God’s Instruction for Men to Pray

Transcript

GR 1257
11/16/2003
God’s Instruction for Men to Pray
1 Timothy 2:8
Gil Rugh


First Timothy 2. There's a strong emphasis through the letter of Paul to Timothy on the importance of sound doctrine and there is with that a strong emphasis, perhaps the strongest of any of Paul's letters, on the importance of living the truth. So both doctrine and practice are interwoven very tightly through this letter and both are an essential evidence of God's saving work in a life. And we believe the truth and the truth has so transformed us that we also live the truth.

In the first seven verses of chapter 2 Paul has emphasized the importance of praying for all men. And then he gave the theological foundation for that. It's because God desires all men to be saved, in verse 4. There is only one God. There is only one Savior. There is only one Mediator. And so in verse 5 there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus who gave Himself as a ransom for all. You note the connection. There's one God, one Savior, one Mediator, one ransom, one payment for the penalty for sin. There is only one God. There is only one Savior. He is the God of everyone. He is the Savior of everyone. That does not mean that everyone bows before Him, acknowledges and honors Him as God, but that does not change the fact He is the God of all. He's also the Savior of all even though not all enter into His salvation. Jesus Christ is the one Mediator provided for everyone. He's the Mediator for you, for me, for every person on the face of the earth, even though not everyone comes to believe in Him and thus be brought into a relationship with the God who is the Savior.

He had to pay the ransom. What separates man from God is sin. The Old Testament says your sins have separated you between you and your God. That's the spiritual death that we all have incurred. The Bible “death” has at the heart of it means “separation.” A person is physically dead when their spirit is separated from their body. They have not ceased to exist but they are no longer in their body. They are separated from it. Spiritual death is separation of a person from God. And eternal death or the second death is separation from God for eternity in hell. The wages for our sin is death. Jesus Christ paid the ransom. He came and suffered and died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin. He bore our sins in His body on the cross so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. How do you die to sin? You believe the truth that God has said you are a sinner. You are guilty and condemned, deserving of hell. You recognize that Jesus Christ is not a savior, He is the only Savior. He is the only One who could and did pay the penalty for your sin and if you will turn from your sin and place your faith in Him, then God will mark your account paid in full, you are forgiven and you will be brought by your Mediator into a relationship with the living God.

That's the foundational, doctrinal truth of the Gospel and you'll note how the "doctrine" if we would call it, the teaching and practice are inseparably woven together. Some people say, “Oh, that's too much teaching and doctrine, I want more practical stuff, I want more application.” They are blended together. You cannot separate them. If you are not being taught the truth of the Word of God, then your practice will not conform to the Word of God.

He gives instructions in verse 1 of chapter 2, "I urge that entreaties and prayers and thanksgivings be made on behalf of all men.” Why so? Because of the theological truth that we have just talked about that's unfolded in verses 3, 4, 5 and 6. And Paul says that's my life. Verse 7, "For this I was appointed." What? For this message of the God who is a Savior, of the Mediator who provided a ransom. "For this I was appointed a preacher and apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles." That's further testimony that God desires to save all men.

I want you to note the apostle Paul's life and ministry. There's a movement today that says that the church ought not to be focused as a Bible-teaching center. It's in the book on seeker churches that I was referring to. But the Bible indicates that truth is at the heart of what the church is and the apostle says that's my life. I was appointed a preacher, a herald to proclaim this truth. I was appointed an apostle to reveal and give forth this truth. I was appointed a teacher of the Gentiles so that they might learn this truth. We are about truth, about the proclamation of truth and that truth changes a life, shapes a life, causes a person to be made new. It is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. And when that happens and you're made new . . . If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Then the old things pass away and the new things have come and so our practice and the way we live is radically different.

The apostle Paul in verse 7 offered himself as a testimony that God desires to save all men. Because He saved Paul and Paul gave his testimony in chapter 1 and then he sent Paul out to proclaim this message, to make it known, to teach it. And Paul's passing that on now to Timothy and in 2 Timothy 2 he'll tell Timothy then you pass that on to faithful men who will teach others also and the process goes on. And here we are today the Church of Jesus Christ. And what are we? The pillar and support of the truth. And what are we about? Proclaiming the truth. Oh, you are not interested in the way people live. You just want to preach dry, sterile doctrine. There is dry, sterile doctrine but its not biblical because the Word of God is alive and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword and it pierces even to the dividing asunder of the soul and the spirit and is a discerner of the thoughts and intentions of the heart. How can that truth be dry and sterile when it's alive and powerful? And so we as the church are raised up to continue the proclamation of the truth, declaring of the truth and making the truth known.

In verse 8, "Therefore . . ." And just as in English, the Greek word that we've translated "therefore" means “therefore.” In light of what I have just said, in light of the truth that I have just shared, “I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands without wrath and dissension." In light of this great truth. Let me go back to where I started. Verse 1, I urge that prayers of all kind be made for all men. Let me explain to you what I mean. Let me explain to you why this is absolutely essential. Now, you understand something of the character of God and the work of God. You understand that I in my own life and ministry is a testimony to this truth concerning God. Therefore now, let me repeat, I want the men in every place to pray. So this great truth should move us to prayer. If we really believe the truth of the Gospel that has been unfolded here, we ought to be a people of prayer.

But in verse 8 he selects out a specific group. I want the men in every place to pray. And verse 8 not only brings to a point what he started in verse 1, it forms a transition into a full development of the difference in the roles that God has assigned to men and women in the ministry of the Body of Christ, the church. Now when he says I want the men in every place to pray, he means men in distinction from women. Earlier in the chapter he's talked about the men. In verse 1, the end of the verse, He wanted prayer to “be made on behalf of all men." Verse 4, "God desires all men to be saved." Verse 6, "He gave Himself a ransom for all." The word translated "all men" there, we are familiar with that Greek word for "man," "onthropos." We have it in words like anthropology. It means “men,” “mankind.” It is often used of mankind generally, including men and women. When we come to verse 8 he says I want the men, "ontros." He uses a different word.

He's not just talking about I want mankind to pray, I want all the men and women to pray. But I want the men in distinction or contrast to the women to pray. Here's what I want the men to do. Then in verse 9 he'll say, "Likewise I want women" and there he uses the word "women," drawing a contrast between the women as women and the men as men. I want the women in contrast to men. And so he wants the men to pray. He's talking about single men and married men. And when he talks about the women he'll be including women of all kinds and all places of their lives, single, married and so on.

So here is something that the men are to do as men. They are to pray in every place. We are moving into one of the most debated sections of the Word of God. When I am talking about most debated, I am talking about within the evangelical church. In fact, one commentator said that this subject is the most controversial and divisive in the evangelical church today - the issue of the role of women. When you are talking about the role of women, you are talking about the role of men. And does God draw a distinction today between men and women or does Galatians 3:28, "In Christ there are neither male nor female," dissolve any differences? And the passages like the one we are entering into just relate to a certain historical context and a certain culture of the day? Now that's going to raise questions as we move along. I will try to do this in an orderly fashion. So try to stay with me and don't let your mind run to too many other passages. I don't want to be instructing and teaching you on verse 8 and your mind is in 1 Corinthians 11 where he talks about women praying because we have to learn first what he says in 1 Timothy 2:8. We will get to 1 Corinthians 11. Not today. I'll give the Lord another week for the Rapture. But we will move along piece by piece by piece. I trust that we will have a rather full view of what the Scripture says on this important subject by the time we complete our study.

But in verse 8 it's clear. I want the men, and I mean men to contrast to the women, to pray in every place. Now this expression "in every place" is used three other times by the apostle Paul. Now some commentators refer to this expression and say in every other place that it is used, it's referring to the formal meetings of the local church. Therefore that must be its meaning here and they go on then to build their study on the basis of we must be talking about the formal meetings of the church like our Sunday morning meeting, this service. But you have to be careful because as I went back and read the other three places where this is used, I don't think that it's clear that Paul is just talking about the formal meeting of the church. And lest you just take my word for it, let's look at the other three uses.

It begins in 1 Corinthians 1. I share some of this so you'll understand how . . . People ask me how do different commentators then explain these things. Well, this is one way that they try to limit what is being said here. “In every place” only refers to the formal meeting of the church as the church. Now equate that with what we have on Sunday morning service. Well, Paul writes to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 1:2, "To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ, saints by calling." Now note this, "With all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." Now, you may say, well, in the context he's probably talking about other local churches wherever they meet. And that's fine. But if you are talking about only other local churches when they meet formally as the church on Sunday morning at 11 o'clock or 10 o'clock or whatever, I think maybe that's going beyond what you would get out of the passage itself. It's simply he's writing to the church at Corinth and he's including here all the saints in every place.

Look in 2 Corinthians 2:14, "But thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him . . . " There's our phrase, "in every place." Now, is he talking about every time the Church formerly meets as the church? I think not. In fact, the context would indicate not because Paul says he gives the sweet fragrance of the knowledge of Christ in every place. And verse 15 he says that includes among those who are perishing as well as among those who are being saved. So I'm not just talking about the church, the fellowship of believers, meeting formerly together for worship. I'm saying I give off the knowledge of Christ in every place wherever I am. I think we need to be careful to say, well, this expression "in every place," it's use means he has to be talking about only the formal meetings of the church as the church.

The third use is in 1 Thessalonian so just back before 1 Timothy is Paul's letter to the Thessalonians. And in 1 Thessalonians 1:8 Paul tells these believers in Thessalonica which is the northern part of Greece in the province of Macedonia. Corinth was in the southern province of Greek in Acaia. So he says in verse 8, "For the Word of the Lord has sounded forth from you not only in Macedonia and Acaia but also in every place.
Your faith toward God has gone forth. So we have no need to say anything. They themselves talk about how you turned from idols to serve the living God” and so on. Again, you might say, well, “in every place,” I think he's talking wherever there were churches. Maybe so. But then to narrow it down further and say we are just talking about the formal meeting of the church on Sunday morning, I don't think in any of these passages you can make that statement. I think that you are hardpressed to determine what the boundaries are on this phrase.

So when I come to that phrase in 1 Timothy 2 . . . You know some people follow . . .
We follow literal, historical, grammatical interpretation. I am going to talk more about interpretation in a future study. Some add to this literal, historical, grammatical interpretation, theological interpretation. What they really want to do is take a reference like I said and reinterpret 1 Timothy 2 in light of those other references. Or Galatians 3:28, "In Christ there is neither male nor female" so then I am going to take the theology I think comes from that passage and really redo 1 Timothy 2. Others follow a literal, historical, grammatical, cultural interpretation. The culture of the day determines the meaning of the passage. We are going to try to stay with a literal, historical, grammatical interpretation. We let the text speak for itself and that's why then we will exam other texts to see if we are consistent with those texts. Not try to make this text say what we would like it to say or which it had said.

“So I want the men to pray in every place.” I would take it that means wherever believers meet. Now I think we are talking about public meetings. That's not saying women are not allowed to pray. It's going to go on to talk about the men's responsibility in teaching and the men's responsibility in leading. Obviously you are talking in the context of other people. We don't have time now but the whole doctrine of Christ as our Mediator means that every person, male or female, who has come to believe in Him has direct access into the presence of God before the throne of grace. The book of Hebrews says that's dependent upon having Jesus Christ as your high priest. And each and every person who has Jesus Christ as their high priest has immediate and direct access to the very throne room of heaven. We are talking about those who lead in prayer.

Now let me say something here. I think we need to be careful about limiting the church by our own cultural situation. And say, well, the church, we are only talking about the meeting like we have right now on Sunday morning. In chapter 3 verse 15, remember, Paul said the church is the household of God, the pillar and support of the truth. To say, well, Sunday school classes aren't the church, home Bible studies aren't the church, parachurch groups aren't the church, therefore, we are not bound by what God says is binding on the church. We need to reevaluate our doctrine of the church. We don't have time to do it in any detail but let me just remind you. Jesus Christ said I will build My church. Everyone who believes in Christ is baptized by the Spirit according to 1 Corinthians 12:13 into the Body of Christ, the church. Christ is Head over His Body, the church, in Ephesians 1. The church is the pillar and support of the truth. I take it when we talk about the church, we are talking about the church in its ministry. And this church is not just the meeting we have on Sunday morning. This church has come together for worship and instruction and so on, on Sunday morning. But this is the church when it's meeting in home Bible studies. It's the church when it's meeting in Sunday school classes. I think we've got a lot of independent cowboys who decided they are going to start their own thing to get the work of God done. Jesus Christ is building His church. Just what are they building? Oh, we are parachurch. We are not bound by the instructions to the church.

We don't claim to be a church. We just claim to do what
Christ said He's going to do through the church but we are going to do it outside the church, then we don't have to obey the Head. What kind of theology is that? The church is the pillar and support of the truth. What is your organization? Jesus Christ is building the church. Who's building your organization? This is a serious matter because those who claim to be evangelicals just think that, well, now, I've put a little box around this portion of Scripture. I've confined it now. It only applies and can only have authority when the church meets on Sunday morning from 10 to 11:30. It doesn't apply to our Bible study. It doesn't apply to Sunday school. It doesn't apply to the ministry we've started.

I think we go to the Scripture and find out what Jesus Christ says He's doing in the world today. So I take it this means the church in all of its facets and all of its ministries and the exercising of all of its gifts. That's not limited to what we do here this morning. That goes on in all the ministries that take place. And those who have started ministries and say they are doing the ministry of truth outside the church, I say they are in conflict with the Word of God. And God is gracious and uses His Word wherever it is but that doesn't mean it's biblical to do it. We need to be careful. God's plan is the church.

So when He talks about how we are to function here, in every place I talk about, He's talking about the ministry of the church. When it meets together like this on Sunday morning. When it meets together in Bible studies. When it meets together in Bible classes and Sunday school classes. When it meets down on campus in the college ministry. All under the authority of the Head. And here’s how it functions. “I want the men to pray in every place.” I take it the men then when they are in a group together, the men pray.

I was in a meeting a number of years ago with seven pastors. One of them brought their wife. I was invited to that meeting. I didn't know the other men. And we were sitting in a restaurant in town. We were going to have a lunch and discuss some things. I don't even remember what it was about and how I happened to be there. The pastor who called the meeting . . . Here we are seven pastors and a woman. He said, “Let's bow for prayer. Mrs. So and So will you lead us?” It ruined my whole lunch. I take it the men ought to pray in every place. I mean, we don't decide, well, no, this doesn't apply to us, Lord. This isn't every place. Every place doesn't include this place. In every place except . . . Let me put a little exception here. You can write it in, if you want. Except restaurant.
Except Bible study. Except Sunday school. Except a parachurch group. Except on campus. Pretty well what we are saying is the Word of God doesn't much apply to me. And after I get it restrained down to that part, then we will just take apart what's left is the justification.

One leading evangelical said, well, you know, we have women in our seminary but that's not bad because they are not there to become pastors. They are there to learn ministry. They are not going to lead in prayer and they are not going to teach. They are not going to lead the ministry of the church but they are in seminary to learn ministry. You know why they've done that? Because we limit the ministry of the church. That's what they do on Sunday morning but that doesn't mean they can't teach men in Bible study some place. Doesn't mean they can't go do this, lead in prayer over here.

There are always some more subtle, some less subtle, but what are we doing? Undermining the authority of the Scripture. I found a way to say it doesn't apply. If we are going to handle the Scripture accurately, we want to be careful that we are not twisting the Scripture so that we can do what is popular in the world.

I am going to be presenting what will be the historical position on this. Do you know there were no commentaries that reflected any other position until probably the last 50 years. Except those who openly just rejected the Bible, said this wasn't inspired. But among those who claim to believe the inspiration and authority of Scripture, you couldn't even find commentaries in less than the last 50 years, if I remember correctly. 1980 . . . do those two come out? Don't hold me to that. You see what happened? Now all of a sudden we've got a mass-changing in the church.

So we have “I want the men to pray in every place” So where you have a group meeting that involve men and women, the men will lead in prayer. And isn't that what we say we do? If you have a group together, what do you say to them? Would you lead us in prayer? I prayed audibly today in this service. Many of you have been praying but only one led in prayer, the person who audibly spoke in the presence of the group. That doesn't mean no one else here is allowed to pray. But it does mean the leading in prayer will be done by a man.

All right, let me take a rabbit trail of talking about the men's responsibility. It means men are to pray. It means men you have to step up and be ready to pray. Oh, I just . . . not audibly. You know, it's not me. I just don't do that. You know, I've never been with a man who didn't talk. Some talk less than others. Some you have to find something they are really interested in and then they'll talk. But anywhere I've been with men, I find they do talk audibly, so you can hear. But somehow we say, “Oh, I couldn't talk to God, not with you listening.” Maybe we have to realize this is what God says His will is. It's the men who are to lead in prayer so men, I guess we have to get ready to pray.

I shared this story before. I'll share it again. It was etched in my mind and this happened 40 years ago so you'll know how it's etched because most everything else has fallen out. I had a professor in Bible college. He was an elderly man. He's in glory now in spite of his orneriness. It's by grace, he's graced, just like it's by grace I'll be there. But I did appreciate some of what he did. And in one of our classes . . . I've come to appreciate what I did not appreciate then. As he taught the class he would call on one of us young men to pray to open the class. “Mr. Z, would you open our class in prayer today.” And Mr. Z would stand up and pray. Sometimes he would say, “Thank you. Now, ladies and gentlemen, turn in your notes to such and such” and we'd turn in our notes. But there were those days when Mr. Z would get done praying and the professor would say, “Ladies and gentlemen, you have just had a perfect example of how not to pray in public.” “Ahh, he didn't say that.” And if you're Mr. Z, you're in trouble. Then he says, “Listen a moment. If I say, ‘Joe, I'm glad you came, Joe, to be with us, Joe. And Joe, you are a blessing and Joe, you know, just mean a lot, Joe, to us as a class, Joe. And Joe, your prayer was a wonderful prayer, Joe, and Joe, we . . .’ Why in the world did you call the Lord Father and that 37 times in that little prayer? ‘Father, we're here, Father, because, Father, you know we love You, Father. Lord and God we want to honor You, Lord,
God.’ Who are you talking to? Do you think He forgot? Do you have to keep getting His attention? We don't talk that way. We don't use the person's name we are talking to every third word. Why when we get to prayer do we use Lord or Father or God every third or fourth word?”

Then he'd say, "Why do you talk to God in three-letter phrases and don't put sentences together? ‘Lord, you've blessed us, Lord. And we are glad to be here, Lord. And the breakfast was good, Father. You bring many things and we were hoping our study and we would . . .’ You don't talk to people like that. You put sentences together. Why don't you talk to the Lord and put a sentence together.”

Needless to say, the discussion in the hall on the way to his class every day was, “You think it's my turn? Maybe I'll take one of my cups today.” But you know what it did? It made you think about your prayers. And shouldn't we think a little bit about what we are going to say to God? I mean, in our conversation if you are going to talk about the Huskers game yesterday, you would probably put some thought into it. You can probably put a few sentences together about it for good or ill. And we come to God and we just think, “Oh, it ought to be off the top of my head and I . . . You know, I just don't know what to say or how to say it.” Practice. Go into a room at home, close the door and just start talking to God out loud. "Father, here I am. It's me, Gil. I was here yesterday about the same time. I have a number of things burdening my heart, but first I want to thank you for the privilege of coming . . . " And I talk out loud and I begin to hear myself talking. Sometimes I lose my train of thought and I say, “ Lord, forgive me. My mind is wondering and I'm not making any sense.” Maybe you want to write out things to guide you in your prayer. But men, we are responsible to pray. It's not an option to say, “Oh, Mom will do it. Oh, my wife does the talking for us.” Maybe she does but not in prayer. God says you have to do it.

Men, pray in every place. What a privilege! Not only is this a privilege but a responsibility. So men get practicing. And so starting next Sunday we'll have a different man come up every week and then we will critique him. No. I know now I'll have half the audience next Sunday. We oughtn't be too sensitive though. We ought to be open.

You know, I didn't like when people say, “Oh, that wasn't very kind of him. He was doing his best with that prayer.” Well, his best wasn't very good. What do you tell your children when they come and start blabbering and they get 14 half sentences out and you say what? Stop! You're not making any sense. Now you just think about what you want to say and then say it. So we think we can just barge into the throne room of heaven and blab on and make no sense and that's fine because that's prayer. That’s the devotion. Nobody ought to criticize that.

Well, it ought to be a helpful criticism. Now to this day I appreciate that professor doing that even though it was painful when I was the one on the spot. But it ought to have been. Something so important and I gave no thought to talking to my God. And I hadn't done it enough to be comfortable talking to Him. And don't talk to Him in your mind on this occasion, now men, when you are practicing. You have to go in and close a door and do it out loud. That will help focus you. Help keep you on track. And it will help you get used to hearing your voice talking to God so it becomes a natural thing.

Somebody says to me, “Gil, would you sit down and talk to your son?” I'd say sure, I could do that. I don't say, Oh, I couldn't do that, I wouldn't know what to say. And my kids don't have any trouble talking to me. “Dad, could I have . . ” That's usually where we start with the Lord, isn't it? “Lord, I need . . ” But at least we ought to do it in somewhat of an organized fashion.

It's not enough to be a man to lead in prayer. You have to be a man leading in prayer, lifting up holy hands. Now I say we want to be literal. Well, a literal, historical, grammatical interpretation, it says lifting up hands. That means every time the men pray, they have to lift their hands up, right? You know, you have to be faithful to the context. “Lifting up holy hands.” Everybody look at your neighbors' hands. Put your hands out where they can see. If they're dirty, put the backs out, you know, and stay there. Now, if I was going to say, “How many of you saw holy hands?” “I don't know. I couldn't tell. I saw old hands, I saw young hands, I saw wrinkled hands, I saw tan hands but holy hands?” Obviously, he's using a metaphor or an analogy, a figure of speech that conveys a truth. Holy hands is a picture, we come before God undefiled, we haven't done that which would defile us. In the last hour one of the attorneys said to me, You know, we have that same picture in court. You are suppose to come into court with clean hands as an attorney or as the one on trial. You are not suing someone when your are guilty of the same thing. So he says we talk about you come to court with clean hands. And that's what Paul is talking about here. It's not primarily the posture of prayer but you come . . . The word "holy" here means "undefiled." There's another word for holy. It means "separate." And they come to carry a similar idea in different ways. This word means to be “undefiled, pure, clean.” In Psalm 66:18 the psalmist wrote, "If I regard iniquity, wickedness, in my heart, the Lord will not hear." That's what we are talking about. “If I regard iniquity, sin, in my heart, the Lord will not hear.” My sins interrupt that relationship. I cannot come as a hypocrite. So I come with purity for His cleansing, not rebelling and resisting His will.

So men are to come with pure hands, clean hands, undefiled lives. Men must step up and lead in prayer and they must do it as godly people. Let me say something. There's a variety of postures of prayer in Scripture. One commentator, William Henderickson, I believe it was, listed at least seven. There was more than seven because his last seventh was a collection of "Least Known." And there he gave all the Scripture references, too, and I mention that in case you want to check it out. You can do it in that commentary but here's some of the postures of prayer that he listed: standing, having your hands spread out or lifted toward heaven (that would include the passage we're in), bowing the head, lifting the eyes toward heaven, kneeling, falling down with the face on the ground and then other things like bowing and putting your face between your knees. And then sometimes there's a mixture of a person using several different postures as their prayers are recorded. The point is it's not the posture but as the person comes with right attitude, right condition of heart. If they've been cleansed by the blood of Christ and now living in submission and obedience to their Lord, they come to bring their requests before the throne of grace.

He did observe that they don't know what the background of folding our hands and closing our eyes is. We can't say, well, back in 1700s they began to do this. We don't know when it began and how it began. That doesn't mean it's a bad practice. We tell our kids at the table, what? Fold your hands and close your eyes. Why? We want to know what their hands are doing when our eyes are closed. So that's one way of limiting activity. So, fold your hands, that means they won't be doing this. And close your eyes, that puts out the distraction. That's fine. So long as we don't imply to our children the only time they can pray is if they stop and fold their hands and close their eyes. But that is an acceptable posture of prayer.

The crucial thing in prayer is only those who have a relationship with God through His Son, the Mediator, Jesus Christ can come into His presence. Those who despise the Word of God, the Law as the Old Testament put it, even their prayers are an abomination to God. Now, people think they are going to come to God but they have not bowed before His Son in faith. Their religious activity and their prayers are an abomination to God. We sometimes say, “Oh, at least they pray.” The last thing we ought to do is pray if they are not going to come through Jesus Christ. Because that antagonizes God. He views it as something despicable. That they would so despise Him to trample underfoot the blood of His Son and then have the audacity to think they can come into His presence. But the posture of prayer is not the issue but the relationship in prayer is the issue and the condition of the heart.

Negatively put, you do it “without wrath and dissension.” “Without wrath and dissension.” That's the particular point. Holy hands, undefiled life. Particularly here.
Let me tell you. I mean no wrath and dissension because that is fragmenting the church at Ephesus. We see this as we move through the book. There is division and conflict brought about by the false doctrine and false teachers. These men that are leading in prayer must be careful they are coming with the right attitude of heart. The word "wrath" refers to the inner condition or disposition of the heart. No “ill will, resentment, bitterness toward others.” But I come and I'm not coming to God with ill-will toward someone. I realize what I am and who I am.

Back up to Paul's letter to the Ephesians. He wrote similar material and put it in a similar context in the book of Ephesians 4. Verse 30, "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger . . ” That word translated "anger" is the same Greek word we're talking about.
“Wrath” in Ephesians 4:31 is a different word but like our words anger and wrath they blend in together. You have different facets between a similar idea. But the word translated "anger" in Ephesians 4:31 is the same word translated "wrath" in our passage in 1 Timothy. "Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander. . ." We are going to get into divisions and dissensions in a moment in Timothy. "Be put away from you along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted,forgiving each other, just as God in Christ has also forgiven you." You see the other side of this is forgiveness. The solution to this anger and dissension and clamor and bitterness is forgiveness. Now, that does not mean therefore, we tolerate anything and everything. Paul's already made clear Timothy has to put a stop to the false teachers and their teaching. There are certain things that have to be dealt with but they are not dealt with out of the anger and bitterness of my heart. James wrote in James 1:20, “the anger of man does not accomplish the righteousness of God.” I have to be careful. I have to deal with the false teachers and false teaching but it doesn't come out of personal animosity and bitterness. It doesn't come from my personal dislike of a person. It doesn't come as striking back for the hurts that I feel that I've received. The church has to be careful because we are a fellowship of redeemed saints but not yet perfected so our attitudes toward one another become crucial. Divisions and schisms take place in the Body and we think we can still parade around as holy, pray and be used of the Lord. It says we are grieving the Spirit who dwells in us as the seal. No, we have to come with holy hands. That means no wrath.

We are back in 1 Timothy 2:8. Dissension. “Dissension” would be “the outworking of wrath.” When you have those feelings of anger and wrath and bitterness and resentment toward people, what happens? Pretty soon you have a split. You are not talking to them. You are not doing business with them. We don't get along. So you have the dissension that fragments the Body.

Paul's concerned for the condition. The church at Ephesus is in "bad shape." False teachers, false doctrine, ungodly living, improper functioning of men, improper functioning of women. They are a church that needs to “get it together” That means no dissensions. We have to take a stand for doctrine. That doesn't mean you have to like everything about me personally or I have to "like" everything about you. We can have our differences. Things are done different ways and there are different tastes. We stand together for truth. We stand together to honor our God and exalt Him with our lives. There's no place for my personal vendettas here and the schisms that they bring about.

Philippians 2:14 says, "Do all things without grumbling or disputing." And that word translated "disputing" is the word we have translated "dissension" here. Do all things without grumbling and dissension.

Turn over to 1 Peter 3 as we wrap up. Peter is covering basically the same material that Paul is covering more generally for the life and functioning of the church. Peter focuses it more on the relationship of the husband and wife. As we move into our next section in our next study, we'll see similarities in what Peter covers and what Paul covers. But note what Peter writes to the husbands in verse 7 of 1 Peter 3. "You husbands in the same way live with your wives in an understanding way as with someone weaker since she is a woman and show her honor as a fellow-heir of the grace of life." Now note this: "so that your prayers will not be hindered." Sin in a life hinders the prayers. Paul's talking more broadly about the role and responsibility in the men but they still must come with holy hands, not with wrath and dissension. Sin will hinder and make their prayer life ineffective. So here sin will make it ineffective. Let's talk about your relationship with your wife if you don't treat her properly. It will hinder your prayers. Put it in Paul's analogy, you won't be coming with clean hands. You are defiled by the sin of treating your wife improperly. Just like Paul writes to the men generally about being defiled with the sin of wrath and dissension and so they bring this truth down and apply it in different settings but the connection is the same. Sin mars your life and hinders your prayers.
James 5:16 says, "The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much." “The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.” And we are not just talking about the righteousness we have in Christ but we are talking about the righteousness now that can be manifested as part of our life and conduct and behavior.

So we start out by this responsibility of the man to pray in every place. We are blessed as a church, men and women who are concerned to function biblically. We are blessed with men who take their responsibility seriously. Men who are involved in the roles that God has given them. As I move into a discussion of this, it's a blessing for me to do it here. I was sharing with some this past week that you know. I realize how blessed I am at Indian Hills because in some churches I could be in danger of creating major turmoil and split if I taught what we are going to be looking at in 1 Timothy. I'm blessed to minister the Word among people who are receptive to the Word. And we are not perfect and we want to grow. We want the Lord to shape us and we need to make adjustments we want to make. The place we want to make sure we are doing what we are doing is the men are to be leading in prayer in every place and be doing it as godly men with hearts and attitudes that are right before the Lord. Let's pray together.

Thank you, Lord, for Your truth. Thank you, Lord, that it is clear. That we are privileged to understand it. Your Spirit indwells us and He has opened our blinded eyes and He is the One who directed the writing of this book and now He is the One who indwells us and makes it understandable and clear and applies it to our lives. And Lord, I pray, that His work will be effective in each of our lives. We want to grow as Your people. We want to grow as the church. We want to become even more biblical. We want to manifest the glory of Your person more fully as we live more obediently. Thank you for the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ that transforms a life, that gospel that has worked so powerfully in our lives to change us and make us new. Lord, may that work continue as You mold and shape us individually and as a church in preparation of the fullness of the splendor of the glory that You have prepared for us in Your presence. We pray in Jesus' name, amen.