So also good works are conspicuous, and even those that are not cannot remain hidden.
Do not harshly rebuke an elder man, but exhort him as you would your father. Correction is medicine and always bitter; respect for age makes him more willing to bear reproof. Yet this does not mean sparing old men to sin without correction, only that you moderate your tone so they may hear you.
AI summary
Commenting on 1 Timothy 5:1-25
Here are directions, I. Concerning the supporting of ministers. Care must be taken that they be honourably maintained (Ti1 5:17): Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour (that is, of double maintenance, double to what they have had, or to what others have), especially those who labour in the word and doctrine, those who are more laborious than others.
Commenting on 1 Timothy 5:17-25
Verse 25. Likewise also the good works of some are manifest beforehand. The character of some men is clear, and accurately understood. There can be no doubt, from their works, that they are good men. We need not wait for the day of judgment to determine that, but may treat them here as good men, and introduce them to offices which only good men can fill.