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learn from God's Word together. If you would like more
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Amen. At the end of the day, isn't it
true that all we truly have is Christ, that only or that not
only rings true at the end of the day, that's at the beginning
of the day and all throughout the day all we have is Christ.
You have your Bibles. If you would turn to First
Timothy chapter 3 as we continue our look at the pastoral
epistles as we. Continue looking at biblical
ministers and biblical ministry so in our lesson.
Today we are going to move after two weeks of looking at the
specific role of the overseer, the Bishop, those who shepherd
God's people in leadership and administration, teaching.
We're going to move to another role and another office in the
church, which has. Great responsibility, and that
is the role of the Deacon as we look at verses 8 through 13 here
in chapter 3. Now the word Deacon in the Greek
diaconos it means simply servant, one who waits tables or
the waiter of tables. It speaks of those who, by their
example of servitude and servanthood, lead others to
serve the Lord by their example. And I say that, and I begin with
that because there's often confusion and complication when
we get to talking about the. Roles and the function of the
Deacon in the New Testament church.
I want us to simplify that today because Scripture simplifies it.
Man has complicated it, and they had complicated it because they
haven't properly defined what a Deacon, really.
Is. And I think if we go back to the
meaning of the word diakonos, this person is a servant and a
servant leader. This person, as we will learn,
is the one who uses their specific giftedness, not in
speaking from the pulpit or teaching from the podium or
leading as one of the elders. But this person uses their
spiritual giftedness to serve the body of Christ, to serve
them wholeheartedly, to be able to do those things that the
pastors and the elders of the church that if they had to do
those things would not be free to do the things that they are
gifted in doing. Paul says this in Romans chapter
12 verse six. He says we have different gifts
according to the grace. Given us if a man's gift is
prophesying. Preaching, he says, let him use
it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve.
If it is teaching, let him teach.
If it is encouraging, let him encourage.
If it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give
generously. If it is leadership, let him
govern diligently. If it is showing mercy, let him
do it cheerfully. Why do I read Romans chapter 12
to begin talking about the role and the function of a Deacon?
I read this because Paul is explicitly saying here that
there are many functions and many roles and many individual
giftedness in the church and we are not all the same.
We're not all expected to do the same thing.
It's true, as Christians we're all called to serve in a general
sense. But when we talk about Deacon,
the very title means that they are to serve in a more than
general sense. They are to serve as their
ministry. They are to be servant leaders,
serving in a greater capacity than just the congregant who is
called to serve one another. This is what the Deacon is by a
short, brief definition, one who is called to serve God in a
greater capacity than that of just simply being called to
serve as a Christian. They are called to a specific
office and a specific duty to which we will look at that
office and we will look at that duty today.
First Timothy chapter 3, verse 8, Read it with me.
It says deacons likewise are to be men worthy of respect.
He says likewise because he's just taught us that the overseer
is to be a person of that is respected who is above reproach.
And he says. Likewise, in the same manner,
deacons are to be men worthy of respect, sincere, not indulging
in much wine, not pursuing dishonest gain.
They must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear
conscience. They must.
First be tested, and then, if there is nothing against them,
let them serve as deacons in the same way their wives are to be
women worthy of respect, not malicious talkers, but temperate
and trustworthy in everything. A Deacon must be the husband of
but one wife, and must manage his children and his household
well. He goes on in 13 and he says
those who have served well gain an excellent standing and great
assurance in their faith. In Christ Jesus, let's pray
together. Father, we thank you for this
today. We thank you for your word.
We thank you that it is true and that it is clear.
We ask today that the clear teachings of Scripture be
honored, but not only that the clear teachings of Scripture be
honored, but those who are being obedient, living their lives as
servants, as deacons in this body, what may they be honored
and may they be respected for their service unto You as You
have called us to honor and to respect those who serve and who
serve well. God, we pray as we look at Your
word today that all the truths that you desire for us to see,
that they would be seen, that you would use this lesson as you
see fit in our lives. Whether to cause us to encourage
and honor those servants among us, or perhaps to call some of
us even to be one of those servants.
God, we pray that whatever we do would be honoring to you.
And I pray for the lost soul who is here today, Lord, that you,
as only you could do, would grace them with mercy and
forgiveness in Christ, as you turn their wicked hearts from
their sin and turn them unto yourself for salvation today.
God, may you be glorified in everything that is done and
everything that is said. We pray and we ask all these
things in Christ's name, Amen. Many of you know that I like to
do this. When we come to a passage of
Scripture where there is an interpretive challenge, I like
to jump right on that immediately and, and I want to
do that with this passage because.
This has not been without challenge throughout the ages,
especially when we get to verse 11.
When we get to verse 11 here, we're going to talk about that
briefly, then we're going to look at everything in its
entirety. But when we get to verse 11.
Some of your Bibles say like minded in the same way that her
wives are to be women worthy of respect, not malicious talkers,
but temperate and trustworthy in everything.
Why I say that this has some interpretive challenge because
some of your English? Bibles may just say women in the
same way or in like manner the women are too.
And then he gives us some instructions.
Now the reason for that is this. The original does not contain
the term their wives. It is only by assumption that
the translators have come to the conclusion that he's talking
about the wives of the deacons, and rightfully so.
Shouldn't the? Wives of the deacons actually be
women of respect, serving alongside of their husband and
in many, many times and capacity.
However, that's not necessarily the entirety of it.
One would say looking at this talking about the wives of
deacons, well there are others and I don't agree with.
This at all would say that was just talking about women in
general. I don't think that at all.
There was no reason. It gives no evidence here that
this is a great time to throw in just some instructions about
random women in the church. I don't think that fits the bill
at all. So you can throw that theory
out, but we get to the third aspect of this and what we see.
Is the fact that there could be and that Paul could be talking
about women deacons Now I know, gasp, women deacons.
Well, pastor, in looking at the overseers, you said that a woman
is not to teach her to have authority over a man.
That is correct. The Deacon would not violate
that role because a Deacon is not a position of authority.
It is a position of servanthood. It is a position of servitude.
And so it's not a position of governing authority.
It never has been. And if it's properly evaluated,
it never will be. And So what I tend to do is I
tend to learn more toward the fact that he is talking about
those women who serve in the role of Deacon, which we know.
I hope by this point you've already heard the Greek meaning
it means servant, that there were and could be female deacons
in the church. We would refer to them as a
deaconess. In fact, when we look at a woman
named Phoebe in Romans chapter 16, Paul refers to her as a
deaconess, as a woman actually fulfilling.
Because I've never met a man named Phoebe.
Neither will you actually fulfilling the role of a servant
leader in the church. Now, that servant leader is not
going to primarily have, if they have a role at all in teaching
in an environment where they would teach or have authority
over men, they're not going to serve in a role of ruling as an
elder where they would have authority over the congregation.
And so I see that we could definitely see that there is
room for the women deacons. Now, none of you know Phoebe, do
you? No, you've never met her.
I've never met her. I'm sure she's a nice lady.
However, many of you do know this will hit close to home and
she's going to kill me for this. And I really don't care.
Many of you do know Don. Carpenter.
And Don Carpenter, what she does is she serves the Lord and she
serves his body by being a servant leader, a Phoebe in this
church. And what does she do?
Well, she actually, by her service, leads other people in
service in our preschool ministry.
She is not an overseer in this church.
She's not a leader in this church.
She never will be a pastor in this church.
She will never teach nor have authority over a man, but she
serves and is an example of service unto the Lord.
Now because of her service, all of those who serve alongside of
her are then encouraged to be servants all the more.
Now I know it bothers some of you because you're going to
immediately do this. Why would he highlight just one
person if that's your and not me?
If that's your attitude, you're not a candidate for being a
Deacon, male or female. Warm blooded or cold blooded,
what you've just revealed as you've revealed the opposite of
the heart of a Deacon. A Deacon serves without desiring
any glory at all. I'm not giving her glory here
today. I'm giving glory to Christ.
I am honoring her as scripture has told me to honor those who
are worthy of honor. I'll go ahead and say this.
You might not realize this. But the day that Don Carpenter
stops being a servant leader in our preschool ministry, the
nursery collapses. Why?
Because what you don't see is behind the scenes, all of her
effort, all of her prayers, all of her working alongside of the
pastors, those overseers in this church to make sure that
everything goes according to plan down there so that you have
everything that you need. She's an example of in, in real
time, someone who would be a servant and a servant leader who
has that right heart. So I think that interpretive
challenge has been taken away. If we would say this, OK, maybe
I can see that they're talking about the wives of the Deacon.
OK, well, then I have to ask this question.
How come they didn't say anything about the wives of the
overseers when they were talking about the requirements for the
overseer? And why would they talk about
the role of a wife and then go back into talking about the
Deacon as we saw this text go? And so me, the plain and simple
text says this also the female deacons, they have some
responsibilities alongside of these other things that they
need to be aware of. And we'll look at that in detail
in a moment, but just to prepare you for what we're about to see
so that we can understand it. So let's start with the
definition of Deacon. I've already given you the brief
and the simple definition of Deacon, and I hope that we can
keep it as simple as possible. Again, I think the church has
complicated this to a degree that they never needed to
complicate it to. As we're going to see, the
office of Deacon began from a simple need.
It is a simple office and it is simply serving the Lord and
leading others to do the same. So we've seen the word Deacon.
We have seen that it means. A servant, a waiter of tables
now, so that we can kind of hone in on that a little bit so that
you can have a little more insight and what a Deacon is.
Because as you know, there's lots of confusion about this,
right? You grew up in a Baptist Church
where the deacons ran everything.
They told the pastor what pants he needed to wear.
And when he didn't wear the pants they told him to wear,
they ran him out of town. That's the job of the Deacon.
That is not the job of the Deacon.
So before we talk about exactly what a Deacon is, let's talk
about what they're not. Can we do that so that we have
an understanding of what they're not?
They're not the same as an overseer.
If they were the same as an overseer, he would have just in,
in what we just looked at for two weeks in a row said
overseers and deacons. He didn't do that.
He split them up, let you know that they're two different
offices. He's not an overseer.
He he does not administer anything in the church.
He's a servant, just as his name says that he is.
He's not a position of any kind of superintendents or governance
in the church. He never has been, never should
be. They're not a decision making
board or governing body. How many of you saw that in your
church when you were growing up? The problem with that is some of
those people weren't gifted in the area of leadership.
Yes, they may have been gifted servants.
Well, someone's gifted to serve. Point them towards service.
But if they're gifted to speak and they're gifted to lead you
point them to do those things. They're very clear in Scripture
that there are gifts of service, right?
And they're. Speaking gifts in the church,
the Deacon would fall into those service gifts, not those who
would make decisions, not those who would teach classes or stand
in the pulpit and preach. This is reserved for the elders
and the bishops, the pastors, the teachers in the church.
They're not spiritual shepherds. They're not teachers of the
Word. That again, is reserved for the
pastors and the teachers here in this congregation and in all
congregations. The Puritan, William Cartwright,
he said this, the deacons are appointed not to preach the
Word, but to take care of the poor, that the ministry may not
be distracted from prayer and the Word.
We're going to see in a moment when we get to Acts chapter 6,
which I believe is the birth of the modern Deacon.
When we get there, we're going to see that the whole reason for
the Deacon was so that those with speaking gifts and
administrative gifts in the church, the the apostles at that
time who were establishing the church, could devote themselves
to the study of the Word and to prayer.
We're going to see that more clearly when we get there.
So we kind of have an. Idea of what the Deacon is not.
Now, how many of you would say I've been confused about that in
my church life because I grew up in a church where the deacons
were everything that you said they were not.
And we've all seen that, haven't we?
Especially if you grew up in a Baptist Church.
For some reason, the Baptist forgot to read the word elder
and Bishop, and they made boards out of these men called deacons.
And if someone is not really prepared to be a Deacon, it's
going to go to their head and it's going to become a power
struggle and it's going to become about control.
Unfortunately, we've seen that. So what is a Deacon?
Well, exactly what the Bible declares a Deacon is.
I don't know how to say it any other way.
They are servants, the Aconauts, those who operate in the church
in a special serving capacity. This is a greater capacity than
just the fact that we are all called to serve one another, are
we not? Yes, we're all called to serve
one another in love. Yes, we are every single
believer in this room. They are to be leaders in this.
They are the examples that we look to of how service should be
and how it should look. They are to serve alongside of
the church leaders, those overseers that we have spent
time looking at the past few weeks.
They're to serve alongside of those overseers, to serve the
needs of the people in whatever manner is needed that the elders
otherwise could not take care of.
They're used to fulfill ministry duties that, if left to the
pastor, would never be fulfilled.
Unfortunately, in many churches, I'm thankful not here.
But in many churches, the deacons aren't doing their role.
And so the pastor is left with the responsibility of fulfilling
the role of the deacons. And he's so busy trying to
fulfill the role of the deacons that he can't devote himself to
the Word and to prayer. And now the Church becomes
spiritually. Infantile.
Weak. Spiritually malnourished.
Why? Because the pastor's role is to
lead in the study of the Word of God, and the deacon's role is to
lead in areas of service so that the pastor can do that.
Isn't that beautiful? I love looking at these things
and I noticed some of you. This can be mundane and boring,
but to me this is exciting. Because I have seen churches
that didn't function in churches that were divided and so much
disharmony in the church. And you know what I think it all
boils down to? Many times they don't define the
roles. Biblically, that ought to be
fulfilled by the different offices in the church.
So we must understand what a Deacon is.
He's a servant, willing servant. He's not afraid to lead by his
acts of service and his leadership in whatever ever area
he or she serves in. So we can do it like this so
that you understand it, what the elders and pastors are to our
spiritual needs. Would you say that my job is
first and foremost to meet your spiritual needs, to feed you
with the Word of God? That is my job.
The Deacon his job is to meet our tangible and our physical
needs, serving those in need within the body of Christ.
Watch this again going back and using the reference of dawn.
Don't worry chance will make Chase will make sure that she
stays humble but going back to her.
She is leading in service in the area of our preschool ministry
now. Right now, there are tangible
and physical acts of service that are going on right down
that hallway. Some of you moms are enjoying
being fed the Word of God, being nourished spiritually while
someone is meeting the tangible needs of your children.
Right right now, someone is feeding your child.
Or right now there is someone who is changing a nasty, filthy,
poopy diaper that your child made that is tangible, that is
real, that is physical. I'll go ahead and say that's not
my job, however. I've seen Dawn, on her own time
of her own free will, come up and change dirty, nasty, poopy
diapers and serve the families of this church by taking care of
the physical and tangible needs of her children.
Now, what I have also seen is other people who have followed
her leadership while she is in here and her soul is being fed
spiritually now so that she can do what she's called to do.
They are now down the hall. Mimicking her leadership.
That's how we have a culture of service in the church.
When deacons do what deacons do, servants are made, servants are
born. Then we can actually see what it
means to serve one another in love.
So that's what a Deacon is. So Simply put, so you can
catalog this in your mind, Elders, pastors, they're to
shepherd the church spiritually. The Deacon is to serve the
church practically. Let's not mess this up any
longer in the church again, because when we get it right, it
is a beautiful thing. You know, one thing I never
worry about, I never worry about.
Is everything going to be taken care of in the nursery?
You know why? It's not my job.
But you know what else I have confidence in?
Everything's going to get taken care of.
You know what else I don't worry about?
I don't worry about when I pull up on a Sunday morning if all
the. Grass in the landscape is going
to be taken care of. I.
Hadn't thought about that all week.
You know why? Because I've been studying the
word of God. I've been studying the office of
Deacon. This church allows me to do
that, which I'm called to do. And you know what, When I pull
up, the deacons have already taken care of all the grounds.
And I said, man, it sure looks nice.
You know what we have people, they ask, is this, who takes
care of your, your facilities? Who takes care of your ground
maintenance? Our people.
And you know why? Because there are deacons who
lead those ministries as examples, and then those other
people get right in and they actually serve because they have
been taught how to serve well, serving the church in a
practical sense. So people ask, do you have
deacons here? Yes, we do.
Do we call them deacons? No, we don't.
It's a decision that our elders have made on multiple occasions.
We've talked about it. Do we recognize them?
No. Why would we recognize them?
They don't want to be recognized anyway.
Let the servants serve and they serve well and they continue to
do all that is required of them. So yes, we do have deacons.
We have servants in the church and I think all of you would
agree you've seen them in action in various different ways,
whether that is as I've already mentioned, the children's
ministry, the pre preschool ministry, the cleaning teams,
right? If you went into a restroom here
today, someone served you by making sure that that restroom
was clean. And you know how they did that
because someone who is a servant is in leadership over that
ministry. As an example for them that
would we properly understood as a Deacon being that example, our
mowing teams. How about spec OPS?
Right? I know all of you think that
there's this magic fairy who comes before all of our events
and sets up tables and chairs and then takes them down when
it's over and you just can't see them.
There are no magic. Fairies.
These are servants of God. Who don't mind getting dirty for
the Lord? Why?
Because whoever is in charge of that ministry has shown them and
taught them we don't mind getting dirty for the Lord.
We will serve Him. We will be the waiters of
tables. So yes, we do have them.
We do see them. We see them as we walk in the
door and enjoy a nice hot cup of coffee in the foyer.
Because no one would bring one of those in here, would you?
Especially with all the signage that says please don't.
However, when you get a cup of coffee in the morning and you've
been served in that way, that's pretty good service, isn't it?
It's because someone was willing to do the work of service and
getting here early, preparing those things.
They actually stay late and clean up after all of you make
message. And we're thankful for those who
serve in a hospitality sense, the greeters at the door with a
smile on their face, those who cook.
For our students on Wednesday night, I'm amazed by their
willingness to serve your kids right, their tangible needs on a
Wednesday night. Aren't you thankful that when
you get home from Reach Group, you don't have to feed your
kids? Why?
Because there are those people in our church who lead by their
example in serving your kids every single week.
Taking care of them at no cost to you, meeting those tangible
and physical needs that they have.
Sunday nights. If you've never been up here on
a Sunday night and seen the cook team that works in our student
ministry, those guys, some of you and our fundraisers, you
have experienced that. Those guys get paid $0.00 and
zero cents for what they do. They don't seek any glory, they
don't seek any fame, they don't seek any notoriety.
They just want to be used by God, That's it.
So we choose not to use the term Deacon because it is confusing
in the English language. In our modern culture, we just
use the word servant because we all know what that means, don't
we? And so that's what the Deacon
is. He's a servant.
Hopefully that helps you understand the Deacon a little
bit more as we go through this. Understanding what he is,
understanding what he's not. Now let's look a little closer
and examine this office a little more in detail.
Let's look at the origin of the Deacon.
Where did this begin? Now, many of you Bibles and
scholars would quickly jump up and say it began in Acts chapter
6, and I think you're right to a degree, though others would
argue with that. I think it started long before
this. How many of you understand that
the elder that we see in the New Testament, that position was
also a position in the Old Testament.
There were elders among God's people who led them.
Moses would consult the elders, Joshua would consult the elders.
They were an elder group of mature men leading God's people.
Now, though we don't see the term Deacon in the Old
Testament, you can go back to temple worship, to Tabernacle
worship prior to that, and you can see this, there were two
people who did the work in the temple, the priests who would
administer the sacrifice. Spiritual needs.
How many of you? Say I need to be atoned for.
Yeah, they would, and thankfully Christ has done that in his
service to us. The the priest would actually
administer the sacrificial side of the temple.
Now alongside of them were the Levites.
The priest stemming from the line of Aaron because it was
required by the law. The Levites stemming from the
line of Levi. Which, just so you'll know this
and keep it all clear, all priests were Levites, but not
all Levites were priests. Some of them would serve the
congregation in singing, playing instruments, but some of them
they would actually serve in the Tabernacle.
In this way, they were responsible for cleaning up,
setting up, and all the things that surrounded the sacrifice.
Can you imagine that? Right Knee deep and blood
sacrificed as the priest administered the sacrifice and
the atonement on the altar. And then somebody had to come
and clean that up. And these were the Levites.
And so when we look at the Levite, we see those people that
God raised up to do service within his people, not afraid to
get dirty, not afraid to do the jobs that other people weren't
willing to do. And so we can trace the, the the
Deacon probably all the way back to the Levi and say this is a
good example of God using people who had a servant's heart for
his purposes. Now here's what I don't want you
to do. I don't want you to leave here
today and say that Kurt said a Levite and a Deacon are the same
thing. That's not what I'm saying.
I'm giving you a scriptural parallel so you can kind of have
an idea of how these things carried over into the New
Testament. And so we see the Deacon
serving, doing the things that other people don't want to do.
Now, in the New Testament, we have a little clarity on this.
This office, this role was born out of necessity.
The role of Deacon was not commanded.
Did you know that? It was not commanded like we see
Paul tell Timothy appoint elders to the churches.
Never. You can look high and low where
you find that it was ever commanded that you had to have
deacons. They were on a need to have
basis. They were born out of necessity,
these special servants who were set aside to lead in their
servitude. So the role of Deacon never
being commanded, but we see it born out of necessity in Acts
Chapter 6. Verses one through 6.
Now I know this many would argue against this passage being
called the first deacons. Many do, and they don't argue in
a mean or. Belligerent sort of way.
They argue with a pretty good argument that the word Deacon is
not used here in Acts chapter 6. And it's not.
I will be the first one to tell you that, But I draw the
conclusion that Stephen and these men that were set aside
based on the requirements that they had to meet and the role
that they were assigned to fulfill, they were in fact as
the first deacons. And I think the term Deacon
probably came into play later on down the way.
We have nothing in Scripture to verify or to deny that.
And so when we don't have something in Scripture to verify
or to deny something, I immediately go to church
tradition and I find a man named Irenius.
And Irenius, he said this, he said.
And most of you here or men who come on Thursday nights are
familiar with Iranians. Some of you have heard his name
pronounced Irenaeus. Either way is correct.
But who is he? He was one of the Church
fathers, the early Bishop in the church, a teacher.
He says this. He said Stephen, who was chosen
the first Deacon by the apostles, was the first martyr.
So in the 1st century of the Church, we have a man confirming
that, yes, what we see in Acts chapter 6 is the selection of
the first deacons. And I believe that with all my
heart, again, because of the role that we see defined and the
role that they played in the church, it was a role born out
of necessity. What was that necessity?
Look at Acts chapter 6 and we'll see.
This says in verse one, in those days when the number of
disciples was increasing, that means the church was growing.
Isn't that a good thing? Now, as the church grows, we
have greater needs, don't we? Right.
A church might be able to, at its initial phase, not have any
deacons at all, but then as it grows, it's going to have to add
deacons. This is in those days when the
number of disciples was increasing.
The Hellenistic Jews, that's the Jews from a the Greek background
among them, complained against the Hebraic Jews because their
widows were being overlooked and the daily distribution of food,
the widows who couldn't fend for themselves were being
overlooked. There was a need.
That need was tangible and physical, right?
Everybody see that now? So the 12 gathered all the
disciples together and said it would not be right for us to
neglect the ministry of the Word of God in order to wait on
tables. Now the apostles say, look, we
can meet their needs, but it wouldn't be right for us to meet
their needs. There's plenty of us.
It wouldn't be right for us to meet their needs because if we
as the apostles had to meet the needs of the widows in the
church who were hungry, then we couldn't devote ourselves to the
word and to prayer, and then spiritually the entire
congregation would suffer. Common sense, isn't it?
He says in verse three Brothers and sisters, choose seven men
from among you who are known to be full of the spirit and
wisdom, that that sounds like the criteria that we see here in
First Timothy chapter 3. In a nutshell, right full of the
Spirit and wisdom, we will turn this responsibility over to them
and we'll give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the
Word. The apostle said our job is to
pray and to administer the Word. Their job is now we're going to
turn it over to them to take care of the widows.
Is that not what Jesus tells us to do, to take care of the
orphans and the widows? Of course it is.
But can one person or a small group of people in the church
take care of all the responsibilities that come with
that? Absolutely not.
Common sense tells us no. This office came out of
necessity. It's a common sense thing, he
says in verse 5. This this proposal pleased the
whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full
of faith and of the Holy Spirit. Also Philip, Pocarius, Naikaner,
Timon, Perminus and Nicholas from Antioch, a convert to
Judaism, they presented these men to the apostles who prayed
and laid their hands on them. Now that's when some of the
fancy serum that the apostles laid their hand on them and
bippity bobbity Boo, they received power.
The apostles laying of hands is simply this to show their
approval. They are saying yes, these are
men who are full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom just as is
required of them. It says in verse 7 and after
this happened, so the word of God spread.
What does that tell me? Had the necessity of the office
of Deacon not ever come to be, the Word of God would have been
hindered. But it says the word of God
spread. Now watch what happens when the
word of God is allowed to be spread forth and to go forth.
The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly.
Now let me help all of you American church people here
because you get to see a lot of really cool and interesting
stuff as far as church church growth is concerned, right?
We can grow a church by. Offering big screen TV's to the
1st 10 people who come in the door on a Sunday morning.
But if we go back to the early church, here's how they grew.
Evangelism. The preaching of the Word.
The preaching of the Gospel. And as long as the preaching of
the Word and the preaching of the gospel went forth, God added
to their number daily those who were being saved.
That's the church growth model, not all this other kooky stuff
that we see in our culture. The men of God who were called
to preach the Word were free to preach the Word.
The men of God who were called to serve freely served.
And in doing so, the number of disciples in Jerusalem increased
rapidly and a large number of priests became obedient to the
faith. Jewish priest raised up in
Judaism their entire lives now come to faith in Christ.
Why did this happen? Because the Deacon, the servants
that we see raised up here, did what they do so that the pastors
hear. The apostles in the church at
the time establishing the church could do what they do.
And that is to bring forth the word of truth.
And the church grew. I believe many churches don't
grow because the roles aren't properly defined and properly
operating in the congregation. And so we see the Word of God
being hindered. Why?
Because your pastor can't devote himself to studying the Word of
God. Therefore, you can't grow
spiritually because he's doing all these tangible and practical
things that the deacons ought to be doing.
No, That being said, I am thankful that I don't have that
problem because I can't say that in every church I've ever served
in. Most of the churches that I have
served in, the deacons became this self-proclaimed governing
body who did nothing except for make the lives of the staff and
the pastors miserable as they tried to teach the word of God
but yet couldn't because they were hindered by people who were
operating in the wrong manner. You say, well I don't know if I
believe that. I don't care if you believe it
or not. I've lived it.
I know it's true. So we see this office out of
necessity, the word of God has to go forth and if the word is
of God is going to go forth, it's going to go forth with men
who are gifted in the area of speaking gifts.
Those men have to be aided by those who are gifted in the area
of service gifts. Again, the body different parts
functioning for the whole which is Christ.
This office born out of necessity but based on Jesus
example. I love this John chapter 13
verses one through 17. I won't read it all for you.
You know what's going on there if you've paid any attention to
any amount of time here. Jesus is going to wash his
disciples feet. What a picture.
This is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, God in flesh, the
greatest prophet. Whoever lived or will ever live,
lowers himself and he kneels down and takes a basin after
wrapping a towel around his waist so that he could dry their
feet. He washes the filthy, nasty,
dirty feet of his own disciples, the King of Kings and Lord of
Lords, giving us an example of what it means to serve others.
And he did this scripture says in order to.
Show them to the full extent of His love that He loved them
enough to serve them. Oh, you remember, Peter?
No, Lord, don't. Don't just wash my feet, wash my
whole body. Jesus said you're clean, Peter.
I've already, I've taken care of that.
I'm about to go and atone for you so that you will be
completely clean, but I'm going to continue to serve you.
By taking the filth off of your feet as you walk around in this
dirty world. I'm going to take care of the
tangible and the practical as I serve you, Peter, not just the
spiritual. Aren't you glad that God in
Christ takes care of not just our spiritual, but our tangible
and our physical? How does He do that?
Servants who emulate. Christ, John chapter 13 The
greatest example of that scene in Jesus himself.
He teaches his disciples that the greatest among them is the
servant, not the one who stands in the pulpit and who delivers
powerful sermons. The greatest among them is the
one who kneels and does the act of washing the feet, who kneels
and cleans the toilet and the restroom, who kneels and takes
care of the little children, who kneels and takes care of the
orphan, who kneels and takes care of the widow and her knee.
That's who. The greatest is one example
Jesus has given us. And so the Deacon and the actual
role of the Deacon is based on Jesus and what he taught.
You're here today and you say, you know what, I feel like I'm
probably serving as a Deacon in the church.
You know your greatest example is Christ.
Only side of him. Follow him, teach others to do
what Christ did. Isn't that what he tells his
disciples to do? He says very truly, I tell you
there in verse 16, no servant is greater than his master nor
messenger greater than the one who sent him.
Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do
them. He said go and do the same
thing, serve one another. So this is based on Jesus
example. The example that he did with joy
in his heart, he was able to serve those that he was about to
lay his life down for. Now I want you to think about
that for a second because one who is a Deacon will do the
ministry of a Deacon with joy and with zeal.
That's what Romans 12 tells us. Verse 11 it says never be
lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor.
Doing what? Preaching sermons, serving the
Lord. What does that mean?
That means this. Whatever I'm gifted in doing,
that's what I need to be doing with passion and zeal.
That is my service to the Lord. If you're not gifted and
standing behind the pulpit and delivering a message, you're not
gifted and expositing the Scripture.
You're not gifted in leading and administration in the church.
That's OK, You have a great role as a Deacon and that is to.
Serve as Christ served Jesus himself, saying I came not to be
served, but to serve. What an example.
The Deacon was born out of necessity.
My calling is based on Jesus. Example.
We see the origin of the Deacon as clearly as we can.
Now let's look at the expectations and the character
of the Deacon, because just like the overseer, this should be a
person of great character and integrity, right?
This is not just somebody who we just throw in a roll and say,
here you're serving, go lead this ministry.
No, it doesn't work like that. We look at this word Deacon for
the first two points, seeing what it is and what it's not
where this term came from. Now let's hone in on the verses
that follow. He says in verse 8, Deacons
likewise, or to be men worthy of respect, sincere, not indulging
in much wine and not pursuing dishonest gain.
They must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear
conscience. They must first be tested, and
then, if there's nothing against them, let them serve as deacons
in the same way. They're wise, or as I spoke on
earlier, the women deacons are to be women worthy of respect,
not malicious talkers, but temperate and trustworthy in
everything he goes on. And he says a Deacon must be the
husband of but one wife and must manage his children and his
household well. Now, if that sounds kind of
familiar to you, we spent the last couple of weeks looking
into the life of the Overseer. And the requirements for the
office are very similar, But I want to break this down for you
just very quickly because some of these are hopefully still
familiar to you. So there's no need to spend a
lot of time on them. We can break it down into two
categories, and we'll do that. First category is this.
Paul is explaining the expectations of the Deacon, and
he's explaining this, that they need to be humble in service,
right? He starts with deacons.
There's that word. Again, the very name expressing
humble service. Why is that important that we
understand that? Because 1 cannot be a servant if
he's not or she's not. First, humble deacons are humble
servants. They're not walking around with
their chest poked out telling all their friends that they're a
servant leader at Key Life Fellowship.
Oh, we look at me. No, in fact, most of the time
the deacons in this church, people don't even know that
they're doing what they do. They're humble servants.
Humility and servitude go hand in hand.
Don't you forget that. You can't have one without the
other. That's why on that night in John
chapter 13 where Jesus kneeled down and he washed his disciples
feet, we see a humbling that is spectacular to us.
The King of Kings and Lord of Lords humbling himself.
And so humility and servitude are the opposite sides of the
same coin. You can't have one without the
other. That's like having a quarter
without a tail side and a head side.
You can't have it. And so there must be that
humility in. Service, the Deacon will be that
fulfilling what Jesus said in Matthew 23, verse 11 when he
said this, the greatest among you will be your servant.
For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who
humble themselves will be exalted.
In a moment we're going to see that that's absolutely true.
Jesus is going to promise through his Word, through the
Apostle Paul here, that the Deacon will be exalted.
But they must first be humble in service.
The Deacon won't want the spotlight.
I guess I said a moment ago, if I hadn't mentioned your name
this morning and you're back there and you're saying, well,
when do aliens say anything about me?
You're not a Deacon. In fact, the greatest servants
that I know, who I would call deacons, they run from the
spotlight. They don't want people to know.
In fact, I'm going to use another name in our
congregation. Again, I know how people get
when you name names. Well, should you really call and
draw attention to these people? Yes, honor to those who deserve
honor. Paul names his Co workers and Co
laborers by name, commending them, commending them unto the
church and unto the Lord. So I'm going to mention another
one. You may know.
His name's Mark Mueller. And I'm not going to look at him
because he may make my pine pollen get irritated, My eyes
start watering. Many of you know Mark Mueller.
I've known Mark Mueller for a long time.
In fact, I don't want to admit how long I've known Mark Mueller
because I used to think when people would say things like 30
years ago, those people were really old. 30 plus years ago I
met a young man named Mark Mother and I noticed his
willingness and his giftedness to serve even when he was young.
He does things at this church and for this church alongside of
his wife Kim, and many of you do not know anything about.
We have to hide things from him sometimes.
Because he has a real job and he'll be coming up here when he
ought to be going home to his family.
And there are times, and there have been times, Kim's walking
out the door, Mark's walking in, and he's going to probably be so
mad at me for even saying his name today.
I don't say it to blow him up, I say it to give glory to God
because I get to see a functioning Deacon in action and
I've watched him for over 30 years serve the body of Christ
faithfully. Now, is he a perfect man?
No. Am IA perfect man?
No. Aren't you thankful that that's
not the requirement? Is he a man who desires to serve
the Lord and to bring glory to Him with everything that he
does? Yes, I believe He is.
I spoke in the early service about one who's not been a part
of this fellowship I haven't known near as long, as well as
Mark James Jones. James Jones became a Christian.
Shortly after that. I began to really notice that
James Jones had a special gift. You know what that special gift
is? Serving the Lord.
He wasn't just serving the Lord because that's what we're
supposed to do We are. Y'all do know that's an
obligation for all of us? His was different.
His is that desire to serve that supersedes the normal person's
desire to serve. In fact, I began to wonder, is
this man trying to take my job? He's up here at the church so
much. But you know what he was doing?
I'm only playing about that. You know what?
He was doing anything that he could for the body of Christ,
Vacuuming floors, cleaning bathrooms, kitchens, doing
whatever the Lord would have him to do, mowing the grass.
And now years later, I see him as a leader in that you want to
see how to serve. You want to see some people in
our church who are good servant leaders who give you an example.
You look to those two men, they'll give you a great
example. You looked at Don Carpenter,
she'll give you a great example of what a Deacon really looks
like. And I know there are many
others. If your feelings are hurt, get a
hold of yourself. I don't have time to go down the
list. I, I am so thankful and we are
so blessed as a church to have such great servants.
Often times, unfortunately, you get overshadowed and maybe
that's just the role of the Deacon.
That's what happens by those of us who get to stand in the
pulpit, teach the word of God. But can you be sure of this?
You are not overshadowed in the eyes of God.
You are a humble servant. The Lord shows His favor, the
broken and the humble. Keep serving Him.
Keep doing what you're doing. It doesn't go unseen.
Your humble service, it's appreciated, it's needed, and
glorifies God. The expectations and the
character of a Deacon defined by their humble service, but then
their holy lives. I told you I would go through
this and I'll go through this as quickly as possible because most
of this you already know. Just as we've seen the overseas
seers were called to live holy lives, those who serve as a
Deacon are called to live holy lives.
You know what I'm saying about that?
I'm saying this, that if Don Carpenter, who serves our
preschool department as a servant teaching others to
serve, has things posted on her social media that are not
glorifying to God or that can hurt her testimony of Christ,
that's going to be addressed. It's not acceptable.
She is called to live a life that is above reproach in that
position, as the deacons and the overseers all are.
So he says this. That they're to live a life he
begins with this worthy of respect.
To take their role as a Deacon seriously.
That's what that word means to be serious.
I know we lose a. Little in our English
translation worthy of respect, but people respect the Deacon
because they are serious about serving the Lord.
When you look around and you say man, there's others who they
seemingly don't want to serve the Lord at all.
And then there is this servant who is full steam ahead, giving
everything they have for the Lord in service to him, not
caring about any glory or any praise for themselves, but only
wanting to glorify God. When you see that, my friend,
you've seen a Deacon, one who is worthy of respect.
They're worthy of respect because they have the right
attitude and the right approach. I'm thankful to see men and
women in this church who have the right attitude and the right
approach. You know why they do?
It's not because I've taught them the Word of God, though I
hope that that helps. It's because others have taught
them by the example what it looks like to serve the Lord.
Just a little while. We're going to have a new member
fellowship. You know my favorite part of new
member fellowship when it's over.
I don't say that in a negative sense.
You know what I love to see? Because those new members come
in and they think they're interviewing me.
I'm interviewing you. I don't want ravenous wolves
coming in here attacking what God's doing.
You know what I want to see? What I love to see, and when
it's dismissed and our deacons grab a table, they start folding
up chairs, they start wiping things down.
I like to see people who just now came to Key Life Fellowship
pulling their shirt sleeves up and getting in there and doing
the same thing. Why?
Because that is who we are. That's who I want us always to
be. And why are we that?
Oh, because a powerful preaching from the pulpit.
Maybe God can use that to get your attention, but he's placed
in our lives examples that we can follow who look like Christ
in the area of. Service.
And that is why we are what we are.
That is why we function how we function all of us doing our
specific part for the whole the unity of the body of Christ.
These people called to live lives worthy of respect.
He says sincere. What is he saying they're not
double tongued double minded, not a gossiper slander 2 faced
person of their word and when they tell you something's going
to happen something's going to happen.
That's a requirement of these people you know lead in service.
You have to be a person of your word.
You have to be a person who is sincere in your service to the
Lord and your example, not indulging in much wine, we can
quickly. Address this.
He's saying you can't be a drunkard or an indulgent of
alcohol. Now please know that when this
was written, it was written in a different culture.
It was written in a culture where they would drink wine
because the water was not necessarily pure.
And I am fully convinced then at the Lord's Supper in these days,
they would drink some type of wine.
Now, I don't think that that wine was of this high alcohol
content where all you needed to do was drink a little thimble of
it and you would be drunk. I don't think that at all.
But I do believe that if you drink too much of it, it could
become a problem and you could become a drunker.
Now we Fast forward into our culture where we don't really
know the difference in the alcohol content.
We can testify to this that the alcoholic beverages in our day
are manufactured and they are brewed to get people
intoxicated. That's the whole point.
And so I would warn everyone, not just those who are seeking
the office of Deacon. I would warn everyone, be very
careful of alcohol. And please, if you're the one
trying to say, see, the Deacon could have wine, but just not
much wine. You've just admitted that you're
trying to push the alcoholic envelope.
I can show you over and over and over again.
Where Scripture gives great warning, much consideration to
the fact that alcohol is best left alone.
Now I say that. And I will turn around and I
will say that, and in no sense does it ever prohibit A thimble
full of wine during a Lord's Supper.
But I would caution the alcoholic don't.
Partake of wine. If you've got an alternative,
you've been there, you've done that.
You know what happens to the alcoholic, It consumes you.
Don't be consumed by these things.
He gives good advice to the Deacon here.
Not indulging in much wine, that means this.
Maybe the Deacon lived in an area where his water wasn't
pure. Maybe he was, as Timothy was
stricken with an illness, Paul said.
Drink a little wine for your stomach.
A little. Maybe that's a warning to say,
hey, some of you deacons, you might have stomach issues, drink
a little for your stomach, but hey, don't indulge.
Isn't that the truth? With much of everything, it's
excess that gets us in trouble. He then moves on and he says not
pursuing dishonest gain. Once you're staying here,
deacons don't need to be shysters.
They don't need to be people seen in the community as as
someone who's ripping people off, right?
Because that would be bad, wouldn't it?
I'm going to be bad if you know right now.
I thank the Lord for Mark Mueller and, and I commend to
him and I commend James Jones. But you know, Mark Mueller
leaves here. And if you don't know, I
shouldn't tell you what he does for a living because then you'll
be calling on him all the time and he'll get so overwhelmed he
won't know what to do. But.
He has a certain trade and if in his certain trade he began to
RIP people off, these people began to find that out.
You know, the first thing that they would say about him, oh, he
calls himself a Christian. He's supposed to be a leader
down that church serving the Lord.
We know how that happens. We have to be careful of that,
don't we? And unfortunately, many who have
warned the label Deacon in the church, I've done great damage
in regard to being shysters, pursuing dishonest gain, ripping
people off. You have to be very careful of
that, keeping hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear
conscience. What is he talking about here?
He's talking about they need to be men of sound doctrine,
keeping hold of the faith with a clear conscience.
Sound and doctrine, Sound and living.
What is he saying? They practice what they preach.
They practice what they know because someone who really
understands sound doctrine will live sound doctrine.
And if a person claims to know sound doctrine, right, I'm tired
of so many theologians claiming to be theologians who aren't
living what they claim to know. It can't happen.
As a Deacon, all you have is knowledge and knowledge puffs
up. But he's saying a Deacon, he'll
take the the sound biblical doctrine and who actually live
such a good life. That his conscience will be
clear before man and before God, keeping hold of the deep truths
of the faith with a clear conscience being sound and
doctrine, understanding the true gospel, being able to
communicate that, to live it. He's a man, he's a woman who is
sound and truth. And then he goes on and he talks
about this and often times we miss this part.
He's going to talk about how the Deacon should be properly
proven. We use the term vetted when we
talked about the overseer. They need to be.
First tested there in verse 10. And if there's nothing against
them, then let them serve as a deacons.
Now we've done that backwards in the church right here.
You're a Deacon. Now live up to this.
That's not what this is about. You know one thing that I have
learned about every true Deacon that I've ever seen, they were
doing the work of a Deacon before anyone ever acknowledged
that they were doing the work of a Deacon.
They were living the life. They were meeting the criteria.
They were humbly serving the Lord and others.
It must be properly proven. It's not want to be a Deacon do
this. It's On the contrary.
And because you're doing this, you're a Deacon, you meet the
criteria, you are what Scripture says that a Deacon really is.
You're properly proven. And then he moves into the women
deacons or if you want to believe, the wives of the
deacons. And again, let's don't split
hairs over that. There's no reason to fight about
that, but he gives them some distinct things to think about.
He says in the same way that are wise or the women, the
deaconess, he says they are to be women worthy of respect.
That's pretty self-explanatory because he says the men are to
be worthy of respect, so surely the women are too.
Whether that's the wife or the deaconess.
Not malicious talkers. I have no idea why he would
include that particular thing in regard to women.
You figure it out on your own. Not malicious talkers.
That means no gossip, no slander, no backbiting, all the
things that come out of our tongue.
It's not over mouths, but temperate and trustworthy in
everything. What's he saying about the women
there to be above reproach, just like the men don't have to
complicate? This.
Now, however you want to interpret that if that's a
deacon's wife, that's the responsibility for you.
Because could it be that he's talking about the deacon's wives
who serve alongside of the Deacon?
Possibly, but I don't know what to do with Phoebe.
And so I have to also say it could include the deaconess, the
woman who's serving the Lord. She needs to do it above
reproach. Then he moves back into the
deacon's role, which makes sense because he's never left the
deacon's role. He simply inserted women
deacons. You need to pay close attention
to these things as well. He says a Deacon must be the
husband of but one wife. We learned what that meant last
week. I hope you understand that.
What that means. Faithful to your wife, one woman
man in the Greek, that is a literal translation.
And then he goes just as he did with the overseers and says and
must manage his children and his household.
Well. Why is this important?
Because you can't serve as a Deacon in the church if you're
not serving your family at home by leading them by example, the
2GO hand in hand. You cannot have one without the
other. Same goes for the overseer, for
the Bishop who's standing up here teaching the Word of God.
If I am not doing my responsibility at home, I have
no place in standing in this pulpit.
If you were not handling your responsibility in the home as a
Deacon, A servant leader in your home, serving your wife and
serving your children, you have no place in taking a role in the
church where you are to serve others.
You can't do it effectively. Paul makes this very clear that
the Deacon is to serve his wife and his children.
So the office of Deacon is a position that calls for humble
service that will be accompanied by holy lives.
It's important because it's not just a title that we wear.
It's not just a badge that you get to stick on your shirt.
It's not a status symbol. We've met those people, haven't
we? My husband's a Deacon, and I'll
tell him about how you're not doing your job.
OK, great. Tell him I said hello.
Now you know why we don't call them deacons here.
So the people don't think that they're a role that they're not
supposed to play. It's a role of humble service.
It's a role that requires a holy life.
They must be examined first, tested.
Most people don't serve in a capacity of what we would
recognize officially as a Deacon here, a servant, servant leader,
until they are properly vetted for years.
Then they are entrusted with this work.
As Scripture says. Then and only then, they should
be. Now, I want to leave you with
this because I found this interesting.
This is something that the way I've studied this, the way I've
actually taught on this, we've actually taught other churches
about the roles in the offices in the church so that they could
refine and establish their roles.
And again, though this may not be interesting to any of you at
all, it is interesting to me because if God is sovereign over
all things, He's sovereign over the leadership in his church.
And I love to see it when it's bringing him honor and glory and
praise in the body of Christ. He's designed it this way and
with that design He promised his reward.
And I really love this, especially in regard to the
Deacon who's doing the jobs most of the time that other people
wouldn't be willing to do. He says in verse 13, those who
have served well gain, gain an excellent standing and great
assurance in their faith in Christ Jesus.
Paul is speaking here in terms of a blessing.
He's saying a Deacon who does his job or her job well.
Will receive a blessing for it and he's going to explain those
blessings that come to those who humbly serve as deacons in the
church. He says first they will be
exalted in standing. You say, well, what do you mean?
I thought we're not supposed to exalt ourself.
You're not. You're supposed to humble
yourself and God will do the exalting.
Those who serve in full humility as Deacon with the true attitude
of a servant, that John 13 attitude of Christ, they will be
seen as excellent by God himself.
And he says, I will exalt them because of that excellent
standing. I'll exalt them.
James speaks of this James chapter 4, verse 10.
It says humble yourselves before the Lord and he will lift you
up. Is that true?
Well then would it apply to the Deacon though?
I know in James chapter 4 the context is not Deacon.
The context is a general Christian.
And is a Is a Deacon a general Christian?
Yes. And does a Deacon serve in a
specific office? Yes.
And is his office to serve? Yes.
And if he humbles himself before the Lord, what does the Lord
promise he will do? He'll lift him up.
That's for all the deacons who have served, right?
And you hear the enemy. Nobody ever notices what you're
doing. Nobody appreciates it.
God sees it, and He sees it as excellent, and he's going to
honor you by that. Why would you want men to honor
you when God promises that He will?
I wouldn't be OK with that. I don't want men to honor me
when God says that He's willing to honor me, The God of this
universe honoring me because I've humbled myself to serve
Him. He says I'll exalt you first
Peter chapter 5, verse 6, humble yourself, therefore under God's
mighty hand, that he may lift you up and do time Those who
humbled himself under God's mighty hand, does he lift them
up? Does he promise to do so exalt
them? Yes over and over and over again
in Scripture. I I couldn't take the time today
to read all the psalms that confirm this.
Yes, much of A deacon's work on this earth goes unseen by man,
doesn't it? Most of you went into the
restroom this morning, said, oh, nice clean restrooms.
You gave no thought to those who came in there armed with latex
gloves and a toilet scrubber. But they were here this week,
serving the Lord, unseen by man. God doesn't miss a thing.
He sees it all. He misses nothing.
Not only will they be exalted in standing by God, God exalting
them however he sees fit, others will also see them as excellent
in the church. They will see them as examples
that they want to follow. Looking at them, seeing Christ
in them and saying, you know what?
That's how I want to serve the Lord.
I want to serve the Lord like that.
I want to do what they're doing for the Lord.
I'm not not getting any applause or any accolades or any
trophies. I want to be like them, to be
seen as a servant of God, nothing else.
First Thessalonians, chapter 5, verse 13, You know what it says
to do with those who are serving, doing the work of
ministry in the church, whether that's the overseer, whether
that's the Deacon, whether that's the pastors.
Verse 13 and 1st Thessalonians chapter 5 says to hold them in
the highest regard. That's what we ought to be
doing. We got to hold them in the
highest regard. You know what, oftentimes people
hold the pastor in highest regard.
They talk about key life fellowship and they say, oh, our
pastor this. Sometimes it's good.
Most designed probably. Not, but you get my drift.
Along for the day when when people talk about Key Life
Fellowship, they talk about her servants because this pastor
couldn't do what he does. If the deacons weren't doing
what they do, Why I couldn't devote myself to the word.
I couldn't devote myself to prayer.
I'm so thankful and I commend Key Life Fellowship.
That I am able to do this, that we are as structurally sound as
we can be with our leadership in the church, I am thankful for
that. Because it's not the norm, it's
rare that a pastor can do his job and that the other pastors
in this church can do their jobs.
And we can trust in the deacons to do their job.
And that's how it's designed to work.
God says because these deacons are willing to serve, we had to
hold them in the highest regard. We had to see them as excellent.
We got to commend them for their Excellency.
You know why? Because long after people forget
what we say, they'll remember how we served.
They'll remember how we served long after they forget.
Their favorite sermon is that if anyone's ever had a favorite
sermon that I preached, they'll remember.
He served the people well. Those of you who are serving as
deacons in this church, remember that.
Remember that in the lives of your family.
One day your family's going to gather around the graveside.
They're not going to remember how much Scripture you had
memorized. I'm going to remember how you
serve them, how you serve Christ, how you love Christ.
And because you love Christ, you love them and you serve them.
That's what they're going to be talking about, Christ in you
serving one another. That's what sets us apart.
He says there's a reward. For the Deacon, you'll be
exalted in your standing, but also you have assurance in your
salvation. Watch this and great assurance,
he says. Those who have served well
gained an excellent standing and great assurance in their faith
in Christ Jesus, he says. That the Deacon will be rewarded
with assurance of their salvation.
Why? Because their life is showing
evidence that a person who was once selfish and self motivated
and who wouldn't get dirty for anyone else, wouldn't sacrifice
anything for anyone else, was stingy, and love themselves
above all things, is now serving others wholeheartedly.
That is a work of God you can know this if God has changed you
in that area, you can have assurance of your salvation.
You have been changed by God. How do I know this Jesus and
what he taught he says in John chapter 13 verse 34 new command
I give you love one another's I've loved you.
How did he love them? He showed them that he's a.
Servant and he served them, so you must love one another.
If you really love one another, you'll serve one another, he
says in verse 35. By this what you're loving
servants. You love for one another shown
and what you do for them, he said.
By this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love
one another. That Deacon who is
wholeheartedly serving others can know he belongs to Christ
and the proof is in the fact that he loves and desires to
serve others. God says I'm going to reward you
with that. Assurance while many others are
constantly struggling, struggling with the assurance of
their faith. You know why you struggle most
of the time with your assurance of faith.
You're not serving the Lord. I can tell you this, you're
serving the Lord. You don't have time to doubt.
You're driven by the Holy Spirit.
You're driven by what His Word has taught.
You don't have time to think about anything but the work that
He has for you to do. The Deacon will be rewarded with
assurance of faith, knowing that what he is doing is a work of
God. What she is doing is a work of
God that backs up their profession.
I don't want to hear people talk about their profession of
Christ. You know what I want to do?
I want to see Him serve the Lord.
Why? Because talk is cheap and the
proof is always in the service. Because if you love the Lord,
what did He say? You do what He says.
You keep His commands. So this Deacon will experience
assurance. Others will look at him and say,
yeah, that's the disciple of Christ.
That's the follower of Christ. Look how he serves.
He'll also be able to evaluate himself and know that God has
done a work in him, that the service that he does is not
because of anything that he has done, because of everything that
Christ has done in him. He'll take note of Galatians
513, it says serve one another humbly in love.
You don't know. That's the mark of a true
believer. He'll take note Mark chapter 10
verse 44 where it says, and whoever wants to be first must
be a slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not
come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom
for many who have assurance of his faith because he has a
desire to give his life for many just as Christ gave his life for
many. He'll take note of first Peter
chapter 4 where it says this and verse 10.
Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve
others as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various
forms. It'll be confirmed to him that
he is truly a recipient of God's grace because he has this
supernatural desire within him to serve God and to be an
example of Christ in his service.
That's the reward of the Deacon. Folks, you can't put a price tag
on that. Exalted by a sovereign God-given
assurance by the same God, confirmed by others who see the
work that God has done in you, in Christ.
There's not an earthly reward. That even compares to that is
there? The Deacon will be blessed, and
rightfully so, because they are worthy of a blessing, aren't
they? So let's conclude this.
We've been blessed, haven't we? We've been blessed as a church
with so many who fulfill the role of the Deacon.
I've spent this last week just really pondering all this,
thinking about those who look like what I see in scripture,
and I am overwhelmed with Thanksgiving to the Lord for
each and everyone of you. I can't say that enough.
You know who you are. I can't say that enough.
Keep serving Him. He will reward you just as He
has promised. Know that we are all thankful
for you. Your service is not something
that goes unseen or unnoticed. We as pastors are able to do our
job and to do our job effectively because you are
willing to do yours. I thank the Lord for that.
He's established it perfectly so that those things can happen.
So to the believers in our congregation, be thankful to the
Lord. For the deacons in this church,
though, we don't use that term. They're servants.
You see them. They're the ones who do what you
aren't willing to do. They do it with joy in their
heart. They do it with gladness in
their heart. They do it for the glory of God.
Thank the Lord for them. Perhaps you're here today and
you're an unbeliever and you say, Kurt, this stuff really
doesn't make sense to me. It won't.
It won't make sense to you until you're a part of the family of
God. You can't figure out why I would
tear up thinking about all these people and how dear they are to
me. Why?
Because they're a part of God's family that Christ purchased
with his precious blood. They're dear to me.
You have no understanding of that because you're still lost
in your sin. You're still undone by your
wretchedness. You've offended a holy God.
You need to be forgiven. You need to be saved, redeemed,
as the Bible calls it. I pray for you.
I pray that today be the day that God opens your eyes to see
your sinful state and to show you that you need a Savior and
to reveal to you that Christ is that Savior.
And I pray today, by His power, He gives you strength to repent
of your sin and to turn to Jesus Christ as Lord and His Savior
this very day, that your life would be changed, your sins
would be forgiven, and you would receive eternal life just as
Jesus has promised to all who believe and trust in Him.
Let's pray together. Father, we thank you for this
day. We thank You for Your word.
Such rich truths that so many times just go overlooked.
God, thank You that You won't allow us to do that if we just
walk through Your word. We see it all, we teach it all,
because it's all of equal importance.
God, may we see this important role.
Would I pray for those who would desire to serve in this role,
that you would continue to raise them up for those who are
serving in this role, or that you would continue to encourage
and empower them. God, I thank you personally for
each and every one of them. God, I pray for the soul who's
here today does not know Christ. And I plead with you, Lord
Jesus, you would have mercy upon them today.
They would talk to someone about someone, about what it means to
know Christ as Lord and Savior, perhaps be saved this very day
according to your will. And I pray and I ask all these
things in the mighty name of Jesus and all God's people said.
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