Honor Widows

Good evening, folks. You know, for the record, I am a Windows guy. I'm not a Mac guy. Okay? I don't I don't do Google Docs. So, well, so what had happened earlier, a few just a few minutes ago, I was messing around with my Google Doc, which I'm going to preach from, and all of a sudden, threequarters of the the document disappeared. So, I was in panic mode. This is like a few minutes before I get up here. Luckily, my son-in-law, Pastor Anener, was there to save the day. Awesome. Yeah. So, tonight we pick up where Pastor Surface left off two Sundays ago in our study of the Apostle Paul's first letter to Timothy.

But first, I think it it's best that I go and do a brief recap of our series on on First Timothy to help us kind of remember what we went through and then connect to the message tonight. And I also want to let us let you know to keep in mind that the recurring theme for our series is a blueprint of a stronger church. Our hope is that we all learn from this series and what we learn would help us to be a stronger church. Amen. So if we look at first Timothy the first chapter, Paul introduces himself and his ministry as the author and then he introduces his his spiritual son as the recipient of this letter.

And he talked about sound doctrine. the purity and the purpose and the perversion of doctrine and then talked about concern the charge concerning duty. He talked about his own ministry and he challenged Timothy and gave him his marching orders if you will. In chapter two, there was a charge concerning public worship, prayer in the church. How do how do we pray and and how and what is the purpose of prayer? And then you talk about people in the church, how they should behave in the house of God. And then in chapter three, the charge was concerning leaders. And this is where we started to talk about the qualifications of bishops and deacons or pastors.

And then chapter four, we talked again about uh concerning the the false teaching, what that is like and what a faithful teacher should be. So now brings up to us where we are now tonight, chapter 5. Pastor uh surface preached the first two verses of chapter 5 Sundays ago. talked about the older members and how we should treat the older members of the church with respect. Older men as fathers and younger men as brothers, older women as mothers and younger women as sisters. So tonight, my message is specifically for widows. And then just to give you a prelude right after this following this uh message, Pastor John is going to come and probably next Sunday and talk about the elders of the church, the leadership of the church.

So the title of message tonight is honor widows. And I have to ask you though that you give me a chance because when I was studying this, you know, one of the question I asked is why widows? Does it even apply to me? We'll find out. So, our text is in 1 Timothy chapter 5 3-6. So, I'm going to read it and I ask that you turn there and follow along with me. If you are able, out of respect of the holy word of God, I ask that you stand and follow as I read. Starting with verse three, the Bible says, "Honor widows that are widows indeed. But if any widow have children or 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 desolate, trusted in God, and contination and prayers night and day. But she that liveth pleasure is dead while she liveth." and these things give in charge that they may be blameless. But if any provide not for his own, especially and especially for those of his own house, he had denied the faith and is worse than an infidel. Let not a widow be taken into the number into number into the number under three score years old, having been the wife of one man well reported of for good works. If she have brought up children, if she have lost strangers, if she have washed the saints feet, if she have relieved the afflicted, if she have diligently followed every good work work.

But the younger widows refuse. For when they have begun to wax wanting against Christ, they will marry, having damnation, because they have cast off their first faith. And with all they learn to be idol, wandering, wandering about from house to house, and not only idol, but tattlers, and also busy bodies, speaking things which they ought not. I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully. For some are already turned aside after Satan. If any man or woman that believeth have windows widows, let them relieve them, and let not the church be charged that it m that it may relieve them that are widows indeed.

Father Lord, thank you so much again for your holy word. We praise you for your wisdom in all the aspects of life. And Father, we we praise you for this opportunity that we come together to learn more of the importance of treating and ministering to the widows of our church. And Father, I pray for clarity on my part. And I pray for open hearts and open minds to the message tonight. Father, may you be glorified in all this. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. So in our passage tonight, we are going to examine two types of widows, the older and the younger widows. We will further break down the older widow widows into two categories as we consider how they are cared for or ministered to according to our passage.

So the first point tonight we want to look at the care of the older widows in general and that's you know our passage verse 3-13. But I want to start out with this question that I asked earlier. So why widows? Why widows? I think to understand that perhaps we need to go back and look at the biblical context of what a widow is. A widow is a woman who has lost her husband through death, often viewed as a vulnerable member of society deserving of special care and protection. See, our God recognizes widows as a group that are particularly successible to hardship and in need of support, often grouping them with the fatherless and the poor.

He had given special care or consideration for them. So to kind of understand or get some background of why widows, let's look at God's charge for the protection of widows. First turn to uh Deuteronomy chapter 10. Deuteronomy chapter 10 verse 18. But I think we better start with verse 17 to give us context. In verse 17 it says, "For the Lord your God is a God of gods and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty God and a terrible which regardeth not persons nor taketh reward. He do not execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow and loveth the stranger in giving him food and reignment. Folks, the judgment of the fatherless and the wi and the widow.

Really, God decides and acts rightly, kindly, and graciously concerning them. He's got this special care, special concern for this group, especially widows. Jump to uh chapter 24 of Deuteronomy verse 17. The Bible says in verse 17 uh Deuteronomy 24, "Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of the stranger, nor of the fatherless, nor take a widow's reignment to pledge." Because the world value these group of people the very least. God placed special emphasis, special care for these folks. Turn to Isaiah chapter 1. Isaiah 1:1 17. In Isaiah 1:17, the Bible says, "Learn to do well, seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the uh the fatherless, plead for the widow."

to diligently pursue justice is the idea to defend and deliver them. So our Christian church inherited a tradition of charity to those in need including widows. If you look back in history, no nation has ever cared for more needy and the elderly than the Jews. So in our passage, Paul now gives advice to Timothy on how to care or minister to these widows. But before I get to that, some historical background from the church perspective. The first problem that the early church faced was also a modern one. It's a group. It's about a group of church members who were uh neglected by the church who also led to the establishment of the office of deacons.

Turn to chaps uh Acts chapter 6 verse1. In Acts chapter 6 verse1 the Bible says and in those days when the number of disciples were multiplied there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration. Just a little point of fact that I want to share with you about this in this verse says when the number of disciples were multiplied there arose a murmuring of here here's the point I'm trying to make. When a church grows, the likelihood that a group of people can be neglected. And because these widows were neglected in the daily ministration, it became necessary for them to establish a group of other men to to focus on their care and there thus become the the office of deacons.

So Paul gives these rules to Timothy concerning the care of widows and we we we begin in verse three of the uh in in our passage how the church is to care and minister to them. In verse three of our passage says honor widows that are widows indeed. The word honor in this verse not only means respectful treatment but it is to support them financially as well. The provision for their need is to be included in dishonoring of widows. And the term widows indeed really refers to those widows who are in need and have no family support. So our passage as you look at classifies two types of widows and how to minister to them.

The first one I want to talk about is the older widows with family support and that is very common. This is the the ones without family support few but the ones with family support that's common. So it was only right that the local church show compassion for these women. However, the church in the compassion in caring for this the these kinds of women must be very careful that they do not exhaust the resources that could be used solely for those who really need help. So in verse four of our of of our passage, let me read it again. But if any widow have children or nephews, let them learn first to show piety at home and to require their parents, for that is the good that is good and acceptable before God.

If a widow has relatives, they should care for them so that the church can use its resources to help those who really need help. And this to me personally when I was starting to study this, this is where it hit home to me the relevancy of the care of widows on my personal part. I have parents. I I know older people. And so understanding that we have this obligation commanded by the Lord to care for these kind of makes sense. If her children, the widow are dead and her grandchildren, which is referred in the in verse four as nephews, then should accept the uh responsibility of caring for them. How many of you are grandparents here?

My advice to you, take care of your grandchildren because they are liable to be taking care of you in the latter years. Especially ladies, men, we die off. Okay? And that's one of the reasons why I oh okay there why widows are requiring special care because when the when the husband dies they become more vulnerable and I'll explain that later. So widows, children and nephews must take care of their parents according to their ability. And there are basically three reasons why they should do that. The first one is because they they uh that because that which they bestow upon their parents they bestow upon themselves as well.

The second one is because nature itself teaches us to repay our parents. And then thirdly because this duty pleases God. When you take care of your parents, it pleases God. When you take care of your widows, your older widows, it pleases God. We should keep in mind that during those times in our past, there were no institutions like we have today. Institutions like pensions, social security, retirement home, etc., etc. So you can see during those days how critical and how important family care is for those who are in need. Personal note to my daughters and son-in-laws, this is my favorite part of this message as an aging parent.

And so I invite them to pay attention. Okay? Because it says here, "Honor thy father and thy mother." And that is still in the Bible. It didn't change. Exodus 20:12, "Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee." Jump over to the New Testament, Ephesians chapter 6, verse 1 to3. The Bible says, "Children, obey your parents in the Lord. For this is right, honor thy father and mother, which is the first commandment which uh commandment would promise, that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth." You know, as we think about this whole idea of taking care of our parents, honoring our parents, especially the widows, our parents who are now widows, we should not only consider that this is a commandment of God.

we are required to do. But we should consider raising our children, raising them up in the Lord so that they learn these commandments and then they can apply their requirements of God onto us. It's always for the Lord. But that's another motivation factor. May you may not agree to it, but that's that's another way to really look at how and why we should honor and bring up our kids. You know, in my line of work as as a social worker from a a social agency, I see family members refusing to care for their older parents, especially widows. So these kinds of situations are normally due to the widow not raising their children when they were kids up in the Lord.

And when you do when you fail to do so, you will reap the consequences. They're not going to want to support you because they don't understand God's commandment to honor a father and mother. Paul's judgment on a relative that refuses to care for their loved one is that they are worse than an unbeliever, an infidel. You see that in verse 8. But if any provide not for his own, especially for th of those of his house, his own house, he had denied the fate and is worse than an infidel. So when a widow has family, they the family members are expected to minister to care for those widows. Now we look at the second type of widows, the old widow widow with with no family support.

Paul in our passage sets certain qualifications like he did on pastors and deacons in order for them to be cared for fully by the church. And let's review these these qualifications. First, these widows must be without support. They must be without support. In verse 5, now she that is a widow indeed and desolate trusted in God and continued in supplication and prayers night and day. The word desolate in this verse refers to a widow that has no relatives or support from any other family members. So to be eligible for the care from the church, they must first have no support. And the widow must be a believer with a faithful testimony.

Verse five of our passage described that the widow must be a godly woman who hopes in God and has a ministry of intercession and prayer. A woman trusted in God and contin supplications and prayers night and day. They must be a believer with a fa faithful testimony. And in the course of studying this, I found a prime example in scripture on how these kinds of women. And we find in Luke 2, Luke 2 36 and 37, this type of woman, this example, and her name is Anna. And in verse 36, the Bible said, "And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Fuel of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity.

And she was a widow of about four score and four years, which departed not the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day." 84 years of being a widow. This lady Anna stayed in the church and worshiped and fasted and prayed. That's an example that these godly women or widows ought to be like. A widow that the church helps should not be a self-indulgent person seeking pleasure as described in verse six. See, godly widows are usually spiritual powerhouses. I'm not sure how many of you know someone in your church, either here or somewhere else that are widows. They tend to be very very godly people, powerhouses in prayer.

They become prayer warriors and they do a lot of visitation and just listening to people in the church. You can find them in in the Sunday school classes in the greeting stations and they are often teaching or mentoring the younger ladies. If a widow, however, is not godly, there can be a problem. You know ladies, you know what I'm talking about. She can demand attention, complain about others and gossip. So like the requirements of pastors and deacons, these old widows must be blameless. Must be blameless in verse seven of of our passage. And these things give in charge that they may be blameless.

The third qualifications that these widows must meet in order to get support from that church during those days is that they must be at least 60 years of age. Let's go back and look at verse nine of our passage. Let not a widow be taken into the number under three score years old and having been the wife of one man. So they must be at least 60 years of age. Now, I know some of you ladies thinking 60 is not old. Perhaps 60 back then, maybe. But nevertheless, it's 60. That's the number. And in this verse, it also talks about the next qualification of a widow to get supported by the church. They must have a good marriage record.

It tells us in verse 9 that they must be a wife of one man. Ah that kind of is a familiar requirement. If you look at 1 Timothy chapter 3 2 and 16 it talks about the same requirements for pastors as well as deacons. the husband of one wife. The widow must be a wife of one man. So the implication here is that the widow is not a divorced woman or cannot be a divorced woman since younger women were advised to remarry in verse 14 of our passage. This requirement cannot refer to a woman who had a temporary second marriage after the death of her husband. a wife of one man. And the last qualification for these widows during the day is that they must have a witness of good works.

There must be a record of their good works. And we see that in verse 10 of our passage. Well reported of for good works. If she have brought up children, if she have lost strangers, if she have washed the saints feet, if she have relieved the afflicted, if she have diligently followed every good word. So to qualify as a widow for the church care, they must have a record of good works, which include things like bringing up children. They must have brought up children, not necessarily their own. maybe those who are needing help from other families or are abandoned. So this kind of talks about the grand duty of homemaker in Titus 2 and uh two uh verse four and 5.

We're not going to get go there for the sake of time. But it's also the the the bearing and rearing up of children. Titus 2:15 first uh 1 Timothy 2:15, sorry. And secondly, they must have lost strangers. What does that mean? They must be hospitable. During those days, traveling is hard. Sometimes it's dangerous. When people come, they seek a safe, comfortable place, and that's the church. And guess who provides that? Most times it's these old widows. They must have washed the saint's feet. So the whole context of good works done by women primar primarily in the home and not a religious duty and then they are to uh must have relieved the afflicted care for those neighbors or their Christians who are afflicted.

If you look at these qualifications for a widow to receive care from the church, it's really we the church will take care of you. In return, you do all these things that are listed or must have done them. So that's those two points under the first point is really looking at the older widow, the ones with family support and the ones with no family support. But my second point in my message is the younger widows. The younger widows. And you you'll find that in verse 11 and 15 of our our passage. The younger widows. Surprisingly what I was saying here they are not to be cared for by the church. The church will not care for younger widows.

There are several reasons that Paul gave on this wax wanting. These are widows under 60 years of age. They are not to be uh the responsibility of the church for they usually wax wanting. This word carries the idea of having sexual desires to which she yields and marries again. See the whole idea of caring for the old widow is that they are not going to remarry. The church takes care of them and they serve the church. In verse 11, but the younger widow refused, for when they have begun to wax want and against Christ, they will marry. And also because they have damnation or having damnation, the idea here it seems to be that when she marries an unbeliever, she sets aside her first faith.

That's in verse 12. having damnation because they have cast off their first faith. So under the divine inspiration, Paul fortells that the tendency of these young widows is to be idle. They wander around tattlers, busy bodies. And this fits the idea of 1 Timothy 3:6. not a no novice that's being lifted up with pride, he fall into the condemnation of the devil. I know that this is not always the case, but most times that is the case. In verse 13 of our passage, it says, "And with all they learn to be idol, wandering about from house to house, and not only idol, but tattlers also in busy bodies, speaking things which they ought not to.

Those are the reasons that Paul listed in this passage to why young widows are not to be cared for solely by the church. So if we understand all of this, so what are the requirements of of younger widows? How do we how do we minister to them? And you find that in verse 14 and 15 of our passage. Because of these reasons, Paul's recommends that young widows should marry and bear children because this is the design of the creator for their bodies and their personalities. In verse 14, I would therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully.

But there is a danger here. See, under normal circumstances, to marry, to bear children, and to raise a family is a fulfilling and and rewarding to a godly woman. But when God's design is denigrated or unfairly criticized by the world, especially our modern world, women, young widows start to question God's wisdom. Thus, they show that they are already turned aside after Satan. Verse 15, for some are already turned aside after Satan. We have young widows in the church. Recommendation is to find men in the church who are single or probably already widowed and have them marry, have them raise a family.

So that's the care of widows in general, older and younger. But I want to leave you tonight on my third point, which is a principle of each family caring for the needs of their own. And that's in the last verse of our passage in verse 16. If any man or woman that believe it have widows, let them relieve them, and let not the church be charged, that it may relieve them that are widows indeed. So I ask you this question before I close. So how does this principle apply to us today? We must honor our parents and our grandparents and seek to provide for them if they have needs. And that includes our our widowed mom.

Not every Christian family, I I do understand this, not every Christian family is able to take take in another family member and not every widow wants to live with their children. I understand that where there are sickness or disability, professional care may be necessary and may and can only be provided outside the house in another place. See the thing is the idea is each family must decide what God's will is in the matter and every decision that they make is not an easy one. But the important thing as a church body is that believers show love and concern and do all we can to help each other. I went over by three minutes.

But this message I have passion for caring for the elderly. That's what I do. It really helped me to shed light on our responsibilities as a church, our responsibilities as a family member. So like every evening message, we we break up in groups afterwards. And I have three questions that uh each of you can can share. So, I'll I'll pray and then we'll break up into groups and we'll discuss these questions.