[0:00] 1 Timothy chapter 3. 1 Timothy chapter 3. 1 Timothy chapter 3.
[0:14] Last week, we were talking about deacons. And we talked about the function of deacons, and we used Stephen, one of the first deacons, as an example.
[0:27] And we looked at his life and the things that he did, and we looked at those functions. Today, for those of you visiting, we've been talking about deacons. We're looking at the qualifications of deacons, and then we're going to look at what it means to be a servant leader.
[0:43] So the qualifications of deacons and a servant leader. If you were to go in for a job, some of you have been people who had to hire people.
[0:57] And you ask somebody about their qualifications. What are you looking for? Well, you want to know the experience that they have.
[1:08] You want to know the training that they've had or the skills. Are they teachable? You want to know all of those different things about them.
[1:18] You know, they have to have certain things that they can do to be able to have the job. There's on-the-job training, but it usually helps if they have some knowledge of things that are going on.
[1:35] You know, the more crucial the job, the more stringent the requirements to do it. God has given us requirements for those who are going to be deacons.
[1:49] He says there's some requirements that take place there. Look with me at 1 Timothy 3, beginning at verse 8. And it says this, Let's have a word of prayer.
[2:43] Father, I pray today that you would help us to understand the qualifications for being a deacon. Lord, we're looking to add some deacons, and Lord, we want people who are going to be able to fulfill the job according to the biblical qualifications.
[3:00] Lord, I pray that you would just help us today to look at these things, and not just from the standpoint of do they qualify to be deacons, but Lord, look at our own lives. How do we match up to what you want?
[3:13] Lord, are we living lives that are what you have in mind for us? Lord, are we living the way that we can show people Jesus Christ through the things that we do? Lord, will we be the servants like Christ was?
[3:29] Lord, I just pray that you would bless our time together this morning. Help us to learn. Help us to grow. Help us to leave changed. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.
[3:40] So he says here's the qualifications for a deacon. And he says, first of all, he must be grave. So you only get people who are old enough that are about to kick the bucket.
[3:51] No, that's not what it means. He says grave, he means they understand the seriousness of the job that they're about to do. They understand the seriousness of the position and what it requires as far as being an example to others.
[4:11] Grave men can be joyful. They can laugh. They can have a good time. But they're not characterized by being flippant.
[4:26] All of a sudden, I can't say the word. Anyway, they are just, they know how to take things seriously when necessary. They know how to enjoy life at other times.
[4:36] But when it comes to being a deacon, they know there's a seriousness about it. No silly attitudes and things like that. There's some serious work if you're going to be a leader and an example to God's people.
[4:51] Not double-tongued, it says. Not double-tongued. A double-tongued one is one who can be deceitful, hypocritical. They're ones who can kind of go with the flow.
[5:07] You know, they're with this group, they're one way. They go with this group, they're another way. They go with this group, they're another way. They just kind of bounce back and forth depending on who they're with. And a deacon has to be a man who sticks by the stuff.
[5:22] A man who knows what he believes about the word of God and sticks with it. He has to be someone who is a man of his word. He has to be someone who can be trusted with confidential information.
[5:37] I used to, I was telling some people this morning already that I was a teacher for 27 years, but I was a teacher and a principal. And we used to have board meetings at one of the places I was at.
[5:51] And we'd have these meetings about things that were going on in the school and everything. And the next morning I would arrive at school and some certain kids would show up to me and say, Hey, I heard we're doing this and that and the other thing.
[6:02] And why are we doing this? And why are we going to do that? Their dad was in the meeting the night before. And it's like, you don't go home telling everybody everything you know, especially your kids.
[6:15] But they would do that. You need to be careful. They need to be people who know how to keep a confidence in things. Double tongue also implies gossiping, backbiting, undermining, holding grudges, all of those type of things.
[6:32] If we're going to be gossips and backbiters and all these things, it's going to hinder the work of God. It's going to hinder what God is trying to do. And it can disqualify a man from having the office of deacon if he cannot learn how to control things that are taking place.
[6:49] Not given to much wine. Not given to much wine. Deacons have to be especially careful. They need to abstain from things that are going to weaken the testimony of the church.
[7:06] Whether it be alcohol, drugs, tobacco, all those different things. 1 Thessalonians 5.22 says, Abstain from all appearance of evil. Abstain from it.
[7:19] Don't go near it. We've got too many people today who like to see how close they can walk the line. I'm a Christian. I should live like this. But here's this fence.
[7:30] And here's the world. And I like some of the things over here. So I'll see how close I can walk this fence and kind of go between the two. No. Abstain from all appearance of evil.
[7:41] Don't go that route. They should never bring disrepute on the church because of addictions or associations that they make.
[7:53] Then he goes on and he says, Look, not greedy a filthy lucre. Not greedy a filthy lucre. Proverbs warns about the danger of leadership.
[8:05] Who can be bribed or influenced by things for personal gain. Proverbs 17.23 says, A wicked man taketh a gift out of the bosom to pervert the ways of judgment.
[8:24] What does that mean? You ever watch TV shows or movies and things and some kind of shady deals taking place on there and a guy reaches into his coat, brings out an envelope full of money and hands it to somebody?
[8:38] A wicked man taketh a gift out of the bosom to pervert the way of judgment. That's what it's talking about. Taking this out of here, trying to get you to go this way or that way or the other way.
[8:52] He says, you need to be careful. See, when we get greedy, it makes us make weird decisions. When we get greedy, it makes us make decisions that aren't necessarily the ones that are sound judgment.
[9:04] He says, a deacon controlled by money is going to make decisions that aren't necessarily the wisest decisions. A deacon controlled by the love of money is going to prevent himself also from serving.
[9:16] I'm so wrapped up in what I am doing and the business and the things, I'm not going to serve the church the way I should. Financial success, however, let me say this right off.
[9:27] Financial success is not sinful. Abraham, if you go back and look at Abraham's life, he was very successful and very wealthy. You go back and look at the life of David, Solomon, different ones like that.
[9:39] David was very wealthy. Solomon, it did affect him some later on in his life. But be careful that the money doesn't control what you do.
[9:52] They'll come to the point where they don't want to help out in the family of God, and they don't want to even be near their own family because they're so wrapped up in other things.
[10:02] They're so wrapped up in the world and in the getting of money that they forget what the priority is supposed to be, and that is God. Qualification of a deacon also indicates that they're generous givers.
[10:15] They know how to give. Matthew 6, 21 says, For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. What is the most important thing to you?
[10:28] If it gets wrapped up in the business world and gets wrapped up in money and things, that's going to be the most important thing, and that's where you're going to put your interest, and that's where you're going to put your energies. If it's doing what God wants us to do, that's where you're going to put your energy.
[10:42] So we should financially invest in the church through tithes and offerings. We should support the ministries of our church, but we need to be careful we don't get wrapped up in the money itself.
[10:57] Remember it says in the Bible, The love of money is the root of all evil. It doesn't say money is. Money is a tool. Money is just something we have to make exchanges and things.
[11:09] But the love of money, he says, gets you in trouble. Then he goes on and he says in verse 9, Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience.
[11:20] Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. What does that mean? The mystery of the faith is the gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel of Jesus Christ saves.
[11:33] The gospel of Jesus Christ will get you to heaven. The gospel of Jesus Christ is what makes all the difference in life. And he says, look, hold that mystery of faith in a pure conscience.
[11:45] He's one who's got a clear grasp of biblical truth. He knows the word of God and he knows how to use it. And he's consistently passing it on to other people.
[11:56] He knows how to give to others and share the gospel with them. He's a student of the scripture. He's a teacher of the scriptures. He's able to do both. Paul, when he was leaving the elders of Ephesus, he said to them this in Acts chapter 20, verse 26 and 27.
[12:16] Wherefore, I take you to record this day that I am pure from the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.
[12:28] He says, I'm pure. I am free from the blood of all men because everybody I've come in contact with, I have shared the gospel with them so that they know the gospel.
[12:39] They know that Jesus Christ died for them. They know how they can be saved. He says, hold it in a pure conscience. He was faithful in his witness.
[12:50] He was faithful in his discipleship of people. He says, I've got a conscience free from all guilt because I know that I have shared the gospel and discipled those who have gotten saved.
[13:03] Then look at verse 10. And let these also first be proved. To be a deacon is not a training ground. To be a deacon is not a place of discipleship.
[13:17] To be a deacon requires a man who has established the things of God in his life before he takes the position.
[13:28] He has to be living it out already. It's not, we'll bring you in. You got saved yesterday and we're going to make you a deacon and we'll train you along the way. On the job training.
[13:40] He says, no, not on the job training. Be demonstrating already that you have these things in your life. You're already following these things in your life.
[13:50] You already know how to do all of this. Every Christian should continue in spiritual growth and a deacon should as well. A deacon should be proven in his spiritual maturity.
[14:01] When you appoint people, like I said, you got saved yesterday, I'm going to make you a deacon today. What does that do for things like pride? You need to learn how to control pride before you take the office of deacon.
[14:16] Because see, a lot of people take the office of deacon and they think, I'm somebody special. We'll talk about that in a few minutes. We're not necessarily somebody special. We have a special job to do, but that's about it.
[14:30] He goes on and he says, they're to be blameless. Blameless. Jared reads that and he reads different times and he said, nobody's blameless.
[14:41] We all got problems. We all got things. Yes, we do. What he's saying there is we need to be able to stand up before people and say, we're doing what we believe God wants us to do.
[14:55] We believe that we're obeying his will and following him. You know, Samuel, at the end of his ministry, stood up before the people of Israel and said, can anybody say any transaction that I've done that was wrong?
[15:11] Well, embezzlement is a problem in some churches. I was in one church. We were there for seven years.
[15:22] The first year I taught school. I was teacher, principal. I taught school. The next six years I worked in the finance office because a guy had been embezzling from the school and church.
[15:37] And I wound up working there, taking his place. We need to be so careful that everything we do financially and otherwise is above board.
[15:49] You know, lifestyles of a deacon and his family should be above reproach. Then it says, even so, they're wise.
[16:05] Uh-oh. If you're going to be a deacon, how's your family doing? Even so, they're wise. And notice, they demonstrate the fact that husbands, the same thing that husbands have up to this point.
[16:20] It says the wives should be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things. The wives have to be there too. So the wives can't be gossip.
[16:30] The wives can't be doing all these things. The wives have to be careful about the things that they say and how they say things and stuff. The church leadership opens the man's home up for scrutiny.
[16:40] The whole family has to be a testimony of what God has for them, what God wants them to do. You know, when we're appointed to leadership, we're to be examples.
[16:59] So the wife has to be an example as well. Then notice he says, the husband of one wife. Okay, here's where we open up a whole can of worms.
[17:12] What does that mean? Now you read it and you think, the husband of one wife. Okay. But people say, does that mean, well, they can't have more than one wife.
[17:26] Yes, that does mean that. You can't have more than one. Back at that time, there was some polygamy. Not necessarily all that much during the time this was written, but there were some. So nope, you can't have more than one wife.
[17:39] All right. Chuck asked me, so if a wife dies and a guy remarries, is he disqualified? No, the wife died. If a man's been divorced.
[17:56] Now there are different views on that. Well, it really means one wife at a time. No. What it actually means is a one woman man.
[18:09] So in my taking, just so you'll know, if you're thinking about deacons for this church, my thinking is, one woman. That's it. Unless she died.
[18:19] You say, well, what about guys who have been divorced and stuff and the ones who have gone through things? It's not always their fault. I understand that. And I sympathize with that.
[18:31] But I believe it's saying one wife. Because even though you got divorced, and there are things in the Bible that said you can get divorced if you're, you know, fornication, things like that.
[18:42] But the Bible also says, what God has joined together, let not man put asunder. So even though we decide that, was that God's doing or was that our doing?
[18:56] So when I see one husband and one wife, I think husband and one wife. Husband's never been divorced. He's never found, had anybody else. One wife.
[19:06] ruling their children and their own house as well. So he's going to be the spiritual leader at home before he can be a spiritual leader at the church.
[19:22] So here you are. We've got a guy who wants to be a deacon. How does he do with his family at home? How does he do with his family? Now kids are going to be kids.
[19:34] I understand that. Kids are going to be kids. Kids are going to do all kinds of things. Kids can be really funny sometimes and the things that they come up with and the things that they do.
[19:47] But does he generally have control at home? And I don't mean control like, you know, bringing the fist down and all those kinds of things. I mean, spiritually, does he have control and able to talk to his children and show them and develop them and show them that God's word says, this is right, this is wrong.
[20:05] And go by that. What does God's word say? And then, it said this on the wives, but I'm going to put it for husbands and wives and the whole family.
[20:17] Faithful in all things. That can kind of sum up the whole thing about being a deacon. Faithful in all things.
[20:27] So when you look into the qualifications for a deacon or for a deacon's wife, are they solid Christians? Are they faithful to the Lord? Are they faithful to church?
[20:37] Do they regularly attend all the services? Sunday morning, Sunday night, Sunday afternoon for us, Sunday midweek services, revival meetings, all of those types of things.
[20:49] Do they show up when the church doors are open? Are they concerned enough to be here and see how the church is doing and what's going on? Can they teach the word of God?
[21:00] 2 Timothy 2.2 says this, And the things which thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou unto faithful men who shall be able to teach others also.
[21:13] Can they teach the word of God to others? Can they demonstrate it? Can they live it in front of others? Can they show others what it means to be a Christian? Can they show the word of God in action in their lives and the people they talk with?
[21:29] Look down at verse 13 where you are there in 1 Timothy 3. It says, For they that have used the office of a deacon well, purchased to themselves a good degree and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.
[21:45] He says, Those who know how to be the deacon described here. Those that know how to do these things that are written here. He said, They purchased to themselves a good degree and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.
[22:02] It doesn't mean they purchased to themselves and bought things to get to themselves. They've got a nice house and a jet plane and all those other things like some people do today. No.
[22:13] They know how to get a hold of God. They know how to stand for God. They know how to live for God. That's what he's talking about. They know how to do those things. We should recognize the men who live that way.
[22:27] They've used the stewardship of their influence to help others. We need to make sure we're living like that. So, high qualifications for deacons point out the fact that our testimony counts.
[22:40] Are we living the way God wants us to? Are we living according to the word of God? But that brings us to another thing. We talked about are deacons rulers or are they servants?
[22:58] The word deacon means servant. Therefore, to be an effective servant leader. Go with me to Mark chapter 10. I'm going to have you go somewhere else today.
[23:09] Mark chapter 10. Mark chapter 10. Mark chapter 10. Mark chapter 10.
[23:23] We'll be beginning at verse 42. Mark chapter 10, verse 42. It says this. But Jesus called them to him and said unto them, Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and their great ones exercise authority upon them.
[23:43] Okay? So, the Gentiles, their way of leading, you know how it is. They exercise that authority. Verse 43. But so shall it not be among you, but whosoever shall be great among you shall be your minister, and whosoever of you shall be the chiefest shall be servant of all.
[24:06] For even the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
[24:18] Servant leadership was Jesus' idea. Servant leadership was demonstrated by Jesus. The word minister literally means to attend to or to wait upon.
[24:31] To attend to or to wait upon. He says, look, if you're going to be a minister, if you're going to be a servant leader who ministers to other people, you're going to be like Jesus, who came and, according to Philippians 2.7, took upon him the form of a servant.
[24:48] He took upon him the form of a servant. He displayed servant leadership at its best. As a deacon, someone should view their position as servant leadership.
[25:06] It should be evidenced in the church. It should be evidenced in their personal life. I want to be serving God in everything that I do.
[25:19] If you were to ask Jesus, define servant leadership for us. How would you view this role of a deacon? He would say, as servant of all. Servant of all.
[25:31] That's tough for us to take sometimes. We like to think, I've got a position. I'm important. He says, no, servant of all. He taught us to minister, to give ourselves, as he gave himself.
[25:44] Paul Chappell, who I've been getting a lot of this from, he has a church in California called Lancaster Baptist Church. He's the president of West Coast Bible College.
[25:56] He puts it this way. Jesus introduced the towel and bowl kind of leadership. You remember when he went and knelt down before his disciples and he washed their feet?
[26:11] The towel and bowl kind of leadership. He cleaned the feet of his creation. He made them. And yet here he is washing their feet.
[26:25] See, this is the kind of leadership where the God who created everything bowed himself down, humbled himself before people, and made a way of salvation so that we do not have to face hell because he gave us a way out, because he provided what was needed.
[26:48] It's the kind of leadership, it was put this way, that gains by giving, lives by dying, and rises by kneeling. He says, that's the kind of leadership you're supposed to have.
[27:03] That's the kind of leadership that Jesus had. What is it all about? Well, the pastor's called an under-shepherd. Deacons should aspire for that as well, to be under-shepherds, to help with the kingdom of God.
[27:18] See, the shepherd personifies the fact that he has the heart that God wants him to have. He has the heart of a servant leader. His chief ambition is not to be recognized.
[27:31] His chief ambition is not to live in comfort. His chief concern is the well-being of the flock. How are the people in the church doing? Jesus called himself the good shepherd in John chapter 10.
[27:46] He's the one who gave his life for his sheep, he talks about. Think about Jesus for a second. We were doing that in Sunday school this morning, or in the book of Hebrews in Sunday school.
[28:00] Think about that this morning. He came to this world as a servant. He came as one who would wash his disciples' feet. He came king of kings to serve men.
[28:16] He left his home in glory to be born in a manger. He left his home in glory to die on a cross. Can you think of any more servant-like than Jesus Christ?
[28:33] 1 Peter chapter 5, verses 3 and 4 say, Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.
[28:49] He says, he came not to go over a heritage of God's flock, but to, I forgot how it goes, to be an example, an example of what we're supposed to be.
[29:04] See, pastor, deacons, need to care about the flock. He needs to give himself for the flock, for their spiritual growth, for their health. Deacons, who can develop that attitude of an under-shepherd, can be used of God in great ways.
[29:22] They can be used so that people will come to know Christ. People will grow in Christ. You know, what a great joy it is when you can watch people that you've led to the Lord, or you've helped disciple, and watch them out doing that work themselves.
[29:37] Helping others come to know Christ. I got a quote that I'm going to put up on the screen behind me. Ian's back there. Ian's helping out this morning.
[29:48] Thank you, Ian. There, there's a quote from the book I was telling you about. It says, the office of the deacon is a high and holy call, but the role of a deacon is one of lowliness and humility.
[30:05] Your purpose is the grand, eternal purpose of Almighty God, but your function is one of Christ-like understatement. We're representing the most high God, but we do it with humility.
[30:21] We do it with that Christ-like understatement, he says. Christ did not come to promote himself. He came to promote the Father. You ever read through the Gospels when Jesus is talking?
[30:34] How many times does he mention came to do the will of the Father? Not his own, but the will of the Father. Jesus' life was not one of lavish, luxury, things like that.
[30:50] He left that to come down here, to be born in a manger, to die on a cross. God says he'll exalt in due time.
[31:04] Let me read those verses for you. It says in 1 Peter 5, verses 5 and 6, likewise ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another and be clothed with humility.
[31:18] For God resisteth the proud and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.
[31:30] See, when we put our lives in the hands of Jesus, when we let ourselves be controlled by him, when we allow ourselves to be servants to him and his will and his purpose, says he will exalt you in due time.
[31:44] But for right now, our job is to be servant leaders. What's the ministry of a servant leader? To serve. To serve. That's, you know, what are we supposed to do as servant leaders?
[31:57] Serve. Ministry will be hard sometimes. It'll be difficult. But God established the deacon to take some of the labor and help the church grow.
[32:12] A servant leader is not afraid to get his hands dirty and he doesn't demand recognition for the service. We have a lot of people around here that do different things, that take care of cleaning and doing other things and ministering on some different work projects and stuff.
[32:27] They don't ask for a lot of recognition for that. I try to make sure I thank them. But a lot of them don't want you people to know what they're doing. They just want to do their work for God and call it good because they're doing it for him.
[32:44] Again, living like Jesus. Take your Bible once more. I'm going to make you turn one more time. Philippians, chapter 2. You probably don't even need to go there, but Philippians, chapter 2.
[32:56] I started at verse 2. Philippians 2, started at verse 2.
[33:07] Fulfilling my joy that ye be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Okay, stop right there. He wants us to be like-minded. Like-minded with who?
[33:18] Jesus. He says, be like-minded with one another, with Jesus. having the same love, being of one accord, united, of one mind.
[33:29] Let nothing be done through strife and vain glory, but in all lowliness of mind, that each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.
[33:41] Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, took upon him in the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.
[33:57] And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. You want to know what servant leadership is? You look at Jesus. Form of a servant, humbled himself, became obedient.
[34:12] That's what God wants us to do. What's the motives of a servant leader? I'm almost done. The motives of a servant leader is not somebody who seeks status. They seek the mind of Christ.
[34:25] Did you catch that? They seek the mind of Christ. They want the type of leadership that Jesus had. His glory, his pleasure, his purpose is the goal of what we're trying to accomplish and what we're trying to do.
[34:43] John the Baptist said, he must increase, I must decrease. That's what we should be doing. Everything points to Jesus, everything away from us.
[34:54] What's the methods of a leader? Well, we won't take time now, but if you would go back and read Acts chapter 7, that's Stephen's sermon that he preached. And you'll find where a man who would stand up for Christ would also humble himself in front of Christ.
[35:12] Excuse me. The Apostle Paul made two declarations in 1 Thessalonians 2. He said first that he was to be bold to speak the gospel and that he spoke it without guile.
[35:26] Anything he did was only Christ-centered and with pure motives. You know, that's what a spiritual leader should do, what a servant leader should do.
[35:37] It's only concerned about what God wants and what's going to help his people. The world today has a really different idea. Those who are trying to climb the political ladder or the corporate ladder or things like that, they're always trying to get themselves built up, always trying to make themselves look good, always trying to, you know, servant leaders are all concerned about worshiping God, doing what God wants us to do.
[36:04] You know, some people might argue and say, well, you know, that type of leadership, that type of thing, that servant role, people are going to walk all over me.
[36:18] Yeah. What did they do to Jesus? And that's pretty good company to be in. You know, ministry of deacon can only be God-honoring as it's performed by men with servants' hearts.
[36:36] It can only be God-honoring when it's done to see Christ lifted up and exalted. That's what being a servant leader is all about. So, for our deacons, I gave you the qualifications, I gave you what it means to be a servant leader.
[36:53] Those are the type of people we're looking for. If you think you might be one of those, talk to me. Last week, when I finished, we were talking about Stephen standing, you know, he was being stoned, but he was standing.
[37:09] And we sang Dare to Stand. Today, we're going to close with a different attitude. We've been talking about servant leaders. You don't need your book. We've been talking about servant leaders.
[37:21] To be servant leaders, we need to learn how to bow the knee. And so, we're going to sing to be servant leaders.
[37:42] We love you. We love you.