The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Timothy — Section 58

who acts for others, then there is here required of us priestly service, which is only in ~ccordanco wilh our being called,in 1 Pet, ii. 5,a holy priesthood. Our priestly service is here reganled as twofold. (1) l'rayer for all. For the sake of emphasis and fulness three words are used to denote, prayer, which a Greek would be better able to distinguish than we can do now. The first word seems to mark the state of need out of which petitions take their rise. The second word seems to mark our approaching God with our petitions. The third word seems to mark the urgent way in which we are to approach God with our petitions. An intercessory character is given to all three by the accompanying words. It is right that we should turn our wants into petitions for ourselves, that we should approach God with these petitions, and that we should press them with all urgency. But there is a range of want beyond ourselves which we are here ,lirected to cover by intercession. We are to turn the wants of others into intercc,sions for them; with our intercessory petitions we are to go to the throne of grace, and we are to press them there with all the urgency of which we are capable. We are not to be so sernsh as to think only of ourselves in our prayers. The Spirit, even in the way of blessing us, would direct WI away from ourselves to what others need. But for whom are we to intercede? This is the point to which the teaching of the apostle specially refers. It is certainly our duty to intercede for our family and friends. "He that pro- videth not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, bath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel." And. if we do not take the wants of our own before God, we are not acting the natural part, which is to be expected of us as Christians. But there is also a family selfishness, from which, if we would have the larger blessing, we must be freed in our prayers. "0 God, the Creator and Preserver of all mankind, we humbly beseech thee for all sorts and conditions of men; that thou wouldest be pleased to make thy ways known unto them, thy saving health unto all nations." We are not to be prevented from interceding for others by reason of their ill desert. God has shown us Abraham, that prince of the elder covenant, using his privilege on behalf of unde- serving Lot, and also on behalf of ungodly Sodom. He has also shown us his afflicted patriarch under direction to pray for the uncharitable Eliphaz, Zophar, and Bildad. They were to offer sacrifice; but God said," My servant Job shall pray for you: for him will I accept." "We are to pursue the sinner with love; we are to weave .&round the impenitent a network of prayer from which he may find it hard to extricate himself." We are not to allow obscurity or distance to separate us from souls. St. Vincent de Paul conveys some of his prayers (as by a definite grant) "to the most forgotten soul in purgatory." Surely we are entitled to convey our prayers to the most forgotten soul in this world. Roman Catholic writers are to be commended for the stress they lay on the ties which unite us to the great human society in which God has placed us. It is not their truth, for it is simply the spirit of our being here enjoined to offer up prayer for all men. We are to think of ourselves as belonging to a great world of need, belong- ing to it more than we do to ourselves; and we belong to it in this way, that we are bound to pray for it with all earnestness that the ends of Christ may be advanced in it; thus, we believe, making our influence felt in circle after circle to its utmost bound. (2) Thanksgiving for all. It is the frequent teaching of the apostle that thanksgiving is to e.ccompany the presentation of petitions. We are not to be so much taken up with our wants as to forget our mercies. While, then, we are to be quick to see the wants of others, we are also to be quick to see their mercies. And while we turn their wants into intercessions, we are to turn their mercies into thanksgivings. But for whom 1ue we to thank God? We are especially to give thanks for those who are bound up with us in the family unity, if they are free from calamity, and more so if they are the subjectij of saving grace. There may be those in our homes who cannot thank God for themselves, and we are to do this for them. But we are to give our thanksgivings a wider sweep. We are to give thanks for our neighbour, even when he may bear us a grudge, even when his interests nmy seem to conflict with ours. We are to get beyond all that would narrow our souls, and lay hold upon this, that God sees fit to hies, him ; and why should we begrudge the Giver his due of praise? We are to thank God for those who are sensible of thGir mercies, and are not remiss them,el ves in thanking God. We do not need to be afraid of God r~ceiving too much gratitude for mercies bestowed. If there are those who are ungrateful for mercies and do not give God the glory, it is meet Chat we, who have a right understanding of things and are jealous of God's glory,  46 THE FIRST EPISTLE TO TIMOTHT'. [oR, n. 1-16.