Bible Commentaries
1 Timothy 5

Verses 1-25

VII

THE ADMINISTRATION OF INTERNAL CHURCH AFFAIRS

1 Timothy 5:1-25

In this chapter and the next we consider the administration of internal church affairs:

1. How to deal with the different classes of unofficial offending members (1 Timothy 5:1-2).

2. How to administer church pensions to widows (1 Timothy 5:3-16) and to aged ministers (1 Timothy 5:17-18).

3. How to treat offending elders – that is preachers (1 Timothy 5:19-21).

4. Why there should be care in ordaining preachers (1 Timothy 5:22; 1 Timothy 5:24-25).

5. Slaves and masters (1 Timothy 6:1-2).

6. Heterodox teachers in practical religion (1 Timothy 6:3-8).

7. The rich (1 Timothy 6:9-10; 1 Timothy 6:17-19).

8. Quadruple charge to Timothy or the Law of Administration (1 Timothy 5:21; 1 Timothy 5:23; 1 Timothy 6:11-16; 1 Timothy 6:20-21).

1 Timothy 5:1: "Do not reprimand an elderly man, but exhort him as a father; the younger men as brethren; the elder women as mothers; the youngest as sisters, in all purity."

Whoever has charge of a church will sometimes see in the conduct of old men, old women, young men, and young women things that are not exactly right, and will wonder how to deal in judicious discrimination with these cases, especially if he is a young man, as Timothy was. This direction solves the problem: "Do not reprimand, but appeal to the elderly man as a father, to the elder women as mothers, deal with the young men as brothers, with the young women as sisters." This is capital advice to young pastors.

The young preacher, perhaps not much more than a boy, who gets up into the pulpit with the air of a lord and hurls Jupiter’s thunderbolts, knocking down an old man here, an old woman there, a young man here, and a young woman yonder, had as well quit. This does not mean that we are to be silent when wrong exists. There is a way to get at it judiciously, and the text enjoins the right way. We should not let people get the idea that we are "pulpit tyrants" or "bosses."

Pensioning of widows by the church. This matter extends from the third verse down to the sixteenth verse inclusive, and refers to a list of widow pensioners to be supported by the church. The Anglican Church and the Romanists try to make this out an order of women devoted to celibacy, but there is nothing in the text to indicate such a thing. It is simply a list of those "widows indeed" dependent on the church for support. The Mosaic law, in Deuteronomy, is very broad concerning the caring for widows and orphans, and in the New Testament special emphasis is laid on it.

In Acts 6 we have our first church history on the subject. When they had things in common, selling their possessions and turning the proceeds into a common fund, which was distributed daily, a complaint arose among the Hellenist Jews that their widows were being neglected. Let us keep that passage in mind as we study this.

We are now to consider the important question: What women are entitled to be supported by the church? "Honor widows that are widows indeed." But who are widows indeed, must be very carefully determined. The apostle defines negatively and positively:

1. Not one who has children or grandchildren able to take care of her. They are lacking in piety if they allow the older people of their family to suffer or to become a burden on the church. In a community like Ephesus, where the number of Christians was so vast, and where there was such a large proportion of the poorer class of people, the list of pensioners on a church would be large in any event. It was necessary in order not to overburden the church, not to allow on this list any widow who has a child or grandchild living able to support her. Again in 1 Timothy 5:16 we find an enlargement of the restriction: "If any woman that believeth hath widows, let her relieve them, and let not the church be burdened; that it may relieve them that are widows indeed."

So, if there be relatives of even a remoter degree who are able to take care of their older kindred, then the church ought not to be burdened, and they ought to be made, if members of the church, to do their duty, because "whosoever will not provide for his own has denied the faith and is worse than an infidel." It is to the lasting credit of some men that just as long as they live they exercised deference, patience, and love toward their parents.

There is a further restriction in age. How old must this widow be? She must be sixty years old in order to be received as a regular pensioner of the church. Of course, this does not mean that some widows younger than that may not be in need of ordinary charity. But when we make out our pension list of those who are to be regularly supported by the church, we are as a rule to suppose that women under that age can probably take care of themselves. Again, of course, this would not exclude special cases of ordinary charity; say a crippled or a blind woman, however young. The apostle is discussing the general rule of charity which has no regard to age or worthiness. The age restriction for pensions is thus expressed negatively: "But the younger widows refuse, for when they have waxed wanton against Christ, they desire to marry." That implies marrying out of the faith, because soon he exhorts them to marry. If these younger widows are supported they will be idle when able to work, and will likely go about from house to house, and having no employment become busybodies and gossipers.

If, as a rule, every widow is to be supported by the church, we may have, as pensioners, young women with nothing to do, whose very youth, with its vitality and restlessness may make them busy in wrong things. Paul was a wise old man, and he was an inspired old man. He says, "I desire that the younger widows marry, bear children, rule the household." When a woman is sixty years old she is not apt to marry again either in or out of the faith.

He now defines positively: "She must be desolate." Like a single tree left of a grove, all its comrades cut down by the unsparing ax and this lone survivor scarred and riven with lightning bolts, stripped of boughs and foliage by passing storms.

The definition is yet more restrictive: She must have a good record, "having been the wife of one man," that is, not having two husbands at one time. "Well reported of for her good works; if she has brought up children, if she has used hospitality to strangers, if she has washed the saints’ feet [mentioned among the good works, showing that it is a good individual work and not a church ordinance], if she has relieved the afflicted, if she has diligently followed every good work."

He does not mean that every woman on the list shall have every one of these qualifications, but these rules define the requisite record. If a woman be received as a pensioner whose life has been a reproach, somebody in the church will be sure to question the justice of her title to support. Paul is directing here a sane, safe way to guard the church from reproach, and yet allow no neglect of duty.

There is even yet something to be considered: What are her spiritual habits? "She that is a widow indeed and desolate, and hath her hopes set on God, and continueth in supplications and prayers day and night." A genuine Christian, an old woman by herself, no relatives, no property, but with her hope in God, and devoting the remnant of her earthly life to prayer and supplications. Nobody will object to helping her because she has merited the pension, but she must be really desolate and needy and worthy.

And again, negatively: "But she who giveth herself to pleasure is dead while she liveth." There are many old women, who, though old, devote their lives to pleasure and not to God’s service. Paul says that sort of a woman is dead while she lives.

If we were in the French Capital today, we might see old women affecting to be young women, and acting as if they were about twenty-five years old, and so made up as to appear to be girls, face painted or enameled, hair fluffed and curled, outline supplied by the milliner, altogether devoting their lives to social pleasures, going from one soiree to another, from one reception to another, living without God, or without a thought of God. So, in Shakespeare, Hamlet regards his mother. Holding up the ghastly skull of the jester, Yorick, he says to his friend Horatio: "Go and tell my lady that though she paint an inch thick, yet to this favor will she come at last."

While this fund of the church must be administered judiciously, so as not to encourage idleness, not to include in its list one likely to bring reproach on the cause, yet it is a shame to a church to neglect its truly desolate, helpless, and worthy members. This pension list of the church, whether relating as we have just seen to widows, or as we shall next see to preachers, must be distinguished from ordinary charity. This is compensation for service rendered and hence must regard worthiness, while ordinary charity only regards human need no matter what the reason. This is like a government caring for worn out or crippled sailors and soldiers.

Pensioning superannuated preachers. Verse 1 Timothy 5:17: "Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and in the teaching." The "double honor" referred to here is more than the respect to be accorded to these venerable, worn-out preachers. The Greek word time here rendered "honor" is the word used to express the wages of soldiers. That it has that meaning here is evident, not only from the matter under consideration, awarding a pension support, but also from the pertinent quotations which follow: "Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn," and "the laborer is worthy of his hire."

Our Presbyterian brethren are mistaken in supposing that this passage teaches a distinction between two different offices in the church, to wit: teaching elders who are preachers and ruling elders not preachers who have the general administration of church affairs. It is true there might be many elders – preachers – in one church, all of them teachers, but only one of them the pastor, a ruler. The distinction between the amount of the pension accorded by a particular church, would be based on the degree of the service rendered. Many of them might have done their teaching elsewhere. They may indeed have been rulers over the smaller churches they served as pastors. But their membership in this particular church puts them within its care. If they have been distinguished as rulers and have taught that particular church, their pension should be larger.

Churches, if honest, will fairly compensate their preachers who labor in word and in doctrine, devoting their lives to the service of God. Timothy is there as Paul’s delegate, standing in the place of Paul, as Paul stood in the place of Jesus Christ. How reproachful to churches when faithful superannuated men of God are not only shelved with disrespect, but robbed of their wages. The cases are shamefully numerous of men who, without thought of themselves, devote their lives unselfishly to the work of God, and then in old age are laid on the shelf even when they want to work and are still capable of working. Many churches are guilty, just here, to their shame. A preacher of that kind has earned a living and it must be accorded to him, not as charity, but as wages for his labor. A church that will grind its pastor down to fine powder, and force him to live under conditions that will keep him from rendering his best service, sins against God and will be held to account. There are some ’’freeze-out churches" among the Baptists, which takes a man in and uses up his life, and when their debt to him for salary is large they begin to find fault with him and finally rudely send him off to get another to be treated the same way. It is a dishonorable method of paying debts.

I knew one preacher who positively refused to take charge of a church in debt to its former pastor. One of his questions when called was this: "Do you owe your former pastor anything?" "Well, you see, our former pastor had faults." "But do you owe him anything?" "Yes." "Pay him, and I will talk to you." This preacher was John S. Alien.

The next thing is: "Receive not an accusation against an elder, except at the mouth of two or three witnesses." If that rule were followed strictly, many needless scandals and troubles in churches would be avoided. It is such an easy thing to call a man off and whisper, "Don’t say anything about this, but I want to tell you something about our pastor." We should stop the whisperer at once: "Are you about to tell me something against the pastor? If so, do you know it to be true, or are you proposing to circulate a hearsay? If you know it to be true, can you furnish the corroborative testimony of other witnesses? And will you and the other witnesses go with me now and tell what you know to the pastor himself, face to face, giving him an opportunity to meet the accusation?" The whisperer will be apt to reply: "Oh, no! I don’t know anything myself. I have heard so and so." Thus we not only silence the whisperer, but we save ourselves from becoming a partaker of his sin. The necessity for this rule, in all cases, is more emphasized in the case of a preacher, whose reputation is a large part of his capital.

I had a remarkable experience on this line. I went to a certain church to help in a meeting, and noticed one man who kept praising my preaching ad nauseam, while others looked sad when they heard him. After a while he came to me and wanted to put me up against some members of the church, and especially against the pastor. I said, "Look here; you don’t know whom you are talking to. I came here to help, not to harm this pastor. I won’t hold a meeting to hurt a pastor. If you have any accusations or complaints to make, and if you can bring two or three witnesses, let us go before the pastor himself and then if necessary before the church and fairly investigate this matter before we go on with the meeting." That sawed him off and he never praised my preaching any more.

It is shameful the way good, God-fearing men are slandered by irresponsible reports against them. Bring the accuser to task and make him come out in the open and give his corroborative evidence, and allow the accused a chance to answer.

Timothy is there in Ephesus, a great city with many thousands of church members, and many preachers. He is there in an apostle’s stead, and from all over the country some people, if encouraged, will be bringing him private word about some of the preachers. Paul says, "Don’t receive an accusation against an elder except at the mouth of two or three witnesses." The Mosaic law went further: If a charge was made and not sustained, the perjurer received the punishment that the accused would have received if found guilty. Such a restriction puts a brake on the slanderer’s tongue. When we thus hold a man responsible for what he says he is not so ready to talk about people.

The next thing about the elder: "Them that sin, reprove in the sight of all, that the rest may also be in fear." I must call attention to the original word here, which means, sin continually, habitually. Some preachers do sin, and keep on sinning, and do not try to stop. This is not like the case in the beginning of the chapter where an elderly man must be reprimanded. In this case, reprove him in the sight of all. We should not denounce him privately, but make our reproof in the open church, as Paul did Peter at Antioch. We should speak right out: "Here is a man in the ministry who sins and keeps on sinning, and there is no indication that he is going to stop." Let the rebuke be sharp and definite. If the public reprimand does not stop him, withdraw fellowship from him and take away his credentials.

The last item about the elder is found in verse 1 Timothy 5:22: "Lay hands hastily on no man, neither be partakers of other men’s sins: keep thyself pure." The last clause needs exposition. I heard one of the most noted Baptist preachers in Texas preach on that text, "keep thyself pure," and he never touched the real meaning, though all he said was good.

"Pure" here does not refer to chastity. "Sincere" comes nearer the meaning. It must be construed strictly with its connection. The main injunction is: "Be not hasty in ordaining men to the ministry." The subordinate thought: "By hasty ordination you may become a partaker of the candidate’s disqualifying sin." Be sincere in such matters; that is, be without reproach in ordaining men.

The reasons against haste are set forth in 1 Timothy 5:23-24. Some men’s sins, particularly impulsive men, are evident. It takes no long time to know them. They advertise themselves. These impulsive sins precede the candidate. But all men are not alike. Some are very secretive in their sins. The man passes before we see his sins. We must particularly watch out for what follows him. It takes time to find out whether such men are worthy of ordination. We should not look ahead to their promises, nor to the present, but examine the back track. What follows him? Does his past leave a good taste in the mouth? What impression prevails after the sober second thought?

In like manner also there are good works that are evident. In the case of some men we see them at their best when we first see them. Others do not make a good impression at first. They grow on us. Their good works follow them. The longer they stay at a place, and the more they are known, the better they are liked. Because of these distinguishing characteristics, do not lay hands on a novice. License him and prove him; allow time for character to develop itself. Mere brilliancy or flashiness may be accompanied by instability, lack of self control. Wait a while!

In ordaining men we are to remember that some sins advertise themselves, and we can very easily know when not to ordain certain men. Suppose he is known to be intemperate, quick to fly off the handle, boastful in speech; let that man alone for a while, do not ordain him offhand. Remember, also, that some sins do not go before. It takes time to show what they are; they follow after. Wait until there is a chance for the proper development of a man’s character before ordaining him. He may be, so far as anybody knows, very exemplary in his life, and yet in his heart he may cherish deadly sins. "Such sins," says the apostle, "will work out and show themselves after a while." Therefore, do not be in a hurry about ordaining any man. When we first meet a man he may seem to be all right, but we must wait to see what follows after. This does not mean to wait always. Character expresses itself; there is nothing covered but shall be revealed. There is nothing hid but shall be brought to light. If a man imagines that he can continue indefinitely to sin secretly, he is mistaken. We may rest assured that our sin will find us out. It is as certain as that the sun shines. I have been out in the woods and have seen charcoal burners trying to smother their fire by covering it up, but the flames would break out if not constantly watched. It is an inexorable law of God that what we are inside will crop out after a while. Moreover, human secretiveness can-not avail against God’s overruling providence. On this point are to be found in Lilley’s very able Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles some judicious observations and quotations:

The great principle announced is the constant drift of all human action to the light of God’s throne. Here Paul’s teaching coincides with that of the Lord Jesus (Matthew 10:26). It is essentially the same view of life and providence, though contemplated more from the human standpoint, that the Evangelist John also takes, when he says: "For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be convicted: but he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest that they have been wrought in God" (John 3:20-21). In either case there is no possibility of concealment. The discovery of human conduct is automatic and irresistible.

The law of retribution given in the former part of Paul’s statement (John 3:24) is the standing theme illustrated in tragedy. The Greek tragedians, especially Aeschylus, excelled in the skill with which they exhibited this aspect of providence. It is also constantly reproduced in modern literature in the most varied forms. "My Lord Cardinal," said Anne of Austria to Richelieu, "God does not pay at the end of every week, but at the last he pays." The German poet, Von Logau, said,

"The mills of God grind slowly, but they grind exceeding small;

Though with patience he stands waiting, with exactness grinds he all."

As Dora Greenwell pointed out, however, the same principle holds true for mercy equally with judgment: "Some of the good seed sown in tears is now shedding a heavenly fragrance within our lives, and some of it will blossom, perhaps bear fruit over our graves" (Patience of Hope).

The aim of the whole utterance is to quicken in men a keener sense of individual responsibility to God. They shall not be able to hide from his eye in the multitude at last: they should not attempt to do so now.

Man lumps his kind i’ the mass: God singles thence

Unit by unit. Thou and God exist –

So think! – for certain: think the mass – mankind –

Disparts, disperses, leaves thyself alone!

Ask thy lone soul what laws are plain to thee –

Thee and no other – stand or fall by them!

That is the part for thee: regard all else

For what it may be – Time’s illusion.

– BROWNING, Ferishtah’s Fancies.

Lilley’s Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles is, in the main, a very scholarly and sound exposition of the letters to Timothy and Titus, and is hereby heartily recommended.

I add one other from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. Mark Anthony, in delivering the funeral oration over Caesar, uses this expression: The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones.

All these bear upon the caution to Timothy about ordaining men to the ministry. While we cannot wait forever, we should not lay hands on any man hastily. Churches today are committing sins fore and aft in hasty ordinations. It is not so likely that there will be a sin committed in licensing men; we should give them an opportunity to prove themselves.

QUESTIONS

1. To what one general theme are 1 Timothy 5-6 devoted?

2. State in order the particulars of this discussion.

3. What the discriminating direction when unofficial church members of different age or sex offend?

4. How may the preacher in charge defeat the ends of discipline by his methods of administration?

5. In the paragraph 1 Timothy 5:3-18 that the author has entitled "Pensioning Widows and Superannuated Preachers," is the pensioning regarded as an ordinary charity or compensation for past fidelity?

6. What mistake do Romanists and some Anglicans make as to these pensioned widows?

7. Where do we find the first New Testament history on this point?

8. Give first the negatives, i.e., what widows are not to be put on this list.

9. Give the positive requisites.

10. On the law for pensioning old and broken down preachers, 1 Timothy 5:17-18, what mistake do the Presbyterians and some Baptists make?

11. What the Greek word here rendered "honor," what its meaning and what contextual proof?

12. How do some "freeze-out" Baptist churches pay their pastors?

13. What noted Baptist preacher in Texas refused to consider a call from a church in debt to a former pastor?

14. What other wrong is often done to a preacher’s reputation and what the law here to prevent it?

15. As the Mosaic covenant was both civil and religious how did it afford even greater protection against this evil?

16. State one experience of the author on this line.

17. But this passage (1 Timothy 5:20) supposes that a preacher may sin, what the meaning of the word "sin" in this connection?

18. As private accusation is forbidden in such case, what is the remedy enjoined and why, and on what notable occasion did Paul himself carry out the injunction?

19. What fault of the churches is largely responsible for so many of these preacher troubles, and stands most in the way of pensioning preachers and what the remedy here enjoined?

20. Why, on account of distinctions in sin and in merits should churches avoid haste in ordination?

21. In the injunction (1 Timothy 5:22) what the meaning of -"Keep thyself pure," and why the necessity of this particular caution in this connection.

22. Develop the thought in 1 Timothy 5:24-25 and show its pertinence against hasty ordination,

23. How does Lilley, in his masterly Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles, sum up the thought and what each one of his great quotations?

24. What other quotation does the author add?

Verses 21-23

VIII

ADMINISTRATION OF INTERNAL CHURCH AFFAIRS – (CONCLUDED)

1 Timothy 6:1-21

The former discussion on these chapters covered all of 1 Timothy 5 except 1 Timothy 5:21 and 1 Timothy 5:23, which will be grouped with other matters in chapter 6, and made the last item of discussion on the book.

Our last chapter closed with the proof that hasty ordination by churches, ignoring the fact that the sins of secretive men are not evident on first acquaintance but crop out later, and other disqualifications, is one ground of difficulty in securing a pension sufficient for the worthier class of aged and worn-out ministers. Not every preacher deserves a pension when old. If he has been lazy, unstudious, of doubtful moral character, not devoted, there is no reason that the church should pension him. Pension rests on desert and meritorious service. If he be in want and suffering, then it is a case for charity which rightly has no regard to worthiness. Charity, like sunshine and rain, outflows alike to the just and the unjust.

Slaves and masters (1 Timothy 6:1-2). In the chapter on Philemon we have already considered at length Christianity’s attitude to the then worldwide institution of slavery, so it is unnecessary here to go over the ground again. The remark applies here as well as there that rabid fanatics on the slavery question never did endorse, and were incapable of appreciating the heavenly wisdom of the New Testament attitude toward any method of dealing with this vast and complicated problem.

The severest tests to which Christianity has ever been subjected have been in healing the wounds and rectifying the blunders of their rash handling of this matter. Indeed, their misdirected zeal and injudicious remedies have created problems more insoluble than slavery itself. The shining of stars affords a steadier light and more healthful influence than firebrands followed by ashes and darkness.

Heterodox teachers (1 Timothy 6:3-8). Heresy in theory is bad enough, but it becomes frightful when reduced to practice. Unquestionably from the context the words of this scathing paragraph (1 Timothy 6:3-8) apply primarily to the fanatics dissenting from the teaching of the preceding paragraph on Christian slaves and masters. Let us consider the words: "If any man teacheth a different doctrine, and consenteth not to sound words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; he is puffed up, knowing nothing, but doting about questionings and disputes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, wranglings of men corrupted in mind and bereft of the truth, supposing that godliness is a way of gain. But godliness with contentment is great gain: for we brought nothing into the world, neither can we carry anything out; but having food and covering we shall be therewith content" (1 Timothy 6:3-8).

Understand that the fanatical teaching here condemned is not limited to one side of the question of slavery. The proslavery fanatic who ignores that in Christ Jesus there is neither bond nor free, and the boundless mercy of the gospel to all slaves, its regenerating and uplifting power, and who takes his position for the gain in it, is on a par with the antislavery fanatic who, for political ends, takes the other side. The incentive is gain in the case of both. Each in his section takes the position that gives him the biggest audience, the popular favor, the most votes, the quickest promotion, and the biggest salaries. When preachers, for a like motive on this or any other subject, depart from New Testament teachings or spirit, the result is unspeakably deplorable. For his own selfish ends he projects not Christ, but himself in the limelight of publicity and unhealthy sensationalism.

Thus "supposing that godliness is a way of gain," "he is puffed up, knowing nothing, but doting about questionings and disputes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, wranglings of men corrupted in mind and bereft of the truth." Ah, me! if we could only remember that the "kingdom of heaven cometh not with observation." The brass band is louder than "the still small voice." We need to hear again the lesson of Elijah at Sinai: "What doest thou here, Elijah?" There came a mighty wind, "but Jehovah was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but Jehovah was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but Jehovah was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice." When Elijah heard that he wrapped his face in his mantle. The mightiest forces in nature and grace are noiseless and unobtrusive. We hear thunder, but not gravitation. Intangible moonbeams lift the ocean seventy feet high in the Bay of Fundy, but we never hear the groaning of the machinery. There is gain, of a kind, in godliness with contentment, but it is seldom financial.

The man minded to be rich (1 Timothy 6:9-10). Hear the words: "But they that are minded to be rich fall into a temptation and a snare and many foolish and hurtful lusts, such as drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil; which some reaching after have been led astray from the faith, and have pierced themselves through with many sorrows."

These are terrible words, and true as terrible. "Minded" means the dominant desire and will. Riches is the goal, the chief concern. All other things are subordinated. Love of home, wife, and children; love of country; and health, happiness, purity, honor, righteousness, humanity, justice, mercy; and thoughts of God and heaven and hell are trampled under foot.

No voyage was ever made over more treacherous seas; no trail was ever more thickset with dangers. The chances of ultimate escape are almost nil. Temptations assail him, snares entrap him; lusts, foolish and hurtful, burn him. It is the case of a swimmer in the rapids above the falls, or skirting the suction of a whirlpool – how can he escape drowning? The case is even more desperate because the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. From it may come lying, murder, lust, embezzlement, theft, robbery, or any other evil against humanity and blasphemy or any other sacrilege against God.

See the malice of the syndicate that invested money in the soothsaying damsel at Philippi when Paul cast out the demon that made her profitable and "her masters saw that the hope of their gain was gone" (Acts 16:16-20) ; and the malice of the craftsman’s ring at Ephesus when Paul’s preaching against idols broke up the business by which they had their wealth and "brought it into disrepute" (Acts 19:23-34). There is no hate more intolerant and murderous than the hate of an interrupted evil business. In truth the lowest, meanest, basest, cruelest, beastliest, ghastliest, deadliest form of idolatry is the worship of mammon. Pirates and highwaymen have been gallant, brave, chivalrous, plying their business openly and risking their lives. The lover of money skulks in his methods, which are timid, treacherous, secretive, underhand, relentless. There is neither chivalry, mercy, friendship, honor nor fairness in his method when it comes to a crucial test. He is a web-spinning spider, preying on the weak and unwary. His course is most hurtful to himself; the foundation logs of his character succumb to dry rot. The milk of human kindness dries up; the soul is starved; he pierces himself with many sorrows. And when his shrunken soul, rattling like a dry pea in the pod, is forcibly evicted from his crumbling body, it is buried naked, hungry, thirsty, bankrupt, into an eternity of torment, where memory plays dirges, remorse is an unlying worm, apprehension a gatherer of eternal storms to beat mercilessly on his helpless head and dried-up heart.

Them that are rich (1 Timothy 6:17-19). This is different from "minded to be rich." There may be no fault in possessing riches. Wealth may come by inheritance, by honest industry and economy, by judicious investments, or by diligent attention to business. Indeed, God, in love, has bestowed riches on many good men. Yea, he has set but one limit to the amount of lawful wealth one may possess, to wit: that his financial prosperity shall never exceed the prosperity of his soul (3 John 1:2) : "Even as thy soul prospereth." He is all right when riches increase if he set not his heart upon them.

But our present inquiry is: What the duty of the pastor to rich church members? Here it is: "Charge them that are rich in this present world, that they be not highminded, nor have their hope set on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; that they do good, that they be rich in good works, that they be ready to distribute, willing to communicate, laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold of the life which is life indeed." But it is worthy of detailed consideration.

1 Timothy 6:17: "Charge them that are rich in this present world that they be not highminded"; in other words, proud or haughty. It is almost impossible for weak persons to be rich and not be proud over it; they look down on people who are not rich. Particularly is this the case with what we call the "new rich," people who have suddenly sprung into wealth, say a man who has discovered an oil field, or patented an invention, or made a "corner" on wheat, cattle, hogs, or cotton, and suddenly becomes a millionaire. The self-sufficiency of that class is almost indescribable; they look down with contempt upon people who have not a great deal of money. One who has been a gentleman through several generations – Oliver Wendell Holmes says it takes three generations to make a gentleman – ignores that kind of rich people. The hardest struggle for the new rich is to get recognition from the old families.

"Nor have their hope set on the uncertainty of riches." It is difficult for one of the new rich to put his hope on anything else. If in one night we could strip him of his wealth, it would appear what a coarse, common mortal he is. He has nothing to recommend him except his money. "The uncertainty of riches:" uncertainty is a characteristic of wealth. It takes wings and flies away; it is subject to fire, earthquake, pestilence, panic, and a multitude of other contingencies. It is a pitiable thing to see an immortal creature setting his hope upon such an uncertain thing as wealth. "But on God." If his hope is set on God, there is certainty.

Whosoever has God is rich indeed, if he has nothing else in the world. Whosoever hath not God is poor indeed, if he has everything else in the world.

Let our hope "be set on God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy."

Now we come to the positive part: "That they do good; that they be rich in good works." If one wants to be rich, here is the way: be rich in good works. "That they be ready to distribute." I have preached on this charge to the rich a number of times, and have always told them that every agent out after money is solemnly impressed with the fact that the rich man is not ready: he tells us about certain investments not yet profitable, or others so pending that he does not know how he stands yet, And is not ready to distribute, nor willing to communicate. We don’t often find them ready.

A rich man ought to have his affairs in hand, so that he is ready all the time to do good with his money, laying up in store for himself treasures against the time to come. The rich man will lecture the poor man on account of his lack of provision: "Why don’t you save up something for a rainy day?" When perhaps of all men in the world he has laid up the least for a "rainy day."

"That they may lay hold of the life which is life indeed." This life they are living is not life; it is a miserable existence. The thought here is the same presented in Luke 16, where the rich man, dressed in purple and fine linen, faring sumptuously every day, makes no provision for the future. When death came and stripped him of everything he had, he went over into another country and found nothing there which he had transferred. He had not made friends by the use of Mammon. He had not used his money so as to secure any heavenly reward. A man who invests his money in preachers, churches, schools, colleges, humanity, charity, it goes on working for him, laying up stores to his credit on the other side of the river.

Suppose a man had to leave the United States and go to a foreign country. His object would be to convert his property here into the property of that country. If his American money did not pass over there, to exchange it for money of that country; to exchange his realty here for realty there. The only thing we can do in the way of exchanging is by good deeds, transferring what we have to the other side. I am not discussing salvation; that is determined by other things entirely. I am discussing the question of rewards in the world to come.

In delivering an oration on the death of Spurgeon in the city of Nashville, I drew this picture: "Mr. Phillips said of Napoleon, when he died: ’He is fallen.’ I say of Spurgeon: ’He is risen.’ " I described in fancy the abundant entrance of Spurgeon into the heavenly home, the friends he had made by his unselfish use of means here on earth. Up there he met the orphan children whom he had cared for and sheltered, the aged widows whom he had comforted and cheered in their dying hours, the young preachers he had taken care of in college and supplied with libraries, and who had gone out on the fields as missionaries and died before Spurgeon died, who were all waiting and watching for him to come, and were ready to meet him. That is the thought Paul is trying to impress upon Timothy with reference to the rich.

THE FOUR CHARGES OF TIMOTHY 1 Timothy 5:21; 1 Timothy 5:23; 1 Timothy 6:11-16; 1 Timothy 6:20-21

First charge to Timothy: “I charge thee in the sight of God and Jesus Christ and the elect angels, that in conducting the internal affairs of the church, thou observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing by partiality." Paul could make a young man intensely solemn when he impressed on him that he stood in God’s sight, with the eye of Jesus upon him, as a spectacle to the angels. "When you are conducting the affairs of the church do nothing through prejudice or partiality."

Once let it appear that the pastor is a partisan in the affairs of the church; that he favors certain members of the church, then he is stripped of his power with the congregation. "Prejudice" in its etymological meaning, is to judge before hand. Say there is a division in the church: The pastor listens while A and B tell their side of the case; C and D he had not heard. Then he occupies the seat of moderator with a prejudgment in his mind; for some, against some, and he greatly damages himself.

The second charge. "Be no longer a drinker of water, but use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake and thine often infirmities." .From this charge we learn two important lessons:

1. That alcoholic stimulants may be prescribed, in small quantities, for sick people. Timothy was a total-abstinence man. Paul shows him a distinction between a beverage and a medicine. But it is not fair to Paul to stretch "a little wine" as a medicine to make it cover a barrel of whiskey as a beverage.

2. The fact that Paul did not miraculously heal himself and Timothy, nor resort to a faith cure, but did keep near him Luke, the physician, and did prescribe a medicine to Timothy, is proof positive that we, as a rule, must rely on ordinary human means for health and healing.

Third charge, 1 Timothy 1 Timothy 6:11: "Flee these things, and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, and meekness." Certain things we must flee from; all we can do is to run from them, e.g., love of money, which we have just discussed. We should run from that as we would run from a rattlesnake. It is not cowardice, but we had better get out of his way as quick as possible. Flee from the love of money, covetousness, anger. When we see them coming, we can gain nothing by meeting them; so we had better run. But there are certain other things we must chase: righteousness, godliness, faith, love, meekness. Whenever we see their tracks, let us follow.

The next item of the charge: "Fight the good fight of faith." If the reader will compare this exhortation with what Paul says of himself in the second letter to Timothy (1 Timothy 4:7) : "I have fought a good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith," and then with what he says in the letter to the Philippians, third chapter: "Forgetting the things which are behind and stretching forward to the things which are before; I press onward to the goal unto the prize of the high calling of God in Jesus Christ," he will see that Paul has exemplified the very things he tells Timothy to do. What Paul has exemplified in his life, that he charges on Timothy: "The teachings of the gospel of Jesus Christ. There is a warfare, and the preacher must make a fight for all of it, illustrating the truth in his life, preaching the truth with great earnestness to his people, and resisting every temptation to substitute some other thing for the doctrines. Stand for the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

Then, we must work out our sanctification; work out what God works in, pressing on to lay hold of the things for which Jesus laid hold of us, and then keep the faith.

Fourth charge. "Timothy, guard that which is committed unto thee." The deposit of faith which God placed with the church, and in the preacher through the church, is the most sacred deposit of either time or eternity, and whoever trifles with it, whoever thinks he can surrender a part of it with impunity, makes the mistake of his life.

It is as if a father should call his son to him, open a leather case and say, "My son, in this case is the history of the family, and the precious jewels of the family that have been accumulated from 400 years back. Your mother, your grandmother, and your great grandmother wore these jewels. They are connected with all the festivities of the family history. I deposit these precious heirlooms with you. Guard them, my son, and see that the one who comes after you finds not one of the jewels missing, not one substituted for taste." A boy receiving such a charge as that from a father, who would forget his stewardship, and think that it was his to dispose of these jewels for his own pleasure, swap them off for others to suit his taste, would be an unworthy son of a noble family.

How incomparably greater is this charge to Timothy I This deposit of the truth all the wealth of the world could not buy. This truth all the wisdom of the world could never have discovered. God revealed it to Paul, and he delivered it to Timothy. It is delivered with a view of transmission to those who come after. Keep it inviolate, and transmit it in its entirety. How seldom do we find a preacher with that sense of honor and responsibility for the divine truth deposited with him. He is not at liberty to preach whatever he pleases. He is speaking for God.

Let me illustrate the thought in another way: The United States Government sends an ambassador to a foreign country with special instructions, tells him what the issue is between the two countries, and says, "Now when you get over there and come up against those sharp diplomats of other nations, you are to say what we tell you to gay; you are not to vary from the instructions one hair’s breadth." That man cannot there make a treaty according to his idea of it. An ambassador cannot move a step beyond his instructions. If in the negotiations some of the things which his country demands are found to be impracticable, he must adjourn the meeting, write home for instructions, and when he gets the new instructions he can step forward again.

"Do thou speak the words that I put in thy mouth" is what God always said to the prophets. "Deliver my message. You need not apologize for it; it will take care of itself. What you are to do is to deliver the message, just as it comes to you, and you may rest assured that it will accomplish more than if you try to fix it up palatably." God did not send us out as apothecaries to put sugar in his medicine, nor to coat his pills. Our business is to put forth the words of the Almighty.

In one of Scott’s novels, the thought is brilliantly brought out: The brave Knight of Crevecour goes from the Duke of Burgundy with certain messages to Louis of France. When he steps into the presence of the King of France he is not ashamed, because he stands there not for himself but for the Duke of Burgundy. When he has been approached to change certain things in his message, he takes off his mailed gauntlet, and throwing it down on the floor says, "That is what I am commissioned to do, as a defiance to this court, if you do not accept the terms of my message. I cannot change a letter of it."

That is the attitude of the preacher. It is in Paul’s thought when he calls Timothy’s attention to the relation of his Christian experience: "Lay hold of life eternal whereunto thou wast called, and didst confess a good confession in the sight of many witnesses." In other words, "Go back to your conversation; what did you do when you came before the church? There were many witnesses present, and you came out openly with the statement that you were a lost sinner, saved by the grace of God by simple faith in Jesus Christ, and that your sins were remitted through the shedding of his blood on the cross. That was your confession. Stand up to it now. Don’t go back on it."

In order to impress the more the idea of a public committal, he quotes Christ’s confession when brought before Pilate, the stern Roman procurator, who said to Christ, "Do you know that I have power to set you at liberty, or to take your life?" Christ said, "You have no power except what is given you. I am a king, but my kingdom is not of this world." There Christ witnessed a good confession before Pontius Pilate.

Whatever may be the fate or circumstances of life, let the ambassador keep this thought always in mind: That he stands for the Saviour; in the parlor, on the streets, behind the counter, on the farm, in amusements, and with whomsoever, in the presence of whatsoever enemies, he is the witness to a good confession. That is the charge to Timothy. I have read the lives of many men. One of my favorite classes of reading is biography. I have never read a biography of another man that impressed me like Paul’s as set forth by himself. I have never found anywhere a man so conscientious, whose life was so consecrated, whose eye was so single, whose ideal of duty was so high. Always he stands like an everlasting rock upon the truth of Jesus Christ.

QUESTIONS

1. On what earlier letter have we considered at length Christianity’s attitude toward the institution of slavery?

2. What class of people never endorsed nor appreciated New Testament teaching on this point?

3. What heavy burden has their misdirected zeal imposed on both Christianity and the state?

4. Show how a vicious incentive discounted the labors of these fanatics whether anti or pro-slavery men, and how the same motive in a preacher or any other matter brings deplorable results to him and the community.

5. What lesson from our Lord and from the life of Elijah opposes this loud method?

6. Illustrate the fact that the mightiest forces are not noisy,

7. What the meaning of "minded to be rich"?

8. Show how the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.

9. Illustrate the danger to the man himself.

10. Cite two cases from Acts to show that there is no hate more in- tolerant and murderous than an interrupted evil business.

11. In whose favor and why is the contrast between the pirate and the miser?

12. Give the outcome of the lover of money.

13. Why the great difference between "minded to be rich" and "them that are rich"?

14. What passage the only limit to the amount of wealth that may be lawfully acquired?

15. Give the elements negative and positive of the charge to the rich,

16. What the importance of the charge to Timothy at 1 Timothy 5:21?

17. What two important lessons may be learned from the charge at 1 Timothy 5:23?

18. In the charge at 1 Timothy 6:11 what must the preacher run from and what must he chase?

19. Cite proof texts to show that Paul himself exemplified the charge: "Fight the good fight of the faith."

20. In the last charge (1 Timothy 6:20-21) what was committed to Timothy and with what contrasted?

21. When did Timothy make the "good confession" and when did our Lord?

22. Illustrate from one of Scott’s romances, telling which one, he necessity for an ambassador to be faithful to the message entrusted to him.