If we'll take your Bibles and
turn with me to Acts chapter 6. Acts chapter 6. And the title of the message
this morning is going to be Deacons. Deacons. Acts chapter 6. And we'll look at verses 1 through
7 this morning as it relates to this subject of deacons. Scripture
says, and in those days when the number of the disciples were
multiplied, There arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews,
because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration. Then
the twelve called the multitude of disciples unto them and said,
It is not reason that we should leave the word of God and serve
tables. 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. But we will
give ourselves continually to prayer and the ministry of the
word. And the saying pleased the whole
multitude, and they chose Stephen, a man full of the Holy Ghost,
and Philip and Prochurus and Nicar and Timon and Parmenas
and Nicholas, a proselyte of Antioch, whom they sent before
the apostles. And when they had prayed, they
laid their hands on them. And the word of God increased
and the number of disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly. And a great
company of priests were obedient to the faith. Now last week,
we saw that God was calling the elect and multiplying the church. God was causing the church at
Jerusalem to grow exponentially in great number by the calling
of His people into the church. But as a result of that, we saw
a negative. We saw that there was murmuring
among the church concerning this matter of the widows and the
daily ministration. We saw that the Grecian people,
the Grecian Jews, those who were modern Jews of the day, were
thought that they were being neglected, that their widows
were being neglected by the Hebrew Jews. in the giving of their
needs. And we remember that they had
all things common at this time, that at this time, all of those
who had something, had monies, had properties at this time,
they had given it all to the church and they were delegating
it out. They were giving it out to the
needs of the church, the poor, the fatherless and widows, so
that they would have enough to eat. I know that that's something
foreign to us. Even our poor of our day still
have the necessities of bread and food available to them for
the most part. But these were very poor and
had great need. They were waiting for their food
from the church. Imagine if you had to come here
every day and you didn't have anything. And you would have
to come here every day to receive just enough money so that you
might buy bread for your family at this time. This is exactly
what was happening. And now, when this problem came
to the ears of the apostles, We know it says that it is not... The apostles said, it's not good. It's not reason for us to leave
the Word of God and to serve tables. So what they did then
is they called the elders together of the church of Jerusalem and
they said, choose out seven men. And when they did that, they
chose out seven men and the apostles ordained them as deacons. And it pleased the church. It
was pleasing to the church to have these men to come in and
were appointed to this office. And we see that the church again
was multiplied. Church again was multiplied.
Now, what we have before us is something very important. Something
very important in this passage of Scripture that reveals to
us the institution of the office of deacon. The institution of
this great office. Now, out of this great need of
the saints, God moved the apostles by His Spirit to create this
office. It was an office that is separate
from the office of a pastor, an elder, or a bishop. And I
don't have time to go into this, but those three things that I
just mentioned, bishop, pastor, elder, these are the same thing,
this is the same office, Uh, this is, this is one in the same
office is, uh, all of these three with just different titles. And
each one of those titles obviously represents, uh, uh, an aspect
of what it is to be a pastor. So separate from this office,
we see the office of deacon, and I believe you can see that
in Philippians chapter 1, where Paul divides the two offices
in his greeting when he said, from the pastors and deacons,
from the people who preach and the deacons. So these two are
separate offices. The reason that the apostles
did this was not to shuck responsibility. They didn't see this as a big
problem and say, well, you know, boys, I think that's just something
I don't want to deal with. And so they created the office.
That's not what they did this for. They did not do this to
do away with their responsibility, but rather so that they might
attend to their responsibility. This problem of serving the widows,
was not a minuscule problem. It was a very great problem. It was a great problem. To tell
you the truth, any problem in the church that causes disunity
is a great problem. Any problem that causes disunity
among the brethren is a great problem. And so to stop this
problem, God moved them to create this wonderful office of deacon
so that the church might be at unity again. The apostles, they
saw that it was not profitable for the church, for them to be
split into the two between tables and preaching the Word of God.
Yet, they wanted to attend to the most important, which is
preaching the Gospel. Now, this morning I want us to
look at the importance of this office by asking a few questions
concerning this passage of Scripture, so we might learn why it is that
God instituted this office. First of all, how were these
men chosen? How is a deacon chosen? How is
a deacon chosen? Now, some believe that this passage
here, when it says the multitude was gathered together, they believe
that there were 10,000 people gathered together in one place,
and the apostles talked to all 10,000 of them, and they took
a vote. They took a vote. on seven men. Now, can you imagine the utter
chaos that that would cause? Ten thousand people trying to
choose seven men. It would cause utter chaos. This
is not necessarily what I believe happened here. The church, I
said before, were 10,000 members. And at this time, the Jerusalem
church was split up into smaller groups in this city, and they
had ordained elders so that they would preach the gospel, so that
they would oversee certain of these people. And so what they
did is they gathered the elders together. They gathered the men
together that were chief among them. These are probably the
people that were handing out the money to begin with. These
are probably the ones that were handing it out. And so anyway,
he chose, he called them together, the men, or elders, and they
chose out seven men. They chose out seven men. It's
evident that these were men and not women. They chose seven men,
and we'll get into that in just a few minutes. They said, look
out and find you seven men of honest report. Now, these men
were chosen also from among the church. They were not chosen
from outside the church based on their skill or ability outside. You know, in other words, deacons
are not looked for outside the membership of the church. I know
some companies, they try to hire without. They find somebody that's
more qualified than the people they got in, and so they hire
from without and bring them in so that they might do a better
job. But that's not what God does
here. God calls these men from within. He calls them from within
the church. A man that is a member of a church
cannot be a deacon of another local assembly. He must be a
deacon within his own assembly. And that way he can better see
the problems and the necessities that need to be taken care of
in his work. And these men were ordained as
deacons. And we're not given this office
for a short time. I want us to notice that, that
this office is not something that men are called to for a
short period just to take care of one problem. This has been
passed down throughout the ages in the church of this office
of deacon. This office of deacon is passed
down through the ages in church history. So this office is quite
important. And I want us to really understand
that this office is not some trivial office. This is vital
to the church. This is vitally important to
the church. And those men who are deacons
are to know what they're to do, and the people are to respect
them, are to hold them in high esteem. So this is how they chose
them. They had men of the church, the
elders of the church, gathered together and they chose out men.
What are the qualifications? What were the qualifications?
Look back in our text. He said, and then the twelve
called the multitude, and I'm sorry, verse 3. Wherefore, brethren, look you
out among seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost
and wisdom. that we may appoint them over
this business. They must be honest men. They must be men full of
the Holy Ghost and they must be men of wisdom, men of wisdom. Now, these are just a brief qualifications
of the character of a deacon which they must possess to fulfill
this high office. But I want you to look over in
Timothy. Look at 1 Timothy chapter 3. 1 Timothy chapter 3 and verse
8. Here we have a more detailed
look at this office of deacon. Here in 1 Timothy chapter 3 and
verse 8, it says, Likewise, he had just been given the qualifications
of a pastor, and now likewise, the deacons have qualifications. It says he must be grave, not
double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy
lucre, holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. And let these also first be proved,
then let them use the office of a deacon being found blameless.
Even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful
in all things. Let the deacons be the husband
of one wife ruling their children and their own house well, for
they that have used the office of a deacon will purchase to
themselves a good degree and great boldness in the faith which
is in Christ Jesus." Now, deacon is not chosen based on friendship,
wealth, or social status. I want us to know that. He's
based on qualifications. He's based on these qualifications
that are given to us by God. And they're not based on any
other outward circumstance. In other words, as a pastor,
we don't choose deacons based on friendship. We don't do that. We don't partiality choose people. There's no call for that. If a man doesn't fit this, it
doesn't matter how good a friend he is, if it doesn't matter how
much money he has or how much status, or even if he's a banker. If we had a banker in here, there
was no way you'd choose a man just because he was a banker,
because he was good at something. He must fit these qualifications,
and if he doesn't, he's disqualified from such an office. First of
all, it says he must be grave, not double-tongued, given to
much wine, and not greedy. That word grave doesn't mean
that he walks around with a frown on his face. He doesn't walk
around like a tombstone. That's not what he's saying.
What this means is he must be honorable. A deacon must be honored
by all around him. If he is to qualify for the office,
he must be an honorable man, one that people can look up to,
one that people can respect, and one that people can trust.
One that people can trust. He must be honorable. He must
not be a clown or a person always giving to jokes. I do admit in my younger years,
I was much like that. I was much jovial about things. But as the Lord has given me
grace, we must see that not everything's a joke. And if everything's a
joke to a man, he's not going to be qualified for this. He
needs to take seriously the things of God, the things that God calls
him to do. He must be grave and honorable and sober. In other
words, he must have a good report. He's not to be two-faced. In
other words, when a man that is put up for the office of a
deacon, he must not say one thing to one person and then say another
to another person. He must not be given to gossip
and frivolous conversation. He must avoid such things as
speaking ill of people behind their back. He must not be a
drunkard or given to much wine. That's not saying he can't have
wine. A lot of people that they call,
what, teetotalers. They don't touch anything that's
alcoholic, that has alcohol in it. But that's not what it means.
He's not given to much wine in the sense that he's not taken
to it. He's not addicted to wine. He's
not something that he has to have. And it also means that
he's not to be drunk. with wine. Deacons are not to
give themselves to the intoxication of wine, lest they give off,
lose their honorable status. When a man is drunk, he doesn't
have control over his lips. Everything he has in his heart
just comes on out. I've seen people in that condition
and they say things that they never would have said had they
not had it, had they not been drunk. A deacon's not to be this
way. He's not to be given to much
wine. He's to be a man of moderation. And he's not to be greedy for
gain. The deacon's office is not to be one used for greed. As Judas, if you remember Judas
who had the bag, he was greedy. He wanted the money so he can
overthrow the Roman government at that time. That was his purpose.
And he did that and he betrayed Christ for it. But deacons aren't
given to that. They're not greedy men. A deacon
must know the Word of God. In other words, when a pastor
is called, the Scripture says he must not be a novice. He must
not be a novice. And that means a babe in Christ. He must not be someone who's
recently come to the faith or someone that's immature in the
things of God. And likewise a deacon. He must be knowledgeable about
the Word of God. He must be knowledgeable. He
must know it experimentally. The Scripture says in our text
that these men were full of the Holy Ghost. We know this, that
no man that is not saved is not full of the Spirit of God. And
so a man must be saved and he must know and be able to give
an answer. because people will look up to
a deacon and ask him questions that they might not even ask
the pastor. Sometimes people are ashamed
or that they think that they should know more than they do,
and so out of being scared, they might go to a deacon rather than
to the pastor. And so the deacon must be ready
to give an answer. He must be ready to give an answer.
He's not to be a novice in these things. He must be blameless
before the congregation And this doesn't mean that he should be
sinless. We know that. We're sinners saved by grace.
You know, we don't look up to a deacon and when he sins, we're
like, oh, you're a deacon. You shouldn't have done that.
We're sinners. We understand that. But this
man, he should be in his conduct honorable. For the most part,
the tenor of his life should be an honorable life. Now, we're
not counting past life. A deacon, you can't look at a
man who was a bank robber, a murderer, and the Lord saved him, and then
the Lord gives him a great honor in the church, and he meets these
qualifications, and then we don't look at him and say, well, you
know, back before you were saved, you were a robber and a thief
and a murderer. No, we don't look at what he did before he
came to Christ. The church must look at what
he has done since he came to Christ. And so in this, he must
be blameless in his conduct since he came to Christ. He must be
respectable. and not a polygamist. He's not
to have more than one wife. I tell you, why any man would
have more than one wife, I don't know. One wife is enough. One wife is enough. But this
was obviously a problem in this day, and so a deacon must be
the man of one wife at a time. And I tell you, there's a lot
of confusion about this in the church. And I know there's a
lot of confusion. And people look at a man and
they say, well, he's disqualified from this because he was once
married and his wife divorced him. My friends, we all are sinners. We all are sinners. There's not
one of us that is totally devoid of sin. But yet this is not saying
that a man has to be, that his divorce cannot be a deacon. That's
not what it's saying at all. He must be the husband of one
wife at a time. And this qualification is one
that disqualifies also, disqualifies all women. How can a woman be
the husband of one wife? If they are, then they're living
in sin. And it's not right. And people want to bring up the
one mentioned in 1 John. I know this comes up quite a
bit from a lot of women that would kick against the Word of
God. They would say, well, look at
the deaconess mentioned in John. Well, my friend, Christ Himself
was called a deacon. Do you suppose that He held the
office of a deacon? No, it means to minister or to
serve this woman. She was she was a great woman
that served the church. And I believe all women should
be servants of the church. They should all be willing to
serve the church. But she didn't hold the office
of a deacon because this was reserved for the men only. Now Paul says that those that
use the office of a deacon, he says they purchase for themselves,
purchase for themselves a good report. Those that are faithful, a deacon
that is faithful purchases for himself great blessings and great
honor. He purchases for himself great
blessings of grace and honor to be able to serve the church. And so well he should. He should
receive honor. He should receive praise of the
people if he is faithful of his office. Now, next, what is the
work then of a deacon? Now, we know the qualification,
know how they're called. What then is the work of a deacon?
You see, the apostles set up this office for one particular
need at this time, and that was to serve tables. Now, we know
that the word deacon means to attend or wait, to be a waiter, which is to the flesh not a high
degree of honor. To the natural man, if you want
to talk about being a servant, about being a waiter, this is
not what kids, you know, you ask a young kid, what do you
want to be when you grow up? Most of them don't say a waiter, do
they? Most of them don't say, I want to serve. I want to serve. You see, it's not natural for
the flesh to desire such a thing, but God says this is a high office. This is a high and honorable
office. to serve and to wait in the church
of God. Now, the work of a deacon is
to serve tables. First of all, the pastor's table.
These men, in our text, were appointed by the apostles. They
recognized that they must give themselves to the work of the
ministry. Pastors must give themselves
to the work of God rather than the material necessities of the
church. Look at this in our text, flip
back over there to Acts chapter 6 and verse 3. He says, Wherefore,
brethren, look ye out among you, seven men, honest report, full
of the Holy Ghost, wisdom, that we may appoint them over this
business. But we will give ourselves continually to prayer and ministry
of the word. Friends, deacons have a great
role in that they relieve the pastor of all material concerns
of the church. Everything that would take the
pastor away from preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, God instituted
this wonderful office so that we may give ourselves to what
we've been called to do, what we've been given to do. And that
is to preach the gospel. The pastor is called to preach
the gospel in 1 Timothy chapter 4. Paul tells this young pastor,
he says, "...neglect not the gift that is within thee, which
is given thee by prophecy, and the laying on of hands of the
presbytery. Meditate upon these things. Give thyself wholly to
them." Give everything you have to these things that God has
called you to do. And this is the reason Paul gives,
that thy profiting may appear to all men. That thy profiting
may appear to all men. What is the purpose of the church?
What are we here for? We're here to preach the gospel. We're here to minister the gospel
of God's grace to people so that God might call His people in. And what more honorable work
is there than to assist one who is called to this so that he
may give himself to this, so that the church might be blessed? You see, if the pastor is distracted
by the things of this world, then it takes away the time that
he needs to prepare. And I know that most people think
this, and I've heard people say this when I came here. You know,
they say, well, you know, all you do is preach. All you do
is read and you study and you write a few notes and then you
get up and you start talking. Well, anybody that says that
has not done this at all. And because this is the main
purpose of the church, what higher honor is it than to take away
all the things that would distract so that you might be blessed? So that you might be blessed.
The deacon is to serve the table of the pastor and his family
and meet all of their needs so that he may give himself totally
to the Word of God. So that you might be blessed
by the Word. That's a high and honorable office,
I'll tell you. It is a high honor. And then
they are to serve the table of the saints. You see, when there's
a need in the church, the deacons are to know about it and take
care of it, and take care of it. If there's a need in the
church, someone needs money or someone needs food, By all means. By all means. Take care of the
necessities of the church. This is why these qualifications
were given. So that these men might be able to know needs and
take care of them honorably. If we have any orphans or widows
and they need food and clothing, then we are to give it to them.
If there are people in need, give. Give all readily to them. And when we have offerings, the
deacons are to ministrate the monies. And that's good. Believe me.
I think I took too much on myself this last couple of weeks, this
last couple of months with the church building and so forth,
and delegating those monies and things. I realize that that takes
me away. It takes me away from what I
need to do. So this should be given to the
office of a deacon. And they're to wait on the table
of the Lord. When we serve the Lord's table, as we will this
morning, our deacons will serve the table. They will minister
to us and hand it out to us, which is a great and honorable
responsibility. Now, what is the result of all
this? What's the result of a faithful deacon? Look at this. Look what
happened when they appointed these faithful men. Go back to
your text real quick. Look down in verse seven. And
the word of God increased. God used these deacons so that
the Word of God might increase. Can we not see how important
they are? They are important so that the
Word of God might go forth uninhibited. by the cares of this life from
their pastors, and the number of the disciples multiplied in
Jerusalem greatly." My friends, this office of deacon is one
that's not to be neglected. It's not to be overlooked. And
those of our men who are deacons, they deserve our honor, they
deserve our respect. They are faithful men in the
things of God, and they help me. And they help me, and by
helping me, they help you. They help you. And so we give
them great honor and respect as is due them and their office. For it is the office that God
has ordained, that God has instituted. And therefore, it is a high honor
to serve God's people. I pray that God would bless this
to us.