Our Father of grace. You're the God of grace, the God of mercy. Lord, if you held our sins against us, who could stand before you? We are sinful people. We live in the midst of a sinful people. We have unclean lips. We live in the midst of a people of unclean lips. Oh, God, have mercy upon us. Oh, Father, take the coal from the altar and touch our lips. Take the blood from the cross. And sprinkle it over our hearts. We beg your mercy. Lord, we're also a desperate people. We live in a very difficult time. And it can be so lonely to walk the narrow road. We pray for your help, your presence, your comfort, your grace, your ministry to us. Lord, we thank you for The great privilege of owning a copy of the scriptures, getting to read it. We thank you for the tremendous privilege of coming together with other Christians to pray. We thank you, Lord, for these children that are in the room. You have created each one in your image. You have a desire and a calling upon each one. And we pray, O God, that you would direct the hearts of these children to you in every way. That you give them faithfulness to you. When they are old, we pray that they would not be ashamed of the gospel, but they would cling to the cross through every circumstance. We pray that you would overshadow us and protect us with your cloud of glory. And we cry out for your mercy in our lives. Lord, let our meditations and our prayers go forth from this place and bear fruit in proclaiming Christ Jesus to those who are being saved. We pray in his holy name, Amen. 1 Timothy 3, verses 8 through 13. This is the word of the Lord. 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 own houses 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. Thus far, the reading of God's holy word. God has ordained servanthood. As the path to greatness in the kingdom. To be great in the kingdom of God, is not to win the popular vote, nor to graduate from the top university, nor to create a music album that goes platinum. Greatness in the kingdom of heaven is not measured by secular humanistic philanthropy, nor by NFL or World Cup heroism, nor by Hollywood genius, Nor by artistic charisma. Rather, Jesus says that those who are great in the kingdom of heaven. Are the lowly ones. The servants. Matthew 23, 11, our Lord says, but he who is greatest among you. Shall be your servant. So this definition, Christ Jesus gives a definition of greatness in the kingdom, and it's a definition that goes against the currents of Roman civilization, the great proud civilization of Rome. It just goes completely against it, swims completely against the current. Roman definitions of greatness were all about worldly success. There was the symbol of the polished double-edged sword, the dazzling conquest of the Romans, that was greatness. Or the purple robe of the governor, the robe of power marked greatness in Rome, or there was the erotic dinner table of the rich, the sensuality of the Romans and their riches. And those were all the symbols of greatness in the Roman Empire. And Christ redefines greatness according to the kingdom of God and just completely goes against it. His symbols of greatness are things like the lowly widow. who puts into her last two coins. The symbol of humility and faith or or blind Bartimaeus by the road of Jericho crying out, son of David, have mercy upon me. And Jesus says, that's greatness, that's weakness and faith, and it's great. There's the man who dedicates himself to God and never knows a woman because he just pledges himself in chastity to God for his whole life. And Jesus says that's greatness in the kingdom of heaven. That's chastity and faith. That's great in the kingdom of heaven. So, he not only swims against the current of Roman culture, he redefines greatness in a very shocking way, even for his own disciples. Right before his departure from earth, he's the king of kings, and yet he doesn't hold a coronation ceremony for himself. Instead, to define greatness in John 13, this is what he does. John 13, 3 through 5, Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, he deserves the coronation ceremony, rose from supper, laid aside his garments, took a towel and girded himself. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel with which he was girded. In First Timothy three, the offices of the church are twofold. You have the office of the bishop, which we defined last week as being synonymous with the pastor or the elder. This is the the main teacher of the church. And then there is the office of the deacon. And I say that the office of the deacon is extremely important because. The office of the deacon. Demonstrates to the church what greatness in the kingdom of God is all about. It's a demonstration of greatness. The office of the deacon is assigned to the church of what God sees as great because the deacon is a servant. So in first Timothy three, eight, when you hear that word deacon, likewise deacons, must be reverent, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy for money. The English word deacon is just a reflection of the Greek word because the Greek word is diakonos. And diakonos is a servant word. It's the Greek word for servant. The deacon is the servant. And his job is to show people in the church what greatness in the kingdom is by being the servant. And you see this in verse 10, 1 Timothy 3.10, but let these also first be tested. And then in the Greek text, it literally says, then let them deacon. It's the verb to deacon. They're to deacon. So let them deacon, meaning in English to serve. Let them serve. Being found blameless. And you see again in verse 13, for those who have served well, but literally it's those who have deaconed well, their servants, those who have served well, obtained for themselves a good standing. Why? Because they show what greatness in the kingdom of God really is. So. This is the deacon, the servant. And to understand the deacon in the New Testament, we've got to be able to distinguish between two uses. So the word diakonos in the New Testament is used in two different ways. Now, one is to talk about the office of deacon, the man who holds the office of deacon in the church, and that's the church deacon. And then the same term, deacon, is used in the New Testament in a second way. And the second way is to describe basically like a missionary. Deacon can be a servant in the sense of a minister of the gospel who brings the gospel in a missionary endeavor. So we've got to be able to distinguish between those two. In Acts 19.22, it says, So Paul sent into Macedonia two of those who had ministered with him. But in the Greek, it says those who had deaconed with him. Again, the verb to deacon. They had deaconed with him. And they were Timothy and Erastus, but he himself stayed in Asia for a time. Now, when he says that these two men, Timothy and Erastus, had deaconed with him, he doesn't mean that they had served in the office of deacon, that they were all deacons serving as church deacons. He means that they had done the work of missionaries, the missionaries work with him. They're doing the ministry of the missionary work with him. So it's a missionary kind of word. It's used in that sense. So that's the second way it's used. Paul is a deacon. Paul himself is a deacon, not in the sense of the church deacon, but in the sense of a missionary. Acts 21, 19, when Paul had greeted them, Paul goes to greet James and the elders in Jerusalem. And it says when he had greeted them, he told in detail those things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. But literally, that's his diaconate. So, again, the word deacon can be used to describe this missionary task, and that's a different use of the word. In Colossians 4, 7, Tychicus is described as a beloved brother, a faithful deacon, literally, a faithful deacon. But, again, it's not used in the sense of the church deacon. It's used in the sense of a missionary. A servant of the gospel who's committed to full time missionary work. He's a faithful missionary, a faithful minister and a fellow servant in the Lord. And he says he will tell you all the news about me. So in Romans 16, one. When it says, I commend to you, Phoebe, our sister. Who is a deacon, literally she's in the it's darkness. who's a deacon of the church in Centraea. I think most likely this is the use of the word deacon that refers to the missionary task, the called servant of the Lord who's bringing the gospel. She's been sent as some kind of a missionary from the church in Centraea. So that's one use of deacon in the New Testament, the missionary task. And then in the New Testament, there's the office. the deacon appointed to be the servant in the church. And, of course, the account of this is in Acts 6. Acts 6, 1 through 6. Now, in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution. Then the twelve, the apostles, 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 in the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenes, and Nicolaus, a proselyte from Antioch, whom they set before the apostles, and when they had prayed, they laid hands on them. Those are the first deacons, and this is the office of the deacon. This is the official church office. So when the word deacon is used in the New Testament to describe the office The church officer, this is what it refers to, deacons are different than pastors, but they are just as valuable as pastors in the church. They're not the teaching shepherds of the church, but they are the exalted servants of the church. They're not by vocation and calling. primarily teachers of the word, although they should know how to teach, but they should be filled with the faith, it says in Acts 6, with faith, with wisdom and with the Holy Spirit. So they have to be very special men. They don't govern in the same way that the pastors govern, but they are great. That's the point. They are great in the kingdom of God because they show what greatness in the kingdom of God is all about. But how do you know this? How do you know that deacons are the signs of greatness in the kingdom of God? Well, the best way you know it is through Jesus. Joseph, if you go back to the Old Testament, Joseph is great in the eyes of faith and the story of the history of Israel. But remember, before God raises Joseph up, to significant rulership and all the influence he'll have over Egypt. God first makes him a servant. In fact, the servant of servants, he becomes a slave. Genesis 39.1. Now, Joseph had been taken down to Egypt and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him. So he becomes a slave. That's God's ordination for Joseph. from the Ishmaelites who had taken him down there. And the reason why Joseph is exalted to such great status is because he was so humble in taking on the form of a servant. And this, I think, prefigures Christ. I think the ultimate reason why greatness in the kingdom is signified by the servant is because of Christ himself. Christ shows his greatness to the world by becoming a servant. Matthew 20, 25-28, but Jesus called them to himself and said, they're fighting over who's going to be greatest. And Jesus says, you know that the rulers of the Gentiles lorded over them and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you, but whoever desires to be great Among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave. Just as, this is what greatness is about, the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many. So greatness in the kingdom of heaven, is not about status, but about service. And deacons, therefore, are the examples to the church of what greatness is. An exemplary deacon will show you what greatness in the kingdom of heaven is, and he will do it through his exemplary service. And when he does this, when this happens the way the Bible has designed it to happen, the way God wills it and the Holy Spirit wills it to happen, then discipleship in the church becomes very powerful. This works its way into the discipleship of the church. If the deacon is truly an exemplary servant, then this will have a huge impact on discipleship in the rest of the church. For example, children. When we speak of training and discipling children in the church, And I mean on a horizontal level at this point, not not speaking here of their relationship with God vertically primarily, but now speaking about love of neighbor. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. If we want to train our children in the second greatest commandment, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. One of the best ways this happens in the church is when the deacon is an example of service. And then that just works its way down into the church. And this is what's so precious about the people that come to Genesis Family Church, because you understand this. You understand that to train children in the commandment to love your neighbor as yourself is to train them in service. To train them to be great, we train them to serve. which is different. It's different than the consumerism that sort of dominates the culture of the church right now. The consumerism ministry, children's ministry culture says, we're going to bring the kids in and we're going to give them what they want. They want videos. They want age segregated rooms where they have their own little room with their own little thing where they can just do their thing and not have to interact with the rest of the church. We'll even give them children's church so they can have their own little church and they don't have to be with the adults so they can do what they want. And so it's about me. Church is about me. Whereas the biblical approach to training children in church and teaching them how to love their neighbors as themselves is to train them to serve. You come to church to serve others. When children are at church, and you understand this, and this is what is very precious about the way you're raising your children, You bring your children to church and they know that they have work to do. There's service. There are chairs to put away. We've got lots of things we have to do. There's sweeping and food. And sometimes they help prepare the food and bring the food or clean up the food. When there's a senior in the room, especially an elderly senior who needs some extra help or is lonely and needs some encouragement, the children know how to sit down and encourage or help and serve because church becomes about others. It's not about me. And the deacons are the ones who are the example. They set the bar, they set the example of what greatness like this is. And this, again, spills over not into just discipleship in terms of service, but even into evangelism. I think even into evangelism. If the deacon is exemplary in his service, if he's an exemplary servant, then the church, I think by definition, will be evangelistic. Because how did Jesus do evangelism? Well, he preached, repent for the kingdom of heaven is near, but he also served. He cared for the sick. The poor. The demon possessed. The hopeless and suicidal. The widows, the orphans, the bereaved, those with disabilities and special needs. Jesus went to them and he served them. And in serving them, he preached the gospel of his own kingdom to them. And if the deacon in the church is a servant-hearted man who's setting the bar and the example of service in the church, then the church will follow that example and become a servant-hearted church. And then it becomes much easier just to become an evangelistic church. Because if you're trained in service, then it automatically flows into evangelism. So the deacons of the church can teach us how to be good evangelists. So this is the first part. Deacons are to be exemplary in the church and specifically in service. If they set the example of service, then the church follows. But there's another component to this. If deacons are exemplary, they must also be exemplary in integrity. Their integrity must be exemplary. 1 Timothy 3, 8 through 12. Likewise, deacons, here come all the practical pastoral admonitions about integrity, 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 own households well." So they set the example in service, but then they also have to set the example in integrity. They're exemplary in their integrity. And then Paul, being very specific, just has this amazing list. They must be reverent, verse 8. They must fear God and be sober-minded. This was the same as with pastors. It's the same requirement. 1 Timothy 3, 4, one who rules his own household well, having his children in submission with all reverence. But then with the deacons, there's a mention of his wife. Verse 11 says, likewise, their wives must be reverent. Must be a deep reverence about the way they live before God. They must have integrity of speech. Verse 8 again, reverent and not double-tongued. They are not to be double-tongued, which means they're to have integrity of speech. They're not to be crafty in their words. A deacon is to be one who speaks in such a way that when a church member talks with him, he walks away knowing that the words have been sincere. He's not a manipulator or doesn't coerce people with his words. Very sobering list of examples of integrity. In verse 8, not given to much wine, meaning he's not a lover of alcohol. He doesn't crave beer. He's not known for having much wine. and not greedy for money, meaning he lives a life of modesty and simplicity in his personal finances. He's not attached to those things. So he's to be tested in these things. In his own character, in his heart, he's to be a man of integrity, an example of integrity. And then, just like the pastor, just like last week, if you want to know if he's really fit to be a deacon, where do you look? You look into his home. You look at his marriage. You look at his children. The exemplary deacon has integrity in the home. Verse 11 says, likewise, their wives. You look at his wife, you look at his marriage. Their wives must be reverent, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things. Now, quick side note. The feminists like this verse because literally it says, likewise, either the wives or the women. And the translation could go either way. Does it say the wives must be reverent or does it say the women must be reverent? And of course, the feminists want to jump on that and say that it says in the Greek, which it says, legune, which could be wives or women, and they want to take that as meaning, well, see, there were women leaders in the church. The only problem with that is it doesn't fit the context. So, just a quick side note. It's not, I think, the women. I think it's the wives. I think the wives is the right translation. Because in the immediate context, everything that's been talked about, the pastors and the deacons, has talked about their wives. When gune, when the Greek word gune appears in 1 Timothy 3, it's talking about the wife. 1 Timothy 3.2, a bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, that's gune. Or 1 Timothy 3.12, let deacons be the husband of one wife, gune. So the whole context has been not the women, but the wives. You want to test if he's a deacon? Should he? Is he qualified to be a deacon? Look at his marriage. Look at his wife. Look inside of his home. First Timothy 311. Likewise, their wives must be reverent, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things. There's to be this family integrity. The wives, the wives have the same vision of the gospel that the husbands do. The wives fear God. They don't speak with a devilish tongue. They're not gossips. But they're women of integrity, just as their husbands are men of integrity. And then you look into the deacon's home and you look at his own children. First Timothy 312. Let deacons be the husband of one wife, ruling their children and their houses well. Just like the pastor, the deacon has to be a one wife man. He's got only eyes for his wife and he's faithful to his wife in all things. And then he rules his children. With affection, he knows how to shepherd his children and govern his children with affection. In the fear of the Lord and then in the commandments of God. So there's got to be this high, high form of integrity, he's he's setting the example for the church of of integrity, not just of service, but of integrity and the integrity. Here's one part that I think is missed. And in the modern definition of the deacon, I think I think people have have gotten back to this. The deacons are to be the servants of the church. They're to be set the example of service. But then there's sort of this downplaying of the spiritual maturity of the deacon so that, well, they can they can wash tables and and be humble in the service of the church. But they don't have to really know much about the Bible. And that's not true. First, Timothy three, nine says they must hold. The mystery of the faith. with a pure conscience. That's such a huge example for the rest of the church. They must understand the deep doctrines of the gospel and be able to articulate them to the church. They must know their Bibles well. Ephesians 6, 19 through 20 is the mystery of the faith, the mystery of the gospel. And pray for me, Paul says, that utterance may be given to me that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel. The job of the deacon is to be able to understand and articulate to the church what Paul means by the mystery of the gospel. Or Colossians 4, 2-4, continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving, meanwhile praying also for us that God would open to us a door for the world to speak the mystery of Christ. The job of the deacon is to so understand Biblically, the mystery of Christ, that he can articulate it to others. He's got to be exemplary, not only in his in his personal character, in his home, but in his doctrine. He has to understand the Bible and love the Bible and know the Bible. So these are just these are high standards because the deacon is the model of greatness for the church. So therefore, Paul says in First Timothy 310, but let these also first be tested. If he's going to be the standard of greatness in the kingdom of heaven for the church, because he's the exemplary servant, then he must be tested. Then let them serve as deacons, being found blameless. So just like pastors, there's so many parallels between the pastoral section and the deacons section. Just like pastors, the deacons are not to be novices. They can't be new shoots, brand new believers. I also think that this kind of testing for the deacons means that there probably should not be this weird modern system that we have of some kind of a rotating board where, you know, you can only, boy, you're too busy. You can only serve a couple of years. So we'll put you on the board for two years and then you rotate off and we'll put a bunch of other deacons on the board and we'll rotate them off. I don't think that kind of a system biblically fits this requirement for the testing of a deacon and for the deep relationship that the deacon has with the church. I think the more historical churches, the deeper Roots in the more historical churches would say that the appointment of a deacon should be highly relational. It should not be done by a nominating committee, but by the spiritual leaders of the church. And what matters in appointing a deacon is not business organizational savvy, but spiritual integrity. And it's so important for the life of the church because when the church has trustworthy deacons, this causes the church members to grow. If the deacon has integrity in his personal life, in his home life, in doctrine, if the deacon is growing in these high standards, these exemplary standards, then the church will grow. Because when the church looks up to this exemplary servant, the church members will say, well, now I've got to examine my own integrity. For example, the deacon's not a flatterer. And you say every time I'm around him, it's a bit uncomfortable because he won't flatter. And then as a church member, I start examining my own life, my own flattery, and I start changing. Or every time the guys of the church are together and they start talking in the American way of coveting, just kind of in the cool guy coveting language of the new car, the new motorcycle or whatever it is. And the deacon steps in and says a very kind word of rebuke from Scripture. Then the fathers of the church, the men of the church are challenged to grow. They have to examine their own integrity. And this integrity, so notice in verse nine again, this integrity is rooted in The mystery of the faith. The point of the deacon is not just that he's a he's a hands on kind of guy who's really good with taking care of the building kind of stuff with the church building. That's not the point of the deacon. The point of the deacon is that his heart is rooted in the mystery of the gospel, the mystery of the faith. He must know his Bible. He must understand historic Christian doctrine. This makes all the difference because in his integrity, he must not be worldly. He must not think according to the flesh, but he must be heavenly minded. He reaches towards heaven. He's not focused on earthly blessings and worldly status. He's he's deeply concerned with heavenly promises. And the coming day of the Lord. And that's what makes him a great deacon. So exemplary deacons are exemplary in service and in integrity. That's what I'm seeing in 1 Timothy 3. And then here's the kind of surprise as this passage ends. The surprise is where this leads. If you have a deacon in the church, an exemplary deacon, his life is full of service and full of integrity, this will lead to an exemplary boldness. That's the surprise for me in verse 13. He's exemplary in service, he's exemplary in integrity, and then this leads to boldness. Verse 13, for those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves two things, one, a good standing and two, great boldness in the faith, which is in Christ Jesus. When the apostle says a good standing, if you've served well as a deacon in the church, you obtain a good standing. He's talking about the heavenly reward. He's talking about the future heavenly prize. And in this, I think he's speaking of the fact that there are indeed a sense of degrees of reward in heaven. And in that sense, I think Luther and Tyndale were actually both wrong. For some reason, Martin Luther and William Tyndale, Tyndale followed Luther, decided to go against the Church Fathers, which is something just completely uncharacteristic of both of them. But when they got to the doctrine of rewards in heaven, are there actual degrees of reward in heaven in some sense, in some at least spiritual sense, Luther and Tyndale rejected the Church Fathers because the Church Fathers had taught unanimously that there are, in fact, there are differences in heaven. There are some degrees of reward in heaven. And the Apostle says that if the deacon serves well, he obtains for himself a good standing in heaven, in eternal life. And the Bible seems to teach this, Matthew 5, 19. Whoever, therefore, breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." Or Revelation 22, 12, and behold, Jesus says, I am coming quickly and my reward is with me to give to everyone according to his work. So Paul says, if you're a deacon and you're truly exemplary, then there's a great reward. You will obtain a good standing on the day of judgment. And then this leads to the surprise. If a deacon is serving in this exemplary manner. And he knows that by God's promise, there's this great blessing of a good standing awaiting him, then it leads to boldness. And I find that very interesting. 1 Timothy 3, 13, and one more time. 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. And I don't know exactly how to link those things together, but here's my best shot at it. If the deacon is so confident about the promises of God that await him in heaven, then it frees him to be very bold in this life. I think that's At least that's my best shot at it. And Paul is the example here. The Apostle Paul is a heavenly minded man fixed upon all the promises of God that await him in heaven. And because he's so fixated on heaven, he's free to be incredibly bold about the gospel in this life. Acts 9, 26 through 29. And when Saul had come to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him and did not believe that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and he declared to them, Paul declared to them how he had seen the Lord on the road and that he had spoken that he that he Jesus had spoken to him and how he had preached boldly. That was his his whole life was preaching boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus. So he was with them at Jerusalem, coming in and going out. And he spoke boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus and disputed against the Hellenists. But they attempted to kill him. So my understanding of this is that if if a deacon is so fixated upon the promises and the glories of heaven. So that's that's really what drives everything he does. It frees him to be incredibly bold in the church and in evangelism and just in the world. Philippians 119, for I know that this will turn out all the imprisonment, the persecutions for my deliverance through your prayer and supply of the spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed. But with all boldness, As always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. Why? Because to live is Christ, to die is gain. So the job of the deacon, ultimately the job of the deacon is to be so heavenly minded That he's free to be bold in this life about the faith. He's bold about the faith. First Kings 22, 19, he wants to be like Micaiah, son of Imlah, who stood before the king of Israel and said, therefore, hear the word of the Lord. I saw the Lord sitting on his throne and all the hosts of heaven standing by on his right hand and on his left. And then he goes on to rebuke the king and warn him that the king is about to die. He's bold because he's heavenly minded. Who's a great deacon? What makes a great deacon? Who is a great deacon? If deacons are to be an exemplary people, who is an exemplary deacon? Who can you look to and say, there's a great servant of the church. There's a man who's the model of the church for what greatness in the kingdom of God ought to be. And I think thankfully, God, through the Holy Spirit, gave us an example in Stephen. Stephen is great in the kingdom. Stephen is the first deacon named in Scripture. Acts 6, 5, and the saying, please the whole multitude, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith in the Holy Spirit. There's greatness in the kingdom. In Acts 7.51, Stephen is bold. He's bold. I'm really convicted by Stephen's speech because I know I'm not as bold as Stephen. He says to the Jews, you stiff necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears. You always resist the Holy Spirit as your fathers did. So do you. They're going to kill him. And he's saying this, he's preaching it. He's bold. What makes Stephen so bold? Stephen is bold because his eyes are fixed upon heaven. He's dying. They're stoning him to death. He's just about to die. And he says in Acts 7.55, But he being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God and said, Look, I see heaven open and the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of God. They're so fixated on heaven that they have this boldness. So the non-Christian co-worker says to the church deacon who works at his office, your children are amazing. Remember the deacon that's supposed to govern his family well? Your children are just amazing. Whenever you had us over for dinner, your children are amazing. They're not like other children. They're just so good. And the deacon is bold. He's fixed on heaven. So he says to his non-Christian co-worker, why do you call them good? There is none good except God alone. And the non-Christian coworker responds with, whatever do you mean? And the deacon, being bold, starts talking about human depravity. Well, you know, all children are born with a twisted heart and a sin nature. You know, you were born with a twisted heart and a sin nature. And then he starts talking about idolatry, how the human heart has this propensity to replace God with other gods. and to create idols. And then the deacon, being bold, speaks of God's Word. Did you know that God has spoken? Did you know that in the last days God has spoken through His Son? And the deacon speaks of the horror of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and the horror of the fact that all humanity is guilty of the crucifixion of Christ. And then the deacon boldly speaks about the power of Christ's resurrection from the dead. And then he speaks of the promised gift of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit who will be given to all who will call upon the name of the Lord for salvation. And then the deacon, being bold, speaks to his non-Christian co-worker about the urgency of repentance and the reality of the coming wrath. That the man who came to be the Lamb of God will come again as the Lion of God. And there is a wrath to come. At which point the non-Christian co-worker gets angry. He says, I'm willing to listen until you start talking about hell. And now I'm mad and starts to threaten. I'm going to take this up the chain of command. To which the deacon responds, my heart is in heaven. My eyes are upon Jesus Christ. He is sitting at the right hand of the throne of the Father, and you can threaten me, but I love you, and I will not stop speaking about the love of God that has been revealed in Christ Jesus. So the deacons of the church have to be exemplary. It's critical for the life of the church. Sometimes in the churches, of course, we have all probably seen it, sometimes deacons are not exemplary. And this causes great strife and pain in the church. But when the deacons of the church are exemplary, the church members are obligated to follow the example. The purpose of all of this is to get the whole church to follow the example, the example of Christ. If the deacon sets the example of service, then the obligation of the Christian in the church is to ask himself the question, how is my service? How is my heart's posture towards the lowly deeds of service? How do I feel about service? Do I grumble about having to serve? Do I do I resent service? Or do I see service, humble service, as a wonderful way to honor the Lord? And when the deacon sets the example of integrity, then I, as a Christian in the church, have to ask myself the question of integrity. Do I practice Christian integrity in a blameless manner? When the rest of the church is not observing me, do I have integrity? When there's no one else to see how I spend my time, how's my integrity? And when the deacon is bold, then I as a church member have to ask myself the question, how's my boldness? How fixed are the eyes of my heart upon the unseen things of heaven? How heavenly minded am I? Am I heavenly minded enough to be bold in my witness about the mysteries of Christ? We worship the king. This is where the deacon office points. We worship the king who came to us in the form of a servant. He did the servant's task of foot washing. He was sold for 30 pieces of silver, which, when you look it up, is the valuation of a servant in the law of Moses. He served us all the way. He served us all the way to death. for our sins on a criminal's cross. The King of Kings, the greatest of the great, very God of very God, came to us with towel and washbasin, with sweat and blood, with passion and self-sacrifice. He loved us by serving us, even while we were his enemies. He served his disciples the bread in the cup at the Last Supper. And then after the resurrection, he served his disciples the grilled fish and the grilled bread. He served them. And he has been serving the church ever since. He serves us. Christ serves you. He serves you with spiritual warmth and protection when you are afraid. He serves you with spiritual nourishment through His Holy Word. He loves you, and so He serves you with songs of salvation and with promises of everlasting joy in heaven. He has served you those things. When you are sick or wounded, He serves you with His healing presence. When you are lonely and downcast, He serves you by capturing your tears and storing them in His wineskin. Christ comes to you as your creator and your Lord, yet he comes to you with such humble love that he comes to serve you. The most high king. Condescends. To serve you. With countless acts of loving kindness, you can you can possibly count. So how much then do you love him? How much does your soul long to serve him? Will you devote yourself to him with all integrity and all boldness to serve him? Will your service to him be fickle or loyal? Will it be passionate or half-hearted? Will you forsake all and give all and surrender all for the sake of the one who is so glorious and so worthy to be served. That's where the diaconate points, points to Christ, calls us to serve Christ. Just a moment, we'll finish by coming to the table and remembering how Jesus washed the feet of his disciples at the table. Before we do that, let's close with the doxology. Praise be to God, our Father, who has ordained deacons in his church to be exemplary servants in his church. Praise be to our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the servant of Israel, and who is worthy, therefore, to receive all glory and power and majesty. Praise be to the Holy Spirit, who binds our souls to Christ, our Master, and who makes us his glad and joyful servants. Thank you for joining us for the preaching of the Holy Scriptures. You can find more resources at our website, www.GodCenteredUniverse.org. You may also send correspondence to us at the following address, PO Box 461978, Aurora, Colorado 80046. God-Centered Universe is a faith-driven ministry that exists to encourage the church in family-based discipleship and to call the church to continue trembling joyfully at God's Word.