I wish y'all could sit where
I have been sitting, looking out over, looking at you. Y'all
look so good in spring colors and Easter dresses, and this
spring has sprung. Makes me feel just all new. I'm thankful. A couple of things. Aaron Simpson told me he got
such good news. His cancer has not spread, and
we're thankful for that. So I hope this treatment's quickly
and get this thing over with. Novi Sparks is home and recovering. We're thankful for that. Look
forward maybe to hearing some more good news on them. Wayne,
you come and read scripture for us and lead us in prayer if you
would. He would please open your Bibles
to 1st Timothy chapter 5. 1st Timothy chapter 5 will begin
reading in verse 1. Rebuke not an elder, but entreat
him as a father, and the younger man as brethren. The older women
as mothers, the younger as sisters with all purity. Honor widows
that are widows indeed. But if any widow have children
and nephews, let them learn first to show piety at home and to
requite their parents, for that is good and acceptable before
God. Now she that is a widow indeed and desolate, trusteth
in God and continueth in supplications and prayers night and day. But
she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth. And these
things give in charge that they may be blameless. But if any
provide not his own, and especially for those of his own house, he
has denied the faith and is worse than an infidel. Let not a widow
be taken into the number under three score years old, having
been the wife of one man. well-reported of her good works.
If she had gone, if she had brought up children, and if she has epiloged
strangers, if she had washed the saints' feet, if she had
relieved the afflicted, if she had diligently showed every good
work. But the younger widows refuse,
for when they have begun to wax wanton against Christ, they will
marry having damnation because they have cast off their first
faith. And with all they learn to be
idle, wandering about from house to house, and not only idle,
but tattlers, also in busy bodies, speaking things which they ought
not. I will, therefore, that the younger women marry, bear
children, guide the house, give not occasion to the adversary
to speak reproachfully. for some are already turned aside
after Satan. If any man or woman that believeth
have widows, let them relieve them, and let not the church
be charged, that it may relieve them that are widows indeed.
When are ye there? Thank God, bow in prayer. Our great God and Holy Heavenly
Father, we thank you for providing this place where we can come
and hear the preaching of your word. Thank you for our pastor that
you've given us to study and prepare and preach the word as
he does each time we have the opportunity. We ask that you
be with him, uphold him for this task, opening your Word and preaching
to us. Father, we ask that you open
our ears and our minds and our hearts to receive the message
prepared. Let us be good ground hearers. Let us feed on the Word
preached today and learn and be settled and be anchored and
grow in Christ. Father, we pray that we have
a true hour of worship here this morning. leave us leave us not
alone here in this service or as we go out and about in the
world after this father leave us not alone but control our
minds and our actions and our hearts in a way that's pleasing
in your sight father we thank you for the good report we've
got on some of our brethren here we pray that you continue to
Have the doctors and the physicians that attend to the needs of our
ones that are going through difficult times be with them and guide
the surgery and the treatments to heal the body because only
you can. Know that these trials come from
your hand and they serve a purpose. Give us patience. the ability to handle these things
in a way that's right. Knowing that all things come
from your hand. Father, thank you for this place. We ask that
you let us have a true hour of worship here this morning. Let
us learn more of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We thank
you for his broken body and shed blood to atone for sin. Cause us to be found in Him,
anchored in Him, and forgive us our sins for Christ's sake.
These things we ask in Christ's name. Amen. Sweet hour of prayer, Sweet hour
of prayer, That calls me from the world of care, And bids me
at my Father's throne, my wants and wishes known. In seasons of distress and grief,
my soul has often found relief, and oft escaped the tears After
snare by thy return Sweet hour of prayer Sweet hour of prayer
Sweet hour of prayer The joys I feel The bliss I share Of those
whose anxious spirits burn with strong Desires for thy return. With such I hasten to the place
Where God my Savior shows His face, And gladly take My station
there in wait For thee, sweet hour of prayer Sweet hour of
prayer Sweet hour of prayer in wait for this sweet hour of grace. Such a blessing. Thank you. Alright,
open your Bibles now with me if you would, again to 1 Timothy
chapter 5, passage Brother Wayne read for us a few moments ago. And as you heard the text read,
I'm sure you heard that there is instruction here on how we
are to treat everyone, all different ages and stations, how we're
to treat everyone in the congregation. And I do want to spend just a
few minutes looking at that this morning. But as always, the meaning
in this text, like every other text of Scripture, is our Lord
Jesus Christ. It's salvation in Him. I want
to spend the bulk of our time looking at that this morning,
looking at Him, and pray that the Lord will enable us to see
Christ, to see that He is indeed our Savior, He's our provider,
He's our keeper, He's our bridegroom, and that we treat one another
accordingly. Now, verse 1 begins with elders. It says, 1 Timothy
5, verse 1, Rebuke not an elder, but entreat him as a father,
and the younger man as brethren. Now the elder that Paul refers
to here, it could mean the pastor, and he's telling us don't bring
an accusation against a man. If he's preaching the gospel,
if he's preaching Christ, don't bring an accusation against him. If he's preaching the gospel,
don't bring an accusation against him. If you've got questions,
you've got concerns, talk to him about it privately. But Paul
says, and treat him as a father. And that phrase means you beseech
him. You comfort him, not angrily
accusing him, bring accusations against him, but beseech him
and comfort him. He says in verse 17, here's why
you do that. Let the elders that rule well
be counted worthy of double honor, especially they who labor in
the word and doctrine. So don't bring a railing accusation
against him if he's preaching the gospel. Now, that's not to
say that the pastor gets a free ride on his behavior, not at
all. If there's sin like abuse or
theft like you read about sometimes, that's got to be dealt with,
doesn't it? But it's got to be dealt with wisely, like the scriptures
tell us to deal with it. Look at verse 19. Against an
elder, receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses.
Now, make sure this thing's true, before two or three witnesses.
Then that sin, rebuke before all that others also may fear. I charge thee before God and
the Lord Jesus Christ and the elect angels that thou observe
these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing
by partiality. And you know what Paul's saying,
apply this equally to everybody. You know, one doesn't get special
treatment over another. Apply this thing equally to everyone. And that applies to our pastors,
but it also applies to the elder men, older believers. Now, these
men who are older believers, they've been here a long time.
They have earned And they deserve our respect for their years of
service to the church. We ought always to respect age. I know that's not the way of
the world, is it? It's to respect youth, not age. But here, this
is our way. It ought to be our way, that
we respect age. And the older men, be careful
to earn that respect. Earn it. Keep that respect from
the whole congregation. And Paul tells us, when you deal
with the younger men, deal with them as brothers. Deal with them
with the same love, the same long-suffering, the same forgiveness,
the same ability to overlook their faults as you would your
natural brother. Just overlook those things. And
we dealt with this a few weeks ago. You young men, I don't just
expect everybody to, you know, to treat you as brother and treat
you with love and forgiveness. You be careful to earn the respect
of the congregation. Verse 2 says, the elder women,
treat them as mothers. The younger as sisters. with
all purity. The same thing is true about
the older men. It's true about the older women. They've earned
our respect. They deserve our respect. You
treat them with the same love, the same respect that you would
your own mother. They're mother Israels to this
congregation. And we ought to show them the
love and respect that they have earned over the years. And you
older ladies, don't take this for granted now. Be careful to
earn that respect of the congregation. with your love and your gentleness
and your wisdom to all. And when you deal with the younger
women, Paul tells us, these younger women who are believers, you
treat them like you would your natural sister. You watch out
for her. You protect her. You be careful
with her feelings. You love her. And you younger
women earn that respect. And Paul tells us how you can
do that. Look at verse 14. I will therefore that the younger
women marry, bear children, Guide the house. Give none occasion
to the adversary to speak reproachfully. Here's how you earn the respect
of the congregation. Here's how you don't give any
occasion to the adversary. Marry their children and guide
the house. Guide the house. Now, again,
I know this is not the way of the world. It's not a thing that's
respected in the world. But it is here. It is among God's
people. And that word guide means to
rule and to manage. Now you women, you take charge
and manage your house. Run it well for the good of your
family. That's how you earn the respect
of others. And then you notice, as Wayne read this to us, Paul
spends a lot of time on widows. Now at this time, when Paul was
writing this to Timothy, there was no social security. There
wasn't retirement accounts or food stamps or social services
of any kind. A woman depended on her husband
to provide for her. And a widow would be absolutely
destitute, have no means of support, no means of living, unless she
had other family members who would take her in and provide
for her. And in that case, where the widow is destitute, she doesn't
have a family to care for her, Paul tells us that the church
is to support that widow. And he actually means put her
on the payroll. She's paid every week, every month, whatever.
She's to be supported by the church. And Paul tells us how
to determine which widow is to be supported like that. The church
is to support a widow who's got no family to take her in. Now,
Paul says if she has a family, her family is to support her.
Don't expect the church to do it. He says in verse 4, but if
any widow have children or nephews, let them first learn to show
piety, kindness at home, and to requite their parents, for
this is good and acceptable before God. In verse 16, he says, if
any man or woman that believeth have widows, let them relieve
them, and let not the church be charged, that it may relieve
the church. It frees up the church to relieve
them that are widows indeed, to help the widows that don't
have anybody to support them. And Paul tells us that's good
for the family to do. That's good for them. Verse 8,
he says, if any provide not for his own, especially for those
of his own house, he's denied the faith and is worse than an
infidel. And Paul points that out because
at this time, the Pharisees would say, oh, I can't give money to
my parents and help my parents. They're destitute, but I can't
give them money. They said, it's Corban. It's money that I have
earmarked to give to the Lord. Now, I haven't given it yet.
They're just saying I will someday. Who knows what they did with
it when their parents died and their parents didn't need it anymore.
Maybe they put it in their pocket. But right now they said, oh, I've earmarked
that for the Lord. I can't give that to my parents.
Paul said, if you do that, you've denied the faith. That's not
the faith that God gives His people. The nature that God gives
His people has to be worse than an infidel, not take care of
your own. So those widows who are destituted, anybody who supports
them, the church is to support them. And then he tells us about
the widows, the church is not to put on the payroll. It's those
who are seeking a life of ease. Those who are seeking luxuries
at the expense of others. Verse 6, he says, But she that
liveth in pleasure, seeking pleasure, she dead while she liveth. Verse
11, but the younger widows refuse. For when they have begun to wax
wanton against Christ, they will marry, having damnation, because
they have cast off their first faith. But withal, they learn
to be idle, wandering about from house to house, and not only
idle, but tattlers also, in busy bodies, speaking things which
they ought not. Now Paul says those widows, are not to be supported. You know, they're young enough
to remarry, they're young enough to, you know, to work and supply,
you know, for their needs. Those people the church is not
to support. Now, those kinds of issues really
aren't that big of a problem in our day because we have retirement
accounts and social security and social services and those
kinds of things. But now listen, We all, every one of us here,
ought to be very serious about taking care of our own. God help
us if anybody here is living in poverty and want, and we don't
supply the need. That's not the faith of God.
We've denied the faith. Not taking care of our own. And
I'm so thankful for you all. You all do that. You're committed
to that. Now you take care of your own. Take care of each other
here. I'm very thankful for that. But let's never let that slide.
Never let that sliver take care of one another. It's not only
our responsibility. It's not just a responsibility.
It's our joy. It's our joy to give and to help
one another. Now, you know what? I bet you
all knew that already, didn't you? Didn't your mothers teach
that when you were real little? Be nice. Be kind. Don't be selfish. Watch out for one another. Respect
the elderly. Take care of them. You already
knew that, didn't you? But it didn't hurt us to go over
it. That's what the Word of God teaches about that. But the main
teaching of this passage, just like every other passage of Scripture,
is Christ our Savior. And Paul has a lot to say in
this text here about widows. And as I first read this this
week, I thought, now he has so much to say about widows here.
That's got to be the key to seeing Christ in this passage. So I've
titled the message this morning, God Supplies, or what did I God
supports, God supports his widows. And I want to look at the widows
that the church is supposed to support as a picture of the believer
that God has saved. They're supported, cared for,
and loved by Christ our bridegroom. They're joined to him by faith. God supports those widows. And
then we should look at the widows that the church is not to support.
as a picture of those people who do not know Christ, who do
not love him, who do not depend upon him, who do not need him,
who are not joined to him by faith. Christ does not support,
take care of, love those widows, those people. Now, as we look
at the text, you'll be able to tell if you are a widow that
God supports. I mean, I'm interested in knowing
that. Am I a widow that Christ supports? Am I a needy sinner
that Christ supports and supplies for? Am I joined to Him by faith
or not? Am I the person that God has saved? You'll be able
to tell if you're one of those widows, because you'll fit the
description. You'll fit the character. If you fit the spiritual character
of these widows, then God has saved you. And if you don't,
then He hasn't. All right, number one, the widows
that God supports and God saves are widows indeed. Truly. Verse 3. Honor widows that are
widows indeed. Now these are the people that
God saves. They're widows indeed. Truly. This widow, she's been
left without a husband, without a family, and she is truly without
any help, without any support. Well, that's the people that
God saves. God saves sinners who are sinners indeed. They're
truly sinners. They know this. truly made them
a sinner. They have received Adam's nature,
and they are truly a sinner. They truly died in Adam. They
are dead in trespasses and sin. They're dead. So they have no
way of working and paying off their sin debt. They're truly
sinners. They don't have any righteousness.
They don't have any holiness. They don't have any obedience
to God's law to offer to God. Matter of fact, they've got nothing
to offer God that God wants. They've got nothing that God
wants. All they are is sin. They're truly sinners. And they're
also truly sinners in this way. Their sin is their own fault. Adam didn't do it to them. They
are truly guilty. It's not Adam's fault. They're
guilty of their own sin. And it's not the fault of their
environment. You know, people think, well, if I was in a different
environment, I'd act better. No, you wouldn't. Sinners are
such vile sinners. The environment didn't ruin them.
They ruined the environment. The environment was nice, and
they ruined it because they're guilty sinners. They're truly
sinners. And they can't produce anything but sin. They can't
produce anything but the stink of death, the stink of spiritual
death. They're truly sinners. So they
truly need Christ. They need Christ indeed. They
truly need Him to be their righteousness. They truly need to be made righteous
in His obedience, because they've got no obedience of their own.
They truly need Christ to be everything that they need. They
need Christ to be their life. They need Christ to be their
wisdom, their righteousness, their sanctification, their redemption,
because they don't have any. They're widows, sinners indeed.
Now if you can find a sinner, indeed, truly a sinner, I promise
you this, the Lord Jesus Christ is going to save that person.
He saves and supports those people spiritually who are spiritually
widows, widows indeed. Just like any good family member
would supply for a widow, indeed, in their family. Would do for
them physically, that's what Christ does for His people spiritually.
The Savior will be everything that has true sinner needs. He'll be their righteousness.
He'll be their salvation. He'll be their forgiveness. He'll
be their faith and he'll be faithful for them and he'll give them
faith in him. And you know why he does that? Because he's kind
to sinners. Verse four says, but if a widow
have children or nephews, let them learn first to show piety
to kindness at home and to requite their parents for this is good
and acceptable before God. Christ, our Savior, shows kindness
to His own. Isn't He kind to sinners? And
everything He does is good and acceptable before God. And He
makes His people accepted before the Father. The Savior will give
sinners who are sinners indeed everything that is good and acceptable
to His Father. Now, if there's anyone here this
morning who is a sinner indeed, I mean truly a sinner, you've
got nothing. You've got no body. You're nothing.
you come to Christ and you trust Him to be your all. Christ will
be everything to you if you don't have anything. If you don't have
anything else at all, Christ will be everything to you. If
you're a sinner, indeed. All right, number two, the widows
that God supports and that God saves are desolate. Verse five,
now she that is a widow indeed and desolate trusteth in God
and continueth in supplications and prayers night and day. She
trusts in God because she ain't the best trustee. She continues
in supplications and prayers night and day because she has
no one else to turn to. She's desolate. And the word
means alone or forsaken. Now these widows, they're desolate. They're completely alone. Society
has forsaken them. This widow has no support. She
has no way to pay for anything she needs. And society doesn't
have any time for anybody like that. If you can't pay your own
way, society is not interested in you, are they? They've forsaken
her. Society has forsaken her because it's just too hard to
look at somebody as desolate, who's so pitiful, who's so alone. Society just ignores them, don't
they? These are spiritual widows who
God saves. They're desolate. They're alone
and they're forsaken. They stand alone before God because
Adam, their first representative, has forsaken them. Adam bankrupted
them, Adam killed them, and then he died and left them all alone.
They're forsaken. They have no hope, no help, and
without God in this world. These spiritual widows, they're
desolate. She's got no husband to love
her, no husband to care for her, no husband to provide for her,
no husband to be with her. She's desolate. And she's lonely. Oh, she's so lonely. She's all
alone. Now, God saves every spiritual
widow like that. Every one of them. He comes to
them and He marries them. He says, you're a widow, I know.
You're desolate, you're alone, I know. But I'll be your husband. I know you're lonely, but I'll
be with you and I will never, no never, no never leave you
nor forsake you. Never. Look at Isaiah chapter
62. If you're married to Christ,
you'll never be alone again. Isaiah chapter 62. These are
the widows that God saves. They're desolate. You've got
to be desolate, alone, forsaken. No reason for anybody to love
you or want to be with you. That's the people God saves.
They're desolate. Isaiah 62, verse 3. Thou shalt
also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord and a royal
diadem in the hand of thy God. Thou shalt no more be termed
forsaken. Neither shall thy land any more
be termed desolate. You've been called desolate,
but if God saves you, you'll never be called desolate again.
But thou shalt be called Hephzibah. You'll be called, my delight
is in her. And thy land, Beulah. Thy land
shall be called married, for the Lord delighteth in thee.
And thy land shall be married. For as a young man marrieth a
virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee. As the bridegroom rejoiceth
over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee. You're
forsaken now. You're desolate now. But that's
you spiritually. You're this widow who's desolate.
You're called desolate. Your name is desolate. Your name
is forsaken. That's the spiritual widow that
God saves. And He says, I'll never leave
you. I'll never forsake you. I'll
always be everything that you need. I know you're forsaken
by the law because you can't keep it. You're forsaken by the
world because there's nothing in there for you. Nobody in the
world wants to look at you. You're such a sad sight. You're
sad in your sin. You're sad in your desolation.
It's too pitiful to look at. False religion just wants nothing
of you. You're not good enough. You can't
keep the law good enough. You can't clean up enough. You've
got nothing that you can give to them. You're forsaken. You're
desolate. But the Savior says, the world
won't look at you. The law won't look at you. False
religion won't look at you. You think you're desolate? You
think you're alone? The Lord says, I see you. I see
you. I see you. And I'll be with you.
I'll marry you and I will supply all of your need. And you just
wait till I'm finished with you. When I'm finished, it's all said
and done. I'm going to display you in glory
for all of creation to see. And I'm going to say, look what
I've done. Look what I've done for my people. Look how I made
her beautiful with my beauty that I put on her. Look at her
and see how I've supplied everything that she needs and brought her
to be with me forever. I'm going to put you on display
as a trophy of my grace for all of creation to see. And all of
creation is going to worship in awe and wonder at what I've
done for one who was desolate. Now these spiritual widows that
God saves, they have absolutely no way of supporting themselves
spiritually. They can't produce anything that
God requires. So God sent His Son to supply
everything that they need. God sent His Son to support them
in every way. See, they have nothing. They're
desolate. They need Christ to be everything that God requires
of them. Now, is anybody here a sinner
like that? desolate, alone. You've got nothing
to give to God that God wants. You've got no way of producing
anything that God requires of you. Then I tell you, God will
save a sinner like you. Now you come to Him. You come
to Him. God will save you and support you and give you everything
that you need in Christ. But you have to come empty. You
have to be desolate. You have to come all alone. God
will save a sinner like that. And let me ask you, what kind
of Would the Lord Jesus Christ be if He did not do that for
the people that God gave Him to save? Verse 8 says, if any
provide not for His own, those people that God elected to save,
they're Christ's own. He gave them to Him. They belong
to Christ. If any provide not for His own,
especially for those of His own house, well, He's denied the
faith. He's worse than an infidel. This
I can promise you, the Lord Jesus Christ will never deny the faith. He's no infidel. He's the righteous
King of glory. He's never going to do anything
wrong. He's going to provide everything His bride needs. Those
who are in His house, they're never going to go without. He'll
give them everything that they need to be perfect before the
Father. Now, if that's you, if you're a destitute sinner, you
come to Christ. You've got no place else to go.
Go to Christ and you rest in Him. You rest in His righteousness. Quit trying to sin less. Quit
trying to pay for your own sin. Just quit and rest in His righteousness. Rest in His grace. Come to Christ.
I know you don't deserve it. I know you don't deserve Him
to save you. I know you don't deserve Him to forgive you. I
know you don't deserve to be in His presence. I know that.
But come to Him depending on His grace. He's gracious to sinners. He's got a throne of mercy. Now
come to Him. He's everything that you need.
You come to Him. He loves His people. I know you're
not lovable, but He set His love upon you. If you're a sinner
like this who's destitute, Almighty God has set His love upon you.
Now, don't worry about the fact you're not lovable. You come
to God. You come to Christ and depend on His love. Not your
lovableness. On His love for sinners. Destitute
sinners. You come to Him and you rest
in Him. Don't rest in your works that you use to try to make yourself
look a little better. Look a little more savable. Look
a little easier to save. No. You trust Christ. And just
like you don't look to your works, don't look to your sin. Don't
look to your sin and say, oh, I'm too wretched. I'm too ugly.
I'm too desolate for God to love. I'm too ugly for God to make
beautiful in Christ's righteousness. Now I grant you this. I grant
you. Your sin's bad. I know it because mine is too.
Our sin is bad. We ought not have done it. Nobody's
making excuses for that. Nobody's arguing our sin is ugly.
Nobody's arguing saying there's an excuse for our sin. Nobody's
doing that. But don't look to your sin. Look
to Christ. Look to Christ. Just like you
don't look to your works and trust in them, don't look to
your sin and think that makes you unsavable. Christ came to
save sinners. So don't look to your sin. Look
to Christ. and rest in Him. Trust in Him. Don't look to your desolation.
Don't look to your miserable situation. Don't look to how
alone you are. Look to Christ and His glory and come to Him
to be joined to Him. God saves every sinner who's
desolate. Alright, thirdly, the widows
that God supports and God saves have been given faith in Christ.
Verse 5 says, now she that is a widow indeed and desolate,
she trusts in God. She continues in supplications
and prayers night and day. Now, God gives those spiritual
widows that He saves, that He supports, He gives every last
one of them faith. Faith in Christ. Faith to believe
Christ. Faith to trust Christ. Faith to rest in Christ. Faith
to love the Son of God as their righteousness. Faith to love
Christ as their bridegroom. Now, just like your works and
just like your sins, Don't look to your works. Don't look to
your sin. And don't look to your faith.
Don't look to your faith. That faith isn't perfect. But
it's saving faith. It's faith in Christ if God gave
it. But it's not perfect faith. So
don't look to your faith. Don't say, well, I'm going to
try to find some comfort, some assurance for salvation by looking
and seeing if I trust Christ enough. Do I really have faith
in Him? If you look for comfort and assurance in your faith,
you're going to be sorely disappointed. Look to Christ. Does that make
sense? Look to Christ and rest in Him. Faith in Christ simply means
this, that you fully believe that Christ is all it takes to
save you. I don't care how bad you think
you are. You're worse than you think you are. I don't care how
bad you think you are. Christ saves sinners, and He does it
by Himself. Now, if Christ is all it takes
to save you, if you've got no hope but Him, that's saving faith. That's saving faith. If you truly
believe that Christ is all it takes to save you, you'll come
to Him with no other hope. You'll come to Him empty with
no other hope. And if God's given you a saving
faith, you'll continue just like you started. However long it
is, God lets you live on this earth with the gift of faith
in Christ, you're going to continue like you started. Still believing
that you are nothing and you have nothing and Christ is your
all. If you're a sinner indeed, that's
what you'll do. Christ is your all. You need Him. You need Him
to be saved. You need Him to be righteous.
You need Him to be accepted of God. And you're going to continue
just like you started. You're going to continue day
and night begging God for mercy. You're going to continue day
and night in prayer because you've got no one else to turn to. You're
going to continue begging for mercy because you've got no other
hope. And you're going to continue day and night in prayer because
you've got nobody else to turn to. Because you're a needy sinner
and Christ is your all. And you need Him to supply your
need. Now the people that God saves
are truly dependent on Christ. If God's given you faith in Christ,
you're truly dependent on Him. And you wouldn't have it any
other way. That's saving faith. Alright, the fourth thing. God
supports and He saves. Those widows that He supports
and saves, they have good works. Verse 10, Paul said, well, verse
9, let not a widow be taken into the number under three score
years old, having been the wife of one man. Now that doesn't
mean she couldn't have been married multiple times. She's the wife
of one man at a time. She's well-reported of for good
works. If she had brought up children, if she had lodged strangers,
if she had washed the saints' feet, if she had relieved the
afflicted, if she had diligently followed every good work. Now this is the widow that God
saves and supports. She's got one husband. Christ
is her husband. Now at one time she was married
to the law. At one time she was married to self. At one time
she was married to false religion. A lot of other things. But she's
got one husband now. Christ is her husband. And she's
got good works. She brought up children. She's
helped the children of God. She's lodged strangers. She's
been kind and been hospitable. She's washed the saints' feet.
She hasn't literally got down, took off her shoes, and washed
her feet from everybody. She's refreshed the saints. If
it's the lowest task when needed, she'll do that. Whatever it is
that's needed to refresh the saints, she does that. She's
relieved the afflicted. She's comforted. She's helped.
She's gone out of her way to help suffering saints. And she's
been diligent of good works. She's been diligent of every
good work without ever trusting in her own works, because she's
been given faith in Christ. Now let me warn you about two
things concerning these good works. Every believer, every
one of these spiritual widows that God saves and supports,
they have good works. So number one, first warning,
don't anybody here start thinking, hmm, start ticking them off and
adding them up in your mind and thinking, I've got plenty of
good works, so I must be saved. That's not what's being taught
here. And the second warning, don't start adding them up in
your head and thinking, I don't have enough good works, so I
must not be saved. Because that's not what's being
taught here either. Now look here at this verse,
verse 10. The key word is well-reported of. Well-reported of, Paul says,
for good works. Now a good work is a work that
God's people do to help the body of Christ. The definition of
a good work. Our Lord said about that woman
that came to anoint Him before His burial. He said, leave her
alone. She's done a good work. That's the definition of a good
work. A work done for the body of Christ. To help her leave
and just help the body of Christ. His body is God's people. You
do good works when you help one another. When you watch out for
one another. That's a good works. And here's the thing about good
works. True good works are works that you've done You don't remember
them. You're not really thinking about
them because you don't count on them. See? You're not counting
on them to improve your standing with God. You're not counting
on them. You're just doing them because somebody needs help.
You don't put any stock in those works because you're not saved
by your works, you're saved by Christ. Remember the story our
Lord told in Matthew 25. He put the sheep on His right
hand and the goats on His left. And He tells those on His right
hand Oh, you've done all these things for me. You fed me when
I was hungry. You visited me when I was in prison. You ministered
to me when I was sick. Remember all those good works
He told them they did for Him? They didn't remember them. They
said, Lord, when did we see you hungry? When did we see you sick
or in prison? I don't remember doing any of
that. And the Lord told them, well, you've done it at least
to these My little ones. You've done it to Me. Now, they did
those things. The Lord wasn't lying. They did
those things. But they didn't put any stock
in them. They didn't count on them to save them, did they?
Interestingly enough, those on his left hand, the Lord told
them, you didn't do all these things to me. And they said,
well, Lord, when did we see you hungry and not feed you? When
did we see you in prison and sick and not come visit you?
They thought they had all kinds of good works. And the Lord said,
depart from me, didn't He? It's just very interesting to
me that people that God has saved think they don't have any good
works, and the ones He hasn't saved think they're full of good
works. Tells us something, doesn't it? But these on the Lord's right
hand, these widows here that God has saved, they do these
good, they're diligent of these good works just because somebody
needs help. Not because they're trying to
get extra credit from God. They're zealous of these good works because
they want to honor the Savior and they want to help His people.
And they don't remember them because they're not reporting
them to God for extra credit. But somebody else reports them.
They're brothers and sisters. And I'll show you a good example
in Acts chapter 9. Acts chapter 9. Acts 9 verse 36. Now there was at Joppa a certain
disciple named Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas.
This woman was full of good works and alms deeds, which she did.
And it came to pass in those days that she was sick and died,
whom, when they had washed, they laid her in an upper chamber.
And for as much as Lydia was not at Joppa, and the disciples
had heard that Peter was there, they sent unto him two men, desiring
him, that he would not delay to come to them. Then Peter arose
and went with them. And he was come. They brought
him into the upper chamber. There's her body. They're having
a visitation, funeral visitation. And all the widows stood by him
weeping and showing the coats and the garments which Dorcas
made while she was with them. Somebody else was bragging on
her good works. Somebody else reported to him.
And you know the story. ended up raising her from the
dead. But the point of that is she was full of good works and
somebody else reported them. That's the widows that God saved.
Everyone there diligent of good works. Now, I hate to end this
way, but we've got to do this. Let's look quickly at the widows
that God does not support and God does not save. Number one,
God does not save. He does not support those who
can do some works of their own. to contribute to their salvation.
They can do something to support themselves. God doesn't save
those widows. Verse 11. Let me get there. Verse 11. 1 Timothy
5. But the younger widows refuse,
for when they have begun to wax wanton against Christ, they will
marry. Now these widows, they're young
enough and they're strong enough to work and to support themselves,
and they wax wanton. against Christ. And a phrase
means that they disdain Christ. They don't need Him. They don't
need His grace. What they crave is their own
self-righteousness, their own worth. They crave those things.
They just don't need Christ. They don't want Him because they're
just not that bad. They're just not that ugly in
sin. They're not all alone. They want something other than
Christ alone. They just don't want to depend
on Christ alone. have something they can do too.
It's like they trust themselves to contribute more than they
trust Christ alone. And God just hasn't supported.
He hasn't saved those people because they don't need Him to
be everything. If you don't need Christ to be
your everything, God hasn't saved you. Not yet, He hasn't. All
right, number two, these widows that God does not support and
does not say they don't have faith in Christ. Verse 12, having
damnation because they've cast off their first faith. They don't
need faith. They cast off faith. You know
why? They've got their own works. They've got something they can
see, something they've done, so they don't need faith. They
just will not humble themselves to rely on Christ alone. And
thirdly, the widows that God does not support and He does
not save, they don't love nor preach the gospel. Verse 13,
and with all they learn to be idle, wandering about from house
to house, and not only idle, but tattlers also, in busy bodies,
speaking things which they ought not. Now, these widows, God does
not support. He does not say. They say things
that they ought not. You know what they say? Free
will works religion. They say the message of those
things. They say that men and women can help themselves, and
they ought not be saying that, because it's not true. And they're
busybodies. They're legalists. They just
involve themselves in everybody else's business. There's at least
one in every neighborhood, isn't it? I mean, if you want to know
what's going on with your neighbors, just go to that woman. She'll
tell you. She'll tell you everything. She's a busybody. She involves
herself in everybody else's business. They're legalistic. They love
to talk about what everybody else is doing to make themselves
feel better. They're better than everybody
else. And they involve themselves. in things that are not their
business. They involve themselves in earning
their own righteousness. They involve themselves in earning
and deserving God's salvation. They involve themselves in making
their peace with God. They're involving themselves
in things that aren't their business. Righteousness, earning righteousness,
that's the business of Christ alone. He earned it for his people. That's the business of God alone.
Salvation is of the Lord. Peace, peace with God, can only
be found in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's His
business. And He made it by His sacrifice
for His people. Those are things only God can
give and things that are only received by faith in Christ. See, these people, these widows,
God does not support. He doesn't marry them. They ought
to be married to Christ. But they love their independence.
Verse 14, I will, therefore, that the younger women marry,
bear children, guide the house, and give none occasion to the
adversary to speak reproachfully. For some have already turned
aside after Satan. See, they turned aside after
Satan. They ought to be married to Christ, but they're not. They
ought to be in the household of God, but they're not. They
ought to be helping the children of God, but they're not, because
they love their own independence. And God just hadn't saved a person
like that. Spiritually speaking, Anybody who's independent, God
hasn't saved them. Now, the widows that God saves
are completely and utterly dependent upon the Lord Jesus Christ. And
He'll never let them down. Never. That's the widow I want
to be, don't you? Alright, let's bow together.
Our Father, we thank You for Your Word. We thank You for the
salvation that's in our Lord Jesus Christ. How you came to
save the undesirable. How you came to save the ugly,
dead, and stinking in sin. How you came to save those that
are desolate and forsaken. Oh, how we thank you. You have
not forsaken your people, but you've shown such mercy, grace,
love, and pity to them. Sacrificed yourself for them.
Joined yourself to them as our great bridegroom. Father, how
we thank you. Father, I pray you'd make Each
of us here this morning, this desolate, helpless, hopeless
widow, and make us cast all of our care, all of our soul on
the Lord Jesus Christ to be our all. Give us faith, I pray. We beg of thee that you give
us faith to see and believe and rest in our Lord Jesus Christ.
For his blessed name we pray and give thanks. Amen. All right,
you're dismissed.