1 Timothy: Wage War Through Prayer

I. Introduction

A. Overview of Series

1. – Paul wrote this epistle to 1.) teach Timothy how he ought to conduct himself as a young evangelist; and 2.) teach others within the household of God how they need to live in order to honor God in teaching and living the truth.

2. We are picking up our study of 1 Timothy in 1:18, where Paul continues to open up Timothy’s eyes to what is going on in Ephesus with the false teachers and to equip him and the church in Ephesus to deal with them.

II. Body

A. 1:18-20 - Paul makes an appeal to Timothy based on what he has said up to this point to encourage him (and the church through him) so that they are not led away by the false teachers and the lures of the world.

1. Paul uses a lot of battle and soldier terminology in his epistles, and this is one example of this. Paul calls Timothy to fight in war here, and he is not talking about just one battle… This is not a brief fight… it is a long-term continual campaign.

2. And he says that this war is a good or noble campaign… He is to fight the good or noble war…

3. What we see here is that Paul is calling Timothy to the realization that he is in a spiritual battle. He’s not talking about a physical war or really even an earthly war. This is a spiritual war, fighting for the Lord and the purity of His people…

a) It is important for Timothy to see this in the situation that he is in. It can be easy to think that the battle is merely between him and the false teachers… It is NOT! He is going against the camp of Satan. We are engaged in an intimate personal conflict with the supernatural enemy of God. Paul says elsewhere to the Ephesians that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, not a human enemy, but principalities and powers and the rulers of the darkness of this world and spiritual wickedness in the heavenly places

B. This shows how difficult this task was for Timothy!

1. But he makes sure Timothy is equipped here to fight this good and noble war against the enemy.

a) Motivation to fight

(1) Paul issues a charge/command here… This is a military command… his battle order as a representative of the Apostles. He has an obligation to fight in this spiritual war

(2) Former prophecies…

(a) We don’t know exactly what these prophecies are and exactly what the circumstances were of him being commissioned as an evangelist and coworker of Paul. We are just told here that there were prophecies made regarding Timothy’s work for Christ, and we are told elsewhere that Paul and the elders laid their hands on him as they prayed so he could receive this gift and be sent out to work alongside Paul (; )

(i) – An example of a prophecy calling someone to do a certain work, accompanied by laying on of hands and prayer.

2. He also shows Timothy how to fight this war

a) Seek to have a good conscience and to trust God

(1) Remember what Paul said in vs 5-7… The goal of the command; or the proper application of God’s word is to show love for God and man, to seek to please God with a conscience that is trained by truth, and to display faith in God that is genuine… all things which the false teachers were failing in because of their motivations…

(2) He reinforces what he said in verses 5-7 here

(a) He wants Timothy to keep seeking the goal of the Apostles’ teaching (v19a) (b) And he shows us two examples of a failure to meet the goal (vs19b-20)

(i) Same men of 1:6?

b) 2:1-7 - PRAY!!!(2:1-7)

(1) Knowing that this battle is not merely man vs. man, but us against the forces of Satan, we need to see how important it is to PRAY! WE NEED GOD’S HELP!!! Without it, we are helpless against Satan and his forces!

(2) FIRST OF ALL (v1), … This is the most important part of the battle…

(3) Who Needs Prayer?

(a) ALL men/women (v1) (b) ALL who are in authority (v2)

(i) This would be a challenging one for the Ephesians…

(a) Prayers and thanksgivings for Nero?

(ii) shows us that the authorities are put into their positions by God and are servants of God

(iii) Theophilos of Antioch wrote, "The honor that I will give the emperor is all the greater because I will not worship him, but I will pray for him. I will worship no one but the true and real God for I know that the emperor was appointed by Him. Those give real honor to the emperor who are well disposed to him, who obey him and who pray for him.”

(c) ALL who need saved (v4) (d) ALL who Jesus died for (v6)

(4) Why prayer is neccessary

(a) It is commanded (2:1)

(i) Being devoted to the Apostles teachings means that we will devote ourselves to prayer because they commanded it.

(b) It helps us lead a quiet and tranquil life before God in godliness & dignity (2:2)

(i) He is not talking about here that we would live comfortable lives free from any sickness or trouble so we can do all of the worldly things we want…

(ii) I believe this is talking about the idea of living a submissive life towards our authorities in a way that displays the character of Christ and is respectable, and ultimately, gives us the most freedom and opportunity to teach others the Gospel!

(c) It pleases God (2:3)

(i) This is our ultimate goal as disciples. If we want to please God, we will seek a relationship w/ Him through prayer.

(d) He desires all to come to repentance (2:4)

(i) This includes our persecutors.

(5) The Deeper Theology for evangelistic prayer... (2:5-6)

(a) God appointed Christ (the God-Man) to be a mediator between God and man

(i) Two parties at odds w/ one another, and a third party comes in who understands the positions of both parties and helps to reconcile them.

(b) Jesus was this mediator through his sacrifice, which is described as a ransom for all

(i) … He reconciles us to God through the cross…

3. 2:8 - Application of this teaching for men:

a) Men in ALL places must pray!

(1) Men, being the ones whom God has entrusted to lead in this great work, need to be leading their families and God’s people in prayer...

(2) And the content of the prayers, based on the context, is prayer for the spiritual welfare of all men, including our authorities.

b) They must pray in a way that they will be heard

(1) Lifting HOLY hands

(a) Lifting hands was common in prayer during the first century… That is why he uses the terminology here (b) The emphasis here though, is on the “holy”

(i) Prayers offered with hands that are wicked and full of sin are not heard (; )

(c) Even leading prayers is something men should take seriously, and this leadership has some moral “qualifications” if we want those prayers to be heard

(2) w/ right attitudes towards those we are praying for

(a) without wrath or dissension, or without hatred and quarreling or disputing… (b) This applies to our authorities also, men. This is a concern I often have for God’s people, especially as we get into election season.

III. Closing

A. Are we fighting the good fight?

1. Are we seeking to show love from a good conscience and sincere faith

2. Are we fighting against Satan with the help of God’s Spirit to overcome sin.

B. Men, are we leading the Lord’s people and our families in prayer as we should? Is this a priority to us?

1. Are our attitudes right?

2. Are our hands pure?

C. Regarding who we are praying for:

1. Are we showing partiality?

2. Are we praying for those we are close to and those who are our enemies?

3. Are we praying for our country’s leaders and future leaders? Or are we too busy attacking their character and criticizing them, which contradicts many NT passages?