Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. For the scripture says, you shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain. And the laborer deserves his wages. Do not admit a charge against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses. As for those who persist in sin, Rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear. In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the elect angels, I charge you to keep these rules without prejudging, doing nothing from partiality. Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, nor take part in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure. No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments. The sins of some men are conspicuous, going before them to judgment, but the sins of others appear later. So also good works are conspicuous, and even those that are not cannot remain hidden. The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever. Now, some of you may have gone through this, the idea of some employers giving their new hirees a time of probation. Now, some more shady businesses will use that as an excuse to get them to do their work without having to pay for things like insurance and so forth. But there is something, at least in principle, to the idea of giving somebody a trial run in what they're doing. A test, as it were. Is this person really the right person for the job? And the reality is, that's what the church should be doing when it concerns her officers or potential officers. That's what Paul addresses in our passage today in 1 Timothy chapter 5. The fact that the church needs to have a good amount of care in selecting and putting men in place as officers in the church. 1 Timothy chapter 5 deals with a lot on provision. Provision of widows and what a true widow is, what a true widow should be doing, and who should be caring for true widows. But then Paul shifts to the care and provision of elders, in particular those who minister and labor in the word, honoring them. And one such means by which that they show honor to the minister who preaches and teaches the word to them is making sure that the laborer is worthy of his wages. And last week, we looked at the discipline of elders, a rather uncomfortable situation at any time. Paul giving instructions on what needs to happen should an elder find himself in sin. That's the overall context, dealing with provision back to elders and discipline And now we talk about the fact that what we need here is a bit of prevention. I'm sure all of us have heard the expression that prevention is the best medicine. In fact, even when I was in college learning all my education courses and how to discipline students in the classroom and so forth, one of the things that I think had some wisdom to it is prevention is the best medicine. And thus, what we have here is a text that Paul gives us to give us a bit of prevention so that we could minimize the amount of discipline that we have to do against elders. Thus, what I want us to see today is that the process of ordaining officers must be done with great patience and care to remain blameless. The process of ordaining Excuse me, the process of ordaining of officers must be done with great patience and care to remain blameless. We're gonna look at this under two very simple headings. First of all, wise purity. And secondly, conspicuous works. First of all, wise purity. Again, look at verse 22. Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, nor take part in the sins of others. keep yourselves pure. Now what we have here obviously is a warning against haste. This is not just simply a call to patience, but a specific situation. And what the ESV has is pretty good. do not be hasty in laying on of hands." Literally, the phrase is, if you'll allow me this woodenness, hands hastily on no one lay. It's not so much a negative verb as it is a verb to put upon your hands no one to hastily. Now, the word used here for hasty You could probably see this and have the sense of this in the text itself, but it's used here in a very unfavorable sense. The sense of being done too quickly, too easily, too smoothly. See, there's warnings here. We are not to lay our hands on men too hastily, too quickly. Now, this phrase of laying on of hands throughout the New Testament, it's used in a number of different ways, but the context here obviously indicates we're talking about the ordination of men to office. That's what Paul is dealing with. And so Paul is commanding us not to be hasty in laying on our hands in ordination of men to office. And see, that's hard for us because the temptation is that as churches grow, hey, we need elders, we need deacons. Hey, you, you're a warm body, let's use you. Now, that's a bit overkill, but sometimes it's a little more subtle. Hey, you run a business, let's pick you. as if the church is primarily thought of as a business. Yes, in the eyes of the state and our culture, there's a certain necessity with respect to doing business type things, but the church by definition is not a business. And simply because a man can run a business does not mean that he necessarily is fit for the office of a of the church. Now, please note, I'm not saying that a businessman can't be an elder. If he's got the qualifications, he can be an elder. The point here is that we have a temptation, and think about even our own situation, a newly particularized congregation of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. Before that, we were a mission work for three years. How we itched and longed for the day when we particularize, and how easily and tempting it would have been to just say, I'm gonna pick you. Can you be an elder? Great, let's do it. Paul is warning us against that because sometimes that can have dire consequences and that's where discipline of elders comes. So that temptation is there as churches grow or for churches that are mission works. But notice what Paul does here in verse 22. He goes a little bit further. After saying not to be hasty in laying on of hands, he says, nor take part in the sins of others. Now, it's interesting because at first glance you think, what does this have to do with the price of tea in China? It's almost like he goes off on a completely different topic. But the reality of what Paul is doing here is that he is showing us that if we are hastily laying hands on men to ordain them to office, you may become complicit in their sin. He's warning us against that. And if not complicit, maybe just even seen from those on the outside. You are too hasty. This is your fault. And so he is saying, do not partake in the sins of others. Now this word here for partake, it means to be a sharer or participant in. So the implication again is one of result from what proceeds. If you lay on hands too hastily, the danger is, is that if the man sins in office, that you bear a bit of the responsibility. And at least in the eyes of the rest of the church and the world in particular, you share in that. And so again, a means of preventing our own part is not to be hasty. not to be hasty. There needs to be a cautious and holy hesitancy as we consider men to the office, whether that be office of elder, particularly the office of minister, or that of a deacon. There has to be a cautious and holy hesitancy, both in nominating and in ordaining such men. And then Paul follows up with Timothy in particular, keep yourself pure. Keep yourself pure. In other words, don't get caught in the trap. Don't let yourself, in your eagerness to appoint elders in a growing church, don't let yourself get caught in the trap of being hoodwinked by someone who really should not be an officer. Keep yourself pure. This is an instruction given specifically to Timothy, so it almost seems out of place, but that's the connection. Timothy himself has to guard against this. Remember, Timothy's a young man. Young men tend to have a lot less patience and need to be reminded, hey, slow down. Not to say that those of us who are a little bit older don't struggle with patience because we do. But without question, Paul is giving specific instructions to Timothy. There is here a contrast This is here in contrast to the participation in sins of others. Keep yourself pure. Don't fall into that trap. You see, at the end of the day, this is a means to keep the other elders free from the charge of condoning the sin of somebody who is caught in sin. How could the elders have not seen this ahead of time? Sometimes it's true, we don't always see things ahead of time, but we do everything that we can to be blameless. And so we have that cautious holy hesitancy. We try to keep ourselves and the church pure, free from blame. We need to also recognize as well that Christ will indeed purify his church and sanctify her. And one of the ways that he does that is through a careful examination of the men who are nominated to office. The responsibility, the keys of the kingdom are exercised by the elders of the church to see and determine and to recommend or not recommend a man to come before the congregation on whether or not he should be called to office. Keep yourself pure, Paul tells Timothy. But then we come to verse 23. And I'm sure most of you have probably used this verse more than once in a bit of jest, a little bit of wine for your stomach and your frequent ailments. Why is this here? Well, in one sense, broadly speaking, we do see that there is a place for proper medicinal use of things. Thus, to just outright say, well, we're not going to pay attention to what doctors prescribe to us because that stuff's bad for us. Just complete blanket statement, that's in itself unwise. There is a place in God's good things and the wisdom that he has bestowed upon men in his common grace that such things can be used for medicinal purposes. Not just alcohol, by the way. But of course, even with that, care must be given. Notice what Paul says. Use a little wine. He doesn't say, crack open a barrel and have at it. A little wine. Now, we need to think about this a moment in Timothy's context, in Timothy's situation. Timothy has been drinking only water apparently. We think, well, so what? Water's good for you. Well, they didn't exactly have the kind of water purification that we do today. Even today, as people travel to places like Mexico, even, and countries in Europe, they warn you, don't drink the water. They even warn you when you order a Coke or a Pepsi, don't order it with ice. And that's today, in the 21st century. Drinking water could actually be, only water, could be harmful to some people. And that seemed to have been the case with Timothy. But why was Timothy concerned with drinking only water? Well, I do think it seems that within the context that Timothy may have been taking this purity thing a bit too far, becoming almost, joining in with the whole asceticism. I'm gonna deny myself to show myself pure. Well, it had a noble intent, but he probably went too far, and as a result, his own health suffered. It is good that we would desire to be blameless, but we shouldn't be at the harm of ourselves. There is a right thing with respect to denying certain things in our lives. There are things we should deny ourselves of, unquestionably, but sometimes we can take that too far. Remember earlier in chapter 4, verses 1 through 5, here's one example where Paul is pretty much condemning a wrong use of denying oneself. Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teaching of demons through the inserity of liars whose consciences are seared. And notice what they forbid. Who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. Sometimes we get caught into the trap of trying to be pure in our lives that we deny ourselves of the very things that God has given us to enjoy. And wine was one of them. The psalmist says and gives thanks to God for the wine that gladdens the hearts of men. Now, Paul is using this context here for medicinal reasons. Therefore, if we were to extend this to a more modern day culture, there is a proper place for good medicine. Yes, there's no doubt that some things maybe are questionable. I think of my early twenties there was a certain allergy medication that they discovered that if it was mixed with the right antibiotic could be lethal. Which could have providentially killed me as I'm allergic to penicillin and would have required that antibiotic. So sometimes we understand these things we don't always know but in general the principle is If your doctor in wisdom prescribes you something medicinally for your benefit, by all means. That also means we need to be careful not to diagnose ourselves all the time. Sometimes we know our bodies, it's true. I get that. But the point here is that the Lord has given us good things and has gifted men in his common grace to help you ascertain what you may need in given situations. And here under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Paul knew what Timothy needed. He needed a little wine because of his ailing stomach. Keep yourself pure. Keep yourself pure, thus wise purity. And so even in the case of Timothy, being pure has to be done wisely. Timothy's own lifestyle demonstrates that we need wise purity. That shows us that within the culture of the church as a whole, we need to be wise in who and what we do and say, especially with respect to how we deal with potential officers. We understand that in our own lives, we need to be wise. Corporately, we need to be wise. Wise purity. Well, this brings us then to our second point, conspicuous works. Well, boys and girls, you are probably wondering what does this word conspicuous mean? It's a big word. Okay? This word, conspicuous, it means something like this. It's obvious. Everybody can see it. Everybody knows it. It's there. You can't miss it. It would be as if an elephant walked into this room. You can't hide it. That's what it means to be conspicuous. See, now you know a big word. But what Paul is saying here is that the sins of some men are conspicuous. They're obvious. Everybody can see them. And let me tell you, friends, in this culture today, not only are they obvious, they're bragged about by some. What Paul is saying in those circumstances is that when those sins are conspicuous, that's easy. It's obvious that such a man can't be an officer. You have to wonder if he should be a member of the church. We get that the sins of some men are conspicuous. That happens. It ought to be obvious. It's celebrated on TV today, in the movies, the magazines, the internet. It's an obvious concession here that when we are weeding out certain men as those who are not at that point qualified to serve as officers, for some it's going to be obvious. Now, I also need to be careful here. Take a step back for a moment. And to remind all of us that just simply because at this time you are not qualified for the office of elder or deacon does not of necessity mean you are secretly living in any sin. Rather, such sins that are public, that are conspicuous, that are obvious, make it easy for the church to disqualify such a man. Some, the sins of some men are conspicuous, going before them to judgment. But then Paul goes on to say, but the sins of others appear later. And this is really the heart of what Paul is getting at. This is the heart of the reason why we have to have no haste in the ordaining of men, because sometimes their sins are more subtle. And most likely Paul is discussing those who are secretly living in sin. You see, those sins will come later. The Lord will expose them in one way, shape, or form. But it's not always going to be obvious or so quickly that that exposure comes, which is why we cannot lay hands hastily on men. There is that testing period. Let them be tried. Let them be tested. Let them be proven to be above reproach. Remember, those are the qualifications that we saw in Chapter 3. He needs to be above reproach in these things. How do you see him in his own household? How is he as a guest? How is he, what's his reputation in the workplace with outsiders and unbelievers? These are the things that take time to observe. Because the sins of others appear later. And how many times do we hear in anxiousness, eager anxiousness, the ordination of certain men to be ministers of the gospel, and those men fall. And not only do they fall, they fall hard. Because even at the time in which they were ordained, they were living a secret life, And the world sits back and makes fun of us for that. And there's a certain aspect where that's probably a bit deserved. The sins of others, they take time. Think of your own friendships that you have developed over the years with various people. You start to learn who is a better friend or a more trusted friend. Those things take time. We don't just spill our guts to everybody, so to speak. This is private confidential. And then they go and tell it to everyone else. You see, we learn sometimes the hard way. But so it is with officers in the church. We need time to understand and to see whether or not they truly are qualified. Let them be tried, tested, and proven. to be above reproach. But Paul turns it around in verse 25, so also good works are conspicuous. Some good works are obvious. There are those in the church that do certain things that you just see all the time. Some recognize We all recognize that with certain gifts that are given among men, that those gifts are going to be more public. Take teaching, for instance. Teaching is a public use of gifts. There's no way around it. It is not as though you can apply the passage about almsgiving and prayer and secret and all that to teaching. Who are you going to teach in the closet? You see, some good works are public by their very nature, and that's obvious. But it is through time that they will demonstrate the overall sincerity of such public good works. It is a shame when ministers of the gospel take an attitude that my gifts are far too important to squander them on such a little church. Despite the fact that they may be gifted in actual teaching. A good orator has a good knowledge of what the scriptures actually say. That's not somebody who has a good works type mentality. Thus, time is needed to demonstrate the overall sincerity of such works. But notice what Paul says. Even those, that is, the good works that are not conspicuous or obvious, they cannot remain hidden. You know, we see an example of this even in some of the miracles of our Savior. We're all familiar with his first miracle. the changing of water into wine. He realized that very few people knew what he had done. It was later revealed. So we even see that there are going to be times that good works happen behind the scenes. And do you want to know when it is that you really notice those good works? It's when that person is not there for one particular week to do them. Save the dishes for the vacuuming. Now, we have in this congregation a number of people that chip in, and I rejoice in that. But isn't it interesting that things that we take for granted, that somebody we don't even realize is doing it, when it is not done, oh, wait a minute. They've been doing this all this time and we didn't even realize it? That's how conspicuous or non-conspicuous good works manifest themselves. All of a sudden, we realize what a valuable asset they are. And they have been for weeks, but we just didn't know it. Such ought to be the reputation of a man who was nominated to the office of the church. His good works come behind him, as it were. We don't realize it right away. but it eventually comes out. Now, what is the purpose of all of this with respect to conspicuous and inconspicuous good works? Well, the point is, is that this is a test. This is a trial by which we can help slow ourselves down in considering men for office. We take time to train men We certainly better be taking time for men to be trained in the ministry. Three or four years of seminary, depending on where they're going. But you know what? That's just intellectual knowledge. Such a man needs to be tried in terms of his own good works, his own character. Just because a man graduates from seminary with his MDiv, his Master of Divinity degree, does not mean that he's qualified to serve as a minister. And so Paul warns the church, do not be hasty in laying on of hands. Any man who is proud of his Master of Divinity degree fails to understand the irony of the name of the degree. From time to time, I look at my own and I say, Master of Divinity, how ironic, because nowhere in this life will I ever master divinity. They're good works, whether conspicuous or inconspicuous, especially the inconspicuous. the ones not so obvious, the ones that are behind the scenes, those are the ones that show us the metal of a man. What I used to love is when I would go to session meetings, and especially in our church where we served in Philadelphia area, because it was a big church, it was a bigger congregation. And thus, there were frequently times when people would be hospitalized. And our pastor would say, oh, it was good to hear at session meetings, a pastor would say it was good to hear that elders such and such went to go visit this person in the hospital. Nobody asked him, nobody told him, he went. That's inconspicuous good works. And those are the kinds of things that manifest themselves over time. And those are the kind of things that we look for in an officer of the church. Now, none of these things are going to be foolproof. As the saying goes, nothing is truly foolproof because fools are very ingenious. There will be times that men are tempted, even good men, We think about King David, a man after God's own heart who fell into temptation so badly that he murdered a man. But these are generally wise principles that Paul has given to us, given to the church under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in order to protect Christ's sheep. to protect the honor and dignity of the church, to protect the honor of the name of our risen savior. This is a means by which the officers of the church currently exercise caution and proper church discipline. Thus, when times do occur through the years, where the session opens up nominations for the congregation. Take these words to heart. Let's not be hasty. You don't want a man ordained too hastily. You'd rather wait, even if the need is perceived to be great. You want to wait and be patient and let the Lord do his work and let the man demonstrate that he truly is above reproach. This is the overall process. Now I can't stand here and give you a timetable. It needs to take one year, two years, three years. Paul doesn't tell us, does he? It's just simply, do not be hasty. And we pray that as the Lord grows this congregation, that he would give us wisdom and patience and care as we seek to expand our own session. And that other churches would do likewise. To seek to be patient and understanding the gifts of a man and how they might benefit Christ's sheep. Let's pray.