Sunday’s Sermons

Text: 1^st Timothy 5:1&2                                                    4/6/08 a.m.

Thesis: The pastor must treat his flock like family.

 

Intro: Our passage today, like our passage last week, is a text intended to shape the pastor and therefore shape the church.

We will look at the requirements on how a pastor must treat those in his care realizing the same is true for every member and those in the care of your ministry.

It’s not just the pastor who must treat people right; every member must strive to treat every member right.

To do this we must see each other as family. That old guy over there he’s like your dad, that young guy is like your brother, that older woman is like your mother, and that young woman is like your sister.

There’s a unity and a bond in a healthy family that is different than every other relationship. There is strength and refuge in a healthy family.

There is productivity and a common sense of purpose in a healthy family. The same is true for a church.

We are a family. But we’re not a family because we share the same last name or the same DNA.

We are a family because God has made us a family through the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Because Jesus is who he is, because Jesus did what he did, and because Jesus is our Savior we are family.

And as family we’ve got to treat each other right. Let’s see how.

 

Read 1^st Timothy 5:1&2

 

I) Treat older men like fathers

a)      That means don’t be a jerk

i)        Proverbs 12:18 says, There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts.

ii)      What we are to avoid is a harshness with our words.

iii)    This rebuke carries the idea of beating someone up with words instead of with your fists (H. Kent, 162).

iv)    There is no place for disrespect even when firm correction is warranted.

v)      None of us here are perfect and  that means there will come a time when everyone of us is going to make a mistake or fall into some sin.

vi)    Since we are united as a family through faith in Christ we must work for the restoration and spiritual growth of every member young and old.

vii)  But have you noticed that we can be the meanest to the people we are the closest to?

viii)            We say harsh things in harsh ways to our spouses, our kids, our parents, and our friends that we would never say to any stranger.

ix)    And remember, just because you are right and they are wrong does not give you a free pass to mistreat them verbally.

b)      Be a teacher who encourages

i)        What does it mean to not be harsh but instead encourage, appeal, urge, or entreat those that live and serve around us?

ii)      I think this definition gets to the heart of what it means:

iii)    It is the act of emboldening another in belief or course of action (BADG)

iv)    Our goal must never be to set people straight or put people in their place. Our goal must be to train them up and fire them up so they will follow after Christ.

v)      We need so much grace in our lives to do this.

vi)    I have noticed that it is very easy for me to be a jerk. I don’t have to do anything and words will start pouring out of my mouth like sword thrusts.

vii)  If I am going to stop slicing people up with my words I need my heart to be changed.

viii)            It feels good to be proven right when others are proven wrong.

ix)    It feels good to have power over people. We love to be king of the mountain.

x)      My heart loves to exalt me at the expense of others.

xi)    I don’t want to encourage people and train them to walk in godliness I want to be vindicated as the king of the mountain who was right. Oh great king.

xii)  That’s why I need a heart change. Instead of a heart that loves to be right at the expense of others I need a heart that loves for others to be godly no matter the expense.

xiii)            But where is the trailhead that gets us there? Pray the prayer of John the Baptist. What did John the Baptist say concerning himself and Christ?

xiv)            John 3:30, “He must increase, but I must decrease.”

xv)  I’m fearful of confrontation, I’m fearful of the fallout that is possible whenever correction is given, and so I pray, “God, if this is going to go well for the family we all need Christ to increase and me to decrease.”

xvi)            Give me a heart to love like You do. Give me strength to stay the course through difficulty like you do. Give me wisdom to say what is right like you do. Make me like Christ.

xvii)          Avoiding a harsh rebuke and seeking to encourage others to do what is right must be done out of a desire to restore fellowship around Christ and not out of a desire to isolate those in error.

xviii)        Shame is never the goal in any relationship. Godliness is the goal for every relationship.

xix)            So you go to an older man, a man you respect, and you talk to him and urge him to seek Christ and what is best for the family.

xx)  In this category is young Samuel and Eli the high priest. Hannah is barren and God gives her a son, Samuel. Hannah gives that son back to God and Samuel is cared for by Eli the high priest.

xxi)            Eli’s sons are set to fill daddy’s shoes as high priest but they are wicked men. God will not allow those sons to become high priest; both of Eli’s sons will die on the same day.

xxii)          God reveals this to Samuel and Samuel must tell it to Eli; the man who was like a father to him.

xxiii)        Out of love for his father Samuel did not want to tell it but he had to and Eli demanded to know.

xxiv)        So too we must work to create and maintain relationships between men where everyone is shown respect and everyone is expected to speak the truth in love.

xxv)          Young men, young pastor, do not remain quiet but speak always with grace and respect. Those older men are storehouses of strength and wisdom seek always to work with them.

xxvi)        Older men do not fancy yourself as untouchable but in humility challenge the young men to grow and you will be blessed by being challenged to grow as well.

xxvii)       Respect the older men like you would your own father.

xxviii)    As we look at how to treat younger men, older women, and younger women you need to realize that the two commands “do not rebuke harshly” and “encourage” apply to them as well.

II) Treat younger men like brothers

a)      Do not be harsh with them but encourage the younger men like you would your own brother

i)        As I was studying this passage and meditating on our daily bible reading I saw the explanation of how this encouragement is going to happen from Colossians chapter 2.

ii)      Turn there with me in your bibles. Colossians 2 beginning in verse 1 (read through verse 3)

iii)    Paul testifies that he is in a great struggle for the people and we see a progressive description of what he’s struggling for.

iv)    Any time we love each other like family there will be moments of great agony, times of great struggle.

v)      Going the right way takes great effort. And the right way involves encouragement.

vi)    How many of you have a close friend, someone who is like a brother or sister to you that encourages you?

vii)  How many of you are a close friend and you are in a great struggle to encourage others?

viii)            We must strive to be this for each other. We must strive to treat the younger men like brothers.

ix)    Work to encourage them in the things of Christ so that the church will be knit together in love.

x)      A church does not become a strong loving church or remain a strong loving church by accident.

xi)    It takes struggle and it takes encouragement.

xii)  And these struggles and encouragement must always have Christ as the center and Christ as the goal.

xiii)            Strive to get all those around you to reach the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of Christ.

xiv)            In Christ are al the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Talk to people about Jesus. Encourage people with Jesus. Point people to Jesus.

xv)  This is what it means to treat the younger men like brothers.

III) Treat older women like mothers

a)      Throughout Scripture we are told to honor our fathers and mothers. It’s the 5^th of the ten commandments.

i)        Remember, we’re talking about not being harsh with our correction. Instead offer the older women encouraging correction like you would your own momma.

ii)      Many of you have experienced the hardship and heartache of having to move your mother from her home to a safer place where she could get the care she needed.

iii)    Did you bust in to her room, get in her face, and give her the “what for”?

iv)    As with the older men we must strive to create an environment where everyone no matter their age or spiritual maturity is humble enough to receive biblical graceful correction.

v)      We must enter into a great struggle to produce relationships where this type of iron sharpening iron occurs.

vi)    Church, we must spend time together as a family. New Dinner 6 groups are forming and will begin in May.

vii)  We need you to use your gifts. We need you to form relationships. Older men, older women of Mambrino Baptist Church, we need you to join in this excellent ministry so that everyone can be encouraged and so that hearts can be knit together in the cause of Christ.

viii)            Gina Henebury gets those groups together. You can call her, call the church office, sign up on the bulletin board in the foyer, or sign up on the back of the registration tab in the bulletin and put it in the offering plate.

ix)    Old women, may I please encourage you to get involved in this simple yet effective ministry.

IV) And fourth, treat younger women like sisters

a)      Do not rebuke the younger women harshly but encourage them like you would your own sister, with all purity.

i)        2 Timothy 3:6 makes it clear that one of the despicable things the false teachers were doing in Ephesus was taking advantage of women who had guilty consciences.

ii)      2 Timothy 3:6 says, “For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions.”

iii)    Don’t do that Timothy, don’t do that pastor, don’t do that men; don’t take advantage of women.

iv)    With all purity treat them like sisters.

v)      When you love your sister as a brother should you will work for her good at even the greatest expense to yourself.

vi)    You will protect her from evil.  You will challenge her to walk with faithfulness. You will work to strengthen her in discipleship.

vii)  The majority of this is done as you encourage her to serve alongside other godly women.

viii)            Titus is called upon to encourage the older women to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to wine.  Older women need to be holy in all their actions, words, and even in their diets.

ix)    That is what they are to be and what they are to do is teach what is good and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.

x)      That’s Titus 2 verses three through five.

xi)    Older ladies, you may not be able to do what you used to be able to do but you can call a younger woman and invite her to your home.

xii)  Fix some tea, bake a little banana bread, and listen to her. Give her biblical advice, pray with her, and commit to praying regularly for her.

xiii)            Ladies, God has not given you homes and the ability to cook so that your husband can get fat and lazy.

xiv)            You have that home, that ability to microwave some cookies, and godly wisdom so you can invest it in the younger women.

xv)  This is why I’m so excited about what our ladies are doing through the Women’s Minis-Tree and particularly what Mollie Barnes is doing with the Titus 2 women’s group.

xvi)            Her desire is to serve Christ, knit hearts together in Christ, and raise up godly women.

xvii)          She’s got my support because God will do more through her in the lives of the women of Mambrino Baptist Church than through me.

xviii)        Men, you need to be sure you’re wife is involved with our women’s ministry.

xix)            You want to be a godly man? Be sure your wife doesn’t have an excuse to miss out on growing in her own walk with Christ.

xx)  That’s a huge part of what it means to lead her, treat her like a sister, and do so with all purity.

xxi)            Keep Christ at the center.

V) It must be the conscious desire of every member of Mambrino Baptist Church that we “operate with the notions of respect and intimacy proper to a family” (Towner, 330).

a)      One of our members was at our house Monday and affirmed to Angela and I that we are a close and loving church.

i)        You may not hear those words personally but if you are involved in using your gifts to serve others through Mambrino Baptist Church please know that you have played an essential part in this women experiencing the love of Christ.

ii)      I want that for each of us. I want every person who is a member to know and feel what it is to be loved because of Christ and for the glory Christ.

iii)    During our time of invitation I want you to pray a simple prayer: God, show me someone who you want me to invest in.  Start praying that prayer and keep praying it until God shows you.

iv)    And when He shows you who then start praying for the wisdom and strength to love them like a father, like a son, like a mother, or like a sister.

v)      Through faith in Christ let’s enter into a great struggle for one another. Let’s treat each other right. Out of love for Christ and one another let’s be a powerful church.