Wenstrom Bible Ministries Marion, Iowa Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom wenstrom

1. Wenstrom Bible MinistriesMarion, IowaPastor-Teacher Bill Wenstromwww.wenstrom.org

2. Wednesday August 24, 20111 Timothy: 1 Timothy 5:17-Elders Who Lead Correctly Are Worthy Of Double Honor, Specifically, Those Who Work Hard At Teaching The Word Of GodLesson # 113

3. Please turn in your Bibles to 1 Timothy 5:17.

4. In 1 Timothy 5:17-25, Paul instructs Timothy as to the proper treatment of elders.

5. The apostle Paul in 1 Timothy 5:17 issues another command to the Ephesian Christian community through his young delegate and fellow pastor-teacher, Timothy.

6. In this verse, he commands that elders who lead correctly are worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at teaching the Word of God.

7. 1 Timothy 5:17 The elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching. (NASB95)

8. “The elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor” is composed of the articular nominative masculine plural form of the adjective presbuteros (πρεσβύτερος) (prezveetah-roce), “the elders” and then we have the adverb kalos (καλῶς) (kah-loce), “well”

9. which is modifying the nominative masculine plural perfect active participle form of the verb proistemi (προΐστημι) (pree-steh-mee), “who rule” and then we have the genitive feminine singular form of the adjective diplous (διπλοῦς) (dee-ploose), “double”

10. and this modifying the genitive feminine singular form of the noun time (τιμή) (tee-mee), “honor” and this is followed by the third person plural present passive imperative form of the verb axioo (ἀξιόω) (ahx-ee-owe-owe), “are to be considered worthy of.”

11. In 1 Timothy 5:17, Paul is once again employing the figure of “asyndeton,” which emphasizes the importance of this command for the Christian community in Ephesus.

12. The adjective presbuteros is referring to those who hold the office of overseer, which could only be held by those men with the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher that had met the qualifications listed by Paul in 1 Timothy 3:1-7.

13. This is indicated by the fact that they were to receive double remuneration for working hard teaching the Word of God.

14. So their function is described by Paul in 1 Timothy 5:17 as teaching the Word of God.

15. Presbuteros is used with reference to pastor-teachers in other places in the New Testament (Titus 1:5; James 5:14; 1 Peter 5:1, 5; 2 John 1; 3 John 1).

16. All this makes crystal clear that the presbuteros mentioned in this verse is referring to pastor-teachers, who held the office of overseer and whose function according to 1 Timothy 3:2 was teaching the Word of God.

17. Presbuteros in 1 Timothy 5:17 does not refer to those men with the spiritual gift of leadership (cf. Romans 12:8), which is called “administrations” in 1 Corinthians 12:28 and nor does it refer to those who held the office of deacon.

18. This is indicated by the fact that the adverb malista, “especially” in 1 Timothy 5:17 is singling out or defining a specific segment of elders who are to receive double honor, namely those who teach, i.e. the pastor-teachers.

19. The fact that episkopos, “overseers” and presbuteros, “elders” are synonymous is attested to by the passage in Acts 20:17-28 where the apostle Paul calls for a meeting with the pastor-teachers in Ephesus.

20. The verb proistemi means “to exercise a position of authority” and is used with reference to the pastor’s authority over the Ephesian Christian community, which he exercises by teaching them.

21. The adverb kalos is modifying the verb proistemi, “leading” and means “correctly,” which is indicated by the fact that it pertains to meeting relatively high standards of excellence.

22. This would be of course leading the flock of God in accordance with the teaching of the Word of God.

23. The word conveys the idea that the elder, i.e. the overseer or pastor-teacher is governing the household of God according to the standards of God’s Word and specifically with regards to teaching the Word of God to the household of God and operating in God’s love by the power of the Spirit.

24. The verb axioo means “to consider worthy” and refers to those elders who lead the flock of God correctly, i.e. according to God’s Word, as being “considered worthy of” double honor by the flock of God.

25. The present imperative form of the verb indicates that as a general precept, the Ephesian Christian community must consider worthy of double honor those pastor-teachers who work hard at teaching the Word of God.

26. The fact that Paul addresses this issue of remuneration of elders implies that there was a problem in the Christian community in Ephesus with regards to their attitudes towards pastor-teachers.

27. Undoubtedly, this was the direct result of the apostasy of many pastors in Ephesus, whom Paul discusses in 1 Timothy chapter one.

28. Of course, there were Christians who adhered to this command in 1 Timothy 5:17 and there must have been some that did not otherwise he would not addressed this issue in the first place.

29. Thus it is best to view this present imperative as Paul, simply communicating a general precept of the Word of God and the Lord and the apostles’ teaching without reference to whether there was a violation of this command or not.

30. The noun time means not only “to honor” in the sense of respect and valuing the role of the elders in teaching the Ephesian congregation the Word of God but also it denotes remuneration for fulfilling this function on behalf of the body of Christ.

31. Thus, the word denotes that the Ephesian Christian community is not only to show respect for those elders who worked hard at teaching them the Word of God but also it indicates that they were to provide for them financially, which demonstrates how much they value what these elders do for them and their families.

32. That the idea contains the sense of remuneration is clearly indicated by the quotations that Paul uses in 1 Timothy 5:18.

33. In this verse, he first quotes from Deuteronomy 25:4, which says “you shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing.”

34. This is followed by a quote from the Lord Jesus Christ that “the laborer is worthy of his wages.”

35. This statement from our Lord is recorded in Matthew 10:10 and Luke 10:7.

36. Both the Lord Jesus Christ and the apostles taught that those who teach the gospel should be provided for financially by their congregations as payment for their services of teaching them the Word of God (Matthew 10:1-10; Luke 10:1-14; 1 Corinthians 9:1-14; Galatians 6:6; Philippians 4:15-19).

37. The adjective diplous is modifying the noun time, “honor” and speaks of both respect and remuneration with the former expressed by the latter.

38. In other words, a Christian demonstrates respect for the pastor who works hard teaching them the Word of God by reciprocating and paying him for his services.

39. By doing, he also demonstrates how much he values this work on his behalf by the pastor.

40. 1 Timothy 5:17 The elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching. (NASB95)

41. “Especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching” is composed of the superlative adverb malista (μάλιστα) (mah-lee-stah), “especially” and then we have the articular nominative masculine plural present active participle form of the verb kopiao (κοπιάω) (koe-pee-ah-owe), “those who work hard”

42. and then we have the preposition en (ἐν), “at” and its object is the dative masculine singular form of the noun logos (λόγος) (loe-goce), “preaching” and then we have the conjunction kai (καί) (keh), “and” which is followed by the dative feminine singular form of the noun didaskalia (διδασκαλία) (thee-thask-ah-lee-ah), “teaching.”

43. The adverb malista is epexegetical meaning that it is singling out or defining a specific segment of elders who are to receive double honor, namely those who teach, i.e. the pastor-teachers.

44. That malista has this function or sense is indicated by the fact that presbuteros is a synonymous term with episkopos, “overseer” which appears in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and the function of the overseer was teaching the Word of God according to 1 Timothy 3:2.

45. Thus, the fact that episkopos and presbuteros are synonymous terms speaking of the same group of individuals whose function in the body of Christ is the same indicates that malista in 1 Timothy 5:17 is singling out pastor-teachers or is defining that these elders are those who teach the Word of God.

46. Consequently, he is not referring to those have the gift of leadership, i.e. administrations or those who hold the office of deacon since deacons do not teach and neither do those who have the gift of leadership.

47. Also, this rules out presbuteros as referring to older men in the congregation, which it refers to in 1 Timothy 5:1.

48. The verb kopiao means “to work hard” in the sense of exerting oneself mentally, physically and spiritually in the face of adversity.

49. It is used to describe the efforts of pastor-teachers in Ephesus studying and teaching the Word of God.

50. The noun logos means “word” and refers to the content of the gospel with respect to the church since Paul is speaking of the function of pastor-teachers in the body of Christ and on behalf of the body of Christ.