1 Timothy 2.1-Paul Urgently Requests Specific Detailed Requests, Reverential Prayers, Intercessory Prayers, Thanksgivings On Behalf Of All People
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Wednesday March 9, 2011
1 Timothy: 1 Timothy 2:1-Paul Urgently Requests Specific Detailed Requests, Reverential Prayers, Intercessory Prayers, Thanksgivings On Behalf Of All People
Lesson # 33
Please turn in your Bibles to 1 Timothy 2:1.
1 Timothy 2:1 begins a new section in the epistle which ends in 1 Timothy 3:16.
In this section, the apostle Paul addresses the proper conduct of the church in Ephesus.
He begins this section by urgently requesting that the Ephesian church offer up to the Father requests, prayers, intercessions and thanksgiving on behalf of all people.
The purpose was so that they might lead a peaceful and quiet life in all godliness and dignity (2:1-2).
1 Timothy 2:1 First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. 3 This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time. 7 For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying) as a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. 8 Therefore I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and dissension. (NASU)
This first paragraph in verses 1-8 can be divided into five sections.
The first is in 1-2a, which contains Paul’s urgent request to pray for all people.
The second is in verses 3 and 4 and teaches that prayer for all people is based upon the fact that it is God’s will that all people saved.
The third is contained in 5-6a, which teaches that God’s will to save everyone in the human race is demonstrated by the fact that He sent His Son Jesus Christ to give His life as a ransom for all of sinful humanity and to be the Mediator between God and all of sinful humanity.
The fourth appears in verse 7, which reveals that Paul’s spiritual gift and authority is directly tied to God’s will to save all men through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ.
The fifth and final section is a summary statement.
Though this first paragraph does address the conduct of public worship in the church in Ephesus, its purpose is really to get the church back on track with their mission to communicate the gospel to every human being on earth.
It was designed to attack the attitude and teaching of the Judaizers and those who adhere to their teaching that sought to exclude the Gentiles from God’s plan of salvation.
Thus, the growth of the church in numerical terms, not to mention in character terms is tied to Paul’s statements in this first paragraph.
1 Timothy 2:1 First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men. (NASU)
In 1 Timothy 2:1, “then” is the inferential conjunction oun (οὖν) (oon), which resumes Paul’s previous train of thought in 1 Timothy 1:12-17 after his parenthetical remarks in 1 Timothy 1:18-20 and is introducing a statement that is the result of an inference from his statements in 1 Timothy 1:12-17.
“First of all” is composed of the adverb protos (πρῶτος) (pro-toce), “first” and the genitive neuter plural form of the adjective pas (πᾶς), “of all.”
The adverb of degree protos emphasizes the urgency and priority of prayer for all men to be exposed to the gospel of Jesus Christ based upon Paul’s statements in 1 Timothy 1:12-17.
The emphasis is not on prayer in general but rather the content of the prayer in the sense that the Ephesians are to pray for all men to be exposed to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Protos does not denote first in sequence.
Rather, it denotes first in importance since prayer for all men to be exposed to the gospel of Jesus Christ for their eternal salvation is the Father’s will.
If no one gets saved, then no one will be entered into the family of God and thus there will be no growth of the church of God.
Therefore, protos emphasizes that of all that Paul will be commanding to the Ephesians, the command to pray for all men to be exposed to the gospel of Jesus Christ to receive eternal life is the most important.
Though the other commands and prohibitions in this epistle are directly related to promoting the spiritual growth of the members of the body of Christ in Ephesus and are critical for the spiritual growth of the church, these are not more important.
Rather, the salvation of lost sinners is the most important.
Spiritual growth is important but not as important as saving the sinner from eternal condemnation since if the sinner is not saved from eternal condemnation then they can never grow up spiritually.
This is why Paul mentions first in 1 Timothy 2:4 that God desires all men to be saved and then he says that the Father desires that they come to an epignosis, “experiential” knowledge of the truth, which can only take until one is first saved.
The adjective pas means “all” and refers to the rest of the commands and prohibitions that appear in 1 Timothy.
The word is a partitive genitive meaning that this urgent request to pray for all men to be exposed to the gospel of Jesus Christ in order to be saved, which is the Father’s will, is the most important of all the commands and prohibitions that are mentioned throughout this epistle.
1 Timothy 2:1 First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men. (NASU)
“I urge” is the first person singular present active indicative form of the verb parakaleo (παρακαλέω) (para-kah-leh-owe), which means “to urgently request” expressing Paul’s Spirit inspired “urgent request” that the Ephesians pray for all men to be exposed to the gospel of Jesus Christ based upon his teaching in 1 Timothy 1:12-17.
“Entreaties” is the accusative feminine plural form of the noun deesis (δέησις) (thay-ee-cease), which means “specific detailed requests.”
It refers to intercessory prayer and specifically to specific detailed requests offered up to the Father by the Ephesians on behalf of people to be exposed to the gospel of Jesus Christ for eternal salvation.
It denotes an urgent request of the Father by the Ephesians in prayer for sinful humanity who are in need of eternal salvation.
“Prayers” is the accusative feminine plural form of the noun proseuche (προσευχή) (pro-sef-hee), which refers to intercessory prayer offered up to the Father on behalf of all people but from the perspective that it is an expression of worshipping God and dependence upon Him.
“Petitions” is the accusative feminine plural form of noun enteuxis (ἒντευξις) (in-deffk-cease), which refers to intercessory prayer or in other words, prayer on behalf of another, which in our context is for all people to be exposed to the gospel of Jesus Christ in order to be delivered from eternal condemnation and receive eternal life.
This word expresses urgency and boldness (Trench).
Intercessory prayer refers to praying for both the temporal and spiritual needs of believers and unbelievers, friends and enemies (Luke 23:34; Eph 1:16-23; 3:14-19; 6:18; 1 Ti 2:1-4).
It is an expression of the love of God in our lives and, therefore, directly relates to what the Scriptures teach on love.
If we love our neighbor, we will pray for our neighbor.
The Lord Jesus Christ expressed love for those who mocked, scourged, vilified, and crucified Him by interceding for them before the Father in Luke 23:34.
Luke 23:34 But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves. (NASU)
1 Timothy 2:1 First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men. (NASU)
“Thanksgiving” is the accusative feminine plural form of the noun eucharistia (εὐχαριστία) (ef-ha-dee-stee-ah), which means “thanksgiving” and is to be offered up by the Ephesians to the Father for all people since the human race was created in the image of God even though that image has been marred by sin.
“Be made on behalf of all men” is composed of the present passive infinitive form of the verb poieo (ποιέω) (pee-eh-owe), “be made” and the preposition huper (ὑπέρ) (ee-perr), “on behalf of” and the genitive masculine plural form of the adjective pas (πᾶς), “of all” and the genitive masculine plural form of the noun anthropos (ἄνθρωπος) (ahn-throe-poce), “men.”
The verb poieo means “to offer up” and is used with reference to the act of offering up intercessory prayer for all people.
The present tense of the word is a customary present indicating that Paul wants the Ephesians to “regularly” or “make it a habit of” offering up intercessory prayer to the Father for all men.
The noun anthropos denotes a “person, human being” and is used in a generic sense for the human race and in the plural means “people.”
It is modified by the adjective pas, which is used attributively emphasizing the totality of the human race and specifically refers to unregenerate humanity.
The noun anthropos is the object of the preposition huper, which functions as a marker of participants who are benefited by an event indicating that all of unregenerate humanity are to benefit from the intercessory prayers of the Ephesians.