Peter Barnes | 1 Timothy 5:3-16
SERMON NOTES
PRINCIPLES OF CHARITY
Leviticus 19:1-18; 1 Timothy 5:3-16
– the widows seem to have been helped and in turn to have helped; Calvin sees them as women deacons; note Dorcas in Acts 9:39-41
1. Widows are to be cared for.
– 5:3; see Ex.22:21-27; Lev.19:9-10; Acts 6:1-4; unlike the Pharisees in Matt.23:14
2. Widows are to care for themselves first.
– 5:14 – more a suggestion than a command, but the widow is to seek not to be a burden on the church
3. The family is to care for its own.
– 5:4, 8, 16 – first the family, then the deacons if there is no family or the family has abdicated.
4. Church charity is not to encourage sin.
– 5:5-7, 9-15; no merry widows! Welfare can do harm as well as good.
– 2 Thess.3:10-12