What’s the difference between a piano and a fish? You can tune a piano, but you can’t tuna fish!

While you may have never wondered about the difference between a piano and a fish, you may have wondered about the difference in the various types of prayer that Paul mentions in 1 Timothy 2:1:

“I exhort therefore, that, first of all supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men.”

The word “supplication” means to ask someone for something (1 Kings 8:52; Esth. 4:8). Some grace believers are uncomfortable asking God for things, but it is our own apostle Paul who encourages us to “let your requests be made known unto God” (Phil. 4:6). Just try not to be as selfish as unbelievers are when they pray. I once saw a comic strip that featured God sitting at a computer and saying to an angel, “I need to set up a spam filter to block requests to win the lottery!” While Paul says to let your requests be made known unto God “in every thing,” the more you mature in Christ, the less your
prayers will include selfish requests like that.

If you’re wondering what the difference is between “supplications” and “prayers” (the next category Paul mentions)—don’t tell anyone! You see, if you are wondering that, it means you think the word prayer means to ask God for things. But there are lots of other things you can say to God in prayer. For example, you can praise Him for His goodness and His grace. Speaking of tuning things, an old hymn contains the powerful prayerful line, “tune my heart to sing Thy grace.”

“Prayers” can also involve just talking to God about whatever is on your heart. Christians who think God invented prayer just so they could call Him to ask for things are similar to selfish adult children who seem to think the telephone was invented so they could call and ask their parents for things.

The “intercessions” that Paul mentions next are selfless prayers prayed to God solely on behalf of others, the kind of prayer the Lord prays for us (Rom. 8:34). If you want to live as unselfishly as the Son of God, reflecting Him in your prayer life would be a good place to start. An old poem says,  Others, yes others, let this my motto be. Lord help me live for others, that I may live like Thee.”

The final type of prayer Paul mentions is the “giving of thanks.” This kind of prayer needs no explanation, but it can usually use some exhortation! With that in mind, I invite you to consider that Paul mentions the different forms of prayer in 1 Timothy 2:1 in a specific sequence that reflects the order of spiritual maturity, and the place in which he mentions thanksgiving in that sequence just might motivate you to include more thanksgiving in your prayers.

He mentions “supplications” first because when a believer is first saved, his prayers mostly consist of asking God for things. But as he matures in the Lord, he begins to “pray” more, just praising God and talking to Him about what is on his heart. Then, more and more, the focus of his prayers moves away from himself to others, and he begins to make “intercessions” for them.

In fact, our text directs that all four of these different types of prayers “be made for all men.” You yourself are part of “all men,” of course, so there is certainly nothing wrong with praying for yourself. But the more Christ-like you become, the more the focus of your prayers will shift away from yourself and settle on others.

Finally, since Paul mentions the “giving of thanks” last in this list of prayers that reflects the order of spiritual maturity, I believe it to be the highest form of prayer you can pray to God. That’s why Paul almost always began his epistles by thanking God—most of the time for the saints to whom he was writing (Rom. 1:8; 1 Cor. 1:4; Eph. 1:16; Phil. 1:3; Col. 1:3; 1 Thes. 1:2; 2 Thes. 1:3; 1 Tim. 1:12; 2 Tim. 1:3; Philemon 1:4).

If you’re already following Paul as he followed Christ in every other area of your life (1 Cor. 11:1), why not consider following him in making thanksgiving your top priority in prayer? It’s high spiritual ground, but if you mean it when you sing “Lord plant my feet on higher ground,” then it’s an upgrade in your prayer life that you’ll sincerely
wish to make

To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.

“I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry; Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy…” (I Tim. 1:12,13).

As “a blasphemer,” the Apostle Paul had good reason to be thankful that he had obtained mercy! Don’t forget, just a couple years before Paul was saved, the Lord Jesus Christ had said,

“…All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.

“And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come” (Matthew 12:31,32).

In light of these words, how could God have mercy on a blasphemer like Paul? If you’re thinking that perhaps he blasphemed a member of the Trinity other than the Spirit, think again. As a Jew who followed the Law of Moses scrupulously (Phil. 3:6) he would never have broken the Law by blaspheming God the Father (Lev. 24:16). And there is no concrete evidence he ever even met God the Son. No, it wasn’t until the twelve were “filled with the Holy Ghost” (Acts 2:4) that Saul showed up, and led the blasphemous persecution against them (Acts 7:57—8:3).

So when the Lord said that those who blasphemed the Spirit couldn’t be forgiven, “neither in this world, neither in the world to come,” this is one of the many proofs we have that with the salvation of Paul, God introduced a whole new world, a world called “the dispensation of the grace of God” (Eph. 3:1,2).

We see further proof of this when Paul called himself “a persecutor.” As Saul of Tarsus, he “persecuted the church” (Gal. 1:13). But in persecuting the Lords people, he was persecuting the Lord (Acts 9:1,4,5). And to be saved in the Lord’s world you had to be one of His followers, not one of His persecutors (Mt. 19:16,21; Lu. 18:28-30; John 10:27,28). This will also be true in the world to come (Rev. 14:1,4).

When Paul further admitted he had been “injurious,” this too rendered him beyond the pale of redemption in the Lord’s world. When He vowed that judgment would fall on any who would “offend one of these little ones which believe in Me” (Mt. 18:6), He was using the child He had “set in the midst of them” (v. 2) as an object lesson of the “little children” of the disciples who believed in Him (John 13:33). You know, the disciples whom Saul later offended (Acts 8:3). And offending God’s little ones in Israel will be just as unforgivable in the world to come (Rev. 16:5,6).

There’s just no getting around it, beloved. The Apostle Paul couldn’t have been saved under the kingdom program that the Lord taught the Jews when He was here on earth (Mt.4:17; 15:24). That means when God saved Saul, He ushered in a whole new world and a whole new world order, an “order” in which men receive Christ by grace through faith alone, and then walk in Him the same way (Col. 2:5,6).

To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.

“…All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men… neither in this world, neither in the world to come” (Matthew 12:31,32).

As a pastor, I often hear from people who are afraid they’ve committed the unpardonable sin. They cite these verses, and then proceed to tell me what they said or did that has caused them to believe they blasphemed the Spirit.

When this happens, I remind these dear troubled souls that before he was saved the Apostle Paul was “a blasphemer” (I Tim. 1:13), and it was unquestionably the Spirit whom he blasphemed. As a Jew who followed the Law of Moses scrupulously (Phil. 3:6), he would not have blasphemed God the Father, and there is no concrete evidence that he ever even met God the Son. It wasn’t until the twelve were “filled with the Holy Ghost” (Acts 2:4) that Saul showed up and led the blasphemous persecution against them (Acts 7:57—8:3).

So when the Lord said that those who blasphemed the Spirit couldn’t be forgiven “neither in this world, neither in the world to come,” we have to conclude that with the saving of Saul, God introduced a whole new world. A world called “the dispensation of the grace of God” (Eph. 3:2). A world in which grace reigns:

“That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 5:21).

How thoroughly does grace reign? Notice Paul says grace reigns unto life as sin reigned unto death. And sin reigned unto death with absolute sway over men. The prophet declared, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die” (Ezek. 18:4), and there have never been any exceptions! So when Paul says “that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign” to eternal life, you have to conclude that “whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Rom. 10:13), with no exceptions. This is because whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord is “made the righteousness of God in Him” (II Cor. 5:21), allowing grace to reign “through righteousness unto eternal life” (Rom. 5:21).

So if you are among the many who have agonized over the Lord’s words in Matthew 12:31,32, agonize no more. No matter who you are, no matter what you’ve said or done, you cannot commit a sin that God’s grace cannot forgive. You have His Word on it.

To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.

“Hymenaeus and Alexander…I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme” (I Timothy 1:20).

Who were these guys, how were they blaspheming, and what does it mean when it says Paul delivered them to Satan? What’s Satan’s address anyway? Well, there seems to be more than one Alexander in the Bible, but there is only one other mention of a Hymenaeus:

“…Hymenaeus and Philetus…concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some” (II Tim. 2:18).

If our text is speaking of the same man teaching the same error, it would appear that by the time Paul wrote these words in his second epistle to Timothy that Alexander had learned not to blaspheme. But Hymenaeus had evidently gone on to find a new partner in a man named Philetus. These new “partners in crime” then proceeded to “overthrow the faith of some” by continuing to teach Hymenaeus’ error, “that the resurrection is past already.”

Since the “overthrow” of Sodom involved its complete destruction (Gen. 19:24,25), the overthrow of a believer’s faith must involve the same. I know it would destroy my faith in God if I thought that the resurrection of the Rapture had taken place and I’d been left behind, instead of being caught up to meet the Lord in the air with those who are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord as God promised (I Thes. 4:15-17).

Rather than allow the faith of God’s people to be overthrown like that, Paul went on in the very next verse to argue that the resurrection could not be past:

“Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are His…” (II Timothy 2:19).

Paul responded to Hymeneus’ error by declaring that the Lord knows them that are His, so there is no way He would have left any believer behind at the Rapture!

When Hymeneus and Alexander first began to teach otherwise, Paul delivered them to Satan in the same way he told the Corinthians to deliver a man to Satan (I Cor. 5:5), by putting him out of the assembly (v.2,13). That may sound harsh, but Paul knew it was the only way Hymeneus and Alexander would “learn not to blaspheme.”

When we think of blasphemy, we think of cursing the name of God (Lev. 24:15,16), but there are other ways to blaspheme. When the king of Assyria suggested that God couldn’t deliver His people the way He promised He would (II Kings 18:33—19:2), Hezekiah pronounced it “blasphemy” (19:3). And this is the kind of blasphemy of which Hymeneus and his cohorts were guilty as well. When they suggested that God couldn’t deliver every member of the Body of Christ at the Rapture, as He promised He would in the epistles of Paul, they too blasphemed!

If you are thankful that the Lord Jesus Christ plans to employ a “no man left behind” policy at the Rapture, don’t forget that after assuring us that “the Lord knoweth them that are His,” Paul went on to tell us how we can express our gratitude for that assurance: “Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity” (II Tim. 2:20).

To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.