Episode Transcript
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Our Lord and King, we know
that this world is fading away, we
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know that this age, in this
life will not last. Indeed, some
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of US may die before you return
again. But we know, Lord,
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that you have begun to put into
the or that you have entered into this
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world, into this age eternal things. Thou the end of death itself,
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of sin. You have put the
devil and his evil to open shame through
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your victory on the Cross. Deed, we have already begun to live.
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Tell us that we are seated in
the heavenly places, that your spirit,
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of his work, is at work
in us, that we are a new
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creation, a part of that new
heavens and the new earth that is to
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be revealed. And in all of
this work we that you have done and
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you are now doing. We rejoice. To be able to glorify and enjoy
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you now and forever. Is a
delight, it is our pleasure, it
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is our very life, and so
we asked that the eternal word would now
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be at work among us and that
we would hear it with ears to hear.
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We pray this in Jesus name.
On men, let's turn our attention
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to God's word in First Timothy,
Chapter Three, first Timothy Chapter Three.
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On this morning we are going to
be focusing on the occasions for the Office
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of Deacon, which we find in
verses eighteen through thirteen, but I'm going
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to read from the beginning of chapter
three through the end of chapter three,
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and as I do so, I
want you to remember a little bit of
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the context. Here. The Apostle
Paul has asked his cold laborer Timothy,
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a minister of Christ on, to
help plant these churches, to set things
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in order, and he gives him
instructions on how to do that, as
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as he says in Verse Sixteen.
If I delay, I want you to
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know how one ought to behave in
the household of God. He gives us
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instructions for the church then and the
church now. So let's give our attention
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to God's word. In First Timothy
Chapter Three, the saying is trustworthy.
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If anyone aspires to the office of
overseer, he desires a noble task.
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Therefore, an overseer must be above
reproach, the husband of one wife,
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sober minded, self controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not
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a drunkard, not violent, but
gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover
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of money. He must manage his
own household well, with all dignity,
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keeping his children submissive. For someone
does not know how to manage his own
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household, how will he care for
the for God's church? He must not
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be a recent convert, or he
may become puffed up with conceit and fall
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into the condemnation of the devil.
Moreover, he must be well thought of
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by outsiders so that he may not
fall into disgrace, into a snare of
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the devil. Deacons, likewise,
must be dignified, not double tongued,
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not addicted too much wine, not
greedy for dishonest aim they must hold the
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mystery of the faith with a clear
conscience, and let them also be tested
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first. Let them serve as deacons
if they prove themselves blameless. Their wives,
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likewise, must be dignified, not
slanderers, but sober minded, faithful
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in all things. Let Deacons each
be the husband of one wife, managing
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their children and their own households well, for those who serve well as deacons
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gain a good standing for themselves and
also great confidence in the faith that is
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in Christ Jesus. I hope to
come to you soon, but am writing
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these things to you so that,
if I delay, you may know how
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one ought to behave in the household
of God, which is the Church of
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the Living God. The pillar,
a pillar and buttress of the truth.
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Great indeed, we confess, is
the mystery of Godliness. He was manifested
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in the flesh, vindicated by the
spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among
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the nations, believed on in the
world, taken up in glory. Men,
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when doing this little series on Christ's
Minister of mercy in the Church,
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we have instructions here to the what
the qualifications are for elders, for overseers
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and for deacons, and we see
that these are based on Christ's own work,
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the things that he has done.
And just to overview, I remind
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you of what we've covered so far. I'm in the first sermon. We
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considered that part of Christ's mercy of
mistry to us is his calling and equipping
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every member of body to care and
serve for the other members of the body.
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We are all deacons in a sense. I'm not ordained official officers of
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the church, but service of the
Lord and to one another. And the
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second sermon I considered with you how
God, out of the abundance of grace
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that he gives to us. In
Christ uses the giving and receiving of material
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gifts between each other to bring forth
a harvest of praise and Thanksgiving that God
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does this work within his body so
that he might be glorified and we might
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reap the benefit and and even be
the the harvest itself, in a way,
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to God's glory, this harvest of
praise and Thanksgiving. And then last
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week we saw how Christ, as
the King of the church, exercises his
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government over us, in part through
the ordination of particular men to the Office
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of Deacon, that these deacons are
ordained by Christ to attend to and to
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oversee this Ministry of mercy, on
this ministry and Stewardship of tangible and material
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things within the church. And now
today we see who, according to the
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will of God, qualifies to serve
in that office. Will consider why those
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qualifications are necessary and how our knowledge
of them not only helps us to avoid
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ordaining the wrong men and make sure
we ordained the right men, but also
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our knowledge of these qualifications, I
believe, draws us into a deeper relationship
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with God through Christ, our Savior, as we reflect on his work and
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his commands to us, and so
what I want to do today, then,
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is go through these qualifications one by
one, briefly on each the first
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thing we note is the the word
likewise in verse eight. Deacons likewise must
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be dignified. This word likewise reminds
us that deacons, like the overseers that
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are mentioned before, they desire,
desire a noble task, something that Bible
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is, something that is high and
something that is good, a high plus
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good. And this makes sense.
Sense of these offices, the Office of
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Deacon, the Office of overseer,
they are good and that they are Christ's
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gift to us. He uses them
for our blessings. Deacons serve US on.
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The benefits are described here at the
end of the passage when he says
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for those who serve well as deacons
gain a good standing for themselves. That's
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a way of talking about nobility and
also, he says, great confidence in
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the faith that is a Christ Jesus
on. The Office of Deacon is high
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in that the man has authority,
he oversees, he exercises authority, he
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manages the household of God, and
that makes him noble in a way.
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He seeks a noble calling anyway and
that is then to be coupled with a
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kind of nobility or, as he
puts it, a dignity, which will
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get to in just a moment.
But before we talk about dignity, I
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just want you to note the words
must be. Deacons likewise, must be.
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These are not optional for us.
They are not optional for our deacons.
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You don't get to do you know, three out of five, or
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whatever the number is. I count. They need to all be there.
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This is a requirement from the Lord. It's not a suggestion, it's not
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optional. It's important, and one
of the reasons it's important is that becomes
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this is a hot office and a
good office. It requires a man who
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matches the office. It is a
noble office, it is an office with
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good standing and dignity, and therefore
the man must be dignified. The person
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needs to match the office to which
he is called, and so he is
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called to be dignified. Dignity or
dignified means worthy of respect, has the
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Ideala of seriousness to it, of
waitiness. A man who has dignified understands
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the waitinginess of his task. He
may still be a playful man, he's
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he's still allowed to make jokes and
and have fun, but it means that
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he doesn't treat his office as a
toy, and he also doesn't treat his
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integrity as a toy, something to
be set up and put to be taken
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up and set aside easily. He
lives a life of integrity that matches the
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dignity of the office. When a
groom could couse to get married, what
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does he do with his clothes?
He wears clothes that match the thing that
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he is about to enter into.
He he clothes himself in a dignified way
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because he's about to do something important. The Deacon must likewise match the occasion
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the office, but not so much
with his clothes but with his actions.
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And as we see this, I
want you to begin to think about how
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the Lord teaches us about himself through
these things. What he teaches us about
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his love and His mercy. Notice, in commanding that deacons are qualified to
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be dignified. Notice how the Lord
Honors the poor. He does not send
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fools or people of low esteem to
help those in need. He sends to
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the lowest, the neediest among us, his nobility. He sends men of
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honor and men of integrity to watch
over the material needs of his sheep.
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This is an amazing thing because often
in the world, when the world to
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seise, the lowly sees things in
need, sees things that don't really benefit
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it that much. It gives us
the leftovers. And here the Lord says,
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don't send the leftovers, send those
who are dignified, send those who
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are ready and qualified. How much
the Lord honors us, his beggarly children.
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By this, though every single one
of us are our sinful and have
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nothing to offer him, he treats
us in part through this office, is
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though we were princes and princesses.
We're nothing special, we have nothing to
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offer to the Lord, and then
he sends men who are qualified, fied,
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men who are dignified, men who
are ready to serve us in his
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name. This teaches us how much
he loves us. It's almost as if
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we were his bride, and indeed
we are. Next, the Deacon,
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is told, is supposed to be
one who is not double tongue. He's
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not supposed to speak out of both
sides of his mouth. Perhaps you've known
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people like this. They tell you
what they think you want to hear in
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the moment, and then they tell
somebody else what they think that person wants
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to hear. It's these people are
not about the truth, but deacons are
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to be people about the truth,
not liars. This means that a qualified
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deacon is a man you can trust. You can trust him with your money,
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you can trust him with your life, you can trust him with your
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reputation, whether you are a giver
in this particular moment or a receiver in
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this particular moment, or next way
the roles get reversed. You can trust
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this man to be a minister of
Christ to you through his actions, through
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his words. When these men speak
to us in our situations, they speak
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to us out of brotherly Christian love. That is true, and we know
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they mean it, because they are
truth tellers. When they tell us they'll
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put our money to good use,
when they tell us, when they say
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a to to us, that is
a gift and there's no strings attached.
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We can trust them for these things
their words, as they speak true words
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of Christ and love, they minister
to our souls as Christ ministers to us
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through them. In the next qualification
it says that deacons are not to be
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addicted too much wine. Wine is, of course, a good thing.
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God made it. I'm Jesus turned
water into wine at a wedding. It's
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a celebratory thing. Psalm one hundred
and four versus fourteen and fifteen tell us
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that wine makes our hearts glad.
It's an enjoyable thing, it's a good
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thing, but it's not a good
thing to be addicted to it. In
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fact, it's really bad and it
disqualifies you from the Office of Deacon.
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I want to read with you a
little bit from proverbs on this point.
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So this is proverbs, Chapter Twenty
three versus twenty nine through thirty five.
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Verbs Twenty three, twenty nine through
thirty five. WHO has woe? WHO
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has sorrow? WHO has strife?
WHO has complaining? Who has wounds without
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cause? Who has redness of eyes? Those who tarry long over wine,
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those who go to try mixed wine, do not look at wine when it
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is red, when it sparkles in
the cup and goes down smoothly. In
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the end it bites like a serpent, stings like an adder. Your eyes
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will see strange things, your heart
utter perverse things. You'll be like one
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who lies down in the midst of
the sea, like one who lies on
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the top of a mast. They
struck me, you will say, but
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I was not hurt. They beat
me, but I did not feel it.
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When shall I awake? I must
have another drink. You see the
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effect that wine can have. Wine
and other forms of alcohol that's not taken
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in moderation. It's a dangerous thing. It makes you not sober minded,
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it makes you see things that aren't
there. It makes you one that is
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susceptible to being hurt. This is
not somebody who's ready to lead other people,
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to manage resources, to steward good
things. This is not what he
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has somebody who has sound judgment.
This is someone who has, as the
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proverb says, Whoa and sorrow and
strife and complaining. This is not someone
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who is to be a deacon in
Christ's church. Deacons are to be stewards
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of the resources that have been dedicated
to the Lord. They must be wise,
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as we saw enact six last week. They need to possess wisdom and
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sound judgment. They need to be
decision makers, or, to put it
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using another scripture, they need to
be men that are full of the Holy
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Spirit, not full of wine.
Well, let's turn back to a first
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Timothy and continue on with the list
of qualifications the Lord is giving us here.
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The next we are told they are
not to be greedy for dishonest gain.
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Now the Lord allows those to do
honest work to gain money. Typically,
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this is how it works. It's
how God has designed this world to
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work and he wants it to work
that way. Gain is not a bad
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thing when we set our hands to
do good work and we are blessed by
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it, able to provide for ourselves, able to be generous to others on
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this is all very good and from
the Lord. Dishonest gain and greed on
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top of that is not from the
Lord. Those who are greedy for dishonesting
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become like Judas among us. They
Rob Christ and they rob Christ of what
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is his and they see destroy his
body. Deacons have a responsibility to care
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for the funds of the Church.
They must know, they must be known,
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therefore, to have a care for
Christ and his church and not for
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themselves. Those who are greedy for
dishonest gain not only cannot be trusted,
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but their motives are all after the
wrong thing. These are givers, these
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are connectors, these are people who
give out of the resources that have been
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given to them. Are there are
not in it for the money. A
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Deacon is a servant who is called
to the purpose of serving, not stealing.
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Now some would fear never to trust
any man with their money, but
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this is not necessary, because one
of the things that we see not only
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in this qualification but in all the
qualifications for the Dayak in it. The
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Lord not only sets the qualifications for
the office, but we can be encouraged
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that the Lord also qualifies men.
In other words, he doesn't set this
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bar that can never be reached.
The Lord Tells Timothy here is that here
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are the requirements for the office,
and I want you to put men into
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the office. There are men that
meet these qualifications, and that's because of
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the Lord's grace to us. It's
because of the Lord's mercy to us.
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He sets this bar and then he
equips men to fulfill that calling, all
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to the praise of his great name. Well, how can we know who
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is greedy for dishonest gain and who
is not? The same as we know
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all of these other qualifications. We
know the men, we see them in
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their work, we see their heart. Are they wise? Are they transparent
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while also being discreet? Do they
create systems of accountability and trust, both
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within them and within the they offer. Where are they hiders? Are they
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keeping things US secret, different from
discreet but secret protected? Do they lack
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accountability? These are the ways that
we know, and as we come to
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know these men, we come to
trust them, as they are qualified to
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do these things. In the next
in the next verse or section, here
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we are told that they are those
who must hold the mystery of faith with
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a clear conscience. Here the fell
of honesty rings true again. A Deacon
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is to be a true Christian,
he is to Minister The mercy of Christ
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as one who has experienced the mercy
of Christ himself. It's difficult for somebody
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to teach what they don't know.
It's difficult for somebody to give what they
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don't have. A Deacon doesn't just
give and receive money for the needs of
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the church. He's not just a
manager of funds. He is giving and
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receiving the mercy of Christ. He
is helping the body to be built up,
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even as he himself has been built
up by Christ and by the body
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of Christ working in him. He
is experienced the love of Christ, the
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grace of Christ. He is a
minister of those things and so it is
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imperative that he knows the Lord Jesus
himself. It's imperative that he holds the
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mystery of the faith, the faith
a set of beliefs, a content which
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is given to us by God through
the Sun and the spirit. He must
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hold to that with a clear conscience, without reservation. This is where I
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stand, he says, and he
stands and he leads us in that way.
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The Qualified Deacon is one who loves
the Lord and knows himself to be
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a debtor to mercy. Next,
we read that these deacons are to be
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tested, says in verse ten.
And let them also be tested first,
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and let them serve as deacons if
they prove themselves blameless. Tests are hard
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tests. It expose what is lacking. All of us, I'm sure of
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gone into a test at some point
in our lives unprepared and a little bit
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fearful, knowing, knowing what is
about to happen, knowing what is about
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to be exposed. Someone once showed
me how he makes bolow ties and he
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would take the the stone that he
was going to use, and he would
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drop it onto his bench before he
started. He'd find a beautiful stone,
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a stone that he wanted to use, a good stone, a ready stone,
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and he drop it onto his brench
and if it shattered, well,
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he wasn't going to use that stone. And if it stayed INTAC if preserved,
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well, now he was going to
invest energy in it. Now he
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was going to put it and make
it as part of his tie. If
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he breaks it, he got rid
of it. If it didn't break,
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he'd use it. Now. Of
course, we don't want to break men
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in our church. We want to
disciple them, we want to test them,
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but we want those tests to prepare
those men and to prove those men.
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A man who is tested is one
who is known to be the things
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that are listed here. We're not
supposed to just guess and hope. We're
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supposed to test, to prove that
these things are true. Now, and
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and we have been doing that with
our Deacon candidates here. We have been
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on testing them for quite some time, over a year now informal things,
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and then, of course longer than
that is they have been among us for
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for several years. John Calvin says
in his commentary on this verse. And
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this proving process is not for a
single hour but consists of a long period
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of trial. In a word,
the appointment of deacons should not be a
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rash and random choice of any who
come to hand, but men who have
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commended themselves by their past manner of
life should be selected so that, as
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a result of full inquiry, they
are to be found suitable. And that
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leads us to what Paul says next, if they prove themselves blameless. Blameless
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here does not mean sinless, it
means above reproach, it means a man
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who has passed the test, who's
proven himself to have these qualities in his
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life. Again, John Calviny says, to be blameless means to be free
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from any notorious fault. It means
that when you describe this person, you
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describe them in this way, without
hesitation or a bunch of qualifications. You
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just say he's an honest man.
It's true. The scripture says that Joe
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was blameless and upright and one who
feared the Lord and shunned evil. Our
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deacons should be this way as well, and we should be confident in saying
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that. Next, keeping on,
keeping moving here, the Lord says that
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the wives of deacons are to be
similar to their husband's in certain ways.
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He says, they are to be
dignified, they are not to be slanderers,
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they are to be sober minded and
faithful in all things. In it's
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in this way we are reminded that
husband and wives act as a kind of
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team. If you are, let's
Angel Investor, and you go to invest
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a bunch of money in this new
startup and you're really excited about it,
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and you go and you meet the
to cofounders of this business and one of
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them is great and the other one
not so much. The other one doesn't
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seem very honest, the other one
seems to kind of lie a lot of
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the other one doesn't represent themselves well. Well, no matter how much confidence
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you might have in the one,
because they are a team, it breaks
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your confidence in the whole. And
something like that is going on here as
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well. Husband and wives must function
well together as teammates, and so a
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Deacon's wife, like her husband,
must be also dignified, careful about her
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tongue, sober minded and faithful in
all things. Continuing on, while his
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wife is to be a godly woman, he is also to be a godly
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man, specifically, Paul says,
toward her. If a man is to
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be a deacon, he is to
be faithful to his bribe. This does
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not disqualify a man who is not
married. Jesus himself was not married,
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nor was Paul, who gives these
instructions, and Paul specifically tells us in
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First Corinthians that unmarried people are often
in a better position to serve because they
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are focused. But the need for
faithfulness applies to both those who are single
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and to those who are married.
A Deacon's Ministry is about faithfulness. A
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Deacon, therefore, is to be
chased a chaste man. He is to
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be exhibit purity, as one who
has been purified by Christ, who is
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himself the spotless lamb of God.
See Again, and in the person of
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the Deacon, in the work of
the Deacon, God makes himself known to
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us as he ministers to us through
this office. This does not mean that
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the Deacon is sinless, this does
not mean a deacon is perfect or that
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the deacon is our savior, but
as he administers these things, as Christ
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as called him to do, we
see the Lord at work in his church.
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Well, thinking about the Lord's ruling
over his household. This is why
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the next qualification says that deacons ought
to rule their households. Here we see
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that they deacon, while a servant, is also one who exercises authority.
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He does so in his office as
a Deacon and in his office as the
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head of his household. He is
to manage his children and his household.
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Well. We're reminded of the parable
and the proverb that Hughes over who is
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faithful over a little can be full
over more, over much. Sometimes,
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ruling your own house is then ruling
over a larger body of people, for
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all the kind of obvious reasons,
and so we might think about this as
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an argument from the lesser to the
greater. If you canage this, then
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you can manage this. We also
may say at times that sometimes it's harder
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to manage what this's hall at home
then what it is to manage what is
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outside of the home. At home, people know you in all of your
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they know who you are and your
strengths and your weaknesses. They know your
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faults, they know your ups in
your downs. They know you intimately,
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and that can make things difficult either
way. We are called to serve our
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families. Deacons, officers, pastors, elders and pastors. They are called
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to love their household serve their households, manage their households well and as they
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are trusted in these ways, the
Lord give them qualifies them to serve in
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other ways well. Now from here
we have the promise that we mentioned at
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the beginning. Verse Thirteen says for
those who serve well as deacons gain a
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good standing for themselves and also great
confidence in the faith that is in Christ
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Jesus. So not every Deacon serves
well, we might say, and I
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suspect that any deacon that you would
find would say that there are ups and
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downs in his ministry, Times of
strength and and an ability and times of
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frustration and weakness. But on the
whole, the Lord says that the one
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who serves well will be rewarded.
He is rewarded with the respect of the
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people he serves. He gains a
good standing, a good reputation. Well,
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his primary focus is to serve the
Lord. He will receive this blessing
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from the Lord, a good name, if he serves well, and this
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is something to be desired, not
shunned or despised or ignored. Proverbs twenty
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two one says a good name is
to be chosen rather than great riches and
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favor is better than silver or gold. Ecclesiastic seven one says a good name
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is better than precious ointment and the
day of death than the day of birth.
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He also receives an addition to a
good reputation, a good standing among
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the saints, he receives another blessing, boldness, confidence in the faith.
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Just as we all see and experience
the work of God in the tangible acts
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of mercy in the Church, so
does the Deacon. So does the Deacon
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and of course right. He's like
the farmer in the field. Right.
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We might all get to enjoy the
benefits of his work. But and his
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work is hard, his hands are
dirty, there's dweat on his brow,
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he has to wait, he has
to be patient. But you know what,
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he's also the one who gets to
taste the food first. He's the
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one who gets to enjoy the benefits
of that work, the benefits of God's
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grace. The work of the Deacon
is up close and personal, personal.
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It's hard, but he sees and
he experiences the goodness of God and in
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that it gives him confidence in what
in the faith, in the promises that
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God has made and the promises that
God is fulfilling through him, through the
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elders, through the pastors and through
every member of Christ church. Remember,
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this is Christ who is at work
in his body, and the Deacon being
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up close and personal in this work, in this work of service us,
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he gets to experience that, he
gets to see it for himself, and
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in that it increases his boldness,
it increases his confidence in the faith that
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is in Christ, Jesus. And
what is that faith? It is the
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faith of the things that Paul says
here, great indeed, we confesses the
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mystery of Godliness. What is the
way in which all this works and which
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this good work the Lord produces in
us? It is through Christ. We
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have, then, a mini confession
of faith here. He was manifested in
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the flesh, vindicated by the spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the
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nations, believed on in the world
and taken up in Glory Jesus Christ,
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this Jesus, is our cornerstone.
He ordains these servants Church because he himself
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is the Great Servant of the Church. We experience these things because Christ is
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at work in us. The worth
of the Deacon, in other words,
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is a work of the cross.
It's dirty and servereignty and self sacrificial and
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not always very esteemed by the world. Indeed, often in the church itselfkins
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are overlooked, and sometimes deacons themselves
a wish for more glorious things. But
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God's Appro Basin his pad on the
back, his encouragement here, could not
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be clear. He says to the
Deacon, this is a noble task,
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it's an important task, and there
are rewards for the servant and for those
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whom he serves. And that's because
he is at work in US, qualifying
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these men for office, blessing their
ministry among us, helping US individually to
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grow and mature. This is the
work of the spirit of God who is
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pour down on us through this one, through our savior, who's taken up
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into glory. Jesus knows we are
of dust. Jesus knows we have needs
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in this world. Jesus is not
neglected US or forgotten us. He is
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taken care he's taking care of us
in many ways, and in this way
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in particular, through the Office of
Deacon, this one who is qualified to
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fulfill these things. So, as
we close, I want you to consider
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just a couple things. First of
all, let's all examine our own hearts.
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These are virtues that we should all
aspire to. None of us should
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say, well, I guess that
one. I don't need to bother about
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that one. Now, these are
all good things. They are part of
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Godliness, are they not? They're
part of what it means is to be
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marked by God, imitators, by
imitators of God, and as those who
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are at being work by the Lord. So let's examine our hearts, asking
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how we might grow and have these
virtues as a part of our lives,
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and how we might have them through
faith in the one who is the mystery
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of Godliness, the revelation of the
one who reveals God's work in the world.
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And let us, of course,
consider the hearts of those who might
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serve among us one day as deacons. Let us pray for them, not
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only the ones who are our deacon
candidates now, but ones who are ones
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in the future, perhaps even our
little boys who are here today. Let's
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pray for them and ask that God
would equip them and strengthen them and help
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them to grow in godliness. Not
all are called to serve, and that
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is fine. There are men who
may meet these qualifications and be gone men
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and yet are not called to serve
and and that is fine. But to
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those who are, let them be
qualified, let them be qualified by God,
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tested and proved by us, and
may his work in us and all
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these things be made known. Let's
pray, our Lord, in the light
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of the godliness that we see in
our brothers and sisters, we see the
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righteous one, our Savior, Christ, and his spirit producing these things in
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us. We are saved by him
and by him alone, in soul and
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in body, from the cursed suffering
in the world through his work on our
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behalf. And it is at it
is his work, Jesus work, that
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is going on among us. We
give gifts because we have been gifted.
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We give life because we have been
given life, and as we do this
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for one another in this church and
in the visible church throughout the world,
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we ask that you would be glorified, that your name would be known as
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your love is exhibited and made manifest
among the saints. Lord, how far
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we have come. The citizens of
this heavenly kingdom is those who bear the
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the image of Jesus Christ, as
those who are new creatures and a part
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of the new creation. How far
we have come. Once we were children
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of Wrath, ones, we were
bound in sin, ones, these verus
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were not in us at all.
And for all of us who have come
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to the Lord Jesus Christ and is
sanctifying work of the spirit, we have
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become to be like this. We
have become people who are truth tellers,
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people who are not greedy for dishonest
gain, people who hold the faith with
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a clear conscience. And, Lord, as we have, we as we
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are growing in these things, we
asked that you would help us to grow
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even more, that you would help
us to pursue godliness through faith in the
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mystery of Godliness. Jesus Christ himself
are Savior, whose righteousness was proven by
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the spirit of God, who raised
him from the dead, proclaimed him among
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the nations, that even we might
believe on him and one day receive the
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glory that he has earned for us. Lord, we ask that you would
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continue to pour out his grace upon
us, and we ask in particular that
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you would do so on men who
would serve in our church as deacons.
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Fill them with the grace of your
Holy Spirit, fill them with the godliness,
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fill them with confidence in Christ,
that they might serve in him and
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for him, that they might have
confidence before you, so that they might
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lead us in these things and that
together we might be built up in love
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as the body of Christ and of
law. And Lord, of course,
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we take the time now to pray
for those who are needy among us.
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As we thank you for the gifts
we have, we also thank you for
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the trials that we have, because
you use these for our good. You
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use these to teach us of our
need for you and our need for one
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another. We asked that you would
be at work and that you would be
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blessing those who are in need,
whether it be work, finances, whether
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00:42:27.860 --> 00:42:31.610
it be physical things and trials,
struggles in our bodies, whether it be
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00:42:31.769 --> 00:42:38.449
loneliness and separation, or spiritual challenges
and difficulties, relationship troubles in this world.
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Whatever these things are, Lord,
we asked that you would be at
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work in them. Let us and
teach us to become sensitive to one another,
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so that we might pray for one
another, support one another fill one
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another with the love of Christ.
Lord, teach us not to try to
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be anyone's savior, but to give
the gifts of the savior, to point
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to the rest savior, to give, as we have been given to and
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out of the great storehouse of the
riches and the Treasures of the grace of
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Christ. Lord, we give you
praise and Thanksgiving for all of these things.
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We asked that you would hear our
prayer now, in Jesus name,
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Amen,
