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The Gospel Observer
"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations...teaching them
to observe all that I commanded you, and lo, I am with you always,
even to the end of the age" (Matt. 28:19,20).
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April 21, 2013
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Contents:
1) 1 Timothy 5:19-25 (Tom Edwards)
2) News & Notes
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-1-
1 Timothy 5:19-25
by Tom Edwards
After giving instruction concerning elderly and young widows, Paul
then has more to say about an elder. The apostle declares: "Do
not receive an accusation against an elder except on the basis of
two or three witnesses. Those who continue in sin, rebuke in
the presence of all, so that the rest also will be fearful of
sinning" (1 Tim. 5:19,20). This principle of plurality was
also so during the Mosaical Period: "A single witness shall not rise
up against a man on account of any iniquity or any sin which he has
committed; on the evidence of two or three witnesses a matter shall
be confirmed" (Deut. 19:15). Concerning witnesses during the
Old Covenant, Jesus states, "Even in your law it has been written
that the testimony of two men is true" (Jn. 8:17). Consider
also the Lord's instruction in Matthew 18:15-17 with regard to the
use of witnesses: "...if your brother sins against you, go and tell
him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you
have gained your brother. But if he will not hear you, take
with you one or two more, that 'by the mouth of two or three
witnesses every word may be established'" (NKJV). Out of 25
different Bible versions I looked this up in, all but two (the NASB
and GW) include the idea of a personal sin committed by one brother
against another -- rather than just a brother who sins. So if
a Christian is sinned against, this instruction shows how it should
be taken care of.
In the case of the elder, it would appear that his testimony would
be more valid than that of any other one person. But a
plurality of witnesses can make a charge against him.
Paul then says that "Those who continue in sin, rebuke in the
presence of all...," which, of course, is still referring to the
elders.
Paul also shows why they are to be rebuked before all: "so that the
rest also will be fearful of sinning." Matters of this nature,
when dealt with properly, should help to strengthen the proper
respect and faithfulness that one has toward God and His word.
In Acts 5:1-11, for example, Ananias and Sapphira were struck down
by God for having lied about their giving. The man and his
wife were buried side by side, and the account concludes by saying
that "...great fear came over the whole church, and over all who
heard of these things." What an indelible impression that must
have made! Instilled within these saints was the need to be
truthful unto men and unto God -- and more of the realization that
sin is not something to be taken lightly.
In 1 Timothy 5:21, Paul then instructs of the impartial nature that
Timothy is to have -- and which, of course, is to be true of all of
us, as well. The apostle states: "I solemnly charge you in the
presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of His chosen angels, to
maintain these principles without bias, doing nothing in a spirit of
partiality." James had also exhorted the brethren toward
impartiality in James 2:1-9 and warns in that last verse, "But if
you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the
law as transgressors." One reason why we are to be impartial
is because it is the way that God is; and we are to, therefore,
strive to be like him. In Romans 2:11, for instance, Paul
points out that "...there is no partiality with God." This was
also the same conclusion Peter reached in Acts 10:34 and further
expressed it in the next verse, by saying, "but in every nation the
man who fears Him and does what is right, is welcome to Him" (v.
35). What a wonderful message that was for those who
heard. For Peter declared this in the house of Cornelius, who
had gathered together many people in order to hear the gospel
proclaimed; and they became the first Gentile converts to
Christ. During the Mosaical Age, the Gentiles were viewed as
being an unclean people whom the Jews were not even to associate
with (cf. Acts 10:28; 11:2,3; Jn. 8:28); but now, during the Gospel
Age, God had shown Peter of the proper regard he should have toward
them, which was to be the same as toward any race or nationality.
Paul then gives another warning, by saying, "Do not lay hands upon
anyone too hastily and thereby share responsibility for the sins of
others; keep yourself free from sin" (1 Tim. 5:22). First of
all, we know that this laying on of hands is not speaking of the
bestowing of miraculous gifts. For only the apostles could do
that (cf. Acts 8:12-19). There are a couple different thoughts
concerning 1 Timothy 5:22: 1) We have seen that the laying on
of hands was also done to send one off on a mission, to show their
approval of that one of whom they would pray God's blessing in the
work. Therefore, one thought is that individuals were not to
be too hasty in appointing an elder -- such as before it was
actually determined if he truly met all the qualifications.
For appointing the wrong man might lead to some bad results.
2) Another thought, however, is that this would apply to the
accusations made against an elder and the "hands of discipline,"
which were not to be made too hastily, lest he possibly be
wrongfully accused. Of course, both of these principles can be
inferred from elsewhere in the Scripture.
In 1 Timothy 5:23, Paul then gives Timothy a prescription for his
infirmities. He states, "No longer drink water exclusively,
but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent
ailments" (NASB). It appears from this that Timothy had been a
total abstainer, since he is now being told to take "a little wine"
for some personal health problems. In the KJV, this verse
states, "Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy
stomach's sake and thine often infirmities." Some people have
assumed by this rendering that the water was bad, so Paul is telling
Timothy to never drink water, but only wine. Various other
Bible versions, however, give the idea of no longer drinking ONLY
water. So Paul is not saying that Timothy could never drink
water; but, rather, that it wasn't the only thing he was to
drink. The NKJV, for example, renders it as, "No longer drink
only water...." We can also infer from the verse itself --
even when the word "exclusively" or "only" is not there -- that
Timothy would not be using wine all the time as a substitute for
water, for he was to take only a "little" wine. So if Timothy
did drink as much wine as he would normally drink water, how could
one call that just a "little"?
What else do we learn from this verse? We can also infer from
it that miracles were not performed for just any reason -- even to
make one well. For the apostle Paul could work miracles, but
he didn't perform one on Timothy to cure him. This was also
the case with Trophimus. 2 Timothy 4:20 reads, "Erastus
remained at Corinth, but Trophimus I left sick at Miletus." So
Paul had been right there with him, but did not miraculously heal
him. Paul also had his "thorn in the flesh" (2 Cor. 12:7),
which was probably some physical infirmity that he prayed three
times for the Lord to remove; but God's answer was, "My grace is
sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness" (v.
9). Paul, therefore, went on to say in the same verse, "Most
gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that
the power of Christ may dwell in me."
Miracles were used to confirm God's word, as Mark 16:20 shows: "And
they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with
them, and confirmed the word by the signs that followed."
Notice that, according to this verse, it was the Lord who worked
with the apostles and confirmed the word by miracles. Of
course, He was doing this through the apostles. Peter also
made this quite clear when the lame man was begging alms in Acts
3:6. Peter tells him, "I do not possess silver and gold, but
what I do have I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the
Nazarene -- walk!" The account then goes on to say: "And all
the people saw him walking and praising God; and they were taking
note of him as being the one who used to sit at the Beautiful Gate
of the temple to beg alms, and they were filled with wonder and
amazement at what had happened to him. And while he was
clinging to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them at
the so-called portico of Solomon, full of amazement. But when
Peter saw this, he replied to the people, 'Men of Israel, why do you
marvel at this, or why do you gaze at us, as if by our own power or
piety we had made him walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His servant Jesus, the
one whom you delivered up, and disowned in the presence of Pilate,
when he had decided to release Him. But you disowned the Holy
and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you,
but put to death the Prince of life, the one whom God raised from
the dead, a fact to which we are witnesses. And on the basis
of faith in His name, it is the name of Jesus which has strengthened
this man whom you see and know; and the faith which comes through
Him has given him this perfect health in the presence of you all"
(Acts 3:9-16).
1 Timothy 5 then closes with Paul saying, "The sins of some men are
quite evident, going before them to judgment; for others, their sins
follow after. Likewise also, deeds that are good are quite
evident, and those which are otherwise cannot be concealed" (vv.
24,25). This passage teaches the principle that all of our
deeds -- whether good or bad, known or not known by others --
are all known by God and cannot be hidden from His sight. In
Numbers 32:23, Moses warned the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad,
by saying, "But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned
against the LORD, and be sure your sin will find you out."
Solomon writes, "He who conceals his transgressions will not
prosper, But he who confesses and forsakes them will find
compassion" (Prov. 28:13). Sin, of course, can never be
hidden from God: "If we had forgotten the name of our God, Or
extended our hands to a strange god; Would not God find this out?
For He knows the secrets of the heart" (Psa. 44:20,21). Achan
tried to hide his sin, but to no avail: "But the sons of Israel
acted unfaithfully in regard to the things under the ban, for Achan,
the son of Carmi...from the tribe of Judah, took some of the things
under the ban, therefore the anger of the LORD burned against the
sons of Israel" (Josh. 7:1). "So Achan answered Joshua and
said, 'Truly, I have sinned against the LORD, the God of Israel, and
this is what I did: when I saw among the spoil a beautiful mantle
from Shinar and two hundred shekels of silver and a bar of gold
fifty shekels in weight, then I coveted them and took them; and
behold, they are concealed in the earth inside my tent with the
silver underneath it'" (vv. 20-22). Before Achan had made this
confession, he was the one out of all Israel who had been selected
(through the intervention of God) to give an account (vv.
14-19). Paul points out, "For we must all appear before the
judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his
deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or
bad" (2 Cor. 5:10). And Romans 2:16 shows that this will be
"on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets
of men through Christ Jesus." For it is Jesus whom the Father
has entrusted with that duty in the Judgment Day (cf. Jn.
5:21,22,27). May we, therefore, each be ready when that day
comes!
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-3-
News & Notes
Let those of us who are Christians be remembering the following
people in prayer:
Next week, Pam MacDonald will be having two major surgeries
on her back. The second one will be performed the day after
the first one.
Virginia Fontenot is now undergoing chemo therapy and having
a difficult time with it. She said that one of the bad side
effects has been the feeling of her throat closing off. She is
also very weak physically.
Bill Barfield (Virginia's brother) was recently moved to a
Regency Hospital. He has now been continuously in a few
different hospitals for more than a year. But it was here at
Regency that Bill was able to stand on his own for the first time
since about March 2012. So it would be good if he could remain
there and continue receiving their treatments until he is able to
return home, but Medicare will approve of only three weeks.
Prayer, therefore, has been requested that Medicare will allow for
Bill to be there as long as needed.
* Let us also be remembering the following
in prayer: Linda
Blevins who has been diagnosed with bilateral renal
artery stenosis and will be undergoing some more tests in May;
Tom Smitherman (Lee's father) who has been diagnosed with an
aggressive prostate cancer; Cheryl Crews who has
some chronic ailments; Shirley Young who suffers from
fibromyalgia; and Jean Calloway who had been in the hospital
for several days, but is now back home -- though still with health
problems.
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The Steps That Lead to Eternal Salvation
1) Hear the gospel, for that is how faith comes (Rom.
10:17; John 20:30,31).
2) Believe in the deity of Christ (John 8:24; John
3:18).
3) Repent of sins (Luke 13:5; Acts 17:30).
4) Confess faith in Christ (Rom. 10:9,10; Acts
8:36-38).
5) Be baptized in water for the remission of sins
(Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; 22:16; Rom. 6:3,4; Gal. 3:26,27; 1 Pet.
3:21).
6) Continue in the faith; for, if not, salvation can
be lost (Heb. 10:36-39; Rev. 2:10; 2 Pet. 2:20-22).
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Park Forest
CHURCH OF CHRIST
9923 Sunny Cline Dr., Baton Rouge, LA 70817
Sunday services: 9:00 AM (Bible class); 10 AM & 6 PM (worship)
Tuesday: 7 PM (Bible class)
evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards (225) 667-4520
Tom@ThomasTEdwards.com
http://ThomasTEdwards.com/go
(Gospel Observer website)
http://ThomasTEdwards.com/audioser.html
(audio sermons)