1 00:00:03,320 --> 00:00:05,960 Welcome to the Liberty Baptist Sermon Archives. 2 00:00:06,200 --> 00:00:09,040 The message you're about to hear was preached at Liberty Baptist 3 00:00:09,040 --> 00:00:13,040 Church in Easton, MA. You can find out more about us 4 00:00:13,040 --> 00:00:17,280 or contact us at my libertybaptist.org or just look 5 00:00:17,280 --> 00:00:19,760 us up on Facebook. And now we hope that this 6 00:00:19,760 --> 00:00:22,040 message from God's Word will be a blessing to you. 7 00:00:24,480 --> 00:00:28,560 The book of Acts chapter #6 and will be apart from our Series A 8 00:00:28,560 --> 00:00:31,320 man after God's own heart will be back to that Lord willing 9 00:00:31,320 --> 00:00:33,880 next week. But I thought we would go back 10 00:00:33,880 --> 00:00:37,800 in the book of Acts to a message that I hope be complimentary to 11 00:00:37,800 --> 00:00:40,720 what we looked at this morning with Tabitha and was felt the 12 00:00:40,720 --> 00:00:44,080 leadership of the Lord to do so in Acts chapter 6. 13 00:00:44,400 --> 00:00:49,280 As we look at the issue of what biblical deacons are, the issue 14 00:00:49,280 --> 00:00:54,000 of biblical deacons, you know, sometimes people will say when 15 00:00:54,000 --> 00:00:57,320 they leave a church. I've heard this before, and I no 16 00:00:57,320 --> 00:00:59,720 doubt I would imagine most pastors have at some point. 17 00:00:59,720 --> 00:01:02,240 Maybe there's a ring of truth to it for some pastors, maybe 18 00:01:02,240 --> 00:01:04,120 there's not. But people will say something 19 00:01:04,120 --> 00:01:06,800 like this, I don't feel like I'm being fed. 20 00:01:07,280 --> 00:01:10,240 You ever heard something like that or maybe heard someone say 21 00:01:10,240 --> 00:01:12,800 that I don't feel like I'm being fed. 22 00:01:12,800 --> 00:01:16,280 And you know that certainly is a heavy indictment for a pastor to 23 00:01:16,280 --> 00:01:19,840 be able to hear because part of the charge of a pastor is to 24 00:01:20,040 --> 00:01:24,200 first Peter 5, to feed the flock of God, which is among you, 25 00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:27,640 taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but 26 00:01:27,640 --> 00:01:31,680 willingly, not for filthy lucre, but of already mind that God has 27 00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:34,960 placed a heavy burden upon me to be able to make sure that I am 28 00:01:34,960 --> 00:01:37,680 feeding the flock of God every time that I come up to the pole. 29 00:01:37,680 --> 00:01:40,760 But not to come up and just give some platitudes to make you feel 30 00:01:40,760 --> 00:01:42,640 good. Not just to kind of reheat 31 00:01:42,640 --> 00:01:46,200 something that I found online from sermons.com or to just 32 00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:48,240 repeat something I heard some other pastor preach. 33 00:01:48,240 --> 00:01:50,920 You say sermons.com, don't go there. 34 00:01:50,920 --> 00:01:52,360 You might hear something you seen before for me. 35 00:01:52,360 --> 00:01:56,040 No, I'm just kidding. But the point is to what feed 36 00:01:56,040 --> 00:01:58,600 the flock of God. This is what we are called to do 37 00:01:58,600 --> 00:02:01,360 the job of a pastor is to prepare meals that are 38 00:02:01,360 --> 00:02:04,960 scripturally nutritious so that the people who are listening and 39 00:02:04,960 --> 00:02:07,960 by the way, also so that the pastor is spoken to while he's 40 00:02:07,960 --> 00:02:10,720 in the study and making sure that I'm not just telling you 41 00:02:10,720 --> 00:02:13,360 thus say it the Lord, but that I'm making sure I'm taking it in 42 00:02:13,560 --> 00:02:16,920 myself. But here in Acts chapter 6, we 43 00:02:16,920 --> 00:02:19,840 have a very interesting situation where there are 44 00:02:19,840 --> 00:02:23,080 literally people that aren't being fed, but it's not in the 45 00:02:23,080 --> 00:02:26,040 traditional way that you may have heard me talk about just a 46 00:02:26,040 --> 00:02:28,520 few moments ago. But there were literally people 47 00:02:28,520 --> 00:02:31,720 in this church at Jerusalem, remember, which exploded 48 00:02:31,720 --> 00:02:33,800 overnight. We've looked at this over the 49 00:02:33,800 --> 00:02:37,400 last several weeks, how countless scores, thousands of 50 00:02:37,400 --> 00:02:39,600 people were getting saved and added to the church at 51 00:02:39,600 --> 00:02:41,880 Jerusalem. It's just natural that there 52 00:02:41,880 --> 00:02:42,960 were going to be some growing pains. 53 00:02:42,960 --> 00:02:45,240 It was just natural that there were going to be some problems. 54 00:02:45,240 --> 00:02:48,480 And there were literally some widows who weren't being fed. 55 00:02:48,480 --> 00:02:50,920 No, no, not talking about being fed from the Word of God. 56 00:02:50,920 --> 00:02:53,920 They weren't being fed physically some food that had 57 00:02:53,920 --> 00:02:56,640 been promised to them by those who were there in the church. 58 00:02:56,920 --> 00:03:01,480 Now, this was in many ways one of the church's first real major 59 00:03:01,480 --> 00:03:03,160 issues. Of course, we've seen Ananias 60 00:03:03,160 --> 00:03:06,800 and Sapphira already in chapter #5 but this is something that 61 00:03:06,800 --> 00:03:09,960 spreads its tentacles farther throughout the church because 62 00:03:10,120 --> 00:03:13,040 there are those who are complaining and murmuring about 63 00:03:13,040 --> 00:03:15,600 this issue. So we find that the apostles 64 00:03:15,800 --> 00:03:19,880 have an answer, and the answer is the biblical office of 65 00:03:19,880 --> 00:03:21,680 Deacon. So perhaps you've heard of 66 00:03:21,680 --> 00:03:25,360 deacons before and this issue of deacons within a Baptist Church. 67 00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:27,440 But what are they? What is their function? 68 00:03:27,440 --> 00:03:30,200 What are they supposed to do? And we're going to look at this 69 00:03:30,200 --> 00:03:33,640 by God's Word tonight, not in through tradition, not through 70 00:03:33,640 --> 00:03:36,560 just what it normally is because we're Baptist. 71 00:03:36,560 --> 00:03:38,560 But what does the Bible say about? 72 00:03:38,560 --> 00:03:40,680 This issue of having biblical deacons. 73 00:03:41,240 --> 00:03:42,960 Would you stand, please, for the reading of God's Word? 74 00:03:43,360 --> 00:03:45,560 Acts chapter 6, beginning in verse #1. 75 00:03:49,240 --> 00:03:51,080 And it says this. And in those days, when the 76 00:03:51,080 --> 00:03:53,680 number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a 77 00:03:53,680 --> 00:03:56,600 murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because 78 00:03:56,600 --> 00:03:59,360 their widows were neglected in the daily ministration. 79 00:03:59,800 --> 00:04:02,240 Then 12 called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and 80 00:04:02,240 --> 00:04:05,600 said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God and 81 00:04:05,600 --> 00:04:08,240 serve tables. Wherefore, brethren, looking out 82 00:04:08,240 --> 00:04:11,920 among you, 7 been of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost, 83 00:04:11,960 --> 00:04:16,120 and wisdom, that whom rather we may appoint over this business, 84 00:04:16,320 --> 00:04:18,680 But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to 85 00:04:18,680 --> 00:04:21,640 the ministry of the Word, and the saying, please the whole 86 00:04:21,640 --> 00:04:23,840 multitude. And they chose Stephen, a man 87 00:04:23,840 --> 00:04:27,680 full of faith, and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Procurus, 88 00:04:27,760 --> 00:04:32,800 and Nycanor, and Timon, and Parmanius, and Nicholas, a 89 00:04:32,800 --> 00:04:37,200 proselyte of Antioch, whom they set before the apostles. 90 00:04:37,200 --> 00:04:40,160 And when they had prayed, they lay their hands on them, and the 91 00:04:40,160 --> 00:04:43,000 Word of God got increased, and the number of the disciples 92 00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:46,280 multiplied in Jerusalem greatly. And a great company of the 93 00:04:46,280 --> 00:04:48,880 priests were obedient to the faith. 94 00:04:48,880 --> 00:04:53,080 You see, there was this opportunity for great dissension 95 00:04:53,200 --> 00:04:55,760 to take place within the church. But because it was handled 96 00:04:55,760 --> 00:04:58,200 biblically, what happens? The church ends up growing even 97 00:04:58,200 --> 00:05:01,080 more and God is glorified. And a lot of that has to do with 98 00:05:01,080 --> 00:05:04,320 this issue of the deacons that were brought to the work. 99 00:05:04,320 --> 00:05:06,560 And we'll look at what that means for us and how it applies 100 00:05:06,560 --> 00:05:08,760 to all of us here this evening. So why don't you be seated and 101 00:05:08,760 --> 00:05:13,520 then let's pray together. Heavenly Father, do thank you 102 00:05:13,520 --> 00:05:15,680 for this night. And I do pray that as we look at 103 00:05:15,680 --> 00:05:19,000 this issue that may seem so remote and far away for so many, 104 00:05:19,320 --> 00:05:21,400 I pray that we would find personal application and what we 105 00:05:21,400 --> 00:05:23,720 see here this evening. Thank you for this biblical 106 00:05:23,720 --> 00:05:25,240 office. Thank you for what it means and 107 00:05:25,240 --> 00:05:28,120 help us to learn how we can serve tables in our own. 108 00:05:28,120 --> 00:05:31,720 Way this evening and we do ask it in Jesus name, Amen. 109 00:05:32,360 --> 00:05:34,240 Well, as we look at our text, first of all, I see this, 110 00:05:34,240 --> 00:05:36,960 there's the people's protest. There was a protest that was 111 00:05:36,960 --> 00:05:40,320 taking place there in chapter 1. In fact, we see a word that 112 00:05:40,320 --> 00:05:42,880 starts with the letter M that we really haven't seen much well 113 00:05:42,920 --> 00:05:45,480 since the Old Testament where we saw it a lot in the Old 114 00:05:45,480 --> 00:05:48,480 Testament, particularly that 40 years of wandering in the 115 00:05:48,480 --> 00:05:50,720 wilderness. And that's the word murmuring. 116 00:05:50,880 --> 00:05:53,880 The church was doing well. In fact, the church was doing so 117 00:05:53,880 --> 00:05:57,280 well, we saw that it was established by Jesus Christ and 118 00:05:57,280 --> 00:06:00,360 the disciples, the explosion that took place on the day of 119 00:06:00,360 --> 00:06:02,600 Pentecost. They were saved, baptized, and 120 00:06:02,760 --> 00:06:04,840 added under the church, meaning the church was already in 121 00:06:04,840 --> 00:06:07,920 existence on the day of Pentecost, but now empowered by 122 00:06:07,920 --> 00:06:10,840 the Holy Spirit, which is now indwelling the believers. 123 00:06:10,840 --> 00:06:12,840 The promise of the Holy Spirit fulfilled. 124 00:06:13,080 --> 00:06:15,720 Then we saw that there was some persecution, but despite 125 00:06:15,720 --> 00:06:18,880 persecution, the church continued to grow. 3000 saved, 126 00:06:18,880 --> 00:06:22,400 5000 saved, multitude saved. The church is growing and 127 00:06:22,400 --> 00:06:25,120 growing and growing. And listen, we would be foolish. 128 00:06:25,160 --> 00:06:28,400 They would be foolish to think that it would grow exponentially 129 00:06:28,400 --> 00:06:31,360 like it is without there being any problems whatsoever because 130 00:06:31,360 --> 00:06:34,840 churches are filled with people and people bring problems. 131 00:06:34,840 --> 00:06:36,880 You say, pastor, who are you talking to? 132 00:06:36,880 --> 00:06:40,400 A bunch of people that have problems and you're talking or 133 00:06:40,400 --> 00:06:43,400 you're looking at a pastor who also has problems, Right. 134 00:06:43,400 --> 00:06:46,080 Because we're people and we're not perfect until we get to 135 00:06:46,080 --> 00:06:47,720 glory. And so here there are, there's 136 00:06:47,720 --> 00:06:50,560 murmuring that takes place. Well, what is this murmuring? 137 00:06:50,560 --> 00:06:54,960 It says, was murmuring was of the Grecians against the Hebrews 138 00:06:55,200 --> 00:06:58,120 because their widows were neglected in the daily 139 00:06:58,280 --> 00:07:00,720 ministration. And so the Grecians and the 140 00:07:00,720 --> 00:07:03,480 Hebrews were not necessarily, I believe, different ethnic 141 00:07:03,480 --> 00:07:06,960 groups, but it's very likely that they were different Jews 142 00:07:07,200 --> 00:07:09,640 that spoke different languages. And I believe you could probably 143 00:07:09,640 --> 00:07:11,840 go back to Acts chapter 2. Remember when the Speaking of 144 00:07:11,840 --> 00:07:15,560 tongues took place and all of those people came to Jerusalem 145 00:07:15,720 --> 00:07:18,960 and heard in their own tongues Jews from all over the known 146 00:07:18,960 --> 00:07:21,600 world who came for that feast at the day of Pentecost? 147 00:07:21,760 --> 00:07:24,840 Well, some of those would have been naturally incorporated into 148 00:07:24,840 --> 00:07:27,600 the church, particularly if they had lived in Jerusalem or if 149 00:07:27,600 --> 00:07:30,360 they stayed in Jerusalem after the day of Pentecost. 150 00:07:30,520 --> 00:07:32,520 And so it says that there were some widows there of the 151 00:07:32,520 --> 00:07:35,120 Grecians and there were some windows of the Hebrews, and 152 00:07:35,120 --> 00:07:37,680 there was a daily administration that was taking place. 153 00:07:37,880 --> 00:07:40,320 Well, what is this daily administration? 154 00:07:40,320 --> 00:07:43,520 It was the fact that the church had taken upon themselves to 155 00:07:43,520 --> 00:07:47,120 take care of the real widows in the church, by the way, far 156 00:07:47,120 --> 00:07:50,400 before the government ever took care of those who were in need. 157 00:07:50,400 --> 00:07:53,200 It was the job of the Church to take care of those who are in 158 00:07:53,200 --> 00:07:54,440 need. The only reason the government 159 00:07:54,440 --> 00:07:58,000 has got its tentacles into all of these different programs over 160 00:07:58,000 --> 00:08:00,640 the years to take care of people is because the church stopped 161 00:08:00,640 --> 00:08:03,480 doing the job that it was supposed to to do many years 162 00:08:03,480 --> 00:08:04,840 ago. That's not popular, and you may 163 00:08:04,840 --> 00:08:07,280 not like that, but I believe that that's just the way it is 164 00:08:07,280 --> 00:08:10,640 that God has tasked us to take care of those particularly who 165 00:08:10,640 --> 00:08:12,960 are within the body. And it talks particularly about 166 00:08:12,960 --> 00:08:16,560 those who were the widows. This is a real problem here, 167 00:08:16,720 --> 00:08:18,960 that there are those who are supposed to be taken care of 168 00:08:18,960 --> 00:08:22,720 every day and somehow because there's only 12 apostles and 169 00:08:22,720 --> 00:08:24,960 there's all these widows, we don't know how many of them, but 170 00:08:24,960 --> 00:08:27,320 the church is numbering probably over 10,000. 171 00:08:27,520 --> 00:08:30,120 There's got to be a whole lot of widows, and there's only so many 172 00:08:30,120 --> 00:08:31,800 apostles. So what happens? 173 00:08:32,039 --> 00:08:34,320 Women are not getting what they need. 174 00:08:34,520 --> 00:08:36,760 They're being promised food. These widows are, and they're 175 00:08:36,760 --> 00:08:39,000 not receiving it. And so because of it, there's 176 00:08:39,000 --> 00:08:41,840 murmuring It very, very well be that some are saying, well, 177 00:08:42,039 --> 00:08:44,720 perhaps they're taking care of the ones who are the Hebrews, 178 00:08:44,720 --> 00:08:47,240 but they're not taking care of the ones as much who are 179 00:08:47,240 --> 00:08:49,760 speaking the different languages as people being people. 180 00:08:49,760 --> 00:08:52,720 There could have been even some of that complaining took place. 181 00:08:52,960 --> 00:08:57,840 There was a real possibility of dissension causing the church to 182 00:08:57,840 --> 00:09:00,080 fracture here in this very early moment. 183 00:09:00,520 --> 00:09:03,760 And by the way, churches should take care of those who are the 184 00:09:03,760 --> 00:09:05,280 widows. In fact, the Bible calls it in 185 00:09:05,280 --> 00:09:09,200 First Timothy 5, three honor widows that are widows indeed, 186 00:09:09,240 --> 00:09:12,640 meaning this widows who have no children to take care of them. 187 00:09:12,640 --> 00:09:15,520 They have no other family to take care of them, that it's the 188 00:09:15,520 --> 00:09:17,520 job of the church to take care of them. 189 00:09:17,680 --> 00:09:21,080 First Timothy chapter 5 in general gives much guidance for 190 00:09:21,080 --> 00:09:24,400 how the church is to take care of widows that the ages the 191 00:09:24,400 --> 00:09:29,160 family what is needed that gives given by Paul to Timothy so that 192 00:09:29,160 --> 00:09:32,680 as he is administrating his young church that he's able to 193 00:09:32,800 --> 00:09:34,600 care for those widows in the right way. 194 00:09:34,840 --> 00:09:38,840 James chapter one verse 27 pure religion and undefiled before 195 00:09:38,840 --> 00:09:42,280 God and the Father is this pure religion meaning this there is a 196 00:09:42,280 --> 00:09:44,960 good religion. We don't often think about that 197 00:09:44,960 --> 00:09:47,160 because our connotation of religion is bad, isn't it? 198 00:09:47,320 --> 00:09:50,720 It often is because we think of religion from a very high 199 00:09:50,720 --> 00:09:52,360 church, from a very Catholic sense. 200 00:09:52,360 --> 00:09:55,600 We think of religion as well many times leading people 201 00:09:55,600 --> 00:09:58,920 straight to hell, don't we? There is a pure religion that's 202 00:09:58,920 --> 00:10:01,520 out there, and I know that because it says it in God's 203 00:10:01,520 --> 00:10:03,720 Word. But listen to what it is, pure 204 00:10:03,720 --> 00:10:07,120 religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this to 205 00:10:07,200 --> 00:10:11,400 visit the fatherless and the widows in their affliction and 206 00:10:11,400 --> 00:10:13,480 to keep himself unspotted from the world. 207 00:10:13,760 --> 00:10:16,040 We've had the opportunity over the years to be able to win, to 208 00:10:16,800 --> 00:10:19,200 winister, to minister, to many widows. 209 00:10:19,200 --> 00:10:21,000 There it is. I was kind of trying to get the 210 00:10:21,080 --> 00:10:23,880 words out a little bit quicker than I needed to, to minister to 211 00:10:23,920 --> 00:10:27,120 several widows over the years. The very first two women that 212 00:10:27,120 --> 00:10:29,920 walked into Liberty Baptist Church were two widow ladies 213 00:10:29,920 --> 00:10:33,520 that we had met here in town and when we were at Parkview School 214 00:10:33,680 --> 00:10:37,040 and I was standing at that front door just praying that somebody 215 00:10:37,040 --> 00:10:39,920 would walk through the door. Jim was one of them, thank the 216 00:10:39,920 --> 00:10:41,600 Lord. But as we were just standing 217 00:10:41,600 --> 00:10:44,600 there praying that someone would show up, there are two widow 218 00:10:44,600 --> 00:10:47,160 ladies that my wife went to go pick up and listen. 219 00:10:47,280 --> 00:10:49,680 If someone had said they lived in Connecticut and they needed 220 00:10:49,760 --> 00:10:51,160 to ride to church, we would have picked him up. 221 00:10:51,160 --> 00:10:54,160 You know, the first Sunday we'll get whoever we need to in here, 222 00:10:54,160 --> 00:10:55,720 you know. But there are two little ladies 223 00:10:55,720 --> 00:10:58,400 that lived on Lincoln St. Dorothy and Joyce. 224 00:10:58,680 --> 00:11:01,840 And it was such a joy to be able to have them in the church for 225 00:11:01,840 --> 00:11:05,600 the first couple years before each of them moved, one to Ohio 226 00:11:05,600 --> 00:11:08,400 and the other to Connecticut. But, you know, we took it upon 227 00:11:08,400 --> 00:11:11,400 ourselves as a very young church to make sure their needs were 228 00:11:11,400 --> 00:11:13,760 met if there was a snowstorm, to make sure that they were 229 00:11:13,760 --> 00:11:15,680 shoveled out. But to make sure that if there 230 00:11:15,680 --> 00:11:18,040 was any type of physical needs or if there's any type of 231 00:11:18,200 --> 00:11:20,480 financial needs, that we wanted to be able to be a help and a 232 00:11:20,480 --> 00:11:23,400 blessing as we could. Because in those cases, there 233 00:11:23,400 --> 00:11:26,360 wasn't really a child that was close by that was able to help 234 00:11:26,360 --> 00:11:27,840 them. And So what do we want to do? 235 00:11:27,840 --> 00:11:29,920 We want to help those who were widows in deep. 236 00:11:30,320 --> 00:11:32,040 This lady wasn't a member of our church. 237 00:11:32,040 --> 00:11:34,800 But a few years ago there was a lady named Karen Peters. 238 00:11:34,800 --> 00:11:37,600 And some of you remember Misses Peters and what a sweet lady 239 00:11:37,600 --> 00:11:40,760 that she was. And she is but has moved away 240 00:11:40,760 --> 00:11:43,440 over the last few years. Her husband was a pastor in 241 00:11:43,440 --> 00:11:45,680 Weymouth. He passed away and it just so 242 00:11:45,680 --> 00:11:48,960 happened that even though he passed in Weymouth, they lived 243 00:11:49,040 --> 00:11:53,040 across the street just a block away from where we were. 244 00:11:53,520 --> 00:11:56,520 And we knew that there were some needs that she had and we raised 245 00:11:56,520 --> 00:11:58,360 money to be able to help her with those needs. 246 00:11:58,360 --> 00:12:01,000 And we helped her with moving and we helped her with expenses 247 00:12:01,000 --> 00:12:03,280 and we helped her with different things. 248 00:12:03,280 --> 00:12:05,360 Why? Because this is what God tells 249 00:12:05,360 --> 00:12:09,400 the church to do to help those who have very little ability to 250 00:12:09,400 --> 00:12:12,480 be able to help themselves. And a widow lady who has no 251 00:12:12,480 --> 00:12:14,880 children to be able to help or no children that are at least 252 00:12:14,880 --> 00:12:17,040 close by. Listen, the church needs to be 253 00:12:17,040 --> 00:12:19,920 able to do what they can to be able to help in those 254 00:12:19,920 --> 00:12:22,000 situations. And you can go all the way back 255 00:12:22,000 --> 00:12:25,120 to the Old Testament. God put in provisions to make 256 00:12:25,120 --> 00:12:31,600 sure that the widows and the the orphans and those who were not 257 00:12:31,600 --> 00:12:34,680 able to take care of themselves were taken care of, and they 258 00:12:34,680 --> 00:12:36,560 were taken care of by other people. 259 00:12:36,880 --> 00:12:39,560 What did you do? Well, you weren't to oppress the 260 00:12:39,560 --> 00:12:42,200 widow. Exodus chapter 22 You shall not 261 00:12:42,200 --> 00:12:44,240 afflict any widow or fatherless child. 262 00:12:44,400 --> 00:12:47,360 If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto 263 00:12:47,360 --> 00:12:50,680 me, I will surely hear their cry that you were not to take 264 00:12:50,680 --> 00:12:54,560 advantage of a widow. Deuteronomy 2417 That you should 265 00:12:54,560 --> 00:12:57,760 not pervert the justice or the judgement of the stranger, nor 266 00:12:57,760 --> 00:13:00,160 the fatherless, nor the widow's raiment to pledge. 267 00:13:00,760 --> 00:13:03,360 You can go to Deuteronomy chapter 24 verse 19. 268 00:13:03,520 --> 00:13:06,560 And I just read this this morning, Leviticus 19 verse 10, 269 00:13:06,560 --> 00:13:09,280 where it talked about when someone was a widow that they 270 00:13:09,280 --> 00:13:11,760 could go out into the fields that have been gleaned, and the 271 00:13:11,760 --> 00:13:16,240 corners were to remain ungleaned so that the widow could pick 272 00:13:16,240 --> 00:13:19,160 from those. Or if anything had fallen on the 273 00:13:19,160 --> 00:13:22,280 ground, that whoever was gleaning was not to pick up any 274 00:13:22,280 --> 00:13:24,920 of the grain that fell on the ground, that those who were poor 275 00:13:24,920 --> 00:13:28,160 or those who were the widows could go and pick up that grain. 276 00:13:28,240 --> 00:13:30,800 And that's where we find that beautiful picture in the book of 277 00:13:30,960 --> 00:13:35,320 Ruth, where Ruth went out into the field of Boaz because she 278 00:13:35,320 --> 00:13:37,560 was a widow, just like Naomi was a widow. 279 00:13:37,800 --> 00:13:41,520 And she was granted rights by the law of God to go into the 280 00:13:41,520 --> 00:13:44,080 field and to be able to glean that which was there. 281 00:13:44,280 --> 00:13:47,000 God had made provision. That was true in the Old 282 00:13:47,000 --> 00:13:48,960 Testament. It's true in the New Testament, 283 00:13:49,080 --> 00:13:52,160 and that's true today. Those who are widows are those 284 00:13:52,160 --> 00:13:54,120 that we are to help take care of. 285 00:13:54,120 --> 00:13:57,600 And so we find that there was the people's protest in verse #1 286 00:13:57,880 --> 00:14:01,840 which meant that their disciples had a problem #2 the disciples 287 00:14:02,000 --> 00:14:04,600 had a problem. What was the problem? 288 00:14:04,600 --> 00:14:06,960 Well, look at verse #2 it says this. 289 00:14:07,160 --> 00:14:10,520 It says then the 12 called the multitude of the disciples unto 290 00:14:10,520 --> 00:14:14,480 them and said, it is not reason that we should leave the word of 291 00:14:14,480 --> 00:14:18,040 God and serve tables. Now here's what they're saying. 292 00:14:18,160 --> 00:14:21,240 He's not saying the OR. They rather are not saying the 293 00:14:21,240 --> 00:14:24,200 apostles that the needs of the widows are unimportant. 294 00:14:24,760 --> 00:14:27,720 They are not saying that the needs of these women are 295 00:14:27,720 --> 00:14:30,400 something that they are exaggerating or it's just within 296 00:14:30,400 --> 00:14:32,400 their own mind. They're not saying that at all, 297 00:14:32,600 --> 00:14:35,040 but they're saying this. These 12 apostles who are trying 298 00:14:35,040 --> 00:14:39,520 to minister to likely 10,000 people are saying this. 299 00:14:40,160 --> 00:14:44,520 We can't do this. We don't know how to be able to 300 00:14:44,520 --> 00:14:46,320 handle this ourselves. Why? 301 00:14:46,640 --> 00:14:50,320 Because God had laid a very special and holy calling upon 302 00:14:50,320 --> 00:14:53,160 their lives. They couldn't serve tables. 303 00:14:53,320 --> 00:14:56,040 By the way, we're going to see that the word, the Greek word 304 00:14:56,080 --> 00:14:58,800 diakonos literally means table server. 305 00:14:59,080 --> 00:15:02,360 The idea of a Deacon is someone who serves tables. 306 00:15:02,360 --> 00:15:04,280 They are a servant. They're not a leader in the 307 00:15:04,280 --> 00:15:06,400 sense of well, it's a I'm a board member. 308 00:15:06,400 --> 00:15:08,880 Well, before you were ever a quote, UN quote board member, 309 00:15:08,920 --> 00:15:11,480 you're a servant. That's what you were called to 310 00:15:11,480 --> 00:15:13,520 do. But the disciples said this. 311 00:15:13,800 --> 00:15:16,240 We can't go around and do this ourselves. 312 00:15:16,360 --> 00:15:18,160 We're drowning. We can't do it. 313 00:15:18,320 --> 00:15:20,960 We, we know that these women need to get taken care of, but 314 00:15:20,960 --> 00:15:22,960 we can't do it now. Why couldn't they do it? 315 00:15:22,960 --> 00:15:26,040 Look at verse #4 it says. But we will give ourselves 316 00:15:26,040 --> 00:15:29,080 continually to prayer and to the ministry of the Word. 317 00:15:29,720 --> 00:15:33,720 It is the job of a pastor. It is the job of a leader of a 318 00:15:33,720 --> 00:15:37,520 flock, first and foremost to make sure that, as it says and 319 00:15:37,520 --> 00:15:40,440 first Peter, that we are feeding the flock of God. 320 00:15:40,840 --> 00:15:43,800 My first job before I do anything else for you, before 321 00:15:43,800 --> 00:15:47,560 the bulletins get done, before social media gets taken care of, 322 00:15:47,760 --> 00:15:50,840 before the books are balanced, or whatever the issues may be. 323 00:15:50,960 --> 00:15:53,120 My first and foremost job is this. 324 00:15:53,320 --> 00:15:56,320 I have to preach the Word of God and I have to make sure that I 325 00:15:56,320 --> 00:15:57,720 rightly divide the word of truth. 326 00:15:57,720 --> 00:16:00,800 Not that I just again, find something online and just kind 327 00:16:00,800 --> 00:16:03,840 of Polish it up and give it to you or or not that I'm just 328 00:16:03,840 --> 00:16:07,120 trying to to be able to throw something together at the last 329 00:16:07,120 --> 00:16:11,240 minute, But that God has called me to feed the flock of God. 330 00:16:11,440 --> 00:16:14,120 And that means that sometimes there has to be some adjustments 331 00:16:14,320 --> 00:16:16,560 to the way things are accomplished because there are 332 00:16:16,560 --> 00:16:20,080 certain things I cannot do because my job first and 333 00:16:20,080 --> 00:16:21,920 foremost is to be able to preach the word. 334 00:16:22,080 --> 00:16:23,720 Now again, I mentioned this before. 335 00:16:23,720 --> 00:16:25,800 That doesn't mean that I don't do other things. 336 00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:28,640 There's administrative work that a pastor has to do. 337 00:16:29,200 --> 00:16:31,960 There are some things that a pastor, I wish I could tell you 338 00:16:31,960 --> 00:16:35,800 that I just sit in my office for 40 hours a week and just prepare 339 00:16:35,800 --> 00:16:37,360 sermons. I mean, I can't imagine. 340 00:16:37,760 --> 00:16:39,400 How glorious in some ways, that would be. 341 00:16:39,400 --> 00:16:41,560 It'd also be pretty lonely, if I think about it, to sit in the 342 00:16:41,560 --> 00:16:45,000 office for 40 hours a week. But I need to be visiting people 343 00:16:45,400 --> 00:16:48,280 and I'd be around people and to be finding new people and 344 00:16:48,280 --> 00:16:49,960 sharing the gospel with those new people. 345 00:16:49,960 --> 00:16:51,560 These are all things that need to be done. 346 00:16:51,760 --> 00:16:54,000 But there are some things where it just gets to the point, well, 347 00:16:54,320 --> 00:16:57,360 I can't do it all now. I'll say from the heart of a 348 00:16:57,360 --> 00:17:02,080 pastor tonight, I, I want to and I desire to, and I hope that you 349 00:17:02,080 --> 00:17:06,040 know that that I work hard and I work hard for you as a pastor. 350 00:17:06,520 --> 00:17:09,800 I know many of you, almost all of you, depending on your 351 00:17:09,800 --> 00:17:12,960 situation of life, are working and you're working 40 hours a 352 00:17:12,960 --> 00:17:16,400 week and sometimes more just trying to keep food on the table 353 00:17:16,400 --> 00:17:19,599 and doing what you need to do. I want you to know that your 354 00:17:19,599 --> 00:17:22,640 pastor is laboring as well, that your pastor is not just sitting 355 00:17:22,640 --> 00:17:25,119 around the church office spinning in his chair all day, 356 00:17:25,800 --> 00:17:27,920 you know, with a beanie on his head, you know, spinning that 357 00:17:27,920 --> 00:17:30,400 around too. And does, hey, man, it is great 358 00:17:30,400 --> 00:17:33,120 to work one day a week. And listen, they'll pay me for a 359 00:17:33,120 --> 00:17:34,640 whole week. Isn't this great? 360 00:17:35,640 --> 00:17:39,080 It doesn't work like that. I want you to know that I want 361 00:17:39,080 --> 00:17:42,360 to work and I want to work hard, and I do work hard, but my first 362 00:17:42,360 --> 00:17:46,440 and foremost laboring is this. I've got to be in the word and 363 00:17:46,440 --> 00:17:50,760 have got to be in prayer because churches can fall apart because 364 00:17:50,760 --> 00:17:52,480 of administration. Sure, it's true. 365 00:17:52,600 --> 00:17:55,760 But they fall apart more because the word of God is not preached, 366 00:17:55,960 --> 00:17:58,880 or the word of God is not defended, or the word of God is 367 00:17:58,880 --> 00:18:01,280 not rightly divided. And the apostles say this. 368 00:18:01,280 --> 00:18:04,400 Listen, the widows are important, but we can't do it 369 00:18:04,400 --> 00:18:06,400 all because we've got a job to do. 370 00:18:06,920 --> 00:18:09,560 And so there's a need that's to take place. 371 00:18:10,280 --> 00:18:14,240 And so they call this business meeting and they explain to the 372 00:18:14,240 --> 00:18:18,720 people, this is what our job is. We can't serve tables the way 373 00:18:18,720 --> 00:18:21,600 that we want to. We have to give ourselves 374 00:18:21,600 --> 00:18:24,080 continually by the way, that we're continually meaning this. 375 00:18:24,360 --> 00:18:27,200 Just every day on and on, more and more. 376 00:18:27,440 --> 00:18:30,080 You know what happens tomorrow, You think may tomorrow's Monday, 377 00:18:30,080 --> 00:18:32,800 Pastor, it must be good because you don't have to worry about 378 00:18:32,800 --> 00:18:34,360 preaching. You know, you preached 2 379 00:18:34,360 --> 00:18:37,040 messages, 3 messages on Sunday. You don't have to think about 380 00:18:37,040 --> 00:18:37,640 it. Guess what? 381 00:18:37,960 --> 00:18:40,400 Sunday's always coming. You know, it's happened on 382 00:18:40,400 --> 00:18:41,800 Monday. Another Sunday is coming up 383 00:18:41,800 --> 00:18:43,360 Wednesday before that. Amen. 384 00:18:43,560 --> 00:18:45,040 And so there's always something coming. 385 00:18:45,440 --> 00:18:47,960 And so they say, listen, we've got to continually give 386 00:18:47,960 --> 00:18:50,760 ourselves to this. So what do we need to do? 387 00:18:50,960 --> 00:18:55,040 Well, we need to make sure that there are others who are able to 388 00:18:55,040 --> 00:18:58,760 help and they say it is not reason that we should leave the 389 00:18:58,760 --> 00:19:03,120 Word of God and serve tables. Again, that word talking about 390 00:19:03,320 --> 00:19:07,240 serving tables, that word for administration in verse #1 391 00:19:07,280 --> 00:19:11,120 diaconos meaning this. This is where we get the term 392 00:19:11,120 --> 00:19:14,840 for Deacon. And the term for Deacon is 393 00:19:14,840 --> 00:19:16,680 something that is so vitally important. 394 00:19:17,080 --> 00:19:19,000 A Deacon is important in many churches. 395 00:19:19,000 --> 00:19:22,160 Now, before we get too far down the road here this evening, you 396 00:19:22,160 --> 00:19:24,560 say, well, pastor, who are deacons at Liberty Baptist 397 00:19:24,560 --> 00:19:25,480 Church? And the answer is, well, 398 00:19:25,480 --> 00:19:28,440 currently we have no deacons and we have not had deacons at 399 00:19:28,440 --> 00:19:30,720 Liberty Baptist Church over the years that we're here. 400 00:19:30,720 --> 00:19:33,200 We have trustees who handle financial matters. 401 00:19:33,200 --> 00:19:36,080 And of course, legally we have to have trustees here at the 402 00:19:36,080 --> 00:19:37,520 church. And I'm thankful for the 403 00:19:37,520 --> 00:19:38,960 trustees we've had over the years. 404 00:19:38,960 --> 00:19:41,480 And we have several men who are here tonight who have served 405 00:19:41,480 --> 00:19:43,920 faithfully as trustee here at Liberty Baptist Church. 406 00:19:43,920 --> 00:19:46,960 And I'm so thankful for them to help provide guidance and 407 00:19:46,960 --> 00:19:50,400 oversight to the finances so that when you give, you know 408 00:19:50,400 --> 00:19:53,200 that every penny of every dollar is accounted for. 409 00:19:53,200 --> 00:19:55,480 And to make sure that what we say we're going to spend money 410 00:19:55,480 --> 00:19:57,960 on is where it's spent. I'm so thankful for that. 411 00:19:58,240 --> 00:20:00,880 But we've not had the ability and we've not had really the 412 00:20:00,880 --> 00:20:03,560 need to this point to have biblical deacons. 413 00:20:03,560 --> 00:20:05,720 But I will say this, the church grows. 414 00:20:05,720 --> 00:20:08,560 The time's coming. As the church grows, it's 415 00:20:08,560 --> 00:20:11,520 important for us to at least understand who they are, and 416 00:20:11,520 --> 00:20:14,160 it's at least important for us to understand what their true 417 00:20:14,160 --> 00:20:17,000 ministry is. And in many ways, the deacons 418 00:20:17,040 --> 00:20:21,520 are to do the things that the pastor would do if he had the 419 00:20:21,520 --> 00:20:25,240 time but can't because he's continually giving himself to 420 00:20:25,240 --> 00:20:28,120 the Word and to prayer. That's the primary job of a 421 00:20:28,120 --> 00:20:30,120 Deacon. It's not about being on a board. 422 00:20:30,280 --> 00:20:33,920 It's not about having leadership over a pastor. 423 00:20:33,920 --> 00:20:36,320 The Bible doesn't teach that. But you do see that there are 424 00:20:36,320 --> 00:20:38,720 many churches where the Deacon board is the one who tells the 425 00:20:38,720 --> 00:20:40,920 church and tells the pastor what to do. 426 00:20:40,920 --> 00:20:42,760 You know, we don't see that in the Word of God. 427 00:20:42,760 --> 00:20:45,600 What do we see? This is someone that is helping 428 00:20:45,880 --> 00:20:49,720 do the things that the pastor is not able to do because he is 429 00:20:49,720 --> 00:20:52,160 busy preaching the Word and busy in prayer. 430 00:20:53,160 --> 00:20:55,760 I've told you before that I worked at Gordon's Jewelers and 431 00:20:55,760 --> 00:20:57,640 Kay's Jewelers in college. Of course, I mentioned 432 00:20:57,640 --> 00:20:59,560 build-a-bear, but I want to talk too much about that. 433 00:20:59,800 --> 00:21:04,560 But at Kay Jewelers, I moved up the ladder there enough and 434 00:21:04,560 --> 00:21:07,520 there was probably only 10 people that were there working 435 00:21:07,520 --> 00:21:10,560 in that store. But over time, even though they 436 00:21:10,560 --> 00:21:13,800 knew I wasn't going to be there very long, they made me a third 437 00:21:13,800 --> 00:21:15,960 key manager. And I told you that meant I got 438 00:21:15,960 --> 00:21:17,960 all the responsibilities of being a manager without getting 439 00:21:17,960 --> 00:21:20,400 an increase in pay. So I'll tell you they they saw 440 00:21:20,400 --> 00:21:23,040 me coming from a mile away because I was 21 years old. 441 00:21:23,040 --> 00:21:25,280 I thought I'm a manager. They said you are a manager 442 00:21:25,520 --> 00:21:27,000 getting paid like everybody else. 443 00:21:27,000 --> 00:21:30,600 And so that was the best of both worlds for Kay Jewelers. 444 00:21:30,600 --> 00:21:33,200 All right. But what I had been as a manager 445 00:21:33,200 --> 00:21:36,560 basically was this. I was doing the things that the 446 00:21:36,600 --> 00:21:40,760 owner could not do. I was doing the things that the 447 00:21:41,080 --> 00:21:44,400 higher ups could not do. I was acting in their place. 448 00:21:44,400 --> 00:21:47,160 It was not for me to say, well, hey, what do you want that ring 449 00:21:47,160 --> 00:21:48,560 to be? Hey, tell me a price and I'll 450 00:21:48,560 --> 00:21:50,360 give it to you. No, that was said already. 451 00:21:50,720 --> 00:21:53,520 The price was set. I just had to sell it on behalf 452 00:21:53,520 --> 00:21:56,480 of the one who was above me. Oh, you know, hey, let's change 453 00:21:56,480 --> 00:21:58,160 the hours of the store. You know, I'm not supposed to be 454 00:21:58,160 --> 00:22:00,280 open from 10:00 to 8:00. But, you know, I think, you 455 00:22:00,280 --> 00:22:02,760 know, why don't we open at noon and then close at 5:00? 456 00:22:02,760 --> 00:22:04,760 Because it's really been, you know, kind of quiet around here. 457 00:22:04,920 --> 00:22:07,440 No, I couldn't do that. I was just doing that which I 458 00:22:07,440 --> 00:22:10,800 was told by those above me. And so we can almost look at it 459 00:22:10,800 --> 00:22:14,640 this way, that as a pastor, I cannot act independently. 460 00:22:14,640 --> 00:22:18,680 Say, what do you mean? I cannot act outside of that 461 00:22:18,680 --> 00:22:20,880 which God has delineated. In his word. 462 00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:24,800 I don't have authority that is apart from the word of God. 463 00:22:25,480 --> 00:22:29,560 But yet the Deacon is also in that line where we have the Lord 464 00:22:29,560 --> 00:22:32,960 who, who is the founder of the church, who is the head of the 465 00:22:32,960 --> 00:22:35,360 church. But we see Jesus Christ and then 466 00:22:35,360 --> 00:22:39,600 we see the pastor as the physical leader in the church, 467 00:22:39,600 --> 00:22:42,800 but not in the place of Christ because only Christ is the 468 00:22:42,800 --> 00:22:44,160 shepherd. He's the chief shepherd. 469 00:22:44,160 --> 00:22:46,320 I'm the under shepherd. But then what do we see? 470 00:22:46,600 --> 00:22:49,800 That the deacons are those who stand in the place of the pastor 471 00:22:50,080 --> 00:22:53,040 and do the things that the pastor could not do because he's 472 00:22:53,040 --> 00:22:57,640 busy with the prayers of the Saints and busy in the ministry. 473 00:22:57,640 --> 00:23:01,080 Of the Word of God. So these deacons were vital in 474 00:23:01,080 --> 00:23:03,480 this situation. So we see there's a protest, 475 00:23:03,480 --> 00:23:05,760 there's a problem. But then the people had a quest 476 00:23:05,760 --> 00:23:08,200 #3 this is this, the quest was this. 477 00:23:08,200 --> 00:23:13,440 We got to find some, some people that will fulfill this ministry. 478 00:23:13,840 --> 00:23:16,440 And look at what it says here in verse #3 they weren't just 479 00:23:16,440 --> 00:23:19,360 picking people out of a crowd. Eenie meenie miney Moe. 480 00:23:19,360 --> 00:23:22,720 All right, you and you and you, yeah, we don't know your name, 481 00:23:22,720 --> 00:23:24,640 but you, you know, we like the looks of you. 482 00:23:25,080 --> 00:23:27,240 You get up here and we're going to make you the new deacons. 483 00:23:27,240 --> 00:23:30,680 Nope. They had this leadership from 484 00:23:30,680 --> 00:23:33,360 the Lord, and they said this. Wherefore, brethren, look ye out 485 00:23:33,360 --> 00:23:34,720 among you. Meaning this. 486 00:23:35,000 --> 00:23:36,560 The church had to recognize this. 487 00:23:37,360 --> 00:23:40,760 This was not just the pastor identifying it, by the way. 488 00:23:40,800 --> 00:23:43,560 That's why we would have a vote and we had votes on trustees, 489 00:23:43,800 --> 00:23:47,440 because we have to make sure that the church recognizes that 490 00:23:47,440 --> 00:23:52,080 this person has these qualifications, that ye may look 491 00:23:52,080 --> 00:23:57,280 out among you 7 men of honest report full of the Holy Ghost 492 00:23:57,480 --> 00:24:01,280 and wisdom whom we may appoint over this business. 493 00:24:01,480 --> 00:24:03,760 And we'll look more at that in a second and what those 494 00:24:03,760 --> 00:24:06,000 qualifications mean. But there was a quest. 495 00:24:06,000 --> 00:24:07,720 They couldn't just pick any everybody. 496 00:24:07,880 --> 00:24:11,320 There were some that had specific things that were 497 00:24:11,320 --> 00:24:14,560 qualifications for them. And in verse #5 it says that 498 00:24:14,560 --> 00:24:16,160 that pleased everybody. And that's what they did. 499 00:24:16,160 --> 00:24:18,440 And they chose several. And some of them you may be 500 00:24:18,440 --> 00:24:21,360 familiar with. Stephen was a man full of faith 501 00:24:21,360 --> 00:24:23,640 in the Holy Ghost. By the way, this Deacon was a 502 00:24:23,640 --> 00:24:26,080 preacher because he's going to preach. 503 00:24:26,520 --> 00:24:29,840 And Stephen's going to be the first martyr because he's going 504 00:24:29,840 --> 00:24:33,200 to preach with such authority that the Pharisees aren't going 505 00:24:33,200 --> 00:24:36,720 to be able to take it. And we find that even when the 506 00:24:36,720 --> 00:24:41,160 rocks were raining upon him as they stone him, the Bible says 507 00:24:41,160 --> 00:24:45,320 that his countenance was like that of an Angel, and that he 508 00:24:45,320 --> 00:24:48,640 died in a way. That was honoring and glorifying 509 00:24:48,640 --> 00:24:51,960 to God and even says that he looked up and it saw that 510 00:24:51,960 --> 00:24:55,280 heavens pardon, He saw Jesus Christ standing on the right 511 00:24:55,280 --> 00:24:57,520 hand of God. By the way, the only time we see 512 00:24:57,520 --> 00:25:00,720 Jesus standing on the right hand of God, typically he's seated. 513 00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:04,320 And it was almost as if Jesus Christ was standing up to give 514 00:25:04,320 --> 00:25:07,400 him, if we could, a standing ovation or to welcome him to 515 00:25:07,400 --> 00:25:10,000 heaven. That that great sign of respect. 516 00:25:10,080 --> 00:25:11,600 We don't see it anywhere else in the Bible. 517 00:25:11,600 --> 00:25:14,360 It's absolutely incredible. And Philip, the one who preached 518 00:25:14,360 --> 00:25:17,760 to the Ethiopian eunuch and the one who preached to those who 519 00:25:18,600 --> 00:25:22,800 were of Samaria, that these weren't just men who were, were, 520 00:25:22,800 --> 00:25:26,200 were pencil pushers or men who were going to sit in a meeting 521 00:25:26,200 --> 00:25:28,480 once a month. And one takes the minutes and, 522 00:25:28,480 --> 00:25:30,920 you know, they talk about some complaints and they talk about 523 00:25:30,920 --> 00:25:33,720 some good things and make sure, you know, everything's in order 524 00:25:33,720 --> 00:25:36,360 and they call it a day. You know, these were men who 525 00:25:36,360 --> 00:25:41,000 were purposeful about ministry, and they had to find them as a 526 00:25:41,000 --> 00:25:43,720 church, and the church had to identify them. 527 00:25:43,920 --> 00:25:46,200 They had to know. And it says that when they were 528 00:25:46,200 --> 00:25:50,320 chosen in verse #6 when they set them before the apostles, when 529 00:25:50,320 --> 00:25:52,440 they had prayed, they laid their hands upon them. 530 00:25:52,440 --> 00:25:56,160 Now this laying of hands does not mean that any type of 531 00:25:56,160 --> 00:25:59,680 special power was laid upon them, but it does mean that 532 00:25:59,680 --> 00:26:02,440 there was a sign of authority that was given to them. 533 00:26:02,440 --> 00:26:04,560 Meaning this. The apostle said this. 534 00:26:04,800 --> 00:26:08,560 You are now acting in authority of the Church of Jerusalem. 535 00:26:09,080 --> 00:26:13,000 You are now acting in authority as the agents, as the deacons 536 00:26:13,000 --> 00:26:16,560 here in the Church of Jerusalem. And we want everyone else to 537 00:26:16,560 --> 00:26:18,880 recognize the authority that you have. 538 00:26:19,080 --> 00:26:22,680 By the way, that's why it says in First Timothy 522 lay hands 539 00:26:22,680 --> 00:26:26,840 on no man suddenly meaning this, that when it comes to pastoral 540 00:26:26,840 --> 00:26:29,840 ministry or even when it comes to the ministry of a Deacon, 541 00:26:30,160 --> 00:26:34,480 that you don't just give that. Authority to somebody, quickly 542 00:26:34,840 --> 00:26:38,080 or hastily, that there has to be some real thought. 543 00:26:38,880 --> 00:26:40,400 There has to be some real prayer. 544 00:26:40,600 --> 00:26:42,360 In fact, one of the qualifications of a pastor is 545 00:26:42,360 --> 00:26:45,880 this, not a novice. Listen, I'm not saying a 22 year 546 00:26:45,880 --> 00:26:49,360 old can't be a pastor. In fact, my best friend David 547 00:26:49,360 --> 00:26:53,000 Corley is about to celebrate his 20th year of ministry and not 20 548 00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:56,800 years like me at two different churches, 20 years pastoring the 549 00:26:56,800 --> 00:27:00,560 same church. But he's an exceptional soul in 550 00:27:00,560 --> 00:27:02,960 so many ways. I can tell you stories of 551 00:27:02,960 --> 00:27:05,640 pastors in the New England area just over the 10 years that 552 00:27:05,640 --> 00:27:08,760 we've been here that have blown in, blown up and blown out 553 00:27:09,560 --> 00:27:11,640 because a church laid hands far too. 554 00:27:11,640 --> 00:27:14,920 Quickly on someone who is not prepared for pastoral ministry. 555 00:27:15,520 --> 00:27:18,720 And so it said this these men, they need to be able to be 556 00:27:18,720 --> 00:27:22,600 chosen from among the group and that the authority is conferred 557 00:27:22,600 --> 00:27:24,240 upon them. But be careful who you give that 558 00:27:24,240 --> 00:27:26,800 authority to. So there's the people's protest, 559 00:27:26,800 --> 00:27:28,800 the disciples problem, the people's quest. 560 00:27:29,000 --> 00:27:31,000 But then I want us to focus on this the next few minutes. 561 00:27:31,000 --> 00:27:34,560 The deacons qualifications. What were the qualifications of 562 00:27:34,560 --> 00:27:36,720 Deacon? Some of those we find here in 563 00:27:36,720 --> 00:27:40,120 Acts chapter 6, and others will turn to First Timothy chapter 3 564 00:27:40,320 --> 00:27:41,720 and look at those in just a moment. 565 00:27:42,320 --> 00:27:45,160 We've already alluded to them in verse #3 It says, wherefore, 566 00:27:45,160 --> 00:27:48,640 brethren, looking out among you 7 men, stop right there. 567 00:27:48,840 --> 00:27:53,280 So we find, first of all, there is a restriction on men as being 568 00:27:53,280 --> 00:27:55,880 the ones who will be eligible for deacons. 569 00:27:55,880 --> 00:27:59,800 You say, pastor, is it fair for it to be just men? 570 00:27:59,800 --> 00:28:02,760 And I will say this, the Bible says that the position of Deacon 571 00:28:02,760 --> 00:28:05,520 is to be filled by a man. This is what the Bible says. 572 00:28:05,520 --> 00:28:08,920 And the, of course the the world today would not understand that 573 00:28:09,080 --> 00:28:12,040 the world today would look at us as sexist or is that we don't 574 00:28:12,040 --> 00:28:13,800 care about women or anything like that. 575 00:28:13,800 --> 00:28:17,560 But God has given very defined roles to both men and women. 576 00:28:17,560 --> 00:28:20,800 Of course, the world today wants to blend those roles together, 577 00:28:20,960 --> 00:28:25,080 blend the genders together to make one unigender, but not to 578 00:28:25,200 --> 00:28:28,800 have a man and a woman as the Bible clearly says, each having 579 00:28:28,800 --> 00:28:32,640 God-given responsibilities, God-given tax tasks. 580 00:28:32,640 --> 00:28:37,960 And by the way, God-given abilities that one, each one has 581 00:28:38,120 --> 00:28:41,320 a role, but not one is more important than the other. 582 00:28:42,200 --> 00:28:44,440 But it does say here that is to be a man. 583 00:28:44,440 --> 00:28:47,400 We'll see that reiterated in First Timothy 3 in just a few 584 00:28:47,400 --> 00:28:49,280 moments. But what type of man? 585 00:28:49,640 --> 00:28:53,360 Well, men of honest report means that they have a good testimony. 586 00:28:54,080 --> 00:28:56,960 The Deacon has to be someone that has a good testimony within 587 00:28:56,960 --> 00:29:01,240 the church full of the Holy Ghost that we understand that 588 00:29:01,320 --> 00:29:05,200 when we are saved that the Holy Ghost comes within us and 589 00:29:05,320 --> 00:29:08,280 tabernacles with us, Amen. And we have the Holy Ghost that 590 00:29:08,280 --> 00:29:10,800 lives inside of us. But listen, we can suppress. 591 00:29:10,800 --> 00:29:12,080 We can't. What's the Bible word? 592 00:29:12,080 --> 00:29:16,600 Quench the Holy Ghost within our own life because we don't listen 593 00:29:16,600 --> 00:29:19,960 to what He tells us to do. He convicts us of sin and we 594 00:29:19,960 --> 00:29:22,640 push Him down more. He gives us direction and we 595 00:29:22,720 --> 00:29:25,440 push Him down more. These are men that must be full 596 00:29:25,440 --> 00:29:27,680 of the Holy Ghost. When the Spirit speaks, they 597 00:29:27,680 --> 00:29:30,600 listen. They have to be spiritually in 598 00:29:30,600 --> 00:29:34,520 tune to the things of God. But also it says that they are 599 00:29:34,840 --> 00:29:37,880 men of wisdom. Now we understand that the fear 600 00:29:37,880 --> 00:29:39,240 of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. 601 00:29:39,240 --> 00:29:41,480 We talked about that this morning here during our men's 602 00:29:41,480 --> 00:29:43,960 prayer time, that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of 603 00:29:43,960 --> 00:29:46,680 wisdom. Knowing who God is helps us to 604 00:29:46,680 --> 00:29:49,800 understand how life ought to be. And there's a lot of people who 605 00:29:49,800 --> 00:29:52,560 are knowledgeable, but there's a big difference between knowledge 606 00:29:52,600 --> 00:29:55,640 and wisdom. There's a lot of people who know 607 00:29:55,640 --> 00:29:59,080 a lot of things and they push God at arm's length. 608 00:29:59,320 --> 00:30:02,640 They may be knowledgeable about certain things, but they are not 609 00:30:02,640 --> 00:30:06,160 wise. And So what do these men have to 610 00:30:06,160 --> 00:30:07,720 be? They have to have a good 611 00:30:07,720 --> 00:30:10,000 testimony. They have to be spiritually 612 00:30:10,000 --> 00:30:12,440 sound. They have to be mentally sound. 613 00:30:12,480 --> 00:30:16,440 They must be the type of men who can lead other men and women. 614 00:30:16,800 --> 00:30:19,960 They have to be the type of men who can stand before others and 615 00:30:19,960 --> 00:30:24,400 if necessary, preach the Word of God as Philip and as Stephen 616 00:30:24,400 --> 00:30:27,000 specifically did. And no doubt the other seven or 617 00:30:27,000 --> 00:30:29,360 the other five as well. Seven in total. 618 00:30:29,640 --> 00:30:31,840 But what else does the Bible say about the deacons? 619 00:30:31,840 --> 00:30:33,400 Well, turn to first Timothy chapter 3. 620 00:30:33,400 --> 00:30:35,520 You don't need to save your space there in Acts chapter 6, 621 00:30:35,760 --> 00:30:40,200 but go to first Timothy chapter #3 Now First Timothy chapter 3 622 00:30:40,200 --> 00:30:43,960 and Titus chapter 1 give the requirements of a pastor. 623 00:30:45,040 --> 00:30:48,320 A pastor does not get to decide his qualifications. 624 00:30:48,800 --> 00:30:52,720 A church does not get to decide the pastor's qualifications. 625 00:30:52,920 --> 00:30:55,680 Some of these are difficult. Some of these are harder to 626 00:30:55,680 --> 00:30:58,280 quantify, and some of them are harder to understand. 627 00:30:58,280 --> 00:31:01,880 Some of them are very easy for us to understand and identify in 628 00:31:01,880 --> 00:31:04,040 the life of a pastor. And I'm not diminishing any of 629 00:31:04,040 --> 00:31:07,480 them, but I'm saying some of them are a little bit more 630 00:31:07,480 --> 00:31:10,360 difficult to quantify. Some of them are much easier. 631 00:31:10,480 --> 00:31:11,920 You'll see what I mean in just a moment. 632 00:31:12,120 --> 00:31:13,800 But what do we say of the of the deacons? 633 00:31:13,800 --> 00:31:18,240 Well, look at verse #8 it says this likewise because it's just 634 00:31:18,240 --> 00:31:21,760 been given the requirement, 17 requirements at all for the 635 00:31:21,760 --> 00:31:24,000 pastor. Likewise must the deacons be 636 00:31:24,000 --> 00:31:27,360 grave. There's a seriousness not double 637 00:31:27,360 --> 00:31:31,040 tongue must be truthful in what he says not given to much wine. 638 00:31:31,040 --> 00:31:34,000 And of course, verse #3 talks about the pastor not being given 639 00:31:34,000 --> 00:31:37,520 to wine and the idea is this that that person who is of a a 640 00:31:37,720 --> 00:31:40,360 Deacon and you say, well, is it not given to much wine and 641 00:31:40,360 --> 00:31:42,480 meaning that well, it's OK to drink a little wine. 642 00:31:42,480 --> 00:31:44,840 Well, as we look at the balance of the word of God again, the 643 00:31:44,840 --> 00:31:48,360 Bible says that wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging. 644 00:31:48,600 --> 00:31:51,040 Whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise. 645 00:31:51,280 --> 00:31:53,800 Understanding that Paul even told Timothy that there were 646 00:31:53,800 --> 00:31:56,280 times for him to take a little bit of wine for his stomachs 647 00:31:56,320 --> 00:31:58,080 sake. But the idea was not that that 648 00:31:58,080 --> 00:32:01,560 was something that he was to do in general as a way for 649 00:32:01,560 --> 00:32:03,640 pleasure. But that is, he was literally 650 00:32:03,640 --> 00:32:06,120 taking medicine, if you will, because of what it was. 651 00:32:06,120 --> 00:32:08,800 And the Deacon was to be especially careful, even 652 00:32:08,800 --> 00:32:13,680 medicinally, in the use of wine because the the Bible is very 653 00:32:13,680 --> 00:32:17,520 clear about not being deceived by alcohol, not greedy, a filthy 654 00:32:17,520 --> 00:32:20,800 lucre that deacons not looking for money, holding the mystery 655 00:32:20,800 --> 00:32:24,240 of faith in a pure conscience. Could I maybe condense that into 656 00:32:24,240 --> 00:32:27,240 saying this? This is someone who understands 657 00:32:27,240 --> 00:32:30,600 the mystery of the gospel and wants to be able to give it to 658 00:32:30,600 --> 00:32:33,440 other people. Can I put it to you this way? 659 00:32:33,920 --> 00:32:35,600 A Deacon has to be a soul winner. 660 00:32:36,720 --> 00:32:41,240 A Deacon has to be someone who participates in outreach because 661 00:32:41,240 --> 00:32:45,320 if you're not helping reach out to people in community, well 662 00:32:45,480 --> 00:32:47,840 then you cannot fulfill the qualification of a Deacon, 663 00:32:47,840 --> 00:32:50,520 particularly as we saw those deacons were preachers. 664 00:32:50,920 --> 00:32:53,920 They stood up in front of men and women and preach the word of 665 00:32:53,920 --> 00:32:56,520 God. Verse 10, Let them all first, so 666 00:32:56,640 --> 00:33:00,840 first be proved that they have to have some approving time. 667 00:33:01,160 --> 00:33:04,040 Let them that use the office of Deacon be found blameless. 668 00:33:04,040 --> 00:33:06,160 Again, a good testimony. And look, there's even 669 00:33:06,160 --> 00:33:09,720 qualifications for the wives. Their wives must be grave, not 670 00:33:09,720 --> 00:33:12,440 slander, sober, faithful in all things. 671 00:33:12,680 --> 00:33:15,480 Look at this, let the deacons be the husband of one wife. 672 00:33:15,720 --> 00:33:19,440 Again, that would teach us that not only is the Deacon to be a 673 00:33:19,480 --> 00:33:23,240 man, but the man is not to be divorced and remarried. 674 00:33:23,240 --> 00:33:25,920 And that is one of the qualifications, as here of the 675 00:33:25,920 --> 00:33:29,880 Deacon, the husband of one wife, ruling their children, and their 676 00:33:29,880 --> 00:33:32,720 own house as well. For they that have used the 677 00:33:32,720 --> 00:33:35,280 office of a Deacon well purchased to themselves a good 678 00:33:35,280 --> 00:33:38,960 degree and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus. 679 00:33:38,960 --> 00:33:43,320 Meaning this, those who have the office of a Deacon do well if 680 00:33:43,320 --> 00:33:46,920 they fulfill that calling which is laid upon their life. 681 00:33:47,280 --> 00:33:50,480 Their job is to assist the pastor, not to be a board that 682 00:33:50,480 --> 00:33:54,080 simply runs the church. And this picture is shown in 683 00:33:54,080 --> 00:33:57,080 Acts chapter 6. And we find the qualifications 684 00:33:57,080 --> 00:34:00,800 here not just in Acts chapter 6, but First Timothy chapter 3 685 00:34:01,080 --> 00:34:08,000 verses #8 through 13 so. Let's get to this for a few 686 00:34:08,000 --> 00:34:10,159 moments, because maybe you say something like this. 687 00:34:10,159 --> 00:34:12,639 OK, Pastor. You say we don't have any 688 00:34:12,639 --> 00:34:17,440 deacons right now, and from what you're saying, only certain men 689 00:34:18,040 --> 00:34:19,800 could even be deacons in the 1st place. 690 00:34:20,800 --> 00:34:24,920 So what does this message do for most of us here? 691 00:34:26,080 --> 00:34:29,239 What does this have to do with any of us? 692 00:34:29,920 --> 00:34:33,719 Well, first of all, I think it's important for us to understand 693 00:34:34,000 --> 00:34:38,199 the functions and the offices of God's church, that it's 694 00:34:38,199 --> 00:34:40,840 important for us to understand how God has structured his 695 00:34:40,840 --> 00:34:43,639 church because again, it's his church, not our church. 696 00:34:43,840 --> 00:34:45,920 It is not for us to be able to decide how we are to 697 00:34:45,920 --> 00:34:48,679 administrate the church. We administrate the church God's 698 00:34:48,679 --> 00:34:51,840 way when we don't have anywhere where the Bible tells us exactly 699 00:34:51,840 --> 00:34:54,600 what we are to do. We have liberty to do what we 700 00:34:54,600 --> 00:34:57,920 were to do, but we cannot do anything that is apart from the 701 00:34:57,920 --> 00:35:00,840 biblical teachings and the precepts that we find in the 702 00:35:00,840 --> 00:35:04,040 Word of God. Maybe even tonight you're 703 00:35:04,040 --> 00:35:05,600 hearing this and you're saying pastor. 704 00:35:06,960 --> 00:35:08,640 This message isn't encouraging to me. 705 00:35:10,040 --> 00:35:14,600 Maybe you would say as a woman in the church, this doesn't even 706 00:35:14,600 --> 00:35:17,040 pertain to me. What good is it? 707 00:35:18,480 --> 00:35:24,080 Maybe you're a man who has been divorced and you say, what good 708 00:35:24,080 --> 00:35:27,040 is this to me? Is there even any value that I 709 00:35:27,040 --> 00:35:31,120 have within the church? And could I say in both of those 710 00:35:31,120 --> 00:35:34,280 situations, and I want to say this aesthetically as possible, 711 00:35:34,520 --> 00:35:36,920 so I want you to look at me and my beady eyes so that you know 712 00:35:36,920 --> 00:35:40,040 what I'm saying here tonight is that if you are a member of 713 00:35:40,040 --> 00:35:44,200 Liberty Baptist Church, you have great value in this church. 714 00:35:45,040 --> 00:35:48,640 That just because you may not be able to hold a certain office, 715 00:35:48,920 --> 00:35:55,000 that you have great value and dignity to Almighty God and God 716 00:35:55,000 --> 00:35:59,480 can still use you. Pastor Pert, of course, our 717 00:35:59,480 --> 00:36:02,440 pastor for a couple of years before we came and started this 718 00:36:02,440 --> 00:36:04,320 church. Pastor Pert told the story to me 719 00:36:04,320 --> 00:36:08,200 many years ago of a man that was part of his church in Saint 720 00:36:08,200 --> 00:36:11,040 Catherine, Florida. Yeah, how do you like Saint 721 00:36:11,040 --> 00:36:13,280 Catherine Baptist Church? That's a weird sound in church 722 00:36:13,280 --> 00:36:15,200 name is that sounds like Catholic and Baptist thrown 723 00:36:15,200 --> 00:36:17,520 together, isn't it? But was Saint is Saint Catherine 724 00:36:17,520 --> 00:36:19,480 the area? But actually it got incorporated 725 00:36:19,480 --> 00:36:21,600 into Bushnell, FL. So Saint Catherine didn't even 726 00:36:21,600 --> 00:36:24,440 exist anymore, but you still had Saint Catherine Baptist Church 727 00:36:24,440 --> 00:36:25,680 and it's like we don't believe in Saints. 728 00:36:25,680 --> 00:36:27,280 But anyway, they changed the name. 729 00:36:27,280 --> 00:36:31,120 But anyway, getting back to to what we're saying is Pastor Perk 730 00:36:31,120 --> 00:36:35,600 taught on being a biblical Deacon and their church was big 731 00:36:35,600 --> 00:36:38,080 enough at that time where there was the need for two or three 732 00:36:38,080 --> 00:36:41,560 men to be deacons. He had a faithful man that came 733 00:36:41,560 --> 00:36:44,120 up to him after church, been divorced and remarried. 734 00:36:45,200 --> 00:36:49,360 He was heartbroken. He said, pastor, I want to be a 735 00:36:49,360 --> 00:36:54,240 Deacon and brother Pert said, well, you understand what the 736 00:36:54,240 --> 00:36:58,240 Bible says. I would want nothing more for 737 00:36:58,240 --> 00:37:01,640 you, but I can't do above and beyond what the Bible says. 738 00:37:01,640 --> 00:37:04,040 You understand that I have to hold to what? 739 00:37:04,040 --> 00:37:05,520 To the word, what the word of God says. 740 00:37:05,520 --> 00:37:10,240 And he says, no, I do pastor, I do, but breaks my heart. 741 00:37:11,240 --> 00:37:14,320 I didn't always live for God, but I'm living for him now. 742 00:37:14,320 --> 00:37:19,680 And I just want to help. I just want to do more. 743 00:37:20,720 --> 00:37:24,240 I just want to serve. And Pastor Pert said this, and 744 00:37:24,240 --> 00:37:25,720 it's something that I've said so many times. 745 00:37:25,720 --> 00:37:28,640 Over the years he looked that man in the eye and he said this. 746 00:37:29,080 --> 00:37:32,720 He called him by name. He says do you want the title or 747 00:37:32,720 --> 00:37:36,680 do you want the job? He says you may never hold the 748 00:37:36,680 --> 00:37:40,520 title of Deacon because of what the Bible says, but you can have 749 00:37:40,520 --> 00:37:42,280 the job of being a server of tables. 750 00:37:43,240 --> 00:37:47,920 And that man was faithful. I think at the beginning of 751 00:37:47,920 --> 00:37:50,080 Liberty Baptist Church, and I've told you the stories before 752 00:37:50,080 --> 00:37:52,720 about how we went out and went on deputation. 753 00:37:52,720 --> 00:37:55,800 We met Dan and Dora Woodward, and through the situations of 754 00:37:55,800 --> 00:37:59,200 their life, Dan Woodward was not able to be a biblical Deacon. 755 00:37:59,200 --> 00:38:03,520 I remember talking to him once and there was some sorrow on his 756 00:38:04,000 --> 00:38:07,200 part as well of not being able to fulfill that type of office. 757 00:38:07,920 --> 00:38:10,080 And I remember telling him the story that I just told you. 758 00:38:10,080 --> 00:38:14,760 And I said, Pastor Pert said, do you want the title or do you 759 00:38:14,760 --> 00:38:17,040 want the job? I said, you boy, you can, you 760 00:38:17,040 --> 00:38:21,320 can be a help to me so I can labor in the word and prayer. 761 00:38:21,880 --> 00:38:24,200 And can I tell you, for those first few years before God moved 762 00:38:24,200 --> 00:38:29,440 them back to Syracuse, I can't think of a man or woman that 763 00:38:29,440 --> 00:38:34,560 were greater helps than Dan and Dora Woodward, A man that was 764 00:38:34,560 --> 00:38:39,720 divorced disqualified, a woman disqualified. 765 00:38:40,680 --> 00:38:45,800 But boy, did their ministry count at Liberty Baptist Church. 766 00:38:46,840 --> 00:38:50,680 So if you take from what is said here tonight, well, I guess I 767 00:38:50,680 --> 00:38:56,800 can't serve God, you've missed the point because God can use 768 00:38:56,800 --> 00:38:58,840 you greater than you can imagine. 769 00:38:59,680 --> 00:39:02,080 And you may not be able to fulfill the office of Deacon, 770 00:39:02,600 --> 00:39:05,760 but you can serve tables. You say, what should I, you 771 00:39:06,080 --> 00:39:07,600 know? You know, you work at a 772 00:39:07,600 --> 00:39:10,000 restaurant, something like that. Serve tables. 773 00:39:10,000 --> 00:39:12,080 Now, listen, I tried that once and it was 3 days, the most 774 00:39:12,080 --> 00:39:14,480 miserable three days. I don't believe in purgatory, 775 00:39:14,480 --> 00:39:16,520 but if there was a purgatory, it'd be a lot like serving 776 00:39:16,520 --> 00:39:18,440 tables at IHOP. It just would never end, all 777 00:39:18,440 --> 00:39:19,520 right? You just keep going and keep 778 00:39:19,520 --> 00:39:21,600 going and never ends. But there is no purgatory. 779 00:39:21,600 --> 00:39:25,280 So don't get weird on me, OK? But the idea is this is that 780 00:39:25,280 --> 00:39:28,360 serving tables just means this. I'm going to serve others, and 781 00:39:29,080 --> 00:39:32,560 I'm going to serve others on behalf of those in leadership 782 00:39:32,560 --> 00:39:37,040 who can't do those things. Can I just give you a little bit 783 00:39:37,040 --> 00:39:38,600 of my heart here for the last few minutes? 784 00:39:38,600 --> 00:39:41,040 I hope I've given you my heart for the last 30 or so minutes. 785 00:39:41,040 --> 00:39:45,200 But there are things as a pastor that I know that I'm not doing 786 00:39:45,200 --> 00:39:49,040 as well as I need to do. There are things that I know as 787 00:39:49,040 --> 00:39:52,760 a pastor that I would like to do during a typical work week, if 788 00:39:52,760 --> 00:39:56,280 you will, that are sometimes very hard to do Why? 789 00:39:56,360 --> 00:39:59,040 Because there's a lot of administration that takes place. 790 00:39:59,880 --> 00:40:01,480 There are bulletins that have to be made. 791 00:40:02,280 --> 00:40:04,280 There are orders of service that have to be prepared. 792 00:40:05,040 --> 00:40:07,400 There's social media that has to be put together, you say, well, 793 00:40:07,400 --> 00:40:10,400 as a social media big deal in and of itself, no, But it does 794 00:40:10,400 --> 00:40:12,360 help us reach people who are out in the community. 795 00:40:12,360 --> 00:40:16,240 And we found that for low cost or sometimes no cost, we're able 796 00:40:16,240 --> 00:40:17,680 to reach a great amount of people. 797 00:40:17,680 --> 00:40:21,440 So, so yes, it, it's needful there. 798 00:40:21,440 --> 00:40:24,320 There's more paperwork than you could possibly imagine for a 799 00:40:24,320 --> 00:40:26,800 church that averages around 50 people on Sunday morning. 800 00:40:27,280 --> 00:40:30,360 It's amazing. But you know what my heart is? 801 00:40:31,280 --> 00:40:35,400 There's people that need to be visited that every week I need 802 00:40:35,400 --> 00:40:38,440 to be out there visiting. There's new people that I need 803 00:40:38,440 --> 00:40:42,760 to be at their door. Just I'm from Liberty Baptist 804 00:40:42,760 --> 00:40:43,680 Church. I'm the pastor. 805 00:40:44,360 --> 00:40:46,600 I'd like to tell you about Jesus Christ. 806 00:40:47,720 --> 00:40:49,800 There's people have gotten saved that need discipleship. 807 00:40:51,000 --> 00:40:54,240 There's messages that need to get ready and prepared. 808 00:40:55,160 --> 00:40:57,920 Well, you say, pastor, do we need deacons? 809 00:40:58,320 --> 00:41:00,040 Let's sign them up, let's get them. 810 00:41:00,520 --> 00:41:03,120 Let's have a vote tonight. That was not my purpose. 811 00:41:04,520 --> 00:41:07,640 But I would say this, what we may not need is people with 812 00:41:07,640 --> 00:41:11,920 Deacon titles, but we do need people that will take the job a 813 00:41:12,920 --> 00:41:15,040 little bit here, a little bit there. 814 00:41:15,800 --> 00:41:18,600 A lot of it's my fault because I'm loathe often time to be able 815 00:41:18,600 --> 00:41:20,680 to give some of this work to other people. 816 00:41:21,040 --> 00:41:23,920 Because again, I want you to know how hard that I work for 817 00:41:23,920 --> 00:41:25,640 you. And I don't want to give some of 818 00:41:25,640 --> 00:41:27,960 these things to other people who are already working 40 hour a 819 00:41:27,960 --> 00:41:30,480 week jobs. But I can tell you this, that if 820 00:41:30,480 --> 00:41:33,840 I was not to do a bulletin, or if I was not to do computer 821 00:41:33,840 --> 00:41:39,120 work, or if I was not to do graphics, I could find some 822 00:41:39,120 --> 00:41:43,120 other things to do that deal with ministering the Word of God 823 00:41:43,800 --> 00:41:46,400 and prayer. And I would love that. 824 00:41:46,920 --> 00:41:49,440 What does it mean? It means that all of us, as best 825 00:41:49,440 --> 00:41:53,280 we can serve tables, wait to serve me. 826 00:41:54,160 --> 00:41:58,040 No, that that's the opposite. Serving tables means you serve 827 00:41:58,440 --> 00:42:02,400 others. That I can't do it all the 828 00:42:02,440 --> 00:42:05,400 apostles couldn't do it all someone else had to So do we 829 00:42:05,400 --> 00:42:08,200 have biblical deacons tonight as a church, we do not will we in 830 00:42:08,200 --> 00:42:09,600 the future by God's grace, we will. 831 00:42:09,600 --> 00:42:12,960 I don't have a timeline on that. I'm not purpose to put a exact 832 00:42:12,960 --> 00:42:14,240 timeline on it. It's not needed. 833 00:42:14,640 --> 00:42:16,920 We'll just pray and as the Lord leads we'll we'll look at that 834 00:42:16,920 --> 00:42:19,160 in the future. But I do know this you may not 835 00:42:19,160 --> 00:42:21,920 have the title. It could be you could never have 836 00:42:21,920 --> 00:42:24,680 the title, but you have value to God. 837 00:42:25,080 --> 00:42:28,280 You can serve God and you could have the job. 838 00:42:28,760 --> 00:42:39,920 It reminds me of someone named Dorcas, a woman, a woman who 839 00:42:39,920 --> 00:42:43,680 ended up helping a whole church that loved that church and serve 840 00:42:43,680 --> 00:42:47,560 that church so much that they were willing to go out on a limb 841 00:42:48,200 --> 00:42:51,600 and bring Peter from another town and say, could you bring 842 00:42:51,600 --> 00:42:54,200 this woman back to life because we need her. 843 00:42:55,440 --> 00:42:58,160 If that woman could change a church, it doesn't take a Deacon 844 00:42:58,160 --> 00:43:00,600 to change a church. It just takes someone who's 845 00:43:00,600 --> 00:43:04,040 willing to serve tables. Thank you for listening to the 846 00:43:04,040 --> 00:43:06,640 sermon from the pulpit of Liberty Baptist Church. 847 00:43:06,960 --> 00:43:10,240 If this message was a blessing to you, or if there's any way we 848 00:43:10,240 --> 00:43:13,400 can serve you, please let us know by contacting us at 849 00:43:13,520 --> 00:43:18,280 info@mylibertybaptist.org. Or you can visit us this Sunday 850 00:43:18,440 --> 00:43:22,160 at 800 Washington St. in Easton, MA. 851 00:43:22,440 --> 00:43:25,240 May the Lord bless you as you grow in His Word.