equivalent of the Christian faith. So, "knowledge of the truth" in this sense is arrived at less by intellection than thru repentance and faith. It is knowledge by acquaintance or experience—rather than knowledge by description. It is less abstract than personal.

Some scholars/preachers/commentators have a hard time believing God's sweeping assertion that He "desires ALL men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the Truth." Frankly, I believe that the pursuing "love of God" knows no exceptions. But, I also believe that if men keep rejecting God's call, He will turn them over to themselves, to their will/way to be damned.

Verse 6

"Who gave Himself a ransom for all…" (1 Tim. 2:6). This verse is a reminiscence of Mark 10:45: "To give His life as a ransom for many," or "who gave Himself as a ransom for all" (all=πς, pas, Strong’s #G3956).

You see, the Father cared enough for His LOST creation that He gave up His only Son, Jesus, to become a ransom, a mediator (v. 5). There is ONE God for ALL mankind! ONE God for ALL races—in this lies our hope for the salvation of others.

God does not need to be reconciled to men; it is the other way around. IT IS MEN WHO NEED TO BE BROUGHT BACK TO GOD. Let us pray:

"Dear God, we know that the enemy of our soul would prevent us preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ/these lost souls from hearing it. With the power that is invested in Your name, we proclaim the GOOD NEWS!!

We ask you, Lord of the harvest, to thrust those willing laborers across the lives to share the GOOD NEWS of the Gospel in a way that the world will listen to, and understand it. We pray that the Holy Spirit will assist us, revealing the sinfulness, the lostness of those hearing.

We confess that you are the world's Savior, and the world needs to REPENT. We believe that the power of God is able to free ALL men from the snare of the evil one—if they believe by confessing and repenting of their sin.

You shall open their eyes, hearts, and minds…, they shall turn from darkness to light—from the power and dominion of Satan to You, Almighty God!

In Jesus' mighty name, amen.”

Scripture References:

2 Tim. 2:26 (Amp.), 1 Tim. 2:1, 2 (Amp.)

2 Cor. 10:3-5 (NLT), Romans 2:4

Romans 15:21 (Amp.)

Jesus Wept Over It"And when He was come near, He beheld the city, and wept over it" (Lk. 19:41).

T HE CITY was Jerusalem; the beholder and weeper was Jesus. Jesus, knowing that the people and their leaders expect a political/military Messiah will ultimately reject Him as God's promised Messiah, weeps in pity for the people will soon suffer terrible judgment. The word "wept" (Greek) means more than crying. It suggests rather “a lamentation, a wailing, a heaving at the body, a sob and a cry of a soul in agony.”

Run this ahead to 2014. If Jesus came near America (even Washington, D.C.) He would surely react in the same manner—with the LOSTNESS of this nation, of the human race, the religious, their refusal to repent; and turn back to Christ.

He Wept

When our Lord wept over Jerusalem, He realized this fact, that He could do nothing more. He had preached, taught, healed, cast out demons, rebuked, scolded…was His omnipotence exhausted? NO! That city had set itself against Him. Like the Jews of old, their hearts were diamond hard.

Has America become diamond hard? America would rather not know the real truth of her condition.

Have not her churches, for the most part, become Cross-less, Christ-less?...all the while believing they are respectable in the sight of both God and man. Honestly, the Cross of Christ has nothing to do with respectability...they loath it! If the Cross is no longer a symbol of "death to self" and Christ as Lord and King in the people's lives, the people are not respected by God AT ALL!!

America: The Fallen

I believe that God has a faithful remnant, but otherwise, America has become likened unto Jerusalem. True Biblical Christianity is exemplified in the person and ministry of Jesus Christ Himself. Do we see this among the professions of the Christian's faith today? Actually, they look and act more like the devil than Christ.

Speaking, teaching, preaching about Christ is not the same as KNOWING Him/OBEYING Him. This was one of the indictments of both the Old Testament prophets, and Christ Himself (in the New Testament)—that the people speak great swelling words, but their hearts were FAR FROM HIM.

WHY??

Why has America forsaken Biblical Christianity…and taken unto herself other gods/goddesses/idols?? Can they save? Heal? Love? But Christ (although invisible), is eternal, immutable, omnipotent…and America despises this. This nation is GUILTY of injuring, hindering, and degrading Christ. They have made unto themselves plastic crosses that are easy to carry—PLASTIC!

No wonder Christ wept over that city—not many years in the future would many of those same people DIE at the hands of the Romans. Awful.

Get on Fire

Today is the day to REPENT America. Today, is the day to ask forgiveness for being neither cold nor hot (see Rev. 3). Today is the day to invite the FIRE of God into your lives…inflaming with celestial life. Allow it to BURN the HELL out of you! If not, Hell Fire awaits any and all who refuse to do so. I don't want to see anyone go to Hell.

The irony of all this is that many "believers" in Christ were later to become "DISBELIEVERS." In Luke 19, verse 38 states, "...Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest." PEACE, the very thing the Jews sought after under Roman occupation, was prepared by God in Heaven to be bestowed on man (especially the Jews), later on, was withheld by God because of the Jews' rejection of the "Prince of Peace." The rest is history. Jerusalem was burnt with fire—God's awful wrath—because the Jews rejected repentance.

Jerusalem, Jerusalem...

According to Luke 13:34, 35, Jesus had already uttered those inexpressibly poignant words, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem…how often would I have gathered thy children together…and ye would not" (see also Matt. 23:37-39, where they are quoted in the time context of the present passage).

Because of SIN!

Hardness of heart, pride, rebellion, and spiritual blindness had come upon Israel because of their backslidings. And so also, here in America.

Jesus was hoping to ward off from His people the DOOM that was moving closer and closer to "the apple of God's eye."

All those loud "HOSANNAS," all those palm branches laid in the streets, all those welcoming masses…all that grand exhibition on that day (see Matt. 21:1-11), judgment drew near. So now. Judgment upon this backslidden nation/world is very near. God has sent some terrible judgments already, but greater ones await America IF she does not REPENT and RETURN to God.

Your pleasurable ecstasy, America, will turn into doom and gloom. Is this what you really want? The Jews experienced Hell on EARTH, as it were, because they would not be gathered unto their Prince of Peace—so they experienced the wrath of Rome instead.

Jesus Continued…

"If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes" (Lk. 19:42).

Then Jesus reveals to the Jews what was to "come upon thee" (v. 43).

The "religious" Jews were pretty much satisfied in their world; they did not need Jesus!

Surely there were enough revelations, priests, prophets, patriarchs, and poets to cry out against their departing from their God; and the consequences of such!

Strange, Very Strange

Americans seem to COVET their own DEATHS. The vision of "taking Jesus to ALL the world," as America once had, has now turned into a vision of destruction. We either embrace consolation or judgment.

WHY do you want to die America? Time is marching on…towards BAD TIMES if we do not REPENT and RETURN.

Your eyes have become blinded by the glitz of the world; your ears so long attuned to the world that you cannot hear God's plea; your hearts so hardened by the lust of the world that you have developed a severe case of (spiritual) heart-trouble. Yet, the Holy Spirit is still crying out, crying out, “REPENT! REPENT!”

The Things

"…the things which belong unto thy peace!" (Lk. 19:42). We might ask ourselves, "What are they?" The things that fill life, rather than emptying it. One of the things I feel that drains the life of the believer is DISOBEDIENCE. Sure, the Jews did their "required" rituals, but they laid grievous burdens upon the people: their works were done to be seen of men; they paid tithes, but omitted judgment, mercy, and faith (see Matt. 23).

Mere "religious" routines/rituals can bring impoverishment rather than enrichment. Isn't the Church guilty of this? Look at how destitute the Church has become. And this naturally effects the nation—see how deteriorated it has become. Unchecked SIN will SUCK OUT the soul of the individual and nation.

The psalmist cried out, “Have mercy upon me, O God...blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me” (Ps. 51:1-3). Oh, if only this nation could and would pray this prayer and mean it. America could literally be turned around. We could become the light house of the world once again.

The very heart of the Gospel can make this possible—REPENTANCE. When peace and blessing enters an individual, a nation, it will enter through REPENTANCE. Let us never despise this truth.

America needs a vibrant Presence—the Presence of God Almighty. She needs the throbbing grandeur of the steady purposes of God. There is a peace of the world and there is a peace of God. THE WORLD CANNOT GIVE THE PEACE OF GOD. It must come from His throne room of Heaven.

Let's Go to War!

Christian man, Christian woman, it is time, past time, to GO TO WAR, for souls need rescuing. While it is true that some souls are ready to be converted, others have to be wrestled with to keep them out of Hell!! This is inevitable, but not impossible.

Go into any city in America, SIN and SINNERS ABOUND. It is time...WEEP, NOT SLEEP. Sinners need the Gospel. But as long as you comfortable churchites are in sweet companionship with the unfruitful works of darkness, souls perish. Get rid of your manifold luxury dear professor of Christianity. Souls are all about hurting, lost, damned. Do you care? Some are in such agony that it defies prayer.

The whole pulsation of the world is, in a sense, in the cities of the world. Yet, cities are loaded with churches that sit EMPTY most of the week. Isn't your soul, minister, aggravated by a sense of NEGLECT? It should be. It is our duty to exercise Christian sympathy. Christ wept over Jerusalem.

Not the End!

The matter does not end here. I am only one man; the Church possesses millions. But we see so little Christianity these days. Most is Churchianity. Crowded mega-churches are devoid of genuine energetic, evangelistic action. Shows, yes! Actually, in today's setting, a crowded church, or churches are a SYMPTOM, not a SYMBOL of Biblical Christianity. Sick and sinful people crowd churches here in America. No separation from the world—no salvation everlasting.

We need to pray for spiritual inspiration and Christian consecration. We do not need any more church building, we need DISCIPLESHIP. True discipleship of the Lord is a proponent and inexhaustible spiritual satisfaction unto both the Master and student. Amen.

The World's Need"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:11, KJV).

A T HIS BIRTH, Jesus is called "a Saviour." As Saviour, He has come to DELIVER US from SIN, SATAN'S DOMAIN, the UNGODLY WORLD, FEAR, CONDEMNATION of our personal TRANSGRESSIONS, and DEATH (see Matt. 1:21 also). Jesus is also "Christ the Lord." He has been anointed as the Messiah of God and the Lord who RULES over His people (see also Matt. 1:1, name of Christ). No person can have Jesus as Saviour while turning from His Lordship.Perishing World

What does a perishing man or woman want? A sermon on patriotism? A lecture on how to get wealth? A study on how to build bigger and better churches? These would be exceedingly unprofitable to a person that was drowning in the sea of iniquity. But telling that perishing person how to grab hold of the "rope of hope" would be exceedingly gratifying to a man, a woman who is struggling for life. We would not MOCK A DROWNING SOUL; yet today's church does just that.

All too many churches have literally stopped preaching repentance—no repentance, no salvation. Church entertainments will not save lost souls. Too many in this hour and in this generation have become lazy and leisurely obsessed: "Let the lost remain lost."

Today's Church has become CROSS-LESS/ CHRISTLESS. "Let's not condemn the damned by telling them to REPENT!," say today's ministers. This is very admirable for fools, but a gross SIN for a real Christian minister.

Preachers or Philosophers?

As civilization slips deeper and deeper into satanic slime, preaching the Gospel to the lost is also slipping deeper and deeper into philosophies that cannot SAVE.

In today's Churchianity, it has become fashionable to hold conventions/controversies on the shore when we ought to plunge into the sea and save the perishing. This is what Jesus came to do…He has left this ministry for us Christians (see Matt. 28:19-20—these verses, the very Words of Christ Jesus, are for every generation till the END!).

The Gospel preached MUST be centered upon REPENTANCE and REMISSION (forgiveness) of sins (see Lk. 24:47), the promise of receiving "the gift of the Holy Ghost" (see Acts 2:38), and the exhortation to SEPARATE one's self from this wicked generation (see Acts 2:40). Are you, Christians, doing this?

You see, "making disciples" is more than missionary/evangelism witnessing; that (hopefully) results in conversion decisions. This is the foundation, but also teaching the new converts about Kingdom living if possible. Hopefully, we can give them something that explains what Christian living is all about.

Trying

Merely trying to Christianize society without making genuine disciples is foolishness. If men/women clean up their lives (thru the power of God), societies will naturally clean up. Look how far America has "fallen from grace"; see the deterioration within. We MUST get back to the foundation=REPENTANCE and FRUIT-BEARING. Immorality cannot be overcome without these two.

Jesus, Saviour

One writer comments: "The world did not want an adviser. The world had advised itself almost into Hell!” Jesus does not advise us on how to live a "happy" worldly life (as too many teach today), but He came to SAVE men from their SINS through REPENTANCE on our part.

Jesus did not come as a mere reformer, a religious/political man who could change His outward and transient relations, a builder that would continually devote His time to the readjustment of the wheels, and the pulleys, and the various religious/political forces of society. We have plenty of these "go-getters" building upon shifting sands.

As one Bible scholar proclaimed, "Saviour has in it all human nature, all divine nature, all parts of history, all the possibility of prophecy, all the mystery of apocalypse; the tenderness outvying the love of women, the majesty humbling the haughtiness of kings." Amen.

Who Will Rule?

This is before us—"Who will rule? Christ or men/man?" I prefer Christ. America is now faced with extreme hostility from evil forces within. If the Church refuses to allow Christ to rule, what of the world? Religious liberalism/pluralism and anti-Christ politicalism constitute a nasty storm in the making. It is time to REPENT of our pride, our rebellion, our rejection of Christ's rule over us.

Whatever we may say or do for Christianity, or against it, there is the fact that it sought to put down hostility between men/nations. It also sought to mitigate human misery, even when it could not be wholly removed by performing miracles of healing…turning it to the highest practical uses.

Christianity addresses itself not to certain sects (Calvin's "elect"), but to the heart and soul of the world—the world of suffering, lostness, DAMNATION. Christianity (genuine/Biblical) is a bold, aggressive, noble, and glorious proposal.

Don't you think it is time for Christ to take His rightful position over His Church (Ekklesia)—through His "Lordship?" Haven't we grown tired of "loving ourselves" over "loving Him?" We want to see a change come over the land; we must invite His Lordship/Rulership. If we disallow this, we automatically invite anti-Christ forces to do so.

Wait?

The longer we wait, the stronger the forces of evil mount up. True Biblical Christianity does not wait for the "perfect" time and season. Christianity is nothing if not aggressive (I do not imply violence/murder). Today's backslidden Church has become a sickly, "non-aggressive" religion. But God has an indictment against this "snake-in-the-grass" kind of religion. CHRIST SPOKE WITH AUTHORITY (see Matt. 7:29); He performed with a vengeance against demon forces.

Most ministers today are extremely WEAK (they think they are humble!, but in reality they are simply cowards). They speak in human reasonings, not in the anointing of the Holy Ghost.

Jesus was a man (not just a male); A MAN with a mission—to save men from their sins. He did not come to build mega-churches, or to perform for the sake of performing. NO! He kept His eye on Gethsemane, Golgotha—on Heaven.

Christianity is not a proposition to be discussed; it is a WAY of LIFE to be believed, received, and LIVED!!Intellectualize

"A great injustice may be inflicted upon Christianity by attempting unduly to intellectualize it. Christianity has suffered from the human intellect" (Prof. J. Parker). This is an ongoing SIN! This is where the Church has been disloyal to the Cross. The Cross cannot be formulated in propositions, articles, and items to be received, accepted, signed, and held forever in certain fossilized human forms. The Cross is "DEATH to SELF LIFE" period. When we avoid dying to "SELF," we naturally promote "SELF." The Bible tells us to "die to self," "mortify self," and "count self as dead." But this is not allowed in today's BIG ARENA Churchianity. We must abandon this creed that Christ died to make us happy and rich. We must return to the love of, and contending for, the faith (Jude 3). We must return to vigilant caution when it comes to human reasonings. Men are victimized by their own pride, rebellion, and stupidity; men are led into extremes by their own vanity and their own cleverness.

Fools!

We are surrounded by political and religious fools; they are hirelings and not shepherds…ruled by vanity and ignorance. Self-crucifixion has been replaced with "…they crucify to themselves the Son of God (Savior) afresh and put Him to an open shame" (Heb. 6:6).

Let us repent of our hatred for the Cross of Christ, and for the love of the world. Pray for Christ-like passion to dominate our lives. Having unity of opinion is sheer foolishness. This divergence of opinion weakens both Church and state, bringing our very faith into peril.

Blessings be to God when we toss aside our name-brand religions—we must strive for true Biblical comradeship, PROCLAIMING THE COMMON SALVATION TO ALL MEN EVERYWHERE WITHOUT COMPROMISE.

Jesus, our Savior and Lord deserves this from us. God has given us the commission, yea, the command to "take Jesus to all the world." Let us lay aside our little or big orthodox contrivances whereby the lost do not find eternal salvation, only human religion.

This Christian faith is not just for those of higher learning, but for all. The Gospel is for the broken-hearted, the abused, the neglected, the self-made man/woman. The Cross of Christ was, and is the river of love for the lost, the fountain of joy, the beginning of immortality—for all who will say YES!

Sin is not permanent; it can be blotted out by the blood of Jesus (see 1 Pet. 1:19): “That he no longer should live the rest of our time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God” (1 Pet. 4:2). We do not get rid of our sins by denying them, but by CONFESSING AND FORSAKING THEM.

Don't waste another day, dear sinner, repent NOW! Jesus is the Saviour that takes away the sin of the world. Amen.