Sermon Tone Analysis

1 Timothy 5:19–22 (ESV): 19 Do not admit a charge against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses.

20 As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear.

21 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the elect angels I charge you to keep these rules without prejudging, doing nothing from partiality.

22 Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, nor take part in the sins of others; keep yourself pure.

Pray

Disciplined for Holiness.

This morning, Lord willing, we are going to wrap up our look at this particular biblical characteristic of a true church.

Since early summer we’ve been exploring what the Bible teaches are the proper characteristics of a local church.

We’ve been doing that because, in current evangelical circles, there is a great deal of confusion concerning what a church is and if a follower of Christ really needs to be a part of a local church (the visible church), granted that they are already a part of the universal church.

We’ve learned that in order to be a true local church there are 8 characteristics that should be met as quickly as a gathering of saints can put them together.

The characteristics that we’ve covered thus far are, a true local church must be:

1) A community of regenerated believers

2) Organized under qualified leadership

3) Regularly gather for preaching and worship

4) Regularly observe the sacraments of Communion and Baptism

5) Demonstrate Unity by the Holy Spirit

6) Disciplined for holiness

As we have considered being disciplined for holiness we have looked at:

How Jesus says we‘re supposed to do that, as He has made clear to us in Matthew 18:15-17.

We learned that this is how we are to approach every relationship with others, especially other believers.

We also learned that we are not very good at it.

In fact, we are terrible at doing this Christ’s way.

Instead, we have let our own emotions and human reason take control.

We also learned that with out there being community built within the church, the “church discipline” aspect of this is almost worthless.

We’ve looked at How we are to respond when faced with being disciplined for holiness.

Our reaction to being confronted with our sin is, perhaps, more critical than how we do the approaching.

And…

This morning we are going to look at How to Discipline an Elder for Holiness.

Our passage is found in Paul’s first letter to Timothy, Chapter 5.

Historical Context

I want to provide a little context concerning our passage this morning.

Context will help us answer the question of why Paul is writing this to Timothy.

Remember, Timothy was Paul’s co-laborer.

Paul left Timothy in charge of the church of Ephesus… to get them operating in a Biblical manner, establishing proper church leadership, and keeping a sharp look out for false teachers… wolves.

The key verse for this letter is 1 Timothy 4:16.

Paul says...

Throughout this epistle Paul had been advising Timothy concerning both his private life and his public ministry.

He was to keep a sharp eye on both, persevering in the instructions Paul had offered in those two realms.

Paul’s words are a pointed reminder of the awesome burden of responsibility that congregational leaders carry.

Paul had given this same warning to the Elders in the church at Ephesus (Acts 20:28-30)

Paul knew the nature of man, and he urgently warned the leaders in Ephesus, both the elders and Timothy whom Paul had left behind to get this church off to a good start.

You see, when a church leader falls into sin, it always wreaks havoc to the cause of Christ.

The more visible and well-known the leader, the greater the harm.

Some in the church justify their own sin by thinking, “If that strong leader fell, then who am I to resist?” Divisions arise in the church between those who advocate tolerance and love toward the fallen leader and those labeled as unloving because they call for his removal from public ministry.

The world mocks the whole thing and shrugs off the gospel.

So it’s crucial for the church to put godly men into leadership and to make sure that they remain that way.

And, if and when a church leader does fall into sin, how do we deal with it properly?

These are the questions Paul answers in our passage this morning.

Some of the elders in Ephesus had fallen into false teaching and ungodly conduct, which always goes with false doctrine.

Paul doesn’t give a comprehensive answer, but he brings up two crucial safeguards to help keep church leadership godly: First, the proper exercise of church discipline toward sinning elders (5:19-21); and second, the careful selection of elders (5:22-25).

He is saying that ...

To keep church leadership godly, elders must be disciplined properly and selected carefully.

Since some in Ephesus had already fallen, and, perhaps, rumors and accusations were circulating about others, Paul deals first with the corrective process of discipline before going on to talk about the preventative steps to take in selection, so that the church will put only godly men into office.

In order to...

1.

To Keep Church Leadership Godly, Elders Must Be Disciplined Properly (5:19-21)

A few years ago I found a bottle of “Good for what Ails Ya!” at North 40.

It was the nastiest tasting stuff.

But if you were starting to get sick, you could take a spoonful or two of it and it would whoop that sickness.

So, as we look into this section of scripture this is just like a strong bottle of “Good for What Ails Ya!”: you don’t want to have to use it, but it’s good to have on hand in case you get sick.

I hope we never have to apply these verses in our church, but we had better know that it’s in our “medicine cabinet” in case we ever need it.

Amen!

The verses reveal three aspects of proper discipline of church leaders: The need for factual evidence (5:19); the need for public rebuke (5:20); and, the need for impartiality (5:21).

Let’s look more closely at each aspect.

First…

A. Proper discipline of church leaders requires factual evidence (5:19).

Let us look again at out text. 1 Timothy 5:19

From this verse we see right away that charges or accusations against a pastor ( or elder… the two are synonymous in the NT) must not be based on unsubstantiated charges.

It really is a simple principle: an accusation or charge against a pastor or elder can only be made on the basis of factual eye witness evidence, not hearsay or rumors, or second-hand information.

Paul specifically applies it to church leaders here because they’re more apt to come under false accusations and slander than others, especially men who preach God’s truth.

Satan is always trying to discredit the authority of God’s Word.

One method he often uses is to attack the credibility of the man who teaches God’s Word.

And here is why this is so prevalent...

If people doubt his integrity, they can easily shrug off his exhortations to godliness.

So Satan often stirs up people who have been offended by the preaching of God’s truth.

They spread half-truths and outright lies to discredit the man and his message.

Another thing that is important to note here (actually it is just the same as with disciplining a member of the local body)... the witnesses must be just that... witnesses to the same sin… not two or three witnesses that all get together because they each have a separate beef or “concern” with the pastor or elder.

So let me ask you this, what do you do if someone comes to you with something damaging against me or one of the other elders?

It’s important to the testimony of Christ that we handle such situations in a godly way.

If the person is spreading rumors or gossip, he needs to be corrected.

If he has a legitimate problem, it needs to be processed according to Scripture.

I want to give you five questions that will be useful:

(1) “What is your reason for telling me?”

Widening the circle of gossip only compounds the problem.

Why do I need to know this?

If the person says, “I just wanted you to know so you could pray,” then you should caution him not to say anything more to anyone before he checks out the facts and takes biblical steps to deal with it (Matt.

18:15-17; Gal.

6:1).

Gossip flatters our pride by giving us “inside” information.

But we must resist both the temptation to listen to it and to encourage someone else to give it unless we’re part of the solution.

(2) “Where did you get your information?”

Refusal to identify the source is a sure sign of gossip.

Is there more than one independent witness?

If not, the accusation should not be received and the accuser should be shown this Scripture and warned about spreading the charges any further.

(3) “Have you gone to those directly involved?”

If the person has not gone to those involved, he is probably more interested in spreading gossip than in helping to restore the one or ones who have sinned.

(4) “Have you personally checked out all the facts?”

It’s easy for “facts” to get distorted as they travel from one person to another or when they’re given by a person with negative motives.

(5) “Can I quote you if I check this out?”

A person spreading gossip won’t want to be quoted by name.

They don’t want to get involved in the messy business of helping confront and restore a person in sin.

They’re just spreading an evil report.