If you will, turn in your Bibles
with me to 1 Timothy chapter 3. 1 Timothy chapter 3. This is a true saying, if a man
desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. A bishop
then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober,
of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt to teach, not given to wine,
no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre, but patient, not a brawler,
not covetous, one that ruleth well his own house, having his
children in subjection with all gravity. For if a man know not
how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church
of God? Not a novice, lest being lifted
up with pride, he fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must have a good
report of them which are without, lest he fall into reproach and
the snare of the devil. Now last time we saw that There
are two offices in a local church, and those two offices are that
of a pastor and a deacon. And you may not want to turn
back, but it's just a few pages back to Philippians chapter 1
and verse 1, the apostle Paul writing to the church at Philippi,
Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints
in Christ Jesus, which are at Philippi, with the bishop and
deacons. We also saw that in the New Testament,
there are three words used for the office of pastor. That is the word bishop, elder,
and pastor or shepherd. And we know that from 1 Peter
chapter 5, the word that is translated into English, to feed, means
to pastor, feed the sheep. The New Testament also teaches
that only men are to be set apart for these offices. And if you
look back to chapter 2 here in 1 Timothy, Verse 12, we studied
here just a few weeks ago, Paul said, I suffer not a woman to
teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. Also last time when we looked
at the list of requirements for pastors, which we just read through
again, we see that one of those requirements is the husband of
one wife. And as far as I know, no woman
can meet that requirement, the husband of one wife. Now tonight with verse eight,
we began looking at what the scriptures teach concerning the
office of a deacon, those men who are set apart to this office. Turn back with me, if you will,
to Acts chapter six, Acts chapter 6. And while we
do not have the word deacon in this passage of Scripture here
in Acts 6, it is agreed by everyone, as far as I know, that this is
referring to those who serve as deacons. Acts chapter 6, verse
1. And in those days when the number
of the disciples was 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 the disciples unto them, that is, the apostles, and said, It
is not reason that we should leave the word of God and serve
tables. Wherefore, brethren, Look you
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 to the ministry of
the word. And the same please the whole
multitude. And they chose Stephen, a man
full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus,
Nicanor, and Timon, and Barneas, and Nicholas, a proselyte of
Antioch, whom they set before the apostles, and when they had
prayed, they laid their hands on them." Now we see that they
chose seven men. They didn't choose two men and
five women, or five women and two men. to men, they chose seven
men. That's what the apostles told
them to do, and that's what they were agreed to do, and the purpose
was to serve tables. John Gill, in his Body of Divinity
on the subject of deacons, he points out there are three tables
that deacons are to serve. First of all, of course, the
widows, the widows in the congregation. And I was just thinking, this
church at Jerusalem was a rather large church, no doubt, but they
only chose seven to do this work, to serve in this capacity. The
first table John Gill said that deacons are to serve is that
of the widow. Secondly, that of the pastors,
the bishops. They are to make sure that his
table is supplied. And number three, the Lord's
table. The Lord's table. Three tables
that the deacons are to attend to, are to serve. Now you notice
here in Acts 6, when I read through that list, that Philip was one
of those seven. And then later in Acts, Acts
chapter 8, we see Philip now is a preacher. He was in Samaria
preaching and we know that he was alongside that Ethiopian
eunuch and then in the chariot of the eunuch and preaching to
him from the scriptures and then baptized him. Well, later in
the book of Acts, we learned that Philip was an evangelist. In Acts chapter 21 in verse 8,
the scripture says, Philip the evangelist. So he started off
as a deacon, and then God called him. It's not like he worked
his way up. He started off as a deacon in
that office, and then he worked himself up to another office
of preaching. No doubt God called him to preach. And we're also told that he had
four daughters, which did prophesy. But what we're not told is where
they did their prophesying. And from other scripture, we
see that women are not to usurp authority over men. They're not
to be in that place of a bishop. So their prophesying had to have
been done in a private setting, not in a public way. Now in the Scriptures that we're
looking at tonight, we will see what is written concerning those
who serve the local church in this capacity. First, let's look at what Paul
writes concerning the deacons who serve. Verse 8. Likewise must the deacons, just
like the bishops, likewise, new paragraph, new subject, First,
that of the pastor, the bishop. Now, that of a deacon. He must be grave, grave, just
like the pastor must be grave, so the deacon must be grave.
Some use the word dignified instead of grave. And this includes the
speech, their mannerisms, And yes, even as John Gill said,
they're dress. They must be grave. They must
be honest and have a good report among men. One of the first name
there in Acts 6 was Stephen. And it is said of him that he
was a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit. Number two, he must not be double-tongued. So first of all, a man who's
set apart to serve as a deacon, he must be grave. Number two,
he must not be double-tongued. Part of his ministry, he's going
to be dealing with the poor, the members of the church who
are poor. And he must not be double-tongued,
saying one thing to them and then doing something else. And
John Gill said this on the subject of not being double-tongued.
He said the deacon serves kind of as a middle person between
the pastor and the congregation. And he must not say one thing
to the congregation and something else to the pastor. He must say
the same to both, both the pastor and the members of the congregation. Third, He must not be given to
much wine, just like the pastor. He must not be given to much
wine, and literally this is, he must not be one who lingers
beside his wine. Number four, he must not be greedy
of filthy lucre. Now, this is a different word
that is used in verse three concerning pastors when it says that they're
not to be covetous. This says, he must not be greedy
or filthy lucre. And this especially applies to
a person who joins, who becomes part of a good cause, but he
does it for monetary reasons. He joins a group and his intentions
are that he will profit by being a member of that group. when it says not to be greedy,
a filthy looker, there are some men, they just set their sight
on wealth. That's their desire, that's their
goal, and that's it. And they don't have any scruples
about how they obtain the wealth that they want. No matter who
they hurt, who they walk over on obtaining wealth. Now Paul, if you look over in
chapter 6, 1st Timothy, he says something about this matter of
wealth there later, but in chapter 6 and verse 9, he says, but they
that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish
and hurtful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. You know, the prayer that we
find in the book of Proverbs, Solomon's prayer, it's still
a good prayer for all believers, for all Christians. It's found
in Proverbs 30, verses 8 and 9, when he prayed, give me neither
poverty nor riches. That's a good prayer. Neither
poverty nor riches. Feed me with food convenient
for me. Lest, he said, lest I be full
and deny thee and say, who is the Lord? Or, lest I be poor
and still and take the name of the Lord in vain. That's a good
prayer for all of us to pray. In Philippians, the apostle said,
Godliness with contentment is great gain. That's the gain that
all of us should strive after. That's the gain that all of us
should want and desire. Not money, not things of this
world, but first of all, godliness with contentment. Godliness with
contentment. All right, here's the fifth thing
that the apostle says concerning the deacons. He must hold the
mystery of the faith in a good conscience. I apologize for my throat, the
cough. And actually, I may have coughed
one or two times before I got up here to preach today. But
anyway, bear with me. We won't be long. The mystery
of faith in a good conscience. What is the mystery of the faith? The mystery of the faith is the
gospel. That's the mystery of the faith.
The faith as an objective thing, objective reality, the faith. Earnestly contend for the faith
which was once delivered unto the saints. You know, faith is
subjective. We have faith, we believe, but
we believe the faith. That's objective, right? And
this man, he must hold the mystery of the faith in a good conscience. And when he calls the mystery
of the faith, or calls the gospel the mystery of the faith, you
and I know that the gospel comes to a person by revelation. We
heard that this past weekend in the messages several times,
at least once I remember. The gospel comes by revelation. It's not that you just sit down
and learn The gospel, like you would learn algebra, and then
you master it, you've got it down. No. The gospel, when it
comes, it comes by revelation. God reveals Himself in us, reveals
Himself to us. Man doesn't know the gospel except
by revelation. And that's one reason the gospel
is so offensive. It offends a natural man who
has the competence and the capability to learn so much, to master so
much in science, but yet to know God comes by revelation. It's a mysterious thing. Has nothing to do with a person's
IQ, does it? Some of us here, many of us probably,
we know some people who as far as formal education have very
little and yet they know the gospel. They know Christ and
rejoice in it. Comes by revelation. It's a mystery. And there's truth in the gospel
that's certainly mysterious. For instance, the Trinity. And
we say, because the scriptures tell us that God is one, there's
only one God, and yet there are three persons in the Godhead.
There's no way any of us can understand that. That's not to say, now here's
something to think about, that's not to say that Adam, before
he fell, did not understand much more than we do about the Trinity
at least. But part of the fall, part of
the results of the fall is man who was created in the image
of God, that image is very marred. And I don't suppose we'll ever
understand it. Well, I know we won't, everything
about God, but the Trinity, the doctrine of the Trinity, the
incarnation, how that Christ, the eternal son, the person,
The eternal son of God joined that body to himself, to his
person, and while he was here upon earth, he was in heaven. He didn't leave heaven. As God, he's in heaven, always
been in heaven, and he's everywhere else. And yet when he came into
this world, He came by the incarnation. That's a mystery. That's a mystery. And how that we sang that hymn,
He ransomed me. How that His blood that He shed
actually ransomed us. That it bought us from the slavery,
the thorn of slavery that we were in because of our sin. And then His resurrection. A
man who is set apart to the office of a deacon, he must hold the
mystery of the faith in a good conscience. And a good conscience,
of course, is one that is sprinkled with the blood of Christ. And
he has a conversation that becomes the gospel that he believes and
that he holds. And notice what it says here
in the text. Verse 10, and let these also
first be proved. Now that doesn't mean that when
a person is set apart, a man is set apart to the office of
a deacon, that he's on a trial period. He's on trial for a year
or two years, and if he doesn't prove up or he doesn't pass the
test, then he's no longer a deacon. No, what it means is before you
ever send anyone to this office, He ought to be proved. And here's
a good rule as far as I'm concerned. When choosing a deacon, choose
someone who's already doing the work of a deacon. Don't just
give them a job. That's, you know, that's the
psychology of a lot of these so-called churches, you know,
when someone comes in, they want to get them doing something,
give them a job, give them a responsibility, so they'll keep coming, so they
won't leave. And a lot of churches, you know,
it's kind of like a thing of prestige that they make a man
a deacon. No, choose someone, set apart
someone who is already doing the work of a deacon, who's already
ministering as a deacon is to do. And then number six, like
the pastors, they must have only one wife and have their children
The scripture says in subjection in verse 12. And then notice
verse 13. 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. William Hendrickson gave the
sense of that verse like this. Paul is saying, I know this is
true. I know these requirements that
I've listed here that a man should meet. I know this is true because
he's observed this. for those who have served well
acquire for themselves a noble standing and great confidence
in the faith which centers in Christ Jesus. Now you notice
as I was going through that, looking at those various requirements,
I mentioned the husband of one wife, verse 12. The deacons,
let the deacons be the husbands of one wife ruling their children
and their own house as well. But I skipped over verse 11. And I did so for this reason.
First of all, I said, let us look at what Paul writes concerning
the men who are set apart to this office. But now let's look
at what Paul writes concerning the women. Scripture here, our translation
says, even so must their wives be grave, not slanderous, sober,
faithful in all things. In several translations, this
verse begins, women also be dignified. And John Gill, he made this comment. He said, some instead of wives
read women. And then he went on to say, but
it is better to interpret the words of the wives of the deacons. I suppose it makes little difference,
but I believe that women would be a better translation here
than the wives of the deacons. And I say that because it seems
strange to me that the Apostle Paul, here he is listing these
requirements, And he sandwiches in there what are requirements
for the deacon's wives before he finishes with what are the
requirements for the deacons. That seems somewhat strange to
me. And secondly, it seems strange to me that he would give requirements
for the wives of the deacons and not give requirements for
the wives of the pastor, which he doesn't do. I believe women,
would be a better way to read this. And I believe the reason
the Apostle Paul, now listen, the reason he did this, the reason
it's written as it is with the requirements for the women, sandwiched
in with the requirements of the deacons because if he had separated
this, Many people would believe he's talking about a different
office. So there would be pastors, deacons,
and deaconesses. And I believe that's the reason
he did not do that. He put the requirements for the
women who will serve in the middle of those requirements for the
deacons. Now deacons, as we see, are to
serve. And as I said earlier, John Gill
said, the first table that the deacons are to serve would be
the tables of the widows. Now, when men deacons serve by
ministering to Christ's spiritual body, well, there would surely
be needs that it would not be proper for a man to do. There would be needs among the
women of the congregation, widows of the congregation, that it
would not be proper for a man to minister to them in this way. And women, it would be proper
for them, plus they would do a better job. Women would do
a better job in ministering to other women in many circumstances. However, women who minister in
this way, they too, first of all, must be grave. That's the
same word. They must be dignified. Same
word as the word that was used for the deacons. They must be
respectful. They must be honorable. And this
word also includes reliability. These women who minister in the
church, they must be women you may rely upon. And then second,
not slanderers. It's thought as they would go
from house to house or person to person, you know, they'd pick
up some news here and take it over here, pick up some news
there and take it over here. No, they're not to be slanderers.
They're not to be busybodies. They're not to be like Satan.
You know, Satan is a slanderer. And he slanders the people of
God. These women are not to see something
and then tell someone else what they saw that would be harmful
or critical of the person that they were ministering to. And
third, sober. They were not to tarry at the
wine just like the pastors and the deacons. They were not to
stay long at their wine. and they must be faithful. Faithful. You know faithful,
that's something that is required of a minister. That's what the
Apostle Paul said to the Corinthians. There's one thing that's required
of a minister is that he be faithful. And really it should be true
of all believers. All believers, we should be faithful. And Notice the last thing, the
third. Look at what Paul's purpose in
writing these requirements for pastors and deacons in verses
14 and 15. These things write I unto thee,
hoping to come unto thee shortly. Paul didn't know what was going
to happen tomorrow. I think he may have been in prison
when he wrote this letter and many people believe he was released
and then in prison the second time. We don't know that for
sure. But the point I want to make is you don't know what's
going to happen tomorrow. We don't. None of us do. Even
an apostle. None of us know what's going
to take place. Now Paul hoped and thought that
he would get to visit Timothy shortly, that he would be able
to come to Ephesus, and these things that he was writing, he
would be able to speak unto him, but he didn't know that. And
so, if he didn't get to come, I'm writing these things to you,
if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave
thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living
God, the pillar and ground of the truth. The church is not
a private business, a local church. It's not a private business.
It's a house of God. That's what Paul says, that thou
mightest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house
of God. It is a household of God. That's
the family of God, but that's not the term he uses here. It's
the house of God. The house of God. And notice
he's the living God. The living God. Now one thing
that might be good and acceptable in the house of an idol wouldn't
be acceptable in the house of God. Why? Because the idol is
dead. Those gods are dead. But in the
house of God, who is the living God, then our conduct is to be
according to His Word. And it is proper to set apart pastors and deacons
to the ministry in the church, in the local church, which he
here calls the pillar and ground of the truth. You know, we might
look at that in two different ways. A pillar was used many
times. I won't say a pole, but just a
pillar. something in the middle of a
town in the square and decrees and edicts and news would be
posted there on that pillar that came from Rome or places of authority. The church, that's what the church
is. It's a pillar of the truth. We're here to hold forth the
word of life. And then the foundation. The
foundation supports the building, doesn't it? The foundation is
ever so important. So the church supports the glorious
truths of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let me close with
this. The church supports the truth
by hearing, heeding, handling, hiding, and holding forth. That's how we support, how the
foundation supports the truth. We hear the truth, but we're
not to be only hearers. We heed the truth, we handle
the truth, that is, we preach the scriptures, the word of God.
We hide his word in our hearts that we would not sin against
him, and we hold forth the word of life. That's the church. That's our responsibility, not
this building. We are the church, right? Those
of us who are members, we are the church, and that's our responsibility
to hold forth the word of life. Well, I pray the Lord would bless
this lesson to us here this evening, and I'm thankful for the deacons
that we've had here over the years and the ones we have now
as well, but we've had some good ones, I tell you. I'm thinking
of some