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[0:00] of Acts. I'm not going to give you a specific chapter yet. I'm going to have you moving around. Remember last week I had you moving around? I'm going to do that to you again this week for a while. So, actually I'll tell you, go to Acts chapter 2 to start.

[0:13] Let's do that. Notice behind me, like I said, today's going to be more of a teaching time than a preaching time. We have been discussing deacons in some of us, and we want to have some deacons, and so we're going to talk about what does it mean in the next couple weeks.

[0:34] Today we're going to talk about basically the idea of what's the function of a deacon, and then next week we'll talk about qualifications of a deacon. So, what is a deacon? That's the first question we need to answer. What is one? Well, according to the Gospel Coalition, it's a website, they say, deacons are model servants appointed to a local church office.

[0:57] They are deployed to assist the pastors or elders in protecting church unity, organizing practical service, and meeting tangible needs.

[1:10] Maintaining unity, giving service, meeting needs. Then another guy by the name of Tom Rainer. He is a writer about churches. He does a lot of research on churches and things.

[1:23] Here's what he says about deacons. Deacons are a mystery in many churches. And here's what he goes on to say. In some churches, they act more like elders or a board of directors.

[1:34] Other churches attempt to focus on their role on servant ministry, but there is confusion how that should take place in churches. We know more about the qualifications of deacons than we do the function of deacons.

[1:49] Indeed, 1 Timothy 3, 8 through 13, includes some of those very specific qualifications. But what is a deacon supposed to do? For certain, we know that the term deacon means servant.

[2:03] But how does this servant ministry manifest itself? Perhaps we could look at Acts 6, 1 through 7, and we will before we're done today, as the origin or the forerunner of the deacon ministry.

[2:17] If we believe it is to be the case, deacons are to serve widows and maintain unity in the church. So we're going to look at that passage in a few minutes, Acts chapter 6.

[2:30] But before I do that, here's what I want to do first. Where do deacons come from? The church. You guys are the church, right?

[2:41] People are the church. So deacons come from the church, the people in the church. So we're going to look, first of all this morning, at the responsibilities of the people of the church.

[2:54] Let's have a word of prayer. Father, I pray that you would help this morning, that you would give me clarity of thought. Lord, that you would help me as I preach this message.

[3:06] Lord, I pray that you would just help all of us to learn what you are looking for, what you want us as a church, the people, to be, and then what the deacons are to be as well.

[3:18] Lord, use this time not only to minister to our hearts, those who are saved, who understand that, you know, church needs deacons, but Father, there might be some here this morning who are unsaved.

[3:31] And as Stan said, we give the gospel. And Lord, I pray that you would help them to understand that everything we do, everything that happens is because of Jesus Christ and what he has done for us, giving his life on the cross.

[3:42] Lord, I just thank you for the salvation we have in Christ. And I thank you for the word that we have that will teach us. Lord, just minister to our hearts this morning in Jesus' name.

[3:53] Amen. First of all, you're there in Acts chapter 2. Look with me at verse 1. Verse 1 says, And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

[4:09] Stop there. They're all with one accord in one place. They were gathered together in unity. That's what we're doing here this morning. Gathering together in one place in unity.

[4:21] Go to verse 42 of that same chapter. It says, And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship and in the breaking of bread and in prayers.

[4:32] Okay? So, they were steadfast in the apostles' doctrine, the word of God. They were steadfast in their fellowship, getting together. They were steadfast in their breaking of bread, having communion together, and in prayers.

[4:49] They were steadfast in prayers. Praying for one another is so important. We need to pray for one another. He goes on from there in verse 43. Fear came upon every soul and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.

[5:03] And all that believed were together and had all things common. Go down to verse 47. Praising God in having favor with all people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

[5:15] So, they were unified and they were praying together as a church to see God work in their midst. So, we as a church need to be praying for one another.

[5:26] Are you praying for those beside you? Are you praying for those around you? Praying that God would use them and work in their hearts and lives. 1 Timothy, chapter 5. Go with me over to 1 Timothy, chapter 5.

[5:40] Second thing they do was to acknowledge and care for their pastor. Acknowledge and care for their pastor. Look at 1 Timothy, chapter 5. 1 Timothy, chapter 5, verse 17.

[5:53] Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially they that labor in the word and in doctrine. And then over in Hebrews.

[6:04] Those of you who are with me in Sunday school are in the book of Hebrews. Chapter 13, look at verse 7. Remember them that have the rule over you who have spoken unto you the word of God whose faith follow considering the end of their conversation.

[6:23] So, he says, look, be concerned about your pastor. Make sure you're concerned about him, praying for him, watching over him, helping him in any way that you can. Go back to 1 Corinthians, chapter 13.

[6:35] I know I'm moving you around a lot. I'll be done doing that in a few minutes. 1 Corinthians, chapter 13. If I were to say to you, 1 Corinthians 13, what's the first thought that comes into your mind?

[6:50] The love chapter. See, everybody knows that. It's a love chapter. He talks about love here, talks about charity, which means love. And look at verse 4.

[7:02] Charity suffereth long. And is kind. Charity envieth not. Charity vaunteth not itself. Is not puffed up. Does not behave itself unsimely. Seeketh not her own. Is not easily provoked.

[7:13] Thinketh no evil. Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth. Beareth all things. Believeth all things. Hopeth all things. Endureth all things. Charity never faileth.

[7:25] Charity, love. That's all things that love does. And he says, look, you need to love one another. See, we usually look at that and we say, oh, that's the love chapter. We use it at weddings and we use it here and there for different things.

[7:39] Paul is in the midst of writing the church at Corinth to tell them some things that they were doing wrong. And in the midst of his telling them what they should be doing, he says, among those things, you should be loving one another.

[7:52] You should be lifting one another up, encouraging one another, helping one another. Show love to one another. When you look around, show love to those that are by you. Fourth thing, study scripture.

[8:05] Study scripture. I won't make you turn. 2 Timothy 2.15, study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. Study to show thyself approved.

[8:18] He says, study. As church members, you should be studying. Remember there was a time in Acts, Paul was talking about one church, the church at Berea. They studied the scriptures to make sure all the things that he was telling them were true.

[8:35] He says, study the scriptures. Refrain from gossip. Go over to 1 Thessalonians with me. 1 Thessalonians. No, 2 Thessalonians.

[8:49] Sorry. 2 Thessalonians. Chapter 3. And verse 11 and 12. 2 Thessalonians 3.11 and 12 says, For we hear that there are some which will walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies.

[9:08] Now them that are such, we command and exhort by the Lord Jesus Christ that with quietness they work and eat their own bread. He said, there are some walking around who are busybodies, some who are gossip.

[9:20] He says, be careful. Don't gossip. Don't be spreading rumors around. Don't do things that are going to be a problem and hinder the work of God. You know, gossip can do more harm than anything else in the church probably.

[9:33] So be very careful of that. 1 Peter 1.16, don't turn. He says, pursue holiness. He says, be holy for I am holy.

[9:44] In 1 Peter 1.16. Why should we live holy lives? Because the God who lives within us, if we're saved and Christ is living within us, because he is holy.

[9:56] If we're living the kind of Christian life that we should, it's going to be one that's going to demonstrate holiness because God does and because Christ lives within us. Go to Galatians.

[10:06] This one, do go with me. Galatians chapter 6. Galatians chapter 6. And he says, bear ye one another's burdens.

[10:19] Galatians chapter 6, beginning at verse 1. Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.

[10:33] Bear ye one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if a man think himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing of himself alone and not in another.

[10:49] For every man shall bear his own burden. Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things. He says, bear one another's burdens.

[11:01] Lift one another up. Courage one another. Help them in the things that they do. Again, don't turn. 2 Corinthians 9, verses 6 through 8, talks about giving to the Lord's work.

[11:13] It says, be a giver, do it happily, cheerfully to the Lord. Give to what he has for us. And then, Acts chapter 1, verse 8, it says, it says, that we are to receive power after the Holy Ghost has come upon you.

[11:40] And ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem and in Judea and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. Be witnesses to the lost. Okay?

[11:51] So, here we have, what are the responsibilities of the members of the church? That's all you guys. All of these different things that are up there behind me, he says, these are responsibilities that you as a church have.

[12:06] Now, from out of those people, you, he says, choose deacons. Choose people. Go with me over to Acts chapter 6 now. I'll leave you there for a while.

[12:19] Acts chapter 6. The office of a deacon. A church, even one this size, can be a busy place at times.

[12:34] A lot of different things going on. A lot of different things happening. And, he says, part of my job, according to Ephesians 4.12, is to equip you, to help you get ready to do the work of the ministry.

[12:50] So, when I get up here and preach, or when I teach Sunday school, or whatever I'm doing, I'm trying to give you things that I think will help equip you to do what God wants you to do. He says, look, the main responsibility is going to be teaching God's word.

[13:06] That's going to be my main responsibility, teaching God's word. But, there are a lot of other things that happen in the church, in case you don't know that. There's a lot of other things that take place.

[13:16] And, he says, look, you may need some help. So, therefore, I want you to choose some deacons. And, and the early church leaders said, look, find some godly men who are in the church to help with the church affairs.

[13:35] Look with me there in chapter 6, beginning at verse 1. In those days, the number of disciples was multiplied. There arose murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration.

[13:49] Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them and said, it is not reason that we should leave the word of God and serve tables. Okay, stop right there for a minute. So, they had a problem.

[14:00] There was an issue. The church was trying to help take care of the widows that were there. But, the ones who were Gentiles, Grecians, were saying, we're being neglected.

[14:14] You know, the Hebrew ones, the Jewish ones over here, they're getting everything they need, but we're not getting everything we need. People complain sometimes. Was it a legitimate complaint?

[14:25] Obviously it was because the disciples, I mean, the apostles said, okay, we've got to do something about this. And the Bible word for deacon, remember, I mentioned this before, the Bible word for deacon means servant.

[14:38] A servant. Or one, another person put it this way, one selected by people and charged with temporal affairs of the local church. So, the role of a deacon is to help the pastor and help the church.

[14:52] That's what they're supposed to do. He says, look, be a servant. Who's the greatest servant who ever lived? Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. He says, look, look at the life of Jesus, listen to the words of Jesus, and be a servant like Jesus as you go about your daily work that you're going to do as a deacon.

[15:15] Look at verse 3. Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.

[15:28] Look down at verse 5. And the saying pleased the whole multitude. And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timnon, and Parmenas, and Nicholas, a proselyte of Antioch.

[15:47] He says, those seven men got chosen. There were supposed to be seven men that had special abilities, special characteristics. So, let's take a look at what was the characteristics of those guys.

[15:58] First of all, they had a godly influence. Notice that. They had a godly influence. He says, look ye among you.

[16:10] Look out among you. He says, we need to have seven men. And notice, these were men who were faithful, men who were doing the work of the ministry, men who were involved before they had a title.

[16:27] They were actually doing the work of the ministry before they had a title to go along with it. They had a godly influence on the people who were there. They had godly relationships.

[16:40] Notice he says, among you. The people who are here. A godly relationship with the people that are here. There are people that you can say, I can go talk to that person.

[16:51] I can go share with that person. If I need help, I can go to that person. He says, look for those who have godly relationships and can be trusted with things. Make sure that they're, you know, you always think, if we're going to choose a deacon, they've got to be godly.

[17:08] That's good. They've got to have that right relationship with God. But he says, they've also got to have this right relationship with the other people in the church. So be looking for somebody like that.

[17:18] these men had a godly reputation. Notice he says, men of honest report. They had integrity. There was honor. People could trust them to do what needed to be done.

[17:33] They could trust them to follow along. They were full of wisdom. Full of wisdom, he says. They were people who you could tell were following the Lord in everything they did.

[17:48] They walked with God. They were yielded to the Holy Spirit. They were full of godly wisdom in the things that they did. He says, people who are full of wisdom. How about a servant's heart?

[18:00] Because a deacon is supposed to be a servant, so he said, they need to have a servant's heart. They were, you think about what their initial job was. He said, they're going to be people who are going to help you serve the widows in the church.

[18:16] He takes the servant's heart. Especially, when you look at the names there, most of these were Jewish men who were going to be helping Gentile widows. Doesn't necessarily scream, you know, I'm important, does it?

[18:34] When no neon signs are going to go off, hey, I'm important, look at me. Jewish men helping Gentile women. But that was being part of having a servant's heart.

[18:44] They had a willingness to serve and do things. They were going to be men of faith. He talks about that there. They had to be men who had faith. You know, as overseer, I need people who are going to help.

[19:01] I need people who are going to follow. I need people who are going to have the mindset that we need to serve our people and help them in the things that we're doing.

[19:12] A lot of churches have deacons where they say, you know what? Our job is to stand up to the pastor. That's not the job. The job is servant.

[19:25] Are we ready to serve the Lord and those around us? So he says, look, you need to pick seven and they did. They picked seven different men there in verse five.

[19:36] But then he goes on and he gives some background to one of those deacons. One of those deacons is Stephen. Look at verse eight. And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people.

[19:53] Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines and the Cyrenians and the Alexandrians and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen.

[20:05] And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake. Then they suborned men, which said, we have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.

[20:18] And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes and they came upon him and caught him and brought him to the council and set up false witnesses, which said, this man ceases to speak, ceases not to speak blasphemous words against his holy place and the law.

[20:35] For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place and shall change the customs which Moses delivered unto us.

[20:45] And all that sat in the council looking steadfastly on him saw his face as it had been the face of an angel. They are going after him, they are attacking him, they are talking about stoning him and it says they look up at him and he has like the face of an angel.

[21:02] Interesting, isn't it? He was a man full of faith. Looking at Stephen, he was a man full of faith. You know, where does your journey as a Christian begin?

[21:15] Faith in Jesus Christ. You don't get saved without faith in Jesus Christ. You have to trust that Jesus Christ came, died on that cross, gave his life, went to the grave, rose again to pay for your sin.

[21:31] And because he paid for your sin, you get to go to heaven because that's where he is now. He ascended into heaven, sits at the right hand of the Father, says, and you get to go for eternity with him if you believe in Jesus Christ, which takes faith.

[21:47] Do you have faith? Stephen was a man of faith. Colossians, you don't have to turn, Colossians 2, 6 says, as we have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him.

[21:59] Stephen's life was, that was his life. He walked in faith concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, when you're selecting deacons from a church, a lot of people will select people who are businessmen and things like that.

[22:18] But more important than having a business background and more important than having a financial background and things, do they have faith? Do they trust God for the things that are happening in their life?

[22:31] Moving forward in the cause of Christ, that's the most important thing. 2 Corinthians 5, 7 says, for we walk in faith, not by sight. He says, have people who know how to trust God and walk with him.

[22:45] The deacons were full of faith. Stephen was also full of power. Full of power. His life showed that he lived for Christ.

[23:00] The Holy Spirit was a part of his life. Zechariah 4, 6, the last part of the verse says, not by might nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord.

[23:11] The power he had came from the Holy Spirit working in his life. Are we yielded to God and to what he has for us?

[23:22] Are we following what he has? Do we allow the Holy Spirit to come in and work and let him work through us? That's where the power comes from.

[23:33] Allowing the Holy Spirit to work through us. He was filled with the word. He was filled with the word. If you read on in chapter 7, Stephen's going to preach a sermon.

[23:43] And in that sermon, he's talking to those religious leaders. And he's giving them the things that they need to hear from the word of God.

[23:56] He's able to recall scripture. He's able to form it in the way it should be because he's been in the word and he's been trusting in the word. God used him.

[24:08] God took care of him. He was able to take the things in that sermon from the Old Testament that were that's what God wants us to do. He wants us to have deacons who are going to be a blessing to their church.

[24:24] You know, when you look at the description of Stephen's life and you look at what's going to happen here after we talk about these different things that a deacon should be and then you look at what happened with Stephen's life, what happened?

[24:39] He got stoned. But before that, he faced spiritual opposition. He faced opposition from people.

[24:51] You know, Paul told us that. He said, you're going to face opposition. Ephesians 6, verse 10. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

[25:05] For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Therefore, take unto you the whole armor of God that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day and having them all to stand.

[25:25] See, Stephen's here. He's coming up against these leaders from this synagogue of the Libertines. It's talked about. The Libertines were a group of Jewish people who had lived outside of Jerusalem.

[25:38] They had been scattered abroad. They lived out there and now they have come back to Jerusalem and because they're kind of, you know, a little bit of outsiders because they were gone for a while, now they've come back. They've kind of joined together themselves.

[25:49] They've made their own synagogue for those who had lived outside of Jerusalem. And the people who were their leaders are not able to stand up against Stephen. They're not able to go against what he has said, the things that he's doing.

[26:03] So what do they do? They bribe people to lie. Oh yeah, we've heard him talking about this and that and the other thing and everything he said was blasphemous. I don't know why you put up with this guy.

[26:16] And that's kind of the way, you know, they were going. So they hired informants. What did Stephen do? Well, there's a verse in 2 Corinthians, 1 Corinthians, it says, we're to be steadfast, unmovable, abounding in the work of the Lord.

[26:33] And that's what Stephen did. He was going to stand fast. He was going to stand fast, but the neat thing about it, the second thing about it, is he has grace under pressure.

[26:46] He has grace under pressure. You know, if you read down through there and you listen and you look at what the people said about him, he was graceful, he was Christ-like, in the things that he was doing.

[27:05] He was controlled in the things that he was doing. You know, again, in 1 John, John chapter 1, he came in the flesh, but it also said, I think that was from this morning, Sunday school, but anyway, he, John chapter 1, verse 14, talks about the fact that Christ was full of grace and truth.

[27:28] Full of grace and truth. And Stephen was trying to reflect Jesus Christ in everything that he wanted to do. He displayed the presence of God, the presence of Christ in his life.

[27:45] They gathered around, they're watching the spectacle that's taking place, people are starting to bring stones in, they're going to stone him, and Stephen's there, and they look at him, and they don't see hate, they don't see horror.

[28:00] Hang on. Excuse me. They don't see any of those things. Instead, did you notice what it said in verse 15?

[28:15] Chapter 6, verse 15. It said, he had the face of an angel. The face of an angel.

[28:27] He was not concerned in the least. He was at peace. He had Christ in his life.

[28:39] He was going to, if he was going to die, he was going to heaven. He had no concerns whatsoever. Think about that. Do we have that kind of relationship with God?

[28:49] where we have peace that he's given to us. You know, you serve people sometimes, things are going to happen.

[29:08] You expect that you're going to get opposition sometimes. But notice Stephen, he didn't care. he was like, I'm doing what God wants me to do.

[29:22] I'm following him. Van Tavner once said, we need men of the cross with the message of the cross bearing the marks of the cross.

[29:34] That would be Stephen. Stephen, he was a man of the cross. He understood who Jesus was and what he had done. He understood the message of the cross and salvation that comes from that.

[29:46] He was about to bear the marks of the cross. Remember Stephen's a deacon. When you take the office of deacon, he says, you're taking something pretty special, pretty important.

[30:01] the seven men that were chosen were godly Christians that were appointed as deacons.

[30:14] These were men that the church trusted. These were men that they said, these men have been living the life that they're supposed to live before any idea of a title came along.

[30:26] They were just being Christians, period, in what they did. This glimpse at the life of Stephen shows us what it's supposed to be like.

[30:37] What are we supposed to do? Our job is to declare truth, do it with grace, even under pressure at times. Next week, we're going to look at the qualifications of a deacon.

[30:55] But today, I want you to see from this passage we've done on Stephen, again, teaching time more than preaching time, but Stephen loved God with all of his heart.

[31:07] He loved Jesus Christ. He knew that he was going to face things. And as he faced those things, he did it with the face of an angel.

[31:19] As he faced those things, he did it with an attitude of, you know what? I'm in God's hands. Matter of fact, if you keep reading on there, at the end of chapter 7 going into chapter 8, it's interesting.

[31:35] He said in, let me show you what he said. Go to chapter 7. verse 55. But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing on the right hand of God and said, behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God.

[32:06] He's about to die. He's about to be stoned. He says, he looked up and as he did, he said, he saw. Jesus was giving him a standing ovation.

[32:21] He's about to die, the first martyr. And he's about to go and meet Jesus. You say, what a waste. You know, give your life to Christ and wind up being killed for it.

[32:35] What kind of a waste is that? It wasn't a waste. Look with me down in verse 8, chapter 8, verse 1.

[32:51] And Saul was consenting unto his death. Just stop right there. Saul was consenting unto his death. Who's Saul?

[33:03] Saul was wreaking havoc in the church. Saul was going around having Christians killed. Saul was taking out vengeance upon Christians for the things that they believed.

[33:14] Oh, wait a minute. Who does Saul become? Paul. Saul winds up getting saved, changing his name to Paul. A third or two thirds of your New Testament was written by Paul.

[33:29] Did Stephen waste his life? Nope. Stephen gave his life willingly because he wanted to see the work of God accomplished.

[33:40] Because he wanted to see God's word go forth. That's what a deacon wants to do. He wants to give his life so that Christ may be exalted and glorified.

[33:55]  Like I said, next week we'll look at this thing. So a Christian who's a deacon has to learn how to stand. So take your hymn book in front of you and go with me.