1 Timothy 2:8-10
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PRAY REVIEW
Local church is still chiefly in view, Paul has the assemblies in mind, though what he is saying applies to all areas of life.
Be Men not of Anger and Quarreling
I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling;
Quarreling, anger more broadly, is one of the main issues, as we have seen, that Paul is dealing with in this letter.
Common problem w/ us pesky humans
For I fear that perhaps when I come I may find you not as I wish, and that you may find me not as you wish—that perhaps there may be quarreling, jealousy, anger, hostility, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder.
Anger has a sort of power over us that not much else really has. If you look back on most sins you committed, you repent and hate them, but you know why you did them. You lied to a friend last week, you hate that you did it, but you look back and see that that lie made you look better, thats why you told it. How often do you sin as a result of anger, you blow up with your tongue or your actions, and look back and say something like “I don’t know what happened right there,” “I LOST control there for a bit,” “I honestly can’t believe I said that or did that,” “What was I thinking?”
(If youre a Christian that probably happens a lot, if you’re not a Christian or an immature one then you just explain away your anger and try to justify it - “Well I’m just passionate” - no you’re controlled by your sin. “Well I’m just super competitive,” no you’re a child.)
Anger is a Raging Fire.
We all struggle with anger, but its also true than men tend to struggle with it more. Some of the angriest people I have ever met were women, women tend to be angry longer, but men’s anger tends to be more destructive, as it had been in this church Paul is writing to. There’s a beautiful and good side of this and reason for anger, if someone breaks in your home and threatens your family’s safety you want your husband or father getting out of bed angry. But far more often we see the sinful side of anger than the righteous side.
And its always been this way
and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell.
Cain killed his brother and ruined his life
And Saul was very angry, and this saying displeased him. He said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed thousands, and what more can he have but the kingdom?”
Saul got angry with God and ruined his life.
But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him,
Left out of the party and heaven
But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry.
Poubted in a pity party and missed God’s blessing
Again, it isnt always the case that anger is sinful, we should be angry at sin, at suffering and the Devil, at evil, but it is sinful the vast majority of the time that we do it. Anger is almost always a result of our selfishness.
The general rule is:
for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.
It was men that were causing quarrels and strife in this church, it was men’s anger that was hurting the church, and Paul says you men were made for better things than anger and quarreling.
Be Men of Worship and Prayer
I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling;
Lifting Holy Hands
One of those verses that makes our frozen chosen cheeks clinch
Hear the voice of my pleas for mercy,
when I cry to you for help,
when I lift up my hands
toward your most holy sanctuary.
Let my prayer be counted as incense before you,
and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice!
“Arise, cry out in the night,
at the beginning of the night watches!
Pour out your heart like water
before the presence of the Lord!
Lift your hands to him
for the lives of your children,
who faint for hunger
at the head of every street.”
Let us lift up our hearts and hands
to God in heaven:
So I will bless you as long as I live;
in your name I will lift up my hands.
And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.
Lift up your hands to the holy place
and bless the Lord!
Lifting hands is a sign of surrender to God, a sign of dependence on God. I know you’re uncomfortable with it, I am too most of the time honestly, but it can be genuine and good and holy, and it certainly is done in the Bible in prayer and in praise.
Now dont do the opposite of the passage here and cause quarreling for the sake of a small freedom, but its important to know that we have let our fears cause us to skip over some Bible words.
Instead of being angry and quarreling, be prayerful and worshipful.
A Praying man is not a Quarrelsome man, not because the man is now too weak to quarrel, but because he is now strong enough not to . . . this man now has a God that has defeated his greatest enemy (his own sin and flesh) and a God that is ruling over all things.
Men and women, put prayer in between your anger and your words, in between your anger and your actions. ESPECIALLY when the local church is involved.
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Be Women not of Pretentiousness and Comparisons
likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire,
Now again, Paul does mean in all life, but he does probably have the assembly chiefly in view
What was going on at the time it seems was that the wealthier women or the more beautiful women did their best to stand out as superior to the other women who weren’t as wealthy or weren’t as beautiful (today’s woman would of course never dream of such - or men of course - but conversely to anger this one does lean female)
Costly attire is the key clue - So women were taking strands of gold and braiding it in with their hair as a status symbol, (braided hair and hold, or pearls) to show themselves as high. Desiring to compare favorably.
One of the things I hear most often from women, especially younger women, is that they struggle with comparison. I think if you asked most women in here, certainly the younger ones, if they struggle with comparison to other women, other wives, other moms, their kids to others’ kids, 70% would tell you yes and 29% of the No’s would be lying. This isn’t new. Again certainly men have this struggle also, but normally not at the same rate or extent.
Be Women of Modesty and Self Control
Modesty
Attitude of Humility, avoiding improper self-exaltation
This is the key antonym to comparison - modesty. Christians are ok letting others win the comparison game. While the rest of the world is looking for ways to exalt themselves, the Christian is busy learning to deny herself. While the rest of the world is boasting of their strength and beauty and wealth, the Christian is busy learning to boast in her weakness so that Christ can be shown to be the Strong one.
The goal of the Christian woman is not to advance the comparison ladder, its to become more like Jesus and help others do the same.
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
1 Peter 5:5 (ESV)
Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
God wants you to be modest, (1 Tim 2:9-10) modesty by its nature is relative, but I want to emphasize how modesty is objective - that modesty is best seen as being directly connected to the heart, more than just the clothes you are wearing, its why you are wearing the clothes you are wearing. I think that helps solve the problem of its relativity/subjectivity. WHY ARE YOU DRESSING THAT WAY?
The Message of 1 Timothy and Titus (ii. Women and Their Adornment (2:9–10))
If the glorified church is portrayed in the book of Revelation as ‘prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband’
Adorn with good works
Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.
You don’t need to shine in the eyes of the world when you shine in the eyes of God, precious to your Heavenly Father, to the Ancient of Days
Gospel
Application