Steadfastness part 5: 1 Timothy 5:9-16
- (1Ti 5:9 ESV) Let a ______________ be enrolled if she is not less than sixty years of age, having been the wife of one husband,
- A widow is of course a woman whose husband died
- And had no family to ______________ them
- They were destitute and also vulnerable
- Thus the church has a responsibility to care for them
- And those widows also dedicate themselves to service of the ______________ and various duties of ministry.
- James 1:27, Acts 6:1-7, Titus 2:3-5, 1Timothy 3:2, 1Timothy 3:12, Proverbs 31:10-12, Proverbs 31:25-26
- (1Ti 5:10 ESV) and having a reputation for ______________ works: if she has brought up children, has shown hospitality, has washed the feet of the saints, has ______________ for the afflicted, and has ______________ herself to every good work.
- Are you a woman with a reputation for good works
- Proverbs 31:13-19, Proverbs 31:27-28
- If she is to train up younger women in how to raise godly children it is helpful that she has done this herself
- We are to be hospitable
- Opening our homes, our lives to those in need
- Feeding and sheltering them
- Providing for their needs
- 1 Peter 4:8-10, Proverbs 31:20-22
- The job of the lowest slave was often given:
- Washing people’s feet when they came in
- The concept of this job is illustrative of doing whatever work is required of us
- John 13:5-16
- The widow who serve these church has a history of caring for the sick
- Physical, mental, emotional, spiritual
- All of this stacking up to measure the ______________ of the woman of God
- (1Ti 5:11 ESV) But refuse to enroll younger widows, for when their passions draw them away from Christ, they desire to marry
- (1Ti 5:12 ESV) and so incur condemnation for having abandoned their former faith.
- This commitment to the church should not be taken lightly or emotionally
- This is not for every widow by any means
- (1Ti 5:13 ESV) Besides that, they learn to be idlers, going about from house to house, and not only ______________, but also gossips and ______________, saying what they should not.
- If you are going around doing this ministry work
- You must be on guard always to make sure the work stays pure
- Not allowing the opportunity for gossip, impurity, or getting sidetracked.
- (1Ti 5:14 ESV) So I would have younger widows ______________, bear children, manage their ______________, and give the adversary no occasion for ______________.
- Do the normal things of life that a woman would be doing
- Serving and giving as God designed
- (1Ti 5:15 ESV) For some have already strayed after Satan.
- These believing widows walking into ways of the world
- Let others not follow them
- (1Ti 5:16 ESV) If any believing ______________ has relatives who are widows, let her care for them. Let the church not be burdened, so that it may care for those who are ______________ widows.
- There is a principle in this for us
- That we take care of those God has placed in our care
- Women are called to live lives of upright character
- To love their families and work diligently to care for their households
- When a woman has done this and becomes a widow
- She is them to take on the church as her charge to invest in the younger women
- To raise them up in the Lord
- The church is responsible for supporting them
- And honoring their role
- As we would a mother and a sister
