 This morning is the proper care and feeding of elders, the proper care and feeding of elders, and we are coming to this section now in chapter 5 verses 17 to 25 dealing with elders, and it's interesting that, you know, we began chapter 5, we learned initially how we are to interrelate with older men, older women in the church, and then how we are to interrelate with younger men, younger women in the church. Then we get into this long section here from verses 3 to 16 with how we are to take care of widows, and that gives us an indication there of how we are to interact or interrelate with all of those in need, and the responsibilities of the church with respect to that. We looked at elders back in chapter 3 tackling the qualifications of elders, but now here in chapter 5, Paul takes this opportunity with Timothy to move on here to elders again to discuss as we honored older men, older women, we honored younger men, younger women, we honored widows, and now we're going to honor elders' leadership in the church. And so the key word here, just as it has been, is that word honor, and we're going to look at several points today as we walk through this text dealing with the proper care and feeding of elders in the church. One, where to provide for them. Two, where to protect them. Three, we're going to look at principles related to rebuking a sinning elder. And then lastly, we'll look at principles for appointing them. So let's look at point one. We're going to provide for them. The scripture here gives us instruction that we're to provide for elders. Verse 17 says this. It says, Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine. For the scripture says, You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain, and the labor is worthy of his wages. Now that office here that is in question or that is in the light of Paul's teaching, instruction here is the office of elder. It's interesting here that it uses another word. It uses presbyteroi here. It's a term meeting elder, means overseer or pastor. Those words are all used interchangeably in the scripture. We saw that when we looked at elders in chapter three. That example in Acts 20 of how those words, overseer, bishop, Episcopos, presbyteros are all used interchangeably of the same office. Now here, there's a range of duties that is mentioned here with ruling well. We'll get into some of that and laboring in word and doctrine. And so this word presbyteros is used meaning elder. And it really points to where the word in chapter three pointed more to duties. Here, the word really points to the dignity of the office, the sense of honor, the sense of dignity that goes along with the office of elder, goes along with the office of pastor or bishop or overseer. And so Paul then, after sort of using that word, which is somewhat different and that informs our understanding, Paul then makes a distinction here between all elders, all right, and then those that rule well, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine. So a couple of points from this so that we understand and we don't get off track here. One is this, is that all elders should be honored. We know that from the rest of the word of God. Those in leadership in the church should be honored. In 1 Thessalonians chapter five, beginning in verse 12, the Bible says, and we urge you brethren to recognize those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you and to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake. It's right off the bat from verse 17 here. We know that he's not distinguishing between sinning elders and those that don't work and those ruling elders and those that labor hard in word and doctrine. This really is speaking of all elders, all elders in Scripture are to be esteemed or are to be honored, okay? There are those elders that sin. There are those elders that don't work. We know that to be true. Those come under discipline, they won't be elders for long if you're going to follow the Bible. We're to honor all elders. Now, second point from verse 17 with respect to honoring elders here is that Paul distinguishes those in verse 17 that are worthy of double honor, okay? And it's those in 17 worthy of double honor who serve with a greater excellence or a greater commitment or a greater effort, maybe greater responsibility. There are those in verse 17 that are distinguished and there are two marks of that distinguishing, two characteristics that reflect those who are worthy of double honor. One here is that they rule well, but two is that they work harder or they work hard in the word and in doctrine. So the first thing to tackle is this idea of ruling well, okay? That's the word praiestemi in the Greek. It means to stand first or to super intend or to preside over, to be at the head, all right? So you've got this person who is at the head, he's supervising, super intending over the church, over the work of the church, standing first and he does that well and the word they're used for well means intrinsically good, means beautiful. It's honorable or good in appearance. It just is intrinsically good, okay? Now think about that for a moment. That could be translated with excellence. They do their work with excellence, but right off the bat, that does away with any kind of not beautiful, heavy-handed authoritarianism, right? That does away with any harshness. That does away with that heavy-handed abuse of authority that many have seen. The pastor is to rule intrinsically good with intrinsic beauty, with intrinsic excellence. It is to be a matter of excellence and not heavy-handedness, not harshness. It should be done with excellence, okay? So they rule well. They stand first and they do that in a way that is fitting, in a way that's intrinsically good. Secondly, it says they labor. They labor among you. They labor in word and in doctrine. And there's a key word there. It says at the beginning of that especially, and that's a pivotal word in this, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine. Many of your translations translate that especially. I think a better translation for that may be namely or particularly. It has that meaning also that those who are ruling well deserve to be counted worthy of double honor, namely or particularly those who labor in the word and doctrine. So some elders may not serve as prominent a role in that function in the church. All elders teach, right? But not all elders will serve quite as prominent a role in that area, or not labor as hard. But rest assured that the work of the ministry is to be a labor and all elders are to labor. Here this word for labor is the opposite of sloth, right? The opposite of idleness, the opposite of laziness. The ministry is no place for a lazy undisciplined man. No place for a man with no self-control. It is an office, a ministry, a work that requires toil. Here that word labor means to strive to the point of exhaustion. And this is the opposite of sloth. We saw that the young widows in the last section could be given to sloth or given to idleness. And out of that sloth and idleness, all kinds of sins flow, right? Here the elder, this presbyteros, cannot be slothful, cannot be idle. They must labor hard, right? Like the young widow, or like the older widow. Like the young widow, like the apathetic Christian, this sloth is the bane of the church. We have to understand it that way. We talk about apathy in the heart. That is the bane of the Christian existence in our day and age. There is much that lends itself to apathy that we have so much. We have need of nothing. It is so easy to slip into apathy, slip into indifference, to slip into sloth. We have to fight against that. It is the bane of the church. This word labor here speaks to tremendous effort. And again, ministry is no place for a lazy man, an undisciplined man, a man with no self-control. Both together, rule well and labor point to great diligence with excellence, hard work with great quality or dignity, excellence and effort. Those both go together to make for an elder here who is worthy of double honor. And these are demanding duties. The one here, first word is word. They are to labor diligently in the word. And that is word for speak in the Greek. It is just speaking of public speaking. It is speaking of public exposition, exhortation, admonition. It is preaching. That is what it is there. They are to labor in preaching. They are to labor in the word. And that is spoken word. The next word there is doctrine, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine. That word is the word there for instruction. It translates the Greek word didosculia. It means to instruct, to teach. So there is a difference there between preaching and teaching. But those who rule well or those who are worthy of double honor, labor. Namely, particularly those who are laboring in preaching and teaching, in word and in doctrine. There are many who do not answer the demands of the office. And you can see that. There are many who have no discipline, no self-control, no preparation involved, no excellence. They are not feeding the people and we are very aware of those. And like I said, those should in a biblical church come under discipline for that. But those that do, those that are laboring in that way, those that are meeting the call, heating the call, exerting that effort, that striving the Bible calls for, let them be counted worthy of double honor. That word double honor there doesn't mean double pay. Some would like to think that and there are many Charismatics who seem to take that to heart. It means double pay. We are going to get rich off this deal. No. It doesn't mean double pay. It means twofold. It's like we use the word honor and honorarium. Those two words have distinct meanings, senses, connotations that we get from them. It means here honor. This double honor means a twofold honor. And that twofold honor really is respect and pay. Respect and pay. And we've seen that in the context with widows, haven't we? That word, same word honor, used to mean financial support to the widows. And so now in the same way that word honor is used here in verse 17 in this context. It's for elders who need support. So this twofold honoring, it's honor and honorarium, if you will, relates to respect and remuneration, right? Respect and pay. Chris Osum said that this called for reverence and support. We're to financially support these elders in this way. The 1689, our statement of faith, right? Our confession talks about them this way. It says, the work of pastors being constantly to attend the service of Christ in his churches, in the ministry of the word and prayer, with watching for their souls as they must give an account to him, it is incumbent upon the churches to whom they minister, not only to give them all due respect, but also to communicate to them of all their good things according to their ability. So as they may have a comfortable supply without being themselves entangled in secular affairs and may also be capable of exercising hospitality toward others. And this is required by the law of nature and by the express order of our Lord Jesus, who has ordained that they that preach the gospel should live by the gospel. So that's the way our 1689 talks about that. And so next in verse 18 then, he moves on from verse 17 and he moves into verse 18 with respect to paying your pastor, paying your elder. And Paul pulls here from two pretty good sources to support his point. One is Moses, the other is Jesus. So good sources here to make his point. In verse 18, Paul first pulls from Moses where he says, for the scripture says, and he quotes Deuteronomy here, you shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain. And that's quoting Deuteronomy 25 verse 4. Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain. Now, the Old Testament law allowed for oxen who worked to thresh the grain, allowed for oxen to eat of the grain as they worked. Okay? You didn't muzzle them, you didn't muzzle the ox and keep the ox from eating. Now Paul's point and this is pretty clear. The oxen who labored to provide physical food for the people were to be fed. But now Paul's question is, is God concerned about oxen? Yeah, not so much. And he uses this as to show that also faithful pastors laboring hard and worded doctrine are to, who provide spiritual food to the people also are to be fed. And the argument used here is an argument from the lesser to the greater. And here he uses oxen, an animal, to the greater pastors and how we're to care for the proper care and feeding of pastors. Let's take a look at where he does this. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter 9. 1 Corinthians chapter 9. Let's see his example here. We see this in place. 1 Corinthians chapter 9 in verse 3. So Paul takes an Old Testament text, right? And he applies that. He practically applies that to this current circumstance of taking care of supporting elders. So 1 Corinthians chapter 9, look at verse 3. Here Paul says, my defense to those who examine me is this. Do we have no right to eat and drink? Do we have no right to take along a believing wife as do the other apostles, the brothers of the Lord and Cephas flies right in the face of Catholic theology, right? Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working? Whoever goes to war at his own expense, who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its fruit? Or who tends a flock and does not drink of the milk of the flock? Do I say these things as a mere man or does not the law say the same also? And here it is. For it is written in the law of Moses, you shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain. Is it oxen that God is concerned about? Or does he say it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written, that he who plows should plow in hope and he who threshes in hope should be partaker of his hope. If we have sown spiritual things for you, is it a great thing if we reap your material things? If others are partakers of this right over you, are we not even more? And nevertheless, Paul goes on to say here that they didn't avail themselves of this right. Paul, and not wanting to place a stumbling block before anyone, didn't avail himself of this right. Verse 12, nevertheless, we have not used this right but endure all things, lest we hinder the gospel of Christ. 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. And so he commends this taking care of elders, taking care of pastors. He commends this support as the right thing to do in the church. Now back in 1st Timothy chapter 5, in the second half of verse 18, he also quotes the Lord in this Jesus Christ direct quote of Luke chapter 10 verse 7 where the Lord says that the laborer is worthy of his wages. And we see this example in Luke. There in Luke 10, he's speaking of the 70 that are sent out to share the gospel that are sent out evangelizing. And he tells them of the 70 that sent out, he goes, don't take a money bag with you, don't take a knapsack, don't take sandals. If you come to a house and there's a son of peace there, then let your peace remain on it and you stay there. And as you stay there for a period of time, remain in the house. It says eating and drinking such thing as they give because the laborer, as Christ said for the gospel, is worthy of his wages. And so in this double honor, this twofold honor of respecting an elder and paying an elder, the Lord here says that the full-time pastor is to be honored with a fair wage. As an example of this, I was talking to a pastor not long ago. Karen and I were out to dinner and a pastor was telling me a story about a time that he received a gift from someone in the church. That was a very nice thing. They wanted to respect the pastor and wanted to give him a gift. And so someone very graciously came up and gave the pastor a gift. And that's the way that this person wanted to honor their pastor. And so he gets a call shortly after that from the elder board. And the elder board wanted to know what he was given. And so he thought it was a little strange, but he told them what he was given and he noticed on the next paycheck that he received that the value of the gift was deducted from his pay. That's the way some operate. This is not talking about that. This is talking about honoring a fair wage, not an exorbitant wage. It's not talking about double pay. It's just talking about respect and pay, respect and pay. And so, yeah, there's all kinds of stories just like that. The greatest honor. I think you ask any pastor. You ask any elder, any person in position of leadership. The greatest honor that you can show your pastor is to obey the Lord. Just obey the Lord. Live for the Lord. My greatest desire for you is to give an account of you with joy. That's my greatest desire for you to see you grown up in Christ, to see you strengthen, to see you walking in the faith, to see you fervently serving God. And so the greatest honor, you think about that idea of honoring your pastor, the greatest honor that you can give your pastor is just to obey the Lord, to be zealous for him, for the Lord, not for your pastor, to be zealous for the Lord, to love the Lord, to serve the Lord, and you make it your aim such that when that pastor stands before the Lord and gives an account for you, that he does so with joy and not with grief. I want to see Christ formed in you. And so with that heart, with that intent, and take it with the spirit with which it's intended, I exhort you to obey my text. Obey the word of God. When the Lord gives you instruction from his word and take that instruction to heart, don't let it land in your ear like a rock on a hard tile, but let it land on soft, fertile soil. The soil that's receptive to the Lord, receptive to conviction from the spirit of God, turning from sin and following him and following him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Some of you now bear in mind to obey the Lord. You've got to take heed to what we're saying and take heed to the word of God to wake up out of slumber to do that. Wake up out of spiritual stupor to do that. Open your heart, open your mind, open your ears to the Lord in his word. Be convicted and then get out and obey the Lord in what he's telling you to do. Again, it goes back to zeal, avoiding sloth, avoiding idleness, stirring up, kindling within you that first love for Christ. And it's that first love for Christ, I was reading David Brainard last week, that first love for Christ is what will compel you to serve him with joy, will compel you to be faithful and obedient to him, that will compel you to get to work for him. And in that will put to death that coldness and that dullness and that apathy and that indifference in your heart. It is a guarantee because you have the Spirit of God, you have the word of God, and the Lord God blesses faithful laborers for him. He'll bless you in that. It's interesting here just as a footnote, but take note of this. Paul introduces both quotes here. You've got the Old Testament quote in Deuteronomy 25, you have the New Testament quote of Matthew 10 or Luke 10, and in both he refers to them equally as Scripture. I find that awesome. That is Paul here affirming that both the Old Testament text and the New Testament text, which had to have been just recently written at this time, that both were Scripture. So for those that would say that New Testament isn't Scripture, for those that question its authority or its authenticity, both here are the infallible, inerrant word of God. And you can take that to the bank. Amen. All right. So now we provided for them. We provide them double honor, pay and respect. The church next in point two on your notes has a responsibility then to protect them, to protect them. Provide for them point two is to protect them. Back in 1 Timothy chapter five, verse 19 says this, do not receive an accusation against an elder except from two or three witnesses. You've got to understand here with the church, the ministry is a sacred trust, a sacred entrustment, a sacred commitment. As we saw in 1 Timothy chapter three, the ministry and the work of that pastor, the work of that elder, the work of that leader in the church is dependent upon the man's character. It's dependent upon his purity. It's dependent upon his integrity. It's dependent upon how that man lives his life. And if Satan can gain a victory by attacking a pastor in this area, he can wreak havoc on a biblical church and destroy a ministry. And we see Satan, don't we, doing that all the time, finding a crack in the armor, so to speak, finding a moral failure and exploiting that to the damaging, to the scandalizing, to the reproach of God's name, of Christ's name. And Satan is at work to do that. There's no shortage of people who will make even brazen false accusations against a pastor. In doing so, they become minions of Satan. They become a device, a means of Satan. And many think they do God's service in this, but they are used by Satan to bring harm, bring damage to the church. And so in protecting the pastor from false accusations that way, you also protect the church. You protect ultimately the name of Christ before the heathen. The name of Christ might not be blasphemed because of that. But in Scripture, we see horrendous examples of that. False accusations made against Joseph. Right? If you know these stories. Made against Moses. Made against David. Made against Mordecai. Daniel. Jeremiah. Nehemiah. And most of all, Jesus Christ. False accusation, false accusation, false accusation, all with an attempt of tearing down the man of God. Here, in verse 19, Paul gives good, clear instruction now for protecting the pastorate. And thereby protecting the church, protecting the name of Christ from unsubstantiated accusations. Pastors on behalf of the church and the name of Christ need to be protected from frivolous or unsubstantiated accusers. Accusations. They need to be protected from frivolous accusations. And the key word in this section is accusation here. Accusation in the Greek here is a compound word, kata, meaning against, and agora, meaning a public place, like the marketplace. Basically what it's talking about here is a public accusation. Someone makes a frivolous, false, unsubstantiated public accusation against a pastor. Now in situations where a pastor, do pastors sin? Yes, certainly they do. Pastors sin. When a pastor sins against you, you do the same thing that you do with a brother. When that person sins against you, you go to him between you and him alone. And if you repents, you win your brother. If he doesn't repent, you take two or three witnesses with you, and here's where we get the two or three witnesses here in 1 Timothy chapter five. But you follow the steps, and in following the steps the Lord gives us in Scripture, we can protect a pastor, protect a church against a false or a frivolous accusation. But first step is to, with that person, if he sinned against you, go to him in private. Here, this is referring to that public accusation. Now if you can imagine in Ephesus, this was probably swirling around. There were leaders, Hymenas and Alexander, two examples, that have already been put out of the church, already charged with teaching false doctrine. And so the accusations were probably swirling at this time. But this kind of unsubstantiated accusation is to be rejected. To say that, to communicate to be rejected, Paul uses the words, do not receive. That there, do not receive means, don't even acknowledge it. You don't give it any consideration in your mind. You simply don't receive it. You don't acknowledge it. Two though, point two. There may be from verse 19, there may be times when the accusation against an elder is accurate and should be considered. And that, we're giving instruction there, is when it comes from two or three witnesses. You have the accuser and two or three witnesses to say, yep, I saw the pastor doing this, or this represents his character, or this is the way that he acts, or this is the sin that he's committing. And that person with two or three witnesses comes and brings the accusation, it's to be then investigated. The accusation may still be false, or maybe based on something unbiblical, or maybe based on something that's a misunderstanding. But with two or three witnesses, the accusation should be investigated. And this is based, this idea, this notion here is based on a very biblical principle, very prevalent in Scripture. Deuteronomy chapter 19, verse 15 says this. One witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits. By the mouth of two or three witnesses, the matter shall be established. He went back just two chapters to Deuteronomy 17. It talks there about not receiving the accusation without two or three witnesses in a matter where it ends in execution. A man will not be executed on the basis of one witness, but he may be executed on the basis of two or three witnesses. But then in the New Testament, this Scripture quotes the very same passage in Matthew 18 we just discussed. You go to your brother, if you don't win your brother, you take two or three witnesses and you seek for his repentance. And in Matthew 18 in verse 16 it quotes this very same passage. And all of that, we're to, in point one, honor them, they're worthy of double honor. They do this hard work. But here, point two, in protecting them, even though that we're charged with protecting them from frivolous accusations, an elder here does not get a pass. We're not to protect them to the point of getting a pass. And in fact, in Matthew, or in 1 Timothy, back in 1 Timothy chapter 5, it says 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. And then Paul levels of charge. I charge you therefore before God and Lord Jesus Christ and the elect angels that you observe these things without prejudice doing nothing with partiality. It means that the pastor here doesn't get a pass in these things. If he's sinned, just like anyone else, he's to be confronted in sin. But again, a pastor gets that added protection of not without two or three witnesses because it protects the name of Christ. It protects the church and it protects that pastor from a frivolous or an unfounded accusation. Calvin said it this way, as soon as any charge is made against ministers of the word, it is believed as surely and firmly as if it had already been proved. How many of you can attest to that? Someone levels an accusation. It is guilty before proven innocent in many cases, and it's just believed. Calvin, you could sell as frustrated by this. It's believed as surely and firmly as if it had already been approved. This happens, he goes on to say, not only because a higher standard of integrity is required from them, but because Satan makes most people, in fact, nearly everyone, over credulous so that without investigation, they eagerly condemn their pastor whose good name they ought to be defending. And many in this world just love scandal. They love the scandal of seeing a pastor fall. You know, many of the sins of people in normal situations would never hit the news, but a pastor who has that same sin is going to be all over the news, right? Just love scandal. And pastors are in a very visible, they're in a very precarious position. They're in the position of upholding righteousness in God's Word. And so in doing that, they are very susceptible to being torn down. They're Satan and the world to flesh the devil after the man of God to tear him down. And in doing that, they tear down the church, they make themselves feel better in their own sin, right? Today, though, many do fall, and it just makes the matter worse. You must protect yourself individually from the common fleshly response of rejoicing when you see a brother or a pastor or a leader stumble in a sin, or that fleshly response of just believing it without qualification as soon as you hear it. The first one to come and plead his case seems right, and you just take it, hook, lie, and sink, or you swallow down that scandal, you swallow down that cotton candy, so to speak, to the flesh and believe it. But here, this protection, giving in 1 Timothy chapter 5 verse 19, is to protect the pastor, protect the church, protect the name of Christ from a frivolous accusation. I've been stunned. You probably have been too. I've been stunned at how readily and how easily people throw around baseless and false accusations. And then stunned, stunned at how readily and how easily, otherwise godly men would just suck it down and believe it at the first hearing. It is absolutely staggering to me. Stunned at how readily and how easily other pastors and other churches will support the slanderer in their accusation, support the slanderer in their slander. It is astounding to me, but such is the flesh, such is the weakness of our deceptive and destructive hearts. Here, there is instruction given here for how accusations against an elder are to be handled. It is up to us to be faithful to the word of God with respect to how we handle them. Just obey the scripture, obey the Bible. Remember, in scripture, to undermine authority is a very serious sin, very serious sin, and all of this undermines authority. To make a false accusation is to tread on dangerous ground. You remember the story of Korah and rebelling against Moses, undermining the authority of Moses. Remember David's heart in the cave with Saul, and he was fearful even to, and felt convicted, felt guilty over even cutting off the corner of Saul's robe. Got to tread lightly on dangerous ground when you're about to make a false accusation against a pastor, against the church, or against God's appointed person. Psalm 105 verse 15 says, don't touch my anointed ones and do my prophets no harm. Need to be careful with how we do this and follow scripture. However, that protection, although that's set up for us in verse 19, and we're to follow that in protecting, in following that, protect the pastor, protect the church, protect the name of Christ. Elders, however, do sin, and elders must be faithfully confronted in their sin. They must be. We have to do that without prejudice. We have to do that without partiality, all right? So point three on your notes in this passage, 1 Timothy chapter five, there are principles here for rebuking them, principles for rebuking them. We find that in verse 20. Verse 20, Paul says, those who are sinning, those elders who are sinning, rebuke in the presence of all that the rest also may fear. And in verse 20, 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. And I would just exhort you to be faithful. You'll find, especially in this church, you'll find the brothers, the leaders here. I pray that you find me that way, Pastor Charlie that way, others. Receptive. If there's an issue, just say you can come and talk to us, you can talk to a leader, we need to be open with one another about that. You should be able to go to another brother and say, brother, I think you've sinned against me, and to talk through that. You should be able to go to a leader, brother, I think you've sinned against me. Here, those who are sinning, that word sinning there in verse 20, is present tense ongoing action. In other words, they're persisting in sin. They're not repenting of it. They're continuing their sin. Many of you in your NASB or in your ESV, it's translated continue to sin or persist in sin. And I think it's an accurate translation there of the present tense. The accusation is brought because of a continued pattern of sin. And it's brought with two or three witnesses. If it's brought with two or three witnesses, the matter needs to be investigated. Once it's been investigated and guilt has been determined, and here the elder has not repented of that, and he continues in a sinful pattern, then the elder is to be rebuked in the presence of all. Point two, principle two, and properly, excuse me, properly rebuking them is point two, they are to be rebuked publicly. Rebuk there is the word elenco in the Greek. It means to expose. Different like we talked about in the word for rebuk when it comes to an older man or an older woman. This is rebuked to expose. It carries the sense of exposing another sin with overwhelming proof of their guilt, such that they are brought to conviction. And it's interesting here that the second person singular, for you Greek guys, second person singular is used, meaning that Timothy is leading the elders in this. This accusation comes to Timothy. Timothy is charged with a responsibility leading the elders in rebuking the sinning elder. Okay. In its to be done in the presence of all, that in the presence of all, that all is not just the other elders, but before the church, their sin, in this case, is not to be covered up. This ends, this process ends with the elder being disqualified because he's an unrepentant sin. So the elder is no longer qualified for ministry. It has to be done for before the church, because the church needs to be understanding of that. They need to understand, avoid the confusion of not understanding why he's no longer in leadership over the church. So in that sense, by the time he gets to this point, that rebuked needs to be done publicly so that the people can understand why he's no longer in leadership, why he's had to step down. This is also just points to the seriousness of a sinning elder, a sinning elder who's going to continue in sin. James 3 says, let not many of you become teachers because you'll receive a stricter judgment, which is part of that stricter judgment. Gotta be careful. Here, these sinning elders, unrepentant elders, would be rebuked publicly. But principle three, there's a purpose here for why this public rebuked should be given. And it says there in verse 20 that the rest also may fear. The rest refers in the text, specifically to the other elders, but certainly applies to everyone. The rest is tied to the other elders in the Greek. But the rest also certainly applies to the body of Christ. It has the same effect. It's going to have the same effect on those other elders who want to fear the Lord and abstain from evil. But it has that impact on the body also that we should fear God and to keep ourselves from iniquity. When one person is under discipline because of sin, it should cause others to fear. That's not a slavish fear of judgment or condemnation to the Christian, but it is a healthy fear of disobeying God because we acknowledge that God hates sin, and in the Lord hating sin, we ourselves want to avoid it. And it's, think about it now, it's through that healthy fear of God coupled with a love for God, coupled with a hatred for sin, coupled with a hungering and thirsting for righteousness produced by the Spirit of God that will keep you and I from sin, that will keep us striving against sin trying to avoid it. And it's a means in the Lord by which we overcome sin. Hebrews chapter 12 verse 28 says this, Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. It's interesting there the distinction between reverence and godly fear. Many just think that fear is just respect or just awe. There is a distinctive qualitative difference between reverence and respect and this kind of godly fear that's being taught here. It is with reverence and godly fear. In 2 Corinthians chapter 7 verse 1, the Bible says this, Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of God. There is something right and biblical about a healthy fear of God. We're to fear sinning against him. Okay, but principle four from this verse and this is difficult but it must be done. This is a responsibility that we cannot back away from verse 21 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. It is God and the Lord Jesus Christ whom we are accountable to and we're accountable to them first and foremost and we must not fear men in this. One commentator said this, The church that tolerates sinning elders to protect its reputation on earth will lose its reputation in heaven. That's a good way. It's before God, Jesus Christ and the elect angels all those observing from heaven. We lose our reputation in heaven if we try to seek to protect our reputation on earth by not doing here what the Bible says. The holiness of the church must be upheld. This goes against the grain of most teaching the way that most people think today. Just is counter cultural even in the church and that's because we've gotten away from what the Bible specifically says to do. Just recently many of you know the story but just recently a pastor in our area fell into adultery and in this case falling into adultery he actually stepped down from his position. Many do not do that. They're out for a week, two weeks and they're right back in the pulpit preaching, right? Disgrace the name of Christ with that sin and then they're right back preaching in the pulpit a few weeks later. This person actually stepped down but without giving any consideration to what the Bible says here is what some in the congregation were saying about him. One said she hoped that her generation could accept a talented leader who was nonetheless flawed. We should stop denying our inability to be superhuman and simply be thankful for the gifts that we can give one another in spite of our limitations. So in essence he should stay in the pulpit preaching despite that sin, okay? Another person said this, he's human. I'm human. We all fall short of the glory of God. He has shown us so much grace that I would love to return the favor. So he's disappointed that he had stepped down because of that sin. In other words he should stay on as pastor. Regardless of the world's reasoning in this, regardless of how we may feel about it, regardless of how difficult it is, regardless of the difficulty, we must obey the Bible. There's a principle. There's a principle applied for how you rebuke a sinning elder and we just have to obey the Bible in that and that is, we all know from experience, difficult thing to do sometimes. Point four on your notes. After a principle they're given in verse 2021 for rebuking an elder, there is a principle here for appointing them, a principle for appointing them. Verse 22 says this, do not lay hands on anyone hastily, nor share in other people's sins, keep yourself pure. No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for your stomach's sake and your frequent infirmities. Some men's sins are clearly evident preceding them to judgment, but those of some men follow later. Likewise the good works of some are clearly evident and those that are otherwise cannot be hidden. The principle here that we're dealing with is from verse 22, do not lay hands on anyone hastily. This idea of laying hands, we saw laying hands on Paul and Barnabas when they were commissioned for ministry. We saw hands laid upon the first deacons in Acts chapter 6 when they were to attend to the Hellenistic widows and distribution of food. We also saw the laying on of hands on Timothy, first Timothy chapter 4 when he was commissioned into the ministry. So laying on of hands here is to affirm or accept the new elder in his role, to accept him into ministry. Laying on of hands in that case conveyed support, conveyed approval. It identified with them in their new role, it set them apart for ministry. That's what laying on of hands here in this context is about. And this approval, this support, this affirming cannot be done too hastily. It's similar, if you remember going through chapter 3 with respect to deacons, it's similar to the command there in chapter 3 for deacons that we give for a time of testing that those who are tested may be approved. And that's testing done by thorough investigation. He goes on to say in verse 22, that if you do this too hastily, you share in other people's sins. And that refers there to suffering the consequences or the culpability for that hastily appointed elder's sins. When you appoint someone too hastily and they fall into sin, the church then, the body then suffers the consequences. In that sense they share and that person's sins. The body bears the effect, bears the consequences. And so in order to be faithful here in doing this, we can't lay hands too hastily. And in this, Timothy must keep himself, it says, pure. Like a supporting thought, if you will, in clarifying this principle, don't lay hands too hastily. In verse 22, Paul tells Timothy, in one sense, to stay pure. Then right after that, in verse 23, he takes sort of a side note with Timothy and tells Timothy not to drink only water, but use a little wine for his stomach's sake. Sort of in this section, a parenthesis, a little side note to Timothy. In clarifying what it means to keep yourself pure, Timothy had stomach problems related to water. But Timothy had also obviously here taken a vow of abstinence against any wine, not wanting to exercise a liberty that might cause someone else to stumble. Timothy's was committed to only drinking water. Paul here had to remind him that keeping pure didn't mean that he couldn't take care of his stomach in taking wine. Now you've got, back at that time, Plutarch, Pliny, you had the Talmud that talked about the medicinal use of wine in treating ailments that came from water pollution, stomach ailments. So here's a reference to that. In the midst of this instruction, Paul shows care and concern for Timothy in his stomach issues. A lot of times this water caused dysentery, caused all kinds of issues. And here, Timothy and staying pure could take a little wine for his stomach, all right? After verse 23 here, Paul gets right back to the principle, don't lay hands on anyone hastily. And then he gives four points with respect to what that means. Don't lay hands on an elder too hastily. And here's why. Verse 24, some men's sins are clearly evident, proceeding them to judgment, but those of some men follow later. We can't be too hasty, because although some men's sins are obvious and you can tell them right away, other men's sins, it's going to take time to discover that. It's going to take time to discover moral failures or weaknesses or issues that should keep them out of the pastorate. Some of those men, their sins follow later. So again, don't lay hands on anyone too hastily. Give time for a period of testing. Give time for a period of investigation before they are appointed as elder. Otherwise you may be appointing an unfit elder, right? But he goes on to say that was in verse 24. He says, some of those sins follow later, then he says in verse 25, likewise, the good works of some are clearly evident and those that are otherwise cannot be hidden. So demonstrating this principle, don't lay hands on anyone too hastily. You have two points related to that as it relates to sin. One, some men's sins are clearly evident. Don't appoint them. Some, you've got to give a period of time of testing and investigation because their sins will follow and it takes time to reveal that. But secondly, demonstrating this principle with respect to good works, verse 25 says, the good works of some are clearly evident. Their character, the fruit of their faith, is easy to see. And the good that they do is like a reputation that goes before them. And for these, testing may be shorter, may be clearer. But listen, don't lay hands or don't make this decision too hastily because verse 25 says those otherwise, that their good works cannot be hidden. The good works of some are not necessarily outwardly obvious. It says here that in verse 25, likewise, the good works of some are clearly evident and those that are otherwise cannot be hidden. There are many men qualified for ministry that you don't see necessarily right up front. Their good works, the genuineness of their faith, their heart for serving the Lord, isn't as obvious. And again, that time of testing, that time of approval will reveal that, all right? And it will reveal it so that that person can be approved. So here, again, we have principles for the proper care and feeding of elders, providing for them, protecting them, the principle with respect to rebuking them appropriately, and then now a principle for appointing them. Don't lay hands on anyone too hastily. Leadership in the church is important because as the Bible says, as goes the priest, as goes the people. The church will not, cannot arise above the moral failures of its leaders. So the leadership has to be carefully undertaken as an issue of appointing leaders. Caring for leaders is critically important. It's important to the health and vitality of a biblical church. So you must provide for your elders, protect them, be faithful in how you rebuke them, and follow the scripture, and be faithful in how you appoint them. If the modern church will just take those four points from scripture. We've got great instruction from chapter three. Here, great instruction from chapter five. We'll just follow those steps. We go a long way in faithfulness to the Lord, in protecting our church with not only the right character, the right quality of men who's appointed to the position, but then in caring for them while they're in the position. Does that mean that in every case that we're going to be protected from problems? No. There are some problems you can go, be as faithful as you can be and do everything that you can, and in as much as depends upon us. We do everything we can to appoint and to do this faithfully, and there may be problems. There are difficulties that come along, such as ministry and such as ministry with fallen men. Elders, leaders are fallen men, just like others are fallen men, but we have to be faithful to the Lord. And being faithful to the Lord in these things, Lord will bless our source of protection, our source of hope, our source of reliance, our source of trust is not in the men who lead us, it can't be in me, it can't be in Jimmy, it can't be in Mark, it can't be in Pastor Charlie, has to be in the Lord Jesus Christ. And if our trust and our dependence and our reliance and our faith is placed properly, and we just obey the scripture, then the Lord, knowing the Lord works all things together for our good, protects the church. And the Lord loves this church more than you and I, right? As much as we love this church. Just to be faithful to the Lord in following these and Lord will take care of us. Let's pray. Father in heaven, thank you for this passage of scripture. Again, thank you for the practical instruction that you give us in your word. It's just very clear, God, very wise. And we thank you for it. Lord, I pray we've seen so many times, Lord, that we get defensive, self-righteous, hard-hearted in our sin. We just flee from what the Bible clearly says to do. And I pray, God, that you would strengthen us as we learn your word, as we submit to your word, as we look to you in faith. You would strengthen us, Lord, to just be faithful to what the Bible says. We know that we can trust you, Lord. Although leaders are fallible, we can trust you. You are infallible. Although circumstances, God, are often beyond our control, or they're in your complete control. And so we rest in you, we trust in you, we depend on you. We ask you, Lord, humbly, God, to please continue to protect our church, protect our leadership, protect us, Lord, that we might not give the heathen, not an opportunity to blaspheme. Protect us from sin, protect our unity and peace. Protect us, Lord, in finding us faithful to simply do what the Bible says here, to obey you in these things. And in that, Lord, to enjoy your blessing, and God, to walk pleasing in your sight worthy of the calling for your glory. And in that, Lord, I pray that you would bless the labor, bless the faithfulness of your people with fruit from that. We want to see souls saved. We know, Lord, that the best, most useful tool in your hand is that sharpened, honed, clean tool that you can use, Lord, for your glory. And we pray, Lord, that we would be that. You would find us to be a faithful, pure, cleaned, honed, sharpened tool in the master's hand, faithfully laboring at the master's work for your great namesake and salvation of souls for your glory. In Jesus' name, amen.