The Office of Deacon, part 2; 1st Timothy 3:9-10

Text: 1^st Timothy 3:9&10                                                1/20/08 AM

Thesis: The deacon should exhibit sincere faith by his clear conscience and proven record.

 

Intro: This morning we continue our study of the office of deacon from 1^st Timothy chapter 3.

I want to remind you again that the goal of our study, as the Lord leads, is to set aside a small number of men who will be added to the current body of deacons here at Mambrino Baptist Church.

Scripture has not been given to us so that we may simply know things. All Scripture has been given so that every believer will be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

We have been given Scripture in order to know and do things.

The good work that lies before us is seeking God’s men for this important office in the church.

From verse 8 we have already seen that every deacon must be dignified. His faith in Christ Jesus must lead to an obvious display of personal holiness.

He must have a bridled tongue useful for building up the church through encouragement and correction.

Every deacon must be satisfied by the person and glory of Jesus Christ and not by the false hope of wine.

And finally from verse 8, he must not be greedy for dirty money or he will take advantage of those he is supposed to be helping.

Up to this point we’ve been looking at some outward characteristics: how does he handle himself, what does he say, what does he drink, and how are his finances?

Now we delve deep into his heart because the man who is not strong spiritually, personally full of grace, is a man unfit to be a deacon.

 

Read 1^st Timothy 3:8-13

 

I) Remember this, deacons must be men of obvious faith

a)      They must hold the mystery of the faith

i)        We are blessed with godly men here at Mambrino Baptist Church who are deacons; for that we praise God.

ii)      But it has been my experience and after talking with our deacons and other Christians it is sad to say that there is story after story of faithless deacons.

iii)    Now these men profess faith in Christ but by their actions they deny the Savior. This must never be.

iv)    There must be an observable, or we could say tangible, quality about these men that finds its root in personal faith.

v)      Deacons must hold the mystery of the faith.

vi)    This word ‘hold’ means to possess something or to grasp it.

vii)  To bring you again back to the book of Hebrews this idea of holding is not something just for deacons.

Hebrews 3:14 says, “For we share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.”

Hebrews 6:18-20 says it well, “so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. ¹⁹ We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, ²⁰ where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf,”

viii)            Now let’s put these together. A mystery is not something unknowable but rather something that must be revealed to us.

ix)    Where I got my hair cut last weekend is a mystery to you. It is not unknowable but rather something that must be revealed to you.

x)      The person and work of Jesus Christ on behalf of sinners is not unknowable God must reveal it to us.

xi)    Upon Peter’s confession that Jesus is indeed the Christ, the Son of the living God, Jesus said

“Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven” (Mt. 16.17).

Now hear 1 Corinthians 2:12, “¹² Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. Without the Holy Spirit teaching us what all the person and work of Christ means we will never understand it or benefit from it.

1 Corinthians 2:14 makes it even more clear:

¹⁴ The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

xii)  Coming to hold the mystery of the faith is not like being told I got my hair cut in Denton at Sports Clips.

xiii)            That takes no spiritual insight to understand.

xiv)            But for anyone to be saved, to come to a knowledge of the truth, God must give them spiritual insight into the work of Jesus Christ.

xv)  The Holy Spirit comes alongside the proclamation of the gospel and drives it home.

xvi)            It is the Holy Spirit bringing illumination to our words that causes the new birth.

xvii)          That is why you explain the gospel to a person so many times and in so many different ways and yet they do not believe. Until the Spirit works the gospel is an irrelevant or silly mystery.

xviii)        But always in every proclamation it is a mystery that has content. 1 Tim 3:9 does not mean to imply that Deacons are clueless about the faith but trust anyway.

xix)            “It’s a mystery that I just don’t understand but I guess I’m going to believe it anyway.” That’s foolish.

xx)  I think this mystery can best but summarized with the word atonement.

xxi)            God created us to experience his loving and infinitely good rule. Mankind threw off this yoke and we went our own way. That’s called sin.

xxii)          You won’t rule me; I will rule me.

xxiii)        This sin, attempting to be what we were never intended to be, brought separation between us and God.

xxiv)        As Paul Henebury pointed out so well last week the unique and just God demands payment for this sin.

xxv)          And it is Jesus Christ who by his perfect life and sinless death makes that payment for us.

xxvi)        By faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ our sins are forgiven and our relationship with the Father is restored.

xxvii)      This is truly a great mystery.

xxviii)    That I would be saved? That my sin would be taken away? That restoration with God would be accomplished by the death of God’s perfect Son?

xxix)        That I would not have to work to earn it or pay it back? That I a Gentile would be made a child of God?

xxx)          That I could feel the removal of shame and guilt?

xxxi)        That the Jesus whom I once thought was a joke could be the center of all my hope and joy is phenomenal.

xxxii)      If we will look to Jesus we will be saved. If we will hold to the gospel we will be saved.

xxxiii)    When we flee to Jesus for refuge we find a steadfast and sure anchor for the soul.  We find Jesus who is right now in the presence of God, our forerunner, who will one day return for us so that we can be where he is.

xxxiv)    Every Christian must believe this way and this belief must be bold in the life of the deacon.

xxxv)      And there’s more

b)      The deacons’ faith must be accompanied by a clear conscience.

i)        Do you remember what the aim of ministry is?

ii)      What does 1^st Timothy 1:5 say? “The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith.”

iii)    How does a person possess a servant’s heart? How does a man come to the point that he loves and therefore serves the church as a deacon?

iv)    His heart is purified, his bad conscience is made good, and his faith is made sincere.

v)      Because of what Jesus has done there is change in this man’s life and that means he has a clear conscience.

vi)    His conscience is not clear because he has done nothing wrong. A deacon’s conscience is clear not because he has done nothing wrong.

vii)  No, a deacon’s conscience is clear because Christ has done nothing wrong and everything right.

viii)            Christ is the deacon’s righteousness.

ix)    The clear conscience is a near indescribable spiritual blessing.

x)      We feel that we are sinful and weak while our minds are full of disgusting thoughts and wicked memories.

xi)    But now I am clear.

xii)  Again to quote Hebrews

For if the sprinkling of defiled persons with the blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a heifer sanctifies for the purification of the flesh, ¹⁴ how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God (9.13-14)

xiii)            We must constantly remind ourselves of this.

xiv)            It is Christ who atones for me giving me a purified conscience.

xv)  The deacon knows the purifying power of the blood of Christ so that he serves the living God by serving the church.

xvi)            Deacons I urge you to show us the power of Christ as you hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience.

xvii)          Church, we must demand that our deacons live for us the power of the blood of the lamb.

II) To do this biblically deacons must be tested

Read 1^st Timothy 3:10

a)      It is dangerous to rush a man into the role of a deacon

i)        An elder must not be a recent convert and a deacon must not be affirmed without testing.

ii)      If you see a teenager sacking groceries with two of the biggest diamond stud earrings that you have ever seen in your life you do a test.

iii)    On the low end of quality just one 4 karat diamond will cost him 22,000 dollars and he has two.

iv)    He’s sacking groceries for about 6.50 an hour. His profession of wealth does not match his life; those earrings are fakes.

v)      That test is enough but maybe he has wealthy relatives who own a diamond mine so you are curious and you take him to a jeweler who investigates or proves the quality of those diamonds.

vi)    There is the test of observation; does what he professes as real stack up against the way he lives?

vii)  And there is the test of quality; does his profession hold up under close and informed scrutiny?

viii)            Let the deacon also be tested. The man who does not want his life to be tested is not fit to be a deacon.

ix)    And this is no one time test that is never repeated. The deacon is under constant testing.

x)      You don’t get to be whatever you want to be and do whatever you want to do and still be a deacon.

xi)    The standards for entry are the requirements for remaining.

xii)  Now we are not given the specifics for this test I believe so that each church can be led by the Spirit.

xiii)            We aren’t given a written list of questions but I think answering specific questions is a good idea.

xiv)            We aren’t given a specific time frame for this testing process but I think there is great harm in laying hands of ordination too quickly.

xv)  Yet with these broad boundaries we are given a specific

b)      He must be blameless, above reproach

i)        Many a man, both elder and deacon alike, has felt the crushing weight of this demand.

ii)      If a man senses any sin in his life, any indwelling struggle, or regular battle is he disqualified from the office?

iii)    In Colossians 1:21-23 the Holy Spirit gives us an enlightening explanation of how blamelessness is achieved and maintained.

iv)    Let’s read it together and I think it will help us understand what is demanded of deacons.

v)      Read Colossians 1:21-23

vi)    Here we walk a fine Spirit-led line.

vii)  If we demand sinlessness of the deacon there will be none in that office. The same is true of the pastor.

viii)            But if we allow sinfulness in the office it will bring shame on the office and harm to the church.

ix)    Such was the case with the elders in the church at Ephesus where Timothy was pastor.

x)      1^st Timothy 1:19 tells us that some had made shipwreck of their faith and 1^st Timothy 4:2 tells us that some had their consciences seared.

xi)    That had worthless faith, sin-filled consciences, and a title of leadership in the church. Those men needed to be tested and removed.

xii)  How then does one prove himself blameless and thereby prove worthy of serving as a deacon?

xiii)            Three ways. First, he must trust himself wholly to the transforming gospel of Jesus Christ.

xiv)            The deacon does not just trust Christ for forgiveness of past sins. The deacon trusts Christ for daily strength and guidance to obey.

xv)  It is not the absence of sin that makes a person blameless. It is a person’s living trust in Christ that makes him blameless.

xvi)            What Spurgeon said to pastors is here applicable to deacons, “True and genuine piety is necessary as the first indispensable requisite; whatever ‘call’ a man may pretend to have, if he has not been called to holiness, he certainly has not been called to the ministry (Lectures, 9).

xvii)          Being blameless is displayed in the deacon who trusts Christ for forgiveness and believes on Christ for daily holiness.

xviii)        If he does not have this clear and regular pursuit of Christ then pass over him.

xix)            Will a deacon sin? Unfortunately so. But a true man of God will respond to the Spirit’s conviction and the correction of the godly.

xx)  Second, his life must be void of obvious sin. And in the context of 1^st Timothy obvious sin is not some heinous sin as we define heinous sin.

xxi)            It’s more along the line of believing and teaching false doctrine. The deacon must prove himself by believing the truth of the gospel as defined by Scripture.

xxii)          From 1^st Timothy 6:4 the deacon must be free from conceit and a constant propensity for fighting.

xxiii)        The man who wants to be a deacon simply because he feels it to be an honor he deserves is a man unfit.

xxiv)        The man who disagrees with everything, constantly quarreling, and stirring up church members is a man unfit.

xxv)          To be blameless he must be void of obvious sin.

xxvi)        Third, to be blameless he must possess an obvious love for the church.

xxvii)      When the church gathers is he there? When the church comes together does he come with a servant’s attitude?

xxviii)    Or, when the church gathers does he come with his list of demands wanting to be served?

xxix)        Or, does he serve himself by remaining at home separated from the very people he has been called to serve?

xxx)          How can you serve someone you do not know? How can you know someone you rarely meet with?

xxxi)        The pastor who often skips meeting with the people he is called to lead is quickly removed from his post.

xxxii)      If I stopped coming to church on Wednesday nights or Sunday evenings you would know something is wrong. Your expectations of me are higher than that.

xxxiii)    The same should be true for the deacon. The deacon who often skips meeting with the people he is called to serve should be quickly removed from his post, something is wrong, our expectations are higher than that.

xxxiv)    As providence hinders the man there must be exception. But where selfishness hinders the church there must be correction.

xxxv)      The deacon who does not serve for whatever reason is by definition not a deacon.

xxxvi)    We are only halfway through and the standards are incredibly high. Men, if you feel yourself adequate for the task then you misunderstand yourself or the office.

xxxvii)  Like the calling unto salvation the calling unto service is one that must be answered by grace through faith in Christ and Him alone.

xxxviii)                        As we close this time of worship we are going to do so with a song of celebration.

xxxix)    For the Christian it is time to celebrate a salvation that is not deserved but is freely given.

xl)    For the deacon it is time to celebrate a calling that is not deserved but is freely given.

xli)  For all of us it is the recognition that God calls us to live holy lives. Lives bought by and lived for our great Savior Jesus Christ.

 

Let’s sing the hymn, And Can It Be. It’s hymn number 147.