1 Timothy 5:17-25

Introduction

What I have been saying about the support of widows reminds me of another question regarding church finances: the payment of pastors. Equity and scriptural principles suggests that this should be remunerated in proportion to their usefulness.

Honor Elders

1 Timothy 5:17–18 “Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine. For the scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, The labourer is worthy of his reward.”

We need to know 2 important words:

Rule - Be out in front. Take the lead. Be an example. The pastor is not to be the controller but the example. Paul specifies the areas in which the pastor is to “rule.” He is to rule by laboring in the word and doctrine.

Labor

A. T. Roberson - to work hard

Vines - to Labor hard

As MacArthur says "A man's reward from God is proportional to the excellence of his ministry and the effort he puts into it. Excellence combined with diligence mark a man worthy of the highest honor."

Word

The difference between “word” and “doctrine” is the difference between “preaching” and “teaching”.

MacArthur points out that "Preaching calls for a heart response to God, while teaching is a necessary bulwark against heresy."

Does the pastor preach God’s word? How do you know of the pastor preaches God’s word? Is there a call to action?

The preacher’s job is to minimize his own opinions and deliver the truth of God. Every sermon should explain the Bible and then apply it to people's lives.

John Piper: The aim of this exposition is to help you eat and digest biblical truth that will

make your spiritual bones more like steel,

double the capacity of your spiritual lungs,

make the eyes of your heart dazzled with the brightness of the glory of God,

and awaken the capacity of your soul for kinds of spiritual enjoyment you didn’t even know existed.

Preaching is not the church but preaching serves the church - 2 Timothy 4:1–2 “I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.”

Doctrine - Teaching

The term doctrine in Scripture "is broader than a simple reference to information passed on from one person to another or from one generation to the next. Christianity is a religion founded on a message of good news rooted in the significance of the life of Jesus Christ. In Scripture, then, doctrine refers to the entire body of essential theological truths that define and describe that message

Teaching - is deeper than biographical facts alone. As J. Gresham Machen pointed out years ago, Jesus’ death is an integral historical fact but it is not doctrine. Jesus’ death for sins (1Cor 15:3) is doctrine. (Sound) Doctrine, then, is scriptural teaching on theological truths."

“Well” - The word “well” is often translated as “good.” The word means beautiful, inherently excellent or intrinsically good. The pastor who leads by example what he preaches and teaches is “well.”

Honor

Honor - value, money paid. The context is supporting the pastor financially. The illustration is 1 Timothy 5:18 (“For the scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, The labourer is worthy of his reward.”) confirms this. In other words, allow the ox to eat as much corn as he would like, while he treads out the corn. In like manner, while the pastor labors in word and doctrine, make sure he is satisfied.

In English, we also connect the word honor with the idea of recompence through the noun honorarium, “a payment for unbilled professional services.”

David Guzik - Some think the church should not support staff, and that the paid ministry is an abomination – they say that the church instead should be using the money to support the needy. This is an attractive way of thinking; but it isn’t Biblical. If the needy (that is, the truly needy) are worthy of honor, then those who rule and teach in the church are worthy of double honor.

Galatians 6:6 “Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things.”

“Communicate” - share

The first word in the verse is communicate.

Double honor

One pastor - respect from the congregation and a generous financial compensation.

However, the idea of honor is financial. The more likely idea is Paul used double honor because he highlighted the two main areas that the pastor is the lead: word and doctrine.

Reprove Elders

1 Timothy 5:19–20 “Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses. Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear.”

Background

Pastors are not perfect. Moral failure among pastors is happening with shocking frequency in the American church. A Leadership survey (Winter, 1988, pp. 12-13) revealed that one out of eight pastors have committed adultery since they’ve been in local church ministry. Almost one out of four admitted to doing something they feel was sexually inappropriate. One out of five acknowledged fantasizing at least weekly about sex with someone other than their spouse. If you widen the question to monthly, the number grows to over one out of three.

There are always people eager to falsely accuse a man of God. They may do so because they resent his calling, reject his teaching, resist biblical authority, resent virtue, or are jealous of the Lord's blessing on his life. Ultimately, however, they demonstrate by making such accusations that they have become messengers of Satan. Such false accusations are one of his most dangerous weapons. Joseph, Moses, David, Jeremiah, Nehemiah, and our Lord Jesus Christ all suffered from false accusations. So did Paul, and he particularly addressed that issue in his second letter to the Corinthians.

There is an old story about a pastor who was trying to defend himself against criticism. He said, “There’s a story going about that I told my wife not to go to a certain church that has wild meetings. They say my wife went anyway, and I dragged her out of the church by her hair, and I hurt her so badly she had to go to the hospital. Let me respond to these accusations. First of all, I never told her to stay away from that church. Second, I didn’t drag her out by her hair. Third, she never had to go to the hospital. Lastly, I’ve never been married so I don’t have a wife.”

Receive - to entertain. Paul’s point is to turn a deaf ear to accusations against an elder, unless there is corroboration by 2 or more solid witnesses.

The context is private sin or sin that has not been made public. If it is a public sin, such as false teaching on some major issue or a sin that is in public view, then a public rebuke may be called for as a first step (as Paul did with Peter, Gal. 2:11 ff.) If a leader has gone public by writing a book promoting serious error, then it requires public rebuke, either in print or verbally, to warn God’s people (Titus 1:9). Paul often named individuals (1 Tim. 1:20) and specified the nature of the false teaching (2 Tim. 2:17-18; Titus 1:10-16).

Consider - When such accusations against an elder are brought to Timothy he must not entertain them and start judicial proceedings against the elder, unless two or three responsible witnesses attest the charge. "The influence of even the best minister might be destroyed, if idle gossip and social tattling were accounted a sufficient ground for serious charges and judicial proceedings"

Sin - Present, active - That is, they continue in sin.

May fear - May keep on having fear. That is, to promote a fear of sin within the elders and church.

Impartial Elders

1 Timothy 5:21 “I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality.”

The highest witnesses - Jesus Christ and the elect Angels.

Observe - To guard! It is easy to prejudge an item.

These things:

Either all the things covered in this epistle or just the items within chapter 5.

The focus appears to be chapter 5:

Concerning rebuking members of a different age and sex

Providing for poor widows,

Taking care of the ministers of the Gospel,

Chiefly what regards the discipline of the church with respect to the elders of it

Decisions on carrying out Paul's practical instructions were not to be made by personal bias toward or against a person. In light of the meaning of the word proklisis there should be no leaning toward one side more than the other in decision making. In short Timothy is to never allow personal inclination to bias his judgment!

Bruce Barton - We must be constantly on guard against favoritism, against giving preferential treatment to some and ignoring others. We live in a society that plays favorites. It’s easy to give special treatment to those who are gifted, intelligent, rich, or beautiful without realizing what we are doing. We can also fall into the trap of deliberately working against people we happen not to like. The impartiality that Paul insisted on goes both ways: for example, we are neither to undermine those with whom we have a superficial disagreement, nor are we to overlook false teaching or sexual improprieties of a pastor who happens to be a dynamic speaker.

Seasoned Elders

1 Timothy 5:22 “Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men’s sins: keep thyself pure.”

Seasoned people are less likely to be rash or emotional in their decisions.

Do not be impulsive in ordaining people into the eldership of the church.

Since ordination simply recognizes God’s calling, it is all the more reason to not be in a hurry – time should be given to allow those gifts and callings to demonstrate themselves.

The need cant be the exclusive motivating factor in ordaining men into the ministry. They need to meet qualifications.

J Vernon McGee says: Instead, today we often develop what I call Alka-Seltzer Christians and Alka-Seltzer churches--it's all fizz, foam, and froth, a lot of emotion, and a lot of talk about love, love, love. It is important that love be displayed in a church, but it needs to be anchored in the Word of God. Our mistake is that we often interpret some sort of experience as being the test of spiritual maturity. We've got the cart before the horse. The Word of God is the test, and experience can prove the truth of it.

Do not engage in other people’s sins - Stay pure.

If Timothy was called to observe and assess the lives of others, it was important that he pay even more attention to his own life.

The pastor cannot fall into the trap of defeatism - defeatism can move a person to do what everyone else is doing.

Rediscovering holiness (borrow)  by J. I. Packer - In The Great Divorce C. S. Lewis pictures a man with a lizard on his shoulder, representing lawless lust. The lizard whispers in his ear about how essential it is to his continued well-being. When the angel asks, "Shall I kill it?" the man's first response is to say no. (One thinks of Augustine's prayer: "Give me chastity, but not yet.")

We are all invalids in God's hospital. In moral and spiritual terms we are all sick and damaged, diseased and deformed, scarred and sore, lame and lopsided, to a far, far greater extent than we realize. Under God's care we are getting better, but we are not yet well.

Practical Elders

1 Timothy 5:23 “Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake and thine often infirmities.”

The words imply that Timothy was a total abstainer from wine. Perhaps the reason was that by his example he sought to deter others from the use of this enslaving and destructive drink. Paul advises him to drink "a little wine" as well as water. The purpose of Paul's counsel was hygienic. It was apparently the best known remedy for Timothy's troubles.

Lowell Johnson - Some very carnal folks have used Verse 23 as justification for social drinking … or habitual drinking. W. C. Fields tried that approach when he said, “I only keep a bottle around in case of snakebites. I also keep a small snake.”

Careful Elders

1 Timothy 5:24–25 “Some men’s sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after. Likewise also the good works of some are manifest beforehand; and they that are otherwise cannot be hid.”

Conclusion