the one true shepherd's voice. Where Christ leads, may they go, and in your call rejoice. Brothers and sisters, please turn with me the Smaller Forms and Prayers book to page 80. And so we often use this kind of fine distinction between ordination and installation. If a man is being put into a new office for the first time, we use the language of ordination. If a man has served faithfully in that same office before, and he's coming back to active service. We call that installation. Well, at council meeting this past week, we're kind of like, well, what do we say for Joseph Vandenberg? He's never served in this church before, but he served as a deacon in a church that is literally close to us. It's a sister church. It's in our classes. It's not so many miles away, South Dakota. So we, well, we decided, well, You can probably use either one, but we'll say installation. So we have the installation of John Carsten for elder and Joseph Vandenberg for deacon. We will be asking Joseph to come and to sign his agreement to the form of subscription in our church's book and record of that. So let's come now to the form, page 80. Congregation of Jesus Christ, the council has made known to you the names of our brothers here present who were chosen to the offices of elder and deacon in this church. They have indicated their belief in our confessions by their agreement with the form of subscription. Since there were no lawful objections, we shall proceed to their installation in the name of the Lord. Let us listen to what the Word of God teaches regarding these offices. The office of elder is based on the kingship of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, when he ascended, left his church in the world and provided it with officers who should rule in his name. Apostle Paul in Acts insists upon the ordination of elders in every church and in his first letter to Timothy commands that those who rule well should be considered worthy of double honor especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. In this and other passages Paul distinguishes between the elders who labor particularly in the ministry of the word and of the sacraments and those who are responsible for the supervision of the church together with the ministers of the word Therefore, the Church from the beginning has had elders in addition to ministers. The work of the elders is that of ruling in the name of the Ascended King and as servants of the Great Shepherd, caring for his flock. It is also the duty of the elders to maintain the purity of the Word and sacraments and to uphold the good order of the Church, carefully guarding the sanctity of the offices and faithfully exercising discipline. They should with love and humility, promote the faithful discharge of the office by their fellow officers, having particular regard to the doctrine and conduct of the minister of the word, that the church may be edified and may show itself to be the pillar and ground of the truth. To fill such a sacred office honorably, the elders should set an example of godliness in their personal life, in their home life, and in their relations with their fellow men. walking thus in all godliness and faithfully discharging their office, when the chief shepherd appears, they will receive the unfading crown of glory. The office of deacon is based upon the love and concern of Christ for his own. The concern is so great that he considers what is done to one of the least of his brothers as done to him. In this way, our Lord identifies the needy as his representatives in our expression of sympathy and benevolent service on earth. For I was hungry, and you gave me food. I was thirsty, and you gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you welcomed me. I was naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me. I was in prison, and you came to me." According to Acts 6, the apostles themselves in the beginning ministered to the needy, but afterward, being overburdened with this service to the extent that some were neglected, certain men were chosen to whom they committed the special responsibility of exercising this ministry. leaving the apostles greater opportunity to continue steadfastly in prayer and in the ministry of the word. And since that time, the church has recognized this service as a distinct office. The work of the deacons consists in the faithful and diligent gathering of the offerings which God's people in gratitude make to their Lord, in the prevention of poverty, in the humble and cheerful distribution of gifts according to the need, and in the relief of the distressed, both with kind deeds and with words of comfort and encouragement from scripture. To fill such a sacred office worthily, the deacons as well as the elders should set an example of godliness in their personal life, in their home life, and in their relations with their fellow men, thus conducting themselves as worthy representatives of Christ's loving care and faithfully ministering in his name to those who are beloved of God, gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus. And then at this time, brothers, I ask you both to stand and to hear the four questions, answering then at the end of the questions. In order that the church may hear that you are willing to take your respective offices upon you, please answer these four questions. Do you elders and deacons feel in your hearts that you are lawfully called by God's church and therefore by God himself to your respective holy office? Do you believe the Old and New Testaments to be the only word of God and the doctrinal standards of this church to be in harmony with them? Having heard the description of the purpose and requirements of these offices, do you promise to fulfill them faithfully by the grace of God you elders in the government of the church together with the ministers of the word and you deacon in your administration to the poor. Do you promise to walk in all godliness and submit to the government of the church in all things pertaining to your office? John Carson. I do. Joseph Vandenberg. I do. May the almighty God and Father fill you all with His grace that you may faithfully and fruitfully discharge your respective offices. Amen. And then, Joseph, I ask you to come sign in your agreement, form of subscription. I charge you, elder, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, to be diligent in the government of the church, which is committed to you jointly with the minister of the word. Be a faithful watchman over the house of God, taking heed that purity of doctrine and godliness of life be maintained. I charge you, deacon, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, to be diligent in receiving the gifts of God's people, wise and cheerful in the distribution of the same, and sympathetic and self-denying in the ministry of Christian mercy. And I charge you, beloved Christians, to receive these brothers as the servants of God, sustaining them with your daily prayers. Render to the elders all honor, encouragement, and obedience in the Lord. Provide the deacons generously with the necessary gifts for the needy, remembering that insomuch as you do it to the least of these, his children, you do it to him. And may God give us to see in the ministry of the elders, the supremacy of Christ, and in the ministry of the deacons, the care and love of the Savior. Being thus engaged in your respective callings, each one of you shall receive of the Lord the reward of righteousness. So let us come before God in prayer, praying for all our office bearers, for all our elders and deacons, O Lord God and Heavenly Father we give thanks to you that you have been pleased for the better edification of your church to ordain in it rulers and assistants besides the ministers of the word by whom your church may be preserved in peace and prosperity and the needy assisted. We thank you for giving us in this place men who are of good testimony and by your promise endowed with your spirit. We ask you to provide them more and more with such gifts as are necessary for them in their service, with the gifts of wisdom, courage, discretion, benevolence, sympathy, and self-denial, to the end that each one may acquit himself as is becoming in his respective office. May the elders take care of doctrine and life in keeping out the wolves from the sheepfold of your beloved son. and in admonishing and reproving disorderly persons. Likewise, the deacons, in carefully receiving gifts and generously and wisely distributing them to the poor, and in comforting them with your holy word, give grace, both to elders and deacons, that they may persevere in their faithful labor and never become weary by reason of any trouble, pain, or persecution of the world. And grant especially your divine grace to this people, over whom they are placed, that they may willingly submit themselves to the good exhortations of the elders, counting them worthy of honor for the work's sake, and give to the rich generous hearts toward the needy, and to the needy grateful hearts towards those who help and serve them, to the end that everyone, acquitting himself of his duty, your holy name may thereby be magnified, and the kingdom of your son Jesus Christ enlarged, in whose name we conclude our prayers. Amen. Brothers and sisters, let us turn then to the Holy Word of God, our text this morning. And from 1 Timothy, chapter 5, we'll begin our reading in chapter 5. We'll mainly be focused on chapter 6, verses 1 to 10, but we begin our reading in chapter 5 For two reasons, well, or two or three reasons. Number one, because it's a reminder that there's a word about the ordination of new office bearers in verse 22. And so we'll begin our reading there just as a reminder that these things are plainly here in the text of God's word. We did not ordain a new office bearer, so we didn't have the laying on of hands this morning, nor is that an absolutely necessary expression of it. So we'll begin our reading at verse 22. Also, verses 24 and 25, as we'll see from our introduction, Lord willing, they anticipate words about work at the beginning of chapter six. So page 1265, in the blue Bibles under the seats. We'll begin our reading at verse 22 of chapter 5. We'll read through 6, verse 10, and we're looking especially at chapter 6, the beginning of chapter 6. But let's begin our reading at chapter 5, verse 22. Let us hear the holy word of God. Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, nor take part in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure. No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments. The sins of some people are conspicuous, going before them to judgment, but the sins of others appear later. So also good works are conspicuous, and even those that are not cannot remain hidden. Let all who are under a yoke as bondservants regard their own masters as worthy of all so that the name of God and the teaching may not be reviled. Those who have believing masters must not be disrespectful on the ground that they are brothers. Rather, they must serve all the better, since those who benefit by their good service are believers and beloved. Teach and urge these things. If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and in the teaching that accords with godliness, He is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith. and pierced themselves with many pangs." So far the reading, the Holy Word of God. Dear congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, do you know the expression, the tip of the iceberg? How much of an iceberg is visible and how much is hidden under the sea water? Well to find an exact answer requires a rather difficult formula with a number of factors such as the density of the ice, the density of that seawater, the buoyancy, the shape of the iceberg and other things. But thankfully there is a general rule, there is a general rule that kind of can skip through the equation. And the general rule is this, 10 percent of the iceberg is visible and 90 percent is under water. Well, brothers and sisters, this can serve as a picture of the visibility of our works before others. John Stott called it the iceberg principle. That in general, we can say that 10% of what we do is seen by others, but 90% of what we do is not seen by others. This relates to something of what the Apostle Paul is telling us at the end of chapter five. There are many things which can be hidden. Our sins can be hidden. The sins of some people are conspicuous. And also good works can often be hidden. Good works can be conspicuous, even as finally they cannot remain hidden. There's two reasons for that. Number one, over time, Things will generally be exposed, even though so much of what we do is not visibly evident to others. And the other reason, of course, they're not the focus of these verses, as these verses speak in human terms. But the other reason why nothing can finally remain hidden is because God finally knows all things. Well, brothers and sisters, for the Apostle Paul, this is especially relating back to the verses before. It's especially relating back to verse 22, to the need to be careful in the laying on of hands, which is relating especially back to elders all the way back in verse 17. In other words, the need to be careful about putting someone into a position of authority is the first thing that the Apostle Paul is thinking about. in verses 24 and 25. He's saying sins can be conspicuous. Good works can be conspicuous. Be careful about who you appoint into positions of leadership. Do not be too hasty. But they also serve as an introduction to the beginning of chapter six. Because even as so much of what we do is not visible to others, who is gonna be one of the first people who notices your work Who is going to be one of the people who it is most difficult to hide a lazy work ethic from? Who is it who will be one of the first persons to see if you have a healthy and strong and diligent work ethic? Well, one of the first people to see that is your boss. It's the person you work for. And in the ancient Roman Empire, that often meant your master because the common workforce environment of ancient Rome was the Roman system of slavery. And so the Apostle Paul is thinking about the church, and he's thinking about the workforce, and then he's thinking about the church especially again when we get to verses 3 to 5, and then he uses general language to describe all places in the last verses of our text. And so putting this together, brothers and sisters, we're thinking about all situations this morning. We're thinking about times when our work is visibly seen. We're thinking about times when our work is conspicuous, when nobody's watching us, when it's not so easily seen. We're thinking about the workforce. We're thinking about the church. We're thinking about the general attitude, the general calling that we have as God's people in all places. So that's our theme this morning. Learn humble godliness in all situations. In all situations. And we begin by looking especially at verses one and two of chapter six by thinking about the workplace environment. So in ancient Rome, this was the common workforce environment. If you were someone who worked in ancient Rome, you were most likely a slave of a master. Maybe you were a master of a slave, but you were most likely a slave of a master. Now, we're not going to get all into this this morning. The short answer is that the form of Roman slavery was not nearly as evil as the Southern slavery was in the Southern United States before the Civil War. And so, for example, it was not unusual for someone who was poor in Rome to sell themselves into slavery voluntarily. because it was the best way that they could be supported, that they were likely to be able to have their daily food and bread if they were someone's slave, and so on and so forth. And so for that reason, the ESV uses the word bond servants in verse one. It was in some ways like a bond service, but it was not a good system. It was not as evil as other forms of slavery, we could translate it slavery. And there were many things about it which were not good. And so, for example, if we were working through the letter to Philemon, we would talk about the ways that the apostles resisted Roman slavery. But for now, that is not the focus of this text, and it will not be the focus of our sermon this morning. Rather, what we see is that even though the yoke of Roman slavery was not what it should be, And even though it could be a cruel yoke, yet, even so, the Apostle says, you need to work well. You need to work well. You need to be a good slave. You need to be a good bond servant. The Apostle Paul does not want the possible cruelties of the system to become an excuse to be a poor worker. This is to be the case whether one is working for a non-Christian master, verse 1, or, he changes gears in verse 2 and says, even if you're working for a believing master, If it's a believing master, shouldn't he set his slave free? The letter to Philemon, yes he should. But sometimes Christians don't do everything that they should either. And if you're working for a Christian master, then at least the things that you're doing are going to be done for the name of Christ. Even more work well. Even more work well. This was the common workforce environment in ancient Rome. It was not as evil as other forms of slavery, but it was not good. Brothers and sisters, we need to be a little bit careful with the whole attitude of just saying, we don't want to divide everything into, well, just look, they have it worse than you, and so you need to be okay with what you have. And I think this is one place where that's appropriate. Do you think that your workforce environment is difficult? Well, what if your boss could choose whatever job he wanted to give you? And what if it was impossible for you to change jobs? And what if your boss could choose to pay you whatever he wanted to pay you? Some Roman slaves were paid, but that was at the discretion of the master. and they could choose to stop paying you or to pay you as little or whatever as they wanted. That's not an easy workforce environment. So I'm going to make an application from the greater to the lesser. You have probably had some difficult days at work. You can probably think of that one 24 hour time span when everything went wrong one thing added on top of another and it's all piling up and it's a very difficult day. And I'll just say very briefly, that doesn't just apply, you know, being out in the workforce, that can apply to, you know, working in the home as well. Sometimes it's just one thing happens after another and it is, well, how many things can go wrong in a 24-hour period? Well, the system of Roman slavery was not good. And even in this situation, the Apostle Paul is saying, you must work well. You must be faithful workers. Let's take the application from the more difficult to whatever our situation is, whatever our work situation is. Brothers and sisters, let's work faithfully. Let's be good workers. And let us do this with the motivation that we are working in the name of Christ. See that at the end of verse one. So that the name of God and the teaching may not be reviled. Notice what this assumes. It just assumes that everyone around you knows you're a Christian. So first of all, we have to get that straight. Does everyone around you know you're a Christian? Because otherwise the end of verse one doesn't make sense. But assuming that, assuming that we are working in the name of God and in the name of Christ and that others know that, that is the motivation for our work to be done well. Work well because you are working in the name of Christ. Work well so that Christ's name might not be reviled. H.A. Ironside was a preacher in Chicago in the early 1900s. told a story about a Christian shoemaker. So now he's talking about somebody who lived before the 1900s, and they called shoemakers cobblers. We don't do that anymore. But he once gave the account of a Christian cobbler named Dan McKay. And this Christian cobbler, he owned his own business, which can have its own difficulties, but we might say it has benefits over being a slave in a number of ways. And he owned his own business and he made his Christian witness visible in a number of ways. He would put gospel tracks into all of the new packages of shoes that he sent out. He would often have a Bible sitting open somewhere in his shop and things like this. But his assistant noticed that he also was very diligent in not so visible things. So the assistant noticed that Mr. McKay worked very carefully in all of the little steps of shoemaking. And one time the assistant said, well, Mr. McKay, do you think we can take a little shortcut on this part or this part? Do you think we can maybe make the shoemaking a little bit faster? And the response of the cobbler was this. I do not cobble shoes just for the payment that I get from my customers. I am doing this for the glory of God. And then hear this picture. I expect to see every shoe that I have ever repaired in a big pile at the judgment seat of Christ. And I do not want the Lord to say to me in that day, Dan, this was a poor job. You did not do your best here. I want him to be able to say, well done, good and faithful servant. Now, we don't have any shoemakers in our congregation. But what is the picture that you can make of your work sitting before the judgment seat of God? And when you come before Christ, will he say to you, well done, good and faithful servant? Whether we own our own business, or if we are slaves, or if we are anything in between. Let us seek to be faithful laborers with a gospel motivation, with a motivation of seeking Christ's honor, God's glory, working for His sake. Now we move from this, which certainly requires humility, to a contrast with work done in the most awful of ways. because it is a proud work, it's work done falsely, and it's not just any workforce environment, it's work done, it's teaching labor in the church. And so the Apostle Paul moves to subjects of false teachers. He had a focus upon these false teachers back in chapter 1. So for example, chapter 1 verse 3, speaks about different doctrine. And he's now coming back to those same false teachers and he uses that same word. He talks about different doctrine now in chapter six, verse three. And what does the work of these false teachers look like? Well, they are claiming that it is work. They're claiming that they're teachers who deserve payment for their work within the church, chapter six, verse five. But it's work which is done, even though it's done supposedly in the name of Christ, even though it's work that's done within the very sphere of the church, it is work which is totally dominated by pride. They are not committed to the sounds word of our Lord Jesus Christ, end of verse 3, they are full of conceit, verse 4. So then that pride demonstrates itself in all kinds of ways. And brothers and sisters, when we are full of pride, whether it's in a working environment inside the church or whether it's in any working environment, it's going to display itself in all kinds of ways. For these false teachers, it displayed itself in there being all kinds of envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions. It displayed itself in the fact that because they were so full of pride, they had to pick on every little thing that there could possibly be an opinion on and they had to glorify their own opinion and demand that they were right on every single thing. And so there was no peace. There was constant friction. There was no peace. Now please turn back with me to chapter 1. What was the first focus of the Apostle Paul on these false teachers? It was some time ago that we were in Chapter 1, but you may remember they're addressed directly at the beginning and the end of that chapter, and we spoke about how they're really being rebuked all through Chapter 1. And so what was at the heart of the problem? It was that they did not preach Christ. They had a man-centered gospel, and so the Apostle Paul had to say this as a corrective against their false teaching their different doctrine. He had to say, chapter 1, verses 15-17, the saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. That's a trustworthy saying. That's something that's worthy of full acceptance. We all need to be ready to say, I am a sinner. Jesus Christ alone. is my Savior. So verses 16 and 17, But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Christ Jesus might display His perfect patience as an example to all who are to believe in Him for eternal life, to the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. In other words, in chapter one, when the false teachers are first addressed and rebuked, the Apostle Paul focuses on the fact that they have forgotten the message, the only message of peace, that there is peace in Jesus Christ. Now in chapter six, the Apostle Paul is giving some further details about the pride of these false teachers and how that expresses itself. They have a man-centered false gospel. They do not look to Christ for salvation. And they have a self-centered goal in all of their teaching to stir up controversies, to always be taking an opportunity to talk about how they're right on every single little point, including what chapter one, verse four called speculations. There is no peace here. There is no God-centered humility in their message. They do not preach, we are sinners in need of Jesus Christ. No, it's a false theology. It's done in the name of Christ. It's done in the very sphere of the church. But it is a different doctrine. It's a false teaching. And so it's not surprising then, when we review those things, that in their pride, their pride extends to the fact that they expect to receive gainful means. They imagine, verse 5, that godliness is a means of gain. They expect to be paid a gainful amount. We saw in 1 Timothy chapter 5 that ministers, elders who labor as teachers, they have a right to be paid. We see it in 1 Timothy chapter 6. The teachers in the church should never be seeking too much payment. They should not be seeking gainful means. And certainly false teachers should not expect any payment at all. They should be rebuked. They should be removed. It takes us back to the language at the end of chapter 1. Some of the men have been removed and handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme. Chapter 1. verse 20. And so, sadly, Christians are not always the best workers. Sometimes those who are motivated by pride outwork us, have more diligence than us in some ways. But may we be diligent in our work and, sadly, There are even times when teaching work done in the very sphere of the church is only a self-centered and proud false teaching. May such false teaching be firmly rebuked, as the Apostle brings strong words of rebuke against the false teachers in Ephesus 2,000 years ago. Well, brothers and sisters, what is directly contrasted with this false godliness, imagining that godliness is a means of gain, what is the direct contrast to this? But, verse 6, godliness with contentment is great gain. What kind of great gain? Is it something about this life? No, we brought nothing into this world, we can take nothing out of this world. Ultimately, he's talking about the great gain of eternal life. Look at verse 12. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you have been called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. True godliness is contentment. It's a humble trust and dependence upon God and it doesn't It doesn't help us materially in this life. At least there's no eternal promise in that sense. There is general wisdom about diligence leading to riches, Proverbs 10 verse 4, but there's no eternal promise. There's no promise, you believe in God, therefore you will be rich. No, the only promise that God gives his people is that godliness with contentment is great gain beyond the things of this life where we enter with nothing and we're going to leave with nothing. No, it's great gain anticipating eternal life. Anticipating the final reward of all of those who trust and give a true confession of faith in Jesus Christ. And so, Christian is called to have godly contentment in all situations, even if the only thing they have is the bare necessities of life. Verse 8. All they have is daily bread, and yet, as God's people, they can learn contentment. If all we have is our daily bread. It's almost hard to imagine. This country is so affluent. We have so much wealth in the United States. Can you picture a situation where all you have is bare necessities? You come into this world with nothing. You come out of this world with nothing. But in godliness, in the good confession, there is great gain. So may we learn contentment even if all we have is the bare necessities to keep us alive on this earth. And so there is a true humility, not desiring riches, not loving wealth. Verses 9 and 10, see the action words in verse 10. It's the love of money. It's the craving for these things which is evil. Again, we live in a very affluent country. We do. Is wealth inherently evil? No, money itself is not evil, but the love of money is evil. And when there is so much money in so many ways all around us, there are real temptations. We must guard against the love of money. We must guard against these cravings and these unholy pursuits. Now, brothers and sisters, as we work towards our conclusion, I want us to see something. The text, the end of chapter five into chapter six, it's bouncing back and forth between the church and the offices of the church, and then the common work environment of people in ancient Rome, and then back into the environment of the church, and then to these kind of broader language and directions and commandments in verses six to 10. What I want us to see is that we cannot divide all of these things against each other. We're going to celebrate communion this morning. Now, is there a real difference between the bread of communion and our daily bread? Yes, those are two different things. But see how the attitude that we would take towards our daily bread, see how if we are not content with daily bread, see how if we crave and love material gain, it impacts our soul. These things are all ultimately tied together. A restless heart which pursues the love of money from Monday through Saturday will never truly be content with Christ on Sunday. And the heart which learns to love our Lord and Savior, when we're focusing on spiritual truths, will learn to love and serve our Savior in all places, in all the things that we do. So brothers and sisters, I want us to know, yes, the bread of communion is not exactly the same as our daily bread. There's a real distinction. There really is the sphere of the workplace and the sphere of church. But don't think that you can just divide these things against each other. Learn, brothers and sisters, to be humble in all places, to fix your eyes upon Christ in every way as your only Savior, as your only Lord. Whatever your work situation is, whatever the difficulties are or are not, learn humility. Learn Christ-centered living and thinking in all places, in every way. When no one is watching, when someone is watching. When you're in the sphere of work, when you're in the sphere of church, how do you pursue your daily bread? How do you receive the bread of communion? Let's learn contentment, humble godliness in all these things. Amen. Let us pray. Lord God Almighty, bring the very desires of our heart before You.