Deacon Ministry - The Church is Served by Qualified Deacons - Part 1

Well, if you would, take your Bible and turn back to 1 Timothy chapter 3. That's where we'll be in the heart of the message. I will ask you to turn to Acts chapter 6. We will read those verses in Acts chapter 6 that do speak to Deacon ministry. Now, I will reference a chapter that is a key chapter, I believe, in the Christian life, and that is Romans chapter 14. I would call you to study Romans chapter 14 in your own personal Bible study time. That's one of those chapters. The subject we'll deal with there is one I need to come back to soon. But we'll be primarily here in 1 Timothy 3 verse 8.

Now, since December the 28th, I have preached four messages that were meant to deal with certain subjects for certain purposes. And these messages were born out of much prayer and a work and a leading of the Holy Spirit in the months of November and December. Most of you know that I usually take these kinds of messages and I put them in one title. These are messages from the pastor's heart. And I want you to see now, this is a part of my job. As a primary preaching pastor, one of my jobs is to take us systematically through book by book. We do that often. We have paused our study through the book of Hebrews.

But one of my jobs as a faithful pastor is to address certain subjects when the time and the need arises. From Matthew 16 verses 7 to 18, we learned that Christ our Lord has a mighty expectation for His church. Christ is the permanent foundation, builder and sole owner of the church, which is comprised of those who have been redeemed, who have been called to Christ and called to one another. Because He personally builds His church and He has secured her victory over sin, the world, the devil, even death and hell, we can move forward. We can move forward with a mighty expectation for our future.

So we should have a mighty expectation for our church. Then from Revelation 3, 7 to 13, we learned of the faithful church in Philadelphia. And from their example, our Lord showed us that a faithful church is a body of believers that remain obedient to the Word of Christ and the name of Christ. This church perseveres in spite of weakness, limited strength and opposition. So Christ, who is the Holy True and the all-powerful Sovereign Lord, commends such faithfulness. And He promised an open door of ministry as well as vindication for their enemies and His protection.

So we see our call to remain faithful to Christ and you continue to walk through the open door of ministry that He has put before us. And then from the New Testament, we learned that church membership is biblical and it should be meaningful. We saw from the New Testament that our Lord expects His people to live out certain divinely ordained commitments which are a part of meaningful church membership. Membership is a covenant commitment to an identifiable body of local believers.

And this commitment is expressed through faithfully assembling together, receiving biblical instruction and teaching, serving through our own personal spiritual gifts, participating in the ordinances, proclaiming the gospel, and submitting to the elders and other church leaders that God has given the church. And then from both the Old and the New Testament, we learned of the tithe and our approach to giving, especially in the year that is before us.

We saw that while New Testament believers are not commanded by Scripture to tithe under the law, God certainly calls His people to be generous and intentional and to be motivated by the Spirit of God to support the work and the mission of their local church. And by surveying, giving before the law of Moses, giving under the Mosaic law, giving during Jesus' earthly ministry, and giving under the new covenant, we saw that the main thing God is after is our hearts, our love, our motivations, our affections, our all, in relation to our giving. He is not about rules here. He is not about duty here. He is not about law here.

So I called us to begin our giving with a tithe of 10%, bringing that tithe to the church for the everyday ministries of our church. And that the tithe of 10% of our income is a wise place to start, but a foolish place to stop. And I called us to give beyond the tithe so as to fund all that is before us in 2026. And yes, there are times we may need to give even more when we give special love offerings. Now, you may say, "Pastor, "what were those reasons for those messages?" You mentioned that earlier. "What were those reasons?" Three basic reasons came out of my prayer and study as your pastor.

First, I felt strongly impressed to the Lord that these messages would be spiritual medicine for some of you, correction for some of you, and spiritual encouragement and direction for us all as we have been getting past some difficult waters that we have had to sail through since October. And I've heard some of you say that, "Pastor, these things have been good for me. "These messages have been good for me.

"I have needed what you've taught us." But then second, I felt strongly impressed of the Lord that these messages would give us the spiritual guidance, the spiritual strength, and the spiritual mark and standard that God is calling us for in 2026 and beyond. Let me explain when we look at giving and what giving should look like. That's the mark, that's the standard, folks, having a mighty expectation for His church, even when we go through difficulties. That's the standard, that's the mark.

And then third, as your pastor, I have been saying that it is time for us to establish Deacon ministry in our church and for us as a church body to call and to appoint Deacons for that ministry. And I do believe that all these messages will and have formed us more and more into who we are to be and what we should do in relation to Deacon ministry. Now, before we get into the call and the qualifications of the Deacon that are before us here in 1 Timothy 3, we need to see some basic information concerning the office of the Deacon and Deacon service as seen in the New Testament.

Now, this information, it may correct some misunderstandings for some of you. This could even correct some error that some of you have been taught and this will be helpful for us all. In the New Testament, the word Deacon and words related to this word Deacon simply means serve it or to serve or service. And these various and related words appear all throughout the New Testament Scriptures. But this particular word that is used to refer to the office of the Deacon is only seen in two places in the New Testament. In Philippians 1, 1 and in 1 Timothy 3, verses 8 to 13, those verses that I read earlier.

And the rest of the times this word Deacon and the variations of the word are used in a general sense. They speak of the serve it. They speak of to serve or to serve in a general way. Now, this will take a little more time, but I want to go a little further here. If I were to jump straight into the office and the qualifications of the Deacon without helping us see the different uses of the word and their meaning in the New Testament, I would not be educating us as I should and I would not be equipping us as a church, as a whole as I should. This is more helpful for us all than you know. I think you'll see it when we get through it.

First of all, the use and the meaning of this word had to do with serving in menial or modest tasks, like waiting on tables, serving food. And if you follow the use of this word in the New Testament, the definition and understanding of the word broadens is to speak of various kinds of physical service in the church. And we can see this broad use of the word and the variations of the word all throughout the New Testament. This word Deacon and the variations, the various forms of the word are translated in our English translations like this. We see this word administration in our English translations.

Phrases like cared for, words like minister, servant, serve, service, preparations, relief, support, as well as others. And they all come from this word Deacon and the various forms of the word. The basic idea of the word is seen in John 2.5 where a form of the word Deacon is used of the waiters at a wedding. This word is used in the same way in Luke 4.39 where Peter's mother-in-law served a meal. This same idea is seen in Luke 10.40, in Luke 17.18, in John 12.2 when a form of the word Deacon is used to speak of serving food. Now what is my point here?

The original meaning of this word Deacon and the variations of the word Deacon have to do with performing menial tasks, domestic duties, the duties that were commonly seen in service or with a servant. But second, forms of this word Deacon are used in the New Testament in a more specific way as well. In the list of spiritual gifts in Romans 12, six to eight, we see the spiritual gift of service or ministry. Yes, that is one of the spiritual gifts, service or ministry. This means that there are those within the body, a local church, who are specifically equipped and gifted for service or ministry.

They truly have the spiritual gift of service or ministry. This does not mean that they have an office. This is a broad term with a breadth of meaning for service to the Lord and to the church. William McDonald says, and I'm quoting, "The person who has this gift of service "has a servant heart. "They see the opportunity to serve "and they seize the opportunity." I would say that service or ministry is their gift. I would say that service or ministry is their calling. It is their heartbeat. This is who they are. This is what they do.

And if you were to ask them how they serve, they would just say, "Well, I don't know, I just do it." In 1 Corinthians 16, 15, Paul wrote about a man named Stephanus and his family. And he said that Stephanus was gifted for service and they devoted themselves to serve and to ministry. So we have seen the wide meaning of this word deacon and the various forms of the word. This speaks of service and all kinds of types of service in the life of the church. And we have seen a more specific use of a form of the word deacon. In Romans 12, six to eight, we see the particular spiritual gift of service and ministry.

And that gift is manifested in and through a believer in the life of the church in a whole host of ways, but it is a gifting to service in the body, in the local church. But then third, we see this word deacon and forms of the word used to refer to the officially recognized office of the deacon and the officially recognized responsibilities of the deacon. I love what John MacArthur says. This will really help some of you. It's helped me through the years. He says, and I'm quoting, everyone is a deacon in the general sense. That's what I've just covered. He goes on to say, some are specifically gifted by the Holy Spirit for service.

That's what I've just covered. And he goes on to say, but still others hold the office of deacon. The model spiritual service for everyone else, you see? And he goes on to say, they, that would be those who hold the office of the deacon, they work alongside the elders implementing their preaching and teaching and oversight in the practical life of the church. So in summary, look at what I have put before you. Serving, we can actually call it deaconizing. Serving, deaconizing in the life of the church is seen all throughout the New Testament and all sorts of ways. And every member of the church should be serving. You see that?

Really and truly, every member of Grace Life Church should be a deacon because every member should be deaconizing and serving. And then on top of that, there are some who have the spiritual gift of serving or deaconizing. These are men and women and they are uniquely gifted by God and compelled by God to serve in the church. And this service is in the church and a part of the ministries of the church among God's people. And actually, when someone has the spiritual gift of service, if you put them in a circumstance where they can't serve, they will spiritually digress. I've seen it.

And in many ways, they are models of service, models of service in the church because they are sometimes out in the forefront. And then on top of all that service, there are some men who are called and equipped for service in the church. They are officially recognized and given the responsibility of the deacon as seen in the scripture. They are called and placed within the office of the deacon as seen in the scripture. They work alongside and under the elders to meet the practical and physical needs of the church. This would be a deacon or a deacon body. And in every way, these men certainly are models of service in the church for all to see.

Now let me summarize it all because we need to get this. We have the general call to service and deaconize within the body. The membership of Grace Life Church should be a bunch of deacons. And then within the body, we have those who have the spiritual gift of serving. They just serve in a unique way because that is who they are. And then within the body, we have the body of deacons. We have the office of the deacon and those men who are within that office. Now to me, that was some much needed background in teaching. I think some of you will say to me, pastor, that was helpful.

But there are a few more things about the deacon that we need to see before we can get into the call into these qualifications. We need to see how the elder and the deacon are very much alike but much different. Let me repeat that. The elder and the deacon are very much alike but a lot different. We must understand that the biblical standards for the deacon are in no way less than or lower than the standards for the elder. The deacon is not the man who just cannot measure up to being an elder. The deacon is not the man who was examined for elder and he really just couldn't quite make the cut.

So he sit down maybe to something like the minor leagues to serve as a deacon. That is not what this is. Actually, the biblical qualifications and standards for the deacon are almost identical to the biblical standards for the elder. Now elder service and deacon service looks much, much different but the spiritual standards and qualifications are almost identical. Spiritually speaking, there is no drop off between the two. You need to see that. Spiritually speaking, there is no drop off between the two. Simply the spiritual qualifications, spiritual maturity, the spiritual quality of the men are the same for the deacon and the elder.

The only difference in their qualifications is that the elder must be able to teach whereas the text does not say that the deacon must be qualified and have the ability to teach. Now the deacon can have the ability to preach and teach but the text does not say that the deacon must be able to teach. I've said this before, you give me a good deacon who can preach and teach and I'll put him to work preaching and teaching as well as deaconizing. So in summary, this is what I want us to see right here. There is no spiritual drop off between the elder and the deacon. You need to see that church. The deacon is no second class elder.

The deacon is not an elder in the minor leagues. The deacon is not the man who just couldn't quite make the elder and we hope he'll get there one day. That's not what that means. The deacon and his qualifications are identical to the elder except that the deacon is not required to have the ability to teach. Now a little more background that'll help us. I said earlier that the only times we see the office of the deacon mentioned is in Philippians 1 and here in 1 Timothy 3 starting in verse eight.

In his greeting in the book of Philippians, Paul writes, and I'm quoting, Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus to all the saints in Christ Jesus who were in Philippi, that's the church members there, the believers, with the overseers, there's your elders and deacons, there's your deacon body. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. And here in 1 Timothy 3.8, Paul writes, deacons likewise must be. But a question, who were the first deacons? Where is the beginning of this deacon ministry? We see deacon ministry established in the book of Philippians and established in Philippi there in 1 Timothy 3.8.

But who were the first deacons? Where is the beginning of deacon ministry? Another way of asking it is this, if the only times we see the office of the deacon mentioned is in Philippians and 1 Timothy, well, where did it all begin? There are many Christians and Bible scholars who believe that the seven men chosen to oversee the distribution of food in Acts were the first official deacons. I would like us to go back and read those verses. Acts 6, verses 1 to 7. We covered this on Wednesday nights quite a while back. It may be good for you to go back and get that message.

It's in the early days of the church at Jerusalem and notice what took place. Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, the church is growing rapidly, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food. And the 12, that would be the apostles, summoned the full number of the disciples and said, it is not right that we should give up preaching the word to serve tables. Therefore brothers that could read brothers or sisters, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty.

But we will devote ourselves to prayer into the ministry of the word and what they said pleased the whole gathering, that would be the whole body, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Procorius, and Nickanor, and Timon, and Permanius, and Nicholas, a proselyte of Antioch. These they set before the apostles and they prayed and they laid their hands on them. And then verse seven, and the word of God continued to increase and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.

But notice something from the scriptures that we just read. The text does not call them deacons. The text does not ever say they were deacons. As a matter of fact, the only use of the word is found in Acts 6, 4, when the text says the apostles would devote themselves to prayer and the ministry or service of the word, you see? It literally says that they would devote themselves to the service, to the deaconizing of the word. And we see a form of the word in verse one when the text mentions the daily distribution of food. Also, if we follow them throughout the book of Acts, we never find these men being called deacons.

Elders are mentioned all throughout the book of Acts, but these men were never called deacons. Now, what is my point here? Some see these men as the first deacons. But we cannot say that for certain because the scriptures just don't call them deacons. But we certainly can call these men deacons in prototype. And we can certainly call their ministry of waiting on tables deacon ministry in prototype. Who these men were and their service in the church there at Jerusalem foreshadowed deacons and deacon ministry in an official capacity as seen later on in the New Testament.

In church, when we come to the selection and the calling process, I will certainly use what we have here in Acts 6 as a guide. Now we can finally get into the qualifications. As we look at the qualifications for the deacon, in my opinion, it will help us to categorize these qualifications because it is quite a few and they can all run together. Here in 1 Timothy 3, 18 to 13, we have five groups of qualifications. You may wanna write these down. Now, I'm gonna revisit them several times. It'll be easy for you to pick them up. Five groups of qualifications, I'll go over them. First, we see the qualifications that relate to personal character.

That's in verse eight. The qualifications that relate to personal character. Second, the qualifications which relate to doctrine and faith. Verse nine, the qualifications that relate to doctrine and faith. Third, we see the qualifications relate to service in the life of the church. That's in verse 10. We see the qualifications that relate to service in the life of the church. Fourth, the qualifications that relate to moral purity. We see that in the second part of verse 10 and the beginning of verse 12. The qualifications that relate to moral purity. Fifth, the qualifications that relate to the home and home life and the witness of the home.

We see that in verse 11 and 12. Now, I will not read all of these verses. We'll only be in verse eight throughout the remainder of the message. Although I will mention those Romans 14 verses. So let's read verse eight. Deacons likewise. Again, that's connected back to those elder qualifications. That might mean you have some homework there to go study those verses. Deacons likewise. Likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain.

Now, before we dive off into this verse and this category of qualifications, there is one key word that will enable us to establish and maintain Deacon ministry and Deacon's God's way. Look at verse eight. Paul says, Deacon's likewise kind of sort of need to be. Paul says Deacon's likewise maybe need to be. No, that is not what that verse says. Paul says the Deacon and the prospective Deacon must, must underline that word, highlight that word, write that word out four or five times. Deacon's must meet these qualifications.

And look church, believing and obeying what God says here is the only way we can establish and maintain Deacon ministry God's way. You do realize a lot of churches shipwrecked Deacon ministry by omitting that word must. That one word. God says that for a man to be considered for the service and office of Deacon ministry, he must, he must. He must meet these qualifications. If not, he's not qualified to be called. He's not qualified to serve in the office. Even if he served as a Deacon somewhere else for 10 or 20 years, he must. Now let's get into this first category. Our first category, the Deacon must have qualifying personal character.

Church, listen. Do we not need men of solid exemplary Christian character in the church today? You tell me, do we not need more than ever men of solid exemplary Christian character in the church today? Do we not need men of solid consistent Christian character in church leadership today? Sadly, those of us who've been around for a while now, have we not seen what happens when we do not have men of solid Christian character and leadership in the church today? Well here we have four qualifications and all relate to the man's personal character. First, we see that a Deacon must be a man of dignity. The Deacon must be a man of dignity.

The English Standard reads dignity. The King James reads grave. The Amplified says men worthy of respect. And this speaks of a seriousness in his thinking. This speaks of a sober mindedness. This also speaks of a reverence or of one who is venerated. Another way of saying it is that he's very, very respected. This means that he is a man who takes his responsibilities to serve in the life of the church seriously. He does not casually perform service in the life of the church. He does these things in such a way where he is respected, he is venerated, he's looked up to.

The Bible scholar Richard Trench says, and I'm quoting, a Deacon must not be a silly, flippant person, one who makes light of serious matters. And he turns it around, although not a cold, joyless person, a Deacon understands the seriousness of serious things in life. Simply, they must be men of dignity. They must be men of respect. And that is because they are serious men who are serious about serious spiritual matters and serious about spiritual service in the church. So they are men of respect. And they are men who are worthy of a respected office.

So a Deacon and a prospective Deacon must be qualified and his personal character here, he must be dignified, respected, even venerated. That means to be looked up to because of his serious approach to serious spiritual matters, especially serving in the life of the church. Now notice how this applies to us today. All of you men, all of you men should be men of dignity. All of you men should be men of respect. All of you should be men of God, worthy to be looked up to. Men, your wives and your children should see you as men of dignity, men of respect. They should see you as men that can be looked up to in all of the areas of life.

And church, the men we are to call in this office must be men of dignity and respect. They must be men who are serious about serious things in life and especially serious about spiritual matters and especially serious about serving in the life of the church. And you know how earlier I said that Deacons are much like the elders? Well right here's where I need to look at us, me as elders and say, elders, this applies to us. We should lead the way. Next, number two. We see that the Deacon must not be double-toned. The Deacon must not be double-toned. The King James, the New American, the English Standard all say double-toned.

Some commentators say this refers to gossip and a gossiping tongue. That is true but it means more than just not being a gossip. This also pertains to the awful habit of saying one thing to one person but something different to another. We can say it like this. This captures the meaning in my opinion. The Deacon or the prospective Deacon must not be one who talks out both sides of his mouth. Y'all know what that means? So to say that a Deacon must not be a gossip is true but it's more. He must not say one thing to one man and one thing to another. John MacArthur says it like this and I'm quoting, a Deacon's speech must not be hypocritical.

But be characterized by integrity, consistency and honestly. Albert Barnes says and I'm quoting they, that's the Deacon, they should be men who can be relied on for their exact truth of what they say and for the exact fulfillment of their promises. Simply they must be men full of truthful, honest and consistent speech. Their speech must be dependable or trustworthy. All people in the church and outside of the church and in their family must be able to depend on what they say. So a Deacon and a prospective Deacon must be qualified in their personal character. They must be truthful, honest and dependable in all of their speech.

And men, Grace Life men, are you men of truthful, honest and consistent speech? Are your words dependable? Are your words trustworthy? Are your words true? This is the standard for all the men of Grace Life Church. This should be said of all of the men of Grace Life Church. Deacon or not? Men in what you say, are you truthful, honest and consistent in your speech in your home? Are you truthful, honest and consistent in your speech with your family, in your home, in your work, in your business dealings, on the golf course when you are fishing with all your friends? You see, it applies to every area of life. It's tax season.

You might say, "Pastor G, thanks." Well, I talked about taxes last week too. Well, not last week 'cause we were out because of the weather. It's tax season, men. Are you truthful and honest in your taxes? And this is a must, folks. A must for a man who we would set aside for the office of the Deacon. And you know elders, this applies to us too. It supplies to me. Also, number three, we see that the Deacon must not be addicted to wine. Number three, the Deacon must not be addicted to wine.

Here, the King James says, "Not given to much wine." The English Standard, the New American Standard says, "Not addicted to much wine." Now, there is a key word here. This word addicted, this means to turn one's mind to. It means to occupy oneself with. It means the habitual or continual practice of. Now, I have taught on this before here at Grace Life Church, but we must see that this is not a strict commandment against the use of alcohol. Nowhere in the scripture can we find a command that says a Christian, an elder or a Deacon cannot drink alcohol. Let me restate that.

Nowhere in the scripture can we find a command that says a Christian or an elder or a Deacon cannot drink alcohol. So here, Paul is not giving a command for bending a Deacon from drinking alcohol. But we must see that there are many, many warnings in the scripture against the abuse of alcohol and the scriptures clearly teach that drunkenness is definitely a sin. And we must see that the scriptures do teach how we should approach these types of things in our lives and in the time and in the culture in which we live. So the question that everybody wants me to ask here and answer, should a Christian drink or not?

Should a leader in the church drink or not? Now to answer this question, we look to two parts of the Christian life, the conscience and the witness. Whether or not a Christian is to drink is a matter that pertains to the Christian conscience and this is a matter that pertains to the Christian witness. And there is one chapter in God's word that leads us and helps us here. This is hands down the best chapter to help us here. Romans chapter 14, I mentioned this earlier. This is a good chapter for you to go study.

In Romans chapter 14, basically Paul teaches that believers must seriously and methodically work through things that pertain to the Christian conscience. And Paul teaches that the believer is responsible for their witness in these questionable areas of life. Paul also shows that these are very, very serious matters with great responsibilities and consequences attached to them. Specifically Romans 14, 21, Paul says, and I'm quoting the verse, it is good not to eat or drink wine or to do anything that causes your brother to stumble. Let me read that again.

Paul says it is good not to eat meat or to drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble. Listen to how William McDonald unpacks what Paul is saying here. He says and I'm quoting, it is a thousand times better to refrain from meat or wine or anything else than to offend our brother or cause him to decline spiritually. Giving up our legitimate rights is a small price to pay for the care of one who is weak. This simply and truly means that anything the believer does that causes a brother to sin, even if it is permitted by God's word, that is sin. Let me restate that.

Romans 14, 21, truly and simply means that anything the believer does that causes a brother to sin, even if it's permitted by God's word, that is a sin. Paul says the very same thing in 1 Corinthians 8, 9, where he says, but take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. Here Paul was calling the Corinthian believers to be very, very careful in their use of Christian liberty. He was showing them that they could actually be the cause of some brothers falling back into their old ways of sin if they were not careful in how they live. Now that pertained to food sacrificed to idols.

So believers and especially leaders like elders and deacons, we are responsible for our Christian witness. We will see that a deacon is to be blameless. Yes, blameless. This means there should be no substantial charge of sin against the life. In this matter of alcohol would certainly apply to the life of the deacon and the prospective deacon. I like how Albert Barnes puts it. He compares the deacon of today to the spiritual leaders of the Old Testament. He points out that the use of wine and strong drinks were prohibited to the Jewish religious leaders when they were serving God in Leviticus 10, 8 and 9.

Barnes goes on to say, and I'm quoting, "Why should it be any more proper "for a Christian minister to drink wine "than for a Jewish or a pagan priest? "Simply deacons must be men "who are not addicted to wine or drink. "They must not be occupied with alcohol. "It must not be their habit. "So a deacon and a prospective deacon "must be qualified in their personal character. "They must not be addicted to wine occupied with the drink." Now this is a subject that we've dealt with here before in our church. The last time I covered this was back about a year ago when we were looking at appointing additional elders.

As a matter of fact, I taught on this extensively from some verses in the book of Proverbs. And if you go back on the church website, you can find those passages and those messages. But our standard with alcohol, with the leaders of our church is simple. We do not drink. And look, church, this is not some legalistic burden that I cast on the elders. This is not some legalistic burden that I cast around the necks of the future deacons. This is not some legalistic weight that I put on the backs of our leaders in our church. This is simply wise leadership. This is protection for you and for us and for our children and for our church.

A question to ponder. How many reputations of church members, church leaders, ministers, pastors, and churches have been compromised and damaged and ruined by the use of alcohol? How many? Now as your pastor, honestly, I'm not gonna have that here. The elders feel the same way. It's just not worth it. But on the flip side, when I see a brother or a sister and they enjoy that liberty, I don't condemn them. I can't, scripture won't allow me to. But this is wise leadership in the life of our church. Then last, number four, we see that the deacon must not be fond of dishonest gain. The deacon must not be fond of dishonest gain.

The English Standard uses the word dishonest. The New American says, "Sorrid." The King James uses the term greedy for filthy lucre. This simply means that he must not be greedy but more. He also must not be greedy for dishonest gain. That would be agreed for gaining wealth in a dishonorable and unchristian and unsavory, dishonest way. Now think about the circumstances that are before us with the deacon. The deacon is responsible for physical matters in the life of the church. And that would put him in close contact with the monies and the properties of the church.

The deacon and the deacon body may even be entrusted to care for the monies and the properties of the church in a very direct way. And if he were greedy and greedy for dishonest gain, well, he would be greatly tempted or he would use that responsibility to take advantage of church monies or properties for selfish gain. Again, I like William McDonald here. He says, "Judas was not the last treasurer "to betray his Lord for mere money." It's true. So a deacon and a prospective deacon must not be greedy for money and greedy for possessions. He must not be greedy for dishonest gain.

This is all qualifications now that deal with the moral character of the man. But a question here, how many deacons, how many church leaders, how many men in the church have bad reputations for bad business deals? I've seen that. I've seen it. I've seen deacons just have a bad reputation for business deals. People would say stuff like this, "He's a great guy but just don't do business with him." Men, we must not be drawn and agreed. And the many sinful and dishonest ways of getting money, possessions, and wealth, we must run from that.

This must never be said of me as your pastor, must never be said of the elders in any man or woman in leadership in the life of the church, especially a prospective deacon. So a deacon and a prospective deacon must be qualified in his personal character. I will summarize this first category that we've covered by quoting the amplified.

The amplified says, "In like manner," again, connecting that to the elders, "because the qualifications are very similar if not exact, "in like manner the deacons must be worthy of respect, "not shifty and double talkers, "but sincere in what they say, "not giving to much wine, "not greedy for base gain, craving wealth, "and resorting to ignoble and dishonest methods of getting it." Now, if you paid attention and wrote down these categories of qualification, you'll see that we have four more categories to go. We'll pick up with our second category next week.

And as I begin to close, I wanna go ahead and point to how all this begins to come together. I'm gonna point to the end of the process of it all. I'll revisit this, I'll flesh this out some more. First, I want us to see that only the Holy Spirit of God can call and make a deacon. Only the Holy Spirit can call a deacon and make a deacon. In Romans 12, six to eight, we see that some in the church have the spiritual gift of service and ministry, but we also see that there are some men who are uniquely called and gifted to serve even above and beyond those who have the spiritual gift of service.

But we must see that it is God who makes a man that can serve in this way. It is God who equips, who gifts, and calls the man to this high and respected level of service. And if God is doing this work in you, the Spirit of God may be stirring in you. The Spirit of God may be stirring in your heart, in your mind, if that's you, you must pray and seek to know for certain that God is calling you to this work. You must see up every area of your life, every area of your life through the grid, the light, the test of all of these qualifications, and at the right time, you will need to seek counsel from me. And what is my responsibility here in this?

I'm the pastor and shepherd, you and all these matters, every one of us, and especially the one that we think God is setting aside. It is my job to teach you from these verses and other scripture so as to also prove the calling and the qualification of those that we would examine are the unqualification of those that we would examine. But church, what is your responsibility? Every adult member of Grace Life Church has a responsibility to pray, to study the qualifications, as well as take all of the teaching that we have here and to examine the lives of any man that God would bring to the forefront for deacon service.

And look at how all this comes together, church. It is God who makes the deacon and calls the deacon. He brings these men to the surface to the forefront to serve, and it is the pastor and other elders who examine them, and it is the church, you, that does the very same thing and the church is a whole. All of us, the body examines, tests, and affirms what God is doing, and in many ways this happens naturally, and in many ways this happens organically, even informally, and then when all the work is done, the church formally, officially, sets them aside and apart into the service and the office of the deacon. We see that in Acts 6.

We see it organically and naturally happen, and then we see it officially and formally happen, you see. So the title of the message this morning is simple. It's Deacon Ministry, The Church is Served by Qualified Deacons. This is a part one because we'll pick right back up where we leave off this morning next week. Deacon Ministry, the church is served by qualified deacons.