Such a person is setting themselves up for disappointment and sorrow. Don't trust in princes, don't trust in men. Yet at the same time, we are to trust God, not as the God who acts without raising up church officers, but as the God who has chosen to use them to establish his kingdom. So it's a little bit of a tricky thing, isn't it? I've met Christians who have become disillusioned because of the sins and foolish behavior of church officers. So now they want very little to do with any officers in the church at all. They want little to do with the church because they've seen too many problems and they say, well, we'll just be the church ourselves over here. In fact, that seems to be one of the major problems in the church today. So many people like that. I almost feel like after COVID happened, there's even more people like that. There are many who do not want to be a member of the visible church, not because they oppose Christ, but because they can't deal with the church officers. Now I can certainly understand how they got that way, but I can't agree with their conclusions because it's not a biblical response. You must always remember that church officers are one of the gracious gifts of Jesus Christ to his church. He himself has instituted their office and has gifted certain men and placed them in office to care for his people. He has given them to his church because he loves his church. And he wants us to have shepherds on earth to feed us with his gracious promises in the gospel, to guide us in his ways, and to give oversight to us, to correct us when we're going astray. We must trust him and look to what he has given us for blessing. We're not to trust in the instrument, but we're to trust in our gracious Lord who uses the instrument. It is true enough that human instruments are full of corruption and will often disappoint us, but our God will never disappoint us. He uses even the corruption to sanctify and chasten us. So if we're in a situation where there are corrupt leaders, We need to trust God that it does not damage us if we're following him. It may be hard, but that God, we trust him to work through that situation. We must never think that our Lord Jesus himself has abandoned us just because the officers of his church have let us down. Nor should we abandon his institution, the church, which he has appointed for our blessing. So let me ask you, did you stop eating because food once made you sick? I'm sure most of you have been sick before from eating. So did you say, oh, eating made me sick, so I'm not gonna eat anymore. Would that be a wise choice? Of course not. Food, even though it is subject to corruption, it can be spoiled, it can make us sick, but it's an instrument that God uses to nourish our bodies. To say, I can't trust food anymore because it let me down. I'm just going to look to God to nourish me directly and go around the food thing. I'm going to stop doing food. Made me sick before. I'll just trust God directly. He'll take care of me. That would be the height of folly. It is true that you should not trust in food, but rather in God. But it is also true that trusting God for nourishment means, in the real world, that you look to the God who chooses to use food as the ordinary way to nourish people. You're trusting God, but you're trusting Him to use what He has chosen to use. So you can't trust Him unless you're willing to use the means that He has appointed. But perhaps you're wondering, what does this have to do with the passage about elders in First Timothy 5, 17, 25 that we have come to today that I'm supposed to be preaching from today? Well, I'll tell you what it has to do with it. Remember why Paul had Timothy stay in Ephesus in the first place, going back to the beginning of Timothy. Chapter one, verse three. It was in order that he might charge some that they teach no other doctrine. They were teaching elders at Ephesus that were teaching false doctrine. This whole letter deals with that subject. There were men that had let the people of God down. Some of the congregations in Ephesus had teachers that had departed from the faith. Remember chapter four, we read about that. So just think what was happening in these churches. Some of the elders that the saints at Ephesus had placed themselves under were turning out to be heretics. They were turning out to be Judases. Do you think that made it easy for these members of the church to look for God to bless them through other elders? The truth is, God probably did use even the elders that turned out to be heretics, not only through the trial and struggle that came from them departing, but through the teaching that they did before their heresy was brought to surface. He used the instruction that they brought to convert people, to help people grow. You should never look back on a bad church experience and just say, yuck. But you should look back and see what God actually did. You should look back with gratitude on all the things that God taught you. I think of the first church that I was in, many things that I came to disagree with as I studied God's word in that congregation, but I'm so thankful. because there was so much that God did in my life and taught me through that time. You see, we trust God. Paul's instructions to Timothy in chapter 5, 17 through 25 are written to congregations at Ephesus that were troubled by elders who did not rule well. They had been disappointed and perhaps even disillusioned. So here, let me read it to you. This is God's holy word, 1 Timothy 5, 17 to 25. Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine. For the scripture says you shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain, and the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not receive an accusation against an elder except from two or three witnesses. Those who are sinning rebuke in the presence of all that the rest may fear. I charge you before God and the Lord Jesus Christ that the and the elect angels that you observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing with partiality. Do not lay hands on anyone hastily nor share in other people's sins. Keep yourself pure. No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for your stomach's sake and for your frequent infirmities. Some men's sins are clearly evident preceding them to judgment, but those of some men follow later. Likewise, the good works of some are clearly evident, and those that are otherwise cannot be hidden. Here we'll end the reading of God's word. Thank the Lord for his gracious word. Yes, many of them had struggled. Many of the members there had struggled with unfaithful elders, no doubt. But Paul begins this section by telling Timothy to make sure that the saints at Ephesus continue to honor the elders that rule well. Don't just forsake food because some food made you sick. Don't forsake elders just because some elders went astray. He does that in verses 17 through 19. Next in verses, this is just an overview, next in verses 20 to 21, he solemnly charges Timothy to rebuke the elders who don't rule well. And in the remainder of the chapter, from 22 on, he tells Timothy to exercise great care in the ordination of new elders. I don't have to tell you how applicable this is to us as God's people. If you've been a Christian for almost any time, even if you're not a Christian at all, you have certainly had occasions to point the finger at elders who don't rule well. In fact, we could easily point out that the vast majority of churches have elders that don't even qualify to be elders at all. Many of the biggest churches in our province have elders who aren't even believers. They don't even trust in Jesus alone for their salvation. And I doubt that there is one of you that have not at some time been disappointed by the elders that you had in your church. But learn here that you are to count the elders that rule well is worthy of double honor. Paul, writing to Timothy, instructs him to let this be done. Verse 17. In other words, Timothy was to see that the Saints Ephesus counted their elders that were doing what they were supposed to do as worthy of double honor. This means that as a believer, you're not to be hesitant to pay them for their work. Paul makes it clear that when, he makes that clear when he speaks of honor, that he speaks of financial support. In verse 18, he quotes two scriptures that show this. And we learned this about widows too, didn't we? That when you honor widows, it means financial support. So what does he say? First quotation is from Moses. You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain. No doubt Timothy knew how to understand this verse as it applied to a minister's pay. He had probably heard Paul explain it many times, even as he does in 1 Corinthians 9, 9 through 11, which was written much earlier than this passage in Timothy. Take a look at 1 Corinthians 9, 9, you can see that for it is written in the law of Moses. You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain. Then Paul adds that. Is it oxen God is concerned about or does he say it all together for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt this is written. that he who plows should plow in hope, and he who threshes in hope should be partaker of his hope. If we have sown spiritual things to you, is it a great thing if we reap your material things? So Paul, as a teacher, is saying that, you know, we who are teaching, should we not reap material things? Paul gives us a lesson here in Bible interpretation. How do we understand that? You don't muzzle the ox. First, that if something applies to a lesser situation, like an ox, then it surely applies to a greater situation, like a man who works in the fields. This passage teaches us to pay those who work for us faithfully. Pay anyone that works for us. Secondly, if something applies to the earthly realm, workers in the earthly fields, then it surely applies to the spiritual realm, those who work in the spiritual harvest. Of course, their pay is not to be spiritual, but material things, as he says. If we have sown spiritual things for you, is it a great thing if we reap material things? The second quote is from the Lord Jesus. In Luke 10, 17, Jesus stated that spiritual workers were to be paid because, he said, the laborer is worthy of his hire. It was simply a principle of justice. Paul was possibly even quoting from Luke's gospel, which had probably already been written when he wrote this letter to Timothy. So you see that the word honor is used here to refer to financial support, just as it was in the passage about supporting true widows earlier in this chapter. I showed you when we looked at that passage how the word honor is often used for remuneration in the Bible. So I won't go over that again today. But who is it that Paul refers to that's worthy of double honor? Of course, we can see the words, it is those elders that rule well, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine. By calling them those that rule well, he excludes those that he referred to at the beginning of chapter four, who have departed from the faith, who were giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, who are speaking lies and hypocrisy, having their own consciences seared with a hot iron. These are to be rebuked rather than honored, as he states in verse 20. Elders who had departed from the faith are not to be supported. To do so is to be a partaker of their evil deeds. We learn that in John's epistles. But what does Paul mean when he says, especially those who labor in word and doctrine? He adds that on. The word especially, according to some expositors, is used here in the sense of that is. So that the sense, if we read it that way, would be the elders who rule well, that is those who labor in word and doctrine. In other words, Paul is making a distinction here between two kinds of elders, those who rule in the church, giving oversight and administering discipline, and those who not only rule, but also are devoted to teaching. We understand in our church government that there are two different kinds of elders with different ordinations. So that those who are ministers of the word are indeed elders, but they're also ministers of word and sacrament that are set apart. And of course we have students that train up and then they go through a separate ordination in order that they might minister as ministers. Paul is speaking here about a special category of elders than those that are also what he elsewhere calls pastor teachers or just teachers. John Gill very well summarized the labor that such elders perform. He says, labor and word and doctrine lies in a constant reading of the scriptures, the word of God, and diligently searching into them and comparing them together in order to find out the mind and will of God in them, in a daily meditation upon them and study of them, and in frequent and fervent wrestling with God in prayer to him to give an understanding of them, and endeavoring to find out the sense of difficult passages which are hard to be understood. and in providing for the different cases and circumstances of hearers that everyone may have a portion, and in the choice of apt and proper words to express truth in to the capacities of all. This is laboring in the word, in private, besides which there is laboring in doctrine in public, in preaching the gospel constantly, boldly, and faithfully, in holding it fast against all opposition, and in defending it by argument, both by word and writing. Paul is showing here that the support of an elder who is devoted to this work is a principle of justice. The laborer is worthy of his hire, to use our Lord's words again. But the support of the ministry is not the only principle of justice. Paying someone for work. but also an expression of gratitude to God. So it's not just mere justice. God has gifted and called men to this work and it is nothing but ingratitude for the world to take so little care about supporting them. If we see that our dear Lord Christ has appointed them to minister his word to us, then we ought to show gratitude by sustaining them. Satan is delighted to see the church deprived of instruction by the church's negligence in this duty. To see men kept from being able to devote themselves to the ministry of the word or distracted because of poverty. To see a shortage of ministers in the world because nobody is willing to support them. See missionaries that are ready to go but cannot go for lack of funds. Perhaps I should say here that in expounding this passage, my goal is not to speak about my own situation as a minister one way or another, but to set forth what is set forth in God's Word. But I have certainly been grateful that I have been able to devote myself to the ministry of the word over all the years that I have been ordained. I did not expect to do that when I was first ordained. I was planning to build furniture and that sort of thing on the side. But it is a great testimony of the church's devotion to the Lord that our congregation in Halifax has been able to provide for me all of these years. In this passage, the Holy Spirit also gives you another aspect of honor besides pay that applies to every elder. What else does he tell you here? Holy Spirit tells you here that you must never receive an accusation against an elder unless there are two or three witnesses. Now, of course, this is a principle of scripture, isn't it? Whether somebody's an elder or not. In Deuteronomy 19.15, the Bible says, one witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits. By the mouth of two or three witnesses, the matter shall be established. So if the two witnesses, when it says two or three, if the two witnesses are brothers or something, or husband and wife, something like that, then you probably need to have three witnesses. That's why it says two or three. You're supposed to use some judgment there about whether it's two or three, but at least two or three witnesses. So if someone comes to you and speaks against a brother or sister, it's your duty not to receive the accusation without checking it out. What you should do is offer to go with the brother to talk to the accused. then if you find out that the charge is true, then you are to show the offender his sin and to try to lead him to repentance. If he refuses to hear, then you and the other person might need to go and talk to the elders about that. The only exception would be when you come to an elder or a mature church leader to ask advice about how to respond to a wrong that has been done to you. Sometimes people come to talk to elders about that sort of thing. But even then, the leader must not receive the accusation except to say, if someone has done that to you, this is what you ought to do. Those are until he checks it out, finds out all the stories. Sometimes it turns out to be very different than you think it is. Or in some cases, it may be necessary for him to go with you to investigate the matter and become a witness in the effort to try to win the individual that has offended. No doubt, there's far too much gossip in the Church of Jesus Christ today. There is so much damage done by this kind of thing that I don't think we realize how far it reaches, really. We would not think of throwing rocks at our brother, but we have no hesitation about damaging his reputation behind his back. That's not a good thing. This is all even worse when it's done to an elder. And that's what this is guarding against. An elder's reputation is very important to uphold. You see, when an elder's reputation is damaged, it tends to draw people's hearts away from his instruction as a minister, a servant of the Lord. It causes the blessed doctrine of our God to be diminished. It causes great harm. Have you not run into a lot of people who use the excuse of the hypocrisy of ministers to reject the doctrine of the gospel? Well, it's because they've got bad hearts that they do that. But if they can find an occasion to do that, they'll latch right onto it. That excuse will not help them in the day of judgment. Oh, I had bad leaders. Oh, OK, well, you're all right. And you rejected me. God says, yeah, you rejected me because you had bad leaders. OK. No, he won't do that. Neither will gossip help you. Your gossip can become an occasion for another person stumbling. So beware that you don't cause others to stumble. Parents do not speak against elders before your children. Besides the importance of maintaining the reputation of elders, you must also be especially careful about elders because of the fact that elders are so often the target of accusation and criticism. His duties include reproving faults, sowing people wrongs that they have done. to opposing wicked desires. Restraining sin even by church discipline. It should come as no surprise that he's going to make enemies if he does those things. If he doesn't, Paul tells elsewhere that he's not doing his job right. If we live godly in Christ Jesus, it's going to happen. Somehow it seems to make people feel better if they can find fault with the one who is corrected or convicted them. They rejoice to find out that person's faults and then to publish those faults to other people. there are always those like the Pharisees who made it their main goal concerning Jesus to find out something wrong with him. That's what they spent all their time doing. Because Jesus was showing them their sins just by his teaching and everything. And so they went all out to find something, something that, and they found stuff, didn't they? They manufactured stuff. Jesus didn't do anything wrong, but they came up with things and began to spread those around to each other. You know how this works. A big sister goes to the little brother and says, you tracked mud in the house. What does the little brother do? He says, oh, my dear sister, thank you for pointing this out to me. It was so careless of me to do this. I'll clean it up at once. Is that what he does? No. More likely, he says, you don't have to tell me about it. I mean, you don't have to yell about it, even though she didn't yell at all. She just said, you tracked mud in the house. Well, you don't have to yell at me about it. He finds something wrong with her. Or, well, you tracked snow in last week. Or, as soon as she approved him, he starts looking for some other thing to reprove her. Well, you did. He's going to find something that she did. Why do we do that? It's just fallen nature. It's how we defend ourselves. Instead of acknowledging that we did something that needed to be corrected, we want to find out something wrong with the person that told us about it. You need to watch yourself against the censorious, fault-finding spirit toward elders. That's why you need to guard against receiving the accusation against an elder that is not substantiated. The receiver of such accusations become just as guilty as the purveyor. Make it your rule not to receive gossip about anybody, especially not about elders. But of course, Paul's warning about receiving the accusation is in no way meant to shield leaders from correction and rebuke that they ought to have, that they ought to receive. He doesn't want them not to be dealt with if they're doing wrong. The office of elder is too important not to deal with violations. So those elders, this is the second main thing we're looking at, those elders who are sinning must be rebuked publicly. First Timothy 5.20 says, those who are sinning rebuke in the presence of all that the rest also may fear. Just as it is all the more important to protect an elder from unjust accusation because of his position, so also it is all the more important to rebuke him when he is sinning because of his position. The same reason. You will remember that Paul openly rebuked Peter when he was shunning the Gentile believers to please the Jews. He was refusing to eat with them. Peter's offense was multiplied many times over because Peter was in such an influential position on others, being an apostle and a leading apostle at that. So in Galatians 2.11, Paul says of Peter, The gospel is too important. to allow that kind of hypocrisy. Church officers are supposed to be held to a higher standard than others because they're called to lead an example as well as word. James tells us not let many become teachers because teachers will receive a stricter judgment. This is why there are standards set forth in 1 Timothy 3 for elders in Titus 1. At Ephesus there were elders who were teaching false doctrine, giving heed to doctrines of demons and speaking lies and hypocrisy. No doubt they had many disciples that were following their teaching. This is what makes it so serious for an elder to live in error, because he will lead those for whom Christ died into his error. For this reason, it is necessary to rebuke them, not privately, but publicly, as it says at the end of verse 20, so that the rest also may fear. Not only did the other elders who were committing similar sins need to fear, but also the people who had become caught up in those errors. The Holy Spirit regards the rebuking of sinning elders as a very urgent, solemn responsibility that's given to the church. Hear what the scripture says, verse 21. I charge you before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the elect angels that you observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing with partiality. Timothy and the entire church with him, each in their respective places, are to carry out this injunction before the face of God. Let those passages in the Old Testament where fire broke out or where the ground opened up to swallow those who rejected the authority of Jesus Christ cause us to understand how strongly God opposes those who would lead his people astray. He is a consuming fire and we need to remember that. God hates false doctrine and the church is solemnly charged to deal with it and to deal with it decisively as before his face. We are to take it seriously because he has shown us in his word how seriously he takes it. He does not call us to represent ourselves, but Him when we deal with this sort of thing. We're speaking for God when we rebuke elders that sin. Our Heavenly Father hates false living and false teaching among elders because He loves His church. He does not want to see His people stumble. He sent His only Son to shed His blood for them and He guards them with jealous care. He wants us to guard them too. We must act before His face, His face of jealousy and wrath, His face of love and concern for protection of His people. If you heard the sermon that I preached this morning in Halifax, they talked about the place of angels too. What do they do? They're around the ones that are over the Ark of the Covenant. They guard holy places. They defend them from profaning, being profane. So they did. They were stationed in the garden to keep people out after Adam and Eve had sinned and were no longer fit to be in that holy garden. And so here the angels are mentioned as those who are sent by God to punish those that would offend. So again, I charge you, he says, before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the elect angels, that you observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing with partiality. There is to be no favoritism in this matter, without prejudice, without partiality. It is the gospel that is at stake. It doesn't matter if the sinning elder is your cousin or your own brother. The Levites were commended for slaying their own brethren who worshiped the golden calf and did not repent. It doesn't matter if the sinning elder has celebrity status or if he is a rich and honorable man in the community. Jesus sent the rich young ruler away in sorrow. God has no respect of persons, neither should we. We are to be jealous for that which God is jealous, not for worldly honor and acclaim, but for purity in the faith. What trouble the neglect of this charge has brought into the churches of Jesus Christ. At some point along the way, ordained men in most of the mainline denominations were allowed to reject the inspiration and authority of the Bible. They were allowed to carry on with immoral lives that were not corrected. At first, one or two men were tolerated who held these views or practiced error. Probably it was because they were important, influential men that nobody wanted to offend, that no one said anything. Now these denominations are infested with such men. Now that has come about and they are leading thousands to hell. They appoint elders and ministers who don't even believe the gospel at all. If we love our Lord and his blessed doctrine, we will oppose those who oppose his gospel. how kind he has been to raise up teachers to promote his truth, how ungrateful we are to sit idly by and do nothing when his truth is distorted and deprecated by those who are not called. Each one of us according to our own calling and station in the church should be diligent to oppose false doctrine and reprobate lives of the eldership. It's so easy to be a coward. Pray that God will make your elders strong and bold so that we will be able to defend the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and our community against our adversaries. And pray that each of you will do your part in love to your savior to oppose false doctrine wherever it appears. but especially when it appears in the leaders of the church. God has no patience with this, and neither should we. Let those who love the Lord and his church be true to their trust. Let them remember that they live before the face of God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, and before the holy angels who watch over the church. No doubt, the rebuke of erring elders would lead to the deposition of many of them. They would need to be replaced by new elders. So naturally, Paul turns to this topic. And once again, there is instruction for us, namely, be careful about selecting men to serve as elders. You see that in verse 22. Paul puts it, don't lay hands on anyone hastily. As an elder in the church, Timothy's job was to join with the other elders in laying hands on those who were called to serve as officers in the church. This method was appointed by God from ancient times to set a man apart to office and to ordain him. In Numbers 27, 18, the Lord commanded Moses, take Joshua the son of Nun with you, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay your hand on him. Set him before Eliezer the priest, and before all the congregation, and inaugurate him in their sight. And you shall give some of your authority to him, that all the congregation of the children of Israel may be obedient. So a man is placed into office by laying on of the current officer's hands. This method is continued in the New Testament. In Acts 6.6, the apostles laid hands on those who were chosen to serve as deacons. Recently, we saw in 1 Timothy 4.14, how Timothy himself had been set in office by this method. Paul said to Timothy, do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership or the presbytery. So we all have a part to play in the selecting of worthy men. By worthy, I do not mean worthy in the ultimate sense. No man is worthy to be a disciple, much less an elder. We're not worthy to even be Christians, but I mean worthy in a relative sense. as one who meets the criteria that God has established for those who would serve according to 1 Timothy 3. But we all have a part to play in the selection of worthy men. Those who are elders are the ones who actually lay hands on a man to set him apart to office. That's their job. But this is not to be a mere perfunctory or mechanical act for them. They are, as Paul implies here, to refuse to do it unless they believe that the man to be ordained is qualified. It's a way of showing their approval, is having examined the man to the best of their ability and having found him worthy. But those who are not officers also have a role to play. The method given in the New Testament for selecting officers is given in Acts 6. There it shows that the people chose them out from their number. And then the elders either approve or disapprove upon examination of the candidates by laying hands on them. But you also have a responsibility as a member of the congregation. If you're unsure of a man, then you ought not to vote for him. Or if you know something about him that clearly disqualifies him from serving in office, it is your responsibility to inform the elders about it. Of course, this is something that very much pertains to us right now as we're getting ready to have an election in our congregation for elder. So the ordination of elders is not a time to be Mr. Nice Guy. Both elders and ministers have a grave responsibility to protect the church from unworthy men. You must not be cowardly so as to go along with the crowd. If you're unsure, abstain. If you're opposed and have biblical grounds, Speak up and say no. The same damage that is caused by failure to remove unworthy men that I have spoke about before is caused by ordaining unworthy men. So if you love the church of Jesus Christ, you will care about this matter. And of course, it cuts both ways. Just as you will not want to see unworthy men ordained. You will not want to see worthy men rejected for illegitimate grounds. You won't want to see them rejected without legitimate grounds. The church can err in both ways. You must be careful not to use worldly criteria in your evaluation, such as polish, worldly success, a self-confident air, whatever it might be, while ignoring his home life or his quarrelsome nature, nor are you to go by whether you like the man. You are to base your judgment on the scriptural criteria set forth in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1. When you are careless or irresponsible about your part in selecting men for office, you become guilty. As Paul says, you participate in the sins of others. It would seem that there are two ways that you participate. You participate as a party to the wrongful ordination. You're bound together with others in a careless act. that that will bring damage to the Church of Jesus Christ, to the people for whom Christ died. You also participate in the sins of the ones who is ordained. That's the second way. Whatever trouble he ends up bringing into the church, you have a part and responsibility for. You share in the guilt because you carelessly or even knowingly had a part in setting the man in office. You have, by your participation, taken a man who is a bad example. and set him forward for everyone to imitate. Or you have taken a man who will poison the people with false doctrine. You have taken him and set him up to spread his doctrine in the name of Jesus Christ. This is especially the case when you know better and you go along with it anyway. Nobody wants to be thought a troublemaker to rock the boat, but you should love your Lord and his church more than you love what people think of you. Now the elders, of course, incur even more guilt because they're responsible for examining the man and they're gifted with knowledge to do so. Each person is responsible to do his or her part with an honest conscience before God. If not, you become a partaker of their deeds. It seems that Paul thinks about the matter of partaking in the wrong of others. As he thinks about that, he digresses for a moment here to speak to Timothy about his own sanctioning of wrongdoing. It would appear that Timothy was abstaining from wine to please the false teachers who, from what we saw before, commanded to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. So as Paul's thinking about this subject, Timothy is doing something here, and he brings that up. There's a place for trying not to cause offense. But by drinking straight water, which was ordinarily mixed with wine to purify it, Timothy was causing harm to his body. So Paul urges him in verse 23, no longer drink only water, but use a little wine for your stomach's sake and your frequent infirmities. It was wrong for Timothy to damage his own health in order to please men who had a superstitious view about sanctification and thought that they were made holy by abstaining from certain foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving. Paul is not endorsing drunkenness, for he has already forbidden that, but he is calling for the use of a little wine. In verse 24 and 25, Paul returns to the matter of evaluating men for office. So there's a little digression there. Here he reminds you that you cannot read the heart. There are times that you will sincerely participate in putting a man in office whose sins are hidden But through no fault of your own. 1 Timothy 5.24 Some men's sins are clearly evident, preceding them to judgment, but those of some men follow after. Sometimes it's perfectly obvious that a man is not qualified. His sins proceed, or they go before him in an obvious way to judgment. It's perfectly evident that he's not worthy for office. But God knows that there are also other times when a man's faults will be hidden from us. And we will place an unworthy man in office through no fault of our own. God does not expect us to be heart readers. He must understand, we must understand sometimes that it is God's will to put such men in office to test us, a Judas or whatever. In Deuteronomy 13, we're told that God brings in false prophets who even perform signs in order to test you. to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. These are wolves in sheep's clothing and messengers of Satan who appear as angels of light. They're like the serpent in the garden that God sends to test us. The question for you is what will you do when these men appear? Will you go along with them or will you reject them when their truth about them is made known? You can't read people's hearts, it's true. God only asks you to be responsible in judging them based upon what you can see. In the same way, verse 25 points out that we will sometimes wrongly reject a man who is truly worthy. At first, we may not discern his character because his good works may be hidden from us. Sometimes the very best people are not the ones that are on the most display, the most on display. In this case, we may, through no fault of our own, overlook someone that ought to be serving. But verse 25 assures us that in time, God will bring the man's good works to view. They can't remain hidden either. First, Timothy 525. Likewise, the good works of some are clearly evident and those that are otherwise cannot be hidden. The encouragement in both of these verses is that God will work it all out in time. You don't need to be overly suspicious about others or overly anxious. If your brethren seem to be deceived in their view of a man, God will work it out in time. Sometimes you might see something. Other people just don't see it. Nothing will be hidden. God will work it out. You can trust him. Remember that your trust is neither in man, the man ordained, or in those who ordain the man. But your trust is in God, who with divine wisdom manages his church for his glory and for his people's good. Surely Paul is saying all this because of the situation at Ephesus. You see what a difficult situation it was. He himself had personally guided the church at Ephesus when she had ordained her first elders in the first two years. And you can be sure that he was not careless. No matter how careful we may be, and we ought to be careful, corruption still came into the church at Ephesus, and a lot of it. The Ephesians might look back and say, how did this happen? We might do the same, but instead let us learn from it to trust in God. The corruption and the weakness ought to teach you to be careful not to trust in the men that God uses, but to trust again in God who uses men. So we're back where we started. Your confidence in God ought to cause you to do all you can for the good of the church. to honor the elders who rule well, to reject those who don't, and to appoint those you honestly believe will rule well. The rest is up to God. He will manage his church and he will be glorified in his church. Of that you can be sure. In that you can safely trust. So please stand and let's call upon him. You are the Lord of the church, and we come before you glad that you are. For Lord, we know that we do not know, or we're not capable of ruling. You are the one who knows how to rule, and you will carry out your purposes concerning your church. Even if there are a bunch of false teachers in a church that rise up in the church, It is our duty to do what we can to oppose that. And if we're unable to do so, then it becomes at some point our duty will be kicked out or we'll have to leave or whatever. And we pray that we would trust you, Lord, even when that happens. that we would know that you brought that about for our good, that you're not going to destroy your elect people, you're not going to ruin anyone through false teachers or anything like that. Yet at the same time, that we would bear the responsibility that we have to do our part in being careful in who we lay hands on, being careful to remove those that go astray, and not being afraid to do so. We pray, Father, that we would also honor the elders, that we would give them the regard that is due to them, that we would not bring an accusation against them without two or three witnesses, that we would be very diligent, Lord, to take care in these matters. that we not bring harm to your church, that we not be the cause of harm, for we know that we will be judged according to what we have done. And we pray, Lord, that what we do will be that which is rewarded rather than that which is deserving of punishment. Thank you, Lord, that you do raise up men, and we pray even in our church that you would raise up men that would be able to serve. And Father, we thank you that we have an election coming up in a couple of weeks, and we pray, Father, that your will would be done. That you would guide your people and you would lead them and help them, Lord, in making a decision about that. And we pray, Father, that you would give us more elders. So we need more elders and we pray that you would work among your people, Lord, and that you would raise up men that can serve. For your church needs to have those that can shepherd them and can give oversight to them. And we thank you for your faithfulness and providing these such men over all the centuries. Pray that you would continue to do it to us for us locally. In father, we pray that that we would honor those who are in leadership. That you would help us to do that with the right kind of honor with faithfulness and that you would be glorified through that. We pray this in Jesus name, Amen. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.