What God Expects From His Church

by J. Terrell Ruis TITLE: What God Expects From His Church BIBLE BOOK: 1 Timothy 2 : 1-8 AUTHOR: SUBJECT: OBJECTIVE: J. Terrell Ruis Church; Christian Living; Evangelism; Prayer PastorLife.com is excited to introduce a new author. Dr. J. Terrell Ruis serves with the Georgia Baptist Convention as Ministry Resource Consultant for the Southwest Georgia Area. Dr. Terrell has a heart for missions and winning lost souls for Jesus Christ. Dr. Terrell shares a powerful message for all believers. What does God expect from His church? Dr. Terrell studies God's Word to answer this important question.

Introduction I. Concerned Prayer, vv. 1-3, 8. A. God Expects Every Christian To Make Prayer His Top Priority v. 1. B. God Expects Each Christian To Pray C. God Expects His People To Pray For All Men vv. 1c-2. D. God Expects Our Prayers To Come From A Clean Life And Good Relationships With Others v. 8 II. Clear Purpose vv. 3b-6 A. God Expects His Church To Fulfill His Purpose B. God Expects His People To Be Personally Involved In World-Wide Evangelism C. Are You Lined Up With God's Purpose III. Committed People v. 7 A. God Expects Each Christian To Be Fully Committed To Christ B. God Expects Each Of Us To Be Committed To The Call He Places On Our Lives

Introduction
All kinds of expectations confront us every day. Our spouses expect us to do certain things. When we go to work, our bosses have their expectations. There are certain things expected from you if you are in school! One of the most important aspects of marital counseling is to deal with what each partner expects out of the relationship. Keith Miller, author of "The Taste of New Wine," said that the worst argument he and his wife ever had came over who would take out the garbage. It was early in their marriage that the garbage issue came to a head. She came from a family where the males helped with "inside the house" chores. He came from a family where the males took care of "outside the house" chores and the females took care of the inside. When Keith was growing up, he was never expected to take out the garbage. There was a critical clash of expectations. This passage tells us "What God Expects From His Church!" In chapter three, He lists His expectations of pastors and deacons. Here we learn what He expects the church to do. Let's always remember that because it is His church, the Lord Jesus Christ can tell us what to do. He has the right to tell us what He expects from us. This passage has been called "The Charter of the Church." He alone has the right to write its charter, to set its course, and to determine its direction.

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May our Lord help us to sense what He expects from us as we listen to His Word! What does He expect from you and me as members of His church?

I. Concerned Prayer, vv. 1-3, 8. A. God Expects Every Christian To Make Prayer His Top Priority v. 1.
This verse states, "First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men..." Prayer should be the first thing we do, our first course of action, and not something we do when everything else has failed. Prayer is the acid test of your devotion to God. Wasn't it John Bunyan who said, "Thou art not a Christian if thou art not a praying man"? Before Jesus cleansed the temple, didn't He tell everyone the reason He was doing it, "My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations. But you have made it a robbers' den"? Prayer must be the top priority for the church. God expects it. He has hardwired this universe to work through prayer.

B. God Expects Each Christian To Pray

Verse one tells us that "entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings" are to be a part of our prayer life. Almost all of the words used for prayer in the NT are used here. Ephesians 6:18 reminds us that we are to pray "with all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit." Do you know anyone who utilizes the full potential of prayer? Do you know how great this instrument of prayer really is? For most of us, it would be like having the greatest pipe organ in the world in our homes, and all we know how to play on it is "chopsticks."

C. God Expects His People To Pray For All Men vv. 1c-2.
We are expected to intercede on "behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority." Are you praying for all men? When you go to prayer meeting on Wednesday night, do you pray for Sadam Hussien, Osama Ben Laden, or for Fidel Castro? Can you imagine what would happen in our world if all God's people prayed for these people and they became Christians? How different our world would be! Do you pray for our national leaders? Have you uttered a prayer today for President George W. Bush? Paul states that when we pray this way, it is "good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior..."

D. God Expects Our Prayers To Come From A Clean Life And Good Relationships With Others v. 8
We are to lift up "holy hands" in prayer, without "wrath and dissension." Our lives are to be separated from this sinful world unto the work and worship of God. "Holy hands." Isaiah reminds us, "Behold, the Lord's hand is not so short that it cannot save; neither is His ear so dull that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God. And your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He does not hear." The litmus test of the cleanliness of our lives is our relationship with others. If there is "wrath and dissension," it reveals that someone is not praying as he should. God expects us all to be people of prayer... concerned prayer, compassionate prayer. This church cannot be a house of prayer for all nations unless its people are people of prayer." If You And I Are Not Praying, We Are Playing.

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II. Clear Purpose vv. 3b-6 A. God Expects His Church To Fulfill His Purpose
What is His purpose? Listen to these verses: Read 3b-6. He 'desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." He wants all men to know that there is only "...one God." He also wants every person on the face of the earth to know that there is only one way to God -...and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. God wants all men to know that Jesus gave Himself as a willing sacrifice on the cross for our sins, "...who gave Himself as a ransom for all." Simply stated, God's purpose is worldwide evangelism. He wants every single one of His children to share His heart for the world...beginning at our back door all the way to the ends of the earth.

B. God Expects His People To Be Personally Involved In World-Wide Evangelism

If we share His heart, we will so love the world as He "...so loved the world" (John 3:16). If we are obedient to Him, we will go out as His ambassadors pleading with people, begging people, to "be reconciled to God." 2nd Corinthians 5:19, "God was in Christ..." So God's purpose should be our purpose! What a privilege! What an awesome responsibility! Worldwide Evangelism! Reaching people anywhere and everywhere we possibly can to fulfill His purpose!

C. Are You Lined Up With God's Purpose

There are really only two important questions for a Christian to ask. (1) What is God's purpose? We have answered that question clearly. God's purpose is worldwide evangelism. You can call it evangelism when we are at home and missions when it stretches on away from home. But they are both "evangelism." I like the definition that IMB President Jerry Rankin gave to missions. He said that missions is "cross-cultural evangelism." It is going across the language, ethnic and other barriers that are there and reaching people for Christ. Missions is evangelism when it is understood in the right way. (2) Am I lined up with God's purpose? Is my life, my family, all my resources, and all my interests in line with God's purpose? God expects me to be in line with His purposes. God expects you to be in line with His purpose! Not tomorrow, not next week, but right now! I like to do some woodworking, and years ago I bought a radial arm saw. What a job I had setting that saw up! I had to make sure that it was lined up both horizontally and vertically. After I had worked on it about eight hours, I finally had it lined up. I could cut a board and hold a square on that cut in any direction and not see any space between the square and the board. I "finally" had it lined up and it could fulfill its purpose perfectly because it was properly aligned. The only way I can ever fulfill the purpose for which God made me is to be perfectly aligned with His purpose. This is also true for every child of God. The only way you can ever fulfill your life's purpose is to be perfectly aligned with God's purpose. A simple question: How Well Are You Lined Up With God's Purpose Of World Evangelilsm? Are you personally winning people to Christ? Are you reaching people for Christ where you are? Are you involved with others in reaching people for Christ around the world? In other words, are you lined up with God's purpose? God expects you to be. What else does God expect from His church?

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III. Committed People v. 7

In verse seven (7), Paul gives a mini-testimony. "And for this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying) as a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth." You couldn't keep Paul from telling what Jesus had done for him. He would tell it in prisons and in front of kings. Paul went through the world of his day proclaiming, "If Jesus can save a sinner like me, think of all He can do for you." If there is one thing you can say about the apostle Paul, it is that he was committed to Christ. If there were only one word that people would use to sum up your life, would it be the word "commitment?" God has proven that He is totally committed to us! Look at the cross! That's total commitment!

A. God Expects Each Christian To Be Fully Committed To Christ

In every church that I know anything about, if people were committed to Christ, everything else would take care of itself. Somebody asked W.A. Criswell what the biggest problem facing Southern Baptists was. He said it was "indifference." A seminary professor said that many of God's people were worshipping at the triune altar of comfort, convenience, and compromise. I heard about a man who heard that the two greatest problems of the church were ignorance and apathy. He replied, "I don't know and I don't care." God is committed to you! He is not indifferent to you! Remember the cross! Remember how much He loves you!

B. God Expects Each Of Us To Be Committed To The Call He Places On Our Lives

Ron Steward is one of our North American missionaries to the inner city of Hamilton, Ohio. I heard him say this during a World Missions Conference in 1998. "When you're doing what you want to do, what God has called you for, prepared you for, you're happy. I'm happy. I'm also richer than I've ever been in my life." When you and I are committed to the call of God on our lives -and He has called every child of Godwe will know it and we will be happy. Are you committed to Christ? Are you committed to the call of Christ on your life? This is what God expects of you ...and He has every right to expect it. Conclusion. What does God expect from His church? God expects you and me, every Christian in this church to be a person of prayer, to be captivated with His purpose, to be totally committed to Him. I heard Billy Graham speak about a Christian leader named Bishop Condengera of Uganda. One of the statements that Bishop Condengera had made over and over again in his messages was: "The life committed to Christ to the point of death can never be wasted." During a rebel uprising in 1976, the Bishop and other Christian leaders were taken to a bridge over a river that was infested with crocodiles. He and his friends were lined up against the railing of the bridge where they began to sing, "There's a land that is fairer than day, and by faith we can see it afar, for the Father waits over the way, to prepare us a dwelling place there." Then the rebels murdered them by shooting them with machine guns and then tossed their bodies to the crocodiles. But his life was not wasted because he was committed to Christ.

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"The life committed to Christ to the point of death can never be wasted." A life committed to anything else but Christ Will Be Wasted! But if you are committed to Him, all the way to the point of death, that life cannot and will not be wasted.

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