He was a desolate widow, and she was a dependent widow. Now the apostle points out the method by which God will meet, proposes to meet the need of the desolate widow. He says that the one who is a widow indeed, and desolate, trusteth in God and continueth in supplications and prayers night and day. That is, that God somehow would provide for her needs. You see, employment was impossible. Our society is radically different in that it provides opportunities for women to work to support themselves, not only An older woman, but a younger woman today, could find means of support outside of dependence upon relatives or the Church, but such was not true here. It was support by God or starvation. And the widow here is depending upon God, she is in supplication and prayers night and day, and God has a means of providing. That was to have the Church assume the obligation for the support of the desolate, dependent widow. And so Paul says that in verse 8, If any provide not for his own, and especially those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel." Now, Paul recognized the danger that to support a widow might contribute to her frivolity, and that she might, if supported, abandon her place of dependence upon God. She might become what we proverbially call today the merry widow. And so the Apostle gives a warning in verse 6. She that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth. The widow who gives herself to the pursuit of pleasure because she no longer has responsibility to a husband is as dead as her husband. is what the Apostle says. And such a widow is not to be supported by the Church. The Church was not to contribute to the widow so that the widow would not have to depend on God. But such a widow who did depend on God was to be supported by the Church. Now, you will notice in verse 7 and 8, Paul shows his concern for this matter. These things give in charge that they, that is, the congregation, may be blameless. And then he summarizes the two things that he has said in verse 8. If any provide not for his own, that is, if a kinsman or relative or son does not provide for his own widowed mother, he is worse than an infidel. And if the congregation does not provide for its own, that congregation is on a lower level than heathen society. Why? Because even the heathen recognize a responsibility to take care of their own. And Paul seemed to be afraid. that in the discharge of their social obligations, believers would become more hard-hearted, callous, and indifferent than the heathen world around them. They consequently would be denying the faith. And a believer can become so selfish with his own time and his own finances that he is willing to turn the responsibility that God gives to him over to another. And that is a peculiar danger today with all the provision that the state makes to take care of the elderly, the infirm, the sick, and the aged, that believers have forfeited one of the greatest opportunities to show forth the love of Christ that can be imagined. But it was a time when all social work, all hospitals, All orphanages, all old folks' homes were provided by the Church. That is no longer true, and those responsibilities are being relegated to the State. Society made no effort to make provisions such as the Church once provided. And the Church had a testimony before the world in that they demonstrated the love of Christ and fulfilled the commandment, Hereby shall all men know ye are my disciples, if ye love one another. And since the faith has taken over the responsibilities and prerogatives that God gave to the body of believers, the Church has forfeited one of its strongest avenues of testimony. The Apostle has thus been dealing with the problem of widows on relief, and we summarize it again. If there are relatives, the relatives have the primary responsibility to provide for support. If there are no relatives, it is the responsibility of the body of believers to support that indigent one in fulfillment of the responsibility placed upon them by God. In verses 9-16, the Apostle moves to a second practical problem, and this is the problem of widows in service. You recall Paul, earlier in the epistle, had told women in chapter 2 and verse 11 that their part in the local body of believers was not the part of teaching. That was the responsibility of man. And because of that, so we sense Paul's writing, the women felt utterly useless. And so in verse 15 of the 2nd chapter, Paul wrote concerning the place of women in the In order that they might realize the place assigned to them by God so that they might be relieved from the feeling of uselessness. As the woman was a keeper at home, the bearer of children, the provider for the needs of the family in the home, she was fulfilling a God-given responsibility, and thus was relieved of the feeling of uselessness that Paul's command about keeping silence might produce. When Paul comes to chapter 5 and verses 9 to 16, he is dealing again with the problem of uselessness. For the woman who had been bereft of her husband, no longer had responsibilities in the hall, her children were grown, and she once again was faced with the problem of uselessness and loneliness. And those, perhaps, are two of the most pressing problems that those who are alone face. Who do I have, and what good am I? And so the Apostle is dealing with a place that the widows could fill and a ministry they could perform for the body of believers that would deliver them from both loneliness and uselessness. And Paul is writing concerning a group of widows who were set apart by the congregation to carry on certain works in the local group of believers. We might call them elderesses. That's a clumsy word, and rather a tongue twister. But as those responsible for the spiritual supervision were elders, these were female elders. You call them what you want to. And these elderesses were to perform certain functions for the body of believers. They could nurse the sick. They could tend widows, who were widows indeed, and minister to their needs. They could move into a home where there were small children and act as keepers at home when the wife or mother was laid aside for a season. Many, many works they could carry on far better than men. For recall, in their society, as it continues in great portions of the world today, there were many situations in which a man could not go. And as much as an elder might want to minister to a need in the home, he was prevented by social custom from ministering to a member of the opposite sex. That meant the needy women of the congregation were often neglected because elders could not go to carry on those ministries. And as they set aside deacons in Acts chapter 6, so at a later time it appears from the scripture and the study of Church history, they set aside a group of widows who were assigned these responsibilities. But there are certain prerequisites before one could be set apart to this service of the congregation of believers. First of all, in verse 9, there was the qualification of age. Let not a widow be taken into the number, or if I were to paraphrase it, I would put it this way, let not a widow be enrolled or sent apart to this ministry as an elderess until she is 60 years of age." Right away I see a problem. I don't know how they got any elderesses, because what widow is going to admit to meeting the age qualifications? But the Apostle did give this as a commandment. First of all, this age requirement would put them past the time when they would have responsibilities in their own homes to their own children. They must not neglect their own responsibilities in order that they can give themselves to the ministry of the Church. If they are younger, There would be needs at home in which they should be fulfilling 2 Timothy 2.15, taking care of their own homes, and they were to be beyond that age where they could give themselves to ministry for the Church because their responsibilities were passed. Then there is the marital qualification. Paul says in verse 9, "...having been the wife of one man." Now, I think what this is implying is that she must have been faithful to her responsibilities to her husband and to her family. I think it is quite obvious that if she hadn't been faithful, the husband would have kicked her out. And if she is one that the husband had to kick her out because she didn't do what a wife and a mother were supposed to do, don't think of putting her apart as an eldress because she won't be any more faithful to the congregation than she was to her husband and her children. But if by a life of godliness and piety at home she has shown devotion to her God-given appointment, then she is to be considered to be put on the role of serving widows or elderesses. And then the third qualification is given in verse 10. She must be well reported of for good work. And then he mentions some of the areas that would commend the widow who is to be set apart to the service for the Church, if she has brought up children. Why, how pointless to ask her to go into a home where the mother is set aside by illness to look after the children in the home if she's never had any experience, if she has lodged strangers, if she is hospitable. Don't think of asking her to go into a home to minister in that home on behalf of the congregation if she's never invited anybody into her home, if she has an antipathy for other people, if she has washed the Saints' feet, is humble and willing to serve. I think this picture goes back to John 13, where washing of the feet was the sign of a servant, if she's willing to take the servant's place. Has she ever nursed anybody? to Gwenweather's sickness to minister if she hasn't done that before. If she's diligently followed every good work, and I think the good work here would refer to the good work required of a mother and housewife in the discharge of a responsibility at home. Now Paul, because he anticipates the difficulty about this age requirement, explains in verses 11 and following, why he laid down that requirement. And the first reason for the age is that the younger widows will feel physical desire for a husband because they still are of marriageable age, and they will abandon the ministry committed to them by the Church, and to give up the ministry to marry would be to turn their backs on Christ. You see, they would be satisfying themselves instead of satisfying the needs of the congregation. Paul recognizes that the woman's first responsibility is to a husband and a home. She is not to give up that which is first to minister to the congregation, and if she is young she will be tempted to give up that which Paul recognizes as second, to fulfill that which is first, be a good wife, mother, and keeper of the house. But that will be a reproach to the gospel, because her going into the home was a testimony to an unsaved world. But if she turns her back on that and marries, the world will say, ha, it didn't mean much to her, did it? She had to marry. And so Paul says, don't enroll the younger widows. Now, mind you, he's not saying that a young widow was not to be supported if she has need. He is not excluding her from the honor or the honorarium or support given to widows. He's talking about enrolling them as the servants of the Church. Then in verses 12 and 13, he tells again why they are to be the more mature members of the congregation who are set apart, that is a particular temptation of the young to mischievous idleness or to frivolity. And he says that they will learn to be idle or enjoy idleness, being supported without any feeling of responsibility. And they will wander about from house to house, not only idle, but tattlers and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not." Now, Paul's idea is that if a widow goes into a home to minister, she will learn many things about the home. She'll get to look into a good many closets. And the best thing to do with a closet is to keep the door shut and often locked. And if she has not sufficient maturity to be able to keep to herself what she finds out when she goes into these homes, then she'll destroy and divide the body. And by gossiping and tattling and idleness, she will defeat the very purpose of her ministry, giving a testimony to the world. And Paul seems to feel the temptation to gossip and to tattle. is outgrown. I'm not so sure about that, but Paul says that there is more temptation and more danger among the young than among the mature, and so let them meet this age requirement. Then he points out in verse 14 that it is advisable for a widow to marry. And that thus fulfilled his command for women in chapter 2 and verse 15. And Paul seems to feel that when they reach this state of maturity, there would be little interest in remarrying, and therefore they may be enrolled. And then the final reason given in verse 15 is that some are already turned aside after Satan. They have fallen for Satan's temptation to leave the work entrusted to them in order that they might marry. Paul, then, in a very careful way, gives us the reasons for the rules that he has laid down concerning these widows. One question remains to be settled, and Paul takes that up in verse 16. What about the support of the elderesses? If they meet the qualifications and they give themselves to the work of the Church, how are they to be supported? And so Paul says, verse 16, if any man or woman that believeth have widows, let them relieve them. So he says, young men or young women, if your widowed mother is set apart as an elderess, it's your responsibility. The fact that she is appointed by the Church doesn't relieve you of your obligation to support her. You are supporting one who is in the Lord's work. But then he gives the same principle he gave previously, that the Church is to be charged with the support of any elderesses who do not have children to discharge this responsibility. What I find in these 16 verses is that Paul recognized that the Church could not wash its hands of what must have been a major social problem there in that Church. They could not relegate it to society. They could not absolve themselves of their responsibility to the sick, the indigent, the aged, the infirm, the widows. Those who are related are first of all responsible, but it is the responsibility of the Church to take care of itself. And while these responsibilities under our structure largely fall under the supervision of the Board of Deacons, let me point out to you that we as a congregation have a responsibility to lonely, shut-in, weak, sick, needy. This is an obligation put upon us to discharge the love of Christ to those in any kind of need in our body of believers. And if you sometimes feel useless and lonely, feel, what can I do? Perhaps you could serve the unofficial capacity of an elderess who gives help to the congregation in the discharge of that which is its responsibility before God. There is something that you can do. that as we look into these practical portions of the Word of God, we might realize that there is a ministry for us to fulfill and there are opportunities of ministry which we have not discharged. We pray that the Word of God might guide us, convict us, and reprove us of that which was God's intention for us as a people for those in our congregation in need. Dismiss us with the riches of thy grace and mercy, and peace upon us, we pray in Jesus' name, amen.