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It's at 1 Timothy 5 now in our Sunday evening series on the book of 1 Timothy. We were in 1 Timothy 4 last week where we looked at these reprobate, hypocritical liars that Timothy was warned about, how they have no qualms about the most ridiculous projection, we had a look at that. Nowadays it sees people with their attention-seeking social media accounts, channels, all that sort of nonsense, calling everyone else narcissists or false prophets, whilst trying to pull people out of church. You know, the hypocrisy seems to be lost on them. Whether they're full of all subtlety or think they are or not, it's pretty clear what these people do. They'll often start adding their own extra commandments as well, we saw in chapter 4. Here he focused particularly on the food stuff, which is quite a popular one for people to try and really push on people. He showed us that all meats are lawful in the New Testament, being sanctified by the word of God in prayer. He said to avoid all of these old wise fables. I think particularly talking about the food one that's pointing out instead the small profit in exercise. When I talk about that, look, just to make it clear, sometimes you kind of think, people think I'm getting at them if they've decided to go on some sort of health kick. Look, that's all cool, you know, and you might, and also if you're like seriously ill, I mean, we see in this chapter he's told to drink no longer water but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities. Look, food can heal as well, right, and it's obviously talking about grape juice, but however just so much as people trying to add like, you've got to eat like this, you must eat like that, you must do this, you do that, and a lot of it's kind of unsolicited stuff as well, you know, and we've obviously dealt with that before in the past here. But he did, he pointed out that there is some profit in exercise but then he highlighted the real profit being in godliness, okay, that's where the real profit in life is, not just in this life but also in the life to come, you know, spiritually speaking. Talking about rewards and just the fact that you've got eternity to live, you know, and look back and go, man, you know, if only I'd kind of gone to the gym a little bit more, is that really how you're going to be when you're in heaven, are you going to look back and think, if only I'd done more things for God, you know, and that's how we're going to be, well hopefully you won't be looking back thinking that. But Paul reminded Timothy that we labour and suffer approach because we trust in God and how he's everyone's potential saviour, that's what we saw towards the end of 1 Timothy 5. He told Timothy to be an example to others along with other practical advice, then finished a chapter reminding him of the gift that he's received, which could be the ability to preach or the job itself along with a reminder of the importance of the job he has. He said in verse 15, meditate upon these things, give thyself wholly to them, holy to them that thy profiting may appear to all. And then the next verse isn't, by the way, a sudden random verse about how to get eternally saved, completely out of context, he's talking about being physically preserved in church life, he then says, take heed unto thyself and unto the doctrine, continue in them for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee. And then we go straight into chapter 5 verse 1, which starts with rebuke not an elder but entreat him as a father and a younger man as brethren, the elder women as mothers, younger as sisters with all purity. I'd like to pray before we get going with this chapter properly, Father thank you for your word, thank you for this, well, great chapter Bible, there's so much in here Lord, so many different talking points, so much that we could expand here, help me to just preach the bits that I've decided to kind of go into in a bit more depth, just accurately and boldly Lord, and just clearly as well, help everyone here to be attentive to what your word's saying, fill them with your spirit please, in Jesus' name I pray, amen. So he said not to rebuke an elder, is he talking about a pastor bishop, also known as an elder? I think, although the term elder is often used for that church, here it seems to be specifically in the context of age you would say here wouldn't you, okay? He said rebuke not an elder but entreat him as a father and a younger man as brethren, the elder women as mothers, the younger as sisters with all purity, so I don't think we're particularly talking about the leadership, the pastor, the bishop, whatever you'd like to call him, and look, much of the letter applies to wall as general church rules, doesn't it? You don't read 1 Timothy and go, if only my name was Timothy and I was a pastor back soon after the death of Christ, but, you know, there's a lot that does apply to us, but it's specifically written to Timothy, the young pastor, isn't it? And who is being told, because remember we said, you know, let no man despise our youth, we saw previously, and he's being told how to deal with the aged in the church as well as the younger too, I believe here. And we don't, look, we don't have any particularly elderly people in our church, and anyone sitting there thinking they are, I don't think you are, but if we did, we should be treating them with respect, shouldn't we? We should treat the elderly with respect, and that's something that seems to be getting lost and lost in our world, doesn't it, or at least in western society there's very little of that, it's generally the case that as soon as you're able to, ship them off to the local care home and maybe visit them once a month, you know, at a bush, but that's not how it should be, I don't think that's how God wants it, we should treat the elderly with respect. The elderly have experience that you can't buy, don't they? They really do, you know, we think we know it all sometimes as youngsters, and you speak to sort of people with a bit of age on you, and they've just got experience of many things and plenty of things that you just don't have experience with. Now, it's not to say that they're in charge, okay, or that they're there to tell the pastor what to preach, you go to some churches and the old guard in the church who just basically commanded the pastor what to do, telling him what to do, that's not, again, how it works, as there is, there is, there does have to be a leadership structure with someone in charge there beneath the Lord Jesus Christ, however, they should be shown respect, not being rebuked, and now rebuking, oh well, you can't preach at anything that you might, you know, that might affect someone old in your church, that's what he's talking about, just a bit of harsh reproof, talking basically strongly and rebuking them harshly, I don't think that's what we're called to do with the elderly, and it's the same with the elder women, isn't it? So it's not just the elder men, it's just, look, a lot of the time, you know, the reality of it is we should give respect to the elderly, and they're not going to respond too well. If we had someone particularly old in here and I just started shouting at them about something, I don't think they're probably going to deal too well with that, and I don't, I think I'd be out of line doing that, wouldn't I? And same with the elder women as well, he said the elder women as mothers, but it's not then gloves off when they're a bit younger, so okay, yeah, we'll treat the elderly with respect and the young ones just kind of, you know, shout at them and tell them what to do, you know, he said they're to be treated as brethren, the younger men as brethren, and he said the younger as sisters with all purity. So basically, the point being is that a church should be a family sort of atmosphere, okay, you'll hear a lot of pastors refer to their church family, okay, and that's a nice thing to think about, isn't it? It's treating the elderly as an elder member of the family, treating the younger as brothers, the younger ladies as sisters, with all purity. So we're not just kind of in church going, you know, if you're a single guy, here's a single lady here, you know, or even if you're not a single guy, especially not, right? That's not really how it should be, we're coming to church treating people as family, right? Now that's not to say, yeah, you might not end up marrying someone from church, but that's not our goal, is it? That's not what we're going in, we're going in a church to worship God and to treat people like family members with all purity, yeah? He said, rebuke not an elder but entreat him as a father and a younger man as brethren, the elder as mothers, the younger as sisters, with all purity. The pastor is the man in charge, he's got to preach half from the pulpit the word of God, but he's not lording it over people, is he? And remember, he's talking ultimately to Timothy here, so it's not, you know, he's not, okay, well that's for everyone else, but you, you need to just tell people what to do, boss people around. And I think some people kind of sometimes expect or want that in a way, you know, this guy's got to be shouting at everyone and cussing people out, but 1 Peter 5.3, you don't have to turn, it says of the elder, which is referring to the pastor, neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being in samples to the flock. So he is in charge, but he doesn't have to lord it over people, right? He should be treating them as brethren, treating the women as sisters, treating the elderly like fathers and like mothers, and a good example, you know, to do that is to respect our elders and treat everyone like that, right, that's a good example to others. He said neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being in samples to the flock. So we can be an example in the way that we treat people, in terms of, you know, in terms of leaders in a church. Verse 3 says, honour widows that are widows indeed. So what does it mean to honour a widow? Well, although it would include respecting, and specifically here he's talking about providing for them, look, respect is one thing, but food, lodgings, things like that, okay, that's really what he's talking about. There was no state welfare system, okay? So back in, you know, here, you know, where he's talking to Timothy here and he's in Ephesus and it wasn't that they were just kind of widows, okay, you're a widow, come on in, you know, we'll give you this, we'll give you a board, we'll give you lodgings, we'll give you, that's not how it worked, right? Like, that was a down and out situation, okay, your husband's died, he's a breadwinner, there wasn't many kind of employment opportunities, especially not if they're raising children and everything else. What are they going to do? You didn't send your kids off to school and go, okay, right, time to get a job, you know, don't worry, I'll go down the dole office until I get a job. No, I mean, you're in a bad situation, okay? And turn to James chapter 1, back in the Old Testament, God made it very clear that he wanted provision to be made for widows, along with the fatherless and strangers, okay? So these are people that justify charity, okay, and the strangers were foreigners joining Israel, they didn't have the land, they didn't have the opportunity, they've turned up there and what are they meant to do, right? But they turned up to seek the Lord, so they should be treated in the right way, right? Well, these were people unable to, or at least limited in ability to earn a living, okay? This is an able-bodied people that have opted for a life of drink and drugs. This is an able-bodied people that have just messed up in one way or another, just basically turned their noses up at all the opportunity they have had, and then decided, right, well, I'm just going to get smashed every day, where's my money? Where's my cash? Because people act like that, don't they? We'll get it here soon enough. We had it at the last place when we were in South End, I used to get now and again phone calls that, you know, with now and again getting them coming round to the church, have you got any money? I'm homeless. I bet you have people, funnily enough, a lot of them seem to have some knowledge of the Bible, which is interesting, and they're trying to basically rebuke you for not just going, yeah, yeah, come round to church, we'll just give you a load of cash. But is that the sort of charity we're called to? Second Thessalonians 3.10 says, for even when we're with you, this we command you, if any would not work, neither should he eat. That's what the Bible says, if any would not work, neither should he eat. So why should we just be throwing out God's money to people that are refusing to work? However much they try and con you that, oh, no, no, it was this situation, they always have a sob story, and you know what I used to say to these people, yeah, no worries, come down to church. At the old church we had that car park with a lot of overgrown stuff. Come down, got a bit of gardening to do there if you like, happy to give you a bit of work for now and I'll give you a tenner afterwards. Did they ever turn up? Never turned up. Never turned up. James 1.27 says, pure religion and underfiled by God and the Father is this, sorry, before God and the Father is this, James 1.27, to visit the fatherless of widows in their affliction and to keep himself unspotted from the world. So we should be looking out for and even providing for those that are in genuine need, but even then there are stipulations, did you know that? So it's not that, oh, yeah, yeah, just throw out money to people because they're a widow. Even a widow, there were strong stipulations as to whether or not she was to be taken in unto the number which is basically provided for by the church. It said back in verse three where you are in or where we have been in First Timothy chapter five, on a widow are widows indeed and indeed meaning truly widows and here it's qualifying for help, but verse four, if any widow have children or nephews, let them learn first to show piety at home and to requite their parents, for that is good and acceptable before God. Piety is respect towards parents and again, it's talking about provision with requite meaning to repay, to give in return basically, by the way kids, you've been raised, you've been fed, you've been watered, you've been given much opportunity by your parents, when you get older you can requite your parents. That's how it's always worked in the world, that's the only way it really sensibly works rather than just turning them off to the NHS nursing home. Requite your parents and here he said, if any widow have children or nephews, let them learn first to show piety at home and to requite their parents, for that is good and acceptable before God. So basically if there are direct children or even nephews, and obviously I think here it's of working age, ability to work and provide, they should be taking care of their widowed mum or even their widowed auntie, that's basically what it's saying here, but there are those that don't have that and by the way, if there's those that don't have that and that don't qualify for this, it doesn't say much for the hobo, does it? Doesn't say much for the drug addict and everything else, he definitely doesn't qualify for just handouts if there are widows out there who just don't quite hit what we're going to see here, these qualifications, to be able to be provided for by the church. He said, now she that is a widow indeed and desolate, trusteth in God and continueth in supplications and prayers night and day. So this is the sort of widow that would qualify for help from the church, okay? She's a widow indeed, which is a true widow here, and desolate, she trusteth in God and continueth in supplications and prayers night and day, she's a godly woman, but she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth. So she's just living it up, the carnal lifestyle, she may as well be dead, she's useless, basically. She's dead while she liveth. So if she's just like, oh no, I know this widow, she's saved but she doesn't do anything for God, she doesn't go to church, she doesn't pray, she doesn't do anything at all, can you give us some money? It's like, why? What's the point? That's, I mean, it sounds harsh, right, but that's what he's saying here. He's saying, then he says, and these things give in charge that they may be blameless. The point being that they, look, if you're a widow and you're saved and you've got some access to a church or something else, you should look at this and go, okay, right, I need to get this right, you know, I need to get not just like, yeah, well, whatever, I'll find someone else to give me some money. These things give in charge that they may be blameless. So he's saying, command these stipulations that they do qualify, look, we want to help people, but we want them to qualify for their help. He said, but if any, provide not for his own, and especially for those of his own house, because that's who is really ultimately responsible. It's the people of their family. He had denied the faith and is worse than an infidel. So on this topic, what a disgrace if a widow is left desolate by a family member, really. I mean, what a disgrace. However, it doesn't just apply to widows, does it? So here we're seeing the topic of widows, but that verse applies to everyone. I mean, husbands, okay, that applies to you. If you don't provide for your wife, you've denied the faith and you're worse than infidel. Fathers, if you don't provide for your kids, and that includes all the fathers that just have, you know, get some poor woman pregnant and then just skip to somewhere else and leave their port like that, you're wicked. That's absolutely wicked. You've denied the faith and you're worse than an infidel. That applies to sons, sons who just completely just reject their parents, nothing, you know, the parents kind of barely got two pennies to rub together, probably getting abused by some weirdo in a care home. Oh, well, you've denied the faith, you're worse than an infidel. Nephews even, even nephews, even nephews, yeah, nephews, care about your family, look after your family. You know, you've got an auntie, uncle, whatever else, make sure they're all right, yeah? If any, provide not for his own, especially for those of his own house, he has denied the faith and he's worse than an infidel. And in our culture, often a lot of this is just, is a dad who just likes it. The dad who just doesn't really fancy, you know, home life and just skips, skips somewhere else. I mean, that is wicked, isn't it? They're all wicked people and they need to hear preaching like this, don't they? Is it just financial provision? Because it's not really, is it? Is it just financial? Is that all that you as a dad, is that all you're good for? No? No, as a father or husband, we're to provide our children and wives with spiritual guidance as well, aren't we? So if you're not providing that, I believe you're still denying the faith. Oh, don't worry, I send them some money each month. Well, what about everything else? What about providing them with some sort of spiritual nourishment, some sort of guidance, some sort of leadership, some sort of protection? As men, we're commanded to work to eat, and then we're also told that if we don't provide for our own, particularly those of our own house, we're worse than infidels, and infidels are an unbeliever, okay? And basically, they're denying an obvious principle of the faith. Just a clear, obvious, I would say an innate principle, really. Provide for your own. Look after your family. You're a man, look after your family. Look after those in your life, go and work, find a way of working, get a job, find a job, find something you're able to do, and provide for your own. And if you're not doing that, you're denying the faith, you're worse than an infidel. He then goes on to give the stipulations for providing for desolate widows. He said, let not a widow be taken into the number under three score years old, having been the wife of one man. So we've got stipulations for this widow. She has to be over 60, obviously married, not some multiple divorcee or something, well for good works, if she had brought up children, if she had lodged strangers, if she had washed the saint's feet, if she had relieved the afflicted, if she had diligently followed every good work. You say, well, we've got a welfare system, so nothing to see here, brother Ian, let's move on, right? Let's go on to the next verse, doesn't matter, you know, this is pointless, isn't it now? Well, how about, regardless, these are some great goals for women and girls out there, isn't it? These are some great goals for just, you know, if this is what would have qualified you to be taken into the church, to be a strong godly woman to be taken in, provided for, be able to be a strength to the church and not just, you know, ultimately a burden, yeah, you're someone who's done a lot and you're taken into the church, well, these are some good goals. Well reported of for good works, and what's the first work? Soul-wording, isn't it? Preaching the gospel. Getting out there and preaching the gospel, okay? That's the first work, but there are others too, and we're going to see some others. If she had brought up children, he didn't say if she'd had children, did he? He said if she had brought up children, okay, that's what he said, and that's basically raising them, okay? And that's teaching them, that's bringing them up, that's being a part of their life, not just packing them off somewhere and, you know, sending them to the preschool club, the after-school club, the weekend club, the holiday club on holidays, well you seek your career, well you're disqualified if you want to be one of the, you know, if you want to be what God sees as the sort of woman that he would want to be looked after as a widow. If she had brought up children, not just had children, lodged strangers, he said if she had lodged strangers, so helped those in need with accommodation, okay, at times, at times when people in need, especially, again, we're looking at a couple of thousand years ago, you know, and maybe oftentimes people wouldn't really have anywhere to stay, okay, I don't think it probably had as easy accommodation as we have now. If she's lodged strangers, been willing, being a good host, willing to be hospitable to those that need help, wash the saints' feet. That's helped and supported the believers, by the way. So if in case you're thinking, right, oh man, really, the guy's going to start getting off their shoes now, no, however, you know, it's just basically being a support, isn't it? Because I think, you know, you're walking around with sandals in sort of, you know, desert land and stuff, then it might be quite nice to have your feet washed, times and times, your back's probably seized up after all that walking, it might be nice to have someone do it for you. But there are other ways, aren't there? We could just support the saints, help the saints, especially here as the women here it's talking about, relieve the afflicted, okay, so that's helped those in trouble. You know, that could be council, can't it? Sometimes people just need some counsel, sometimes people just need a shoulder quiet. Sometimes people need someone to just go, yeah, I understand. I do understand. They don't need always a holier-than-thou response, do they? Sometimes they don't need you to go, well, you're not like that, this is why, because sometimes you need to see someone who just go, yeah, I get it, I get it, you know, I've been in that situation, I know that situation, et cetera. Sometimes they need that. Sometimes it might be meals for those in need, for example, we offer food trains here and things like that. And there are those here who just like, every time, there's a food train, I make some food for someone. They've just had a baby. And look, often we, many people put a brave face there, but let's be honest, when a baby's just been born, it can be a pretty rough time, can't it? Yeah, let's all be honest here, when that new Bombay, we kind of cancel it out, don't we, or we wouldn't have any more kids. We've got to block it out. No, no, it was all fine, it was all rosy, but a lot of the time, it's quite a tough time, isn't it? You're not getting sleep, there can be a lot of recovery that needs to be doing. You know, especially sort of, sometimes the first couple of days are so bad and then it starts to kick in, you're like, okay, this is rough. You know, the fatigue kicks in, things like being able to offer meals supported those in tribulation. A lot of us people are just going through a hard time and need some help. Sometimes they do need some godly counsel. Sometimes they do need some godly advice. All those things, and look, amongst the women there, sometimes they just need to be able to talk to someone, don't they? Talk to someone and not just kind of suffer in silence, diligently followed every good word. The obvious ones, as well as soul winning at church attendance, Bible reading, prayer, tithing if it's applicable to her, but there's less obvious ones, you know, the clear commands of the Bible, godliness, but following diligence, having a heart for God, basically. Just trying to follow the word of God, just trying to do the right thing, just trying to live for God, do the clear things of God, diligently following every good word. You know, wanting to behave how he would want, the kindness, the meekness, to be discreet, chase keepers at home, good obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed, that sort of stuff, right? Okay, just trying to be, just trying to live how God wants you to live. And that's a good goal to have, isn't it? But that stuff would have qualified you then for whether or not you were able to be taken into the number as a widow over a threescore over six years old. He said, but the younger widows refuse. They say, this is over 60 as well, right? He's saying, the younger widows, nah, no help. For when they've begun to wax wanton against Christ, they will marry, having damnation because they have cast off their first faith. So he's saying not to support widows under 60, why? Why not support widows under 60? Because there's a good chance that they will have a strong desire for husband, and will they marry and give up on the church duties. I think that's what he's saying here. To wax is to change, okay? Wanton can mean to deviate from chastity. So becoming lustful and therefore against the things of God because they're just like, no, I really don't think I want to live the rest of my life, you know, just as a widow in the church. So then they end up getting married, they're getting criticized, maybe reproached, so-called widow, but now she's got married, no longer serving God, you know, she's got all that help and now she's just kind of given up on those things. She's, you know, with her husband, et cetera. But there's another reason as well, so it's not just that, well, they might, you know, there's much more chance they're just going to give up and then get married and give up on all those things. And by the way, when you say give up on those things, what do you mean? Look, the idea is they're being taken in under the number. They're going to have duties, things to do at church, help out with a lot of the stuff – the cleaning, everything else around the church. You take them in, you get them settled, maybe you've set up somewhere for them to live and all these things, and then suddenly it's like, oh no, I'm married, see, well, wait a second, he's going to do everything that you were doing, we've just kind of put things in place. So it's stuff like that. He said, but he also said they need to be busy, he said in verse 13, withal they learned to be idle, wandering about from house to house, and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies speaking things which they ought not. He's talking particularly about women, and this does apply to all of us, we need to be busy, don't we? And we see many examples of this in the Bible, King David on the rooftop is an obvious one that springs to mind. When we're not busy, when we're not doing stuff, when we're not just constantly basically busy in our lives, there's a lot more chance of sin creeping in, isn't there? Yeah, there's an old saying, the devil makes work of idle hands. And that is the truth, that's the reality of life, isn't it? You need to be busy in life, however, with women, it can maybe more often result in tackling, which is talebearing, telling tales, gossiping. Busybodies are those that stick their nose into other people's business, just always trying to get involved, find out, be a part of other people's lives, other people's business, telling tales, often as a way to be involved, oh, did you hear about this, did you hear about that? Just constantly just have their nose in everyone else's business. And he's talking about widows, but a lot of women are prone to this, let's be honest. This is probably something that affects women more like there are certain sins that probably men are more predisposed to, this is something that maybe women are more predisposed to. He said, wandering about from house to house are not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies speaking things which they ought not. You know the reality of it is that although, especially raising kids, homeschooling kids, having large families, it's hard work, cooking for your husband, your family, doing all that stuff is a hard job, it's difficult. Sometimes a lot of mums who are doing this sort of thing probably just feel worn out, and they might think, can all this be that worth it? But you know what it really is, because not only do your kids benefit so much from having their mum there, from learning from their family, from learning from people that love them and care about them and everything else, but also they do kind of manage to avoid a lot of the temptations and sins that so many idle women, so many people that don't have much to do all day, end up getting pulled into. Because there are, there's a lot, look, there's a lot of what they used to call them, the old trophy wives, don't they type, the ones who are kind of, you know, their day consisted of getting in their active wear, dropping the kid at school in their active wear, just to show everyone that they're off to the gym, and then it would be kind of gym where really most of the time in the gym was spent in the sauna, tattling, you know, busy bodying in the sauna, maybe a tiny bit of like, some little bicep curls or something else, then it was the cafe, but don't worry, it's alright, because the cafe sells so-called healthy food, and then after the cafe, you know, it's like, right, well, what can I do now with myself? And then, bit of shopping, bit of this or that, you know, husband comes home at the end of the day, ah, it's been a hard day, you know, really, a lot of hard work down the gym, a lot of hard work doing this, doing that, and, you know, often they'll even have a cleaner as well, these women, you know, it's never ceased to amaze me. But look, it's good to be busy, okay, what's the, the answer is stay busy, and also watch for those that want to draw you into that too, because he then said this, he said in verse 14, I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully, for some already turned aside after Satan. So what's Paul's will for younger widows, and really women in general, right, okay, what's his will, and when we say his will, God's will, this is God writing to you through the Apostle Paul, is his will for them to marry and work on their career, to marry, bear children, get a job while the state raise your children, is that what he said? I will therefore that younger women marry, get a great career, bear the children, and then give them over to the state to run them, give them over to your secular state, to your God-hating government to raise your children, is that what he, no he didn't, he said I will therefore that younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully. Now just on this quickly, look, a lot of people, there are people that just have situations, and you've got to understand when I'm preaching this, I'm not preaching at people, it's like oh you wicked person, because you're in a situation where you cannot do this, however this is God's ideal, and ultimately we're preaching to a lot of the kids here as well to grow up and try and just live how God wants you to live. Many people here have come to faith late, have come to faith, you know, after maybe making lots of errors and mistakes in their lives, okay? And that's one thing, but however, we're not going to then stop preaching the truth, well I better not preach what the Bible says about this, because it's going to offend someone. Yeah? Otherwise, what are we going to preach out in the Bible? Not very much. You know what we're going to preach? Love, love, love, and judge not, and all the usual stuff, yeah? All the usual stuff that you'll see at most liberal churches around that are trying not to, desperately not to offend everyone, it doesn't leave much to preach, right? But this is the will, this is how it should be, this is how God would want it to be, said to Mary, bear children, guide the house, to give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully. How demeaning, eh? Isn't that what they're telling you? How demeaning! You know, oh yeah, great life that, guide the house, you know, bear children, guide the house, you know, how demeaning, like wearing a uniform and clocking in and out of work and getting micromanaged. That sounds a bit more demeaning to me, doesn't it? Unless you've been brainwashed and conned by the world that somehow it's more demeaning to raise a family than it is to be micromanaged at work, which is most workplaces, isn't it? When you're told what time you start, what time you finish, a lot of the time you're told what to wear, yeah, you're told what to do, you might even have to have appraisals with your boss. And by the way, if any of you husbands are doing this stuff, you know, I kind of need to let up a little bit, all right? Don't micromanage exactly what she wears, right? But look, that's the real, that's the workplace though, isn't it? That's the workplace. And, okay, well, well, my workplace is like that, well, great, you're an exception to the rule. But I'll tell you what, I bet there's other things that are demeaning in your workplace, aren't there? Like the way you have to treat your boss who doesn't love you, who's not a Christian, who's not your husband, who's just some random guy who might even have eyes for you and you've got all those other issues as well that come from submitting to other ladies' husbands. However, somebody will try and act like it's somehow demeaning to marry, bear children and guide a house. But isn't that an amazing thing to do? Do you know what, it's not just an amazing thing, it's a really hard thing to do as well. It is a difficult job. And sometimes, look, some of us husbands there, sometimes you just spend an hour at home and you've got one kid wanting this, another kid, and one kid's on the toilet, asks for this, the other one needs a nappy change, the other one's doing this, the other one's doing that. Another one's kind of coming over going, yeah, but I need this, and you know, at the same time the meal's just finished cooking, and something else, and you'd think, wow, that is tough, isn't it? That's a tough job. And we don't always appreciate that as men, do we? It's like, oh yeah, but my day was really hard. I only got half hour in the cafe at lunch, and your poor wife's just thinking, yeah. Oh, I only got an hour at lunch break, she's thinking, lunch break? But it's tough, isn't it? But you know what, what a great job it is as well, it's a great job. He said, guide the house, one of the hardest and most important jobs you can do. Why did he say to do that? He said, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully. You know what, here's specifically about keeping busy, really, because the adversary wants to accuse you of all sorts, doesn't he? And look, the more you live for God, the more you serve God, the more there'll be adversaries trying to pick holes in what you do, trying to find fault in what you do, trying to find something to accuse you of. And if you're not busy, the reality of it is they're probably going to have more things to try and pick on as well. But we looked last week at how they will hypocritically lie, didn't we? They want anything they can to attack you with. And verse 16, sorry, no, we won't look at verse 16 for a second, but here he does talk about give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully, then he says, for some are already turned aside after Satan. And he's talking about individuals here, isn't he? So he's saying, give none occasion to the adversary, and that's the people around you in your life, your adversaries, who have already turned aside after Satan and are just looking for something, looking for things to try and accuse you of, to try and speak reproachfully about you. They try and get close to you to then try and mine for information that can make it sound more believable. That's the sort of stuff we see here. He said, to avoid all that, keep busy, do the things that God wants you to do, yeah? Verse 16, if any man or woman that believeth have widows, let them relieve them and let not the church be charged it, and may relieve them that are widows indeed. And by the way, if the church isn't meant to relieve widows that don't fit this criteria, does anyone else think that we should just be handing cash out to just random charities? Anyone think that? Oh, well, we're a church, we should, I mean, how much is your outlet to, like, cancer research? Why not? Why not supporting sham research companies to try and make money out of people? Why are we not sending money to, and you name it? Well, because even widows don't qualify. Because God, what's the best thing God's money can go towards? Souls. Fresh soul. That's the best thing it can go towards, is ultimately people's souls is more important than any of that, isn't it? More important than any of that. More important than handing cash to people, more important than giving people a bit of a physical extra in life is going out and getting people saved, and finding ways of using it for that, and look, and then if you could get a widow in under the, you know, and help her, and look, we should be charitable, we should help people. But it's not just to start getting as much money as we can and just throw it at people for no reason. What difference does it make for eternity? Doesn't make any difference, let alone to able-bodied drug addicts. I mean, that's a big one, isn't it now? Oh yeah, no, no, I'll tell you what, clear it all out, clear the chairs, let's just bring in some tinned beans and stuff and get the drug addicts in. That's so holy, isn't it? Oh well, that will solve everything. There's still going to be drug addicts, yeah? These guys, they'll talk about where you need to go on what day to get a free meal, so you don't have to spend any of that free money you're getting from the government on food. And you can spend all of it on drugs, and still be in debt to your drug dealer, because you still end up using more than you can actually afford. That's basically what they're doing. Don't worry, we'll give you some food so you can just about survive, even though a lot of them look like they're about to drop dead. And here you go, here's some more, you would just give you just enough, and now you've got even more money for drugs. Oh, what a great charitable thing you do, what brilliant, how holy, what holy churches turning their place in the soup kitchens, what nonsense. Anyway, let's not get off on that, let's continue, verse 17. Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine. Now, this is a funny contrast even here, you could argue, couldn't you? That we've just seen, talking about basically, look, if a man or woman that believeth have widows, let them relieve them, and let not the church be charged, it may relieve them that the widows indeed be taken in unto the number, qualify for all these things. Then he's going, however, let the pastors, basically, that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially though labour in the word. You go, why? Why? Should I tell you why? Because the difference is the Gospel, because the difference is eternity, because that's the important stuff. The physical provision for people, cool if you can help someone out, I'm not telling you not to, but what's our goal, what's our priority? Getting people saved. So stop people going to hell, because the Bible says they're going to hell, and the Bible doesn't get anything else wrong. So does anyone doubt that? If you believe the Bible, the Bible says they're all going to hell. Broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many there be which going to hell. Most people are going to hell to burn in hell, and how a church functions, and having a leadership that's able to do good things for the church, and put their time into it, everything else, is more important than going and giving some money, some bum on the street. It's more important than any of that stuff. However much the world tries to redesign what a church's function should be. What about your homeless? Do you have a homeless ministry? That's what they come out with. I used to get these calls last time, we'll get it again. Now the elder here is specifically, now we're talking about the ruler, the pastor, the bishop, the term elder carrying over from the Old Testament. What's he saying here? He's saying that a pastor doing his job well, laboring in the word of doctrine, should be counted worthy, at least, of double honour. Does he mean respect? Well, although it would include that, like in verse three though, he said, honour widows that are widows indeed, it's specifically talking about being provided for, being paid. He said, for the scripture saith, thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn, and the labourer is worthy of his reward. That's the context, we're talking about paying pastors. He's saying that an elder doing his job well should be thought worthy of double pay, because of what an important job it is, because it has eternal consequences. Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter nine. Now he's quoting Deuteronomy 25 four, which is also quoted in 1 Corinthians nine, where Paul makes it clear the real reason that God commanded it. He says in 1 Corinthians nine and verse three, 1 Corinthians nine three, mine answer to them that do examine me is this, have we not power to eat and to drink? Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as other apostles, and as the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas? So Paul's saying, shouldn't basically he be able, and Barnabas here as well, to provide for himself, to provide for a family? Should we not be able to do that? Or I only am Barnabas, have we not power to forbear working? Should we be able to give up our secular jobs? Who goeth to warfare any time at his own charges? Who planted the vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? Or who feedeth the flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock? Basically, who goes to work and doesn't get paid? Anyone here go to their secular jobs and not get paid? Say I these things as a man, or sayeth not the law the same also? For it is written in the law of Moses, thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Does God take care for oxen? Or sayeth he it altogether for our sakes, for our sakes, no doubt. This is written that he that ploweth should plow in hope, and he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope. And there's a truth there as well, that if the ox is muzzled, they're not going to be able to do as good a job, are they? OK, they need sustenance, for one. And also the terminology is as if it's an extra incentive as well, isn't it? Oh, what on earth, what, you're telling me that pastors need an incentive? Well, look, maybe an extra incentive doesn't hurt, right? To know that, look, their job also is providing them a living as well. Because, look, the flesh is weak, right? Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. And people, you can imagine people getting carnal, getting lazy, things like that, especially if they're not getting paid at all. They start to take the foot off the gas a little bit. So I'm getting a bit tired now, and I'm not really getting paid for this job, so why on earth am I going to put any more effort into it, right? You can imagine all that going on. And, look, I'll tell you why this needs preaching sometimes. Because, and obviously because it's come up in our Bible study, but also because there are a lot of weird people around that think that people in the ministry shouldn't be paid. These people are everywhere. I see this stuff all over online. They'll call, like, well-known pastors, have you ever seen this, mercenaries, grifters. Oh, another grifter, why don't you get a proper job? There's hardly a more honourable job. Like, this job is so important to pastor a proper church, it's like something else. I'm not talking about the fakes, I'm not talking about the frauders, I'm talking about, is he talking to these people here? They don't even read the Bible. I mean, who knows what version they have and how this has been changed, I don't even know. But this is talking to proper people, to men of God, to pastors, real pastors. And here's the thing, can you think of much harder working pastors, OK? And I'm talking about the pastors that many of us know and love and will listen to and listen to preach. Even without documentaries, without church plants, without mission trips, without regular soul-winning marathons, they all prepare and preach longer sermons than most preachers out there. Most preachers won't even hit the 30-minute mark nowadays. Our pastor preaches an hour and 20 on a regular. And that's when he's doing a short one. Seriously. You want to see some of these guys at the Red Hot Preaching Conference? I managed to catch up with it recently, we were a bit busy while it was on. I mean, man, these sermons just went on and on. They soul-win more than pretty much any preacher out there, don't they? So they're writing and preaching long sermons, and then they're going out soul-winning every week, multiple times a week, twice a week minimum. They deal with more persecution, whether internal or external, than most preachers out there, don't they? And look, they deal with some hard stuff, don't they? We've all seen some of the stuff they deal with. They labour in the Word, OK, by the way, not Spurgeon's Sermon Library. They don't labour in that. They labour in the doctrine, OK, not Schofield's reference Bible. They successfully maintain Bible-believing, soul-winning, hard-preaching churches in these days of ear-tickling, compromising, just sell-outs, right? People are just, that's all they want, it's just their ears tickled. And these guys are still somehow managing to keep a church functioning in days where people don't even want to hear the Word of God preached anymore. And I say that if anyone is ruling well, then these men are, and they should be counted worthy of double honors, shouldn't they? Are you looking at these pastors who seem to be tearing up the world of independent fundamental baptism, in terms of Baptist-type churches, just going out and just preaching soul-winning, preaching it loud and clear on YouTube, getting all the grief, all the problems, outside, inside, everything else, and going, I don't know, yeah, I don't know if they should be paid, should be voluntary. What are you talking about? It's bizarre, it's bizarre. How do they get paid, though? Well, is it by the billions that the NIFB have invested in property over the years? No, because the NIFB haven't done that. Is it by the trillions, the trillions in gold and other riches? No, that's a Catholic church. Yeah. The property investments, the C of E church, and the Catholic church. I mean, they've got their tentacles and everything, haven't they? No, no, how do they get paid? It's by the tithes and offerings in their small independent churches. That's how it works. That's how they get paid. That's why Paul said, if we have sown unto you spiritual things, in verse 11, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things? He's like, what on earth? Because the people, he's saying, my answer to those that examine me. There are people just constantly, and do you know what people just have such a gripe about? So often it's money. And ultimately, it's an uncovertness list. I don't know, I don't want to give them money. It's like, look, God tells you in the tithes, what do you want good? You know, and ultimately, these guys in these churches, all these people in these churches, they will all have members in their churches that just refuse to. Just have the hump with it, and then want to start questioning, oh, you know, should they really be getting paid? It's like, what are you talking about? Is there anyone else who's doing this sort of stuff? But people are weird about it, OK? Those spiritual things are of such value, aren't they? However, Paul chose not to be paid, so as not to be accused of being a mercenary. OK, remember he's moving around planting churches. And verse 12 says, if others be partaker of this power over you, are not we rather? Nevertheless, we have not used this power, but suffer all things, lest we should hinder the gospel of Christ. So, that's not the precedent he's setting, though. OK, he chose to do that because he didn't want to hinder the gospel. He didn't want to have people going, you're just a mercenary, you're just planting churches. People are trying to accuse our pastor of this, he's trying to make an empire. No, he's not. He's just trying to plant churches. Oh, he just wants to, like, have every church in the world. So, he's like, no, he wants to ordain men when he's got people ready to be ordained. But here, the Apostle Paul, you can imagine him accusing him of the same, OK? But, however, he's not setting a precedent, because he says, do ye not know that they which minister about holy things live of things of the temple, and they which wait at the altar are partakers of the altar? Even so, have the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel? And the main point is that if those pastors were voluntary and work full-time jobs, their congregation would suffer in the long run. Everyone here wouldn't have gone anywhere near what they've got in terms of from those pastors over the years, enlisting stuff, the doctorates, all that stuff. It all takes time. OK, and you can't put in enough time if you've also got to work a full-time job at the same time. And the Bible is very clear about this, OK, that the the voluntary house church is great as a star, but professional ministry is very biblical and it benefits the church. And what does that benefit ultimately people's souls? Because the more people you can build up, the more different ways you can build up, the more ministries you can start to work on and get involved in. All the more things you can do ultimately benefits people in the long run because people get saved. That's the whole goal. That's why he said back in verse 17 of 1 Timothy 5, Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially they who labor in the word of doctrine, as opposed to, we've just seen, to these to these widows, being told, well, unless you're 60 and qualify in all these ways, we ain't taking you in and helping you. For the scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn, the laborer is worthy of his reward. So ultimately, they're ruling well, though. OK, this isn't, you know, so then you've got the opposite. You've got obviously false prophets and others, but you even have people that do very little. They're not really laboring in the word and doctrine. They're just kind of, you know, copying a sermon on offline, online or off being online. Yeah. And then and then they just, you know, copy something down. Pre-preach a little sermon there. Don't do much else. They're not worthy of double honor. No one's saying they are. But if they're laboring in the word of doctrine because of the eternal consequences for that, he then said, though, in verse 19, talking about and basically lifting up elders at all well, against an elder received not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses. OK, so what's the point here? Well, first the elders again, I would add, OK, anyone doing the job of one. OK, and obviously I've been doing the job of a pastor at least 95 percent of it since we've had this church plan. Anyone doing that and over time, or maybe it was 90 percent, it's grown, you know, because he's left me to do more and more over the last coming up to three years soon. Anyone who does that job receives a lot of accusations. OK, that's just part and parcel of it. Why? Because if you're a pastor or you're doing the job of a pastor, you're in leadership in ministry, you have a target on your back. OK, some of the reasons if you can discredit the messenger, you discredit the message. OK, if you look, if the message is the word of God, if you're preaching the word of God, someone can discredit you. Suddenly what you're saying, people start to not really listen to you so much. They'll try and discredit that because the church is reliant upon leadership, because preaching the word of God creates enemies. No, you just preach the word of God, people start to hate you. You preach the word of God because it hits them, because it hurts them, because they need to have someone to hate, a lot of them don't want to admit they hate God. Because if you can get the pastor to quit, you can weaken or destroy a church, can't you? And in our case, with the leadership here, you're going to have problems. You can get there, if you get them to quit, wow, you've done a lot of damage. And just as an evangelist and church leader, OK, along with my family, we have, like I said, a great insight into this over the past three and a half years. It's been fascinating. And I'll be honest, I wasn't prepared for it at all. I had no idea of how this would work. And like I've said before, in order to get a violin out, the job's great, OK? It's an honour, it's great. But now some of it has been laughable, OK? Some has been laughable, like we had at the beginning, just ridiculous accusations of this, to have another this, to have another that, you know, all this silly stuff. Some has been easily disproven, but it will likely improve with time, OK? And I think everyone, most people here, are aware of that. And we've only received a fraction of what some of the pastor and their families in our movement have dealt with. I mean, Pastor Anderson was getting swatted, OK? He's having people basically, like, acting as reporters as if they'd been like homicides at his house. So they were turning up with the basic SWAT team, helicopters and everything else. And if you moved one move out of line, you were possibly getting shot. You know, I mean, all sorts of crazy stuff people are doing to try, let alone the, you know, the threats, the death threats, sending powders in the post, you know, which theoretically the idea at least is to scare you into thinking that you're being poisoned. Who knows what else is saying that? All sorts of just crazy stuff. These guys have gone through stuff that I, you know, I haven't even had a taste of yet. OK. Why? Because they're preaching the word of God, because they want to destroy them, because they want them to quit, because they want them to stop, because they they want to weaken or damage or destroy the churches. And now the problem is the weaker brethren, OK? And by the way, they've got that stuff and then they get what else they have. I mean, you put in Pastor Anderson, for example, just because he's the most famous on YouTube. And what will you see? Hundreds, probably hundreds of videos accusing him of everything, wouldn't you? Hundreds of videos calling him everything. Every sort of, you know, psych, every every so-called, you know, psychology expert under the sun will have some sort of, you know, new, new, like new diagnosis for him and others. It's not just him. You know, you get everything coming out about these people. Anything you get. A hundred different videos or some will coordinate some of those devils. So a lot of them will do the same, what our pastor calls a mantra. So they'll kind of get a kind of lie going. And then if enough of them say it, people go, well, there must be something to that. No smoke without fire. You know, a few of them have said it at the same time. Now, the weaker brethren or those that are looking for a problem could say, well, Pastor so-and-so had three videos on their mate, you know, saying the same thing. I mean, there must there's no smoke without fire. Maybe there's some truth, right? You know, what if every single NIFB pastor is a narcissistic abuser then? I mean, they must be because everyone's saying they all are, aren't they? And that's what, you know, weak people get kind of condiment by this, don't they? But do you know what I think when I see these things crop up and hopefully it will help you, because again, like I said, I'm not getting all that stuff, OK? I've only added like just a little sample of it. But a lot of people maybe get shaken by that stuff. Maybe go, well, I don't know. You know, and I have had people come to me, go, oh, did you see that video saying that? It's like, look, this is how I see these things, OK? The anonymous YouTube video isn't of God. Just in case you're wondering, right? That anonymous person on YouTube accusing, slandering everything else. That's not of God. That's not how God deals with pastors. He's like, right, we need to get one of my anonymous gang on this, you know? OK, the slander on social media isn't of God. Yeah, OK, just in case you're wondering that they're trying to contact demoralizers, sow seeds of doubt in church members isn't of God, because a lot of them, look, we see the stuff online, right? When you talk to talk to our pastor and others, like they'll tell you about all the other stuff that goes on within the church, which other people aren't aware of. And it's all the same crap. It's people leaving or not leaving, people from the outside, people from the inside trying to slander, trying to demoralize, trying to sow. It's all the same stuff all the time. It's not of God. That's not how God deals with these things. He's not like, right, we need some like whispers and some quiet little slanders and hopefully we'll pull enough people out of the church it will crumble. Do you think anyone think that's how God deals? Anyone see God deal with that in the Bible that way? No, he didn't. No, he didn't. Do you know what's of God? Accusations being bought decently in an order with two or three witnesses present to judge a situation. That's of God. OK, now don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to say pastors are beyond getting taken down, but against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses. OK, now, if people want to bring forward the witnesses and everything else against a pastor and it's legitimate and they could be cross examined and checked and it can all be proven true. Then, look, if it's disqualifying stuff, then, yeah, they should be disqualified. Right. And they would hopefully go, yeah, I should stand down. And if they don't, we've seen that in the past. People like Donnie Romero and others. I mean, that was just clear as day. The guy was proven to be just just, you know, let's be honest, a complete wrong. And he was removed. Right. OK. However, the rest of it is nonsense. And here's the thing is that if someone is accusing your pastor, which happened previously with Alex here, by the way, who was subtly saying to people trying to accuse our pastor of things in the background and stuff like that, or and I'm going to include the ordained leader, because ultimately it's accusing your pastor because he's placed me in charge as the evangelist here. Or or any other bona fide pastor, by the way. So if anyone's just accusing any proper pastor out there of this or that and coming with gossip and slander and everything else, you need to come see me about it. Understand? However subtle it might be. However, sort of, well, yeah, but I don't know what I really I don't know. I mean, they just have been going on about blah, blah, blah, for the last however many months. They just been talking about like narcissists for two months. So, yeah. Why aren't you telling me? Because it's quite when it's obvious, it's obvious, isn't it? Right. And. If you had his term by the same old tactics, I'm not saying it is, yeah, the usual diligent search followed by attempted believable slander, you need to wise it up. Yeah. OK, this isn't there's nothing new. OK, this is the normal crap. Yeah. Unless you think, oh, hopefully we can get some traction going with this. You know, this is ridiculous. Yeah. And if it's clear cut that someone's doing that, verse 20 says, them that sin rebuke before all, the others also may fear. And by the way, that's not talking about the hypothetical elder singular from verse 19, it's those accusing without it being done properly. OK, it's people trying to accuse the elder or the the person standing in the place, standing instead of the elder. Or I would I would add to that, obviously, their wife, because they too shall become one flesh. Yeah. Then you need to you need to make that clear. Right. So then they can be rebuked before all that others also may fear. OK, because that stuff's wicked. And what's the ultimate goal? Just to tear down churches. Now, he then says this in verse 21. I charge thee before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the elect angels that they'll observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality. So he's saying don't choose favorites. OK, for example, when it comes to all day, because what's Timothy ultimately what's he going to be doing? He's ordaining men. Yeah, they're like planting churches everywhere, spreading churches around. One of one of Timothy's jobs as a pastor is to plant other churches. OK, I mean, that's how it works. Churches beget churches. OK. And he's saying, look. Observe all these things. And by the way, he's talking to Timothy, don't receive an accusation, by the way, against one of these guys that maybe you've sent out another pastor, unless you've got two or three witnesses. Right. OK. And look, that's a wise thing, isn't it? So, well, let's let's hear it done properly. Right. But he's also saying don't choose favorites. So, for example, he's sending them out. They're getting accused of stuff. And maybe they do have the two or three witnesses. It's like, don't start, you know, don't start preferring one before another. Or maybe someone else. He's got someone whispering and slandering one of the pastors that he doesn't really get on with. They're not really got as much in common. He's like, yeah, it must be wicked. Let's get tear this guy down. You know, he's saying, he's saying. Observe these things without preferring one before another, without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality. And then he's also talking about in terms of ordination, he said, lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partakes of other men's sins, keep the self pure. So he's not talking about beating people up. He's saying don't ordain people off the cuff. OK, don't just lay hands suddenly on someone. Just go, oh, yeah, well, they've got two kids. Quick, two kids, say, read the Bible ten times. Oh, man, do your business. You know, it's like, don't do that. Yeah, he also said, he said, lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partakes of other men's sins, keep the self pure. So you could say he's talking about don't get pulled into the peer pressure. You could also say just if you're laying hands suddenly on no man, you are becoming a partaker of this. If you're if you've just foolishly just shotgun ordained someone and sent them out, then you are a partaker of of at least in some ways of what goes wrong from that. Right. OK, he's given him all these lists of of of qualifications, everything else. Don't just lay hands suddenly on someone. Yeah. Keep the self pure. OK, because who's ultimately going to get accused then? Timothy as well. He then said, drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and I'm offering photos. I'm just giving out these single commands here. And by the way, I got asked to explain this in a comment yesterday on an old sermon of ours. It come up on my email and I haven't replied yet, but about, well, can you explain this? Because it was a sermon on drinking and on boozing. Oh, what about this person? Try and do that, don't they? Well, what about this? So do you read this ago? Is Paul telling Timothy to get on the booze? I mean, is anyone looking at that? I hope not. I mean, at least if you're claiming to believe the Bible and read the Bible, you know, he's saying, oh, drink no longer water, but use a little wine. You know, it's like having just said, keep yourself pure in the verse before. Keep yourself pure. Oh, by the way, you need to get drinking. It's time to start hitting the bottle. Timothy, having said in Chapter three that a bishop must be not given to wine. And, you know, obviously, if these were both talking about alcoholic wine, it would be a bit contradictory and hypocritical when ordaining people, wouldn't it? Yeah. Be like, right, I've got to ordain people that aren't given a wine, but I've just been told by Paul to keep myself pure and get on the wine. Yeah. Would regular drinking cure his stomach and his illnesses? Honestly, people question this stuff, don't they? Like, but it says wine. It's like, yeah, no, no, he's got a bad, he's got a bad tummy. He's getting ill a lot. You better start cracking open the bottle a bit more. That'll solve it. Madness, isn't it? OK, perhaps considering wine refers to both fermented and unfermented juice. Perhaps he's talking about the unfermented type here. Perhaps. And I'm not going to go there because we already did that. A couple of sermons are going. It gets a bit tiring. But if you are sitting there going, just say wine, then please just go back and watch. I think first thing we did in part one, we talked a bit about alcohol, maybe part two or many, many other sermons, just you can find a lot. Or just read the Bible, read the Bible and just read it. And when you see wine, think it could be, if put in your mind, juice, fermented or unfermented, and you'll start to make sense. For example, when Jesus went in, like, turned however many gallons and gallons of water into wine, it clearly wasn't alcoholic. All right. OK. And that will probably help you understand that a bit more, because otherwise it could be a bit confusing. Jesus just came and ordained a massive booze up. No. OK. But but why? Because, by the way, unfermented juice, so here I would imagine it's grape juice here is full of great medicinal properties. OK. And you can probably help your stomach a bit. In fact, I've looked at some stuff years ago about this and, you know, grape juice being great for like certain issues with your stomach. It's got a lot of good. So, you know, they always get they always try and go, oh, yeah, well, wine's got grape medicinal. What about the resveratrol? And what about this? Yeah. Where does all that come from? The grape juice. Yeah, it all comes from the grapes. It's not, oh, well, now it's got alcohol. It's become much better. No, no. Now you just added the poison to the good stuff. So maybe just drink the grape juice. Yeah, it's not trying to justify booze. Which is poison. And verse 24, then we're going to finish up. So some men's sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment, and some men they follow after. Likewise, also, the good works of some manifest beforehand, and they that are otherwise cannot be hid. So basically, I think this is what I would be thinking about these verses. I think it's saying that there are some false prophets that are obvious, in obvious sin, some men's sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment, and some men they follow after. Yet people still follow them, right? So there are people that are just like openly bad and people just follow them anyway. Like, for example, we've had that before here, right? Just clear as day, just open sin and people just follow them, right? And then you've got those whose good work shines through and those whose don't can't be hid. And I think we're still on the topic of ordaining elders here. I might be wrong, but I think, you know, it's been a bit of a theme in this chapter. And he's talking, or at least in the last couple of chapters, and here he obviously talked about laying hands suddenly on no man. So he said in verse 21, I charge you before God and the Lord Jesus Christ elect angels that thou observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality, lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partakes of other men's sins, keep thyself pure. There's this then quick instruction about itself before going back for me to the ordaining part again, saying some men's sins are open beforehand going before the judgment, some men they follow after. Likewise, also the good works of some are manifest beforehand and neither or otherwise cannot be hid. Basically, look, if you're not seeing these good works, you're not seeing that manifested in people, don't start laying hands suddenly on them. I think is what we're talking about. I might be wrong. And if you've got another interpretation of that, I'd be interested. That's what I've got out of that. Basically, look, if you're looking at, you know, for Timothy, he's looking to ordain people, looking to send people out. Now, look for those, you know, where the good works are manifest beforehand. Yeah. OK, because those aren't going to be hid. OK, when it comes to that sort of thing, you're going to see it. And that's why we should be doing things by partiality. Oh, well, he's my best mate. We get on so well, but they're not suited to that sort of thing. Right. And Timothy's told to do things decently in order properly. We're going to finish up there. That was first Timothy chapter five. There's, I know again, there's a lot in there, a lot of different talking points, but hopefully some of that, you know, has been interesting. At least you're maybe edified you in one way or another. And just then we're going to pray now. Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for all of this. Just just great instruction in this book, Lord, and all the many lessons we can get out of it. And we thank you that, you know, you just kind of give us just clear instructions for certain things in church life, Lord. So, you know, we're not just kind of second guessing things, things like, you know, the supporting of those. And we're not we're not here to just kind of throw your money to just all and sundry for no reason, Lord, that ultimately the point is to be able to further the gospel. And that that takes that that needs leadership, Lord. It also needs people that are that are here to be sent out and go and preach the gospel, Lord. And we're a church with many different body parts and help us all just come together and be an effective church, church which just goes out and gets people saved, Lord, and tries to do things as close as we possibly can to how you'd want them to be done, Lord, according to your word. We thank you for everyone that's, you know, been here today and just been a part of what we've done today. Thank you for the salvation. Please help those who got saved to, you know, want to be built up in your word as well to want to come to come to, you know, your church here in South End and serve you properly, Lord, and help us all get home safe and sound to return on Wednesday for the evening Bible study and services. We pray all of this in the Lord Jesus Christ's name. Amen.