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Introduction**
Sometime around 66AD or a little after, a faithful believer that we know little about named Jude (or Yehudah) wrote a letter to a group of Christians that we also know little about.
We don’t know who they were.
We don’t know where they were.
What we do know from his letter is that false teachers were plaguing the church.
And Jude opens up that letter with a bit of a confession.
He says:
Jude
Jude wanted to write about the wonderful things of salvation.
Jude wanted to write about the wonderful things of salvation.
Jude wanted to write about the wonderful things of salvation.
But because false teachers were so plaguing the church, the Holy Spirit required that he write about apostates who turned from the faith and wanted to turn others.
Jude had to contend earnestly for the faith against the false teachings and their false doctrines.
I bring this up because over the past month as we’ve been studying through 1 Timothy, I’ve kind of felt how Jude might have felt.
I’ve wanted to talk about all the wonderful things of, as Jude said, “Our common salvation!”
I would love to talk about justification by faith, redemption, and sanctification … glorification … happy thoughts and so forth.
But the text of God’s Word has required that I spend time contending for the faith.
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We are committed to studying God’s Word verse by verse and chapter by chapter.
So we don’t read the Word and then change the subject to suit what we want to talk about.
That being said, I’m a bit relieved that chapter 5 deviates from false teachers and directs us toward another subject … the proper treatment of church members.
That’s not to say that I have a problem with taking a stand for true biblical doctrine.
Because it’s incredibly important that we are doctrinally sound … meaning that the doctrine we hold to is in agreement with the doctrines of the Bible.
As Jude says, “The faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.”
It’s often insinuated these days that sound doctrine and theology are actually detrimental to faith.
Or that holding firmly to the doctrines of scripture is divisive and will only scare off the unchurched.
Rick Warren, the author of Purpose Driven Life says that we need to “Change the message to accommodate the unsaved.”
That believers need to set down theology and think and speak like unbelievers … so we may reach the lost.
As Mr. Warren recently posted on twitter, “Jesus never let His theology get in the way of His ministry.”
I hope you recognize that all those things are very wrong and misguided.
In fact, they are stepping stones not to the salvation of the lost, but of the apostasy of the believer.
We cannot think like the lost and call unbelievers to repent and believe in the Gospel.
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So then, what’s the problem?
If it’s not doctrine and theology that are pushing people away from the Gospel … what is?
Why are so many people rejecting the Gospel, and why are Christians falling away from the faith, “Exchanging the truth of God for the lie?”
While it will be summarily rejected by most – after all, the road is wide that leads to destruction () – the Gospel is the only mechanism by which God saves.
() The proper goal for the believer – and for the church – is never numerical growth.
The proper, biblical goal is faithfulness.
()
Well, the Gospel as it is given in scripture will be rejected by most people.
Jesus said that the road is wide that leads to destruction ().
Jesus illustrated the Gospel as a narrow gate.
Jesus said that, “The light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil” (John 3:19).
People reject the Gospel because of the hardness of their hearts because they love sin.
But the Gospel is the only mechanism by which God saves.
But the Gospel is the only mechanism by which God saves.
As Paul wrote:
The proper goal for the believer – and for the church – is never numerical growth.
The proper, biblical goal is faithfulness.
The Holy Spirit tells us:
And yes … Faith is not doctrine.
But doctrine is absolutely critical to the expression of faith.
Without sound doctrine, faith becomes more about feelings, emotions, and opinions than about the clear teaching of scripture.
That’s when you end up in a church or small group where people are more concerned with “What you ‘feel’ a verse means” than what the verse actually means as it was originally written by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
OR believing that God is okay with making some alterations to the Gospel in order to have more people respond at an altar call.
OR teaching name it and claim it or modelism or aesceticism or any number of other unscriptural things.
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False teachers and false doctrines were a problem in the early church … they are a HUGE problem today.
And over the past few weeks we’ve dealt with quite a few of them, and I’m glad we have.
But apostasy was not the only problem in the church then, just as it’s not the only problem we find in the church today.
If we go back even further in church history to the very first church, we find their very first problem (outside of persecution, of course.)
That problem was that a group of church members felt neglected by those who were ministering in the church.
In that earliest version of the church, there were a couple of cultural groups.
There were the Hellenists and there were Hebrews.
The Hellenists spoken of here were probably Jews who grew up outside of Israel and were educated in Greek ways of thought.
A few times a year, faithful Jews who lived outside of the land would make the pilgrimage home for Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot.
It was during Shavuot (which we know as Pentecost) when the Holy Spirit descended on the disciples and they preached the Gospel to the crowds, miraculously being heard in many different languages.
Because it was at a Jewish festival, those who were there would have mostly been Jewish, many of whom were Hellenistic Jews in town for the feast.
The church was born that day and many of those who were saved decided to remain in Jerusalem.
Because many of those who remained did so at the forfeit of livelihoods and homesteads in the lands they were from, this first church “Shared in all things.”
Acts 2
The book of Acts records that this first church of about 3,000 souls, “Continued steadfastly in the Apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.”
Acts
So, in the very first days of the church, apostasy was not an issue … they continued in the apostles doctrine.
But … the church was made up of sinners saved by grace, from various walks of life … and as such, needs arose.
But … the church was made up of sinners saved by grace, from various walks of life … and as such, needs arose.
This first church sought to care for the widows in the church … in that day and age it was difficult for an older woman who had lost her husband to earn a living wage.
So the church sought to help to fill in the gaps with a daily distribution of food … possibly in the form of a meal being served.
Perhaps they were right or maybe it was just a matter of perception …
… but the hellenistic widows (those of Greek culture) felt that they were receiving less than the Hebrew widows (those of Jewish culture).
So, records that deacons were selected so that the Apostles’ would not be juggling the responsibilities of prayer and ministry of the Word and trying to meet the physical needs of the church.
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Well, 30 or so years later, the church had grown dramatically and was no longer only in Jerusalem.
There were individual churches throughout the towns and cities of Asia Minor, Greece, Macedonia, Phoenicia, Samaria, Judea, Europe … possibly as far west as Spain and even up into England.
Many different people from many different backgrounds were now joined together in this “called out group” that is the Body of Christ.
And many people not just from varying cultures, but in different walks of their lives … some old, some young, married, unmarried, widowed, rich, poor, free, and even slaves.
Paul had already given Timothy instruction on securing correct doctrine in the church, dealing with false teachers, gender roles in the church, and leadership roles.
He now moves on to give Timothy practical advice on how church members of different walks of life should be treated.
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So, Paul will focus on several important social relationships in this chapter … and also in the first part of chapter 6.
I’m not sure how far we’ll get this morning, but there’s not really a good stopping point in the chapter … we’ll see.
He is also to oversee the development of “widows’ corps.”
While any woman without relatives to care for her is the responsibility of the church, widows who have earned a good reputation are to be given an official position and an important family-oriented ministry (vv.
3–16).
Paul now moves on to give Timothy practical advice on many aspects of local church life.
In this chapter he focuses on several important interpersonal relationships.
Timothy, although a leader, is to show great respect to all members of the church—both older and younger men and women (5:1–2).
He is also to oversee the development of “widows’ corps.”
While any woman without relatives to care for her is the responsibility of the church, widows who have earned a good reputation are to be given an official position and an important family-oriented ministry (vv.
3–16).
Timothy, although a leader, is to show great respect to all members of the church—both older and younger men and women (5:1–2).
He is also to oversee the development of “widows’ corps.”
While any woman without relatives to care for her is the responsibility of the church, widows who have earned a good reputation are to be given an official position and an important family-oriented ministry (vv.
3–16).
Paul also discusses relationships with elders and the care with which they are to be selected and ordained (vv.
17–25).
It is a body comprised of authentic believers, “Given to Him by the Father,” as Jesus said in
a body comprised of authentic believers given Him by the Father ()
Let’s pray and dig in.
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