This morning we're going to talk about the subject of "deacons" - another position in the assembly that's very important for the spiritual well-being in the on-going of the work of God. And I have seven points. We'll try to spend a little time on each one and finish in time.
We've read together Acts 6:1-7 which I feel give us a beautiful picture of a Spirit-led handling of a problem in the early church. One could comment at great length at all the things the Apostles did NOT do to solve this problem. But I guess we'll just leave it and say that undoubtedly as Spirit-filled men that were led of God, they rose to the occasion. The situation was handled in a beautiful way. And the result is found in v.7 - again we read of the spread and increase of the word and the people of God.
First of all we want to just spend a moment on definition of the word 'deacon'. The word in Greek - 'diakonos' - occurs over a hundred times in the New Testament. And it's translated in a number of ways - "minister", "servant", or "deacon".
Now there are, I'm sure we all realize, many words in our Bible and in any language that have a general meaning, a broad meaning and also a specific meaning. E.g. the word 'elder' - 'elder' can mean 'older man'. It can also mean one of those spiritual leaders in the assembly'. 'Apostle' is another such word. An apostle could be one of the twelve disciples of the Lord Jesus. It could also be a synonym for a missionary because that's what the word means - an apostle is "a sent one". So, the word 'diakonos' then is used throughout the New Testament in its general sense of being a servant. The Lord Jesus in Romans 15:8 is called the "servant to the people of Israel" (or "to the circumcised"). In Romans 13, the civil government and the leaders of our land are called servants and ministers of God. And so those are general uses of this word.
We want to think this morning about the specific use of the word - the word translated in our English Bible 'deacon'. This translation is helpful to us because it helps to notice the difference. Deacons are a group of people that are very important for the smooth-functioning of the assembly. Deacons have to do with the administration and care of the temporal - not temporary, although sometimes we wish they were - needs in the assembly.
Now before we knew the Lord most of us lived and operated pretty much on one plane i.e. the physical. The spiritual was a dimension that was pretty well unknown to us or pretty foreign to us. And if you have unbelieving friends and loved ones, you'll notice that that's a characteristic of their lives. They live and operate for what you can see, taste, touch, feel, and so on. They live in a physical dimension.
But then the day came, and you heard the gospel, and you received the Lord Jesus by faith, and suddenly you found that there's a whole new dimension to your life that had never been there before. You now live in a spiritual dimension as well as the one you had before. So your friends might see you now going to church and reading your Bible, praying and other activities that they consider pretty much a waste of time. And yet as you grow older, the spiritual dimension in your life grows and you find it's necessary to spend more of your time in your Bible, in prayer, in fellowship with other believers. They understand you less and less as the days go by and the reason for all this is that you're preparing to make a major move in your life from this physical world to God's home. And of course you're getting ready for that. We all are, and that e8plains your new behavior.
Now God, in His grace, has made a provision for the assemblies so that the spiritual needs are cared for - and those leaders are elders. We studied about them last week. But God has also made provision for the temporal needs. We need a building to meet in, hymn books to sing out of, and we need to have the place kept clean and neat and all the rest. And so we need then servants/deacons to care for that and to help us care for it.
We might just turn over to 1 Timothy 3. (Please mark your place in Acts 6 throughout the message because we'll be coming back there).
I think there are three steps in the appointment of deacons.
I Tim 3:10 will give us the first step. Speaking of deacons, Paul says, "let these also first be proved." Now I believe that what he has in mind here is that they are to be tested for genuineness. That's the thought of 'proof' - tested for genuineness. It doesn't mean that you make them do the work of the deacon but you don't give them the recognition. But it just means that they need to be tested for genuineness as Christians and as those who are serious about service for God.
And then secondly, for this we'll want to go back to Acts 6. A number of men are chosen by the congregation or by the multitude. Acts 6:3 "Wherefore, brethren, look among you for seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, ..." Acts 6:5 "And the saying pleased the whole multitude; and they CHOSE ..." and then we have the list. And so secondly there's the choice by the congregation of certain men.
And then number three, we'll go back to verse 3 (the end of v.3), those who are chosen by the multitude are APPOINTED by the apostles. And of course once the apostles gave way to elders (and that transition we find in the book of Acts) the deacons would be appointed by the elders.
Now I hope you notice the order in which I gave those three points. It's very important that we distinguish between what it means to be chosen and what it means to be appointed.
Many are confused about this, and it's very very important. The order is - let me go over them again -
Now it's very important as I say that we understand those last two steps because the authority of the deacons does NOT rest in their choice by the congregation. The authority of the deacons rests in their appointment by the leaders. Government in the family of God always comes down from above. We need to understand that. The church is NOT a democracy, it never was intended to be, and it's never taught that way in Scripture regardless of at some would try to tell us.
The church is definitely NOT a democracy - the rule of the people from below. The church is a theocracy - the rule of God from above.
Now just to try to make this as practical as possible, let's pretend that you're living in the days of the early church. You are one of the many widows that were cared for by the church on that day, and you had a complaint. You were being neglected. Your portion wcs smaller than the others. You weren't getting enough to eat. And you were disturbed about this.
You can imagine with thousands of people added to the church in only a few weeks, there would be many many widows and others who are receiving help in a temporal way - money, food, clothing, who knows. Suppose as you stood in the line, you realized that you were being cheated or at least discriminated against; perhaps you're getting far too little or whatever and you registered your complaint with whoever would take those complaints. Sooner or later the apostles would become aware that there is a complaining, a murmuring, in this case.
And instead of saying, "You know, we'll pray about it," ... and six months go on and people are dissatisfied, and begin to leave ... they got right on the situation here. They called the multitude together and they really established and opened good lines of communication which is a good model for us.
But we like to notice what they did. They spelt out a plan that should be followed.
Now, suppose on a certain day you heard the noise through the crowd that there's going to be a big meeting of the church in Jerusalem, and this problem of the widows and so forth is going to be dealt with. And by the time you got there, say, there was a great big crowd of thousands of people standing there - of course no PA systems back then - and you couldn't get close enough to hear the apostles. Now as they perhaps climbed up onto the stairs of the porch or the temple or whatever it would be, you would those twelve men that you knew by sight and loved them. They were the twelve apostles. But you couldn't hear what they had to say. You're perhaps at the very back of the crowd. And then as things grew quiet, perhaps you might see seven men come walking up and stand in front of them; and suddenly you saw the apostles put their hands on these men and have a time of prayer. Now maybe you didn't hear anything all day, but you see there a visible picture that would communicate a great deal to you - THE LAYING ON OF HANDS WAS SYMBOLIC OF THE GIVING OF AUTHORITY.
Nothing magical flows through the arms of those who practice laying on of hands. It's a symbol of the transfer of authority - the acknowledging of others. And so as you saw then these seven men in a special relationship with those twelve apostles you already well knew. And then on Monday morning you found those seven men standing there in the line that passed out the food and so forth, you would draw the conclusion quite rightly that they had been delegated by the apostles to clear up this problem. And of course you would be right.
And so the authority then of these seven men would clearly come from thg apostles. And if you were to say to one of them, "You know, I don't think you're treating me fairly", that deacon would be quite right to say, "You know, I'm a delegated servant. I've been appointed by the apostles, by the elders, and if' you really have a complaint you could go and talk to them. Or I'll talk to them." And if someone has a complaint about the apostles or the elders, they could say, "God has chosen me and I'll have to go and talk to the Lord about it."
So, in this way then there's a transfer of authority downward from God to His people. And it's very important for us to notice that although the deacons were chosen or brought forward, selected by the multitude, the authority of these men to act did not rest in the people. No one could say, "Because of the way you're handling matters, in six months when elections for deacons come up we're going to vote you out." No one could say that. They could only appeal to the ones in whose authority they stood.
This morning we read from Phil 1:1, Paul greets the bishops or the elders and the deacons.
So far as we can tell from Scripture and the early church the number - like elders - was always plural. There was never just a single elder or a single deacon.
Let's turn please to 1 Timothy 3.
Incidentally, I think it's only fair to mention that you will find good Bible-believing scholars of the Word - good Bible teachers, writers and thinkers - who take a whole different view on the whole subject of deacons than I do. I think it's well to mention that just so that when you encounter this you'll know that these people are not heretics. They're good men and they see a little differently and they do have some very persuasive arguments on their side. They are those who believe that, just as I taught last week, the elders are the spiritual leaders in the congregation; and as for deacons, they do not believe that there's a group of men who handle the temporal concerns of the assembly. They believe that the deacons are what we might call those in full-time Christian work. In other words, if you want to be in the service of God full-time, you would be a deacon, and the list here would apply to you. Now I think there are some very good reasons why that view is not the best view. But I say for those of you who may encounter those who believe that, please don't think there's anything wrong. They have some very compelling arguments on their side.
I believe however that in these two lists in 1 Timothy 3 - even the order is significant. First we find the elders, then we find the deacons. Both are positions in the assembly. Please note that neither one is a spiritual gift. There's no such thing as the 'gift of elder' or the 'gift of deacon'. These are positions and they could be obtained by any man.
Verses 8-13 give us the qualifications of the deacon. They're very similar to the elder - not nearly so ma.y. And they don't seem to emphasize the spiritual aspect quite so strongly as the elder's qualifications. Please read them in your own time, and study them. They're very important. They help us in a time of choosing other young men and others to be deacons.
I would like to call your attention however to just one portion. It says in v. 12, "Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well." Go back to verse 4., it also speaks of the elders - "one that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity." Verse 5 adds a note that I think we could add at this point, Paul says, "if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?"
Of all the qualifications for elders or deacons, I want to just stress that one this morning. It's very important. God has placed a man in authority in a very little sphere - his own home - as a congregation of maybe two or three or four people, or, in the case of a big family, more. But he has a small congregation and he is charged with responsibility before God for the orderly running of that home. That's his little assembly. And he's been given that authority by God.
And I DO believe that any man who would aspire to be an elder or a deacon in the assembly of God's people should begin by showing what his personal - not ambition - but goal or vision for the local assembly could be. In other words, we're quite justified in looking at a man's family and seeing there a picture of what that man would like to see done in the assembly. And so if you find then a family where there's a lot of disharmony and squabbling and uncleanness and lateness and all sorts of problems, you'd think,"Well, now, if that's the order that he's been able to bring in his own family, is this what he would do in the family of God?"
So then those among us, may I speak to the young among us - the young men, if you find in your heart a desire to be a leader among the people of God iî these areas, you want to remember that God has given you, or perhaps will shortly give you, a small flock to take care of. It's very important that you show in that small charge what you would do in the larger family of God. And please don't feel that if people are interested in your family and notice your wife and notice your children and your home and these other things that they're prying into your personal business. Not at all. They have very good scriptural warrant for being interested in how you maintain your little sphere. It's not a matter of pryingat all. It's a matter of looking at the Scriptures and seeing that these are God-given criteria and qualifications for leaders.
I think, without being too specific here, we can just suggest a few things that seem to come out of Acts 6.
Certainly we can see there the concern for temporal needs of the assembly.
Secondly, we can notice that these men were raised up to relieve the elders. The elders, or the apostles, said, "It's not fitting that we should leave the word of God - in other words, leave our primary spiritual work - and serve tables." And so they then ask that men be brought forth who can relieve them and care for these things as delegated servants. Certainly this would involve, at least in the Jerusalem church, the administration or the handling of funds. And I think it would be quite appropriate to say that in the assembly, it's fitting then that deacons have primary concern for the funds, the offerings, and the collections, and the dispersing of it and so forth. And that's practiced here at West Woods on that basis. I've known of assemblies where elders did not want to relinquish their hold on the collections and the money, and sad to say, much of their elders' meetings is devotee to worrying about financial matters and the flock suffers. The elders need to lay aside all of those temporal concerns and get into the word of God and prayer so that they may lead and guide the assembly properly.
And I want to say a word of encouragement to those men here this morning who are deacons - sometimes it is a difficult and thankless job. You have a great deal of work to do, and it may seem that no one notices it, although you do know the Lord is taking note. But you should have great joy and confidence that what you're doing is a valuable service. For among other reasons, you are relieving the spiritual leaders to attend to the guidance of the flock and the counseling and help of the people of God. And God is certainly not going to be, as we read in Hebrews, unrighteous to forget your work of faith and labor of love. But of course it takes time for the results of`these things to manifest themselves.
So then, deacons would have control over perhaps the financial matters of the assembly.
Now there's one other thing that I would just like to talk about for the moment before we pass on from the 'duties of the deacons' because I think it's a very much misunderstood point. If we were to go back to Acts 6 and study the wording carefully there, we would find that the apostles did not ask the deacons to go out and get a job and earn money to feed the widows. They were never asking the deacons to supply the money, or the food, or the wherewithal to meet the needs of these widows. It's clear from the context that it was the church that was providing the food, or the money, or whatever it was. The deacons were administrating those funds. It's very important that we understand that. There's a principle here.
Sometimes people get the idea that deacons are raised by the Lord and the local assembly to do all the dirty work. "Here's a window open. Well I'm not going to close it. Call a deacon." "There's a scrap paper there on the floor. Well, why should I pick it up? What do we have deacons for?" And we need to see that that's not in God's mind at all.
The deacons are not responsible to go out to get a job and earn money and feed the widows. The money was provided by the assembly as a whole. The deacons were there to oversee, to adm)nistrate, to make sure things were done on a fair and harmonious way. This morning there was an appeal to those in the assembly who would like to help get the building here, the physical plant, in shape for the up-coming women's missionary conference. I hope none of us has the attitude, "Well, let the deacons do that. It's their job." Now it certainly IS the job of the deacons to administrate all of our help. They might plan the jobs that need to be done. And they might make sure supplies are on hand. They might be willing to assign different tasks, and so forth. But let none of us have the idea that we have deacons so none of us have to help with the on-going work. We're all responsible. We all give. We all share. And God has given us deacons to administrate those things.
I do not usually have a point to consider here but I added this this time because a number have asked questions on this. And I do want to say a word about it. This is just a word about the whole matter of deaconesses. You noticed I've talked about the men so far this morning. And some ask, "What about deaconesses?"
Now I have to say again that there are good men who take a different view than I do, and who believe that every church should have its recognized board of deaconesses. And I don't think that there's any harm in that. I don't think the Lord would be displeased. I can only give you what I see as the Scriptural teaching as far to me what is clear. And tell you when something isn't that clear that you'll have to read it yourself and make your own decision.
Certainly all would agree that if there are going to be deaconesses in the local church, the bases for them would be two passages - and as far as I know there are olly two.
But he uses this word ... he says that she is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea. Now there's two ways to take that. You can take it in its general meaning as we have it here in the King James, and I think it's correct. Or you can translate it, she's a "deaconess". The word would be the same in Greek. She is a deaconess of the church at Cenchrea. So then we're, I think, pretty much left to the other passage which is 1 Timothy 3 to make a decision.
1 Timothy 3 gives us qualifications for the office or position of deacon. And those who would see the position of deaconess in the assembly would point to verse 11.
(1 Tim 3:11 KJV) Even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things.
And they would rightly point out there that the term used in the King James for 'wives' is just simply the word 'women'. And the word 'their' is in italics, meaning it was supplied. So verse 11 could be read "even so THE WOMEN be grave, not slanderers, sober-minded, faithful in all things."
Now I think what you would have to decide on in this matter - I leave this to your own decision - verses 1 through 7 give us an unbroken list of the qualifications for elders, and then Paul in verse 8 goes into the matter of deacons, he says "in like manner". "In like manner" I take to mean he is also providing qualifications for the deacon. And in verses 8, 9 & 10, he speaks about some things that are necessary for deacons to be chosen. In verse 11, he possibly, as we have in our translation here, speaks about the wives of the deacons. And this verse can rightly be rendered as we have here "even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober-minded, faithful in all things."
If this is a reference to the deaconess, as I see it, there is a little problem, and that is in verse 12 Paul goes back to talk about the deacons again. In other words you will have a list for elders, a half of a list for deacons, a verse for deaconess, and then the rest of the list to finish up for deacons. Now of course some would say that that's not an insurmountable problem and will opt for the deaconess and that's fine. And of course the bottom line is that the sisters can serve, God calls them to serve, and He blesses them when they do serve. And many would. say, "What difference would it make whether you have a title or not?" and of course that would probably be the best view of all. "What difference does it make that you have a title if you're really serving the Lord?"
But I want to say that for those who do look at verse 11 and say,"Well, that must certainly be the list of qualifications for the deaconess" - that view is not an impossible one or a bad one, and many take that view. I am not aware of any other Scripture that deals with this particular subject. If any of you know them you might share them with me later.
Incidentally for those who do look at verse 11 as a note about the wives of deacons (I think both with elders and certainly with deacons, in the New Testament sense of the word), there are going to be many opportunities where those in the assembly need to get involved in the personal lives, and perhaps the private lives of the flock. There's going to be counseling. There's going to be guidance and help in the case of the young assemblies. I know there's going to be some involvements in helping young, married couples get their finances straightened out.
I know of one assembly in this area that has a very definite policy that the assembly is willing to financially subsidize and help any young couple who are struggling financially. But the criterion for that help is that the deacons be allowed to get involved in their financial affairs - not to pry - but to make sure that the money is going to pay bills, buying nourishing food for the children and not be squandered. And I really have seen them work over the years and I really say, my own judgment is, they've done a wonderful job in helping some of these couples that did not understand how to manage their money. They didn't come in and just give them criticism or advice. They gave them financial assistance. But then they want to make sure that their money wasn't going to be wasted and squandered because it is the money of the people of God. It came from the offerings of God's people. And they would want it carefully cared for.
That being true then, there would be many occasion when the wives of the deacons would be involved, perhaps in a very personal way with a couple or with a family or with the young wife. And there would be many things that would be brought to the attention of the deacons - husbands and their wives - that if' spread around could do a great deal of damage. And so in v.11 then when it says "their wives must be grave or serious, not slanderers - gossips, sober-minded, and faithful in all things", I believe - this is my perspective - you can see that Paul is really reminding that these families, who are going to have a part in the personal business of other families, are to be very careful with their words and their relationships and what stories they may pass on or spread. This is something that we all need to be exercised about, isn't it? If we're going to have fellowship in the family of God, we need to be able to know that anything that we share for help with our brothers or sisters in the Lord, especially they who are in places of leadership, that that is going to be kept confidential and not spread around. I just pass that word on so that all of us might examine our own selves in that and do accordingly.
I'd like to suggest that there are a least three that we could find in Scripture. You remember in the list of the original seven in Acts 6 - there are two men there. One was named Philip; and one was named Stephen. Well, these two men were given a real promotion by the Lord if you can call it that. They were allowed by God to be used in a mighty way in the early church because of the faith and the particular spiritual gifts that they had. Of course, Stephen only got to give one message and then he was martyred. Philip on the other hand went on to become a real useful tool for the Lord - He became an evangelist- one who went out and shared the message of the gospel. We read about him in Acts 21, and he's called there "Philip the evangelist". So one promotion (if we can call it 'promotion') or reward that God could give to a deacon in this life would be raising him up to go on into greater fields of service. Perhaps the use of his spiritual gift that he might sharpen as he works as a deacon. He may like Philip go on and become a servant of God perhaps some day in a full- time capacity, perhaps traveling, perhaps on a mission-field, or whatever God would have.
There is two passages or two thoughts that come out of I Tim 3. Let's also notice then 1 Tim 3:13 brings before us two rewards that God would have for the deacons. It says, "they that have used the office of a deacon well ", (we might paraphrase that and say 'they that have done the work of a deacon well'), "purchase to themselves a good standing and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus." One of these is fairly clear - "great boldness in the faith" would be pretty self-evident and of course the deacon would be meeting in committees, they would be serving, they would be relating to his brothers and sisters in the Lord, and his boldness in the faith, his willingness to stand on the word of God, not being intimidated even though some didn't agree with him, would grow and he would purchase great boldness in the faith.
It also says here he would purchase a good standing. Now some asked me, in fact two sisters asked me last Sunday after the message, did I feel that one had to be a deacon before one became an elder? No. I don't see any Scripture that requires that. I think it is quite likely that some may be raised up to be an elder without this step.
On the other hand, I do feel that because of the use of this word here, it's a natural progression to go from being a deacon to being an elder. The Greek word here is literally the word 'a step' and that's why it's translated in many translations 'a standing place'. It's a standing on a step or a series of steps. And you get the idea that the deacon here has gotten a little step up or a promotion on the staircase of God's family. And it doesn't seem to me too far-fetched to believe that the next step upward would be a spiritual position of over-seeing the people of God.
So I think then that while I would say it's not necessary or required (to be a deacon first before becoming an elder), we don't have any rule in the assembly and others, no rule in the word of God, that if a man has not been a deacon for such a length of time, for such a period, he cannot be an elder. Certainly it would be a nice thing, wouldn't it?, if the saints got to see a younger man caring for temporal needs, being faithful, doing a good job, turning to the word of God for His guidelines, and after a period of time, it would seem that he would be more fitted and more suited to care for spiritual things - not our possessions, but our souls. And of course that's a great and important work.
The underlying principle here would be faithfulness in small things qualifies one for service or responsibility in greater things.
Many of you know George McWilliam. He likes to tell a story and we laugh about it once in a while. Many years ago, there was a certain couple and this matter of elders and deacons was being discussed. Someone said, "Well, I think so-and-so ought to be a deacon." And his wife stood there and said, "Deacon nothing. He's elder material." And George looked at me and I looked at George, and we turned aside and had a laugh at that because the whole thing that was being said there is "My husband wouldn't want to dirty his hands with sweeping the floor, cleaning up or whatever, he's meant for greater things." And of course it wasn't too hard to see that he probably wasn't and as far as I know never did become an elder.
Elders may not have been a deacon first; but certainly they would have a spirit that "I'm willing to serve". And men who are deacons here in this assembly, as far as we know, do have that spirit and that attitude. "I love the people of God. I love the Lord. I'm willing to serve." And those are the ones that we hope God will give the step up some day to be elders.
Now let's just have a word of closing prayer. Next week, Lord willing, we'll talk about the priesthood of the believers. We spoke about that to the kids in Senior High last week, and some of them had some very interesting reactions to the knowledge that even as school-children God considered them priests. One boy told his friends that - that he was a priest. And we'll talk about that next Sunday, Lord willing.