“A Praying Church”
(1 Timothy 2:1-8)
Series: Reality Check: Keeping it Real at FBC
Rev. Todd A. Linn, PhD
First Baptist Church Henderson KY
(9-7-08) (AM)
- Take God’s Word and open to 1 Timothy, Chapter 2.
If you’re visiting with us we are preaching through the book of 1 Timothy in a series of messages entitled, “Reality Check.” By that we mean that we want to take several weeks to check and be sure we are operating our Lord’s church biblically. 1 Timothy is like a church administration handbook and so we’re reading the handbook and asking whether we are running things correctly.
Paul writes to Timothy around AD 64 at the church at Ephesus. He tells him to address certain teachers there in the church who were straying from teaching the Gospel. With this charge behind him now, Paul now turns to the matter of public worship. If we’ll listen carefully in these opening eight verses of chapter two we’ll learn how this text speaks to us today about the matter of prayer.
- Stand in honor of the reading of God’s Holy Word.
1 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.
3 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.
5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,
6 who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time,
7 for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle — I am speaking the truth in Christ and not lying — a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.
8 I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting;
- Pray.
Introduction:
A few years ago the president of Indonesia did something shortly after taking office that he thought would be well received. Wanting to show that he understood peoples’ frustration with governmental red tape and bureaucracy, he decided he would make it easier for Indonesian citizens to get a hearing with him and so…he made his cell phone number available to the public! Almost immediately he began to receive thousands of text messages so that his cell phone was just flooded with them only one day after he had given his number out. Talk about regret!
The remarkable thing about God is that we can always reach Him. Every one of us can call Him or “text Him” if you like at the same time and His system never overloads. The signal is always good and He always hears us.
Now Paul talks about this matter of prayer and our being a praying church. Let’s jump right into this now and note at least four main considerations this morning. First:
I. Consider the Priority of Prayer (1-2a)
1 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,
The phrase “first of all” denotes priority. Paul is saying that the church’s first order of business is to be about the business of prayer. And we can hardly move on without already asking whether we as a church believe that. Is prayer the most important business of First Baptist Church Henderson? Do you pray regularly? We need more volunteers to sign up to pray periodically during the morning worship services.
Paul uses four expressions for prayer there in verse one. They’re all similar and I don’t think we want to build a word study around each one. Often words are given in the text to just re-emphasize something. Paul is stressing the priority of prayer, whether those prayers be supplications, prayers in general, intercessions, or giving of thanks.
What strikes me here is those for whom we are to be praying. He says first, “for all men.” By this he means all kinds of people. Pray for everyone. But then he singles out a particular group of people apparently most needful of our prayers. Verse 2, “for kings and all who are in authority.”
Paul writes that Christians should be in regular prayer for political leaders. That’s what he means by “kings and all who are in authority.” We are to pray regularly for our president, our governor, our mayor, our legislators, for all political leaders in general.
Do we spend more time talking about political leaders than we have spent praying for them. Being in an election season it seems many Christians may be more interested in debating whether God is a Republican or a Democrat than they are interested in actually praying for political leaders.
My understanding of this text was heightened by recalling who Paul’s “king” was at the time he wrote this letter. Paul ordered Christians to pray for those in authority at the very time Nero was reigning as emperor of Rome. Nero is remembered for his tyrannical rule and infamous executions, including those of his own mother and stepbrother. He is also recalled for his growing hatred for Christians and his relentless persecution of them.
The non-Christian historian Tacitus tells us that when Rome burned in AD 64 Nero, searching for a scapegoat to take blame for the fire, falsely accused the Christians. In Book 15 of the Annals, Tacitus records Nero’s heinous treatment of the innocent victims: “Covered with the skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs and perished, or were nailed to crosses, or were doomed to the flames and burnt, to serve as a nightly illumination when daylight had expired.” This is the man for whom the Apostle tells his readers to pray. This man, before whom church tradition tells us Paul himself would eventually die, is the very one for whom Paul urges regular prayer on the part of all Christians and the practice of civil obedience.
Given that historical context, we may well find ourselves all the more convicted by the Bible’s teaching. Let us commit then to spending at least as much time talking to God about our political leaders as we do in talking to others about them. Number two:
II. Consider the Product of Prayer (2b-3)
that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.
3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,
The product or result of our prayer for all men is first “that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.” This speaks to the benefit that attaches to the Christian’s prayers for his or her leaders. Here is the product of our prayer: we are to pray for our leaders so that we may lead or live a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. And Paul adds that “this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior.”
The church’s motivation should be to live quietly and peaceably before all people in godliness and reverence. The church should be known for that. Yet it seems too many churches and too many Christians are known only for the way they agitate others. Taking a stand for truth does not mean doing it in a hateful way. This is what is so inherently incongruous about seeing the angry man, who is supposed to be a Christian holding up the sign that tells passersby how God hates a certain segment of society. See him there yelling and pointing his finger. What a lovely Christian act! Or those who bomb abortion clinics because they are so sure it is the best way to be salt and light.
Paul says we’re to do none of those things. We’re to submit ourselves to the authorities, recognizing they are under the sovereign watch care and direction of God. So Paul writes in Romans 13:1, “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.
Or Peter in 1 Peter 2:13-15, “Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men.”
That doesn’t mean that if a political leader commands us to do evil that we must do evil, but how often does that happen to you? The Bible says we are to pray for our leaders so that we may live a quiet and peaceable life, so that our godly living points others to the God we serve. Paul says, “This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior.” Number three:
III. Consider the Purpose of Prayer (4-7)
The purpose of praying for “all men” or “all persons” is to see that they are drawn to God and enjoy the wisdom and knowledge that is ours through the Lord Jesus Christ. The ultimate purpose of prayer, then, is for people to know and to follow the Lord Jesus and His perfect will. In verses 4-7 Paul tells us about the nature of God and how all men may know Him through the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 4:
4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
God desires all persons to be saved and, given the context here, I think the stress is upon “all kinds of people,” people such as the political leaders with whom you may not agree. God desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. As Peter writes in 2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
Now I’m not going to get into the finer theological nuances here such as, “Well, if God desires that all be saved, then why doesn’t He save them all? He can do it. He drew me by way of His Holy Spirit and opened my eyes to see the truth of the Gospel, so why doesn’t He just do that for every person?” Well, that’s a good question. It is clear when we study the Bible that what God desires does not always line up with what God decrees. I cannot explain why that is, I just know that it is. God draws people to salvation in Christ in a way that is compatible with their freedom of choice. Some choose to follow Christ. Some do not. But those who are saved have no one to thank but the God who drew them to His side, opening their eyes to receive Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior.
Thank you, Lord, for saving my soul,
Thank you, Lord, for making me whole;
Thank you, Lord, for giving to me
Thy great salvation so rich and free!
Paul continues to describe for us the nature of God:
5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,
This is one of the clearest assertions in the New Testament to the truth that there is but one Savior. There is only one way to God. Verse 5 leads us to see a picture here of God on one side and man on the other. God is on one side and man is on the other side and there is nothing but sin in between the two. On one side is God in His holiness; on the other side is man in his sinfulness. On one side is God in purity; on the other man in his impurity. On one side is God in perfection; on the other is man in imperfection. How will sinful man ever get to a holy God? How can sinful man bridge the wide gulf that separates him from God? Answer: the Lord Jesus who is our Mediator, our go-between, bridging the gulf and bringing the two together. This is why Jesus is both God and Man at the same time. At once He is 100% God and 100% Man. As man Christ dies for our sin, taking our punishment upon Himself and as God He rises from the dead for our justification, that we might be declared “Not guilty” in the presence of God. So He rightly says in John 14:6, “I am the Way the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except by Me.”
Now in the context of prayer this statement in verse 5 is precisely why I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. There is but one God who makes Himself known to us in the Person of Jesus Christ. When I pray, I am praying to this God. He’s the only one. So I do not participate in so-called “ecumenical prayer services,” where one guy chants to some sort of Indian god and another beats a drum and talks to his god, and there’s smoke and candles and so forth. We are Christians and the Bible teaches us to pray to the One God who makes Himself known to us in the Person of Jesus Christ.
What else do we read here about the Lord Jesus?
6 who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time,
Jesus Christ gave His life as a ransom for all, and again, that is best understood as “all kinds of people,” all people without distinction, all sorts of people: red, brown, yellow, black, white, rich, poor, educated, uneducated, and so forth. Christ came to die. This is the act “testified in due time,” at just the right time (Galatians 4:4), Christ died for all kinds of people without distinction.
A ransom refers to a payment that must be made for our release. We are naturally in bondage to sin, but Christ dies to free us from our sin. See, God cannot merely overlook man’s sin, nor can He just forgive man without requiring that payment be made or punishment be given for sin. Christ’s death, His atonement, is necessary for man to be made right with His creator.
And Paul says that this is the very reason he preaches and the very thing he preaches:
7 for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle — I am speaking the truth in Christ and not lying — a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.
The reason Paul stresses that he is a teacher of the Gentiles and that he is “speaking the truth” and “not lying,” is apparently because the church there in Ephesus had become very self-focused and rather elitist. The leadership in the church expected Gentiles to first convert to Judaism before they could rightly be saved. So they had this view that Judaism was superior to everything else. In essence, Paul is saying, “Look, you may find this hard to believe, but this Gospel is for all kinds of people, not just proselytes to Judaism. So a person doesn’t have to become a Jew first in order to be saved. He just needs to come to Christ.”
Well, we have considered the priority of prayer, the product of prayer, and the purpose of prayer. Finally, let’s:
IV. Consider the Posture of Prayer (8)
What is the correct posture of prayer? Look at verse 8:
8 I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting;
You see that phrase “lifting up holy hands” there, but before we talk about that note again the first part of verse 8. Paul writes, “I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere.” That is, “in every place,” or “in every assembly” as you worship.
He says, “I desire that the men pray.” That’s the right translation because the Greek word for “men” there means the male gender. Sometimes the English word “men” can mean both men and women, but here it means specifically men. And the point here is that the men are supposed to be leading in prayer. It doesn’t mean that a woman cannot pray in public worship. We’ll talk more about that next time, but what it does mean is that men, as spiritual leaders in their homes and in their churches, are to be taking the lead in prayer.
Men ought to learn how to pray and every man can learn a very simple prayer and begin there. Take the lead. Rise to the challenge and set the example for your family, men. Ask God to help you, to give you words, and He will because He has called you to lead. And what God calls you to do, He equips you to do.
Now back to this matter of the posture of prayer. Paul writes, “I desire that the men pray, lifting up holy hands.” There are times we pray with our hands up, denoting our reliance upon God. It is, however, not the only way to pray. We read in the Bible of people standing, or sitting, or kneeling, hands up, hands down, or laying prostrate on the floor. There is biblical precedent for each one because it’s not so much the posture of the body as it is the posture of the heart. It’s not so much the position of the body as the position of the heart.
This is why Paul includes the words, “without wrath and doubting.” The word “doubting” there is better translated, “disputing” or “quarreling.” The point is that our motives are as important as our actions when we pray. It’s not so much the posture of the body as it is the posture of our hearts. We must come before God with pure hearts as the Psalmist says in Psalm 24. Who may come before the Lord? “He who has clean hands and a pure heart (24:4).”
The one whose motives are pure is the one who receives the clear signal when he calls upon God and God is never too busy to answer the prayers of His people. Someone said, “Through prayer, finite man taps the power of the infinite God.” Let’s be a praying church!
- Stand for prayer.
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