The following sermon is brought to you by Capitol Community Church, located in Raleigh, North Carolina. Capitol Community Church is a people awakened to a holy God. If you are searching for a new church home, or from out of town looking for a church to worship with, or simply seeking for answers. Please join us for worship at 1045 a.m. every Sunday morning and 6 o'clock p.m. for our evening service. If you have any questions, please email us at info at CapitalCommunityChurch.com. We pray this sermon will help you grow deeper in your walk with Jesus Christ. I invite you to open your Bibles to 1 Timothy chapter 3. And as you are turning there, let me pray again for our time in the Word. Heavenly Father, Lord, we pray that you would instruct our hearts. I pray, Lord, for those who do not know the living Christ, that you would bring about the new birth and repentance and faith in you. We pray, Lord, for For the believers that are here this morning, that you would strengthen and encourage us in our faith that we may be found faithful in all things. We pray, Lord, for the six men that we will be ordaining today to the office of deacon. We pray, Lord, that you would use them in that office and that they would be faithful. And I pray, Lord, now that you would speak through me in the power of your Holy Spirit. In Christ's name, I pray. Amen. Well, I'd originally planned to do a message on the honor of God this Sunday, which is a message calling the church to God-centered Christianity. And I decided to put that message off one more week, so come back next week if you want to hear that message. This week I wanna do a special message on the qualifications of a deacon, since we're about to ordain the deacons, but to focus especially on the character qualities of this office. And I decided to make this switch because you might have found out this week that a well-known preacher and Bible teacher named Stephen Lawson resigned from all of his ministries and confessed to an inappropriate relationship with a woman who is not his wife. And just like that, his ministries are shut down. and essentially vanished overnight. And we're talking about this is a man who really was one of the prominent torchbearers in Reformed evangelicalism. One of those guys who many looked to as carrying the torch from people like R.C. Sproul and John MacArthur somebody who was the next generation of preachers. And I must say that when I was on staff at a church in Dallas, Steve would have a Bible study down in Dallas. And I would drive down on Thursday mornings and attend his study. And it was always spiritually edifying. It was always based in the truth of God's word. And Steve was very kind to me. He was very gracious to me. And so it came as just a tremendous shock this week when this was announced. And I literally have been sick to my stomach. I've had trouble sleeping at night just processing this, that a stalwart defender of the truth, someone who proclaimed the gospel had a compromised life. And I think there are several lessons to be had from this. And I wanna speak more about this. We have a family meeting immediately following this service. I wanna speak more about this because I know so many of you have been impacted by Steve's ministry. And so many of you have reached out to me already this week. So I wanna address it more and how we can process this more fully. But I just wanted to say two things before we looked at our text. And that's first, We are all susceptible to spiritual temptation. All of us. The devil, our adversary, is a roaring lion and he prowls about seeking whom he may devour. And we must all take heed lest we fall. No one this side of the grave is beyond Satan's temptations. So we must be sober minded. That's what Paul says. And then we also must understand that there is a high standard in the church for spiritual leadership. It's one thing if a regular member falls into grievous sin, but it's another thing when a spiritual leader falls into grievous sin. because people are looking to that leader and respecting that leader and the word that is being taught through their ministry. And so Paul says in 1 Timothy 4 to Timothy, he says, watch your life and doctrine closely, for by so doing, he says, you will save yourself and your hearers. So your hearers are impacted by the decisions of the leadership. And a church only can be as healthy as its leaders. If the leadership of a church is compromised in its character and its doctrine, then the church will also be compromised. And so this is so pivotally important. that we be on watch, that we be on guard. And yes, there's grace and mercy for sin. This is the truth of Christianity, is that we don't stand on works, that we don't stand on our own efforts, that we are all sinners, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, that Christ's mercy is great enough for restoration, and that John says to believers in 1 John 1, if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to what? Forgive us of our sins and cleanse us of all unrighteousness. And so if we are in grievous sin, It's not too late. We can confess, we can repent, but we also, those of us who are walking in fellowship with Christ, must always be sober-minded, vigilant, and watchful. What does Paul say in Ephesians 6? He says, put on the full armor of God, and that's an everyday thing. So I want to speak more about that in the family meeting, just about some lessons that we can think about, but In transitioning to thinking about deacons, let's look at our text in chapter 3 of 1 Timothy. Paul talks about the office of deacon and the qualifications. If you look at verse 8, he says, deacons likewise must be dignified, not double tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain. They must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience, and let them also be tested first. Then let them serve as deacons if they prove themselves blameless. Their wives, likewise, must be dignified, not slanders, but sober-minded, faithful in all things. Let deacons each be the husband of one wife, managing their children and their households well. For those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus. Well, I want you to notice this word deacon in verse 8 and in verse 12. It is literally a transliterated word from the Greek text. It's not translated. The Greek word is literally diakonos, and it's transliterated into the English text as deacons. And this word, there's several words that are like it, that's the noun form. The word diakoneia sounds almost exactly the same, describes a service or an act of service or a ministry. Dinokoneio is the verb form and it describes serving or waiting tables. But literally this word diakonos means a table waiter. a servant. And this word is used all over the place in the ancient world to describe somebody who serves. And what's fascinating is just two observations about the Christian life. If you would turn briefly over to John, John chapter 12, verse 26. Jesus describes all of the Christian life as a diakonia, as service. This is John 12, 26. Jesus says, if anyone serves me, Diakoneo. He must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him." So you might ask, what does the Christian life look like? Well, what it looks like is table waiting. What it looks like is service to Christ. There are no celebrities in the church or the Christian life who just get to be served. We are all called, each and every one of us, to be servants. We are all called to be servants of Christ. In fact, this is what Jesus expects of all the leaders in the church. What does leadership in the church look like? Well, it looks like service. In Acts 1.25, you can turn back to 1 Timothy 3, I'm going to give you some cross-references. In Acts 1.25, the apostles call the ministry of apostle a service, a diakonia. It's not an entitlement, it's not a power, but a service. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3, 5, he says, what then is Apollos? What is Paul? He says, we are diakonoi, servants through whom you believed as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. Jot down 2 Corinthians 6, 4. Paul says, as servants, diakonoi, we commend ourselves in every way. He describes all of his work, all of it, as an apostle, as a service or a ministry. He says in 2 Timothy 4.11, get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for diakonia, for ministry. Paul also referenced other faithful Christians as servants of the church who were known for their specific ministries. For example, Phoebe, this is Romans 16.1, I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at Centria. And then 1 Corinthians 16, 15, Paul says, you know that the household of Stephanos were the first converts in Achaia and that they have devoted themselves to the diakonia of the saints. So ministry itself is described as service. The Christian life is described as service. So just right there, I think it's important that we stop and ask ourselves, Is that how we view and understand our life as Christians? Do we view ourselves as servants of Christ and servants of others in the body? You know, Paul and the apostles, this is how they fundamentally understood themselves. We are servants, we serve, we wait tables. So this is an important character quality of all Christians. And then what's interesting, is that the early church, underneath the leadership of the apostles, dedicated a specific office to servanthood. That's literally what a deacon is, is a servant. And this office of deacon is only mentioned in two places, I think. It's mentioned here in 1 Timothy 3, and then it's mentioned in Philippians 1, where Paul says, greet the elders and the deacons in Philippi. So it was a later development, this office of deacon, but it's an important development, and it's an important office in the life of the church. And I find that oftentimes in many churches, deacons aren't functioning the way that they are supposed to function. In some churches, they function like elders where they rule over the church, And then in other churches, they don't even have deacons. So there's a disconnect where the church has not installed deacons and therefore they don't have this specific office of deacon functioning properly the way that it's supposed to. Well, Paul doesn't really explain what they do, it's implied in their title, but he does give the qualifications for the deacon here in verses eight to 13. And there's five qualifications, five qualifications. I'm gonna give these to you very quickly. First, in verse eight, he discusses the character of a deacon. This is most important that he begins here. He says, Likewise is an abrupt word marker. He's making a connection to the office of elder, which he talks about previously. He's saying there's a connection here, but there's also a difference. The deacon is not an elder, but it's also an office of the church. And he says deacons in a similar way to the elders who are aforementioned, you are to have godly character. And he describes this this character with these phrases, dignified, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy to dishonest gain. But notice the requirement of this. Look at that phrase, must be. This is an imperative. This is non-negotiable. This is not to be debated. You know, I heard a story once of a man, he was a wealthy guy, and he said, I visited a church up in Richmond, I joined, and within two weeks they asked me to be a deacon. I think just because I was well off. without consideration of what his character was actually like. And what Paul is saying is, is that these character qualifications are non-negotiable. What this means is that these men have come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and are in what's called the process of sanctification, that the Holy Spirit is doing a work in their life, making them more like Christ, where they are exhibiting these qualities. Let's look at them. First, dignified. That means worthy of respect, worthy of honor, that they are people whose lives are worth giving credence to. They must not be double-tongued. Literally, di logos. Di means two, logos word, two-tongued or two-worded. A deacon, you know, in Texas, they used to settle agreements with a handshake. because somebody's word meant everything, and a deacon's word means everything. Their yes must be yes, their no must be no, and they must be men of integrity. You remember Eddie Haskell from Leave It to Beaver? He would always say one thing to Beaver, and then he would go say something completely different to the parents. You can't have that in the church. The world, the psalmist says, Psalm 12 too, the world is marked by lying, slander, gossip. Everyone utters lies to his neighbor with flattering lips and a double heart they speak, but a deacon must be known for his integrity. He also says next that he must not be addicted to much wine. The text does not describe the deacon to be a teetotaler. I don't think the text completely forbids alcohol consumption, but it does forbid drunkenness. The word not addicted literally means to not have one's mind consumed or occupied with something. In this case, alcohol. That the deacon does not need alcohol. He doesn't necessarily even look forward to alcohol. He can go without alcohol. Paul says in Ephesians 5 18 to all Christians that we are not to be drunk with wine But be filled with the spirit a deacon is known for being sober-minded a sober-minded person cannot be a person who's constantly going to the bottle Finally, he also says that the deacon must not be greedy for dishonest gain. The King James translates this last phrase as filthy lucre. Deacons, like elders, are not to be obsessed with money. He's not saying that a deacon can't be wealthy. He's saying that they can't be obsessed with the pursuit of wealth. And neither should any Christian for that matter. Our life is, what does Jesus say? He says, think about things above. build your treasure in heaven where neither moth nor rust can destroy." The Christian's true treasure is in the kingdom to come, not in the kingdom here. And the deacon has to be a model of that. The deacon must need to be a model of hospitality, graciousness, Giving, the deacon is not to be somebody who makes compromising business decisions in the pursuit of wealth. Paul says in 1 Timothy 6, 11, flee the love of money. You might notice what is remarkable about this list of character qualities in verse eight is how unremarkable it is. really how unremarkable it is that these qualities are qualities that we would expect of every member here. These are qualities that we hold everybody to. And so the deacon is somebody who exhibits this general These general qualities and virtues of sanctification by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. These are all qualities that we should be striving for. Now, let me say something, especially in light of the incidents of this past week. Even though these qualities are basic, what Satan wants to do is undermine basic sanctification in our lives. We think, oh, these are easy. These are so simple. Yes, they are simple, but we are prone to wonder, and we are prone to lust, and we are prone to falter, and we are prone to compromise. And so what is needed by all of us is a humble spirit, It says, Lord, I need you. Lord, I need you every day. I need your word every day. Man cannot live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. I need your Holy Spirit to guide me. I need the fellowship of godly saints to walk in accountability with. We need help in order to live this Christian life. And so in seeing the simplicity of those qualities, we need to be careful that our tendency is not to be like, yeah, I've got that, I've arrived. No, no, no, no, no. In seeing those qualities, it's time to double down. and say, yes, I'm going to walk in the way of righteousness. The second quality of a deacon is that he have the right convictions. Look at verse nine. Paul says that the deacon must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. He must have the right convictions. So he must have the right character and he also must have the right convictions. Here's what he's talking about. Paul is not using the word faith in a subjective way. We see that word faith and we immediately think about, okay, this is my faith. This is what I believe in. What Paul is using that word faith to describe is the objective faith of Christianity. In other words, there are truths, there are doctrines that all Christians through the centuries have believed. doctrines such as the Trinity, the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, the deity of the Holy Spirit, that God's Word is given to us, all 66 books, is inerrant, it's inspired, it's authoritative. We believe that God has ordained the church to be Christ's body here on earth. We believe that man is saved through Christ alone and faith alone. By grace alone, we believe in a final judgment that the Lord is returning bodily to judge the living and the dead. These are all truths that Jude says are the faith once for all delivered to the saints. Have you ever read that before? This is the faith that's been handed down. And when Paul says, holding the mystery of the faith, that word mystery is a word that is used to describe new covenant revelation. It's things, it's not like Sherlock Holmes that are hidden from us. They are things that were not as clearly revealed in the Old Testament that have been made more clearly revealed in the New Testament. that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, that Gentiles are grafted into Christ through his new covenant work. That is all the mystery of the faith. And notice how the deacon must hold to that mystery of the faith. What does he say? Look back at verse 9. With a clear conscience. With a clear conscience. This is so important. This is so important. Can you believe something here in the head and it not translate to your heart? Is that possible? Is it possible to believe things on an intellectual level and for that truth to not affect and impact your life? Is that a possibility? Very much so. What Paul is saying is that the truth, your belief, has become a conviction. That it's not just an intellectual endeavor. That these truths have seared your soul. that your conscience is the mechanism of your soul that says what is right and what is wrong. It's a God-given gift to humans. Dogs don't have consciences. I'm sorry, your cats don't have consciences. People have consciences as image bearers. It's the mechanism of your soul that convicts you when you do something wrong. And what Paul is saying is the conscience comes under this relationship with the truth, where now the truth is embedded in the very soul of the person. What does that mean? What does that mean? When somebody challenges, let's say, the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, you don't have to think about it. When the Mormons are at your door, is this right or is this wrong? I need to, what am I gonna do? No, you respond reflexively because the deity of Christ is engraved in your very soul. It's a conviction that you hold and you don't have to think about it. It's where belief becomes reality. It's one thing to stand for something and say, I believe it. It's another thing to die for it. I remember growing up as a kid going to the Alamo. And at the Alamo, there were a lot of guys there who believed in the independent Republic of Texas, right? But what happened is they were surrounded. They got surrounded and things started to look bleak. And William Barrett Travis, a South Carolinian, became the commander of the fort and he took out a sword and he drew a line in the sand. And he said, if you stay here, you're gonna die. but we're going to die for the Republic. And if you are willing to sign up, cross the line. I think all but one man crossed that line. What is that? That's conviction. And that's what a deacon is to be. The deacons, along with the elders, but what Paul is saying here about the deacons is that heresy will enter the church over their dead bodies. That's what he's saying. You say, wow, that's drastic. No, it is drastic because this is serious business. That the church is to be the pillar and the buttress of the truth. And the deacons have this responsibility to be watchmen on the wall, guards for the church, holding the truth with clear conviction, with a good conscience. Paul says in 1st Timothy 1.18, wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience. And you know what? I am so thankful for the group of deacons that we have at this church. In the five years that I've been here, we've had not one man step down because of disqualification. Not one. All of them, to a man, have held to faithful character and sound doctrine. Praise be to God. Third quality, the testing of a deacon. Look at verse 10. and let them also be tested first, then let them serve as deacons if they prove themselves blameless." So the first two qualities that we looked at, the character, of the deacon, the conviction of a deacon, those things have to be in place. But what Paul is saying here is you want to make sure those things are in place, that the deacon needs to undergo testing. He tells Timothy in 1 Timothy 5.22, do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, nor take part in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure. The idea is if you lay hands on someone too quickly and they turn out to be a heretic or they turn out to moral bankruptcy, he says, then you are complicit in their sin. So be careful. Don't lay hands on a man hastily, but watch him, test him. Their character and doctrine must be weighed and evaluated, that you know who they are, that you watch them and know that no specific charge can be made against them. Look what he says, that they prove themselves blameless. That doesn't mean sinless. Obviously, no one is without sin, but it means that when you put the man forward, that nobody has a notorious accusation that can be made against that person that would compromise their character or doctrine. When I was in the Marine Corps, actually before I was in the Marine Corps, before I could be commissioned, the Marine Corps has a program called Officer Candidate School. So if you want to sign up to be an officer of Marines, you have to go to a grizzly place on the Potomac River called Quantico. And they send you to Quantico. You don't, you know, they shave your head when you get there. It's a somewhat humiliating experience. And you're there for the summer. And they have drill instructors there basically overseeing the training. And here's the thing. Those drill instructors know that if you graduate, you are going to turn around and be their boss. That's the dynamic. And literally that happened to me in the Marine Corps. Drill instructors that I knew at OCS, I later on became their boss. So they have a vested interest in evaluating what are called the candidates. We're all called candidates. You're not yet an officer. You're an officer candidate. So every person is called Candidate Castleberry or Candidate Jones or whatever. But the point is, is that for six to 10 weeks, depending on what program you're in, they are watching you, they are evaluating you, and they are seeing, will you pass the test? Will you prove yourself to be an officer of Marines? Well, that's the standard for a United States government agency. How much more should the standard be in Christchurch that there is a period of testing and evaluation? So our process here at Capitol is that the deacons are nominated by the congregation. These are men that the congregation sees serving. And then those nominations are given to the current deacons. Those current deacons evaluate those men collectively as a group. And then from that list, a narrowed down list is given to the elders. The elders evaluate that list and narrow it down even more. And then we put those names before the congregation. And we've done that. And the congregation has a period of time in which the congregation can then, again, weigh in on the character and the doctrine of those specific deacons. So the men that we are put forward today have passed that test. But it's an important thing that you don't just quickly install any man to leadership because the health of the church depends upon their faithfulness. So that's third, the testing of a deacon. Fourth, the wife of a deacon. Look at verse 11. Their wives likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, faithful in all things. Now, there's debate about verse 11, about whether that word wives should be translated as wives or simply women, and whether this refers to female deacons or the wives of deacons or even women in general in the church at Ephesus that Paul is writing to. I do not think it means female deacons. Although some churches that hold to that, I think that that could be a legitimate interpretation of this. But here's why I don't think it refers to female deacons. First, the very next verse says, verse 12, let deacons each be the husband of one wife, managing their children and their own households well. I think if he's referring to female deacons, he would make the same requirement for the wives, that they be a woman of one husband. Second, if you look at Acts chapter 6, there were seven men who were chosen in the early church that many think were prototypical of the diaconate body. And you remember Stephen was one of those men, Philip was one of those men, but it was seven men who were chosen to serve the Grecian widows, not a combination thereof of men and women. And then third, notice this word in the text itself, where it says likewise, their wives likewise. Notice that that's the same word that was used in verse eight, likewise. Now in verse eight, remember I said likewise introduces something similar but different. Remember, deacons are similar to elders, but they're different. Same thing in verse 11, when the women are introduced, Paul says they're similar but different. They're similar but different. And I think he's talking about these character qualities of the men, and he has this thought, oh, by the way, we need to address either the women specifically in the church, all of them, or specifically the wives of the deacons and probably the elders as well. So, it's translated, the word gounikos, the word is translated wives here. I think that's a good translation. He says, but they must be dignified, Same word to describe the men. They must be honorable. They must not be slanderers. It's the Greek word diabolos. They must not be people who bring unwarranted charges against others or gossips. They must be sober-minded. Similar to the deacon men, they must not be addicted to alcohol, their minds must be sober. And then a blanket phrase, faithful in all things. They must be faithful in doctrine, they must be faithful in character. And the reason I also think that this is in reference to wives here is because deacons are servants in the church. And oftentimes their service deals with families, needs with families, needs with widows, and they interact with both men and women. And in those interactions, it's helpful and important that their wives are engaged in the ministry with them, that their wives are often accompanying them or doing the visit with them, that their wives are sometimes even interacting with the woman that needs help. And so it's very much a partnership. And so it's important that the wife be a person who matches her husband in character and in doctrine. And this is very important. When we're talking about leadership in the church, one of the things that we always, always, always ask is does the wife match the husband in terms of character and doctrine? Is she on the same page? And there have been times where we said the man is ready to serve But we don't think that the wife is ready yet for the man to be put up for an office. So it's important that both the husband and the wife be ready, be of godly character, and it's a reminder to all of us, okay, that we don't just, if we're married, we don't just exist in a bubble, that we are a team with our wife or our husband, and that we need to walk together in these ministries. So Paul lays out this requirement, qualification of the wife of the deacon, and then fifth and finally, the household of the deacon. Verse 12, let deacons each be the husband of one wife, managing their children and their own household well. Now, under this criteria of the deacon's household, there are actually two things. The first is, is that the deacon must be, and the literal translation is, the husband of one woman, or a one-woman man. that he is a one woman man. And people have debated what that phrase means. You see it used to describe elders also in verse two, that the elder must be the husband of one wife, literally a man of one woman, a one woman man. Some have interpreted this phrase to mean that a man can never have been divorced. Some interpret it to mean also not only that a man can never have been divorced, but that if a man is widowed, that he cannot remarry, that if a man is widowed, that if he remarries, that he is then not a one-woman man because now he's had two different wives. Others have said it's simply a violation against polygamy, that a man cannot have two wives at the same time. Now, polygamy was not so much a problem in the ancient world. It was more of an issue in the ancient world, but not the Greco-Roman world. So I don't think it's necessarily referring to polygamy, though it could be. What I think Paul is describing, and what he's describing in all of these qualities, is the current general conduct of the person. the current general conduct of the person. Of course, that would preclude polygamists. A polygamist is clearly not a one-woman man. It would preclude most divorced people most divorced men, but we also have to understand that some divorces happen before a man is even converted. And some divorces happen, for example, in 1 Corinthians 7, where an unbelieving spouse leaves a man and there's nothing that he can do about it. are cases or situations where a divorce might not necessarily be disqualifying from the office of deacon. And those should be handled on a case by case basis. If you look at these qualities, for example, you go back and look at the office of elder. Look at verse three, not violent, but gentle, not violent, but gentle. Okay, who was Paul? before he was converted. Acts chapter nine, breathing threats, going to throw Christians in prison. He was a violent persecutor of the church. Does that mean that Paul is disqualified from being an elder because he was a violent man, persecutor? No, that's who he once was. but that's not who he is now. So with all of these qualifications, we're asking the question, does this person display these character qualities for a long period of time? Have they displayed this quality of being a one-woman man, a faithful husband for a long period of time? And this would mean that they are not engaged in pornography, that they are not engaged in immorality, that they are faithful to their spouse, that they live a life of purity, ongoingly. That's what he's saying. So that's the first aspect of this household requirement. And then secondly, he says, that they must manage their children and their own households well. This is so important. This is really the testing ground of a spiritual leader. This is massive. This is massive. What do the children of that spiritual leader's household look like? What do they look like? Because the idea is, if a man cannot manage his household, how can he manage the church? If a man cannot disciple his children, how do we expect him to disciple people in the church? And I have seen, I have seen with my own eyes, well-known Christian leaders, huge platforms, and their children abandoning the faith. And I ask the question, what is going on here? Now clearly we're not responsible ultimately for our children's salvation. You can raise them to do one thing, they can rebel against it. But while the children are in that household, are in your home, the question is, are they obedient to you? Do they respect your authority? Is there a disconnect between your spiritual life and their spiritual lives? And we watch the children. several things here. Paul tells fathers, this is Ephesians 6, 4, So a father is to not be overbearing where he's a disciplinarian who causes his children to rebel and he essentially pushes them away by being overly harsh. I've seen this. I've seen parents in the church, I've seen parents and Boy Scouts growing up who were, yes, they disciplined, they were authoritative, but they were mean. and they weren't compassionate, and they pushed their children away. They were overbearing. Paul says, don't do that. Don't provoke your children to anger. But at the same time, you have a responsibility to bring them up in the paideia, an instruction of the Lord. The paideia means all around discipline. It means positive and negative reinforcement. that you are building your sons and daughters up, but you are also correcting them when they do something wrong. And so you're teaching that child how to live in this world, and they are responding to that training and development. This is very important. And then the instruction of the Lord, that you're training them, you're teaching them the Christian faith, that they are learning the Christian faith from you, that you're doing Bible studies with them. And I'm not saying that you need to be legalistic about this. Some people say, you know, you have to do family worship every single day and it must be very rigid. I'm not saying that. But what I am saying is, is that you must be regularly instructing your kids in the truth. Were they Lord willing, they love the truth, they desire to obey, and they are walking in that path. And, you know, this is what Paul's saying. He's saying, look, Watch the household. Watch the household of the respective deacon. Do they manage that household well? They manage their children well? Are they faithful to their wife? And if they meet these five qualifications, then there is great reward. It's a wonderful thing to be a deacon. And you see this reward in verse 13. for those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in their faith that is in Christ Jesus." It's an honor to serve as a deacon. Paul says they gain a good standing for themselves in the church. That means that's an honored thing. And also, he said, for their own faith, there is great confidence in Christ Jesus, that Christ brings you into this as a deacon, that He puts you into this office, He calls you into this office, and He causes you to serve with like-minded brothers in this office of deacon. And I must say, that our deacon meetings are one of the most encouraging times that I have here at our church because there's so much camaraderie and so much joy and so much love for one another and it's so encouraging. Our faith is encouraged. When I was growing up as a boy, my grandfather, big grizzly bear guy down in Lake Jackson, Texas, Charles Castleberry, he was probably a deacon at his church for a hundred years. But I remember before the service would start out, kind of out in the foyer over here, all the deacons would gather. And I remember as a kid, I thought these guys must, were all ancient. You know, they were all old guys. And I remember they would always come together in a big circle before the service started and they would pray together, right before the service. And I would, whenever I would be visiting, I would be an honorary deacon there at the church at First Baptist. But I remember going in and it was just, they were praying and I would look around after the prayer, these ancients, and I said, these are the guys that I wanna be like. These are the deacons of the church and they knew each other and they'd serve with each other. Their faith was built up. And that's what we need to have. I want to invest deeply in the local church. We all need to invest deeply in the local church where we have qualified men serving in this role and qualified men who are examples for us all. Amen.