The Biblical Standard for Deacons

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Please enjoy the following sermon. Well, I must say every time I preach on a different passage, there's always a struggle that I go through in the course of my study, and that is, how do

I introduce this topic? And maybe that is evident as you watch me introduce the topic every week.

I think that one time our brother Alex said, you know, your introductions are getting longer and longer.

It's because I'm seeking to introduce the subject better and better. And this week in the course of my studies,

I came across an interesting picture. It's a picture of a young Charles Spurgeon that I found rather fascinating.

It was taken in the year 1856, about three decades after the invention of the camera.

And you can tell it by the looks of the men's faces in the picture. I have a copy of it in my Bible if you'd like to see it afterwards.

In this photo, there is a 22 -year -old Charles Spurgeon standing upright at a small desk, flanked by six very serious -looking men who served as his deacons at the

New Park Street Chapel in London, England. Besides the fact that it's a very old picture of a baby -faced

Spurgeon, I found it fascinating because it hints at the sweet relationship that Spurgeon enjoyed with his deacons of all people.

You see, there were many times in Spurgeon's life when he was made to walk through deep waters.

And oftentimes while experiencing this heartache, he had to endure the added affliction of sneers and derision from many people who professed to be

Christians and yet truly despised him. We see examples of this, for instance, in the same year that the photo was taken.

It was in the year 1856 that 22 -year -old Spurgeon went into a pulpit on a

Sunday afternoon at the Royal Surrey Music Hall. And there standing before a congregation of 12 ,000.

They had just moved there to accommodate the growing church. Standing before that church, just as I did a moment ago, he went to open the service in prayer.

And as every head was bowed and every eye was closed, some malicious scoundrel in the audience shouted at the top of his voice, fire.

And with everyone's eyes closed, not knowing what was happening around them, chaos ensued. And there was a stampede in that packed building.

And in the course of that stampede, seven people were killed and nearly 20 or sorry, nearly 30 were severely injured and hospitalized.

Now you'd think that when the news broke, that people would blame the scoundrel who would yelled fire, but instead people placed all of the responsibility upon Charles Spurgeon.

Why would he have 12 ,000 people in a building that could hold 12 ,000 people for a church service?

And yet in the midst of all of this, most remarkably, the deacons of that New Park Street Chapel and of that building or that church that was meeting together, they stood beside their pastor and they took the blame along with him.

And they encouraged him as he fell into what became a deep depression, helping to relocate and find a new building to meet.

It was said of Spurgeon at that time, to use a direct quote, that perhaps never a soul went so near to the burning furnace of insanity as Spurgeon did then, and yet his deacons were with him.

But that wasn't the only crisis that he went through with his deacons. During the downgrade controversy later, a few years later, when

Spurgeon was in the sunset years of his life, he stood up for Christian orthodoxy in the face of many opponents, not from without, but from within his own

Baptist union, who were beginning to deny important doctrines like the inerrancy of scripture and the penal substitutionary atonement of Christ, seeking to usher in theological liberalism.

And as Spurgeon went through that, he said to his church that it was the greatest conflict of his life.

And what did his elders and his deacons do? But they authored a public letter and signing it together, they stood there with Spurgeon and took the ire from those who were their own brethren.

It wasn't enough as well. If that wasn't enough, Spurgeon's deacons relieved him from many of his ministry tasks and helped him as he cared for his ill wife, who lived as an invalid for the better part of their marriage.

It was the deacons of the church who helped implement and activate the plans to create orphanages in London, Spurgeon's famous orphanages that cared for a myriad of children.

It was the deacons who supported in prayer, Charles Spurgeon, if you've heard of his famous boiler room, the place that he credited with the power in his preaching, a group, a room that met together to pray for the ministry of the church earnestly.

A great number of those people that met in the boiler room were Spurgeon's deacons.

And so it should be no surprise that Spurgeon maintained a very good relationship with his deacons, hence my interest in the photo.

And yet it also provides us context for something that Spurgeon would say in his ministry, that he said that, and I don't think he was overstating it either, that it was the ministry of the deacons among the whole ministry of the church that could either make or break a church.

On one hand, he said that to deprive the church of her deacons, this is a direct quote, she would bereave herself of her most valiant sons, that the deacons served a vital purpose in the church.

And at the same time, on the other hand, he was the same man who said that if those deacons were not of the biblical sort, that the elders would have to expect to do battle with them as if they were the dragons of ministerial life.

That the deacons could be either the valiant sons or the fire -breathing dragons that wreak havoc upon the church.

And as we saw last week, the great difference between valiant sons and fire -breathing dragons is whether or not these deacons are biblically qualified to carry out their office.

You see, to the extent that the deacons meet the character qualifications of their office and fulfill their duties accordingly, they will ensure that the vital needs of the church and they will foster unity in the body.

But to the degree that deacons fall short of those God -given standards, the church will suffer.

And as we saw last week, this will bring the gospel of our Lord Jesus into disrepute.

And so this week, just as we looked at last week, the qualifications of elders, this week we're going to look at the qualification of deacons.

How do we ensure as a church that the deacons in our midst are valiant sons who do the church great good as opposed to fire -breathing dragons who tear the church apart limb from limb.

As we learned last week, the qualifications for the officers of the church is not optional.

And I would say to you as well that to know truly, to understand, and to uphold the character qualifications of the officers of the church is not optional either for every member of the church.

That it is vital that if we are to survive and thrive as a church, that we would not only know, but that we would uphold these vital qualifications.

And so we're going to spend our time looking at these qualifications today. Nicole always asks me every week, is this going to be a good sermon?

I never know the answer to that. I said, it is going to be a regular sermon in that there's not a lot of conferences on the qualifications of deacons.

And so in that way, it's rather ordinary, except that it is the word of God. And so it's very extraordinary.

And so let's open our Bibles if we haven't already to first Timothy chapter three and verse eight. And we're going to look at verses eight through 13.

I'll read the text in its entirety, and then we will unpack it as we go. So this is

God's word for us today. It reads, 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 slanderers, but sober -minded, faithful in all things.

Let deacons each be the husband of one wife, managing their children and their own 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.

So as we consider these character qualifications in chapters three, verses eight through 13,

I want to show us three aspects of the character qualifications of deacons. We're going to look together at the deacon's character.

We're going to look at the deacon's family. And then we're going to look at part and parcel with that at the deacon's reward.

And so first looking at the first set of qualifications, let's look at the deacon's character.

And we see that laid out for us in verses eight through 10. Just as we saw last week,

Paul is laying out the non -negotiable standards for the two officers of the church.

Last week we looked at the elders and we concluded that the biblical standards that are laid out for us insist upon godliness first and then giftedness in the area of teaching.

And now in verse eight, Paul directs our attention to the office of deacon. Now it's interesting that the passage more or less assumes the duties of a deacon.

It does not explain to us what a deacon does. And I don't want to burst your bubble, but I'm not going to explain it long either.

We looked at it a couple of months ago when we were in Acts chapter six, and we read there about the prototypical deacons, if I can call them that, that were in the

Jerusalem church. And if you remember back to that time, what we agreed on, what we saw from scripture,

I trust, is that the primary function of the deacons is to serve the church as assistants to the elders.

The Greek word diakonos, after all, it means a couple of things, but the two most important or most prominent meanings of that word, diakonos, from which we get our

English word deacon, is to serve or to be an agent of, that is to act on behalf of someone else.

And Acts chapter six showed us how these seven men were selected by the Jerusalem church, and there they carried out the service delegated to them by the apostles in order to facilitate the apostles indispensable ministry of the word and prayer.

And because deacons continue to carry out this crucial role in the church today, because they occupy a true office in the church and a place of prominence, because they play a major role in maintaining the unity of the church, because they safeguard the ministry of the word and prayer in the church, it is absolutely essential then that they possess character qualifications needed to fulfill their office.

And as we did last week, we're going to look at these character qualifications bit by bit as we make our way through the verses.

And as we, you'll see at the end here, what I'll do is I will go through points one and two, and then we'll make some applications before going to point three.

So in verse eight, the very first thing that we are told about deacons, if they are to be qualified is this, that they must first be dignified.

Now, I don't know about you, but in my experience, if you were to examine how men are selected for deaconship in many churches today, you might be led to believe that the chief, the primary, the principal, the first qualification that is required of all deacons is what?

That they would be handy men, right? Men who are able to fix the plumbing or to deal with the electrical concerns of the church with some measure of ease.

That they are those who know how to stand on a ladder properly and change light bulbs and shovel sidewalks and fix snow blowers.

That's not, however, where the apostle Paul begins his list of qualifications.

Before deacons are to be handy, before they are to be technically minded, even to be a little bit controversial, before they are to be servant -hearted, these men must be, as Paul says, dignified.

Now, what does that mean to be dignified? We saw a close parallel in the passage about elders last week.

It means that the deacons are to be reverent, serious -minded men long before they serve as deacons.

For those of you who are reading out of the King James Version, I love the way that they translate that.

It's a good weighty word where it reads there that the deacons, it says, likewise must the deacons be grave.

Now, does that help us at all? What does that mean? It means that the deacons, like the elders, must be men of gravity, men who possess a certain kind of gravitas, that when they are with you, you recognize that their presence means something in the room.

And this is demonstrated both by their godly character and by their godly conduct that commands respect.

To borrow from the words of Robert Murray McShane, who was a 19th century

Presbyterian minister in Scotland, he said of himself, he said, my church's greatest need is my godliness.

The church's greatest need of its deacons is their godliness, that they would be truly dignified in every respect.

And there must simply be, we must never allow any substitute in this regard.

Now, as we continue in verse eight, we read the deacons must not be double -tongued. Now, what does this mean?

What this means is that that the deacons communication must be marked by both honesty and consistency.

He should not be the kind of person, and we've all met people like this, who can speak about the exact same set of details with two people, and each person hears something entirely different.

He should not be the kind of person who is exceptionally gifted at speaking out of both sides of his mouth.

You know, those people who go to one person and say one thing, and then with the same set of details go to another person and say a different thing.

Now, what would have possessed a person to be that way in the first place? I like what

Matthew Henry says. He says a double -tongued person, or a double tongue comes from a double heart.

And what we mean by that is that it is a double tongue that is rooted in an inconsistent life.

We know this in others, and I trust to some degree we know this even in ourselves, where a man or woman lives and speaks in one manner, in one setting, and then lives and speaks in another manner, in another setting.

It is the definition of hypocrisy. Or it might be that one is double -tongued because they are too fond of men's praises, or too fearful of men's scorns.

And so they give the good news to one person in one tongue, and the good news to another person in another tongue.

But in stark contrast to this, if we're to expect deacons who are not double -tongued, these deacon -qualified men must be men whose lives demonstrate a keen awareness that God is with them in all of life.

That God is watching them in all of their life, in all of their communication, at all times.

Brothers, if you aspire to the office of deacon, you must live a life that is, if I can say this way,

Coram Dale, ever lived before the face of God. Because you know that God is always watching, that God is always with you.

He sees everything you think, everything you do, and everything you say. And your life must reflect that.

Paul tells us, moreover, that deacons must not be addicted to much wine.

And I think we glossed over that one last week, and so I'll touch on it briefly. What it means is that this deacon should have self -control when it comes to alcohol consumption.

Of course, it means that. But I would suggest too, because we live in a very different time and culture, as the

Apostle Paul, it should mean that a deacon should never know what the inside of a cannabis shop looks like.

Those shops that seem to be appearing on every street corner in our cities. That you should be one of real, not only of substance, but of self -control.

And it is important that if one is going to be the leader of others, he must first know how to lead himself.

Furthermore, we're told that the deacon is not to be greedy for dishonest gain. And this is a qualification that I think perfectly fits the job description of a deacon.

Why is that? Well, it's because deacons are tasked with concerning themselves with the practical and the material needs of the church.

This means that there will be times when they will be entrusted with large sums of money. They will be given supplies to distribute to the needy as the need arises.

They will be put in positions of great trust, where careful stewardship is required.

And therefore, the worst kind of deacon that one could find, that one could appoint, would be a deacon like Judas.

A deacon who, we're told in John chapter 12, had charge of the money bag that was to be used for the relief of the poor.

And yet what did he do? He would help himself to what was put in it. Moreover, he must be a man who no longer lusts over silver and gold, but who treasures

Christ and treasures his people, his church above all of these things. I'm reminded of one example in the pages of church history.

It's an example that I heard about. As a matter of fact, I use this as an illustration in the very first sermon that I preached in 2009.

And it's a story that I think about often. There was a man named Lawrence who lived in the fourth century in the early church.

He was one of the seven deacons in the church in Rome during that time. And in one day while Lawrence was engaged in his business as a deacon of the church, he was summoned by the

Roman prefect. And the Roman prefect had heard that the church was in possession of a great mass of wealth, a great treasure or store of riches.

And he was incensed that this deacon and that this church was not sharing that wealth, at least as it belonged to the taxation, to the emperor.

And so he summoned Lawrence to himself. And he said, I hear that you have a great treasure that the church is to relinquish that treasure to the

Roman emperor. And Lawrence asked, he said, well, I can't get all of the treasure today.

Can I bring the treasure tomorrow? And the prefect allowed him to do that. And so the following day,

Lawrence came up the steps. He left the treasure of the church on the steps of the

Roman praetorium and appeared before the prefect. The prefect came with him and he asked

Lawrence, where is the treasure of the church? And what did Lawrence do? But standing at the top of the steps of the praetorium, he pointed down at the lame and the poor and the weak and the sick, all of those that the church was tasked to care for, all those that the deacons truly treasured.

And he said, this, sir, is the treasure of the church. Now the

Roman prefect was so furious by that, that he took Lawrence, he put him on a steel gridiron and he roasted him to death.

That's his penalty. The deacon qualified man is one who could care less for obtaining riches, but one who truly treasures

Christ and his people. And we see in verse nine, Paul goes on.

A deacon qualified man must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience.

Now, what does Paul mean about this or by this? Paul uses one of his very favorite words.

He uses the Greek word mysterion. And that does not mean something that is kept secret, that cannot be known from God's people, from the average person.

But rather these presences or these appearances of the word mysterion always refer to truths that were at one time hidden and have now been revealed to the saints.

In Scripture, we see the words mystery or secret used often to refer to the deposit of truth that was entrusted to the apostles and then subsequently to the church.

So that in Matthew chapter 13 and verse 11, we see Jesus telling his disciples, to you, it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them, to those outside, it has not been given.

Every believer in Christ who is ultimately chosen of God has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven.

And the deacon is to be no exception to the rule. Now you'll tell me, because we learned this last week, that the main qualification that separates a deacon from an elder is what?

It is the ability to teach. But just because the deacon is not called to teach or is not particularly gifted to teach, this does not mean that the deacon should not have a very sound understanding of Christian doctrine.

That this deacon should not have a thorough understanding, not only of the gospel, but of the whole scope of Christian theology.

I agree with John Calvin when he says that it is absurd to appoint a deacon who has not studied in sound doctrine.

And this is why, if you were to ask the brothers who are in our deacon training program, you will find that the lion's share of what they are doing over the course of this time is studying the

Bible and theology. You can ask our brother Bernie after the service, what was it like during the first month doing nearly 40 pages of word studies?

It is because the deacon must know God's word. It's because the deacon must have sound doctrine.

It's because I would go so far as to say that the deacon should have an above -average ability to explain the basic and the fundamental truths of the

Christian faith. So that you can come to anyone who is appointed as a deacon here, and you can ask them a question about the doctrine of the inerrancy of Scripture, and you should expect a reasonable and intelligent answer.

So that if a Jehovah's Witness were to come through those back doors, we could have a deacon just like the elders defending the doctrine of the triune nature of God.

To understand that God is Father, and that Jesus Christ is

Son, and that the Holy Spirit eternally proceeds from the Father and the Son.

And that there is a real set of relationships within the Trinity, and to explain that well.

I want you to consider for a moment those seven that were chosen to serve tables in Acts chapter 6.

In Acts 6 and verse 3. As the church is having this infighting because some of the widows are not being served their daily distribution.

What did the apostles say to the congregation in Jerusalem? They say, therefore brothers pick out from among you seven men of good repute, and what?

Full of the spirit and of wisdom whom we will appoint to this duty.

Men who are not only of good repute, but men who are full of the spirit and of wisdom. Who have something about their understanding of who

God is, and how to live in this world a right, and are able to apply it wisely.

One example is in the case of Stephen. In Acts chapter 6 and verses 9 and 10.

And I love this example. Where it says that he was debating there with the freed men, and the

Cyrenians, and the Alexandrians, and those from Cilicia and Asia. And in verse 10 it says this, as they disputed with Stephen, they could not withstand the wisdom and the spirit with which he was speaking.

That we should expect those who will serve as elders, should be able to silence those who oppose the gospel.

That that should not be the exception to the rule. That should be the rule. Or as God's providence would have it.

As we read in Acts chapter 8 today. As Philip is going along, he finds the

Ethiopian eunuch reading from Isaiah chapter 53. And what does it say? Beginning with that text, he explained the truth of the gospel to him.

By saying beginning with that text, it implies that he had other texts in mind.

And he was not working with the New Testament scriptures, but with the old. So if I could give you a little challenge.

If we were to have a little exercise after the service today. And I were to say, give me the gospel only from the

Old Testament. Could you do it? Only from the Old Testament.

Certainly our deacons must be able to do that. And then we read in verse 10.

Let them first be tested and then let them serve as deacons if they prove themselves blameless.

Now some will argue that this speaks to a kind of probationary period that the deacons should go through.

Others say absolutely not. That's not what it's saying. I think that in this case, Christian wisdom might dictate different approaches in different scenarios with different people.

There's room here for flexibility. But what we must be certain of is this. That this verse requires that the character of deacons be meticulously scrutinized before they are appointed to the office of deacon.

These men must not only be found then to be blameless, but maybe if we can expand upon that, they must be above reproach.

Just as we saw in the first part of chapter 3 as it deals with elders.

That is in fact part of the semantic range of that word blameless. And so this is what we must look for as this church appoints deacons, at least in part.

But Paul gives us a second category, a second set of qualifications, and that relates to the deacon's family.

And we see that in verses 11 and 12, where it begins with their wives likewise.

Just like the office of elder, how the deacon's family is managed, how the deacon's family runs is an important aspect of his qualifications.

And when we read in verse 11, their wives must be, at this point, we enter into something of an important debate as it relates to who should serve as deacons.

And I'll put the question to you. Should this church appoint female deacons?

Is this passage teaching that the church should appoint female deacons? There are various approaches to this word.

It all centers around that word wives or in the Greek gynae.

So who are the gynae in this passage or the gynaecos? Now some would hold that this speaks to female deacons.

If you're reading, I think, a new NIV, for sure, it will translate it this way. It will say, women likewise must be.

So that would perhaps be in relation to female deacons. Others believe that this is speaking to a recognized group of assistants to the deacons.

So these are deacons assistants. Some think that this refer to a sub office or third office that we might call the deaconesses of the church.

And then some believe that this refers to, as we see in the ESV, the wives of the deacons.

And what does this word gynae mean? And how should it inform our approach?

We must not say, well, we are a church that holds to biblical manhood and womanhood.

We are complementarian or patriarchal or whatever term you want to use there.

And therefore we will never have female deacons. I think we need to come to the bottom of this and understand what is this text teaching?

Well, this word gynae, it's important to know that it is used consistently. Almost half of the uses refers to either wife or bride or widow.

And so within the semantic range, wife, bride, widow, all of these can be implemented there in verse 11.

The mention of women or wives, you'll see with me, is not a section all to itself, but it is a lone sentence sandwiched in a paragraph about the qualifications for deacon.

I think that that is relevant and important to note. If we look in verse two, and then we look at verse eight, we see the introduction of new sections where we see, therefore an overseer must be above reproach.

That's in verse two. And in verse eight, we see likewise deacons must be dignified. Now, if this was referring to a third office or a sub office like deaconess, you might expect then that Paul would say, likewise deaconesses must be, but he does not.

When we look at verse 11, and we look at the qualifications that wives must be dignified, not slanders, but sober -minded, faithful in all things, at the very least, we must admit that it is an abbreviated list compared to the office of elder or deacon.

And so if this stands to reason that we are giving qualifications for either female deacons or deaconesses or assistants to the deacons, that we would expect them to have the same qualifications as the deacons.

That there would be a same listing that we would see in comparison to the elders and the deacons.

But we do not. And if we interpret this passage in its canonical context, we need to ask ourselves, do we find any other places in Scripture where a third office in the church, such as deaconesses exists, or where there is any other place where women are appointed as deacons?

Well, in Acts chapter six, we looked at it a moment ago when they were finding, what does it say?

Men of good repute. Specifically, it's called for that seven men be chosen from among the

Jerusalem church to appoint deacons. So we don't see an example there. In Philippians chapter one, as Paul greets the church, he greets the elders and the deacons.

Not the elders and the deacons and the deaconesses, but just two offices. Now some will point out

Romans chapter 16 and verse one, that they say there were female deacons because Phoebe is called a deacon.

Well, it depends on the translation of the Bible that you're reading. Because if you read the ESV, it doesn't say that she was a deacon, but that she was a servant of the church.

And that is because it is just a common word that can sometimes be translated as deacon and sometimes as servant.

But because Phoebe is a servant in the church, does that then mean that she is an officer, a deacon in the church?

I praise God that there are many sisters in this church who are servants in this church and yet who do not serve in the office of deacon.

Now hopefully I haven't tangled you up here in a knot or a web. But what I'm seeking to demonstrate here is that I think the most compelling case can be made for the fact this is specifically relating to the wives of deacons.

That it's here sandwiched in the deacon qualifications. Because when we get to verse 12 and verse 13, again, we're dealing with deacons.

Even verse 12 itself, the immediate context seems to relay this when it says, let deacons each be the husband of one wife, does it not?

And so when we come here to 1st Timothy chapter 3 and verse 11, I think that what we must conclude is this.

That in the absence of all other evidence, we cannot simply, this single verse does not bear the weight that is required to establish a whole new office in the church.

But in fact, we are speaking about the wives of deacons. And I would go so far as to say that this list should be equally applied to the wives of elders as well.

That their wives likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober -minded and faithful in all things.

There's that word faithful. A grave woman, a woman of gravity.

Now I will be the first to admit that there is no such thing in scripture as the office of pastor's wife.

There's no such thing as the office of deacon's wife. And yet it is inescapable that the wives of those men who serve as elders and as deacons will be looked at as examples for the congregation.

I was reading in a book just this week about one particular woman who was engaged in a certain practice.

And it was perfectly lawful to do, but maybe not all that helpful to do. And what she found is that another woman in the church began doing the same thing, which was wreaking havoc in her home life because the elder's wife was doing the same.

And so as the husband and wife would get into arguments, she would say, but so -and -so does this.

And therefore it is vital. It is vitally important that if you're the wife of a man who seeks to enter into ministry, who seeks to be a deacon, who seeks to be an elder, you must be dignified, a woman of gravity.

It says that deacon's wives must not be slanderous. And what's fascinating about this is if you look at it in the original language, the word there is diabolos, like Diablo, if you know that.

Literally meaning like the devil. The deacon's wife must not be like the devil who is slanderous, who is the accuser of the brethren, who is a malicious gossip.

That is the worst thing that you can have as a man who is entrusted with the stewardship, not only of resources, but of knowledge, of the understanding of what is happening in the church.

To know who is struggling and who is not. To know whose marriage is in tough shape.

And to have a wife who is going about maliciously slandering with that information.

And so just as a deacon must not be double -tongued, a deacon's wife must watch her tongue.

She must be sober -minded. That is, giving careful thought to everything that she does. A woman of discretion and discernment.

She must be faithful in all things. Meaning that she is absolutely trustworthy.

So that if you are a wife of a man who serves or aspires to serve as an officer in the church, you must be just as intentional as your husband in cultivating a godly attitude that commends the gospel and that adds or that commends, adds credibility to his ministry.

Matthew Henry says on this point, all who are related to ministers must double their care to walk as becomes the gospel of Christ.

And verse 12 goes on to say that then as it relates to the deacon's family, he must be the husband of one wife.

We looked at that last week. That he is altogether faithful to her. That it's not only about not touching other women, it's about not looking at other women lustfully, desiring them in his heart.

It's about the whole disposition of the man. He is a one woman kind of man.

Faithful in all things himself. And that he must manage his own household well.

This means that as it relates to the deacon, under Christ he must be the prophet, the priest, and king of his home.

He must set the tone for holiness in his family. Not only by his instruction either, but by his example.

And his children can either, like elders, commend or undermine his ministry to the degree that they are faithful and obedient and submissive in all things.

Now that's a big list. How do we apply this for the average member of this church?

Just like I said last week, this is not a list given to those men who aspire to this office and the rest of us can tune it out.

But as I was having a conversation with a brother last week after the sermon, he made a great point that I think is very relevant for me to bring up.

That the only kind of church that produces godly men who will qualify for elders or who will qualify for deacons is a church that is at its core, according to its norm, a godly church.

Sometimes you'll go to churches and they struggle. I think of one church that I know of,

I won't name names. They have hundreds of people and they cannot find one person to serve in a particular office amongst the hundreds.

And this is not a judgment upon them. But what I would suggest is this, that a church that cultivates godliness and holiness and devotedness in its body will produce qualified men to serve as elders and qualified men who will serve as deacons.

And that God would give us the answer to my prayer that the

Lord would raise up many men from this church who would serve as elders and deacons. That as the elders of this church, we are not hungry to maintain power and authority within our grasp, but we eagerly long that the

Lord would provide men to serve in these offices that we might share it with them. And would that the

Lord would raise up godly men in this church so that not only would we have a surplus of elders and deacons in this church, but that we could send men to go and to be missionaries and to plant other churches and to say to another church, you need a deacon?

We have a man who's willing to go. We will send him your way. That he might serve as a deacon, that he might train deacons.

But it begins as a church by cultivating godliness in our midst that we would desire, that we would hunger and thirst for righteousness and so be satisfied.

And are we cultivating that culture of holiness here in this church?

So that when people walk through this door and they meet us for the first time and they get to know us over time, that we would be a church known for its likeness to Christ rather than its likeness to the world.

That people would know us because we are a people who know our Bibles and know our

God and walk with him day by day. And we know what it means to pursue likeness to him.

This is vitally important for us. It is not just the existing elders who are the gatekeepers for the office of elder and deacon.

It is the whole church. It is the whole church that will keep the whole church accountable.

It is the whole church that will be able to say, well, I don't know that the elders know about this, but I know about this, and it should probably be brought up because it is contrary to the qualifications.

It is up to the whole church to know the qualifications that we might pray for those who serve as officers in our church.

I would ask you if you would be so kind that when you get to to my picture and my name on the prayer list, chief among my prayer requests, and I trust for Sam as well, chief among his prayer requests is that you would pray that we would live up to the qualifications of elder.

That you would pray that the Lord would enable me to be a one woman kind of man, to be the husband of one wife, to manage my own household well, keeping my children submissive with all dignity.

And that if you are a man who aspires to these offices, then make that part of your daily prayer for yourself.

That Lord, I need to be sanctified in this given area.

And Lord, I desire to serve you, but I know that I cannot until I am made right in this part of my life.

We as a church need to embrace this, not just a few choice men, but all of us.

And the best deacon and the best elder will be an example to us in this way. None of these are qualifications that are not expected of us also.

And so we see the character qualifications. We see the family of the deacon.

And we'll look at a third qualification quickly. And that is the deacon's reward.

And we look at that in verse 13, that those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.

So if we were to take this whole list of qualifications, a deacon qualified man, we would say must demonstrate a measure of self -mastery that before he is leading others, he is leading himself.

He must demonstrate faithfulness and competence in the leadership of his family that's in relation to his wife and his children.

He must demonstrate godliness in his relationships, how he communicates, how he deals with money, all of these things.

He must demonstrate a sound understanding and commitment to the Christian faith. Whether or not he is called to teach it, he must hold to it.

And the question might become, as we've looked over the last two weeks of these qualifications, is some of you might say,

I wanted to serve as an elder. I wanted to serve as a deacon.

But who is sufficient for these things? And what is the answer to that question?

No one is sufficient for these things. And yet we need to realize that to be sufficient and to be qualified are two different things.

I was having a conversation with one of our brothers who said, I will never attain to the qualifications of a deacon.

I said, absolutely you can. You will never be sufficient, but it is altogether possible to be qualified.

And so brothers and sisters, if you would join me in praying this, my prayer as I've been going through these lists is that God would put the desire in men's hearts.

That you would see that it is a challenging thing to be an elder. It is a challenging thing to be a deacon.

It requires great things from you. It requires something that is altogether unusual in the world in which we live.

And yet it is a worthy thing. And it comes with a great reward. And my prayer has been that men all throughout this church, that the

Lord would give you the desire to serve in these capacities. So that after I preach today, and when

I see you on Thursday, and next week, and in a month's time, people might come to me and say, when you do the next deacon training class, the next deacon training group, which

I hope will be in about nine months, that you're in that group. It doesn't mean you'll become a deacon, but it does mean, as I trust some of our men are learning, that you will learn what it means to love the church the way a deacon ought to.

Who is sufficient for these things? None of us are sufficient for these things. And yet the

Lord calls some to serve in this way. And I like what

Sproul says on this. He says, although deacons' supportive ministries may often be unnoticed and unrecognized in the church, the apostle here injects a special promise to encourage them in their faithful service.

And what is that encouragement? That those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves.

That good standing sometimes can be translated as good rank for this reason.

As we see, unfortunately, in the church by the third and fourth century, some were saying, well, this means that it's a stepping stone to a higher office.

So that one becomes a deacon, and then an elder, and then a bishop. As a matter of fact, there are still churches today that do that.

The church that my wife and I were saved in, I was shocked when the pastor told me that he wasn't a pastor, he was a deacon.

And yet serving the church as a pastor, because you have to serve as a deacon for three to five years before being appointed as a pastor, and yet you are a pastor.

I'm not sure how that works. That is not what Paul was speaking about here. But what it means is that deacons who serve well obtain for themselves positions of honor and esteem in the church.

That there should be in a healthy church, though the ground is level at the foot of the cross, there should be men in the church that we recognize, honor, and esteem, that we thank

God for because they have served well as deacons. That we can point to men in 30, or 40, or 50 years who have said, that man has been a deacon here for 20 years, and he is a faithful man, and I am so grateful to the

Lord for him. I pray for him often. That those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves.

And if they attain a new rank, it is not an ecclesiastical office, it is a new spiritual rank.

It's a new rank of respect and honor in their midst. It's a good thing to desire that.

And also, we're told they gain great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.

That as a man believes in Christ, and enjoys all of the assurances that come from serving

Christ well as a deacon, his faith is strengthened. His confidence in his

Savior is assured. And as strange as this might sound,

I can say as one who has served as an elder, that this is 100 % true.

That there is something that comes simply by serving the Lord consistently, because you have to.

There are times, I remember before I served as an elder, and I'm sure many of you feel this way.

I know that at times, very infrequently, I feel this way too. When on Sunday, you think, okay, it's the

Lord's day. I get to go and worship Christ. I get to worship God with his people. And you say,

I know I should be excited, but it's really the last thing I feel like doing. I would rather go to the mall.

I'd rather go skating. I'd rather stay home and watch a movie. I think of my friend who would, they would have a fire and read a book all day.

And they would just laze around. And I'll just munch on food in my PJs. And I'll go to bed at the end of the night.

That sounds miserable to me, but some people find that interesting. And there is something that comes with serving the

Lord and waking up and saying, I don't feel like it, and yet I have to. I just do not get to not draw near to the

Lord today, because I have to preach a sermon today. I have to serve a brother or sister that is in the midst that is expecting me to be there.

I know that there is a sister who needs help paying her rent, and she is expecting me to be there this

Sunday with a check. And it creates in you a sense of dependence upon the

Lord, because I cannot be ruled by my feelings. I must simply be consistent.

And that creates in a man, and sisters, in you, even if you do not occupy an office, a great confidence in the faith.

Because as you give more and more of your life to the Lord, as you give your time and your energy and your money and everything, it demands greater faith, that the

Lord would bless many of you with this great confidence in the faith, because you serve as an elder or as a deacon.

And then when we look at all of these qualifications now, if I can give a closing paragraph or a closing statement on all of chapter 3 up to the end of verse 13.

What do we see as we look at this list? We see one who is an overseer, who is above reproach, who is the husband of one wife, who is sober -minded, self -controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not drunk, not a drunk or not violent, but gentle.

In the deacon qualification, who is dignified, who speaks truth always, who is not addicted to wine, who is not greedy, who is blameless in every respect, who serves well.

Ultimately, the best deacon, the best elder will point to the perfect man, the

Lord Jesus Christ. That the best one who serves well in this respect, that all of these lists, that they ultimately, every man falls short in some way, some shape or form at some point, but Christ has never fallen short in these respects.

So that, as I said last week, and I'll say it again, to the extent that you see a good deacon serving well, let that deacon remind you that he points to someone greater.

He points to one who also came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.

That every good elder and every good deacon points to a greater Savior, the

Lord Jesus Christ. And every man who has ever served faithfully as an elder or faithfully as a deacon would have you to remember that.

That at the end of your time in this church, or as you reflect back on my leadership as an elder, or Sam, or John as a deacon candidate, or other deacons as they come, that you would not remember us, but that you would remember

Jesus Christ. Because it is our goal to labor, to labor in obscurity.

I praise God that it's a small church. It is a blessing. No one knows my name, and they don't have to know my name, and they can forget my name so long as they remember

Christ. And that is why we serve, not just so that we would be honored, but that Christ would be honored in our midst.

Let's honor him together as we pray. Thank you for listening to another sermon from Grace Fellowship Church.

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