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In continuing our study of 1 Timothy, we are approaching one of the most challenging passages of Scripture in the New Testament.
It is challenging for several reasons:
Some of the wording is a hard to understand.
The truth of the passage pushes back against the trends of our culture.
However, we believe that God’s plan is best, and we want to honor him by following his design in every area of life.
We have been talking over the last several weeks about Fighting the Good Fight.
We have seen that in this letter, Paul is writing to a young pastor named Timothy.
Timothy pastors in a city called Ephesus, and there are some false teachers there trying to distract people from the incredible truth of the gospel.
Paul is calling each of us, along with Timothy, to join in the fight, fighting against error, fighting to keep the truth of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection central to our own lives.
We saw last week that one of our main tools in the fight is prayer.
We are called to pray in every way, for everyone, because God can save anyone.
As we talked last week, we said that we are not in this fight alone.
God has put us together in the church for us to fight for his name and his glory together.
This morning’s passage is going to begin giving us more information about how we join together to fight.
Here’s what I want you to see from our passage this morning: God has called men and women to face unique challenges and fight the good fight in unique ways.
For those of you who don’t really enjoy looking deeply at theology, you are going to have to bear with us this morning.
There are some important truths that we need to explain as we look at this passage, so try to hang in there with us.
Let me establish some groundwork up front.
As a church, we believe the Bible teaches complementarianism.
This is the idea that God has created men and women with different roles to play in the home and in the leadership of the church.
That does not mean that we believe that women are somehow inferior to men.
In fact, the New Testament makes it clear that God’s offer of salvation extends equally to men and to women.
In fact, the New Testament highlights many women who played vital roles in the early days of the church.
We see that in the Gospels, where God fulfills his promise of bringing a Savior to the world and speaks directly to Mary, who openly praises God for what he has done in blessing her with this.
We see Jesus interacting graciously with women throughout his ministry, which many teachers in those days would not have done.
If you remember the passage we looked at on Easter, the first people to know about the resurrection were women, who then went to tell his disciples.
It doesn’t stop with the Gospels, though.
We see women playing key roles in the early days of the church.
tell us the Phillip’s daughters prophesied.
In , we see the church at Philippi began with a businesswoman named Lydia, who housed the apostles while they were in the city.
Perhaps one of the clearest statements of men and women’s value before God is found in :
Men and women, whatever their race or economic standing, are equally valuable to God.
Are we clear on that truth?
Here is where we differ from some other believers, though.
We believe that God, in his wisdom, has established unique roles for men and women to play within the home and the church.
This morning’s passage specifically deals with the way that
That’s what we are going to see as we dive into this morning.
As we saw last week, we are called to pray every way for everyone because God can save anyone.
That’s the idea that we pick back up with in verse 8.
In these verses, we are going to see how men and women are called in unique ways to fulfill that command within the church.
There is a lot to unpack in them, so let’s dive in.
First, Paul addresses the men.
As we seek to join together with others in the church to pray, we find this instruction:
1) Men: Be holy, not hot-headed.
The shortness of this verse would make it easy to overlook, but let’s drill down for a minute.
2) Women: Be known for good deeds, not great style.
The verb “to pray” here is related to the word “prayers” in verse 2. We said last week that this was the idea of prayer as an act of worship.
When Paul brings up the idea of “lifting up holy hands” in prayer, he is drawing off the common posture of prayer in the Old Testament worship.
Although there are times when we see people kneeling, the common posture in public prayer was standing with our hands raised to the heavens.
It is a symbolic gesture that acknowledges that we are dependent on God, gently offering these requests to the one who is worthy and able to meet the needs we have.
I sometimes think of it as a child reaching up to a parent to pick them up or offering a broken toy for a parent to fix.
Guys, it can be hard for us to pray because, like we saw last week, we are strong and self-reliant, which we can’t be if we are going to acknowledge our need for God to help us.
We are called to lift our hands to God in prayer as an act of worship.
You and I are called to lead out in prayer .
We cannot abdicate this role.
God has called us to set the pattern of
However, if you notice, it isn’t just any hands we raise.
We are to raise “holy” hands.
That means that our hands need to be clean from sin.
That happens initially as we place our trust in Christ.
You can’t wash off your own sinfulness on your own; you need Jesus to cleanse your hands.
However, when you have received that cleansing, you also need to live like it.
Jesus may have cleansed you from your sin and you may be saved, but you aren’t able to lift up holy hands if you are not striving to live in light of what Christ has done.
Are there any parts of your life that you know would keep you from being able to stand here with arms raised to heaven, knowing that you are living out the holiness God has already given you in Christ?
Get that right!
Paul specifically highlights an area for us to demonstrate holiness: by putting away anger and arguing.
Paul specifically highlights an area for us to demonstrate holiness: by putting away anger and arguing.
Guys, many of us battle more with our temper than we would like.
We have a tendency to be hot-heads, going off over the slightest issue.
Men,
I am not talking about how you behave at church.
Listen: you and I can fake being kind and patient and gentle for a few hours a week when everyone is around.
I am not talking about how you behave at church.
Listen: you and I can fake being kind and patient and gentle for a few hours a week when everyone is around.
We can’t fake it with our wives and our kids, though.
Would your wife and kids say, “My dad can lift up holy hands because he isn’t a man that gets angry a lot and he doesn’t pick fights”?
Letting God work in your heart to make you secure in your identity in Christ frees you from having to get mad over things that don’t matter.
It doesn’t take you out of the fight of the faith; it leaves you in it.
As God works in you to develop that control over your mind and emotions, you start to be able to respond in a Christ-like way, not out of frustration, but out of a desire to see Christ exalted in the situation.
You will be bold and you will fight for the truth, but out of control, not anger.
So, men, how are we doing?
Are you a man who prays fervently for your family and your church?
Could you stand here this morning and lift holy hands, or are you giving into sin and temptation so that you aren’t in a place to lead in prayer as you should?
What about your temper?
Are you known as a hot-head at home or work or church?
Seek to be known for your holiness, not your hot-headedness.
The church flourishes when men stop fighting each other and start joining together to live holy lives that honor and glorify Christ.
Paul doesn’t stop there, though.
Having outlined the role men are to play in prayer, he describes how women are equipped to serve as well.
For women, we see that you are to....
2) Women: Be known for good deeds, not great style.
Let’s read through verses 9-10 and tackle them first.
Given the context, it seems that Paul is still talking about the way we conduct ourselves in worship as a church.
Men are to worship and pray with holy hands and without anger.
Women are called on, then, to worship in such a way that they are known for their godliness, not their great style.
Just like in the command for men, this extends beyond how we act in church to how we live our lives.
Paul encourages women to dress modestly, not making their appearance their defining characteristic.
In that day, it was common for rich women to show off their wealth with expensive hairstyles that would have had jewels and pearls braided through them.
You can imagine how this would have created problems in the church.
Not only would that have been distracting, it would also have created a division in the church between those who had money and those who didn’t.
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