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Jesus is calling you now · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: Whenever we go to church, we expect that the pastor
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Speaker 1: will encourage us through the scriptures.
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Speaker 2: After all, that's his job. That's his responsibility.
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Speaker 1: But sometimes it's his responsibility not only to comfort the afflicted,
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Speaker 1: but to afflict the comfortable.
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Speaker 2: So it comes as.
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Speaker 1: No surprise to read that the Apostle Paul does both
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Speaker 1: when he writes to pastors. I'm thinking in particular of
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Speaker 1: 1 Timothy chapter 5. I'll read verses 1 through 3,
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Speaker 1: as well as 17 through 22, and I want you
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Speaker 1: to listen closely to these words. I'll begin with 1
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Speaker 1: Timothy 5, verse 1. Do not sharply rebuke an older man,
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Speaker 1: but rather appeal to him as a father, to the
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Speaker 1: younger men as brothers, the older women as mothers, and
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Speaker 1: the younger women as sisters, In all purity. Honor widows
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Speaker 1: who are widows indeed. And now verses 17 through 22.
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Speaker 1: The elders who rule well are to be considered worthy
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Speaker 1: of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching
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Speaker 1: and teaching. For the scripture says, you shall not muzzle
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Speaker 1: the ox while it is threshing. And the laborer is
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Speaker 1: worthy of his wages. Do not receive an accusation against
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Speaker 1: an elder except on the basis of two or three witnesses.
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Speaker 1: Those who continue in sin rebuke in the presence of all,
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Speaker 1: so that the rest also will be fearful of sinning.
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Speaker 1: I solemnly charge you, in the presence of God and
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Speaker 1: of Christ Jesus and of His chosen angels, to maintain
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Speaker 1: these principles always, without bias, doing nothing in a spirit
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Speaker 1: of partiality. Do not lay hands upon anyone too hastily
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Speaker 1: and thereby share responsibility for the sins of others. Keep
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Speaker 1: yourself free from sin.
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Speaker 2: So much of the ministry has to do with handling
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Speaker 2: people correctly. As a matter of fact, most of the
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Speaker 2: men I know who have had difficulty pastoring churches have
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Speaker 2: had difficulty because of not such things as building programs
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Speaker 2: or financial needs of a church or the inanimate difficulties,
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Speaker 2: but because of people. The inability to handle difficult people well.
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Speaker 2: Those who fail at that usually find the ministry an
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Speaker 2: irksome and, if possible to continue, a difficult thing to handle.
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Speaker 2: Those who do well at that find the ministry much
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Speaker 2: more of a delight. For some reason, some individuals who
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Speaker 2: are very gifted in handling the scriptures are quite difficult
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Speaker 2: to in dealing with people. However, I have found that
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Speaker 2: both are important, handling God's word well and also handling
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Speaker 2: people well. Just because an individual is adept in the
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Speaker 2: scriptures is not license for that individual to be abrasive
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Speaker 2: with people. And there will be every temptation to be
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Speaker 2: that way. especially as one gets more adept in the
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Speaker 2: word and handling God's word, how easy it is to
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Speaker 2: become less kind and less thoughtful and, as I said,
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Speaker 2: more abrasive. The interesting thing is that none of this
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Speaker 2: is new. This is really as old as the scriptures.
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Speaker 2: And I have found it very helpful back in the
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Speaker 2: book of 1 Timothy to come into a practical section
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Speaker 2: like chapter 5 and discover here some counsel which is
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Speaker 2: as timely now as it was in the day in
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Speaker 2: which it was written. It has to do with respecting and,
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Speaker 2: when necessary, rebuking the Saints. I want to look at
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Speaker 2: the chapter as a whole, and then I want to
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Speaker 2: look at only part of it in the time we
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Speaker 2: have together now, and later we'll take the center section,
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Speaker 2: which is the larger part of the two. But just
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Speaker 2: take a look, for example, at the people that are
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Speaker 2: mentioned in this fifth chapter of 1 Timothy. First verse
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Speaker 2: talks about an older man. It also talks about younger men.
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Speaker 2: Verse two talks about older women and then younger women
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Speaker 2: and how to deal with them. And then the third
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Speaker 2: verse down through verse 16 talks about a particular group
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Speaker 2: that you will find in every local church. And that
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Speaker 2: has to do with widows. And this young pastor is
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Speaker 2: told to honor them and how to deal with the
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Speaker 2: widows of the church. That's in verses three to 16.
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Speaker 2: I don't, know of a more complete or helpful section
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Speaker 2: on dealing with widows in a local church than 1
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Speaker 2: Timothy 5, 3 to 16. And when you get to
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Speaker 2: verse 17, the subject changes to another group of people.
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Speaker 2: We have a body of people called elders who rule well.
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Speaker 2: You'll notice in verse 17 and how they are to
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Speaker 2: be treated. And then in verse 19, we have elders
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Speaker 2: who have been accused. So we might call verse 17
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Speaker 2: and verse 18 the worthy elders who are worthy of
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Speaker 2: double honor and then 19 and 20 those who are
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Speaker 2: unworthy and how they are to be handled. What's to
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Speaker 2: be done with them? And then in 21 through 25,
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Speaker 2: Timothy is given some personal counsel on how to handle
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Speaker 2: himself in some practical situations. And again, we'll We'll look
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Speaker 2: at that next time. Let's go back to verse 1
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Speaker 2: and let's take a few minutes on this question regarding
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Speaker 2: how to deal with an older individual in the church.
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Speaker 2: It says in verse 1, do not sharply rebuke an
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Speaker 2: older man. Now, if you carry a King James Bible,
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Speaker 2: you may notice that it reads an elder man. And
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Speaker 2: this has caused some people to say that this has
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Speaker 2: reference to those who have the office of elder in
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Speaker 2: a church. And it is indeed the very word translated
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Speaker 2: elder back in chapter 3 and in other places of
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Speaker 2: the New Testament. But because elders are mentioned as a
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Speaker 2: specific group of people in verses 17 down through 20
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Speaker 2: of the later part of this chapter, I believe, and
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Speaker 2: I think those who translated the New American Standard Bible believe,
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Speaker 2: that this has reference simply to older people in the church.
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Speaker 2: The elders in the sense of age, not in the
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Speaker 2: sense of office. And Paul tells young Timothy, the pastor,
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Speaker 2: that when he's dealing with an older man who is
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Speaker 2: in need of a rebuke, he isn't to be blunt.
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Speaker 2: He is to be Well, he is to appeal to
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Speaker 2: him as a father rather than take him by the
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Speaker 2: shoulders and give him a shake or treat him harshly
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Speaker 2: as he would appear, perhaps. He is to treat that
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Speaker 2: older gentleman who is in need of a rebuke with
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Speaker 2: care as he would his own father. I find that
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Speaker 2: very interesting In fact, look at the word in verse
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Speaker 2: 1 translated appeal to him. It's a soft, it's a
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Speaker 2: gentle word. It's translated comfort in other places of the
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Speaker 2: New Testament. It is a word that has in mind
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Speaker 2: the idea of pleading with what used to be called
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Speaker 2: entreating a person. It's a gentle word. Now, periodically, older
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Speaker 2: people will stray from the Lord, and it will be
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Speaker 2: the unhappy lot of a pastor to have to rebuke
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Speaker 2: or reprove an older person. This is difficult. It's difficult
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Speaker 2: to do even when it's done right. But if it's
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Speaker 2: done wrong and the older person loses his sense of
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Speaker 2: dignity or worth, even more harm comes out of the situation,
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Speaker 2: and some of you have perhaps known of times when
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Speaker 2: that has occurred. Turn from 1 Timothy 5 to 2
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Speaker 2: Timothy 4, and look at a familiar verse, but the
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Speaker 2: part of it I want you to see is not
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Speaker 2: that familiar. Verse 2 of 2 Timothy 4. Where Paul
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Speaker 2: tells the same man, Timothy, in a second letter, to
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Speaker 2: preach the word and to be ready in season and
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Speaker 2: out of season. But not just to preach. Notice he
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Speaker 2: adds that he is to reprove and rebuke. and exhort
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Speaker 2: with great patience and instruction. Now, the preaching part of
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Speaker 2: a job is easier than the rebuking and the reproving
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Speaker 2: and the exhorting part of the job. Now you have
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Speaker 2: to deal with people. And in dealing with people who
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Speaker 2: need a rebuke or a reproof or an exhortation, You
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Speaker 2: often make your greatest mistakes. So whoever may hear these
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Speaker 2: words who will someday be in leadership or perhaps is
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Speaker 2: currently in Christian leadership, keep in mind that even though
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Speaker 2: you may be capable as a preacher of the word,
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Speaker 2: you are to handle older people gently, graciously. does not
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Speaker 2: mean that you lose firmness, but it does mean that
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Speaker 2: you are not abrasive. Now, back to 1 Timothy chapter 5,
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Speaker 2: he changes from the older men who are to be
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Speaker 2: treated as a father to younger men. And when they
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Speaker 2: are rebuked, you are to treat them as brothers. Now,
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Speaker 2: I have had a father. He's now gone, and I
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Speaker 2: treated him one way. I have a brother. and I
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Speaker 2: treat my brother another way. It doesn't mean that I
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Speaker 2: don't love him, but it does mean that I don't
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Speaker 2: treat him as a father. It means I can be
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Speaker 2: a little more abrupt. It means that when I deal
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Speaker 2: with my brother in certain things, I can be more frontal,
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Speaker 2: more direct. Even though we are now adults and both
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Speaker 2: of us certainly into our midlife years, It still means
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Speaker 2: that I may on occasion have to deal directly with
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Speaker 2: him about something, and I don't have to be quite
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Speaker 2: as gentle because I can treat him as a brother
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Speaker 2: and not as a father. Now, to use those same
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Speaker 2: words in this passage would mean that when I am
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Speaker 2: dealing with those who are younger than I, I can
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Speaker 2: be more abrupt, and I can run the risk of
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Speaker 2: being a bit more direct. But in neither place... am
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Speaker 2: I to be offensive or needlessly abrasive? Now, how about
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Speaker 2: with the older women? Verse 2, interestingly, he goes back
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Speaker 2: to the analogy of a father or a mother. When
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Speaker 2: I am to rebuke an older woman, I am not
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Speaker 2: to do that sharply, for he says that earlier in
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Speaker 2: verse 1, but I am to treat her as a mother.
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Speaker 2: And you see the point. And younger women are to
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Speaker 2: be treated as sisters in this rebuke in all purity.
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Speaker 2: Interesting he adds that. Now you're dealing with a younger
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Speaker 2: woman and there might be the temptation in dealing with
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Speaker 2: a younger woman to let the sexual innuendos get into
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Speaker 2: the thing and cloud it. He says don't let that happen.
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Speaker 2: Maintain a sense of purity in dealing with a younger woman.
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Speaker 2: Now Passages like this have caused me to do some
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Speaker 2: independent thinking regarding the whole role of the ministry or
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Speaker 2: of the minister, especially in our day and especially in
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Speaker 2: our part of the country where, in my opinion, a
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Speaker 2: lot of sloppy thinking goes on regarding ministry. And not
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Speaker 2: long ago, I put together a little handmade list on
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Speaker 2: some of the Some of the very special battles that
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Speaker 2: accompany the role of the minister. I'd like to share
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Speaker 2: them with you. There are six of them in number.
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Speaker 2: No extra charge. I'm just going to give them to you.
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Speaker 2: And you can take them for whatever they're worth. I
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Speaker 2: think they're worth putting somewhere in the maybe front piece
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Speaker 2: or the last part of your Bible. And when you
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Speaker 2: pray for a minister, pray... regarding these particular traps that
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Speaker 2: we easily fall into. This passage has led me to
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Speaker 2: come back to this list, and I looked it over
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Speaker 2: again this afternoon. The first, and not necessarily in the
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Speaker 2: order of any importance, but I would make them alphabetical
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Speaker 2: just to try to keep some order. First of all
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Speaker 2: is authoritarianism. It is easy for the minister to become authoritarian.
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Speaker 2: If the leader of an assembly represses the freedom of
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Speaker 2: God's people needlessly, if he becomes inflexible and dictatorial and
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Speaker 2: tyrannical and oppressive, it's time to stop following his leadership.
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Speaker 2: I don't care if he is the pastor. If he
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Speaker 2: handles people with threats If he lacks a servant's heart,
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Speaker 2: if he himself is not teachable, if pride is obvious,
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Speaker 2: he needs reproof. He doesn't need to be submitted to.
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Speaker 2: Authoritarianism is not the same as leadership. It is leadership
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Speaker 2: gone wild. And a congregation has every right in the
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Speaker 2: world to stand against authoritarianism. Now there's another factor that
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Speaker 2: a pastor has to wrestle with and that is exclusiveness.
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Speaker 2: So that would be the second thing you might want
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Speaker 2: to write down. And that is the attitude that says
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Speaker 2: I alone am right or we alone are right. It's
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Speaker 2: the us for and no more kind of attitude. The
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Speaker 2: exclusive spirit occurs when The leader promotes a clannish kind
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Speaker 2: of cultic following. Groupies, closed cliques. You should beware. Paranoia
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Speaker 2: often accompanies the exclusive spirit. The people out there are
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Speaker 2: against us, or all other ministers are against. or knuckleheads,
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Speaker 2: or clowns, or fools, or some such statements. Watch out
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Speaker 2: for that kind of exclusiveness in the leader. Keep your
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Speaker 2: antenna attuned to that kind of thing. Pray that the
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Speaker 2: pastor or the pastoral staff of a church will not
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Speaker 2: become exclusive in his or in their mentality. Third would
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Speaker 2: be greed. A third area that's easy for the minister
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Speaker 2: to fall into is money grubbing. This is especially true
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Speaker 2: if money winds up in the leader's pocket that was
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Speaker 2: earmarked for some particular phase of ministry. And there are
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Speaker 2: all kind of horror stories about that. And this is
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Speaker 2: true if the person is asked about his financial dealings
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Speaker 2: with regard to ministry, and he responds with a it's
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Speaker 2: none of your business kind of reaction. My common counsel
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Speaker 2: to men in ministry is to keep your hands out
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Speaker 2: of the money. Don't even find out how they handle it.
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Speaker 2: Don't take cash. Don't give change. Don't take up the offerings.
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Speaker 2: Don't count the monies. Don't even find out who gives
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Speaker 2: a lot. Dependable shepherds are not motivated by sordid gain.
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Speaker 2: Peter tells us that he's not to do it for
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Speaker 2: filthy lucre. That's an old archaic expression, but it sure
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Speaker 2: does say it well. Not for filthy lucre, but of
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Speaker 2: a ready mind. Ministers have to watch out for doing
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Speaker 2: things for the money. taking a wedding because there's money
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Speaker 2: in it, or doing a funeral because they'll make money
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Speaker 2: out of it. I'm sorry if that's too bold for
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Speaker 2: some of you that hold ministers on an untouchable level.
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Speaker 2: You shouldn't do that, you know. We ministers can be
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Speaker 2: given to greed. We have to watch, if we are
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Speaker 2: men of integrity, that we don't do it for the
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Speaker 2: bucks we make in it. That's a great temptation to
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Speaker 2: especially in a day of affluence or in a church
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Speaker 2: that is very generous. Greed, watch out for it. Pay
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Speaker 2: close attention to a pastor's financial policy. You can tell
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Speaker 2: by the way he preaches and by how much he harps.
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Speaker 2: on money as to how he feels about it. Fourth
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Speaker 2: is rationalization. When wrong is justified with a defensive spirit,
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Speaker 2: When inappropriate actions are quickly glossed over, watch out. When
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Speaker 2: scriptural truth is twisted to fit the person's lifestyle. I
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Speaker 2: know a minister who began to live a lifestyle that
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Speaker 2: was sensual. And he got around it by preaching the
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Speaker 2: doctrine of privacy. I've never seen the doctrine of privacy
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Speaker 2: in Scripture, but he found it, and it became one
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Speaker 2: of his major themes. When gray-black facts are whitewashed, stop
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Speaker 2: supporting that ministry. When he gives you another set of
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Speaker 2: definitions than you know in your heart to be true,
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Speaker 2: or you can find justification for in Scripture, Your sensitive
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Speaker 2: conscience is sounding a beeper. It's a bright red signal
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Speaker 2: to be on guard. Rationalization is happening. Something's wrong. Now,
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Speaker 2: be careful about such a suspicious spirit that a person
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Speaker 2: can't lead a congregation. You get so sensitive about this
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Speaker 2: that the guy can't say a thing without your wondering,
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Speaker 2: what does he mean by that? I heard about two
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Speaker 2: psychiatrists walking down the street and the lady walked by
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Speaker 2: and said, good morning. And the other guy said to him,
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Speaker 2: wonder what she meant by that. You know, every statement
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Speaker 2: is going to be questioned. That's not the answer either.
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Speaker 2: Sensuality is the fifth. It's a major battle for men
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Speaker 2: in ministry. I think that's why Paul says, treat the
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Speaker 2: younger women as sisters in all purity, sensuality. Um, Moral
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Speaker 2: purity is a must if a leader is going to
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Speaker 2: claim that God's hand is on his life. He's to
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Speaker 2: stay away from compromise. He's to stay away from even
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Speaker 2: the appearance of evil. It's not that he's holier than thou,
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Speaker 2: but that he's genuinely a holy man. That it's an
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Speaker 2: authentic holiness. He's not parading the holiness, he's just living it.
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Speaker 2: Follow no guru, no matter how persuasive or full of
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Speaker 2: charisma he may be, who dips into the lifestyle of
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Speaker 2: sexual looseness. If he's too familiar with the opposite sex,
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Speaker 2: watch out. Fifth or sixth and finally is unaccountability. Leaders
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Speaker 2: are to be accountable to their boards. They are to
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Speaker 2: live lives that are accountable. Be careful about following anyone
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Speaker 2: who forfeits the right to be accountable or the necessity
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Speaker 2: to be accountable. Beware of secretive, irresponsible, untouchable men who say,
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Speaker 2: I am God's anointed. Be careful about men who quote
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Speaker 2: that a lot about their lives. no matter how eloquent
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Speaker 2: or how competent, nobody is above accountability. We are to
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Speaker 2: take the confrontations of friends, and that's good for us,
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Speaker 2: and we need that. Now, all of that's kind of
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Speaker 2: in between the lines, you understand, in verses 1 and 2,
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Speaker 2: and I just wanted you to see that we ministers
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Speaker 2: live in the... but a very delicate world, a very
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Speaker 2: sensitive world. Interestingly, we talked about this as a staff
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Speaker 2: last week. We talked about how you can be in
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Speaker 2: most any other profession and live pretty much as you
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Speaker 2: please and still do a good job in that profession.
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Speaker 2: You may... You may practice good medicine and your home
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Speaker 2: be a shambles and people still come to you and
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Speaker 2: you still do good surgery or you still practice a
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Speaker 2: good medicine, though your home is coming apart. You may
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Speaker 2: have married three, four, five times and still you have
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Speaker 2: a practice that's closed because you are a good physician.
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Speaker 2: You cannot do that as a minister. The minister and
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Speaker 2: his private life, his home life, they're all tied in together.
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Speaker 2: And he forfeits the right to lead if he makes
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Speaker 2: a mess of his home. That's what we found out
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Speaker 2: out of chapter 3, and it comes back to haunt
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Speaker 2: us regularly. So you know what we did as a
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Speaker 2: pastoral staff? We prayed for our wives. We prayed for
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Speaker 2: our children. I don't know of another profession where the
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Speaker 2: man's credibility hangs on the thin wire of his wife's
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Speaker 2: faithfulness and support. But let the wife in a crazy
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Speaker 2: moment decide to up and split and take the kids
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Speaker 2: and the man's ministry is hung. Just think of that.
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Speaker 2: Or let the word get out concerning a person's moral
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Speaker 2: life and let enough people hear it, even though it
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Speaker 2: may not be altogether true. And the man's ministry easily
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Speaker 2: is shelved. That's why pastors frequently close themselves off. For
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Speaker 2: fear of that kind of rumor hurting them or hurting
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Speaker 2: the church they serve. So on either side, you can
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Speaker 2: be burned, whether it is true or even if it
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Speaker 2: isn't true. So you pray for those many ministers you
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Speaker 2: know personally that you could name before God. Not all
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Speaker 2: of them are in pulpits. Some of them are in
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Speaker 2: personalized ministries and parachurch services and Christian schoolwork and other
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Speaker 2: ministries across the board. They're not all pastoring churches. That they,
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Speaker 2: when they rebuke an older man, will do it as
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Speaker 2: they should with dignity. And a younger man is with
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Speaker 2: a brother. And an older woman is a mother. And
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Speaker 2: a younger woman is sister. By the way, you notice
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Speaker 2: the family terms? You notice that? Never once are there
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Speaker 2: business terms used. Because the church isn't a business. Church
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Speaker 2: is a ministry. Church is a family. We are family.
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Speaker 2: And therefore, we are to treat family members... Now, across
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Speaker 2: the page, just jump that section on widows because that's
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Speaker 2: kind of a unit within itself. Look over at verse 17.
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Speaker 2: Let's kind of get on the positive side. That's enough negatives.
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Speaker 2: Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of
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Speaker 2: double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching.
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Speaker 2: For the scripture says you shall not muzzle the ox...
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Speaker 2: While he is threshing, that's out of Deuteronomy 25, and
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Speaker 2: he quotes, the laborer is worthy of his wages. And
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Speaker 2: that's from Luke. Interesting, isn't it, that both are called graphe, scripture.
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Speaker 2: We get the word graph from it. It's a word
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Speaker 2: with reference to inspired scripture. By the way, it's a
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Speaker 2: pretty good verse on both Old and New Testament being scripture,
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Speaker 2: Deuteronomy as well as the Gospels. Now, the question here is,
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Speaker 2: who are the elders who rule well? This is one
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Speaker 2: of the best verses I know of that separates the
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Speaker 2: elder as such from the pastor or the preaching elder,
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Speaker 2: as some would call it. And this seems to be
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Speaker 2: a distinction here. in that office. There are some who
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Speaker 2: serve as elders who do not preach and teach. Then
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Speaker 2: there are some who serve as elders who do that.
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Speaker 2: And he says that the one who does the latter
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Speaker 2: is to have a double honor. This seems to have
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Speaker 2: reference to paying that person a wage. Some elders are
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Speaker 2: to serve without financial remuneration. Some are to serve with
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Speaker 2: a salary. remuneration. And the reason I say that is
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Speaker 2: because the 18th verse is an explanation of the command
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Speaker 2: in verse 17. In other words, it could read, let
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Speaker 2: the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor,
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Speaker 2: especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching And
29:40
Speaker 2: here's the reason. Scripture says, don't muzzle the ox while
29:47
Speaker 2: he's threshing. In other words, out of Deuteronomy, there's the
29:51
Speaker 2: picture of the beast that is threshing, that is preaching.
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Speaker 2: moving about in the stall, in the place of work,
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Speaker 2: and sheaves of corn are scattered on the threshing floor
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Speaker 2: of the room. Don't put a muzzle on him. Let
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Speaker 2: him eat from that which he's threshing. And the idea
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Speaker 2: is to let the one who teaches and preaches, the
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Speaker 2: one who serves over the congregation, we would call it
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Speaker 2: in our place the pastoral staff, eat from the threshing floor.
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Speaker 2: be paid by the congregation, would be a way of
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Speaker 2: saying it. And to put it even more directly, the
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Speaker 2: laborer is worthy of his wages. So he quotes that
30:36
Speaker 2: as a reference to it. For some reason, some Christians
30:42
Speaker 2: have an idea that it's unspiritual to pay the minister.
30:47
Speaker 2: And that's the other extreme. You've got one extreme of greed,
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Speaker 2: where the only reason the guy does it is for
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Speaker 2: the money. The opposite extreme is is the people who
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Speaker 2: think that the person who ministers in the flock should
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Speaker 2: not receive a wage. I think this passage is saying
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Speaker 2: that a wage is an order, that it is to
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Speaker 2: be fair. It is to be from the congregation, which
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Speaker 2: is part of the work of threshing. Not thrashing, but threshing. Now,
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Speaker 2: in 19 and 20, you come back to the negative again.
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Speaker 2: Don't receive an accusation against an elder except... On the
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Speaker 2: basis of two or three witnesses. Now we don't know
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Speaker 2: the background of this. Maybe Timothy had been having to
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Speaker 2: deal with this. Maybe someone had accused an elder in
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Speaker 2: his church there in Ephesus. And Paul got wind of
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Speaker 2: it and said, now let me tell you how to
31:45
Speaker 2: handle that. You don't just take every wind of rumor
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Speaker 2: and believe it. There have to be two or three
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Speaker 2: witnesses involved. And then I take verse 20 following that.
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Speaker 2: When you have two or three witnesses, then there is
32:00
Speaker 2: to be the listening to the accusation and dealing with it.
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Speaker 2: Those who continue in sin, you're to rebuke in the
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Speaker 2: presence of all so that the rest also may be
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Speaker 2: fearful of sinning. What should be the method of rebuke?
32:20
Speaker 2: The passage that we often turn to in Matthew chapter
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Speaker 2: 18 can be read now. If you turn back there
32:27
Speaker 2: for a moment, it begins at verse 15 down through
32:30
Speaker 2: verse 17. Maybe it's been a while since you've looked
32:35
Speaker 2: at it. Matthew 18, 15 talks about the process that
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Speaker 2: one is to go through when you've got to deal
32:41
Speaker 2: with a person who is genuinely in the wrong. Now,
32:46
Speaker 2: here's the way it's handled. 1850. If your brother sins,
32:49
Speaker 2: go and reprove him in private. If he listens to you,
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Speaker 2: you've won your brother. That's the ideal. Then it's all over.
33:02
Speaker 2: There's restoration. There's forgiveness. There's cleansing. There's confession. Not in
33:07
Speaker 2: that order. But all of those things have happened. And
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Speaker 2: you go right on. You've won your brother. But let's
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Speaker 2: say he doesn't. If he does not listen to you,
33:15
Speaker 2: then you take one or two with you. I would
33:17
Speaker 2: say those would be the witnesses. Those would be the
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Speaker 2: ones who have the facts. And it says, quoting from
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Speaker 2: the Old Testament, by the mouth of two or three witnesses,
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Speaker 2: every fact may be confirmed. And if he refuses to
33:35
Speaker 2: listen to them, the implication is if that brings repentance,
33:39
Speaker 2: then the job is done. But if he refuses to
33:42
Speaker 2: listen to them, then he is to tell it to
33:44
Speaker 2: the church. And if he refuses to listen even to
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Speaker 2: the church, let him be to you as a Gentile
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Speaker 2: and a tax gatherer, which is another way of saying
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Speaker 2: what we find in 1 Timothy 5, verse 20. He
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Speaker 2: is to be rebuked in the presence of all so
34:00
Speaker 2: that the rest may be fearful of sinning. This is
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Speaker 2: a very unhappy part of ministry. It is unpopular today.
34:13
Speaker 2: It is rare, thank goodness, and it is unhappy. But
34:17
Speaker 2: there have been times in your background and in mine
34:21
Speaker 2: when that has been carried out and we have seen
34:25
Speaker 2: good come from it and on occasion we have seen
34:28
Speaker 2: great offense made by it. When I began in a
34:32
Speaker 2: former church, no need to mention the church, I discovered
34:35
Speaker 2: after I came there that there had been a discipline
34:40
Speaker 2: case that had been handled rather mercilessly was a bit
34:45
Speaker 2: of a brutal approach to it and it seemed as
34:49
Speaker 2: though some people got a lot of satisfaction out of
34:52
Speaker 2: seeing a couple of folks squirm and along with it
34:57
Speaker 2: was the difficulty of politics and some of the personal
35:01
Speaker 2: things that should have never entered in and the result
35:03
Speaker 2: was that some people lived not too far from the
35:06
Speaker 2: church who had been drummed out as it were and
35:09
Speaker 2: had really not been given a fair deal. And I
35:13
Speaker 2: stepped in shortly after that happened. And for the time
35:17
Speaker 2: I was in that church, that haunted us. It just
35:20
Speaker 2: came back. It just kept coming, washing over us like
35:23
Speaker 2: the tide or like the rolling surf. It just kept
35:28
Speaker 2: hitting the shoreline. It just kept pounding away. And I
35:32
Speaker 2: thought then that the issue of rebuking and disciplining individuals
35:37
Speaker 2: in the church is such a sensitive thing. that if
35:41
Speaker 2: it is handled any way but in the right spirit,
35:45
Speaker 2: with the right time, and for all the right motives,
35:49
Speaker 2: the thing rises up and curses you. I want to
35:53
Speaker 2: warn you against memorizing Matthew 18, 15 to 17, putting
35:57
Speaker 2: it in your mental reservoir and then drawing on it
36:01
Speaker 2: quickly when you hear somebody got out of line. There's
36:04
Speaker 2: a lot of wisdom that goes into the dealing with
36:06
Speaker 2: wrong before you ever come to that passage. A lot
36:11
Speaker 2: of it. And a lot of things are being done,
36:13
Speaker 2: even though you may not know about it, by those
36:17
Speaker 2: who are in leadership. Maybe not as much as you
36:20
Speaker 2: would be comfortable with, and in some cases, maybe more.
36:24
Speaker 2: But let's be wise before we, quote, tell it to
36:29
Speaker 2: the church. I think that word of wisdom is in order.
36:39
Speaker 2: It's very easy for a church to pick up a
36:42
Speaker 2: Gestapo mentality, isn't it? You know something that helps me?
36:49
Speaker 2: Maybe it makes me too subjective, but it sure does help.
36:53
Speaker 2: Helps me to think of the offended or the offending
36:56
Speaker 2: brother as my own son or my own daughter. Helps
37:02
Speaker 2: me to do that. Or to think of that person
37:07
Speaker 2: as my sister or as my brother. They're family members.
37:12
Speaker 2: It's easy to deal with folks in kind of an abrupt,
37:16
Speaker 2: ipso facto, now that's done manner if they're not family members.
37:23
Speaker 2: But when they become members of your own clan, it's
37:27
Speaker 2: amazing how that helps. It softens the blow. Helps you
37:32
Speaker 2: become a little more gracious. At least it does me. Now,
37:40
Speaker 2: I see a couple of three things that linger from
37:44
Speaker 2: this passage, and maybe you do too. The first one
37:47
Speaker 2: is this. Even though others are carnal, we have no
37:53
Speaker 2: right to bully or despise them. I've made a list
37:59
Speaker 2: of things I need to watch out for when I'm rebuking. Anger, pride, self-righteousness, haste.
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Speaker 2: I tend to be on something like a hen on
38:17
Speaker 2: a June bug. I tend to see that it needs
38:21
Speaker 2: attention and boom and I put brakes on in in
38:27
Speaker 2: these last number of years of my life and I'm
38:29
Speaker 2: I'm glad I have. To correct someone does not mean
38:34
Speaker 2: to take advantage of them. Remember the goal is restoration
38:39
Speaker 2: not vengeance. Not to set somebody straight. And the greater
38:45
Speaker 2: goal is the glory of God. The purity of the saints.
38:49
Speaker 2: It's not some personal vindictive method or goal or motive.
38:57
Speaker 2: May I just level with you? Thanks. Some of you
39:02
Speaker 2: ought not be involved in discipline. You're too strong. You're
39:07
Speaker 2: too abrasive. Some of you. Some of you ought to
39:12
Speaker 2: pass that job on to those that are more gentle.
39:17
Speaker 2: You know, I found that in rearing our children, that
39:21
Speaker 2: there were times I needed to turn the children over
39:24
Speaker 2: to Cynthia on occasion. She always loved that. But I
39:29
Speaker 2: found that if I... I tried to deal with them
39:31
Speaker 2: in in an angry moment or when I was really
39:36
Speaker 2: up against it and I had a deadline or I
39:39
Speaker 2: didn't have enough time to do it right I would
39:41
Speaker 2: transfer to her that responsibility and she on occasion did
39:45
Speaker 2: that with me I have found that that was wise.
39:52
Speaker 2: I found that there were times she had more wisdom
39:54
Speaker 2: than I in a situation, and I needed her. And
39:57
Speaker 2: there were times I had more than she, and she
39:59
Speaker 2: needed me. That's why that parent-husband-wife team, mom-and-dad team works
40:04
Speaker 2: so well. The kids really play that against us if
40:08
Speaker 2: we're not careful. So with that same idea in mind,
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Speaker 2: let me say there are some who are even in
40:15
Speaker 2: ministry that ought to stay away from the rebuking. There
40:19
Speaker 2: are some in the role of elder that ought to
40:21
Speaker 2: stay away from the rebuking part of the job. Let
40:24
Speaker 2: it be done by those that can do it with
40:26
Speaker 2: tact and grace. Just trust me at that point. Second,
40:36
Speaker 2: there is a place in the church for personal rebuke
40:41
Speaker 2: and discipline when it's performed scripturally. There's a place for that.
40:52
Speaker 2: It is never enjoyable. It is never easy. And let
40:55
Speaker 2: me add, it's never quick. But it is essential. It
41:07
Speaker 2: occurs to me that there are times that the perfect
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Speaker 2: parent has a wayward child. And I'm referring to my
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Speaker 2: Heavenly Father and myself. There are times I'm a wayward sheep.
41:22
Speaker 2: I am so glad that God chose on most of
41:26
Speaker 2: those occasions not to lower the boom three seconds after
41:32
Speaker 2: I stepped out of line. I'm grateful that he has,
41:36
Speaker 2: as one of his character traits, long suffering. Aren't you?
41:44
Speaker 2: Something about time to realize the consequences that causes you
41:49
Speaker 2: to come back voluntarily and broken, in a broken state,
41:54
Speaker 2: to the living God. I hope this is wise. I
42:01
Speaker 2: realize that if this kind of counsel is taken to
42:04
Speaker 2: a wrong extreme, it could lead to a license. And
42:09
Speaker 2: that's not what we want here in our church. Third
42:16
Speaker 2: and finally, the greatest judgment we are to perform is
42:19
Speaker 2: judgment on ourselves. The most severe kind of judgment is self-judgment.
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Speaker 2: 1 Corinthians 11, 31. If we would judge ourselves, we
42:33
Speaker 2: would not be judged. Galatians 6, 1. If a brother
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Speaker 2: is overtaken in a fault, you who are spiritual, restore
42:43
Speaker 2: such a one in a spirit of meekness. But the
42:45
Speaker 2: verse doesn't end. Considering yourself, lest you also be tempted.
42:51
Speaker 2: That's something. Take a look at yourself before you come
42:56
Speaker 2: down hard on someone else. Greatest example of one who
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Speaker 2: had every right in the world not to be merciful,
43:11
Speaker 2: but even in that case he was, was the Lord Jesus.
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Speaker 2: Who though he was rich, yet for our sakes became
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Speaker 2: poor that we through his poverty might be rich. If
43:30
Speaker 2: you are in leadership in a ministry of any size
43:34
Speaker 2: or in any place, remember the value of respecting and
43:41
Speaker 2: the manner used in rebuking the saints. Remember that. And
43:46
Speaker 2: don't feel that you're the lone ranger, that you have
43:49
Speaker 2: to do it all alone. You will find in the
43:52
Speaker 2: body of Christ a wonderful variety. I love it on
43:56
Speaker 2: our staff that we have different men who do things
44:00
Speaker 2: A number of different things. Most of those things. Better
44:05
Speaker 2: than I alone could ever do them. And that's why
44:10
Speaker 2: you will have on occasion. These various men and women
44:13
Speaker 2: from our staff. Assisting. In parts of our ministry. Because
44:18
Speaker 2: they do it better than I. They have what it takes.
44:22
Speaker 2: I'm grateful for them. Let's bow together. On the heels
44:28
Speaker 2: of a full day. Father. and the joy of our homes,
44:33
Speaker 2: and for many, a reunion of family. We thank you
44:38
Speaker 2: for good counsel from your word. Thank you for your
44:42
Speaker 2: spirit who seems given to comfort in distress. Thank you
44:54
Speaker 2: for those private rebukes That we have been given by
45:01
Speaker 2: people who love us. Thank you for the variety you
45:06
Speaker 2: provide in your body. You're a good father. And you
45:11
Speaker 2: give good gifts to your children. And you treat us graciously.
45:18
Speaker 2: And you never ever give up on us. Thank you.
45:25
Speaker 2: Now as we begin a new week. May it be
45:27
Speaker 2: a joyful time. May it be a week that is
45:31
Speaker 2: lived in wisdom. May it be marked by grace. May
45:38
Speaker 2: we be merciful and kind, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, and
45:45
Speaker 2: yet not losing our firm commitment to things like purity
45:51
Speaker 2: and servanthood and unselfishness, the forgiveness of others. In the
45:58
Speaker 2: name of Christ, we have met. And in the name
46:02
Speaker 2: of Christ, we pray. Amen.