We've been looking forward to continue our time in the Word as we've been studying and wanting to come to a place of agreement in the way that we live with God's design for His family, God's design for His church. and we've seen in scripture over these last few weeks as we've been studying 1 Timothy, that God's design for his family is actually perfect. When we follow it, we experience his best. When we follow God's design for our relationships with one another, our family relationships, and his design for his church family, Not only do we experience God's best, but the church is then enabled by the Holy Spirit to serve its purpose, which is to speak of Jesus to our community, to bring the gospel, God's saving love, the message of God's saving love to the community. I want to remind you of these words of Jesus. Jesus said these words before he faced the cross. He was preparing his men, his disciples for his departure. And he said this, he says, a new commandment I give to you that you love one another. As I have loved you that you also love one another by this all will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another. That's amazing to me. Because Jesus is saying that his love is so outrageous, is so selfless, is so sacrificial. And of course, he is our example. He is the great shepherd in whose footsteps we're following as we love one another. And Jesus says, so powerful is this love that it informs the community of the nature of Jesus Christ. People will know that we are followers of Jesus simply by seeing the way that God's people love one another. That's amazing to me because that is a radical love. to be noticeable in such a way. That's what's new about this commandment, by the way. Jesus says, this new commandment I give to you, loving God and loving one another, that's not new. What's new is this, never before had a group of people been known for its love among its members in this way until the church was born. Now, by God's design, Christ followers are known in the community by the way they love each other. Christians are not known primarily by the rituals we observe, by the types of buildings we gather in, by the way we educate our kids, the way we vote, that sort of thing, where we live. Jesus says, by God's design, My followers are known and recognized in the world by the way they love each other. Self-sacrificing love, friends, is the essence of Christian living. Because it is the fragrance of Jesus Christ, amen. And so it's critical not only to the unity of our fellowship, but it's critical to our witness in this community that God has placed us in. And I want us to just keep that in mind as we continue to examine God's design for his family, the church. The Lord has graciously provided his church with leaders who serve as examples to all of us in this area of sacrificial love and compassionate care. And we call those people deacons. That's what a deacon is. And we're going to see from scripture this morning just three things. Although, don't think this is going to be really short, okay? Don't get all excited because there's only three things. We're going to see from scripture this morning that the church has been known for its brotherly love from the very beginning. We're also going to see from scripture this morning, I trust, that as the church grows, brotherly love is challenged. Okay. And I pray that we'll also see from scripture this morning that love in the form of serving those in need is actually modeled and is to be administrated by the deacons of the church. And I want us to begin this morning in the book of Acts. It's the book of beginnings, really, with respect to the church. And in Acts 2 and verse 42, Luke tells us that Christians, by a work of the Spirit, took care of one another. This was just the nature of spirit-filled living. It was compassionate care for one another. Luke says that they, the disciples, the Christians, continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine, that's the truth of God, and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, okay, that's talking about communion, and in prayers, and all who believed were together and had all things in common. That's interesting, that the church is not some sort of religious commune, but the church is what? The church is a spirit-led, caring community. That was a noticeable, palpable thing that occurred at Pentecost. As God's people were indwelt by God himself, the Holy Spirit, the church that was born was known to be A spirit-led caring community. One of the life signs of a church. How do we know a church is alive? Well, it's because people get together on Sunday and sit in a building with a cross on it. No. No. One of the ways we know a church is alive is that there is this spirit-led care that God's people have for one another, the sacrificial love of Christ expressed among God's people and notice what happens when an alive church a lively church is healthy in this way in verse 47 of Acts 2 it says the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved this caring community this evidence of a living healthy church actually commended the gospel to its community in this case Jerusalem And the Lord added to the church new believers. Now, I want us to just fast forward a little bit here in terms of church history to the sixth chapter of Acts. Acts chapter six. Eventually we'll find our way to 1 Timothy 3. Don't despair. Acts 6, beginning with verse 1, tells us about a crisis that occurred in the early church. Let's see what it is. Luke says, When the number of the disciples was multiplying, the church is growing, there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution. Then the 12 summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, it's 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 in the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicholas. You got to know these people had nicknames, right? A proselyte from Antioch, okay? So there's a Gentile in the group too, right? Whom they set before the apostles. And when they had prayed, they laid hands on them. Then the word of God spread. Isn't that interesting? The church is healthy. It has dealt with a crisis in this area of love and compassionate care. The word of God spread and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem. How great was it? Well, a great many of the priests even were obedient to the faith. And verse one tells us that there arose a complaint. I wonder, can you imagine a church in which there arose a complaint? Good heavens, I mean that's, all right. There arose a complaint. A murmuring occurred. There's people grumbling. Oh boy, I tell ya. The Greek-speaking widows are not being treated with the same compassion and care as the Aramaic speaking widows. The Jews from Jerusalem tended to gravitate toward other Jews from Judea. That's human nature, right? When we have a potluck, we don't do that as much as we used to here because we don't fit. But when we used to have potlucks, it's a noticeable thing that we tend to gravitate toward people that we know. Right? That's just human. I'm not setting you up. That's just human nature. That's what we, birds of a feather flock together. You remember that one? Yeah. Keep in mind, though, that when people gravitate toward their own kind, they often distance themselves from people who are not like them. There's always the danger of this becoming practical. Right? The Jews native to Judea distanced themselves from Jews who had come from outside Judea, from elsewhere in the Roman Empire. There had been unity. Here's the point. There had been unity. And now that unity is being threatened as the church grows. And friends, ever since the church was born, the scripture is showing us this has been a threat. to unity among God's people. It's something that places at risk the sweetness of our fellowship. It's something that places at risk the purity of our witness in our community. The threat is simply this. Yes, the church is a spirit-led caring community, but here's the thing. As a church grows, there is a tendency for people to fall through the cracks. There is a tendency for some people. To feel as if they're being ignored. To feel as if maybe other church members needs seem to matter more than theirs. Somehow other needs get ministered to and they just feel like they're kind of on the outside looking in. How many of you have ever been part of a group where you just kind of felt like you were on the outside looking in? We know what that is. They've fallen through the cracks of the church's compassion and care. And friends, when this happens, it grieves the spirit of God. Because this is not God's design for his family. This is not God's design for his church. The distinctive of Christian fellowship is unity. And God makes it so by placing his spirit within each one of us. And so the common thread in the room this morning, despite all of the diversity that we might have in this group, is that those who are believers are indwelt by the Spirit of God. We also have some other commonalities. We're sinners. And we are recipients of grace. Amen. And we see in Acts 6 that the Holy Spirit then, how big a deal was this? Well, it's such a big deal that the Holy Spirit moved the apostles, the church's first elders, to deal with this immediately and to deal with it decisively. This is a big deal. What did they do? Well, as a congregation, they were involved in the selection of godly men. who would serve in this area of meeting actual material needs, particularly the needs of widows, okay? That is probably something to note here, that we're talking about the meeting, the administrating, meeting the needs of, the practical needs of people in the body. It wasn't just that some people had stock portfolios that weren't performing as well as everybody else's stock portfolios. That's not what we're talking about. We're talking about people not eating. They don't have clothes to wear. They're missing meals. They don't have a roof over their head, that sort of thing, okay? And friends, what we're seeing here in Acts 6 is the birth of deacon ministry. You say, well, wait a minute here. I don't even see the word deacon anywhere in this passage. Well, you need to know that the word deacon is actually a made up word. It comes from the Greek diakonos, which simply means to serve. A deacon is a servant. And in the context of God's family, the church, a servant leader. The deacons are those who lead us in this area of compassionate care for one another. So somebody says, well, what on earth is a deacon? I've got lots of different life experience ideas about what a deacon is. A deacon is simply a church's servant leader, okay? They're responsible for the physical welfare of those who are in need. In particular, the church's widows. And I want to just stop here and acknowledge that some of you, I know you come from other churches. I think everybody here, except me, comes from another church, right? Let's just call it the way it is, you know? So we're all from somewhere else, just like, you know, we're all, nobody's from Idaho either, right? Maybe you come from a tradition where the deacons kind of served as the building and grounds committee. Or maybe you come from a background where the, the deacons really functioned as advisors to the pastor because the church didn't have an eldership. I was talking to a dear brother the other day who said that in his tradition, the deacon was the guy who went from house to house when God's people needed to be scolded about something. They needed to be reprimanded. And so if deacon so-and-so called and said, hey, can I visit you on Monday? That was your cue to say, we're out of town, man. I mean, no, you wouldn't say that. But I mean, that was the vibe of the deacon ministry. The deacon was like the heavy, you know, in the church. And what I want you to do with all of those different ideas is just toss them. Because none of them follow the design of God for his family. God is showing us in his word this morning that the church's first deacons are called specifically to model brotherly love, to lead the way in the church's compassionate care for its members, okay? Why? Why organize things this way? Well, Luke tells us in Acts 6 that the elders, the under-shepherds of the church, in this case the apostles, needed to be relieved of this so that they could give priority to the Word of God and to prayer. And so another thing that we're seeing in Acts 6 is God the Holy Spirit is telling us that the proclaiming of His Word And prayer is vital to the health of the church. Don't miss that, okay? Don't miss that. Why do I mention that? You say, well, that's pretty handy for a preacher to say, isn't it? Well, here's why I mention it. We have this human tendency sometimes to think of prayer and then doing stuff. Why do we not pray sometimes as we ought to? Oh, because it doesn't feel like we're doing anything. How many of you know that prayer is the first and best thing we ought to be doing when there are needs that come up in the body of Christ. But here is the Holy Spirit showing us that God has a heart for those who are in need. So these first deacons are the church's ministers of mercy, ministers of compassion, okay? By God's design, Deacons are models of compassionate care. They're the church's ministers of mercy. They administrate compassion. It doesn't mean that these seven men served the thousands who were in the church. It means that they oversaw that. They were responsible to make sure that that ministry occurred. look at verse 3 with me 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 I want you to notice with me that it matters to God who leaders in his family are you notice that okay the Holy Spirit didn't lead the Apostles to say pull some people out of the stands and try to get organized on this thing no this is that this is a spirit led thing okay and so it requires those of good reputation full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom now let me just say something to those of you who have already checked out because you're not a deacon and you're not interested in being a deacon and all that sort of thing who in this room who is a believer ought to be concerned about what it means to have a good reputation, to be filled with the Holy Spirit and wisdom. Okay, all right, here we go. So God is saying, look, I want you to choose men who have an observable, measurable spiritual life, okay? And in the following ways, look at 1 Timothy 3 now. those of you who didn't think we were going to get there, 1 Timothy 3. What does it mean to have a good reputation, to be full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom? Paul says to Timothy, 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, but temperate, faithful in all things. Let deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children in their own house as well. For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a good standing and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus. Notice the word likewise. What's Paul getting at? Just as what was said about those who are serving as elders, as under shepherds in the church, the qualifications for eldership Character qualifications are exactly the same as the qualifications for deacon ministry, okay? The only difference is in the possible area of the teaching gift. An elder must be gifted to teach. A deacon may be, but he need not be, okay? In other words, with respect to character, the same qualifications then that are looked for in an elder are also looked for in a deacon. Why? Why does character matter among those who lead us in serving one another, do you suppose? Well, Acts chapter six shows us that this task demanded not only skill, but those who could be trusted. To fulfill this very important responsibility. And to fulfill it with integrity. To fulfill it in the Lord's strength. How many of you know the wrong people in leadership often create more problems than they solve? How do I know that? Because I've been the wrong leader in some situations. I know all about causing more problems than I solve. But I've also been led that way. I've got experience on both sides. I want us to just move fairly quickly through these character qualifications simply because they are an echo of what we studied last week in the first seven verses of 1 Timothy 3. I do want you to notice though that deacons are to live out and model the virtues that all of us are aspiring to, okay? And so when you get to a list like this, our cue as disciples of Jesus Christ is to recognize that what needs to be particularly true among these leaders really ought to be true of all of us, okay? This isn't just exclusive to deacons and elders. We all want to be, anybody here want to have a bad reputation? I mean, it's just been your burning desire all your life to just have a corrupt, no, of course not. And we wanna walk in the Spirit. We want to know what it is to be wise in God's measure, not the world's measure. Look at verse 8. Deacons must be reverent. They must be reverent. Meaning what? Well, the word reverent, if you squeeze it hard enough, simply means, it refers to falling down in worship. That's interesting. It's describing a worshipful life, okay? I suppose in a practical sense, we could simply say that a deacon has a daily conduct that honors God. God as Creator and Redeemer and Master and Lord, okay? There's a certain seriousness to this. What would it mean for any of us then to be those who have a good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom? Well, it means that our day-to-day living honors God. We live a godly life. That's a work of grace in us that is happening as we grow up in Christ. The deacons are those who need to be able to get together as a group. They're organizing the way this church administers the meeting of practical needs. They've got to be men of integrity. They've got to be men whose lives are respectable. Deacons must be reverent and not double-tongued. Not double-tongued. I wonder what that's talking about. It means that this is not a person who says one thing to one person and something else to another person. Deacons in the early church, just like deacons today, although perhaps more so, because I don't think they had phones then. Definitely not cell phones. I don't think they had any phones. And so they would go house to house. What they said to God's people mattered. They needed to be those who had control of their tongues. They exercised discretion. The NIV, I think, uses the word sincere. Sincere. They're discreet. They have speech that is filled with integrity and truthfulness. deacons and elders, anybody who serves in leadership in the church, often is made aware of information that isn't for public consumption. Do you know what I'm saying? Information about a person or a family that's just, it just needs to be kept private. It's not for everybody. And so a deacon cannot be a person who says, boy, you know, we really need to pray for Frank. Because I heard from Mark, who heard from John, who heard from Philip, that he's really struggling, you know. Friends, sometimes we mask gossip in the form of prayer requests. And that grieves the Spirit of God. You can't have a deacon who's like that. You can't have a deacon's wife who's like that. He's not given to much wine. We looked at that last week. I'm not going to belabor it. I'll just say again that a deacon, just as an elder, is known to be one who's living under the influence of the Holy Spirit, not substances. Okay. He's not greedy for money. Remember the false teachers in Ephesus who were creating much of the trouble in this church were those who simply wanted to profit personally from the flock of God. They viewed God's people as an opportunity to profit, to benefit personally, materially. By the way, Judas probably illustrates best in this kind of context what it is to be greedy for money. Because everybody who looked at Judas would have said, boy, there is a serious follower of Jesus Christ. I mean, he's right in the thick of it with all the other disciples. And he even seems to be one that the other disciples turn to whenever it's time to pay the lunch bill for people, you know, that sort of thing. And John the Apostle does us the favor of pointing out that all the while this was going on, the little creep had his hand in the money bag. Right? That was Judas's deal. He was greedy for money. A deacon, just like an elder, just like any of us who wants to walk in the Spirit, is not going to be motivated by personal gain. Look at verse 9. A deacon is one who is holding to the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience. Holding to the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience. What on earth is that about? Well, his life is consistent with the truth of God. He's got a clear conscience from living in harmony with God's truth. How many of you know that if our conscience is alive? Remember, it has to be awakened by the Holy Spirit that happens when we're saved. We now have a conscience that can function the way the Holy Spirit desires for it to function. And a conscience has to be rightly informed. It's got to be exposed to God's truth in order to work rightly. And a conscience also needs to be constantly maintained. How many of you guys ever have sinned since you met the Lord? All right, there should be a lot more hands up. It should be all of them. Some of you need to raise both hands. Here's the thing. We do that. What does it mean to maintain our conscience? It means that we fall down to our Lord and confess that and receive his gracious forgiveness and restoration when we're out of step with his truth. And when a person is doing that, this is a work of grace in a disciple. The conscience is working the way it's supposed to, and the scripture is simply saying that a deacon needs to be someone who has a clear conscience, a clean conscience, because he knows in his heart that he's living in line with the Word of God, that he's living in harmony with the truth of God. He doesn't just agree to God's truth intellectually, it's put into practice in his daily living. Verse 10, but let these first be tested then let them serve as deacons, being found blameless." Back in Acts 6, you recall the apostles told the congregation, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom whom we may appoint over this business. In other words, based on your observations of people, As you are observing and walking in the spirit yourself. Seek them out. Who are the proven ones? Who are the men whose lives already exemplify this kind of spirit led compassionate care for God's people? I want you to pay close attention to verse 11. Likewise, their wives must be reverent, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things. And you might think, well, that's interesting. I mean, what on earth is this to do with their wives? With respect to deacons and elders, what does it have to do with who their wives are, what their wives are like? Well, God is telling us this morning, it's got everything to do with it. Doesn't the scripture say that in marriage, The two become one. Okay. Those of you who are married to elders and deacons, the scripture is just reminding us that just like your spouse, you can't have a loose tongue either. A leader's spouse cannot have a loose tongue. You're held to the same standard of godliness that the deacon is, that the elder is. Slanderer, by the way, is actually the Greek word diabolos. What's that remind you of? It should. It should. That's where that kind of speech comes from, scripture says. It's not of God. The idea here is that gossip, particularly gossip that harms or discredits or outs somebody, is not of the Lord. It's actually of the enemy. Okay, and by the way, outside the context of church leadership, how many of you know that's true for all of us? That kind of speech is not of the Lord. Even when we disguise it as a prayer need, it's actually from the enemy. Okay, temperate, just as with the elders, this is talking about being self-controlled, you know, having balanced judgment, okay? They're able to stay composed in difficult, sensitive circumstances, okay? You can imagine how disheartening it would be to be following a leader who, when a crisis comes, simply fell apart, okay? Came unhinged. You know, just that sort of thing. Faithful in all things, okay? So God is telling us a leader's spouse then also needs to be trustworthy, reliable, dependable. The common thread in their walk, their life, is faithfulness to God. Faithfulness to God's family. Okay, verse 12. You guys still with me? All right. Notice that the primary proving ground for leaders, whether they're deacons or elders, is the management of their own families. Okay, let deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children in their own houses. Well, again, I won't go into all of this because we looked at it last week. But the idea of that husband of one wife is not talking about polygamy. It's not talking about whether he has a divorce in his background, you know, before he met the Lord, that sort of thing. The idea is this, he's a one woman man. He his heart is knit to to the heart of his wife alone if he's a married man. He's a one-woman man. He's a responsible Christian husband and father. His home is orderly as opposed, not perfect, but orderly as opposed to chaotic, on the verge of collapse. That would be the opposite of orderly. Why? Why does this matter so much? Because a man who's able to manage his own home is showing that by God's grace, he's able to function that way in the family of God. Okay, verse 13. And why don't we end with this one since it's the last one. Have you noticed we always begin with the first one and end with the last one? There's a pattern here. For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a good standing and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus. I want you to notice the emphasis on serving well. The Holy Spirit isn't saying if people call you deacon, that's an honorable thing. Well, that is true, but the idea is that a deacon serves well. He's to use the office, not fill the office. Does that make sense? Boy, we look at leadership in a cultural sense, just outside the church, in a secular sense, if you'll allow that word. And we see lots of examples of what it is to occupy an office and not actually fulfill an office. We know all about that, right? And God says, you know what? My family is not like that. The people whom I equip spiritually to function as role models for compassionate care serve well. It would be terribly ironic, friends, if we had a deacon body that simply met occasionally and talked about the needs of our fellowship and had a time of prayer and never actually did anything to mobilize God's people to meet any of those needs. Wouldn't that be ironic? Their ministry is actually meeting the needs. And so the Holy Spirit is saying, you know what, as deacons do that, they're serving well. And that's an honorable thing. They're serving well by meeting the needs of the congregation, especially the widows of the church. Notice that it says, the last part of this verse, they obtained for themselves a good standing. and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus. That's interesting to me. They obtain for themselves a good standing and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus. How many of you guys know, do any of you guys exercise? I mean, I personally don't, so I'm just curious. All right. You know people, though, who exercise, right? And when you exercise a muscle, sometimes what happens is that that muscle gets stronger. Are you with me on this? Okay. Faith is kind of like that. A faith that is not exercised, first of all, isn't faith anyway, but faith that is not exercised tends not to grow stronger. And so God is giving us a general principle here whether we have anything to do with deacon ministry or not, whether we're an elder or pastor or not. We mature as disciples as we serve one another selflessly and sacrificially. We don't grow, we don't mature as believers only by taking in information about what it is to follow Jesus Christ. We mature as believers by taking that truth and living it out in practical ways, right? You guys with me? Okay, a couple of you are listening, that's good. Let me just end with this. You've given me the same look you did last week. but I was ready for it, so don't worry. I'm not discouraged at all. How is this not inside baseball, right? Some of you have that expression, just saying. Here's how. Jesus says to us that we follow him when we're loving one another the way he loves us. Jesus says to us that our reputation, no, scratch that, his reputation in this community has something to do with the nature of us having a palpable love for one another that is so radical that it's noticed in the way that there is compassionate care among God's people. Jesus says that, so we should care. And friends, the same challenge to unity in the early church is a challenge in this church right now. That's actually a good thing. That's not a criticism. It means that we're growing. God is adding to our number. And what we're finding is some of the people walking through the doors are not just like us. We haven't known them for 10 or 15 years. And that's okay. That's a good thing. And how many of you would agree with me that we don't want anybody whom God adds to our number to feel as if they're on the outside looking in? We don't want them to feel that somehow the saints that have been here a while, their needs matter more than our needs do. How many of you know that would grieve the spirit of God? We don't want to let that happen here. And we are blessed. Let me encourage you, church. We are blessed. to have deacons who are described in the passage that we just read. And they love you, and they love Jesus. And they want to serve you, okay? And you will notice over time in the months ahead, as God allows it, we'll be adding to our deacon body. And I want to encourage you guys to participate in that in the same way that we just read in scripture. As you recognize godly men, the way the apostles told the congregation to do so, please speak to the elders about it. Do you guys care if this is practical for us? Please speak to the elders about that. How many of you signed up to participate in the care team that is being formed? And you're wondering what in the world has happened with that, okay? Well, stay tuned because the deacons will be managing that care team, okay? And so some of you have already heard about specific needs that need to be met. All of you will be hearing about how you will participate as those who come alongside our deacons and our deacons' wives and help them in that ministry, okay? All right, let's pray. Father, thank you for the truth of your word. Thank you for the beauty of your design, because it shows us that you, Lord, are a God of compassion and care. And Lord, I thank you for the leaders that you have given us here at Hayden Bible Church. I thank you, Lord, that our leadership is not perfect, but Lord, those who are being perfected, those who are desiring to follow hard after you, knowing that your people are looking to their example. Lord, I pray that you would protect the unity of this church as we grow. Lord, I pray that our unity would not be eroded by the very human tendency to pay attention to our own needs without paying attention to the needs of others. And Lord, we'll be careful to give you the praise and the glory as you do that. And it's in your name that we pray. Amen.