Turn to 1 Timothy chapter 2. The subject this morning is on
public worship and prayer. That is what Paul wrote to Timothy
about in this chapter 2. He's going to deal with this
matter of worship and prayer. Keep in mind, keep in mind that
Paul left Timothy at Ephesus. And Timothy's ministry is to
a bunch of Gentiles, primarily to Gentiles, who used to worship
false idols and gods. And oftentimes at their worship,
they'd have orgies. I mean, you have to keep in mind
who he's dealing with and the proper way for worship to be
conducted. And anytime there's worship,
there's prayer, just like Doug offered up prayer to the Lord
this morning. And so we get instructions this
morning on worship and prayer. Now he says in chapter 2 here,
verse 1, he said, "...I exhort therefore that first of all supplications,
prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men."
He uses four terms here. He says, first of all, supplications. Supplications. basically is us
asking for our daily bread. Give us Lord our daily bread. It's meeting our daily needs. We depend on our Father to give
us what we need daily. Give us our daily bread. And
then prayers, that's the spirit of devotion. You know, when we
pray, We recognize our dependence upon our Father when we pray
to Him. When we don't pray, or if there's
lack of prayer, there's lack of realizing and recognizing
our dependence upon God. But when we pray, we bow our
hearts before Him. It's a spirit of devotion is
what it is. And then he says intercession,
that is, we pray on behalf of one another. I have often asked
you, pray for me, and you have asked me to pray for you. We
do intercede for one another. We hold one another up before
the throne of grace. And that's important. It's far
more important than you and I will ever realize in this lifetime,
how important that is. And then the giving of thanks,
this is the attitude of prayer. The attitude of prayer is always
with thanksgiving, grateful. God's people are a grateful,
they are a thankful people. First of all, thank you, Lord,
for saving my soul. Thank you for daily bread. Thank you, and we often forget
this, thank you for answered prayers. He answers our prayers
all the time. We ought to always thank Him
all the time for answering our prayers, for hearing us. Thank
you, Lord, for giving me your ear, for hearing us. Thank you, Lord, for allowing
us to come together this morning. Thank you for this opportunity
to be here. to read your Word, to hear it
preached, to sing your praises. Thank you for the desire to be
here and the ability to be here. There are some who desire to
be here, but they can't. They don't have the ability.
But thank you, Lord. Thank you. That's the attitude. I tell you what, if you take
that out of it, if that is missing, then your prayer really is meaningless. It's meaningless. If you and
I are not thankful to the Lord for all these things, our prayers
are like Paul said, sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal.
That's all it is. That's all it is. And our prayers, listen, are
not to be selfish. They are to be for all sorts
of men. That's why He says, for all men, it's all sorts of men. Listen, because going down through
here, we'll see here in verse 4, who will have all men to be
saved? Now there's one thing I have to say about when we read
the Scriptures. Scripture interprets Scripture. And we interpret Scripture in
the light of the whole Word of God, not one verse. When I read
that, I have an understanding of exactly what he's saying.
I know what he's saying. He's saying all sorts of men.
Because at one time, it was primarily the Jews. But now it's men and
women out of every tribe, kindred, tongue, and nation under heaven. So we pray for all sorts of men. We pray for rich. We pray for
the poor. We pray for those who believe.
We pray for those who don't believe. You know, I pray, and I do pray,
for those who don't believe here. I pray that by God's grace, the
Lord will bring them to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ in His
time. I pray for those who won't pray for themselves. They won't
pray for themselves. I pray for them. Because there's
a time I didn't. There's a time I didn't give
a flip. And I understand that by nature, that's all of us. And we pray for those who won't
pray for themselves. We pray for believers, unbelievers,
we pray for all sorts of men. And then here in verse two, we
understand from this following verse that we are to pray for
all sorts of men that are in every rank and station, first
of all, in our government. in our government. I thought
this morning, this thought hit me, I thought if we prayed for
our government as much as we complain about our government, how different do you think it'd
be? Seriously, how different do you think it would be if we
prayed as much as we complain about the government? I think
it'd be a world of difference. We are very guilty in this area. me included, of complaining more
than praying for the government that God has put us under. You
know, those who are in authority are in authority by the word
of God, by the power of God. God put them there. He put them
there for a reason. And so we are to pray for them.
He says there in verse two and verse two actually explains verse
one. When he says here, that this
supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made
for all men," and then he clarifies the all men, for kings and for
all that are in authority, that we may lead a quiet, peaceable
life in all godliness and honesty. We are to pray for our governors,
our rulers, our president, our Congress, Senate, the local government,
all those who are in authority, pray for them that you and I
can lead a quiet and peaceful life. God put them there for
us, you know that? God put the government in place
for you and me to keep the lawless, those who are evil, to keep them
in check so that you and I can live in this world. And I pray
and I do pray that the Lord would give our government wisdom and
leadership and put in check their evil because they are ungodly
men. For the vast part of any kind
of those or any of those in authority and government, most of them
are unbelievers. For the most part, they are.
But God's hand is over them, His power is over them. I'll
show you that in the next message. But we are to pray for them.
It is the Lord who sets up kings and removes kings. Look over
in Daniel 2. That's right after Ezekiel. In Daniel 2.20. Daniel answered and said, Blessed
be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and might are
his. And he changeth the times and the seasons. He removeth
kings and setteth up kings. He giveth wisdom unto the wise
and knowledge to them that know understanding. He reveals the
deep and secret things. He knoweth what is in the darkness
and the light dwelleth within it. He removes kings and he sets
up kings. He does that. And then we pray
for them because they're influence. You know, they can cause you
a lot of trouble. A bad leader can cause a lot of trouble. They
can disturb the peace. But we know this. We know this,
the heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord. Like the river
of water, he turns it with us wherever he will. The king's
heart's in his hands. And so we don't pray to the king,
we pray to the one who's over the king, the king of kings,
that he will control the heart of that king that he has set
up. And then here in verse three
through seven, these verses, Paul gives us the reasons why
we should pray. were those that he had just mentioned.
First of all, he says, it is good and acceptable in the sight
of God our Savior. It's good. You know, isn't it
not good for us to pray for one another? Is it not good that
we should pray for the rulers and those who are in authority?
We pray, it's a good thing. And it's good in the sight of
God. God put them up there and he says, now pray for them. God
put them in that position, now pray for them. And then in verse
four, it's the will of God that all sorts of men shall be saved
and come to a knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. He says here,
who will have all men to be saved? That's all sorts of men. God saves rich, poor. He saves the most immoral, the
most moral, outwardly moral. God saves all sorts of men and
we are to pray for all sorts of men. And then in verse five,
he tells us here that there is but one true and living God,
and there's only one true mediator. And we pray that God may bring
men and women to a knowledge, to a knowledge of Him, to a knowledge
of God, to a knowledge of Christ, who's the only mediator between
God and men. We pray there in verse five,
for there is one God and one mediator between God and men,
the man Christ Jesus. There's just no way anybody's
gonna come to know them except God save them. And we pray God
save them. I would do God, he'd fill this
place up with sheep. I would, he'd bring sinners in
here and save them and they would come to know the true God of
heaven and earth. And the only mediator between
God and men is Jesus Christ. And they'd come to know him.
I pray for that. You know the best thing God can
do to your enemy? You know what the best thing
God can do? Save him. That's the best thing God can
do. Not kill him. Not just remove him. Not kill
him. Not destroy him. Not save him.
Make him a brother or a sister. Make him a true friend. Pray
for your enemies. Pray for your enemies. You know,
the Lord interceded for you who believe. Did not the Lord intercede
for us? Does He not intercede for us? Were we not at one time
enemies in our mind by wicked works? Pray for them. That they may know the Lord Jesus
Christ who gave Himself a ransom for all to be testified in due
time. He gave Hisself a ransom for
all sorts of men. You know, God has saved some
kings, King David, King Solomon. There have been others in nobility
saved. You know, all sorts of men, that
they may come to know Him, that He gave Himself a ransom. How
God saves sinners. Then He says here in verse 8,
I will therefore that men pray, and He's speaking here now, Paul
turns and he's speaking here to men, he's telling Timothy
that men, when we come together in the worship service, that
men would pray. I will therefore that men pray
everywhere in every congregation, lifting up holy hands without
wrath and doubting. In this verse, The apostle Paul
is giving instructions to Timothy concerning public prayer, just
like I called on Doug to pray. You know, that's being given
to men publicly in the public worship when we come together,
that's given to men. And Paul takes notice of it here
in this verse. It's the duty of all believers
to pray. But to publicly pray and lead
the church is given to men. That's the order that God has
given to it. And we don't have trouble with that. Now the world
has trouble with that. False religion has trouble with
that. But God's people do not have trouble with the order that
God has set. Do we? We don't have trouble with that.
Only rebels have trouble with God's order. Only rebels. And then he gives, he says here,
lifting up holy hands. This, when Paul says this, this
was an outward symbol of lifting up the heart to God. It's like,
it's lifting up the heart to God. It's an indication of one's
sincerity, one's attitude, one's motive before God, lifting up
holy hands in prayer. We don't stand around here and
just do this. These hands of the flesh, they're
not holy hands. He's talking about the Spirit.
He's talking about the spiritual attitude. That's what he's talking
about. And then Paul turns here in verse
9 through 10. He turns and he deals with the
women's role in public worship. when we come together. And this
is God's order. And it's a proper order because
God gave it. And it's the order that's to
be followed. I know that the so-called churches today, so-called
Christianity today, had just basically set this aside. They've
just pretty much set it aside. But you can't set aside the Word
of God. Well, that was back in Paul's
day. You know we're still in Paul's day? That hit me this morning. Because
I've heard that, that back in Paul's day. And they hit me this
morning, we're still in Paul's day. For 2,000 years, we're still
in the Gospel day. It's the day of grace that's
come to the Gentiles. We are still in Paul's day. And we have
no right or authority to change the Word of God. And I know this,
no woman in this room or anywhere else in this world that's born
of God wants to change the Word of God. You don't want to change
it. You're happy with the order.
You're happy with it. But it says here, in like manner
also that women adorn themselves in modest apparel with shamefacedness
and sobriety, not with broided hair or gold or pearls or costly
array. He's not saying that you can't
dress. dress up and look nice, he's not saying that. You're
not going to come in here with a big cloth over your head and
hiding yourself or coming here looking like you're just, oh,
woe is me. You come in here, you're dressed
well, but you're not dressed for attention. You see, if you
keep in mind to whom Paul was writing and the people he's writing
to, I mean, they were They probably dressed a lot of
them when they went to the, some of them they did when they went
to those war shows, dressed like prostitutes. They dressed for show. This is
not about us in any way, shape, or form. He's saying here, we
don't dress for that purpose. And I wrote down here, why pick
on the women? He's not picking on the women.
First of all, he's telling Timothy, you know, there's an order to
service here. You know, it's just not a wild
thing. It's an order to service. But I know this. I do know this. Women are more given to dressing
for attention than men are. They are. I mean, that's the
honest truth. A man, you know, if you didn't
have to wear a suit, you wouldn't. Men, for the most part, don't
dress for that. But women will. They will. Here not long ago, I was watching
a golf thing, PGA. Then I flipped it over and I
was watching the LPGA. Vicki said, why do they dress
like that? Show. The men dress, they have
a dress code, and it's a nice dress code. But it's dressing
for show. It's dressing for attention.
That's the nature since the fall. It is. It's the nature since
the fall. It really is. And so Paul's dealing with that
in public worship. When we come together, we come
together to worship the Lord. It's not about me. You know, it's not about me,
it's not about us, it's about the Lord Jesus Christ. Now we
do come in dressed nice, clean, neat, but not in a way that turns
everybody's head. Not in that kind of way. Not in a way that's conspicuous. What we do realize, here's what's
important, and this is what's really important. And I think if most people pick
this in marriage, it would probably be a lot better. We are to realize
the true beauty and adornment of the heart and not the body.
If we really looked at the inside and not the outside, that's what
really matters, isn't it? It's the heart, it's the attitude,
it's the spirit of a person. That's what's beauty, it's the
inner man, as Paul called it, the inner man. And then he says here in verse
11, he speaks about the authority, the rule that God has set in
the church, and this has not changed, not in his church. Not
in his. He said, let the women learn
in silence with all subjection, that's to their husband and,
listen, and to their pastor. And to their pastor. But I suffer
not a woman to teach nor usurp authority over the man, but to
be in silence, to learn in silence. You know, the church is the bride
of Christ, right? She's the bride of Christ. How
does she learn? Speak, Lord, Thy servant heareth. We learn
when we come in here, sit down, and listen to Him speak. That's
how we learn. And God has set this order because
the man He represents Christ in the home. And the woman represents
the church. For Adam, now He gives a reason
here. Here's the reason. And if this
order, listen, this order where it is followed, there's peace.
I mean, there's real peace in the home. There's real peace
in the heart. Where this order is not followed,
somebody's lost. I'm telling you the truth, somebody's
lost. Where there is, you know, when there is nothing but fighting
in the home and fussing and carrying on, somebody's lost. Because we don't, we don't, we
don't, we do not take the word of God and we come here and we
believe what we call the doctrines of grace and then we go home
and we destroy the principles of grace. It doesn't work that
way. It doesn't work that way. A believer
is a believer whether sitting here or whether in the home. There's no change. Whether you're
working at the business or a place you work, you are a believer
no matter where you are. You are a representative of God
no matter where you are. You are the Lord's child no matter
where you are. And he says here, and he gives the order, here's
the reason why. Here's the reason. You don't
have to ask me why. Just read the Word of God. Because
if I don't give you an answer why from the Word of God, then
I don't know why. For Adam was first formed, then
Eve. You know, over in Corinthians
it says the man was not made for the woman, but the woman
was made for the man. Now I know that makes the feminist in our
day mad. It just makes them blazing mad.
But God's not going to change that order. God's not going to
change it. You know, I was thinking this
morning, I would really like, I would really have loved to
have seen Adam and Eve in their innocence and how they conducted
themselves with one another. Wouldn't you like to have seen
that? Wouldn't you like to have observed that? How that God made Adam,
and then God made Eve out of Adam. He didn't make Eve out
of the dust of the ground. He made Adam out of the dust
of the ground. But He made Eve out of Adam. You know, the church
is made out of the Lord Jesus Christ. She is made out of Him. And I would have loved to have
seen before the fall that conduct between them two. Wouldn't it
have been so beautiful to watch There would have been no offense.
Don't ask me to do that. Don't tell me that. There would
have been nothing like that. There would have never been any
offense in any way, shape, or order. Now, of course, I know husbands
say things that they not say, and they say it in ways they
are not saying. I know that because of sin. But Adam and Eve, boy,
that was beautiful. That was beautiful. What a beautiful
relationship. Until the fall. Until the fall. Adam was first formed, then Eve,
and then Adam, listen, Adam was not deceived. Adam was not, but the woman being
deceived was in the transgression. She was deceived. She actually
believed Satan. Now, Satan came at Adam through
Eve. He didn't come directly at Adam.
You know what that tells me? That tells me how powerful Adam
must have been. That Satan wouldn't take him
on directly. He would not come at him at full force. He came
at him very subtly. He came at him through the one
he loved. Adam loved Eve. He ended up loving the creature
more than the Creator. See, that's a problem. But Adam, when she came to him
and she talked to him, she did not deceive Adam. She
was deceived. She believed what Satan said,
that you'd be as gods and you'd know good and evil. She believed
that. And when she came to Adam and
she told him, and he saw what happened. Adam made the decision. He made the choice to take Eve and fall. He consciously made a decision
to fall. Eve did not deceive Adam either.
He knew what he was doing. And he chose the creature over
the Creator. And so here's the reason. Here's
the reason for this order. Here's the reason that the woman
is to keep silence in the church and to learn in silence is this
reason. Adam was first formed in Eve
and Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was
in the transgression. Notwithstanding, she shall be
saved in childbearing. if they continue in the faith
and love and holiness and sobriety. You know, if anyone leaves the
faith, it's evident they were never in the faith. They never
did believe God. But this sounds, you know, I
had to read through this a few times. But notwithstanding, she shall
be saved in childbearing. That doesn't mean that she won't die having given children,
because Rachel did. You know, she did. Well, I think
it was Benjamin, when she had Benjamin. But I think just what
it means to get to the kernel of it, the very meaning of it,
God told, He told Satan, He said,
the seed of the woman, Well, you'll bruise his heel, but he's
going to bruise your head. And that seed through which she'll
have will be the Savior of men and women. He'll be her Savior. She'll be saved in childbearing. That the Lord who came into this
world through the womb of a virgin, will be the very one that'll
save her. Not every woman, not every woman
in the world, but God has saved many women. God has saved many
women. You know, most congregations
are made up more of women than men. They are. Most of them, they
have more women in them than they do men. But there is an order. There
is an order in the worship service is to
be done orderly. There's a dress code in the worship
service is to be modest. You know, that ought to be the
way we dressed our whole life. I mean, our whole life ought
to be like that. We ought to be modest and moderate in everything,
absolutely everything. That should define our life,
modest and, moderation. But this instruction Paul gives
to Timothy, and Timothy is dealing with an infant church in Ephesus. That's one of the most idolatrous
cities at that time. And their worship, their so-called
worship service were off the charts. I mean, it was just like
anything went. And so Paul gives us this instruction,
and these instructions apply today. And if the Lord carries
for another thousand years, the exact same instructions apply.
No matter how far out there modern so-called religion gets, we don't
follow it. We follow the word of God.