Alright, we'll take your Bibles this morning and we'll be back in 1 Timothy chapter 3. 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy and Titus are known as the pastoral epistles because of Paul's instruction to his son in the faith, Timothy, about how he should order, structure the church. Last week we talked and we used the analogy of a blueprint for the church that we are to follow. His desires for both men and women, for elders, for deacons, for widows, and all these things all fall here. Really, a lot of it in 1 Timothy repeated somewhat in 2 Timothy and somewhat to Titus as well. But let me pray and we'll jump in together. Lord, we thank you for this the time that we have this morning to evaluate what it is for the believer to be called to service, both in a general way. but even in a specific way, Lord, to recognize that just as we see and we saw last week in Your Word that there is a desire for a plurality of elders, that there is not one individual who can faithfully shepherd the entire flock, even of a local church, that in the same way, even though, Lord, You have raised up a number of elders even here, nor that they are not able to do all the work themselves, but we are, Lord, to reflect Your purposes in having those who come alongside, Lord, those who help, those who serve, as we see, that serve in an excellent way, that serve in a capacity of which even, Lord, is recognized by the church. of which when it is recognized, Lord, then we see those who are recognized as these deacons, these servants obtain for themselves a high standing and a great boldness in the faith that is in Christ Jesus. Lord, we know that it is not the intent to separate people in the sense of first class and second class, but simply to recognize, Lord, that you use many different gifted people to serve, Lord, that your ministry might be done here in its local capacity, but as well in the church abroad. So encourage us this morning, Lord, of what it is to serve you. We pray this in your son's name, amen. Amen. Well, the first time that I ever ate at a, what I would call a fancy restaurant, so not Applebee's, it's kind of where I grew up going, but actually ate at a nice steak restaurant, it was because I had a good friend, although I should caveat, I'm up here, I'm remembering, I don't want to be a liar, I did go to nice restaurants on my honeymoon. But this was shortly after that, so I guess it's technically second or third nice restaurant. But I had a buddy I did some work for, and he sent me a gift card, And he sent me a gift card with three words on it. And it said, quote, bone in ribeye. I'd never honestly heard of. I knew a ribeye. I knew it was a steak. It was like a bone-in. I don't know. What difference could a bone make? He's like, just get the bone-in ribeye. OK. And so he gave me this gift card. And if I remember right, I think it was $150. And at the time, I was going, whoa. I guess we're going to eat like kings and queens. And so Ash and I went out to here in Omaha to Mahogany's Prime Steakhouse. And we took that gift card, and it wasn't enough. Who knew? But I did exactly what he advised, and I ordered the bone-in ribeye, and it was exactly what he said. It was that good. I don't know if it was the fact that it was salted right, or the plate comes out hot, or the full experience of that, but it was something I thought, I remember that. And I can remember sitting there, I can remember the lighting, I can remember Ashley sitting across from me, but it's interesting, one of the things I don't remember is I can't tell you, my wife might be able to tell you, but I couldn't tell you if we had a waiter, a man, or we had a waitress, a woman. I don't remember them. I don't remember if, what their name was, I'm sure they had one, but I don't remember their name. But I remember the food. And I can visualize the food on the table. And I think that's a mark of a good experience at a restaurant. And when we come here and we're gonna look at this idea of what it is to serve in the church, it's not that it's a lower class that it's saying, okay, waiters or waitresses are something that are less than, but it is behind this word in the Greek, diakonos, that helps us understand what it is in the church for those to be recognized as these excellent servants. And that part of that job is to say, if you're gonna take that metaphor, that you have those who are preparing and I'm sorry, you might be at an Applebee's church, I try my best, that are preparing the food, right? The good, the food, the word of God, and preparing it. And then there are those who are here to assist ministering those who are laboring the word, those who are, we looked at elders in the church, to accomplish the mission of the church. It's that mediation, it's that role in which they go about helping administer all of these things to the church. And if we were to look at scripture all the way back, and you look at Moses, and he gets advice from his father-in-law Jethro that he can't by himself minister to Israel, and so he raises up 70 elders, right? He cannot do it alone, but even those 70 elders, you're gonna have others that come along and assist. And likewise, when we come to the New Testament, very practical, you have those who are overseers. And so within that, we looked at last week, elders. So men who are teaching and holding authority, it's an office of authority. And here we come to deacons, which is more an office of service. And so they're not leading in the same way. They're not having authority over doctrine, leading and protecting and feeding the sheep in the same way. But it's not a less than, it's just a different gifting that is absolutely necessary in the church. Because if the food is to become, to go there, right, to the ministry, to the people, if we're to receive the meal, you don't want to look back and have a fumbling waiter or waitress. You'd rather have this memory of this is the word come to me. And so there are many people that function within this general role of service, but then there are those who function even in a greater role. And so I wanted this morning, kind of back into this issue by looking at the whole and talk about this idea of serving, yes, but even look at the word diakonos that is in the Greek. Because when we come to a word like deacon, In somewhat, you could say an unhelpful way, but understandably historically, it's just carried over. It's not a real word, as you could say it is now, like many words, but it was not a real word when they translated it into the English Bible. They simply didn't want to give it a name that was different than what they were used to within the churches. So in a similar way, also didn't want to cause trouble in English, because if you were to translate baptism, baptizo, immersion, Well, no babies were getting dunked, right? So it causes problems. So we simply get, we don't get immersed, we get baptized. But it literally means to immerse. Same thing here. Diakonos simply means to serve, but there's a lot of official capacities even up in the church age when this English Bible comes to us and they give it a new term, transliterate it to deacon. but it has its roots in the idea of all believers serving Christ. And I think it helpful to bring it from a word down to a function down to this official position that is recognized by the church. And then of course, talking a little bit about how we do that here at Providence. And so the big idea we're looking at here is that God calls every believer to serve. but he also appoints some to be recognized as deacons, people who display tested, which is a big key issue with the deacon, Christ-like character through faithful service. And so, this is the way I think of it, looking at this chart here, is that, broadly speaking, in the Greek world, there's a couple different meanings for diakonos, the Greek word, but it's an idea of anyone who brings food, You could say there's a way in which they assist, they are the mediator from one to the other in a more generic sense, but I think this fits our analogy well. And Jesus takes that term and he applies it to his disciples. And so Matthew 20, verse 26, he says, it is not this way among you. That is, the Gentiles lord it over. They don't serve, they lord it over with their authority. Rather, it is to be among you. Whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your diakonos, your servant. And whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave, just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve. And to give his life a ransom for many. The world has a lot of opinions on what is greatness. I mean, how big is your platform? How large is your church? How many followers you have on social media? But Jesus takes that in that culture, and I think it's true today as well, and he flips it and says, no, you don't lord it over, you don't puff out your chest, rather you serve. And that's for the 12. That's for an apostle. So when we come to the church and we come to deacons, it isn't to say elders, well, they're authoritative people. They don't have to serve. If someone throws up in the bathroom, don't let an elder clean that up. Get a deacon. No. Everyone, elders included, everyone who follows Christ, apostles included, have to be about this way of serving one another. We follow the master in this way. If you want to be great in, quote unquote, the kingdom, or if you want to be great in the church, it is to take the low place. It is to be a servant. It's this type of word. Every disciple of Jesus, he's saying, is a servant. So, It doesn't matter if you have doctor or pastor or reverend before your name, you are called to be a servant. That's the initial recognition of his term. And what they would take from that is that initial, okay, you're talking about a certain type of slave in that culture. He doesn't use doulos, but he uses diakonos. And you're talking about a certain type of slave who is coming and he is bringing food and serving the table and providing for the meal. He's saying, that's the way you need to be. You need to, what people need, you want to bring them and serve them. What do you want? What do you need? Let me help you. Let me serve you. Let me bring you what you need. That's what Christ, did for us in the ultimate sense, right? He gave his life, he served his life for us. He gave it to us as a ransom for many. No exceptions. Every one of us is to be a servant. So don't think, okay, I don't have to serve because I'm not a deacon. No, we're all called to serve from the top all the way to the bottom. If we're gonna be a disciple of Jesus, then we are going to serve. And so, anyone who brings food, disciples of Jesus, and then, as I've been saying, within the church as well, you could say Peter takes this, of course, followers of Jesus, you say the same, but Peter takes this idea, and one of my favorite places for gifts, because he gives just general buckets, two buckets, if anyone, as each one has received a gift, the assumption is you have, you come to Christ, the Spirit has given you gifts, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold of grace. Again, same word, same idea here. Each one has a gift and you use that and you could use gifts plural by serving one another. And he kind of goes on to say, if that's in speech with your words, if that's with your hands, with your hands, you serve others. That is your purpose as a follower of Christ and a Christian in general. We understand by using the gifts that God has given us, it's unique, it's distinctive to each one of us, but that we're meant to be a good steward of it to the Lord. Again, just the same way as I was saying last week, Paul's favorite word for Timothy here is that he is a steward. And so you think of elders are stewards. Well, yes. They're stewarding, they're overseeing in that sense, but you go to 1 Corinthians chapter 4 and 5, and you'd also see every believer is a steward, and you go 1 Peter chapter 4, and the same thing there. You're an employee, your gift as good stewards. So we're all stewarding whatever we've been given. If you've been given the position of eldership, then you better steward that well, you better shepherd the flock of God. Well, if you've been given this recognition as a deacon, you better steward whatever role you're serving in that capacity, you better steward it well. if you're just serving in the most basic unseen ways. In fact, think of it this way, if you're serving outside of the church, maybe you have a elderly parent who needs significant help, needs day in and day out care. Well, you're probably not gonna be a recognized servant in the church as a deacon because you're literally, I can't, I'm too busy. I can get to church, but then I'm Monday through Friday caring for mom or caring for dad. That's good. That's necessary. In fact, you'd even say, 1 Timothy 5, that's exactly what he says to do. If there are widows in your family, you should care for them. So even in that way, you serve, and yes, you might not be serving as much in the church, but it's part of the way God has designed things, even in the church, is you care for a family, and then it comes on down. All Christians are to be servants. But then as we come down into 1 Timothy 3, there is this word that Jesus uses and he brings down. I think we're all to be servants if we're gonna follow Him. And then Peter picks up on, and we're all to be servants if we're in Christ. But then, in this category of chapter three, as Paul is explaining how to order the household of God. So, just jump down to 15, where he says, in this case, I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God. And so this is in the context of how does the church function? This is the blueprint kind of conversation. And within that, he gives instructions generally, chapter two, to men. And there's a little more to this, but we'll just look a couple of verses, chapter eight. Therefore, I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands without wrath and dissension. And we don't need to necessarily exposit this whole except for to, whole verse except for to say, who gives instruction to men. Lifting up here is not the sense that you might think of, well, you gotta lift our hands and praise. This is actually lift your hands to work, is what he's after. That's the picture they would have. You're gonna work with your holy hands. You're gonna do work. You're going to pray, you're going to work, and you're going to do so without wrath and dissension. That's not just for elders, overseers, that is for all men within the church. And likewise, he gives instructions, generally speaking, for ladies. Verse 9, likewise, where we see a very similar connective verb with the exact same one in 11. Likewise, I want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing, with modesty, with self-restraint, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly clothing, but rather by means of good works as is proper for women professing godliness. And he's gonna go on and explain, which is gonna help us understand why women aren't mentioned among the elders. Because he's gonna give here, verse 11 of chapter two, a woman must learn in quietness and all, it's a mission, but I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet. For it was Adam who was first formed, and then Eve. And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived fell into trespass. But she will be saved through the bearing of children, if they continue in faith and love and sanctification with self-restraint." What I want you to see from this is that Paul has this pattern of addressing men, addressing women, giving instruction, and in this case as well, giving very gender, you could say, specific instruction, because likewise, I want, excuse me, verse eight, therefore I want men, every place to pray, lifting up holy hands, which is his way of saying working, work, because they're providing for the house, and to do so without wrath and dissension. And so often, Men who get short-tempered and have a short fuse are tempted to wrath and to cause division." So he gives to the men, hey, here's some things you need to watch out for. Get to work, keep your hands busy, and do so praying without dissension and without wrath. And likewise for women, one of the issues the women are having in the church is you have women coming into the church who are trying to be the spotlight. And the context of this is the household of God. This is the gathering, and we are here to worship, and you don't need to come in and flaunt. So what would this be in our culture? It's not necessarily one-to-one. So if you have braided hair, I think you're okay this morning. If you're wearing gold or pearls or fake gold, I think it's okay. But he's saying we don't come in to demonstrate our wealth, and the ladies might be more tempted than others. I think that's his point here. The guys aren't dressing to the nines. It seems to be the ladies. And rather understand you need to dress yourself in godliness. and what is proper for those who profess godliness. And so he gives distinctive instruction for men and for women based on the issues going on in the church and probably really based on what we understand as he's not above giving gender specific information or even leaning into this idea that men and women are different and therefore stereotypes, although sometimes they're just that, they're not true, they're stereotypes, they usually have a root in reality. That's why when we have a stereotype about mother-in-laws, right? Is it there because there's issues sometimes? Yeah, there just tends to be. Someone gets married and there's someone who used to be in charge and it's just, and it's different. And so there's kind of, oh yeah, issues with the mother-in-law. Same thing if you go to 1 Corinthians 16 and you see Paul address them there, he addresses clearly all the men, I mean all the men and women, the whole church in Corinth in 1 Corinthians 16. And he says to the men and to the women, he says, act like men. And you go, what does that mean? He can't be saying anything about masculinity because he's telling women to act like men. I mean, this doesn't sound biblical at all. And I think you understand what he's saying is in that way, men are viewed as physically stronger. He's just stating the facts. Controversial maybe in our culture today, but if we got out the tug-of-war rope today, I think we'd still prove it true. It's just the way it is. They are physically stronger. Peter brings that up as well in 1 Peter 3. And so when he says, act like men, he's saying, be strong and be courageous. And even ladies, you, in this moment, what is called for? You need to be strong and you need to be courageous. He's not saying be a man. He's not saying anything towards that. He's saying there's a quality of masculinity, of strength, and you need to be strong and brave. And so he's not opposed to using those things. And I think that's helpful when we come to chapter three, and we understand the men's and women's roles. So in chapter three, we look last week, verses one through seven, he deals with the overseer, the steward, the one who is going to be giving direction. Anyone who aspires the office of overseer, he desires a good work. So you could say office, you could say position, and then when you drop down and he gives all these qualifications, and he addresses verse 8, the deacon or the diakonos, or the servant, likewise, must be dignified, not double tongued, then goes into similar qualifications. The reason, typically, if someone asks the question, what are offices in the church? What are positions in the church? And you typically will hear, you could say in this case, overseer, deacon, but we looked at whether it's overseer, whether it's elder, whether it's shepherd or pastor, they're all the same. They're leaders of the church. They're stewards of the church overseeing this thing. They've given the stewardship of the church. And then, when it says deacons likewise, it's the same context of anyone desires the office of overseer, and he's saying likewise, servants, deacons, likewise, it seems to be he's continuing on to say there are those who are serving in the church, we're all called to it, but there is a unique category or position of those who should then be recognized, and we'll see recognized why actually for the church and for their own good, that they might obtain, verse 13, from themselves a high standing and a great boldness in the faith that is in Christ Jesus. And so the likewise of verse eight, which is where we'll kind of begin working through here, it is explaining that we're in the same context of church positions, office of verse one. It's a different one. It's a diakonos, it's a servant, but he uses it in a way where he gives qualifications, which makes you go back to, okay, if we've got qualifications, what we have here is a recognition of an office. It's not everyone in the church, just not as everyone is an overseer, not everyone will be an official deacon in the church. We're gonna talk more about what that is. Two places just as, where we see some recognition of the deacons. We have both Romans written before 1 Timothy, not Philippians as well, where they are addressed. And you go, when do they pop up? Because we don't have much outside of 1 Timothy 3. We don't have it in 2 Timothy. And so what do they do with these deacons? Well, we see them recognize Philippians 1, 1, where Paul and Timothy, slaves of Christ Jesus to all the saints. Christ Jesus, who are in Philippi with the overseers and deacons. He seems to address them and addresses that capacity of which they are overseeing authority, teaching, of which then the deacons of course are assisting and accomplishing service within the church. In whatever way, and I think intentionally vague here, what does service mean? What does it mean to serve the elders? What does it mean to assist the elders? We honestly don't have a lot of evidence. There's a little bit of early church history of the Diakonate, which you can look, the Didache, which is an ancient document you can read. It's kind of interesting where you see kind of the church organization, but it looks different in 2025 than the first century. And I think even so the wisdom of scripture, it just says, again, the idea of service is fairly general that it might be different. And so you don't, you have certain things today, didn't have back then, but they're serving and assisting in some capacity that the ministry might be accomplished. And they're doing it in a significant way where they've been tested and then they are recognized. All right, so. Let's look here, walk through qualifications then of the deacon and maybe some insight in the difference between, what is the difference between a deacon and an elder? And I think this might help us a little bit if we compare and contrast along the way. So, 1 Timothy 3, verse 8 through 10. Deacons, likewise. Again, that likewise is important because we're in the same conversation of office of overseer, but again, different office. But likewise, like elders, they should be tested. They should be qualified. They should be marked out by these things. They must be dignified. Not double-tongued, not indulging in much wine, not fond of dishonest gain, but holding to the mystery of faith with a clear conscience. And these men must also be tested, then let them serve as deacons, if they are beyond reproach." And so you start to see these similarities of deacons and elder qualifications. But they're not exactly one-to-one. And I think there's partly a good reason for this. Some of this has to do with the nature of the office is simply different. First, we're gonna walk through this, but Deacons likewise, it tells us this important thing, this parallel structure, but also they must be dignified, worthy of respect, honorable, or a lot of people look at this in a literal translation of being serious. Now, do I think that means you can't be a funny guy? Not necessarily, but it is you just take your job seriously. If you are. Think of our role today, church today. If you're leading a ministry, you're not flippant. You don't just show up five minutes late, 20 minutes late. You do it on your own time. You take it seriously as a service to the church, yes, but ultimately a service to the Lord. There is a observable spiritual maturity about this person. And so, again, it's not that you're just solemn and you don't smile as much as it is you are serious about the way you go about your business. You handle yourself well is the idea that you're dignified. Secondly, you look and you see that this idea of not being double-tongued Which I don't see. I think that one got skipped off here. But this idea of not being double-tongued, secondly in the text, is a unique phrase. And what's interesting about it is this idea of being two-tongued, which is this idea you could even say of being double-minded man and James, is that he's after that you would say one thing and do another. That is one of those concerning qualities, verse eight, that if you are the kind of person who is not consistent, the kind of person who says, oh yes, I'll do that, and a week later, it doesn't get done. No, we want, if someone is to be recognized, they are to be someone who's not double-tongued, but someone who is faithful and is worthy to be trusted, and is sincere. As Jesus would say, their yes is yes, their no is no. Add to that also, not addicted to much wine or not indulging in much wine as the LSB puts here. That would be a similar qualification to the elder of a similar concern. Again, it doesn't mean this issue of, it's an issue of drunkenness. It's not an issue of just alcohol because just a few chapters later, Paul is going to tell Timothy to take a little wine for his stomach, but this is an issue of indulgence. This is an issue of self-control. This is an issue of moderation. They're not to be someone who's addicted or controlled by anything other than the spirit, as Ephesians would say. Also, they're not to be fond of sordid gain or dishonest gain, which makes a lot of sense because one of the assistance that elders need is as they're ministering the word to people, there's money coming in and you better have honest, trustworthy people. And so you need people that are not greedy, but rather are marked out by having integrity. There is, though, a qualification not to teach for a deacon, but to hold to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. And so their hold to the faith with a clear conscience, what does that mean? It means that this isn't a, and this goes back to the double-mindedness of James, it's someone who's not new and it's someone who is really struggling. Am I saved? Do I really believe this? Someone who's riding this fence. You don't want that person serving as a example of a servant within the church. You want someone who's committed to holding the mystery of the faith. That is to say, when you see mystery, it's always a reference to what was veiled in the Old Testament, what has been made clear in the New Testament. If you jump ahead to verse 16, I even think it's probably clarifying, when he gets to the common confession, Great is the mystery of the godliness. And what does he go into? He goes into the very message of the person and the work of Christ. He who is manifest in the flesh, which is Christ, was vindicated in the spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on the world, taken up into glory. And so they hold to the gospel truth firmly, clear conscience. Which makes sense, that they would be grounded in some level of sound doctrine and be able to live out that faith. Also specifically here, noted this is different. I think the assumption with elders is probably there as well. But specifically, because this is a little different in office, the idea is that you test the elder in the sense that he's, OK, why don't you go elder for a while, and we'll see how it works out. That's not the idea of eldership. But here, the idea of recognizing a servant who's serving, the idea is, OK, everyone's serving. You're seeing them serve in all their varying capacities. And then you look down and you say, okay, are they doing that well? And you're recognizing the deacon for what they've been doing as opposed to the elder when you're appointing them to something different. Again, it doesn't mean a deacon can't teach, doesn't mean a deacon can't do those things, just means that idea is a little different here for the deacon versus the overseer. They are being appointed as an overseer, whereas the deacon is being recognized for what they've already been tested in. And then let them serve as deacons. That is, let them be recognized if they are beyond reproach. Okay? And then, verse 11, we're gonna talk a little bit more about this a little bit later here in the sermon. But again, for women, likewise women, the LSP translates, women must likewise be dignified, not malicious gospel, but temperate and faithful in all things. And I would just say, pause that or note in there, and we'll come back to it. I think you have something similar going on with Paul as he has in chapter two, with talking about men and then talking about women. And he does not do that notably when it's dealing with overseers, but he does do it in the context of the deacon. But we'll come back to, female deacons in a moment. But then also faithful. The faithfulness and the fruit, they must then be deacons of husbands of one wife, leading their children and their households well. Emphasizing again the idea of if things are going bad at the local level, you don't export it to the larger. So if somebody cannot handle their house well, everything's mismanaged, you don't promote them. I know that happens at work sometimes. You're terrible at your job, so we promote them. Say, don't do that in the church. We don't promote for doing a bad job. We go back and we address the issues and say, okay, let's address that and let's be faithful in the home before we can serve well in other ways. And so, leading their wife or husband and wife, leading their children and their households well, and there's the blessing or the benefit for those who have served well as deacons. Again, just read, you just read, recognized excellent servants, obtained for themselves a high standing and a great boldness in faith that is in Christ Jesus. Now, looking at this again in comparison, I thought, I just tried to mark it out of distinction here in the way that it flows, but you're going to see where, compare the deacon qualifications to the elder qualifications, and you're going to see some that are similar. So, both address this idea of not being addicted to wine, both address this idea of being temperate, sober-minded, and then addressing husbands of one wife, managing the household well. And so those are consistent. But then distinctive is you have for the deacon, dignified, although maybe similar to above reproach. It's not quite in the same way. You could say verse 10 probably brings in the beyond reproach a little bit further. But there to be tested for the deacon as opposed to the elder. And you have, yes, the issue of Not greedy, but you have no love of money for the elder. And again, some of this is not to be exhaustive. It's just simply to point out these are distinctive and a little bit probably distinct in the way that the offices or the roles are different. Again, one is for looking towards overseeing an authority and one is looking towards an office of service. And then we'll come down here to the next part as well, because we're gonna see these three. If you understand women likewise, you're gonna see, they're gonna have three specific qualifications, not gossips, temperate, faithful, and all things. And then it's gonna come back and address men specifically, because if you're a man, then you better lead your household well and manage it and manage your children. as well. That is to say this Christian maturity is marked by service in the church of which we are all called to, but then again we are going to recognize some of those who come above and beyond and assist in ways that are significant to the church. Alright, well, let's pull back to verse 11 and discuss this idea, because it's a bigger question probably today in different circles, this idea of should women be recognized as deacons or deaconesses is sometimes a term used historically. I think internationally it's a very common thing, but it's usually internationally much more of a third category of deaconesses that do some very specific things. I think if you understand male, female deacons, they are going to do specific things given the roles of men and women are different. But textually, come back to Matthew verse 11, I do think the best reading of the text pulls us into this understanding of female deacons. Let's actually look at two other texts real quick as we examine this. One would be Romans 16 verse 1, because this is another question of how should Diakonos be translated. But Romans 16, verse 1 and 2, it says, Now I commend to you, so this is also Paul writing, our sister Phoebe, who is a diakonos of the church, a servant of the church, which is at Central Korea, that you receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints, and that you help her in whatever matter she may have need of you. For she herself has also been a patron of many and of myself as well. And just noting a few things about this is, this is the word, the exact same word, it's actually the male form of diakonos, because it's identifying something here, as the servant. So it's the same whether it's Philippians 1.1 or whether it's 1 Timothy 3, the two cases we see offices, it's used as the same word. And he seems to use it in a way as a title connected to a location. And so the question comes up, is Phoebe recognized as a deacon? And I think he seems to be comfortable with the answer being yes. Do I think this is like the slam-dunk case? Not necessarily, but I do think he seems comfortable with recognizing her having a significant role of service to this church, of which he then he says she's a benefactor of many, and he's able to recognize her without having any issues. with 1 Timothy chapter 2-2, which he's the one who wrote, not 2-2, but two later about the issue of not having authority in teaching that is left for the pastor or the male elders. And so she has, he has no issue with that. She seems to have this track record of faithfulness and he recognizes it there in that church. The same way, Going back to 1 Timothy 3 then, because like I said, we don't have a lot of biblical evidence here. How do we best understand verse 11? And normally I wouldn't do this, but I've had a lot of questions about this. And so rather than assume some things, I'm gonna talk a little bit more generally about some of the issues, translations that are out there. So if you have questions later or you're like, I didn't understand that, I understand and feel free to ask away. But coming back here to verse 11, when we see women must likewise be dignified, not malicious gossip, but temperate, faithful in all things. What you see here is that this verse, if you understand it to generically mean women, it is kind of on an island. And so there are those who view this as women in general. So he's just talking about men and then we're back into women. I'd say the weakness of that is that's out of context and he, I would say, has already addressed women in general in chapter 2. So he's addressing women specifically in a different way. Some of the translations in front of you are probably going to say their wives in verse 11. And you'll have a superscript number with a little explanation at the bottom. And that is an interpretive position because it doesn't say that. And Paul could have helped us out two ways, in all fairness. He could have helped us out by saying in Greek, their wives. He could have put that possessive pronoun there and said, their wives. And that would be, okay, we're talking about the deacon's wives. He doesn't do that. He also could have made it even helpful on the side of, do we have female deacons by saying, he could have used the feminine term, by talking about women deacons or women, you maybe would translate in English, some level of women deaconesses, but he doesn't do that either. And so we're left to assume within the context, what is he trying to say? And some people are landing on the deacon's wives, which has a few different issues, which we'll look at. But it would be a very unexpected construction when he could have easily made it their wives. Rather than his assumption, I would say, based on chapter 2, is... Let me talk about men, and likewise let me talk about women. When he has overseers, he doesn't do that because you don't have female elders. But with deacons, if you do have female, then it makes sense that he deals with deacons in general. Women in specific, and then men in specific as well, because obviously those qualifications of leading your home wouldn't qualify, wouldn't apply to women. And likewise, he's saying for the women, there are certain things that they need to watch out for, certain basically potholes in the road that are going to cause them problems. So the grammar, there's no possessive pronoun. I think that's an issue. I think probably even a greater argument here is the flow. this and so at this point the majority of New Testament scholars are saying this is the best way to understand this is women must likewise or translate it likewise women. And so it's not meant to just simply be a throwaway verse but to say hey this is what we should look at here as recognized servants. Now historically speaking if you come from a background where deacons have elder level authority and you go back to First Timothy two, you have problems, right? But again, we don't see that biblically here. We don't see that as a church. We see this as a office of service, not an office of authority, not an office of teaching. Now that said, you're still gonna see women serve in different ways. It says here that women, verse 12, are not allowed to teach. Well, and then you come to Titus, chapter two, and he says women ought to teach women. Older women ought to teach younger women. Well, which ones? Okay, context makes all the difference in the world. And so you have ladies, in this case, say with discipleship groups, you have women, older women teaching younger women. That pattern is biblical and good and necessary. And I'd even say, if you come back to this idea of service of the deacon, you have people who are serving in a capacity that I can't serve in. You have an assistance. So there are those who argue for a little more translation of assistance, but I think I can see that and understand that. That there is an assistance that I am given as an elder that a lady helps me in a way that I can't and that really no other man could. And so I think this is referring to, in that way, female deacons who have a role within the church as excellent service as well that should be recognized for the way that they are serving. Historically, I mean, you have recognition, again, this isn't authoritative, this is just church history. But plenty of the younger, probably the earliest, AD 112, where they referenced two female Christians in Latin, the ministere, which is that of saying deacons. You have Origen, Christostom, and then... Didoscalia, third century Syrian church manual, where it describes the role of women deacons. So it's not authoritative, it doesn't establish doctrine the way the scriptures does, but it does show at least early, very early in the church, there's no issues with women serving in this way. They don't see it as a contradiction of chapter two, which is usually one of the things that people would address with objections. So one objection to this would be the objection to teaching, and again, I would say to that, we're not putting women in authoritative roles when we put them in deacons, we're putting them here at Providence in roles of recognized service. That is, when you're recognized, you're recognized for what you're already doing, not recognizing, not pointing you to something new and different. I don't think it means that they would have any level to exercise authority in those ways. It's still all underneath the authority of the church. And so it complements, I don't think, it contradicts what the scriptures is calling for. One way to understand that, because this is difficult and there's a lot of debate, and so I think you want to be gracious in understanding two big names out there. If you look, you see Tom Schreiner, New Testament scholar, interaction with Alec Strzok, who is here, who take two different views on this. I think very gracious interaction. But when you come to verse 11, you still have to account for this is tough. What's the flow here? And as back to here, I think this is probably the best way to flow. I even gave you the colors here for you to help. But it is to say, this goes back to chapter 2 and the way Paul likes to address issues. And there are just certain things that are idiomatic or there are certain things that are described in our culture like, act like men. where we understand you're not just talking about like, hey, women be men, you're saying what imbibes masculinity there, that quality of strength be strong. And in the same way, he seems to give gender specific issues here, specifically the ladies, they're gonna struggle with some issues and he's gonna encourage them or encourage us and we recognize and test, make sure they're not gossips, make sure they're temperate, make sure they're faithful in all things. And likewise, the men, there's gonna be some specific issues here as well, where they also better be managing their household well, because it seems to be that is, the apex issue. You might think you see somebody, it's kind of like an iceberg, right? And you see some sharp interaction between a husband or wife, a sharp interaction between a father and his children, and you get a little worried as an elder because, right, I see a tip of an iceberg, but I'm a little worried there's more underneath that. Likewise, if you were to flip over to chapter 5, he clearly is okay with this as well, as he deals with honoring widows. which you get another official capacity, really. They're gonna get put on a list, and why should they, and when would they not be put on a list, and all that is addressed here. But his concern becomes, in verse 13, at the same time, they also learn to be idle. So he's dealing with younger widows here, and younger widows he's gonna encourage to go get married. because he's saying the danger here, and this is very gender specific to the young widow, he said, they're gonna be tempted to be idle, go around from house to house and not merely idle, but also gossips and busybodies, talking about things not proper to mention. Therefore, I want younger widows to get married. I use that just illustratively to say, this isn't outside of Paul to address gender specific issues within the church and to say, hey, this is certain issues for men, certain issues for women. And when he's dealing with this, likewise, women must likewise be dignified. he's dealing with them in a different way to say, hey, we need to look at them in that way. So if you have questions on that, feel free to ask. But again, we understand the office of overseer, of elder, of pastor to be one of authority and teaching, whereas a deacon is not functionally that. It doesn't mean a deacon can't teach. It doesn't mean a deacon can't do all these things. It just seems by its nature, it is a way in which it is related to the eldership by serving within the church to assist in accomplishing the mission of the church. Super important. If you don't have these servants, you're not going to be able to minister to very many people. And so it's an important role within the church, an important role that we want to see not only as people doing that, being tested in that, and then ultimately being recognized for their service to the church as an excellent church. A healthy church, ultimately, is not gonna get run by one person. A healthy church is not gonna get run by five people, right? This isn't the cruise ship where everyone, you know, sits back and relaxes and there are a few people, you know, serving all the food around. This is meant to be, we're all pulling together. You could say, not the cruise ship, but the rescue ship, where we all have a job, we all have a mission, more that military style, where we all working together, unique roles, to accomplish the great commission that God has given us. Because in the end, the church is not in need of more celebrities. I mean, if I get a podcast someday, I guess call me a hypocrite, but it probably doesn't need one more. It needs more servants. That's what this is. I think that is the helpful thing here to walk from is to say these are servants. They're ones who serve well, and when they serve well for their sake and for the sake of the church, recognize them and therefore then they obtain. And what does this mean? A high standing. I think this is an encouragement and growth and great boldness that others have seen their faithfulness, others have seen their growth, others have seen their maturity and recognize that. Not as a, we want to you know, celebrate people. In fact, most people are going, I don't want to be recognized. I understand that's good, that's humble, but we want the church to recognize service is valued and so important that we have an entire role to say the elders don't get everything done because we couldn't and the Lord has given other people gifted to come along to serve and to assist. And so that's kind of the intention. When you see within the church the way we are to be marked out to recognize qualified deacons to be recognized for excellent service, but I think also then to be models for others to imitate for how one serves Christ in the church. So we want to recognize those faithful men, and I think faithful women as well, that are tested and proven in these qualities as church. It's something for us. We've had deacons in the past, and to recognize them, we have deacons now, but we're working on updating that list as well. We just started that conversation as elders, and so Lord willing, as busy as May is, hopefully we'll get it in and get it done. But it is an encouragement to us as elders that there are so many people that I think over the years you'd go, who fits this? And I might have said, I don't have a lot of people. And I'd say now you look out and you see a lot of people who are faithfully serving in this excellent way, in a way that I think are qualified, that would be good. encouraging to them to recognize them within the church as faithful servants. And so, Lord willing, that's coming. We just have to work through the testing phase for us as elders and walk through that a little bit. But it is an encouraging thing this morning that we're going to get to appoint Matt after communion and just praise God for that he has given gifted people that he's given gifted overseers and also as well we can recognize he's given gifted servants that are uniquely appointed to that that are qualified for it as well. Now I know, that's a whole mouthful of the church in 1st Timothy 3, and if this is your first time this morning, it's like, whoa, that's a lot. But I just want to look at it to say there is a blueprint for the church. There is a way in which it should be structured. It isn't specific in every way in the New Testament, but it is a general outline that this is the way good and biblical ministry is done. And so hopefully you're encouraged by that. But whether it's elders, overseers, or whether it's deacons, it comes back to this issue of those who are mature in the faith, who believe and understand the truth of the gospel, the truth of the mystery, they hold fast to it. And so, as we prepare our hearts for communion, let me just reread again the end of chapter 3. The common confession that we have is that great is the mystery of godliness, that Christ, that he who is manifested in the flesh, that is, God became man, was vindicated in the Spirit, vindicated in his resurrection, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, and was taken up into glory. And if I may add, and we await for his return. Let's pray. Father, even as we look towards different roles within the church, different ways in which we recognize leadership and service, Lord, may we be encouraged just in how practical Your word is even in the ways in which it addresses all these different issues, whether men praying and lifting up their holy hands, working diligently without wrath and dissension, whether it's for ladies the way they come, adorned with godliness rather than the externals for worship, whether it be in overseers, whether it be in deacons. Lord, let us be encouraged this morning And all that you have brought, both in its diversity and its differences, Lord. And so we are thankful. And just pray now, Lord, that we would be mindful of what Christ has done for us. The reason we gather, the reason there is a church, because Christ gave his life as a ransom for all because he served us. not because we served Him, but because He first loved us and He first served us. So keep that in our hearts and minds now as we remember what Christ has done for us. I pray this in His name, amen.