1 Timothy 3

1 Timothy 3:1

And, with respect to offices in the Christian church, it is certain that he, who, having suitable qualifications, is inclined, from a regard to the glory of God and the edification of souls, to enter upon the office of a pastor or overseer in it, aims at a very honourable, important, and useful, though laborious office

1 Timothy 3:2

It is nevertheless necessary that you, and all others concerned in their admission, take care that their qualifications be truly proper and edifying. Every pastor or ruler in the Christian church ought to be of an unexceptionable moral character; must never be connected with more than one wife at once; must be very circumspect and diligent in his work; watchful against Satan and all his instruments, and over his own spirit, words, and actions, and for the souls of those committed to his charge.—He ought to be very moderate in his appetites, passions, and pleasures;—to be affable, courteous, prudent, and engaging in his behaviour;—to be ready, according to his ability, to relieve the necessities of the poor, and entertain godly ministers, or others properly recommended;—and should be furnished with a good stock of Christian knowledge and experience, that he may be capable of expressing his sentiments with freedom, clearness, and propriety, for the instruction of others, and for supporting and defending the truths of the gospel, on all suitable occasions

1 Timothy 3:3

He must by no means be given to long or frequent drinking, nor be of a furious and quarrelsome temper; nor so fond of earthly riches, as to be ready to procure them by unworthy means; but should be of a meek, calm, peaceable, and forbearing spirit: not abusive, noisy, and clamorous, in talking or disputing; nor covetous of what belongs to his neighbour; nor inordinately attached to the things of this world

1 Timothy 3:4

And if he have a family, he must be one who maintains a prudent authority over his children and servants, obliging them to submit to his lawful commands respecting either religion towards God or decent behaviour towards men

1 Timothy 3:5

For, if a man do not govern his own family right, it cannot be expected that he has prudence or resolution enough to be a ruler in the more high and difficult affairs of the church of God, where every thing must be conducted with decency and order

1 Timothy 3:6

Nor ought he to be a raw upstart; nor, in ordinary cases, one newly converted to the faith of Christ; lest, being lifted up with a high conceit of his own abilities, early honour, or popular applause, he should, through the instigation of Satan, fall by pride into eternal ruin, as the devil did

1 Timothy 3:7

Moreover, he ought to have a clear reputation among the unbelieving world around, whether Jews or Gentiles, who earnestly watch for the halting of church officers; lest the stain of his character should bring a reproach upon the name, doctrine, and ways, of the Lord, and so the devil seize an advantage against him, to the hurt of his own soul, the marring of his usefulness, the discredit of religion, the triumph of its adversaries, the grief of the godly, and the stumbling of young converts

1 Timothy 3:8

The deacons also, whose office it is to manage the public funds of the church, ought to be men of a grave, decent, and venerable behaviour, and of good report; not given to speak one thing while they mean another, nor to talk contrarily at different times to serve a turn;—not indulgers of themselves in the too free use of intoxicating liquors, which would blemish their character, and render them unfit for their work;—not of an avaricious temper, that might tempt them to withhold from the poor, or apply it to their own use

1 Timothy 3:9

And, as to their religious character, they ought to be stedfast adherents to the pure, unmixed, but mysterious and incomprehensible, truths of the gospel, with all the sincerity of a heart purified by faith, and purged from an evil conscience, by the blood of Christ

1 Timothy 3:10

And it is proper that their qualifications, moral and religious, be well tried and manifest before they be admitted to their office

1 Timothy 3:11

And, if they are in a married state, their wives, for the credit of religion and of their husbands, ought to be of a grave, chaste, and decent, behaviour, free from all lightness of temper, words, dress, or deportment;—not slanderers, nor injurious tale-bearers, but watchful over their tongues and tempers; moderate in eating and drinking, and frugal in their management;—faithful to God, to their husbands, and every trust committed to them

1 Timothy 3:12

The deacons also, as well as the pastors, must have but one wife at a time, and should avoid all unlawful divorces; and, for an example to others, should rule their own children and servants in a truly Christian manner

1 Timothy 3:13

And to these things they ought carefully to attend, as their faithful and prudent execution of their office for a considerable time will render them highly respected in the church, and increase their gifts and graces answerably to their station; and will embolden them to an open, free, and courageous, profession of the doctrines of Christ, and of their faith in him, by which they have derived grace from him to render them faithful in fulfilling their trust for his glory

1 Timothy 3:14

These things I write for the present direction of you or others, hoping, ere long, to see you at Ephesus, or some where else, and give you further instructions

1 Timothy 3:15

But, if our interview should be deferred beyond my expectations, this letter will serve to direct your behaviour in that religious society which the only living and true God has formed and established, for his own spiritual residence and honour, of credible professors, of his truths, animated by his Spirit; and which holds forth and maintains the doctrines of the glorious gospel upon which it is founded, and of which Jesus Christ is the sum and substance

1 Timothy 3:16

For, without all controversy, that doctrine, which furnishes us for, and animates us to, the strictest piety towards God and love to our neighbour, is a great, glorious, and incomprehensible, mystery; viz. that the eternal Son of God, one in nature, and equal in glory, to his Father and blessed Spirit, was manifested in his incarnation and debasement in this world;—and, having satisfied God’s law and justice by his obedience, sufferings, and death, was acquitted and accepted of God as the Surety and righteous Head of his church; and, being by the Holy Ghost raised from the dead for our justification, was honourably attested in the miraculous confirmation and success of the gospel,—and, as angels had all along admired and ministered to him, they did, in his resurrection and ascension, and will at his second coming, attend him:—and, being raised from the dead and ascended to heaven, he was, is, and will be, preached to both Jews and Gentiles,—and, by faith, received by multitudes of them, particularly the latter, as their only and all-sufficient Eaviour:—yea, as he was gloriously received up to his Father’s right hand to receive all glory and power, so he has been and shall be gloriously received, owned, and professed, by multitudes under the glorious dispensation of his Spirit; and shall, after his judging the world, be solemnly introduced, with all his mystical body, into all the inexpressible glories and felicities of the eternal state

REFLECTIONS UPON CHAP. III.—Highly should we esteem the Christian church, which, animated by his Spirit, is the peculiar dwelling of the Most High. Yea, God in infinite mercy has provided for her officers to manage both her spiritual and temporal concerns. Earnestly then should such labour for the important qualifications of solid experience, knowledge, blameless character, faithfulness, gravity, generosity, and affability; and be the most exemplary in the regular government of their passions, appetites, tongues, and families. And the more faithful, prudent, and diligent, they are in discharging the duties of their office, they will be the more honoured in the church and bold in their holy profession. While the church holds forth and maintains the truth, upon what a glorious mystery of godliness is she herself founded! Unfathomable is the depth, importance, and glory of it, as it shines forth in God manifested in the flesh, to make atonement for sin, and mediate between God and men;—raised from the dead, received up into glory, and attested by the Holy Ghost, in the justification of his person and cause, and of believers in him;—beheld, witnessed, ministered to, and adored by, angels;—preached far and wide to, and believed on by, multitudes of Jews and Gentiles;—exalted to his Father’s right hand, and to be Head over all things to the church;—and at last, after the final conquest of his enemies, entering heaven with all his angels and ransomed saints!