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Your name cries out from the mountains that You are the one and true God. You want everyone to know that. So, Lord, give us the boldness we need to proclaim Your name. Lord, we just thank You this morning.

Good morning! How are you guys doing? Would you take out your Bibles while you're standing and open them to First Timothy, chapter 2? If you do not have a Bible this morning, you can raise your hand, and one of our ushers will bring you one. First Timothy, chapter 2, is where we are at. First Timothy is right near the end of your Bible. If you open to the very last book, the Book of Revelation, and turn to the left, you will find First and Second Timothy.

We are going to pick it up at verse 8 today. In First Timothy, chapter 2, verse 8, Paul writes, "I desire therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting. In like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair, gold, or pearls, or costly clothing, but which is proper for women professing godliness with good works. Let a woman learn in silence with all subjection. Nevertheless, she will be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith, love, holiness, with self-control."

Father, we need Your wisdom, so teach us, we pray, in Jesus' name. Amen. You can be seated.

Well, there you have it. God is misogynistic, or Paul is a misogynist—He-Man Woman Haters Club or something. Boy, oh boy, oh boy, the Bible!

Some will say that the Bible is a 2,000-year-old work created by men who wanted to maintain the status quo of a hierarchical, repressive society against women. They argue that it does not align with our 21st-century progressive values and all that we have accomplished in the area of liberation, especially in the last several generations since the 1960s. Consequently, this book, and especially passages like the one we are reading today, is considered by some to be a danger to society. If this is a danger to society, then certainly this place is a danger to society, and it follows that I, the teacher, am a danger to society as well.

There are some who would view this Scripture and the people who teach it as public enemy number one in certain segments of society. There is no question that this is a difficult passage of Scripture—difficult to understand and even more so to preach, especially in light of our current cultural context here in the U.S. I was tempted to move right on into Chapter 3 and suggest that you read commentaries or find teaching on the internet for this one. However, I can't do that because Chapter 3 follows from what we are reading here. In one sense, this is kind of a preface to what we will see in Chapter 3, which deals with leadership and servants within the church.

It is really important to note that what we read here in verses 8 through 15 of First Timothy Chapter 2 is not understood without the context of Chapter 3. These passages go together, and we must understand them as one teaching. Though we won't be able to look at it as one teaching in this session, it will take us some time to get through Chapter 3. Therefore, we need to see this in context.

21st-century progressive Western culture does not like passages like this one, which is interesting to me. Why does 21st-century Western culture have such an issue with what the Bible has to say?

As it relates to gender and roles between genders, the reason the 21st-century Western culture has an issue with it is that they look at a passage like this and claim that what the Bible has to say on this issue is the reason for inequity and indignity for women in culture. They argue that this is what causes such things. On that point, I would object.

If it is true, as the vocal minority in our nation and in the Western world suggests, that the Bible is the cause of the repression of females, then we should be able to look to other parts of the world and see that they are the champions for women's rights. You would think that would be the case; however, if you start to actually look around the world, you see that this is not true.

For instance, if you go to Africa and examine the tribalistic, animistic cultures, you will find that females have been significantly repressed, and there is severe suffering, inequity, and indignity in many of those places within a male-dominated society. If you move from there to the Middle East, which has largely been under the teachings of the Quran and Islam for many centuries, you will see that women also suffer from repression and face inequities and indignities.

Continuing eastward, you find yourself in India, the largest nation in the world, which has been under the teachings of Hinduism for many centuries. In this system, there are 330 million gods, and there is no such thing as gender equality. In the capital of India today, New Delhi, it has been referred to as the "rape capital of the world" because there is no equity or dignity, nor value placed upon women in that society.

If you continue to move further east to those nations in the Far East that have been largely under the teachings of Buddhism, let me read to you from one of the ancient teachings of Buddhism. It states that the appropriate aim of a woman in Buddhism is to aspire to be reborn as a man, suggesting that being born as a female is the result of bad karma.

Karma, if you look at what has been, well, since the 1950s, a secular society called a secular society in China, which has a great influence from Confucianism and Buddhism, you will see that women clearly do not have high value. This is especially true under the political leanings of the one-child policy in China. For many years, if you gave birth to a female child, there was infanticide. Many times, those girls would be put to death.

Since we have been able to determine the sex of a baby before birth for many decades, abortion has become a standard, commonplace practice for many couples who find out they are going to give birth to a female child. Therefore, you cannot, with a straight face, say that the Bible is to blame when we look at the world and realize that this is the reality.

I will say, however, that the Bible does tell us why this is the case. Why do we live in a world that has this unfortunate reality, the indignity and inequity that is often seen in many cultures between the genders? The Bible tells us that the world we live in is broken because of sin. We live in a broken world; therefore, there is inequity and indignity the world over.

Throughout history, and in many places even still today, there are women who suffer simply because they are women. That is the only reason they endure mistreatment. Now, might I be so bold as to point out, and maybe this will get me into even more trouble, that when women in 21st-century Western cultures scream foul about the indignities and inequities they have suffered, there is a sense in which it is like a cow or sandy Aegon being upset and complaining about the rain.

There is rain, and when it rains, we complain. However, the amount of rain is just not that much. The amount of indignities and inequities suffered in our culture, relatively speaking, is not very much. That is not to say that we do not have inequities and indignities for women in our culture; we certainly do.

This last week, we've all seen it in the news. One of the big kingpins of Hollywood has been brought down, and rightly so, because of his mistreatment of women. He will probably be prosecuted, and that's a good thing. He should be, and we should all say amen to that.

These things do happen; it is an unfortunate reality of the broken, fallen world we live in. That being the case, if the Bible contains the gospel, which is the good news for humanity, we should expect that where the gospel has gone, it should elevate the value and dignity of women. What do we see? In every culture where the value and dignity of women have been championed and have been on an upward trajectory, those are nations that have the influence of the Bible. We should acknowledge that.

Unfortunately, secular social scientists often do not acknowledge this truth. Where the Bible has had an influence, we have seen the movement of value and dignity for women improve. I would suggest to you that this comes from the influence of the Bible.

So, how do we approach a hard text like this? There are a number of them in the Scriptures; this is not the only one. We can go to Ephesians chapter 5, or to 1 Peter chapter 3. We can look at several passages that deal with the issue of gender roles within the kingdom of God. We must ask ourselves how we deal with this difficult passage.

First, we need to acknowledge that it is a hard text. It is so challenging that oftentimes churches and pastors will skip over it. I've had a number of people this last week ask, "Are you really going to go there?" Well, yes, because that's what we do here. We go through the Bible. We go through the Bible because we believe that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is useful for doctrine, which is teaching, for rebuke—sometimes we need to be rebuked by good, solid teaching—for correction and for instruction in righteousness, so that the man or woman of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. Even this passage is useful, but it is a hard saying.

Point number one on your outline: hard sayings are hard for a reason.

Sayings are hard for a reason. Big problems never have easy solutions. If they had easy solutions, they would not be big problems. We have a big problem in the world because of the brokenness of this world, which is the result of sin. This big problem of brokenness does not have easy solutions, and so we come to hard sayings like this one, and they are hard for a reason.

When we encounter a hard text of the Bible, there are at least four primary ways that we can approach the text. These are four primary presuppositions, if you will, that we can bring to a hard passage.

The first presupposition is to approach a hard passage with the view that the Bible is good. Therefore, any disagreement that I have with it is probably due to misunderstanding or misuse by someone else. I can come to the hard sayings of the Bible and acknowledge that they are difficult, but I will assume from the outset that the Bible is good.

The second way is to come to a text like this and say that the Bible is mostly good, but there are some places that are overly influenced by the native historic culture of the people who wrote it. Consequently, we cannot take everything the Bible says at face value; not all of it can be trusted because it was influenced by the culture of the day.

The third way is to view the Bible as an example of an ancient understanding that is mostly not helpful for our 21st-century progressive culture.

Finally, there is the fourth way to approach the Bible, which is to assert that the Bible is wrong and that its teachings are dangerous. This perspective claims that we have progressed far beyond our need for it. There is a vocal group in our day that is pushing this view on the Bible quite a bit. Some key names in this group include Richard Dawkins and the late Christopher Hitchens. Hitchens wrote the book "God Is Not Great," and his position was that the Bible is dangerous, with its teachings being immoral. One of the most vocal individuals in our nation today is a person who aligns with this perspective.

There is a person by the name of Sam Harris who appears on the Bill Maher show all the time. He has a very popular podcast, and I’ll admit I listen to his podcast because I find him interesting. However, his position is that the Bible is immoral, that we don’t need its teachings, and that it is dangerous. He believes we should keep it away from people. Richard Dawkins has gone on to say that Christian parents who teach their kids the Bible should be prosecuted for child abuse. That is his position because, in his view, the Bible is dangerous.

There are probably dozens of little stops in between these four points. You might say, “Well, I’m not sure I agree with that,” or “I’m not sure I agree with this side,” so you find yourself somewhere in the middle between these extremes. However, there are different stops, and somewhere in between these is where most people will fall in our culture today.

Of course, you would rightly assume that I believe the Bible is good and that any disagreement I have, or we have, with it is due to a misunderstanding or a misapplication of the things presented in the Scriptures. The Bible has been misused, and I think we should be very honest about that. There have been those who have taken passages like this from the Bible and misused them. They can misuse them intentionally because they have a certain position or view they want to uphold, or they can misuse them out of ignorance. Whatever the case, they have misused them.

Just because there is a misuse of some teachings in the Bible does not mean that the Bible is bad. You see, you can take something good, like the Bible, and give it to someone whose heart is wrong, and they will use it for wrong. They will misuse it. Alternatively, you can take the Bible, which I believe is good, and give it to someone who doesn’t understand it. They may misuse it out of ignorance, potentially causing harm to others. I would suggest that this has been the case with Bible passages like this one; they have been misused either intentionally or out of ignorance.

Therefore, we want to approach these passages delicately. We want to approach them with a proper understanding so that we can properly apply and live out what the Scriptures say. I come from the presupposition that this is good and that it is written for our good by our good God, who desires that we live in a way that honors Him.

It is most good for us and for society. If we're going to approach it delicately and for understanding, we need to approach it in its proper context. This is always a really important point for us at our church: we want to make sure that we understand the Bible in context. This includes the context of what is said around it, the context of the day in which it was written, and the nature of God. We need to take all of this into account because every text taken out of context leaves us with a con. So, we have to be careful; we need the context.

What's the context for this passage? It is found just one page to the right in First Timothy, chapter 3, down at verse 14. Look at what Paul says: "These things I write to you." He is telling us why he is writing. In verse 15, he continues, "Though I hope to come to you shortly, I would rather tell you these things in person so that we can understand it." There is some nuance here that I would explain, but these things I write to you so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the Church of the Living God, the pillar and ground of truth. I want you to know how to conduct yourself in the church as well.

This makes sense because Paul had left Timothy in a church in the city of Ephesus, a church that was off course and having some problems. Paul said to Timothy, "I'm going to leave; I have to go somewhere. You're going to stay, and you're going to help set things in order here at the church. You're going to get a church that is off course back on course."

So, after Paul left, probably just within a few weeks, he writes to Timothy and says, "Listen, I'm writing these things to you so that you will know how you should conduct yourself in the church, so that you can instruct the leaders in the church on how they should conduct themselves." If you remember, if you've been here with us over the last five weeks, we went through chapter 1. There, Paul was telling Timothy where the proper place of preaching sound doctrine is within the church. The church needs to be committed to teaching what is true and right: sound doctrine. So, that's how the book opened.

They teach sound doctrine, and when we got into chapter 2, we started that last week. You can check these out online if you haven't been with us. Last week, Paul opened chapter 2 with the proper place and priority of prayer within the church. This is how you conduct yourself in the church. We need to be those who are committed to sound doctrine, and we need to have a priority on prayer, as he has taught so far.

Then we get into this section right here, verses 8 through 15, which deal with the proper place and role of men and women within the church. When we get to chapter 3, the first half will deal with leaders in the church, while the second half will address deacons, or servants, in the church. All of this is so that you might know how you should conduct yourself within the house of God.

Point number two on your outline: God determines what is proper for His people. Understand that there are people in our culture who do not want to live under the rule and authority of God. That's fine; they can choose not to live under His authority. We live in a society today that says, "We will not have this man and what he has spoken rule over us." Okay, that's fine, but there are outcomes. Everything has a consequence.

There are consequences to saying we will not have the rule of God over us. However, if we are going to be those people who say, "Listen, we want to have the rule of God over us," it is because we desire the benefits that God gives to those who are a part of His kingdom. One of those benefits is called eternal life.

One of the benefits of being part of the kingdom of God is that the kingdom endures for eternity. If you want eternal life, you have to be a part of the kingdom of God. To be a part of the kingdom, you must bring yourself under His rule. If you bring yourself under His rule, He gets to determine what is proper for His people. God gets to say, "This is how things work in My kingdom."

If you do not want to be a part of that kingdom, that is perfectly fine, but there is a consequence: there is no eternal life outside of His kingdom. The Bible describes eternal damnation outside of His kingdom. You can choose to say, "I don't want His rule over me," and that is fine, but God determines what is proper for His people. Therefore, we should seek to understand properly what God wants for His people so that we can align ourselves with it.

Says this in First Timothy, chapter 2. Look at verse 8: "I desire therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting." We opened this chapter previously with the exhortations toward prayer.

Chapter 2 begins with, "Therefore, I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings, and for all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceful life in all godliness and reverence." This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

For there is one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Jesus Christ, who gave Himself a ransom for all to be testified at due time. For which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle. I am speaking the truth in Christ; I am not lying, a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

So we started with this: you need to maintain a high priority of prayer within the Church of God. Therefore, because there's a high priority of prayer within the church, He says, "I desire therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands without wrath or doubting."

Point number three on your outline: godly men do godly things in every place. Men, if you're a man today, if you're a Christian man today—that is, you have put your trust in Jesus for salvation and you have been named by His name—God, through the Apostle Paul, has a word for you.

Christian men, here you are to be a Christian man not just in church. That's what Paul says here in this passage: "I desire therefore that men pray everywhere." That word "everywhere" in the original language is three words, and it means "in every place."

You are not just to be a man of God who does spiritual things in church. Prayer is a spiritual exercise. You govern yourself after spiritual things in every place, not just when you're gathered in this place, but in every place.

Prayer within the church, which prioritizes prayer, should affect men within that church. When they are praying privately within the body of Christ, it changes the way they interact with the world on a regular daily basis.

Might I suggest, men, that if we think the teachings for women in Ephesians chapter 5, 1 Timothy chapter 2, and 1 Peter chapter 3 are important, we should also expect that the teachings for men are important as well. If we believe that women should follow the patterns taught in the Scriptures, then if you want a woman to follow those patterns, you better follow the pattern spoken to you. You cannot expect a woman to adhere to the teachings presented in the Scriptures if you are not following the things that God has called you, as a Christian man, to do. Godly men do godly things in every place.

So, guys, if you thought coming here today meant I would finally give it to them, sorry, not sorry. God has a word for the guys first. It may be shorter than what He says to the women in this passage, but He has a word for us. The first part is that godly men do godly things in every place.

Now, you may say, "Hold on a second. It says that I desire therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands." Last week, at the close of our service, I had us all stand and lift up holy hands. I understand that, but that's not exactly the teaching of this passage. Though I had you do that last week, it was really to bring us into a place and an attitude of prayer, with our hands lifted up to the Lord. There are ancient depictions of the early church with their hands lifted up in praise, but this is not necessarily talking about the posture or position of people in prayer.

He says here, "I desire that men pray everywhere, in all places, with holy hands." The idea of holy hands has a deeper meaning, which is revealed as we begin to look into the Old Testament of the Bible. The concept of holy hands is that when you come to appear before God, your hands are holy because they have not been given to things that are unholy. So, when it says here that you should have holy hands in every place, it conveys the idea that you are not just holy when you come to church, but you live a life of holiness.

That is seeking to exalt holiness and righteousness in your life in every place, including the church. They say, "Well, where do you get that?" Well, in the Old Testament, the book of Isaiah, chapter 1, God is speaking against the children of Israel 2,800 years ago because they lived a dualistic life. They lived one life at the temple and another life entirely in their daily lives. Between the Sabbath, they were offering false god worship on idol altars throughout the week, and then they came to God's house to offer another service to God in the temple.

God says, "I don't want this." He says this to them in Isaiah chapter 1: "When you come to appear before me at the temple, who has required this of your hands? You have trampled my courts. Don't bring any more of your futile sacrifices. Incense is an abomination to me. Your New Moons, your Sabbaths, your calling of assemblies—I cannot endure iniquity in the sacred meeting. Your New Moons and your appointed feasts, my soul hates them. They are a trouble to me; I am weary of bearing them."

When you spread out your hands, here's the key point: "I will hide my eyes from you. Even though you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood." Now, not literally; they didn't literally have hands full of blood, but their hands were given to unrighteous things throughout the week. Then they came to God and said, "Here we are, lifting our hands, worshiping God," and God says, "I don't want that."

In another passage in the same book, Isaiah chapter 59, he says, "Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened that it cannot save, nor is His ear heavy that it cannot hear; but your iniquities have separated you from your God. Your sins have hidden His face from you so that He will not hear you. For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity. Your lips have spoken lies; your tongue has muttered perversity."

Where did this blood on their hands come from? The prophet tells us in another place, the prophet Ezekiel. In Ezekiel chapter 23, he gives us an understanding about where this comes from, that their hands were full of blood. In verse 37, Ezekiel 23:37 states, "For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands. They have committed adultery with their idols."

So it's not just adultery outside of their marriage; it's adultery away from their husband, God, with idols, and blood is on their hands. They have even sacrificed their sons, whom they bore to me, passing them through the fire to devour them. Moreover, they have done this to me.

They have defiled my sanctuary on the same day and profaned my Sabbaths. For after they had slain their children with their idols, the same day they came to my sanctuary to profane it. Indeed, thus they have done in the midst of their house.

When we read here in First Timothy, chapter 2, that men should be men of spiritual things everywhere, in every place, and that they should have holy hands, the idea is that you are not giving yourself to idolatry in other places and then coming to church and thinking everything is okay. What is the big objection that non-Christians often have against Christians? They say the church is full of hypocrites.

What is a hypocrite? Someone who lives a dualistic life. They appear very holy and good when they are in this place at church, but then when they are outside of these walls, not so much. So, men, are you engaged in the things of the Spirit of God in every place, or is it just when you come to this place? Paul says, "I desire therefore that men pray everywhere with holy hands."

They may ask, "How do we get holy hands?" Well, God, by His grace, makes us holy internally. If you are here today, by the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, He has made you holy before God. We are holy and blameless before God. How did this happen? He who knew no sin became sin for us, that we might be the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.

However, though we stand holy before God, we oftentimes do not stand holy before people. So, how do we make that a part of our lives? I love the passage in Philippians, chapter 2, verse 12. It says, "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." You have to take the salvation that God gave you; He made you holy, and you have to work it out.

It's like this: all of you were created by God, and He gave you muscles inside your body, underneath your skin. But if you want them to come out, you have to work them out, right? You have to exercise. Paul says this to Timothy later on: "For bodily exercise profits little." How many of you know that is true? Bodily exercise has a little bit of profit here and now, but godliness is profitable unto all things, having the promise of things that are now and those to come.

Things that shall be so we can exercise ourselves in godliness. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. God already saved you; you're whole inside. He wants you to work it out so people see those holiness muscles starting to come through.

How does that work? The very next verse, Philippians 2:12, says, "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to do His good pleasure." We’ve got to work it out and make it a part of our lives. The godly Christian praying man should be known for the distinctive quality of holiness among his peers in every place, everywhere. Furthermore, he should live this spiritual life, praying and exercising spiritually without wrath.

Therefore, I exhort, first of all, down to verse eight: "I desire therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands without wrath." I think it is not too far off to say that the natural disposition of fallen men is to be temperamental and easily angered. That is the natural disposition of the fallen man. By God's grace, the Christian man has a new nature. If anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation; all the old things have passed away. Behold, everything has become new.

We have a new nature if you're a Christian today, and so we should do those things which are proper for men professing godliness with good works, just like it says down in verse ten. The women should do that which is proper for women professing godliness with good works. Men, we should do that which is proper for men who profess godliness, who say with their mouths they are Christians. We should do the right things to live that out in our lives because we've been saved by grace through faith, and that not of ourselves.

Now, it may not be evident to you now in my life, but I once was a somewhat temperamental person. Quiet, yes. I have family members in the front row here, and I had a bad temper. In fact,

If you ask my family, they'll tell you that when I was younger, around 14 or 15 years old, I had a bad temper. Now, that's not all uncommon; you find some high school-age young people going through hormonal changes who are kind of temperamental. There were some broken things and some holes in walls. I'm not happy about that, but that's a reality. I had a bad temper.

There came a point in my life that I remember very distinctly. I was a freshman in high school, and it was interesting how God used a very natural thing to reveal this to me. How many of you remember the movie "Schindler's List"? We had to watch that when I was in ninth grade. I watched this movie, and I must admit, as a Christian who had already prayed to receive Christ, I was not a good witness of what it meant to be a Christian.

As I watched the movie, I found that I identified more with the character who was the general over the Nazi camp, who was not a nice person, than I did with Oskar Schindler. That bothered me. I remember saying, "Lord, I don't want to be like that." You know what I found? God had already given me the ability, by His Spirit, to not be like that, but I needed to do something.

Galatians chapter 5 tells us that the works of the flesh are evident; they are clearly seen. One of the things that is spoken of as a work of the flesh is outbursts of wrath. Anyone want to be honest for a moment? Have any of you ever had an outburst of wrath? Just lift up your hand. You're right; outbursts of wrath are called works of the flesh. That didn't come from the Spirit of God; it came from you. It's a work of the flesh.

But the passage goes on to say that the fruit of the Spirit is different. There are nine of them listed, but I just want to highlight four: the fruit of the Spirit is long-suffering, kindness, gentleness, and self-control. Then, in verse 25 of Galatians chapter 5, it says, "If we live in the Spirit," which means if you are a Christian and have the Spirit of God in you, "let us also walk in the Spirit."

So, what do I need to do when I prayed and said, "God, I don't want to be temperamental and have outbursts of wrath"? I realized that I needed to walk in the Spirit.

Spirit not fulfilling the desires of your flesh means you shouldn't lose your temper because you're impatient or irritable. Having a bad day does not give you the right to be a jerk. It might make it very clear that you're a jerk, but it doesn't justify that behavior.

Point number four on your outline: godly men walk in the Spirit, and it shows in every place. The praying Christian man should seek to have a distinctive life characterized by holiness without wrath. Holiness is the new nature, while wrath is the old nature. You are a new creation if you're a Christian man.

In 1 Timothy 2:8, it says, "I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting holy hands without wrath and doubting." Some Bible versions translate "doubting" as "disputing." There is discussion about what this means. Does it refer to praying to God without any sort of lack of faith, praying with full faith? That could be one interpretation. Or does it mean without disputing, indicating that we should not be defensive or argumentative with others? I think it probably does mean without disputing.

In Philippians 2:12, it says, "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, willing to do His good pleasure." The immediate next verse states, "Do all things without complaining and disputing." The same word translated as "disputing" or "doubting" here is used in that passage.

Is your life, Christian man, characterized by disputes and defensiveness towards people, leading to temperamental outbursts of wrath and anger? Is that what you're known for as a man professing godliness? It shouldn't be.

I was driving down here yesterday. We had a men's breakfast here yesterday morning, and I live out in Sam Valley. So, I'm driving on Old Sam Squirrel Road. If you've been out there, you know it's a two-lane road and kind of curvy. I see accidents out there all the time, with a double yellow line the whole way. I'm just driving, listening to music.

I was really paying attention to who's behind me as I looked forward. It was early in the morning when finally, a little sporty red car with tinted windows went flying around me. It broke over the double yellow line on a blind curve and kind of gave me a look as it sped by. My initial inclination was not at all godly, but I thank God for the Spirit of God in me; He is a restraining influence.

Our lives are to be characterized by holiness, our new nature, and not by wrath or disputing. Ephesians chapter 4 says to put on therefore the new man, which is created in righteousness and true holiness, and to put off the old man, which is characterized by anger, wrath, malice, unforgiveness, theft, adultery, fornication, and all these other things. Lay that aside because you are a new creation. As much as is possible, live at peace with all people.

Point number five on your outline: godly men seek peace and pursue it. This idea of seeking peace and pursuing it comes from a verse that may sound familiar to you. It is found in 1 Peter chapter 3, where Peter quotes from the Old Testament, specifically from the Psalms. He says, "For he who would love life and see good days..." How many of you here today would love to live a good life and see good days? Come on, lift your hands up! We would!

Well, here he is going to give us an algorithm, a step-by-step process to loving life and seeing good days. In 1 Peter chapter 3, verse 10, it states: "He who would love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit. Let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayers, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil."

I think this is probably not the message you expected.

Today, I think this is the message that God has for us. We can't go into the passage that deals with a woman's proper conduct within the Church of God if we don't first start with what He says to men. We who are professing godliness need to be those who are living out holiness. We don't do it perfectly, but we are seeking, by God's grace and power, to live out holiness in every place, without wrath and without disputing. By God's grace, that can happen in every place.

Would you stand with me as we close and pray, asking God to do this in us so that we can work it out as we go out into the mission field in just a few minutes?

Father, thank You for Your grace. It was by Your grace that You have saved us, brought us near, and made us holy. None of us, by our own works or energy, could make ourselves righteous and holy. But Jesus, You did what we could not do to make it so that we could stand before You with holiness.

I pray, God, that we would not only be those who are holy before You because of the work that You've done, but that we would work out that holiness before our peers. They should see righteousness and holiness as a part of our lives, and maybe it would even be a surprise to them because they knew us before, and now they know us after.

So, God, do that work in us that we would shine brightly, because people would see our good works and glorify You, our Father in heaven. God, make this a reality in my life and the lives of my brothers here today. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.