Lesson 09 “Honoring
Elders” 1 Timothy 5:17-24
ID:
Inductive Questions (Asking the text questions like who, what, where, when,
why, & how?”)
CR: Cross
References (Comparing Scripture to Scripture, understanding the vague by the
clear.)
WS: Word
Study (Understanding definition, theological meaning, and usages in other
passages.)
The WORD: What does the Bible say?
Context: Read 1
Timothy 5:9-6:10 to help understand the context. Then read 1 Timothy 5:17-24 in a more literal
or more dynamic
translation than you usually use. How
does this passage relate to the previous one and what comes after?
1. ID: (5:17) What kind of elders are worthy of double
honor? (Note the nuances of “rule.”)
2. WS/CR: (5:17-18) What
is double honor (timē)? (Romans
15:27; 1 Corinthians 9:9; Galatians 6:6)
What Old
Testament Scriptures does Paul back up this statement with?
3. ID: (5:19-20) What two instructions did Paul give for
rebuking an Elder? Are they different
from guidelines for “normal” people in the church? Why? (Matthew
18:15-17; Galatians 6:1; Titus 1:13; 2.15; 3:10)
4. ID: (5:21-22) What
cautions does Paul give Timothy? Do they
relate to the instructions in verses 19-20?
How?
5. CR: (5:23) Why did
Paul encourage Timothy to drink some wine?
6. ID: (5:24-25) How
do these verses relate to selecting elders in verse 22?
The WALK: What should I do?
1. How does your church honor their elders? Who are the men that receive double honor
because they “rule well” and “labor in the Word” at your church?
2. Who are some men you’ve known who functioned
especially well in the office of elder or pastor?
3. How long (months, years?) and how well should a church
know a man before they make him an elder?
4. What are some attitudes, structural issues, etc. that
could keep churches from dealing with a sinning elder in a Scriptural way and
method?
5. CSBI: What is the
difference between the meaning of the inspiration of
artists and gifted authors, etc. and the theological meaning of inspiration
when it is applied to Scripture? Why is
this important to understand? What has
helped you explain it to others?
Going Beyond: 1. What
areas of theology are touched on in this passage?
q Bibliology q Theology Proper q Paterology q Christology
q Pneumatology
q Anthropology
q Soteriology q Ecclesiology q Angelology q Eschatology
THE WORD OF GOD AND INSPIRATION
Inspiration
is the way in which God gave his Word to us through human authors, but how he
did is a matter not fully understood. In
this section of the Articles of Affirmation and Denial the framers of the
document explicitly deny understanding the mode of inspiration. But they affirm, as Scripture itself also
does (2 Tim. 3:16), that the Bible is the product of divine inspiration and
that this work extended through the human writers to each section and even each
word of the original documents. The process
of inspiration did not make the biblical writers automatons,
for their books reveal differences of vocabulary, style and other matters of
variation be human author and another.
But inspiration did overcome any tendency they may have had to error,
with the result that the words they wrote were precisely what God, the divine
author, intended us to have.
ARTICLE
VII: INSPIRATION
We affirm that
inspiration was the work in which God by His Spirit, through human writers,
gave us His Word. The origin of
Scripture is divine. The mode of divine
inspiration remains largely a mystery to us.
We deny that inspiration can be reduced to human
insight, or to heightened states of consciousness of any kind.
Article
VII spells out in more detail what is implied in Article VI. Here clear reference is given to the human
writers of the text. The human writers
become the human instruments by which God’s Word comes to us. Classically the Holy Scriptures have been
called the Verbum Dei, the Word of
God, or even the vox Dei, the voice
of God. Yet, at the same time, Holy
Scripture comes to us as the words of men. In other words, there is an agency of humanity
through which God’s divine Word is communicated; yet the origin of Scripture is
divine.
What
the framers of the document have in view here is the primary meaning of the
word theopneustos
in 2
Timothy 3:16, the word translated “inspired by God.” The word theopneustos means literally
“God breathed” and has primary reference to God’s breathing out his word rather
than breathing in some kind of effect upon human writers. So expiration is a more accurate term than
inspiration with respect to the origin of Scripture. But we use the term inspiration to cover the
concept of the whole process by which the Word comes to us. Initially it comes from the mouth of God
(speaking, of course, metaphorically). From
its origin in God it is then transmitted through the agency of human writers
under divine supervision and superintendence. The next step in the process of communication
is the apprehension of the divine message by human beings. It is explicitly stated in this article that
the precise mode by which God accomplished inspiration remains a mystery. The document makes no attempt to define the
“how” of divine inspiration or even to suggest that the method is known to us.
The word inspiration can be used and has
been used in our language to refer to moments of genius-level insight, of
intensified states of consciousness or of heightened acts of human achievement.
We speak of inspired poetry, meaning
that the author achieved levels of insight and brilliance that are
extraordinary. However, in this
dimension of “inspiration” no suggestion is at hand that the source of
inspiration is divine power. There are
human levels of inspiration reflected in heroic acts, brilliant insights, and
intensified states of consciousness. But
that is not what is meant by the theological use of the term inspiration. Here the statement is making clear that by
divine inspiration something transcending all human states of inspiration is in
view, something in which the power and supervision of God are at work. Thus, the articles are saying that the Bible,
though it is a human book insofar as it is written by human writers, has its
humanity transcended by virtue of its divine origin and inspiration.
Leader Notes:
WORD:
This passage presents a balance
between honoring pastors/elders and holding them accountable.
1. This verse also gives us some tips about what
elders do.
3, 4, 6 These verses remind us that we should be very
careful who we choose to be an elder and then be very careful about believing
an accusation.
5. The issue here may be more one of taking care
of yourself than of the merits or demerits of alcohol.
WALK:
2. Hebrews 13.7 encourages us to “Remember those
who rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow…” This would be a good positive time for the
men to remember and rehearse the characteristics of their church leaders that they have
admired and been inspired by. Don’t
forget to include their current leaders.
3-4 These have to do with the nut and bolts of
how we do church. Keep the focus
positive and constructive and don’t let is turn into a grip session.
5. The clarification of these two uses of the
word inspiration will be helpful for the men as the think and teach about the
Bible.
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