So we live in a very unique time, do we not? Recent months have found the Supreme Court redefining marriage. We had this really bizarre interview with Caitlyn Jenner. that generated a lot of national attention, international attention, very public figure and his gender reassignment and sort of how to process through all of those things and the very sort of fabric of our society seems to be unhinging in certain ways. We all have this sense that these things are only not the end of the story, perhaps just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the variations of human perversion and deviation. And so as we come to 1 Timothy, we're looking at Paul's letter to Timothy. I find it interesting here in chapter two where Paul has these very clear instructions for men and women. 1 Timothy 2, one to eight, talks to men. That's what we're gonna look at today. And then 1 Timothy 2, verses nine through 15, he addresses women. And just in the current cultural context, that sort of should strike us. that Paul saw something there that was very clear, very definitive. Matter of fact, as he goes on, it becomes very evident that he doesn't at all see this as something that sort of shifts with the passing of time. He roots this teaching and his ideas about gender in creation, in God's unchanging pattern. And so in this soul culture of confusion and sort of the fog that has enveloped human sexuality and gender identity, we have these clear statements made to men and to women. of what their role is to be, particularly within the context of the church. But I find it refreshing. We look for things that help us make sense of life, right? Things that don't change. Maybe it's just me. I'm a creature of habit. But just when things change all the time, you know, it's just hard. You know, they change the tax documents. I just got the other one figured out, you know. And to have to go through all this sort of thing, moving, kind of really throws my world for a loop, right? Everything, I have to go all these processes, all these forms. And we kind of, there's something wonderful in having things that are steady, that are always the same. And certainly we have that in these ideas and the teachings that the scriptures give us regarding gender. And so we're going to look at that over the course of these couple of weeks. It's unfortunate in this cultural confusion that we've lost the beauty and the diversity of masculinity and femininity and what it means to be a man and what it means to be a woman. Of course, one of the preeminent cultural values is equality. And unfortunately, we have defined equality culturally as sameness. If you're going to treat people as equal, you have to treat them the same. And in the realm of gender equality, that means that women, you know, should serve on the front lines of the military. It means that men need to be given maternity leave along with their wives. Sameness, like we have this way culturally of sort of trying to flatten all gender distinctives, and that's really a shame. That God's beauty and what God has intended in the differences between the sexes is something that should be embraced and celebrated, not flattened. The Bible teaches about gender in a very different way. It teaches about equality in a very different way. It teaches that men and women are equal but different. Men and women carry out distinct and harmonious roles. And again, these things are not the result of sin, but rather are part of God's original, beautiful, creative design. So these first instructions here in 1 Timothy 2 are directed toward men. And let's read these first eight verses. Here are the word of the Lord. First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions. that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time, For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle. I am telling the truth, I am not lying, a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling." May God add his blessing to the reading of his word. So these first instructions here are given to men. It's unfortunate that many of the English versions sort of create a new paragraph at v. 8. Clearly, the word then or therefore there in v. 8 links that verse with the previous seven verses in this chapter. So Paul talks about prayer, and then he expresses his desire, his passionate concern that men would step forward in these areas. So again, verse 8 needs to be read within the context of verses 1 through 7. Now we know at the outset here, when we just look at verse 8, and that's where we'll focus most of our time this morning, that Paul uses a very specific word for men. This is not a generic word for mankind or humanity or persons of an indiscriminate gender. But the instruction is extended to males specifically, those of the masculine gender. And of course, in our day, it's helpful for us to define what we mean by men. We would understand gender to be determined by biology. At the genetic level, males have a Y chromosome. Gender is more than simple biology and body parts, but it is not less. And so we do recognize that there are people who are disordered in their sexuality and in their gender identity. This doesn't shock us. It doesn't surprise us. We live in a broken world. We believe in what's called total depravity, which is not to say that we are as bad as we could be, but it is to say that every part of every one of us has been impacted by the fall. So our bodies don't work properly. Sometimes our organs don't produce the right enzymes. They might malfunction. We age. We have joints that give out. And the same is true of our mind and our emotions. And so for some, that means that they're disordered in their sexuality and gender identity. And we grieve over that. We ought to respond with tremendous compassion. We ought to come alongside people and help them to respond and to live godly in the midst of of those inordinate desires. But we, again, are thinking in terms of how God has created us as men and women and seeing that to be rooted in our biology and how God has fashioned us. So these instructions, again, are specifically directed towards men. Now, I've done a couple of weddings in the last month. And of course, as part of that wedding ceremony, there's a charge extended to the bride and the groom, right? It's really for them. It's not really for everybody else. But we let everybody else listen in. And there's benefit in that, right? You trace through again and think about the nature of marriage. You think about the commitments that are made between a husband and wife. You think about the relationship between Christ and his bride, the church. Maybe it causes you to be reaffirmed in your own marriage commitments. Maybe as a single it helps you to think about who you would look for in a mate, potentially. And so a great benefit for everyone else, but the charge is specific for the bride and the groom. And in a similar way, we're gonna talk specifically to men today. But I think there's great benefit for women to hear God's instruction to men. And I think it's important as we get to next week for men to hear God's instruction for women. So we're all gonna benefit, nobody's gonna tune out, right? Even though we're gonna talk about God's desire for men. And we're just gonna trace through again, verse eight, it's gonna direct us and we'll be looking back up into verses one through seven. But in terms of kind of our focus today, we're gonna just camp here in verse eight and make several observations just flowing in a rather straightforward way right out of the text. The first is that men should pray. Men should pray. Paul says, I desire then, or some translations say, I want. that men should pray. This is more than just sort of casual preference. It speaks of careful thought, complete clarity. It is a settled passion, a settled aspiration. This is not, you know, a chili dog sounds really good right now. You know, I think I want a chili dog. I've been training for hours on end and I desire to get a spot on the Olympic team. This is a settled conviction, a settled desire. Paul says, in essence, I have a holy aspiration that we will see strong men take spiritual leadership within the local church. My goal is that men will not sit by passively, but that they will pray. That's what Paul is saying here. Now, Paul doesn't simply want them to pray over the meal or to pray maybe for their own personal needs. Paul has something very specific in mind here about what he means by men praying. He wants them to be praying for other people. There's sort of an outward focus that he has in mind here. We've been told that here in the first seven verses. Notice again verse 1, "...First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people." This is the type of prayer that Paul has in mind. This is what he's wanting to see. And eventually he's going to get and say, I want the men to take the lead in this. But this is the context here, the type of prayer that he expects. And we can make a number of observations. Actually, Paul uses four words to describe the prayer that he expects from men. We could say that we should pray or they should pray, men should pray humbly. This is the idea of supplication. It's the language of desperation. It reflects an appropriate degree of my own inability, my own need. And so men ought to come with a sense of humility before God, a sense of desperation ought to mark their prayers. They should pray respectfully. This word for prayer is a particular word that's only used to describe a person's relationship with God. So I might come to you with a request, I need to borrow a tool, I need your help with something. But there's a certain word here that is only used for our speech toward God. And so it reflects an awareness that I am creature and he is creator. And there ought to be a reverence, a sense of honor that permeates prayer. Men should pray compassionately. There's the word intercessions. Literally has the mental image of falling in with someone. You see someone in their plate, they're beside the road, their tire is flat, and you stop and get out of your car and see what you can do to help. You kind of enter into their plate. You hear someone in the church is moving and you think, That's a big job. What can I do to help? And I'm gonna go and see if I can kind of enter into their misery with them, right? Fall in with them. That's what this is. One of the ways we do that is in prayer. When I pray for you, when I pray for someone, I have a way of entering into their plight and linking arms with them, standing alongside of them. So we ought to pray compassionately with a sensitivity for the needs of others. And men should pray gratefully. Giving thanksgiving. Again, we're talking not just for the fact that God's given me food or provided for me in different ways. Specifically here, he's asking men to pray for people. So this has to do with giving thanks for people. We have a way of often being critical of other people. And what Paul is calling us to do is to really be intentional about identifying things that we are thankful for as we go to prayer. And what a great discipline. It ought to be part of our life. So this is what Paul has in mind when he says he wants men to pray. They are to have a focus outward, praying not only for their friends, but even for their enemies. Notice what the text says. First of all, then I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions. Authorities in the first century were openly opposed to the gospel. They weren't exactly underwriting a lot of you know, church programs, you know, faith initiatives and such that were, you know, the distribution of some of the Roman wealth. No, they were opposed to the church. They were running interference for the church. They saw the church as a threat to What Rome was seeking to accomplish and to the worship of many gods, the pantheon of gods in the Roman Empire had impact on the economics. Remember even in Ephesus where Paul was preaching and some of the idol makers said, hey, you're ruining our business. There's a lot of implications. if people would turn in mass to the one true God. And Rome was certainly threatened by this. So when Paul asks them to pray for all people, even kings and those in authority, he's asking them to pray for their enemies, not just the people who are well inclined towards them. And Paul, as that text unfolds, has a very specific reason. We might pray for enemies. We might pray that God would send hail on their cars. leaving them with a million dents, you know, that a horde of mosquitoes would invade their backyard, you know, this fall or, you know, whatever it might be. I mean, we might pray from, but that's not, Paul's not even asking them to pray that these people would come to Christ, although that's a great prayer. Pray for unbelievers and pray that God would draw them to himself. That's a great prayer. Paul has something very specific in mind. Notice what he says. Verse two, praying for kings and all who are in high positions. And here it is. That, or in order that, we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good. Paul's not just concerned about how our prayers will affect those unbelieving outsiders. Paul's concern is how our prayers will affect us. When I commit to praying for someone, I take a posture of grace. That person is not my enemy. That government leader is not my enemy, regardless of what policies he has. That government leader is a sheep without a shepherd. You know how Jesus, the disciples were always looking at people and like, oh man, these people are, get away, man, we want to have lunch. It's time for lunch with Jesus, you know, and you people are all bothering us. Get out of here. And Jesus would look out and see, not troublesome people. He would see people who had deep spiritual needs. He would see broken people. And so Paul says, I don't want you to take a posture, an antagonistic, adversarial posture with the unbelieving world and the government leaders and the pagan culture. I want you to take a posture of grace. Now be clear on your own standards. I want you to be my holy people. I don't want you to compromise. But I want you to take an active posture of grace as it relates to an unbelieving, hostile world. He says this is good. It's that kalas word. This is beautiful. This is noble. This is compelling. He wants men in particular to live in this outwardly focused, honorable, attractive, grace-filled way. This contributes to the advance of the Gospel. The text goes on to say that. It's this type of environment that causes people to come to Christ, that creates opportunity for people to respond to the good news of salvation through Jesus. There were two main responses to the antagonistic Roman government in the first century. One was capitulation. The religious leaders, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, largely sort of cozied up to the Romans, right? The Romans gave them some liberties to be able to conduct religious ceremonies as long as the religious leaders kept everyone in line, right? And then on the other hand, you have the zealots, this whole category of people who just were intent on causing trouble, you know, trying to disrupt things, you know, kind of the Robin Hood figures, you know, going around robbing people and then the authorities and taking money from the rich and redistributing to the poor and just causing trouble. And Paul wants to present a different path here. He wants them to remain resolute in their standards and their convictions, but he wants them to respond with grace, even towards their enemies. Robert Lewis wrote a book entitled The Church of Irresistible Influence. And he poses a really provocative question that has haunted me. He says, if your local church were to cease to exist tomorrow, would the community notice? And secondly, would they care? His point is that The gospel ought always to be presented in the context of good works. We see this in 1 Peter. Even those who are opposed to the gospel, who don't like what you're saying, ought to have to admit that your pattern of good works is commendable, is beautiful, is selfless and sacrificial. And there's just something, I can't really complain about those people. They love our community. They love people. They give of themselves. I can't stand with their message, but I have to admit that they live a beautiful life. That ought to be the type of reputation that we have in the community. That doesn't mean compromise, but it does mean a commitment to loving people. We have to ask ourselves that question. What does the world think of us? What are we known for? It's interesting to me, in just another chapter, Paul's going to lay out qualifications for elders and overseers and spiritual leaders. You know, one of those qualifications is that they have to have a good reputation with outsiders. I think, who cares what the world thinks about us? Apparently, God does. And he requires that those who aspire to leadership must have a good reputation with outsiders. We have to think about that. What is our reputation? What kind of message are we sending in our speech patterns, the way we talk about government leaders, the way we talk about people that we maybe are on the opposite side of in terms of ideology or public policy? What message do you send through social media? We spend all of our time complaining about government leaders, railing against ungodly policies. I'm afraid we're sending the wrong message. We might win the battle, but lose the war. Paul says, in essence, stop complaining and start praying. The reality is men can be somewhat selfish, consumed with their own hobbies, their own interests. Men can be competitive, quick to assume an adversarial approach. A lot of men are quite sullen, isolated to themselves. Paul calls for men to pray. take a posture of grace to give themselves towards serving, interceding, and pleading on behalf of a lost world. That would be what we're known for. Paul says men should pray. Number two, men should pray in every place. Men should pray and they should pray in every place." Men should always be active in prayer. They should pray in the home. They should pray at work. Not to keep you from working, but as you do your work, you ought to be continually in prayer. But given the context here, Paul is particularly concerned that men should pray in the church. The phrase, in every place, occurs three other times in Paul's writings. And in each case, it seems to speak to the official assembly of the church when the church is gathered. Context certainly reinforces that as well. That's what Paul's dealing with in this section here. He talks about prayer and he talks about dress code for worship services. He's going to go on to talk about that. He's going to talk about qualifications for formal church leadership. how that should happen and what the process should be and what standards should be in place. So that is the context. It's how we function as a church, as the family of God, as the household of God. And so he's particularly concerned that men would pray in every church. Women are certainly permitted to pray. There's other texts that speak to that, but clearly men are to take the lead in prayer when the church is gathered for worship. The text does not necessarily say that every man should pray in every church, but it does state that men ought to actively set the tone for spiritual leadership in every church. One of the common dilemmas in modern missions was the role of women. In the absence of any qualified men, could a woman lead the church spiritually? The reality is that we live in a broken world, don't we? Many single moms embrace the role of spiritual leadership within their family. The same is true in some churches, and we applaud godly women who are every bit as capable as men. But with Paul, we desire that in every church men should pray. We desire that men would step forward and take responsibility for leadership. Now I know a lot of men that are uncomfortable praying. In many cases they've been honest enough to tell me. Uncomfortable particularly praying in a public setting. Some as a matter of temperament are quiet and reserved, just not inclined to sort of put themselves out there. Some didn't grow up in the church. They're not sure of what to say or how to say it. Some men are intimidated by spiritually mature women who might happen to be present. They don't feel like they're qualified. Some men are just passive, more content to let the women take the lead. Some men lead throughout the week in the marketplace and they've come to the conclusion that this is their time to check out and to take a break from leading when they enter into the home or into the church. And I believe many men don't feel comfortable praying in public because they aren't in the habit of praying in private, never cultivated. that type of a relationship with God. In any regard, Paul doesn't psychoanalyze these believers. He doesn't put them into certain categories. Well, I know some of you, you know, aren't inclined this way and others of you had a rough upbringing and he just simply calls them to do it. This is my expectation. This is my passion. This is my aspiration that we would see men step forward and step out and pray. Certainly, in many ways, prayer is a bit out of vogue in many churches. And I've even heard some rationalize this by saying, you know, each church sort of has their strengths. We're real strong in children's ministry. We have a strong preaching emphasis. We do good sports, evangelism, outreach ministry. We do it really well. But I don't know how you read Paul in any responsible way and conclude that somehow prayer doesn't need to be part of what we do, part of our commitment. I don't think we can just say, well, you know, prayer just isn't our thing. It isn't my thing. Paul says quite explicitly that he wants to see men pray in every place, in every church. Number three, men should pray in every place lifting holy hands. Men should pray in every place lifting holy hands. Now we must approach God with holiness. I think we have Hebrews chapter 12 there in your notes, maybe overhead for us this morning. This text is very clear that without holiness no one will see the Lord. Here it is. Strive for peace with everyone and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. Reality is we are all estranged from God. because of our sin. And this is the universal human dilemma. And this is also where the Gospel intersects with the human dilemma. Because we are estranged from God, but Paul says that in the Gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed. So we have no righteousness. We are guilty. Flat out. Got nothing. But in the Gospel, God brings His own righteousness to bear on our desperate situation. The righteousness of Christ, His Son, is credited to our account by faith so that we can stand before God and have the status of holiness. We can be declared righteous. The concept of justification is the declaration of righteousness, not guilty in the judicial pronouncement, the great, wonderful doctrine. If you've never come to Christ, the reality is you stand under God's wrath. You stand under His condemnation. You are estranged from Him. It is only through faith in Christ that you can in any way attain holiness. But Paul wants to go beyond that. He wants to go beyond what we might call positional holiness, a declaration of holiness. Paul here wants to see men evidence actual holiness. He wants to see holy hands. The hands being representative of your life, what you do, your vocation, your work. And He wants prayers to be offered out of the context of a holy life. You see, when you come to prayer, it's not just a matter of the words that you say in a given moment. that you bring the whole week with you when you come to prayer. And God's willingness to hear our prayers hinges not on the terminology we use, but on the holiness of our lives. So we have a passage like Isaiah 1. People involved in all sorts of celebrations, all the religious rituals, they were going to the temple, they were offering the sacrifices. And Isaiah says, when you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you. Even though you made many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood. And then 1 Peter 3. Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers May not be hindered. Dr. Greer. Had a great ministry at seminary. He was a professor there, one of my mentors. Brilliant man. The ability to read and process theology and communicate in such an effective way. Passed away in recent years. I remember him telling a story about his earlier years in pastoral ministry. He pastored over in the Detroit area for a few years. And he would call the ushers forward for the offering. And this was the case of my home church growing up. And oftentimes the pastor would say, Frank, why don't you lead out in prayers? We collect the offering today. And on this particular occasion, Frank said, Pastor, I'm in no position to lead the congregation in prayer this morning. And he understood. He got it. That prayer, effective prayer, flows out of a righteous life. And Frank was honest enough to say, that's not where I'm at this morning. And we need to be reminded of that, particularly as men. Sometimes we can be more concerned with my words, and am I impressing people with my speech, and do I have the right approach to prayer? Do I stutter? Do I have quirky mannerisms that are distracting to people? Am I coming to God with holy hands? It's the only requirement that's laid out. Am I coming to God with a holy life? Having confessed known sin. Having pursued righteousness. Finally, number four, men should pray in every place lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling. Without anger or quarreling. Men are to pray without anger or quarreling. I don't believe that Paul is listing out additional criteria here. I believe Paul is simply explaining what he means by holy hands. He's calling for this grassroots level of holiness in their everyday life. And he happens to touch on a category of sin that is prominent for many men. that of anger. James 1.19, Know this, my beloved brothers, let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger, for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. And I can't help but notice that when he uses the word man here, again, it's the word male. So he says, generally speaking, know this my beloved brothers, let every person, general term, all humanity, let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger. For the anger of males does not produce the righteousness of God. There's something in bitterness toward another person, in words spoken harshly, in anger, and loudly and hurtfully, violence being perpetrated to another person that is so at odds with the heart of God. why Paul would say in Colossians and Ephesians, cautioning fathers from provoking their children to wrath or embittering or crushing their children's spirit through inappropriate anger. And I just suggest to you this morning, I just feel like we need to kind of put it out there that anger is a big problem. I conjecture it's a significant problem for most of us men in this church. You might want to rationalize it as righteous indignation, and you might have reason to be angry, but seething in silence, exploding with rage, using hurtful words is sin. And we have to call it what it is. We have to understand that even that level, what we might think of as a sort of a secondary issue, it's not sexual sin, but even at this baseline issue of interpersonal relationships, those things will hinder and block our prayers. They're serious issues to God. For a husband to not live with his wife in an understanding way, to be gentle in his responses, is to have your prayers hindered. And so we see what Paul does here. Talking about holy hands, but wanting to make sure they're clear. I'm not just talking about guarding yourself against sins against God. Understanding that holiness means even my responses towards other people. We have a way sometimes of wanting to create tears of sin. And we look at sins directly against God as being in a category of more serious sin. But here Paul is very clear as he outlines this and moves through this progression and expounds on it that even things like anger and quarreling, any type of disruption, bitterness, hatred expressed to another person disrupt my fellowship with God. They're serious issues.