Called and Qualified Men - The Deacon - Part 3

Well, if you would, go ahead and take your Bible and turn back to 1 Timothy 3, being verses 8 to 13. I just thought about something. Chances are many of you will not answer the phone if I call you this week or text you this week because I did mention that I'm going to get somebody else to share a testimony next Sunday. I might have scared a few of you. But if I do text you, if I do call you, maybe you do need to answer because you might be the one that needs to share. I appreciate Chris sharing a testimony about how we have moved and how God's been blessing our church. Sometimes you need to hear these things from other folks besides just me.

And I know that just hearing it from Chris throughout the years has blessed me. And I know that whoever shares next week, it'll be a blessing to all of us as well. I look forward to that. Now I think most all of us know that for a few weeks we have been addressing this subject of leadership, leadership in the life of the church. We have been studying what I have titled the call and the qualifications of the elder. And then I just moved on over with that same title. And we've been looking at the call and the qualifications of the deacon.

Now I have been teaching on these two areas of service in the life of the church because as the pastor, I see the need for more elder leadership in the church and I see the need for organized deacon ministry in the church. Now there could be some of you here that might say, "Well, pastor, why do you see the need?" You could possibly look around and say, "Well, pastor, I think things are going well. Why the change?" I think we all see that our church is growing. We have more and more babies. We have more children. We have more families, which is extremely good.

Our small group ministry is growing and our small group ministry is developing more and more as it should. Our children's ministries are growing, our children's classes are growing as all of that should grow. And there are many other things that I could point to and show you that we're growing as a church. But because of the growth of the church and the fact that I believe we will reach more people and our ministries will grow and grow, well, we need more elders to help in teaching and shepherding and governing and those responsibilities in the church.

And also we need organized Deacon ministry to meet the growing physical needs in our church. Now, if you have paid attention to all of these messages, it's been quite a few, you will know that I have said many times that there are certain things that we are learning they are a must. Now, honestly, this week I went back over my notes. I do that from time to time purposely for several reasons. But as I was going back over my notes, I noticed that I have said over and over and over that there are certain things that are our must. I have said many times that these qualifications are a must because God says they are a must.

I think that needs to be repeated. I have asked you to underline and highlight one particular word that we must see. There you go. I'm using that word must again. Look at your copy of God's word. Look at verse 2. Paul's dealing with the elder here. He says, "Therefore an overseer," an elder, "must." What does it say? "Must." Then look at verse 8. Paul says, "Deacons likewise must." There it is again. This word must.

So if these qualifications are a must from God as He inspired Paul to write all of these things down, well, these qualifications and all of the responsibilities associated with the qualifications and the offices, well, they must be a must for us. How do you like how that rhymed? I did that by accident. Now I have also said many times that this teaching is a must because we are in a critical time in the life of our church. In relation to elders, I have said over and over that the success as well as the failure of the church is on the backs of the leadership, the elder leadership.

You might say, "Pastor, that's just too much." Well, no, it's not. Paul shows us this fact in Acts chapter 20. There he charged the elders from the church at Ephesus to step up to their responsibilities in the church. And he was basically saying it's on you, the success or the failure of the church. But a question here, I want you to think and be honest with yourself. How many churches have we seen slip into poor health and ease into disease and even fall off into death because of leadership? Pastors, paid staff who have led wrong, elders and elder boards who have led poorly, deacons who have the authority of elders.

You know, a lot of our Southern Baptist and Baptist churches have deacons who really function as elders. But how many times have we seen those deacons lead in awful ways? And what I'm showing you is this. What Paul shows us is true. Leadership is responsible for much of the success and the failure of the church. But then in relation to the deacons, I have said repeatedly that these things are a must because we have never had deacon ministry in our church, organized deacon ministry. We simply must organize this ministry according to God's Word and with God's subjective wisdom. And what I mean by that is this.

It might look different for us than it looks for someone else. And we have the wisdom of God in those matters. And if we do not, well, we will start off the ministry wrong. And if we start off the ministry wrong, it's going to continue wrong. And last, I have said many times that this teaching is a must because we must see that the deacon is not the man who couldn't make elders so he was put into this second-rate office. And it must be in our understanding that the deacon is not the man who couldn't quite measure up. So he was put into the minor leagues of being a deacon.

At this point, it is vital to understand that the deacon and the elder are held to almost the same spiritual qualifications. That surprised some of you. The only difference between the two are two things. First within the qualifications of the elder, he must have the ability to teach while the deacon is not required to have the ability to teach. The second difference is in how they serve. The elder holds an office that carries with it the ability and the responsibility to teach and the govern and the shepherd are pastor. But the deacon is different in his service.

He holds an office that carries with it the responsibility to serve in the wide range of physical needs in the church. Now this leads us right to where we left off last week. This morning we will finish up the qualifications for the deacon and we have been examining these five categories of qualifications. First we have seen thoroughly the qualifications pertaining to his personal character. That's out of verse 8. And these personal character qualifications are seen in four areas of the life. The deacon and the prospective deacon, he must be a man of dignity or respect.

This means he is serious about spiritual matters and serious about spiritual service in the life of the church. And he must be a man who is not double-tongued. This means that he is a man of truthful, honest, and consistent speech. What he says is dependable. What he says is trustworthy. People in his family, people in the church, and those outside of the church can depend on his speech. He also must be a man who is not addicted to wine or not addicted to alcohol. This simply means that he does not occupy himself with the drink. That's not his habit. And then last, he is not prone to dishonest gain. This means he is not greedy.

But on top of that, he's not greedy for dishonest gain in any way. So we learned that the deacon and the prospective deacon must be qualified in his personal character. And we learned that the qualifications that relate to his personal character are listed first. They're listed first because character determines conduct. Now let me give you a word or phrase, a name here that will help you remember these qualifications pertaining to personal character. This will surprise some of you. If you write down anything, write down the name Harry Truman.

You might say, "What does Harry Truman have to do with these qualifications?" Some of you know who Harry Truman was. He was the president after Franklin Roosevelt. Franklin Roosevelt died there at the end of World War II. And Harry Truman came in and took over for Franklin Roosevelt. As a matter of fact, he helped me in World War II in some good ways. But when he was appointing men for his cabinet, it was said that Harry Truman refused to have a man in his cabinet who was divorced.

And he was famous for the saying, "He said if a man will lie to his wife, he will lie to the American public." Harry Truman understood that character determined conduct. So character determines conduct. That's why I believe God led Paul to list these qualifications pertaining to personal character first. And then second, we learned his qualifications relating to his doctrine and faith. Verse 9, "This simply means that the deacon and the prospective deacon must know and possess and hold on to the Christian faith that is seen in the Scriptures.

And he must be able to do so with a clear conscience, which means he lives the faith out in his personal life and in the church." Here's a phrase to write down, faith in practice, faith in practice, faith in practice. As a pastor, I'll be honest with you, and this might surprise some of you. I'll take a man who practices his faith but knows little over a man who knows a whole lot but he doesn't put it into practice. Let me say that again. As a pastor, I'll take a man who practices his faith but he knows little over a man who knows much but he does not put it into practice. Usually the latter will give you problems in the life of the church.

And then third, we saw those qualifications that pertain to his service in the church out of verse 10. This is simple. This means the deacon and the prospective deacon must be examined, he must be tested, even scrutinized, yes scrutinized. He must be tested to prove if he is worthy for the work in the office or not. He might not be. He could fail the tests. And this testing is not to see if he could do the work, this testing is to see if he is doing the work. In many ways, the prospective deacon should be doing deacon work long before he is selected for the office and the service. And this is not a one-time testing.

This is in the present tense, which means that the deacon and the prospective deacon is to be tested and proven continuously. He should be tested and proven to see if he is always worthy for the work in the office. Now here is something that might surprise you. I have been in a long time of self-examination. As I have been praying through and studying through these verses to preach and teach, I purposely pray over these things. I must be qualified. It is not enough for me to be qualified 10 years ago. I have got to be qualified today.

And as men have sought my counsel and I have worked them through the Scripture in giving them resources, I have been reading those same resources. Why? I must maintain my qualifications as well. I should be tested and examined and proven. And then fourth we learn of his qualifications that relate to moral purity. I said that is right at the end of verse 10 at the beginning of verse 12. Here is one of the areas of qualification for the deacon that is exactly the same as the elder. And here we learn that this moral purity relates to two areas of the life. One is broad and the other is more specific.

Simply the deacon must be above reproach which means there must be no accusation upon his life. There must be no case of sin or wrongdoing made against him. And if he does sin and he will sin, well he does not hold on to that. He makes that right between God and man. And then also the deacon must be a one woman man. That is exactly how verse 12 reads in the original. This simply means that he should be a man who is completely committed to his wife. He must be a man who is committed to his marriage. He is committed to his love for his wife and his devotion for his wife. Now folks look there is some debate here but it is about a standard.

Remember that. It is about a standard. That is about setting a standard and standards for leadership in his church and standards matter. And finally, finally our fifth or our last category we are getting there. The deacon must have qualifying home life and home. Let's look at verse 11 and 12. Their wives likewise must be dignified not slanders but sober minded, faithful in all things. Let deacons each be the husband of one wife managing their children and their own households well. Now here we come to another area of debate.

The debate or the question here is whether Paul was addressing the wives of the deacons or another office and that would be the deaconess of the female deacon. Or was he just referring to women in general in the church? Now many of you are familiar with the debate surrounding the question of a man being allowed to serve as a deacon if he has been divorced. But many of you are not familiar with the debate surrounding the question of female deacons or the legitimacy of the deaconess. That would be the female deacon. Now if you do some study on your own you are going to run across this.

If you study what the commentators and scholars say about verse 11 you are going to come across this. But there are basically three respected positions taken here. First some see verse 11 speaking of the wives of the deacons. This would relate to the qualifications of the deacon meaning that if his wife does not meet the qualifications seen in verse 11 well he is not qualified. Others see verse 11 speaking to a separate office which is similar to but different than the male deacon. They say that verse 11 speaks to the qualifications of a female deacon or a deaconess.

And third there are some that say verse 11 is speaking of women in general in the church. They say this does not speak to the wives of the deacons because there are no qualifications given for the wives of the elders. Now here is how I want to approach these verses. Before I explain how I see these verses, how I interpret these passages I want to briefly explain the positions and why these positions are taken. But before I can get into the positions I want to make a statement and this will surprise some of you. If someone differs here we cannot castigate them or call them a heretic. Some of you need to see that.

If someone has a different position here we cannot call them a heretic. Very respected pastors and scholars throughout the centuries have differed here and that's okay. Now here's where I'll surprise some of you. I believe a church can hold to a different opinion here and still be a very healthy church living out their convictions with a clear conscience. I believe a church can have female deacons and another church can only have male deacons and both be healthy churches while obeying the scriptures with a clear conscience. Now let's quickly examine the positions and you need to understand these positions a little more than you know.

This will help you. First the position that Paul is addressing the wives of the deacons. Now those who hold to this interpretation do so by pointing to several pieces of evidence of scripture. First they say a simple reading of the verses leads to a natural interpretation of the verse in verses that leads one to see that Paul is speaking of qualifications for the deacons wives. And second they point to the fact that this word in question in verse 11 can mean wives and be true to the original language. They simply say it is better translated wives and again they get this from what they call a natural reading of the verses.

And then third they say that if Paul had meant to say deaconess he would have said so. They say that Paul would have plainly stated that this means a deacon or a separate office and they say that Paul would have left no confusion there. But then second the position that Paul is addressing female deacons are the deaconess. Those who hold to this position do so by pointing to evidence as well. They point to the scriptures as well. First they say this word in verse 11 should be translated women and they do this by saying that Paul never addressed the wives of elders.

And second they say this word likewise in verse 11 serves to separate the teaching in verse 11 from the teaching that is clearly aimed at the men or the male deacons. And third they say that Paul actually refers to a woman as a deaconess in Romans 16.1. When Paul comments about a sister named Phoebe and he calls her a servant they point to the fact that that can read deacon. And then third the third position the position that Paul is addressing women in the church in general. Now those who hold to this interpretation do so by pointing to two places in the scriptures. They start with this word wives in verse 11.

In the original this can be translated either wives or women or woman. And they say the best translation is woman or women because they say there are no qualifications given for the elders wives. So you have three positions. And those who hold to those positions they point to scriptures as proof of their position. And again I believe a church can believe these verses pertain to women deacons and be a healthy church. And I believe a church can take the position that these verses pertain to the wives of the male deacons and still be a healthy church as well. But what is the position that I take?

I believe this speaks to the wives of the deacons. I believe the English Standard version and the King James version. I believe those translators got this right by translating this word in verse 11 as wives and not women. I think it makes more sense. I think it flows better. I think that is the position. Well a question and a very very important question. Where does this leave women serving in the church? We need to ask that and answer it. Throughout the messages we have been seeing that we are all called to be servants. Isn't that right? We have learned that we are all called to be servants and we are all called to serve.

I have said that we are all called to deaconize because deacon means serve. And that includes women. That includes you women. Also we have learned that some have the spiritual gift of service. We see this in Romans 12 verses 5-8. And look that definitely includes women. That includes some of you women. Simply all of the women of Grace Life Church should be servants. You should be serving. Ladies you should all be serving. You should be deaconizing. And the women of Grace Life Church who do have the spiritual gift of service, you should be busy serving and you should be using that spiritual gift.

Ladies you should be serving and using the gift of service that God has given you. And look I am thrilled as a pastor. I am overjoyed when I look at how the women of Grace Life Church are serving. I'm telling you it blesses my heart. I see ladies teaching and leading in small groups. And when I see it I hear it around the corner and I watch it from across the room. My heart is filled with joy. I see ladies teaching on Wednesday nights our children. I see ladies teaching our children on Sunday nights. And I am filled with joy when you are in there working hard with those little boys and girls.

I see ladies helping plan children's ministry activities and things like that. We have just put together a ministry team of women and men working on some children's activities. And some of you ladies have been busy there. I am thrilled I am overjoyed. I see ladies leading and serving on the ministry teams that we have formed. And some of you ladies have stepped up to do some things that are not very glamorous. And I'm thrilled I am overjoyed that you are serving in one area that gets overlooked. The nursery. I love a nursery. I can give you a biblical position for a nursery.

And look I am thrilled I am blessed when I see our ladies and our teenage girls. Teenage girls need to serve in the nursery. Why? That's a good work in preparation for what? Motherhood. And we believe in a nursery for you. We believe in a nursery so that moms can come in and they can hear the word of God and they can worship with no distraction. And we do not just tuck those little boys and girls off in some room. No we love them. We care for them. It is high on our priority list. I'll tell you all a little story. When the pastor gets called into a room and gets lectured a lot of times it's bad. I haven't had that in a long time.

But here recently I got called into a room by two ladies and I got a lecture. I got a tongue thrashing from top to bottom. And it was the ladies who were over the nursery and they were giving me all these demands and it all centered on this. We've got more babies and we've got to have more room and we need this and we need that. I said put it in writing and I'll get every bit of it. It was a good tongue lashing. I promise. But what am I showing you? You ladies who serve in the nursery. I am thrilled and I am overjoyed. Why? That is a legitimate and much needed ministry and I could go on and on.

But again our fifth and our last category finally. We're finally getting there the deacon must have a qualifying home and home life. Again verses 11 and 12. Now that you know my position I can finally get into it. Now here we see four specific qualifications that relate to the deacons home and home life. And some of this is really easy to understand why because we've seen some of this before. But first we see that the deacons wife must meet certain qualifications. Here in verse 11 we see that Paul lays out four specifics that relate to the wife's personal character. Look back at verse 11.

Again I'm reading from the English Standard Version and I believe they get it right. What does Paul say? Their wives likewise must be dignified not slanders but sober minded, faithful in all things. Now notice what should be in the deacon's wife's personal character. Paul says the wives of deacons must be dignified which means they must be worthy of respect and they are worthy of respect because they are serious about spiritual matters. So the wives of deacons are worthy of respect because they are serious about serious matters in spiritual service. Also Paul says they must not be slanders.

The New American says they must not be malicious gossips. This means they must not be prone to slanderous speech or making false accusations against another so they are not to be malicious gossips or slanders. Paul also says the wives of deacons and prospective deacons must be sober minded which can mean two things. First they must not be a drinker. Also it can mean that they must be sober minded or serious minded or serious in judgments. Also they must not be drinkers or prone to the drink. They must be sober and they must be serious minded having sober judgments. And last Paul says they must also be faithful in all things.

This means they must be honest, reliable and trustworthy in all things. So they must be reliable and faithful in all matters of life. Simply here Paul says that the wife of the deacon and the wife of the prospective deacon must have qualifying personal character. They must be seen as serious and respected not slanderous gossips. They must be serious in their judgments and they must not be prone to the drink. They must be reliable, trustworthy and faithful in all things. And look folks, this is the standard for deacons wives. But shouldn't this be the standard for all Christian women?

Ladies, don't look around and say, "Well I'm not a deacon's wife." I can tune that out. This is the standard for all godly women and then some. In a second we see the deacon must be a one woman man, the husband of one wife, the beginning of verse 12. Now here you might say, "Pastor, we covered this when we learned that the deacon must have qualifying moral purity." Yes, we did. Being a one woman man does relate to moral purity and being a one woman man also relates to the home and the home life as well.

Simply if a deacon and a prospective deacon is completely committed to his wife and completely committed to a love and a devotion to his wife, he will be a one woman man. And he will be qualified in his home and in his home life and in his moral purity. Notice moral purity in the home life go hand in hand. And look, this is the standard. This is the standard for deacons and their home lives. But shouldn't this be the standard? Shouldn't this be the goal for all the godly men of Grace Life Church of Brookhaven? Yes. Then third, we see that the deacon must manage his children well. I want to go back and read the end of verse 12.

Let deacons each be the husband of one wife, one woman man, managing their children and managing their own household. Now here the English standard says managing their children. We've read it. The New American standard says the deacon must be good managers of their children. Now this word manage is a key word. This word manage means to set in place. It means to set in order and it carries with it authority. It carries with it authority to preside over. But also it implies to care for something with diligence. And notice who or what is being managed with authority, with care and with diligence. The children in the home. What a question.

I thought, you know, men, us men, I thought we were the leaders in the home. I thought we were the leaders of the home. And I thought our wives are supposed to submit to us in the matters of the home. Therefore, if they're to submit, the ladies and the wives are to take care of the children. I thought that's the way it works out. Yes, that is true according to Ephesians 5 verses 22 and following. Wives are to be subject or submissive to the husband and the husband is to be the head of the wife. But that does not mean that the husband pawns off all of the responsibilities of the children on the wife.

Here we see that God calls the deacon to manage his children with care and diligence and authority. So that means that the husband has a central role in managing the children in the home. Some of you need to hear that again. That means that the husband has a central role in managing the children in the home. As the one given authority, the man, the deacon, but all Christian men are to manage their children with diligence and care.

I love what William McDonald says here and I'm quoting, "This does not mean that men must be autocratic and imperious, but it does mean that their children should be obedient and a testimony to the truth." He also says the New Testament looks on failure to do this as a defect of Christian character. Some of you need to hear that. Now a little further application with this qualification. We're dealing with the qualification of the deacon managing his children well. I have six areas of life that I think encapsulate this expectation, this command, this standard. These six areas take a pretty good stab at it. Listen close.

The deacon should see that his children, that they are evangelized well. Folks it starts with evangelizing our children well. You don't raise Christians. You don't raise Christians. Christians are born, folks. Do we teach them the word? Yes. Do we teach them how Christians live? Yes. But they're born dead in their sins. They are dead. They must be born again, whether they're eight or eighteen. And so deacons must evangelize their children well. Also deacons should see that their children are trained in the Christian faith. Yes, we train them in the Christian faith, but we know that we can't make Christians, like birth Christians.

Also, the deacon should see that his children are properly educated. You might say, "Pastor, where did that come from?" Yes, I believe that a deacon should make sure their children are properly educated. We live in a day and we live in a culture where we can get education. I've been somewhere where they can't. I was shocked when I went to India in 2014. I saw Christian parents, mothers and fathers, find Christian people who were so poor they couldn't feed their children and they traveled over land and sea to take their children and leave them at an orphanage. Why? So they could be fed and educated.

I have said this repeatedly throughout the years. You educate your children the way the Lord leads you to educate them. Some people feel called of God to use private education. Some feel led of God to use public education. Some feel led of God to use homeschool education. But we should educate our children properly. What kind of a witness is it to the world if Christians don't educate their children properly? The deacon should see that his children are taught to behave properly in society. Yes, I believe the deacon should teach their children to behave properly in society.

You might say, "Pastor, where does that come from?" You let your child be rogue in society and see what your witness is like. I believe a deacon should see that his children are equipped to function well in society. I have known Christian parents. They so protected their children that they couldn't even function in society. You've got to teach them how to function in society. In this case, the deacon should see that their child is trained to impact the world for Christ. Now, I can spend more time here. What am I trying to show you? I'm trying to stir your imagination and trying to help us see that the deacon must manage his children well.

But is it not the standard for all godly men in the life of the church? Fourth, we see that the deacon must manage his home well. And we see that this responsibility to manage or to govern applies to the home as well. Again, this means to set in place, to set it in order. This management carries with it authority to govern, this authority to preside over. But within this management, there is diligence, there is care. I think John MacArthur amplifies this well.

He says, and I'm quoting, "He the deacon must be one who manages, presides over, has authority over his own household, everything connected with his home, not merely his wife and his children." And he should do this well, intrinsically good and with excellency. In application of this qualification, I have five areas of the home life where I see some men fail and they should strive to do better. Deacons should not fail with money in the home. If you're responsible to manage the home, how about your finances, sir? If you pawn all that off on your wife, you're not being a good manager.

Deacons should make sure that in their home that they don't fail with their job and their career. If you don't work and you don't provide as you should, you're not managing your home as you should. Many times deacons can fail with their possessions. Maybe they don't provide the proper possessions. Maybe they have too many possessions. They love possessions. Many times deacons can fail to maintain health and peace and security in their marriage. They don't work hard at their marriage. You might be a great Christian at the church, but if you're not a great Christian in your marriage, what are you?

Many times deacons will fail with their children. We've already covered that. Now again, I'm just stirring up some questions here, but what do we see? These are standards for the deacon and these should be standards for all men, all Christian men in the church. So in verses 11 to 12, we see that the deacon and the prospective deacon must have a qualifying home in home life. His wife must meet these certain personal character qualifications. Notice much like the elder and much like her husband, the deacon. Notice don't we see a pattern here with the elder and the deacon and the wife of the deacon. God homes in on this personal character. Why?

Because this character determines behavior. Character influences conduct. It always does. And a deacon must be a one-woman man, one who is completely committed to his wife. He must be a good, diligent, careful manager of his children and his home. But a question, shouldn't these be the goals and the standards for all of us men? Yes. Shouldn't these be the goals and the standards of what we would call normal Christianity for the men, for the wives, and for our homes? Yes, these should be the standards and the norms. You know I have a question here before I move on. I'm aiming at you men.

If you've been a Christian man, a Christian husband, a Christian father, let's just say for 10 years, if this is not the norm in your home and in your life and in your marriage, why not? What's wrong? What's wrong with you? Don't blame it on your wife. What's wrong with you? If you look at the scriptures here, it seems like the buck stops with the deacon. Well, the buck stops with us men. So the deacon and the prospective deacon must have a qualifying home in home life. But notice that Paul says one more thing about the deacon. Verse 13 can be overlooked. I read it earlier. I'm going to read it again.

For those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus. Here Paul shows us the results. You can call these the rewards for the deacon who serves well. He is faithful in his service. Notice that Paul lists two things here. The first result, the first reward, a high standing is obtained. Now here the New American says that he obtains a high standing. The English standard says he obtains a good standing. And this high standing, this good standing literally refers to an elevated stand or an elevated position. This truly means that he is placed up on a pedestal.

He is exalted. Why? Because he has served well. He has been faithful in his service. Now big question. Who exalts the deacon? Who exalts this deacon to this reward, this high standard? It's God and he does it in the eyes of men and before the church. First Peter 5, 6 says humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you. Yeah. Warren Risby said this is so good. I'm quoting. He says what an encouragement to a faithful deacon. God will promote him spiritually and give him more and more respect among the saints which means greater opportunity for ministry.

A faithful deacon has a good standing before God and men and can be used of God to build the church. He has a spiritual boldness that makes for effective ministry. And see folks we need to understand that when God places men in deacon service and when some of you step up to deacon service, when you serve and you serve faithfully God will exalt you in the eyes of the men, in the eyes of the women, in the eyes of the church and God will exalt you and use you even more. Here's a warning here. You might have to sweep floors for years before you're used in an exalted way. Remember our example of King David?

He kept his father's sheep long before he was a king. He killed a lot of lions and bears and risked his life when no one was watching long before he stood before Goliath. Beware of the man who wants to have the exalted position long before he'll take the low position. But the second reward, a result, a great confidence is acquired. Here the New American Standard and the English Standard read the same thing. This speaks of a spiritual boldness. This speaks of a spiritual confidence which comes from God and it is seen in how they speak the truth and speak for God. We see this in Acts 4, 13 in the life of John and Peter.

The verse says, and I'm quoting, "Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and they perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished and they recognized that they had been with Jesus." John MacArthur says, and I'm quoting, "Successful service breeds confidence and assurance among the people served. Those who serve God well and see his power and grace operate in their lives will be emboldened for more and greater service." Listen, you might have to sweep the floors and change light bulbs and take out the trash for years before God enables you to speak boldly for Christ.

Beware of the man who always wants to speak boldly and they won't take up the towel of service, the broom of service. I referenced King David earlier, I'll reference Stephen. Remember Stephen? He was part of that group that was appointed to wait tables. He waited on tables and widows long before he preached his first sermon. So in verse 13, we see that the deacon who serves well, he is faithful. Notice something, all this takes time. T-I-M-E. There's no such thing as a microwave deacon in microwave maturity. There's no such thing for a microwave to obtain this high standing in this great confidence. No, this takes time, folks. He's faithful.

He is elevated then by God and for God among the church and among the saints. And he has given this great spiritual boldness and a confident assurance among God's people, with God's people in the church. And it always leads to greater and more service. And as we close the call and the qualifications of the deacon, how should we respond? What should we do? I've already told you numerous times. First we remember that only God can make a deacon. God makes deacons, I don't. You don't, we don't. And I ask, is God making deacons among us? Is God forming you here this morning? Has God been forming you all these years?

Is God calling you to this work and is God showing us deacons who are among us? If God is working like this in your life, you might need to come see me to help you sort that out. And then second, we evaluate the man and his wife. Yes, we evaluate the man, his wife, his home life. That's getting real personal. And we test and we prove that prospective deacon and his wife according to the measuring rod of these qualifications. What did Paul show us? If these things are a must for God, then they must be a must for us. Now why do I keep repeating that? How many churches have moved away from this word must?

And third, you as Grace Life Church and especially you men, you have a responsibility here. You have a responsibility here because you as members of the church will have a role in selecting and appointing such men. And of course the elders have responsibilities here as well. So as I close, in closing out these series of messages on the deacon, what have we been looking at? Called and qualified men, the deacon. So let's pray and let's commit these things to the Lord and look for what God's going to do and is doing among us.