1 00:00:04,280 --> 00:00:08,520 This is Living Waters of Grace, the teaching ministry of Lewis 2 00:00:08,520 --> 00:00:12,200 Harold, assistant pastor of Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland 3 00:00:12,200 --> 00:00:16,520 County in Greensburg, PA. Now here's Pastor Lewis as he 4 00:00:16,520 --> 00:00:18,920 continues teaching through God's Word. 5 00:00:37,040 --> 00:00:40,680 We could never write a check that would be sufficient for 6 00:00:40,680 --> 00:00:43,720 everything our parents did for us throughout our whole lives. 7 00:00:44,040 --> 00:00:45,720 We would never be able to write a check that would be 8 00:00:45,720 --> 00:00:48,000 sufficient. But there's an opportunity that 9 00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:51,920 we get at some point where we can give back to them when 10 00:00:51,920 --> 00:00:55,600 they're older and we can now support them, take off some of 11 00:00:55,600 --> 00:00:59,760 the financial burden that they have, help them physically be a 12 00:00:59,760 --> 00:01:02,000 support for them the way they were for us. 13 00:01:02,440 --> 00:01:04,840 And sometimes that can be difficult because a lot of 14 00:01:04,840 --> 00:01:06,520 parents don't want to give up that control. 15 00:01:07,160 --> 00:01:10,840 But we do it out of love. What debt could you ever pay to 16 00:01:10,840 --> 00:01:12,720 the One who gave His life for you? 17 00:01:13,360 --> 00:01:17,000 In today's message, Pastor Lewis shows that no gift, no 18 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:21,400 sacrifice, no amount of effort could ever be enough to repay 19 00:01:21,400 --> 00:01:24,800 what Jesus did. Yet He gives you a lifetime to 20 00:01:24,800 --> 00:01:27,920 respond with love. When you serve Him, you're 21 00:01:27,920 --> 00:01:31,640 simply returning love to the One who first loved you. 22 00:01:32,360 --> 00:01:35,960 It's not about earning anything. It's about honoring the Lord who 23 00:01:35,960 --> 00:01:38,280 paid a debt you could never settle. 24 00:01:38,760 --> 00:01:41,880 How do you live each day as a thank you to Jesus for 25 00:01:41,880 --> 00:01:45,680 everything He's given you? Now here's Pastor Lewis in the 26 00:01:45,680 --> 00:01:49,520 Book of First Timothy, chapter 5, with today's edition of 27 00:01:49,520 --> 00:01:52,720 Living Waters of Grace. The Word of God is precious, 28 00:01:52,720 --> 00:01:56,120 Amen. And he gives us this word from 29 00:01:56,120 --> 00:01:59,880 Genesis to Revelations, that we have the word of God. 30 00:01:59,880 --> 00:02:02,800 And it's such a privilege to be able to hear the word of God. 31 00:02:02,800 --> 00:02:06,080 And he gives us this word. We get this word because he, you 32 00:02:06,080 --> 00:02:08,160 know, we are to heed the word of God. 33 00:02:08,360 --> 00:02:11,960 And when we do heed the word of God, then we are protected. 34 00:02:12,440 --> 00:02:14,760 We're protected. The word of God is for the 35 00:02:14,760 --> 00:02:18,000 purpose of protecting us. The Bible says that your word is 36 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:22,480 a strong tower that the righteous run into and are safe. 37 00:02:23,120 --> 00:02:28,080 When we are hidden under the wings of the Lord under His Word 38 00:02:28,280 --> 00:02:34,000 and we heed His word, man does it help us to avoid so many 39 00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:38,360 snares and pitfalls that the world has and the things that 40 00:02:38,360 --> 00:02:41,640 the enemy, the traps that the enemies have set forth to be 41 00:02:41,640 --> 00:02:46,480 able to to try to trip us up. It's the Word of God that is our 42 00:02:46,480 --> 00:02:51,160 light as it's been spoken. The Word of God is a lamp unto 43 00:02:51,160 --> 00:02:54,080 our feet and a light unto our pathway. 44 00:02:54,080 --> 00:02:57,760 It lights those things. It causes us to be aware of 45 00:02:57,760 --> 00:03:00,760 where it is that we're walking and what we should avoid, what 46 00:03:00,760 --> 00:03:03,280 we should go around, what we should stay away from. 47 00:03:03,560 --> 00:03:07,880 It's all in the Word of God. And when we read this as it is 48 00:03:08,240 --> 00:03:11,440 from the Word of God, not the person standing here speaking 49 00:03:11,440 --> 00:03:16,160 it, but as we read it as it is the Word of God, and we heed 50 00:03:16,160 --> 00:03:21,680 that word, our lives benefit. And not only our lives, but the 51 00:03:21,680 --> 00:03:27,240 lives of others who we're around benefit when we heed the Word of 52 00:03:27,240 --> 00:03:30,880 God. So as we go into this 5th 53 00:03:30,880 --> 00:03:36,440 chapter of Timothy, we understand that this is Paul the 54 00:03:36,480 --> 00:03:38,400 evangelist. I call him the Gospel 55 00:03:38,400 --> 00:03:42,440 Globetrotter. But Paul the evangelist who has 56 00:03:42,640 --> 00:03:46,320 gone around, admitted his mission to go around everywhere 57 00:03:46,320 --> 00:03:49,160 and to plant churches and to share the gospel into and to 58 00:03:49,160 --> 00:03:53,840 allow people to know about this saving faith that has changed 59 00:03:53,840 --> 00:03:56,560 his life so drastically and dramatically. 60 00:03:57,240 --> 00:04:02,040 And he has, he has adopted a son in the spirit, Timothy, who is 61 00:04:02,040 --> 00:04:04,800 his spiritual son. And, and this is like, I like to 62 00:04:04,800 --> 00:04:08,120 picture things when I'm reading. I like to picture how what's the 63 00:04:08,120 --> 00:04:11,040 setting? And and even though Paul wrote 64 00:04:11,040 --> 00:04:15,240 this letter, it's almost like he's sitting in front of Timothy 65 00:04:15,880 --> 00:04:19,600 in a chair and just giving him direction and instruction. 66 00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:26,240 Son, heed this son, listen to this son do this that way. 67 00:04:26,640 --> 00:04:28,560 And this is the way he reads this. 68 00:04:28,560 --> 00:04:31,680 This is what this letter reads like a, it's an instruction. 69 00:04:32,160 --> 00:04:35,080 And even though it's written, I mean, the title of this is, you 70 00:04:35,080 --> 00:04:37,400 know, orders for widows and elders. 71 00:04:37,520 --> 00:04:40,120 And even though that's the title, that doesn't mean that if 72 00:04:40,120 --> 00:04:42,560 you're not a widow or if you're not an elder that you can just 73 00:04:42,560 --> 00:04:45,160 check out. It doesn't mean that you can 74 00:04:45,160 --> 00:04:47,160 just get up and leave or it's not for me. 75 00:04:47,160 --> 00:04:49,000 I'm not a widow and nor am I an elder. 76 00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:51,360 So it's not for me. It's for everybody. 77 00:04:51,760 --> 00:04:54,880 It's for everybody. And the Lord made it possible 78 00:04:54,880 --> 00:04:57,200 that we could all have it. Even though it was written 79 00:04:57,200 --> 00:05:00,240 directly to Timothy, he made it possible that we could all have 80 00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:04,080 it because he had Timothy put this in a letter. 81 00:05:05,600 --> 00:05:09,960 And now we all have the benefit of reading this and feeding from 82 00:05:09,960 --> 00:05:13,000 the table of all this wisdom. So this is the word of God. 83 00:05:13,000 --> 00:05:16,560 Every word in the word of God is inspired by God. 84 00:05:16,640 --> 00:05:19,960 Everything that's written in this word is inspired by God. 85 00:05:20,400 --> 00:05:23,240 So let's start reading. We're going to start with the 86 00:05:23,240 --> 00:05:25,800 first 3 verses here. Actually, we're going to start 87 00:05:25,800 --> 00:05:27,520 the 1st 2:00 and then we're going to make comment. 88 00:05:27,880 --> 00:05:32,240 It says do not rebuke an an older man. 89 00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:37,320 Some versions may say elder, but exhort him as a father, younger 90 00:05:37,320 --> 00:05:42,000 men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger women as 91 00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:45,680 sisters with all purity. Let's just stop there for a 92 00:05:45,680 --> 00:05:48,360 second. So we know that in first Timothy 93 00:05:48,360 --> 00:05:53,200 315, the Bible clearly says that you ought to know how to act in 94 00:05:53,200 --> 00:05:57,600 the House of God, which is the House of the living God. 95 00:05:58,760 --> 00:06:04,440 Well, Paul talks about this like the House of God is a family 96 00:06:04,440 --> 00:06:06,360 because it's a family that lives in a house. 97 00:06:06,920 --> 00:06:09,520 So Paul wants to give the impression, he wants to give the 98 00:06:09,520 --> 00:06:14,920 picture to Timothy and to us that a church family is just 99 00:06:14,920 --> 00:06:18,200 that, a family. We're all family, Paul said. 100 00:06:18,200 --> 00:06:20,360 Let's refer to each other as brothers and sisters. 101 00:06:20,360 --> 00:06:23,360 I mean, when I was younger, every church, it was brother 102 00:06:23,360 --> 00:06:25,440 this, sister that mother. You tell me. 103 00:06:25,600 --> 00:06:27,800 That's all you would hear, Brother this Brother Harold, 104 00:06:27,800 --> 00:06:29,160 brother that sister. How you know? 105 00:06:29,280 --> 00:06:30,800 I mean, that's just the way it used to be. 106 00:06:30,800 --> 00:06:33,080 And then we had mothers that were in the church and their 107 00:06:33,080 --> 00:06:35,600 name was Mother Johnson or Mother Susie or whatever it 108 00:06:35,600 --> 00:06:37,920 would be, because it was a family. 109 00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:41,240 It was a family. But in this particular verse, 110 00:06:41,400 --> 00:06:43,760 he's saying something even more striking. 111 00:06:43,920 --> 00:06:47,360 He says do not rebuke. And that word rebuke here means 112 00:06:47,360 --> 00:06:51,040 do not strike at, do not strike at. 113 00:06:51,360 --> 00:06:54,200 So if I have to correct, if you have to correct an older person, 114 00:06:54,200 --> 00:06:57,920 Timothy, if it's an older man that you have to correct, do it 115 00:06:57,920 --> 00:07:01,280 with respect. Do it with reverence. 116 00:07:02,360 --> 00:07:05,840 Don't just strike at them. Don't talk to them with a level 117 00:07:05,840 --> 00:07:07,680 of respect. They're not your employees. 118 00:07:07,680 --> 00:07:10,120 They're your brothers and your sisters and they are your 119 00:07:10,760 --> 00:07:16,600 family. So speak to this older man with 120 00:07:16,600 --> 00:07:21,240 respect and he says, but exhort him as a father. 121 00:07:21,560 --> 00:07:23,840 Talk to him like you would talk to your father, Timothy. 122 00:07:25,360 --> 00:07:28,280 And it's hard if you're a younger guy and you're trying to 123 00:07:28,640 --> 00:07:30,720 correct. I don't know if any of you ever 124 00:07:30,720 --> 00:07:32,640 had that experience. I'm sure you have had that 125 00:07:32,640 --> 00:07:35,200 experience where you've had to correct someone that was older. 126 00:07:35,720 --> 00:07:38,240 Maybe you've even had to have conversations with your parents 127 00:07:38,560 --> 00:07:41,120 sometimes or with someone. I remember the first time I had 128 00:07:41,120 --> 00:07:43,920 to have a hard conversation with my father to correct them or 129 00:07:44,040 --> 00:07:48,280 with my mother. I mean, it was like, oh God, how 130 00:07:48,280 --> 00:07:50,240 in the world do I how do you do that? 131 00:07:50,360 --> 00:07:54,720 You know, I mean, it's, but Paul is saying do it with grace, do 132 00:07:54,720 --> 00:07:59,320 it with respect, do it with care to correct them. 133 00:07:59,600 --> 00:08:01,960 Because the correction is just like when the Lord corrects us. 134 00:08:02,080 --> 00:08:04,800 It's out of love. It shouldn't be from any place 135 00:08:04,800 --> 00:08:06,080 else. It's out of love. 136 00:08:06,440 --> 00:08:09,640 Same way we correct our kids. But if our kids have to come. 137 00:08:09,640 --> 00:08:11,880 And sister. Daddy, you were wrong about this 138 00:08:11,880 --> 00:08:13,360 one. Really. 139 00:08:14,360 --> 00:08:15,800 Yeah, Dad, you were wrong about this. 140 00:08:15,920 --> 00:08:18,480 This is the way it happened. And that's what happened. 141 00:08:19,360 --> 00:08:22,000 Oh, but it's with a level of respect. 142 00:08:22,480 --> 00:08:24,000 But my kids going to say, damn, you're wrong. 143 00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:27,400 What's wrong with you? Now that's a whole nother 144 00:08:27,400 --> 00:08:32,480 conversation. OK, so we correct with respect. 145 00:08:32,760 --> 00:08:35,600 We correct with respect. So anyway, he goes on and he 146 00:08:35,600 --> 00:08:38,960 says, let's exhort him as a father, younger men as brothers. 147 00:08:39,039 --> 00:08:41,559 So let's treat everybody like their brothers and sisters here, 148 00:08:41,760 --> 00:08:46,320 older women as mothers. And then there's a change here. 149 00:08:46,320 --> 00:08:48,560 There's a caveat here because now he's talking about younger 150 00:08:48,560 --> 00:08:51,880 women as sisters and this is a message that and he, he's 151 00:08:51,880 --> 00:08:54,240 talking to Timothy. So he's talking to a young male 152 00:08:55,120 --> 00:08:59,360 and he says when you talk to the women in the church, Timothy, 153 00:08:59,520 --> 00:09:04,400 the young women, talk to them or deal with them, encourage them 154 00:09:04,400 --> 00:09:06,680 as sisters. And that is so important. 155 00:09:07,360 --> 00:09:12,240 Brothers, young men, the young women that are in our church, 156 00:09:13,400 --> 00:09:19,600 they are your sisters. So we should not speak to them 157 00:09:19,600 --> 00:09:24,280 in with words of flirtatiousness or words that are enticing or 158 00:09:24,440 --> 00:09:27,360 provocatively. We don't speak to them that way. 159 00:09:27,480 --> 00:09:33,040 They are our sisters. We respect them, we cover them. 160 00:09:34,720 --> 00:09:39,120 They're our sisters. Now if the relationship 161 00:09:39,120 --> 00:09:42,360 progresses and it becomes your wife, then that's a different 162 00:09:42,360 --> 00:09:44,240 story. You still respect them. 163 00:09:45,080 --> 00:09:48,440 It's still a pure relationship, but now it's your wife. 164 00:09:49,960 --> 00:09:54,000 So in the church you have sisters and you have wives. 165 00:09:54,720 --> 00:09:58,760 You don't disrespect the women in the church by the way you 166 00:09:58,760 --> 00:10:03,080 treat them to speak to them. They are your spiritual sisters. 167 00:10:03,280 --> 00:10:06,160 We don't try to entice them because we don't commit 168 00:10:06,160 --> 00:10:09,560 spiritual incest, right? We don't ever want to commit 169 00:10:09,560 --> 00:10:13,800 spiritual incest, so we don't try to entice them. 170 00:10:15,640 --> 00:10:20,160 They're our sisters. And Paul makes sure he puts that 171 00:10:20,160 --> 00:10:23,160 caveat in there where he says with all purity. 172 00:10:23,560 --> 00:10:26,080 That means without any impropriety. 173 00:10:27,480 --> 00:10:31,360 It means that our motives when we talk to our sisters is pure. 174 00:10:32,880 --> 00:10:35,800 We're not hiding any agendas or things that we're trying to do. 175 00:10:36,680 --> 00:10:40,720 It's pure and it should be that way the other way around. 176 00:10:40,720 --> 00:10:44,800 Sisters, young men in the church are your brothers are your 177 00:10:44,800 --> 00:10:47,120 brothers. So then anyway, he goes on in 178 00:10:47,120 --> 00:10:49,920 verse 3, and this is when we start getting into the real meat 179 00:10:49,920 --> 00:10:53,120 of what it is that Paul wants to talk about from three on. 180 00:10:53,360 --> 00:10:57,760 And he says here, honor widows who are really widows, honor the 181 00:10:57,760 --> 00:11:02,200 widows who are really widows. But if any widow has children or 182 00:11:02,200 --> 00:11:07,280 grandchildren, let them first learn to show piety at home and 183 00:11:07,280 --> 00:11:12,040 to repay their parents, for this is good and acceptable to God. 184 00:11:12,200 --> 00:11:15,640 So Paul's saying here, as he, you know, is basically reaching 185 00:11:15,640 --> 00:11:19,600 back into the Old Testament where it talks about protecting 186 00:11:19,600 --> 00:11:21,280 widows. God protects widows. 187 00:11:21,280 --> 00:11:24,440 God always does protect widows. He covers widows. 188 00:11:24,520 --> 00:11:28,160 He takes care of widows. He wants widows to be taken care 189 00:11:28,160 --> 00:11:29,520 of. Now, back in the Old Testament, 190 00:11:29,520 --> 00:11:32,160 they didn't have social service systems that take that took care 191 00:11:32,160 --> 00:11:34,240 of widows. They didn't have pension plans 192 00:11:34,240 --> 00:11:37,520 or anything like that. SSI or whatever it is that the 193 00:11:37,520 --> 00:11:39,800 older people would be able to get to take care of them, but 194 00:11:39,800 --> 00:11:44,680 they had community and God would encourage the community to take 195 00:11:44,680 --> 00:11:49,000 care of their widows, orphans and the fatherless. 196 00:11:49,560 --> 00:11:52,040 Those are the ones that God wanted the people to take care 197 00:11:52,040 --> 00:11:55,080 of. So here he says honor widows who 198 00:11:55,080 --> 00:11:57,400 are really widows, which means that Paul is making a 199 00:11:57,400 --> 00:12:02,600 distinction between a person who is a widow and a person who 200 00:12:02,680 --> 00:12:06,080 would qualify for support of the church. 201 00:12:06,240 --> 00:12:09,120 And we're going to get into that to find out exactly what that 202 00:12:09,120 --> 00:12:11,040 is. It doesn't mean to see you have 203 00:12:11,040 --> 00:12:13,720 young women who may we want to get into this, but it has young 204 00:12:13,720 --> 00:12:17,440 women who husband may die unexpectedly. 205 00:12:17,960 --> 00:12:20,120 You're young, but you're young enough to and they have 206 00:12:20,120 --> 00:12:22,440 resources that they maybe they can take care of themselves. 207 00:12:22,680 --> 00:12:26,200 But then there's older women who can't take care of themselves 208 00:12:27,000 --> 00:12:29,800 who are widows and they may have been widows for a long time and 209 00:12:29,800 --> 00:12:31,880 they need support to take care of themselves. 210 00:12:32,040 --> 00:12:34,760 But we want to explain that. So let's talk about first when 211 00:12:34,760 --> 00:12:39,200 it says, but if any widow has children or grandchildren, some 212 00:12:39,560 --> 00:12:43,000 versions may say nephews, but it's really grandchildren. 213 00:12:43,160 --> 00:12:49,440 Let them first show piety or reverence or respect at home and 214 00:12:49,440 --> 00:12:52,280 repay their parents for this is good and acceptable. 215 00:12:52,440 --> 00:12:57,560 Before God, we know that we could never write a check that 216 00:12:57,560 --> 00:12:59,840 would be sufficient for everything our parents did for 217 00:12:59,840 --> 00:13:02,760 us throughout our whole lives. We would never be able to write 218 00:13:02,760 --> 00:13:04,000 a check that would be sufficient. 219 00:13:04,400 --> 00:13:07,880 But there's an opportunity that we get at some point where we 220 00:13:07,880 --> 00:13:11,240 can give back to them when they're older and we can now 221 00:13:11,240 --> 00:13:14,480 support them, take off some of the financial burden that they 222 00:13:14,480 --> 00:13:18,480 have, help them physically be a support for them the way they 223 00:13:18,480 --> 00:13:20,640 were for us. And sometimes that can be 224 00:13:20,640 --> 00:13:23,120 difficult because a lot of parents don't want to give up 225 00:13:23,120 --> 00:13:25,680 that control. But we do it out of love. 226 00:13:27,160 --> 00:13:29,880 So we help our older parents. And it's a privilege to be able 227 00:13:29,880 --> 00:13:34,640 to do that, to be able to give to your parents after all 228 00:13:34,640 --> 00:13:38,400 they've given to you. You know what it's like to be 229 00:13:38,400 --> 00:13:40,800 able to take your parents out for dinner and you pay for it 230 00:13:42,880 --> 00:13:44,720 because there's so many times, right, that they had to pay for 231 00:13:44,720 --> 00:13:46,640 it, right? But then you're in a position 232 00:13:46,640 --> 00:13:49,040 that you can take them out to dinner and you can pay for it. 233 00:13:49,040 --> 00:13:51,040 That's a blessing. That's a blessing. 234 00:13:52,040 --> 00:13:54,440 So he's saying here that if they have children or grandchildren 235 00:13:55,440 --> 00:13:58,760 in the church, the grandchildren or the children are to be the 236 00:13:58,760 --> 00:14:01,880 first to take care of these widows. 237 00:14:02,200 --> 00:14:05,400 They shouldn't be the responsibility of the church for 238 00:14:05,400 --> 00:14:08,840 that kind of support. That falls on the children and 239 00:14:08,840 --> 00:14:12,880 grandchildren first and that's acceptable before God. 240 00:14:13,560 --> 00:14:16,880 And then in verse 5, he says now she who was really a widow. 241 00:14:17,440 --> 00:14:19,640 So in it, Paul, what do you mean really a widow? 242 00:14:20,040 --> 00:14:22,160 How do you describe Paul who's really a widow? 243 00:14:22,280 --> 00:14:24,040 He tells us, look at what he says. 244 00:14:25,040 --> 00:14:27,760 She's left alone. That means there is no one 245 00:14:27,880 --> 00:14:31,400 living or she doesn't have any children or either all her 246 00:14:31,400 --> 00:14:35,440 children are gone. Like in a situation with Naomi, 247 00:14:35,520 --> 00:14:38,760 all of her children are gone. There was no one else to take 248 00:14:38,760 --> 00:14:42,240 care of her. So he says, well, you know, in 249 00:14:42,240 --> 00:14:46,840 that situation where the she's left alone and she trusts in God 250 00:14:47,080 --> 00:14:51,400 and continues in supplications and prayers night and day. 251 00:14:51,600 --> 00:14:57,560 So this is a true widow who has decided that OK, my husband has 252 00:14:57,560 --> 00:15:02,440 died, so for the rest of my life I'm going to give it to the 253 00:15:02,440 --> 00:15:04,320 Lord. I'm dedicating the rest of my 254 00:15:04,320 --> 00:15:07,000 life to the Lord. I'm committing everything, 255 00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:10,800 Everything I have my prayers, my supplications, my service. 256 00:15:11,000 --> 00:15:14,360 It's all going to the Lord. I'm not looking to remarry. 257 00:15:14,360 --> 00:15:17,920 I'm not looking to get back into another marriage and have to be 258 00:15:17,920 --> 00:15:19,360 responsible to someone else again. 259 00:15:19,400 --> 00:15:23,880 I just want to be with the Lord for the rest of my days. 260 00:15:24,720 --> 00:15:28,960 Paul is saying this is a true or the real widow. 261 00:15:29,240 --> 00:15:31,800 This is the person that the church will support. 262 00:15:32,120 --> 00:15:37,000 And then in verse 6, he says, but she who lives in pleasure is 263 00:15:37,000 --> 00:15:41,000 dead while she lives. She who lives in pleasure is 264 00:15:41,000 --> 00:15:44,120 dead while she lives. What is he saying here? 265 00:15:44,400 --> 00:15:48,680 So if there's a widow, she dies and she has resources and 266 00:15:48,680 --> 00:15:51,320 instead of her spending those resources taking care of her 267 00:15:51,320 --> 00:15:54,320 bills, taking care of her home, you know, taking care of the 268 00:15:54,320 --> 00:15:57,360 things that need to be taken care of, she spends those things 269 00:15:57,360 --> 00:16:01,960 on herself, papering herself. She spends them maybe drinking 270 00:16:01,960 --> 00:16:05,000 or she spends them maybe buying bunch of things that she really 271 00:16:05,000 --> 00:16:06,920 doesn't need. She's spending them on the 272 00:16:06,920 --> 00:16:12,280 pleasure, fulfilling the desires of her flesh, living in 273 00:16:12,280 --> 00:16:14,880 pleasure. Paul said these women are dead 274 00:16:14,880 --> 00:16:16,000 while they live. Why? 275 00:16:16,120 --> 00:16:19,960 Because they are living outside of the will of God, because a 276 00:16:19,960 --> 00:16:22,760 lot of things that they're doing, living in pleasure is 277 00:16:22,760 --> 00:16:25,240 also seeking physical pleasure as well. 278 00:16:26,760 --> 00:16:31,040 So then he goes on in verse 7 and he says, and these things 279 00:16:31,040 --> 00:16:33,760 command that they may be blameless. 280 00:16:33,920 --> 00:16:38,160 We have a biblical example of a true widow, and it's back in 281 00:16:38,240 --> 00:16:43,960 Luke chapter 2, verses 36, and it's Anna who was a prophetess, 282 00:16:43,960 --> 00:16:45,840 who was a widow. She's been a widow for over 84 283 00:16:45,840 --> 00:16:48,880 years. And this is a woman who decided 284 00:16:48,880 --> 00:16:52,000 to, after her husband died, she was going to go into the temple 285 00:16:52,000 --> 00:16:56,400 and give all of her resources, her prayers, her supplications, 286 00:16:56,560 --> 00:17:02,000 all those things are going to be given to the Lord, going to be 287 00:17:02,000 --> 00:17:05,359 given to the Lord. Anna's a true example of that. 288 00:17:06,240 --> 00:17:09,839 So then we go to verse 7, it says, and these things command 289 00:17:09,839 --> 00:17:13,880 that they may be blameless. But in verse 8 it says, but if 290 00:17:13,880 --> 00:17:18,000 anyone does not provide for his own and especially for those of 291 00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:24,680 his household, he has denied the faith and is worse, is worse 292 00:17:24,680 --> 00:17:27,440 than an unbeliever. Paul is saying, Timothy, listen, 293 00:17:28,040 --> 00:17:31,000 if you have people in your church that are Christians, 294 00:17:31,760 --> 00:17:37,320 they're believers and they have widows in their home and they're 295 00:17:37,320 --> 00:17:43,520 not taking care of them, what kind of a testimony is that to 296 00:17:43,520 --> 00:17:48,080 people outside of the home? He said it's worse than being an 297 00:17:48,080 --> 00:17:52,040 unbeliever because even some unbelievers would take care of 298 00:17:52,040 --> 00:17:54,560 their own families. That's in the house with them. 299 00:17:56,080 --> 00:18:01,680 Plus the Scripture says in the book of Exodus, it says honor 300 00:18:01,680 --> 00:18:06,520 thy father and thy mother that your days will be long upon. 301 00:18:06,640 --> 00:18:09,600 It's the first commandment of promise. 302 00:18:10,080 --> 00:18:13,400 Honor your father and your mother that your days will be 303 00:18:13,400 --> 00:18:18,000 long upon the earth. It does not say honor the good 304 00:18:18,000 --> 00:18:21,160 ones. It doesn't say honor the good 305 00:18:21,160 --> 00:18:23,720 parents. It doesn't say honor the parents 306 00:18:23,880 --> 00:18:28,120 who were good to you. Honor the parents who raised you 307 00:18:28,120 --> 00:18:31,360 correctly, who was always there. Doesn't say that. 308 00:18:31,880 --> 00:18:36,320 It says honor your father and your mother's, that your days 309 00:18:36,320 --> 00:18:39,840 will be long. Sometimes you have to find it in 310 00:18:39,840 --> 00:18:44,160 the spirit of God to go back to a parent who may have been 311 00:18:44,160 --> 00:18:49,680 abusive, a parent who may have been lived the wildlife and 312 00:18:49,680 --> 00:18:52,480 maybe did not take care of you the way that they should have, 313 00:18:52,760 --> 00:18:55,040 didn't give you the attention that you should have received. 314 00:18:56,360 --> 00:19:00,000 Paul say, you got to look beyond, you got to forgive and 315 00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:04,760 you got to go back and you have to honor your father and your 316 00:19:04,760 --> 00:19:08,720 mother. And that's something that God 317 00:19:08,720 --> 00:19:11,000 will honor. When we can do that, God will 318 00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:14,600 honor that. He loves it when we reconcile 319 00:19:15,080 --> 00:19:17,720 and we seek reconciliation. We seek peace. 320 00:19:17,960 --> 00:19:20,480 And I know for some people that's hard because there's some 321 00:19:20,480 --> 00:19:22,200 real stories. I'm not ignoring that. 322 00:19:22,200 --> 00:19:24,240 There's some real stories. There's some situations where 323 00:19:24,240 --> 00:19:27,320 people have gone through some really tragic things with 324 00:19:27,320 --> 00:19:31,600 parents. I realize that, but God is 325 00:19:31,600 --> 00:19:36,840 calling us to honor them anyway, to honor them. 326 00:19:37,440 --> 00:19:41,320 And maybe through what they see in you, their lives may change. 327 00:19:42,160 --> 00:19:46,120 They see God in you, they see Christ in you, their lives may 328 00:19:46,120 --> 00:19:49,680 change. So he goes on and he says here 329 00:19:50,360 --> 00:19:56,280 in verse 9, do not let a widow under 60 years old be taken into 330 00:19:56,280 --> 00:20:00,800 the number and not unless she has been the wife of one man. 331 00:20:00,800 --> 00:20:03,200 So what Paul's saying here is that, OK, these are the 332 00:20:03,200 --> 00:20:05,040 qualifications. He started to talk about the 333 00:20:05,040 --> 00:20:08,880 qualifications again of a true widow and he said first of all 334 00:20:08,880 --> 00:20:12,600 she needs to be over 60 years old because the widows who were 335 00:20:12,600 --> 00:20:16,360 younger. Well, they don't need to be 336 00:20:16,360 --> 00:20:18,400 taken into the number and that number you talk about the 337 00:20:18,400 --> 00:20:21,280 enlisted number that a church puts together, a number of 338 00:20:21,280 --> 00:20:24,240 enrollment where the church puts together a list of the widows 339 00:20:24,240 --> 00:20:27,160 that they will support or the ones that they will help 340 00:20:27,160 --> 00:20:30,560 financially. OK, He puts together a list. 341 00:20:30,800 --> 00:20:33,240 They put together a list and he's saying that those who are 342 00:20:33,240 --> 00:20:35,480 under 60 should not be on that list. 343 00:20:37,320 --> 00:20:41,360 And it says not unless she has been the wife of one man. 344 00:20:41,360 --> 00:20:45,000 So that's the other stipulation, that a widow must be over 60 and 345 00:20:45,000 --> 00:20:49,280 be the wife of one man. So this is a widow who does not 346 00:20:49,280 --> 00:20:51,280 get remarried and then get remarried again and remarried 347 00:20:51,280 --> 00:20:55,600 again. Well reported for good works. 348 00:20:56,320 --> 00:20:58,600 This is a widow. This is a woman who has given 349 00:20:58,600 --> 00:21:02,640 her life to good work, serving in the community, serving in her 350 00:21:02,640 --> 00:21:06,880 neighborhood, maybe serving in the church, helping out wherever 351 00:21:06,880 --> 00:21:08,840 she can. She's given her life to good 352 00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:12,000 work. She has a reputation for good 353 00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:16,080 works, not a reputation for running in and out of bars and 354 00:21:16,080 --> 00:21:18,240 hanging out and looking for pleasure. 355 00:21:18,520 --> 00:21:22,720 We're talking about women who are serving the Lord and serving 356 00:21:22,720 --> 00:21:27,080 him in the House of God or in the community or wherever. 357 00:21:27,720 --> 00:21:30,960 But she has a reputation, a well reported. 358 00:21:31,160 --> 00:21:33,440 That means a reputation for good works. 359 00:21:33,720 --> 00:21:37,640 If she has brought up children. If this is a woman who has 360 00:21:37,640 --> 00:21:40,840 raised children, even though they may be gone now, but maybe 361 00:21:40,840 --> 00:21:42,880 she's raised them. Maybe she's taken in orphans 362 00:21:42,880 --> 00:21:47,000 before. Maybe she's taken in a friend's 363 00:21:47,000 --> 00:21:50,840 kids who end up passing and didn't have anybody to take care 364 00:21:50,840 --> 00:21:53,520 of them. This woman, this widow took the 365 00:21:53,520 --> 00:21:55,960 children and raised them. I've seen those kind of things 366 00:21:56,120 --> 00:21:59,640 happen before. And it says if she has large 367 00:21:59,640 --> 00:22:03,680 strangers, hospitality, you know, the true widow is a woman 368 00:22:03,680 --> 00:22:09,080 who has a heart of hospitality. So she'll take in strangers 369 00:22:09,080 --> 00:22:11,320 because, see, back in these days, you know, they used to 370 00:22:11,320 --> 00:22:13,560 travel quite a bit. Men used to travel or other 371 00:22:13,560 --> 00:22:16,600 people used to travel, and it was dangerous in the streets to 372 00:22:16,600 --> 00:22:18,400 be out there late at night. They need to find somewhere to 373 00:22:18,400 --> 00:22:21,280 lodge and somewhere it was. And sometimes it was hard to 374 00:22:21,280 --> 00:22:25,560 find safe places to lodge. Well, this widow would take them 375 00:22:25,560 --> 00:22:29,320 in, this widow would take them in, take in strangers. 376 00:22:29,480 --> 00:22:32,840 And even now, like when I think we talked about it before, that 377 00:22:32,840 --> 00:22:35,960 churches may travel around and, and they come to visit. 378 00:22:36,120 --> 00:22:38,360 People come to visit. We get missionaries sometime to 379 00:22:38,360 --> 00:22:40,400 come to visit. And everybody don't know who 380 00:22:40,400 --> 00:22:44,320 these missionaries are. But the widow was the one that 381 00:22:44,320 --> 00:22:46,640 would say, well, if they don't have anywhere to stay, I'll take 382 00:22:46,640 --> 00:22:48,360 them to my house. I got room, I got space. 383 00:22:48,640 --> 00:22:51,640 They'll take them in their house or other, you know some of the 384 00:22:51,640 --> 00:22:52,960 other people that may travel with them. 385 00:22:53,080 --> 00:22:54,200 I'll give them somewhere to stay. 386 00:22:54,600 --> 00:22:58,360 Hospitality, they have a spirit of hospitality goes on. 387 00:22:58,400 --> 00:23:01,080 If she has washed the Saints feet. 388 00:23:01,640 --> 00:23:03,600 Now washing the feet is something that we don't 389 00:23:03,600 --> 00:23:06,240 typically do. That doesn't happen that much in 390 00:23:06,240 --> 00:23:08,040 the church. There are some churches now I 391 00:23:08,040 --> 00:23:09,840 want to say there are some churches that still do that. 392 00:23:10,120 --> 00:23:11,920 They will wash feet. They'll have what they call a 393 00:23:11,920 --> 00:23:15,120 foot washing ceremony. Not sure what that looks like, 394 00:23:15,120 --> 00:23:17,360 but they do that and they'll wash feet. 395 00:23:17,560 --> 00:23:22,040 But what Paul's talking about here is being a humble servant, 396 00:23:22,400 --> 00:23:26,720 being able to do or be willing to do menial things, things that 397 00:23:26,720 --> 00:23:30,520 maybe other people wouldn't want to do or see themselves above 398 00:23:30,520 --> 00:23:32,920 doing it. Paul said, you know, this widow, 399 00:23:32,920 --> 00:23:35,880 a widow, a humble servant will do those kind of things. 400 00:23:36,360 --> 00:23:38,440 And then he goes on and he says, I love this one. 401 00:23:38,440 --> 00:23:43,440 If she has relieved the afflicted, this is a woman who 402 00:23:43,640 --> 00:23:49,560 is truly, truly filled with the spirit of mercy. 403 00:23:50,360 --> 00:23:53,080 If there's an affliction, she goes to help. 404 00:23:53,320 --> 00:23:55,280 If someone is afflicted, she goes to help. 405 00:23:57,080 --> 00:24:00,400 Here on Living Waters of Grace, we're in the books of First and 406 00:24:00,400 --> 00:24:03,960 Second Timothy. Pastor Lewis Harrell is walking 407 00:24:03,960 --> 00:24:06,800 us through these letters written from Paul to Timothy. 408 00:24:07,320 --> 00:24:10,120 Toward the end of these letters, Paul is anticipating that his 409 00:24:10,120 --> 00:24:13,320 time here on earth is coming to a close. 410 00:24:13,760 --> 00:24:16,640 He's giving some final words of advice to his mentee. 411 00:24:17,160 --> 00:24:20,240 Paul writes in Second Timothy 4, verse seven. 412 00:24:20,240 --> 00:24:23,000 I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. 413 00:24:23,240 --> 00:24:27,000 I have kept the faith. Wherever you are in your journey 414 00:24:27,000 --> 00:24:31,240 of faith with God, our hope is that you have the willingness to 415 00:24:31,240 --> 00:24:35,400 fight for what's true. Not compromising, but holding 416 00:24:35,400 --> 00:24:39,680 fast to the Word of God. Paul was reminding Timothy of 417 00:24:39,680 --> 00:24:43,760 this, and it's a good reminder for you and for me today, too. 418 00:24:44,360 --> 00:24:47,640 For helpful input throughout this series, why not listen to 419 00:24:47,640 --> 00:24:51,200 all of these teachings from first and Second Timothy on our 420 00:24:51,200 --> 00:24:55,200 website? Go to calvarychapelonline.com to 421 00:24:55,240 --> 00:24:59,520 access teachings, download our app, and more. 422 00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:03,360 If you'd like to visit us this weekend, we'd be delighted. 423 00:25:03,760 --> 00:25:07,360 Living Waters of Grace is a ministry of Calvary Chapel 424 00:25:07,360 --> 00:25:12,200 Westmoreland in Greensburg, PA Come to our service held at 425 00:25:12,200 --> 00:25:16,720 10:30 AM on Sundays. We're located at 400 E 426 00:25:16,840 --> 00:25:19,600 Pittsburgh St. Ste. 6B. 427 00:25:20,120 --> 00:25:23,240 For any other information on our weekly service, visit 428 00:25:23,240 --> 00:25:28,360 calvarychapelonline.com. You can also join our e-mail 429 00:25:28,360 --> 00:25:32,360 list, give online, or submit a prayer request right from the 430 00:25:32,360 --> 00:25:35,120 site. If you can't make it in person, 431 00:25:35,120 --> 00:25:38,680 be sure to tune into Calvary Chapel Westmoreland's YouTube 432 00:25:38,680 --> 00:25:41,720 channel. Subscribe so you never miss new 433 00:25:41,720 --> 00:25:44,360 teachings. We thank you for tuning in today 434 00:25:44,360 --> 00:25:48,520 and ask that you come back for more solid and biblical teaching 435 00:25:48,720 --> 00:25:52,840 from Pastor Lewis right here on Living Waters of Grace.