Embracing Wisdom: Age, Humility, and Scripture in Church
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"Respect older people. Now by respect I mean, accord them a certain deference, a certain honor, a readiness to serve them and give serious attention to what they say. And I think that's what the scriptures say. For example, Leviticus 19:32 says, 'You shall stand up before the gray head and honor the face of an old man, and you shall fear your God. I am the Lord.'" [00:01:08]
"Paul cautions Timothy in the exercise of his pastoral authority toward older members. He says, this is 1 Timothy 5:1, 'Do not rebuke an older man, but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity.' And I think that's Paul's way of saying, yes, young man Timothy, yes, you have pastoral authority to guide and correct older people, but there's a way to do it that shows a special respect for them as older." [00:01:43]
"There is a clear and powerful stream in the Bible that warns us against assuming old equals wise. It doesn't. It may. An older person may be wiser because of his age, and it often does. I mean, it should. The old men gave good counsel to Rehoboam in 1 Kings 12, and the young men gave stupid counsel. Oh my goodness, the centuries-long horrors that came from that stupid counsel." [00:03:50]
"Psalm 119:100, 'I understand more than the aged, for I keep your precepts.' There's the reason why we dare not equate wisdom with age. The word of God makes the key difference, not the years lived. And there are some young men who have been shaped more and more deeply by the word than some old men who have been very neglectful of the word all their lives and are still in the church and not as wise and as mature as people 30 years younger than they are." [00:05:30]
"Jeremiah, who is so hesitant to speak God's word because of his youth, and God gets a little bit upset with him, I think, in Jeremiah. He says, Jeremiah 1:5, 'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.' And then I said, 'Oh Lord God, but I'm only a youth, I don't know how to speak.' And the Lord said to me, 'Do not say I am only a youth, for to all I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them, I'm with you to deliver you.'" [00:06:17]
"Paul was just as concerned that Timothy would be cowed by his own youth as he was concerned that Timothy would be disrespectful of older people. So not only did he say, 'Encourage rather than rebuke older men,' he also said, 'Let no one despise your youth, but set the believers an example in speech and conduct, in love, in faith, and purity.' In other words, do not let your youth keep you from ministering the word with power and courage to older people." [00:07:16]
"Elihu gets ready to speak and rebuke Job. He couldn't rebuke Job. He's gonna rebuke Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar because he thinks all of them have got it wrong, and I think Elihu's right. I argue in the sermon that Elihu's a good guy. He's not one of these bad teachers, and there are all kinds of reasons for that. But here's what that text says: Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job because they were older than he, and when Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of these three men, he answered and said, 'I am young in years, and you are aged; therefore I was timid and afraid to declare my opinion to you. I said, Let days speak, let many years teach wisdom. But it is the spirit in man, the breath of the Almighty, that makes him wise, that makes him understand. It is not the old who are wise, nor the aged who understand what is right. Therefore I say, listen to me; let me also declare my opinion.'" [00:09:18]
"I concluded that in that message that being old and being young is not decisive in who is qualified for office or who has the greater wisdom. The word of God decides, the spirit of God decides what is wisdom. On any issue, we ask, what does the word of God say, not how old is the speaker." [00:10:47]
"The elders in 1 Peter 5:5 are the same. Now this is my answer to how to deal with those folks that are misusing this text. I think misusing this text that our questioner, the pastor in Missouri, asked about. I think the elders in verse 5 to which the young are said to be submissive are not just older people. They are the same elders four verses earlier, and they are pastors. They are officers. Pastor and elder are interchangeable offices in the New Testament. So when the younger members are told to be subject to the elders, it means that they should show a special deference to the pastoral leaders of the church." [00:11:21]
"But the most important exhortation is probably the second half of verse 5, which says, 'Clothe yourselves, all of you,' that means young and old, officers and laypeople, 'clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.' So the older people and the younger people should clothe themselves with humility." [00:12:09]
"In the church, both older and younger will make every effort to submit their wills to the word of God. It's not age, and it's not youth that is decisive in settling what is true and what is wise. It is the word of God." [00:13:03]
"Thank you, Pastor John, and that old sermon 'Let the Young Speak' is online. It was preached 40 years ago now, on August 29, 1980, and the whole thing is at desiringgod.org." [00:13:24]
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"Paul cautions Timothy in the exercise of his pastoral authority toward older members. He says, this is 1 Timothy 5:1, 'Do not rebuke an older man, but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity.' And I think that's Paul's way of saying, yes, young man Timothy, yes, you have pastoral authority to guide and correct older people, but there's a way to do it that shows a special respect for them as older." [00:01:43]
"There is a clear and powerful stream in the Bible that warns us against assuming old equals wise. It doesn't. It may. An older person may be wiser because of his age, and it often does. I mean, it should. The old men gave good counsel to Rehoboam in 1 Kings 12, and the young men gave stupid counsel. Oh my goodness, the centuries-long horrors that came from that stupid counsel." [00:03:50]
"Psalm 119:100, 'I understand more than the aged, for I keep your precepts.' There's the reason why we dare not equate wisdom with age. The word of God makes the key difference, not the years lived. And there are some young men who have been shaped more and more deeply by the word than some old men who have been very neglectful of the word all their lives and are still in the church and not as wise and as mature as people 30 years younger than they are." [00:05:30]
"Jeremiah, who is so hesitant to speak God's word because of his youth, and God gets a little bit upset with him, I think, in Jeremiah. He says, Jeremiah 1:5, 'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.' And then I said, 'Oh Lord God, but I'm only a youth, I don't know how to speak.' And the Lord said to me, 'Do not say I am only a youth, for to all I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them, I'm with you to deliver you.'" [00:06:17]
"Paul was just as concerned that Timothy would be cowed by his own youth as he was concerned that Timothy would be disrespectful of older people. So not only did he say, 'Encourage rather than rebuke older men,' he also said, 'Let no one despise your youth, but set the believers an example in speech and conduct, in love, in faith, and purity.' In other words, do not let your youth keep you from ministering the word with power and courage to older people." [00:07:16]
"Elihu gets ready to speak and rebuke Job. He couldn't rebuke Job. He's gonna rebuke Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar because he thinks all of them have got it wrong, and I think Elihu's right. I argue in the sermon that Elihu's a good guy. He's not one of these bad teachers, and there are all kinds of reasons for that. But here's what that text says: Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job because they were older than he, and when Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of these three men, he answered and said, 'I am young in years, and you are aged; therefore I was timid and afraid to declare my opinion to you. I said, Let days speak, let many years teach wisdom. But it is the spirit in man, the breath of the Almighty, that makes him wise, that makes him understand. It is not the old who are wise, nor the aged who understand what is right. Therefore I say, listen to me; let me also declare my opinion.'" [00:09:18]
"I concluded that in that message that being old and being young is not decisive in who is qualified for office or who has the greater wisdom. The word of God decides, the spirit of God decides what is wisdom. On any issue, we ask, what does the word of God say, not how old is the speaker." [00:10:47]
"The elders in 1 Peter 5:5 are the same. Now this is my answer to how to deal with those folks that are misusing this text. I think misusing this text that our questioner, the pastor in Missouri, asked about. I think the elders in verse 5 to which the young are said to be submissive are not just older people. They are the same elders four verses earlier, and they are pastors. They are officers. Pastor and elder are interchangeable offices in the New Testament. So when the younger members are told to be subject to the elders, it means that they should show a special deference to the pastoral leaders of the church." [00:11:21]
"But the most important exhortation is probably the second half of verse 5, which says, 'Clothe yourselves, all of you,' that means young and old, officers and laypeople, 'clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.' So the older people and the younger people should clothe themselves with humility." [00:12:09]
"In the church, both older and younger will make every effort to submit their wills to the word of God. It's not age, and it's not youth that is decisive in settling what is true and what is wise. It is the word of God." [00:13:03]
"Thank you, Pastor John, and that old sermon 'Let the Young Speak' is online. It was preached 40 years ago now, on August 29, 1980, and the whole thing is at desiringgod.org." [00:13:24]
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