5.1 Key themes⤒🔗

• The children of God must be temperate.
  - We must think clearly.
  - We must focus on things that are important.
  - We must not be influenced too much by the things of this world.
• It is especially important for elders to be temperate.​
  -They must be an example to God’s people.
  - They must see spiritual danger and protect the church against it.
• There are many things that can influence us too much.
• Faith, love, and hope will help us to be temperate.

5.2 – 1 Timothy 3:2a←⤒🔗

^2a. The overseer then must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, an able teacher.

© NET Bible

5.3 – 1 Thessalonians 5:2-8←⤒🔗

^2. For you know quite well that the day of the Lord will come in the same way as a thief in the night.

^3. Now when they are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction comes on them, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will surely not escape.

^4. But you, brothers and sisters, are not in the darkness for the day to overtake you like a thief would.

^5. For you all are sons of the light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of the darkness. 

^6. So then we must not sleep as the rest, but must stay alert and sober.

^7. For those who sleep, sleep at night and those who get drunk are drunk at night.

^8. But since we are of the day, we must stay sober by putting on the breastplate of faith and love and as a helmet our hope for salvation.

© NET Bible

5.4 God’s children must be temperate←⤒🔗

In this lesson we will look at the third qualification in 1 Timothy 3:1-7. This qualification is, an overseer must be “temperate” (or “sober,” in some English Bibles).

The word “temperate” (or “sober”) is sometimes used to describe a person who does not drink too much wine or beer. A temperate person is a person who can think clearly. He can focus on things that are important. He can make good decisions and stay away from danger.

On the other hand, a drunk person cannot think clearly. His life can be in danger, and he will not even know it!

It is not only wine and beer that can make a person “drunk.” We can become so busy with our jobs, our money, our dreams and desires, that we become “drunk” with these things. We can stop thinking clearly. We can forget that the day of the Lord (the day when Jesus comes again) is coming soon (1 Thessalonians 5:2).

The people of this world are like this. Because they do not know God, they cannot think clearly. They cannot focus on the one thing that is really important: the kingdom of God. They do not even see that they are in danger. On the day when Jesus comes again, “sudden destruction” will come on them and “they will surely not escape” (1 Thessalonians 5:3).

The children of God should not be like this. As we read in 1 Thessalonians 5:5-6, “For you all are sons of the light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of the darkness. So then we must not sleep as the rest, but must stay alert and sober.”

5.5 Elders must be temperate←⤒🔗

All God’s children must learn to be temperate in their thoughts and actions. That is why it is so important for elders to be temperate. Elders must be an example to God’s people. If the elders of a church think clearly and focus on the kingdom of God, then the people of the church will learn to think clearly and focus on the kingdom of God. But if the elders are busy with other things, then the church will also be busy with other things.

Another reason why an elder must be temperate, is so that he can see spiritual danger and protect the church against it. In 2 Timothy 4:3-5, Paul tells Timothy that he must be temperate, because there will come a time when people will only wish to listen to false teachers. When that happens, Timothy should continue to think clearly and to preach the truth.

5.6 Things that can influence us too much←⤒🔗

In this world it is not easy to be temperate! There are many things that can influence us too much. Let us look at a few examples:

Worry and fear←↰⤒🔗

The world is always worrying. People worry about wars, disease, economic problems, personal problems, death, and the list goes on. As Christians, we can also begin to worry and fear. The problem is, worry and fear take our eyes away from the kingdom of God (Matthew 6:31-33).

Life’s enjoyments←↰⤒🔗

God gives us many good gifts to enjoy: food, clothes, work, friendships, money, sports, sleep, and the list goes on. But what happens, for example, when food, money, or sports become too important to us? Then it starts to control us, and we forget to live for the kingdom of God.

What others think of us←↰⤒🔗

The Pharisees in Jesus’ time were like drunk people. They could not think clearly, because they were only asking one question: “What will others think of me?” (see John 5:44).

If you always worry about what people think, you will not live by the truth of God’s Word. Paul himself said, “If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ” (Galatians 1:10, ESV).

People’s ideas and traditions←↰⤒🔗

Imagine that an elder reads the newspaper one morning. He reads about a political leader who has said that churches must speak more about politics. He thinks, “Yes, our church needs to start doing this!”

Or imagine an elder who has grown up in a church where men and women do not sit together in the worship service. Now he is at a church where men and women sit together. He thinks, “This should not be done!”

In both these examples, the elder is not asking what God’s Word says. He is being influenced too much by people’s ideas or traditions.

5.7 How to be temperate←⤒🔗

How can you stay temperate (or become more temperate)? To answer this question, let us look again at 1 Thessalonians 5:8:

But since we are of the day, we must stay sober by putting on the breastplate of faith and love and as a helmet our hope for salvation.

In this verse God tells you about three things that will help you to stay sober (temperate):

Faith←↰⤒🔗

To have faith means to trust. If you know God’s Word and trust in him, you will not be influenced too much by other things. Therefore, study God’s Word and put your trust in him!

Love←↰⤒🔗

If you focus on loving God and loving other people, you are focusing on the right thing. Love is the law of God’s kingdom. That is why the apostle Peter also says, “The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 5:7-8).

Hope←↰⤒🔗

Why do people get drunk? Many times it is because they want to escape suffering. They want to forget about their problems and their responsibilities. For the same reason, we can make ourselves “drunk” with the things of this world.

But Paul says to Timothy, “As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering” (2 Timothy 4:5).

As children of God, we must be ready to suffer in this world. But we will only be ready to suffer if our hope is in the right place. Our hope does not lie in the things of this world. Our hope lies in the coming of Jesus Christ our Lord. He lives, and we will live with him!