Deacons – Their Important Work

Introduction

We’re thankful for your coming. And as usual, we have visitors in our audience this morning, and we certainly welcome you and thankful that you were able to come and to be with us. But I want to say to our visitors that this part of our service today is going to be a little different, maybe in the sense that there’s some special things for this congregation that I want to present. In fact, first of all, to remind all that it is five weeks from today that our special series of lessons, we call it a gospel meeting, will begin. Brother Gary Sandusky from Madison, Indiana, has been invited to come and to be with us. And uh we invite Brother Sandusky because we consider him to be an exceptional gospel preacher.

And you find exceptional blessing if you’ll make it your schedule to come and to be with us. It’ll be for a Sunday through a Wednesday night. And in fact, the lessons he’s already selected will be from Colossians. You may notice uh, in fact, uh, first of all, cards that are on the table in the foyer. I hope you’ve already picked up some. Maybe you already started handing them to your friends and visitors and in a special way. Invite them. Come with me to the service. Or come to the service. If you need a ride, I’ll go pick you up or whatever. But make it special. But also, if you’d like to maybe encourage them to have a little more understanding or visual insight into it, there’s also on our website, and they’ll bring that back up they had a moment ago.

You’ll notice that uh if you go to the website, Bumby.org, you’ll find uh in the upper left-hand column where it’s kind of rolling and changing right now, that uh we have a little statement. Adam has put it together and gives you also an uh invite for that uh particular series, and maybe you’ll have a picture of Brother Sandusky. I think I’ll let those in the back control that.

They have a problem like I do. The members of the South Bumby Church of Christ invite you to hear a special series of gospel sermons, March twentieth through twenty-third. On the book of Colossians, When Christ is all, preached by Gary Sandusky of Madison, Indiana. His topics are as follows, translated into his kingdom. Christ, the image of the invisible God. All the treasures hidden in Christ, alive in Christ. Do all in the name of the Lord. And for we serve the Lord Christ. For more information, visit Bumby.org. We look forward to seeing you soon. God bless. I think that’s a very effective ad. You might uh ask your friend even to look at the website and see that. In addition to that, many of you have perhaps uh got through the member needs on Friday, Brother Adam uh posted a copy of a sermon that Brother Sandusky preached about three years ago in Huntsville, Alabama, in a gospel meeting.

If you’d like to hear him speak, give you some insight as to uh how he speaks and his style and manner. In fact, uh if you happen not to get that on Friday, if you’ll just write down your email, hand it to Adam, I’m sure he’ll send it to you. It’ll be very helpful, even just hearing the lesson that Brother Sandusky preached uh previously. Uh he was in the book of Philippians that particular service, whereas he’ll be studying from Colossians with uh with with us. I hope you’ll indeed make your own plans to set aside that Sunday, especially, that Monday night, that Tuesday night, and that Wednesday night, and let’s be indeed encouraged and edified through this special series of services. But in addition to that, as elders of this flock, I’ve been asked to present to you the fact that we want to set before you the names of men to be added to our list of men who serve as deacons of this congregation.

We have met with four different men and their wives, and we consider them to be qualified. But we want you to also take a look and investigate, and simply if you consider them to be qualified, we will open this over a period of the next two weeks, at least through Sunday of February the 28th. And if you consider them to be qualified, then we will appoint them as such. If in fact you find some reason that they do not fit the biblical requirements, then also their name would be withdrawn. It’s an evaluation process that we feel is indeed like we find in the scriptures. The names that we present to you, Brother Tim Calwell, Brother Andrew Fix, Brother Chris Skinon, Brother Josh Smith, in alphabetical order.

And I would say of these four men, only one withdrew his name, Brother Andrew Fix, felt that because of some personal health issues that you know about, of course, as a congregation, and because of uh, in fact, work considerations. He felt that he should not be serving it in that special way at this time. But of course, we have left that door open, and maybe at a later time when things are better with him and his family, then we’ll set his name again before you. Currently, this church is served by six good men. By Rufus Barfield, Mark Folkes, Mike Manier, Tony Thigpin, Rob West, and John Wilman. The task that we have before them is heavy. And therefore, to have even three more. There’s plenty of work to be done.

And we think that indeed these men would help serve the congregation. I want you to notice, though, though, as we talk about deacons, they have a special and a very important work. If you have your Bibles, you might open me to the reading found in 1 Timothy chapter 3, where indeed the apostle set before, first of all, in this verse or this chapter, the requirements of men who may serve as bishops or elders of a congregation. But then he turns to the work and call vocation of deacons, 1 Timothy chapter 3, beginning in verse 8. Likewise, deacons must be reverent, not double-tongue, not given to much wine, not greedy for money, holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience. But let these also first be proved, be tested.

1. What Is a Deacon?

Then let them serve as deacons, being found blameless. Likewise, their wives must be reverent, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things. Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well. For those who have served well as deacons, obtain for themselves a good standing and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus. Evidently, as we find these certain statements given as they are, it is according to the Lord’s will that they have an important work to do within a local congregation. What, therefore, is a deacon? Or who is a deacon? Are you a deacon? The word deacon rightly comes from a Greek word, diaconos. You can see that’s almost transliterated into an English word, deacon. And uh they are and others who define Greek words, simply the simplest definition, literally means a servant, an attendant.

Even you could add the word minister. Translated, deacon, is found some five times in the New Testament, passages like Philippians chapter 1, where the apostle addressed the letter to the church at Philippi. He said to the saints in Christ Jesus, with the bishops and deacons. In that passage, we really see the organization of a local congregation. That we as saints, as those who have been purified by the blood of Jesus Christ, washed from our sins, saints. But along with the Lord is set up for bishops or elders who oversee the flock, who watch for the souls in a spiritual way, but also deacons. Indeed, as we just read from 1 Timothy chapter 3, their work is important. But you might also be interested to know that this word diaconos is found a total of some 32 times in the New Testament.

In fact, seven times it is translated servant, like in Matthew chapter 23 and verse 11. Jesus said, He who will be greatest among you will be your servant. And then in Romans chapter 16, speaking about a faithful woman in the church at Sincrea named Phoebe, she was described as a servant of the church in Sincrea. Along with that, some twenty times. The word diakonos is translated minister. Passages like in Mark 10, 43. Jesus quoted again, whosoever will be great among you shall be your minister. Or Festalonians, 1 Thessalonians 3 and in verse 2, how that Paul said he had sent Timothy, our brother and minister of God and our fellow laborer and the gospel of Christ to establish you and to comfort you concerning your faith.

2. In the General Sense, We All Are Servants

Or in Romans 15 and verse 8, where the scripture even speaks of Jesus, I say that Jesus Christ has become a servant to the circumcision for the truth of God to confirm the promises made to our fathers. In Romans chapter 13, it’s applied to civil authority. For the civil government described as God’s minister to you for good. And frankly, all faithful Christians. In John chapter 12 and verse 26, if anyone serves me, Jesus said, let him follow me, and where I am, there my servant will be also. You may have wondered why I put the question up, who’s a deacon are you? You probably never think of yourself as a deacon, but in the general sense of the word, I would hope all of us. But say, I’m a Christian.

As we sang just before I stepped up here, we’ll work till Jesus comes. And in that sense, in the general sense, we all are ministers. We all are servants. In fact, I’m reminded of a story I read some time ago about the keeper of the spring. It’s a story about a man who lived in an Austrian or above an Austrian village, high in the Alps. In fact, they lived quite a distance above this particular village. And when there was a young council, a town council decided some years earlier that they were going to hire this gentleman to keep the spring clear. His job was, of course, to pull the branches out of the water or the leaves or whatever it would be that might indeed cause the water to be somewhat impure and clogged up.

And so as he began his work, it soon became quite evident that the spring water that flowed down the mountainside was beautiful and pure and flowed freely. And in fact, along the way down the slopes, there would be gathered certain pools of water, and businesses even began to open up as the water would make the mill wheels turn. And there was some prosperity all on as it went down the slope.

And so everything went well for several years. Until some years later, a different town council, as they began to meet in their semi-annual meeting and began to look at their budget, they began to question: well, why do we need to pay this man? We don’t see him. Nobody sees the work that he is doing. And maybe that’s just an expense we ought to cut out of our budget. Said the keeper of the purse, we’ll just quit supporting him. Well, at first there was no change. It looked like about the same. You know, the water kept clean and pure until autumn came. And the leaves began to fall. The branches or twigs began to get into the water, and it wasn’t long until the water became somewhat darker.

Within another week, a slimy film covered the sections of the water along the banks, and a foul odor was soon detected. And the fact the mill wheels began to slow down until finally they ground to a halt, the swans left, as did the tourist. In fact, disease entered in. You see, the town council soon realized that though they had not seen the specific work this man was doing, they then realized he was doing things that beautified their town and their village.

And sure enough, after a period of time, the beautiful water returned. Indeed, there’s more to that than just a story. It’s not an idle tale. It carries a message. You may say, Well, I’m not a deacon, and you’re not in the official sense of the word. But if you’re a child of God, you may think your work is not all that important. Nobody’s praised you, nobody’s lifted your hand up high and said, Look here. But how many are there among us who make this congregation function as a brotherhood, a family that loves one another? There’s so many who do works that are not really advertised. I know that there are many here who send cards when we talk about the sick or the shut ins. I know that when we say, hey, there’s a special need for food to be prepared, there’s some who respond quickly with food.

There are those who indeed will indeed provide rides. There’s somebody who is in need of a ride. They don’t have a way. And there are some who will volunteer, yes, I’ll go get this person or persons. And there are smiles. You you have a way of making someone else feel good. You know, it’s going through a trouble and a time of heartache and genuine concern for others. The Lord’s Supper, who prepares that? Who takes care after the service this morning of cleaning and making? There are just so many things that are done by those who like the keeper of the spring. It may not be seen by others and praised by others, but the Lord knows. And your action makes this congregation a healthy congregation and a good congregation.

3. Men Over This Business: Serving Tables

And so I would say to you, while we’re talking this morning in a special way, about men whom we want to submit their names who might serve in a special way. Yet consider the fact that really the Lord knows all of us are special. But when we say deacons, I believe we find even in the scripture an application. When we look at Acts chapter 6, there we we read about how that the Grecian widows were being neglected in the church in Jerusalem. The scripture reads like this in those days when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution. Then the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, It is not desirable that we should leave the Word of God and serve tables.

Therefore, brethren, seek out from among yourselves, are you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. But we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word. The saying pleased the whole multitude. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit and Philip, Procurus, Micanor, Timon, Parmenus, and Nicholas, a proselyte from Antioch, whom they set before the apostles, and when they had prayed, they laid hands on them. Now it is true that they are not described specifically as deacons, but they simply exemplify what it seems to be the work of a deacon, a special servant in the in a local congregation. And underline a couple of phrases in this, though, to simply point out how the apostles indeed spoke of keeping themselves, the work of deacons was such that so that the apostles would not have to leave the word of God in order to serve tables.

And while elders are certainly not equivalent to apostles, yet they have a responsibility with the Word of God as shepherds, as overseers, to feed the flock of God, to watch for your souls. And therefore there is a heavy responsibility of those who serve as bishops or overseers, shepherds of the flock, pastors, elders, whatever you wish to call them. And therefore they must give themselves constantly to looking about the welfare spiritually of this flock. But also, there was a matter of men who might be over this business. Underline that also. And in that responsibility, these seven men that were selected in the church at Jerusalem were simply to carry out a work of, you might say, serving tables. You may say, well, what do the deacons do among us?

4. What Do the Deacons Do Among Us?

Our six deacons have many different responsibilities. We’ve kind of outlined and without reading them all, let me just suggest to you that the deacons indeed, many times, those who are in special need of benevolence, come first to a couple of our deacons, and they’re the ones who sort out and will assist and help in a special way. Things like advertising. Who was behind getting our cards ready? Who’s been behind actually seeing about other forms of advertising? As that week comes closer, we’re going to, in fact, out on the corner here at Pershing and Bumby, put up a large sign so people coming around will see that we’re having a special service. Who’s behind all that? I’d say it’s the deacons. Who orders workbooks for our classrooms?

Who is it that indeed takes care of visual aids if teachers need them? Who is it that provides the roster for who’s going to serve the Lord’s table? And it changes every month. Who’s going to lead in prayer each Sunday? Indeed, there are other things that go on, ushers, greeting visitors. There’s so many things. Who takes care of the building? When the air conditioner or the heating goes down, who do you think we call upon first? Or who takes care of outside maintenance of the building outside? And on and on, there’s so many activities. It’s not that the elders are unaware, in fact, many times they may ask the deacons to engage in some of these activities, but they are activities that you might say under the classification of serving tables, that indeed enables us to function as a family of God.

5. Here Is What a Deacon Must Be

What is your work? As we look at deacons, therefore, this morning, what we’re going to ask of you in a special way is to look at the qualifications of these men. And over the next two weeks, first of all, be able to explain here is what a deacon must be. And I would say for every man, every one of us, ought to stop and think, does this describe a faithful Christian? Is to be reverent. Deacons must be worthy of respect. They must be men of dignity. They must maintain self-control, inspire confidence. They have some influence, and therefore they must be aware of that influence and conduct themselves in a way that really is free from fickleness and immature actions. They’re not double-tongued. You might say, well, nobody’s got two tongues.

But you know that means more than just physically. It means that when they speak, you can count on their word. They are the kind of person who is dependable when they speak. They’re honest, they’re men of integrity. They speak the exact truth what he says.

They could drink a little bit, just not much. Well, there may be those who likely use the passage as this to try to justify social drinking in our society. But I say that’s a misuse of the passage. Actually, the New American Standard says they’re not addicted. And the word much really has to be understood in its context, and context of time as well.

Many times are unfamiliar that the word wine does not necessarily mean that it’s fermented. Does not necessarily, in fact, mean that it’s anything like the wine that’s sold in the marketplace today. In Matthew chapter 9, Jesus was speaking, verses 16 and 17, how that you don’t put new wine into old wineskins. And he used the reasoning because new wine that in time will fur will ferment would burst the wine old wineskins. He said you put new wine in new wineskins. As it ferments, it’ll stretch out. Now, the word wine is from the Greek oikos. And whether it is fermented or unfermented, it’s the same word that is used. In Bible times, of course, the grape, the growing of the vine, the wine, uh, was as a common thing, and their common drink really would be what we may say grape juice or the wine that is unfermented, but not having the same means uh of of keeping it uh in its current or uh first order, like we do today.

There would be a process of time where the wine would be fermented and it would and it would cause one to become drunk. And it’s in that sort of a context that the apostle would say warn them. They should not be addicted. They should not be men who would be certainly unstable and as we would say drunk. So he’s not saying it’s all right to drink a little alcohol. That’s not really what he’s saying. And to make that a comparison to today is, well, it’s sort of like trying to compare apples with oranges. They’re not to be addicted, or they’re not to be given to much wine. The next quality is they they are not greedy for money. They’re not pursuing dishonest gain, the New International Version says.

You know, in 1 Timothy chapter 6, in fact, the apostle says, the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And so there are men whose whose purpose is not to be greedy. It isn’t that it’s wrong to work and to earn money, but men who have the love of money become greedy, and indeed for the kind of money that is really even dishonest. As men of integrity, therefore, they are not greedy of money. And they’re to hold the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience. They’re the kind of men you can depend upon as they understand the word of God. They know why they believe, what they believe, and can give you an answer for it. They’re to be men who you’d say dependable with the word of God.

And therefore, it is important that they know something about the word of God and are able and even to use it correctly and carefully. They are indeed to hold the faith with a pure conscience. But let these also first be tested. King James Version says, let them be proved. That is, they’re not just new people among us, and oh, we dislike them, and so we’re going to elect them to be a deacon. But they’re men whose life and character is known. And we observe what they live, and therefore they’ve shown by their life the ability to do that which is required. In fact, he says, let them serve as deacons being found blameless. That’s a pretty broad word. Blameless doesn’t mean perfect without any fault. If that were so, none of us would have qualified, right?

But there are to be men whose character really is above reproach. They’re to be married. Let their wives be reverent, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things. And you find really a similarity, the word reverent, it’s like the very first word in verse 8 for deacons. They’re to be the kind of person who is worthy of respect of dignity. Their wives are not slanderers, they’re not gossipers, they’re not double tongued. They’re temperate, they’re self-controlled, and they’re faithful women. They’re faithful in all things. And then he goes back to deacons again. Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own house as well. They have children, and they’ve begun to demonstrate as a good father that they indeed are instructing their children in the righteous way.

6. A Good Standing and Great Boldness in the Faith

For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a good standing and great boldness in the faith, which is in Christ Jesus. Think about it. Men who work and serve as deacons have a good standing in the eyes of the Lord. To know that what your service is going to be rewarded by the Lord, and that He is indeed thankful, and He appreciates and desires men who themselves are faithful, have a good standing before God, and great boldness or great assurance. There’s not a better feeling or a sense of joy than to know your work for the Lord who gave Himself for you. So therefore, as we approach this next few next two weeks particularly, I hope that every member of this congregation will stop and think do you understand what the qualities are?

Qualifications? Are you and have you indeed known of these three men? Brother Tim Calwell, Chris Skinnon, and Josh Schmidt. Do you think in your mind that they seem to fit these certain qualifications as set forth in the scripture? And if so, we’d like for you to speak the word either for or against to those who are bishops or elders of this congregation. And I would add this if you think there are other men among this congregation who fit these qualifications, then produce their names to us as well. We simply believe that these men are ready. We would hope there’ll be others soon that also would fulfill the qualities and qualifications, and perhaps there are others who will also take upon this role.

Conclusion

Where these men who may serve in a good way before the Lord with all boldness and assurance that God would approve, how would you stand? How do you stand before him? Have you been a faithful child of God? Are you walking in the faith? Can it be said, hey, I can depend upon you. You’ll be here. You’ll be here next Wednesday night, if at all possible. You’ll be here next Sunday morning at the nine o’clock service at all possible. What’s first place in your life? And if it’s not serving the Lord, then why not make a change? And if there’s some things you’ve done that have indeed caused more hindrance to the work rather than an ability to help it, why not repent and make yourself right before God?

And if you’ve never become a Christian, there’s no greater step than to purify your souls by obeying the truth through the Spirit, as Peter wrote in 1 Peter chapter 1, that you can purify your souls in obeying the truth. You can be born again by the incorruptible word, by the word of God, in obedience to it. If you believe Jesus to be the Son of God, repenting of your sins, you can be buried into the death of Jesus Christ by baptism to rise to walk in newness of life. The hope of heaven will be yours. If you’re not a child of God, we extend this invitation to you this morning. We bid you come even now while together we stand while we sing.