3, 1st Timothy chapter 3. I look down and I'm in Nehemiah chapter 3. Where did that come from? Okay, 1st Timothy chapter 3, I want to read verse number 8 through 15. All right. We ready to go? Likewise, must the deacons be grave, not double tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre, holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. And let these also first be proved and let them use the office of a deacon being found blameless. Even so, must their wives be grave and not slander, sober, faithful in all things that the deacons be husbands of one wife ruling their children in their own house as well. For they that have used the office of a deacon will purchase to themselves a good degree and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus. These things write unto you, hoping to come unto thee shortly. But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. And you go back to verse number 13, for they that have used, and this is gonna be our series for the next few Sunday nights, the office of a deacon. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, I pray for wisdom, and I pray, God, that you'd please touch hearts. Lord, it's a topic that I've asked you to help us with, and that you would please keep us from the pitfalls that come from this particular office. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen, amen. Now, we love a lot of the things that we can do as a church, and I know you do. Sometime you need to sit up here while your children are singing down there and watching you guys watch your kids and grandkids, it's really fun. But it's part of having a church is the blessings that we can share. Part of it is being reproved and rebuked through the preaching and exhorted sometimes confronted with sin, having accountability friends that we could take to each other. But the benefits of a church work when a church functions together in an environment that is really selfless and godly, okay? And it isn't gonna work if we do it some other way than God's way. The office of the deacon in the New Testament church is an honorable and an important position. Now when we moved here, we moved here with our family. Elijah was actually at a Bible college, so it was the four of us. Ezekiel was here, Sharon there, both in high school, five years ago this May, where we started the church. And the Simmons family was with us and Debbie's parents. And really, so we brought with us all of the combined ministry experience of really three preachers, Debbie's dad and Brother Simmons and I. When you start a church, generally, you bring a preacher with you, okay? And it's under the leadership of one individual. And without going all into it, the pastor is the only office of leadership of oversight in a church. And his qualifications are given at the beginning of this chapter. Look at verse one. This is a true saying, if a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. A bishop then, he's gonna go on, must be blameless, the husband of one wife. All right, no matter how you calculate that, you can't have a pastor that's a woman. If we start saying that the gender specifications of the Bible are not intended, are not inspired then you open a door you don't want to go through promise that and uh... so the Lord has a plan and uh... but anyway going on we're called bishops now turn over to Titus keep your finger here we're going to come right back Titus chapter one these there's a shorter list but a list of qualifications for the pastor but something I want you to see Titus is left in Crete to start churches and to raise up pastors from within the churches as he trains them. Verse five, for this cause left, I think that thou should set in order the things that are wanting and ordain elders in every city. So we are called elders, as I had appointed you. Now notice in verse number seven, he's going to give you, starting in verse six, the qualifications, but he renames them in verse seven. For a bishop must be blameless. So he's using the word elder and bishop synonymously. Fact is, you know, it's elder is the Greek word presbyteros, and bishop is episkopos. These words have been used, transliterated to Presbyterian church, Episcopal church, but they are all meant to be the same person. The word pastor is a Greek word poema, which really means shepherd. And that office of a pastor, has about six different titles but they all mean the same thing. The idea that there would be a bishop over many churches didn't come about till after the death of the apostles. That isn't a biblical concept. The idea that there would be a denomination over one church that is connecting all of these congregations together is not founded in the Bible. What is founded is that a church is supposed to have two offices and that is a pastor and a deacon now when you come to start a church as I said earlier that you bring a pastor with you we had three preachers and uh... we ended up with three preachers and four church pianists to start a church and uh... what a way to go I mean a lot of churches they go a long time before they have an efficient pianist right and here we we were blessed we have been blessed by the way so many ways But you bring with you. So we had Debbie's mom was a Sunday school teacher. She was a Sunday school teacher. Our kids were helping in the classes. And my father-in-law would preach sometimes. And the only thing we were missing was a song leader until Zeke was able to start leading singing. But I'm just telling you how it goes. One thing you don't bring is a deacon. Those things are not for the founding of a deposition, not things. the founding of a church, all right? And we'll eventually go over to Acts chapter six, where we believe that they originated, but it came because the church grew to a place where the pastors, really the apostles in Jerusalem, were neglecting the work of the ministry of the word in order to meet physical needs to serve tables. As a result, they said, choose out from among you. So really, in our founding of the church, there really wasn't a need. And it could be argued at this point that we really don't have a need, okay? The work is being done. We are not so big that one pastor can't, with the volunteer help, because of the great amount of volunteer help we have, a servant's heart from all the people here, There really is an argument to be made that there is not technically a need. What I'm seeking to do in the next three weeks is kind of lay the foundation for what we anticipate to be numerical growth, growth in reaching families, and becoming better efficient in caring for the needs of our people. So really, it's not as though I feel that we have to have them right now. But it's important for the future, for the preparation, for the blessings of God that we anticipate. Now, going back to First Timothy chapter number three, we said in verse 13 that they have used the office of a deacon. so i want to begin with rome number one in my notes the meaning of the word deacon the meaning of the word deacon now the new testament word for deacon the greek word is a word that you may not may or may not know it's called diakonos it simply means servant people are enamored with positions you know i had a friend in Belize that had been He had been knighted by the Queen of England. And I always joked with him, and I was joking with him when I was there a week ago. We ate breakfast, and I'm joking with him again, saying, hey, next time you talk to Liz. I always said that to him. Now I always say, man, you missed your chance. I want a title. I want to be called Sir Pastor. Wouldn't that be kind of neat? And it's not even serious, it's just to be, to kid him. But the fact that I'm trying to get at is, people are enamored by positions. And I think if you've been in any kind of position of leadership over anything, you find out sooner or later that whatever there was that was kind of like, oh, I'm the pastor. Like if there's pride in that, or if there, really, it is a hindrance but the truth is that kind of ends pretty quick what we're called to is not to a position of look who I am as if my lapels were built there just for me to put my thumbs in and kind of say look at me but rather we're called to do a duty to be a servant and the word minister as this is translated often is referred to as synonymous with the word pastor, why? because every person in a church in the general sense should be a servant every single person but the idea of leadership is not like we have in the military or you would find in the business world and it's not as though we're supposed to have like a salute to the pastors be very careful we do have oversight of the church I'm supposed to be able to say what happens here. There's a wide variety of authority given to the pastor within this church. And I'm a pretty patient guy. If you want to know my personality, I'll come to you and say, hey, here's something I think we ought to do. I'll announce it from the pulpit. And if you insist on not following me, basically I just ignore it. And when I ignore it, you ought to be concerned. Because what I'm saying in my mind is, God sent me to find faithful men who shall be able to teach others also. And if I find somebody in the church that's just not going to follow the Lord, simple instructions, it's not hard. Then I say, oh, they must not be one of those faithful ones. After a while, I just say, well, because as a man, I can't dwell on the natural feeling of rejection or the sorrow of people not doing what's right. The fact that people don't just, I can't understand it. Is there not a cause? The lost in this world, the people in our community, what this church means to the young people as they grow up, knowing the truth in an environment where they're safe and they can learn God's word. Everything that this church offers, I say, well, why doesn't everybody want to pick up a great load? Come on, folks, let's get on the ball. But there are those who I'm glad, and by the way, I'm glad you're here if you're in that position. I hope you grow. But I'm not dwelling on it. But I'm supposed to be able to set the course. The Bible says that a pastor is an overseer. But this interesting word, diakonos, if we could travel, just listen for a moment. The New Testament Greek word primarily denotes a servant, whether he's doing servile work or as an attendant rendering free service without particular reference to its character. And the term deacon in the New Testament primarily is used in two ways and this is an important distinction. First, the deacon refers to a Christian worker in general. Okay, now here's an example. If you're writing notes, 1 Corinthians 3 verse 5, it says this, Who then is a Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed? Who are they? Servants. That's the word diakonos. How about Romans 16 verse 1? I commend unto you Phoebe, our sister. Oh no, here's a woman in the Bible. then Diakonos is going to refer to her what do we do well it's because every person in a general sense should be a servant and it says which is a servant of the church which is at Centria you know in other words hey let's commend we have one person sometimes I'll say that this church wouldn't run if it weren't for I always say pick on Miss Judy you know or you know I just It is amazing the contributions of the ladies of the church. This church wouldn't run if it weren't for the ladies of the church. Not to mention you make up a little bit more than half of the population. I used to know these pastors who acted like bigots and they didn't want the opinion of the women. I say, what an idiot. Half or more of your church are women. I think you should want to know what they're thinking. They can be hard to lead people if you're not going to listen to what they're thinking. Okay? That's part of leadership. But here we have the contributions of a lady that in Holy Scripture, which is forever, is recording the contribution, not financial, her service for God. So this word is used this way. We can go on 2 Corinthians 3 verse 6. 2nd Corinthians 3 verse 6, who also hath made us able ministers of the New Testament. Ministers. Now my dad always disliked that. The word minister can refer to a pastor as well, but it's when the passage of the office of pastor crosses over the duty of a servant, because it's the word diakonos. My dad never liked it. He always thought that meant you had to have one of those turnaround collars and, you know, Olympus. But my dad would always say, please don't call me a minister. Call me pastor. But the truth is, the Bible, I don't care how it's misused in this world, if you want to call me minister or you want to call me bishop, I prefer the name pastor because it means shepherd. It puts me in my place, my love for my sheep. But they're all the same name. All right? But servant, servant is what is the emphasis. How about Ephesians 3 verse 7, whereof I was made a minister, diakonos. In a general sense, they are servants within God's church, within this congregation. There are plenty of other ones. Here's a word, Colossians 4 verse 12 is a really nice one. Epaphras had a great testimony. And he says, who is one of you? A servant of Christ saluted you. I mean, he was just a outstanding Christian and Paul's writing, he said, he's with me, but he's one of you. He belongs to your congregation. And he says he salutes you. Amen. Isn't that a great, great testimony? Wouldn't you like that have said in Holy Scripture? You know, Paul's writing a letter, if we lived at that time, and it said, Jason, the servant of God. And the people are, oh, Jason, we hear news from a far country. And minister, a servant of the Lord. And the message today, in a spiritual sense, is to ask yourself, do I personally, am I a diakonos? Do I have a servant's heart? Now as a servant's heart, I'm talking about those that will give of themselves and their time in more than just the ordinary fashion, but are willing to be our life, to be used up for the work of Jesus Christ. Now follow what I'm saying. If you could take your life in terms of your minutes and turn it into a financial, some kind of instrument, like coins, okay? I just don't put them in the Silicon Valley bank. But let's say you turned it into a gold coin for every day of your life. And then somehow you knew when your life was going to end, and you had this pile of coins. And every day you make a choice how you're going to use that coin. And once it's used, you'll never get it back. And you look around and you say, I have family needs. These kind of needs, but where in your priorities does God fall? And are you willing to be used? Giving that life that coin of that day. Can it be gods? Do you have a servant's heart? Or are you here for what you can get out of it? Personally. Are you a giver or are you a taker? Are you here to serve and meet the needs of other people? Instead of worrying all the time, did you get a fair shake in the deal? There's this push and shove of me and mine and protecting my own. You'll never get anywhere, parents. You never will if you're always protecting your children from godly influence. And sometimes that godly influence will come down on you and say, let's see, Brother Sean, we saw something with the boys. Can you help me? with this problem, you know? And the feeling that it has, and here's why, because our children and the things that they do wrong that we don't see, why aren't we seeing those things? Because they're my weaknesses in my children. All right, that's why every time the kids were bad, I said, Debbie, that's your son. That's your daughter, Debbie. Sharon was never bad, right? She's my girl. Daddy's girl, right? And so I'm joking about that. But I'm trying to make a point is that the feeling of being criticized, and it's worldwide. It was the same in Belize. And people are so worried. Like, man, I could preach a message on the devil and his cousin. He's on Pennsylvania Avenue. Anyway. Yeah, but but I'm saying that I could preach it up and down and blow the windows off the place. But I touch to some and I don't it's not the people in here. That's why I'm saying this. I like preaching these things when nobody's got a problem. So when you do, I can say, remember when I preach this? When I touch on somebody's child. Man, I can hit every sin in the book. But if I tell you, hey, your kids were not sitting up in church, there's this defensive spirit. And I'm just telling you, I don't run around policing your children. But let me tell you what kind of attitude works with children. Somebody comes and says, hey, your kid was rude to me. Well, I want to find out exactly the facts. I want to go and take care of my child. And thank you for your help. Right? Because if you hide your kids' problems, they'll never be dealt with, and they'll ruin their lives. OK? But in a church, there's different types of people. There's the kind that are like porcupines. You can't get near them because they got a shell. You can't help them with their families. And Debbie knows this. I don't really talk about it to other people. But when I get a family like that, I kind of just put them in my mind. Hey, they're the untouchables. They're Teflon. I can't deal with them. I can't even help them. I try. I pray for them. But my prayers begin with, Lord, touch their hearts to make them what they ought to be. What do they need? Humility. A part would be seen as they become a servant heart, a diakonos within that the Lord changes and molds that hardness and that really pride. Bible says there's a very convicting verse in Proverbs, only by pride cometh contention. Only by pride, so when there's contention, if you have contention with me, then it's your pride or it's my pride, and what is it normally? It's normally both. Normally we bring it out in each other. We don't do any good hiding that fact. So humility, where God is able to Break down that worry about whether or not you're loved or appreciated in the church. Well, the pastor gave out the office of deacon to two men, and I was overlooked. All right? If that is the heart of an individual, then they're probably not ready for the office to begin with. It needs to be a humility that says, OK, we're just going to serve the Lord. I'm not in for positions. I never cared about positions. But the word diakonos is used, first of all, in a general sense, and it's actually used for both men and women. In other words, what about deaconesses? Some denominations have them. And I was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and the hospital was named Deaconess Hospital. So I don't know what it was. I took a picture of it. It looks pretty bad right now. But anyway, I was born like on the fourth or fifth, sixth, seventh, whatever floor. And my grandfather died on another floor. It was just a hospital in that part of town. And where my grandparents lived primarily, where my parents lived before we moved out of town, my dad got a job as a policeman outside of town. What about deaconesses? But this is when they are talked about It is meant that in a general sense, every person in the church is a diakonos, a servant of the Lord. So number one, the word is used in that general sense. But number two, in our text, remember in verse 13, they that have used the office of a deacon. So that along the creation of the New Testament churches, And it began there in Jerusalem. The congregation that Jesus had then became the church at Jerusalem. And by chapter 6, it had grown. It's either 5,000 or 8,000 people. Because it said later it had 3,000. Then it said 5,000. We don't know if it was up to 5,000 or 5,000 more. That's quite a congregation, isn't it? And then when you realize in the next chapter in First Timothy chapter, I'm sorry, chapter five, you realize that the churches are given the job of taking care of the widows who are called widows in deed. And here are the widows that were, you know, basically here's this group of apostles that become pastors and they're just not keeping up with the workload. You know, that's the kind of, If I had to describe, if I were teaching a class on starting a church, I would describe a church that you plant as never being comfortable. It never gets to be comfortable. It's what God's called us to do. I'm kind of made for it. I don't like being comfortable. But it's always expanding, by God's grace, always expanding. Sometimes it expands and blows up. It expands, people get saved, and then you grow in your administration. And then it expands, and you're growing in the administration of it. It expands, and then you're growing. There comes point after point when I feel in both churches that we've planted that I'm just not keeping up. And then you go pray. I go pray, and the Lord says, hey, implement this and give this. Like recently, I gave the Griswolds last year the oversight on the Saturday visitation of all those that we call our shut-ins. We call it our Grace Home Care Ministry. Man, that took off of me this huge burden, where now he communicates with me on the status of those that are on that list. And that really is an administrative thing. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians, let all things be done decently and in order. God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints. That the plan of God, that he was interested in the formation of things that allowed us, like in the Bible, we don't find the word Sunday school teacher, but we find the ladies teaching the younger children and the other ladies. We find it talked about, but not administrated. But God is looking at the work that he's called us to do, and it fits within the profile of God's plan, but it can't be as though we say, well, I want the office of a Sunday school teacher, because there is no such thing. And in the word of God, it just gives us two officers, the officer of pastor, which has, remember, like six names, and the office of deacon, which is different than the general use of the term. So God has this plan, and it started in the book of Acts. Now, why don't you keep your place here in 1 Timothy and go with me to that passage in Acts. And we'll see in chapter number six. I'll begin in verse number one. And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, that was the followers of Christ, there arose a murmuring among the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows, now all of these were Jewish people. When it says Grecians, it's not talking about, see, it wasn't until chapter 10 that Cornelius got saved. Jews that were from outside of Israel. They were Greeks. They probably grew up like some that Paul ran into. He was from Tarsus. He would be part of what was known as the Diaspora. The Grecians against the Hebrews because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration. Hey, our widows aren't being taken care of. So they had complaint department, right? And I put a sign on my door, complaint department, and I gave instructions how to get to the toilet. You know, that's a good place for it. But it's a necessary part of growth is that, and there is no sign, I was kidding you. Somebody said, I'm running to find out. All right, just sit still, there's no sign. But the complaining that happens should not be done in a way that is, you could call it a complaint, but suggestions. All right, are you gonna find a pastor that's perfect? Are you kidding? And to prove it, I try every day to prove that I'm not perfect to you. But if you wanna find faults, you'll find faults. If you wanna find faults in each other, you'll find them. All right, remember we preached on unity a couple weeks ago? Unity isn't an accident, unity is when you say, you see that offense that somebody just put on me? Okay, think of it as somebody throwing up on you. Right? Stinks. You leave it there, and it'll make you sick. Get that off of you. Say, I'm not going to let that offense stay. I'm going to get it off and make it cleansed. And then to others, we just keep it there like a trophy, like, you see what my wife did to me? See what Brother Mike, he put that one there? And you smell like a barf bag your whole life. I mean, you get around people like that, and they don't like anybody. And they don't get around with anybody, And when they're around, the first thing you hear is, well, you know what that person did to me. You know, their life, it's a bitterness. You've got to get those offenses off. And within a church, you can find fault with each other. But the purpose of a church is not to find fault. It's to fulfill the Great Commission. The purpose of a church is to organize in order to be efficient at it. So let's keep reading. Verse 2, then the 12 called the multitude of the disciples unto them and said, it is not reason that we should leave the word of God and serve tables. Now notice there, I gotta point out something. The primary work of the ministry is not humanitarian. I mean, I love feeding the poor. What is the primary duty of the churches? The Bible. It's not serving the pastor. I appreciate many of you have commented when we went full-time, pastor, is that enough money? We're fine. I'll let you know when it's not. We're gonna work together. I didn't get into this for a paycheck. You understand? And I appreciate the great... So a purpose of a church is a great commission. The purpose of a church is the Bible. The purpose is not humanitarian, and it's not for the pastor. Pastors that treat the church like you exist to benefit me, they fail very quickly. Okay? You that are called to the ministry here realize that the ministry is giving, giving, giving, giving. You say, give till it hurts. no you gotta learn give it way past where it hurts of your heart let it be stomped all over let your name be dragged in the mud you worry about your character let God worry about your reputation and you live every day giving to the Lord and serving the needs of your people and so these People were complaining, and he said, we're not going to leave our important ministry of the Bible in order to serve tables. Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you, verse 3, seven men of honest report, wow, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, wow, whom we may appoint over this business. So the Lord picks some very, very important things. Now, they're not leaders of the church. We won't get to that in a minute. They are not leaders. They have never been given oversight. That's a misunderstanding of the word deacon. They are servants. Fact is, they were picked not to do spiritual, they're not the people that are Sunday school superintendents. Their purpose isn't to, literally, one pastor said it the best way that I've ever heard it, was that a pastor is supposed to be a spiritual man with spiritual responsibilities. and a deacon is a spiritual man with physical responsibilities. Okay? Now, in the sense that they are servants helping the pastor, it can be in an avenue that's not just serving tables, but it's, hey, this is the program that the pastor's led of God, and this is where I need the help to help the pastor to get the job and the work of the Lord done. That's when you need a deacon. And there's some other reasons. Let's keep going here. And they have to be full of the Holy Ghost, be honest, full of wisdom. And we may give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word. And the saying pleased the whole multitude. And they chose, look at these men. Stephen becomes the first martyr. He's a preacher. So preachers, yeah, they can become deacons. A man full of faith, wow. And Philip, who has a revival in chapter 8 in Samaria, goes to the Ethiopian eunuch. In other words, we're not talking about, and if they're spiritual men, they're going to see their position not as some kind of, well, I've arrived, I'm an officer of the church. Actually, you're going to see your position as, I'm here to do whatever God can use me for. A servant, a servant to meet the needs of the church. Now I started on this, what about woman deacons, and I mentioned that, and I want you to go back to our text in 1 Timothy chapter three, and I wanna just address this issue and go on to the next thing. In verse number, I wanna go to verse 12 of 1 Timothy three. Now friends, I didn't write the Bible, I just wanted you to remember that, All right? I want you to remember that. I didn't write the Bible. Don't get mad with me. Take it up with God. But verse 12, let the deacons be the husbands of one wife. Well, that ruled out polygamy, didn't it? Which was practiced in the Roman Empire. And it's addressing that. But it also ruled out having a living wife that you're no longer married to and married to another. Right? She's still alive. It's the way the Jewish law would have looked at that at the time. And even though she's the wife of somebody else by that time, none of that matters. The standard that the Lord put together leaves us with that qualification. Now, we're going to get to the qualifications in the future, but can a woman be a deacon? Yes, in a general sense, that she's a servant like the word diakonos is used to describe every person in the church. You ought to be a servant of the Lord. But can a woman hold the office of a deacon in a New Testament church? No, they can't. They haven't yet figured out how to change their DNA. I used to say they don't know how to become the husband of one wife, but today you don't know. Everything's messed up. The thing is, if you take one molecule of any person, their DNA screams out which chromosome they are. They're born male, they're still male. They're born female, they're still females. Right? That's their sex. They can't change that. You can put on some makeup, that'll make you a girl. But what God made you to be. But God is specific. Now just to be sure you understand, go back with me to chapter two. And in verse nine, in like manner also that women adorn themselves. Wait a minute. I thought pastors were not supposed to talk about how a woman's supposed to be dressed. Now, I know it's sensitive. It's sensitive because here's a guy in a pulpit telling the women in the church, this is what you ought to look like. I want you to read this and tell me, does the Bible discuss this or not? Let the woman adorn themselves in what kind of apparel? Say it for me. Does the Bible teach modesty? Absolutely does. Absolutely. With shamefacedness and sobriety. Okay, means not showing an appearance of drawing attention to yourself. And sobriety is seriousness. And not with brighted hair or gold or pearls or costly array. So in other words, Let's put it this way. Bible's not against makeup, but if I can tell you have makeup on, you might have too much. Do you understand what I mean? What that verse is talking about is not drawing undue attention to your feminine appearance, not accentuating the things that are sensual. That ought not to be done in the house of God, not to be done anywhere. And by the way, the way you dress at church, I'm not saying I wear a suit, but the type of modesty we have at church ought to be carried out in our lives. That's why some of you need to stop looking at me sideways when I talk about that I don't go to a beach. I don't go to a beach, not because I don't like water. Little side note, I don't like to swim. But if I liked to swim, we wouldn't because of the way people are dressed there. Okay, you can find a place, there's times when the Lord makes a way, but going on here. So what does the Lord say? Don't draw attention to yourself. In verse number 10, but which becometh women professing godliness with good works. Thus for the parents of young children, you ought to always compliment their work, not their appearance. I believe that's the general way. Now, when they're growing up, I think when you have a young lady, at some point you need to get her used to hearing, boy, you look pretty tonight. There's a balance in this. Why? Because a hot shot's going to come around and say, oh, you're so beautiful. Oh! They've got to get them prepared to get married, right? I was trying to see if I got a public admission there. All I got was quite an embarrassment. Sorry, Sharon. But in a general sense, God wants to compliment your godly works, not your appearance. You can do something about that. You know that? You can't grow hair on your head when it comes off. Brother James? Yes. And unless you want to be like plugs. And you know what? You can't raise your stature any. but you can't do something about how your good works are. That's Christian character. Developing character in young people is complementing their character, not their God-given looks. Going on then, let a woman, in verse 11, learn in silence with all subjection. Now, connect that to the next verse. But I suffer or allow not a woman to teach or usurp authority, over the man but to be in silence. Ooh, women liberation, hate this. Except that the women liberation day last week, the men got up and said whatever a woman can do, a man can do better. And they gave all the awards to transgender men who are posing as women. It's like the whole thing is proving that it's just a bunch of goof. It's a bunch of deception, okay? people don't like these verses remember what I said I didn't write these God did I believe them and we practice these for Adam was first formed in Eve and Adam was not deceived but the woman being deceived was in transgression notwithstanding she shall be saved that's not talking about soul salvation in childbearing you don't go to heaven because you have babies if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety in other words you're proving the proving the ability of that lady by the duties that God has given to you. And that's true about us all. That's true about us all. Now having said that, look at the next verse in chapter three, verse one. This is a true saying, if a man desire the office of a bishop, he desirgeth work. What's a bishop? Pastor. A bishop then must be blameless. Here is this, the husband of one wife. Literally, the Greek formation of that is a one woman man. Now that's impossible. The way those words are put together, it's impossible to construe that as like, oh, well, the headship. So I never understood how if a woman is a pastor of a church, what does she do at her home? Her husband's going to be a member of the church, so she is his spiritual leader at church, and at home, he's the spiritual leader. That's confusion. It's unbiblical. God's plan is very distinct. Gender distinctions, look at Deuteronomy sometimes, chapter 22, verse 5. Gender distinctions are God's attitude. He is against transvestites, whether it's a woman wearing a man's clothes or a man wearing a woman's clothes. And there was a great distinction in the Jewish apparel, and even there was in the Roman apparel. There was definitely differences. And so can a woman be a deacon in a general sense as a servant of God? Yes. Can she hold the office of a deacon? No. Last for today, just one more point for today, the deacons work. The deacons work. The deacon then becomes, as we read in Acts, the servant in the church. Now they are not your servants as if we say, hey, you two guys now have to do all the work that everybody wants you to do in the church. You're not even as the example and acts there, you're not even there to just do what the old ladies tell you to do who are widows indeed. You're there to be a servant within the church. And as you gather the information together, your job and responsibility is to become a servant in the church, helping the pastor with the vision that God has given to lead the church. But does the deacon have any authority? Nowhere in scripture is there anywhere where deacons are referred to as rulers. Now, in contrast, that is the meaning of the word bishop, episkopos. It is important. I would only choose deacons. We won't have any deacons until we have guys that are qualified. but and when we do I will highly respect them but biblically speaking they're not my oversight it is not an oversight committee now that's what's different about many uh... churches today get this thing all fouled up in protestantism which they received from the catholic church when they came out there was a board of deacons and they basically hired the pastor and he worked for the deacons. When a family in the church had a problem, they went to the deacons, the deacons went to the pastor and got the pastor in order. I remember my dad, pastor, his first church was Southern Baptist Church. And when we finally got the deacons, him and I went and visited all the deacons. They weren't attending church. That'll never happen here. If you're not faithful, you'll never be a deacon. These guys finally got to church and they went up This is the old story that I have. I don't have time to tell all the details, but it was kind of funny. The church had a basement where I could put up a chair. I could look. When I stood on the chair, I was only like six. And I could look out the back window, and there was a part of the building that had a little corner that went in, so you couldn't really see it from the street. But two deacons went back there, and they're having a fist fight. Well, as a young person, man, I thought, oh, man, this is great. And I'm standing on that chair looking out that window watching these deacons. They didn't go very long. They were out of breath. And they, you know, whoever they deter, I don't know which one was the one that won, but the fist fight, but they both leaned against the wall, kind of slid down, one pulled out some cigarettes, and they both smoked a smoke. Came inside after the smoke and fired my dad. Because he took out the NIV out of the pew and put King James Bibles there, that's all he did. But he didn't ask the deacons. Well, you weren't even in church. See, the deacons are never in the Bible ever given an oversight. In the book of Acts chapter 20, the Bible speaks about the elders at the church of Ephesus, and he calls them overseers. Who? The elders and bishops. Who is that? The pastor. Elders are called to rule in 1 Timothy 5.17. Deacons are never referred to as overseers, rulers, or leaders. Okay? And when they do, they're usurping authority and going against God's plan. Now, to the criticism of somebody who might say pastor, that gives the pastor quite a bit of leadership. Isn't it scary that he has so much authority? And my answer to that is, number one, I'm not a hireling. And if you're in a church where there's a guy who is concerned about himself and not his flock, get out of that church. Did you hear me? But authority over what? I determine the schedule. I determine which way the chairs go, if they're movable. I determine what I preach and who preaches. I determine the music, by the way, nobody's gonna sing here without, I'm very, very strong about what kind of music we'll have here, okay? Pastors have to have the right to have the worship service according to God's plan. And I make the suggestions on the finances. And I oversee the spending so that we're within budget. A lot of all that, you say, Pastor, boy, that's a lot of authority, is it? Not really, in other words, if I'm gonna survive as a pastor, all of it has to be done right or the church doesn't go forward. It's a mechanism that takes care of itself. Now while I say this, that I don't have an oversight, surely any one of you that has a question about things that are done, if you're a member of the church, I always try to restrict it to a tithing member, but I hardly, hardly, hardly ever see the tithing records. If I think there's a worker in the church that I'm wondering if they're tithing, they'll let me know. We take care of that, but I'm not gonna have a worker in the church that's not tithing, but we try to restrict it. Tithing members can come in and see every receipt. We keep a paper trail. You can see everything we're doing. As far as oversight, come and oversee. I don't mean have control over what we do, but I do say come look over my shoulder. I'm glad for that transparency. We work hard here to make sure that we answer for every dime that is spent, okay? You got all that? Having said that, that's not the deacon's job. Sometimes the deacon off the deacon board, or you might call it a board. My friend of mine, he refuses to use the word board because of the meaning today. But sometimes the treasurer is also a deacon. Oh, that could work in many instances. Well, you have that, but he's offering his working with the ledgers and figuring out all the little things on QuickBooks. He doesn't do that because he's a deacon. He does it because he's a treasurer. And the duties he does as deacon is not overseeing the work of the church. So I challenge you to go find a passage of scripture that tells us that we're supposed to have an oversight committee. The pastor oversees the church, or we're sinning against God's word. We're not following the Bible. And just in a general sense, when we usurp authority we're not supposed to have, that's a dangerous thing. Go through the Bible and go ask Korah what it was like when they usurped authority over Moses, or Aaron and Miriam, or ask what the sin of a rebellious wife in 1 Peter 3, rebellious children in Proverbs 30 or a rebellious servant in first Peter 2. You know, it's never a good thing if people are usurping authority in a church can usurp does. When they relinquish the authority of a pastor and they give it into the hands of deacons. They are there again servants within the church to help the pastor. in the God-given vision that man has been given for church. So we pick deacons. We're picking people that are there to help us get the mission done. What is the mission of the church? Well, it's a great commission, but this year it's growing grace. It has a more specific lined element. It's a calendar of events. It's things that need to be done. And fitting into a schedule to, hey, I can delegate to this particular deacon certain duties that need to be done. So, I'll close with just a couple of thoughts. Hebrews 13, 7 says, remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God. So he's saying these men are, talking about your pastor, but he never says that about a deacon. In verse 17, obey them that have the rule over you and submit yourselves. Now, I don't run your life. I don't come into your home and say, you know that picture right there? That's a terrible way to hang that picture. I want you to put it down the hall. I mean, snap to it, bud. Right? I don't rule your home, but I do rule the house of God. So I say, hey, we're all going to sit forward in church. Why wouldn't you want to do that? Right? And so we have this capacity given for a pastor to do what the Bible says is our responsibilities. That's why the pastor's ministry in a church becomes so vital to its flock because the care of the flock is in the heart and the hands and the prayer life of its pastor. That's why you have to have a good church. And then We have to follow the Word of God and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. So as I continue the next couple of Sundays to teach on the office of a deacon, I challenge you to find anywhere in the New Testament where a deacon is given authority of any kind. He is there to be a help. And specifically in a practical way, let's say In our church, you say, Pastor, if our church is not yet big enough that we, well, I mean, they had eight, they picked out eight, was it eight deacons, seven deacons for 8,000 people? I'm not saying that we can't use the help, I'm just saying, I wouldn't, there's an argument to be made that we're not even really at that point. But where I really like to have deacons set up, and we can get to the number of deacons next week, but we're talking about starting with just a couple deacons. is because in the case of something happening to your pastor, you know, if I just croaked or something, I'm not planning on it, all right? Then the deacons come together with the pastors that are here, and they form a pulpit committee. And there's instructions on how and what kind of person and where to find the pastor that would replace me, and how to handle things during that interim time. And so it serves a vital purpose presently for the security of the truths that we love and hold, the training of these children that you heard sing before I got up here to teach you this lesson. And it's there really just as an important cement that would keep this moving in the right direction should something unfortunate happen. Now, this is a funny sermon. This is a lesson. I think my Sunday school lessons on Sunday morning are more devotional and more impacting. But it should serve two things, that you should be really influenced from this message. The one is, we're gonna find everything we do as best we can from this book. Not from the traditions of man, but from the word of God. And what we've done today is to establish the numbers of the office, the usage of that word, the position of pastor for the authority of the church and not the deacons, and we have found a biblical answer. Not a pragmatic answer, but a biblical answer. And that ought to ring in your heart, that we're trying to do that, we ought to do that with every part of our lives. So are you governing your life by the word of God? The second thing that should impact you is, are you a diakonos? I guess it would be oy for plural, diakonoi. Are you individually, are you a servant in the house of God? People are either servants or they're just a bump on the log or they're a hindrance in the way. Which are you? And so we get into a time of invitation. I'd like you to examine your heart and say, am I a servant of the Lord. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, thank you for your word for how it can be clear. It doesn't have to be difficult for us to understand. And Lord, we've tried to give the truths. There's some controversial things we talked about tonight, Lord, that I certainly would never want somebody to have the wrong spirit about. We love our people. We love... Lord, you know that. You know my heart. We love our people. Just plain, we love them. When they don't do right, it breaks my heart. When they do right, it brings great joy to my heart. And oh, how much that ought to be greater in your heart, how you're grieved when we don't do right and how you are blessed. You delight in the upright. Now, Lord, as we come to you, we want to have a church that's not concerned so much about bumps and bruises between each other. but is mostly concerned with being a servant of the Most High God, to say, Lord, whatever you want to do with this life, it's yours, wherever, whenever, however, and to what extent, and whatever it costs. Lord, I pray that you'd put that servant's heart in the heart of every person that's here, and that we would examine our lives to make sure we're doing what we should. In Jesus' name, amen.