1 Timothy 5:17-25

Honoring the Elders

July 12, 2009

Simon Goncharenko

21 FELLOWSHIP, sbc

Outline

How a church can honor its pastor:

I.                   Remunerate him generously – 17-18.

Financially – money – A hardworking pastor that is a good teacher and preacher ought to be remunerated in a way that is honoring his commitment and sacrifice – 1 Cor. 9:7-14.

a.       Hardworking pastors should be paid more (not less) than the average person in the congregation – 17.

b.      Like an ox should be allowed sustenance as it works the field, a pastor should be supplied sufficient income to where he and his family are not starving – 18.

The 1^st part of the verse is a quotation from the law portion of the OT – Deut. 25:4. 

c.       Like a laborer that is hired for a day earns his wages at the end of the day, pastor’s work too is worthy of adequate pay – 18.

II.                Reject unsubstantiated accusations against him – 19.

            “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire” may be a good slogan for a volunteer fire department, but it does not apply to local churches.  Sometimes there is a lot of smoke and no fires at all.

III.             Require a higher accountability standard from him – 20-22, 24-25.

 Due to very high public visibility of a pastor’s job his public accountability is to be stricter than for others -

a.       Expose sin - Discipline – when discipline of a pastor is administered, it should be done publically since his sins have a public effect – 20.

b.      Avoid partiality – a solemn charge before heavenly witnesses – 21.

c.       Examine those you ordain - Ordination – proper testing should be done of the individuals desiring ordination – 22.

(*  For health reasons, a little bit of wine is recommended for Timothy’s diet – 23)

                                                              i.      Whether public or private one’s actions will be found out – 24-25.

1.      Sinful actions will be discovered, whether it is prominent or hidden – 24.

2.      Good works will be discovered, both the public ones and the ones done in private – 25.