 So today we're in First Timothy, we're in chapter five. We're gonna be looking at verses 17 through 25. As you know, we're going through First Timothy verse by verse. Timothy, this letter to Timothy was written because Timothy is a pastor. He's a pastor over at Church in Ephesus. And if you have been with me through our journey through First Timothy, you know that Ephesus was a very big city, was a very pagan city and the church was a very powerful presence in this very pagan city. So Paul has been writing to Timothy as a pastor, instructions concerning how to conduct himself in the house of God. He's been sharing some of the needs that the church has. He's been speaking pertaining to some of the things that are happening, including bad doctrine that has been creeping in. He's been helping him to establish certain guidelines for leadership and things. And so we're picking up here in chapter five as Paul is continuing his instruction. And in chapter five, Paul is speaking here in verses 17 following concerning church leadership. And so in verse 17, I'll read First Timothy five verses 17 through 20 and we'll get into our study. But we're gonna pick up where Paul has been sharing with Timothy concerning leadership and in this particular portion of scripture, things that pertain to elders. So in verse 17, First Timothy chapter five, let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who laborer in the word and doctrine. For the scripture says, you shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain and the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not receive an accusation against an elder except from two or three witnesses. Those who are sinning rebuke in the presence of all that the rest also may fear. So again, Paul is dealing with problems in the church and he's instructing Timothy concerning a variety of things. In chapter five, last time we were together we noted how that Paul instructed him concerning bringing correction. And he had spoken to Timothy about how to correct an older man, how to correct an older woman, how to correct a younger man and how to correct a younger woman. So he began to speak concerning correction. Then he spoke concerning how to care for the widows and especially was pertaining to the widows in financial need. He gave to Timothy requirements related to these widows receiving support from the church. And so that's what we've been looking at as we came up to and come up to this verse here or these verses. So now he's moving on to address the honor that is due to faithful elders who are serving in the church. Now notice in verse 17 how he begins by saying, let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor. Now when he uses the word elder, he's not speaking of the older members of the church. The word elder there is a Greek word presbuteras. That's where you get the word presbytery from, presbyterian. The word presbuteras is a word that is used among Christians concerning those who preside over the assemblies. In other words, the elder is the overseer. He supervises the work of the fellowship. And so he's not speaking in general terms of older men. He's speaking in terms of church leaders when he speaks here in verse 17. And he says, let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor. So he's speaking concerning church leadership. In chapter three, we saw that he had laid out the qualifications for leaders in the church, especially as he spoke concerning the elders as well as the deacons. But now he's writing concerning compensation. Before he laid out the qualification, now he's speaking of compensation or financial support for their work. Now as I begin this, I'm aware of the fact that there are some, even churches or those that are called churches who believe that elders are not to be paid. I've had conversations with people in the past who have said, well, such and so, church doesn't pay their elders and elders should not be compensated. Perhaps some of you have heard that in the past also. But that's not biblically correct. And that's what Paul is speaking about here. And that's what we'll look at for just a few minutes today. You see, the Bible makes it clear that elders can be and should be financially compensated. Paul, for example, when he wrote to the church of Corinth, actually gave a teaching on the subject. You see, the Corinthian church also is dealing with false teachers who were influencing the faith of the Corinthians. And when you read and study first and second Corinthians, Paul makes it clear that there are Jewish pseudo-intellectuals who have claimed superior ministry over Paul. And Paul had to deal with that. All through second Corinthians, Paul actually alludes to and answers the accusations. And one of the accusations lodged against him was that he did not deserve support. So in second Corinthians 11, verse seven, he says, did I commit sin in humbling myself that you might be exalted? Because I preached the gospel of God to you free of charge. So he was speaking concerning the fact that some were saying he preaches free of charge because he doesn't and shouldn't receive any compensation. But in first Corinthians, he addressed his right to financially be supported by those he ministered to. In first Corinthians nine, verses three through five, he said, my defense to those who examine me as this, do we have no right to eat and drink? Do we have no right to take along a believing wife as do also the other apostles, the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working? He went on in chapter nine, verse 11 to say, if we have sown spiritual things for you, is it a great thing if we reap your material things? In other words, spiritual food as well as spiritual services to be valued as well as supported. And that's what he was saying. He went on in verses 13 and 14 to say, do you not know that those who minister the holy things eat of the things of the temple? And those who serve at the altar partake of the offerings of the altar. Even so, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel. So proper compensation is the right of any minister of God who is faithfully serving the Lord. And those who are taught by pastors and teachers are to support those who instruct them. In Galatians six, verse six, it says anyone who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with his instructor. So if you're growing and benefiting from ministry, should you not support it? In first Corinthians nine, 12, Paul said it like this. He said, if others are partakers of this right over you, are we not even more? In other words, the idea of compensation for those who give services is not new to you. It's not unique. Others benefit from your finances and they do so constantly. You pay taxes, you rent or purchase homes, transportation, you enjoy entertainment. You go to games, you pay for parking, you purchase food and souvenirs. You go out for meals, you give tips to the servers. That's not a foreign concept to you. So why would you think that you should not care for the financial need of ministers? That's what Paul would be saying. So how do you determine proper compensation is a different question. What is the criteria used to establish whether they should or should not receive compensation? And that's what we're looking at here in these verses. So in verse 17, let's look at that together. Verse 17, let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine. Again, Paul's referring to church leaders, especially any officers to whom the management and government of the church has been entrusted. So as a pastor, Timothy's to determine proper compensation for ministers. And Paul is establishing guidelines to determine this compensation. So he says, let the elders who rule well. We can look at that. When it says, let the elders who rule well, let the elders who preside or manage the spiritual interests of the church, those who rule well. The word well means who rule honestly or excellently, properly, so there's no room for blame. His testimony is good, both inside and outside of the church. And so if he's ruling well, presiding honorably, he's worthy of what is called double honor. Now what is double honor? The word honor there is the word honoraria. We use the word today. We speak of honorariums and all. It speaks of monetary honor. And so when he speaks of double honor, it's a dual application. It speaks of monetary honor as well as the respect that he should receive from the congregation. The word honor speaks of the honor that one has by reason of the rank and state of office that he holds. So he's saying, pay those who rule well and work to the point of exhaustion, proper compensation. Well, there are those who would argue about that. They say, why should we? If you keep him poor, won't you keep him humble? And so there are those, I've actually had people who have said that in the past. You'll keep them hungry. You'll keep them dependent. Well, fair compensation makes it possible for him to serve with the fewest distractions. It sets him free from material concern to totally focus on the family and ministry. And this particular principle is well known during the time of Jesus. There was a rabbi, his name was Jachanan. And he said, it is the duty of every Jewish community to support a rabbi. And the more so because a rabbi naturally neglects his own affairs to concentrate on the affairs of God. So Paul speaks of this and he speaks of the one who's ruling well and he speaks of him laboring. Notice laboring in the Word and doctrine. Laboring in the Word and doctrine evidence is ruling well. It deserves compensation. When he speaks of labor, that means working to the point of exhaustion. It speaks of physical fatigue. That would include the time it takes to study and prepare messages. Somebody said, laboring in the Word and doctrine speaks of the faithful reading of the Bible, the diligent searching of it in order to find the mind and will of God. It speaks of the daily meditation of on scripture, the study of it. It speaks of the frequent and fervent wrestling with God through prayer for him to give an understanding of the passage. Laboring in the Word and doctrine speaks of endeavoring to find out the sense within passages that are hard to understand as well as the choice of proper words to express the truth in and of the passage. To the capacities of all who are present to hear and understand. It seems easy to teach the Word in other words, and it does. It appears easy to come out and communicate, but it isn't. The number one fear that people have, it's been shown over and over again, is the fear of speaking in public. That's the number one fear. If I were to suddenly turn to one of you, for example, and say, would you come up and share for a moment? Now some would just love to do that. You've been chomping at the bit for the longest time. But there are others who would say, are you kidding me? The idea of getting up there and sharing in front of a bunch of people, because it's a very difficult thing to do. But a lot of people don't understand that. At least they theoretically know it, but they don't practically understand that. And so for them, the idea that somebody comes up and speaks, it's just natural for them to do. That's something they do, but you don't understand sometimes that it's not that easy. And so just coming up and speaking is difficult, little preparing. And as you're speaking, you also have to have an awareness of who it is that you're speaking to. Because every congregation, you're also going to refer to a congregation, we'll say as an audience, those who listen, every congregation has a variety of those who are in various places in their walk with the Lord to having no walk at all with them. And there are various levels of understanding that take place every time a message is being communicated. So for somebody to come up and to share, that person needs to prepare thoroughly. They need to be aware of who they're speaking to. And they need to be aware of how they're speaking. I remember when I first got saved, I was 20 years old, I hadn't really been reading much for a long time. I used to read a lot of comic books and then I stopped even reading those. And just before I got saved, I began to read again, but I wasn't much of a reader. And so now I'm saved. And because I had given up a few years of my life to drugs and alcohol, I was kind of like in this mode of trying to catch up with what I had lost opportunity to gain. So when I went into the military, I began to read. And I tried to find books that would stimulate me and would give to me intellectual understanding and knowledge to expand me as a person and created a vocabulary so that I could actually communicate more clearly in all. And I started reading people. I read C.S. Lewis. I read J.R.R. Tolkien. I read different people, but I also included an author by the name of Herman Hess. And some of you have read Herman Hess. And he wrote a lot of books. He was an existentialist, a German thinker and all. And I began to read things, Narzis and Goldmund and Beneath the Wheel and various books that he wrote. But the problem with that was I didn't understand what he was saying. His words are huge. So I would read the books with a dictionary next to me. And I was constantly looking at the dictionary and as I was looking at the dictionary, my vocabulary began to expand. So I was doing that for a couple of years in the military. God out went to college. Now I'm in college and they're beginning to give me words that I've never heard before and it's expanded me once again. And I'm thrilled by it because my vocabulary is growing and I'm feeling like I'm not as stupid as I'd felt for so many years. I'm now understanding words and concepts. And to me, that was an important thing. Now I'm teaching a Bible study. And the people I'm teaching were my mom and my dad and some neighbors as well as my younger sisters. Now my mom and my dad didn't go to school very long. My father quit school in eighth grade. My mother was higher educated than he, she went to ninth grade. That's as far as they went. My dad quit school at 13 so he could work with his family in order to provide income because he had, there was his mama and his dad and there were 12 brothers and sisters. And so he had to provide. And my mom was orphaned at the age of 14 and she was moved from house to house. So she didn't go to school anymore. She was living in different places in different cities. My mom and dad got married one month past my mom's 17th birthday. Daddy was 20 so they didn't go to school. My dad was a reader. He read the readers digest all the time. He read the newspaper, various things like that. But my dad and mom had a minimal education and now their son's going to college. I think I was the first one of the family that actually went to college. And they were real thrilled that their son was going to college. And now I'm teaching Bible studies. And I'm sitting in the front room and I've got mom and dad, my sisters, couple of neighbors, anybody I could bribe and they're in there listening to me. And as I'm sharing, I'm using my new vocabulary, my new found words that I'm gaining from school and all. And I still remember as I was there speaking about the Jewish tetragrammaton. And my dad looks at me and the spirit of the Lord speaks to my heart. I've never forgotten this. The Holy Spirit said, look at your dad. He's very proud of you. And I looked at my dad and he's sitting there with a Bible on his lap and he's got this big dad smile. He says he's very proud of you. He doesn't understand a word you're saying. I have never forgotten that. That's the fact. That's the truth. I'm not lying, making that up. That's the truth. It isn't that my papa wasn't smart. My dad was very smart. My mom took, I said this once before when mom was still alive, she took me aside to tell me off, you know, we're not stupid. I smiled at my mom. I said, no, I know you're not stupid, dummy. No, I didn't say that. I didn't say that, I only thought it. No, I smiled. I said, no, mom, I know that. She says, well, you're making us look stupid. I said, no, mom, I'm not. I'm sorry if it appears that way. And even now, I'm sorry if it sounds that way. It was just what I was trying to learn. I was trying to learn to communicate so that people could learn. And my pastor Chuck said this. He said, you need to put the cookies on the shelf where the children can reach them. And all he meant when he said that was the demeaning of people. He said, know who you're speaking to. Your studies ought to be of such nature that a 13-year-old listening can get it, as well as a college professor. In this church, we have doctors and we have lawyers, high educated people, people in education. We also have people like my mom and dad and everything in between. People who are respected for their intellect but may not be highly educated. And so Chuck taught us. He said, just make sure that you don't get arrogant, that you don't get haughty, that you don't try and appear to be some intellect. When in fact, the word of God ought to be spoken to congregations so that every person can walk away knowing Jesus better. And that's the work of a man who labors in the word and doctrine. That's what Paul basically is pointing to. He said, you compensate the individuals because their work is so difficult. Because they're taking God's word and with power of the Holy Spirit, they're handing it to people. And it takes labor to be able to realize how to present that truth. And the elder is not to be a lazy man. The elder is to be somebody who works and he works to the point of exhaustion. Jesus obviously is the greatest example of somebody who worked tirelessly. I was looking into the gospel of Mark and I was looking at one day, just one day of the activity of Jesus Christ to illustrate the fact that he worked to the point of exhaustion. And when you look in Mark in chapter one, verses 21 through 35, it records a single day of his ministry. And in that day, in one day, Jesus taught in a synagogue, he performed an exorcism, he healed Simon Peter's mother-in-law, which got Simon Peter pretty mad. I think that's why he denied Jesus later on. And after sundown, I'm kidding, and after sundown, he healed many who were sick. He delivered demon-possessed people. He went to bed and in the morning, he rose before daylight and then he went to a quiet place to pray and started a new day. That was Jesus. He worked hard. Paul was a hardworking minister and acts 20 verse seven. Luke records on the first day of the week when the disciples came together to break bread. Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight. So ministry is made up of many hours and ministry can be truly exhausting. It's not a place for those who are not willing to work to the point of exhaustion. And a lot of people don't understand that once again, they think that a pastor basically plays golf five days out of the week and comes and shares whatever's on his heart on a Wednesday or on a Sunday or whenever he speaks. That's just not true at all. And it's not just the spiritual, though it is, it's the studying at all, but it is also just the physical labor that's involved. And again, some people don't understand that I, many years ago now, over 30, about 33 years ago now, we used to have a building on Grove Street in Ontario. It's an industrial building that we were renting. And we had offices there, a couple of classrooms for the children. And we had a hall that sat 120 people. And we used it for our Wednesday night as well as our Sunday night services. And it was, the hall had chairs, 120 chairs, and they didn't attach. They were independent individual chairs. And it was a Wednesday night. I still remember as everybody had left. And the chairs, when you get up and you slide out, you know, a lot of the chairs were in disarray and all. And I was there and I was walking into the back when a young man approaches me and begins to speak to me. He was the last member of the Bible study that was there that night. And he said, pastor, I want to speak to you about ministry. And I said, of course, what would you like to talk about? And he started wanting to share with me how that, he said, I feel called by God to be a pastor. And I said, really? And I began to straighten out the chairs. We had 120. And I was going from row to row, straightening them out, hooking them together, putting them, you know, in rows, as he kept telling me how he wanted to serve the Lord. He never touched one of the chairs. He just walked alongside of me as I straightened them all out. And I smiled within and I thought to myself, one of the things you don't understand about ministry is its work. It's work. It's not just standing up there talking. It's the other things that are involved. It's everything. And a laborer works until exhaustion. And Paul is saying, you look at the minister, Timothy. It's not just the potential. You see, a lot of times the word potential is one of the most damaging words you can use when you're speaking of somebody who has certain eloquence or abilities because many people never rise to their potential. It's not just the potential. It's the actual. It's what they're doing. He says, so you look and you see who it is who is working, who it is who is serving, who it is who is laboring in the word as well as doctrine. And these are the ones that you compensate with double honor. He says they labor in the word and doctrine. So when it speaks of someone laboring in the word and in doctrine, it speaks of the content of the teaching as well as its impact. Now the content is found in throughout the scripture. Matthew 28, Jesus speaks concerning the great commission. He goes, go into the world and make disciples. He said, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you. And so the content is teaching the word of God, all things from Genesis to Revelation. So he believes and he studies and he presents the Bible as God's word. He labors as he prepares his studies. In 2 Timothy, Paul said it like this in chapter two, verse 15, study to show yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing what he calls the word of truth, rightly dividing it. In Ezra, chapter seven, verse 10, it says Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord and to do it and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments. He prepared his heart to seek the law and to do it. It's the content of the preaching and the teaching but it's also the impact. You look around, Paul says to Timothy and look and see the impact of this person's teaching. When they're hearing him teach, do the people begin to love the Lord more? Do the people begin to love others? Are they encouraged to serve? Is the group that they're with healthy? Is there a love amongst the people? Do they have servants' hearts and are they evangelistic? Do they reach out to the lost? Is that person's teaching provoking you to know Jesus and to love him more? In John 17.3, Jesus said this is life eternal, that they might know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. And so he says this is a fruit, this is how you know. The content is the teaching verse by verse going through what God's word says is a producing people who love the Lord and love one another and serve God and reach the lost. He says you can see that this is a person who's laboring properly in the word. He goes on in verse 18 as he speaks of compensation and he uses scripture when he says the scripture says you shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain and the laborer is worthy of his wages. Interestingly, he quotes scripture from both the old as well as the New Testament. The Old Testament references Deuteronomy 25 verse four. The New Testament is words of Jesus in Luke 10 verse seven. So somebody once said if in the law of Israel there was a special reminder to God's people that the very animals that labored for them were not to be prevented from enjoying the fruits of their labors, surely men who have faithfully devoted themselves as God's servants to their church family should be treated with generosity and dignified with special respect and honor. Even as Jesus said, the laborer is worthy of his wages. So on the one hand, this is an elder who rules well but what happens when an accusation is lodged against that elder? Well, he goes on in verse 19, do not receive an accusation against an elder except from two or three witnesses. Those who are sinning rebuke in the presence of all that the rest also may fear. Now notice what he says. First he says do not receive an accusation against an elder. The word receive is a word meaning admit or entertain. Ultimately, every church will have members who bring accusations against leaders. It's the nature of the work. There are many opportunities to fail to lead properly and there will always be disgruntled members who bring accusations, always. Of course, there must be a way to deal with an elder who does act wrongly. Being in a position of authority doesn't mean they can't abuse it but the question is how do you deal with an accusation against the leader? Are they to be automatically considered guilty until proven innocent? Is the accusation to be believed simply because it's been made? We live in a society that the people would answer and say, yeah, if it's been said, it must be true. That's the way it works today. We're going through that right now and our political system, you see it all the time, it's in the news constantly. Accusations, accusations that are believed simply because they were made. Is that the way the church is supposed to operate? You see, the gospel is so important, needs to be safeguarded against it being undermined and bad elders bring a message into disrepute. It undermines the message of the gospel, a gospel message that states that if you adhere to it, your life is transformed. But every accusation needs to have a basis for it being made. What is to be done to protect the gospel, protect the church and yet deal with real sin is the question. Well, he says, accusations are to be allowed but must be given by two or three witnesses. Timothy is not to receive an unsubstantiated accusation. Under Jewish law, this was a requirement. In Deuteronomy 19, verse 15, one witness is not enough to convict anyone accused of any crime or offense, they may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. In 2 Corinthians, in the New Testament, chapter 13, verse one, Paul said, this is the third time I'm coming to visit you. And as the scriptures say, the facts of every case must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. So to even receive a charge, two or more must bring it verbally. That is the safeguard to elder from hostile members of the fellowship. I've been in the ministry for a while and I can tell you that there is hostility. We all know that it's a human fact. And sometimes people get upset because they believe that they were not treated properly. And sometimes they'll want to bring an accusation. And so the way they do it, very often will be through an anonymous letter or email or maybe a phone call where they don't want to give their name but they want to let you know that so-and-so is doing such and such. But those are not to be received. In the Bible's very clear, it says it right here, verse 19, do not receive an accusation against an elder except from two or three witnesses. And so you can't receive those. You can't allow them. You know, people have approached me in the past. I remember one in particular, it's happened more than once, but this comes to mind how I had given a study and I was visiting with people in between service and a man walks up to me and says, my name is so-and-so and I've been attending such-and-so church and he says, and I'm now coming here. I just began coming here. My family and I said, well, it's nice. And he says, but I want you to know that the pastor and he gives me the name of the pastor. The pastor has done this and that. And I said, and you're upset about the pastor. And he says, and I said, you know, I'm not to receive an accusation against him. I said, but what you're supposed to do is you're supposed to go and speak to him because he is the one you have the problem with. I said, what good is pouring into me? You're concerned when I can't help you. And if you don't resolve that concern, you're gonna bring an infection into this church. So you need to go back and speak to the pastor that you feel has offended you and you need to bring your concern to him and you need to talk it out, pray it out. I said, I know your pastor is a very different of mine and I know he's a fair-minded man. So go back and speak to him. And when you go and you speak to him, if you still feel inclined that the Lord has led you out, then you're being led properly and you won't create any problems in any new church that you go to. So he wasn't happy. He wanted to tell me all his problems. But I said, you need to go back to the altar that you're offended with, which is what Paul says. He went back and two weeks later, I was in the front and he walks up and he says, do you remember our conversation? And I said, yes, troublemaker, get out of here. No, I said, yes, I remember. And he says, I want you to know, I went back and I spoke to him, we resolved it. He says, we've reconciled and I'm staying in my church. And I said, praise the Lord, that's how it's supposed to work, you see? It's easy for us to come up and say, I don't like the way he looked at me. I don't like the way he didn't hug me. I had someone angry and spreading things about me because he said, I didn't hug him. But people do that. I mean, it's just amazing. And there's always someone who will listen to it because, oh yeah, and that's how it works. But that's not how it works in scripture. That's how it works in the world. That's how you disturb and disrupt. That's how you sow seeds of discord. That's the way that you do the enemy's work, but not in the church. So anonymous letters and emails and phone calls, none of that is supposed to be done. It safeguards the elder from a hostile member of the church and they need to deal with those problems. Now, if it turns out that someone walks up, they have other witnesses and they say, this has happened. We begin to investigate. It's well known. People all know this is taking place. It's well known. Then he gives us what we're to do, verse 20. Those who are sinning rebuke in the presence of all that the rest also may fear. And so when it is received, it proves to be true. It's dealt with in a public fashion. If it's private, it's dealt with privately. If it's public, it's dealt with openly. In Galatians chapter two, verses 11 through 14, it reads, when Peter came to Antioch, Paul is writing, I opposed him to his face because he was clearly in the wrong. Before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy so that by their hypocrisy, even Barnabas was led astray. When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter, in front of them all, you are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it then that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs? He said, I confronted him in front of them all. When it's openly known, it's dealt with openly. And in doing so, the church learns that there's no respect of persons. Everybody is under the same word and the word is applied universally. Now it's so serious. Notice verse 21, he says, I charge you before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the elect angels that you observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing with partiality. Do this without prejudice. Do this without partiality. And this is so important that I am charging you before God, the Lord Jesus Christ and the elect angels. This is intended to emphasize the importance of performing the command. There should be no inclination of heart toward one that would lead us to decide to find him innocent and no aversion from another which would make us resolve to find him guilty. In other words, you can't have partiality. You have to have an openness. You have to have a willingness to see both sides. So he's saying, don't be showing favoritism just because you like somebody because that person can be just as guilty as somebody who you don't like could be innocent. So be very careful and don't do anything with partiality. Now he goes on in verse 22, do not lay hands on anyone hastily nor share in other people's sins. Keep yourself pure. And so the laying on of hands. You know, there've been many times I've wanted to lay hands on people but this is in a different way. Laying on of hands is the practice of recognizing and ordaining a minister. It's the impartation, it's a picture of the impartation of ministry and so you lay hands on somebody and it's a picture of God ordaining them into ministry and so the laying on of hands is recognizing and ordaining minister. And so Timothy is to take the proper amount of time to allow them to prove themselves. You don't lay hands on anyone suddenly. A lot of times people will come to a church and immediately they'll speak of where they came from and how many things they did there and you may have a need for a music minister or you may have a need for some combat administrator or some help in the ministry, you may have that. And so you say within yourself, oh great, the Lord has provided, we have somebody who's talented and experienced. Paul is saying don't do that. He's saying you're not to lay hands on anyone suddenly. Give them opportunity to prove themselves. They need to prove themselves to be faithful and industrious, not only that. But it takes time for the church to recognize them and to see them as somebody that can be a leader in the church. I was speaking at a pastors conference many years ago and I was sharing with the pastors how some pastors have a tendency of going to churches and seeing particular members there that are serving will say they'll see a worship leader that they really like and they'll offer them a job. And they'll say come on and work for me and I'll pay you more than what you're receiving. That is spiritual headhunters. We used to have a brother in our fellowship a number of years ago, now it's been a few years, who was literally conceived and born in this church. He grew up in this church. He is very educated, got his degrees, got his master's degree in theology. And I handed him ministry and he was performing ministry with the young adults. And it was a growing and a very good ministry. But he comes and speaks to me one day and he says to me, I've been approached by such and so church to become their youth minister there. And I said, and what do you sense? He says, well, at the moment, I'm just letting you know. And I said, well, okay, thank you for letting me know. When he kept on serving here, and we had him as part-time and we were paying him in the whole nine yards, he had a good ministry. And then one day he approaches me and he says to me, I was once again approached by these people. What they're doing is they sent people to attend his Bible study. And then afterwards they approached him. He had a meeting with the pastor and pastoral staff. Long story made short, they hired him from underneath us. It was a spiritual headhunting kind of thing where they sent scouts out to select him, offered him better than what he was receiving and he moved on. And I still remember telling him, again, I knew him from the time he was born and gave him a lot of opportunities and a lot of training. And I said, I want you to think of something. I said, if you take this position, which you did, I said, if you take this position, I want you to realize that here you're like my son, over there you're an employee. Don't forget that, because you will be treated as an employee. You will be, which is exactly, exactly what happened. I said, if someone can come into a church and steal you because they want to fill a position, they don't love you, keep that in mind. You don't do that. I said, this isn't the world, this is the church. We're a family, a family of God. We should treat each other properly. I could use a lot of good laborers, but that's what I'd be doing. I would be using them and abusing them. But if you look at them as being somebody you love and you care for, you're gonna treat them right. And that's how it works in ministry. And that's how things end up. And so I see potential. I see people who can do certain things and I think that would be great. But a long time ago, the Holy Spirit taught me something. He said, if you saved yourself, I could use that person. That's exactly what you'll end up doing. You will use them instead of encouraging them. Keep that in mind. You don't want to use people. You want to free people to be used by the Lord. That's how it works in ministry. And so Paul is saying, Timothy, don't lay hands on anyone suddenly. That person needs to demonstrate through a life that is faithfully lived, that he's solid. Not only that, it takes time for people to see the fruit of his ministry to begin to recognize that person as called by God. You can go out tomorrow and you can get a tree and you can plant it in your backyard, but it's not gonna produce fruit the next day. It takes a while for that tree to be rooted and grounded and then produce. It takes care. It takes all the things that are necessary to make it capable of that. And it takes time. So in ministry, Paul is simply saying to him, don't lay hands on any man suddenly. Why? Because, and I'll note this with you here. And he says, do not lay hands on anyone hastily nor share in other people's sins. Keep yourself pure. Because when that person brings discord and damage to the church, that happens because you allowed it. When a bad elder falls, it tears up the congregation. It impacts the pastor's reputation. So keep yourself pure from reproach as it pertains to ministry selections. Then he goes on in verse 23 and you can see these are all practical. Verse 23, no longer drink only water, but use a little wine for your stomach's sake and your frequent infirmities, which is why I haven't been feeling well and I've got a case in my office. No. Let's look at that for a moment, shall we? He's advocating the medicinal value and use of wine, not its recreational use. A little wine is safer than polluted water. The polluted water, especially during the time of Paul, often resulted in dysentery. So I say ministry is tiring and ministry is difficult. Take care of your health. Avoid polluted water. It increases longevity of your ministry. Again, somebody said the exhortation extended only to a very moderate use of wine. The exhortation was not to drink it freely. It was not to drink it at the tables of the rich and the great or in the social circle. It was not even to drink it by itself. Timothy was to use a little mingled with water because this was the usual method of drinking wine, especially for medicinal use. Drink a little wine for medicinal use, not for recreational use. And then finally, in verse 24, some men's sins are clearly evident, preceding them to judgment, but those of some men follow later. That's obvious. Some men's sins are obvious. You go to your family on Christmas and Uncle Joe is there with his bottle, getting mad and cussing at everybody. I don't know if you've ever experienced that. Maybe you don't have an Uncle Joe, getting all mad, saying dirty things. Some men's sins are evident. You sit in the front in the car and you turn to the kids. No, you know, Uncle Joe is here today and sometimes he gets a little loud. You're preparing him. So I told Marie, I might as well give it away to you. You'll never see this. So all Marie has to do is look at me and I'll smile and I'll go, yep, let's get out of here. Just a little sign, yep, time to go. It's not that you're self-righteous and better, by the way, is that you just don't want to be around a lot of the tension because some people's sins are evident. You see it, but some follow after them. That's interesting because some people's sins are hidden real well. You don't even know what they're really like. They're so pleasant in church. They smile so much. They're nice. I like to give illustrations that are over 30 years old. That way the person who was involved in them has been gone a long time. He doesn't think I'm speaking about them. So here's an old illustration. Marie and I are invited to somebody's house. We go to their house and the wife has taken time to hand-paint scriptures on the different oriments that she's putting on the tree. So she's writing scriptures and it's very sweet. She's got all kinds and the husband's sitting there smiling at us with a gentle smile, talking very softly, making himself look like a great guy. And then later on we're told that he got mad and he took every one of those ornaments and he smashed them through them against the wall. And it turns out that this man was abusive. You wouldn't have known it when you talked to him. He was a nice guy. He was quiet. He was a nice guy, very hospitable, wanting to help at the church. But behind closed doors, different man entirely. I still remember a couple's retreat that we went on over 25 years ago now where somebody came and said, pastor, we've got a problem you have to deal with. So I went to one of the rooms where the wife was sitting. She opened the door and she was seated on, she sat down on the bed and her face was bruised because at the couple's retreat, her husband who was a quiet, mild-mannered man decided to beat her up at the couple's retreat. We've seen a lot of that over the years. Some men's sins are evident. They walk in and you know, this guy needs Jesus. Sometimes it's the preacher. You just didn't know it. But there are others. I am telling you and you know it that their sins are hidden very well. You don't see them and Paul's addressing that. It's very true. Some men's sins are clearly evident, preceding them to judgment. But those of some men follow later. They are not as evident. So he's saying don't make snap judgments. Don't lay hands on somebody suddenly. Give them time to prove themselves because in time, over time, their true character will be revealed. Some sins take more time to be revealed but they are. Now someone said if they are men of bad principles or practices, they will be discovered in time. For there's nothing hidden that shall not be revealed. Time will make all things manifest and their sins will be exposed. But this in mind it is right to wait a while and not to be quick in the reception of them into ministry. For otherwise, much mischief may be done to the souls of men and much dishonor brought on the ways and teachings of Christ. Lay hands on no man hastily. Give them time to prove themselves. Again, what we're looking at is church order. This is the way churches are to operate. And you can use this if you'd like to judge the church that you're going to right now. And I think you should.