hotcoffee
New Member
1 Timothy 5:17 The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching. 18 For Scripture says, “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain,”[a] and “The worker deserves his wages.” 19 Do not entertain an accusation against an elder unless it is brought by two or three witnesses. 20 But those elders who are sinning you are to reprove before everyone, so that the others may take warning. 21 I charge you, in the sight of God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels, to keep these instructions without partiality, and to do nothing out of favoritism.
22 Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, and do not share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure.
23 Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses.
24 The sins of some are obvious, reaching the place of judgment ahead of them; the sins of others trail behind them. 25 In the same way, good deeds are obvious, and even those that are not obvious cannot remain hidden forever.
22 Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, and do not share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure.
23 Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses.
24 The sins of some are obvious, reaching the place of judgment ahead of them; the sins of others trail behind them. 25 In the same way, good deeds are obvious, and even those that are not obvious cannot remain hidden forever.
Footnotes:
a.1 Timothy 5:18 Deut. 25:4
b.1 Timothy 5:18 Luke 10:7
According to the commentary.....
Verse 23 Timothy did not have good health. He was often sick and had a weak stomach. He only drank water but Paul now tells him to also drink some wine. It may be that poor water was partly the cause of the stomach problems. Wine would act against the bad effects of the water. So a little wine would be like a good medicine for the stomach.
I didn't know that. I knew Paul had medical problems but I had no idea that Timothy had a weak stomach brought on by drinking the water on his mission travels.
Back to the verses. Paul is telling Timothy that the church should be careful to select the deacons carefully. He's also saying that they should not be to hasty to call out a deacon based on a complaint from one person. [gee, does that sound like one of the threads currently running in this forum?] Paul says they should only act on a complaint that is corroborated.
When the church does have a corroborated complaint, though, they are to bring the deacon in front of the whole assembly to straighten it out. I agree with this. It's honest and transparent. What is a church that worships the Lord Jesus Christ and His Heavenly Father if it's not to be honest and transparent.
We're supposed to take care of the preachers and teachers. They are supposed to take care to teach us only the truth.
And I think verse 24 should be a bumper sticker [even though it's a bit long to read at 60 miles an hour].
The sins of some are obvious, reaching the place of judgment ahead of them; the sins of others trail behind them. In the same way, good deeds are obvious, and even those that are not obvious cannot remain hidden forever.
