PRAY WITHOUT WRATH AND DISSENSION

I Tim. 2:8 ... "I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and dissension."

      One of the great benefits of being a Christian is accessibility to God through prayer. It is a profound thought that a human being -- one of the more than seven billion on the planet, which itself is no more than a speck of matter moving in a limitless universe -- may call upon the Creator with the expectation and assurance that his voice will be heard. It fills our minds with wonder that God, who spans the vast reaches of space at the speed of thought and controls completely every comet, planet, star and galaxy, will yet devote His attention to the mere human who calls upon Him out of a pure mind, with peaceful motives, and with a faithful heart. With the psalmist we are led to exclaim, "When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained; What is man that You do take thought of him? and the son of man, that You do care for him?" (Psa. 8:3-4)

      In I Kings 18 there is the story of the contest between Elijah, the prophet of Jehovah, and 450 prophets of Baal, the false god of the Phoenicians. He challenged them to arrange wood and a sacrifical bullock upon an altar and then to call upon Baal to send down fire to consume it. As the morning hours passed, Elijah watched as they persistently and fervently prayed, "O Baal, answer us!" The time passed with increasing consternation in these priests, for "There was no voice, and no one answered. ... And it came to pass about at noon that Elijah mocked them and said, 'Call out with a loud voice, for he is a god; either he is occupied or gone aside, or is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and needs to be awakened'," (vs. 26-27). But Jehovah God is no Baal! When Elijah prepared his altar with wood and ox, he also had it soaked with water. Then he prayed to God, "Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that You, O Lord, are God, and that You have turned their heart back again." (v.37). The Lord heard the prayer of His faithful servant, and then "the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench," (v. 38). Has  fire ever been known to burn stones, water and dust? It did that day, for it was not common fire. It was "the fire of the Lord that can change ANY element into heat and light. (See II Pet. 3:10)

      Though our prayers will not result in miracles like that requested by Elijah on Mt. Carmel, they can nevertheless still be efficacious, if they are offered by faith with reverence as God requires. Our initial text gives three criteria which must be met in order for our prayers to be acceptable. First, they must be offered by "lifting up holy hands." This does not literally mean that the one who prays must stretch out his open hands toward the sky, though it would be wonderful to respond that literally. The emphasis, however, is upon the word "holy." The word so translated signifies "devoted." That is, the one who prays must yield his life to God and trust God to guide him in the way meant for him to go. After all, prayer is an act of submission by an inferior to the Superior and a confession of inadequacy to One whose capacities are infinite. Second, the one who prays must empty himself of all wrath. To speak to God when you are provoked to anger by one of His policies imposing on your preferences is an act of blasphemy and not a prayer. And for anyone to think that he can acceptably pray to God when he is angry with another person is to betray gross ignorance of the teaching of Jesus. If you come to worship, and remember you are crossed up with someone, you must withhold worship, go to that person and be reconciled with him. Then you may return and worship acceptably. (See Mat. 5:23-24). Wonder how many people in a church service are proceeding in vain because of their heart being ill-disposed toward someone. When you know your congregation, it is not difficult to realize that one individual will not even speak to another, and yet he is attempting to speak to God who knows every sin in his life. (See Jas. 3:9, which is addressed to Christians.) Third, our prayers must be offered from hearts of faith. The prayer that proceeds from doubt is offered in vain and is more of a test of God's reality and power than anything else. We are told in Jas. 1:6-7 that we must "ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man expect that he will receive anything from the Lord."

THE CHRISTIAN GOAL, LOVE AND FAITH

I Tim. 1:5 ... "The goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith."

      When the Lord revealed His will for us in Holy Scripture, He set before us definite goals to reach by the application of His instruction in our life experience. Through the prophet Isaiah He declared, "As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there without watering the earth, and making it bear and sprout, and furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; so shall My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it." (Isa. 55:10-11). Sometimes we cannot visibly discern the accomplishments of God's word when it has been proclaimed, but we can be assured that it does reach the goals set by God. In I Tim. 1:5, two of these goals are named: one is love, and the other is faith. When these incomparable spiritual entities are formed in one's inner being, they soon manifest themselves outwardly in many wonderful ways.

      As the instruction from the Lord has its impact upon the heart and mind of people, at least upon those who consent to listen, learn, and obey, it generates love within their hearts. This is the "agape" love, love in its highest and purest essence that characterizes the very nature of God, (I Jno. 4:8 ... "for God is love"). It is the kind of love that operates when it's not recognized, appreciated, or returned. Notice that I Tim. 1:5 says this "love is from a pure heart." Such a beautiful spiritual force cannot be conceived in a heart that is polluted by moral filth, excited by evil imaginations, or coerced by unholy desires. We are taught in Pro. 4:23 to "watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life." The heart must be purified before love at its truest and best can generate and then grow to maturity there. Nor can a heart that is once pure and conceives love bring it forth into action in one's outer life when that heart is allowed to receive and entertain corruption. In Mat. 13:22, in the Parable of the Sower, Jesus said, "The one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful." Our Lord's phrase, "the worry of the world," includes the moral pollutants which defile the heart and choke out the word, the objective of which is to plant and then nurture love within the heart.

      Faith is the other goal of planting God's word in a human life. This purpose is also emphasized in Rom. 10:17, "Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ." But faith, like love, will not flourish where there is a mind of insincerity. The lead text above uses the phrase, "a sincere faith," and indicates that one's faith must be genuine and authentic, not the pretended faith of those who come into Christian fellowship for selfish, unspiritual reasons. Pretense and hypocrisy preclude faith in direct proportion to their activity within the heart. The beauty and value of a true Christian life is apparent to most people, who therefore desire to be identified as Christians. But it requires diligent effort, self-denial, and sacrifice, exertions which do not appeal to most people. Rather, "the pleasures of sin" (Heb. 11:25) are much more appealing and popular because they bring immediate gratification, even if it is only "passing." Consequently, it is easy, and therefore all so common, for people to put on a mask of Christian faith to enjoy the benefits of that identity at the same time they are indulging in the pleasures of sin. The "good conscience" mentioned in the text, however, is offended by this dichotomy within the personality and acts to prevent it. Being open and receptive to the guiding power of God's instruction, it not only eliminates pretense from the heart to let faith grow with complete sincerity, but it also purifies the heart to receive the richness of divine love.

NEVER TIRE OF DOING GOOD

II Ths. 3:13 ... "Brethren, do not grow weary of doing good."

      Real Christianity is an active religion. It requires its adherents to commit themselves with energy and persistence in various kinds of activity described in its book of divine guidance, the New Testament. There are religions, however, that are characteristically passive. To enter one of them requires compliance with a prescribed ritual, or perhaps testifying to a spiritual experience one is supposed to have had. From then on the initiate is considered to be an adherent, whether he does anything further or not. He may not attend the regular assemblies, participate in worship activities, study the accepted sacred writings, or try to persuade anyone to enter that religion. But because he complied with the initial requirements for acceptance into the system, he is always considered to be a member.

      The Founder of Christianity, who is its ultimate example and standard (I Pet. 2:21), established the pattern for every disciple in Jno. 9:4, to "work the works of Him who sent Me (Jesus), as long as it is day; night is coming, when no man can work." God sent His Son to the world on a mission that was a very comprehensive and with a well defined set of things to be done. He gave Jesus a specified period of time (signified by "day") in which to accomplish those things. Jesus felt it urgent to work steadily to fulfill the mission, realizing that an end (signified by "night") was fast approaching to terminate it. It is not different with His disciples. To us He has declared that "not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven" (Mat. 7:21). God looks not only for the occasion when someone turns to Him in faith and obedience to the initial commands, but also for the lifetime of uninterrupted occasions when that individual persists in doing the many provisions of His will.

      "Well doing" (KJV) is an archaism in English. Now we prefer to say "doing good," (as in the NAS) or "constructive action." In either phrasing the meaning is quite clear. It is important that we recognize the thought expressed to be that of a fixed standard by which human activity can be evaluated and then judged to be either good or evil. The Christian affirms the Bible to be the fixed system of truth revealed by God as that standard. And that Source itself urges us to use it always to make such evaluations in the effort to determine which actions are good and to be followed and those that are bad and to be avoided.

      Actions that are good turn out to be those that respond to God's expressed will, that reflect His glory by our lives, that complement the effort to realize His goals for human life and benevolently affect the lives of other people. The encouragement given in II Ths. 3:13 is for Christians who have identified these actions and learned to practice them without ever growing weary. Becoming tired of doing good is "spiritual burnout," the result of losing faith and love and the recognition of the essential meaning involved in such activity. It gains impetus in proportion to an apparent failure of such efforts to produce effects that are desired, favorable, pleasant and encouraging to one's sense of self-esteem.

     It is said that to recognize the cause of a problem is a long step toward its solution. To ward off the tendency to grow weary in "well doing" consequently challenges us to maintain our faith and love at the highest possible level, to study and meditate, to renew continually that basis of meaning in spiritual activity, and to keep ourselves convinced that indeed our "toil is not in vain in the Lord," (I Cor. 15:58), no matter what the perceived effects appear to be.

STAND FAST BY GOD'S WORD

II Ths. 2:15 ... "Stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us."

      When I was young, an elderly man told me about an experience he had as a boy not long after the year 1900. He was helping his father harvest wheat on their farm in West Tennessee when a tornado passed within a short distance of them. It came upon them so quickly that, being in the middle of a large field, they did not have time to run for cover. His father yelled to him to lie prone on the ground and cling to the bottom of a small sapling. Although he was battered by the terrific force of the wind, he was not swept away and killed because the young tree enabled him to stay in place.

      The word of God serves the same purpose in the life of anyone who is willing to use it. As the seasons of life pass us by, we are all subjected to mighty storms. Excluding the natural phenomena of weather, there are still the tempests that rage just as surely in other dimensions of life. We each must face such gales as evil temptations, failure to reach desired goals, the disloyalty of friends, accidents, disease, the death of loved ones, and countless other calamities and tragedies assault us. God offers us all the help we need to meet and cope with adversities by giving us the Bible, the book of His wisdom. We are assured in II Pet. 1:3 that God "has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence." There is no upheaval in life, no catastrophe, no affliction, that can move us away from our place in the Lord when we stand fast in our faith in God and hold on to the truth we have learned from His word.

      In the lead text above, God's word is referred to as "traditions," some of which are oral ("by word of mouth") and some of which are written ("by letter from us"). Tradition is usually understood to be a custom or pattern of human activity which has developed over time and has become established in culture. In fact, critics of the New Testament claim that the gospel was for many decades mainly in an oral form. And as such, it was not united or consistent in content. Those who related it are claimed to have gradually embellished the original material until the result lost sight of reality. They assert that the true personality of Jesus, the literal details of His ministry, and the actual content of His teaching, are lost behind the successive accretions of exaggeration and fanciful myth. For well more than a century liberal theologians have devoted their energy to the "quest for the historical Jesus" and to the effort to "demythologize" the New Testament.

    But the word "traditions" in II Ths. 2:15 does not indicate the oral transmission of a body of doctrine that gradually changed until it was finally committed to writing late in the First Century and early in the Second. The transmission of the gospel was certainly oral at first, but it was as fixed in form as if it had been engraved in stone. Jesus told His apostles that upon His departure "the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name ... will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you," (Jno. 14:26). This Spirit from God was in the apostles as they came into the nations and cities of the First Century, guiding them at they taught so they would present nothing other than the truth of Jesus' life, the reality of His miraculous deeds, and the actual content of His message. Nothing was added to it from human imagination, nothing was taken from it that challenges human credence, and nothing was altered within it to make it more palatable to human taste. When this oral tradition was finally put down in written form to become the book we call the New Testament, its content was still the fulness of reality. It is because of the utter reliability of this ancient document that we may accept it with total confidence as the truth and use it as the unmoveable foundation upon which to build lives that will extend into a beautiful and glorious eternity,