Morning, everyone. 

Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God the sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips that openly profess His name. Hebrews 13.15 

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine. Ever salvation and purchase of God. Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood. This is my story, this is my song. Praising my Savior all the day long. 

This is my story, this is my song. Praising my Savior all the day long. Perfect submission, perfect delight. Visions of rapture now burst from my sight. Angels descending and bring from above echoes of mercy, whispers of love. 

This is my story, this is my song. Praising my Savior all the day long. This is my story, this is my song. Praising my Savior all the day long. Perfect submission, all is at rest. I and my Savior and happy and blessed. Watching and waiting, looking above. Filled with His goodness and lost in His love. 

This is my story, this is my song. Praising my Savior all the day long. This is my story, this is my song. Praising my Savior all the day long. Praising my Savior all the day long. 

Thank you, Doug, for another good song. We appreciate that every week. Welcome to everybody this morning. We're continuing our study in 1 Timothy, we're in chapter 3. 

Been kind of a challenging section through chapter 2 into chapter 3, particularly challenging for me to study about the qualifications of leaders in the church. As I've been studying the qualifications for leaders in the church, I keep coming back to 1 Corinthians 12 and Ephesians 4 and passages that really speak to the plan and purpose of God for the church fellowship, the local body of Christ. 

As we set the context this morning for our study, I'd like to look briefly at those familiar passages again which we've been studying in our midweek Bible studies on Thursday night and 1 Corinthians 12 in particular. 

If you turn over to 1 Corinthians 12 with me and we can begin at verse 12. Paul writes, "Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body, is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? But now God has set the members, each one of them in the body, just as He pleased. And if they were all one member, where would the body be? But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. 

And the eye cannot say to the hand, 'I have no need of you,' nor again the head to the feet, 'I have no need of you.' No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary, and those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor, and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty. But our presentable parts have no need. But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it, that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. 

And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it, or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now you are the body of Christ and members individually." 

I'd also like for you to look at Ephesians 4.11. This is a passage that we've been referring to often lately in our studies about the purpose of the local church. It's such a clear text, Paul talking about Jesus giving gifts to the church. 

And in verse 11, he says, "And he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastor-teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the trickery of men in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting. 

But speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into him who is the head Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by whatever joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love." 

Well, these passages really explain God's plan and His purpose in the local church and the body principle. God has gifted each member in the body, has empowered each one with the Holy Spirit living in us, and has prescribed the means by which we are to grow and to become mature and fruitful in the purposes that He has for us in this world. 

And this all revolves around each one doing his part, exercising his gifts in order to edify the body for the growth and maturity of the body, and therefore effectiveness in purpose. In 1 Timothy, Paul is writing so that we may know how we ought to conduct ourselves in the house of God. That's the key verse in chapter 3 at verse 15, that we may know how we should conduct ourselves in the house of God. 

And a most important part of that understanding revolves around the leadership in the church. So Paul spends some time here in chapter 3 laying out qualifications for leaders. Last week we studied the qualifications for overseers, elders, pastors in the church in verses 1 to 7. And this week we will look at verses 8 to 13 to see the qualifications for deacons or servants in the church. 

It's sort of easy just to skip over these verses to just quickly run through these qualifications, but it cannot be overemphasized the importance of the leadership in a local body meeting these qualifications. If the leadership is not qualified as described here by God in His Word, then everything that goes on in the church will suffer. The church will be adversely affected by the immaturity or lack of spirituality of the leaders, and there will be a wrong focus and a lack of commitment to the faith once for all delivered to the saints, the truth of New Covenant doctrine. 

We see this manifest throughout evangelicalism today, and we see that the body corporate is suffering, and believers are starving for a lack of solid food because of a lack of solid leadership. So these are crucial matters in the church that we want to pay attention to, take seriously, study, and understand for application in our own local body here at Living Hope Church. 

Well, let's go to our text in 1 Timothy 3 at verse 8 and look at these qualifications for deacons, for servants in the church. 

1 Timothy 3.8, "Let deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well. For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a good standing and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus." 

Well, I have four points for you this morning for our text. First we're going to look at character, then commitment, then conscience, and fourth, commendation. 

Paul writes first, "Likewise," we see the word likewise, just as the elders must meet a certain set of qualifications in order to serve in this capacity, so there are important qualifications for deacons as well. The word deacon means servant. The deacons are to be servants in the church, assisting in whatever might need to be done in order to facilitate the direction and purpose set forth by the overseers and also to allow the elders to spend time in their primary focus of studying and prayer and preaching the Word of God. 

We see this first with the deacons appointed in Acts chapter 6. If you turn over to Acts 6, this will give us some understanding of how deacons came to be and what their role is. Acts 6.1, "Now in those days when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution. Then the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, 'It is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables. Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. But we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the Word.' And the saying pleased the whole multitude, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith, and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicholas, and a proselyte from Antioch, whom they set before the apostles, and when they had prayed, they laid hands on them. 

Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith." 

We see in this account how there were crucial tasks concerning the health and well-being of the body that needed to be taken care of in the early church. And we also see that it was too much for the apostles to handle on their own, and performing these tasks, serving in this capacity, would take them away from their study and preaching of the Word and prayer. 

I think there's such a tremendous application for us in the church here today because so many pastors are so involved in so many programs and facilitating so many things in the church that they're taken away from prayer and study of the Word. The apostles say here that we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to ministering the Word. So there was a need for men to rise up and fulfill these duties that were necessary to the body. 

The church was growing leaps and bounds in this time, and there were some growing pains going on. The Hellenist widows were being neglected. Their needs were not being met. And this was a serious problem in and of itself, but also because of the danger of division between the Jews and the Greeks that already existed in their culture and even in the church. 

So the apostles wanted to make sure that all of the needs of the people were met. And so they appointed seven men to fulfill these important duties. And notice the requirements here in the book of Acts. It says, "seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom." They chose Stephen, a man full of faith in the Holy Spirit. The need here was crucial, and it required men who were spiritual, who were full of faith, committed to the Word and to the church and its purpose. 

These men would be handling cash and resources and food, distributing to the needs of the saints, entrusted with duties that were essential to the church. And so the qualifications were important. And really, that brings us to our text in 1 Timothy 3.8. We see a list of qualifications that deal with this, deal with the character of a man. 

Verse 8, "likewise deacons must be reverent, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy for money." The word translated reverent literally means to be serious. It is also translated venerable or honorable. The idea here is that a man must be a man of good character, one who can be trusted in all things, one who sets a good example. The deacon must have a good reputation. 

Next Paul says, "not double-tongued." And this word means just what it sounds like. We might say today, talking out of both sides of his mouth. A man of God who is going to serve as a deacon, as a leader in the church, must have a good reputation. He must be discreet. He must know when to speak and when to hold his tongue. And he must be honest, speaking the truth in love, not a gossip or double-tongued man. We see an important teaching on this in James 3 as well, if you turn over to James chapter 3 with me. 

James writes extensively about the tongue in this chapter. James 3, 2, "for we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body. Indeed, we put bits in horses' mouths that they may obey us and we turn their whole body. Look also at ships, although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires. Even so, the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles. And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body and sets on fire the course of nature and it is set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird of reptile and creature of the sea is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil full of deadly poison. 

With it we bless our God and Father and with it we curse men who have been made in the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh." 

James says if anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect or mature man, able also to bridle the whole body. This is a requirement for a deacon, not to be double-tongued. 

Well, next, speaking of the deacon's character, Paul says that he should not be given too much wine. We saw this with the qualifications for elders as well and I think it's important to note again that wine was a staple drink in this time. It was diluted with water, some say as much as ten to one, but it was a sustaining drink in the time, not just a social thing. 

And the alcohol that we consume in our day is much stronger than what they drank then as far as this wine is concerned. They would call what we drink hard drink or hard strong drink. The wording here speaks of a man who stays long at the wine, drinks much wine and that's actually what he would have had to have done to become drunk, is stay a long time, remain a long time at the wine. 

Well, there clearly is a prohibition against drunkenness in the Bible. Ephesians 5.18 says, "do not be drunk with wine in which is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit." The idea of being filled here has the meaning of control. Be being filled with the Spirit, let the Holy Spirit control you as opposed to being controlled or influenced by wine, allowing the internal effects of wine to inhibit our outward actions. That's the idea here. 

And I have a lot of experience with drinking alcohol. Not in the last 20 years, but before that. And here's what I can tell you. I haven't consumed alcohol in almost 20 years. If I were to drink a beer or have a hard drink, just one, it would clearly affect how I think, how I act. It would fill me. And that's why I don't believe a man of God should drink alcohol. There's no real upside to it as to our purpose, as to evangelism, as to edifying the church. And there's clearly a lot of danger and risk as evidenced in so many lives. 

Paul says an elder, a deacon, must not be long at the wine. He must not be one who loves the wine, consumes to drunkenness. And the best testimony, I think the safest way, is abstinence. 

Next we see that the deacon must not be greedy for money. He must not have a love for money. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And this was an especially important qualification for the deacon in the church because he would be handling the money. As we saw in Acts 6, the deacons were in charge of distributing the funds to the widows, to those in need, they handled the money. So the man of God cannot be one that is greedy for filthy lucre, who's in it for the money. And unfortunately we see this far too often in the ministry, especially in televangelists and this kind of thing. 

Perhaps the saddest example of this was a man named Judas. Turn over to John 12 with me, please. John chapter 12. 

John 12.1, "Then six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany where Lazarus, who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead. There they made Him a supper and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him. Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair, and the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. 

But one of the disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, who would betray him, said, 'Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?' This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief and he had the money box and he used it, used to take what was put in it." 

Judas betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. He was a lover of money and it was a tragic case. What Paul is saying here is that the man who is a deacon, who is a servant, who is in charge many times of handling these things, cannot be greedy for money. But he must be a man that's trustworthy in all things. 

So we see character. The character of the man who would be a leader in the church is extremely important. And next we see commitment and conscience in verse 9. Look at verse 9, "holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience." This verse is really loaded. 

We've talked many times about the word mystery in the New Testament. It means something that has never been before revealed but is now being made manifest. This is true of the church in the New Testament, of the New Covenant promises. The deacon must hold the mystery of the faith. This means the revealed Word of God in the New Testament. He must be committed to the truth of the New Covenant life in Christ, of regeneration, of death to sin and law, of release from fear of death, of Christ in you, the hope of glory, the promise of the rapture of the church, the promise of His coming. 

A man must be committed to the faith, to the doctrine of this New Testament and he must hold it, Paul says, with a pure conscience. This is an interesting statement because it speaks to the conviction of the man. Not only must he hold true and fervent convictions concerning the New Testament revelation, but he must live in consistency with his convictions, with doctrine. 

Holding the truth and living the truth must go hand in hand so that his conscience does not convict him, so that he does not bring reproach on the cause of Christ. We've seen Paul say this, it's an amazing statement, I find nothing against myself, he says, nothing that violates my conscience. 

This is why convictions are so important. This is why doctrine matters. Because what a man believes will dictate how he lives. And if a man lives contrary to what he earnestly believes, then his conscience will mercilessly convict him. 

So Paul writes, a deacon must hold the mystery of the faith. He must believe the Word of God. He must understand the New Covenant doctrine and have a clear conviction and hold to these things and then he must do that, he must live in such a way that he can live in consistency with those convictions, those truths of the doctrine and have a pure conscience before God. 

Paul continues in verse 10 with more qualifications and requirements for deacons and even their wives. He says, "Let these also first be tested, then let them serve as deacons being found blameless. Likewise their wives must be reverent, not slanders, temperate, faithful in all things. Let deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well." 

Well, these are similar things as to what we saw concerning elders in the first part of the chapter. It's interesting that he says that they should be being tested. This is an ongoing observation, testing. And I think this speaks to the vulnerability, to the danger to the leader in the church of being led astray or of getting off track. 

A man must have a focus on Jesus. He must have an absolute dependence on and need for the grace of God every day to keep himself from going to the left or to the right. He must be tested. Being found blameless. Again, this has the idea of not having any accusations stick. He cannot fall into sin and cause shipwreck of his faith. Be disqualified, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9, not disqualified from salvation, but disqualified from preaching. 

Likewise, he says their wives, or the women, must be reverent, not slanders, temperate, faithful in all things. Some commentators see this as referring to women as a separate group. Some as referring directly to the deacon's wives. The word translated wives here in the Greek is the word for women and there's no possessive pronoun present. It could be translated either way, but regardless, these are requirements for women who act in a supporting role toward their husbands, towards elders or deacons, or as women in serving roles in the body, in the church. 

One such example is found in the New Testament is Phoebe in Romans 16. Paul writes in Romans 16, 1, "I commend to you Phoebe, our sister, who is a servant," same word deacon, "of the church in Synchreia, that you may receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints and assist her in whatever business she has need of you, listen to what Paul says, for indeed she has been a helper of many and of myself also." A helper, a servant, fruitful in the church. 

Interestingly the next verse says the deacons must be the husband of one wife, ruling their children and their household well. Again a faithful man, a man who is revered and respected in his own home, just as the elder. 

Really we see several consistencies concerning character and witness between the qualifications of elder and deacon. The primary difference that we see here is that the elder, the overseer, must be able to teach. That's the difference between these qualifications of the elder and the deacon. The elder must be able to teach, that's his primary role, to study, to pray, to teach, to minister the word. The deacon is in a more of a serving, supporting role to help in the church. 

The servant in the church must have a good testimony. He must have a good character. He must have a commitment to the word of truth and he must have a clear conscience in living in consistency with that truth. 

So we see the character, we see the commitment, we see the conscience of a man who would be deacon are matters of utmost importance. And finally we see commendation. 

We look at chapter 3, verse 13. "For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a good standing and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus." These are encouraging words from Paul after laying down some very high standards for the man of God. He says those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a good standing and great boldness in the faith. 

The word standing literally means step and it doesn't really imply an advance in rank as much as an esteemed position. It could be translated pedestal as in being lifted up. The idea here is that a man who serves well as a deacon, as a servant in the church, will gain respect and admiration from fellow Christians. He will have a good testimony as to his character and he will be trusted by people. He will obtain for himself a good standing in the church. 

It kind of makes me think of... Those are the words we long to hear someday, 'well done, good and faithful servant.' That's what, when we have a good and faithful servant, he obtains for himself a good standing. And it also says he has a great boldness in the faith. This word refers to confidence, to assurance. 

I think this is really important. He knows what he believes. He has firm convictions. He is well assured of them, and he desires to live according to them. He has a great boldness in the faith. The idea here is the opposite of fear and timidity. Rather, his understanding of the Word of God, his subsequent convictions, and his blameless character and conduct, really trust and obedience to God and His Word, give him a great confidence in the faith. 

He's not tossed to and fro. He's not easily moved. He's not quick to react, because he has a great understanding of and belief in the faith, the revealed truth of God. I was thinking about this in regard to the troubles and circumstances in our world. How can a man have peace? How can he be steadfast, unmoved, in the midst of all that goes on in our world? 

Bobby and I were reading an article yesterday about northern Minnesota now, with the industrial farm systems breaking down and not having processing, they've actually employed wood chippers to chip hogs to help them decompose. And they're doing that with thousands of hogs in Minnesota right now. It's a strange thing, strange things happening in our world. 

How can we deal with the injustice, the evil that seems to prosper in our time? We see throughout the Scriptures that the man of God has struggled with this continually. I think of Psalm 37 and Psalm 73, I'd like for you to turn to Psalm 37, as David wrote about this. 

David struggled with the injustices of the world, the wicked prospering. How do we understand it? Psalm 37, 1, "do not fret because of evildoers, nor be envious of the workers of iniquity, for they shall soon be cut down like the grass and wither as the green herb. Trust in the Lord and do good, dwell in the land and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Set your way to the Lord, trust also in Him and He shall bring it to pass. He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light and your justice as the noonday. Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him. Do not fret because of Him who prospers in His way, because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass. Cease from anger and forsake wrath, do not fret, it only causes harm. 

For evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait on the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. For yet a little while and the wicked shall be no more. Indeed, you will look carefully for his place, but it shall be no more. But the meek shall inherit the earth and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. 

The wicked plots against the just and gnashes at him with his teeth. The Lord laughs at him for He sees that His day is coming. The wicked have drawn the sword and have bent their bow to cast down the poor and needy to slay those who are of upright conduct. Their sword shall enter their own heart and their bows shall be broken. A little that a righteous man has is better than the riches of the many wicked. 

For the arms of the wicked shall be broken, but the Lord upholds the righteous. The Lord knows the days of the upright and their inheritance shall be forever. They shall not be ashamed in the evil time, and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied. But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord, like the splendor of the meadows, shall vanish into smoke. They shall vanish away." 

In the evil time, He says, trust in the Lord. Do not fret, it only causes harm. Trust yourself to Him who judges righteously. Psalm 73, He says, "But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the boastful when I saw the prosperity of the wicked." He goes on talking about how the wicked prosper, how it's so hard to understand the injustice of the world. How He had almost slipped, how He had been distracted, discouraged, until He went in to the house of the Lord. And then He saw their end. 

How do we deal with the uncertainties, the injustices of our world? The same way David did, trust the Lord. Believe Him, look to Him. 

I have to confess something to you. Sometimes I get a little worked up about these things going on in our world. The absolute unthinkingness of it all. I was reading some very interesting facts this week about flu pandemics in recent history. And did you know that in 1957 we had a major flu pandemic? Over one million people died. How about 1968? 

Listen to this, they estimate two to four million people died, 170,000 in the United States in 1968. And in 2009, 600,000 died in the swine flu. And now we're at about 275,000 deaths worldwide with the present pandemic. A lot of people have died, yes, but comparatively, not in unusual circumstances and statistically much more mild a pandemic than the other three that we have experienced in recent times. Many of you were alive in 1968. Up to 15 times as many people died, do you remember that? 

How does a believer deal with the fear? The fear of a pandemic, the fear of oppression, of the injustice of government officials taking advantage of these kinds of situations? The answer is the same. Come into the house of the Lord. Look at His word, His truth, His salvation. Look to Jesus, to the promises, to the grace of God that is sufficient for today and for every day. 

And if the one world government is coming, if the anti-Christ and his rule is around the corner, then praise the Lord. Even so, come Lord Jesus. The point here in our text is that the man of God, when he serves well, has clear convictions from the word of God and a good testimony before God and man, he will have assurance. He will have confidence. He will have boldness in the faith and the peace of God will guard his heart. 

He will not be confused. He will not be dismayed. He will not be worried. He will not be easily moved and tossed around. He'll be like a tree planted by the waters. The man of God must be an example. He must be a servant, trusting in, sharing the truths and promises of the word of God. 

And he must have boldness in the faith, a confidence that knows that God is in control, that things are happening just the way that He said they would and that we can trust Him to make good on the promises that we have in Christ, in His word, for today and for eternity. 

These qualifications for leadership in the church are quite overwhelming, but what it really boils down to is this, the commandment of the new covenant, to believe Jesus and to love one another. A man who believes Jesus, who trusts in Him alone and seeks to serve, to love others for their growth and their good, their edification, will by the grace of God serve well and he will obtain for himself a good standing and boldness in the faith. 

Let's close in prayer. 

Father, we thank You for Your word. I just think back on the history of this world from the fall and all that we've studied in the Old Testament concerning Israel and the oppression of the Jews and Babylon and all of those different times of battle and pestilence and disease and even in modern history what we've seen, and yet You've been in control all the time. Your plan is being worked out. You're so long-suffering and patient, desiring that every man... 

We remember that this whole section started with the truth, that every man, You desire that every man would be saved, would come to the knowledge of the truth. We're amazed, Lord, we're overwhelmed with Your love, with Your patience, with Your long-suffering and what You allow to go on so that You might save men out of this world as You saved each one of us. 

Father, help us to understand, help us to think Your thoughts, help us to believe You and know Your word that we might have confidence, that we might have assurance, that we might have boldness in the faith, that we might be equipped and mature to go out and preach the word, Lord, to bring the message to the lost for Your glory and for their salvation. 

Thank You for this church fellowship, so committed to the word, the simplicity that is in Christ. And thank You for Your grace. May all that we do be for Your glory, in Jesus' name. Amen.