So please hear the Word of God as I read from 1 Timothy 3. This is a faithful saying. If a man desires the position or the office of a bishop, which means overseer, he desires a good work. A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach, not given to whine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous, one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence. For if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God? Not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride, he fall into the same condemnation as the devil. Moreover, he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach and snare of the devil. Likewise, deacons must be reverent, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy for money, holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience, but let these also first be tested, then let them serve as deacons, being found blameless. Likewise, their wives must be reverent, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things. Let deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their houses well. For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a good standing and a great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus. These things I write to you, though I hope to come to you shortly, But if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. And without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God, who is manifested in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up in glory. This is the Word of the Lord. May God, by His Spirit, apply it to our hearts and our mind this morning. You may be seated. 1 Timothy 3, verse 15, which we've just read, is part of chapter 3. In that verse, Paul writes, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourselves in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and the ground of the truth. It's a very important verse. It gives the whole purpose for Paul's writing. When he writes to Timothy, it's basically a handbook to a pastor of the church of Ephesus on this is how churches are to be run and ordered. And the point is that God is a God of order, and he desires for his house to be in order. And because of that, the proper understanding of the two offices of authority, the elders and deacons, which is the context of chapter three in its entirety, the proper understanding of those two offices within the church is essential to order within the church. And they're central to the conduct, the effectiveness, and the Christ-likeness of Christ's church. And so since today we're installing a deacon, it seems important, even though we've spent some time in study hour reviewing the lessons on what a deacon is and what he does, we've looked at the confession, because of the importance of these roles and the installation of men into these roles, it makes sense then as part of our worship to include preaching and a review of these verses that deal with the deacons in the New Testament, following the three places where the deacon is specifically mentioned in the New Testament so that we can have a good understanding of it in the context of worship and as a church herself. And so this morning we're going to look first of all in Acts chapter six with the conception of the office of the deacon. And then we'll look at Philippians chapter one, to see the recognition of the office of the deacon. And then in first Timothy three, we'll see the qualifications of the office of the deacons. And these really summarize the three clear places where the role in the office of the deacon is mentioned and taught in scripture. And there is an outline in your bulletins where you can follow these things in very small prints. You have lots of places to draw and doodle alongside of that, but there's an outline so you can see the direction we'll be taking in this And we're going to move perhaps faster than we normally would because we should be familiar with these, those who have been with us for the last couple of months. But again, the importance of this requires we go through these things. As we do this, think about what you're hearing in relationship to the church of Christ and Christ himself. And those things, those characteristics of deacons and those charges to deacons really apply quite regularly to all Christians because we're all called to be servants. because we're bondservants of the suffering servant Christ Jesus. So if you look at Acts chapter six, we'll look at the birth of these two offices of the elders and the deacons and especially look at the role of the deacon in Acts chapter six. I'm going to read verses one through seven. I'll read it straight through and then we'll just walk through and comment on it. But in Acts chapter six, verses one through seven, in the background, obviously the church has been born Many are being baptized and becoming members of the church. And as the church gets formed, we see how God is forming her and the operation of the church. And so then in chapter six, we have some of the first hints of disunity and problems arising. And what's going to happen? What's God going to do by His Spirit through the apostles who would be acting as the elders at this point in time? So in verse one, now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint, division, against the Hebrews by the Hellenists, because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution. Then the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, It is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables. Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business But we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word. And the saying pleased the whole multitude, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Taman, Harmonus, and Nicholas, a proselyte from Antioch, whom they set before the apostles. And when they had prayed, they laid hands on them. and then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith." What we have here in Acts chapter 6, as we said, is the beginning of some complaining and disunity within the body. Those Hellenists, which were Greek-speaking Jews, are also heavily influenced by the Greek culture. There's almost a division of ethnicity here between the Hellenists and the Hebrews. But the Hellenists were complaining that the Hebrews, the real Jews, seemed to be neglecting their widows. And we don't know if it was true or not, but at least that was the issue. And by the move of the Spirit, the apostles, who were acting as elders in this situation, moved quickly to deal with the situation. And they'd have a vote of a membership, basically, and had seven men chosen And then the elders appointed these men as servants with authority over the serving of the tables, it says. The serving of the tables is not merely serving food or wiping off the tables. It could even be the money tables. It's the idea of we have this outreach to the needy within our church and in particular widows. There's a handling of collecting money and distributing money and collecting goods and distributing those who have need. And it's a very important thing. There's nothing unimportant about this, but it was taking the apostles who would be acting as the elders away from what they were called to do primarily, which was to minister and to rule by the word and by prayer. And even the word for waiting on tables, that word means deaconing because the word deacon means servant. So we have this going on. So they set apart these seven men officially with the laying on the hands in prayer. In a similar way, RBC Casey, we have voted on a man to become a deacon and we will be having the eldership, which sadly is just me at this point, so don't think it being a popish thing, but having the eldership lay on a hand on Carl and pray over him and you will be praying with me as I do so to set him apart as a man in the office of the deacon. And when we see what's going on in Acts chapter six, we see the primary differences and divisions of labor between elders and deacons, which is incredibly important. And again, one reason we're belaboring this point in our church is because when you have one elder and now you have one deacon brought, it's very important for us to understand from the beginning the differences of the roles and the division of labor in the roles so that we as a church can operate well. What we see here is what's actually then shown in the rest of scripture. that the apostles acting as elders and as just forming Church of Jerusalem, their main role is to rule. To be an overseer is to mean to be a bishop is one who oversees and rules and to teach. So it's the idea of overseeing and shepherding. That's where pastor means shepherd. And so the elders are to be ruling and shepherding, teaching and shepherding in such a way. And they made the decision to appoint men as what came to be known as deacons, and they transferred authority, real authority, to these seven men to be deacons. They still were to submit to the authority of the elders, but they had authority in what they were given to do. The elders don't say, here, you go do this. They say, you rule over this. You have authority over this situation. It's a real authority that's transferred, even though the deacons are still subject to the elders. But the priority of the elders is the word and the prayer. That's the central part of what an elder is to be doing, a pastor is to be doing. And you can see then the elder's role is to rule and to teach is powered by the word and by prayer. Elders are shepherds. The deacons, however, these seven men that were set apart in this just forming church of Jerusalem, the deacon's role is primarily to serve. As we've said already, the word in Greek for deacon is Servant. In fact, you can't tell a difference. It causes problems in other places. As deacon, as a servant, it means servant. And as we said, the word for serving tables means deaconing. And here, the role was to relieve the apostles from the undue burdens of attending some of the daily activities and the daily needs of the church, that they might be free to be doing what they're to be doing. And again, this is an important thing. Maybe we see a phrase like waiting on tables, and we think, well, this is trivial. And depending on your background, you see deacons in different roles. You elevate them to higher roles than what they are, or you minimize them to something far less than what they're to be. But this is an important role here in Acts chapter 6. The care of the needs of the church family is hugely important. And then the qualifications are outlined here and elsewhere in Scripture show there's much care to be given to choosing men who'd be put over this role within the church. They're given authority and trust within the church that lends great importance to the role. And so the role of the deacon is to attend to the practical needs of the people of God in a spiritual way. Some have called the role of the deacon is the ministry of practical things within the body of Christ. or the ministry of mercy within the body of Christ. And the unique role of the deacon is that they have the privilege of representing Christianity to the world, service Christianity style to the world within the church. And James says in chapter one, the pure and undefiled religion before God and the father is this, to visit orphans and widows in their trouble and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. It's interesting. That's not a bad description of the role of the deacon within the church. And here in Acts chapter six, the qualifications are ready for those who'd be set aside as deacons. They must be men. I think it's clear here. It's clear from the rest of scripture that those who are taking office within the church must be men. That's not being sexist or genderist. I don't know what the word is anymore. It just means this is the role that God has set apart for men and women and the offices of the church to be filled by men. There'd be men with good reputation. It means they're trustworthy. They have integrity, which makes sense. They're being given the authority over some very personal and important matters within the church. There are also to be those who are full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom. They're not required to teach, but they're to be spiritually mature. And though they're not required to teach, which is a key difference between elders and deacons, they must be biblically and spiritually sound. So we see these things from Acts chapter six. And so a summary of these things is practically elders are shepherds who oversee by prayer and the ministry of the word. Deacons, they're servants who care for the material needs in a spiritual way. But don't get caught up in the idea that elders are spiritual and And deacons are not. Both offices are spiritual by nature and with a spiritual ends in play as well. Those who become deacons must be spiritual men reflecting the heart of Christ in their service. Christ not only cares for our souls, but also for physical and temporal needs as well. So the roles of shepherds and servants, elders and deacons are both from the Lord, and they're both spiritual roles. The division of labor then is shepherding and servants, but it's not always completely rigid, which sometimes causes problems within the church family, even between elders and deacons, because elders had better also be servants. If you have elders who aren't servants, then they're in the wrong job. Elders are to be servants as well, and elders also attend to physical and practical needs within the church. So there's an overlap there. Deacons as well will have opportunity to deal with shepherding types of needs. There's an overlap there. But the emphasis though is on shepherding versus service. And deacons are called to serve primarily and that under the authority of the shepherds themselves. And so if you look at verse seven, You can see what happens when a church begins to take shape and function according to Christ's will with a desire for unity. When the deacons are appointed and now you have the roles now beginning to be more formed within the church of elders and deacons, we see in Acts chapter six, verse seven, it says, the word of God then spread and the disciples were multiplied, which is what we want to see within the church and as the church moves forward. And so we need to understand and highly value that the head of the church, the Lord Jesus Christ, is appointed and given the church the gifts of elders and deacons for his glory and for our good and for our unity. So that's the conception of deacons. That's how they began. But now you can turn to Philippians chapter one. When we look at verses one and two, we see the recognition of deacons. This is quite a few years later, perhaps around 60, 61 AD. So a lot of time has passed, but now Paul is writing this letter to the Philippians from a Roman jail. And as you look at the salutation, these opening two verses of Philippians, I think it's important to note who he addresses, who he recognizes in the church of Philippi. At this point, then we can see that the office of the deacon is recognized as something official because Paul points it out in his salutation to the Philippians. In the opening to the letter to the Philippians says, Paul and Timothy bond servants of Jesus Christ, they're calling themselves servants, to all the saints in Christ Jesus, all those who have been called out as holy ones to Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi with the bishops and deacons. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Here we see that Paul is addressing all of those in Philippi. First of all, he says, all of you, all the saints, all the called out ones there in Philippi. But then he addresses specifically the pastors and the deacons, the bishops and the deacons. And the picture he paints here is that I'm giving greetings to all of you who have been called out to be saints. You're all equal. in Christ Jesus, but I'm giving recognition, especially then who've been called out from those who have called out to be saints to be those in the offices of pastor and deacon within the church to lead. And so there's a recognition of those offices and in particular, the deacon, there's opening verses of Philippians. I think you have to notice that Paul and Timothy refer to themselves as servants, bond servants of Jesus Christ. I don't think it registers with us today, but in first century Rome, this would be stunning. The servants, the bond servants in particular were despised. Nobody wanted to be a servant. Nobody wanted to call themselves a servant. Servants were despised in the culture at this point in time, but here Paul and Timothy label themselves as servants themselves. They wanted to be called servants, and then they address these servant deacons from the church herself. Why? Why do you want to be called a servant? The lowest of the low was because Christ, though God, became man to live and to die for his people, and he came not to be served, but to be a servant. And that changes everything. Christianity turns things on their heads because now it's desired to be a servant because the suffering servant has come giving us salvation but also giving us example. And so Christ's people now must desire to be servants of Christ, yes, but to be servants of one another if we want to exemplify and proclaim Christ in the church. And so we see deacons the conception of the office. We see the recognition of the office. Now, if you can turn back to 1 Timothy 3, we'll quickly go through the qualifications of the office. We've read through the whole chapter at the beginning of our worship in 1 Timothy 3. And now Timothy now is being written after Paul's been released from jail. He's writing a letter now to Timothy. This comes historically after Philippians. So we're taking these as they come historically as well. And now he's writing this letter to Timothy, which is basically a handbook for how the church should be run. We saw it already in 1 Timothy 3 verse 15. Timothy being a youngish man, although not as young as we maybe think, who's being the pastor of this church in Ephesus. And what Paul does here in chapter 3 is he gives a mature list. Mature because now there's been several years passed, so we have more of an understanding of how these roles are to be played out There's a mature list of qualifications for the elders, but then specifically for the deacons for our means today. When we do these things, usually those who in the audience, not you, because you're better than that, but usually those in the audience, when we look at things like this, this is when you tune out. Okay, I'm not a deacon. Maybe I'll never be a deacon. Maybe it's impossible for me to be a deacon. But don't do that, because all of us need to understand these qualifications, these characteristics, of the office, and today in particular, the deacon, because all of us are accountable and responsible to fully know these qualifications and characteristics, so we can choose wisely those who would be in office, but so we could treat and pray for them wisely as well. If you're married, it's not enough to know what you're supposed to do as a husband or a wife. You must know what the role of your spouse is to be, so you can, in your role, encourage and lift them up to do their role as well. The same thing follows here. There's a responsibility for us all to understand this office. And all men who are considering this office must fully know the role and the qualification and expectations before they would make it known that they'd like to pursue this role. And if you do, then make it known. Talk to your elders. All young men, all young men, you should strive to be like a deacon. We often, especially in our society, where what manner to be has been completely trashed or lost, even in the church. I think somebody made the phrase that meekness is manly. It's even on the back of a t-shirt someplace. But the servant deacon is the role model for young men and older men alike. And really it's the role model for all of us because we're all called to be servants, to treat others as better than ourselves. and look to their needs instead of our own. We're all accountable to have the heart and the doctrine and the character of what a deacon is to be. And we're all accountable then to look for areas of service for the deacon and to be like a deacon as well. So please hear these things as we try to go through them quickly. They're listed in your bulletin. They're kind of bunched together, but they're listed there. So you don't necessarily have to write down all the details. First of all, I'd like us to look at the exclusive qualifications of the elders, what makes the elders different. We won't read through those first seven verses again, but just know that there's three things, especially if you compare and contrast the qualifications of the elders with the qualifications of the deacons. There's three things in particular that show the differences. There's a lot of similarities because integrity, honesty, service, those are things that all men should strive to be having. But there's three things in particular. First of all, in verse 1, Paul speaks about the one who wants to be an elder has a desire for the office. We see that from the rest of Scripture, that there's a certain calling for those who are going to be elders or pastors within the church, and it should be exemplified by a desire for the office of the pastor. You don't see that specifically laid out for the deacon. Although I'd like to think that anybody who's going to be a deacon would want to be one, but it's not the same thing as the pastor who feels called He has this desire that I must be a pastor. That's what God is calling me to be. The second thing, which is key, is the elder has the ability to teach. He must have the ability to teach. Elders are called to teach and to preach. They must be gifted with the ability to do so. A deacon may have that ability, but that's not a requirement for the job. And the third thing is, that the elders are called to rule the house of God. They're called to be overseers. Whereas the deacons called primarily to be a servant, but not to be administrating over the entire church. They're given the area that there'd be given, but there's a difference there. Those are the three things, desire and teaching and ruling are things that are set aside to the elders in particular. But then we look to the entire qualifications of the deacons. However, starting verse eight, There's eight things given. Eight things split up into three parts. Qualifications that are moral qualifications, qualifications that are spiritual qualifications, and qualifications that are family qualifications. So first of all, the qualifications that are moral qualifications, starting in verse eight, likewise deacons must be reverent. That's one. One who's going to be a deacon must be reverent, he must be dignified, he must be worthy of respect. It's similar to saying that the elder must be blameless. There must be a reverence about a man who wants to be and is a deacon. He carries himself with dignity and a seriousness so that he's respected both in and outside of the church. Officers of the church represent the church both in and outside of the church. A deacon is someone who must be trusted with finances to handle and to know the personal lives of members in a right way, so they must be those who are reverent and dignified and worthy of respect. The second one, he must not be double-tongued. What does it mean to be double-tongued? I should say, what does it not mean to be double-tongued? One who's not double-tongued is one who can be taken at his word, which again makes sense. You must be able to trust leaders, but especially one who's dealing with personal matters and practical matters. His yes means yes, his no means no. Do you understand that as you see what a deacon is to be like, he's to be like Christ, and so you're called to be doing this way as well. He says what he means, and he means what he says, and he says what he means and means what he says to everybody, not just to certain people and says something different to somebody else. And he does what he says. And a pastor loves having deacons that you can just say, handle this, because I can trust that you'll do what you've said. and you'll handle it not double-tongued, but you'll handle it with integrity. The third thing, you must not be given to much wine. There should be self-control when it comes to alcohol. It doesn't mean you can't drink, but you must not be given to much wine. You're not addicted to wine. You don't linger beside the wine, as the scripture says. It must be using it with self-control if you use it. There's a theme of this. There's self-control with your words by not being double-toned. There's self-control when it comes to alcohol. And the fourth thing is not being greedy for money. Not being one who's looking out for dishonest or sordid gain, or as I think the King James says, not being greedy for filthy lucre. Self-control with finances as well. Deacons often handle benevolence funds. They often oversee the finances. which will be the case here at RBCKC. They must be trustworthy and faithful and content. A deacon is one who serves others, not serves himself, especially when it comes to the money of the church or these things. And so the summary of the moral qualifications of the deacon is he must be one who's blameless and reverent in his character with the use of his words, with alcohol, with money. He must show control over besetting sins including those sins with words, alcohol, and money, living a life worthy of respect. These virtues listed here have little to do with talents and abilities, but with morals and character. These things are necessary for one who's trusted with feeding the poor, caring for the sick, visiting the elderly, handing benevolence, dealing with offerings and finances, one who sees needs and meets them before even being asked. as a waiter of tables would do. So those are the four moral characteristics or qualifications of one who seeks to be a deacon. Then we have two spiritual qualifications in verses 9 and 10. Two spiritual qualifications. First of all, in verse 9, holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience. holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience or a clear conscience. That word for mystery is used again in verse 16, which is important. But the word mystery in the scripture doesn't mean something that there's a magic wand behind it and there's some kind of a special magical quality behind, oh, it's a mystery. But it usually talks about a truth of God that has not been revealed until the proper time and to the proper people. Things are there, but it wasn't realized until God reveals it fully. Plans of God hidden from human reason, but revealed to those intended. And the phrase, the faith, often speaks of the revealed truth of the Christian faith. The body of knowledge that Christians must hold to and pass down. And the church acts as the pillar and the ground of the truth to preserve and to proclaim the deep truths of the faith revealed in the Word of God. And here we're talking about those truths of faith that one must know. creation, original sin, the wrath of God, the love in the sun that's been sent to us, the atonement, the new birth, these central truths that must be understood in Christianity, they must be known and trusted in by the deacon. In some churches, we don't get this, but a deacon must be firmly, a deacon must have a firm understanding and a firm hold to the doctrines of the faith. It's necessary. And so all the offers in our particular church, they must be fully subscribing to our confession. If that doesn't happen, there usually tends to be division and problems that occur later on. And when the phrase with a pure conscience is put on there, that's very important. To hold the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience. What does that mean? Well, it means not just to know it, but to live it out. To defend it and to live it out and have it be a practice of His life. to live according to the ethical demands of the revealed faith that He holds fast to. Again, don't drift off on me. These are what we're all required to be seeking and pursuing as well as brothers and sisters in Christ. But why is it so important to have these doctrinal standards? These spiritual doctrinal standards here? It's because the deacons have great influence on the entire church. Deacons are not just sanctified lawn mowers They're not just spiritual bean counters. These are spiritual men that have authority given to them within the church to oversee very important things, and therefore, they have a great influence in the church. And from that, they also have a great opportunity to evangelize. It's not a teaching office. They're not required to be able to teach, yet they do teach. And they do teach by the Word because when they have the opportunity to encourage the sick, to visit the prisoners, to help those who are needy, to manage finances and the personal affairs of individuals in the church. They do so in a biblical way, and they have to know the word of God and be able to express these things in these situations as well. They also teach by example, and they must be ready to evangelize. As you probably know, whenever there's struggles and needs and situations that come up, there's always opportunity then to evangelize, to share the gospel. So using these opportunities to the spiritual benefit of others and to evangelize as they go. If they don't, then the church is merely a social welfare service. If we're not using the gospel in all things, so the deacon is to firmly grasp the doctrines of the faith. So when opportunity comes, he can encourage, exhort, evangelize, and be an example of the biblical teaching of the Word of God. And again, isn't this true of all of us? We should be pursuing Christ and his words that we could do these things as well. The sixth characteristic, which is the second spiritual one, is when Paul goes on to say, let these also first be tested, then let them serve as deacons, being found blameless. As it says with the elders, they must not be a novice. You don't put a newbie into the role of a deacon or an elder. but they must be someone who's been recognized by the church as a mature, blameless, spiritual man who can lead in the role of service. He must have a good reputation within the church and outside of the church as well. And therefore, before we put somebody in the office of a deacon, they have to be with us for a while. We have to know them. You wouldn't want someone to be ruling over you to have to submit to unless you know them well and you had the freedom to be able to submit to them in their respective role. Their life and their doctrines should be approved by the elders and the members of the congregation. And they be found blameless beyond reproach over a period of time before they can be put in a place of authority within the church. So we have the moral characteristics of their character being blameless, they're honest with their tongue. They have self-control over wine and money. There's an integrity of life. We have the spiritual qualifications of knowing the faith and living it out and being tested in their lives. Then there's finally two characteristics that deal with the family in verses 11 and 12. So verse 11, likewise, their wives must be... Why? Why are they talking about deacons? What does that mean? So this is where I try to wake you up a little bit. Well, we've talked about this before. We won't go into much detail. I think that the two understandings of likewise their wives must be irreverent, not slanderous, temperate, faithful in all things, would be that in general, deacons being men need women to be helping. There are situations where it's the modesty and the propriety of the situation would require a woman being involved and not a deacon man being there by himself in a situation. There needs to be women helping. In fact, there needs to be all of us helping our deacons in the service. I hope our new deacon will learn to delegate and have others be helping him in these matters. But there needs to be cases where there are women who could help. And so that situation here is not deaconesses. It makes absolutely no sense to me. The role of a deacon is a man who's given us this role of authority in the church. So we're either talking about his wife, because the role of the deacon would have a case where the wife would be alongside him in certain situations to help him, which is different than the elder. Or it could be those women who would volunteer to be assistants to a deacon in certain situations. I lean towards this talking about the deacon's wife being one who could come alongside and help him in these areas where a man cannot go alone. But in verses, in the rest of verse 12, It speaks then about the deacon being a husband of one wife and ruling their children in their own house as well. And being a husband of one wife doesn't necessarily mean he has to be married, but it means that the deacon, the man who's going to be a deacon, must have marital and sexual purity, whether he's married or not. If he's married, there's monogamy, but there's no homosexuality. No unbiblical divorce. There's no promiscuity. There must be marital and sexual purity from any man who's going to be in a leadership position. Isn't that true about any man in general, though? And the other thing is he must rule his children and his household well. He must be a good husband and a good father. And here in the household, often in the New Testament, we're speaking not just about wives and children, but extended family as well. So he has to be a family man who who understands and rules and cares for his family well. To be able to serve in the household of God, he must show the ability to serve in his own home well. And so we have those eight characteristics dealing with spiritual, moral, and family characteristics. But then in verse 13, there's at least a reward. There's a carrot stick being offered to the one who wants to be a deacon. And it's interesting because I think the deacon may be a more demanding job. It's hard to compare these things, but there's hidden dangers in one who wants to become a deacon because the role is a very demanding role. The standards are high. The duties are difficult. If we were honest, we would say all of us get weary when we have to meet needs because by nature we're selfish and we get tired. But a deacon does this as his role. And what a deacon often does, far more so than a pastor, what a deacon often does, does not get noticed within the church. You notice if it wasn't there, and he gets taken for granted. And he has authority within the church, but it's not complete authority. He can't do everything he wants to do. He's still under the authority of the elders. That makes it difficult. I keep thinking about our wives who have authority within the home, but yet they're under the headship of their husbands, and that's a difficult position to be, because you know everything, but you don't have the authority to do what you'd really like to do sometimes, and it can get to be very frustrating. And the deacons must get along with the other elders and the other deacons, and one who wants to become a deacon, usually by nature, because they're usually those people that want to be doing things, but then by the rule of the office, those that become deacons are prime candidates for burnout, I've seen it happen often within churches. And so what Paul does here is he gives an incentive. In verse 13 he says, For those who served well as deacons obtained for themselves a good standing and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus. Briefly, what he's saying is here that if you serve as a deacon and you serve well and you serve humbly, You earn great standing and great boldness, great confidence and assurance before man and before God, both here and forever. It's kind of looking to those treasures that are laid up in heaven to encourage you in the weariness of the job now. And someone has said that those who labor for the Lord most actively love Him most confidently. Those who labor for the Lord most actively love him most competently. And so there are rewards for the deacon who serves. So it takes us to verses 14 through 16, which I think are important. And we'll close with this. It won't take us just two minutes. Don't start closing your Bibles. We'll close with this with verses 14 through 16. Seeing the details behind the deacons, we can close with seeing the importance of our churches following these rules that our Lord has given us. At the end of Acts chapter six's passage in verse seven, the result was unity and the word of God went forth and people were saved. Here we see in the context of the elders and the deacons, these wonderful verses of 14 through 16, we see that this is part of having the church of God be the church of God. doing what she's supposed to be doing, and then proclaiming Christ. It's necessary for a proper understanding and pursuit of these roles of elders and deacons, for the health of the church to glorify God and to proclaim Christ. So in verse 14, these things I write to you, though I hope to come to you shortly. But if I'm delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and the ground of the truth, I love those two verses. Our local church is the house of God, the church of the living God. There's no need for a physical temple. We are the temple. We're living stones being put together in Christ to be servants of Christ and one another to proclaim Christ. And then the church of God is to be the pillar and the ground of the truth. The ground being the buttress, the foundation. We hold up the faith that has been passed on in the word of God. And as a pillar, we put it forth so all can see Without the church being organized properly and carrying out these roles properly, these things don't happen. It's necessary. You should love the church. Christ does. And you see the important role of the church here. The church is where God is and where his truth is made known, where it's held up and which is displayed. But look at verse 16. In verse 16, It's kind of an odd verse, isn't it? Verse 16, without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up in glory. It's a wonderful verse, though. The idea is that this is the message that we proclaim. This is the mystery that's been revealed that the church has that we proclaim that we're the foundation for, the pillar for, that we put forth in the well-organized and loving and serving church does this. This is perhaps the greatest truth that she is to display in v. 16. And when Paul writes, without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness, he's saying with full confidence. It's clear. It's undeniable. Great is the mystery of godliness. Remember when we looked at Ephesus when we were going through the book of Acts? Remember what they were doing with the thoriat? Great is Diana of the Ephesians. Can you see this? This is Paul writing to Timothy who's serving in Ephesus. I can't help but think he's doing this on purpose. No, no, not great is Diana of the Ephesians, but great is the mystery of Godliness, the truth that the church proclaims. And so what you have in verse 16, you have six short lines. that many people think was an early church hymn. It wasn't a psalm, but it was an early church hymn that was sung detailing the gospel itself and the role of Christ with the first three lines being understood, I think. There's some disagreement on this, but I think the first three lines speak of Christ's earthly ministry. The second three lines showing forth Christ's ministry from heaven. So let's walk through these things as we close with Christ, but before we finish, First of all, Paul says, God, and speaking of Christ, was manifested in the flesh. Clearly, it's speaking about Christ's incarnation. Christ is God who became fully man, and He dwelt among us. And in John chapter 1, we see that in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Christ was manifest in the flesh. Oh, the great wonder of the incarnation that God would become man to free us from our sin, death, and hell, and wrath that we deserve. The second line, justified in the spirit, it might be better said, vindicated by the spirits. And this could mean that when Christ was on earth, that he was filled and directed by the spirit and he was vindicated, justified, helped by the spirit through all of his days. Or it could be, and I lean towards this side where it's speaking specifically at his resurrection. When Christ was raised from the dead by the power of the Spirit in Romans 1.4, it says He was declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead. When Christ was raised, it was proof that His atonement was accepted by the Father and that He indeed was who He said He was as the Son of God and the Savior of men. So you have the incarnation and then the resurrection. The third line, seen by angels. When was Christ seen by angels? Always. The mystery of godliness was known in heaven as well as on earth. At His birth, the angels were there praising the event and praising Him. When He was being tempted, the angels were with Him. When He was in Gethsemane before the cross, the angels were helping Him there. When He was raised from the dead, the angels were the witnesses of that fact. The angels told the disciples that He was alive, and the angels witnessed the ascension of our Lord. 1 Peter 3, verse 22, that Christ has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him. So I think with those first three lines, we have the incarnation of Christ, the resurrection of Christ, and perhaps even the ascension of Christ. And then the next three, we have the heavenly ministry of Christ, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up in glory. preached among the Gentiles, preached among the nations. Christ, after His ascension, He sent the Spirit to empower His church, giving them the keys of the kingdom. And the Gospel goes out to all nations. It begins at Pentecost. Believed on in the world, He sent His Spirit to regenerate and to forgive sinners. In Acts chapter 2, we immediately see 3,000 people repenting and believing and were baptized and added to the number. And it continues. and received up in glory. Perhaps it's speaking specifically and only about his ascension into heaven, but I think it can also be speaking of his second coming to come, that when he's received up in the glory, he's received up in the glory as the glorified Savior. And he's coming back to make all things right. So it was kind of mysterious, maybe those six lines, but you see the beauty of those six lines? That's the message that we proclaim. That's the mystery of God as we proclaim. And it takes a church being well ordered, submitting to our Lord and submitting to one another as Christ tells us to. So I'd like to close with some final responses to what we've seen as far as servants, but in particular with understanding the role of the servant of the deacon. The local church is not healthy. Truth is not displayed. The gospel is not proclaimed unless men and women are pursuing their use of their gifts and abilities within the framework of the government of the local church and in relationship with the offices of the local church. That's what God has called us to do. And specifically for the office of the deacon, the practical helps and works of the office of the deacon, the ministry of mercy, the ministry of practical things of the deacons. It's necessary for the proper operation and focus. of the pastors of the church, of the church herself. And as the deacons of the church are allowed and encouraged to minister to and to serve with love, to care for the needy, the poor, the suffering in the church, they emulate the Lord Jesus Christ in a unique way. They emulate his example of humble, loving service. And this is essential to the life and the witness of God's church. as the love of Christ is displayed for all to see. The deacon has the privilege of being more like Christ in his earthly ministry than anyone else as a servant. So what should we do in response? Well, I ask you, brothers and sisters, fellow members of the church, we should seek to pray for our deacons. It can be an exhausting and appreciated ministry, As we've said already, so we need to pray for our deacon's stamina, their contentment and their success in their work. We need to pray for the deacon's personal and spiritual life and their families as well, because the leaders of the church are quite clearly targeted by the evil one within the church. So we pray for them. We pray for their spiritual life. We pray for their families. We pray that we could have more deacons and elders. There's more work to be done. So we pray for them, but then we seek to do for our deacons. We're going to have a new deacon. You should be praying, what can I do to help? Seek him out and ask what you can do with them or for them. Officers of the church are not just to be doing everything by themselves. Not at all. So we pray for them, we do for them, but then all of us should seek to be like our deacons, as they are like Christ's. To be like a deacon is being a servant, like Christ's, who gave up the riches of heaven, that he might be poor, that we might be rich in him. Who took on flesh, that he might give up his life, that we might have life in him. who did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. That's Christ's example. That's the example for the deacon. That's the example for all of us. Let us pray. Dear Holy Father, I do pray, Lord, you'd help us to hear your word. And some of this would be not new at all. for many of us, but it's so important to hear the truths of your word, especially those truths about the operation of your church, your primary means of ministry and proclamation of the gospel in the world until Christ returns. And so Lord, we ask that as we see the importance of the church and her proclamation of the gospel and the importance of her order, that Lord, you give us renewed conviction of humility before one another and seeking to serve as servants within the church alongside our officers who should be servants as well. And Lord we're going to pray for Carl a little bit later but Lord we do pray for Carl as he prepares then to be set aside as a deacon within our church. And Lord because of our church becoming more and more Ordered, as your word would say, and you've provided the gifts of elders and deacons and other gifts, Lord, you'd enable us as a church to more and more represent Christ, proclaiming him, honoring him, making him known for the good of his people in the local church, yes, but also for the good of sinners outside of the church who might come to him and be redeemed. It's in Jesus' name we pray, amen. I grew up in a family that didn't attend church at all. Matter of fact, we never even talked about church or God or really even anything that was of deep and significant value in general. And as a result, that was my mentality as I grew up, not spending any thought or worries about my actions towards God. And this is how my life would continue into college. It was all about me, all about my will, my plans, my life. Really searching for life, but really only finding death in reality. If we were to take a page out of John Bunyan's book, Pilgrim's Progress, I would be a proud resident of Vanity Fair at this point. But like many good stories, I met a girl You see, at that time, Valerie was in the process of rededicating her life to Christ. However, by God's providence and his mercy really towards me, he allowed Valerie and I to get married. We entered marriage unequally yoked. And thankfully, Valerie's desire as a young married couple was to find a church. And she wanted to go to church. And I wasn't opposed to attending church. I honestly didn't know that much about it. And it was during that time that the word of God would begin to interest my mind. And with Valerie's love and encouragement, she would begin to help me to see the truths of God. And I would start to contemplate the things of God. being analytical by nature and a programmer and analyst by trade, my mind tended towards the most complex of subjects. I remember discussing with Valerie the deity of Christ and contemplating such subjects as theodicy, the problem of evil, and the Trinity, of course, and other difficult topics that I thought that if I could only mentally understand these topics, then I could believe in this Jesus of Nazareth that these pastors and valor is talking about and believe. However, no matter how much I tried to understand these biblical truths that I was hearing and studying for myself, I could not believe. I could not believe my heart was hard and my mind was blocked in its inability to ascertain the truth of Christ. And all that was left and all that I could do was to cry out to God for help. for the ability to believe, to have faith in the truth, which was something that my heart would not do on its own. I even remember buying a book with that very title in it, Help Me to Believe, Lord. And I don't even recall if I read it or not, but that was my cry to God, help me to believe. And God, in His mercy, would answer that cry. You see, the issue wasn't my ability to mentally understand a concept or even a truth. It was my heart. What it was, was sin. I loved my sin. And the result, there was a barrier between God and I, and I needed His grace to be set free from it and to be redeemed. providentially around that time, I would sit down in front of the television and turn on an evangelistic program that was on. And there they outlined and proclaimed the law of God, the bad news, using the law as a mirror to show me my condition before a holy and just God. You see, my view of sin and the holiness of God at that time had been very small, if not non-existent, but now, But now God, by the law, opened my eyes and I saw my state before God and I saw the true magnitude of my sin and rebellion. And now the gospel, the good news, had its effectual call on me, quickening me, seeing the beauty of Christ and who he was and what he had done, I was drawn to him. And as a result, repentance and faith sprang forth. God had saved me. I was a child of God, who was born not of blood, nor the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but by God. Now, no longer is it about me and my will, my plan, my life, but it is about Christ and God living in me through the Holy Spirit, calling me to do what he has called me to do, to proclaim this gospel. For it is the gospel that is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes, amen. Galatians 2.20 states, I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. In the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. Now by no means am I perfect or do I have it all together, but I now know the one who is perfect and who holds all things together. And it is Him who holds me in faith. And I praise and I rejoice in His grace. And I look forward to the time when I will see my Savior face to face. But until then, I press on, running the race, setting my eyes on the prize, which is Christ, not running in my own strength or because I must in order to live, but because I do live. And I love the one who has given me life. RBCKC, I thank you and I look forward to serving you faithfully, loving you, praying for you, encouraging you, but really most of all, pointing you to Christ as much as possible as we walk together as brothers and sisters in our Lord Jesus Christ. I thank you and may the grace of our Lord keep you. Father, what a blessing and a joy it is for you to grow your church as you do, in your own time, according to your Word and by your Spirit. What a joy this past year has been to see the growth that you've brought spiritually, even numerically, for a church here at RBCPC. We are blessed with such a wonderful church family. We thank you and praise you for it. We thank you, Lord, that you brought to us a man to be our next deacon in our church. We pray for him. We set him aside in this role. Lord, we would help him and enable him and protect him and keep him for his good, his family's good, and the good of the church and the proclamation of Christ Jesus. We pray for Carl's stamina, that he would not grow weary in his work, that he would have success, or keep him in those days where maybe the energy level goes down, or things aren't working out as they should, or maybe things aren't being received as they should, that would give him stamina, and understanding, and patience, and humility, and protect him in this way. It would bring safety to him spiritually, as he becomes under the attack of the evil one, spiritually, otherwise. Give him safety and protection in his family as well. We've got to allow his family to be attacked in ways that they would fall. I pray, you know, his relationship with his wife to be all the more strong, his relationship with his children to be all the more strong, so there would not be a weak spot there that would cause great damage to him personally. Please, Lord, give him stamina and safety in these areas. I pray you give him great support. to be a man of the Word, to continue to study the Word, to be a man of prayer, to be supported by the Spirit of God, to receive great support by his church family. Lord, please work in our hearts as his brothers and sisters serving with him and under him. We support him. We support him, Lord, by praying for him regularly, having patience with him, As things go and maybe don't work out as well as they should, help us to pray for them and have patience with them as well. And help us to have marked participation with them. That we would strive to be doing things, not just in prayer and patience, but in participation, to ask what are some things we can be doing to enable you and to help you in this role. That we can all be servants of Christ Jesus in the church. where we also live and pray for success of our church. Not an earthly success, but a spiritual success through a well-functioning and unified and service-oriented church at RBCKC. We're working to bring the success that we would indeed be the household of God that the church of the living God, where the temple would be built up by living stones, one by one, unified, working together, there'd be success, Lord, that the mystery of the faith would be upheld, be a foundation for the faith of the word of God, and a pillar of that would proclaim it, and that the mystery of Godness that we spoke of there at the end of 1 Timothy 3 would be cleared. that we would be, as a result of us working together with Carl and as a church being servants of our servant the Lord Jesus Christ, where we would proclaim without error, without fail, the incarnation, the resurrection, the ascension of Christ for all to know and for all to see. Lord, that we proclaim the mission, the gospel, and go forth, and we pray that souls receive that gospel, looking forward to the time He's not only ascended on high to glorify the returns of our glorified Savior, but make us like Him. We beg of you, Lord, that you make this church, as a result, successful in presenting Christ in word and in picture form as well, the more sinners will be redeemed and come to Christ. We have more souls in our church family to serve as shepherds for the glory of Christ Jesus Christ. In Jesus' name we pray. Everyone say this. Amen.