Thank you for selecting this message by Dr. James Hoffman. Dr. Hoffman preaches verse by verse through the entire book of the Bible. From all of us at Living Water of Lapine here in Central Oregon, we hope that it will encourage you and feed you spiritually. And if you would like to leave a message after the sermon, our contact information is found on the sermon page where you found this sermon. Now may God richly bless you as you listen. One of my favorite authors, Randy Alcorn, writes, suppose you buy shares of General Motors. What happens? You suddenly develop an interest in GM. You check the financial pages. You see a magazine article about GM and you read every word, even though a month ago you would have passed right over it. Suppose you're giving help to African children with AIDS. When you see an article on the subject, you're hooked. If you're sending money to plant churches in India and an earthquake hits India, you watch the news and fervently pray. Do you wish you cared more about eternal things Then reallocate some of your money from temporal things to eternal things. Put your resources, your assets, your money and possessions, your time and talents and energies into the things of God. Watch what happens. As surely as the compass needle follows north, Your heart will follow your treasure. Money leads, hearts follow. Now, before I say another word, let me acknowledge a truth about such passages that we come to today. Many Christians have become very cynical at the start of any sermon about money. I won't ask for a show of hands, but my guess is that some of you may have already formed a perception that I will be trying to position myself for a higher salary. And if you haven't yet, perhaps you will, when we read the opening verses of this particular passage. Now I say this because many of us have been subject to sermons in our past that made us feel as though we were being manipulated into supporting some such effort or supporting some new or existing program of the church. It's true, isn't it? Believers are sometimes abused in this manner. In recognizing this, my first thought when I began to study this passage in my office this week was, oh no, how am I going to separate this sermon from so many scheming efforts that arise from passages about money? But eventually, I had a different thought. which quelled my initial temptation to just skip over the passage and go to the next one. Such abuses should never keep us from hearing what God has to say in any passage of Scripture. Even one like 1 Timothy 5, verses 17 through 25. Anything that would keep us away from a section of God's word must be an absolute delight to Satan. That became even truer to my understanding as I studied these verses and saw one of its emerging themes, and it is this. Now, here is what Satan would be delighted for you and I not to think about. How the church cares for elders, both financially and otherwise, communicates something about the heart of that church. As we get started working our way toward this theme of the passage, recognize, please, that Paul, in chapter three, called the church God's household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth, 1 Timothy 3.15. I remind you of that because it could not be any clearer that the church must be very different than the world. Now, this is especially true in regards to its people and its leadership. To see this contrast clearly, consider your own experience in the secular workplace. The relationship between a company's leadership and the rest of the employees, well, it could be very strained, to say the least. Furthermore, isn't it common for there to be gossip around the workplace? Suspicion, favoritism, and a distrust of leadership. This all makes for a cutthroat environment. Now, while this may be common in the world at large, It shouldn't be true in the church. And yet, sadly, it is. The household of God ought to look and feel different. In stark contrast to the secular business model, elders should have a genuine concern for the members of the body, and the body ought to have a loving esteem for the elders. This dynamic is crucial because God intends for believers to look at the church and see the glory of God expressed as the gospel of God impacts the people of God. In today's passage, Paul will not only say that the congregation should care for its elders, but also that the elders are responsible and accountable to the congregation. It is a two-way street. God's intention is for pastors and elders to lay down their lives for the flock, living among them and loving them with the love of Christ. In response? What Paul writes is that the congregation, the sheep, love and follow their shepherds, giving to them generously and willingly as the word of God is faithfully taught. This is the context in which the gospel flourishes. We will undermine our efforts to see the advance of the gospel. if we do not pay attention to God's design for the church. The end goal of this passage is not that we would have a well-paid pastor, which you may think the opening verses teach, or to have a system in place for handling an elder who is not quite right. It is that the church would display the glory of God and uphold the truth. The ultimate purpose is that the gospel would go forward from this and every church. This is why it would be so dangerous for us to skip over this passage. In fact, we need to sense the gravity of disobeying God's word on these matters. God's glory is seen when we order the church according to what he has said in this passage and all others. So please break it open with me now and look at 1 Timothy 5, verses 17 and 18. 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 you see now why I initially felt disinclined to preach on this passage? But God, in his words, says honoring elders in this way demonstrates the power of the gospel and the glory of God. Verse 17 says that elders, and in today's language means pastors who work hard at preaching and teaching, are worthy of double honor. Understanding the words double honor is the key to understanding this verse. Commentators have different opinions about what it means that the church is to show this kind of honor to those who rule well and who are teaching and preaching. Paul never used this expression in any of his other letters. But the wider context, taking verses 17 and 18 together, makes me think that Paul does not mean double pay. as most of the commentators say. I think the context suggests an honor that is shown in two ways. First, we need to see that double honor involves respect. This comes from the meaning of the word that Paul uses here. Paul uses it again at the beginning of the very next chapter. In 1 Timothy 6.1, it says, let all who are under the yoke as bond servants regard their own masters as worthy of all honor. Now, stop and think. Clearly he is not telling slaves to pay their masters financially. Slaves don't pay masters. No, he meant that they must present a sense of gratitude and appreciation. But this word can also be translated as honorarium or salary remuneration. And we do see that Paul's intended meaning of double honor included this area because of verse 18. Verse Timothy 5.18 says again, for the scripture says, you shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain and the laborer deserves his wages. So in this verse, verse 18, Paul is giving the basis for what he just said in verse 17 about showing honor to the elders. The apostle was referring to compensation for those men who give themselves either full-time or part-time to the ministry of teaching and preaching. Paul used the Old Testament to remind the church that the laborer is worthy of his wages. And in short, he's saying pastors should be compensated. Paul quotes two unquestioned authorities to bolster his insistence for pastoral remuneration. He quotes Moses and Jesus. First he quotes Moses from Deuteronomy 25 verse four, and then he quotes Jesus from Luke 10 verse seven. And ox is at least allowed to eat as it labors. And the same should be true for pastors. Otherwise, we are treating those who minister the word worse than a beast. Now, before I continue down this road with you, I need to say again, I am not asking for a pay raise, okay? More than three years ago, I voluntarily took a paid decrease until our church gets better positioned financially. So that is not what I am after. But I have seen, and perhaps you have too, a common mentality about pastors that many church people have. And it says, Lord, you'll keep them humble and we'll keep them poor. These verses are meant to correct that mentality. If anyone in society ought to get good pay, it ought to be the people who give help spiritually. But society is more prone to give their big money to the worthless star athletes and Hollywood entertainers. It's upside down. Church people often reflect the attitude of our godless society more than the attitude of the scripture. No work is more important than spiritual work. And a pastor's salary is a reflection of how a church values excellent teaching and strong preaching. If a church does not adequately provide for their pastor, the testimony of that church to the outside world is shocked. The gospel going forth is hindered. This may seem like a trivial matter. But like all matters of money in the Bible, it really goes straight to the church's heart. Repeating part of the quote from Randy Elkhorn, as surely as the compass needle follows north, your heart will follow your treasure. Money leads, hearts follow. Now, so far I've been showing that double honor involves two different things, respect and financial compensation. As I've proposed, I don't believe double honor means double pay. He is not calling for extravagant financial compensation by any means. In fact, Paul is going to warn against materialism and the desire to get rich in the chapter that is coming up in chapter six here. Now the question is, how do we know when a minister of the gospel is being a good leader and is worthy of this double honor? For some, the idea of good may bring up certain comparisons in their minds as though the church needs to find the Christian version of a successful and efficient CEO. But the word good here is not used as a measuring stick for business-like success, which focuses on numbers. Rather, it is a word that speaks of meeting a certain standard. Paul is saying we ought to evaluate elders on the basis of whether they are faithful. And we need to ask, is this man doing what he ought to be doing? And we don't have to go any further than 1 Timothy 3 to answer that question. Recall some of the qualifications for elders Paul gave to us there. An elder must be above reproach. He must manage his household well. He must hold to sound doctrine. He must point out error. He must be an example to the flock. This is what it means to be a good leader. Now another condition of worthiness we find here in verse 17, they must labor diligently in the word. After saying that elders are worthy of double honor, Paul then said, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching, and that word especially might be better translated as that is. So the verse might more clearly be translated, the elders who are good leaders should be considered worthy of double honor, that is, those who work hard at preaching and teaching. So faithful elders are to be honored, and then Paul says that they are owed something else as part of that honor. Protection. Protection. from false accusations and gossip. Verse 19. Do not admit a charge against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses. We should not be surprised when elders are accused. Anyone who has been close to pastoral ministry for any stretch of time will know that pastors are frequently the target of accusation, even more so than other members of the congregation. Pastors are highly visible and are tragically vulnerable to the adverse actions of those who engage in gossip. I've used this quote before, I'll use it again here. Chuck Swindoll says, to be a leader, here's how he defines a leader. To be a leader is to stick your head above the crowd for those to throw a brick at it. The human inclination to believe the worst sadly exists, even in good churches, and among those with a reputation as being good Christians. John Calvin, reflecting on his pastoral experience in Geneva, wrote, as soon as any charge is made against ministers of the word, it is believed as surely and firmly as if it had already proved. This happens 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 pastors, whose good name they ought to be defending. The remedy? Never listen to gossip about leaders or even a serious accusation if it comes from only one person. Don't receive it. Stop the person. You're not being rude. You're stopping them from sin. All charges must be substantially proved by two or three responsible people if it is to be heard at all by you. How much grief would have been avoided in the church if this ancient biblical pattern were followed? Even more important, If this procedure were observed, the gospel would be able to go forth from here to the outside world much more effectively. But if the church looks just like the cutthroat business world, full of gossip, suspicion, distrust of its leadership, we should not expect the gospel to be very effective. Because of the criticisms that frequently come against elders, we should be cautious when elders are accused. The bottom line is that accusations are going to come. We should not be surprised when they do. But we should be cautious. Our verse says elders are owed. this extra protection. Someone might ask, well, shouldn't we use the same kind of caution with everybody? Why should elders get special protection? The reason Paul said elders deserve this kind of honor has to do with the public nature of the elder's position. If a church leader were destroyed and later it was found out that the allegations were unfounded, it would be a black stain on the church in the eyes of the world. That's why. Church members are to be zealous to do whatever they can to protect the reputation of the elders in the church. Not because they are a special class of Christians, but most importantly, because the church is the pillar and foundation of the truth. We don't want the display of God's glory diminished in any way, and we don't want the gospel to be hindered in its advance as a result of people in the church or in the community who don't trust the integrity of the elders. By God's grace, let us be eager to eliminate unfounded accusations. Let's put an end to unhelpful and ungodly criticisms that bring down the reputation of those who labor in leadership of the Church. So far, Paul has given us two instructions. Honor faithful elders with financial provision as part of that, and protect all elders from unfounded accusations. There were leaders in Ephesus who were worthy of honor because they did their jobs with integrity. However, sadly, there were others who were failing. We've already seen in 1 Timothy, they were even teaching false doctrine. And so Paul addresses the matter of disciplining an elder that once it's been investigated and substantiated. He was doing wrong. Verses 20 and 21. 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 prejudicing, doing nothing from partiality. When there is credible evidence on the basis of two or three witnesses, Those who continue in sin are to receive a public rebuke. You see, while the elder is worthy of double honor, he is also put under double accountability. The words continue in sin assumes that they have been confronted, but they continue in sin anyway. And if that happens, then do everything openly and above board. The back room, under the counter, deals that politicians do have no place in the church. Openly. An elder is to be brought before the whole church. Does rebuking elders publicly seem inefficient and disruptive? I mean, why not just dismiss the elder quietly and move along? Because an elder not only has great honor, he also has that greater accountability, and it is with the entire congregation. Second, we should rebuke as a warning to others. Paul wanted others to look on public rebuke and say, may that never be so with me. I don't want that. It's like how one of my daughters now says that when she was young, she steered herself clear of a lot of trouble because she saw how her sister got disciplined for her misbehavior. I see your smiles. You have kids who maybe have told you the same. But this is a weighty matter. God, Christ Jesus, and the elect angels are called as witnesses. Timothy and his leaders are called to exercise fair, even-handed discipline in the sight of God and Jesus Christ, who will one day judge them. But why are elect angels mentioned? The reference to elect angels is perplexing, especially since this phrase is not used anywhere else in scripture. But here's what I think. Angels are curious about God's redemptive program for the human race. 1 Peter 1.12 tells us that. And God is teaching the angels about his wisdom through his dealing with the church, according to Ephesians 3.10. So some get to watch and see how we will impartially execute discipline in the church wherever it is needed. This is such a weighty matter that even angels are watching us to learn about God's wisdom. We better get it right. Several years ago, I was asked to be part of a church planting effort. as one of its overseers. We sent two pastors to a different city to start a new church. Things went well for the first two years. And then one of the other overseers was visiting this new church, and he was asked by one of the church planters if he would do some marital counseling with him and his wife. When he did, my fellow overseer discovered that this pastor had been heavily involved in a sin that had deeply wounded his marriage. The overseer offered such immediate help as he could, which included telling him that he would be informing the other overseers so that we could diligently pray for his victory over this sin. About six months later, we were informed that the pastor's sin continued. And now, his wife had refused to attend church services, saying that she would not be part of her husband's hypocrisy. As overseers, we called the wife, and she verified it and her reason. Then, in a very tearful conversation, the pastor himself verified his continued defeat with that sin. We spent the next several days in a lot of prayer about the situation. And then we met and we made a decision. Oh, how I wish that I could stand before you today and tell you that we applied these verses. We didn't. Instead, we quietly took him away from the church, moved him to a different city. That was only to be temporary while we provided him with a Christian counselor. Our mistake was to think that the best way to restore this pastor was to do it this way. And that was our full intent. We thought that we were extending biblical grace to him. And if we were to let others know, it would be so much harder for him to be restored. So we tried to relocate him and get him professional help, but neither he nor his wife wanted to leave. Rather than face any potential embarrassment about leaving for a while, they chose to deny the sin problem. and that their marriage was suffering. They blamed the overseers for disturbing the young church's effectiveness. They told this young church their story. And they wrote to the supporting churches who had supported this church's planting effort from the very beginning. They talked freely. They spun their own narrative. Meanwhile, the overseers remained quiet, never telling the truth, because we thought that was the best way. We thought it was the kindest way for the sinning pastor to be restored. I probably don't need to tell you what happened. The church plant was ripped apart. Members left, including leaders. Needed support that had been coming from established churches to plant this new church began to dry up. Today, the new church continues to exist. It struggles, though. But boy, how I wish we had followed the instructions of today's passage and then sought counseling for the pastor and his wife. We put the cart before the horse. The gospel would not have been so hindered in that new church. Rebuking an elder in the presence of all may seem overly harsh. It may seem very disruptive, unnecessary. But in the long run, not doing it bears greater destruction and hindrance to the gospel. So far we've seen that the church is to honor, protect, and rebuke elders. Which brings us to Paul's fourth and final overarching instruction. Verses 22 through 25 make this next point, but just look at verse 22 briefly here with me. It says this. Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, nor take part in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure. One way to avoid the sticky problem of disciplining an elder is to be very careful about who is placed in such a position. Timothy should never be in a hurry about appointing an elder because he might overlook major problems or sins. To lay hands on someone in the context of ministry is to ordain. to endorse that person to serve the congregation and to represent the church in an official capacity. Don't do this too quickly. Those who take part in the premature ordination of an errant elder share some of the blame for the negative consequence to their church. Whichever is the case, Timothy was to keep himself free from sin. You won't be able to discern a qualified leader if your own life is stained with sin. You will increase the likelihood of getting the right leaders in place if you keep your life pure, Timothy. Now, in order to follow this instruction, Timothy needed to know what pure meant. This was part of the false teaching going around the church at Ephesus, what pure meant. In chapter four, we saw the false teachers who were advocating asceticism. Asceticism, what's that? Asceticism is denying ourselves, not partaking of certain foods and drink or marriage, thinking that that's going to gain us favor with God. They taught that spiritual purity came from denying oneself certain pleasures. And in chapter four, Paul said, God gave such good things to us in order that we would be thankful to him. Paul said asceticism is not the way to go. Now our next verse here in 1 Timothy chapter 5 is not going to make any sense to us unless we remember that of what we had seen in chapter 4. What did purity mean? Did it mean to deny yourself certain things? Paul told Timothy, stay pure, and then he addressed what was perhaps a misperception that Timothy had about purity. Timothy may have given in to the ascetic spirit, which we know had infected that church in Ephesus. And verse 23 suggests that Timothy probably gave total abstinence from alcohol. So Paul needed to tell Timothy that for the sake of his health, he ought to consider drinking a little wine to combat what we call today Montezuma's revenge when US citizens traveled to Mexico. He was in a foreign territory drinking water only. Whenever I travel to a third world country, I'm very careful not to drink the common water, or I'm going to be wrenching my guts out for days. I only drink bottled water, and when I go to Columbia, I take a water purifying straw. It's called a life straw. Now, verse 23 seems to be a note to Timothy in parentheses. He's telling Timothy how to select elders, and then we get this. It looks like a random thought, unless you put it together with what chapter four was being told what purity is. And so this parentheses here, in the midst of telling him how to find good elders, he says, and by the way, Timothy, speaking of pure, put away your false thoughts about purity. Go ahead and drink a little wine, not just water alone, which is making you sick. There's no need for you to suffer from drinking that city's water. So look at verse 23 here, this parenthetical statement. No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments. Probably in today's vernacular, Paul would have said, okay, Timothy, take some hydroxychloroquine. The perils of legalism and asceticism can entrap the most holy people. Even people like godly Timothy. Certainly the Bible teaches moderation here about wine. Use a little wine, Timothy. However, a destructive, self-righteous asceticism is to be avoided. Asceticism does not make you pure, Timothy, so there's no need to be puking your guts out. Verse 24 picks up after Paul's practical side note in verse 23. He gets back to this matter of very carefully selecting elders in verses 24 and 25 now. The sins of some people 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. So Timothy, when selecting elders for the church, you need to know that some people sin, and some people perform good works in ways that are obvious. You're gonna see them. Sometimes they're obvious, Timothy. But other times there is sin and there are also good works that trail behind, they're hidden from view. They become known only after the individual has died and is being judged by God. So Paul emphasized the difficulties that are so characteristic of choosing qualified candidates for the position. You're not gonna see everything, Timothy. Mistakes are gonna be made, Timothy. But hasty, superficial assessments, whether positive or negative, They're gonna be inaccurate, leading to the enlistment of unqualified men. So don't do that. Don't be hasty. With time, man's true colors will emerge to a perceptive observer. And so the warnings of verses 24 and 25 are designed to underline the caution of verse 22, do not rush to ordain someone. There's always a need for more elders to be raised up in the church. However, the last thing we need is hurriedness in making this kind of massively important decision. To be sure, sometimes we're gonna deny brothers who we shouldn't deny, and sometimes we're gonna appoint brothers who we shouldn't appoint. That's just part of our fallen and finite nature. We need to make sure we're doing everything we can to minimize those mistakes. We need to obey the word in appointing godly men for the protection of the church. Listen, here's what we need to be seeing from today's passage. How can we have the gospel flourish in the church and effectively go out to the world? It is by following God's intentions. God's intention is not for shepherds to exploit the sheep or sheep to abuse the shepherd. God's intention is for pastors to lay their lives down for the flock, living among them and loving them with the love of Christ. In response, the congregation will love and follow their shepherds, giving to them generously and willingly as the word of God is faithfully taught. This is the context in which the gospel flourishes will undermine our efforts to see the advance of the gospel if we don't pay attention to God's design for the church. The end goal of this passage is not that we would have well-paid pastors or that we would publicly rebuke elders, but that the church would display the glory of God and faithfully uphold the truth, the ultimate purpose of these verses is that the gospel would go forth unhindered from our church, and that is why I believe God had me preach these verses and not skip over them. Would you pray with me?