1 Timothy chapter 5. Our text this morning will be chapter 5 verses 3 through 16. The topic being caring for widows. Caring for widows. By way of introduction, let's just read, let me just read that passage. 1 Timothy chapter 5 verses 3 through 16. Honor widows who are widows indeed. But if any widow has children or grandchildren, they must first learn to practice piety in regard to their own family and to make some return to their parents, for this is acceptable in the sight of God. Now she who was a widow indeed, and who has been left alone, has fixed her hope on God and continues in petitions and prayers night and day. But she who lives in self-indulgence is dead even while she lives. And command these things as well, so that they may be above reproach. But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. A widow is to be put on the list only if she is less than 60 years old, having been the wife of one man, having a reputation for good works, if she has brought up children, if she has shown hospitality to strangers, if she has watched the saints' feats, if she has assisted those in affliction, if she has devoted herself to every good work, but refuse to put younger widows on the list, for when they feel sensual desires in disregard of Christ, they want to get married, thus incurring condemnation because they have set aside their previous pledge. And at the same time, they also learn to be idle, as they go around from house to house, and not merely idle, but also gossips and busybodies, talking about things not proper to mention. Therefore, I want the younger widows to get married, bear children, keep house, and give the enemy no opportunity for reviling, for some have already turned aside after Satan. If any believing woman has widows, she must assist them, and the church must not be burdened, so that it may assist those who are widows indeed. There's quite a lot there, so we need to pray before we get started. Heavenly Father, we come to you this morning, Lord, and we as we approach this text that at first glance sounds difficult. In some places it might even sound mean. But Lord, we know that that's not the case, and we know that there is great truth within these verses. And Lord, as we walk through them this morning, we pray that the message you have delivered to us is the message that is received by those here. And again, Lord, we ask that you would get through my weaknesses and that your truth would be put forth and understood as you intended. Again Lord, we ask as always that your saints be edified and you be glorified. In Jesus' name we ask it. Amen. Now, as far as widows go, first of all, by way of introduction, the English word widow describes one whose husband has passed away. Now the Greek word chira for widow includes that meaning but also includes someone that is, say, bereft, robbed, having suffered loss, or just left alone for any reason. Chira does not indicate, the word itself does not indicate how a woman was left alone. It merely describes the situation. Okay? It's broad enough to include things like, say, death, but it also could include things like desertion. They were deserted by their husband. It could be a divorce. It could be the husband's imprisoned. But anyway, the situation is, the word widow refers to someone, a lady, being just left all alone with no help. They're just out there. They're just out there. Now, throughout the Bible, the care for and protection of widows is commanded and demonstrated. The care of widows is a big deal to God. It's a very important thing. It's not a light matter. There's also throughout scripture severe warnings for those that don't care for widows. A few examples, right from the law, Exodus 22, verse 22 to 25 says, You shall not afflict any widow or orphan. It's interesting that that has to be said. But you know why these laws, you read through the Old Testament laws and there's some very bizarre things that are said to be sin, things that one might say Does that even have to be written? Wouldn't we just know that intuitively? I mean, to me, this is one of them, but it happens, and we're gonna see that it happened in our Lord's time. It happens today, too. You shall not afflict any widow or orphan. If you afflict him at all, and if he does not cry out to me, I will surely hear his cry, and my anger will be kindled, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows, and your children fatherless. If you lend money to my people, to the poor among you, are you not poor too?" Now, Deuteronomy 14, 28 says this, at the end of every third year, You shall bring out the tithes of your produce in that year, and you shall deposit in your town. The Levite, because he has no portion of inheritance among you, and the alien, the orphan, and the widow who are in your town shall come and eat and be satisfied in order that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do." All right? And again, in other parts of Deuteronomy, and it just keeps going. I'm going to just move on now to Isaiah. Chapter 1. Now, Isaiah chapter 1 is very interesting. Isaiah chapter 1, the context of Exodus and Deuteronomy, that's right out of the law. That's the law itself. You must take care of widows. And it talks about, too, that we didn't read, but the harvesting and gleaning of the fields. You know, if you leave a basket of wheat out in the field, you forget the bushel of wheat, leave it there. let someone that is poor like a widow or an orphan or an alien and the aliens here are those that are strangers that are traveling through that may not have anything to eat leave it for them and we see that the gleaning of the fields that's in the Old and New Testament so all that was there to assist the poor now in Isaiah 1 Verse 21 to 23, it says, how the faithful city has become a harlot, referring to Jerusalem, by the way. Opening the first chapter of his book is a warning to the nation. Repent, repent, repent. Just like most of the prophets, right? So how the faithful say has become a harlot, so who was full of justice, righteous once lodged in her, but now murders. Your silver has become dross, your drink diluted with water. Your rulers are rebels and companions of thieves. Everyone loves the bribe. Sounds a lot like today. Anyway, and chases after rewards. I find this very interesting. What's the next two phrases here? They do not defend the orphan, nor does the widow's plea come before them. Like they don't even hear the widow. And you notice how often in Scripture that the orphans and widows are linked together, being in that same position of need. The fact that one helps really explain the plight of the other in terms of what is being discussed here. Now, in the New Testament, Care and compassion for widows is also spoken of and displayed. I'd like us to turn to the Gospel of Luke, chapter 7. The Gospel of Luke, chapter 7. I've got a few passages in Luke. I picked Luke because I found enough passages that we can stay in one book and look at them. But I just want to lay the groundwork before we get into what Paul is talking about in 1 Timothy. 7 verse 11, now it happened that soon afterwards he went, this is Jesus, went to the city of Nain and his disciples are going along with him accompanied by a large crowd. Now as he approached the gate of the city, behold, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a sizable crowd from the city was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he felt compassion for her and said to her, Do not cry. And he came up and touched the coffin, and the bearers came to a halt. And he said, Young man, I say to you, arise. And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him back to his mother. You know, and there's no, and it gets at being about the, you read on, great fear fell upon the people, they began glorifying God, obvious. But you know, the one thing, what moved Jesus? Compassion. Compassion for that lady, okay? Nothing is said, did she ever make a profession of faith? We have no idea what happened to that lady from that point on, or her son for that matter. But the thing I wanted to show here is that what... Remember, Jesus did those miracles. They were all signs of who He was. They were all signs of His Messiahship. I mean, that's clear through the Old Testament. The Messiah's going to do certain things. He did them all, plus. And so we get to this point here. And again, what moved Him here? It wasn't to draw attention to a message or anything else. It was strictly compassion for that lady. Let's move forward to chapter 18 of Luke's gospel. Chapter 18 and verse 1. Now here, this is actually a parable about prayer. And you say, okay, what does that have to do with widows? Well, it'd be interesting. You'll see. And this is the parable, if you want, some call it the parable of the unjust judge. And you're going to see why he's called the unjust judge. But again, this is a parable. Now he was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not lose heart. The point of this parable was to teach persistence in prayer. But what he uses as an example of persistence is a widow pleading her case to an unjust judge that wouldn't listen, okay? So keep that in mind. Now, saying in a certain city there was a judge. who did not fear God and did not respect man." Listen to the terms Jesus is selecting to describe this fictitional character, but this is important. Now, there was a widow in that city and she kept coming to him saying, give me justice from my opponent. And for a while he was unwilling, but afterwards he said to himself, Even though I do not fear God, nor respect man, yet because this widow is bothering me, I will give her justice, lest by continually coming she wears me out." Okay, she was just, her persistence was wearing him out. So obviously she was a widow in good health, right? Vim and vigor, we like that. And the Lord said, hear what the unjust said. So the unjust judge said, I'm going to answer her plea because her constant badgering me, she's going to wear me out. And he makes that analogy to God, who is very just and a loving God, who would be more than happy and more than willing to hear his people. Okay, but the point is the fact that they used an unjust judge that wouldn't listen to a widow, and that is an illustration of a bad person. Luke 20, verse 45. And this is a very telling passage. Very telling passage. And it describes much of what went on in that day that our Lord's ministry. 20 verse 45, And while all the people were listening, He said to the disciples, Beware of the scribes who want to walk around in long robes and long greetings in the marketplaces and best seats in the synagogue and places of honor at banquets. who devour widows' houses and for appearance sake offers long prayers, these will receive greater condemnation." Can you imagine that? The leadership, scribes, walked around in long robes acting godly, pretending to be godly, but in reality they devour widows' houses. Christ wouldn't have said it if it didn't happen. Devouring, taking advantage. Drop right down to chapter 21 in Luke. Chapter 21. And he looked up and saw the rich man putting their gifts into the treasury. And he saw a poor widow putting in two lepta. A couple of pennies. Put it in our dictionary. A couple of pennies. And he said, truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all of them. For they all put into their gifts out of their abundance, but she, out of what she lacked, put in all that she had for a living." Interesting, it comes on the heels of what we just read. That situation that caused that woman to think, trying to obey the law, thinking that she had to give literally her last two cents, if you want to put it that way. That, folks, is the mark of a very corrupt system. You won't find that in the law anywhere. The law does not demand your last penny. That is not in the law. That is a corrupt system, okay? Yeah, because the corrupt system is led by people that would devour widows' houses. That's a corrupt system. One more comparison. I don't want to get off the point, but Mark chapter 7, the gospel of Mark chapter 7, beginning at verse 5. And I think it'll kind of bring this group of passages to a greater context, I think it would. Mark 7, 5 to 13. And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, why do disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with defiled hands? This whole thing was about, number one, it's about their rabbinic traditions. Again, once again, not the Old Testament law, not the Mosaic law. This was one of their dumb, dumb little rules that they made up so they can feel superior, okay? And it was one of their stupid hand-washing ceremonies. They had dozens of these stupid things that had nothing to do with the law. You couldn't find them in the law. They were in their rabbinic writings, but that wasn't the law. But anyway, and he said to them, Jesus said to them, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites. as it is written, this people honors me with their lips, but their hearts is far away from me, but in vain they do worship me, teachings as doctrines, the commandments of men. Leaving the commandment of God, you hold to the traditions of men. And he was also saying to them, you are good at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition. Did you catch that one? You talk about an in-your-face statement. Jesus said to them, you're good at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition. And that's exactly what they did. That's exactly what they did. That's exactly what false churches and religions do now. For Moses said, honor your father and your mother, and he who speaks evil of father or mother is to be put to death. But you say, okay, here's where they twist another commandment. But you say, if a man says to his father and his mother, whatever you might benefit from me is karban, that is to say, given to God. You no longer leave him to do anything for his father and his mother, thus invalidating the word of God by your tradition, which you have handed down, and you do many things such as that." Now, what they were doing is, Gee, mom and dad, yeah, you might be in bad straits, but all I have, you can just hear their righteousness, all I have is dedicated to God. It's Corban. It's dedicated to God. Sorry, pops. Mom, I gotta keep it. It's for the ministry. And their greatest ministry is themselves. But I'm telling you, that's how they were. And I'll tell you, that's how false religious systems still work. I mean, still work. The television channels are full of them. I mean, they just, and some of them even outright say, you know, if you want something from God, you gotta send me money. I mean, that is their gospel. That is their gospel. I'll tell you what it is that James 1.27 says. This is pure and undefiled religion in the sight of God and Father. What is it? To visit orphans and widows in their distress. and to keep oneself unstained from the world. But again, to visit, and that doesn't mean just drop by and say hi. I mean, you're actually doing something for them. Okay? To visit the orphans and widows in their distress. In their distress. Now, we're not going to turn to what other examples are. We saw some, if you remember, in the book of Acts. In Acts chapter 6, seven godly men were selected to make sure all the widows in that vastly growing Jerusalem church were cared for. Some were falling through the cracks. Acts 9, there was a woman named Tabitha whose personal ministry was making clothing for widows. And I'll tell you, so widows was always a priority with God and should be with His people. And again, like I say, Old and New Testament are just chock full of examples for that. Now, to the text, 1 Timothy 5, 3. Honor widows who are widows indeed. That's our first point then this morning is the church's obligation to widows. Honor means to show respect, revere, have a high regard for. And the word indeed, the word indeed means certainly. In verse three it says, honor widows who are widows indeed. Hmm, that point will be made here in a bit. Now, widows indeed, it means certainly, or it's a reality of truth. The word, the Greek word is antos. And three examples, three quick examples of how that word is used in other passages. In Mark 11, 32, Referencing John the Baptist, it says, for everyone considered John to have been a real prophet. See, that's the idea of this word, indeed. Luke 23, 47, the centurion at the foot of the cross said he saw what would happen. He began praising God, saying, certainly this man was innocent. Certainly, for certain, indeed. Okay, John 8, 36, the Lord speaking, he says, If therefore the Son of Man shall make you free, you shall be free indeed, for certain." And that's the idea here in honor widows. Honor widows who are widows for certain. The real deal. And how do we know what the real deal is? Well, now we move to our next passages, 4 through 8, that talks about the criteria for widows and what actually constitutes a widow indeed, okay? Verses 4 through 8. But if any widow has children or grandchildren, they must first learn to practice piety in regard to their own family and to make some return to their parents, for this is an acceptable in the sight of God. Now, she who is a widow indeed and who has been left alone has fixed her hope on God and continues in petitions and prayers night and day. But she who lives in self-indulgence is dead, even while she lives. And command these things as well, so that they may be above reproach. But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever." Now, the first criterion is right there in verse 4. To sum that all up, The first line of responsibility to every widow in existence is their immediate family. First line. That's it. Matter of fact, it is their responsibility. Look at verse 8. If anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. So, and this is written to Christians. So, we'll deal with that verse when we get to it later, but just to think, that's it. That's what's going on. That's the idea. First responsibility is the family itself. Again, yes, the church has responsibility to widows that don't have that family care, or that don't have enough resources on their own to take care of themselves. There's a lot of people that have the resources. That's great. and people even greater that have a family. That's great. Again, the church is not being set up as a welfare organization. Some people look at it that way, and the church gets a lot of calls from folks that think that. But the example of family taking care of widows I can think of no greater example than the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself, while on the cross, as He was dying, said this, John 19, 19.25-27, therefore the soldiers did these things, but there was standing by the cross of the cross of Jesus his mother and his mother's sister, Mary and wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw his mother And the disciple whom he loved standing nearby," now that would be the Apostle John, "...he said to his mother, Woman, behold your son. Then he said to the disciple, Behold your mother. And from that hour the disciple took her into his own household." Isn't that interesting? Jesus was on the cross in the process of dying and knowing he was going to raise from the dead in three days. I mean, he knew that too. But even in that short period of time, he wanted his mother cared for. She was a widow. We know she was a widow. Because Joseph, I mean, you get through the Christmas story and then when he was 12 years old they visited the temple and you hear nothing about Jesus from after Christ was 12 years old. So it's rightly assumed that he was gone. He just wasn't there anymore. But that is the first criteria for caring for widows. Number one, the care must be handled by the family first and foremost. And I'll tell you, if there was every situation in this church where that a family was there, a widow in need was there, and the family wasn't getting the job done, as an elder, I figured my response, I need to talk to that family and say, what's your problem? Okay? That's a problem. That's a major issue. That has to happen. So, now verse 5, the second criterion. Now she who is a widow indeed and who has been left alone has fixed her hope on God and continues in petitions and prayers night and day. Now, what's that saying? Well, number one, it's kind of in two parts. She fits the description of a widow. Which says, she's a widow indeed who has been left alone. You're all alone. And the assumption is too, all alone with no resources to take care of yourself. That is what is here in this passage, a widow indeed. Remember, the definition of widow is a lady who has been left alone. She's all alone, just like the orphan has left all alone. The orphans and widows being dealt with together in many passages. I mean, without support, they'd die. I mean, that's the case. I mean, that's how it was back there in the first century. They lived all alone. They would just die if somebody didn't pick up their need. Also, in verse 5, we've got that third criterion where she's living. She's lived all her life. She's lived a godly life, okay? You can see right there, you just don't support anybody. If the church supported a widow, she's had to prove to be living a godly life. Living a godly life. Okay? I mean, do you remember Anna? This goes back to around the... It's one of the Christmas-associated stories that we hardly ever get to because Jesus is born on the eighth day. He's presented in the temple. You know, Simeon was there, and another gal, Anna, was there. This gal, Anna, in Luke chapter 2, verse 36, I'll just read about her real quickly. And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with a husband seven years after her marriage, and then as a widow to the age of 84. And she never left the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers. Now, if you kind of run the number on that, like, she lived with her husband seven years, and then, boom, became a widow. So, and then she's now, from that point on, from the day she became a widow to now the age of 84, she spent her entire life ministering in the temple. You know, that could be, depending on what age she was, some of them got married, you know, 17, 18. She could have been doing this for about 60 years at this point, if you just run the numbers. Very close to 60 years. Let's say she got married at 20, which would be considered old in some cases in those days. Seven years, run the math, she'd be 57 years in that ministry in the temple. That's a long time. That's a long time. But that's, we're talking about living a God. Now that is an extreme example, obviously. Okay. But again, that's, we'll get later. We're going to see this example isn't really so farfetched in another category of widows, but then we come to verse six. We come to verse six. Okay. So far, If we're going to support a widow or a widow in deed, number one, she is truly a widow. She's totally left alone, no family, no nothing to help her out. She's lived a godly life. And then verse six, now we've got a disqualifier. Verse six says, but she who lives in self-indulgence is dead even while she lives. In other words, a woman that has lived a life of self-indulgence which speaks of one who's focused on self-pleasure. You know, this is one of those individuals that's, uh, me first. Gimme, gimme, me first. Okay? And it says that individual is dead while she lives. Dead here in the unregenerate sense. Dead. Okay? This is an individual that's giving evidence that she's not even a true believer. Everything's always been done for herself her entire life. Now she's got nothing, which, you know, men, women are, well, that's all I recognize. Anyway, in our day and age, anybody that lives a life of self-indulgence, quite often come into the, you know, just, you know, spend it all, go crazy, have fun. They get into the older years and they look around and say, man, I got nothing left. Didn't plan, didn't take care, didn't look to the future. A lot of self-indulgent folks find themselves in the position of want when they get into the later years. I've noticed that, that's been a pattern I've seen my entire life, my entire life. Well, that dead and unregenerate, as in unregenerate, Ephesians 2, 1 to 3. And it speaks of that being dead and being kind of equated with self-indulgent. Ephesians 2, 1 to 3. where it says Paul writing obviously to the church at Ephesus, writing to people that are now obviously believers, and you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formally walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience, Among them too, all formerly lived, how? Well, in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature's children of wrath, even as the rest. So Paul then making that comparison to the Ephesians in their, you know, comparing their old life to now their new life, says, yeah, you formerly walked after the flesh, serving your own lusts and desires and everything, and just having a great old time. But now, not anymore. Now as believers, you serve a much higher calling than oneself. Okay, verse 7. And command these things as well, so that they may be above reproach. command these things as well. What things? Well, everything that's been said from verse 3 to this point. Command all these things. These are commands. These are not options. These are not if it'd be nice. No, these are commands. And at the end of that verse you see the goal. And what is that? So that they may be above reproach. Who's they? They referring to the widows who are being supported by the church. That's the kind of widows that get the support. Those that are beyond reproach. Those that are deserving of the support. Okay? And then we're back to verse 8. Now verse 8 brings this whole first conversation full circle. Verse 8, read it again. And again, it's stressing the fact that that first line of responsibility for widows It's the family itself. The family itself. That has to be. And again, if family members aren't willing to take care of their own flesh and blood, hey, you know, it's like you're worse than an infidel. And again, and it says he has denied the faith. Now, the phrase here is not referring to losing one's salvation. That's not what it's talking about here. One, not providing for his own family, has denied the basic principles of the Christian faith. That is what? Love one another. Okay? I mean, if you can't even exercise that love on your own family, it's like being worse than an infidel. John 13, Jesus said, a new commandment I give to you. that you love one another, even as I have loved you, and that you also love one another. By this, all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." And again, back to that very practical book of James, where it says James 2, 15-17 says this, If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, go in peace, be warm and filled, and yet do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so, faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself." And in this passage, James is actually saying, this whole chapter two, It's a great passage. I mean, it's talking about salvation and, you know, people, someone makes a profession of faith and they don't live up to it. If your works don't show what faith you claim, that's a false faith because a true faith will produce good works. Okay? So, and that whole thing. So that James is a very powerful passage on doing what's right because people that just, man, couldn't care less about that. Well, Maybe it's like the one that, maybe one is not. And it says, you are worse than an unbeliever. I mean, even many in the pagan society provided for their widows. Now, how much worse is it really for a Christian who should know better, who's actually experienced the love of Christ and salvation, not care for their own? You see how that's even worse in real? That's worse than an unbeliever. You should know better. Christians should know better, and yet fail to do so. Well, on to verses 9 and 10. Now, here we get to a very interesting passage. The widow's list. The widow's list. And this is, let me just read it. A widow is to be put on the list only if she is not less than 60 years old. having been the wife of one man, having a reputation for good works, if she has brought up children, if she has shown hospitality to strangers, if she has washed the saint's feet, if she has assisted those in affliction, and if she has devoted herself to every good work. That's how you get on this list. Now, this list is not the widow's list of those to be supported. This is a different list. This list of widows was made up of women who dedicated their lives to serving Christ within the church. They actually made a pledge to do that. Let's drop down to verses 11 and 12. When it talks about the younger women, it says, "...but refuse to put younger widows on the list, for they may feel the sensual desires in disregard of Christ that they want to get married, thus incurring condemnation because they have set aside their previous pledge." Previous pledge. And that pledge is to be on this list. In other words, and to be on this list, it was a list of ministering women, a list of ministering women. All right. Again, like I say, they actually made a pledge. They were like a vow. They were given their word. Now, we'll deal with the younger one when we get there, but for now, a historical note. Now in the late 1st century, early 2nd century, there's a couple you call apostolic fathers, Ignatius and Polycarp, maybe you've heard of those names, very famous folks. They both wrote of an order of widows. They mentioned an order of widows. There's like a group of widows that ministered to the church. And even in the late second, third, early third, Tertullian, another fellow, also made mention of an order of widows that went about doing things, ministering. So that's all I know about it. I didn't look, I didn't go that deep in it, but there was actually a group, and you can see in those early societies where there wasn't a lot of care for, especially Christians, right? People didn't like Christians a lot anyway. you could see where these widows would get together and just minister as a group. And again, you're talking about women that the minimum age is 60, so you've got women with much experience in, depending on when they became believers, they get much experience at being believers and being alive on Mother Earth. I mean, that is so helpful. I mean, older men, I mean, in the earlier passages, older men and older women have much to offer the younger folks if they'll listen. But those who've been around a while, assuming they've been around with their eyes open, have learned a few things over the years, right? And might actually have something profitable to share with others. And that, I think, is the point behind a lot of this. And that's why, when they're talking about these, they're looking for women that have a great testimony. I mean, have a track record of a great testimony. Okay, one thing about this widow's list, this list, There isn't any evidence that for this widow's list, the kid on this list, that they were all supported by the church. Now, some probably were, most likely were, but because again, we know, I mean, in just reading in biblical times, we know there were people in the New Testament that we know that, remember, there were women that actually gave financial support to Christ's ministering. Do you know that? There were women that that were well off. There were women that were Remember, there's a gal, Lydia, who was a seller of purple, which means she probably made a pretty good income because purple is the expensive clothing, okay? The stuff for royalty and the wealthy, the upper crust. So anyway, we know those women existed, and we know there's a lot of women that were self-supporting, didn't need the church's support. They did just fine on their own. Again, what this was, and again we look at the issue of support, actually ends in verse 8. And verse 9 is opening up a new discussion. And it starts with this widow's list. In the widow's list, it talks about the different age, like the widow's list. It gives what the criteria was to be on that list and the requirements. And so in verses 9 and 10 now, Paul's going to give us the requirements to get on that list, the widow's list. Okay. And this is a ministerial list. This is a list where ladies would go out there and undoubtedly, and these are spiritual ladies. These are women that again, have a track record. And we're going to see they have a track record of living a godly life and would really be of great service functioning like this. Number one, verse nine, not less than 60 years old. 60 years of age. Okay? Again, they wanted women of maturity. Now, 60 years, it goes a couple of ways here. Back then, 60 was considered that age. How do I gracefully put this? At 60 years old, it's like You know, I always look at it, if the average age was 100, and it's not. But you figure, let's just say 90 with modern medicine. So half of that is 45, right? At 45, you've hit the mountain peak. It's all downhill from there, okay? And so At 60, you're moving, you're down, you're heading down to the lower slopes, okay? And so, you've had a good life, things are great. So, and you don't have the issues that younger widows would have. You're very stable at that point in time. I get myself out of it with that. And that is the kind of lady this list is looking for. The people on this list are very desirable. What else characterizes them? They're the wife of one man, verse 9. Does that sound familiar? Remember when we looked at the qualifications for elders and deacons? What was one of the qualifications for both? That they would be the husband of one wife. Or a one woman man. This is saying the same thing about these widows. That they were a one man woman. Exact same idea. Exact same idea. In other words, these women, while married, were devoted to their husbands, to their own husbands. They were great wives. They were great wives. And verse 10, it goes on to say, having a reputation of good works. Having a reputation of good works. And then I think the rest of this verse is giving us examples of what that is, or what those works are. First one, if she has brought up children. brought up children. It doesn't say, it's assuming they brought them up and did a good job. That's a fair assumption, because we've already said, you're qualifying for this important list, alright? You've got a reputation for good works, you brought up children in the right way, in a biblical manner. I mean, that's an obvious assumption. Now, again, remember we talked last week a bit about the instructions for older women to instruct the younger, like Titus, in Titus 2, 4, it says that they may instruct young women in sensibility to love their husbands and to love their children. This, no doubt, was probably part of that ministerial group of widows' function, to get out there and give advice where it would be accepted to younger, to women, young housewives, young women just starting out in life. Okay. Another one, if she has shown hospitality to strangers. Another example of that is Lydia. Okay. And Lydia is the gal, remember, We won't take time to look there because we're going to start running out of time. But Lydia was one of the first converts in the church of Philippi, which was the first church in the continent of Europe. She was one of the very first converts. And so what did she do? She said, she believed the gospel, and she says, come, stay with us. Basically put Paul and his whole team up in her home. Okay. But like I said, she was wealthy, but again, wealth has nothing to do with it. She had, she showed hospitality. There's a lot of wealthy people don't have anything to do with you, right? But she showed that hospitality and she gave, you know, Acts 16, if you want to look at her. Now, this is also what says showed hospitality to strangers. This is also evidence that not This list was not limited to those who were destitute at all, because if you showed hospitality, you had, number one, a house to do it in, and resources to be hospitalized with. You could actually buy food and feed somebody, okay? But showed hospitality to a stranger. And it also, next one, it says, if she washed the feet the saints' feet. Now, since the roads, again, they were dusty, and the normal footwear were sandals, feet would get dirty and dusty, and it was customary, if you're going to live up to the highest custom, that you might not necessarily wash your guests' feet. Sometimes, well, if you're wealthy, a slave would do it, okay? And that was a job usually assigned to a slave. Sometimes you would offer, you would have water and towels available so they could wash their own feet if they wanted to. I mean, it varied, it varied. But I think in this case, and in many cases, washing the feet here, I think this menial task is used metaphorically, I believe, for humility. These women were humble women. You look back to John 13, Jesus washed his disciples' feet as a demonstration of humility. We should probably look at that. John 13, beginning at verse 12. So when he had washed their feet and taken his garments and reclined at the table again, he said to them, Do you know what I have done to you? You call me teacher and Lord, and you are right, for I am. And if then the Lord and the teacher wash your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I give you an example that you also should do as I did to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is the one who is sent greater than the one who sent him." And that was the point. Some think here it was that Jesus established the ordinance of foot washing, which some, I think a few Places still do. That's really not what he's doing here. He was giving an example, because prior to coming, obviously they're at the Last Supper, coming into Jerusalem, they were arguing about, well, Peter, James, excuse me, James and John approached Jesus and said, we'd like to sit on each side of you. And even later on at the table, They were arguing back and forth as to who would be the greatest in the kingdom. They needed this lesson, right? They needed this lesson. And so that's what was going on here that, again, this menial task, again, was used as a metaphor of exercising humility. Also, if she assisted those in affliction, there's affliction, those in distress, trouble, those are under pressure, all right? This could be physical. pressure, financial, emotional, okay? But they're there, they assist. You've got trouble, I'll do what I can to help you. They had that attitude, humility. Again, James 1.27, this is pure and undefiled religion, the sight of God and our Father, God and Father, to visit the orphans and widows in their distress, in their distress. Okay. And it keeps going, if she has devoted herself to every good work. And that kind of comes full circle to where that passage started. Devoted. The word devoted could be translated, it's a strong word, could be translated diligently or actively followed or pursued. They were on it. It wasn't some passive. They diligently pursued good works. Okay, again, the widow's list was reserved for women who committed themselves totally to ministering at a very high level. Very high level. And only those who demonstrated a high level of commitment were considered. I mean, that's throughout their life. Because they'd be known by the church. They'd be known by the church. Okay? And they'd be known, and their commitment would be obvious to everyone. They'd be obviously everything. They're out there getting the job done. Now, what about those younger women? Verse 11 to 15, "...but refuse to put younger widows on the list, for when they feel sensual desires in disregard of Christ, they want to get married, thus incurring condemnation because they have set aside their previous pledge And at the same time, they also learn to be idle as they go around from house to house, and not merely idle, but also gossips and busybodies, talking about things not proper to mention. Therefore, I want younger widows to get married, bear children, keep house, and give the enemy no opportunity for reviling. Why does he say that? For some have already turned aside after Satan." Wow. My first disclaimer for this passage, it sounds kind of rough, is this. This section is based on first-hand experience. Paul's first-hand experience. Okay? Verse 15, "...for some have already turned aside." The word refuse Again, a strong word. It's the same word used in 4-7 where it says, refuse godless myths, okay? So, refuse to put younger widows on this ministry list, on this list. They could get not on the list to be supported, They could be deserving of support. But on this list of these ministry women, that starts when you're 60 years old. The younger widows, that ministry is not for them. Okay? And there's good reason for that. Now, and he's going to give us two reasons. The first is in verse 11 to 12. Where it says, "...refuse to put the widows on the list, for when they feel sensual desires in disregard of Christ, they want to get married, thus incurring condemnation because they have set aside their previous pledge." Okay. We've seen in verses 9 and 10 to qualify for this list requires a total commitment, okay? And a history of commitment in terms of your church life and your church service. Because they are young, the younger widows are young, there's a high probability that they would not be able to sustain such a commitment. And this list, again, is for those who are like Anna. Think of Anna. That kind of commitment. That kind of commitment and very, I mean, you look at the commitment Anna did, she's one in a million. I mean, seven years married and then all the way to the age of 84, she stayed in the temple. That is a real small group of people. But again, the desire, that desire on the part of young women, again, let me just go back there. It says, verse 11. for when they feel sensual desires and they want to get married, verse 11, okay, don't let the language fool you there, that those desires are not sinful, they are not wrong. Look at verse 14, "...therefore I want younger windows to get married." Okay? I want that. That is a good thing. Right. Now, in verse 12, the word which says, "...incurring condemnation because they have set aside their pledge." Again, this is something they make like a vow to do this. Now condemnation is used here in the sense of a judicial verdict, not condemned to eternal punishment. That's not what this condemnation is referencing here. This condemnation could actually, though, could result in chastisement from God. But I think this condemnation is primarily judgment from men, the fact that they're being found guilty of breaking a vow or their pledge. Okay, hey, you made a pledge to do this, now you're going back on your word. Now you're going back on your word. And I think this is what Paul is doing. I think Paul is just exercising, and again, it's part of the Word of God, this is just wisdom. Because the risk is so great that these younger widows would not live up to the pledge they made, Paul did not want them to be set up for failure. Why set them up to fail? What profitability is that, right? You put them on the list, they go, oh, yeah, yeah. And then two, three years down the road, living alone, they might be in their 30s or 40s. You know, you can see how that would work, and then you go back. You get into a ministry, and it doesn't work out, and other people are counting on you, and then now, well, I think I may run out, and I met this guy. And so you could see how that high probability of them not seeing it all the way through. And the second reason there is in verse 13, where it says, ". ..and at the same time, they also learn to be idle, as they go around from house to house, and not merely idle, but also gossips and busybodies, talking about things that are not proper to mention." Okay. Now, this verse describes women, for lack of a better name, with way too much time on their hands. Way too much time on their hands. And again, these are younger women, energetic, okay, and be more prone to wander around and possibly, possibly get involved in being busybodies poking their beaks into other people's business, you know, which then would turn into gossiping. I don't know if you ever heard gossip. You ever heard gossip at a prayer meeting? I only share this with you so you can pray better. You know, no, I really haven't heard much of that. But that was an old standing Baptist joke anyway. Now, that's why they kept it to themselves. Now, Again, this is written from a perspective of personal experience. Paul has experienced this. Paul has been around the block. How many different cities and churches has he not only founded but worked with and worked among them? And so now he's saying, hey, younger women, no. And he's seen this happen too. It's happened over and over again. And then verse 14, he comes up and says, Therefore I want the younger widows to get married, bear children, keep house, and not give the enemy an opportunity for reviling. Okay? And so that keep house, again, goes beyond just the raising children, but actually to the managing of the household. One thing any husbands and wives have picked up, if you've been either one, that taking care of children in a household does consume much of your time. You're not going to have a lot of time to go running around from house to house in a busy body. You know, I don't have time, let alone the inclination. So you're not going to have time. You're busy. Okay, and where it says, and give the enemy no opportunity for reviling. Again, the enemy here, I don't believe, is Satan per se, but encompasses all the various opponents of the Word of God. Remember, Satan, obviously the ultimate enemy, but what does he do? He attacks us primarily through his human agents. Satan, people say, oh, Satan did it. Remember, Satan is not omnipresent. Okay? First, let's get that straight. Satan is not omnipresent. So he's not attacking. Again, these guys on TV, oh, he's attacking here, he's attacking there. Oh, really? No, he's not. He's not. They sometimes put him on the same plane with God, and he is definitely not. Now, a younger widow, then, who remarries, again, like I say, will lessen the possibility of committing those sins mentioned in verse 13. As would men. Need to stay busy, because men can commit those same things, those exact same sins, by the way. Read 13. They can. And all these sins are spoken of in other places throughout Scripture, applying to both male and female. Now verse 15, for some have already turned aside after Satan. Well, remember there were false teachers in Ephesus. Remember that? Back in chapter 1, where verse 3 it says, and I exhort you when going to Macedonia, remain on at Ephesus, so that you may command certain ones not to teach a different doctrine, nor to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which have rise to mere speculation, rather than furthering the stewardship from God, which is by faith. But the goal of our command is to love with a pure heart and a good conscience and an unhypocritical faith. for some straying from these things, have turned aside to fruitless discussions, wanting to be teachers of the law, even though they do not understand either what they are saying or matters upon which they make confident assertions." So again, in other words, there's these false teachers running around at the time. Timothy needed to shut them up, okay, and also deal with all this other stuff. So it's very easy, maybe You know, it's very easy that some of these young widows got involved with one of these false teachers, or the wives of one of these false teachers, and now they're getting involved and spreading it, and on and on it goes. And so, again, there's need for this, these things, and all these things, again, are to me just wisdom, logical wisdom. This group, this list, is reserved for older, mature, godly women. Those are the kind of women, it's like any godly individual, they got a ministry you can turn your back on them and know it's going to be done right. By their reputation, by their track record. You know they're going to do right. They're just going to do it because you've seen them do it for years. So you know they're going to do it. Last point, verse 16, women's responsibility to women. If any believing woman has widows, she must assist them and the church must not be burdened so that it may assist those who are widows indeed. Those widows indeed, remember widows indeed are those that are actually left totally alone. No family, no personal income, no nothing. They are out there. They are alone and without support. They're in big, big trouble. Those are the widows indeed. Okay? Now, women who have widows in the family need to help support them, obviously, verse 8. So that the church, it says, so that the church may support those who are widows indeed. Again, the church is not set up as some welfare institution. I don't know how else to say it. Again, the widows who are widows indeed are those who are destitute. No family, no nothing. They're on their own. And you can go back to all those passages we read at the beginning in Exodus, Deuteronomy, Isaiah, and there's so many more. And right here is that these widows, all widows, we must care for them, nurture them, and quite frankly, if that situation exists here, we, the church, need to know about it. that we can help them. We must do that. So we have to know about that. So keep your eyes and ears open. But family, you first. Let's close in word of prayer. Father God, we come to you this morning, and Lord, we know that there's so much work that needs to be done within the church body. And Lord, we know that it's working, and we're not just talking physical stuff with buildings and so forth. We're talking about the work among the people, the work that lifts people up, keeps them going. And Father God, we just pray that as spiritual needs would arise, that you would bring about spiritual people to help melt those needs. And again, Lord, we thank you for the love you've shown to us, and may we return that love to your people as you have given to us. In Jesus' name, amen.