First Timothy for the life..

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com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. Good evening everyone and welcome once again to our Wednesday Bible study. Would you please open up your Bibles to the first letter of the Apostle Paul to Timothy, 1 Timothy chapter 2.

1 Timothy chapter 2. So this evening I hope that by the grace of God and with the help of the Spirit we're going to be addressing verse 8. But what I want us to do is to read all chapter 2 and chapter 3 and we'll finish in verse 15 in chapter 3. And the reason why I'm getting you to read this whole section is because we're going to be using verse 14 and 15 to understand this portion of scripture. So special attention to verse 14 and 15 in chapter 3.

We're reading all chapter 2, chapter 3 to verse 15. So this is the Word of God, 1 Timothy 2, verse 1. First of all, then I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving be made for all people. for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved.

and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and there is one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle, I'm telling the truth and I'm not lying, a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. I desire, then, that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands, without anger of quarrelling. 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, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness, with good works.

Let a woman learn quietly without submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach her to exercise authority over a man, rather she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve, and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. Yet she will be saved through childbearing if they continue in faith and love and holiness with self-control. The saying is trustworthy.

If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore, an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well with all dignity, keeping his children submissive. For if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church? He must not be a reasoned convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil.

Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace into the snare of the devil. Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain. They must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. and let them also be tested first. Then let them serve as deacons if they prove themselves blameless.

Their wives likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, but sovereign-minded, faithful in all things. Let deacons each be the husband of one wife, managing their children and their own households well. For those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves. and also great confidence in their faith that is in Christ Jesus. Now verse 14 and 15.

I hope to come to you soon, but I'm writing these things to you so that, if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and a buttress of the truth. Amen. The words of God, as I said. Brothers and sisters, we are going to be addressing verse 8 in chapter 2 that says, I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands, without anger or quarreling. And the reason why I got you to read the entire chapter and chapter 3 all the way to verse 14 and 15 is because I want us to pay special attention to what the apostle says in verse 14 and 15.

Let's read it again. It says, I hope to come to you soon, but I'm writing these things to you so that if I delay you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and a buttress of the truth, brothers and sisters. The apostle Paul says that he has written these things so that if he delays, people within the church will know how he or the person is to behave within the context of the church. So the Apostle is given instructions about how the church is to operate. The Apostle is given instructions about how the church is to perform activities.

And he says that he's written these things. What are those things? I would say that everything that comes before, but primarily that which is between chapter 2 and chapter 3 to that particular point, because the Apostle starts chapter 2 saying, first of all, Then I urge you that supplications and prayers and intercessions and thanksgiving be made for all people." So brothers and sisters, Paul, as we have said now many times, is writing this letter to the church at Ephesus and primarily to Timothy and to the church at Ephesus to give them instructions on how they are to operate as a church. So then everything that we interpret before, all of these things that the apostle has written, they have to be interpreted as an operation or as an activity that is meant to be conducted within the context of the church.

And what we have in verse 8 is precisely that. Verse 8 is speaking to us of an operation, of an activity that is supposed to take place within the context of the church, which is the household of God, the church of the living God. And that particular operation that the apostle is describing in verse 8 It is that men are supposed to pray in every place, lifting up holy hands without anger and without quarreling. This is that operation that the apostle is instructing to the church. So because always our aim here is that everything that we're sharing with you can be applied to the practical life of the church.

So what I want us to study this evening in this verse It is the nature of the operations of the church. What we have in verse 8 is an operation. It's an activity. It is a command. It is an instruction that has been given by Paul to Timothy to be conducted, to be performed, to be...

held or performed within the context of the church. So I want us to analyze, to study the nature of the operations of the church from this verse that we have in front of us. And I hope that the Lord may give us grace and may give us ears to see and hear what it is contained in this verse, because I want us brothers and sisters to see these operations of the church in four different points. four different points. I want us to see four different things in this verse about the operations of the church.

The first thing that I want us to see is the foundation or the basis of the operations of the church. What is that thing upon which the church founds or bases her activities or her operations? The foundation of the operations of the church. Because once we have defined the foundation of the operations of the Church, we can then determine the scope, or the extent, or the reach of the operations of the Church. And primarily in what we have in verse 8.

So not only the foundation, that which is the Church's operations is to be based upon, or founded upon, but also the extent, or the scope, or the reach of the operations of the Church. Once we have those two things, the foundation and the extent, I want us to analyze the order of the operations of the church. Because here in this verse, we have an order that is given to us of the operations of the church, the order. So not only the foundation and the extent, but also the order of the operations of the church. To then, in the end of this Bible study, I want us to see then the heart, of the operations of the church, not only the foundation of them, not only the extent of them and the order of those operations, but also the heart, the spirit, that which is within the substance of the operations of the church.

So, brothers and sisters, starts the apostle. Well, let's start with the first one. What is the foundation of the operations of the church? And I want you to pay special attention to this because the apostle is going to start this verse with three words that are going to give us the foundation, not only of this particular operation of the church, but actually of every operation of the church. He says, I, Paul, an apostle, desire then.

He is connecting his apostolic desire to something that he has already given us is something that I desire. Therefore, I desire as a result. And the result is or that which produces the desire of the apostle is what he has said before. And what he has said before, brothers and sisters, is the glorious truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ, that the gospel of Jesus Christ is available or it is the good news of salvation, not only for the Jews, but also for all men. And for that reason that we are supposed to pray for all men, for kings and people who are in authorities, because there is one God and there is one mediator between God and men, and that is the man Christ Jesus, who is the ransom for all men, brothers and sisters.

the Apostle, it is through the Gospel of Jesus Christ manifesting his apostolic desire, which becomes a command for the Church. Go back to chapter three, and I know that we've said this many times, and I know that we know these things, but read carefully to what the apostle does and to what the apostle says here. He says, I hope to come to you soon. Now, he is writing to a church that is probably 20 or 30 years old, and he says, I hope to come to you soon, but I'm writing these things to you so that if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave. I'm writing these things and what I'm putting on these letters is the standard that will tell you how the church of God is supposed to behave.

I don't know if you see the depths of that. The apostle knew the authority that he had in everything that he said and everything that he was writing to the church, that everything that he wrote was authority and was a command to the church. And I don't think that he was completely and fully aware of that particular truth in verse 8. Of course, he was aware that he was writing a scripture, the same Peter would acknowledge in 2 Peter that the writings of Paul are other scriptures. So the apostles knew that that which they were writing were the oracles of God.

But I'm not 100% sure that the apostle knew that even his desires when they come in light of the gospel of Christ, become the standard for the behavior of the life of the church. These words that the apostle use here, I desire, in other translations will be I will, that my will, my desire for the church is this. He's going to use that word only other three times. in the New Testament, and every time that he says that he's manifesting his desire for the church, he says that to Titus particularly, and also to Timothy in 2 Timothy. Brothers and sisters, the desire of a man became the standard for the operations of the church.

But we are to understand the desires of these men through the light of the gospel. Now, this you know, but this is foundational for what I'm going to say after these brief statements. Because brothers and sisters, think about this. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the framework that helps us to understand the revelation that God has given to his church under the New Testament. We cannot understand anything that God reveals to his people apart from the gospel of Jesus Christ, because the gospel of Jesus Christ is that which reveals the Son of God as the Messiah of the people of Israel as now the Savior of the people of God and of the church.

So the implications of what I'm saying is very deep, because then every truth that comes of God, once the fullness of revelation has been given, has to be understood in light of the gospel of Jesus Christ. So the gospel of Christ, there is one God and one mediator, and this is Christ Jesus, that he's a ransom for all men, not only for Israel, but also for the Gentiles, for the world. This truth becomes the substance that keeps together the truth of God revealed to the church, to the extent that this truth is revealed through the apostolic authority of Paul. I don't know. I wish I had better words to explain this.

But the depths of that is... I cannot explain how profound that is, that God was pleased that through the revelation of His Son, and the witnesses of the apostles and the prophets, He will even work providentially in the desires of His servants, so that when they desire something for the church, it represents the desires of God for His bride. So when Paul decided that this will be how the operations of the church will work and operate, so then this was the desires of God himself. And this is going to help us, brothers and sisters, to understand what comes next. because he says I desire then the foundation of these operations of the church being the word of God or the gospel of Jesus or the word of God as it is given in the revelation of the gospel of Jesus Christ through the apostolic authority he is now going to say I desire then that in every place that in every place How are we going to understand that in every place?

He says, I decide then that in every place we are going to understand it in the same way that we understood the previous three words in light of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And this is very important because many commentators say that in every place is referring only to the specific coming together of the church, the specific place that the church gathers and comes together. And I think that this is correct based on verses 14 and 15 of chapter 3, that it says that you may know how you are supposed to behave in the house of God, which is the church of the living God. I think that is true, but I think that the apostle speaks of something beyond that. The Apostle is going to use this expression another two or three times and I want us to see how the Apostle uses this expression in every place, the Apostle Paul, because I think this gives us an idea of what the Apostle means with the whole verse.

So go please to 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians chapter 1. 1 Corinthians chapter 1. 1 Corinthians 1, verse 2, he says, to the church of God that is in Corinth, And pay attention here, please, to the places that I'm going to be mentioning in these verses. He says, to the church of God that is in Corinth.

He's mentioning a region, a place, a city. To those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord, those who are in every place, and ours. He says, call to be saints together with all those in every place, speaking of those who are not in Corinth, who are in every place except in Corinth. Go to 2 Corinthians chapter 2. 2nd Corinthians chapter 2 so this is the same greek construction that the apostle uses in 1st timothy chapter 2 2nd corinthians chapter 2 verse 12 he says verse 12 When I came to Troas, this is a place, this is a city, or this is a region, to preach the gospel of Christ, even though a door was open for me in the Lord, my spirit was not at rest because I did not find my brother Titus there.

So I took leave of them and went on to Macedonia. But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere. And this is exactly the same words that are used in every place. Speaking of different regions, of different cities, of different places, and the last time that the Apostle will use this is in 1 Thessalonians 1, verse 8. Go to 1 Thessalonians.

chapter 1 verse 8 he's going to say first Thessalonians chapter 1 verse 8 For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia a place, a location, and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere or in every place, exactly the same words that the apostle used, so that we need not say anything. We need not say anything. Brothers and sisters, probably it's very obvious to us What the Apostle is now saying, that the foundation of the operations of the Church, it is upon the Word of God, as it has been revealed in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, through the apostolic authority of Paul, and that the extent of those operations is not anymore a single location, but it is everywhere in the world. that it is everywhere in the world. Now, this has many implications.

This has many implications, but the one that I want to brought to your mind is that if the Word of God is the foundation upon the operations of the church are to be based and that the extent of this foundation and the extent of these operations is everywhere, so that means that God's will for His church is that the operations of that church, of that universal church, may be the same independently of where they are. Now, I'm not saying that we're all going to behave exactly in the same way, but because we have the same authority, and because we have the same words, and because we have the same God, ultimately, the church that it is here in Australia, and the church that is in China, and the church that it is in Colombia, and the church that it is in United States, should have the same spiritual reality, and the same way of behaving or operating as a church. Now, I know that when we see outside, we see that the church behaves in diverse ways, and there's many denominations that do things in different ways. That is true. But brothers, the final authority of the operations of the life of the church is one, and that is the Word of God.

And therefore, if the operations of the Church are completely guided and submitted to that which God has said in His Word, one would expect that the more that a church grows in maturity and understanding of the Word of God, will become closer to what another church that submits to the Word of God and grows in understanding and in maturity and in sanctification will be. So the more like we are like Christ, the more that we will look like one another. I'm not saying externally or physically, because Christ will be living in us and in the life of our church, because then we are being conformed to the image of the same person. Now, I'm not saying that culture and diversity, that this is wrong, but I'm not saying that at all. But the word of God has this power to define completely the operations of the Church and the life of a person, you see the importance of submitting ourselves individually and collectively to the apostolic desires, to the apostolic writings, to the prophetic desires, to the prophetic writings, not of prophets outside of the Bible, but of the apostles and the prophets of the Bible.

Because the more that we submit to that which is written, the more that we will be working or operating upon that which is written, that which comes from the desires, the apostolic desires of the servants of God. This is very profound. The apostle says, I desire then that in every place, he doesn't say, and remember that he's writing this for a church at Ephesus, and he's writing this to Timothy. He doesn't say, I desire that you, Timothy, or I desire that the church at Ephesus, but rather he says that this letter that I'm giving you, Timothy, and this letter that I'm giving you to the church of Ephesus, that these contain truths. that are to be applied in every place.

So, brothers and sisters, what I'm saying here is that the scope, or the extent, or the reach of the authority of the Word of God for the operations of the life of the Church It is in every place. It is in every place where there is a Church of Christ. Every place where a community of Christians comes together, this book is the authority upon which they are supposed to be regulated and operate. But it is not only that God has given us a foundation, this Word of God through the Gospel of Jesus Christ, expressed in the apostolic desires, on the apostolic writings, that has an extent that is in every place, not only for the people of Israel, and not only for a particular church, but for every church. It's also that the Lord has given a particular order.

And in this case, that order that we see in this verse is directed to prayer and to public prayer within the context of the church. He will say, I desire then that in every place, not only at Ephesus, but then in every place, the men And this is not speaking as the men, as I say generic thing referring to humankind, but this is referring to male. This is referring to men. Why? Because we have the opposite, or the comparison that the Apostle gives in verse 9 that says, likewise also the women, or that women.

So he's comparing men, male, with verse 9, women, female. so he is given a particular order for public prayer he says i desire i the apostle who speaks the words of god according to the gospel of christ that has been revealed to us i desire that churches everywhere that in churches everywhere that the men that the men may pray or should pray. Now brothers and sisters, this gives us a very important teaching and a very important instruction. And that is that God is a God of order. that God is a God of order.

And now I have to say here that God is not prohibiting women of praying, but rather, as we read in chapter 3 verse 14 and 15, this is speaking of how we are supposed to behave in the context of the living church, in the context of the place of the church. So this is speaking of these public prayers, just as we do public prayers when we come together on the Lord's Day, and it is, amen, the one that publicly prays. So these are prayers that are given in this public context of the church. But what I want you to see primarily, brothers, is that God is a God of order. And the apostle could have done something very interesting here, but he decides to do something different.

The apostle could have easily gone to the Old Testament law, to the ceremonial law given to Israel, and said, just as under the Leviticus code, or just under the Mosaic law, Priests will be men, a group of men that belong to the Levites. You call them Levites, right? To the Levites. So in the same way, men under the new covenant are the ones who are supposed to lead the public prayer of the church. Rather, the Apostle is going to base his argument of comparing the role of women with the role of men, not upon the covenant that was given to Moses, but upon the creation that was performed in the beginning of the world.

Check what he does. Go to verse... Let's just read the section. He says, I decided that in every place the men should pray lifting holy hands without anger of quarreling. Likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel with modesty and self-control, not with braider hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness with good works.

Now, in this section from verse 8, what the apostle has started to do is to differentiate between the role of men and the role of women within the context of the church. So he's going to say now that he does not allow a woman to take authority over a man. And then after when he has established that he's going to speak of those men who should have authority within the context of the church, and that is elders and deacons in chapter three. And then he says, this is how you ought to behave in within the context of the life of the church in verse 14 and 15. But what he says in the middle of all of that is an argument that does not go to the mosaic law, but rather that goes to creation itself.

In verse 13, he says, for Adam was formed first, then if an Adam was not deceived by the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. Yes, she will be saved through childbearing if they continue in faith and love and holiness with self-control. Very difficult time we're going to have when we're trying to explain that section there. But what I want to point to you, brothers and sisters, is that the Apostle is not going back to the Mosaic law, but it is going back to creation. And I hope And I really hope that at least you may see it in your mind coming.

Because now, as I said to you, we interpret the operations of the Church founded upon the revelation of God that has been given to us through the Gospel of Jesus Christ, through the ministry of the Apostles. This gospel is a gospel that is not founded or that is not rooted initially in the people of Israel. This gospel is rooted initially when sin entered into the world. And this was the good news of salvation for men that then God providentially worked through the people of Israel, but then revealed to us that was for the world. So then the principle that the apostle uses here to articulate the order of the church is not based upon the covenant given to Moses.

He could have gone and said, just as the Levites were men, then the priests, or let's say the pastors or the elders of those who pray in the church are to be men. And you know what the great thing is? that when the Lord gives us time and we arrive to chapter 2, and we are in chapter 2 in 1 Peter, in verses 6 and 5, He's going to call every Christian a spiritual priest, that we are a holy nation, that we are a holy priesthood. The priesthood under the Old Testament was kept for the Levites. Now under the New Testament, that title is given to every single Christian.

So the apostle takes the argument of creation to state the order that is supposed to happen within the context of the Church. Why? Because gender distinction was not given to the people of Israel by saying, Levites are the ones that are going to be leading the temple, but gender distinction was given in the garden to Adam and Eve. Adam was created first, and then from Adam Eve was created as a help meat that will help him to protect and to keep the garden in which they had been placed. the goodness of salvation is for the world the goodness of salvation the gospel makes this available for all creation go and preach the gospel to the uttermost of the world because this is for the whole creation the principle of organization that the lord is using or that the lord through the apostle is using here goes all the way back to the story of creation in this distinction so brothers The operations of the Church are founded upon the words of God as they are revealed through the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the ministry, in the apostolic intentions and desires.

The scope of these operations of the Church, in this case prayer, is that this is to be done in every place, everywhere. This is the extent everywhere, because everywhere now there can be a people of God, of the people of God. And this is meant to be in order, in this order that the apostle is going to start giving us here. The men are supposed to do this, and the women are supposed to do this, and this is the way the men and women are supposed to relate within the context of the church, and that from men, This is the way that particular men are going to serve the Lord because the God of the Bible is a God of order. But I've said all of these things just to reach to the most important part of the Bible study, brothers and sisters, and that is the heart of the operations of the church, because in this verse here we are speaking about a particular operation, a particular activity, and that's prayer, right?

He says that the apostle desires that in every place the men may pray, and the way that these men are going to pray And I love what the apostle is going to do here, because he's saying in every place and he's using the argument of creation. But when he's going to express of the heart that a person or that a man should have in public prayer, it goes back to the mosaic covenant. He says, holy or lifting up holy hands without anger. and without quarreling. He is going to root the external operations of the church, that which we see, that which we perceive, the external operations of the church.

The apostle is going to link them and bring them back deep into the heart of the person who performs this activity. The Old Testament speaks extensively about the lifting up of hands, Lifting up of hands. You may remember King Solomon when he was in the altar. He was giving things in front of the people to the Lord. He was lifting up his hands.

Or the Psalms. The Psalms are filled with this expression that connects prayer with the lifting up of our hands. I will praise to the Lord. I will bless the Lord and I will lift up my hands. Or David would say that the Lord might receive the lifting up of his hands as a sacrifice.

Or that the Lord might receive his prayers as an incense that ascends. But I think that there is a place in Isaiah that teaches us the nature of the lifting up of hands. And I want you to go there to Isaiah chapter 1. Isaiah chapter 1. I want you to see the connection, brothers and sisters, of this expression of the lifting up of hands, or the hands while we are praying, and the context of the church, when a person is praying within the context of the church, and the hands of a person.

So, Isaiah chapter 1 verse 13. from the very beginning. Bring no more vain offerings. Incense is an abomination to me. The Bible speaks many times of prayers as incense that ascends to the cup of God.

Incense is an abomination to me. new moon and sabbath and the calling of convocations and then he says i cannot endure inequity and solemn assembly these two cannot go together endure inequity and a solemn assembly then verse 14 your new moons and your appointed feast my soul hates They have become a burden to me. I am weary of bearing them. All of these were practices or these were operations, if you want, of the Old Testament congregation or people of God that they were supposed to perform every time that they were going to meet God. These were operations of a congregation under the Old Testament.

Now we're speaking of an operation, the praying of men in the church in the New Testament. Verse 14, your new moons and your appointed feast, my soul hates. They have become a burden to me. I am weary, weary of burying them. Verse 15, when you spread out your hands or when you lift up your hands, I will hide my eyes from you, even though you make many prayers.

I will not listen. Now he says something about those hands that were spread out or lifted up. Your hands are full of blood. Brothers, when the apostle is saying that he desires that in every place the man in the public context of the church should pray, lifting up holy hands, he's not speaking about a particular physical posture. He's speaking about a reality, a spiritual internal reality that is connected with an external manifestation that happens within the context of the Church.

the hands that we lift up when we pray, or the words that we utter when we pray, or the eyes that we close before God when we pray, or whatever we do when we pray before God, it is an external manifestation that should correspond to an internal reality that is connected with the heart. God said to the Old Testament people that the lifting up of their hands was not accepted, that they will not listen to their prayers because their hands were full of blood, and not necessarily because they were openly murderers, but because they had blood within their hearts. And I want you to see this special connection, brothers, of inequity not being the reason why prayers of the saints are not accepted by God. So I want you to go to Psalm 66. Go to Psalm 66.

Please. Look what the Psalmist say here. We have a saint who is praying. We have a saint who is praying. And I want you to see how the heart situation of the one who prays is so important in the act or in the operation of praying.

In verse 17, pay attention to what he says. I cried to him with my mouth. and high praise was on my tongue. I cried to him with my mouth, or just what we just did before we started with this Bible study, I cried to him with my mouth and high praise was on my tongue. If I had cherished inequity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.

If I had cherished inequity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. Brothers, All the operations of the Church, when they are founded upon the Word of God, as it has been revealed through the Gospel and the ministry of the Apostles, and now that these operations of the Church reach the Church as a whole, in every place, in an orderly way, these operations of the Church are supposed to be done with a spiritual reality, brothers. with a spiritual reality that goes deep into the heart. So when the Apostle says that men are supposed to pray lifting up holy hands, he's not speaking of hands that have been washed with water, but he is speaking of hands that correspond to a heart that it is holy. When we reach chapter 3 in the book of Peter, we will see how the apostle exhorts men, and he says that we are to treat our wives in an understanding way because they are the weaker vessel.

And then he says something in the end of this verse, chapter 3, verse 5 or 7, I think it is, that your prayers might not be hindered. He says to the husbands of wives within the context of the Church that we are to treat the women, our wives, in an understanding way, as our weaker vessels, that our prayers might not be hindered, that our prayers might not be stopped, that our prayers might not reach, they may not reach the ears of God because of our sins or because of the inequity that we have in our hearts. And I think that James is going to give us a very good explanation or very good qualifiers of the two things that the Apostle Paul is going to attach to the lifting up of holy hands. Because he says the lifting up of the holy hands without anger and without quarreling. And I think that James is going to give us a very good explanation of that.

So let's go there please and we will finish our Bible study with those final comments. If you go to James chapter 1 verse 19. Same exact words are used. Verse 19. Look at this.

Paul has said that the men of the church are supposed to pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, and I'm telling you that you have to see the connection between the heart and prayer in the lifting up of holy hands, and the two qualifiers that the apostle gives is without anger and without quarreling. Now James is going to speak about this anger in verse 19 and 20. He says, Know this, my beloved brothers. He's not speaking to people outside of the church. He's not speaking to people that come and visit the church once or twice.

He's speaking to those who are within the context of the church and that because they have remained in the context of the church, they deserve the title of brothers and sisters. Know this, my beloved brothers. Let every person be quick to hear. slow to speak, slow to anger. The same exact word.

Why? Because the anger of men does not produce the righteousness of God. The anger of men does not bring, does not produce the righteousness of God. Then he says, therefore, put away all filthiness and rapid wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your soul. The anger of God, the anger of men does not produce the righteousness of God.

But then I want you to go to verse two, chapter two in verse one. Chapter 2, verse 1, it says, my brothers, here James is going to use the same word, quarreling, that the Apostle Paul uses in 1 Timothy chapter 2. And this quarreling, some other translations will translate it as doubting or evil thoughts. because the meaning of that word in Greek there is evil thoughts. And James gives a very good example on how these evil thoughts or this quarreling can be produced within the context of the Church.

now James chapter 2 verse 1 he says my brothers show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ the Lord of glory for if a man wearing a gold ring and a fine clothing comes into your assembly and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say you sit there in a good place while you say to the poor man you stand over there or sit down at my feet have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with quarreling or evil thoughts in the translation that is here in James chapter 2 Have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with these doubting or evil thoughts or with these quarreling brothers? external operations within the context of the Church should always correspond to a spiritual reality that is produced by the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. So the reason why the Apostle Paul takes the time to give instructions to these churches everywhere about particular ways in which we ought to behave within the context of the Living Church of God It is because he assumes that those who, by grace through faith, have been saved have in them the mind of Christ, and the mind of Christ is filled with love for the bride, and that within us we have the Spirit of Christ, we have the Spirit of God that works in us, conformity to Jesus Christ, that is externally manifested in love for one another. So then when we do, and when we perform, and when we have operations within the context of the Church, and when we pray and lift up our hands, this is done without anger, and without evil thoughts, without quarreling, with a heart that truly corresponds to the reality of the Gospel. The operations of the Church are founded upon the words of God as they have been revealed in the Gospel of Christ through the ministry of the Apostles that even the desires, the apostolic desires become commandments for the life of the Church.

And because these are commands that come from the words of God, they are applicable for churches and for the people of God everywhere. And that produces a unifying standard that should guide and should control everything that churches do, anywhere, wherever they are, everywhere. And this is meant to be done in a particular order. This order the apostle is going to expand on this order throughout this book he's going to speak of women and men as I said before and what is the role of men within the context of the church order order order because God is a God of order a God that establishes his church upon order But he also expects that all of these things that we do correspond to a spiritual reality of the heart, as we will go and see what God wants and what he desires is the character of the men and the character of the women, that which happens inside of them and not that which happens outside of them. Brothers and sisters, that when we lift up our hands to pray, that when we open our mouths to pray, that when we open our mouths to sing or to perform whatever operation of the church, to preach or to teach, that we do so because the God that we're doing it before or towards is a God that it is so clear to our eyes that has humbled us in such a way that we recognize our wickedness and our unrighteousness.

And the only thing, the only possibility that we have is God. We do it because you have saved us and because we love you out of gratitude that you saved us. And because of that salvation, we love the people that you have saved. This cannot be produced, brothers and sisters, just with imposing, with intentions, human intentions. This can only be produced by the work of the Spirit.

May God give us grace. Amen.