Deacon Ministry - The Church is Served by Qualified Deacons - Part 2

Well if you would take your Bible, turn back to 1 Timothy chapter 3. I did say we will cover more of verses 8 to 13 and I will turn to Luke 10 and Romans 12 later in the message. You do not have to turn there when I do, but if you want to you can. Of course I always invite you to take notes and write down those passages of scripture and study these things throughout the week. As a matter of fact I've got some homework in the message, especially if you are Grace Life Church, especially if you are Grace Life Church. Now last Sunday I made a transition in this series of sermons that I have been preaching through since the first of the year.

You all know I usually title these types of sermons messages from the pastor's heart. It reminds me of a joke one of the members of our church years ago made to me. I was preaching some messages like this and he said there you go just preaching whatever comes to your mind on a Saturday night at midnight. No these are things that I study and these are things that I pray over and these are things that I feel like we really do need. And I look forward to getting back to Hebrews. We'll be back there soon but we have a little more ground to cover here.

But last week we started the process of establishing Deacon ministry and this will lead us to selecting and calling Deacons into that ministry. And notice how I started this process by taking us to God's Word to see what God says about these things. And notice I did not immediately jump into explaining what the office of the Deacon is, the qualifications of the Deacon and the work of Deacon ministry should look like in our church. I started off by explaining what Deacon work looks like in its totality. Which is probably a lot more than some of you realize and this relates to all of us in some way.

First of all we learned that in the New Testament the word Deacon and the various forms of the word Deacon whether it's noun or verb simply means serve it to serve or service. The actual office of the Deacon is only seen in two places in the New Testament but the rest of the times this word Deacon and the various forms of the word Deacon are seen all throughout the New Testament always speaking to the servant to serve, to serve in a general way. And the use and meaning of this word Deacon in the various forms of the word always have to do with serving in menial or modest jobs. Examples we see in Scripture like waiting on tables, serving food.

This is the type of service that I called Deaconizing last week. One of the men of the church shared with me that that really resonated with him. I called it Deaconizing and it always relates to physical service in the church. Now one thing that I really unpacked last week that I think is gold is how John MacArthur explains the three uses of serving or Deaconizing as seen in the New Testament. I ran across this years ago and it stuck with me. He says and I'm quoting, "Everyone is a Deacon in the general sense. Some are specifically gifted by the Holy Spirit for service but still others hold the office of Deacon.

They model spiritual service for everyone." He goes on to say, "Those who hold the office of the Deacon now, they work alongside the elders implementing their preaching and teaching and oversight in the practical life of the church." And church noticed how this helps us in three ways. In the New Testament we see that the church was full of individuals. Full of individuals, both men and women who served, they deaconized. They were deacons in how they served. This is where I want us to turn to Luke 10. Some of you know where I'm going. Wonderful woman who served the Lord. She was Deaconizing, serving the Lord. Luke 10 verse 38.

"Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. She had a sister named Mary who sat at the Lord's feet and listening to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving and she went up to him and said, 'Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her to help me.' But the Lord answered her, 'Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary.

Mary has chosen the good portion which will not be taken from her." And look, Grace Life, we should be a church full of Marys, yes, at the feet of our Lord Jesus, but we should also be a church full of Martha's. Ready and willing to serve. A part of meaningful church membership should be that our membership equals service in the church, deaconizing in whatever way needed. Now let me give you a warning. We can't let our serving take us away from the feet of the Lord Jesus. If we're at the feet of the Lord Jesus as we should be, then we'll deaconize, we'll serve like Martha did. Now right here I have to make a confession of sin.

Last Sunday after our first Sunday fellowship, I was rebuked. Some of the ladies were cleaning up and picking up and getting ready to mop and all that good stuff. And one of the ladies in the life of the church, I won't call her name, but she rebuked me. She said I was standing there talking instead of serving. And she kindly, gently, forcefully said, 'You need to live out what you just preached.' That didn't cause any marriage difficulties, by the way. I looked around and some of the ladies were picking up chairs and tables and stuff, and I thought, well, yeah, I gotta live what I preach.

Also in the New Testament we see that within the church there are some who have the spiritual gift of service. That surprises some of you, yes, the spiritual gift of service. I want to read these verses as well. Romans 12 verses 3 to 8. "For by the grace given to me I say to every one among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body," that would be the body of Christ, "we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function.

So we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another, having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us." Let me pause here. All of our giftings are grace gifts. Having gifts that differ according to the grace, the grace of God given to us, let us use them if prophecy in portion to our faith, if service in our serving. You see, there's the spiritual gift of service. If serving in our service, let me pause there in the verses. And look church, we need to understand that there are some of you in our church fellowship and membership. You have the unique gift and calling to serve the body in a unique way.

And I say of this brother or sister, serving is your gift. Serving is your calling. That's your heartbeat. Serving is who you are. And if someone were to ask you, "How do you serve as you do? Why do you serve as you do?" They'll say something like this, "I just love to serve. It's just what I do. I'm just working in the church." The one who has this spiritual gift, if they are put into a position where they cannot serve, I have seen this, they will digress to a degree. They will not flourish spiritually as they should. And then finally in the New Testament, we do see the office of the deacon.

And the office is mentioned only in two places in Scripture, and that surprises some of you. In Philippians 1.1, Paul starts off his letter to the Philippians by stating that his letter was from himself and Timothy. And then he addressed the saints in Philippi. That would be the church. And next he specifically addressed those men in two offices in the church. First, the overseers who would have been the elders of the pastors of the church. And then second, the deacons who would have been the ones specifically appointed to that office of the deacon.

And then in 1 Timothy 8, verses 8 to 13, our verses before us, Paul not only recognizes the office of the deacon, but he explains who is qualified to be installed into the office of deacon and to serve as a deacon. I like how Matt Smethurst elevates the office to its proper place. This comes out of one of the nine Mark's books on deacon ministry. I've been studying over that this week. Matt says, and I'm quoting, "It isn't simply a ministry job title like campus director or children's ministry coordinator." Let me pause there. There's nothing wrong with a campus director. There's nothing wrong with a children's ministry coordinator.

I'm not against those positions and titles. Let me go back to the quote. He says, "It isn't simply a ministry job title like campus director or children's ministry coordinator. It is one of two offices the New Testament establishes for the local church only elders or pastors and deacons are ordained to formal public service in the life of the congregation." And now before we get back into the qualifications, I want to ask a question here or two. Are we unhealthy as a church because we do not have established deacons and deacon ministry? Are we? I've been the pastor here for almost 15 years. Should we have had deacon ministry much sooner?

That's a legitimate question. Those are legitimate questions. I have said that we've been able to function well without deacons, without the church suffering because we have so many who do serve, men and women. But one could say that without an established and serving deacon body we are not as healthy as we should be or could be. Now I do not believe we have been in sin because we have not established deacon ministry yet, but I will say that we are not what we can be and will be.

And if we do not establish deacon ministry, which consists of God called, biblically qualified men, our church will suffer and you will be robbed of certain spiritual and practical advantages and blessings that can only come from deacon ministry as given by God. Notice what I said. There are advantages to deacon ministry. There are blessings for all of the body with deacon ministry. Now last week we got started in the qualifications that are before us here in Timothy chapter 3 and I said it is helpful to categorize these qualifications because they can kind of all run together. And here we have five groups of qualifications.

First, the qualifications that relate to personal character, that's all found in verse 8. Second, we see the qualifications which relate to doctrine and faith, verse 9. Third, the qualifications which relate to service in the life of the church, that's at the beginning of verse 10. Fourth, we see the qualifications that relate to moral purity, we see that in verse 10 and in the beginning of verse 12. Fifth, the qualifications that relate to the home, home life, and the witness of the home, that's in verse 11 and 12. And last week I said I will go over this breakdown many times.

It will be easy for you to get this breakdown this morning and next week as well. But we must remember the one key word that ensures that we meet these qualifications as we should in our church. We covered this last week. Remember verse 8 says deacons likewise must be, must be, must be. So these qualifications are not suggestions, these qualifications are not optional. If we're going to be the church God wants us to be, rhetorical question here, please don't blurt out loud. Have you been in a church where each and every one of these qualifications were taken seriously and applied to the ones appointed to the office?

Have you seen it done well? Now let's go back and read our verses again and then we'll dive right into the qualifications like we did last week. Back in 1 Timothy verse 8, deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain. They must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience and let them also be tested first, then let them serve as deacons if they prove themselves blameless. Their wives likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, faithful in all things.

Let deacons each be the husband of one wife, managing their children and their households well 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. Now last week we started off with this first category. I will briefly zoom through what we looked at and that is the deacon must be qualified in his personal character. Verse 8, and here we've seen four specific qualifications that all relate to the man's personal character. First we see that a deacon must be a man of dignity. The English standard says dignified, the amplified says men worthy of respect.

This means that deacons must be men of dignity, men of respect and that is because they are serious men who are serious about serious things and especially serious about spiritual matters and especially serious about service in the church. Too many "S"s there. So these are men of respect. They are men who are worthy of this respected office and then second we see that the deacon must not be double-toned. King James, a New American, the ESV all say double-toned. Simply this means that a deacon must not be a gossip but much more. They must be men of truthful, honest, and consistent speech, not hypocritical speech.

Their speech must be dependable and trustworthy. People inside the church, people in their family, people in the workplace, people outside of the church must be able to depend on what they say. Then third we see that the deacon must not be addicted to wine. Here the King James says not given to much wine. The King James, or excuse me, the ESV, the New American says not addicted to much wine. Remember there's a key word here, this word addicted. This means to turn one's mind to. It means to occupy oneself with. It means a habitual or continual practice. Now I do not have time to go back over all that we studied here.

If you miss that message you need to get it. But we all need to study and we need to pray over these things on our own. This is where I give you some homework. We all need to pray over these things and study these things and all of the scriptures related on our own for three reasons. First this is one area of life that pertains to the Christian conscience. Second this is one area of life that pertains to the Christian witness. Third this is an area of life where so many can compromise their Christian walk and witness.

Many in the church have even ruined their Christian walk and Christian witness because of the use and abuse of alcohol and deacons and elders are not immune here. In Grace Life I call you to study the teaching of Romans 14. Romans 14. That helps us with the Christian conscience and it helps us with the Christian witness. If you need any assistance there I can help you. And then I also call you to go listen to the four messages I preached on drunkenness from Proverbs. It's all there on the church website.

I preached the message titled the personal prescription against drunkenness and then a part one, a part two, the portrait of drunkenness and then the last message was the personification of drunkenness. That may help some of you. But simply deacons must be men who are not addicted to wine or drink. They must not be occupied with alcohol. Now I said this last week but I repeat our standard with leaders here in our church in the use of alcohol. I do not drink and I call all of our leadership in our church not to drink at all. And remember this is not legalism at all. This is not law. I'm not adding to the Bible with extra biblical rules.

This is about wise leadership. This is about protection. Protecting you. Protecting your family. Protecting our church. And also remember we do not judge a brother or a sister who has a different view here. Fourth, we see that the deacon must not be fond of dishonest gain. The English standard uses the word dishonest. The new American uses the word "sorid." The King James reads "greedy for filthy lucre." This simply means that a deacon and a prospective deacon must not be greedy for money or possessions. And he certainly must not be greedy for dishonesty to gain money and possessions.

Think about the responsibility and responsibilities of a deacon. The deacon is responsible for physical matters in the church and that may put him in a position where he is in close contact with the money and the management of the property of the church. So if a deacon is greedy and even greedy for dishonest gain of some kind, he would be tempted greatly here and could fall here. Again, I like how William McDonald says it. He says Judas was not the last treasurer to betray his Lord for mere money. So in summary, look at what we've covered here. I've not gone over all of it.

These things pertaining to qualifying and or disqualifying personal character, we see that a deacon and a prospective deacon must be qualified in his personal character. Now a question, why would Paul start with personal character? Why not start with the other qualifications? You ever thought about that? I would venture to say if we were writing out these qualifications, we would start with abilities. So why not start off with abilities and talents, those physical things? You see, Paul knew that character dictates conduct. Let me repeat that. Paul knew that character dictates conduct. That needs to be said over and over and over.

Paul knew, God knows, that character dictates conduct. Look, church, how many churches are governed by and led by men whose conduct is not biblical or Christian? Well, if you see a pastor, if you see elders, if you see deacons or a deacon body, and they are not conducting themselves biblically, like we see in the Scriptures, well, their sinful conduct can be traced back to sinful flaws in their character. Character dictates conduct. Grace life, as the time draws near for you to choose among you men to serve as deacons and their wives count as well, we'll get to that next week, you must start with personal character.

That's why I review this portion of the message. We start with personal character because God does. Now let's pick up with the other categories of qualification. We will not cover them all this morning. Our second category, the deacon must have qualifying doctrine in faith. We see this in verse 9. The deacon must have qualifying doctrine of faith. Now, the newer American reads about like the English standard, while the King James reads different. The King James says, holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience, and to understand what Paul is saying here, we need to examine two specifics in the verse.

First, this mystery of the faith. Now, it may seem like Paul is talking about some big secret associated with the faith. But Paul is talking about the Christian faith as seen in the New Testament scriptures. Now, right here you could say, "Pastor, the Christian faith is not a mystery. It's not a secret to me. It's right here in the Bible." Well, that's true. We do have the Christian faith clearly explained and articulated in the New Testament scriptures. But the mystery or secret Paul was referring to is this. The clear truths explained in the New Testament were hidden from those who lived in the times of the old.

And the reason Paul calls the faith a mystery is that the faith as seen in the new was alluded to or hinted at all throughout the old. The Old Testament is full of types and shadows and pictures and many, many veiled promises that are all made clear in the New Testament. So what Paul is saying here is this. The deacon or the one being examined for the office of the deacon and deacon service, they must know and they must hold on to. They must possess and live out the Christian faith that was once hidden. Now, let me flesh this out for you and for us.

And what this looks like here, a deacon in our church must understand and possess an unwavering commitment to the faith as God has led us to articulate it. I think about our church statement of faith. That's what all this stuff is up here under my Bible. Right here, I have an old copy of our statement of faith that I use in my study. And what is this statement of faith? It is a statement of what we preach and teach and what we're striving to believe. Some of these things are hard to understand, yes. But a deacon must be able to affirm our statement of faith. This is based off a historic Baptist statement of faith.

We wouldn't dare have a deacon who wouldn't check off on this. I'll give you another important document here. What is taught and expected to be lived out in our church membership class. This is my copy that I've taught from for years. This is how we view church membership. This is how we flesh out church membership. I refer to the principles and things taught in here all the time. We wouldn't dare have a deacon sign up for deacon ministry and they wouldn't check off on what we have here is our church membership standards and policies. I'll give you another example. This is a simple illustration.

But the basic structure and function of our church is seen whether Grace Life will. This is what we do on a week to week basis. We wouldn't dare have a deacon who wouldn't check off and say, "Pastor, I believe in that wholeheartedly." I'll add to that. We wouldn't have a deacon who wouldn't check off on our participation in anchoring truth and how we view elder leadership. Remember I said earlier that deacons function under the elders. That they flesh out the ministry and the teaching under the elders. We wouldn't dare have a deacon who wouldn't check off on our elder ministry and elders and submit themselves to elder leadership.

What am I trying to show you? It's pretty practical. It's pretty simple. For the man to be a deacon, an elder too, they must hold to, they must understand, they must know, they must be committed to the faith as we see it, as we know it, as we live it out here at Grace Life Church Brookhaven. Now let me say one more thing before I move on. I'm not acting like we've got all this in a box. I'm not acting like we've got God figured out and everybody else is wrong. No, there are many brothers and sisters in different denominations and they flesh these things out a little different. That comes to the matter of the conscience as well.

Second, this clear and pure conscience. This phrase may seem strange as well, but we will see that this speaks to the practical side of the Christian life. Yes, but also the spiritual side. Let me explain. You see, God has given every man a conscience, which is that self-governing, self-judging, self-correcting, self-affirming faculty that's placed within the man. The conscience is that inner human instrument given by God that either affirms or condemns the man. Notice that phrase. The conscience is given by God and it either affirms or condemns the man. But a very, very important question here.

What standard, what measuring rod does the conscience use? Think about that. What standard, what measuring rod does the conscience use? If the conscience is placed within a man by God to govern man and to either affirm or condemn the man, well, what standard, what measuring rod is used? That is easy. The Christian faith that the man knows and holds on to, that is the measuring rod. That's the standard that the conscience uses within the man. Now first, on a very, very foundational level, the conscience uses the law of God that is written on the heart of man. Romans 2, 14 to 15 says the law of God is written on the heart of every man.

And so at a very foundational level, God uses the conscience that He put within the man and the rod He uses there, the measuring stick, is the law of God that's on His heart. And then second, on top of that, the conscience uses the Christian faith that is known, that is held on to within that local body. Now, what I'm about to say right here has nothing to do with Deacon ministry. But let this hit you. This is why teaching our children God's Word is so life and death important. Let that sink in. God has given each and every one of them a conscience, a conscience to affirm them or condemn them.

What standard, what measuring rod are we putting in them? Better be the Word of God in the home and in the church. So a Deacon or a prospective Deacon must have qualifying doctrine in faith. He must possess and hold on to the Christian faith. And He must do so with a clear conscience, which means He lives these things out in the life of the church and in His home and in the service of the church. And get this, church. If the Word of God, sound doctrine and faith are not His standard, He will operate in life and as a Deacon apart from God's Word. Do you see that?

If the Word of God, sound doctrine and the faith are not His standard, well, He will operate in His life and as a Deacon in the life of the church apart from the Word of God. Deacon and a prospective Deacon, think about it, must be like a record that skips. Anybody have an old turntable? I might say, "Pastor, you're showing your age." In high school, I had a turntable. My dad had some old records and he would always say, "Son, you be careful with those records because if you scratch that record, it's going to skip." Well, when the record is playing and it gets to that scratch, see, it'll just back up and say the same thing over and over.

That's where this little phrase, like a broken record, comes from. See, a Deacon and a prospective Deacon must be like a record that skips and keeps saying the same thing over and over and over. What does the Bible say? What does the Bible say? When a problem arises in the church and it falls at the feet of the Deacon, he must say, "What does the Bible say?" When an opportunity comes, he must say, "What does the Bible say?" He just must be a broken record. "What does the Bible say? What does the Bible say? What does the Bible say?" Elders too. Our third category, the Deacon must have qualifying service in the life of the church.

Now, that is right there at the beginning of verse 10 and you might not see it. And let them also be tested first. Here, the New American reads almost the same as the ESV, but the King James is a little different. The King James says, "And let these also first be proved, and then let them use the office of the Deacon." And to understand what Paul is saying here, there is one key word we need to understand. This word "tested" or "proved" the King James. This is simple. This means to examine, this means to scrutinize. This has the idea of proving if something is worthy or not.

This word was used in Paul's day when metal workers would prove or test metals. They would heat precious metals, and they would separate the impurities from that precious metal, therefore proving the metal, therefore testing the metal. You see? And here in testing and proving the Deacon, or the potential Deacon, Paul is saying that they are to be watched, they are to be tested, they are to be proven. They are to be examined and proven for who they are and what they are. But a question, what area of their lives should be watched, tested, and proven? We don't have to ask because God tells us. You see?

Their personal character should be watched, tested, and proven. Their doctrine and faith should be scrutinized, tested, and proven. Their service in the church should be watched, tested, and proven. Their moral purity should be scrutinized, tested, and proven. Their home and their home life should be examined, tested, scrutinized, and proven. You see? They should be examined in all of these qualifications. And get this, this isn't just a one-time thing. The language here is in the present tense, which tells us they are to be tested and proven continually.

What good would it do to have a deacon be qualified, and yet three or four years later you look up and he's unqualified and he's still serving. And this should not seem strange to us. Really and truly there are many Old Testament characters that were first tested, and then when they were proven to be worthy, they were allowed to serve God the way God wanted. I got this from Warren Wiersby. He points out that Joseph was a slave in Egypt for 13 years before he rose to become the second ruler in the nation just behind Pharaoh. Boy, howdy, what a testing. Joshua was an assistant to Moses before he took Moses' place and leading the people.

David was a shepherd tending his father's sheep long before he was anointed as king over Israel, you see? They were tested, they were proven. I like how Warren Wiersby comments here, and he seems to be describing what we have seen in so many churches in our day because he is, and I'm quoting him. Wiersby says, "It always weakens the testimony of a local church when a member who has not been proven is made an officer in the church." Wiersby goes on to give this hypothetical, which we are so familiar with. Maybe Jim will attend church more if we make him a deacon. You ever heard something like that? I've heard it like this.

Maybe Jim will attend more if we make him a Sunday school teacher. He goes on to say, "That is a statement that shows ignorance both of Jim and God's word." Let that sink in. That is a statement, that is an attitude and a position that shows ignorance of who the man is and what God's word says. He goes on to say, and I'm quoting, "An untested Christian is an unprepared Christian. He will probably do more harm than good if you give him an office in the church." Oh, look, and if you lower the standards, you might not be just appointing an immature Christian. You might be appointing a wolf. I think Wiersby doesn't go far enough there.

The untested Christian will probably do more harm than good if he's put in the place of a deacon because he will. So a deacon and a prospective deacon must have qualifying service in the life of the church. He must be tested. He must be scrutinized and proven worthy of the office and the service. He must be watched, examined in every area of the life because if he is not qualified in every area, he is unqualified. Now before I move on, Grace Life, you must see the depth and the breadth here of this examination, this testing, this scrutinizing. It is your responsibility.

It is our responsibility to examine and test the man in all these qualifications, not just one, not just two, all. And we will see next week that his wife is to be examined as well and there are qualifications for her. So this is a deep and a wide testing and examination. In our fourth category, the deacon must have qualifying moral purity. The deacon must have qualifying moral purity. And we see this qualification in two places. At the end of verse 10, in the beginning of verse 12, look at the verse or verses. Verse 10, and let them also be tested first and then let them serve as deacons if they prove themselves blameless.

And then the beginning of verse 12, let deacons each be the husband of one wife. Now if you have a good memory, you will remember that we saw these same things when we studied the qualifications of an elder about a year ago. Just remember that I led us through a very similar process about a year ago when we called and appointed two more elders in our church. As a matter of fact, when you look at what scholars and commentators say about these verses before us, many will simply refer back to what they said about elders. They'll just simply footnote it because it's the same thing. But notice first the deacon must be above reproach.

Here the English Standard says that he must be blameless. The New American says beyond reproach. Again the same thing is said of the elder. This literally means that there should be no accusation upon the life or there should be no case against him of sin or wrongdoing. This could and should be understood as having a very strong Christian reputation. But we must see that this does not speak of some kind of perfection. But this does speak of a sodded life which is clean from past sins and is closely watched so as to stay clean, pure, and blameless in the eyes of those inside the church and the eyes of those outside the church.

Again, this speaks of a very strong Christian reputation. So a deacon must be qualified in his personal character. He must be above reproach. Second the deacon must be the husband of one wife. Here the English Standard, the New American, the King James basically say the same thing. Again we see the very same thing, the qualifications of the elder. And we know this immediately brings up a debate that has been in the church for centuries. The debate is centered on whether or not a deacon can be divorced and still serve in that office.

Now when it comes to respected biblical opinions about these verses and to what Paul was in his saying here, there are basically two positions out there. Some say this is a prohibition against a deacon having more than one wife. That's polygamy. Now polygamy is not an issue in our culture and time, but it was in their day and it certainly is an issue in other cultures even in our day. So if we look at this verse and the sin of polygamy we can obviously see that this is a prohibition against polygamy or having more than one wife. Have I ever told you the story of the little boy discussing polygamy with his daddy? This is a true story.

Mom had been teaching the Bible while dad was at work. Well when dad came home he looked at his dad and said, "Dad, is it true that some of these men in the Old Testament had more than one wife?" The dad said, "Oh man, I didn't know what I was going to say." So he tried to explain it, be real spiritual about it. He said the little boy looked away and looked at him and said, "I don't think I want more than one wife because I don't want more than one woman telling me what to do." We don't believe in polygamy, not for that reason. But some say this is a prohibition against the deacon being divorced.

This view is popular among many respected scholars and this position can carry and does carry a lot of biblical weight. Those who hold to this position say that a divorce is a violation of verse 12 which speaks to the qualifications relating to the home and home life. And they say it is a violation of living a life above reproach seen in verse 10. With this position, it is not a question about forgiveness. With this position, it is about a standard that relates to the office. Let me repeat that. This position that rejects a divorce deacon, it's not a question about forgiveness.

With this position, it's about a standard that relates to the office. And again, those who hold to that standard cite verse 12 and verse 10. But just like when we dealt with this qualification with the elder, if we stay with those arguments, and the arguments and positions, we may miss the point. In the original, this literally means a one-woman man, which means the deacon must be a one-woman man. And this helps us see that Paul was not speaking only to marital status as much as he was speaking to moral and sexual purity. A one-woman man would be one who was and is completely committed to his wife.

A one-woman man would be one who is completely committed to a love and a devotion to his wife, which would include all sexual purity. So if we stay with the meaning of the verse, it really helps us handle properly the problem of polygamy and divorce in the case of the deacon. He is to be qualified based on moral and sexual purity. He is to be a one-woman man and one who is above reproach. So a deacon must be qualified. He must be the husband of one wife. Now, what is our position? I tackled this last year. Just like with an elder, it's about a standard. Paul places a high standard here because this is a high office.

Have you thought about it like this? Why would Paul have such a high standard when these men don't even preach and teach God's Word? Have you thought about that? Why would the qualifications be almost the same as with the elder? The elder governs the church, preaches and teaches, and shepherds God's people. The deacons serve with menial physical tasks. Why such a high standard and standards? Because it is a high office. I do not believe we should have men who serve as elders or deacons who have been divorced. It has nothing to do with forgiveness. It has everything to do with the standard.

And for that position, I go to verse 12 and I go to verse 10. And look, church, on top of that, the deacon, the prospective deacon must be a man of impeccable sexual purity. A deacon and a prospective deacon, an elder and a prospective elder must be a man of impeccable sexual purity. Perfect no, for no man is perfect. No person is perfect, but impeccable when it comes to the area of sexual sin and purity. It's so sad. It's so sad how many church leaders are falling today. They're having to step down. They're being pushed out of their positions. Why? Because of sexual sin. This is a high standard.

It must be kept and the consequences are catastrophic. Now we get to our fifth and last category. The deacon must have a qualifying home and home life. But I want to save that for next week for two reasons. First, because of time. We're really just out of time this morning. But second, there are some questions and positions that can come from verse 12 that I want to cover thoroughly. Some of you cannot wait to see my position on women deacons, which comes out of verse 12. Yes, some believe in women deacons. It comes out of what we see here and I will get to this next week.

Now as I begin to close, I want to add to what I said last week in the conclusion of the message. Last week I said that only God can make a deacon. It takes the Holy Spirit of God working in that man to make him a deacon. In Romans 12, 6-8, we have seen that some have the spiritual gift of service. But in studying the office and the qualifications of the deacon, we see that God certainly calls and equips some men above and beyond and they certainly have the gift of service if they're going to be a deacon. Far too many churches and church members think that the pastor or the elders or the congregation can make a deacon.

What I'm aiming at is this, only God can make a deacon. But I want to point out something in the text. I hope you haven't closed your Bible because I want you to look at two verses. First Timothy 3, go all the way back up to verse 1. Remember now, this is where Paul is addressing the qualifications of the elder. He says, "The saying is trustworthy if anyone aspires to the office of the overseer." The Amplified says, this is a faithful and trustworthy saying, "If any man eagerly seeks the office." But notice verse 8, back down with the deacon.

Paul says, "Deacons likewise must be." And notice Paul does not say, "If any man aspires to the office of the deacon." You see the difference? Now what's my point? What am I driving at? Yes, I do believe that if God is calling a man to the office in service as a deacon, he will aspire to that office. But just like we see in Acts 6 verses 1 to 7, which is at least a preview of what was to come when the office was established in the New Testament church, just like we see in Acts 6, it just may be that the church picks a man out and he sees the call because the church has called him. You see that church?

So this leads us to a great and very serious responsibility. Every adult member of Grace Life Church, it is our responsibility to pray, to study these qualifications and all that I've called you to study, and you are to examine and to test the men of our church to see who God is pointing out to be a deacon. Now one more thing before we close. When I think back to Acts 6 and what took place in those events, remember now there was a problem in the life of the Jerusalem church. One group of widows was being overlooked. Another group of widows they were being taken care of.

So this whole section of widows in the life of the church were being overlooked. This had the potential to destroy the church. Well the problem was brought before the apostles and what did the apostles do? The apostles put it back on the congregation and they said, "You choose seven men." And in my maybe Holy Spirit inspired imagination, I imagine it was just like this. In that church service when they all got in a car to go home, men and women started talking about it. Men started saying, "I can tell you who two or three are." Wives started saying, "Well I can tell you who the other two or three are." There was no debate.

What I'm getting at is this. Those men were conspicuous. You know what it means to be conspicuous? They stood out. They were front and center. I don't believe there was a debate. Those men were at the forefront of deacon service and qualification. They were conspicuous. There was no divide. There was no debate. There were no problems. The apostles said, "You choose them." They were conspicuous. I believe that's what will take place in our church and it should. As you do the work that God's calling you to do, as we do the work, and I will give us a plan, the men that God is calling, the men that we are calling, they will be conspicuous.

And if we do it right, they better be. Now the title of the message is just a part two from last week. Deacon ministry, the church is served by qualified deacons.