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Sunnyside Baptist Church Michael Dirrim, Pastor
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Heavenly Father, we thank you for the arrangements you have made to bring all of us here at this time for your purpose. We thank you for the gift of your word that so clearly states who you are and who we are in Christ, what his glories are, and what kind of a Savior he is, and how it is that he builds his church.
I thank you for the hope that we live, that we live by and live towards. I thank you that we have so many blessings now and so much good that lies ahead. I pray that you would help us today to rejoice in your truth, that there would be a fulsome amen in our hearts of your will that has been declared from heaven.
We pray all these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
I.
Invite you to open your Bibles and turn with me to 1 Peter chapter 4 verses 10 through 11. 1 Peter chapter 4 and we'll be reading verses 10 and 11. Taking a pause from Proverbs to apply the wisdom of our King.
We have been given a stewardship. I paused earlier this week looking at the historical pictures that montage that we have in our Sunnyside calendar. I'm sure that some of you've been looking at that as well.
And I was struck by the weight of almost 75 years. Next year will be 75 years of our of our church being brought together. Considering the faith, hope, and love of those who have been gathering here in the name of Christ.
In the pictures I see primitive beginnings. And I wonder at what went through their minds and what kind of burdens they carried. What kind of hardships and obstacles they had to deal with. It's black and white, but you can still see the red clay.
Still photographs, but you can still feel the cold wind. And you wonder, why did they keep gathering? Why did they keep coming back? What was in their hearts? And here we are in the same ground with the same gospel looking for the same hope.
And yet we are not exactly the same, are we? We have been changed. Because Jesus washes his bride with the water of his word. The Son of David builds the temple. So we are thankful to our Good Shepherd for the provision of grace.
The provision of grace as generations have handed forward the stewardship. Hence the title of our message this morning, we have been graced for his glory. We have been graced for his glory. I invite you to stand with me if you are able in honor of the reading of God's Word, 1 Peter chapter 4.
Verses 10 and 11. This is the word of our Lord Jesus Christ by his spirit through his servant Peter. As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. And if anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies. That in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever.
Amen.
This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. You may be seated. It is with deep recognition that Jesus Christ is the head of the church, that we as.
A.
Local body in Christ, we take up this matter of ordaining a new elder, Dylan Hamilton, and a new deacon, Michael Goulet. Each man is already a member in good standing of our church body, and each one seeks to join the elder body or the deacon body to serve by leading and to lead by serving.
It's been a few years since we have last had this blessing, so I want us to treasure the moment and give an amen to the spirits working amongst us.
Now,.
Our brother Dylan has fed us through the word. He's taken up the word of God and handled it well. And he's ministered to us and he's shown the kind of discernment that we need to be one of the elder body.
And.
Mike's always looking for a way to serve and to help, jumping in, stepping up. Both of them have been tempered by difficulty. Both of them are faithful to the Lord. We look to them as examples in the way that they lead their families, and we have good fellowship with them, and I'm thankful for their willingness to serve in these ways.
We're talking about elders and deacons and how they minister in the life of the body. Some of this will be familiar to some of you because some of you have been through Timothy school, and so we've been talking a lot about deacons and elders and what that looks like and what it means for our church.
As some of you have recently been through our prospective members class where we've talked about the polity of the church, the organization, how we do what we do and why. So some of this may sound familiar, but what we have here before us this morning is not just for Dylan and Mike, and it's not just for those who are looking to be an elder or a deacon or already are.
This isn't just for the prospective members. This is for all of us who are in Christ. As we see in the text, the saints are graced for our Savior's glory. Each one of us who are in Christ, we are called to take up a stewardship of grace for the good of one another.
That we would make much of Jesus, that we would magnify the glory of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He has in his wisdom and authority arranged for all of this. He has in his death and resurrection provided for all of this.
He builds his church upon the rock of his gospel. So as we stand on the cusp of ordaining these men for ministry in our midst, let us not think that we are of divided parts. Professionals here, casuals over there.
Over here, we've got the deacon and the elders, and over here, everybody else. Clergy here, laity here.
No.
We are one, one body in Christ. We are all one for one, and that one is Christ. We are graced for our Savior's glory, and so we enjoy a unity in Christ's love. That's verse 10. We enjoy a unity in Christ's love, and also graced for our Savior's glory, we employ a division of Christ's labor.
That's verse 11. So we enjoy a unity in Christ's love. We're going to start there. But then also we recognize that we employ a division of Christ's labor. And we need to hold both of those together because both of them are brought together here in this passage.
And with it, we also think of some other passages as well, reminding ourselves of how Jesus builds his church. Our aim here is to glorify God. Our aim here is to glorify Christ. We do that as we affirm and apply his grace in our church through service.
First of all, let's consider the unity that we have in Christ's love, and look with me at verse 10. As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another as good stewards of the manifold grace.
Of God.
First of all, I want you to see that each one of us has received a gift. Each one of us has received a gift. Now, already there may be some ideas flooding into what this may mean, but let me tell you the word the word is doubly rich.
It's grace that is both bestowed and received. Grace that is bestowed and received. This is nothing less than salvation. Each one is saved. Each one of us has received the grace of God for our salvation.
Each one of us have been forgiven of our sins. Everybody who is a saint, everybody who's in the new covenant, everybody who's in Christ, we have all received forgiveness of our sins, and all of us have received the gift of the Holy Spirit.
You'll find this to be the consistent preaching throughout the New Testament. If you read through the book of Luke and the book of Acts, wherever the gospel is preached, these are the proclaimed wonders of salvation that we would be forgiven of our sins and that we would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, the blessing of the Holy Spirit.
So salvation, salvation is both the propitiation of our sins. Yes, that we are forgiven. Yes, there is no more guilt for us, but also power from on high that we would be given life to live according to what God has declared, that we are not only rescued, but we are also given all the resources of heaven to do what we have been called to do.
As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another. I want you to hear this. Salvation is a gift that you are to employ in ministry. Salvation is a gift that you are to employ in ministry. Salvation is not limited in scope simply to how you feel about yourself.
Oh, it changes how you feel about yourself. It changes how you view yourself when you recognize that you are in Christ, when you recognize I'm a child of God by the blood of Jesus Christ, that I have eternal life because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, that I stand.
There is therefore now no condemnation for anyone who is in Christ Jesus. Oh, it changes how you see yourself. 100 it does, but it's not merely,.
Simply, limited.
To the individual self. As each one has received a gift, as you have received forgiveness of your sins, as you have received the Holy Spirit in your life, minister this gift of salvation to one another, to one another.
You have received it. That was the passive. You couldn't birth yourself again. That's the work of the Holy Spirit. You couldn't do enough to impress God. God is the one who saves you. In this is love, not that we love God, but he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins.
God loved us and so he has saved us. As each one has received a gift, there's the passive side of it. We receive it, but also now here's the active side. We should minister it. We have been given this gift.
It is ours, truly ours. What do we do with it? What do we do with it? We use it in ministry to one another. The each one, notice, the each one that is saved individually is married to the one another.
We're here to serve one another and minister to one another according to this gift as good stewards, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. We have a stewardship,.
Meaning.
That what we have been given we don't possess for our own sake, our own cause. I don't own my salvation to use it how I like. I'm not an owner. I'm a steward. It belongs to somebody else. When the saints gather around the throne, they cast down their crowns and they say salvation belongs to.
God.
And to the lamb who was on the throne. I am but a steward of the crown that I have been given. I must use it in ministry to others. I am a steward. What is it that Christ wants me to do with this life that he has given to me?
What am I to do with this life where I am forgiven of my sins and I have been given the Holy Spirit? I'm to use it to minister to others as a steward, as a good steward of the manifold grace of God, the variegated, multicolored, glimmering, diamond grace of God.
The manifold grace of God. We have not come to the end of the grace of God. We have not begun to know the fullness of the grace of God. As Paul Washer once said, he's not even into the foothills of salvation yet.
We have so much more to know about salvation and grace and all that God has for us will have an eternity of wonderment. We discover more and more of the manifold grace.
Let us not think of salvation as some simple one-dimensional thing. Salvation is not some sort of superstitious ritual in which we repeat the words, the sacred words, the holy words that someone tells us to say and therefore we are given a free get out of jail card or get out of hell card.
Salvation is not something that is one-dimensional or reductionistic. The manifold grace of God. We are saved.
From.
Sin.
We are saved from ignorance, from the darkness, from enslavement, and saved to forgiveness, saved to righteousness, saved to God, saved to eternal life. We have been brought out of death and transgressions and sins.
We have been brought in to Christ. We have much to meditate on in the manifold grace of God. As each one has received a gift, as we have received this gift, what are we to do? First of all, recognize dear saints, we have a unity in this grace that we have all been given.
I want you to just listen to Ephesians chapter 4 verses 1 through 7. Paul will take us to the very same place Peter does, but in Pauline fashion with more words. Ephesians chapter 4 beginning in verse 1.
I therefore the prisoner of the Lord beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with long-suffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Now listen to our unity. There was one body and one spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who was above all and through all and in you all.
Listen. But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift, you see. You have been given a stewardship, dearly beloved. You have the gift of grace, the gift of salvation has been given to you.
For what? Ephesians 4 continues. Verse 15 says, but speaking the truth in love, Paul desires that the church would grow up in all things into him who is the head Christ. Here's the objective, that we would grow up into all things into Christ who is the head.
So that more and more as the truth of God has its way in our lives, we become more and more like Jesus Christ. So that as Christ is preached and taught from all the scriptures, that he is formed in all of his people.
That Christ is written in our hearts by the Spirit. That Jesus becomes more and more manifest in us, that we are called the light of the world only because he is the light of the world. And so verse 16, notice from whom, from Christ, the whole body joined and knit together by what every joint supplies according to the effective working, now listen to this part, dearly beloved, by which every part does its share causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
Do you see what Jesus Christ is up to? He takes the body, his body, he's growing the church, he's nourishing the church, and every single part is blessed by the grace of Christ to do their part and through each one of us Christ has his way in the whole of us and forms us into his image.
So each one has received a gift. So minister it to one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. It's not that the clergy have the gift and the laity don't. It's not that we need experts to stand in in our place and do the job for us, that we have to have a special priesthood who does the job and then everyone else is just kind of dependent upon them.
No,.
The New Testament says that every Christian, every believer, everybody in Jesus is of the priesthood. He's the high priest and we're all in his priesthood and we all can go directly to the throne of God in his name.
And all of us have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit. All of us have been called to minister the grace of God to one another. So Christ grows the body through every part of the body doing its share.
It should give us some thought. If I were to take out several of the qualifying words in the in the parentheses in 1 Peter 4, if I were to take the two verses of verses 10 and 11 and just put it together in the most simple way possible without all of the extra ideas, it would come out very simply like this.
Peter is saying what? Each one minister as good stewards of Jesus Christ. That's the idea broken down into its most simple form. Each one, all y 'all in Christ, each one of the saints, each one of the brothers and sisters in Christ, each one minister, not just some of you, but all of you, each one minister as good stewards of Jesus Christ.
That's what we're all called to. So even in a moment where we're thinking about what does it mean to be an elder and what does it mean to be a deacon? How is Christ building his church? This is not something that we are to restrict to only a sacred few, but we are to remember all of our calling in Christ, how we are to minister the gift of salvation that we've been given and use it for others.
We do so in our families, we do so amongst our friends, we do so as well, very specially in the body of Christ. But not only do we have a unity in Christ's love that verse 10 tells us, but verse 11 says that we have a division of Christ's labor.
Now a division of labor recognizes this, that there is a great big task to do, a great big job that's very important, and that one person by themselves should not be doing the whole thing. A division of labor is this great task, which belongs to this group, needs to be broken into various parts and everybody gets involved and helps in their way that they are gifted to help, that they are inclined to help, how they can help, a division of labor.
One task, one Lord, one hope, one calling, but a division of labor, and this is the wisdom of God. Verse 11 says, if anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do so, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever.
Amen. So there's two general categories of stewardship, aren't there? I mean, everyone has received the gift of salvation who is in Christ, yes. All of us have the forgiveness of sins and the indwelling of the Spirit, yes.
But in ministering grace to one another, we may serve in more than one way. Here's two general ways, and you'll see how they correspond to elders and deacons. If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God.
And how are elders described? Those who desire the role of the overseer or elder or shepherd or pastor, these synonymous terms. But to handle the Word of God rightly, to nourish the flock and protect them from false teachers.
And then the second, if anyone ministers, let him do so as with the ability which God supplies. And even the term minister is the word that we have for deacon. And so the one who does the serving as a deacon, let him do so as with the strength which God supplies, ready to care for the widow and the orphan, ready to step in and help with the property held in common by the church so that the task of the Great Commission can be completed well.
So if anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. Notice this is not if anyone speaks, let him speak as if he was giving the oracles of God. To fake it till you make it, pretend like you have all the power of God himself in what you say.
I have a position now, I have the power, and if I speak, I'm like God speaking. No, that's not what it means. You'll notice that there is a parallel if anyone ministers, let him do so as with the ability which God supplies.
There's no sense there in which the deacon or the one who serves in any capacity is going to pretend like he's depending on the strength of God. No, this word as is in the sense of like or in comparison to.
So what you speak, speak in reference to, in comparison to, according to the oracles of God. And this is the only confidence that we have in speaking and trying to minister to one another. If I want to see you spiritually flourish and grow and to see Christ written on your hearts, what will I say to you?
Not my opinion, not my pet peeve. I will give to you the word of God. I will see Christ written on your hearts by giving you the scripture in the light of Jesus Christ. That's what I would give to you if I would see you grow in Christ.
And so if anyone ministers, let him do so with the ability which which God supplies. Oh, it's so easy to see a need and to and to jump in and try to fix it or do something, but it's it's harder to wait upon the Lord and and ask him for his strength and depend upon him.
It says to do so by the ability and strength which God supplies. An interesting word, which means to furnish or orchestrate, to lead a chorus in song. For those of you who have been here perhaps on a work day or we had a group project and we all show up at somebody's property to help them because of a difficult time or whatever it is.
There is a there is a sense in which Christ is leading us in a chorus. Here we all come together, each one being able to do what they can in blessing one another. It is a true harmony. Now, if anyone speaks, if anyone ministers, that's a general division of labor in the church, a general division of labor that is observed in the life of the church and in many different passages of scripture.
But I think of an interesting passage where Paul begins his letter to the Philippian church. I want you to hear how it all hangs together. In Philippians chapter 1 verses 1 and 2, he writes, Paul and Timothy bond servants of Jesus Christ to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi.
So you notice the double address. The church is located in two places. Yes, they're in Philippi, but they're also in Christ Jesus. You see their location, a double address. And so he says, who are there?
He says, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi with the bishops or the overseers and deacons, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Notice,.
Paul is not saying that the overseers, who would be also called the elders, they're not other than the saints. They're with the saints. They're among the saints. He's not saying that the deacons are not of the saints.
They're with the saints. They're among the saints. So there is a body of Christ, a local church, and we're all saints. And among the saints, with the saints, are also bishops and deacons or elders and deacons.
So,.
Grace and peace. May the Spirit bless you by the Father and the Son. Where did we get this idea that we have this division of labor more official amongst the body of Christ? We get it from Acts chapter 6, a story in which there was a problem amongst the growing church and the care for the widows and the poor had become too much for the elders to take care of, that they were praying and they were studying the word and they were preaching and they're trying to nourish this early church and they had so many people that they were caring for, but there was a problem amongst the saints.
The widows were not being looked after properly. There was an issue, a genuine issue, that was causing friction. And so the apostles in a role of leadership spoke to the church and say, search out from among you men filled with the Holy Spirit who we could entrust these tasks to.
And then these seven men were.
Recognized.
By the church. These men are already spiritual men. These men are already the kind of people that we would look to to do this kind of job. And so the offerings that were brought in were laid at the apostles feet, but the apostles said, look, we can't divide our attention amongst so many things.
We have to do what we can do and then we get to do that well. And you men, you take up this money, this property that we hold in common, and then we want you to use it well for the sake of the kingdom.
So you do that and we'll do this and we'll work together a division of labor, but a unified purpose. That happens in Acts chapter 6 and it's not too long after that that we start reading about this. In each church we have elders and then there are also our deacons.
And so elders and deacons are a gift of Christ for the church. They are a gift of Christ for the church. When you read about their qualifications in 1 Timothy chapter 3, the elders in verses 1 through 7, the deacons in verses 8 through 13, everything being mentioned there about how they lead their families and what kind of character they have and what kind of reputation they have with everybody around them.
Everything there is expressed not only for easy recognition by the church regarding who would be qualified and a good fit for this kind of ministry, but it is also showing us what the elder is to do or what the deacon is to do.
As we reflect upon those passages and we have at length, if we imagine the lives of elders and deacons being the opposite of what we read, we know the disaster that would follow. But we also see that when these are in order, what a blessing there is for the life of the church.
The deacons and the elders are for the church. Remember that in Acts chapter 20, we read in verse 17, from Miletus, Paul sent to Ephesus and called for the elders of the church. He says, I want to meet the elders of the Ephesian church.
Please come meet me in Miletus. And in verse 28, he says to them, take heed to yourselves and to all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. So you are elders, presbyteroi in the Greek, you are overseers, episkopoi in the Greek, also translated bishops sometimes, you're elders, you're overseers, to shepherd.
That's where you get a word pastor from. So you get a word pastor from this word shepherd. To shepherd the church of God which he purchased with his own.
Blood.
So think about this. Deacons are to lead out in doing good to the least of these, the brethren of Christ. And he says, as you do these to the least of these, my brethren, so you do it as unto me. How precious is this service?
And elders are to lead in nourishing and protecting the flock of Christ whom he purchased with his own blood. So how precious are the saints to Christ? So deacons and elders, we have a calling, we have a high calling.
What are we doing but ministering to those who are precious to Christ? And so I say to you, my brother Dylan, my brother Mike, and my fellow elders, my brother deacons, and I say to all the saints, we are to consider Christ first and foremost in all things.
What is the whole reason of taking up our gift and as good stewards of the manifold grace of God using our gift, our salvation to minister to one another? What's the whole reason? What's the whole purpose?
That in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. So saints, give the amen of heart and voice in action. Deacons, stir us up to love and to good deeds.
Elders, exhort.
To hold fast the confession of our faith. And so we ever assemble together in Christ, and this is how we are graced for his glory. I'm going to pray for us. We're going to sing a song. I'm going to have Mike and then Dylan come share a brief testimony of their calling to serve us.
And after that, I'm going to ask the deacons and elders and Dylan and Mike, we're all going to meet right down here. We're going to pray and then we'll close out with a song. Heavenly Father, I thank you so much for the day you've given to us and a reminder of the grace that you have given to us.
I thank you for the way you build your church and you have all the wisdom we need. It's such a refreshing thing for us to just simply look and see what does Jesus say and follow him, trusting that he knows best.
We thank you, our Lord and Savior, for being such a good shepherd and proving yourself time and time again, and we pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.
