Deacon Ordination--1 Timothy 3:8-13 (October 13, 2024)

Deacons as Servants and Church Leaders

We can turn in your Bibles to 1st Timothy chapter 3. 1st Timothy chapter 3. We're going to be in verses 8 through 13 this morning. We've been working our way through the book of 1st Timothy. Been out of it for the last couple of weeks as we took a little bit of a break after the storm.

If you're paying attention, you might wonder what happens with the rest of chapter 2. In the first half of chapter 3 we hadn't got there yet. We're going a little bit out of order because we're doing deacon ordination today.

And so we're going to skip ahead to the section in verses 8 through 13 about deacons. Because today is a very special day in the life of our church. Today we are ordaining and installing two new deacons to the diaconate.

Ron Tweedy and Michael Lancaster. We're recognizing a third deacon, Greg Wood, who has previously served our church as a deacon. Is coming back for another term of service. And so here's how we're going to proceed this morning.

We're going to look at verses 8 through 13 in 1st Timothy 3. At Paul's instructions concerning deacons. And after going through that, I'm going to invite Ron and Michael to come forward. At which point I will issue them a charge as deacons.

And then they'll be seated.

We'll have a charge to the church. And then after that we'll have a time of prayer for them. We'll invite any ordained man, whether you're actively serving or not. Whether ordained as a deacon or as a pastor or elder.

I ask you to come forward and pray for these men. Lay hands on them and pray for them individually. And then collectively all of those ordained men will lay hands on Michael and Ron. And Gary Batson, our chairman of deacons will voice a prayer for them on our behalf.

And then after that we'll have one more prayer. We'll keep our five current deacons. So the new ones and the ones who were already serving. And I'll pray for them. So that's our plan for this morning.

But let me begin by reading 1st Timothy 3 verses 8 through 13. And God's word says this. Likewise deacons must be reverent. Not double-tongued. Not given to much wine. Not greedy for money. Holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience.

But let these also first be tested. Then let them serve as deacons, being found blameless. Likewise their wives must be reverent, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things. Let deacons be the husbands of one wife.

Ruling their children and their own houses well. For those who have served well as deacons obtained for themselves a good standing and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.

Amen.

This is God's word to us. This morning I want to begin by addressing the question of what is a deacon? In many ways the sermon will be a reminder for you because I preached the same passage back in the spring, I believe in April, as we prepared for the deacon nomination process.

I won't just regurgitate everything from that sermon. But it will be a reminder for you. And you'll remember from that sermon that the word deacon literally means servant. It literally means servant. As such deacons serve the church.

But they do so in one of the two offices ordained by Jesus Christ. The other being the office of pastor or elder. And so therefore their service is one of leadership. The way I like to explain it is this.

Deacons serve the church by giving leadership in the earthly affairs of the church. So pastors or elders give overall leadership to the church and oversight to the church. Especially in the heavenly affairs but over the earthly affairs indirectly.

Heavenly affairs being the ministry of the word, prayer, and discipline. And then deacons give leadership in the earthly affairs. And so things like meeting the physical needs of church members. Mercy ministry.

Care for widows and shut-ins and orphans. Church finances.

Properties.

Personnel.

Administration.

Those type of things. And then we put that together with Acts chapter 6. Where we see what we might call proto-deacons. Serving the church by overseeing the daily distribution of food to the widows. And ensuring that there's no bias in that distribution there in the early church there in Jerusalem.

And by doing so they freed up the apostles for the ministry of the word. We say that deacons are also responsible then for laboring to preserve the unity of the church through their service and administration.

So deacons lead by serving and leading the earthly affairs of the church. And preserving the unity of the church through their service and administration and leadership. One of the ways that our deacons preserve the unity of our church is by assisting me in care for the congregation.

So each of our deacons has a list of individuals and families within our church that they are responsible for checking on and communicating with. And seeing how they're doing and seeing if they have any needs that the church can help with.

Because our hope is that you will hear from your deacon regularly. And if you're in need of something I want you to know you are free to. You don't have to wait on them to contact you. You can contact him or any of our deacons really.

And our deacons want to know they're here to serve. They really want to help. And so don't feel like you're putting an undue burden on anyone. Because you telling him you have a need it doesn't necessarily mean he's the one that's going to be able to meet it.

But he's glad he's there to help find someone who can meet it. So please communicate well with your deacons particularly if you're in need of something. Our goal in doing this is to meet the physical needs of our congregation while also giving our members opportunity to bring up any topics or concerns or anything of that nature with church leadership that need to be addressed.

And we will do this so that all are cared for and that we can remain united in our mission together as a church to worship God and win glory for King Jesus. And so this is what a deacon does. He serves the church by giving leadership of the earthly affairs of the church, laboring to preserve the unity of the church and meeting physical needs of the congregation.

That's what he does. But who should a deacon be? That's the question that First Timothy chapter 3 verses 8 through 13 answers. In this passage Paul lists the qualification of deacons. And the fact that Paul lists qualifications for the office of deacon means that not everyone that may be in a church is fit to serve as a deacon at any given time.

You see deacons are to be exemplary in character. Not only leaders that are competent in service but exemplary in godliness, in demonstrated godliness. So he lists the qualifications. These are ways that a man demonstrates his godliness.

His godliness made visible by the character and quality of his life. They're to have this proven track record of godliness in specific areas that God requires. So in other words, according to the Bible, it's not enough to be a gifted administrator.

A deacon must be a godly administrator. It's not enough to be a gifted leader. He must be a godly leader. It's not enough just to have demonstrated competence in the business world. He must have demonstrated competence in godly character according to the ways that God has prescribed and required in First Timothy 3 verses 8 through 13.

I want us to work our way through these verses briefly looking at the character that is required of a deacon. The first thing that Paul tells us there in verse 8 says, likewise, and the reason that likewise is there is because if you go back up to the first half of chapter 3, which we'll get to in a few weeks, there are the qualifications for overseers, pastors, elders, and there's a whole bunch of character qualifications there for someone to serve as a pastor.

And then he says, likewise, deacons. And so in the same way, in the very similar list of qualifications, the main difference is that a pastor has the requirement of being able to teach. It's the main difference there.

It says, likewise, deacons, and then he lists these qualifications, must be reverent is the first one. What does this mean to be reverent? Well, the idea here is that he is dignified. He is a man worthy of respect.

It's not hard. It's not out of the realm of possibility that others are going to follow this man and follow his leadership because he has respectability. He has some gravitas. He's dignified in this way.

He's someone who is honorable. So that's the first qualification. He needs to be a man who others will follow. He needs to be reverent. It also speaks to his attitude towards God. He's not flippant about the things of God.

He recognizes the holiness of God. He's reverent before God. He has a proper, not only is he respectable and dignified, but he has a proper fear of the Lord and he has a proper respect for the Lord. He knows his place.

He's not arrogant.

He knows his place. God is creator. He is created. He is reverent. Second thing, deacons must not be double-tongued. Those who are double-tongued say one thing to certain people and they say another thing to other people.

Or maybe they say one thing but they mean another. They are two-faced and insincere. Their words cannot be trusted and so they lack credibility. Deacons are not to be this way. They are to be straight talkers, straight shooters when they talk.

In other words, they ought to be the type of men that Will Rogers described as not afraid to sell the family parrot to the town gossip. In other words, he's trustworthy because he's credible. He's trustworthy because his words match his heart, his words match his intentions, and his words are the same from one person to the next.

Third thing Paul says is not to be given too much wine. A man is disqualified for the office of deacon if he is addicted to strong drink or other intoxicating substances. And the reason this is important is that person lacks self-control.

The one who is entrusted with leadership should have control of his body, should have control of his appetites, should have control of himself, control of his emotions, control of his words. And so he is not to be addicted, given too much wine or any other.

Intoxicating substance. He must be disciplined and self-controlled. Fourth thing, deacons must not be greedy for money. If a person is a lover of money, if he's a lover of dishonest gain, he's not qualified to be a deacon, especially because deacons will often handle or discuss financial matters for the church.

Part of the responsibility there in the earthly affairs, you can't have someone who's going to be looking for his own selfish gain in that. He must not be greedy for money. This also relates to one's stewardship and just commitment to regularly give to the ministries of the church.

He must be financially trustworthy. Fifth thing, deacons must hold to the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience. That is, deacons must affirm the true gospel without wavering. Deacons hold to what the scripture says with a pure conscience, with sincerity, without hypocrisy.

They affirm the teaching and the doctrinal statements of the church. And holding to the faith with a pure conscience means two things. One, he can't just affirm it on paper, but not really believe it.

Affirm it so that he can be a deacon, but not really hold to it. No, he must hold it with a pure conscience. And then two, his behavior in his life must be consistent with what he professes that he believes.

Otherwise, we call that hypocrisy. But he must hold it not with hypocrisy, but with a pure conscience. Sixth thing, deacons must be tested and blameless. This corresponds to the pastoral requirement to not be a recent convert that you see earlier.

The man's character, his reputation, his theological beliefs must be evaluated before he is put into office.

It must be tested.

Now, blameless doesn't mean perfect, or we wouldn't have any deacons, or we wouldn't have any pastors. Only Jesus is perfect, and only Jesus is sinless. But what it does mean is that his character is such that if he was charged with some form of ungodliness, the charge wouldn't stick.

The charge wouldn't stick. He is to be blameless. It doesn't mean sinless. It does mean he is quick to confess his sins and turn from them. He keeps short accounts with others. He doesn't have some high-handed, secret sin.

He's blameless. Seventh thing is, he must be the husband of one wife. This literally means he is a one-woman man. This particular qualification, as well as other texts, they demonstrate that the office of deacon is reserved for qualified men.

So we appoint men to this office. And the requirement to be a one-woman man, it does not automatically preclude a divorced man from serving as deacon. But it does mean that the circumstances of the divorce need to be evaluated.

And it may mean that there needs to be a time of evaluation, an evaluation period to establish him as a one-woman man before he holds office. He must be the husband of one wife, devoted to his wife, living their married life as a picture of Christ in the church as marriage is designed to be.

Next qualification is, he must rule his own household well. And so this is really the one place in the list of deacon qualifications where competence is a qualification, though it's still related to his character.

So he needs to be competent in managing and ruling and governing his household. And so when you're evaluating a man's fitness for office, we're not just looking at the man, we're looking at his whole family.

For a man's wife and children are a reflection of his leadership, it's a reflection of the man. So if a man's children are unruly, if you put him in the office, you can expect some unruliness in the church.

If his wife or children are ungodly, you can expect some ungodliness to emerge in the church. This is unfortunately, in kind of American Christianity, a neglected qualification. Because people are often terrified of making judgments, especially when it comes to families, but the Bible tells us to.

And as God's people, as baptized members of Christ's assembly, were called to make some evaluations and some judgments. And so our church has done that in the lives of these men who are coming to be ordained today.

And we've seen their qualification in ruling their houses well. But what this qualification shows to us is that the household or the home is the proving ground, the testing ground for church office. We see here as well instructions for deacon's wives.

And the reason for that is because she's going to be instrumental in his ministry and service to the church. As his helpmate, she will assist him in that ministry. Therefore, she must be reverent, not a slanderer, temperate, faithful in all things.

And so we see this whole list of qualifications, this list of demonstrated character. And we see that deacons are to be respectable, self-controlled, content, Bible-believing, morally upstanding men who rule their homes well.

That's who a deacon is to be. That doesn't mean the rest of us, the rest of the church is off the hook for those things. No, that list is for the deacons. Now this list of qualifications is a good test of godliness that we should all strive for in our lives.

Whether you ever serve in church office or not. We should all strive for reverence and self-control and not being greedy, rather being trustworthy with money and resources. We should all strive for understanding the gospel and holding it sincerely and being morally upright and conducting ourselves well in the home according to our station.

And so one application for everybody in here is use this list in chapter three, use it as a rubric of sorts, a spiritual wellness check. Am I reverent?

Am I greedy?

Am I double-tongued? Am I ruling my household well? And in any area where you notice a deficiency, let that become an area of intentional focus for repentance, obedience, and growth. Because God desires for you to grow in godliness.

And this is what godliness looks like. Now we are blessed here at First Baptist to have this type of godly men serving our church. And as a church, we should honor such men for what Paul says there in verse 13.

We should honor such men because by their lives and by their service, they've obtained for themselves a good standing and great boldness in the faith, which is in Christ Jesus. And so today, as we ordain two new deacons, we honor them.

We honor them with our prayers. We honor them for our church setting them apart to this area of service. And so at this time, I want to invite Michael and Ron, if you guys will come down and I want you to come down and stand.

We'll invite your families up front in just a bit. I want y 'all to come and come and stand up front and stand beside these churches. Facing me, I want to give a charge to you from the church. And then after that, give a charge to the church.

Matter of fact, let me just go ahead and invite your wives and any family you have present just to come on, come on down. Y 'all can just sit on the front rows. I got a little confused on when we're going to have them down.

My apologies. We'd love for y 'all to be down here with your family. Y 'all can just have a seat on the front row. So Michael and Ron, first, I just want to affirm your godly character. You guys are men I've known for several years.

We've met and talked about deacon service.

We've talked about your lives.

We've walked through this passage together and spoken about your life. And in the time that I've known each of you, in the time that you've been here at First Baptist, I have witnessed your godly character.

So I just want to affirm that to you. And before this assembled church, I want to attest to and affirm that your life and doctrine meet the qualifications, First Timothy 3, to serve as deacon. I commend you on living your life and leading your families as faithfully as you have.

If you're demonstrated godliness in various aspects of life. And so now as a minister of Jesus Christ and as pastor of this church, I charge you, remain faithful to Jesus Christ. Love God with all of your heart, mind, soul, strength.

Love your neighbor as yourself. I charge you to watch your life and doctrine closely so that you don't make a shipwreck of your faith, as Paul talked about elsewhere in First Timothy. I charge you to devote yourself to God's word, to reading it and meditating on it and obeying it.

And as you lead in the church, leading according to the Scriptures. I charge you to remain reverent, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy for money. To remain holding fast to the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience, living your lives in a blameless manner, ruling your children and household well, loving your wife as Christ loved the church.

I charge you to labor to preserve the unity of this church so that by our love for one another, the world might know that we belong to Jesus Christ. I charge you to lead with godly wisdom. There's wisdom that's shaped by the Scriptures as you lead in the earthly affairs of the church, remembering that every resource we have in money, property, and people is a gift that comes down to us from the Father of lights.

And we're going to give an account for our stewardship of those resources and how we serve. And I charge you to use your authority, not for selfish gain, but for the good of the church, for the glory of God, as we pursue our mission to worship God and win glory for King Jesus.

And then lastly, I charge you to remember Jesus Christ and hold fast to Him. I want to thank you for being willing to serve our church in this way, for being the type of men that you are and the godly men that you are.

You have gratitude from your church. I want to ask you if you would sit down and face the congregation. I want to give a charge to the church, and then we're going to have a time of prayer for these men.

But to you, church, as a minister of Jesus Christ and as your pastor, I charge you to pray for these men, asking for the Lord's blessing and protection upon them and their families. Charge you to joyfully follow and gladly submit to their leadership in the earthly affairs of the church.

That you too would labor to preserve our unity in the church. That is, make it easy on these men by quickly confessing sin and repenting of sin and overlooking offenses and forgiving the sins of others.

I charge you to assume the best of these men and their motivations and their intentions. To address any concerns or needs that you have with them or our church by speaking directly and plainly and kindly to them, rather than about them to somebody else.

I charge you to join them in service. And so deacons are our lead servants in the church, but they're not the only servants in the church. So join them in service. And then lastly, church, I charge you to remember Jesus Christ and hold fast to him in all things.

At this time, I want to invite any ordained men that we have present, whether you're actively serving or you've served in the past, whether ordained as a deacon or ordained as a pastor elder, I want to invite you to come and lay hands on these men and pray for them individually.

So what I want to ask you to do is kind of come down the line here, come to Michael first, voice a short prayer for him, and then come over to Ron, and then just kind of stand over here once you're done.

And I want you to stay up front because after that, I'm going to ask all to come and lay hands on them. And Gary Batson is going to pray for them. And so as these men come to pray, I want to ask everyone in the congregation to use this time to pray for these men silently in your seats.

So ordained men, please come. Deacon wives to come and stand with your husband. And then I'm going to ask our deacons to kind of just come around both of them and just kind of fill in on some on this side, lay hands on these men.

Gary Batson is our chairman of deacons. And so I've asked him if he would voice a prayer on behalf of our church.

For these men and their families.

Would you pray with me? Our most gracious and kind Heavenly Father, we come to you today during this special time. Lord, we want to tell you that we love you. And we thank you for your love and your grace and your mercy.

Father, I just ask today that you be with these men and their families. As a church, we want to pray for them daily, for the leadership of this church that stood here for 111 years. Lord, we want it to go into the future.

In good hands. And we thank you for the many blessings that you've given this church in the last few years. Lord, we've been blessed with good people, blessed financially. And Lord, we would look for you for direction and which way to go in the future.

Lord, these men have been vetted to be beyond reproach. And Lord, we just pray for them and their families. Once again, we just thank you for this day. In the sweet and precious name of Jesus, we ask these things.

Amen.

Amen. Amen.

I want to ask as they return to their seats, I want to ask our five current deacons to stay standing up here at the front and everyone else can file back to their seats. So these are our current deacons here and we pray for Ron and Michael as new deacons, but I also want to pray for this group as a whole on this day.

I especially want to recognize and pray for Greg Wood. Greg has previously served as a deacon here at First Baptist some years ago, but has come back to serve again. And so Greg, I want you to know that we are grateful for your willingness to serve our church.

And though you've already been ordained, we just want to recognize you today for coming on and serving again and express our gratitude to you. I want to pray for you and pray for this group as a whole.

So let's pray together. Our Father in heaven, thank you for these men who willingly and gladly serve our church. I especially thank you for these new deacons, Ron, Michael, and Greg. I thank you for the affirmation of our church and selecting them.

Father, I thank you for Gary and Charles and their long time service in our church as deacons and many, many other roles over the years. Father, I pray that you would watch over these men as they serve your church and serve your kingdom.

I pray that they would watch their lives and their doctrine closely, that they would remember Jesus Christ and hold fast to him. Father, I pray that you would protect them from the sins of others. And I pray that you would protect them from their own indwelling sin, that they would live in such a way that honors and pleases you.

Father, I pray that you would give them godly wisdom to lead and serve in our church, that when they are faced with tough decisions, that you would make the right way clear to them, that you would give them an abundance of wisdom and understanding.

I pray that you would give them endurance as they labor to preserve the unity of our church. And by their service, I pray that we would be found more faithful and more fruitful.

For your work in kingdom.

Father, I pray that you would give them a tender-hearted love for the sheep and a strong-hearted love for the truth, and that you would bless our church through their service. We ask all of this in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.