The Gentile Preacher
1 Timothy 5:1-2
May 2, 2010
Tonight we get started in the 5th chapter of 1 Timothy,
But I really think the topic of conversation
Belongs more with what we studied in the 4th.
In chapter 4 Paul first introduced
The dangerous threat of apostasy in the church.
Deception was being taught…
Deception was being believed…
Deception was being practiced…
The end result was that people were dangerously close
To falling away from the faith and becoming apostate.
The only way to fight this battle was for Timothy
To recommit himself to strong and accurate preaching.
He was going to have to preach to his saved congregation
Like every member was close to apostasy.
If he would do this, Paul said he would:
1 Timothy 4:16 “Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you.”
And so Timothy was going to have to go on the offensive.
• He was going to have to correct the doctrine of the false teachers.
• He was going to have to confront the living of those deceived.
• He was going to have to preach the truth to everyone.
It was his calling.
It is his duty.
But just before Timothy goes on the war path,
Paul has just a little bit more advice on the subject.
That advice deals with the attitude in which Timothy goes to battle.
So we are not just dealing with discipline,
But how the preacher is to use it.
THE FACT OF THE MATTER IS THAT DISCIPLINE IN THE CHURCH IS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY.
Just as families in the world today can be dysfunctional,
Church families can also be dysfunctional.
And this was certainly true of the church Timothy pastored.
(1:5-8) – tells us there were some men who were straying from a good conscience and a sincere truth.
(1:19) – tells us there were some who had sinned against their conscience, and had shipwrecked their faith
(2:9-15) – tells us there were some women who had abandoned their natural role, in order to usurp the authority of some of the men.
Some who wanted to lead were not qualified, so (3:1-13) gives us qualifications for overseers and deacons.
(4:1-5) – tells us some were teaching false doctrines, or “doctrines of demons”
(5:6-7) – tells us some of the older widows were living impure lives
(5:11-13) – tells us some of the younger women wanted to be treated as widows, and didn’t deserve it.
Ephesus was a church with its fair amount of problems.
And so we know that Timothy was going to
Have to discipline the church.
Discipline is no doubt an integral part of both the worldly family,
And the church family.
Proverbs 29:15 “The rod and reproof give wisdom, But a child who gets his own way brings shame to his mother.”
Proverbs 23:13-14 “Do not hold back discipline from the child, Although you strike him with the rod, he will not die. You shall strike him with the rod And rescue his soul from Sheol.”
Proverbs 13:24 “He who withholds his rod hates his son, But he who loves him disciplines him diligently.”
And what is true for the family is certainly true of the church family.
Sometimes discipline is necessary.
Even Jesus said:
Matthew 18:15-18 “If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. “But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY FACT MAY BE CONFIRMED. “If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. “Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”
Discipline is a must, and Paul is making it evident to Timothy,
That it is a must in the church family as well.
Tonight Paul reminds Timothy about how to do it.
I’ve called this sermon: “The Gentle Preacher”
Because although Timothy is called upon to discipline the church,
Paul writes these first two verses of chapter 5 to remind Timothy
That his discipline must be done in a spirit of gentleness.
This is after all, one of the key attributes of Jesus.
Matthew 12:15-21 “But Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. Many followed Him, and He healed them all, and warned them not to tell who He was. This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: “BEHOLD, MY SERVANT WHOM IHAVE CHOSEN; MY BELOVED IN WHOM MY SOUL is WELL-PLEASED; I WILL PUT MY SPIRIT UPON HIM, AND HE SHALL PROCLAIM JUSTICE TO THE GENTILES.”HE WILL NOT QUARREL, NOR CRY OUT; NOR WILL ANYONE HEAR HIS VOICE IN THE STREETS. “A BATTERED REED HE WILL NOT BREAK OFF, AND A SMOLDERING WICK HE WILL NOT PUT OUT, UNTIL HE LEADS JUSTICE TO VICTORY. “AND IN HIS NAME THE GENTILES WILL HOPE.”
Make no mistake, Jesus confronted people.
In Sunday school this morning we saw how bold He was with the Samaritan woman in revealing her adulteries.
Jesus confronts people and their sin.
But the issue here is that He does so with gentleness.
“He will not quarrel, nor cry out”
“quarrel” translates ERIZO
“wrangling, harassing, or even brawling” – to strive
“cry out” translates KRAUGAZO
“to yell or scream excitedly” (bird squawking)
Luke 4:41 “Demons also were coming out of many, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But rebuking them, He would not allow them to speak, because they knew Him to be the Christ.”
But when Jesus preached He did not “quarrel” or “cry out”.
Certainly He debated.
Certainly He revealed error.
Certainly He even rebuked.
But He was not a fighter.
He did not bully people, He did not threaten people,
He did not try to use motivational tactics.
He was gentle in His preaching.
Even about His death we read:
1 Peter 2:23 “and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously;”
He spoke truth (which could certainly sting) but the sting came from the truth, not from the way He spoke it.
This is what Paul is teaching Timothy.
Yes Timothy had to confront truth,
But he did not have to be a bully to do so.
Colossians 4:5-6 “Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.”
Paul even reminded the Thessalonians
1 Thessalonians 2:5-7 “For we never came with flattering speech, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed — God is witness — nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, even though as apostles of Christ we might have asserted our authority. But we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children.”
The call is to be accurate, to be strong, to be direct,
But to be gentle while you do it.
And so Paul reveals how Timothy should address various people in the church.
#1 AN OLDER MAN
I Timothy 5:1a
In chapter 1 Paul told Timothy
1 Timothy 1:3 “As I urged you upon my departure for Macedonia, remain on at Ephesus so that you may instruct certain men not to teach strange doctrines,”
As Timothy set out to correct error at Ephesus,
One group he would be forced to address would be the older men.
And so Paul is pointed how Timothy is to address them.
“Do not sharply rebuke an older man, but rather appeal to him as a father,”
Every single man in this room knows what it means
To appeal to him as a father.
In life, for most men it is a fact,
• You never get smarter than your dad,
• You never can whip your dad,
• You’ll never be the man your dad is.
Why?
Because He’s your dad.
When you were a kid, you could pop off to your friends,
But you never popped off to your dad,
Or you found out what a belt felt like, and what soap tasted like.
There is a built in fear and respect for your dad.
That is exactly how Paul tells Timothy to discipline an older man.
WITH RESPECT
He may need to know he is wrong.
It wouldn’t be love if you didn’t tell him, but you must respect him.
Proverbs 30:17 “The eye that mocks a father And scorns a mother, The ravens of the valley will pick it out, And the young eagles will eat it.”
Exodus 21:17 “He who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.”
Daniel gives a beautiful illustration of this very fact,
As he rebukes King Nebuchadnezzar.
Daniel 4:27 “Therefore, O king, may my advice be pleasing to you: break away now from your sins by doing righteousness and from your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor, in case there may be a prolonging of your prosperity.’
Paul wants Timothy to know that he does not have the right
To embarrass or talk down to an older man.
RESPECT
#2 YOUNGER MEN
I Timothy 5:1b
It is possible that some of those younger men were teachers as well.
Rather or not that was true, it is certainly true that some of the younger men were adopting the theology of the older men.
(We’ve all seen young men strut their stuff to impress an older man)
And Timothy would have to confront them.
But when he confronted them he would have to do so “as brothers,”
Here we use the same illustration.
Many times when we grow up,
Especially if you have brothers we have fights.
But anytime we get into a fight or an argument, and took it before the judge, or your parents, we learned something.
You are not your brothers daddy. You are equals.
You didn’t have the authority to punish him, that was you daddy’s job.
It was a humbling experience to know mom and dad
Didn’t love you more than they loved your brother.
Paul told us to first discipline out of RESPECT,
Here he tells us to discipline out of a SPIRIT OF EQUALITY.
This is what Jesus had in mind as well:
Matthew 7:1-5 “Do not judge so that you will not be judged. “For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. “Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? “Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? “You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”
We are all sinners before Holy God.
None of us are better than the other.
Timothy needed to remember that
There must be equality in his confrontation.
You are familiar with the immoral brother of 1 Corinthians 5.
The one who had his father’s wife.
The one Paul told us not to even associate or eat with.
But later Paul re-addressed this issue.
2 Corinthians 2:5-11 “But if any has caused sorrow, he has caused sorrow not to me, but in some degree — in order not to say too much — to all of you. Sufficient for such a one is this punishment which was inflicted by the majority, so that on the contrary you should rather forgive and comfort him, otherwise such a one might be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. Wherefore I urge you to reaffirm your love for him. For to this end also I wrote, so that I might put you to the test, whether you are obedient in all things. But one whom you forgive anything, I forgive also; for indeed what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, I did it for your sakes in the presence of Christ, so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes.”
Once redemption works it’s course, forgive them and let them back in,
For we are all equals in the sight of God.
Don’t let your discipline puff you up and make you feel superior,
That is what it means to give Satan an opportunity.
Remember equality in your discipline.
2 Thessalonians 3:14-15 “If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of that person and do not associate with him, so that he will be put to shame. Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.”
Paul gave us a good example of this as well.
Acts 26:24-29 “While Paul was saying this in his defense, Festus said in a loud voice, “Paul, you are out of your mind! Your great learning is driving you mad.” But Paul said, “I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I utter words of sober truth. “For the king knows about these matters, and I speak to him also with confidence, since I am persuaded that none of these things escape his notice; for this has not been done in a corner. “King Agrippa, do you believe the Prophets? I know that you do.” Agrippa replied to Paul, “In a short time you will persuade me to become a Christian.” And Paul said, ” I would wish to God, that whether in a short or long time, not only you, but also all who hear me this day, might become such as I am, except for these chains.”
Paul didn’t speak down to them.
Paul didn’t call them names.
Paul just referred to himself as though they were equals.
Discipline out of respect, Discipline out of equality
#3 OLDER WOMEN
I Timothy 5:2a
Just as Paul teaches us to respect older men as father,
He tells us to treat the older women “as mothers”
We reverence our mother because of the self sacrifice,
And the love she has poured upon us.
AND BECAUSE NO ONE IS PROTECTED BY OTHERS LIKE MOM
No one allows you to talk bad about their mother,
So it is in the church family in regards to discipline.
Proverbs 23:22 “Listen to your father who begot you, And do not despise your mother when she is old.”
Reverence the older women of the church.
Remember how Paul greeted the brethren at Rome?
Romans 16:13 “Greet Rufus, a choice man in the Lord, also his mother and mine.”
This wasn’t Paul’s brother,
But rather he was showing the reverence that was deserved.
Paul gives an example of this
Philippians 4:1-3 “Therefore, my beloved brethren whom I long to see, my joy and crown, in this way stand firm in the Lord, my beloved. I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to live in harmony in the Lord. Indeed, true companion, I ask you also to help these women who have shared my struggle in the cause of the gospel, together with Clement also and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.”
An older woman must be disciplined, it isn’t love if you don’t,
However it must be done out of reverence.
RESPECT – EQUALITY – REVERENCE
#4 YOUNGER WOMEN
I Timothy 5:2b
We are called to treat the younger women “as sisters”
This form of discipline deals with PROTECTION.
And the real key to this is found in what else Paul says.
“in all purity”
Discipline should be fair, and it should be just,
And because it is that,
It is many times humiliating, or shameful as we read in Thessalonians.
BUT WE MUST REMEMBER THAT THE YOUNG WOMAN
IS TO BE HUMILIATED BECAUSE OF HER SIN,
NOT BECAUSE OF HOW WE DISCIPLINE HER.
The obvious negative example of this is found in John 8
John 8:1-5 “But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people were coming to Him; and He sat down and began to teach them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the center of the court, they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. “Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?”
Many have even commented that this woman
May have been half-dressed or not dressed at all.
Certainly the aim of the Pharisees was to utterly disgrace
And humiliate this woman.
THAT IS NOT THE PURPOSE OF THE DISCIPLINE OF GOD
We know the purpose for God’s discipline.
Hebrews 12:10-11 “For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”
The purpose of God’s discipline is not to defile us,
His discipline is to make us righteous.
That is why Jesus was just as angry at the mob as He was at the woman.
“Let he who is without sin cast the first stone”
This must be remembered when confronting a younger woman.
The aim is to protect her innocence…
The aim is to protect her purity…
BUT DISCIPLINE SHOULD NEVER BE TO HARM IT
There must be PURITY in our discipline.
Listen to what Paul told the Thessalonians.
1 Thessalonians 2:9-12 “For you recall, brethren, our labor and hardship, how working night and day so as not to be a burden to any of you, we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. You are witnesses, and so is God, how devoutly and uprightly and blamelessly we behaved toward you believers; just as you know how we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you as a father would his own children, so that you would walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.”
Paul is not speaking directly of younger women,
But the same attitude is involved.
And it was the intention that when the discipline was over,
That they were more pure, not less pure.
That is how we are called to discipline as well.
Respect
Equality
Reverence
Purity
Otherwise it will not be effective,
Nor will it achieve the end God desires it to achieve.
1 Timothy 3:14-15 “I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you before long; but in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.”
