If you have your Bibles with you this morning, I encourage you and invite you to open and turn with me in 1 Timothy chapter 3. 1 Timothy chapter 3 as we come to a particular exhortation this morning concerning the office of the diaconate. We have already read this morning verses 8 through 13. And so as we come to the preaching of God's Word this morning, we'll read just verse 13, as the sermon this morning is taken from this most glorious commendation that Paul gives here in the closing section of the qualifications for deacons. So please hear the Word of our God this morning. 1 Timothy 3, verse 13. For those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus. As far as the reading of the Lord's Word, may he bless it. Please join me again in prayer. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word, and that your word is truth, and that all that is revealed in it is for our encouragement and our being built up in grace unto the glorious perfection that awaits those who continue trusting in Jesus Christ. We pray this morning as we look into this commendation that you, Lord, have signed and sealed unto those deacons in your church who serve well, that not only would we be encouraged to pray for our deacons, that we would be encouraged to emulate their heart of service, that this commendation and the praise of our Father might be heard in that day, a well done, good and faithful servant. We thank you for the truth of your word. May you encourage us through it this morning. And we ask this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Well, as we've already noted this morning, the office of deacon, as it was established in Acts chapter 6, was established in order to minister the mercy of Christ unto those in the church who were needy and who were afflicted. And as we've already read 1 Timothy 3, verses 8-13, you remember that Paul gives here, lays out these moral requirements or qualifications of what those men that are elected by the people of Christ ought to attain to in order to serve as a deacon in the office of a deacon. You note here that these moral qualifications or requirements, that they are heavy, and that there are times when they can feel incredibly burdensome, not only for deacons, but we also see the qualifications for elders in verses 1 through 7. We don't look for particular men to perfectly satisfy these things. Otherwise, Christ himself would be the only one who would be able to serve in these offices and in these capacities. But we do look that by the grace of God that they are cultivating these qualities and these gifts and these graces, these moral virtues and excellencies in their life. And so as Paul lays out these qualifications, we ought to realize, even from the start, that the office of the diaconate is not an office that ought to be taken lightly or with trifles. The office of the diaconate is one that has been established by God himself and that demands of men who serve in these capacities a tender and a compassionate heart, a moral excellency that adorns their profession and the doctrine of faith that they confess. So Paul lays out these qualifications, but you note that in verse 13, Paul comes with a glorious commendation for those men who serve faithfully as deacons. If we could put it so basically, Paul holds their feet to the fire in verses 8 through 12. And then in verse 13, Paul comes with the glorious promise and the hope that is held out for those men who serve well as deacons. Now, if you have been around enough churches, and I know that I have, as Paul says here, that it is those who serve well as deacons, all right, that this commendation only belongs to those men who faithfully carry out the duties, who do so in the proper way. I've been around enough churches to know that well-serving deacons cannot be taken for granted. that there are many churches, that there are many pastors, that there are many elders who suffer not from well-doing deacons, but from those who treat this office very lightly and with some amount of contempt. But rather, what Paul says here is that this commendation, that what he extols here, that this belongs to those men who serve well, who serve rightly, who satisfy the requirements that Christ himself has laid out. And to those who serve well as deacons, Paul gives a glorious commendation to them. You may be sitting here this morning, and you may be thinking, well, that's fine and good, but how does this apply to me? There are only three deacons, our current serving deacons, that are sitting in this congregation this morning. And I don't want you to think that as we are about to preach on the commendation of deacons, that that means the rest of us can check out. The commendation that Paul gives to us here is of practical benefit to us. We notice right away that this gives us God's view of the diaconate. And as the people of God, one of our greatest joys ought to be thinking and loving and regarding things as God himself thinks and loves and regards of things. So we have a wonderful scriptural perspective here of what God thinks of those men who serve well in this position. And we do well to regard those men in the same way that God himself does. But even as we can contemplate this verse this morning, we ought to all be encouraged to pray for our deacons, to see that the ministry of mercy that they've been entrusted with isn't necessarily one that is easy, that many times it's not one that is fun or glamorous, that these men, they deal with difficult issues, that they deal with those who are oppressed and who are afflicted, that they need to deal with an immense amount of wisdom. And so our hearts and our compassion ought to be stirred for these men to be encouraged to offer prayers for them. We also ought to note the practical benefit even of looking at the commendation of the diaconate office, and that the deacons ought to inspire us to emulate their example. As we profess here as a Protestant in the Confessional Presbyterian Church, there are only two offices that are perpetual in the Church of Jesus Christ, and that is the office of elder of minister and the office of the deacon. When it comes to the office of the elder, God's people are not called to emulate their elders and their duties as they satisfy the office of teaching and of preaching. You remember so plainly that James tells us that not many people should aspire to be teachers because we know that teachers are going to be held to a stricter judgment. God's people aren't called to stand forth every Sunday and proclaim God's word or to necessarily rule in the church with authority. The office of elder isn't one that is necessarily meant to be emulated by the people of God. When it comes to the office of deacon, that's not true, right? That the office of deacon, that these men who serve in this capacity, that they stand as examples to us, that they stand as those who we have deemed to be appropriate through prayer and through the wisdom that God has given to us as examples of those who serve well. And so the way in which our deacons serve those who are in the body of Christ And at times those who are outside the body of Christ, this ought to encourage us to emulate their example, to follow in their footsteps, to serve as they serve, to love as they love, to show compassion as they show compassion. And so as we come to this commendation this morning, this isn't something that is of little practical benefit or value to the people of Christ, but it is greatly encouraging to all of us. Now as we look at verse 13 this morning, I want to divide it into two simple divisions that the verse itself gives to us. And that in this commendation, Paul assures deacons who have served well that first, they have a glorious future standing before God. And secondly, that they have a present sureness in their faith in Jesus Christ. So this commendation of verse 13 can be easily divided into these two points that Paul commends them here for the future standing that they will have and of a present sureness that they have in this age and in this world. And we note here that as Paul gives this commendation, that he says in verse 13, for those who serve well as deacons, and you note here the first commendation that Paul gives, that he says they gain a good standing for themselves. Now, there has been some dispute here concerning two particular questions, and that is, before whom do they receive this good standing? And when is it that they receive this good standing? I'm not going to go through the exegetical arguments, but simply assert this morning that the vast majority of our commentators agree that the good standing that these deacons have, that it is before God himself. that Paul is speaking here of a standing that deacons have before the face of God the Father, and that it is applied or that it is seen most clearly in a future standing in glory. So Paul is telling deacons here, if you serve well, you are going to gain a good standing for yourselves before God in the last days of glory for all of eternity. This is a wonderful and glorious commendation that Paul gives here. And it's such a wonderful encouragement to us. Because first, what verse 13 reveals to us here is that God himself highly regards the office of the deacon. That God himself highly regards the office of the deacon. Now this is and ought to be an encouragement not only to God's people, but perhaps more particularly to deacons and also to all office bearers in the church. Because it seems to be that the biblical pattern and history has accounted for this as well, that rarely are the most faithful officers in Christ's church esteemed in the eyes of men. that it is usually those who serve most faithfully who gain not the praises and the accolades of man, but the scorn and the resentment of men. You just think of some of those biblical examples of men who served in different offices. You think of one like Moses. There was no prophet like Moses. There was none in the Old Testament as great as Moses, and one who served so faithfully in the household of God. And yet what do we read of in the extent of Moses' ministry except that the people didn't like him, that they were resentful for him, that they didn't regard him, that there was even a time when Aaron and Miriam rose up, his brother and sister, in rebellion against him because they were puffed up with their pride and their conceit and they wanted to know who's this Moses that God has chosen to ordain as an office of the prophet here amongst the people of God? Why can't we get the glory that Moses does? You see that Moses, who served so faithfully in the house of God, who is regarded in the sight of God as one who is a prime example of the people of God, and yet how often the people rebelled against him. You think as well of that most glorious office holder, Christ himself, the one in whom all the gifts of the Spirit were found without measure, the one who served in every capacity of prophet, of priest, and of king, and yet what do we see in his earthly ministry? That here is one who served perfectly, who served as the greatest example, who no deceit and no guile was found in his heart or his mind, and yet how often the people disregarded him. How often they wanted nothing to do with this faithful servant. How often they sought to kill him. How often they wandered away from him because his teachings were too hard. Or you think of one like the Apostle Paul, one of the preeminent apostles in the early church and yet we know that his ministry was plagued by the abuse of people so that even towards the end of his life that Paul could lament, everybody abandoned me, nobody stood with me. At my trial, when I came on trial for the faith that I have taught and that I have confessed for these many years, Paul himself said that the world considers us to be the off-scourging of Christ, that we as apostles, that we bear the sentence of death upon ourselves. And you see throughout history that this pattern is repeated. Whether it's in the early church with one like Athanasius, who stood against the Arian heretics and was almost single-handedly against them and scorned and exiled and berated by the church that he was attempting to serve faithfully. Or you go to the time of the Reformation and you think of John Calvin. Many of us esteem him today. Many of us read his commentaries in the institutes of the Christian religion. But in Calvin's day, he was a reproach to people. The people, even within his church, that they named their dogs after him, not in a term of praise or endearment, but because that's what they thought of Pastor John Calvin, that he was worthless. Or you think of one like Whitefield. who was continually ridiculed by the people and by Christians and by the churches for the free offer of the gospel that he proclaimed. Or you think of Jonathan Edwards who so faithfully proclaimed the word of God and yet in that time when the church voted him out of office and kicked him out so that he had to go as a missionary amongst the Indians. Even today we see this. There's a fellow brother in the OPC ministry as a pastor who left his pastorate after a number of years, and he was given an opportunity to speak publicly about his time as a pastor. And he had noted this very intriguing thing as he was talking to men who were being trained and raised up to hopefully be pastors in the Church of Christ. He said, one thing that amazed me is that when I left this church, that those people that I had ministered to most faithfully and most sacrificially were the least thankful. and that it's those that I thought they have every reason not to appreciate me, that it was them who gave the most thanksgiving for my ministry. We see the biblical pattern, we see the experiential pattern, that often it is the men who serve most faithfully and the offices that Christ has delegated. They are disregarded in the eyes of men. You think of the parable of the Good Samaritan. One who wasn't a deacon, but one who sought to minister mercy and compassion to this man who had been overtaken by robbers and the Levites had passed, and this Samaritan who was scorned and who was ridiculed, who didn't have the favor of the priests or of the people of God. You think of all the different examples that we could give of where the ministry of mercy as well is disregarded in the eyes of people. People disregard the office of deacon as perhaps being a JV officer of little esteem, and yet what we read here is that those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing with God. Regardless of the way that people or Christians view and regard Christ's office bearers, that God regards them. That God esteems them, that God thinks much of them. Why is it that God regards the office of the deacon? First is because we know that our, that Christ himself, that our Savior exemplified the heart of a deacon. That God who sent forth his only son, that he sent him forth for what purpose? Not to be served. but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. And that the Father esteems his Son, and so the Father esteems all those who, like his Son, serve for the afflicted and the oppressed, and care for the needs of God's people. That as our deacons serve well, that they are sharing in the very heart of Christ, that they are simply stewards of the mercy of Christ that is working through them. And the Father esteems and He regards and He loves all things about the Son. And He loves when He sees the Son's mercy working through His office bearers. We also know that God regards this office because the Apostles established the office. As we already read from Acts chapter 6. That God's way of dealing with those who were outcasts, with those who were orphans, and with those who were widows, with the tables that needed to be served, is that God raised up this office. The office of deacon isn't some pragmatic invention of man. That it's not the pastor who said, I'm going to establish this diaconate office so I don't have to get into the grueling afflictions and difficulties and sufferings that God's people deal with, but that this was God's very wisdom, that this was the raising up of the spirit of qualifying these men as the apostles established it in Acts 6. That indeed, God himself established the office of the diaconate as his means of expressing his mercy towards his people. And so God regards the office of the deacon. And he regards the office of the deacon because it is through the office of the deacon that the church is edified. Paul reminds us all of us have gifts and graces. And that the church is only built up when God's people are doing what they ought to be doing and fulfilling their purposes. And not just the body of Christ, but this morning particularly the diaconate office that when they are faithful to this, that they are playing their part in edifying and building up the church of Jesus Christ under the full perfection and stature of manhood. It's what we see of this future standing. As we see that God Himself regards the office of the deacon, that God highly values and esteems those men who are called forth and set forth to serve in this capacity. We also note here in verse 13 of this future standing that not only does God regard it, but that God will also reward those deacons who serve well, that He will reward them. Paul says in verse 13, for those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves. These English words we have here, good standing, right? This simply means, in a very literalistic, wooden translation of the Greek here, is that they gain a higher step, that they are placed above others, that God esteems them, that they have this good standing where they are a step above other people. And it is a biblical truth that God, even in His grace, that He doesn't deal equally with all of His people, but He does deal in equity. It is that the Bible tells us that God deals with His people, that there will be some, even in glory, who receive more, and that there are those in glory who will receive less, but that in all these things, God Himself is fair. And here we have this accounting that these deacons who serve well, that they will gain a good standing, that they will be a step above others, that they will, in a sense, receive more glory than others. Now this principle isn't only taught here in 1 Timothy 3, but we see that it is the consistent teaching throughout the New Testament. You think of the parable of the talents that Jesus told in Luke 19, that as he gave one man ten talents, another five talents, another one talent, and as he went away, and these men went out and they used their talents in different ways, and the master returns, and the one who had these ten talents comes, he says, here I have these twenty talents, And what is it that Christ commends them for? He says, well done. Right? And now as you enter into your glory, I'm going to place you over 10 kingdoms or 20 kingdoms. And the one who had the 10 talents, he says, I'm going to place you over 10 kingdoms. Right? That there are levels of degrees and rewards and prosperities and glories that God himself distributes in heaven. Or you think of Paul in Romans 2, verse 6, where he so clearly says that God will render to each one of us according to our works. Or you think of Paul again in 2 Corinthians 9, that as he is commending, giving cheerfully and sacrificially and beyond our means, that Paul says so clearly that whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. And that the reverse of that is true, that those who sow in prosperity, that those who sow freely, and those who sow liberally, they will also reap freely, and liberally, and prosperously. You see, the principle of the Scriptures is that God doesn't, even in glory and by His grace, deal equally with all of His people. But He does deal in equity. He is always fair, and He is always righteous, and He is always just. Even as Paul says this, that these deacons who serve well will gain a good standing, we must note a couple of precautions. The first precaution is that we can never be deceived into thinking that we somehow meritoriously earn these rewards. As though God looks at us and he says, you've done such a good job and now because of your own works and your own efforts and your own strengths, you deserve this. You've earned this. You've done a really good job. You've gone above and beyond what I ever asked or expected you to do. Jesus reminds us that even when that servant, that faithful servant has done everything that his master told him to do, that yet that servant proclaims what? I am an unprofitable servant. I've only done what I ought to have done. And so here, as God issues forth different degrees and graces, even in glory, it's not a meritorious rewarding, but it is a gracious rewarding. As we have said oftentimes, the Reformed divines often say that God crowns His grace with more grace. And that's what we see Paul commending here. that these deacons who have served so well with their gifts and their graces, that God is pleased to crown those graces with more graces. So the first precaution here is we can't think that they've earned it, that they've merited it by their own good works, that God owes it to them, but it is all a reward of His grace and of His kindness. But a second precaution that we ought to note here, and this might get a little challenging for us, As it in heaven, there will be no envying those who received more than we did, and there will be no resenting those who receive less than we do. Now, this can perhaps be a difficult thing for us to imagine. If you've been in a competition or a contest and you've come in. When I was in cross country, I liked to chuckle about. I came in last at every single meet. Everyone, dead last. And it stirred resentment in me. I'd see these kids who would win these trophies and these medals. And fat guys aren't made to run very fast. So there was resentment. There are other times when you rise above everybody else that you get conceited, that you get prideful, that it's tempting to look at others who are lower than you and think, look at me, I'm up here, you're down there. Well, that's not going to be so in heaven. And how can we liken this? How can we compare this? Well, think of an illustration of a parent's love for their children. That is a husband and a wife come together, and they have a child, and it's their first child, and their heart is just teeming with love for this child. And they think, I don't think that I could love anything more than this child, and my heart is just so filled. And then what happens? They find out they've got a second kid coming. And sometimes parents get a little distraught, and they think, I don't know how I could possibly love another child as much as I love my first child. And yet, what do Christian parents find but that God enlarges our capacity to love the second child? And then the third child, and the fourth child, and the fifth child, and on and on to however many children you have. And you find within yourself that your capacity for love, and your capacity for sacrifice, and your capacity for tenderness and joy just grows and grows and grows and grows. And you don't look at a parent who only has one child and say, what's your love compared to mine? I have five children to love. You have one. You don't even know what love is. No, even the parent of five children rejoices in the love that a parent with one child has. It's because what God does by His grace is He enlarges our capacity. And in a similar way, this is how it works with those deacons or with those individuals who serve well, who attain to greater degrees of glory, that what this serving does is it simply increases the capacity that one has for the joy and the delight and the favor of God. As Jonathan Edwards once explained it, you can have two cups of different sizes that are cast into the infinite glories of heaven. And those cups that though they are both overflowing with the goodness and the grace of God, that one of those cups has a larger capacity to hold more than the other. But neither suffers want, neither suffers lack. There is no envy, there is no pride, there is no resentment. And so as Paul commends deacons here with this future standing, he reminds them that if you serve well, you will gain a good standing. You will gain a gracious reward. You will gain a reward that puts you above others for all of eternity. We don't resent them for this, but we rejoice with them in it. because it is simply the increase of their capacity to delight in God. So Paul says here that they will receive this good standing. What exactly is this good standing? What is this prize that awaits well-serving deacons? We know that Paul is very silent on that. Paul doesn't tell us what the good standing is or what it's going to look like. And we look at Scripture and we see that these prizes, so to speak, this good standing, that it's described in different ways. Paul told the church in Philippi, what did he say of them, right? That in the day of Christ Jesus, you will be my joy and my crown. Paul shows there that faithful ministers who faithfully minister God's Word to God's people that in the day of glory that the church itself shall adorn faithful ministers. That's what Paul shows us in Philippians 1-4 as it applies to the office of the ministry. Or you think of Paul again in 2 Timothy 4-8 that as he tells Timothy, right, that I have fought the good fight, I have run the race, and now what lies in store for me, Timothy? but the crown of righteousness that the just judge will award to me on that day, not only me but also all those who have loved his appearing. These degrees of glory that they're likened to a joy in a crown, they're likened to a crown of righteousness. We've already noted in Luke 19 that it's likened or described as talents or kingdoms and cities and responsibilities and that those who serve most faithfully gain a bigger responsibility in heavenly glory, whatever that means and whatever that looks like. We read in Revelation, don't we, that those martyrs have a particular position in heavenly glory underneath the altar from which they cry out, how long until you avenge our blood? And we can think that those who serve faithfully in the office of deacon might have a position, they might have a proximity to the glorious throne of Jesus Christ. Or we could see that the way that Paul characterized it in Galatians 6, 9, where he says, do not grow discouraged in doing good, because if you continue and persevere in this in due season, you will reap. You will reap that which is good, that the harvest will be plentiful, that it will be bountiful for you. Paul likewise in Romans 2 verses 8 and 9 says that there are those who seek after honor and they will be rewarded with honor. We see that in Matthew chapter 10 that it is described as wages, that Christ himself distributes different amount of wages to those who work, that he says that even if you give a cup of cold water to one of these little ones, you will not lose your reward, which is also the Greek word for wages. You think of the preacher of Hebrews. That God is not so unjust as to overlook your labor of love. That it will be an extent of justice. We don't know exactly what this prize looks like. What we do know, and what you brothers who serve as deacons ought to know, is that the prize will be worth it. That the prize will be gracious and it will be glorious. And that whatever this good standing looks like in eternity, that it will only enlarge in your hearts for the praise and the glory of God the Father through Jesus Christ by the Spirit. It is worth it. God himself has promised a future standing to you deacons who serve well. So we see that first part here in this commendation. We see a second thing as well, and a little more briefly this morning. Not only a future standing, But at the end of verse 13, we also see that there is a present sureness that comes to the well-serving deacon. Paul says, for those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves. And as if that weren't enough, he adds, and also, great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus. Now this phrase, great confidence in the faith, This means one's personal assurance of their own salvation. A personal assurance, a truth, an understanding, apprehending more of what Christ has done for us, seeing the promises more clearly, feeling more secured in the grace and the mercy and the love of Jesus Christ. That Paul says that those who serve well as deacons, that this enhances their personal assurance of salvation. That they gain a steadfastness, they gain a boldness, they gain a surety, an assuredness to their faith. Now this is absolutely profound. And it is so simple that it is easy to overlook, but you note here that Paul gives a direct connection between serving the body of Christ and the sureness of faith. Now, one of the great pastoral concerns that afflicts every faithful pastor is that there are many amongst the people of Christ who lack an assurance of faith, who have said, yes, I have trusted in Jesus Christ as my Savior. I am resting and depending upon Him. But often, these promises seem too good. Or often, I look at myself, and I see myself filled with so much sin and so much ugliness and so much guilt. And I just wonder, how could one like Christ love one like me? That even our Westminster Confession of Faith reminds us that the assurance of faith is something that often comes with great difficulty and through painstaking labor. One of the greatest concerns of faithful ministers is that so many of Christ's people lack an assurance of faith. But on the other hand, we also deal with the twin error that there are many people who deal in the error of presumption. They don't lack assurance because they just presume upon their salvation, upon the glories of Christ, and they don't really care about their own souls and their own holiness and their own being nurtured in the Lord, and they just think, I said a prayer when I was five. Pastor said I do that, I can live like hell the rest of my life, eternal security. And there are people who presume upon their salvation. They presume for all of the wrong reasons. These are twin errors that we continually combat and that we continually work through. And we're left to wonder, where is true assurance found? How can I cultivate an assurance of faith? How can I know that these promises are mine? How can I know that Christ has saved me? And very profoundly here, Paul tells us, you want a strong and a confident faith. And one of the means that Christ uses to garrison your faith and to assure you of your faith is by serving. That it is through service that Christ cultivates within us a confident faith. And this isn't only for deacons. But this is for all of us as we have the opportunity to emulate their compassion and their mercy as they emulate the compassion and the mercy of Christ. Brothers and sisters, a sure faith cannot be built on self-serving and self-idolizing and apathetic actions. but a sure faith flows from a heart and a mind and a hand that stretches out in service. Why is that? Why is it that serving builds a great confidence in the sureness of faith that is in Christ Jesus? And particularly for our deacons this morning, why is that? Well, first it is because to serve requires that you have a greater knowledge of Jesus Christ. That you have a greater knowledge of Jesus Christ. As you men serve in the office of the diaconate, and even as we have the opportunity to emulate those men, Christ is our standard of service. Christ, on the night in which he was betrayed, when he stooped down in great humility and he washed the feet of his disciples, Does he tell them, hey, look, I've served you, and now it's all good. Just go and live life for yourself. He says no, but he sets himself as the example. He says, as I have done this to you, so you ought to do to one another. And Christ sets himself up as the standard. He sets himself up as the example. And if we are to serve faithfully, as Christ has called us to serve, then we must be well acquainted with the person and the perfections and the glories and the compassions of Christ, of whom we model all of our serving after. that we must push on to know Him, that we must see how His heart is revealed on the pages of Scripture, that we must, by His grace, endeavor to hold Him up as the standard. You deacons can't look at a bunch of sheep and say, you're our example of serving, and because you're serving us at this law of a threshold, if I'm just one step above you, man, I must be doing well. But you set Christ up as your example. You set the heart of Christ as your compass. You sail according to His purposes and according to His plans and serve in His way and by His means and with His compassion and His mercy. And brothers and sisters, when we gain a knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ and we push into what the scriptures say about Him, undoubtedly this abounds to the steadfastness of our faith. Because to know Christ and to know the heart of Christ is the very foundation of what it means to know that we are saved and of His promises and of all that He has given to us. And so serving builds a steadfastness and a sureness of faith because it requires a greater knowledge of Christ. We can secondly say that serving gives a sureness to our faith because it reminds one how dependent we are on Christ to serve. The Apostle Peter dealt with the diaconate office in 1 Peter 4.11. He says, whoever serves, let him serve as one who serves by the strength that God supplies. We've witnessed this glorious opportunity this morning of ordaining and installing another man into the office of the deacon. And lest we be deceived, serving as a deacon is not something that can be done by the natural wisdom and strength and powers and abilities and giftings of men. This is a high office. This is a very holy calling that Christ has given. Peter reminds us how desperately in need of Christ and the power that God alone supplies and abundantly furnishes, how deacons are in need of that strength. Because the office of serving requires an immense amount of humility from us. Not just from deacons, but when we serve anybody, to put ourselves in the position of a servant is to put ourselves in a position lower than those that we serve. It is a humbling position. It is a position that requires great humility. And unless you're nothing like me, but I tend to think that you are, you don't like humility in your natural self. Because we like pride. We like standing above people. We like being served rather than being those who serve. And so we need the power of God. We need the power of God to remind us that the gifts and the graces that we have aren't given to us so we can spend them on ourselves. But they're given to us so we can build up the body of Christ so that we can serve others. And so it reminds one of their dependence upon Christ. It's a great humility. There is great wisdom that is needed in serving and in serving in the diaconal office. We didn't read these qualifications this morning, but as Paul deals with Timothy and he tells him about when to enroll a widow on the diaconal role or when not to, he lays down all these principles of wisdom. Things like she's got to be 60 years or older. If she's not, then that means she can get remarried. So if she comes and she asks you for help, you tell her no. Instead, we want to get you hooked up and engaged. That he tells them that you can only help those widows who have served the saints, who have washed the feet of the saints. That we know that our deacons, as they distribute the funds and the offerings of God's people, that people come and often see them as a bank account, that they completely resent their office, that all they want is a check written out to their name, and deacons need to get into the muddy details of what is going on and get into the mess of the afflictions and the oppressions and the difficulties. This requires an immense amount of wisdom. and prudence, and the ability to say no, and the ability to say, well, we'll do this, but you have to do something for us in return, namely, attend upon the means of grace and walk charitably and humbly and in holiness and in glory and embrace Christ as your Savior. They need wisdom to navigate these things so well. That's what service calls us to. That's why Paul can cry out and say, who is sufficient for this ministry? Thanks be to God in Christ. He fills us with all that we need to carry this out. The office of serving reminds us of our need for Christ because it is one that calls us to great sacrifice. That our deacons above everybody else, that when somebody asks them to go a mile with them, that it is our deacons who say, I will go two miles. When our deacons are asked for the cloak, that our deacons will respond and say, you may have my tunic too. That it is our deacons who pour themselves out on the altar of faith to serve in the ministry of mercy those of Christ's people who are impoverished and in need. The life of service is a life of sacrifice. And it calls us and it reminds us how desperately dependent we are upon Christ. And when we remember how dependent we are on Christ, yes, our faith is built up. And our faith is solidified. Thirdly and lastly, why is it that serving produces a sureness in the faith? It's because serving also reflects one's own pitiful condition before Christ. They often say that the best sermon that is preached by a minister is a sermon that is preached to his own heart. And something very similar to that can be said of deacons. that you deacons, you can't work with objects of mercy. And you can't extend a hand of mercy. And you can't deal mercifully with the physically and the spiritually troubled and the afflicted. And you can't mercifully uphold justice for the widow or the oppressed. And you can't serve the needy in mercy without seeing that these people that these who you serve and minister to, that these situations reflect who you are before Christ, that you are the pitiful one, that you are the afflicted one, that you are the one upon whom Christ has looked in great mercy and in great grace. And as our deacons deal in the ministry of mercy, there is a reflection of their own There is a reflection of their own pitifulness. There is a reflection of their own afflictions. There is a reflection of the pitying eye of Christ Jesus even upon sinners like us. You deacons, you're needy, and you're helpless, and you're beggars, and you are the ones in need of mercy, and you are the ones who are poor and destitute. But as you serve well, And as you extend the mercy and the compassion of Christ to those who need it, you come to see and to glory in the mercy of Jesus Christ himself and how he has treated you. And so Paul tells us that there is a present sureness that those deacons who serve well, that they also gain for themselves a great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus. And so here in 1 Timothy 3, Paul has laid out in verses 8 through 12 the heavy requirements and qualifications of a man to serve in the diaconal ministry. But here in verse 13, what we have is that he rounds these qualifications off with the most glorious commendation, with an encouragement of all encouragements, that to the deacon who serves well, that he shall receive a future standing in glory before God himself, and that as he serves well that in the present he receives a sureness to his faith. And may it be that as we have the opportunity to look unto our deacons as an example of service, may we too as the Lord's people come to embrace this commendation by faith as we emulate their mercy and compassion in serving one another. Amen. Our gracious and good God, how we thank you for the ministry of mercy, for the unbounded mercy that is ours in Christ Jesus. We thank you, Father, that you are the one who is known as the begetter of all mercies, that it has pleased you to look upon helpless sinners like us, not with a scornful or resenting eye, but with an eye that pities us, with an eye that seeks to grant us mercy and compassion, with hands that desire to pull us out of the difficulties and the afflictions that we are in. We thank you for our deacons here at Providence. We thank you for these three men that you have gifted, that you have called, that you have qualified, how we pray for their ministry, that they would serve well as deacons, that we would count it our joy as the body of Christ to emulate their service and their mercy and their compassion as they seek to serve tables and to care for the oppressed and the afflicted amongst us. We ask that you would grant them wisdom, that you would grant them charity, that you would grant them clarity, that you would grant them discernment, and that you would enlarge all of our hearts to follow in their footsteps even as they follow Christ. Thank you for the great joy that this morning has been, for this ministry of mercy that we have relished. May we go forth and may all of our lives be sanctified unto you. May you use our thoughts, may you use our wills, may you use our hands and our feet to do your bidding to those around us and especially to the household of faith. We ask this in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the merciful one. Amen.