Various Instructions
Notes
Transcript
The Spirit and Discipline of Relationships.
The Spirit and Discipline of Relationships.
As we start a new section of 1 Timothy - we need to remember that Paul
Is giving instructions to whom?
Timothy?
Now that being said we finished up last week seeing how we train ourselves to be Godly.
This week these instructions tie right into that.
They are as set of suggestions you might say that will teach Timothy and us how to live out the word of God among our selves.
And one of the biggest things Paul is teaching Timothy is about Duty.
As a minister you have a duty to correct and discipline various groups if they are going off track. (When I say minister - I am referring to those who are in roles of responsibility in the church, elders, deacons, preachers - the leaders of the church.
What Paul does here beginning in chapter 5 is shift his focus from training to application.
He makes the assumption that as a minister if you have been training, like he said then you should be ready to lead - and sometimes leading means correcting and discipline.
He says “Ok, you are ready, now here is the correct way to do those things”
What is interesting is the way you handle correcting for one person or group is different from the way you handle it to another.
Read 1 Timothy 5:1-10
Do not sharply rebuke an older man, but rather appeal to him as a father, and to the younger men as brothers, to the older women as mothers, and to the younger women as sisters, in all purity.
Honor widows who are actually widows; but if any widow has children or grandchildren, they must first learn to show proper respect for their own family and to give back compensation to their parents; for this is acceptable in the sight of God. Now she who is actually a widow and has been left alone has set her hope on God, and she continues in requests and prayers night and day. But she who indulges herself in luxury is dead, even while she lives. Give these instructions as well, so that they may be above reproach. But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
A widow is to be put on the list only if she is not less than sixty years old, having been the wife of one man, having a reputation for good works; and if she has brought up children, if she has shown hospitality to strangers, if she has washed the saints’ feet, if she has assisted those in distress, and if she has devoted herself to every good work.
4. Before we dive into the questions I want to address something that I think the author of our workbook skips over.
Never speak harshly to an older man, but appeal to him respectfully as you would to your own father. Talk to younger men as you would to your own brothers.
a. The word rebuke is ἐπιπλήσσω epiplēssō - Mounces defines “to inflict blows upon, to chide, or to reprove.
It is the only time this word is used in this form in not only the New Testament, but also the entire bible.
So why do you think Paul would use this form of the word rebuke here?
It is because he knows as we all do, man has a tendency to be violent, and harsh - especially when religious matters are involved.
Just look at his past.
He truly believed the Christians were violating God’s Holy law and he defended it in a way that was fanatical and evil.
How often do Christians today do the same thing?
We want to attack what is against God’s word, and I get it - it makes me angry when I see it - but we have to rise above that
Especially when we are dealing with other Christians.
That is what Paul is getting at in this section - he is saying
You know the word - great
You are living the word - great
Now put it to the test and live it to the fullest - go and tell other Christians - when they are doing something wrong and do it in a manner that shows love - and not out of anger, or bitterness, or any other negative emotion - but controlled and out of love.
Again throwing us right back to his theme for the entire letter.
But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from a sincere faith.
So we need to keep that in mind when we answer these questions.
Older Men
Older Men
Older men are to be treated as fathers
Older men who are true Christians have what?
Experience and Wisdom
Now do not get me wrong - this is not to say they are always right; sometimes they are wrong.
But they do have more experience and wisdom than any of us young men.
Unfortunately - what happens to older men sometimes?
2 things.
First - younger people tend to ignore them, or
Neglect them - set them aside and say - they are too old they are not in touch with the younger generation.
They even go as far as to say the young people are the church we need to do more to attract young people.
I get it we do - but not at the expense of respecting or feeding our older men as well.
But they should not be - instead they should be treated with
Affections
Respect
and Honor
Their ideas and opinions should be sought out - they are to be a vital part of the church.
They should be the heart of our church - all the young people should be the arms and legs and backs that their blood flows to and allow the young people to do the work.
Listen to your father, who gave you life,
and don’t despise your mother when she is old.
Second -this in relation to older men
Because of their experience
Older men sometimes hold strong opinions, and become set in their ways.
They like to sit in the same seat every week and God forbid someone new sits in their seat.
They can become close-minded to new ideas , ministries and methods
Take for instance - Facebook live-
How many think this is a distraction when we first started - and it had some hiccups along the way -
But now you can reach people with that simple tool when a lot of older men thought it was not worth using.
Or take paper bibles vs digital bibles?
Same arguement - just because it is new does not mean it is bad.
For someone who has to work - and then do this - Logos and Olive Tree - is blessing from God.
And ministries grow because of new ideas. New ways of spreading the same message.
The Gospel Message -
Unfortunately sometimes - that stuborness leads to misbehavior
grumbling
complaining
critisism
opposition
and division.
The Point is this - if an older man ever needs to be corrected, he is to be corrected as a father not as an enemy.
He is to be approached and encouraged,
He is to be appealed to and if needed pleaded with
Just as you would your biological father.
But we should not hold back if it needs to be done - like Elihu did with Job.
Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite said,
“I am young and you are old,
so I held back from telling you what I think.
Younger Men
Younger Men
Now if you treat young mean as fathers - you treat younger men like brothers.
When your young people tend to look at you as though you do not know anything
Maybe you just don’t have the life experience to have a part in the church.
Therefore the tendency is to bypass and ignore them.
Kind of that catch 22 - You need experience to lead but no one let you try so that you can get expereince .
But this should not be that way -
Young men should be accepted they should be invited to participate int he church
The old men should not show or have an air of superiority in dealing with young men.
Instead we should show them brotherly effection, respect and consideration.
There is also as second need when dealing with younger men -
They need directions sometimes.
They need to be taught how to do these things.
When they do it wrong coach them and correct in a good way
Not with a severe reaction - or contempt
Have you ever heard the words - “I told you that would not work”
That is not a good response to a young person - we need to let them fail so they learn from their failures.
But when they do fail - then uplift them in proper correction and you will lead that young person down a path of a successful ministry.
We who are strong must be considerate of those who are sensitive about things like this. We must not just please ourselves. We should help others do what is right and build them up in the Lord.
Older Women
Older Women
If old men are treated like fathers old women should be treated like mothers.
Let me ask you a question though - think about what attributes a mother gives to a family - name some?
Love
Warmth
Care
Tenderness
Affection
Compassion
Concern
Kindness
That is what older women bring to any church congregation.
If a church ignores it older women then it is totally and completely irresponsible.
Their contributions to the church are immeasurable.
They are to be loved and protected
and all their attributes are to be sought and used by the church.
Does that mean that older women never need correcting?
Absolutely not.
But if they are to be corrected it is to be done without contempt, or any form of disrespect.
Again we should appeal to them and plead with them through encouragement.
Leviticus 19:3 (NLT)
“Each of you must show great respect for your mother and father, and you must always observe my Sabbath days of rest. I am the Lord your God.
Younger Women
Younger Women
If younger men are treated as brothers - then younger women should be treated as sister - seems only fair right?
But there is something added by Paul -
He adds the phrase “in all Purity”
What does that mean?
The word for Purity here is ἁγνεία hagneia - it means purity, or chasity.
In this context they are speaking about
Lust, immoral thoughts, sexual fantasies
All these things that relate to the physical attractiveness of the body of a younger woman.
So when you deal with younger women - that type of talk or even hints at ti or anything of that nature - has no part in the church.
Now the women have some part to play in that also - remember Paul spoke on that back in chapter 2 in the modesty of the clothes women should and shoudln’t wear to church.
The point is the men and women of the church should keep themselves pure,
And we should treat younger women int he church as though they were your sister
Imagine if someone spoke in a provocative way to you sister - men are usually like - to quote Joey Tribiani when someone made a bad comment about his sister “woa woa woah - which sister”
They are to be protected like your sister.
That way - their energy there tenderness, and compassion can be used by the church.
Let’s be honest men we need that because we do not have that.
And again yes sometimes younger women need to be corrected - but we can do it without the severity or disgust
Instead do it in love and through encouragement.
Widows
Widows
(Question 2)
1 Timothy 5:3 (NLT)
Take care of any widow who has no one else to care for her.
What is a child’s responsibility to their widowed parents?
What are Christian responsibilities to Christian widows?
What constitutes a true widow?
These are all important question we must come to answer and come to terms with as mature Christians - why?
So that we know how to deal with people who are not treating widows properly or misusing the church for personal gain?
First and foremost - we are treat widows with honor and respect.
Before we move on to our responsibilities let us first look at what a is biblically?
In the old testament - the word widow holds a special place -
Some widows could return to their father’s house (Gen 38:11) or they could remarry according to the law (Ruth 4:10)
However - most of the time in the old testament refers to widows who are left destitute or without any means of suppoort.
Interestingly enough the Hebrew word for widow ʾalmānâ - never appears in Ruth - she is always refereed to “Mahlon’s wife, or the wife of a dead man”
Since women of that time depended on their husbands for support and protection, the widow was left poor and vulnerable, with little or no means to live on.
In Psalms - God is referred to the defender and sustainer of widows (Psalms 68:5, 146:9)
This is also the reason behind his commandment to leave behind remnants of crop harvest for gleaning.
Deuteronomy 24:20–21 “When you beat the olives from your olive trees, don’t go over the boughs twice. Leave the remaining olives for the foreigners, orphans, and widows. When you gather the grapes in your vineyard, don’t glean the vines after they are picked. Leave the remaining grapes for the foreigners, orphans, and widows.”
God always makes sure they are provided for.
When the prophets laid out God’s charges against Israel - oppressing widows is always one of the sinful charges
In the New Testament - the word represents a woman who is in the same position - her husband has died and she has no one to care for her.
Jesus had a special place in heart for widows - his mother was one - but she was taken care of - will get to that in just a moment.
He even used widows as examples to teach - the parrable of the persistant widow - the the widow who gave 2 pennies- both examples are in Luke.
When warning the disciples about the teachers of the Law, Jesus specifically calls out the mistreatment of widows as one of their most serious sins.
Luke 20:47 “Yet they shamelessly cheat widows out of their property and then pretend to be pious by making long prayers in public. Because of this, they will be severely punished.””
The early church had to address and deal with this very early - Acts chapter 6, when they set up the first deacons because the widows of Greeks were being mistreated and left out.
There is also a good example of someone in the early church who treated widows the way they should be treated.
Acts 9:39–41 “So Peter returned with them; and as soon as he arrived, they took him to the upstairs room. The room was filled with widows who were weeping and showing him the coats and other clothes Dorcas had made for them. But Peter asked them all to leave the room; then he knelt and prayed. Turning to the body he said, “Get up, Tabitha.” And she opened her eyes! When she saw Peter, she sat up! He gave her his hand and helped her up. Then he called in the widows and all the believers, and he presented her to them alive.”
So throughout the bible we see that widows are as women not men - not saying men are not widows - just saying women were the widows in the bible.
Consider Jacob - both of his wives died before him yet - he was never called a widow why?
Because as a man - his wealth stayed with him when they died - but not so with women -
When their husbands died - their wealth went to the first born son. And then to the rest of the children -
Women were at a severe disadvantage in Biblical times men did not leave everything to them when they died.
On top of that they could not get sustainable work as a woman to support themselves
If their sons did not help - they were in trouble.
Now we went through all of that just to to the point of Paul’s definition of “Widow”
Widows Indeed
Widows Indeed
(question 3-4)
The words “widows indeed” is the key -
Paul wants us to understand that not everyone is a true “widow”
Yes - a lot of women loose their husbands and that is what we call a widow in today society but biblically that is not a widow
What is a widow then -
But if she has children or grandchildren, their first responsibility is to show godliness at home and repay their parents by taking care of them. This is something that pleases God.
So the first thing we need to ask is does the widow have children that can help?
If so then those children should be the one taking care of the widow.
This is where a lot of modern people fail in this category -
We hear this all the time -
“Well I am too busy - I have my career - I live in another part of the country -
I am raising my own family now.
All horrible and unacceptable excuse's to God -
What does God say - about the responsibility of Children
1 Timothy 5:4 “But if she has children or grandchildren, their first responsibility is to show godliness at home and repay their parents by taking care of them. This is something that pleases God.”
2. You owe something to your parents - I never really thought of it that way - and most parents would not say that - but God does or he would not have said you repay.
3. But here is the thing - the attititude you come to this that makes it Godly is not that you have to do it - but that you get to do it -
That pays honor and respect to your parents and to God. That is where Godliness comes in.
At some point in you life you will realize there is no greater honor or greater deed in you have accomplished in your life than helping your parent when they needed it and repaying them for what they did for you.
2. What does God say about those who doesn’t do this and makes excuses?
1 Timothy 5:8 (NLT)
But those who won’t care for their relatives, especially those in their own household, have denied the true faith. Such people are worse than unbelievers.
If you are a Christian there is no exscuse for not helping your mother or father in today’s world - when they become a widow.
That is child’s responsibility - and I would hate to stand before God on that day and say but lord I was a Christian all my life and him look at me and go
But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’
All simply because I was too selfish to help my widowed parent.
He suffers most who is most selfish.
Anonymous
Widows Indeed (explained)
Widows Indeed (explained)
(Question5)
Now she who is actually a widow and has been left alone has set her hope on God, and she continues in requests and prayers night and day. But she who indulges herself in luxury is dead, even while she lives.
True widows are to be cared for by the church.
But what is a true widow.
The word that sets the standard is “left alone”
in the greek it is according to Strongs Consise Dictionary - to isolate, to leave completely alone and to be desolate.
In other words they have absolutely no one and in the context no fiscal means to care for themselves.
That is what a true widow is.
That person is 100% dependendant upon God and the church to survive.
And that is where she should place her hope
Because when she gets to that point then God had provided a place for them to turn to - the church
The church is to help them.
This is something God has done from the very begininng - even in the old testament -
He wanted them to to trust him and then he wanted His people to help the widows when they needed it
“Leave your orphans behind, I will keep them alive;
And let your widows trust in Me.”
Now there is a limit -
Widows must be part of the church and live a Christians
Those widows who live immoral lives are not to be supported by the church.
The churches energy and resuourse are not to be used to give the widow license to do what she pleases
To live a worldly life of sin.
Christians, children and widows are to obey these instructions
The reasons are clearly stated
So that we can be blameless before God
In other words we will be held accountable.
For children: How you treat your widowed and aged parents - you will be held accountable.
For the Widows - How you live when widowed you will be held accountable.
For the church - how we help the widows the true widows among us - we all will be held accountable.
We all must live obeying God - we all must be training ourselves to to be Godly -
This is just one of the ways - it is a doozy I do not deny it
But is something we all have to look at and say - I am a Christian I will do this because it is the right thing to do
Reguardless of the effects on my life.
7 Qualifcations of a Widow
7 Qualifcations of a Widow
Age - 60 or above.
Why 60 or above -
First - she could remarry.
In today’s modern world - if the woman were to remary at any age then it would eliminate her
Second - what was the averae life span at that time -
As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years,
Or if due to strength, eighty years,
Yet their pride is only trouble and tragedy;
For it quickly passes, and we disappear.
So by the time they are 60 they most likely are not going to be able to do much in a time where physical labor was the main source of work for income.
Having been the wife of one man -
Does that mean being married only once - no
Remember in that culture she could have been married multiple times
but at th time she was only married to one man as a Christian should have been.
Having a good reputation for good works.
Why would this be important.
Did she exihibit Christian behavior as well.
That is the key.
Or was she a selfish person who only thought of herself.
Maybe that is why her childrend are not there to help her.
If she has brought up children.
How would she be a widow if she had brought up children.
They may have died - in this culture it was not uncommon for children to die at an early age
Many died befoe their parents.
If you were poor - as many of the christians were -
Many things could have happened to you
You could have been sold into slavery
Conscripted into the the army
If you were a beautiful girl - you could have been taken for the kings - harem - lets just leave it at that -
Rememeber the story of Ester
That is what that was.
Disease was rampant - especially in poorer community
Starvation
Any number of things could have happened but she still would have brought up children and still been with out children at the end of her life.
Shown hospitality to strangers
This just shows a Christian mentality
The resources and energy are being given to a Christian.
Washed the saints feet
Does that mean physically washed?
Possibly
But more than likely is she a humble spirit.
Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.
that is the attitude a Christian widow would have.
Shes has assisted those in distress and devoted herself to every good work.
Was she willing to help those in need when she had the opportunity to do so.
Think about the parable of the good samaratian -
Which one was she - if she was like the Pharaisee and Priest and now comes looking for help why should the churh help her when she would not help others
In other words have you lived you life out the best you can as a good chrisitian if so then the church should and will help the widow.
That is is what qualifies you to be a widow - in God’s eyes.
That is what we have to go by - God’s qualifications not ours.
But the thing is we have to take all these into consideration
Because what we are doing is trainging ourselves in godliness.
It is an everyday thing
It in our responsibilities and duties as ministers
It is in how we treat others when handling situations which are often times very delicate situations
but we do it with what Paul said
The purpose of my instruction is that all believers would be filled with love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and genuine faith.
Next week - 7-16