Well, good evening, everyone. It's good to see you all once again. You can turn with me your Bibles to the book of First Timothy, Chapter 5. At Surrey, we're going through Mark in the morning and First Timothy in the evening.
We're looking at the pastoral epistles. So tonight we're going to look at First Timothy, Chapter 5, verses 1 and 2. And I'll just read those two verses for us. 1 Timothy 5, begin reading at verse 1. Do not rebuke an older man, but exhort him as a father.
Younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, with all purity. Amen. Well, let's pray. Our Lord God, we're thankful for your work at creation, and we're thankful for your creation of man, how you made man in your image, in your likeness, how you made male and female in your image and in your likeness.
We're thankful, O God, for the institutions that you set up, even at creation. We're thankful for the roles you give to men and women in this world. And we pray, O God, that we recognize those places, even in the church, even in families, even in the civil sphere as well. We're thankful, O God, that you do give us instruction how your people ought to live and how we ought to function.
And even in your church, how members ought to treat one another, how pastors ought to care for members, and how members ought to treat their pastors, how members ought to treat one another. And we pray, O God, that we would consider others better than ourselves, that we would know our proper place in this world and in the church as well. We're thankful, O God, that you do give us instruction in these things. And we're thankful, O God, that there is forgiveness in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Even when we fail, even when we violate the fifth commandment, we confess, O God, that we violate it so very often. And we're thankful, O God, that we are forgiven in Christ for those that have believed on him. We pray, O God, you'd be pleased to save those who do not know you, ones who violate this commandment very often. We're thankful, O God, that all the sins of your people are forgiven past, present, and future in the Lord Jesus Christ.
We're thankful even this one is as well. We ask, O God, you'd send forth your Spirit. We ask, O God, that your Spirit would be pleased to bless the preaching and the teaching as it goes forth. Teach us more about you.
Teach us more about ourselves. Teach us more about your glory. And we're thankful, O God, that we have your written word that we can seek to read and study and understand. But we ask once again, you'd give us illumination from on high.
We pray in all things you would be glorified. We pray these things in the name of Christ. Amen.
Introduction
Well, there seems to be in our society an overall lack of authority. There has been a lack of the fear of God in this world. And even we see that within the church as well. Seems to be missing in the worship of God amongst the church of Jesus Christ.
And this lack of reverence for God, unfortunately, has trickled down even to human relationships as well. How we treat those who are older, how we treat those of the opposite sex, seems to have dwindled in our modern context. There seems to be a lack of care and concern for those of the opposite sex, for those even who are older than us as well. The idea that we must respect our elders seems to be lost.
There's a low regard for the Fifth Commandment. So Paul comes and gives Timothy an exhortation, an instruction here in verses 1 and 2 about how each member group ought to treat one another as it pertains to both gender and it pertains to age as well. He's already been writing in the book of 1 Timothy to deal with false teachers, men who've come into the church, men who teach false ways of salvation, teach salvation by works, and that threatens the church, it threatens the truth, it threatens the household of God. So he's written already about that, what that looks like, what that means.
He's writing it in chapters one through three, then he transitions to the application section in chapter four. We talked, or Paul talked about Timothy's ministry, talked about what a good minister looks like, then he transitioned to specific scenarios within the church. We see specifically and over a general exhortation, verses 1 and 2. Then we see widows, we see elders, we see masters, all pertaining to the Fifth Commandment, pertaining to how we treat one another.
And really, one problem that we can glean from this text is really a misunderstanding of one's place in the world and in the Church. Young people can disrespect older people, whether it's in age or in authority, and even sometimes older people can be overbearing and lack concern, lack prayer, lack understanding about where one is in one's life, especially as is towards younger people. non-members to enter into a church and begin to speak up and say things that they shouldn't say, talk about everything wrong with the church as soon as they walk in, rather than just coming in, sitting down, listening for a good while, and then once you've developed some sort of, once you get to know one another, then it's time to speak. But in our modern context, perhaps maybe because of social media a little bit, there is this wall we can hide behind that our opinion matters, that our opinion counts. And sometimes we feel like we need to assert that in a certain type of way.
But we must remember, God has given certain authorities in this world, or not both, but in the family, in the church, and in the civil sphere as well. God has given certain roles to certain people within those three spheres. Especially even tonight, we're going to look at the church and how members ought to treat one another and how pastors ought to treat So that's what we see in verses 1 and 2. Paul is giving instruction how members ought to be treated by age and by gender.
And we'll look at this treatment of members under two headings this evening. First of all, how to treat men, verse 1. And then how to treat women, verse 2. So everything you need to know about how to treat men and how to treat women will come out tonight in verses 1 and 2.
Just kidding. It's just a general exhortation. So how to treat men, how to treat women.
How to Treat Men
Notice in verse 1 then how to treat men. He starts with the older men and he gives this prohibition.
Do Not Rebuke Older Men
Do not rebuke an older man. Now I think this language of rebuke does apply to all of the categories, to young men, old women, young women, and especially old men as well. Do not rebuke. And the language that, what it means, what the word means, carries the idea of rebuking sharply or harshly.
You're not out to get anybody. You're not out to hurt them. And perhaps for Timothy, there might have been some who've been overbearing towards him. They've been mean, they've been grumpy, they've told him what he should and should not do, and then that person engages in something they should not, and Timothy then has to deal with them.
Timothy can't go, yay, finally, my turn, time to slap these guys silly for all they've done to me. There's a certain way, there's a certain way in which people ought to engage in difficult things. There are times to rebuke, there are times to reprove, but there's a way in which it ought to be done. We're not meant to strike with force.
We're not meant to hurt people. We ought to do it in a loving, kind, tender way, and especially the way in which we do it pertains to the one we are speaking to based on age and based on gender. And perhaps if you've been married for some time, you know sometimes you need to say something to your spouse, and maybe it's true what you say, but it doesn't always come across in the nicest way. Yes, the truth is still there, but we also all need to work on how we say certain things.
And so the language does apply to each category. Do not rebuke. But certainly, specifically, it does apply to older men. Timothy, a younger man, probably in his 30s, has to deal with older men.
He ought to do it in a certain type of way. Now, just because someone is older doesn't always mean they're wiser. It should be the case, and hopefully it's the case, that as one has lived in this world for a long period of time, that those hoary hairs act like a crown of wisdom upon their head. But it's not always the case, is it?
Sometimes people become senile. Sometimes people lose their minds a little bit when they get older. But it doesn't necessarily matter how they act, there's a way in which Timothy ought to act, and in turn anyone who is younger than someone who is older. And even though that person may not necessarily be wiser than Timothy, there is still some level of deference.
There still is some level of respect. There still is some level of recognizing this person's place in the world. See, the golden rule goes like this. Do unto others as you would have them do to you.
I know Pastor Butler has preached this here, because I sat in that pulpit, I sat in the pew with you when he preached it. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, not on how they actually treat you. So even someone who is older, regardless, he doesn't say, just the ones who deserve respect, just the ones who are actually... No, he says older men.
Do not rebuke an older man. Do not rebuke one with hoary hairs upon one's head. And so this really is what he's saying here in verses 1 and 2 and what he fleshes out through the rest of chapter 5 and into chapter 6 really it focuses in on the fifth commandment. And notice again the fifth commandment is not just fathers and mothers but it's about all relationships.
In fact, tonight I'm going to read several questions that come from the Westminster Larger Catechism. If I were to ask you, which commandment do the Westminster Divines spend the most time on, you might say the first. I said the first initially when someone asked me that question. You might say the tenth.
You might say the sixth. But in reality, it's actually the fifth. 10 questions, or 11 questions, 123 to 133. And question answer 124 says, who are meant by father and mother in the fifth commandment? Answer, by father and mother in the fifth commandment are meant not only natural parents, but all superiors in age and gifts, and especially such as by God's ordinance are over us in place of authority, whether in family, church, or commonwealth.
God has set up certain authorities in this world, and we ought to know our place with respect to those authorities. We ought to submit, we ought to respect, as long as they don't cause us to sin. But there is a certain order in this world, a moral order that God has set up. Based on his Ten Commandments they are the Ten Commandments are written on the heart of mankind and certainly it applies to the Church of Christ Those who've been saved and then how is how it is we ought to live based on that salvation in Jesus Christ so older men Do not rebuke an older man.
He's focusing here on age at this point. Certainly the same word is used in verse 17 for those in office, but here he's referring to age, those with hoary hairs, those with gray hairs, or just those who are older based upon age, maybe a 10-year-old to a 20-year-old or 15-year-old to a 30-year-old. That applies regardless of age, regardless, even, you know, yes, certainly kids should respect their parents and submit to their parents and obey their parents, but certainly we must all understand to some degree our place in this world. Now that doesn't mean, a caveat here, doesn't mean sin shouldn't be dealt with.
There are methods of church discipline. Difficult things still need to be said, even from young pastors to older people. Difficult things still must be engaged in, sins must be called out, and sometimes the church has to engage in church discipline. Paul is in no way saying we shouldn't do those things.
He's just highlighting the way in which it ought to be done. So do not rebuke. You're not out to get them. The purpose isn't to slap them silly for all the mean things they've said to you.
The purpose must be to encourage and exhort. And he says that. Do not rebuke. Do not do this thing, but positively, here's what we can do, but exhort him as a father.
Encourage him. Do it in a respectful way. In fact, the same language is used in verse 12. Let no one dis- or sorry, in verse 13 of 1 Timothy 4, till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation. to doctrine.
So certainly there is this public exhortation that Timothy engages in, that a pastor engages in. Everything we do, everything we pastors, anyone who preaches here, does in the pulpit is to exhort and encourage so that maybe we don't have to do some sort of private exhortation. And hopefully, but if there is a time to do private exhortation, there is a way in which it must be done. And really too, Paul is reminding Timothy of the authority that he has, because Timothy is going to have to deal with older men, older false teachers that have infiltrated the church.
He's going to have to say some hard and difficult things. And Paul often reminds Timothy of the prophecy that was given to him, the laying on of hands, verse 14, verse 12 of chapter four, let no one despise your youth, but be an example even in your age. And then even all the way back in chapter one, verse 18, as he challenges and charges Timothy to commit or wage the good warfare, he talks about the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them, that is, he can look back on what God has done, he can look back on the encouragement he's been given, he can look back on the process as he was set apart as one who would be, one who would carry the gospel to others as well. So he has this authority, he has this office authority that has been given to him, but even though he still has that, he still must engage with those older in age in a certain way.
So he must not rebuke harshly, but exhort kindly, encourage privately, do so in a way that is consistent with the one he's speaking to. In this case, one who is a father, one whom we ought to respect. Now yes, it's true, sometimes fathers aren't always the ones who deserve respect, but he doesn't say that, does he? He says, exhort one who is an older man as a father, regardless of how that one treats So, exhort.
Pastors have to say hard things. They must do it, treat him like a father. This familial-like relationship that is consistent with the Church of Jesus Christ, that is connected with Christ himself. In fact, when one is saved, we are what?
We are adopted into the household of God. We are brought into the, we call God our father. And we all do that individually as God's people. We call him our father.
In other places, Jesus is called our elder brother. And as such, when we are brought into the church of God, we are members of a church, we are considered a family. Just by way of an aside, notice that Timothy is interacting with people of every age and gender. There's no segregation going on here.
There's no church ministry. There's no youth ministry. There's no men's ministry. There's no men's pastor.
There's no women's pastor. There's no hear the cry pastor. There's no community life pastor. There's no pastor of whatever because we can't find a job for that guy pastor.
There's none of those types of pastors. Timothy engages with everyone in his church, regardless of age. Women, older men, younger men, older women, younger women. And so he must treat older men with respect.
He still needs to be firm, but he must treat them with respect and do so in a proper way. So he treats older men as a father.
Treat Younger Men as Brothers
But then Paul transitions to younger men as father. Brothers, again, the command to exhort carries over, the encouragement carries over, and notice, he now must treat these ones of similar age or younger men as brothers or as equals. What's interesting, again, even though Timothy has authority and he can use that authority, he still must defer with older men, but even as he engages with younger men, he treats them as equals. And even, we must remember as well, brethren, pastors are members too.
Even though pastors have authority, it doesn't mean we're better than everybody. We have our struggles, we have our sins, we have our difficulties, we have our say at members meetings, we have our votes when it comes to certain votes. Pastors are members too in the trenches with God's people. Yes, they have an authority, but they are still with God's people and equal with God's people.
So question answer 131 says, what are the duties of equals? The duties of equal are to regard the dignity and worth of each other, in giving honor to go one before another, and to rejoice in each one's gift and advancement as their own. We all have an exhortation, we all have a command from Paul to consider others better than ourselves in the book of Philippians chapter two. How often is it the opposite?
How often is it me, me, me, and myself? How often is it I'm gonna do what I want when I want based on what I think? Even too when it comes to how we treat others, others who should have, we should defer to. Think even for young men for a moment.
Young men who are cage-stage Calvinists for a moment. Young men who've just learned about predestination for a moment. And all they want to do is throw down with everybody concerning predestination. You know what you should do?
Don't do what I did. You should just relax. Just come to church, just listen, just pay attention, don't blog, don't try and write a book, read John Owen, and once you've read John Owen, all of it, then you can blog. But first of all, come and listen, and pay attention, and learn.
Too often we young people, and yes, me, I'm 31, and yes, I'm talking to my younger self and still talking to me right now, we just need to chill out and relax. We don't need to throw down with everybody. We don't need to say, you're wrong, you're wrong. No, no.
There are certain things pastors can say from the pulpit that young men should never be saying. And I used to think, wow, Pastor Butler said that. But then, as I've learned now, I am not Pastor Butler. And in that moment, as I look back on myself, I was not Pastor Butler in that Moment and even to sometimes young people not just young people, but maybe in our modern context I've seen it more is the fact that we assume a lot of things with very little information An ounce of information leads to a pound of presumption.
And what we like to do is then we like to say, well, I see this little tip of the iceberg thing that's happening, so I'm going to share my two cents with you on what's going on in your life. Maybe we just need to stop and listen to somebody first and say, I'll pray for you, rather than trying to give them advice. Maybe we just need to pay attention and just care for them and listen to them, rather than thinking we know better than they do on their own life. In fact, in 1 Peter 5, as Peter encourages the young people to submit themselves to their elders, the reason he does that is perhaps the young people were getting a little bit, you know, fired up.
They're a little cage-stagey. And perhaps they were like, you know, Peter, or churches, or elders, why aren't you doing certain things? And maybe those certain things, these fired up cage stages we're going to do, would have put the church in jeopardy. And so they had to humble themselves That's hard.
They had to humble themselves and just trust and listen to their elders. And listen to their elders, not just with gray hair, but also the elders in the pulpit as well. So we must consider others better than ourselves and defer, be slow to speak, quick to listen, slow to give our two cents. Now I will say, Perhaps with young people, there is a little bit more firmness that can be used with pastors towards young people.
I think young men do need a kick in the pants sometimes, maybe a little bit more so than an older man. Again, you treat someone based upon their age. So older men as fathers, younger men as brothers. And really, this doesn't just apply to pastors, but it applies to all of God's people. how we treat men, men to men and women to men, how we treat older men, how we treat younger men.
Again, this is a general exhortation how members should encourage and build one another up rather than tear one another down. And hopefully, as members are doing that, the pastor doesn't always have to be the go-to guy. They don't always need the pastor all the time. So the pastor's so busy, he can't do his 3,000 sermons a year.
Because everybody has to, you know, care. I guess maybe in our churches. Maybe it's not 3,000 sermons, but sometimes it does seem like a lot in our circles. Because there is a lot.
Sermon prep takes time. Two sermons on Sunday, Wednesday, it does require a lot of focus. And certainly, yes, we are happy to meet with people. Hopefully it doesn't seem like I'm not willing to meet with people.
I am very much willing to meet with people. But hopefully, too, as the church is interacting with one another, we can bear one another's burdens. We can be patient with one another. We can hear what other people are going through.
And even Paul to Titus and Titus 2 talks about the order in the church. He talks about older men. He talks about younger men. He talks about older women.
And he talks about younger men. Women the pastor doesn't always have to be the go-to guy for every scenario hopefully the Church of God is caring for one another and Considering others better than ourselves treating older men as fathers and treating younger men as brothers So younger people to older men, older people to younger men, older men to older men, younger men to younger men. The application very much applies to all of God's people as we treat older men and younger men. How to treat men.
So that's the first point.
How to Treat Women
Let's then look secondly at how to treat women. Verse two.
Treat Older Women as Mothers
So he continues this contrasting. Paul contrasts a lot. He gives one side and he gives the other side. And so we see older men, younger men.
Now we see verse two, older women and younger. So the exhortation carries over once again. This is where we can come to question answer 127. What is the honor that inferiors owe to their superiors?
And in this case, I'm speaking about the pastor to an older lady, not speaking as a woman as less than men. He's just talking in a certain way. owe to their superiors. And this applies to employees, to employers. This applies to kids, to parents.
This applies to anyone who is under authority. And the answer is, what inferiors owe to their superiors is all due reverence in heart, word, and behavior. How often is it sometimes when the boss goes away and you start thinking terrible things about your boss because he's being too mean? Maybe not you, but I certainly have done that.
Prayer and thanksgiving for them. Imitation of their virtues and graces. Willing obedience to their lawful commands and counsels. Due submission to their corrections.
Fidelity to, defense, and maintenance of their persons and authority. according to their several ranks and the nature of their places, bearing with their infirmities and covering them in love, that so they may be an honor to them and to their government." That's difficult, isn't it? All those things that are mentioned, just go back afterward, read the Westminster Larger Catechism, question answer 123 to 133. In fact, chapter 5 verse 17 all the way to chapter 6 verse 2 is talking about inferiors to superiors. members to their elders, how they ought to treat their pastor, how they ought to treat the one whom God has gifted with certain abilities over them, not to be a burden to them, not to bring them down, not to tear them down, but to build them up. to recognize the gift that God has given to pray for them. All God's people should be engaging in that towards their pastor.
The pastor certainly should love their flock, pray for their flock, care for their flock, prepare for their flock, but also the flock should be recognizing their pastors as well. And he says in verse 17, let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor. In that case, pay your pastor. Then verse chapter six talks about bond servants to masters as well.
So inferior to superior. So how Timothy ought to treat older men and older women as well. And he might have to tell women difficult things. Because the reality is women can do sinful things, right?
Women can do terrible things as well, can't they? Not just men. A lot of people sometimes think to assume that it's the men who are the worst scum of the universe, but women do terrible things as well. Husbands, don't always listen to your wife.
Happy wife, happy life is not a very good saying, is it? Holy wife, happy life. That's what it ought to be. In fact, God's ways actually do work.
I've always wondered to myself, are feminists actually happy? Like, I've actually thought that. Are feminists actually happy? They want to be strong and mighty, and they want to rule over their husband.
Brethren, that is just the common curse, isn't it? Because of sin, because of the reversal of authority that happened, Adam was supposed to have authority, then the woman, then the serpent, and then at the fall, the reversal happened. The serpent has authority, and then the woman, and now the man. See, men's Nancy-ness is a problem of the fall, and women's feminism is a problem of the fall as well.
Men need to be mighty and strong, and women need to be, I'm not saying they shouldn't be, you know, speak up sometimes, they should speak up, but they ought to submit to their husbands as well. There ought to be a dual-sided thing going on. Husbands, love your wives, give yourself up for her, don't be a Nancy boy, tell her she's wrong sometimes. And wives, submit to your husbands.
God's ways really do work. Those people who follow those things are actually generally the happiest people I've ever seen on the earth. Feminists always seem sour and grumpy, and men who are Nancy seem kind of sour and grumpy all the time. as well. So women do sinful things and sometimes pastors have to say difficult things even to ladies as well.
Now there is prudence involved in how it is done. Circumspection. Make sure it's conspicuous. Maybe have her husband there.
Maybe have the wife of your wife as a pastor there. Maybe another elder officer there. There's a way to avoid, you know, a difficult scenario with ladies, but sometimes ladies have to have difficult things said to them. But again, there's a way.
As mothers, tenderness, love, respect. They are the gentler sex, and we need to recognize that and see that. And as a pastor, and not just a pastor, all God's people, if they have to deal with sins of You know, ladies, it ought to be the case it is done as mothers, in a kind, tender type of way, with respect, with love, and with reverence. So, older man as a father, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and then lastly, younger women as sisters.
The identity of these ones is further fleshed out. Even older women, younger women is further fleshed out actually with the widows in verses three and following. How we determine one is actually a widow. How do you determine one who should be brought into the role of widows to be cared for.
I mean, there's a very specific application to verse 2, older women and younger women, how they ought to be cared for. The ones who are really widows provide for them. Younger ladies who like to get married and, you know, go away or like to move away from Christ for marriage, perhaps they fall in love with an unbeliever and say, I love him, rather than recognizing their place their allegiance to Christ and they go with the guy who loves them rather than the Lord Jesus Christ. By the way, conversion dating never works.
If you are dating someone who is not a believer and you profess to be a believer, break up with that person right now until they become a believer. Conversion dating never ever works. You must marry in the Lord. But what if I love him?
What do you believe? What does the Bible say concerning what that looks like? You must marry in the Lord. And Paul does give some exhortation on specifics with that.
He doesn't want them to marry unbelievers. He does want them to marry believers in verses 11 and following of chapter five. But for the general exhortation, treat younger women as sisters. Again, a care and a tenderness. a respectfulness again with these ones, and he gives a qualification with all purity.
The word itself is used in verse 12 with respect to in all purity. Perhaps there's a general reference, moral purity. I think certainly in verse two that moral purity is involved, but the focus more is on chastity, propriety, sexual protection, making sure that one does not look upon young ladies with lustful intent. That's what he's trying to say.
That's what he's highlighting here. Treat them as a sister. Remain chaste. It's your first duty towards the youth one to recognize that they are your sisters with all purity.
And so again, they are equals as far as age, younger men and younger women, brothers and sisters. Now, even though they are equals, I figured here would be a good time to refer to the question answer that refers to superiors to inferiors. Pastors, to some degree, do have authority based on their ecclesiastical role. But even though they have that authority, we're not meant to lord that over people.
We have to assert it at certain times, certainly, and be strong in that. But at the same time, we must defer to others as well and recognize the place of members in our church. And so question answer 129, what is required of superiors towards their inferiors? It is required of superiors, according to that power they receive from God and that relation wherein they stand, to love, pray for, and bless their inferiors, to instruct, counsel, and admonish them, countenancing, commending, and rewarding such as do well, and discountenancing, reproving, and chastising such as do ill, protecting and providing for them all things necessary for soul and body, and by grave, wise, holy, and exemplary carriage to procure glory to God, honour themselves, and so preserve that authority which God hath put upon them.
It's a great responsibility in a role of authority. It's a great responsibility as one who is a superior, whether it's parents to children, that's a great responsibility. Whether it's in your work scenario, whether you own a business, whether you teach, whatever. If you're in a role of authority, that's a great responsibility.
And pastors as well have a great responsibility and authority that is given to them to care for their members in a certain way and to protect them while still calling them out. to make sure to recognize that's difficult to do. How to say certain things, brethren, is a difficult practice to engage in. It only comes through actually having to say difficult things. And when you say a difficult thing, you don't always say it in the nicest way.
Perhaps sometimes you have to say a difficult thing to an older man, and it doesn't come across towards him like it would towards a father. It is more slapping and wanting to bring down. Or a younger woman, or an older man. We mess up in those areas, as long as the motive and the intent is to care for the flock that has been given to them.
And I do know, throughout history, and it's wretched and terrible recent history, pastors, religious men, have used their position of power to fulfill their own desires. And it's wretched and wrong. But whatever happens to those people in those scenarios is tragic and wrong, and those things need to be dealt with. Those pastors need to be removed.
Those pastors need to be taken out. Those ones who've sinned need to be called out and dealt with. There's church discipline for those. things. Pastors have a great role, have a major role towards their flock, and it ought to be engaged in with love and tenderness, but authority and having the best interest of their flock at heart, even towards younger women.
And some practical thoughts with how a pastor deals with younger women. He is never alone with a woman. In our modern context, that just should be the scenario. Never alone with a woman.
Perhaps the wife of the pastor is there, or perhaps the pastor can encourage her to see another older woman. There are certain ways to avoid very, very precarious scenarios. And they ought to be avoided at all costs. So, Timothy, older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, with all purity.
And again, the application is towards all members, how we treat older women and how we treat younger women.
Women Caring for One Another
And one general observation we can make with respect to how women ought to treat one another is highlighting the importance and place for women to care for one another in the Church of Christ to avoid those very difficult scenarios. I know sometimes in our modern context, because of feminism, women want to preach and teach. They want to stand in the pulpit. But God said, I had a word.
I don't care if God said you had a word. The Bible says otherwise about your role and place in the church. You cannot preach and teach. But that doesn't mean you're sub-human.
That doesn't mean you're less than man. But brethren, there is still a place for women in how they can help in the church. How they can be of encouragement in the church. And that's caring for one another.
Pastors, again, to avoid certain things, it might be the pastor says, hey, young lady, why don't you go see this older lady? Or maybe some young lady can just go see that older lady without even having to deal with the pastor. You see, it highlights the place and importance as members of the Church of God for all of us to care for one another. And notice it's not always a special ministry.
We're gonna have breakaway ministry just for these ladies. and then we're going to do this for these ladies and then we do this for men. It's just organic in how it operates. Brethren, sometimes I think we think in our modern context the pastor has to decide everything that happens in the church or the church has to do everything for me. Brethren, God has given us responsibility to use our brains to use our noggins.
And if someone is hurting, you don't have to come and ask the pastor. Go and help them. Pray for them. Care for them.
Love them. And if you're struggling and you need help, it's not wrong to call upon another member in the Church of Jesus Christ. These things can happen organically. and in a very special type of way to build one another up, to care for one another, to bear one another's burdens. It doesn't mean we have to have knitting class.
If you want to knit, I don't care. I want to have a get together with everybody knitting. That's fine. But we don't always have to have those things.
These ways in which we care for one another can develop organically in the Church of Christ. So it's good, we see the place of all the members of Christ's body, of the members of Jesus Christ, members of the church, members of the household of God. And how we treat women, we must treat women, especially men, all other, treat women with chastity. And certainly the exhortation, younger people to older men, and older people to younger women.
So even in these two verses, Paul does give some sort of exhortation, explanation, in how we ought to treat one another. How the pastor certainly should treat members in his church, but also how members should treat one another and care for one another. Because we are part of that family of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. We call him our Father.
The Doctrine of Adoption
Brother, I don't think we sometimes realize how revolutionary the Lord's Prayer is. The fact that individuals can call upon the God of heaven and earth as our Father in such a blessed and familial way because of Jesus Christ, because of our elder brother. Brethren, there's something very special about the doctrine of adoption. I think it gets lost between justification and sanctification.
It actually is between justification and sanctification. The confession, it's only one paragraph, but it gets lost in there. We sometimes forget that we are considered children of the living God. We are considered sons of the living God.
We are part of the family of God, and we have an inheritance that is given to us in the Lord Jesus Christ. We long for it. We desire it. We hope for it.
But even God, in his word, gives us exhortations in how we ought to care for one another as the household of God. God is our father. Christ is our elder brother. And thankfully, For those that violate the 5th commandment, just like may we violate the 6th and the 7th and the 8th and the 9th and the 10th and the 1st and the 2nd and the 3rd and the 4th, there is forgiveness for violating the 5th commandment as well.
There is forgiveness for not doing what all the Westminster divines said there. One thing that's so wonderful about what they do in the Westminster Larger Catechism, as they expound the 10 commandments, we're all found out in it. There is no sin that is not uncovered when we read the Westminster larger catechism on the 10 commandments We might think we're pretty good with this one and then you read it and you're like wow Here's how many of those little explanations I violated and so I then in turn have violated that commandment and perhaps as we've read the fifth commandment and seen all the the moving parts, the equals, superiors to inferiors, inferiors to superiors. Hopefully we see the wonder of Christ, that he kept all of that in perfection.
He kept it all perfectly. He came to, and he did so, he kept all of it, one through 10, in a perfect way for his people. Sinners aren't just the murderers like Paul says he was, and he was in chapter 15 of 1 Timothy chapter 1. But thankfully there is salvation for the insubordinate, and there's also salvation for the tyrannical as well in the Lord Jesus Christ.
If you confess your sins to him, if you've been a tyrannical parent, or a tyrannical boss, or a tyrannical whatever, there's forgiveness in Christ. And if you've been an insubordinate worker, an insubordinate child, an insubordinate whatever, there is forgiveness in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Christ's Perfect Obedience and Forgiveness
For he came to save his people from their sins, and certainly the fifth commandment falls under the explanation of what sin is. Christ kept it perfectly. He honored his father and mother. He honored authorities.
He honored those in high places for his people. Well, let's pray.
Closing Prayer
Our Lord God, we are thankful again for your word and for the whole counsel of God, even on things pertaining to how we treat one another. We pray, O God, that we would not rebuke each other sharply, But we pray, O God, that we would exhort and encourage one another based upon gender and based upon age. Help us, O God, to admonish or to encourage those who are older men as fathers. Help us to encourage younger men as brothers.
Help us to encourage older women as mothers and younger women as sisters. And we're thankful, O God, for the blessing it is to be part of the household of God, to be part of the family of God. We're thankful, O God, that it is in our elder brother, the Lord Jesus Christ, who was perfect in every way. We're thankful that he kept every iota of the commandments in a perfect, righteous way.
We're thankful for his active obedience in this. We're thankful, O God, for his perfect law-keeping. We're thankful that this is the basis for our righteousness. We're thankful, O God, it's not a righteousness that is our own, but it comes from Christ and Christ alone.
And we're thankful that it's alien, it's outside of ourselves, and it's because of this righteousness imputed that we are not guilty before you, that we are justified in your sight. And we're thankful, O God, for this justification. And we pray, O God, as well, that you'd help us in our sanctification, help us as your people, help us as the church, help us as members of the household of God, to love and care for one another, to build one another up, to encourage one another, to consider others better than ourselves. Confess, O God, that we fail in this miserably and mightily, but we pray, O God, you'd help us by your Spirit.
We know, O God, that you are the one who works, even though we ought to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, You're the one who works in us both to will and to do so we pray Oh God you would work by your spirit in the hearts of your people We pray Oh God that you'd sanctify us and that we'd be sanctified by faith in you Recognizing that you can help us even in these things though as well Oh God forgive us for our selfishness wash us afresh in the blood of Christ we're thankful there is much forgiveness in this one and we're thankful that the church is the household and a household and the family of God and We pray that you encourage us now as we go into the world. We pray, O God, you be glorified in all that we do. We pray these things in the name of Christ. Amen.
We'll close with a brief time meditation. The piano's finished. You are dismissed.