First Timothy lesson 9

Well, 1 Timothy chapter 2, we made it. Who said finally? Do we lose audio? You're cutting in and out again. Mike? Can you hear me all right? I can now, yep. Okay, so let's start by reading the first three verses of 1 Timothy chapter 2. Who wants to grab those verses? I do. You do? I will, yes. Okay, verse 3, right? Chapter two, verse one through three. Yeah, right. I just turned on the mic Oh, now I hear you.

First of all, I urge that in treaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God, our Savior. Thank you, Cheryl. Thank you. You're welcome. Let's start with the first question.

Why is Paul exhorting Timothy in verse 1? This isn't new. He's already done this, but what can we observe here about exhorting? And what does even exhort mean? Let's kind of break that down. We might need to go back to Timothy 1.18.

First Timothy 1.18. This command I entrust to you, Timothy my son, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you fight the good fight of faith. We all liked that last part.

We had to work through that several weeks ago. But to be exhorted, let's start with what does exhort? So you had a different translation of that word. What was that? Urge. Urge. Why does he need to be urged or exhorted? Again. Like, why again? Paul did it in 118. Why is he doing it in 2-1? It's an important thing. Very important. Well, it's a charge. Yeah. Right. So, he's charged this young man with a ministry.

We're going to talk about what that ministry is and what that truth that needs to be communicated to the body, but it's interesting that the very first thing he does in Chapter 2 is he repeats himself. Why repeat himself? Because it's important, like you said. I exhort, therefore, that first of all..." So he not only exhorts and urges and charges Timothy, he also sets a precedent. First of all. Mine says, first of all, then, I admonish and urge that petitions Is that a compound word?

I can't, I don't know that I would be able to answer that. Although Courtney in the back there. I don't think it's compound. That's not a compound. so much as it is translated differently. Yeah, you're reading out of that Amplified SRT. Amplify. There it is.

Well, I think what I'm curious about for us is what is, question two asks the question where I really want to move towards. What does Paul mean by the phrase first of all? So he's been exhorted, he's been charged, he's been urged, sorry, Timothy has been urged by Paul. What is this phrase first of all about? That's a big phrase. If I said, I want you to all know something, and first of all, you would listen to what came there after. So, what is the first of all?

It relates to the charge, right? So, we've got to connect those. But what's the most important point in his exhortation? I gave it away when we started the prayer request earlier. I called a prayer. I'm listening, I think. If anybody's on mic there. It's top priority. Top priority. That's a really good way of saying it. So here you've got a young man who is being urged and called in a church that he is learning how to lead. And he's urged, and his first and most important priority is what? Prayer. Prayer. Why?

Is it just what we start the class off with? Is that where that fits? Well, it's part of our relationship in Christ. That's good. I think you're right. J.D., in your NASB, first of all, I urge that in treaties and prayers, Do you have entreaties? I do. I have entreaties, maybe supplications, prayers, petitions. But before we get into those words, I was just curious about kind of following through some of Mike's. Mike had some really good notes here. He included that as Macaulay.

He says, Chapter 1 stresses the priority of doctrine. So he starts off with a standardization of what God has said. This is the doctrine. And then Chapter 2 moves to prayer. I mean, it was entreaties and prayers. I was looking at the Greek on it. Yeah, the entreaties means prayer, supplication, you know, kind of bringing the request. And then the second part is prayers, actually praying for it. They kind of go together, I guess, at this point. Yeah, there's some synonyms that all kind of, we have to work through that part. Yeah. Connect with the larger topic of prayer. Yeah, I think they're both related prayers. Yeah, for sure.

The one thing that I highlighted and circled and made known to myself as I was thinking through this is, and I had to think about this, prayer is not to be treated as an emergency measure, but as a number one priority. You mean we can't do arrow prayers? What's that? Arrow prayers, like get a minstrel Christ and shoot an arrow up.

Please, Lord. Only if you can. We can't do that? I don't know. Maybe you're a better archer than a myself. Don't all our prayers come from God? Well, no, they don't. Right? Because we know from other scripture that the Holy Spirit essentially rewrites them so that they make sense to the Father. That's a very loose way of saying it. But they do come from you, and they're your responsibility. In fact, in this case, they were Timothy's first priority.

You get doctrine, and then you pray. And the question I guess I have for us this morning that I have had to consider for myself is, is prayer an emergency measure? Do I have to know that there is a big problem before I pray? I guess my point being is I think it's both. Paul states a lot of times, I don't cease praying for you all the time, praying for different bodies, different churches. But I think there's also the time in the midst of a trial that I can pray specifically for that or for a specific thing. I think it's kind of Always having the Lord in mind. Philippians 4, 6, and 7 says... Your thoughts? I'm listening to Les. Philippians what? Philippians 4, 6, and 7 talks about... Philippians 4, 6, and 7, in all situations, every situation. So you are right.

The question though is, is it just an emergency measure? No. Every situation. And it's top priority, which means I got some things I gotta figure out, because that's not how... Maybe it's how you think in most circumstances, but I sometimes fail to understand that that is the top priority. You know? It's the number one priority, at least in this verse.

And then he goes on to explain, and we're going to break down the nature of our prayer, but sometimes I feel like prayer is, well, when I need it, I'll use it. I was thinking about, all my kids have read so many different books about different missionaries, but one in particular that kind of stuck out to me at one point was Corrie Ten Boom. She went through the Holocaust, survived. And she has a quote about prayer that kind of stuck with me.

Don't pray when you feel like it. I was like, what? Don't pray when you feel like it? She said, make an appointment with the Lord and keep it. I was like, that sounds like law. No, that sounds like dependence. And so as I think about don't pray when you feel like it, make an appointment with the Lord and keep it. Do you think that that relates to what Paul is telling Timothy here in this verse, I exhort you, first of all, don't wait. JD? Yes.

I was thinking, you know, we're heavenly people and the connection is now through prayer to where our life is in the Lord Jesus. And so all of our strength, our wisdom, everything comes from that connection. And I think that's why the prayer is so important. That's our lifeline. It's our lifeline. That's a very important word. It is our lifeline, but we don't think of it that way. We do think of it as an emergency measure most of the time.

We start off, and again, I'm not trying to minimize any of the way that we do things as a body or as believers, but what I'm seeing here is that he exhorts, he puts a priority of prayer in the front of all of it. We're going to talk about what that means, but the fact that he went through doctrine in chapter 1, and then he moves to essentially prayer and worship in chapter 2.

I have another quote for you. Considering worship, prayer comes first. We think, like, where does worship start? once the violin or the flute, which is beautifully played by one of my favorite people in the world back in the corner over there. Where does worship start? Macaulay, he says, considering worship, prayer comes first.

And so we're talking about being entrusted, obviously in Timothy's case, but then there's this priority, this top priority that leads into worship. And it's related specifically to prayer. So we're going to get to question three. We're going to break those synonyms all down. But considering worship, prayer comes first. Do we agree with that?

The word be made, which is the verb in the sentence, is present tense, passive voice, and it's an infinitive. And it covers the four things that are mentioned, supplication, prayer, obsession, and giving of thanks. Be made for all men. Because it's present tense, it goes on all the time. To make, do, expressing action either is completed or continued. Continued, so. So what if you get a bad king? A bad what? A bad king, you should pray for him too, huh? Yeah. We're going to have to get there. I just don't have to deal with that today.

You know, J.D., one of the other things that comes to mind that, you know, the only real, I don't know, kind of format or structure that we have for the early church, it was Acts 2.42, they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching, the fellowship, the breaking to know the facts and the tracts and all that, you know, whatever that thing is. It's right here. Yeah, I know.

But the key thing was, it was to prayer. The last is they were continually devoting themselves to prayer. So this is in keeping with the early church, too. Prayer was a key element of the early church. And I also go back to John. the Lord, and that's through prayer.

So we have two things that we've touched on, at least at this point. A, priority, and B, frequency. And if we're going to kind of continue on this way of thinking, then what we're seeing is that there is a top priority, and that is to be continual. Do we agree about that? I would agree about that, except for one thing.

You can't think that just because I'm told this in God's Word that I can do it. And so, one of Macaulay's favorite words is hupomone, which is tri-character, or in another translation it means load-carrying ability. What Paul is exerting timidity to do is to carry the load for all of these people, to pray for them constantly, all the time, because, I mean, does a Christian get 30 minutes off to be holy once a week? You need to be prayed for every minute. So, Yeah. And so, Timothy being a leader, but all believers are to carry the load of all other believers, I think. That's our job, under grace, to do that. It's not just our job, it's our top priority. Yeah, it is.

And so, you know, you pray for winners and losers, both. from Philippians chapter 4, verse 7, the result of that is the peace of God, which... Yeah, Les is reminding me that the result of Philippians... The result of the prayer is the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds... So peace and guarding your heart and your mind is the result of that top priority. It's okay. We're doing class virtually, so I got this side of the class and this side of the class. Well, let's use an example.

When we pray for Russ, what's the real issue with him? What is the thing that we should pray the most about or the most sincere about? Is it that he gets better? You know, we recognize that trials are the hallmark of all believers. And, you know, like you quoted, Macaulay, that... Considering worship, prayer. Yeah. Prayer isn't one of those... an emergency activity because somebody's in straits all the time. To be honest, if you look at Russ McLaren, he's in straights all the time. And so the rest of us are, we just don't admit it. Absolutely.

But I guess I'd like to hear from the class around what are we praying for? If it's not just healing, then what is that? I think it goes back to what Donna was talking about, that in the midst of the thing, whatever the thing is for the person, that they have a more comprehensive grasp on who they are in Christ, their union with Him, and what that means to them. Hey Mike, sorry I couldn't hear you there.

No worries. I'm sorry, I was thinking out loud. Oh, that's perfect. That's what we do. We think out loud. Absolutely. Yeah, I guess we pray for healing and we pray for a person to not have to deal with a thing. And we think that way. However, I don't know that that's what Timothy was being urged to do here. As we go into question three and we start to think about these synonyms for prayer, there's different aspects to the way that we offer up our thoughts to the Lord. And we're unthankful.

Obviously, we have that disclaimer that the Holy Spirit is going to correct everything that we might think a person needs. But let's talk about the word entreaties. What is the word entreaties? Or we could also say supplications. What is the emphasis there? That might take a little bit of a deeper look at the word itself, but, and I'm not going to try to pronounce it, I'll let Doyle do that.

Right. Well, you know, you're mentioning Corrie Ten Boom and the Holocaust. You know, from her perspective, there was no, there was nothing on the horizon that this situation was going to ever be over. I mean, with most of the Jews and people that were in it, they died. And they knew that that was coming.

Yet, her attitude was so, in prayer, faithful to whatever the Lord had in mind for her life, she was okay with it. Because she trusted him, not for relief, but just trusted him, period. people on our long list on the people who need prayer. Most of the time I pray for strength and peace that the Lord can offer through the trial. And if it's a request, if it's God's will to remove it, then remove it.

But, you know, because it may be, you know, after years of not having Mike want to pray for me, I think Nick's probably listening, too. He could probably chime in from the back. He knows when Mike Bray's work, but the, you know, I think it is just rare, and for strength and comfort, and it goes to what Lesley was saying, too. It's on that Philippians. You know, bring your prick. Nick's now kind of pointing. He's easy. Don't be fooling all these people, Mike. Ask Mike for prayer if you don't want it resolved.

Well, only God can be resolved. So anyway, I think it's the, you know, bring your, be anxious for nothing, but prayer and supplications lets your needs be known, but it lets you have the right thing. It's to guard your heart. over you, whatever, it's in your heart. That's where I think the prayer is for strength, peace, comfort in the trial. And I think it's perfectly legit to ask, if it's God's will to remove it, you can do that.

And if he doesn't, he's got his purposes. But mine is usually peace and comfort through the trial, that they understand that God hasn't left them. That's why I think the Lord's feeding in me the sovereignty and the eternal love. He still loves you in the midst of the trial. And it's not malicious. It's not to punish. It's to accomplish the conforming of us to the image of Christ. peace and comfort through the trial and strength. I think that's 100% in line with what my wife just handed to me.

I'm going to read this to you. Corrie Ten Boom writes of her sister thanking God for the fleas in their barracks at Ravensbrück concentration camp. So she's writing to her sister. with her sister. She's understanding her sister saying, we thank God in all things. Yeah. We're going to be thankful for these fleas. I'll just read it instead of trying to be smart. I'm like, okay. This is like fresh, fresh news that is coming on my desk right now.

Corrie Ten Boom writes of her sister thanking God for the fleas in their barracks at Ravensbrook Concentration Camp. Corrie did not understand why they should thank God for the horrible fleas, but she followed her sister's lead and the Bible's instruction to thank God in all things. Not long after, they realized the guards never came into their barracks anymore. So the women were never assaulted, and they were free to have Bible studies where many of the women came to know Christ. It was only later that they found out why the guards left them alone, because of the fleas.

All things work together for good. Yes, amen. You know, she's thanking for that. I go back to one of the scriptures I memorized when I was in dismemorization mode. But it's the James, consider it all joy, my brother, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the test of your faith, it's your faith, produces endurance. Let that endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete. You know, she's giving thanks for fleas, you know, consider it that God is, again, in the end, conforming you to the image of Christ. How do you take that and consider it all joy, my brother, when you encounter various trials? I don't think the world understands that. I don't think a lot of times we understand that. But again, it's for the testing of your faith. Do you believe God is in control? Do you believe he still loves you? You know, it's by faith. You trust it. It gives the reasoning for the trials. Consider it all joy. Probably one of the most difficult things to settle your heart on. Well, if you don't have fleas in your dorm, you wouldn't understand.

It's becoming aware of our need. Yeah. And one thing I'll mention here, and I don't know that it relates directly to the verses that we're talking about, although it certainly has to do with God's sovereignty and His love for us and how that relates to prayer, but each of those things that you go through, your fleas, or is it going to be somebody else's fleas? You know?

You're going to understand what it meant to consider all joy. And that person that the Lord leads into your life, who's like, I got fleas everywhere! You are going to be directly situated, just as Timothy was for this body of believers, to to encourage and to pray for, top priority, right? Does that make sense?

Getting a couple nods, yeah. Well, I think that if we look at question number three, we've got four different words that we need to work through. The first one is entreaties, we talked about that a little bit. Another translation could be supplications. How do you make a supplication for someone?

You understand their fleas. You understand their fleas. Or the fact that they have fleas. Both. Yeah, this is a personal need that you're presenting a prayer to the Lord about a personal need that someone has. I love that. You're talking about their fleas.

Do you change a prayer request based on, let's say, the government which you live under? Does your supplication change based on your citizenship or where you belong? That's hard. That means you got to think about, you put the word in here, person, in our government or in another government, and it does not change your perspective in prayer. You may pray for different things, but you don't think of them differently because they have the same fleas. I want to use a bunch of different ways of saying that, but if I do, Nick will have to edit everything out. Are you trying to get political? No, I am not. I'm trying to not get political. You can get political with an analogy. I did. Yeah.

You know, I think when you get political, the first thing you forget is that God is sovereign and He's in charge, and you think somehow that Satan and his minions have pulled a fast one on God and they're getting by with stuff they shouldn't get by with. The comfort is to know that God is sovereign and that he controls everything and allows things, you know? And, amen. It isn't an issue of, Do I deserve it or not? What did I do? It's not that at all. God is working out his sovereign will, not only in me personally, but in every human being and in every government. It's his creation. It is his creation. So the question that I'll leave you with before we close in prayer is, regardless of where, which government each of us falls under, and we're all, we all share that.

So far as I know, how might your attitude and your top priority change based on what you've learned today? I've become more humble. Humility is the key. That's the basis of my entire life. I'm a young Christian. And I find out that unless I become humble, pride and fear, they conspire with each other and it brings me down.

And I look at the role of Jesus Christ, how humble he was when he went to the cross. So that's just my take on what you've been sharing. Yeah, and I think that ties in with the word supplication. When you make a supplication for someone that you may not agree with, or you don't like their pleas, it doesn't change the top priority to pray for that person. It's the not I but Christ.

Galatians 2.20. I agree with that, Mike. Because he's the source. He's our source. You find out over time that the enemy within the camp is me. I'm the problem. Right. I'm the flea. Yeah. Hold on.

Why don't you pray for us and close us out this morning? Pray for us. Dear Lord, we thank you for being able to share your good news today and how that can change us and center us in our life that is in Christ and in spite of that all things work together for good. In Christ's name, I pray. Amen. Amen. Thanks, Mike.