WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:16.280 We’re in 1st Timothy and a week ago we looked at the ministry of the church to widows and then the ministry of widows to the church. 2 00:00:16.280 --> 00:00:19.200 And so we were looking at that last week. 3 00:00:19.200 --> 00:00:32.600 This morning we are going to go to the next section of our study and look at the ministry of elders to the church and the church’s ministry to elders. 4 00:00:32.600 --> 00:00:43.020 How do we think about the leadership of the church, the pastoral leadership of a church? 5 00:00:43.020 --> 00:01:00.160 Let me begin reading, we’ll read through this section and I’ll just begin reading as we look at the church’s relationship to pastors and elders. 6 00:01:00.160 --> 00:01:09.120 The elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching. 7 00:01:09.120 --> 00:01:16.140 For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing,” and “The laborer is worthy of his wages.” 8 00:01:16.140 --> 00:01:23.960 Do not receive an accusation against an elder except on the basis of two or three witnesses. 9 00:01:23.960 --> 00:01:32.800 Those who continue in sin, rebuke in the presence of all, so that the rest also will be fearful of sinning. 10 00:01:32.800 --> 00:01:47.760 I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of His chosen angels, to maintain these principles without bias, doing nothing in a spirit of partiality. 11 00:01:47.760 --> 00:02:04.640 Do not lay hands upon anyone too hastily and thereby share responsibility for the sins of others; keep yourself free from sin. 12 00:02:04.640 --> 00:02:08.020 Father, we thank you for the preciousness of your holy word. 13 00:02:08.020 --> 00:02:11.140 And we ask Lord for your help this morning. 14 00:02:11.140 --> 00:02:15.520 Please superintend my words today. 15 00:02:15.520 --> 00:02:34.940 I pray Father that you would guide me by your Holy Spirit so that as we talk about this passage, this passage that has to do with some very important, the very important relationship between leadership in a church and the rest of the church. 16 00:02:34.940 --> 00:02:36.500 Guide our thoughts. 17 00:02:36.500 --> 00:02:44.640 Help us Father to be corrected where our thinking is incorrect and help us dear Lord in understanding the truth of your word. 18 00:02:44.640 --> 00:02:47.280 We ask this in Jesus’ name. 19 00:02:47.280 --> 00:02:49.220 Amen. 20 00:02:49.220 --> 00:02:54.800 I’ve been thinking about our beautiful blue carpet, which I really appreciate. 21 00:02:54.800 --> 00:02:58.580 It is really a nice improvement. 22 00:02:58.580 --> 00:03:11.980 And I really appreciate Matthew’s work in organizing all that and everyone else’s work who participated in that and helping this get installed with moving furniture and all the things that was involved in that. 23 00:03:11.980 --> 00:03:13.760 I appreciate that very much. 24 00:03:13.760 --> 00:03:27.740 But this strip of carpet in the front, maybe because we’re thinking about carpet, reminded me of a problem that the churches had for centuries. 25 00:03:27.740 --> 00:03:32.140 It actually leads to various types of heresies. 26 00:03:32.140 --> 00:03:34.520 How could a carpet lead to heresies? 27 00:03:34.520 --> 00:03:36.160 Well, not the carpet. 28 00:03:36.160 --> 00:03:43.600 I’m really talking about this six-foot space that separates the pulpit from the pews. 29 00:03:43.600 --> 00:03:45.940 This little stretch of space. 30 00:03:45.940 --> 00:03:57.600 Because the way people think about pastors and the relationship with the church is very important. 31 00:03:57.600 --> 00:04:11.340 And the way people think about the pastors and church today is often very different from the way that we are taught in the New Testament to think about elders in a church. 32 00:04:11.340 --> 00:04:20.180 And so I want to explore that idea and the kinds of things that has affected our thinking. 33 00:04:20.180 --> 00:04:32.480 I’m really talking about what’s called the clergy-laity gap in the church. 34 00:04:32.480 --> 00:04:39.040 I’m going to use that phrase this morning because of where those words come from. 35 00:04:39.040 --> 00:04:48.100 Because those are Greek words used in the New Testament, but they’re used very differently from the way I just used them. 36 00:04:48.100 --> 00:04:53.880 First of all, laity, that means the people who sit in the pews, right? 37 00:04:53.880 --> 00:04:55.820 That’s the way we think about that today. 38 00:04:55.820 --> 00:04:58.360 What does laity mean in the Bible? 39 00:04:58.360 --> 00:05:07.920 Well, the word in the New Testament is from the Greek word laos . 40 00:05:07.920 --> 00:05:11.040 And the word laos means people. 41 00:05:11.040 --> 00:05:12.980 It just means people. 42 00:05:12.980 --> 00:05:19.840 And as it’s used in the New Testament, it’s used specifically of the people of God. 43 00:05:19.840 --> 00:05:21.240 God’s people. 44 00:05:21.240 --> 00:05:31.800 And so, for example, in 1st Peter 2:10, it says: for you were once not a people, but now you are the people of God. 45 00:05:31.800 --> 00:05:35.120 So who makes up the people of God? 46 00:05:35.120 --> 00:05:46.230 Well, elders and deacons and everyone else in the congregation who has received the Holy Spirit, who has been regenerated and saved. 47 00:05:46.230 --> 00:05:49.620 They are all one people of God. 48 00:05:49.620 --> 00:05:55.060 One people. 49 00:05:55.060 --> 00:06:07.480 And then you have another interesting word in Greek it’s kleros and that’s where the word cleric comes from, clerical, the idea of clergy comes from that idea. 50 00:06:07.480 --> 00:06:28.960 And the word clergy comes from this word kleros which Peter uses when he’s talking about the whole flock of God being God’s cherished possession. 51 00:06:28.960 --> 00:06:30.580 The whole flock of God. 52 00:06:30.580 --> 00:06:49.820 That means really what we’re saying is that there should not be in our minds anything that separates us categorically from the people who lead a church other than the role they’re called to and their giftedness. 53 00:06:49.820 --> 00:06:50.960 There’s nothing different. 54 00:06:50.960 --> 00:06:57.800 In other words, every member of a church who is saved has been given the Holy Spirit of God. 55 00:06:57.800 --> 00:07:01.980 They’re anointed of God with God’s Holy Spirit, every person. 56 00:07:01.980 --> 00:07:06.400 And they’re gifted to use their gifts in the church. 57 00:07:06.400 --> 00:07:16.200 And a pastor, an elder in a church, is gifted in a unique way for a unique ministry in the church, but it’s just one of many gifts. 58 00:07:16.200 --> 00:07:23.040 They’re not to be thought of as a separate category. 59 00:07:23.040 --> 00:07:25.580 Where did that come from? 60 00:07:25.580 --> 00:07:30.940 Last week we were talking about the incredible church growth that took place in the first 300 years. 61 00:07:30.940 --> 00:07:49.440 Well, after 300 years, that’s when these ideas that you have a separate category, all of the clergy, the people who have been ordained to ministry, and then you have everybody else. 62 00:07:49.440 --> 00:07:51.940 And they were seen as very different. 63 00:07:51.940 --> 00:07:56.380 That came about as the Catholic church developed. 64 00:07:56.380 --> 00:08:07.460 And as that idea took root, you stopped seeing the same kind of growth that you had before in the church. 65 00:08:07.460 --> 00:08:12.960 And I think that’s one of the keys to recovering that. 66 00:08:12.960 --> 00:08:20.200 We need to recover the biblical idea of the fellowship of the body and what the body of Christ really is. 67 00:08:20.200 --> 00:08:25.940 And so that’s been carried on in Catholic thought for generation after generation. 68 00:08:25.940 --> 00:08:31.580 For example, here’s a quote from Pope Pius X in 1906. 69 00:08:31.580 --> 00:08:45.220 He says: As for the masses, they have no other right than of letting themselves be led and of following their pastors as a docile flock. 70 00:08:45.220 --> 00:08:52.840 So what’s your responsibility as the people of God, as the laity? 71 00:08:52.840 --> 00:08:58.860 Well, you need to be docile and follow whatever they say. 72 00:08:58.860 --> 00:09:03.780 And so there’s a couple of sins that perpetuate this. 73 00:09:03.780 --> 00:09:07.020 It’s not just Catholics that fall into this. 74 00:09:07.020 --> 00:09:12.040 Baptists fall into this too, into this kind of thinking, maybe not that pronounced. 75 00:09:12.040 --> 00:09:23.380 But into this kind of thinking, it’s very easy for us to think of pastors as separate in some way than the rest of the people. 76 00:09:23.380 --> 00:09:27.720 So I want us to think about that idea. 77 00:09:27.720 --> 00:09:37.960 One problem that comes up that perpetuates this is that you can have a pastor who really likes that idea. 78 00:09:37.960 --> 00:09:42.160 Who is self-exalting. 79 00:09:42.160 --> 00:09:54.380 You may have not seen it, I hope not, but I have seen pastors who think themselves little popes. 80 00:09:54.380 --> 00:10:06.940 And they borrow a whole lot of ideas like the vestments that came about for the priests in the Old Testament or they are just domineering over their people. 81 00:10:06.940 --> 00:10:16.880 And they rule so harshly the people of God, which is a very unbiblical thing to do. 82 00:10:16.880 --> 00:10:20.080 So there’s that kind of thinking. 83 00:10:20.080 --> 00:10:36.040 And then there’s also the thinking that takes place in the pew that makes this kind of structure attractive as well. 84 00:10:36.040 --> 00:11:04.620 And that is that if you have a pastor that’s in a separate category and if the pastor is like a hired professional who’s to do all of the work, then all you have to do is show up, maybe put in some money in the offering plate, and then you’re pretty good. 85 00:11:04.620 --> 00:11:08.920 It’s a misunderstanding of how ministry works. 86 00:11:08.920 --> 00:11:11.520 And they can kind of be let off. 87 00:11:11.520 --> 00:11:21.700 Years ago, I probably said this some other time, but years and years ago I preached a message on this topic in a church. 88 00:11:21.700 --> 00:11:28.680 And we’ll look at some of the verses that we looked at then at a couple of the verses that we’re going to look at this morning. 89 00:11:28.680 --> 00:11:35.980 But when I finished the sermon, which was simply to tell people exactly word for word what the Bible said. 90 00:11:35.980 --> 00:11:47.380 On my way out one of the men confronted me and he says it kind of like this, he says, “That’s an interesting theory that you have.” 91 00:11:47.380 --> 00:11:52.660 And I said, “Well, it’s not exactly a theory, what I did was read the Word of God. 92 00:11:52.660 --> 00:11:55.200 I mean, that was just the Word of God.” 93 00:11:55.200 --> 00:11:57.180 And so that’s what we’re going to explore this morning. 94 00:11:57.180 --> 00:12:04.840 What does the Word of God say about the relationship between elders and the rest of the people, how are elders to be treated? 95 00:12:04.840 --> 00:12:08.920 And how are we to think about this? 96 00:12:08.920 --> 00:12:32.920 See, the Bible tells us in Ephesians chapter 4, why don’t we all turn to Ephesians chapter 4 really quickly to look at why God gives pastors and teachers to the church? 97 00:12:32.920 --> 00:12:35.160 He sends evangelists to the church. 98 00:12:35.160 --> 00:12:42.700 He sends pastors and teachers to the church for a purpose. 99 00:12:42.700 --> 00:12:45.100 They have a particular purpose. 100 00:12:45.100 --> 00:13:18.760 And this was the passage that I was looking at on that former occasion. 101 00:13:18.760 --> 00:13:30.660 In chapter 4, I’m gonna go ahead and read beginning in verse 9, I guess at the end of verse 8: He gave gifts to men. 102 00:13:30.660 --> 00:13:36.480 Now this expression, ‘He ascended,’ what does it mean except that He also descended into the lower parts of the earth? 103 00:13:36.480 --> 00:13:42.640 He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above the heavens, so that He might fill all things. 104 00:13:42.640 --> 00:13:47.180 Now the point of that is we’re talking about the Lord Jesus Christ. 105 00:13:47.180 --> 00:13:55.560 And the Lord Jesus Christ has come to the earth, He’s conquered spiritually, He’s ascended back into heaven. 106 00:13:55.560 --> 00:14:05.700 And as a conqueror, just like a king has come and conquered, he divides the spoil, he gives gifts. 107 00:14:05.700 --> 00:14:08.650 What are the gifts that he gives to the church? 108 00:14:08.650 --> 00:14:20.260 Well, he gave some as: Apostles Prophets Evangelists Pastor-teachers Why does he give gifts to the church? 109 00:14:20.260 --> 00:14:32.680 For the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ. 110 00:14:32.680 --> 00:14:46.100 That is, God doesn’t give an elder or pastors to the church in order for the elder or pastor to do all the work of the ministry. 111 00:14:46.100 --> 00:14:57.260 God gives these men like an evangelist and pastors to the church in order for the church to be equipped to do the work of the ministry. 112 00:14:57.260 --> 00:14:59.480 You see, it’s a pretty profound difference. 113 00:14:59.480 --> 00:15:04.840 And if we think wrongly about that, lots of things can go wrong. 114 00:15:04.840 --> 00:15:07.040 A lot of things can go wrong. 115 00:15:07.040 --> 00:15:10.800 We are all involved in ministry. 116 00:15:10.800 --> 00:15:14.640 Whatever God brings to us, we’re to be faithful to do. 117 00:15:14.640 --> 00:15:28.140 And part of that certainly should involve to some degree evangelism, we should be willing to reach out to people and share the gospel with them. 118 00:15:28.140 --> 00:15:38.980 It should involve discipleship, where we ourselves are involved in encouraging people and discipling them, helping them to understand the truth of God’s Word. 119 00:15:38.980 --> 00:15:46.320 One place where that’s particularly true is in your family with your children. 120 00:15:46.320 --> 00:15:54.260 Families are responsible before God to see that their children are discipled. 121 00:15:54.260 --> 00:16:12.820 What happens if you’re thinking wrongly about that and you think, “Well, I bring my kids to church because I bring them to church and it’s the pastor’s responsibility or other leaders in the church’s responsibility to see that my kids are discipled.” 122 00:16:12.820 --> 00:16:20.380 The pastor’s role, the elder’s role in the church is to see that you’re equipped to do the work of ministry. 123 00:16:20.380 --> 00:16:23.760 That works a thousand times better. 124 00:16:23.760 --> 00:16:35.920 When that is in place, you’re a lot less likely to lose that next generation of kids who have been brought up in the church but who have never truly heard the gospel. 125 00:16:35.920 --> 00:16:44.900 They’ve heard it audibly, but they’ve never heard the gospel in a way that actually penetrated their hearts, applied by the power of the Holy Spirit. 126 00:16:44.900 --> 00:16:55.720 That takes this kind of discipleship and the ministry that’s being carried on by the church itself. 127 00:16:55.720 --> 00:17:07.400 That’s one problem that you can have when you see a separation between the pulpit and the pew. 128 00:17:07.400 --> 00:17:10.380 If you see this as very different. 129 00:17:10.380 --> 00:17:12.720 There’s other problems that come up. 130 00:17:12.720 --> 00:17:22.580 Pastors can be put on a pedestal so that no matter what they do, they’re not confronted or that is not dealt with. 131 00:17:22.580 --> 00:17:26.340 We’ll explore that again in just a few moments. 132 00:17:26.340 --> 00:17:28.740 So let’s take this one at a time. 133 00:17:28.740 --> 00:17:42.660 First of all in the passage back in 1st Timothy 5, Paul says that you’re to honor and support faithful elders who lead well and toil in the word. 134 00:17:42.660 --> 00:17:45.100 That’s verses 17 and 18. 135 00:17:45.100 --> 00:17:48.180 So let me read the verse again. 136 00:17:48.180 --> 00:17:55.820 The elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching. 137 00:17:55.820 --> 00:18:00.280 Now last week when we were talking about widows, we talked about that same word honor. 138 00:18:00.280 --> 00:18:10.940 And we pointed out that it means respect, but it also means to support financially in that context that they were talking about. 139 00:18:10.940 --> 00:18:19.500 And here you are to support faithful elders who lead well and toil in the word with double honor. 140 00:18:19.500 --> 00:18:20.360 What does that mean? 141 00:18:20.360 --> 00:18:23.560 Does that mean you give them twice as much? 142 00:18:23.560 --> 00:18:36.040 No, it means both of those things are true, that you respect them, you honor them in that way, and you support the ones who work hard in the ministry of the word. 143 00:18:36.040 --> 00:18:44.440 Now I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that the word is elders here. 144 00:18:44.440 --> 00:18:51.920 That is, it’s plural. 145 00:18:51.920 --> 00:19:08.600 Because the New Testament, when Paul encouraged Timothy, when Paul went to a new city where a church was established, he taught people, he stayed there long enough. 146 00:19:08.600 --> 00:19:19.020 And then within that congregation, they had elders, leaders, pastors who were shepherding that church. 147 00:19:19.020 --> 00:19:26.160 He left them in charge and it was always multiple people, more than one. 148 00:19:26.160 --> 00:19:28.720 That was the New Testament practice. 149 00:19:28.720 --> 00:19:30.700 You have that everywhere. 150 00:19:30.700 --> 00:19:48.340 Every time you look at the book of Acts, for example in the church at Ephesus where we’re talking, when Paul goes back to visit them, he wants to say goodbye to them, he’s in another city, but he calls the elders of Ephesus to come down to meet with him. 151 00:19:48.340 --> 00:19:50.400 And it’s plural. 152 00:19:50.400 --> 00:19:57.960 You have that over and over again, it’s always plural. 153 00:19:57.960 --> 00:20:07.060 That’s probably by design because no single person is going to be—it’s a pretty heavy burden to shepherd a church. 154 00:20:07.060 --> 00:20:10.200 And I have blind spots. 155 00:20:10.200 --> 00:20:12.500 I’m not going to be perfect with everything. 156 00:20:12.500 --> 00:20:25.320 If you have a multiplicity of pastors in the church who shepherd the church in that way, then that’s going to be balanced by the gifts of your brothers in Christ. 157 00:20:25.320 --> 00:20:30.920 So you have that. 158 00:20:30.920 --> 00:20:50.800 So these men were put in charge of overseeing the church and they were faithful to do the work they were called to, which is to equip the church for the ministry. 159 00:20:50.800 --> 00:20:53.880 They are to lead by serving. 160 00:20:53.880 --> 00:21:06.360 The phrase that it says here is that you are to give double honor to those who rule well, it says. 161 00:21:06.360 --> 00:21:11.980 Those who literally stand before the congregation to lead. 162 00:21:11.980 --> 00:21:13.700 As a shepherd leads. 163 00:21:13.700 --> 00:21:18.200 The ones who do that well deserve double honor. 164 00:21:18.200 --> 00:21:22.810 And then he says especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching. 165 00:21:22.810 --> 00:21:36.840 Now churches that have multiple elders often have a significant group of elders who work 40, 50-hour weeks and they’re not paid by the church. 166 00:21:36.840 --> 00:21:39.980 They give their time to the church for the ministry. 167 00:21:39.980 --> 00:21:51.960 And then they have others in the church who lead by teaching. 168 00:21:51.960 --> 00:21:54.260 And what I’m doing this morning. 169 00:21:54.260 --> 00:22:09.960 As they preach the Word of God, they spend a significant portion of time, a lot of time, studying and understanding what God’s Word says, preparing what they’re going to say about the Word of God so that they speak the truth. 170 00:22:09.960 --> 00:22:12.710 And then teaching the truth of God. 171 00:22:12.710 --> 00:22:17.320 That’s a lot of hard work, more than most people would imagine. 172 00:22:17.320 --> 00:22:18.740 What’s involved in all of that. 173 00:22:18.740 --> 00:22:20.120 And it doesn’t stop there. 174 00:22:20.120 --> 00:22:36.460 It’s also dealing with people at any time of the day or night making themselves available to them so that they can bless and help meet needs and shepherd and give counsel of God’s Word. 175 00:22:36.460 --> 00:22:38.100 It’s a lot of work. 176 00:22:38.100 --> 00:23:05.600 And so those who work hard, who toil, those who actually work hard and work well with moral excellence, faithful to the word of God, those people deserve to receive remuneration for their work. 177 00:23:05.600 --> 00:23:10.300 And notice that there’s two things. 178 00:23:10.300 --> 00:23:13.740 He calls them elders here, he doesn’t call them priests. 179 00:23:13.740 --> 00:23:20.990 There’s no person who serves the church in the New Testament who is called a priest. 180 00:23:20.990 --> 00:23:23.420 That is not found in the New Testament. 181 00:23:23.420 --> 00:23:36.000 They’re called elders because these are people not necessarily old, but they’re people whose character has been enough time lapsed that their character is proven. 182 00:23:36.000 --> 00:23:45.160 And so they have been identified by the church as leaders in the church. 183 00:23:45.160 --> 00:24:09.380 So there are some that serve the church in a church that has multiple elders, there are some that serve the church by overseeing things and all of them have to be apt to teach, to teach the word of God, but some who especially work hard at preaching and teaching. 184 00:24:09.380 --> 00:24:19.020 Now that word work hard means to the point of physical exhaustion, literally. 185 00:24:19.020 --> 00:24:20.980 That’s the idea. 186 00:24:20.980 --> 00:24:25.880 Hard work at preaching and teaching. 187 00:24:25.880 --> 00:24:33.620 And then he gives us a couple of figures to describe why they should be paid. 188 00:24:33.620 --> 00:24:35.680 Why should they be paid? 189 00:24:35.680 --> 00:24:38.540 Well because they’re working hard. 190 00:24:38.540 --> 00:24:40.580 That’s the bottom line. 191 00:24:40.580 --> 00:25:16.970 It’s not that they’re in a special category spiritually, you know, they’re called by God to do the work, they’ve received the call of God, they are gifted by God to do the work, they’re doing this job, and if they’re faithful in the work to work hard, then those people who work hard deserve, you know, deserve to share in the blessings of the congregation in that way. 192 00:25:16.970 --> 00:25:20.020 He said it this way multiple times. 193 00:25:20.020 --> 00:25:23.720 But look at these examples that Paul gives. 194 00:25:23.720 --> 00:25:29.580 Why should you pay the hardworking pastor for his hard work? 195 00:25:29.580 --> 00:25:42.940 Well, it says: You shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing. 196 00:25:42.940 --> 00:25:50.640 And the laborer is worthy of his wages. 197 00:25:50.640 --> 00:26:00.700 So don’t muzzle the ox while he’s threshing out the grain and the laborer is worthy of his wages. 198 00:26:00.700 --> 00:26:16.340 Now I’m going to stop for just a second to point out something that I find really interesting about the word of God itself in these examples that Paul gives. 199 00:26:16.340 --> 00:26:25.720 Because the first quote, the scripture says, you shall not muzzle the ox while he’s threshing. 200 00:26:25.720 --> 00:26:31.000 That’s found in Deuteronomy. 201 00:26:31.000 --> 00:26:40.740 That’s found in Deuteronomy 25:4. 202 00:26:40.740 --> 00:26:47.200 So that’s the words of Moses, the word of God, it’s clearly Old Testament scripture. 203 00:26:47.200 --> 00:26:52.560 The next phrase is from the Book of Luke in the New Testament. 204 00:26:52.560 --> 00:27:03.080 When it says the laborer is worthy of his wages, that’s a direct quote of the Lord Jesus that’s found in Luke’s gospel. 205 00:27:03.080 --> 00:27:06.140 So that means that Luke’s gospel is in circulation. 206 00:27:06.140 --> 00:27:13.200 Paul is using it when he’s addressing this church and it’s considered to be the word of God. 207 00:27:13.200 --> 00:27:31.260 Now you think of course, but there’s an awful lot of people who dispute the New Testament writings and try to place these things years later and make all these try to make the scriptures spurious. 208 00:27:31.260 --> 00:27:36.540 But Paul used it in the first century, recognized it as scripture. 209 00:27:36.540 --> 00:27:39.520 The New Testament scriptures are scripture. 210 00:27:39.520 --> 00:27:41.500 Luke’s gospel is scripture. 211 00:27:41.500 --> 00:27:45.620 So I just think that’s an interesting thing putting that together. 212 00:27:45.620 --> 00:27:58.960 So back to the topic, you know he is using several pretty ordinary metaphors to describe a pastor. 213 00:27:58.960 --> 00:28:06.620 For people who put a pastor on a pedestal, you know this should bring him down to earth. 214 00:28:06.620 --> 00:28:13.800 I think it should anyway, because you’re being compared with an ox and a farm laborer, you know. 215 00:28:13.800 --> 00:28:17.460 The point here is they’re hard workers. 216 00:28:17.460 --> 00:28:18.740 They work hard. 217 00:28:18.740 --> 00:28:30.560 And because: An ox in the Old Testament would spend hours going around in circles so that the grain could be threshed. 218 00:28:30.560 --> 00:28:36.760 God says don’t muzzle that ox because it deserves to eat. 219 00:28:36.760 --> 00:28:45.480 If it’s doing such hard work, you know, let it eat some of the grain that it’s threshing out. 220 00:28:45.480 --> 00:28:51.920 A farm worker who works hard deserves the wages that he’s earned. 221 00:28:51.920 --> 00:28:54.300 It’s only just, it’s only fair. 222 00:28:54.300 --> 00:29:04.320 And so it’s not a lot of the ways that people think today, you’re paying this person as a hired professional. 223 00:29:04.320 --> 00:29:10.160 No, you pay them because it’s the right thing to do for really hard work. 224 00:29:10.160 --> 00:29:12.860 And it shouldn’t be more than that really. 225 00:29:12.860 --> 00:29:21.480 So I’m not, by the way, I’m not talking about my salary here. 226 00:29:21.480 --> 00:29:23.260 You guys do a great job. 227 00:29:23.260 --> 00:29:24.840 I don’t mean that at all. 228 00:29:24.840 --> 00:29:29.700 But you have to preach the passages when you get to them and we need to better understand them. 229 00:29:29.700 --> 00:29:31.420 You guys are very faithful. 230 00:29:31.420 --> 00:29:33.080 I appreciate it so much. 231 00:29:33.080 --> 00:29:34.520 You are. 232 00:29:34.520 --> 00:29:55.840 But see you can think about this like a professional who is entrusted with… well a professional that you call to the church to lead, you hire them to do the work and you expect them to do all the ministry. 233 00:29:55.840 --> 00:30:11.420 If that’s the kind of thing that’s in a person’s mind, then when the preacher preaches and confronts them with sin, then they feel like they have a right to criticize them. 234 00:30:11.420 --> 00:30:18.260 And if you’re expecting the pastor to do all the work of the ministry, there’s going to be a lot to criticize. 235 00:30:18.260 --> 00:30:22.960 They can’t live up to that. 236 00:30:22.960 --> 00:30:38.440 So you know these metaphors are just talking about the justice that needs to take place for the pastor to… pay the pastor if he works hard he should be paid. 237 00:30:38.440 --> 00:31:00.580 If he’s given up his time and like he could be working a job but he needs to support his family but he’s given that over completely so that he can prepare for the ministry and to build up the church to do that role, then it’s right and it’s just to support a pastor in that ministry. 238 00:31:00.580 --> 00:31:06.580 So a healthy church honors Christ by supporting faithful elders. 239 00:31:06.580 --> 00:31:17.540 And it goes on to say here, confronting sinning elders and carefully ensuring the integrity of future elders. 240 00:31:17.540 --> 00:31:23.960 So we’ve looked at how the faithful elders are to be supported. 241 00:31:23.960 --> 00:31:35.100 The next verse, verse 19, says we’re to impartially protect innocent elders and publicly confront sinning elders in 19 to 21. 242 00:31:35.100 --> 00:31:45.680 Publicly confront sinning elders under the eye of God’s watch. 243 00:31:45.680 --> 00:32:04.040 If a church sees a pastor as a hired professional to do the ministry or an elite class, then they could be guilty of just continually criticizing the pastor because he’s not meeting their expectation. 244 00:32:04.040 --> 00:32:11.520 They’re the spectator, they show up and if they think that the pastor is not fulfilling his role it’s easy to criticize them. 245 00:32:11.520 --> 00:32:24.650 So what comes next is important because Paul says that in verse 19: Do not receive an accusation against an elder except on the basis of two or three witnesses. 246 00:32:24.650 --> 00:32:29.060 Now that’s the same standard that you find in the Old Testament. 247 00:32:29.060 --> 00:32:36.560 It’s the same standard for anyone that you find in Matthew 18. 248 00:32:36.560 --> 00:32:47.920 You’re not to receive an accusation unless it is substantiated with good evidence, multiple witnesses. 249 00:32:47.920 --> 00:32:54.730 And it’s particularly true for pastors because pastors who shepherd have a target on them. 250 00:32:54.730 --> 00:33:00.100 They have a target on their back and so they are easy targets. 251 00:33:00.100 --> 00:33:13.100 If you confront people, if you preach faithfully from the word of God, there’s going to be people who are going to be disgruntled in most congregations at some time or another. 252 00:33:13.100 --> 00:33:22.400 And so they want to do something, they want to see the pastor fall and they’ll say things and do things. 253 00:33:22.400 --> 00:33:30.220 And so it’s not uncommon for lots of criticism to show up against a pastor. 254 00:33:30.220 --> 00:33:41.020 And if it does, it’s important that if it’s unsubstantiated, if there’s no evidence, it’s just an accusation, that no one take it seriously. 255 00:33:41.020 --> 00:33:42.400 That’s what this is saying. 256 00:33:42.400 --> 00:33:49.080 If there’s no evidence, it’s just an accusation, no one should take that seriously. 257 00:33:49.080 --> 00:33:52.280 If you keep hearing things like that, it creates a problem. 258 00:33:52.280 --> 00:33:56.600 You know there’s an old saying that says where there’s smoke there’s fire. 259 00:33:56.600 --> 00:34:08.000 Well the problem with that saying is that for Satan to undermine an effective ministry all he really has to do is blow some smoke down the hallway, you see. 260 00:34:08.000 --> 00:34:26.640 If all it is is empty accusations, then a pastor who’s been faithful to God’s reputation can be injured and ruined because of the gossip that takes place within a congregation that shouldn’t happen. 261 00:34:26.640 --> 00:34:30.140 This passage is saying do not receive it at all. 262 00:34:30.140 --> 00:34:34.400 That means don’t repeat it in a prayer meeting. 263 00:34:34.400 --> 00:34:36.780 Don’t tell other people about it. 264 00:34:36.780 --> 00:34:38.580 Don’t accept it. 265 00:34:38.580 --> 00:34:45.100 You should not hear it at all if it’s just an accusation and there’s no evidence. 266 00:34:45.100 --> 00:34:48.540 What happens when it’s real? 267 00:34:48.540 --> 00:34:51.040 What happens when there is evidence? 268 00:34:51.040 --> 00:35:01.540 And the pastor is confronted in a private way about his sin and he does not repent? 269 00:35:01.540 --> 00:35:10.060 Well that’s what happens next: Those who continue in sin, rebuke in the presence of all. 270 00:35:10.060 --> 00:35:17.160 That’s the tell it to the church stage in Matthew 18. 271 00:35:17.160 --> 00:35:32.680 Now in Matthew 18 when a person is caught up in a sin, they are confronted in the most private way possible and given an opportunity to repent because the point is to restore your brother. 272 00:35:32.680 --> 00:35:35.280 Same thing would be true of a pastor with a sin. 273 00:35:35.280 --> 00:35:56.440 If he recognizes his sin and repents of it… but if he’s caught up with pride or just wants to continue in it and thinks that he’s above all of that, then the principles of church discipline apply to him just like they do to anyone else. 274 00:35:56.440 --> 00:36:08.380 Now some churches will let a pastor sin and not confront them when they know that they’re involved in sin. 275 00:36:08.380 --> 00:36:17.200 They do that because they learn about it but it’s such a momentous thing they don’t want to deal with it. 276 00:36:17.200 --> 00:36:29.820 Or they learn about it and they think that the pastor has to be protected in some way or they learn about it and they worry about the reputation of the congregation. 277 00:36:29.820 --> 00:36:38.220 And so they fail to deal with the sinful practice that’s going on with their pastor. 278 00:36:38.220 --> 00:36:45.260 He is a member of the church, he’s of the body of Christ just like every other member if he’s saved. 279 00:36:45.260 --> 00:36:52.560 He’s to be treated the same way that every other member of the church is treated when he falls into sin. 280 00:36:52.560 --> 00:36:54.780 That has to take place. 281 00:36:54.780 --> 00:36:59.820 So he is to be rebuked in the presence of all if he’s guilty. 282 00:36:59.820 --> 00:37:09.180 That means that it’s made public to the whole church and the rest of the process of church discipline would follow that if he fails to repent. 283 00:37:09.180 --> 00:37:13.480 So that’s the principle. 284 00:37:13.480 --> 00:37:24.260 And the principle is there so that the rest, other elders or the whole congregation, will be fearful of sinning. 285 00:37:24.260 --> 00:37:33.680 If it doesn’t happen to the pastor then you’re going to likely have rampant sin within the church. 286 00:37:33.680 --> 00:37:52.320 What about a church that wants to protect its reputation and fails to confront the pastor because they’re worried about what people are going to think of the church and the public exposure and all the scandal that could take place? 287 00:37:52.320 --> 00:38:11.300 Well look at the next verse: I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and Christ Jesus and of His elect angels, to maintain these principles without bias, doing nothing in a spirit of partiality. 288 00:38:11.300 --> 00:38:16.680 Don’t show a person like this partiality. 289 00:38:16.680 --> 00:38:25.720 He’s a member of the congregation and he needs to be treated rightly, justly that way. 290 00:38:25.720 --> 00:38:44.640 If you protect the reputation of this man or the church by keeping this a secret from people, what good does it do you if your reputation has already been lost in the courts of heaven? 291 00:38:44.640 --> 00:38:46.860 That’s what Paul is saying. 292 00:38:46.860 --> 00:39:03.720 The real place that you have to be concerned is in the presence of God and Christ Jesus and the myriads and myriads of the good angels that God has preserved in heaven. 293 00:39:03.720 --> 00:39:13.220 To maintain these principles without bias it says, doing nothing in a spirit of partiality. 294 00:39:13.220 --> 00:39:21.560 And then just briefly the last thing is to don’t lay hands on a preacher. 295 00:39:21.560 --> 00:39:26.540 Don’t lay hands on a person too early. 296 00:39:26.540 --> 00:39:31.520 If you do he says you share culpability. 297 00:39:31.520 --> 00:39:43.140 You have a person who’s a candidate as a pastor to lead your church or as an elder to serve in your church or as a deacon. 298 00:39:43.140 --> 00:39:47.080 And they have a winning personality. 299 00:39:47.080 --> 00:39:54.960 And so almost immediately you feel the desire to put them in office because you think what a great job they’re going to do. 300 00:39:54.960 --> 00:40:19.320 But if you haven’t let enough time pass to see whether they follow the teachings in chapter 3… they are men who are a one-woman kind of man and who are faithful to the Lord and who in a case of an elder is apt to teach. 301 00:40:19.320 --> 00:40:33.660 If they don’t meet those qualifications and then you place them in office, when they sin, you’re laying hands on them, you’re identifying them, you identify with their sin. 302 00:40:33.660 --> 00:40:35.660 That’s what Paul is saying right here. 303 00:40:35.660 --> 00:40:38.100 That’s what the word of God is saying right here. 304 00:40:38.100 --> 00:40:48.100 Just like in the Old Testament you would bring a sacrifice and you would have this animal and you would lay your hands on that animal to identify with that animal. 305 00:40:48.100 --> 00:40:56.680 And then that animal would be sacrificed to show that your sins were covered by that payment. 306 00:40:56.680 --> 00:41:05.560 When you lay hands on a person, you are forming—it’s like the word here is koinonia , it’s fellowship. 307 00:41:05.560 --> 00:41:08.300 But what it means is partnership. 308 00:41:08.300 --> 00:41:12.620 You’re becoming a partner in what they do. 309 00:41:12.620 --> 00:41:19.960 And if you do that too soon and they get caught up in sin, you’ve participated in that sin. 310 00:41:19.960 --> 00:41:21.660 That’s what Paul is saying. 311 00:41:21.660 --> 00:41:23.780 So we should never do that. 312 00:41:23.780 --> 00:41:26.580 We should never do that. 313 00:41:26.580 --> 00:41:32.880 In fact Paul’s advice to Timothy is keep yourself pure. 314 00:41:32.880 --> 00:41:43.100 Guard the purity of your own soul and the purity of your fellowship by keeping God’s standards of leadership. 315 00:41:43.100 --> 00:41:49.680 So there’s no six-foot chasm between the pulpit and the pew. 316 00:41:49.680 --> 00:41:51.480 Not really. 317 00:41:51.480 --> 00:42:00.120 We need to recognize that the people who sit in the pews are not passive spectators. 318 00:42:00.120 --> 00:42:08.140 They are members of the body of Christ, gifted and equipped to do the work of the ministry. 319 00:42:08.140 --> 00:42:19.180 They live in the household, we live together in the household of the living God and we’re one body and one family under one chief shepherd who is the Lord Jesus. 320 00:42:19.180 --> 00:42:42.940 And within that family, God’s New Testament standard is to raise up qualified men to serve and to toil to the point of exhaustion in preaching and teaching the word of God so that every single one of us can be fed, protected, built up and equipped for ministry. 321 00:42:42.940 --> 00:42:52.850 So a healthy church honors Christ by supporting faithful elders, confronting sinning elders and carefully qualifying future elders. 322 00:42:52.850 --> 00:42:53.640 Let’s pray. 323 00:42:53.640 --> 00:42:58.600 Father, we thank you for this passage. 324 00:42:58.600 --> 00:43:03.750 It is a passage that’s somewhat difficult. 325 00:43:03.750 --> 00:43:07.720 It’s certainly a passage that’s corrective of our thinking. 326 00:43:07.720 --> 00:43:15.340 We ask Father that you help us and guide us as we take this truth and apply it as a church. 327 00:43:15.340 --> 00:43:18.180 I think has very faithfully followed. 328 00:43:18.180 --> 00:43:23.880 I pray that you keep us Lord in your truth. 329 00:43:23.880 --> 00:43:27.980 Guide us and help us Lord in these matters. 330 00:43:27.980 --> 00:43:35.200 Help us Father to correct anything in our thinking or practice that should be corrected. 331 00:43:35.200 --> 00:43:39.140 And we ask Father that you bless this church. 332 00:43:39.140 --> 00:43:41.680 Bless us as we are faithful to you. 333 00:43:41.680 --> 00:43:45.780 Bless us individually as we minister for you. 334 00:43:45.780 --> 00:43:52.160 Guide us and teach us Father and equip us by your grace to do the work of the ministry. 335 00:43:52.160 --> 00:43:56.380 We ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.