The Church’s Responsibility to Widows

Transcript

GR 1772
7/6/2014
The Church’s Responsibility to Widows
I Timothy 5:9-16
Gil Rugh

We are going to I Timothy, chapter 5. We are talking about the churches responsibility to widows. It seems like well, you know how big of a responsibility is that? But really from verse 3 of chapter 5 down through verse 16 that takes that portion of how His church is to function. He’s given instruction on this matter so that tells us something of its importance to God. He wants it to be handled properly. It’s important that we as God’s family be sure we are taking care of family business, taking care of one another in the family as He would have us do.

The church is the pillar and support of the truth as he has stressed but that truth is to be lived out in our lives, in practical ways. And as he talks about the widows and the responsibility to widows in making clear that we ought to manifest godliness and a Biblical love and care and concern for widows that are part of our congregation.

First line of responsibility is the family. We are talking about believers in the context here. He’s warned about widows. It would be true of others but he talks about in verse 6: “She who gives herself to wanton pleasure is dead while she lives.” So we are talking about believers and if a widow has family members they are responsible for her care. It could be naturally that a widow had been converted. Perhaps her children weren’t saved and they won’t take their responsibility naturally the church would pick that up. But among believers the first line of responsibility is believers take care of their family members and if you don’t verse 8 it becomes a red flag. Are we dealing with a believer? A believer who doesn’t take care of his own family has denied the faith verse 8 says. They are worse than an unbeliever because even unbelievers have that care for their family members. How much more should believers who want to demonstrate the grace of God, the love of God, His compassion, His care? So to not take care of family members would be to deny the faith. Really we are raising the question – are we truly believers or not?

Back up to Mark chapter 7. I referred to this in our previous study but we didn’t turn to it. Mark chapter 7. Jesus addressed this subject in the care of family members, in the way that Jews were manipulating the Scriptures to avoid having to fulfill their responsibility and yet still look spiritual. So He had been dealing with them. “They honor Me with their lips, (verse 6) but their heart is far away from Me.” Pharisees that look good on the outside but the inside is still unchanged. Verse 7: “In vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men. Neglecting to the commandment of God you hold to the tradition of men.” And he was also saying “you are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your traditions. Moses said honor your father and mother and he who speaks evil of father or mother is to be put to death but you say ‘if a man says to his father or his mother whatever I have that would help you is Corban that is, given to God, you are no longer permitting him to do anything for his father or mother.” In other words a way around that, well I would love to help you but I have devoted all of my possessions to the Lord so I can’t give them to you. What does he say? You are invalidating the Word of God by your traditions which you have handed down. And this is just an example but it’s the example that he pulls out, the failure to care for parents. And all of your maneuvering does not fool God. It offends God he tells them.

Turn over to James chapter 1. Going all the way back just past the book of Hebrews in the back of your Bible. Hebrews, James and James is written to Jewish believers. You remember this early church was often comprised of Jews as we noted through the first 10 chapters of Acts the church is Jewish. Beginning in Acts chapter 2 with the starting of the church it is not until Acts chapter 10 that Peter takes the Gospel to Gentiles and they are reluctantly until God gives him clear instructions.

James is writing to the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad, the twelve tribes of the diaspora, the dispersion. These are Jewish believers scattered outside of the land of Israel. But in chapter 1, verse 27: “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” You see that practical concern and care for those in great need in our church families. That’s part of godliness and the manifestation of godliness, conducting ourselves in a godly way according to God’s will for us.

So come back to I Timothy chapter 5. He has talked about honoring widows who are widows indeed, verses 3 through 8 and that whole elaboration. A widow indeed is a widow who has no family to take care of her. Her husband, children perhaps have all died, perhaps there may be some surviving children. They are not believers who have disowned her for her faith. This is a widow who has no family to take care of her is the basic issue. They are to be honored. They are to be cared for but as we noted, strong warnings and condemnation to believers who would not take care of their family.

Now in verse 9 down through verse 16 he is going to give instructions to the church on sorting through what widows are eligible to be supported by the church, what widows would not be. We are primarily talking here about regular support. Obviously we help fellow believers in times of need but these would be talking about as you have in verse 9: “A widow is to be put on the list.” There is evidently an enrollment. These are widows eligible for regular care and financial support by the church to see that her needs are met. So he is going to explain and there are some clear instructions.

As we work through these keep in mind this is similar to what we looked at in I Timothy chapter 3 when he talked about elders then he talked about deacons and we noted basically what he is going to talk about for the most part is godly character and that will be much of what is said about the widows here. Some would not be specific to that like the age but generally what is required here is godly character of the widows so we can look through and see what there is for qualifications.

Verses 9 and 10 are going to give three basic qualifications for a widow to be enrolled. The first one will be age, second one will have to do with morals and the third one will have to do with good works and then the good works will be elaborated with five specific examples that demonstrate her godly character.

So a widow is to be put on the list. We looked back in Acts chapter 6 and saw perhaps an example of this where there was a disagreement in the church at Jerusalem and some hard feelings because one group felt their widows weren’t being taken care of, Jews with a Greek background coming perhaps from outside of the land of Israel and the Hebrews who were residents and they had come there. Now they are there and they are in the same church but one group felt their widows were not being properly cared for. Early you see that responsibility being carried out. There is no indication as you will see as we work through this that these widows had specific responsibilities or duties to carry out. In succeeding centuries the church developed widows ministries and they were provided for and they were responsible for certain duties. All that is dealt with here is the churches responsibilities to the widows and they are viewed of at an age where they would not be expected to do special duties although as godly women they would be naturally functioning as godly women but this is not to be enrolled so that these widows can have certain responsibilities. It is so that they can be taken care of.

A widow, number 1 is to be put on the list only if she is not less than 60 years old. First requirement, you have to be at least 60. Remember this is Scripture not going to offend anyone but it you are 60 or older in Scripture you are an old man, you are an old woman. I know we say today, “You are only as old as you think you are.” That’s silly. I may think I am 45. None of you are fooled by my thinking.

So if we went back but we won’t take the time to go back but you could jot down Leviticus chapter 27. The first seven verses give instructions for various age groups and the ages have to do with from five years old to 20 years of age. From 20 years of age to 60 and from 60 and older and several writers noted 60 was the age in antiquity when you were recognized as an old man or an old woman and we are not so far off of that.

We have government programs like social security that what? They go into effect in a person’s sixties, a little before that you can join or becomes part of organizations for elderly people and so on. So we have not changed a whole lot. But here that would be the age where this widow would be considered old and thus in need of care, in need or provision.

Then it says, “Having been the wife of one man.” That is the second requirement which is a moral requirement. This is basically the same thing reversed as we saw for elders. The elder is to be the husband of one wife. We noted that expression is literally a one woman man denotes faithfulness in his marriage relationship. Here this widow is a one man woman which would indicate as we noted when we studying the reverse expression in chapter 3 that we are not talking about marriage because there indication that polyandry, women being married to multiply husbands was ever practiced at this time. So we are talking about basically being faithful, have been a pattern of moral faithfulness in the marriage. He will later instruct younger widows to get married which would be strange if he was talking about marriage here because that would disqualify them for future help. So here he is talking about a moral qualification, she has been faithful. Not a woman who is noted for running around and so on.

Okay, verse 10: “Having a reputation for good works.” That is a general qualification and again this is not current. It is expressed in the past tense so again this is not oh here is a widow and she is working hard for the church. We will pay her kind of thing. No, she has a reputation, past tense, of good works. She is viewed now as we would say retirement beyond the age where she is expected to be working in specific ways.

The good works that is a general qualification, that ought to characterize all believers, right? We are to be characterized by good works, works that are pleasing to God. Not that we are saved by our good works but Ephesians 2:8, 9 what, says “we are saved by grace through faith” and then for what? For doing good works which God ordained beforehand that we should walk in them. So the good works are a result of the power of God’s transforming grace so now we live lives that are pleasing to Him doing what is pleasing to Him not to earn salvation but to manifest God’s work in our lives, God’s character if you will.

There are five areas of good works delineated for the widow. And again you will see a number of these are just qualities of a godly woman. First is “if she has brought up children” and you will see each of these begins with the “if” just to mark them out. That’s how you can find them here. The general statement “having a reputation for good works” and “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 those five “if” statements elaborate on the good works.

The first one – if she has brought up children, the care of children, been responsible in the home and the family. Again the focal point of a woman’s life is the home. The normal procedure would be she would have children. There are exceptions and we have seen those on other occasions but talking about the general pattern that would be true. She’s been faithful in her home, in caring for her children. Now obviously these children have passed away because if they were living they would be responsible to care for her. But she’s demonstrated the faithfulness similar to what we had for elders. Elders had to be men who are managing their own household well. There was more of a present situation but the same thing. We noted that it did not require that a man be married and have children but it’s the general rule. So here the woman’s realm is the home.

Back in chapter 2 as he talks about the different responsibilities of men and women and you get the clear indication and we will see this as we move along that there was a problem in the church at Ephesus with women and their improper influence. You know the conflict between the roles of men and women is not new or unique to our day. These battles have gone on. Now with the passing of time there is more deterioration in a variety of areas as we have seen but the conflict between men and women and the battling against the roles that God has specified is not something new. Paul addressed this in chapter 2 when he drew out the responsibility that men have before the Lord and the responsibility that women have and verse 9: “I want the women to adorn themselves properly” and their focus is verse 10: “By means of good works.” And this is proper for a woman making a claim to godliness. You know, you don’t want to be like we read in Mark chapter 7: “They honor Me with their lips but their hearts are far from Me.” It is not enough to claim to be godly you must conduct yourself in a godly way, manifesting it with the good works. A woman receives instruction. She’s not to teach or be in authority but the woman’s realm down in verse 15 will be the home. Again as Paul made note in I Corinthians 7 there is provision for men and women who do not marry, who do not have children in some cases God does not make it possible when there is marriage to have children. That is all in His sovereign plan but that doesn’t change the general pattern that is established. So the woman’s realm with be the home. That is where she finds her salvation; her fulfillment in the sense of what God intends her to be. It is not in competing with the man. It’s not trying to be what the man is. It’s not trying to replace the man through bearing the children and keeping the home.

So when we come over to chapter 5 and talk about the widow having a reputation for good works, having brought up children this is just the pattern of what he talked about in chapter 2 of the good works that are to characterize a woman, that’s godliness. Remember in our study this morning, we talked about presenting our bodies a living sacrifice, not being conformed to this world but being transformed and we have to be careful that our focus is on being what God intends us to be. You see something of the battles going on at Ephesus back in chapter 4, verse 3. Some of the false teachers were forbidding marriage along with other esthetic practices so the conflicts, disagreements that are going on. More of these will come out.

Come over to Titus chapter 2. We will pick this up now rather than later. We looked at this earlier in our study in Timothy. Chapter 2 of Titus begins: “But as for you, speak to things which are fitting for sound doctrine (healthy teaching) what the older men are to be, what the older women are to be and the older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, godly conduct as was true of the older men, not malicious gossips (this is going to come up in a little bit here in our section in I Timothy.) Not enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good.” Some pick up from this and say well see in I Timothy 2 Paul said that men were to be teachers but he didn’t mean that the women couldn’t be teachers but as we have noted, the sentence goes on. We don’t just break off the sentence. “Teaching what is good.” What are they teaching? “That they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, love their children, be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands so that the Word of God will not be dishonored.” That issue is coming up in our section shortly in I Timothy 5. We want to be careful that we don’t dishonor the Word of God by failing to be obedient to it and this is a crucial area. You see the realm for the women and the older women are to lead the way in helping the younger women understand. They are not going to learn it from the world. The world is pressing them into its mold but the instructions to be a godly woman love their husbands, love their children and so on.

So come back to I Timothy 5. So she has brought up children. In other words she has had a life built around her home, focused in her home, caring for the home and the family members and so on.

Secondly, good works would manifest itself if she has shown hospitality to strangers. Paul instructs all believers in Romans chapter 12: 13 to be hospitable, to be practicing hospitality. Particularly now we are talking about among believers. That is his concern. We saw in Hebrews chapter 13, verse 2 the instruction: “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers. Some have entertained angels unaware” was an encouragement and an example.

I Peter chapter 4, verse 9: “Be hospitable to one another without complaint.” That caring for one another, loving one another particularly believers that aren’t that close. In Biblical times it would express itself often when travelling believers and we didn’t have the motels and hotels and other accommodations that become common practice and often preferred you opened your home.

Come over to III John, the 3rd Epistle of John all the way back just a page or two before the book of Revelation at the back of your Bible, III John will give you an example of this. He said in verse 4: “I have no greater joy than this than to hear of my children walking in the truth.” So you see that’s godliness, walking in the truth. That is doing good works, those things which are pleasing to God. The truth of God is shaping my life, controlling the way that I live, what I do, what I say and so on. That’s John’s greatest joy to see fellow believers and those particularly that he may have led to Christ being faithful to the truth. “Beloved you are acting faithfully in whatever you accomplish for the brethren.” And he is particularly talking about when they are strangers “and they have testified to your love before the church. You do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God for they went out for the sake of the name accepting nothing from the Gentiles.” Remember Paul when he went to Corinth he didn’t take any money for his ministry there. That is what he is referring to here, one of these travelling evangelists and teachers going to bring the Gospel into an area. How are they going to live? Remember we read earlier today of Paul thanking the Philippians for their repeated gifts. Sometimes he had to work making tents and leather working but here verse 8: “We ought to support such men so that we may be fellow workers with the truth.” So here open the home and here comes a man who is teaching the truth come into the city then they would open their home and of course a prime responsibility for that falls on the woman of the house, the wife. She is the one who would prepare the meals and have a responsibility for much of this.

Many years ago, getting so old, but when I was dating Marilyn this was just before the automobile was invented but her mother always made Sunday dinner. People ate at home in those days, strange as it seems but on Sunday she always made dinner at home and she always made enough so that if there were any missionaries or any visitors at church she would invite them to come home and have dinner. Sometimes when I was dating Marilyn and would go to their house for dinner afterwards but there would be sometimes other people that had been missionaries or other believers who were visiting was part of being hospitable and inviting them to come and have the meal, eat with us, probably practiced a little less today. Like I say, we have other accommodations but that general attitude of the woman that she cares and these responsibilities fall largely to her because they take place in the realm of the home. So she is noted for having shown hospitality to strangers which is what? Verse 8 if you are still in III John, “Being a fellow worker with the truth.” She wouldn’t be the teacher but by her being hospitable and providing a home where they could be taken care of they have facilitated that ministry and thus was a fellow worker with the truth.

Come back to I Timothy chapter 5. Third qualification here. “If she has washed the saints feet.” And these things all fall in the realm of helps, the support ministry that we would connect often with the home. I take it washing the saints feet is talking about her willing, humble service to others. Washing the feet was a task often done by the servants. Remember Jesus did that example in John chapter 13 and “if I as your Lord have washed your feet you ought to be willing to wash one another’s feet.” That would be doing the most humble, lowly service for one another and this is characterized as a widow who would be eligible to be enrolled. She’s been a willing, humble servant of others. The concern has been how can I be a help? How can I be an enabler if you will, meet needs? That is a selfless kind of thing. If she has assisted those in distress and we have talked about this in Hebrews. The pressures of the time added to the difficulty of being a believer. We have seen repeatedly in Hebrews chapter 10 those who have suffered loss of homes and possessions. Some went to prison. This would leave the family in difficult circumstances. Some of you read church history and you read of different times in church history with persecutions and trials the pressure that put on families. But she was willing to assist those in distress going through trials of various kinds.

We have that today too. Often it falls to the women of the congregation. They go. They prepare meals for people in time of need, if they are sick, if they are in the hospital, provide for the family, go to visit, clean homes, do all these kinds of things that don’t get the recognition for example that preaching gets but it is something that is pleasing to God and will be honored by Him, rewarded by Him. It ought to be recognized by the church.

So God puts this portion of the Word here as a reminder, these aren’t just little nothings that don’t matter. They matter to God who is sovereign over His family. She’s assisted those in distress. She was there to help in whatever way she could, to bring comfort, to help meet needs and it goes on. So many ways with the women in our congregation as many of you have experienced their ministry. “If she has devoted herself to every good work.”

Verse 10 started out: “She has a reputation for good works” and then the last example is she just devoted herself to every good work. I mean here is a woman that through her life as a believer has just demonstrated a readiness. God has created a woman to be a helper in many ways. “I will make a helper fitted to the man.” Her role is to be the helper and that carries over to the ministry she has in the church. So that ability to step up, look for opportunities, step forward to do; so many of these things go on. They don’t get broad recognition because you know you see somebody in need, a way you can help and just do it. And that’s what often goes on in these things but over time we have you know, a number of women. We are blessed as a congregation who just are there. They are ready. They are there being involved often before most of us even know there is a need there. You know sometimes I will hear about something and I think well do we have anybody helping? Oh yes, they are already involved. They are taking care of this. They have been doing this. That is what he is talking about. “She has devoted herself to every good work.” So that qualifies this godly woman to be enrolled.

So we are going to summarize this. We are talking about a godly woman who is over 60 years of age. Now you can have a godly woman under 60 years of age but to be enrolled for regular support. That does not mean the church would never help a younger widow but she would not be able to be enrolled for regular ongoing support just like we would help any fellow believer who has a specific need at a specific time. This is going to be a regular ongoing activity, a regular ongoing ministry. They are enrolled. They are on the list. These are the widows so that what is needed will be allotted to them on a regular basis so they know they will be provided for.

Alright, what about if you are not 60? You are out of luck. No, that’s not a good Biblical statement. Younger widows get married, have a family. That’s the normal pattern. That’s where the woman’s realm is the home, that’s the normal pattern. Again, we think of exceptions and there are exceptions but the normal pattern, God’s pattern, is marriage and there are roles established for men and women and most of those take place in the context of a marriage relationship. Even when marriage doesn’t occur the woman will be a woman and a man will be a man but that’s a different study.

You get an indication now of the seriousness of the problems at Ephesus and it involved not only the men who had to be commanded not to teach strange doctrines but the women who were undermining the ministry of truth at Ephesus as well. The devil does his work well.

Pick up at verse 11. “But refuse younger women” and as you have filled in in your Bibles with the italics “you refuse them.” In other words, they can’t be enrolled. They can’t be put on the list for regular support. The younger widows would be those under 60. They are not eligible for the regular support of the church. The reason – “For when they feel sensual desires and disregard of Christ they want to get married thus incurring condemnation because they set aside their previous pledge.” So boy, this is a challenging passage when you get into it. A younger woman, a widow, can’t be enrolled under 60 why, because she will have desires. She’s been married would indicate that perhaps she does have the gift of celibacy so now it can be found that some widows as well as widowers will choose to remain celibate after their partner dies, that’s I Corinthians 7 but there are problems going on at the church at Ephesus and it evidently involved some of the younger widows. They shouldn’t be enrolled because they will have these desires for fulfillment sexually, desire to get married and they will incur condemnation.

Now why would you be condemned if you are going to get married? Well some would say because they set aside their previous pledge. In other words, when they were enrolled they promised they wouldn’t get married. That seems to be strange because there is nothing in the Bible that forbids remarriage even if you are over 60 and the idea that you would guarantee that you wouldn’t get married so if you do get married you were enrolled did you have to you know take an oath that you would remain celibate the rest of life? You can’t control the future. That kind of commitment would not seem to be Biblical.

I think what has helped you will note in the margin of your Bible just in verse 12 you have a little number 1 before the word pledge and you have in the margin “literally faith.” I think if they would have translated it that way it would have helped because they set aside their previous faith. What he is concerned about is these widows, younger widows getting enrolled. The problem they are having is they are getting drawn aside into marriages that are contrary to Biblical marriages and they evidently are in effect denying their faith in Christ. Now that could happen to anyone but it can be facilitated by being enrolled because by being enrolled these widows as we are going on to say in verse 13: “They learn to be idle.” So they have time on their hands and you know we have the expression that idleness is the devil’s workshop. That is not a Biblical verse but it contains a truth and that is idleness leads us to problems. You know what that’s like. Some of you with teenagers you get concerned if they have too much time on their hands. Then they are going to get into things they shouldn’t. Well that’s what he is concerned about for the younger widows. If the church is supporting them and as their responsibility at home is limited they don’t have a husband then they are going to get off into things that they shouldn’t get into.

So I think that the pattern that he is going to say in verse 14 “I want the younger widows to get married.” And of course get married in the confines of what is a Biblical marriage. So I think verse 11 and 12 are talking about turning away from the faith, denying the faith that they have claimed to have in Christ. We want to put them in a situation where that becomes a possibility or a problem.

Verse 13: “At the same time they also learn to be idle going around from house to house not merely idle but also gossips, busybodies, talking about things they ought not to mention.” You see the problems here that developed and seem to be developing in the church at Ephesus. You have false teachers, the men who are teaching things they should not teach, they’ve got to be stopped. You’ve got women and here evidently it involved some of the younger widows who were drawing support from the church and they have time on their hands and so what do they do? They go around and visit, spend time at a friend’s house and pretty soon they are talking about things they shouldn’t talk about and perhaps having to do with sensual matters since these are things not proper and wouldn’t be even appropriate to bring them up here which would seem to indicate in light of the previous things that verse 11, sensual desires this just is fuel for the fire and the problems multiply. They’ve got the energy of being younger, the time but they are not doing things that are profitable and fruitful. Remember the older women in Titus 2 were to teach the younger women how to take care of the home, how to love their husbands, take care of the children, do these things time filled with things that God would have them do.

So Paul’s solution in verse 14: “I want the younger widows to get married, bear children, keep house, give the enemy no occasion for reproach.” God’s plan is marriage. Now again, I Corinthians chapter 7 and we are not going to go there but verse 7 talks about God giving and here it’s called a gift of celibacy and Paul in that context refers that when your partner has died for some of you that would be an option. It’s not the general pattern and when it becomes the general pattern we’ve got problems. We see that in our society and the world as we have moved away.

When I was younger the marriage age was much younger and now we have pushed the marriage up and what do we have? We have a general acceptance of immorality and then the acceptance of immorality gets pushed down to lower ages but the world is not concerned about living in obedience to God’s truth but we as believers begin to adopt that pattern and we find we are having the same problems. God’s plan is marriage. We have been through this. We need to be careful. You know that the older women are to teach the younger women how to take care of the home, take care of their husbands. We are more concerned to teach them how they are going to what? Be independent, do all this and that and the other thing. I am not saying a woman can’t learn other things but I am saying we need to be careful we have a focus where God puts it and we think it’s a good thing to tell them to delay marriage and wait and do all this and get established because we want them to be successful. We want them to have nice things. We want them to be able to travel. We want them to be able to do all this and pretty soon… we want to be careful. Paul says “I want the younger widows to get married and have children.” Children are God’s plan. Children keep you busy particularly the wife and the mother so have children.

You keep house. Keep house. The heart of the word is the word that we would recognize in English “despot.” It is a strong word. She is the ruler of the house. Now she is under the authority of her husband. Wives are to be submissive to their husbands in everything, Ephesians chapter 5 says, “Just as the church is submissive to Christ.” The husband recognizes the home is my wife’s domain and I am pleased to have her run the home and I support her in the running of the home but that doesn’t mean she is over me as the husband; so the balance. The godly woman given as an example in Proverbs chapter 31: “She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.”

So verse 13. You know when you have so much time on your hands, you fill it, pretty soon you are learning to be idle. You’ve filled it with things you shouldn’t be doing because you are not filling your life with the things you ought to be doing and for the wife the home will be it.

We are back to chapter 2, verse 15: “The woman will be preserved through the bearing of children if they continue in faith and love and sanctity” and so on. This is the realm that God has created for the women, the home. We need to keep this before us. It’s not an honored position today. I mean you turn on your TV. You watch the news. How many times do you hear, we want to just honor this woman? She is a housewife. Do we even use that term today, housewife? The world says derogatory. In God’s eyes it’s an honor. What does your wife do? She takes care of the home. I mean does she have a job? Yes, she takes care of the home. I mean a real job. Well she takes care of me. That’s a big job but she takes care of the home. That is an important job. That is a job to be honored and respected and it is the women’s realm. The last part of that is “she does these things and gives the enemy no occasion for reproach.” No opportunity for the enemy, Satan and unbelievers to speak against us.

Come back to chapter 3, verse 7 concerning here, elders, being a godly man. “He must have a good reputation with those outside the church” so unbelievers “so he will not fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.” It’s these kinds of things where we bring disrespect and disrepute.

Chapter 6, verse 1 of I Timothy: “All who are under the yoke of slaves are to regard their own masters as worthy of all honor so that the name of God and our doctrine will not be spoken against.” We have to be careful we conduct ourselves Biblically in a godly way otherwise give occasion for the enemy to point out our failure and they delight to do that.

Now you see why we said Paul was addressing some real problems at Ephesus: “For some have already turned aside to follow Satan,” serious matter. So I say verses 11 and 12 where “refuse to put younger widows on the list when they feel sensual desires and disregard of Christ. They want to get married incurring condemnation they have set aside their previous faith.”

Verse 15: “Some have already turned aside to follow Satan,” entered into unbiblical marriages and get involved in unbiblical relationships. Oh it is already happening. It is a problem in the church at Ephesus. We think some of these things are new problems that the church faces today Paul says this is going on at Ephesus, the church that received a letter to the Ephesians, the church that received a letter from Christ in Revelation chapter 2.

Well turn over to 2 Timothy chapter 3. You see the problem here. Talk about verse 2: “Men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, reviler, disobedient to parents,” all this ungodly character. The end of verse 5: “Avoid such men as these. Among them are those who enter into households, captivate weak women weighed down with sins laid on by various impulses; always learning never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” You see the follow up here seems to indicate false teachers that have to be stopped at Ephesus or finding a listening audience among these women who didn’t have anything better to do with their times than listen to these teachers and then they are involved in other things, sinful activities, following sensual impulses as we saw. So the problems multiply. They are always learning but they never really come to know the truth.

Let’s come back now to that last verse in this section in I Timothy 5: “If any women who is a believer and has widows she must assist them.” Now this was going on. Verse 8: “If any one does not provide for his own, especially those of his own household he is denying the faith.” But where is the full responsibility going to come? Though we had Marilyn’s mother live in our home the responsibility for taking care of her and seeing her needs were met would primarily fall to my wife. My responsibilities were more the general but the specific care – see that she had her meals, see that she took her medications, all those things, see that the wash was done for her, the beds changed and those things – it falls to the wife. So here, “Any woman who is a believer has widow she must assist them.” So primarily the responsibility here carries it back to pulls together what he has been saying and another area of believing women carrying out the ministry and they take care of the widows they may have whether it’s a mother, mother-in-law whatever.

“The church must not be burdened so that it may assist those who are widows indeed.” The church will have limited resources and so it ought to be helping those who have no other option but families that have their widow whether it’s a mother, a grandmother, whatever, the family takes care of it and particularly, verse 16 focuses and is generally we do have responsibility. My mother lived with my sister as we had Marilyn’s mother with us but I was responsible if that hadn’t worked out, I would have been responsible to find another way to work it out. I can’t absolve myself of the ultimate responsibility but generally it will fall to the woman of the household. Those kinds of things, I mean the care of an elderly woman will naturally come from a woman family member and those kind of things that take place there.

Rather simple isn’t it? You see how godliness permeates our lives. It’s not having an appearance of being a godly person or the Pharisees were talking about their godliness and appearance, it’s just putting it into practice in the everyday flow of life, the nitty-gritty. This can be not glorious. In its own way it is burdensome but in the other way it is not burdensome to do what God wants us to do. It’s a privilege and so where there are widows in need well this is God’s plan for us. And no, it’s not a burden to take care of you. It doesn’t mean that it’s going to be a responsibility but that’s life and we are not looking to escape the responsibilities that God gives us. So our godliness just permeates in our everyday living. That’s an encouragement. Well I wish I didn’t have that responsibility then I could really do this for the Lord. Well He brought this into my life because this is what He wants us to do for the Lord, for Him. Do I want to do what He wants me to do or do I want to do what I want to do and make it look like I am doing it for the Lord? So here is a clear example, the care of widows. But the little things of our lives as we may say “little” I say little because they are just part of what we might even say the mundane things of life. But there are ways of honoring God being a testimony of His grace, our love for Him and our love for one another.

Let’s pray together. Thank You Lord for Your grace, Your love for us. Thank You for every blessing You bring into our lives, blessings that we might say are in disguise, blessings that come as burdens, the responsibilities. Lord, it’s easy for us to become selfish that we like to have our freedom. We like to be able to do what we want to do. We don’t want to be burdened down with the responsibility of care for someone else and yet Lord we don’t want to be free of the privilege of serving You. We don’t want to be free from the responsibilities that You give to us so that we can grow in grace. Thank You for Your blessings on us as a church. Thank You Lord for the many godly women who contribute in so many ways to our life as a church, ways not always recognized by us but always recognized by You and ways that You strengthen us as Your people. Lord may godliness permeate our lives in everything we do, everything we say may we manifest we are Your people and thank You for the privilege. Thank You for this day together. We look forward to the week before us. Lord its opportunities, its challenges, its difficulties, its pressures but above all we look forward to enjoying Your sufficiency for us in every situation we praise You in Christ’s name, amen.