E8 - The Pastoral Epistles: Biblical Ministers & Biblical Ministry - The Role Of Deacons

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Amen. At the end of the day, isn't it

true that all we truly have is Christ, that only or that not

only rings true at the end of the day, that's at the beginning

of the day and all throughout the day all we have is Christ.

You have your Bibles. If you would turn to First

1 Timothy 3 · chapter mention

Timothy chapter 3 as we continue our look at the pastoral

epistles as we. Continue looking at biblical

ministers and biblical ministry so in our lesson.

Today we are going to move after two weeks of looking at the

specific role of the overseer, the Bishop, those who shepherd

God's people in leadership and administration, teaching.

We're going to move to another role and another office in the

church, which has. Great responsibility, and that

is the role of the Deacon as we look at verses 8 through 13 here

in chapter 3. Now the word Deacon in the Greek

diaconos it means simply servant, one who waits tables or

the waiter of tables. It speaks of those who, by their

example of servitude and servanthood, lead others to

serve the Lord by their example. And I say that, and I begin with

that because there's often confusion and complication when

we get to talking about the. Roles and the function of the

Deacon in the New Testament church.

I want us to simplify that today because Scripture simplifies it.

Man has complicated it, and they had complicated it because they

haven't properly defined what a Deacon, really.

Is. And I think if we go back to the

meaning of the word diakonos, this person is a servant and a

servant leader. This person, as we will learn,

is the one who uses their specific giftedness, not in

speaking from the pulpit or teaching from the podium or

leading as one of the elders. But this person uses their

spiritual giftedness to serve the body of Christ, to serve

them wholeheartedly, to be able to do those things that the

pastors and the elders of the church that if they had to do

those things would not be free to do the things that they are

gifted in doing. Paul says this in Romans chapter

Romans 12 · chapter mention

12 verse six. He says we have different gifts

according to the grace. Given us if a man's gift is

prophesying. Preaching, he says, let him use

it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve.

If it is teaching, let him teach.

If it is encouraging, let him encourage.

If it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give

generously. If it is leadership, let him

govern diligently. If it is showing mercy, let him

do it cheerfully. Why do I read Romans chapter 12

Romans 12 · chapter mention

to begin talking about the role and the function of a Deacon?

I read this because Paul is explicitly saying here that

there are many functions and many roles and many individual

giftedness in the church and we are not all the same.

We're not all expected to do the same thing.

It's true, as Christians we're all called to serve in a general

sense. But when we talk about Deacon,

the very title means that they are to serve in a more than

general sense. They are to serve as their

ministry. They are to be servant leaders,

serving in a greater capacity than just the congregant who is

called to serve one another. This is what the Deacon is by a

short, brief definition, one who is called to serve God in a

greater capacity than that of just simply being called to

serve as a Christian. They are called to a specific

office and a specific duty to which we will look at that

office and we will look at that duty today.

First Timothy chapter 3, verse 8, Read it with me.

1 Timothy 3:8

It says deacons likewise are to be men worthy of respect.

He says likewise because he's just taught us that the overseer

is to be a person of that is respected who is above reproach.

And he says. Likewise, in the same manner,

deacons are to be men worthy of respect, sincere, not indulging

in much wine, not pursuing dishonest gain.

They must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear

conscience. They must.

First be tested, and then, if there is nothing against them,

let them serve as deacons in the same way their wives are to be

women worthy of respect, not malicious talkers, but temperate

and trustworthy in everything. A Deacon must be the husband of

but one wife, and must manage his children and his household

well. He goes on in 13 and he says

those who have served well gain an excellent standing and great

assurance in their faith. In Christ Jesus, let's pray

together. Father, we thank you for this

today. We thank you for your word.

We thank you that it is true and that it is clear.

We ask today that the clear teachings of Scripture be

honored, but not only that the clear teachings of Scripture be

honored, but those who are being obedient, living their lives as

servants, as deacons in this body, what may they be honored

and may they be respected for their service unto You as You

have called us to honor and to respect those who serve and who

serve well. God, we pray as we look at Your

word today that all the truths that you desire for us to see,

that they would be seen, that you would use this lesson as you

see fit in our lives. Whether to cause us to encourage

and honor those servants among us, or perhaps to call some of

us even to be one of those servants.

God, we pray that whatever we do would be honoring to you.

And I pray for the lost soul who is here today, Lord, that you,

as only you could do, would grace them with mercy and

forgiveness in Christ, as you turn their wicked hearts from

their sin and turn them unto yourself for salvation today.

God, may you be glorified in everything that is done and

everything that is said. We pray and we ask all these

things in Christ's name, Amen. Many of you know that I like to

do this. When we come to a passage of

Scripture where there is an interpretive challenge, I like

to jump right on that immediately and, and I want to

do that with this passage because.

This has not been without challenge throughout the ages,

especially when we get to verse 11.

When we get to verse 11 here, we're going to talk about that

briefly, then we're going to look at everything in its

entirety. But when we get to verse 11.

Some of your Bibles say like minded in the same way that her

wives are to be women worthy of respect, not malicious talkers,

but temperate and trustworthy in everything.

Why I say that this has some interpretive challenge because

some of your English? Bibles may just say women in the

same way or in like manner the women are too.

And then he gives us some instructions.

Now the reason for that is this. The original does not contain

the term their wives. It is only by assumption that

the translators have come to the conclusion that he's talking

about the wives of the deacons, and rightfully so.

Shouldn't the? Wives of the deacons actually be

women of respect, serving alongside of their husband and

in many, many times and capacity.

However, that's not necessarily the entirety of it.

One would say looking at this talking about the wives of

deacons, well there are others and I don't agree with.

This at all would say that was just talking about women in

general. I don't think that at all.

There was no reason. It gives no evidence here that

this is a great time to throw in just some instructions about

random women in the church. I don't think that fits the bill

at all. So you can throw that theory

out, but we get to the third aspect of this and what we see.

Is the fact that there could be and that Paul could be talking

about women deacons Now I know, gasp, women deacons.

Well, pastor, in looking at the overseers, you said that a woman

is not to teach her to have authority over a man.

That is correct. The Deacon would not violate

that role because a Deacon is not a position of authority.

It is a position of servanthood. It is a position of servitude.

And so it's not a position of governing authority.

It never has been. And if it's properly evaluated,

it never will be. And So what I tend to do is I

tend to learn more toward the fact that he is talking about

those women who serve in the role of Deacon, which we know.

I hope by this point you've already heard the Greek meaning

it means servant, that there were and could be female deacons

in the church. We would refer to them as a

deaconess. In fact, when we look at a woman

named Phoebe in Romans chapter 16, Paul refers to her as a

Romans 16 · chapter mention

deaconess, as a woman actually fulfilling.

Because I've never met a man named Phoebe.

Neither will you actually fulfilling the role of a servant

leader in the church. Now, that servant leader is not

going to primarily have, if they have a role at all in teaching

in an environment where they would teach or have authority

over men, they're not going to serve in a role of ruling as an

elder where they would have authority over the congregation.

And so I see that we could definitely see that there is

room for the women deacons. Now, none of you know Phoebe, do

you? No, you've never met her.

I've never met her. I'm sure she's a nice lady.

However, many of you do know this will hit close to home and

she's going to kill me for this. And I really don't care.

Many of you do know Don. Carpenter.

And Don Carpenter, what she does is she serves the Lord and she

serves his body by being a servant leader, a Phoebe in this

church. And what does she do?

Well, she actually, by her service, leads other people in

service in our preschool ministry.

She is not an overseer in this church.

She's not a leader in this church.

She never will be a pastor in this church.

She will never teach nor have authority over a man, but she

serves and is an example of service unto the Lord.

Now because of her service, all of those who serve alongside of

her are then encouraged to be servants all the more.

Now I know it bothers some of you because you're going to

immediately do this. Why would he highlight just one

person if that's your and not me?

If that's your attitude, you're not a candidate for being a

Deacon, male or female. Warm blooded or cold blooded,

what you've just revealed as you've revealed the opposite of

the heart of a Deacon. A Deacon serves without desiring

any glory at all. I'm not giving her glory here

today. I'm giving glory to Christ.

I am honoring her as scripture has told me to honor those who

are worthy of honor. I'll go ahead and say this.

You might not realize this. But the day that Don Carpenter

stops being a servant leader in our preschool ministry, the

nursery collapses. Why?

Because what you don't see is behind the scenes, all of her

effort, all of her prayers, all of her working alongside of the

pastors, those overseers in this church to make sure that

everything goes according to plan down there so that you have

everything that you need. She's an example of in, in real

time, someone who would be a servant and a servant leader who

has that right heart. So I think that interpretive

challenge has been taken away. If we would say this, OK, maybe

I can see that they're talking about the wives of the Deacon.

OK, well, then I have to ask this question.

How come they didn't say anything about the wives of the

overseers when they were talking about the requirements for the

overseer? And why would they talk about

the role of a wife and then go back into talking about the

Deacon as we saw this text go? And so me, the plain and simple

text says this also the female deacons, they have some

responsibilities alongside of these other things that they

need to be aware of. And we'll look at that in detail

in a moment, but just to prepare you for what we're about to see

so that we can understand it. So let's start with the

definition of Deacon. I've already given you the brief

and the simple definition of Deacon, and I hope that we can

keep it as simple as possible. Again, I think the church has

complicated this to a degree that they never needed to

complicate it to. As we're going to see, the

office of Deacon began from a simple need.

It is a simple office and it is simply serving the Lord and

leading others to do the same. So we've seen the word Deacon.

We have seen that it means. A servant, a waiter of tables

now, so that we can kind of hone in on that a little bit so that

you can have a little more insight and what a Deacon is.

Because as you know, there's lots of confusion about this,

right? You grew up in a Baptist Church

where the deacons ran everything.

They told the pastor what pants he needed to wear.

And when he didn't wear the pants they told him to wear,

they ran him out of town. That's the job of the Deacon.

That is not the job of the Deacon.

So before we talk about exactly what a Deacon is, let's talk

about what they're not. Can we do that so that we have

an understanding of what they're not?

They're not the same as an overseer.

If they were the same as an overseer, he would have just in,

in what we just looked at for two weeks in a row said

overseers and deacons. He didn't do that.

He split them up, let you know that they're two different

offices. He's not an overseer.

He he does not administer anything in the church.

He's a servant, just as his name says that he is.

He's not a position of any kind of superintendents or governance

in the church. He never has been, never should

be. They're not a decision making

board or governing body. How many of you saw that in your

church when you were growing up? The problem with that is some of

those people weren't gifted in the area of leadership.

Yes, they may have been gifted servants.

Well, someone's gifted to serve. Point them towards service.

But if they're gifted to speak and they're gifted to lead you

point them to do those things. They're very clear in Scripture

that there are gifts of service, right?

And they're. Speaking gifts in the church,

the Deacon would fall into those service gifts, not those who

would make decisions, not those who would teach classes or stand

in the pulpit and preach. This is reserved for the elders

and the bishops, the pastors, the teachers in the church.

They're not spiritual shepherds. They're not teachers of the

Word. That again, is reserved for the

pastors and the teachers here in this congregation and in all

congregations. The Puritan, William Cartwright,

he said this, the deacons are appointed not to preach the

Word, but to take care of the poor, that the ministry may not

be distracted from prayer and the Word.

We're going to see in a moment when we get to Acts chapter 6,

Acts 6 · chapter mention

which I believe is the birth of the modern Deacon.

When we get there, we're going to see that the whole reason for

the Deacon was so that those with speaking gifts and

administrative gifts in the church, the the apostles at that

time who were establishing the church, could devote themselves

to the study of the Word and to prayer.

We're going to see that more clearly when we get there.

So we kind of have an. Idea of what the Deacon is not.

Now, how many of you would say I've been confused about that in

my church life because I grew up in a church where the deacons

were everything that you said they were not.

And we've all seen that, haven't we?

Especially if you grew up in a Baptist Church.

For some reason, the Baptist forgot to read the word elder

and Bishop, and they made boards out of these men called deacons.

And if someone is not really prepared to be a Deacon, it's

going to go to their head and it's going to become a power

struggle and it's going to become about control.

Unfortunately, we've seen that. So what is a Deacon?

Well, exactly what the Bible declares a Deacon is.

I don't know how to say it any other way.

They are servants, the Aconauts, those who operate in the church

in a special serving capacity. This is a greater capacity than

just the fact that we are all called to serve one another, are

we not? Yes, we're all called to serve

one another in love. Yes, we are every single

believer in this room. They are to be leaders in this.

They are the examples that we look to of how service should be

and how it should look. They are to serve alongside of

the church leaders, those overseers that we have spent

time looking at the past few weeks.

They're to serve alongside of those overseers, to serve the

needs of the people in whatever manner is needed that the elders

otherwise could not take care of.

They're used to fulfill ministry duties that, if left to the

pastor, would never be fulfilled.

Unfortunately, in many churches, I'm thankful not here.

But in many churches, the deacons aren't doing their role.

And so the pastor is left with the responsibility of fulfilling

the role of the deacons. And he's so busy trying to

fulfill the role of the deacons that he can't devote himself to

the Word and to prayer. And now the Church becomes

spiritually. Infantile.

Weak. Spiritually malnourished.

Why? Because the pastor's role is to

lead in the study of the Word of God, and the deacon's role is to

lead in areas of service so that the pastor can do that.

Isn't that beautiful? I love looking at these things

and I noticed some of you. This can be mundane and boring,

but to me this is exciting. Because I have seen churches

that didn't function in churches that were divided and so much

disharmony in the church. And you know what I think it all

boils down to? Many times they don't define the

roles. Biblically, that ought to be

fulfilled by the different offices in the church.

So we must understand what a Deacon is.

He's a servant, willing servant. He's not afraid to lead by his

acts of service and his leadership in whatever ever area

he or she serves in. So we can do it like this so

that you understand it, what the elders and pastors are to our

spiritual needs. Would you say that my job is

first and foremost to meet your spiritual needs, to feed you

with the Word of God? That is my job.

The Deacon his job is to meet our tangible and our physical

needs, serving those in need within the body of Christ.

Watch this again going back and using the reference of dawn.

Don't worry chance will make Chase will make sure that she

stays humble but going back to her.

She is leading in service in the area of our preschool ministry

now. Right now, there are tangible

and physical acts of service that are going on right down

that hallway. Some of you moms are enjoying

being fed the Word of God, being nourished spiritually while

someone is meeting the tangible needs of your children.

Right right now, someone is feeding your child.

Or right now there is someone who is changing a nasty, filthy,

poopy diaper that your child made that is tangible, that is

real, that is physical. I'll go ahead and say that's not

my job, however. I've seen Dawn, on her own time

of her own free will, come up and change dirty, nasty, poopy

diapers and serve the families of this church by taking care of

the physical and tangible needs of her children.

Now, what I have also seen is other people who have followed

her leadership while she is in here and her soul is being fed

spiritually now so that she can do what she's called to do.

They are now down the hall. Mimicking her leadership.

That's how we have a culture of service in the church.

When deacons do what deacons do, servants are made, servants are

born. Then we can actually see what it

means to serve one another in love.

So that's what a Deacon is. So Simply put, so you can

catalog this in your mind, Elders, pastors, they're to

shepherd the church spiritually. The Deacon is to serve the

church practically. Let's not mess this up any

longer in the church again, because when we get it right, it

is a beautiful thing. You know, one thing I never

worry about, I never worry about.

Is everything going to be taken care of in the nursery?

You know why? It's not my job.

But you know what else I have confidence in?

Everything's going to get taken care of.

You know what else I don't worry about?

I don't worry about when I pull up on a Sunday morning if all

the. Grass in the landscape is going

to be taken care of. I.

Hadn't thought about that all week.

You know why? Because I've been studying the

word of God. I've been studying the office of

Deacon. This church allows me to do

that, which I'm called to do. And you know what, When I pull

up, the deacons have already taken care of all the grounds.

And I said, man, it sure looks nice.

You know what we have people, they ask, is this, who takes

care of your, your facilities? Who takes care of your ground

maintenance? Our people.

And you know why? Because there are deacons who

lead those ministries as examples, and then those other

people get right in and they actually serve because they have

been taught how to serve well, serving the church in a

practical sense. So people ask, do you have

deacons here? Yes, we do.

Do we call them deacons? No, we don't.

It's a decision that our elders have made on multiple occasions.

We've talked about it. Do we recognize them?

No. Why would we recognize them?

They don't want to be recognized anyway.

Let the servants serve and they serve well and they continue to

do all that is required of them. So yes, we do have deacons.

We have servants in the church and I think all of you would

agree you've seen them in action in various different ways,

whether that is as I've already mentioned, the children's

ministry, the pre preschool ministry, the cleaning teams,

right? If you went into a restroom here

today, someone served you by making sure that that restroom

was clean. And you know how they did that

because someone who is a servant is in leadership over that

ministry. As an example for them that

would we properly understood as a Deacon being that example, our

mowing teams. How about spec OPS?

Right? I know all of you think that

there's this magic fairy who comes before all of our events

and sets up tables and chairs and then takes them down when

it's over and you just can't see them.

There are no magic. Fairies.

These are servants of God. Who don't mind getting dirty for

the Lord? Why?

Because whoever is in charge of that ministry has shown them and

taught them we don't mind getting dirty for the Lord.

We will serve Him. We will be the waiters of

tables. So yes, we do have them.

We do see them. We see them as we walk in the

door and enjoy a nice hot cup of coffee in the foyer.

Because no one would bring one of those in here, would you?

Especially with all the signage that says please don't.

However, when you get a cup of coffee in the morning and you've

been served in that way, that's pretty good service, isn't it?

It's because someone was willing to do the work of service and

getting here early, preparing those things.

They actually stay late and clean up after all of you make

message. And we're thankful for those who

serve in a hospitality sense, the greeters at the door with a

smile on their face, those who cook.

For our students on Wednesday night, I'm amazed by their

willingness to serve your kids right, their tangible needs on a

Wednesday night. Aren't you thankful that when

you get home from Reach Group, you don't have to feed your

kids? Why?

Because there are those people in our church who lead by their

example in serving your kids every single week.

Taking care of them at no cost to you, meeting those tangible

and physical needs that they have.

Sunday nights. If you've never been up here on

a Sunday night and seen the cook team that works in our student

ministry, those guys, some of you and our fundraisers, you

have experienced that. Those guys get paid $0.00 and

zero cents for what they do. They don't seek any glory, they

don't seek any fame, they don't seek any notoriety.

They just want to be used by God, That's it.

So we choose not to use the term Deacon because it is confusing

in the English language. In our modern culture, we just

use the word servant because we all know what that means, don't

we? And so that's what the Deacon

is. He's a servant.

Hopefully that helps you understand the Deacon a little

bit more as we go through this. Understanding what he is,

understanding what he's not. Now let's look a little closer

and examine this office a little more in detail.

Let's look at the origin of the Deacon.

Where did this begin? Now, many of you Bibles and

scholars would quickly jump up and say it began in Acts chapter

Acts 6 · chapter mention

6, and I think you're right to a degree, though others would

argue with that. I think it started long before

this. How many of you understand that

the elder that we see in the New Testament, that position was

also a position in the Old Testament.

There were elders among God's people who led them.

Moses would consult the elders, Joshua would consult the elders.

They were an elder group of mature men leading God's people.

Now, though we don't see the term Deacon in the Old

Testament, you can go back to temple worship, to Tabernacle

worship prior to that, and you can see this, there were two

people who did the work in the temple, the priests who would

administer the sacrifice. Spiritual needs.

How many of you? Say I need to be atoned for.

Yeah, they would, and thankfully Christ has done that in his

service to us. The the priest would actually

administer the sacrificial side of the temple.

Now alongside of them were the Levites.

The priest stemming from the line of Aaron because it was

required by the law. The Levites stemming from the

line of Levi. Which, just so you'll know this

and keep it all clear, all priests were Levites, but not

all Levites were priests. Some of them would serve the

congregation in singing, playing instruments, but some of them

they would actually serve in the Tabernacle.

In this way, they were responsible for cleaning up,

setting up, and all the things that surrounded the sacrifice.

Can you imagine that? Right Knee deep and blood

sacrificed as the priest administered the sacrifice and

the atonement on the altar. And then somebody had to come

and clean that up. And these were the Levites.

And so when we look at the Levite, we see those people that

God raised up to do service within his people, not afraid to

get dirty, not afraid to do the jobs that other people weren't

willing to do. And so we can trace the, the the

Deacon probably all the way back to the Levi and say this is a

good example of God using people who had a servant's heart for

his purposes. Now here's what I don't want you

to do. I don't want you to leave here

today and say that Kurt said a Levite and a Deacon are the same

thing. That's not what I'm saying.

I'm giving you a scriptural parallel so you can kind of have

an idea of how these things carried over into the New

Testament. And so we see the Deacon

serving, doing the things that other people don't want to do.

Now, in the New Testament, we have a little clarity on this.

This office, this role was born out of necessity.

The role of Deacon was not commanded.

Did you know that? It was not commanded like we see

Paul tell Timothy appoint elders to the churches.

Never. You can look high and low where

you find that it was ever commanded that you had to have

deacons. They were on a need to have

basis. They were born out of necessity,

these special servants who were set aside to lead in their

servitude. So the role of Deacon never

being commanded, but we see it born out of necessity in Acts

Acts 6 · chapter mention

Chapter 6. Verses one through 6.

Now I know this many would argue against this passage being

called the first deacons. Many do, and they don't argue in

a mean or. Belligerent sort of way.

They argue with a pretty good argument that the word Deacon is

not used here in Acts chapter 6. And it's not.

Acts 6 · chapter mention

I will be the first one to tell you that, But I draw the

conclusion that Stephen and these men that were set aside

based on the requirements that they had to meet and the role

that they were assigned to fulfill, they were in fact as

the first deacons. And I think the term Deacon

probably came into play later on down the way.

We have nothing in Scripture to verify or to deny that.

And so when we don't have something in Scripture to verify

or to deny something, I immediately go to church

tradition and I find a man named Irenius.

And Irenius, he said this, he said.

And most of you here or men who come on Thursday nights are

familiar with Iranians. Some of you have heard his name

pronounced Irenaeus. Either way is correct.

But who is he? He was one of the Church

fathers, the early Bishop in the church, a teacher.

He says this. He said Stephen, who was chosen

the first Deacon by the apostles, was the first martyr.

So in the 1st century of the Church, we have a man confirming

that, yes, what we see in Acts chapter 6 is the selection of

Acts 6 · chapter mention

the first deacons. And I believe that with all my

heart, again, because of the role that we see defined and the

role that they played in the church, it was a role born out

of necessity. What was that necessity?

Look at Acts chapter 6 and we'll see.

Acts 6 · chapter mention

This says in verse one, in those days when the number of

disciples was increasing, that means the church was growing.

Isn't that a good thing? Now, as the church grows, we

have greater needs, don't we? Right.

A church might be able to, at its initial phase, not have any

deacons at all, but then as it grows, it's going to have to add

deacons. This is in those days when the

number of disciples was increasing.

The Hellenistic Jews, that's the Jews from a the Greek background

among them, complained against the Hebraic Jews because their

widows were being overlooked and the daily distribution of food,

the widows who couldn't fend for themselves were being

overlooked. There was a need.

That need was tangible and physical, right?

Everybody see that now? So the 12 gathered all the

disciples together and said it would not be right for us to

neglect the ministry of the Word of God in order to wait on

tables. Now the apostles say, look, we

can meet their needs, but it wouldn't be right for us to meet

their needs. There's plenty of us.

It wouldn't be right for us to meet their needs because if we

as the apostles had to meet the needs of the widows in the

church who were hungry, then we couldn't devote ourselves to the

word and to prayer, and then spiritually the entire

congregation would suffer. Common sense, isn't it?

He says in verse three Brothers and sisters, choose seven men

from among you who are known to be full of the spirit and

wisdom, that that sounds like the criteria that we see here in

First Timothy chapter 3. In a nutshell, right full of the

1 Timothy 3 · chapter mention

Spirit and wisdom, we will turn this responsibility over to them

and we'll give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the

Word. The apostle said our job is to

pray and to administer the Word. Their job is now we're going to

turn it over to them to take care of the widows.

Is that not what Jesus tells us to do, to take care of the

orphans and the widows? Of course it is.

But can one person or a small group of people in the church

take care of all the responsibilities that come with

that? Absolutely not.

Common sense tells us no. This office came out of

necessity. It's a common sense thing, he

says in verse 5. This this proposal pleased the

whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full

of faith and of the Holy Spirit. Also Philip, Pocarius, Naikaner,

Timon, Perminus and Nicholas from Antioch, a convert to

Judaism, they presented these men to the apostles who prayed

and laid their hands on them. Now that's when some of the

fancy serum that the apostles laid their hand on them and

bippity bobbity Boo, they received power.

The apostles laying of hands is simply this to show their

approval. They are saying yes, these are

men who are full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom just as is

required of them. It says in verse 7 and after

this happened, so the word of God spread.

What does that tell me? Had the necessity of the office

of Deacon not ever come to be, the Word of God would have been

hindered. But it says the word of God

spread. Now watch what happens when the

word of God is allowed to be spread forth and to go forth.

The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly.

Now let me help all of you American church people here

because you get to see a lot of really cool and interesting

stuff as far as church church growth is concerned, right?

We can grow a church by. Offering big screen TV's to the

1st 10 people who come in the door on a Sunday morning.

But if we go back to the early church, here's how they grew.

Evangelism. The preaching of the Word.

The preaching of the Gospel. And as long as the preaching of

the Word and the preaching of the gospel went forth, God added

to their number daily those who were being saved.

That's the church growth model, not all this other kooky stuff

that we see in our culture. The men of God who were called

to preach the Word were free to preach the Word.

The men of God who were called to serve freely served.

And in doing so, the number of disciples in Jerusalem increased

rapidly and a large number of priests became obedient to the

faith. Jewish priest raised up in

Judaism their entire lives now come to faith in Christ.

Why did this happen? Because the Deacon, the servants

that we see raised up here, did what they do so that the pastors

hear. The apostles in the church at

the time establishing the church could do what they do.

And that is to bring forth the word of truth.

And the church grew. I believe many churches don't

grow because the roles aren't properly defined and properly

operating in the congregation. And so we see the Word of God

being hindered. Why?

Because your pastor can't devote himself to studying the Word of

God. Therefore, you can't grow

spiritually because he's doing all these tangible and practical

things that the deacons ought to be doing.

No, That being said, I am thankful that I don't have that

problem because I can't say that in every church I've ever served

in. Most of the churches that I have

served in, the deacons became this self-proclaimed governing

body who did nothing except for make the lives of the staff and

the pastors miserable as they tried to teach the word of God

but yet couldn't because they were hindered by people who were

operating in the wrong manner. You say, well I don't know if I

believe that. I don't care if you believe it

or not. I've lived it.

I know it's true. So we see this office out of

necessity, the word of God has to go forth and if the word is

of God is going to go forth, it's going to go forth with men

who are gifted in the area of speaking gifts.

Those men have to be aided by those who are gifted in the area

of service gifts. Again, the body different parts

functioning for the whole which is Christ.

This office born out of necessity but based on Jesus

example. I love this John chapter 13

John 13 · chapter mention

verses one through 17. I won't read it all for you.

You know what's going on there if you've paid any attention to

any amount of time here. Jesus is going to wash his

disciples feet. What a picture.

This is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, God in flesh, the

greatest prophet. Whoever lived or will ever live,

lowers himself and he kneels down and takes a basin after

wrapping a towel around his waist so that he could dry their

feet. He washes the filthy, nasty,

dirty feet of his own disciples, the King of Kings and Lord of

Lords, giving us an example of what it means to serve others.

And he did this scripture says in order to.

Show them to the full extent of His love that He loved them

enough to serve them. Oh, you remember, Peter?

No, Lord, don't. Don't just wash my feet, wash my

whole body. Jesus said you're clean, Peter.

I've already, I've taken care of that.

I'm about to go and atone for you so that you will be

completely clean, but I'm going to continue to serve you.

By taking the filth off of your feet as you walk around in this

dirty world. I'm going to take care of the

tangible and the practical as I serve you, Peter, not just the

spiritual. Aren't you glad that God in

Christ takes care of not just our spiritual, but our tangible

and our physical? How does He do that?

Servants who emulate. Christ, John chapter 13 The

John 13 · chapter mention

greatest example of that scene in Jesus himself.

He teaches his disciples that the greatest among them is the

servant, not the one who stands in the pulpit and who delivers

powerful sermons. The greatest among them is the

one who kneels and does the act of washing the feet, who kneels

and cleans the toilet and the restroom, who kneels and takes

care of the little children, who kneels and takes care of the

orphan, who kneels and takes care of the widow and her knee.

That's who. The greatest is one example

Jesus has given us. And so the Deacon and the actual

role of the Deacon is based on Jesus and what he taught.

You're here today and you say, you know what, I feel like I'm

probably serving as a Deacon in the church.

You know your greatest example is Christ.

Only side of him. Follow him, teach others to do

what Christ did. Isn't that what he tells his

disciples to do? He says very truly, I tell you

there in verse 16, no servant is greater than his master nor

messenger greater than the one who sent him.

Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do

them. He said go and do the same

thing, serve one another. So this is based on Jesus

example. The example that he did with joy

in his heart, he was able to serve those that he was about to

lay his life down for. Now I want you to think about

that for a second because one who is a Deacon will do the

ministry of a Deacon with joy and with zeal.

That's what Romans 12 tells us. Verse 11 it says never be

lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor.

Doing what? Preaching sermons, serving the

Lord. What does that mean?

That means this. Whatever I'm gifted in doing,

that's what I need to be doing with passion and zeal.

That is my service to the Lord. If you're not gifted and

standing behind the pulpit and delivering a message, you're not

gifted and expositing the Scripture.

You're not gifted in leading and administration in the church.

That's OK, You have a great role as a Deacon and that is to.

Serve as Christ served Jesus himself, saying I came not to be

served, but to serve. What an example.

The Deacon was born out of necessity.

My calling is based on Jesus. Example.

We see the origin of the Deacon as clearly as we can.

Now let's look at the expectations and the character

of the Deacon, because just like the overseer, this should be a

person of great character and integrity, right?

This is not just somebody who we just throw in a roll and say,

here you're serving, go lead this ministry.

No, it doesn't work like that. We look at this word Deacon for

the first two points, seeing what it is and what it's not

where this term came from. Now let's hone in on the verses

that follow. He says in verse 8, Deacons

likewise, or to be men worthy of respect, sincere, not indulging

in much wine and not pursuing dishonest gain.

They must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear

conscience. They must first be tested, and

then, if there's nothing against them, let them serve as deacons

in the same way. They're wise, or as I spoke on

earlier, the women deacons are to be women worthy of respect,

not malicious talkers, but temperate and trustworthy in

everything he goes on. And he says a Deacon must be the

husband of but one wife and must manage his children and his

household well. Now, if that sounds kind of

familiar to you, we spent the last couple of weeks looking

into the life of the Overseer. And the requirements for the

office are very similar, But I want to break this down for you

just very quickly because some of these are hopefully still

familiar to you. So there's no need to spend a

lot of time on them. We can break it down into two

categories, and we'll do that. First category is this.

Paul is explaining the expectations of the Deacon, and

he's explaining this, that they need to be humble in service,

right? He starts with deacons.

There's that word. Again, the very name expressing

humble service. Why is that important that we

understand that? Because 1 cannot be a servant if

he's not or she's not. First, humble deacons are humble

servants. They're not walking around with

their chest poked out telling all their friends that they're a

servant leader at Key Life Fellowship.

Oh, we look at me. No, in fact, most of the time

the deacons in this church, people don't even know that

they're doing what they do. They're humble servants.

Humility and servitude go hand in hand.

Don't you forget that. You can't have one without the

other. That's why on that night in John

John 13 · chapter mention

chapter 13 where Jesus kneeled down and he washed his disciples

feet, we see a humbling that is spectacular to us.

The King of Kings and Lord of Lords humbling himself.

And so humility and servitude are the opposite sides of the

same coin. You can't have one without the

other. That's like having a quarter

without a tail side and a head side.

You can't have it. And so there must be that

humility in. Service, the Deacon will be that

fulfilling what Jesus said in Matthew 23, verse 11 when he

Matthew 23:11

said this, the greatest among you will be your servant.

For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who

humble themselves will be exalted.

In a moment we're going to see that that's absolutely true.

Jesus is going to promise through his Word, through the

Apostle Paul here, that the Deacon will be exalted.

But they must first be humble in service.

The Deacon won't want the spotlight.

I guess I said a moment ago, if I hadn't mentioned your name

this morning and you're back there and you're saying, well,

when do aliens say anything about me?

You're not a Deacon. In fact, the greatest servants

that I know, who I would call deacons, they run from the

spotlight. They don't want people to know.

In fact, I'm going to use another name in our

congregation. Again, I know how people get

when you name names. Well, should you really call and

draw attention to these people? Yes, honor to those who deserve

honor. Paul names his Co workers and Co

laborers by name, commending them, commending them unto the

church and unto the Lord. So I'm going to mention another

one. You may know.

His name's Mark Mueller. And I'm not going to look at him

because he may make my pine pollen get irritated, My eyes

start watering. Many of you know Mark Mueller.

I've known Mark Mueller for a long time.

In fact, I don't want to admit how long I've known Mark Mueller

because I used to think when people would say things like 30

years ago, those people were really old. 30 plus years ago I

met a young man named Mark Mother and I noticed his

willingness and his giftedness to serve even when he was young.

He does things at this church and for this church alongside of

his wife Kim, and many of you do not know anything about.

We have to hide things from him sometimes.

Because he has a real job and he'll be coming up here when he

ought to be going home to his family.

And there are times, and there have been times, Kim's walking

out the door, Mark's walking in, and he's going to probably be so

mad at me for even saying his name today.

I don't say it to blow him up, I say it to give glory to God

because I get to see a functioning Deacon in action and

I've watched him for over 30 years serve the body of Christ

faithfully. Now, is he a perfect man?

No. Am IA perfect man?

No. Aren't you thankful that that's

not the requirement? Is he a man who desires to serve

the Lord and to bring glory to Him with everything that he

does? Yes, I believe He is.

I spoke in the early service about one who's not been a part

of this fellowship I haven't known near as long, as well as

Mark James Jones. James Jones became a Christian.

Shortly after that. I began to really notice that

James Jones had a special gift. You know what that special gift

is? Serving the Lord.

He wasn't just serving the Lord because that's what we're

supposed to do We are. Y'all do know that's an

obligation for all of us? His was different.

His is that desire to serve that supersedes the normal person's

desire to serve. In fact, I began to wonder, is

this man trying to take my job? He's up here at the church so

much. But you know what he was doing?

I'm only playing about that. You know what?

He was doing anything that he could for the body of Christ,

Vacuuming floors, cleaning bathrooms, kitchens, doing

whatever the Lord would have him to do, mowing the grass.

And now years later, I see him as a leader in that you want to

see how to serve. You want to see some people in

our church who are good servant leaders who give you an example.

You look to those two men, they'll give you a great

example. You looked at Don Carpenter,

she'll give you a great example of what a Deacon really looks

like. And I know there are many

others. If your feelings are hurt, get a

hold of yourself. I don't have time to go down the

list. I, I am so thankful and we are

so blessed as a church to have such great servants.

Often times, unfortunately, you get overshadowed and maybe

that's just the role of the Deacon.

That's what happens by those of us who get to stand in the

pulpit, teach the word of God. But can you be sure of this?

You are not overshadowed in the eyes of God.

You are a humble servant. The Lord shows His favor, the

broken and the humble. Keep serving Him.

Keep doing what you're doing. It doesn't go unseen.

Your humble service, it's appreciated, it's needed, and

glorifies God. The expectations and the

character of a Deacon defined by their humble service, but then

their holy lives. I told you I would go through

this and I'll go through this as quickly as possible because most

of this you already know. Just as we've seen the overseas

seers were called to live holy lives, those who serve as a

Deacon are called to live holy lives.

You know what I'm saying about that?

I'm saying this, that if Don Carpenter, who serves our

preschool department as a servant teaching others to

serve, has things posted on her social media that are not

glorifying to God or that can hurt her testimony of Christ,

that's going to be addressed. It's not acceptable.

She is called to live a life that is above reproach in that

position, as the deacons and the overseers all are.

So he says this. That they're to live a life he

begins with this worthy of respect.

To take their role as a Deacon seriously.

That's what that word means to be serious.

I know we lose a. Little in our English

translation worthy of respect, but people respect the Deacon

because they are serious about serving the Lord.

When you look around and you say man, there's others who they

seemingly don't want to serve the Lord at all.

And then there is this servant who is full steam ahead, giving

everything they have for the Lord in service to him, not

caring about any glory or any praise for themselves, but only

wanting to glorify God. When you see that, my friend,

you've seen a Deacon, one who is worthy of respect.

They're worthy of respect because they have the right

attitude and the right approach. I'm thankful to see men and

women in this church who have the right attitude and the right

approach. You know why they do?

It's not because I've taught them the Word of God, though I

hope that that helps. It's because others have taught

them by the example what it looks like to serve the Lord.

Just a little while. We're going to have a new member

fellowship. You know my favorite part of new

member fellowship when it's over.

I don't say that in a negative sense.

You know what I love to see? Because those new members come

in and they think they're interviewing me.

I'm interviewing you. I don't want ravenous wolves

coming in here attacking what God's doing.

You know what I want to see? What I love to see, and when

it's dismissed and our deacons grab a table, they start folding

up chairs, they start wiping things down.

I like to see people who just now came to Key Life Fellowship

pulling their shirt sleeves up and getting in there and doing

the same thing. Why?

Because that is who we are. That's who I want us always to

be. And why are we that?

Oh, because a powerful preaching from the pulpit.

Maybe God can use that to get your attention, but he's placed

in our lives examples that we can follow who look like Christ

in the area of. Service.

And that is why we are what we are.

That is why we function how we function all of us doing our

specific part for the whole the unity of the body of Christ.

These people called to live lives worthy of respect.

He says sincere. What is he saying they're not

double tongued double minded, not a gossiper slander 2 faced

person of their word and when they tell you something's going

to happen something's going to happen.

That's a requirement of these people you know lead in service.

You have to be a person of your word.

You have to be a person who is sincere in your service to the

Lord and your example, not indulging in much wine, we can

quickly. Address this.

He's saying you can't be a drunkard or an indulgent of

alcohol. Now please know that when this

was written, it was written in a different culture.

It was written in a culture where they would drink wine

because the water was not necessarily pure.

And I am fully convinced then at the Lord's Supper in these days,

they would drink some type of wine.

Now, I don't think that that wine was of this high alcohol

content where all you needed to do was drink a little thimble of

it and you would be drunk. I don't think that at all.

But I do believe that if you drink too much of it, it could

become a problem and you could become a drunker.

Now we Fast forward into our culture where we don't really

know the difference in the alcohol content.

We can testify to this that the alcoholic beverages in our day

are manufactured and they are brewed to get people

intoxicated. That's the whole point.

And so I would warn everyone, not just those who are seeking

the office of Deacon. I would warn everyone, be very

careful of alcohol. And please, if you're the one

trying to say, see, the Deacon could have wine, but just not

much wine. You've just admitted that you're

trying to push the alcoholic envelope.

I can show you over and over and over again.

Where Scripture gives great warning, much consideration to

the fact that alcohol is best left alone.

Now I say that. And I will turn around and I

will say that, and in no sense does it ever prohibit A thimble

full of wine during a Lord's Supper.

But I would caution the alcoholic don't.

Partake of wine. If you've got an alternative,

you've been there, you've done that.

You know what happens to the alcoholic, It consumes you.

Don't be consumed by these things.

He gives good advice to the Deacon here.

Not indulging in much wine, that means this.

Maybe the Deacon lived in an area where his water wasn't

pure. Maybe he was, as Timothy was

stricken with an illness, Paul said.

Drink a little wine for your stomach.

A little. Maybe that's a warning to say,

hey, some of you deacons, you might have stomach issues, drink

a little for your stomach, but hey, don't indulge.

Isn't that the truth? With much of everything, it's

excess that gets us in trouble. He then moves on and he says not

pursuing dishonest gain. Once you're staying here,

deacons don't need to be shysters.

They don't need to be people seen in the community as as

someone who's ripping people off, right?

Because that would be bad, wouldn't it?

I'm going to be bad if you know right now.

I thank the Lord for Mark Mueller and, and I commend to

him and I commend James Jones. But you know, Mark Mueller

leaves here. And if you don't know, I

shouldn't tell you what he does for a living because then you'll

be calling on him all the time and he'll get so overwhelmed he

won't know what to do. But.

He has a certain trade and if in his certain trade he began to

RIP people off, these people began to find that out.

You know, the first thing that they would say about him, oh, he

calls himself a Christian. He's supposed to be a leader

down that church serving the Lord.

We know how that happens. We have to be careful of that,

don't we? And unfortunately, many who have

warned the label Deacon in the church, I've done great damage

in regard to being shysters, pursuing dishonest gain, ripping

people off. You have to be very careful of

that, keeping hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear

conscience. What is he talking about here?

He's talking about they need to be men of sound doctrine,

keeping hold of the faith with a clear conscience.

Sound and doctrine, Sound and living.

What is he saying? They practice what they preach.

They practice what they know because someone who really

understands sound doctrine will live sound doctrine.

And if a person claims to know sound doctrine, right, I'm tired

of so many theologians claiming to be theologians who aren't

living what they claim to know. It can't happen.

As a Deacon, all you have is knowledge and knowledge puffs

up. But he's saying a Deacon, he'll

take the the sound biblical doctrine and who actually live

such a good life. That his conscience will be

clear before man and before God, keeping hold of the deep truths

of the faith with a clear conscience being sound and

doctrine, understanding the true gospel, being able to

communicate that, to live it. He's a man, he's a woman who is

sound and truth. And then he goes on and he talks

about this and often times we miss this part.

He's going to talk about how the Deacon should be properly

proven. We use the term vetted when we

talked about the overseer. They need to be.

First tested there in verse 10. And if there's nothing against

them, then let them serve as a deacons.

Now we've done that backwards in the church right here.

You're a Deacon. Now live up to this.

That's not what this is about. You know one thing that I have

learned about every true Deacon that I've ever seen, they were

doing the work of a Deacon before anyone ever acknowledged

that they were doing the work of a Deacon.

They were living the life. They were meeting the criteria.

They were humbly serving the Lord and others.

It must be properly proven. It's not want to be a Deacon do

this. It's On the contrary.

And because you're doing this, you're a Deacon, you meet the

criteria, you are what Scripture says that a Deacon really is.

You're properly proven. And then he moves into the women

deacons or if you want to believe, the wives of the

deacons. And again, let's don't split

hairs over that. There's no reason to fight about

that, but he gives them some distinct things to think about.

He says in the same way that are wise or the women, the

deaconess, he says they are to be women worthy of respect.

That's pretty self-explanatory because he says the men are to

be worthy of respect, so surely the women are too.

Whether that's the wife or the deaconess.

Not malicious talkers. I have no idea why he would

include that particular thing in regard to women.

You figure it out on your own. Not malicious talkers.

That means no gossip, no slander, no backbiting, all the

things that come out of our tongue.

It's not over mouths, but temperate and trustworthy in

everything. What's he saying about the women

there to be above reproach, just like the men don't have to

complicate? This.

Now, however you want to interpret that if that's a

deacon's wife, that's the responsibility for you.

Because could it be that he's talking about the deacon's wives

who serve alongside of the Deacon?

Possibly, but I don't know what to do with Phoebe.

And so I have to also say it could include the deaconess, the

woman who's serving the Lord. She needs to do it above

reproach. Then he moves back into the

deacon's role, which makes sense because he's never left the

deacon's role. He simply inserted women

deacons. You need to pay close attention

to these things as well. He says a Deacon must be the

husband of but one wife. We learned what that meant last

week. I hope you understand that.

What that means. Faithful to your wife, one woman

man in the Greek, that is a literal translation.

And then he goes just as he did with the overseers and says and

must manage his children and his household.

Well. Why is this important?

Because you can't serve as a Deacon in the church if you're

not serving your family at home by leading them by example, the

2GO hand in hand. You cannot have one without the

other. Same goes for the overseer, for

the Bishop who's standing up here teaching the Word of God.

If I am not doing my responsibility at home, I have

no place in standing in this pulpit.

If you were not handling your responsibility in the home as a

Deacon, A servant leader in your home, serving your wife and

serving your children, you have no place in taking a role in the

church where you are to serve others.

You can't do it effectively. Paul makes this very clear that

the Deacon is to serve his wife and his children.

So the office of Deacon is a position that calls for humble

service that will be accompanied by holy lives.

It's important because it's not just a title that we wear.

It's not just a badge that you get to stick on your shirt.

It's not a status symbol. We've met those people, haven't

we? My husband's a Deacon, and I'll

tell him about how you're not doing your job.

OK, great. Tell him I said hello.

Now you know why we don't call them deacons here.

So the people don't think that they're a role that they're not

supposed to play. It's a role of humble service.

It's a role that requires a holy life.

They must be examined first, tested.

Most people don't serve in a capacity of what we would

recognize officially as a Deacon here, a servant, servant leader,

until they are properly vetted for years.

Then they are entrusted with this work.

As Scripture says. Then and only then, they should

be. Now, I want to leave you with

this because I found this interesting.

This is something that the way I've studied this, the way I've

actually taught on this, we've actually taught other churches

about the roles in the offices in the church so that they could

refine and establish their roles.

And again, though this may not be interesting to any of you at

all, it is interesting to me because if God is sovereign over

all things, He's sovereign over the leadership in his church.

And I love to see it when it's bringing him honor and glory and

praise in the body of Christ. He's designed it this way and

with that design He promised his reward.

And I really love this, especially in regard to the

Deacon who's doing the jobs most of the time that other people

wouldn't be willing to do. He says in verse 13, those who

have served well gain, gain an excellent standing and great

assurance in their faith in Christ Jesus.

Paul is speaking here in terms of a blessing.

He's saying a Deacon who does his job or her job well.

Will receive a blessing for it and he's going to explain those

blessings that come to those who humbly serve as deacons in the

church. He says first they will be

exalted in standing. You say, well, what do you mean?

I thought we're not supposed to exalt ourself.

You're not. You're supposed to humble

yourself and God will do the exalting.

Those who serve in full humility as Deacon with the true attitude

of a servant, that John 13 attitude of Christ, they will be

seen as excellent by God himself.

And he says, I will exalt them because of that excellent

standing. I'll exalt them.

James speaks of this James chapter 4, verse 10.

James 4:10

It says humble yourselves before the Lord and he will lift you

up. Is that true?

Well then would it apply to the Deacon though?

I know in James chapter 4 the context is not Deacon.

James 4 · chapter mention

The context is a general Christian.

And is a Is a Deacon a general Christian?

Yes. And does a Deacon serve in a

specific office? Yes.

And is his office to serve? Yes.

And if he humbles himself before the Lord, what does the Lord

promise he will do? He'll lift him up.

That's for all the deacons who have served, right?

And you hear the enemy. Nobody ever notices what you're

doing. Nobody appreciates it.

God sees it, and He sees it as excellent, and he's going to

honor you by that. Why would you want men to honor

you when God promises that He will?

I wouldn't be OK with that. I don't want men to honor me

when God says that He's willing to honor me, The God of this

universe honoring me because I've humbled myself to serve

Him. He says I'll exalt you first

1 Peter 5:6

Peter chapter 5, verse 6, humble yourself, therefore under God's

mighty hand, that he may lift you up and do time Those who

humbled himself under God's mighty hand, does he lift them

up? Does he promise to do so exalt

them? Yes over and over and over again

in Scripture. I I couldn't take the time today

to read all the psalms that confirm this.

Yes, much of A deacon's work on this earth goes unseen by man,

doesn't it? Most of you went into the

restroom this morning, said, oh, nice clean restrooms.

You gave no thought to those who came in there armed with latex

gloves and a toilet scrubber. But they were here this week,

serving the Lord, unseen by man. God doesn't miss a thing.

He sees it all. He misses nothing.

Not only will they be exalted in standing by God, God exalting

them however he sees fit, others will also see them as excellent

in the church. They will see them as examples

that they want to follow. Looking at them, seeing Christ

in them and saying, you know what?

That's how I want to serve the Lord.

I want to serve the Lord like that.

I want to do what they're doing for the Lord.

I'm not not getting any applause or any accolades or any

trophies. I want to be like them, to be

seen as a servant of God, nothing else.

First Thessalonians, chapter 5, verse 13, You know what it says

1 Thessalonians 5:13

to do with those who are serving, doing the work of

ministry in the church, whether that's the overseer, whether

that's the Deacon, whether that's the pastors.

Verse 13 and 1st Thessalonians chapter 5 says to hold them in

the highest regard. That's what we ought to be

doing. We got to hold them in the

highest regard. You know what, oftentimes people

hold the pastor in highest regard.

They talk about key life fellowship and they say, oh, our

pastor this. Sometimes it's good.

Most designed probably. Not, but you get my drift.

Along for the day when when people talk about Key Life

Fellowship, they talk about her servants because this pastor

couldn't do what he does. If the deacons weren't doing

what they do, Why I couldn't devote myself to the word.

I couldn't devote myself to prayer.

I'm so thankful and I commend Key Life Fellowship.

That I am able to do this, that we are as structurally sound as

we can be with our leadership in the church, I am thankful for

that. Because it's not the norm, it's

rare that a pastor can do his job and that the other pastors

in this church can do their jobs.

And we can trust in the deacons to do their job.

And that's how it's designed to work.

God says because these deacons are willing to serve, we had to

hold them in the highest regard. We had to see them as excellent.

We got to commend them for their Excellency.

You know why? Because long after people forget

what we say, they'll remember how we served.

They'll remember how we served long after they forget.

Their favorite sermon is that if anyone's ever had a favorite

sermon that I preached, they'll remember.

He served the people well. Those of you who are serving as

deacons in this church, remember that.

Remember that in the lives of your family.

One day your family's going to gather around the graveside.

They're not going to remember how much Scripture you had

memorized. I'm going to remember how you

serve them, how you serve Christ, how you love Christ.

And because you love Christ, you love them and you serve them.

That's what they're going to be talking about, Christ in you

serving one another. That's what sets us apart.

He says there's a reward. For the Deacon, you'll be

exalted in your standing, but also you have assurance in your

salvation. Watch this and great assurance,

he says. Those who have served well

gained an excellent standing and great assurance in their faith

in Christ Jesus, he says. That the Deacon will be rewarded

with assurance of their salvation.

Why? Because their life is showing

evidence that a person who was once selfish and self motivated

and who wouldn't get dirty for anyone else, wouldn't sacrifice

anything for anyone else, was stingy, and love themselves

above all things, is now serving others wholeheartedly.

That is a work of God you can know this if God has changed you

in that area, you can have assurance of your salvation.

You have been changed by God. How do I know this Jesus and

what he taught he says in John chapter 13 verse 34 new command

John 13:34

I give you love one another's I've loved you.

How did he love them? He showed them that he's a.

Servant and he served them, so you must love one another.

If you really love one another, you'll serve one another, he

says in verse 35. By this what you're loving

servants. You love for one another shown

and what you do for them, he said.

By this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love

one another. That Deacon who is

wholeheartedly serving others can know he belongs to Christ

and the proof is in the fact that he loves and desires to

serve others. God says I'm going to reward you

with that. Assurance while many others are

constantly struggling, struggling with the assurance of

their faith. You know why you struggle most

of the time with your assurance of faith.

You're not serving the Lord. I can tell you this, you're

serving the Lord. You don't have time to doubt.

You're driven by the Holy Spirit.

You're driven by what His Word has taught.

You don't have time to think about anything but the work that

He has for you to do. The Deacon will be rewarded with

assurance of faith, knowing that what he is doing is a work of

God. What she is doing is a work of

God that backs up their profession.

I don't want to hear people talk about their profession of

Christ. You know what I want to do?

I want to see Him serve the Lord.

Why? Because talk is cheap and the

proof is always in the service. Because if you love the Lord,

what did He say? You do what He says.

You keep His commands. So this Deacon will experience

assurance. Others will look at him and say,

yeah, that's the disciple of Christ.

That's the follower of Christ. Look how he serves.

He'll also be able to evaluate himself and know that God has

done a work in him, that the service that he does is not

because of anything that he has done, because of everything that

Christ has done in him. He'll take note of Galatians

513, it says serve one another humbly in love.

You don't know. That's the mark of a true

believer. He'll take note Mark chapter 10

Mark 10:44

verse 44 where it says, and whoever wants to be first must

be a slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not

come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom

for many who have assurance of his faith because he has a

desire to give his life for many just as Christ gave his life for

many. He'll take note of first Peter

1 Peter 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4 where it says this and verse 10.

Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve

others as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various

forms. It'll be confirmed to him that

he is truly a recipient of God's grace because he has this

supernatural desire within him to serve God and to be an

example of Christ in his service.

That's the reward of the Deacon. Folks, you can't put a price tag

on that. Exalted by a sovereign God-given

assurance by the same God, confirmed by others who see the

work that God has done in you, in Christ.

There's not an earthly reward. That even compares to that is

there? The Deacon will be blessed, and

rightfully so, because they are worthy of a blessing, aren't

they? So let's conclude this.

We've been blessed, haven't we? We've been blessed as a church

with so many who fulfill the role of the Deacon.

I've spent this last week just really pondering all this,

thinking about those who look like what I see in scripture,

and I am overwhelmed with Thanksgiving to the Lord for

each and everyone of you. I can't say that enough.

You know who you are. I can't say that enough.

Keep serving Him. He will reward you just as He

has promised. Know that we are all thankful

for you. Your service is not something

that goes unseen or unnoticed. We as pastors are able to do our

job and to do our job effectively because you are

willing to do yours. I thank the Lord for that.

He's established it perfectly so that those things can happen.

So to the believers in our congregation, be thankful to the

Lord. For the deacons in this church,

though, we don't use that term. They're servants.

You see them. They're the ones who do what you

aren't willing to do. They do it with joy in their

heart. They do it with gladness in

their heart. They do it for the glory of God.

Thank the Lord for them. Perhaps you're here today and

you're an unbeliever and you say, Kurt, this stuff really

doesn't make sense to me. It won't.

It won't make sense to you until you're a part of the family of

God. You can't figure out why I would

tear up thinking about all these people and how dear they are to

me. Why?

Because they're a part of God's family that Christ purchased

with his precious blood. They're dear to me.

You have no understanding of that because you're still lost

in your sin. You're still undone by your

wretchedness. You've offended a holy God.

You need to be forgiven. You need to be saved, redeemed,

as the Bible calls it. I pray for you.

I pray that today be the day that God opens your eyes to see

your sinful state and to show you that you need a Savior and

to reveal to you that Christ is that Savior.

And I pray today, by His power, He gives you strength to repent

of your sin and to turn to Jesus Christ as Lord and His Savior

this very day, that your life would be changed, your sins

would be forgiven, and you would receive eternal life just as

Jesus has promised to all who believe and trust in Him.

Let's pray together. Father, we thank you for this

day. We thank You for Your word.

Such rich truths that so many times just go overlooked.

God, thank You that You won't allow us to do that if we just

walk through Your word. We see it all, we teach it all,

because it's all of equal importance.

God, may we see this important role.

Would I pray for those who would desire to serve in this role,

that you would continue to raise them up for those who are

serving in this role, or that you would continue to encourage

and empower them. God, I thank you personally for

each and every one of them. God, I pray for the soul who's

here today does not know Christ. And I plead with you, Lord

Jesus, you would have mercy upon them today.

They would talk to someone about someone, about what it means to

know Christ as Lord and Savior, perhaps be saved this very day

according to your will. And I pray and I ask all these

things in the mighty name of Jesus and all God's people said.

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