Let us turn to the portion of
scripture we've just read in 1st Timothy chapter 2. 1st Timothy
chapter 2 and verse 8. I will therefore that men pray
everywhere, lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting. In 1st Timothy chapter 2 and
verse 8, as we take account here of the the context of setting
we observe the third word in the text I will therefore surely
it is indicative that he is making a certain deduction from what
has been said in the previous verses we've been considering
those verses verses 1 to 7 over the past few weeks and really
looked at the subject of prayer and the only mediator between
God and men are one by and through whom we come to God even as God
himself comes to us by and through that same mediator. And last week we took for our
theme that statement that we have at the end of verse 6 particularly
as we find it rendered in the margin where we read a testimony
in due time. We spoke of that subject in a
testimony in due time and remarked on how significant is the expression
due time. The word time there doesn't refer
to time as a sequence, sequence of events. or in the idea of
minutes, or seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years,
centuries, and so forth. It's not that concept of time,
but the particular word that's used, as I said, is referring
to a fixed and a definite term of time And the word Jew also
has the idea of that proper and appropriate time. It's a very
strong expression there. A testimony in due time. And we said that that testimony
is really the gospel. The gospel of the grace of God.
He's been speaking of the mediator of the New Covenant, the Lord
Jesus Christ. and it is that New Covenant and
the revelation of that in these last days, in this Gospel time. Remember what we're told in Galatians
4.4, when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth
His Son, made of a woman, made under the law. It was at that
time that God had ordained from eternity that Christ came, the
Incarnation. And as with His But so also,
we said, with his death, as we read in Galatians 9.51, when
the time was come that he should be received up, he steadfastly
set his face to go to Jerusalem. All the coming of Christ and
the death of Christ was all in that due time. Then we have the
testimony, the testimony in due time. And when The Lord began
his more public ministry, we're told there in Mark 1.14, after
John was put in prison, Jesus came into the region of Galilee,
preaching the gospel of the kingdom and saying, the time is fulfilled. The time is fulfilled. Repent
and believe the gospel. And so, as we have that mention
there of the due time, this gospel that is to be testified in due
time. So, we saw how the apostle goes
on to speak of himself, whereunto I am ordained a minister and
an apostle. I speak the truth in Christ,
he says, and I am not a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and
verity. And he was sent, of course, to
be that one who is the apostle to the Gentiles. or that mystery
that had been hidden through the generations, but that mystery
that God had ordained from before the foundation of the world that
Paul speaks of there at the end of Ephesians chapter 2 and in
Ephesians chapter 3, the calling of the Gentiles. This is what
the Apostle is referring to then, the whole dispensation of the
Gospel. How God in these days is sending
this testimony even to the ends of the world. But who is the
one who comes to really bear testimony to Christ? Isn't that
principally the ministry of God, the Holy Ghost, one of whom Christ
speaks as the Comforter? and how it was expedient that
he go away, that the Comforter should come. And the Lord says
there in John 15, 26, when the Comforter is come, he shall testify
of me. He comes to testify of Christ.
And so, last time we said that it is that whole administration,
the whole administration of the sovereign grace of God in the
gospel day that he's being spoken of. These are something of those
things that we were considering then. We thought of the exhortation
at the beginning of chapter 2 to prayer. Then Paul goes on to
speak of this mediator and the significance of the coming of
the Lord Jesus Christ. But now we turn again to see
what Paul is saying to Timothy with regards to prayer. He says,
I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands
without wrath and doubting. And again, the strength of the
words that he uses, there are two words that he could have
used, the verb to will, and he uses a stronger one. And it's
not just that he's expressing his own will, because it's, although
it's an epistle of the Apostle Paul, it's God's epistle to Timothy,
because he's writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. And so, as we come to consider
this 8th verse for a time tonight, I want us to consider man's duty
to pray, Man, that is that man who has
known the grace of God and is a member in the Church of Jesus
Christ, he has a great privilege, but with his privilege there
is a great duty. Paul says, I will therefore that
men pray everywhere lifting up holy hands without wrath and
doubting. First of all, as we look at these
words, we see that there, as there is a duty, there is also
here a prohibition in public prayer. It's very much speaking
of the public worship of God, because
what does he say to Timothy later? In chapter 3, and verse 14, These things write I unto thee,
he says, hoping to come unto thee shortly. But if I tarry
long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself
in the house of God, which is the church of the living God,
the pillar and ground of the truth. These letters to Timothy,
as well as that to Titus, are partial epistles, so they're
dealing with the matter of the ministry, and that ministry in
the public place. in the church of God. What do
we see here then? Well, the word that he uses,
I will therefore that men, is quite different to the word that
is used previously in verse 1 and in verse 4 where we read of men. Remember verse 1, I exhort therefore
that first of all supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving
of thanks be made for all men. And then in verse 4, we read of God our Savior who
will have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge
of the truth. And then even again, we might say in verse 5, There
is one God and one mediator between God and men. Now, in those verses,
he uses the word from which we have our English word, anthropology,
which refers really to mankind. It's referring to mankind in
general, that's men and women. But when we come to the words
before us tonight in verse 8, It's a very different word that
he uses, it's generic. He is speaking of man distinct
from woman. And we see that quite clearly
because having spoken of the duty of the men in verse 8, he
says in verse 9, in like manner also that women. So he speaks
of what the men are to be doing, and then he goes on to speak
in some detail in the following verses with regards to the women. And it's interesting that the
word that we have there is actually that Greek word that we know
in our English language as gynecology. So he's speaking here of men
and women. When it comes to the whole matter
of the salvation of sinners, we know quite clearly from Holy
Scripture that there is no distinction made between the sexes. Our God's
grace is free to all manners, all types, all sorts of sinners. There is neither Jew, says Paul,
nor Greek. There is neither bond nor free. There is neither male nor female. But all those sinners who are
saved are one in the Lord Jesus Christ. There's no distinction
at all made when it comes to the great business of the salvation
of sinners. And of course, all those whom
the Lord God is pleased to have mercy on and to save are those
who will pray. How do they come to experience
the blessing of salvation? They pray to God, they call upon
God, men and women. Men and women will pray, and
they continue to pray, and they have to pray much in public.
But as I said, here as he's addressing Timothy, he's dealing with the
public domain, as we see there in chapter 3 verses 14 and 15. Well, what is he saying in verse
8? We have to recognize here that to speak in the church,
to speak in the congregation, is the prerogative of the men. And why so? Because the person
who speaks in public prayer, in that situation, is the mouthpiece
of the congregation. There is authority there. There
is authority associated here. where one stands to speak, and
it's not private prayer, it's a person speaking and the congregation
are to say there, Amen. And so he says, I will therefore
that men pray everywhere. And then once you go on to say
in verse 12, I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority
over the man, but to be in silence. And as I'm sure you're aware,
we have that general rule previously in 1 Corinthians 14, and there at verses 34 and 35. Yet your women keep silence in
the churches, says Paul. For it is not permitted unto
them to speak, but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also
saith the law. And if they will learn anything,
let them ask their husbands at home for it is a shame for women
to speak in the church. Now, one's well aware that we
live in a day when there are those and they profess themselves
to be Christian believers, evangelical believers, and I've heard them
say, well, that's Paul. That's Paul's opinion. But that's
not Paul's opinion. As I have already said, this
letter to Timothy and also the letters to the church at Corinth
and all that we have in the New Testament is the word of God. It's not just Paul. It's Paul
writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. And there,
back in that 14th chapter of 1 Corinthians, we see quite clearly
that he establishes a general rule in the church. not just
in the church at Corinth but in all the churches. Interestingly,
in Bunyan's works, we find a case of conscience resolved. a case of conscience resolved,
and it's this, on the matter of women speaking in prayer. And John Bunyan addresses that
as a case of, you know, it's a matter that's of some controversy. Should the woman speak in prayer? And Bunyan simply observes that
the woman should not be the mouthpiece of the assembly. He says, But
in heart, desires, groans, and tears should go along with the
man. She should be like Hannah. In
1 Samuel 1.13, she spake in her heart. Only her lips moved, but
her voice was not heard. So this is what the Apostle is
saying. He's reminding the men of what
their responsibility is. They are to speak in prayer.
It's not always easy to speak in prayer. I can remember being
asked the question, what do you find the most difficult aspect
of public ministry? One has to think about it, but
in many ways, it is being the mouthpiece of the congregation
to pray for the people. More difficult than the preaching
of the Word of God in some respects. This is what we see here. And
of course, with regards to the position of the of the woman,
we're reminded of the significance also of the head covering. What is the point or purpose
of that? I'm sure you're familiar with these things, what Paul
says there, writing in 1 Corinthians 11, remember, at verse 3 following,
he says, But I would have you know that the head of every man
is Christ, and the head of the woman is the man, and the head
of Christ is God, Every man praying or prophesying, having his head
covered, dishonoureth his head. But every woman that prayeth
or prophesieth with her head uncovered, dishonoureth her head.
For that is even all one as if she were shaven, and so forth.
I don't want to go into that matter now, but I'm just saying
that there is a significance there. A recognition of the different
roles of the men and women in the church. But besides speaking
of the man's duty, we can go on here from what we have in
this 8th verse to say something with regards to posture and actions
in prayer, because he says that these men are to pray everywhere,
lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting. Now, posture in prayer is never
a matter of indifference. We need to remember that. The
way we conduct ourselves when we come to prayer is not a matter
of indifference. One of the Puritans, Stephen
Charnock says, to give worship of body but not soul is hypocrisy. to give worship of soul but not
body is sacrilege because God has made us as bodies, souls
and so our posture as we come to pray is important we should
never slouch in prayer Our bodies, if we believe, are temples of
the Holy Spirit. We should conduct ourselves proper
when we come to the act of prayer. Now, no particular posture is
prescribed here in Scripture, but there must always be that
mark of reverence. And I just want to mention some
of the symbolism, we might say, which we see in various bodily
actions. We read, for example, of men
kneeling in prayer. Concerning King Solomon in 2nd
Chronicles 6.13, that remarkable prayer that he prays at the dedication
of the temple, and what does he do as he comes before God
in prayer? He goes down on his knees, he
kneels in prayer. And we see the same sort of action
with the Psalmists, I'll just give you some references, Psalm
95 verse 6. We see the same with Daniel,
in Daniel chapter 6 and verse 10. And also when we come to
the New Testament and the Apostles, we see Peter kneeling in prayer,
Acts 9 verse 40. And the same with Paul, in Acts
chapter 20 and verse 36. All of these then kneel as they
come to address God in prayer. What does that indicate to us?
Well certainly it indicates a sign of great humility in the presence
of God to fall on one's knees before Him, to supplicate Him
as it were, to come as a beggar before Him. But then also we
read of men standing to pray in that remarkable 18th chapter
of Genesis where the Lord God comes is about to destroy those
wicked cities of the Pline Sodom and Gomorrah and Abram's nephew
Lot and his family are there in those wicked cities and God
is going to come and and visit a terrible judgment upon those
Sodomites but he determines that he will first go and speak with
his servant Abraham. And we read in Genesis 18.22,
Abraham stood yet before the Lord. And Abraham stands before
the Lord, and what do we read? We have that remarkable prayer
as he begins to pray for the cities of the plain. Will God destroy these cities
if there are fifty righteous? And by degrees he comes down,
down, down, five. If God can find just, was it
ten or five in that, those wicked cities, would God, and if God
says He will spare the cities. But so great was the evil. But
the significant thing is that Abraham stands before the Lord. And the Lord Jesus Christ himself
in the gospel in Mark 11 verse 25 speaks of standing to pray
to God and to stand is also a real mark of reverence to stand in the presence of the
Holy One not to feel free simply to sit down and to relax now
I know there is one mention of sitting before the Lord there
is one mention of sitting before the Lord and that's David as
we see him there in 2nd Samuel chapter 7 and verse 18 so men
might kneel in God's presence or stand in God's presence but
then we have many references to men falling prostrate before
the great Lord God and we have that account concerning Joshua
for example in the end of Joshua chapter 5 there at Jericho came to pass
when Joshua was by Jericho that he lifted up his eyes and looked
and behold there stood a man over against him with his sword
drawn in his hand and Joshua went unto him and said unto him
art thou for us or for our adversaries and he said nay But as captain
of the host of the Lord am I now come. And Joshua fell on his
face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith
my Lord unto his servant? And the captain of the Lord's
host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot, for
the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so. It's an appearance of the Lord
Jesus Christ before his incarnation. It's Christ that he sees. And
what does he do? He falls prostrate before the
Lord. He fell on his face to the earth,
it says, and did worship. And, as I said, there are many,
many references to men falling into that position before God. For example, the prophet Ezekiel
there in Ezekiel 1, 28, 2, 23, 9, 8, 11, 13, 43, 3, 44, 4. Many,
many times in other parts of Scripture also we read of that
effect when a man comes and has a sense of the presence of God,
he can do nothing but fall prostrate. at the Lord's feet and then also
besides those different positions of the body there's also that
bowing of the head bowing of the head in prayer for example
we read of the Levites 2nd Chronicles 29.30 how they bowed their heads
and worshipped they bowed their heads Here again we have that that's
indicative of their submission as they come before God to worship
Him, as they come also in a spirit of real reverence, bowing the
head in the presence of the Lord God. And remember what we're
told concerning the publican who goes to the temple at the
hour of prayer, it says, and he goes the same time as the
Pharisee, the proud self-righteous man And then the greatly despised
publican, the tax gatherer. The publican standing afar off
would not lift up his eyes to heaven, how he bows his head.
He will not lift his eyes to heaven but smote upon his breasts
and cried saying, God be merciful to me, a sinner. And Christ said
that that's the man who goes to his house justified rather
than the other. or that self-righteous Pharisee
had no righteousness. Ah, but the publican who could
not even raise his eyes but only bow his head. He's justified,
he's accounted righteous because he is not looking to himself
but trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ for his salvation. Or
there is that bowing of the head then. Again, a mark of real humiliation,
submission, reverence in the presence of Almighty God. And then, strangely also, we
do have the lifting up of the eyes to heaven. And where we
read of that lifting up of the eyes to heaven, what does it
indicate? Well, that indicates trust in God, hope in God, expectation
from God. And we see it sometimes in the
Psalms, Psalm 123 for example. Unto thee lift I up mine eyes,
O thou that dwellest in the heavens. Behold, as the eyes of servants
look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden look
unto the hand of her mistress, so our eyes wait upon the Lord
our God, until that He have mercy upon us. Oh, there's that waiting,
that looking, that watching with expectation, until He have mercy
upon us. Well, I mentioned some of these
various passages where we read of these different postures and
actions, as it were. But here, coming to the actual
words that we have in this text, I will therefore that men pray
everywhere, it says, lifting up holy hands without wrath and
doubting. Lifting up holy hands. It indicates that the hands must
be clean hands, holy hands, and also there must at the same
time be that lifting up of the heart as well as the hands. And what does that indicate?
Lifting up the heart as well as the hands, that indicates
that there's sincerity, there's faith, it's not just an action.
It's not just the action of lifting up the hands. but the heart is
in this. Without faith it's impossible
to please God. He that cometh to God must believe
that He is and that He is a rewarder of all that diligently seek Him. Remember the questions that are
put there in the 24th Psalm. Who shall ascend into the hill
of the Lord? Who shall stand in His holy presence? He that
hath clean hands and a pure heart, and hath not lifted up his eyes
unto vanity." Who is that man? Who is that man? Well, the only
man really that can be understood there, ultimately, is the Lord
Jesus Christ. And, of course, that is the man,
the one by whom and through whom we come to God in prayer. He
has ascended. All that psalm speaks of the
glories of His ascension on high. Lift up your heads, ye everlasting
gates, be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors, the King of Glory shall
come in. Who is this King of Glory? Oh, this is the one that
is being spoken of, you see, there in that 24th Psalm. It's
the man who truly has those clean hands. And it is always through
the Lord Jesus Christ that we're to come. But look at what it
says here in the text. in connection with the lifting
up of holy hands it says without wrath and doubting so there's
really here a man-wood aspect and there's a God-wood aspect
and it's all associated with the lifting up of the hands the
holy hands the fact that this person you see he has clean hands. What is the manhood aspect? Well,
it says, without wrath there's no settled indignation in this
person, this man who is praying, there's no settled indignation
towards another. It reminds us of the words of
the Lord Jesus in the course of his preaching there in the
Sermon on the Mount Remember what the Lord says concerning
the sixth commandment, Thou shalt not commit murder, Thou shalt
not kill. What does he go on to say? Matthew
5.23 Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar and there
rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee leave
there thy gift before the altar go thy way first be reconciled
to thy brother then come and offer thy gift how can we pray
when there's that resentment and that bitterness in the heart
towards the brother it's to be without wrath you see without wrath there's a man with
aspect be reconciled to thy brother and then come and offer thy gifts,
present thy prayers unto God. But then also there's this man-made
aspect, isn't there? Without what it says, and doubting. Without doubting. Or there's
that settled persuasion in the heart that God will hear the
prayer. And as God hears the prayer,
what does God do? God answers the prayer. That's
how we're to pray. We're to pray in faith. Whatsoever
is not of faith is sin. Without faith it's impossible
to please God. And we have to remember that
God is able. Oh God is able to do exceeding
abundantly above all that we ask or think. That's our encouragement
to pray. And here is that great duty then
that is laid upon the men that doesn't mean that the women don't
pray and the women are not to pray seriously for the glory
of God the honor of his name the extension of his kingdom
the good of his people of course we all pray for that but this
is how things are to be conducted in that church that is well ordered
according to the word of God it's a church that is made up
of these praying men oh God help us then that we might be such
a church as this. I will, therefore, that men pray
everywhere, lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting. Amen.