Scripture: I Timothy 3:14-15

C.I.: I Timothy Chapter 2 (Part 1)

Last week… - Today… - (quote 1:5).

I. Godly Men & Women and the Church

A. Godly Men & Prayer (vs. 1-8)

1. (v. 1a) – The Priority of Prayer, - “First of all, then…”
a. “First of all” = Prayer has got to be a priority for the household (church) of God!!!
1) (Lk. 19:46), “It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer,’ – but you have made it…”
2) (Acts 6:4), “We will devote ourselves to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.”
3) Announcements vs. Prayer?! - Fellowship Meal or Prayer Meeting??! (Importance??)

2. (v. 1b) The Variety of Prayer: “ I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings…”
a. “Entreaties: Pleading or begging for personal needs (Matt. 6:11-12), “Give us this day….”
b. “Prayers”: General word for any conversation with God.
c. “Petitions”: Combines 2 thoughts – intimate conversation/submitting a request to a king.
d. “Thanksgivings”: Thankfulness for God’s blessings.
1) The godly man recognizes that since God is sovereign – we must be thankful for all things.
2) (Quote Romans 8:28; James 1:2-4).

3. (v. 2) The Objects of Prayer: - “…on behalf of all men, for kings and for all who are in authority…”
a. Objects: Prayer must be for all men –God loves all men (Jn. 3:16) & is Lord over all (Mt. 28:18).
1) Rulers: - Our President has asked us to pray for him – this too is God’s will for us
2) (Pro. 21:1), “A king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it….”
3) (I Tim. 6:15), “…the King of kings and Lord of lords.”

4. (vs. 3-7) The Purposes of Prayer:
a. For Ourselves: “…in order that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness & dignity.”
1) It is not wrong to pray for personal needs
2) “Tranquil & Quiet” = Tranquil (lack of outer disturbance), Quiet (presence of inner calm

b. For Others: That God’s will be done also in the lives of others.

1) Godly men understand that Paul is not talking about “Prayer for prayer’s sake”!
(i) Otherwise we would look at prayer and the amount of time spent in prayer as a measure of our own personal “spirituality”.
(ii) Rather, because of what God has done for us through Jesus – the godly man sees prayer as a conduit for intimacy with God.
(iii) It is because of this that prayer has value for us.

2) (vs. 3-7), “This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, - who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. – For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, - who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony borne at the proper time. – 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.”

3) Thus, the purpose for our prayers - must be directed towards the ministry of saving others!
(i) God’s sovereignty & Man’s responsibility meet at the point of salvation.
(ii) God saves all who are drawn to Him - (Jn. 6:44), “No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.”
1. That is why in v. 4a – Paul writes, “God desires all men to be saved.”
(iii) We must learn to be drawn – (Jn. 6:45), “It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught of God.’ – Everyone who has heard & learned from the Father, comes to Me.”
1. This is why in v. 4b – he says, “…and to come to a knowledge of the truth.”

4) God has ordained His work of salvation to be successful:
(i) God wants: all to be saved (v. 4) – and Jesus became a ransom for all (v. 6).
(ii) Therefore, our part is obvious:
1. Prayer - (Lk. 10:2), “The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few; therefore, entreat the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”
2. Serving - (Mk. 16:15), “Go into all the world & proclaim the gospel to all creation.”

c. Attitude: “Therefore I want the men in every place to prayer, lifting up holy hands without….”

1) Preachers make 2 errors in regards to the use of the original Greek language in sermons:
(i) Use it all the time: Then people will believe they can’t understand their Bible without it!
(ii) Use it none of the time: Miss out on some of the richness & specificity of God’s word.

2) When Paul says “MEN” in this passage – he is being gender specific. – 2 words = men
(i) Anthropos (anthropos): From which we get “anthropology” study of man (i.e., mankind)
(ii) Aner (aner): “Androgen” male sex hormone.
(iii) Anthropos = (vs. 1, 4), Aner = (v. 8); when the church meets, men are to do the praying!

3) Our “attitude” doesn’t have so much to do with physical posture – as it does with relationships
(i) Many valid postures: standing (Lk. 18:11), sitting (II Sam. 7:18), prone (Matt. 26:39)…!
(ii) “Holy hands” = Right Rel. w/God – (Jms. 4:8), “Draw near to God and He… cleanse..”
(iii) “without wrath & dissension” = Right Rel. w/man – (I Pt. 3:7), “Husbands…grant your wives honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered!”