Faithful in the Way You Treat People

gonna be a day and it's coming soon Lord when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess even the rocks will cry out Lord that you are king of kings and Lord of lords amen well look God we just thank you for who you are thank you for how good you are to us Lord God and I thank you for you in you that for in you there is victory Lord there's victory over sin and death there's hope for a new life Lord God that's the Lord as we sing this last song we just want to thank you for your goodness Lord and for how much you love us we just thank you for how good you are to us are still good and you are still faithful we just thank you and we praise you Lord we have so many reasons to praise you and lift

praise to you this morning and father as pastor Ryan comes this morning let's pray that you would that you would move mightily through him Lord and in him give him the words to speak and give us years to hear you and soft and receptive hearts to receive it Lord pray these things in your precious name Amen look around take some time and greet one another good morning you could begin to locate your seat grab a bulletin we'll get ready over some announcements welcome to Calvary Chapel I'm glad that you have joined us this morning a handful of things to take note of in your bulletin first of all well as always a reminder about the things over on the left to make sure that you're plugged in

somewhere but over in the middle section of your bulletin just a reminder that construction is going on and as you've noticed we are making progress so we have windows and a little bit of siding on there so if you would just continue to kind of keep an eye on little ones out there that would be great ladies there's a new experiencing God ladies study led by Elaine that's starting up Tuesday June the 24th there is a sign-up sheet in the lobby I think with all of the info on that fellas no men's breakfast this month it's just one of those months a little bit busy so I went ahead and called off men's breakfast for this month that being said happy Father's Day to all of you fellas we appreciate you yeah yeah so we appreciate you guys we've got a

little something for you so go visit with one of the ushers I got a little something for you to say thank you and enjoy so those are the things that are going on if you would make sure that your mobile devices are silenced and for our responsive reading this morning we are going to be in Psalm 75 Psalm 75 looking at the new American Standard for this if you need a copy of a new American Standard Bible there should be one in the row and as you are turning to Psalm 75 if you are able please stand in the honor of the reading of God's Word I will read the odd verses if you will follow along with pastor Allen and the even verses sausage Jesus was bathed in a destruction he was wept in the third resurrection and

was 18 years old when they brought him from the wunderw ACE chief we brings him Ezekiel we+. Mr. Elder and Proverbs Grandma Ole. boast and to the wicked do not lift up the horn do not lift up your horn on high do not speak with insolent pride for not from the east nor from the west nor from the desert comes exaltation but god is the judge he puts down one and exalts another for a cup is in the hand of the lord and the wine foams it's well mixed and he pours this surely all the wicked of the earth must drain and drink down its dregs but as for me i will declare it forever i will sing praises to the god of jacob and all the horns of the wicked he will cut off but the horns of the righteous

will be lifted up and so father we do give thanks to you we praise you for who you are and lord we ask that you would speak to us now by the power of your holy spirit father would you keep our hearts close to you would you keep our minds fixed on you and lord would you keep our hope always set upon eternity and father we just thank you and praise you in jesus name amen you may be seated and if you would open up in your bibles to the book of first timothy chapter five first timothy chapter five but before we get into that i want to read just a little short portion of scripture out of a different different book for you with all of the things going on in the world i'm not really the

give the update guy like i i just i don't i'm not smart enough always to do that i don't have the ability to do that but i do know that a lot's happened in the world this weekend israel launched missiles over into iran and struck some of their military sites iran launched an incredible number of drones and missiles back at israel we saw protests take place all over the all over the country and i don't know if you realize this or not but no one in this country wants a king i think we discovered that back in about 1776 but it still remains true today nobody wants a king so so there's this crazy stuff going on in the world not to mention what's going on between ukraine and russia

that seems to be heating back up again and there's just there's just a lot of intensity in the world today and and i read this yesterday uh that somebody else posted about this verse and i thought that this was so true and so i'm going to read to you out of romans chapter 8 verse 20 starting in verse 22 it says for we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now and not only this but also we ourselves having the first fruits of the spirit even we ourselves grown within ourselves waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons the redemption of our body for in hope we have been saved and this hope that is but hope that is seen is not hope for he who hopes what he has already seen who who hopes

for what he already sees but if we hope for what we do not see we wait for it with perseverance and we're reminded that what's going on in the world right now i'd love to be able to tell you what's going to happen next but i can't i'd love to be able to tell you well this is when the rapture is going to happen but i can't but what i can tell you is this what we're witnessing right now is the groaning of creation we're witnessing everything groaning looking for that ultimate leader looking for the person who will bring peace looking for the person who can ultimately bring rest and we know that the only one who will do that is jesus when he ultimately rules and reigns properly and

so we we eagerly wait for it with hope and with perseverance and so my exhortation to you is that if you're going to do these things keep your eyes on jesus because that's who we need to be looking for and that's who we need to be focused on because that is our only source for peace in a world that has none amen okay now over to first timothy well dad's uh on mother's day i talked about the qualifications for elders so on father's day i'm going to talk about the qualifications for the care of widows so it feels like it's really good turn about here so as we come to chapter five we're going to talk about the question of faithfulness um that we actually that's not the

theme for the faithfulness that is the theme for faithfulness here uh in chapter five the theme is faithful in the way that you treat people faithful in the way that you treat people and there's three groups of people he's going to deal with within this chapter the first handful of verses will just deal with the congregation in general and then he's going to deal with the treatment of widows and then he'll deal with the treatment of leadership within the church and so as we see here in chapter five verse one he's going to talk to us about how to be faithful to treat in general the congregation in chapter five verse one it says this do not sharply rebuke an older

man but rather appeal to him as a father to younger men as brothers the older women as mothers the younger women as sisters in all purity honor widows who are widows indeed now he deals different groups of people. Now remember, Timothy's a young guy at this point in time. He's in his mid 30s. It struck me on my way to church this morning as I was kind of thinking over this. It was like,

Timothy was probably 10 years younger than I am right now. That bothered me just a little bit, but that's neither here nor there. So he's talking to a young pastor at this point in time, right? And this young pastor has to be able to be authoritative in that he has the authority of the pastoral role that he carries with him. And yet he has to understand that as a pastor who

carries authority, he must also operate with respect in the way that he treats people. And so he deals with the four main groups of people within the church. And so he tells them, first of all, Timothy, when you address the older men, some of your translations may say when you address the elders, and that has led some to think that he's talking about the elders in the church. I don't agree with that. I think that he means when you're addressing the older men in the church,

he gives them an exhortation. He says, do not sharply rebuke them. Now I want you to take note of the fact he didn't tell him, not to rebuke them at all. He didn't tell them that no correction would be necessary, even though he was young, and he may occasionally have to talk to somebody much older than him. He didn't say they would never be corrected. He said, don't sharply rebuke them. That phrase

sharply rebuke carries with it the idea of to strike at. In other words, to deal with in a harsh sort of way. And so he says, when you're dealing with the older men, don't deal with them harshly. Instead, appeal to them as fathers. Understand the position of respect that those older men deserve. And since this is Father's Day, I will bring this out. And that is that I do believe that the older men in the church

deserve an incredible amount of respect, especially those who have raised God-fearing families and who are living God-fearing lives. Because it's not easy to be a man in this culture right now. I know that that's an incredibly unpopular statement. It's the easiest thing. No, it's not. To be a godly man in this culture is not easy. It's not easy to be a man in this culture.

It's not an easy thing to do. It's actually an incredibly difficult thing to do. Because everything in this culture is seeking to tear down a godly man. Everything from the temptations of this culture to the philosophies of this culture, everything about it is trying to tear down a godly man, especially an elder statesman and a father. I'm amazed to watch the shift that took

place over the course of my lifetime from watching television shows and how fathers were treated over the course of time. You know, it used to be, and I think it's true, it used to be, it used to be a part of my life. And I thought about this as I was kind of thinking about Father's Day. When you look at shows from like the 50s, 60s, 70s, which I wasn't alive in any of those times, by the way, but if you look at those shows, you find that the dad always had the answer, right? But there was

always so much wisdom that the father had. And there was always so much grace that he portrayed and all those kinds of things. And now when you watch a television show, a father is the biggest bumbling idiot on the entire show. Like he's the moron who can only think about drinking beer, talking to women, and saying stupid things at the wrong time, and always being in trouble with his wife, right? And listen, that's not the way fathers are to be treated. I'm not saying that sometimes

fathers haven't earned that for themselves. I'm not saying that there's not a little bit of blame that could be earned when it comes to that. But we have to realize that if a man is living a godly life in this culture, that's something to be respected. And that's something to be looked up to. It's a role model to follow. I myself personally, I'll try to say this without being

personal, had an amazing, have an amazing role model as a dad who taught me everything that I know about the word, who taught me everything that I know about following Jesus, everything that I know about being a father. And he was an amazing role model to look up to. And I have so much respect for him because of the life that he's lived. It's who I am. And so I have so much

respect for him because of that. And we need to look at the men in our church. And you need to look at the fathers in our church and show them an incredible amount of respect. And so he says, when you're dealing with the older men, don't sharply rebuke them, appeal to them as a father in a respectful sort of fashion. It doesn't mean that no matter how old you are, you can't occasionally be corrected. It does mean that it's

to be done in a much different fashion than you would perhaps someone your own age. And then he goes on to say, as you treat the younger men, treat them as brothers. Treat them as somebody that is not less than you because of the position of authority that you have, but is on the same playing field as you. They are simply your brothers in Christ. And so you treat

them with that similar sort of respect that you would treat your brother. He says, when addressing the older women, you should address them as mothers. And again, I will say this, it's not Mother's Day, but I will say this, that I am so thankful for the women that I was surrounded by growing up, who pretty well took me under their wing and treated me just like I was one of their own kids. That was another one of the blessings of growing up in the era that I grew up in, is that when you were at your friend's house, their mom didn't care whether you were their kid or not. When you stayed

there, you were their kid, and they treated you that way, good, bad, and ugly, right? Like, if everybody else got in trouble, you better look out because the flip-flop's coming for you too, right? I love that because you knew to respect them, right? You knew that that's mom, right? And there's so many ladies that I look at, and I still call them like one of my moms to this day. He said, treat

those older women like that. Treat them with that sort of respect, the same kind of respect that you would treat your mother, and then he tells this young pastor, he says, treat the younger women as sisters with all purity. He says, when you see the women that are closer to your age, remember those are your sisters in Christ, and you can save yourself an incredible amount of angst. You can save yourself an incredible amount of sin. You can

save yourself from falling if you will look at them as your sisters in Christ, and not any other way. And purity. I'll never forget our very first day on campus at Calvary Chapel Bible College because we sat down, the dean of men sat down with all of us, and he was this scary old contractor, right? Like, imagine a drill sergeant that can also build buildings, right? That's who Mark Schwartz is. And so he sat all of

us guys down, and he went through the list of rules for what we were to do as men on that campus. And he closed like this. He said, and men, every single one of the girls here is my little sister. Don't ever look at my little sister. And we were like, right? But listen, that's some wise advice from an older man who said, this is how you need to treat these girls. This is how you should treat

the younger women, with respect, the same respect that you would expect someone to show to your sister. And so when dealing with the congregation, he deals with these four groups of people, and he says, ultimately, we could encapsulate it with one word, treat people respectfully. Treat people like Jesus died for them, and treat people like they're children of God. And so he goes on from there to address the widows, or to address the treatment of the widows. In verse three, he says,

honor widows who are widows indeed. If any widow has children or grandchildren, they must first learn to practice piety in regard to their own family, to make some return to their parents, for this is acceptable in the sight of God. She who is a widow is, or she who is a widow indeed, and who has been left alone, has fixed her hope on God, and continues in entreaties and prayers night and day. So he starts with this treatment of the widows. Now, before we get into this,

I want to make a couple of introductory statements, some things that I think that we should pay attention to. First of all, when Paul was writing this to Timothy in the church in Ephesus, widows were one of the most vulnerable groups of people in that culture at that point in time. Women didn't just go out and get careers or jobs like they do today. There wasn't social security like there is today, or retirement plans, or life insurance policies. A woman was

completely and totally dependent upon the care of her husband. And so if that husband passed away, if that husband was gone, she was left with nothing. As a matter of fact, the inheritance would not have gone to her, because inheritance laws at that point in time went to the oldest son. And so it then became incumbent upon the son to take care of the mother, right, which is kind of what he addresses. But they were the most vulnerable group at that point

in time, because there was no one left to take care of them. And because they were the most vulnerable group at that point in time, really, in all of the time of biblical writings, God has a lot to say about the care of widows. As a matter of fact, it's pretty interesting to look through Scripture and see how often God has a lot to say about the care of widows. And so, as a matter of fact, God tells us that the care for widows is one of the most important things that we can do as human beings and as the church. And then as you move into the New Testament, you find that

one of the major roles of the church is the care for the widows. As a matter of fact, if you jump all the way into the book of James, you'll find that James says, pure and undefiled religion is to care for the orphans and the widows. So God cares a great deal about this, because they are a vulnerable group within the community in that day. But the last thing I will point out to you is this, the church has to remain with proper order of functioning. There has to be a proper

order for the way that the church functions. And part of that is understanding what the main role of the church is. Listen, I'm going to say something that's probably going to get me in a little bit of trouble, but it's true, but not everybody likes to hear it. The main function of the church is not to feed the poor. We need to understand that. The main function of the church

is spiritual care. When Jesus gave his commission to the disciples, he said, go out and make disciples. They were to preach, they were to teach, they were to make disciples. So we do need to understand that the primary function of the church is spiritual in nature, not physical in nature. That does not mean that there is not a physical aspect of the care of people that the

church is supposed to take part in. Because as I just told you, God seems to think that the care, especially for widows, is incredibly important. James, the half-brother of Jesus, told us that pure and undefiled religion is to care for the orphans, and for the widows, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world, right? And so it is important. It's an important thing that the church does, but not the main function. So you have to keep things

in order. And let me tell you why that's important. If somebody comes into the door and they want some food, and I just give them some food, and I never tell them about Jesus, then they go away with a full stomach on their way to hell. But if somebody comes in the door looking for some food, and I put the main thing first, and that is the eternal care of their soul, then I know that the best way that their soul is if their stomach is full, because they can concentrate on what I have to say, right?

And so I put the first thing first, which is the care for their soul. But as I put the care for their soul on top, sometimes that means I'm going to care for their body so that I can care for their soul. Does that make sense? You see, we keep the priorities correct. And if the priorities are correct, then everything works. If the priorities are upside down, then you missed the most important

thing. Now, that being said, Paul writes to Timothy in how to maintain the proper, order for the care of the most vulnerable in the church, meanwhile keeping the main thing, the main thing. Everybody with me so far? So he says, honor widows who are widows indeed. That word honor is really important because it means to attach an estimated value. The idea is that the physical care of the widows who are widows indeed is incredibly important for Timothy

to take part in in the church. He said, honor those who are widows. And he says, honor those who are widows. who are widows indeed. Now, the first thing that he's going to point out to him is that there should be an order of how things take place. The order of how things take place is that the family first is to take care of the widow. Notice what it says. If any widow has children or grandchildren,

they must first learn to practice piety in regard to their own family and to make some return to their parents, for this is acceptable in the sight of God. He says, Timothy, you need to understand something. Care for widows is incredibly important, and you should honor those who are widows indeed. But honoring widows starts in the home. Honoring widows starts with their family.

You know why? Because godliness is first learned in the home. Godliness is first learned in the home. That's why any kid that wants to come and serve in church, I tell them that the first thing that they should start doing is helping out around their house. If you can't clean your own house, you can't come take care of the house of God. Because godliness always begins at home.

Because that is everyone's first ministry. That is everyone's first place where they learn that. And it's important that a family learns to take care of their own. We have to understand that if someone has cared for you your entire life and they find themselves in a place where they need cared for, the most godly thing that you can do is return generous love to them.

It's to return that generous love to them. And so we understand that to care for the widows first, begins in the home. If they have children, or if they have grandchildren, it says that they are to be the first ones to take care of the widow. Now, I want to tell you what this does not mean. This does not mean that if a widow has family, the church can't help.

We need to understand that. I had somebody come and ask me that. Well, I don't think you should help widows if they have family. Really? It says it should start there. But it doesn't mean that we can't help. It doesn't mean that the church can't help. Because that's still something that the church can do. It means that that's the first step. The first place where it should begin is in the home.

Because sometimes a family can't afford to help out their widowed mother. Sometimes a family won't help out with their widowed mother. And so that's where the church steps in and says, okay, let's see what we can do to help you out in this particular situation. So the first thing he says is that it must start in the home. And I love how he ends this verse because he says,

for this is acceptable in the sight of God. Can I put that in Ryan's translation? God really likes it when that happens. God really likes it when that happens. You know why? Because it means that godliness is forming in the heart of people. Because the way that you treat people is a good indication of what your faith actually looks like. He goes on from there to explain what a widow indeed is.

Verse 5. He says, Now she who is a widow indeed has been left alone, has her hope fixed on God, and continues in entreaties and prayers day and night. So how do we know if she's really a widow? Well, it gives us the categories right there. She must be left alone. In other words, no one there left to take care of her. The second thing is that she must have her hope fixed on God.

The third is that she must be someone who serves God in particular in the area of prayer. In particular in the area of prayer. Those seem to be the criteria for what it means to be a widow indeed. Someone who is left alone. Somebody who has their hope fixed on God and somebody who serves God through prayer. He then goes on to give a couple of warnings. Very interesting.

He says in verse 6, But she who gives herself to wanton pleasure is dead even while she lives. Prescribe these things as well so that they may be above reproach. But if anyone does not provide for his own, especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. He gives two warnings here. One is a warning to the widow.

One is a warning to those who would not take care. The first is a warning to the widows because he says, A widow is one who is left alone, who has faith in God and who is serving the Lord. But someone who is only after pleasure is already dead even while she's alive. What does that mean? It means if you're a widow, you can't live like a golden girl. Right? That's just all that there is to it.

I remember that show when I was a kid. And it's like, dude, these are the three dirtiest old women ever. Like, how can this be? That's exactly who he's talking about here. Listen, fleshly sin does not care how old you are. Fleshly sin does not care about your marital status. If you live in fleshly sin, then ultimately it leads to death in your life. And he gives this warning.

He said, you can't be a widow who's running around trying to sow her oats everywhere that she goes. Oh, I'm free now. I can do whatever I want to do. And he gives this warning against the flesh. And can I just make a little application to all of us here right now? Because it's a really good reminder that whether you're a widow, or not, if you live in wanton pleasure, you are dead while you're alive.

Right? I read this. I think J.P. Pecluda posted it. But he said, sin feels like freedom until you try to quit. Right? And that's just all that there is to it. Because you realize I'm dead while I'm alive. I'm pursuing the things of the flesh. And oh, it's so great. I'm living in so much freedom. Except I just found out that I'm in prison. I'm in prison to the desires of my flesh.

And now that's all you know how to do. Ask God. Ask anybody that's caught up in any kind of addiction. And they'll tell you, it started off feeling like freedom until what I realized I was building was a prison. So he says, first of all, you must be aware of that. You must be aware of helping those who are just living in wanton pleasure. But the second thing that he warns about is if anyone does not provide for his own, especially for those of his household,

he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. I think this has a really wide reaching scope to it. It, first of all, deals with those who are unwilling to believe. It deals with those who are not willing to help out, especially a widowed mother in need. Like, if you are not willing to help out in that situation, man, like, God has some pretty harsh things to say about that, right?

Like, the Bible has really harsh things to say about it. And Paul's not the only one that has these kind of harsh things to say about it. Throughout Scripture, you find that those who will not care for those in need, God has some pretty harsh things to say to you. But can I just make this a broad brush application in a culture where a lot of people just don't want to work?

Especially, again, dads. I'm going to. I'm going to work on us here for just a minute. Especially in a culture where men don't want to work. We need to understand that if somebody will not provide for their family, they're worse than an unbeliever. You know why? Because even an unbeliever is willing to go out and go to work to make sure that he can put food on the table.

And if you're a believer in Jesus Christ and you're unwilling to get a job, that's a pretty dangerous place to be. I just had another conversation with a guy that owns a construction company the other day. And he said, I just wish I could find someone that would show up to work every day and do a job. That's all. I don't need them to be good at it. I don't need them to be the best carpenter ever.

I just need them to show up every day and me know that they're going to work. And I would like to say that that's the only time I've heard that statement. But it's not. It's the statement I hear on a weekly basis from people that own businesses, from people that run businesses, from people that are managers, from people that just work. They're like, I wish I could get somebody to show up and help me because I can't get anybody to go to work.

And it's a dangerous place that we've come to in our nation. It's a dangerous place that we've come to in our culture when there are those who are unwilling to not only show up to work, but are definitely unwilling to support their families. Because I'm here to tell you right now, the Bible has really harsh things to say about that. We should take care of people that are in need, but we need to make sure that they're really in need.

We should take care of people that need things, but we need to make sure that they are people who are not trying to take advantage of a system. And so he gives these two warnings, that you should not give yourself to the flesh, and that you should not be one who is willing to see someone hurt. While you sit back and don't do anything about it. Now, as he moves on from there, he gives these rules for receiving help.

Rules for receiving help. And it would seem as though the culture that they were living in, when someone became a widow, they would end up on some sort of a list within the church. We kind of know this even all the way back to Acts chapter 6. Because if you were to go all the way back to Acts chapter 6, you would find that the very first issue that arose within the church, remember what it was?

It was adultery. It was adultery. And in fact, here's going to be an episode on how that happened. We just in fact went back through a larger list of witnesses. We went over some of the books that we read, some of the songs that we stronger deed a verse and some of the songs that we recently read. We've covered all three things there as well. As we go back to Acts chapter 6.

The people present in the hymn chick. One of suchtam in Acts chapter 6. There is a whole list of witnesses. It was the lashes. You weren't listening. Fuck. well, this is the widow's list, and these are the people that receive this much a month from the church or this much food a month from the church. But again, we live in a different culture. But what he does is he lays out rules for what it looks like there. And when all is said and done,

I'll try to bring about some principles that I think apply to our culture today. So he says this, a widow is to be put on the list only if she is not less than 60 years old, having been the wife of one man, having a reputation for good works, if she has brought up children, if she has shown hospitality to strangers, if she has washed the saints' feet, if she has assisted those in distress, and if she has devoted herself to every good work. So he gives this list, and it's kind of an interesting list to look at. It reminds me a little bit of the list of the qualifications for deacons and elders. Can we all kind of agree with that? There's even some similar language that's

used here. So he starts off by, saying this, you have to be at least 60 years old. Well, I mean, that's kind of close to retirement age, right? Maybe it's 65 in our culture today. I don't know. It seems like whatever job you have, the retirement age looks different. But he gives this like age qualification, has to be at least 60 years old. But then he gives some character qualifications. She has to be the wife of one man.

It's interesting because the same wording that's used here is used in the qualifications for elders and deacons when they said that they were to be the husband of one wife. The idea is, hey, one wife man, right? A one man wife. And so, sorry, I got that confused for just a minute. That's the idea that she was to be the wife of simply one man. And so she was not to be one who

had multiple husbands, not that divorce eliminates you from this, but that you weren't married at one point or weren't married to multiple men at one point in time, a cultural thing for them. The next thing is that they were to have a reputation for good works. They were to be hospitable and they were to be devoted. To serve. And so this was what they were supposed to look like. And so can you imagine the job of

Timothy? Timothy, this young 35 year old guy who ladies are coming to and saying, I've got no one to take care of me. And how do I decide who are the right ones to take care of it? And who do I decide are not the right ones to take care of? What are some qualifications? What do I need to know to do this? And he says, well, here, here's some qualifications. This is what it looks like.

These are the type of people that you're willing to help. If they don't fit these qualifications, you need to find something else for them, something else for them to do some other way. And listen, I'm here to tell you right now, the hardest thing to do as a pastor is to tell someone, no, I deal with this a lot. I deal with this with, uh, with people that need things, whether it's people that, um, that call me up, uh, down here at the church and, hey, I need you to do this. And sometimes within two minutes, you've got to decide whether or not this

person is, is someone that you want to help or not. And sometimes people come to me and they ask me for things. You've got to decide, okay, is it, is it a legitimate need or not? And it's really nice that scripture puts out some basic qualifications for things for how we should help people. And that's what Paul does for Timothy, this young pastor here, but notice who he says should not

be on the list. Verse 11, but refuse to put younger widows on the list for when they feel the sensual desires and disregard of Christ, they want to get married thus incurring condemnation because they have set aside their pride. And so he says, well, I need you to do this. And so he says, well, I need you to do this. And so he says, well, I need you to do this. But he put two women on this list,

the last two women present fail to do theepheranti他们 She says that they might give into their desires. What does he mean by that? He says they might give into their desires. And so somebody unusual to see, be in trouble. Well at that point where Paul don't put them on the list, Hey or they're younger, he says they might give into their desires. And so I put Paul right in about

the previous pledge, he says, Don't allow the younger women to be put on this list. And he gives an interesting statement here. This is why Paul always gets in trouble with feminists. You ever noticed this? Paul gets himself in trouble a lot. Um, but, but he says, if they're younger, don't put them on the list because they may give into their desires. What does he mean by that?

but apparently to be on this list you had to make some sort of a pledge a pledge that you were gonna keep yourself as a widow so that you could serve the Lord I know that because of verse 12 where it says thus incurring condemnation because they have set aside their previous pledge and so somehow they've made some sort of a pledge that they will remain as a widow and serve the Lord night and day washing the Saints feet and Saints feet and in prayer and so he says don't put a younger woman on there because she's eventually gonna want to get married and then end up breaking the pledge and it's gonna cause her condemnation but there's a second reason why he says at the same time they also learn to be idle as they go around from house to house

and not merely idle but also gossips and busybodies talking about things not proper to mention oh you know I'm gonna spend a couple minutes on this one right he says but the other reason why they shouldn't be put on this list is because they'll end up becoming idle you see as someone that's a little bit younger they're gonna have a little bit more energy and so they'll find themselves looking for something to do listen that old adage that idle hands are the devil's playground like nowhere in Scripture absolutely true right like there's some things that aren't in Scripture but they still kind of line up the principles of Scripture and this is the idea here he says but the real

danger is that they'll become idle and they'll start going from house to house and what will they become they will become gossips and they will become busybodies I'm just gonna say something here and I know hey it is what it is the beautiful thing about being in your 40s is you stop caring as much what people think and you just start saying what's out there okay I'm just gonna be honest gossips and busybodies don't care how old you are that sin doesn't doesn't just take over younger women it takes over older women I know because I watch it happen I watch it happen no matter what the age is I I see pastors see things I don't know if you know that or not we watch this is what we watch this we see little groups gather I'll watch a group of women

gather and I'll think to myself something's coming for me I just know like you can feel the storm right listen don't get offended don't get offended that I say this is this reality right when I see a group of men gathered around I know something's coming to not to the same degree when I think a group of women gathered in a circle it because because I watch I watch what's happening I watch them talking and I'm like oh something's coming and pretty soon within a week maybe two weeks somebody comes to me and there's and they say you know what I heard and then I and then I get to hear what they heard and usually they're either offended by what they heard or they're offended for me by what they've heard or

they're angry at someone now because of what they've heard or they're scared that there's gonna be a church split over what they heard and and usually it's because of gossiping and being a busybody and you know where gossiping and being a busybody comes from it comes from idleness because you don't have enough occupying your time listen if you have that much time to talk to each other about what's going on you should probably take that much time to talk to God about what's going on can we all agree with that like that's just a really good way to do things is is if it's important enough for me to gather in a group and talk to people about it it's probably important enough for me to

get outside of the group and start talking to God about it the other thing that I like to do is is if somebody says you know I heard this person say this I like to say well maybe we should go ask them right that immediately stops it because nobody wants to confront someone they just want to talk about them and this is a major problem in the church and I'm not talking just our church although I do sometimes think it's a problem in our church it's a problem in the church in general is that we like to talk about people we don't like to talk to people because confrontation is hard gossip is easy confrontation is hard being a busybody is easy because after all we have to have something to talk about

to do he says don't let the don't let some of these women be on the list they need something to do because otherwise they'll become gossips otherwise they'll become busybodies otherwise they'll start talking about things that are not proper to be discussed can I give you an example desperate housewives right right this is what happens he says be careful about that sort of things he says this therefore widows to get married bear children keep house and give the enemy no occasion for reproach for some have already turned aside to follow satan he says therefore i want the younger women get married bear children live live your life right go go back to doing what god has called

for you to do you know who one of the most beautiful examples of this is is elizabeth elliott elizabeth elliott was was widowed very very early in her life and if anybody had a reason to maybe be a little bit bitter with god or or just kind of say you know this marriage thing isn't for me it was elizabeth elliott she didn't do that instead what she did is she got busy first of all about the work of the lord and second of all she got busy about the work of finding a husband and she got married she went back to that same group of angka indians that killed her husband and she led a bunch of them to jesus and she lived her life that way and she lived her life serving the lord and and having kids

and serving her husband she's a she's a beautiful example of what paul just put right there because listen life isn't over we continue on and do what god has called for us to do and so he says therefore if any woman is who is a believer has dependent widows she must assist them and the church must not be burdened so that it may assist those who are widows indeed so i kind of ran through that a little bit fast because some of that felt very cultural for his time and so i thought lord what do you want to say to this group of people today like like what are principles i've actually kind of struggled with this the past two or three days i'm like well i don't want to give this message because this doesn't feel overly applicable to the people

today and god said that's dumb he didn't say that in those words but essentially that's what he said he's like that's dumb there's lots that's applicable today and so i've been praying about it so four things four principles that we need to pull out of this section that are very pertinent for us today four principles that i think are pertinent for us today number one the church has a responsibility to care for the vulnerable the church has a responsibility to care for the vulnerable listen we need to make sure that we understand this because the church is not just the church the church is the church right all of us we have this responsibility to care for the vulnerable

james meant it when he said pure and undefiled religion is this to care for the orphans and the widows and to keep oneself unspotted from the world and sometimes we like to relegate our job of caring for the vulnerable to anybody besides us right one of the problems we have in our culture today is we've relegated the job of caring for the vulnerable to the government right we say well there's government assistance for that you should go get the government assistance for that only the problem with government assistance is that we don't have the government assistance for that most of the assistance doesn't go to the right people most of the assistance doesn't get to where

it needs to go and so we can't we can't give the job to the government because we can't complain about taxes and then ask that our taxes do more things right that's not the job of the government that's the job of the church that's what we've been given to do is to is to care for the most vulnerable and so sometimes first of all we need to identify who those people are and if we're going to identify who the vulnerable are we got to get our eyes off of ourselves so we've got to pay attention to the people listen sometimes uh you know we've got to pay attention to the people come to me and they say did you know this person had this going on i'm like i had i had no idea i i

wish somebody would have told me we would have done something to help but i had no idea they were in that situation listen sometimes you have to see a need and either meet the needs yourself or present it to the people who can because i have board members that are the same way they're like we had no idea that this was an issue we had no idea that they needed something we would have stepped in and helped because we want to know how we can help we want to know what we can do as as a church as a church for those who work and时 you know what i mean yeah yeah yeah i mean the the um it was such a shock for me that i i think that as a church as we earn well we not only earn well

but you know what i mean when we can learn how to how we can somehow make ved sy ethically know how to give and garlic is wrong it's wrong but it's actually the way the church is thinking about life and that's why i'm talking to you you're not not being ok but you're not you're handling some of this right no you're not you're not acknowledging that you're you're pointless that month. They need help paying off a medical bill. You name it. That's what that's there for.

One of the ways that we do that is through angels in the attic, but we do a lot to help out the vulnerable. But again, you have to see the need. You have to present the need, but sometimes God wants you to meet the need. Sometimes God shows it to you and gives the burden to you because he wants you to do something about it. Well, I don't have very much to give. You don't need very much

to give. You just need your time to give. Sometimes you need your effort to give. Sometimes you need your energy to give. Sometimes it requires a meal or some groceries or something like that. Sometimes it means you give somebody a little bit of cash to help them out, but you identify the need and you meet the need. And if it's beyond you, then you come to someone who can

help you a little bit more. But part of the role that we have as a church, as believers in Jesus Christ, is to help out the most vulnerable. That's why Paul spent so much of this chapter in how to help out the most vulnerable. Number two, the church also must maintain the right priorities. The church also must maintain the right priorities. Listen, I've said it before

and I'll say it again. If your focus is to meet someone's physical needs, you will meet their physical needs. And that's great, but you've missed the point. If your focus is to meet someone's spiritual needs, then you'll meet someone's spiritual needs and their physical needs. Because as you care about who they are as a person, as you care about who they are in Christ,

you will realize that the best way to minister the gospel to them sometimes is to bring them a sandwich or to bring them a cup of coffee or to help them pay their bill. Because when people see that you care, they want to know why. They want to know why you care about them that much. They want to know why you would be willing to treat them that way. They want to know why you would

be willing to help out the most vulnerable. And you can tell them, because I serve a God, who died for the most vulnerable. I serve a God who became like us so that we could become like him. And that's why I care so much. That's why I love so much. But you have to maintain the right priorities. And right now in the church today, you usually have two sets of priorities. Either one is

I'm only going to meet your physical needs or two, I don't care what your physical needs are. I'm just going to teach you the Bible. And in the middle of it all is the balance of what God wants us to be. Someone who meets the spiritual needs, oftentimes by meeting, the physical needs. And so as the church, we have to maintain the right priorities, which is why he tells them what he tells them here. Number three, there has to be criteria for

help. There has to be criteria for help. I shared with you, I could stand up here all morning and tell you stories about phone calls that I get and stories that I get told, requests that get made of me for what people need. I am on an email list with Angels in the Attic, just again, so that you know a little bit. Angels in the Attic is an organization here in town, and it's run by a lady named Ivy, and she does a fantastic job. Ivy is my hero because

Ivy vets people, people that need help. Usually if we're going to help someone in the community with their bills, the criteria that I have is that they first of all have had to go to Angels in the Attic because this is what happens is if somebody calls down here and says, hey, I need help with a bill. I said, that's fantastic. We'd love to be able to help you with that bill.

But we always go through Angels in the Attic. It's sort of a bookkeeping thing, but it's also, it's a safety net for you. It's a safety net for us, just to make sure that everything's being done above board. So why don't you go down and see her, and she'll get you all set up. And one of two things will happen. Either they will say, great, can you give me her phone number, and I'll give them the phone number. They call. I get an email. This is the bill. Can you help them out? Sure, we'll do this much towards it. And everything's great. It's taken care of. The second reaction that I get is this. Oh, Ivy won't help me. I'm not going to help her. I'm not going to help her. I'm not going to help her. I'm not going to help her. I'm not going to help her. I'm not going to help her. I'm not going to help her. I'm not

going to help me. And I'll say, okay, why is that? I don't know. And they'll give me some long story about why she won't help them. Okay, tell me your name again. And they'll give me their name. I say first and last, first and last name, and I write it down and say, okay, I'll tell you what, let me call Ivy, and let me see what I can do for you. And so I hang up with them, and I call Ivy, and I say, hey, this is the person. This is their name. And usually I can't even get their full name out before she says, oh my gosh, Ryan, let me tell you a story. Because she's gone through the criteria with them. And they

are not someone who is using the help properly. They're someone who is using the help improperly. They are not a widow indeed. They are not someone who is truly in need. They are someone who is now working the system. And it is an unwise use of God's money. It is being a poor steward of God's money to help in that situation, because they have not met the criteria. And that criteria is so important, because that criteria protects us and ultimately protects them. Because one of the things that you learn in helping people is that

if you help people too much, it stops being help, and it starts being enabling. You actually harm them through helping them. And so you have to be careful with all of that. So there has to be criteria. And that's why Paul lays this out for Timothy, is he says you have to follow this criteria. And listen, it's hard. There is nothing, I'm just telling you right now, there is nothing harder as a pastor than to have someone berate you on the phone and tell you how much you aren't acting like Jesus, how much you are not showing love, and how much of a jerk you are, and how they're going to tell everybody how terrible your church is.

Because you told them you wouldn't help them, because they did not meet the criteria. Hardest thing you'll ever have to deal with. Again, when you start to get in your 40s, you start to be like, well, it is what it is, and you move on with life, right? But it's not easy, right? Like, it breaks my heart. It tears my heart out. I've had people stand out on that front stoop after they've come in for their fifth round of groceries in two weeks, and to have to say, listen, we can't be your grocery store, and to have them absolutely shred me verbally, because I told them that we couldn't be their grocery store anymore.

And it's not an easy thing to do, but that's why that criteria is laid out here, is because it's the protection that you have, and there has to be that criteria for it. But then comes number four, and I think number four is really important. The way you treat others speaks volumes about your faith. Listen, I know sometimes I have to say hard things. Sometimes I know I have to tell hard stories to hear.

But the fact of the matter is, at the end of the day, we still have to treat other people with love. And even the people that I get shredded by verbally, I tell them, I'm sorry you feel that way. I hope you know that Jesus loves you. Please don't yell at me anymore. I don't end up with that last part. But that's what you have to do sometimes, because the way that you treat people speaks volumes about your faith. And if you treat people with respect, if you treat people with love, and you're willing to help the most vulnerable,

that says more than anything. That says more about your faith. That says more about your church. That says more about who you are than anything that you can ever imagine. I need you all to know something. As members of Calvary Chapel, and if this is your at least second Sunday here, you're a member of Calvary Chapel, you have a great reputation in this community for helping, at least with angels in the attic. When I go into the angels in the attic, they say, this guy's from Calvary Chapel. And oh, Calvary Chapel helps so much. You have a great reputation in the community, because you're a member of Calvary Chapel.

You have a great reputation in the community, because you're a member of Calvary Chapel. And oh, Calvary Chapel helps so much. You have a great reputation in the community, because you're a member of Calvary Chapel. And oh, Calvary Chapel helps so much. You have a great reputation in the community, because you're a member of Calvary Chapel. And oh, Calvary Chapel helps so much. You have a great reputation in the community, because you're a member of Calvary Chapel. And oh, Calvary Chapel helps so much. You have a great reputation in the community, because you're a member of Calvary Chapel. And oh, Calvary Chapel helps so much. You have a great reputation in the community, because you're a member of Calvary Chapel. And oh, Calvary Chapel helps so much. You have a great reputation in the community, because you're a member of Calvary Chapel. And oh, Calvary Chapel helps so much. You have a great

how to move forward in even the hard parts of life. Let's all stand.

And if you'd bow with me. Father, we come to you now. And Lord, I thank you for what your word has to say to us. Lord, I thank you that it instructs in even the most practical of ways. And so, Lord, bless as we go out from here. Father, I do ask that every dad in this place, every dad watching online would know how much they are loved by their families, how much they are respected by me.

And, Lord, just how much we all appreciate them. Lord, we just thank you and praise you. In Jesus' name, amen. Be blessed. Run to the Father. I'm done with the country where he's a surgeon. My soul needs a friend. So I'll run to the Father again. Lord, I just pray that as we leave here today, that we leave with a heart changed. Lord, to care for the vulnerable.

To care for the vulnerable in our body, in this church, Lord. And that you would just move mightily in our lives, Lord. Father, we love you and we praise you and we thank you. In Jesus' name, amen. You guys have a wonderful week. God bless you.