Scripture referenced 12 passages
The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
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Psalm 92:1 opening verse read aloud before congregational singing, 'It is good to give thanks to the Lord to sing praises to the most high'
1 It is a good thing to give thanks to Yahweh, to sing praises to your name, Most High;
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Keep this verse
1 Peter 1:3
read aloud as good news before a song, 'praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, in his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead'
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
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1 Timothy 5:17-6:2
the main passage for the sermon, covering honoring elders, church discipline, ordination, and employees
17 Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and in teaching.
18 For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle the ox when it treads out the grain.” And, “The laborer is worthy of his wages.”
19 Don’t receive an accusation against an elder, except at the word of two or three witnesses.
20 Those who sin, reprove in the sight of all, that the rest also may be in fear.
21 I command you in the sight of God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the chosen angels, that you observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing by partiality.
22 Lay hands hastily on no one, neither be a participant in other men’s sins. Keep yourself pure.
23 Be no longer a drinker of water only, but use a little wine for your stomach’s sake and your frequent infirmities.
24 Some men’s sins are evident, preceding them to judgment, and some also follow later.
25 In the same way also there are good works that are obvious, and those that are otherwise can’t be hidden.
1 Let as many as are bondservants under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honor, that the name of God and the doctrine not be blasphemed.
2 Those who have believing masters, let them not despise them, because they are brothers, but rather let them serve them, because those who partake of the benefit are believing and beloved. Teach and exhort these things.
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1 Thessalonians 5:12-13
cited to show the same Greek word translated 'rule well' also appears as 'over you in the Lord'
12 But we beg you, brothers, to know those who labor among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you,
13 and to respect and honor them in love for their work’s sake. Be at peace among yourselves.
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Romans 12:6-8
cited to show the same 'rule well' word used for the gift of leadership among spiritual gifts
6 Having gifts differing according to the grace that was given to us, if prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of our faith;
7 or service, let us give ourselves to service; or he who teaches, to his teaching;
8 or he who exhorts, to his exhorting: he who gives, let him do it with generosity; he who rules, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.
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Deuteronomy 25:4
Old Testament source of the command not to muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain, quoted to support paying elders
4 You shall not muzzle the ox when he treads out the grain.
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1 Corinthians 9
Paul's earlier use of the muzzled-ox passage to argue that gospel workers have a right to material support
1 Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Haven’t I seen Jesus Christ, our Lord? Aren’t you my work in the Lord?
2 If to others I am not an apostle, yet at least I am to you; for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.
3 My defense to those who examine me is this.
4 Have we no right to eat and to drink?
5 Have we no right to take along a wife who is a believer, even as the rest of the apostles, and the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas?
6 Or have only Barnabas and I no right to not work?
7 What soldier ever serves at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard, and doesn’t eat of its fruit? Or who feeds a flock, and doesn’t drink from the flock’s milk?
8 Do I speak these things according to the ways of men? Or doesn’t the law also say the same thing?
9 For it is written in the law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain.” Is it for the oxen that God cares,
10 or does he say it assuredly for our sake? Yes, it was written for our sake, because he who plows ought to plow in hope, and he who threshes in hope should partake of his hope.
11 If we sowed to you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we reap your fleshly things?
12 If others partake of this right over you, don’t we yet more? Nevertheless we did not use this right, but we bear all things, that we may cause no hindrance to the Good News of Christ.
13 Don’t you know that those who serve around sacred things eat from the things of the temple, and those who wait on the altar have their portion with the altar?
14 Even so the Lord ordained that those who proclaim the Good News should live from the Good News.
15 But I have used none of these things, and I don’t write these things that it may be done so in my case; for I would rather die, than that anyone should make my boasting void.
16 For if I preach the Good News, I have nothing to boast about; for necessity is laid on me; but woe is to me, if I don’t preach the Good News.
17 For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward. But if not of my own will, I have a stewardship entrusted to me.
18 What then is my reward? That, when I preach the Good News, I may present the Good News of Christ without charge, so as not to abuse my authority in the Good News.
19 For though I was free from all, I brought myself under bondage to all, that I might gain the more.
20 To the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain those who are under the law;
21 to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law.
22 To the weak I became as weak, that I might gain the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some.
23 Now I do this for the sake of the Good News, that I may be a joint partaker of it.
24 Don’t you know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run like that, that you may win.
25 Every man who strives in the games exercises self-control in all things. Now they do it to receive a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible.
26 I therefore run like that, not aimlessly. I fight like that, not beating the air,
27 but I beat my body and bring it into submission, lest by any means, after I have preached to others, I myself should be rejected.
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Luke 10
source of 'the laborer deserves his wages,' from Jesus sending out the disciples to stay in homes
1 Now after these things, the Lord also appointed seventy others, and sent them two by two ahead of him into every city and place, where he was about to come.
2 Then he said to them, “The harvest is indeed plentiful, but the laborers are few. Pray therefore to the Lord of the harvest, that he may send out laborers into his harvest.
3 Go your ways. Behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves.
4 Carry no purse, nor wallet, nor sandals. Greet no one on the way.
5 Into whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house.’
6 If a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you.
7 Remain in that same house, eating and drinking the things they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Don’t go from house to house.
8 Into whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat the things that are set before you.
9 Heal the sick who are therein, and tell them, ‘God’s Kingdom has come near to you.’
10 But into whatever city you enter, and they don’t receive you, go out into its streets and say,
11 ‘Even the dust from your city that clings to us, we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that God’s Kingdom has come near to you.’
12 I tell you, it will be more tolerable in that day for Sodom than for that city.
13 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon which were done in you, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.
14 But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the judgment than for you.
15 You, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades.
16 Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me. Whoever rejects me rejects him who sent me.”
17 The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!”
18 He said to them, “I saw Satan having fallen like lightning from heaven.
19 Behold, I give you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. Nothing will in any way hurt you.
20 Nevertheless, don’t rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
21 In that same hour Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit, and said, “I thank you, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for so it was well-pleasing in your sight.”
22 Turning to the disciples, he said, “All things have been delivered to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is, except the Father, and who the Father is, except the Son, and he to whomever the Son desires to reveal him.”
23 Turning to the disciples, he said privately, “Blessed are the eyes which see the things that you see,
24 for I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see the things which you see, and didn’t see them, and to hear the things which you hear, and didn’t hear them.”
25 Behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 He said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read it?”
27 He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”
28 He said to him, “You have answered correctly. Do this, and you will live.”
29 But he, desiring to justify himself, asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?”
30 Jesus answered, “A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who both stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead.
31 By chance a certain priest was going down that way. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
32 In the same way a Levite also, when he came to the place, and saw him, passed by on the other side.
33 But a certain Samaritan, as he traveled, came where he was. When he saw him, he was moved with compassion,
34 came to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. He set him on his own animal, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
35 On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, and gave them to the host, and said to him, ‘Take care of him. Whatever you spend beyond that, I will repay you when I return.’
36 Now which of these three do you think seemed to be a neighbor to him who fell among the robbers?”
37 He said, “He who showed mercy on him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
38 As they went on their way, he entered into a certain village, and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.
39 She had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word.
40 But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she came up to him, and said, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister left me to serve alone? Ask her therefore to help me.”
41 Jesus answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things,
42 but one thing is needed. Mary has chosen the good part, which will not be taken away from her.”
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Matthew 10
parallel to Luke's sending out of disciples, 'the laborer deserves its food,' no bag or two tunics or sandals
1 He called to himself his twelve disciples, and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every sickness.
2 Now the names of the twelve apostles are these. The first, Simon, who is called Peter; Andrew, his brother; James the son of Zebedee; John, his brother;
3 Philip; Bartholomew; Thomas; Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus; Lebbaeus, who was also called Thaddaeus;
4 Simon the Canaanite; and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.
5 Jesus sent these twelve out, and commanded them, saying, “Don’t go among the Gentiles, and don’t enter into any city of the Samaritans.
6 Rather, go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
7 As you go, preach, saying, ‘The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!’
8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, and cast out demons. Freely you received, so freely give.
9 Don’t take any gold, silver, or brass in your money belts.
10 Take no bag for your journey, neither two coats, nor shoes, nor staff: for the laborer is worthy of his food.
11 Into whatever city or village you enter, find out who in it is worthy; and stay there until you go on.
12 As you enter into the household, greet it.
13 If the household is worthy, let your peace come on it, but if it isn’t worthy, let your peace return to you.
14 Whoever doesn’t receive you, nor hear your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet.
15 Most certainly I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city.
16 “Behold, I send you out as sheep among wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
17 But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to councils, and in their synagogues they will scourge you.
18 Yes, and you will be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony to them and to the nations.
19 But when they deliver you up, don’t be anxious how or what you will say, for it will be given you in that hour what you will say.
20 For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.
21 “Brother will deliver up brother to death, and the father his child. Children will rise up against parents, and cause them to be put to death.
22 You will be hated by all men for my name’s sake, but he who endures to the end will be saved.
23 But when they persecute you in this city, flee into the next, for most certainly I tell you, you will not have gone through the cities of Israel, until the Son of Man has come.
24 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his lord.
25 It is enough for the disciple that he be like his teacher, and the servant like his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more those of his household!
26 Therefore don’t be afraid of them, for there is nothing covered that will not be revealed; and hidden that will not be known.
27 What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in the ear, proclaim on the housetops.
28 Don’t be afraid of those who kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul. Rather, fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.
29 “Aren’t two sparrows sold for an assarion coin? Not one of them falls on the ground apart from your Father’s will,
30 but the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
31 Therefore don’t be afraid. You are of more value than many sparrows.
32 Everyone therefore who confesses me before men, him I will also confess before my Father who is in heaven.
33 But whoever denies me before men, him I will also deny before my Father who is in heaven.
34 “Don’t think that I came to send peace on the earth. I didn’t come to send peace, but a sword.
35 For I came to set a man at odds against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.
36 A man’s foes will be those of his own household.
37 He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me isn’t worthy of me.
38 He who doesn’t take his cross and follow after me, isn’t worthy of me.
39 He who seeks his life will lose it; and he who loses his life for my sake will find it.
40 He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives him who sent me.
41 He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward. He who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward.
42 Whoever gives one of these little ones just a cup of cold water to drink in the name of a disciple, most certainly I tell you he will in no way lose his reward.”
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Deuteronomy 19
Old Testament background for requiring two or three witnesses before a charge is established
1 When Yahweh your God cuts off the nations whose land Yahweh your God gives you, and you succeed them and dwell in their cities and in their houses;
2 you shall set apart three cities for yourselves in the middle of your land, which Yahweh your God gives you to possess it.
3 You shall prepare the way, and divide the borders of your land which Yahweh your God causes you to inherit into three parts, that every man slayer may flee there.
4 This is the case of the man slayer who shall flee there and live. Whoever kills his neighbor unawares, and didn’t hate him in time past;
5 as when a man goes into the forest with his neighbor to chop wood and his hand swings the ax to cut down the tree, and the head slips from the handle and hits his neighbor so that he dies, he shall flee to one of these cities and live.
6 Otherwise, the avenger of blood might pursue the man slayer while his heart is hot and overtake him, because the way is long, and strike him mortally; even though he was not worthy of death, because he didn’t hate him in time past.
7 Therefore I command you to set apart three cities for yourselves.
8 If Yahweh your God enlarges your border, as he has sworn to your fathers, and gives you all the land which he promised to give to your fathers;
9 if you keep all this commandment to do it, which I command you today, to love Yahweh your God, and to walk ever in his ways; then you shall add three cities more for yourselves, besides these three.
10 This is so that innocent blood will not be shed in the middle of your land which Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance, leaving blood guilt on you.
11 But if any man hates his neighbor, lies in wait for him, rises up against him, strikes him mortally so that he dies, and he flees into one of these cities;
12 then the elders of his city shall send and bring him there, and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die.
13 Your eye shall not pity him, but you shall purge the innocent blood from Israel that it may go well with you.
14 You shall not remove your neighbor’s landmark, which they of old time have set, in your inheritance which you shall inherit, in the land that Yahweh your God gives you to possess.
15 One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sins. At the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall a matter be established.
16 If an unrighteous witness rises up against any man to testify against him of wrongdoing,
17 then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before Yahweh, before the priests and the judges who shall be in those days;
18 and the judges shall make diligent inquisition: and behold, if the witness is a false witness, and has testified falsely against his brother;
19 then you shall do to him as he had thought to do to his brother. So you shall remove the evil from among you.
20 Those who remain shall hear, and fear, and will never again commit any such evil among you.
21 Your eyes shall not pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
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Matthew 18:15-20
the church discipline passage, winning a sinning brother, two or three witnesses, telling the church, binding and loosing, two or three gathered in Christ's name
15 “If your brother sins against you, go, show him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained back your brother.
16 But if he doesn’t listen, take one or two more with you, that at the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.
17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the assembly. If he refuses to hear the assembly also, let him be to you as a Gentile or a tax collector.
18 Most certainly I tell you, whatever things you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever things you release on earth will have been released in heaven.
19 Again, assuredly I tell you, that if two of you will agree on earth concerning anything that they will ask, it will be done for them by my Father who is in heaven.
20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the middle of them.”
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James 2:1-9
cited against partiality, the example of treating a richly dressed man better than a poor man in shabby clothing
1 My brothers, don’t hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ of glory with partiality.
2 For if a man with a gold ring, in fine clothing, comes into your synagogue, and a poor man in filthy clothing also comes in;
3 and you pay special attention to him who wears the fine clothing, and say, “Sit here in a good place”; and you tell the poor man, “Stand there,” or “Sit by my footstool”;
4 haven’t you shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?
5 Listen, my beloved brothers. Didn’t God choose those who are poor in this world to be rich in faith, and heirs of the Kingdom which he promised to those who love him?
6 But you have dishonored the poor man. Don’t the rich oppress you, and personally drag you before the courts?
7 Don’t they blaspheme the honorable name by which you are called?
8 However, if you fulfill the royal law, according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well.
9 But if you show partiality, you commit sin, being convicted by the law as transgressors.
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Recap
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
This sermon worked through 1 Timothy 5:17 through 6:2, covering three connected concerns Paul raises with Timothy: how a church should treat its elders, how it should handle discipline when an elder falls into sin, and how believers should conduct themselves in their working lives. The pastor preached it as part of an ongoing study moving through the letter in order.
What was said
Paul tells Timothy that elders who lead well deserve double honor, and he especially singles out those who work hard at preaching and teaching. To explain what "double honor" means in material terms, the pastor walked through Paul's appeal to the Old Testament command not to muzzle an ox while it is threshing grain. Both Calvin and Luther are quoted in their commentaries on the same passage: Calvin argues that God gave the command not for the sake of oxen but to train people toward fairness with workers, and Luther notes simply that oxen cannot read, so the instruction was plainly written for us. The point Paul draws from it is that those who do the work of gospel ministry have a legitimate claim to be supported by those they serve.
From there the sermon moved to the question of charges brought against an elder. The two-or-three-witness standard goes back to Deuteronomy and appears again in Matthew 18, and Paul applies it here to protect elders from frivolous accusations while not placing them above accountability. The pastor paused to say plainly that this standard was never meant to shield abusers, and that anyone who has been harmed inside a church context should bring it forward so the church can help.
Where sin does persist and is established, Paul calls for public rebuke, so that others will take the warning seriously. The charge that follows is that none of this process should be run with partiality, whether that means favoring someone because of wealth, family connections, or standing in the community. The qualifications laid out earlier in the letter exist precisely so that selection and discipline of elders is driven by character and faithfulness rather than social advantage.
The instruction not to be hasty in laying hands on someone is about ordination. The pastor connected this to the recent ordination of Rinsey Reno, a former youth director at First B who had served in ministry for years before the church felt it right to ordain him formally. The point is that ordination carries weight and should follow genuine knowledge of a person's life and character, not a quick impression.
The final section updates Paul's instruction to slaves and masters into the plain language of employees and supervisors. Whether a believer's boss is a Christian or not, the call is the same: work well enough that the name of God is not brought into disrepute by how you show up. If a boss is a fellow believer, that is no excuse to take liberties. If a boss is not a believer, working with integrity gives the gospel a platform it would not otherwise have.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
- Paul quotes the Old Testament command about not muzzling an ox to make a point about how we treat people who labor among us. Where else in your life do you see a principle meant for one situation that actually applies more broadly to how you treat others?
- Pastor Carl walked through the Matthew 18 process for church discipline and noted that the whole point is winning your brother back, not punishing him. What makes it hard in practice to approach a conflict with that goal in mind?
and 3 more questions in the guide
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