How to Care for Your Elders (1 Tim. 5:17-25)

If you have your Bible’s turn with me to 1 Timothy 5: 17. That is where we left off last week and where we will pick up today. You will quickly notice in this passage that Paul once again turns the attention of his readers back to the elders. If you recall, the elders in the church of Ephesus were no longer unified. In fact, they were completely divided. Some had embraced an evil theology and began to preach a false doctrine among the church. Others, Paul described as having shipwrecked their faith all together. But yet there were some that remained faithful to the truth of Scripture and held on tightly to the hope of the gospel. You could imagine the damage that resulted such a division. The church was falling apart as the members were left confused wondering which leader they should follow, and whose teaching they should trust. That was the chaotic context into which Paul wrote Timothy. In fact, that was the very purpose of this letter. Paul was instructing Timothy on how to fix and rebuild that which had been broken by this costly assault on the truth. Now the guidance the apostle gives this young pastor should be no surprise to us by now. Throughout this entire letter, Paul has constantly called the church to be the church, to be the family of God. He’s been instructing them on how to conduct themselves within God’s household. That’s been his wise counsel and solution to ever problem that Timothy and the Ephesian church were experiencing. And once again we find that faithful answer here in the text. He calls on the church, to the individual Christians, to care for their elders. You see, just as the church is to care for the widows, we also have that same obligation to those who serve as elders. That’s what this text is all about today: it answers the question: how are the sheep to care for their shepherds? Now that’s an intriguing question, isn’t it? Because so often are we not far more interested in the care that the shepherds are to give the sheep. We like to talk about that a lot don’t we… But the Bible today, calls us to consider the opposite. Read along with me as I read 1 Timothy chapter 5:17-25…. Today, will you notice with me three ways Christians are to care for their elders…

1) Christians should rightly honor the elders who oversee their spiritual wellbeing (vs. 17-18).

The apostle Paul introduces this important passage of Scripture by revealing that which the sheep owe their shepherds. Verse 17 reads, “Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching.” The word elder is a general term that refers to a plurality of men who are called by God to serve as ministers and leaders within the church. The Bible also calls them overseers and pastors. These three biblical titles all describe the same group of men. The word “pastor” emphasizes the shepherding nature of their work, “overseer” speaks of their authority and leadership over the entire church, while the term “elder” refers to their spiritual maturity. Here at Heritage, we have seven men who serve in this role to meet the various spiritual needs and general oversight of our church. And let me just add a word here to acknowledge the great wisdom of God, in His design for church leadership. By calling, equipping, and using a team of elders to lead, guide, and teach, there is no one man who rises above the others. I’ll be honest with you, I actually thought about asking someone else to preach this particular sermon. It almost seemed self seeking to preach a sermon that says, church you must honor me. Feels kinda odd, but as I began to look more into theses words, I was able to see that I need this passage too. I need to study it and lean into these truths as well. You see, even the elders must submit to the teaching of these verses. Individually, we too must honor and yes, even submit to the collective voices, thoughts, and concerns of the other elders.

The Bible tells us, that all Christians are to honor their elders. Not just here in 1 Timothy, but throughout the New Testament. Let me give you a few examples:

· 1 Thess. 5:12-13… “But we request of you, brethren, that you appreciate those who diligently labor among you, and have charge over you in the Lord and give you instruction, and that you esteem them very highly in love because of their work.”

· Hebrews 13:7,17… “Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith… Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.”

These two verses, along with todays text, call on the church to honor their leadership. The Greek word “honor” generally refers to “respect,” which can be shown in various ways. It can be shown simply in how you speak to and about your pastors and elders. In how you respond to their counsel and their teaching. Do you prioritize their voice and wisdom over other words and thoughts of others in your world? Are you quick to listen to them, or are you quick to question and debate? Do you listen, obey, and submit to their leadership? I hope you do, for surely when you do, you are honoring them. Other simple ways in which you can respect and honor the church elder team is to encourage them, pray for them regularly, or bless them with a gift appreciation. All of those are sound examples of how you can honor your pastors and elders.

But we also must remember the word honor implies providing for the elder’s financial needs. That’s the way Paul just used this term in chapter 5:3. Just as the church cares for the widow they must also care for the elders by providing for their financial needs. The English word “honorarium” is also an example of this meaning, it refers to money given to a person in honor of their time and hard work. You do this today, by giving your tithes and offerings to the church. Every time you give to the church, part of that money goes to provide for the needs of the pastoral staff and their families so that they can dedicate 40 hours or more a week to the gospel ministry.

Now, while all elders who humbly walk with the Lord are to be honored by the church, notice that Paul singles out some as being worthy of double honor. Now, that surely doesn’t imply that there are some elders who deserved double the pay. That’s not what Paul is saying. Rather, he is explaining that some deserve both respect and generous compensation. Notice that the apostle gives two specific qualifications for the elders who are worthy of this double honor. First, they “rule well.” Meaning they do an excellent job of directing and managing the affairs of the household of God. In other words, they teach biblical doctrine, they pray for and participate in the work of the gospel, they shepherd the flock, and they cast a vision for the church to follow. To one degree or another, all elders practice these things. But some do it exceptionally well.The word “well” in the Greek could be translated “with excellence.” Such elders strive to provide the highest standard of care to their church family and are thus worthy of great honor for what they do.

The second qualification for elders who are worthy of double honor is found in the second half of verse 17. Notice Paul ends the verse with the words, “especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching.” The assumption found in this verse is that some elders will not work as hard at teaching and preaching as others. In other words, their particular role on the elder team may be less prominent in those areas, but certainly their role is no less important. But notice some elders will exhaust themselves in proclaiming the truth. The phrase work hard literally means to work to the point of fatigue or exhaustion. Pastors and elders worthy of double honor labor over scripture, often with tears in their eyes as they plunge the depths of God’s Word. They spend hours in study and prayer as the seek to properly bridge the ancient text to their own hearts, to the modern culture, and to their church family. Its noteworthy, that the word for preaching in this verse is a familiar Greek Word. It’s the word logos. The same word in which John spoke of Christ in the powerful introduction to His gospel. He wrote, in the beginning was the Word (logos) and the Word was with God and was God. Preaching my brothers and sisters is all about Jesus! All about the Word who became flesh, who lived the only sinless and righteous life, but who also died the sinner’s death for those who believe, so that the elect could be forgiven and made righteous by His work on Calvary. Listen, wrestling with the message of the cross, week in and week out is the most draining work imaginable. Its exhausting because it forces you to examine, confess, and repent of the stubborn sin that still lingers in your own heart and calls you to greater faith. It also exposes the sins of others in your church family. It burdens you in knowing of the joy and peace that awaits them if they simply repented of their sin and walked closer with the Lord. Listen, there is no place for laziness in God’s church when it comes to communicating His Holy Word and His Glorious Gospel. Paul is arguing that those who rule well and work hard in the study and proclamation of the truth are worthy of great honor.

Now, to support his argument, Paul points us to Scripture. Look quickly to verse 18. The apostle quotes from both the Old and New Testament. First, he mentions Deut. 25:4… The Scripture says “YOU SHALL NOT MUZZLE THE OX WHILE HE IS THRESHING.” The Old Testament law argued that it was holy and right for the oxen to eat the grain in which they were threshing. So, as they worked, they were allowed to partake of the harvest. It would have been wrong to muzzle them and keep them from the enjoying that which they labored for. And if God required that animals who worked hard to provide physical food for others to be fed by the harvest, then how much more would He desire faithful elders who provide spiritual food for their congregations, to be provided for?

The second scripture Paul quotes is from the gospel of Luke chapter 10 verse 7. Interestingly, Paul looks at what his friend Luke had recently written, and the apostle elevates those words to be equal in authority and power with the Old Testament, and Paul says thus saith the Lord, thus saith the Scriptures... “the laborer is worthy of his wages.” These were the very words of Christ as He sent 70 disciples out into the world to proclaim the kingdom. The Bible repeatedly teaches that servants and laborers are to be paid their fair wages. Listen church, Refusing to support and honor the elders who work diligently at proclaiming the gospel is as unjust and heartless as denying a hard-working ox his food or rejecting to pay a dedicated hired man.

Church family, over the past several weeks, you have poured out blessing upon blessing over your pastors. We are indeed grateful and thankful for every meal, for every word of encouragement, and service in which you have provided for our families. Pastor appreciation month was quite a humbling experience. I would say overall, you honor your pastors well. Not only did you bless us with special gifts, but because of your faithful tithes and offerings, our families are well cared for. But I’ll be honest with you. As much of a blessing those things are to me and my family, I get far more blessed when you take the Word of God that is proclaimed here on Sunday and lean into it with your lives. The greatest honor you can show your pastor is to apply the Word he proclaims to your daily life. To see people, grow in the knowledge of God in a way that transforms everything in their world, to witness someone, do the hard things that Scripture calls them to do, is the greatest honor you can give to us. Puritan William Gurnall said, “The Christian’s life should put his minister’s sermon in print.” When you respond in faith to the biblical message we proclaim, you honor us in a very humbling way, and it makes all the hard work we put in worth every heartache we endure. Every Christian should honor the elders who work tirelessly to oversee and care for their spiritual well-being. But that’s not the only way elders are to be cared for, notice secondly Paul argues...

2) Christians should hold the elders accountable for their sinful words and actions (vs. 19-21).

Though there were elders in Ephesus who were worthy of a double honor, there were also those who did not. Again, there were elders in this young church who departed from the truth and began teaching a false doctrine. These wayward men were desperately in need of gracious intervention. Therefore, Paul instructs both Timothy and the church on how to confront an elder who is stuck in sin. Notice the Bible is clear in verse 20, this is counsel regarding the care for the elder who continues in sin, the present tense of that word suggests that the practice was ongoing and not merely an isolated occurrence. Listen, church family, your elders, we are far from perfect, we will disappoint you, we will fail to live up to all your expectations for us, and we will sin. And one way you can honor us is to give us grace when we do. But please, hear me on this. There will certainly be times when I or another elder will get stuck in a sinful pattern. Listen, we are imperfect men, whose hearts are still tempted to stray at times, and we too can be blinded by our own foolishness and desires. Oh, when that happens, will you please, love us well and come to our rescue by obeying this passage. Listen, if you fail to come to us in our time of need, you only compound our problems and wrong us and the entire church with your inaction. Robert Murray McCheyene, the great Scottish Pastor from the 1800s, got the credit for saying, “My congregations greatest need is my own personal holiness.” Listen, when the leadership of the church is stuck in sin, there will inevitably be a harvest of chaos within the church, just as there was in Ephesus. And so here is how Paul counsels us to do this loving action, he writes in verse 19… Do not receive an accusation against an elder except on the basis of two or three witnesses. Paul knew firsthand the barrage of false accusations that are unfortunately common in ministry. He knew that Satan will tempt church members to sinfully criticize their pastors, for the Devil will never cease attempting to divide the church. Therefore, Paul starts here and counsels the church members to not even entertain such allegations unless there are two or three witnesses.

Now, you may be tempted to think, that this doesn’t sound fair. It sounds as if special treatment is given to the elder, but that’s really not the case. The Bible offers this same protection to everyone. Deut. 19:15… “A single witness shall not rise up against a man on account of any iniquity or any sin which he has committed; on the evidence of two or three witnesses a matter shall be confirmed.” Furthermore, Matthew 18, Jesus offered this same counsel. He stated that if a brother sins against another brother, the offended should confront the offender in private. But if the offender refuses to repent, the offended brother must initiate another confrontation and take along two or three witnesses to establish the charges made against the sinning brother. Listen, Paul is not offering the elders special privileges, but he understands that they, just like you may be misunderstood, falsely accused, or they may be stuck in sin. So he faithfully points us to the wisdom of God and says here how He calls on you to do this… if you see an elder in need of confrontation go to them privately, have a hard, godly, but loving conversation with them. You don’t send an email, or text, you do the hard thing and face them in person. But if that doesn’t clear things up, take another witness. Now this may be an eyewitness, where the individual has seen first-hand the sin in question. Or it may be a witness in the form of a mature believer who can witness the confrontation, listen well and ask wise questions to both the offended and the offender to address any sin that may be exposed.

And notice how it was to be handled, if a sinful pattern as revealed in the life of an elder… verse 20… “Those who continue in sin, rebuke in the presence of all, so that the rest also will be fearful of sinning.” When elders fall into sin, for their own good and the good of the church, they are to be publicly rebuked so that they may repent of their sin and restore that which was broken by their sinful actions. The word “rebuke” simply means “to expose,” “to bring to open conviction,” “to correct,” or “to reprove.” And this was to be done publicly so that the wayward elder and the entire church may grow fearful of sinning, and ultimately fear the LORD. It’s done so that repentance may occur, and faith may grow. You see, The entire aim of confrontation and discipline is reconciliation. Restoring that which has been broken by sin. Listen, we must never confront sin to get in a pound of flesh or punish someone. We shouldn’t do it to make someone pay for what they did. No, we always confront sin in love to restore one’s walk with God and rebuild the relationships that may have been broken.

Now it is also important to remember that the sins of an elder are to more serious and are to be punished more severely than others. James 3:1 reads… “Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment.” Whether or not the elder repents is not the issue here. We certainly are prayerful and hopeful that he will repent. But if an elder is trapped in sin, he has already disqualified himself from ministry and he must be publicly rebuked so the church understands why he is no longer in leadership. Attempts to hide or coverup their sin while allowing an elder to leave quietly only creates chaos and misunderstanding within the congregation. Therefore, there must be a public rebuke that requires a great amount of courage, a hatred of sin, but a vast love for the wayward elder and the church family.

And since this takes such great courage, and since Paul was young and often struggled with being timid and anxious, notice what the apostle says again in verse 21… “I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of His chosen angels, to maintain these principles without bias, doing nothing in a spirit of partiality.” Paul reminds his young protégé, that God the Father, Christ Jesus His only begotten Son, and the chosen angels were overseeing his actions. They were watching, and they were the ones to whom Timothy was to fear. You see, it is so easy to look over the sin of others, to belittle things, to ignore God’s counsel on confrontation, and do things according to our wisdom. It’s much easier to do those things than follow Scripture’s guidance. Moreover, it’s tempting to fear the wrong things. To fear how the sinner may respond to confrontation, or how their close friends may respond. And so, Paul reminds Timothy that all of heaven is greatly concerned with the purity of Christ’s church, and they are eagerly watching, longing for courage, faithfulness, and love to be displayed in the confrontation of sin.

Notice also that Paul seemingly warns Timothy, and us here today, to be diligent in maintaining these confrontational principles without bias, and doing nothing in a spirit of partiality. The apostle, is saying guard your heart! Oh how easy it is for us to choose sides. To presume certain things just because we like or know someone better than the other. Listen, we must not presume guilt or innocence without having first heard both sides of a story and considering all the facts. Proverbs 18:13, 17 gives us this same warning… It reads…. “He who gives an answer before he hears, It is folly and shame to him… The first to plead his case seems right, until another comes and examines him.” Oh, how foolish we are, and oh the shame and destruction we bring to our church when we fail to follow God’s counsel in these matters. Fear the Lord, church! Fear Him!!! And please take the guidance offered in these verses seriously, for me and the other elders need your accountability, your grace, and your love when we fall into sin. That is another wonderful way in which you can care for us. But notice Paul adds one more way, in which you can serve us...

3) Christians should thoroughly vet a potential elder before calling him to serve (vs. 22-25).

The absolute best way to prevent so much trouble in the church is to keep unqualified elders from serving as an elder. Therefore, Paul says don’t lay hands upon anyone too hastily. The laying on of hands refers to the ordination of an elder. It is the final step in the prayerful process of vetting an elder candidate. Here at Heritage, after the elders have thoroughly and prayerfully examined an elder candidate, after we have tested his knowledge of scripture, his theology, and philosophy of ministry. After we have heard him teach, observed him in ministry, and talked to references. If after all that, we sense the Lord is leading us to add the candidate to the elder board, we will bring it before the church and ask you to join us in the process. We will set aside an entire month for you to join us in prayer and give you several opportunities to get to know the potential elder, to ask questions, to voice your concerns, and even to hear him teach. After that month, we will ask the church members to vote on the candidate as we seek the Lord’s will to be revealed. Church family, you have a vital and serious role to play in that process and we expect you to fulfill your role with excellency. Oh, how important it is that we take the time to test these men both patiently and thoroughly. And once they have proved themselves to be faithful, above reproach, humble, able to teach, and teachable, through that long procedure, the other elders will conclude the ordination process by laying hands on the man and praying for him. To lay hands on someone in this context was to affirm that they were qualified to serve as an elder. The simple action expresses unity and solidarity. Paul warns Timothy and the church at Ephesus to take their time with this process. Don’t rush, and don’t act hastily. For in hurrying the process the other elders may actually share responsibility in the sins of others. In other words, they bear a degree of spiritual responsibility for the men they ordain. You see a hasty ordination, that lacks proper and meticulous examination, makes the those responsible liable for the man’s sin.

This is why Paul exhorts Timothy to keep himself free from sin. The young pastor was to carefully watch over his own heart. Guarding it from sin, keeping it pure and honorable before God. And one of the ways he was to keep his hands clean was to refuse to lay them on men who have yet to thoroughly proven themselves to be qualified as elders.

But notice with me verse 23. At first it may seem out of place but hang with me for a second. Paul wrote to Timothy and said… “No longer drink water exclusively, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.” Apparently, another way Timothy was keeping his life free from sin was by choosing to abstain from the use of alcohol. Instead, Timothy chose to only drink water, which in the ancient world was often unclean and commonly led to sickness. No doubt, Paul knew that Timothy was abstaining from alcohol for good noble reasons. He knew that Timothy was diligent in keeping his mind and heart pure from sin, but as a father figure to him, he calls on him to take care of himself and use a little wine to soothe his nerves and the frequent ailments that may have resulted from drinking impure water and dealing with all the stress of the situation that was unfolding in Ephesus.

After this personal aside, the apostle returns to the process of selecting and ordaining elders. And noticeably he closes this passage by describing four kinds of people. In verse 24, he first calls out those who can easily be labeled unqualified to serve. He wrote, “The sins of some men are quite evident, going before them in judgment.” In other words, their poor reputation proceeds them, and they are running headlong to judgement. The immaturity and sinfulness of these men were blatant, and the church should never consider laying hands on such a person. However, other elder candidates are rather skilled at concealing their sin. And so, Paul calls Timothy’s attention to a second kind of person. He wrote at the end of verse 24… “for others, their sins follow after.” At first glance, these men seem like good candidates for leadership, but as they go under further review, sinful patterns slowly begin to arise, or as Paul says, they follow after. The implication here, is that your sin will eventually be uncovered. It doesn’t matter how skilled you are at hiding sin from your friends and family, eventually all our sin is laid bare before others. Make no mistake, this will occur, either here on earth, or on the day of judgement where we stand before the LORD. the Bible tells us that your sin will find you out and you will reap what you sow. The Bible is very clear on this, and I’m worried that out of the four people Paul describes in this passage, this description describes the most. It points us to seemingly good people who are very skilled at hiding sin.

The third person Paul describes is found in opening words of verse 25… Likewise also, deeds that are good are quite evident. Listen, true godliness, like the sun, can easily be seen for it shines forth the glory of God. Thus, there are some candidates who obviously belong in the ministry. They have been gifted to serve as an elder and have the heart of both a servant and a shepherd. But Paul adds one more kind of person for us to consider. At the end of verse 25, he adds… and those which are otherwise cannot be concealed. You see there are some amazing people who are not quickly known for their good deeds. They humbly operate behind the scenes, yet Paul is saying that in time, after examination, the good things were done in secret will certainly come to light. This too may happen here on earth or the life to follow. C.S. Lewis explains this concept by telling a vivid story in his book The Great Divorce. In that illustration there was a man who traveled to the outskirts of heaven, where he sees a most marvelous woman. All around her were dancing lights, with spirits scattering flowers, and boys and girls were singing beautiful songs around her. The man imagines this woman to be some famous person from earth. So he asks his guide… Is it… is it? But the guide answered…. Not at all. Its someone you have never heard of, from a place you are probably unfamiliar. Her name on earth was Sarah Smith and she lived at Golders Green. She is truly one of the great ones.” And the guide reminded the traveler how things in heaven are measured greatly different than things here on earth

Listen, church family, many things look different in the revealing light of eternity. Our good and our bad will be clearly revealed in God’s timing. Ether here on earth or in glory. Things cannot and will not remain secretly hidden. Some sinners will not be found out till they stand before the Holy God, and in the pure radiant light of His justice every sin will be clearly revealed, and tragically sinners will perish with their sin. However, at the same time, many good deeds will also be revealed in God’s perfect light of justice. And those faithful Christians who are often overlooked or unnoticed, will be honored by the praise of God’s glory and grace!

Please understand that every single one of will humbly stand in judgment. And all that will matter on that day is how you have responded to the redemptive message of God’s Word. You see in our judgment, the Bible tells us that God will not weigh all the good in our life against all the bad. And praise God, that is not how He works, because if you read His Word, if you study the Scripture, you will discover that your bad thoughts, intentions, words, and actions completely overwhelm the good in your life. The Bible says we are completely depraved, meaning that we were born into sin and every part of our lives­– our minds, our wills, emotion, and flesh– have been corrupted by sin. In other words, sin affects every aspect of our lives including who we are and what we do. It penetrates to the very core of our being so that everything is tainted by sin and Isaiah 64:6 rightly proclaims that “…all our righteous deeds are like filthy garment” before our holy God. Listen, if our salvation was based upon our works every one of us stand helplessly condemned. Please, I beg you, do not put your hope in your track record, for it will undoubtedly condemn you. Instead, the only way we can endure this imminent judgment with hope is if we stand before God graciously forgiven by faith in what Christ accomplished for us on the cross.

For it was there on Calvary that the innocent Jesus endured the just punishment for our sin, on our behalf. He suffered greatly for each and every one of our sins until God’s holy anger against our sin was completely satisfied. And by faith and repentance Jesus offers us complete forgiveness and perfect righteousness, so that we can humbly stand before the Holy God with the unshakable hope of salvation. Salvation that is not based in what we bring to God, or what we have done for Him, but only in what Christ has done for us. Have you, my dear friend, put your complete hope and trust in that gospel message? Have you turned from the sinful patterns that once clearly marked your life? Are you growing in His grace and seeking to obey His will for your life? If so, you have a glorious hope this morning, but if you have yet to trust Him, if you are trusting in your goodness and your ability to stand before God, I promise you, on the authority of Scripture, you will forever dread that mistake, as the same wrath of God that was poured out on Christ, will one day be poured out upon you. God is Holy, and He is Just and therefore sin must be condemned… but God is also gracious, merciful, and loving, and He offers us eternal and abundant life through His Son. Sinner, I call on you to turn your life over to Jesus and discover His peace, His joy, His sovereign grace, His family, and complete satisfaction. Oh how He longs to forgive you, bless you, and call you His own!

Church family, the obvious question for us to consider this morning, is which of those four people described at the of our text are you? In the days to come what will people find out about you? Will your sins catch up with you? Or will people be surprised that you are godlier than they ever expected? Do you my friend, trust in your good works to earn your salvation? Or do you, look to the cross and solely rest in Christ crucified?

Our text today has reminded us how we are to care for those who lead the church. We each have that responsibility. But if we were to simplify the three points of today’s text to make it very practical to our day-to-day life: I would simply call you to Honor the Word, Fear the Lord, and Live in the Light of His coming Judgment. If you do those things well, I promise you, you will naturally care for those who love you and lead you into His truth…. Pray with me…. Communion slide