How we visibly display and defend gospel truth

8 Deacons, likewise, should be worthy of respect, not hypocritical, not drinking a lot of wine, not greedy for money, 9 holding the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. 10 They must also be tested first; if they prove blameless, then they can serve as deacons. 11 Wives,[a] likewise, should be worthy of respect, not slanderers, self-controlled, faithful in everything. 12 Deacons are to be husbands of one wife, managing their children and their own households competently. 13 For those who have served well as deacons acquire a good standing for themselves and great boldness in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.

1 Timothy 3:8-13

Introduction

Well friends, I greet you all in the wonderful name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

I am wearing a sock today, and I am hobbling. The reason for that is I am definitely middle-aged. Yesterday I was cleaning the pool, and you would think that the pool wouldn’t be able to beat me in a fair fight, but as I came around one of the corners, trickily it changed its position and I missed a step, placing my left foot squarely into the middle of the water. As I fell, my right foot decided to stay behind and bent. I have a terribly swollen foot, which means I’m not going to be running up and down the stage.

But I wanted to continue to preach this morning, and so I didn’t phone one of the elders with a “get out of jail free” card and ask them to stand in. I really wanted to bring the Word.

We find ourselves in a short series on deacons because we are in the process of looking at our church constitution. We’re in the process of constitutional reform and constitutional change. As elders, we thought it wise that we spend a great deal of time taking the church along with us before we bring the changes to you.

With that in mind, we have handed out about forty books on elders and deacons in the life of the church. We have had open evenings at my house where people have been able to come and ask questions over coffee. If you’ve got questions about church leadership, you are still welcome to come and have a coffee at my house on a Thursday evening.

We are going through God’s Word, a couple of chapters, looking particularly right now at the role of deacons. The reason for focusing on deacons is that this is the first section we are looking at in our constitution. We have looked at Acts chapter 6 from verse 1 to 7. This morning we are looking at 1 Timothy chapter 3 from verse 8 to 13. Next week we will be looking at Philippians 1, verse 1 and 2.

So if you heard me right, now would be a great time to turn in your Bible to 1 Timothy 3 from verse 8 through to verse 13.

Even before I read, I’m going to pray that the Holy Spirit would use this time and glorify Himself in our presence.

Let’s bow our heads and pray to Almighty God.

Ancient words, ever true, changing me and changing you. Lord God, I think of the passage of Scripture that Lance opened the service with from Isaiah chapter 40: that men are like grass and their glories are like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever. Well, it’s upon that word right now that we would stand. Lord God, we would peer into 1 Timothy chapter 3 and once again see Your will and Your word for us today. We’d see Your Holy Spirit revealing Your Son Jesus Christ to us. Lord God, would You teach us from Your word? I ask these things in the wonderful name of Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit, and to the praise and to the glory of our Father who is in heaven. Amen.

Well friends, I read to you from 1 Timothy chapter 3, beginning at the 8th verse and reading through to the 13th verse.

I’m going to ask that as many of you as are able to stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word, would you please stand at this time?

Friends, hear the Word of God read to you from 1 Timothy chapter 3, beginning at the 8th verse:

Deacons likewise should be worthy of respect, not hypocritical, not drinking a lot of wine, not greedy for money, holding the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. They must also be tested first; if they prove blameless, then they can serve as deacons. Wives too must be worthy of respect, not slanderers, self-controlled, faithful in everything. Deacons are to be husbands of one wife, managing their children and their own households competently. For those who have served well as deacons acquire a good standing for themselves and great boldness in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.

Just so far in the reading of God’s Word. Amen. Please be seated.

The Origin of Deacons in the Church

Forty days after Jesus ascended into heaven was the day of Pentecost. On that day, as the Holy Spirit fell, and as men spoke in languages known to men, a great crowd gathered, and as Peter proclaimed the gospel message to those who were assembled in Jerusalem, three thousand people were saved and added to their number. They were baptized that day, and the church came to be—3,120 souls.

It was an amazing time. As they gathered from house to house and broke bread, as they gathered in the temple and prayed, the Lord added daily to their number those who were being saved. Well, the days turned into weeks, and the weeks turned into months, and months turned into years, and pretty soon the church grew and grew and grew.

And then came the problems. The problems weren’t pews. The problems weren’t building sizes. The problems weren’t how many cars they could cram into the parking lot. The problems were *people*.

Acts 6: The First Deacons

Acts chapter 6 from verse 1 to 7—that’s the passage of Scripture that we looked at last week. For those of you who were here, we looked at a grumbling, a complaint which arose as the Hebraic Jews and the Hellenistic Jews—the Hellenistic Jews those from out of town, and the Hebraic Jews those from in town—started to dispute, started to have disunity because the Hellenistic Jews’ widows were being overlooked in the distribution of the food.

In response to that very practical problem, the apostles suggested to the congregation that they select from their midst seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit, who could take care of the Hellenistic Jews’ widows. And so that’s what they did. They selected from their midst seven men, including Stephen and Philip, and they brought them before the apostles. The apostles commissioned them, and these men began to serve God’s people. Unity returned to the church, and the church began to thrive and grow again. In fact, we read in verse 7 of Acts chapter 6 that many priests were being added to their number.

The Spread of the Church and the Need for Organization

Well, the church fairly soon after that started to experience persecution. The church was squeezed out of Jerusalem in chapter 8 and tumbled into the Judean and into the Samarian countryside, and went up to Antioch and Syria, and then went abroad to other cities and other towns in Asia Minor, and then in Macedonia. Pockets of churches began to emerge.

The question is: how do you go about organizing a church like ours—whether you are in Berea or whether you are in Athens or whether you are in Rome or whether you are in Corinth? How do God’s people organize themselves so that the church experiences unity and so the church is well served?

The answer that we find in the New Testament is *elders* and *deacons*. Elders serve in much the same way that the apostles served in Acts chapter 6. The apostles served in Acts chapter 6 by really focusing on God’s word and on prayer. That was how they ministered. That was how they *diakonos*-ed the people of God in Jerusalem. And in each one of the small churches that began to emerge—indeed even in our church—elders are assigned. A plurality of spirit‑empowered men who can teach God’s word are assigned to teach Scripture and to pray for the saints, to oversee the flock of God which has been entrusted to their care by the Great Overseer, Jesus Christ our Lord and our Savior.

But the truth is that even in a church like ours, sometimes disunity arises and many practical problems come into being. Just like that church in Jerusalem needed those seven men who had been set apart to take care of the practical needs of the saints, so too a church like ours doesn’t just need a plurality of teaching elders; we need *deacons*—recognized servants who can take care of the needs of the flock.

Main Idea

The question before us this morning is: what should those deacons look like?

In 1 Timothy chapter 3 from verse 8 to verse 13, Paul is going to tell his protégé Timothy, who is in Ephesus, exactly what deacons in the local church need to look like.

Here’s the main point that I’m going to try and convey to you this morning, friends: Transformed lives—in character, in home, and in service—visibly display and defend the gospel’s truth. And those are the kinds of recognized servants we need in Benoni Baptist Church.

Three Points from 1 Timothy 3:8–13

We’re going to step through 1 Timothy chapter 3 from verse 8 to verse 13 in three points:

1. The deacon’s character (1 Timothy 3:8–11).
2. The deacon’s family (1 Timothy 3:12).
3. The deacon’s reward (1 Timothy 3:13).

When we get to the end of those three points, I will apply the text to us collectively and then make just one or two points regarding our constitutional amendments.

The Deacon’s Character

Let’s start with **the deacon’s character**. 1 Timothy chapter 3 from verse 8 to verse 11. Let me just read that passage of Scripture again so we’ve got it in our mind’s eye.

Paul writes: *“Deacons likewise should be worthy of respect, not hypocritical, not drinking a lot of wine, not greedy for money, holding the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. They must also be tested first; if they prove blameless, then they can serve as deacons. Wives too must be worthy of respect, not slanderers, self-controlled, faithful in everything.”*

Deacons—recognized servants. Now, I’m going to tell you where I’m going later on in this point: **both men and women must be mature believers, worthy of respect.**

Proximity to Elders

Firstly, note the proximity of the ministry of the word to the ministers of need. In 1 Timothy chapter 3 from verse 1 to 7, you have this discussion about the elders—the officebearers, the elders who serve in a local church. Note the proximity of the ministry of the word to the ministers of need. In 1 Timothy 3:8, the deacons—the elders and the deacons—are brought into close contact with one another.

As we read 1 Timothy chapter 3, it turns out that Paul, in terms of his instruction to Timothy in Ephesus, focuses on what kind of people deacons *are* rather than the functions that deacons perform. He doesn’t spend a lot of time telling us that deacons need to be cleaning the toilets and cutting the hedges. He’s far more concerned with what our deacons *look like* than what our deacons *do*.

Verse 8: Deacons Likewise

So the first point is the deacon’s character. In verse 8: *Deacons*—*diakonos*. That word really in terms of its meaning means *waiters* or *servants*, servants of the church.

And then a very important word—you might not think it’s important when you read it: *likewise*. The word is made up of two Greek words: the first word means *as*, and the second word really means *he*. When you put them together, it’s *as he*. It’s not used terribly often as a conjunction in Scripture, but really it’s “deacons as he”—as the elders. In other words, there is a list that is being created here. The first person in the list was the elders from verse 1 to 7. Now deacons—as he, deacons likewise—are being described from verse 8.

This becomes important as we get to verse 11.

Qualities of Deacons

Well, what should our deacons look like? They should firstly be *worthy of respect*. The Greek word is *semnos*. It means *august*, *reverent*, *venerable*, *honorable*. Deacons should be men of honor in the community.

Not only should they be honorable, not only should they be august, not only should they be venerable, not only should they be respectable, but they also should not be *hypocritical*. Again, this is two words that have been joined in Greek into one. The first word *dis* is *two* or *twice*, and the second word *logos* is *word* or *tongue*. They shouldn’t be *two‑tongued*. They shouldn’t be *fork‑tongued*. Deacons shouldn’t be the kind of people who say one thing on one side of the church and another thing on the other side of the church. They shouldn’t be people who say one thing in the world and another thing on Sunday. No, these people should not be hypocrites.

And they should not be *drinkers of a lot of wine*. That’s a quantitative, not a qualitative statement. In other words, Paul’s not saying that they shouldn’t drink wine; he’s saying they shouldn’t drink *a lot* of wine. They shouldn’t be drunkards. These shouldn’t be men that are known as the men around town, pub crawlers. They shouldn’t be the guys that are inviting a hundred people over to their house on a Saturday in order to watch rugby and then partaking too much of the juice, the Kool‑Aid.

And they should not be *greedy for money*. Deacons, unlike the world, shouldn’t be people who are fixated on cash, fixated on their wealth, fixated on their position in this life. No, these people should be spiritually minded.

And I say they should be spiritually minded because of the fifth point that Paul makes as he describes these men to Timothy in Ephesus. He says they need to be *holding the mystery of the faith*—*to mystērion tēs pisteōs*. They need to know what they believe, and they need to hold on to what they believe.

There’s a distinction between deacons and elders in this passage. If you had to go back and read 1 Timothy chapter 3 from verse 1 to 7, you would discover that elders not only must hold on to the faith, but they must be *able to teach* the faith too. Those who serve the congregation in the plurality of elders need to be those who can preach, those who can teach, those who can sit down with others and open God’s Word and explain the meaning of God’s Word. Deacons might not be the greatest teachers, but deacons need to know what they believe. They need to understand what God’s Word says about all manner of things.

If you read a little bit further down in this chapter, from verse 14 to verse 16, you will discover that this *mystery of the faith* is described, and it’s described in the person of Jesus Christ—His incarnation, His death, His substitutionary death on the cross, and His glorious resurrection and vindication before angels. Deacons need to know what they believe and hold fast to what they believe. In other words, they must be mature. You can’t have somebody join the church and then in week three, because they’re full of zeal, assign them the role of *diakonos*, the role of servant of the church. No, they need to understand what they believe and they need to hold fast to it.

Verse 10: Testing

Now we see that extended in verse 10: *“They must also be tested first; if they prove blameless, then they can serve as deacons.”*

This verb *must also be tested* is in the passive voice instead of being active—you test yourself; it’s passive, *they must be tested*. In other words, if a person gets brought forward as a possible deacon, they need to go through a time where they work out that role and the church observes them and sees: are they functionally capable of doing what we hope they might do?

Then, *if they prove blameless*—now this word *blameless* doesn’t mean that they’re perfect. There’s no one perfect, only Jesus Christ the Son of God. He’s perfect and righteous and altogether holy. But they must have experienced something of the righteousness and the holiness and the perfection that comes from Christ and is given to us. Their lives might not be perfect, but they must have the ability to say to the congregation: “Follow me as I follow Him. Follow me as I chase after Jesus Christ. My life reflects something of God’s will and His Word, and as you look and gaze upon my life, you will see something of God’s stamp on it.”

The Context of False Teachers

As we put this together, we discover that Paul really cares about the *character* of the servants that serve in the church. He cares about how they conduct themselves in the world. He cares that they go through a time of testing and are seen to be excellent within the context of the local church.

Why? Well, if you had to turn just a few pages back in your Bibles to 1 Timothy chapter 1, and if you had to go a few pages forward in your Bibles to 1 Timothy chapter 4, you will discover that in the city of Ephesus there were a great deal of false teachers. These false teachers were characterized as greedy men. They were characterized as men who were introducing false doctrines and heresies into the church.

Friends, nothing changes. You look around at churches in our suburb and in our city; there are false teachers, and they abound. Whether they are teaching prosperity gospels, whether they are teaching works‑based righteousness, whether they are teaching that you can only get to God by going through Mary—it doesn’t matter. The reality is they are seeding false teaching and heresies into the church.

Not only are false teachers teaching false teaching, but many of them are living debauched lives. I mean, you just have to turn on TBN and see those guys in their silk suits with their silk hankies in their top pockets and their snakeskin shoes to know that there’s something terribly wrong with the church in our day and age—greedy men teaching prosperity instead of Christ from pulpits.

Well, in light of that, that was going on in the church of Ephesus, and so in light of that, Paul says, “Listen here: I care about the types of people who serve the church. They need to be the opposite of what the world is doing in their worship.” You need men who are not greedy, men who love Jesus more than wealth. You need men who are not hypocritical, you need men who are straight‑talking. You need men who understand God’s Word and know the person of Jesus and hold tightly onto Him. And when you find people like that, test them and make sure that their walk matches their talk. And if their walk matches their talk, well then put them into service in the local church.

Verse 11: Women Deacons

Now, the whole point that I want to make from verse 8 to verse 11 is that like elders—that was that word *likewise*—just like elders, recognized servants, both men and women, must be mature believers, worthy of respect. I think as we look from verse 8 to verse 10, most of that point is already made. But I want to make the point *both men and women*, and I want to make that point from verse 11.

Let’s read verse 11 together: *“Wives too must be worthy of respect, not slanderers, self-controlled, faithful in everything.”*

On first read, this looks like *wives*, right? And you would ask, “Wives of who?” And the answer would be, well, wives of the deacons. Many churches interpret and translate the passage just like that, and so I have to acknowledge right up front that there is contention and there’s difference of interpretation in the realm of God‑fearing, Bible‑teaching churches.

But I want to make a case for this word *wives* not being *wives* but being *women* in verse 11. I want to make the point by saying this:

**First**, the word which is translated as *wives* here in 1 Timothy 3:11 is the word *gynaikas*. Now it is a word which can be translated in multiple ways: as *wives* or as *women*. In fact, in Scripture it is more often translated *woman* than *wives*. I want to give you an example in Timothy, in the passage which just came before, of where it is translated as *woman*.

In 1 Timothy 2:11 it says, *“A woman is to learn quietly with full submission.”* The word there is *gynaikas*. It’s the exact same word. Look at verse 12: *“I do not allow a woman to teach or have authority over a man.”* It’s the exact same word again, *gynaikas*. If you go down to verse 14 it says, *“And Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and transgressed.”* It’s the exact same word.

Now as we come to 1 Timothy 3:11, I’m making the case: *women likewise should be worthy of respect, not slanderers, self-controlled, faithful in everything.*

Here’s the point. When it comes to Greek and when it comes to this particular word, the way that we know that it is *women* or *wives* is determined by the context of its use in the verse. So if we are going to make the decision that this should be translated *wives* or this should be translated *women*, we need to pay attention to its context of use in this particular verse.

**Second**, one of the ways that I’ve come to the decision for myself that this should be translated as *women* is because of the very next word in the Greek, which is *hōsautōs*. That is the word which is translated *likewise* in verse 8. Can you remember? In verse 8 it said *deacons likewise*, and the question was when you took that word *hōs*—*as he*—it was referring to elders.

Well, in the Greek in verse 11, the exact same conjunction is being used. It’s saying “wives or women likewise.” In other words, there’s a list here. The list is going from *elders* to *deacons* to *wives* or *women*, and they are of the same type. In other words, Paul is describing something in the church. He is describing what elders look like in the church. He is describing what deacons look like in the church. And now he is describing another group of the same set. It is like apples and oranges and bananas—they are of the same type. These women are of the same type as the deacons and the elders in 1 Timothy chapter 3. He isn’t describing a Boeing and a Nissan and a boat; he is describing an apple, an orange, and a banana. An elder, a deacon, and these women or these wives.

The conjunction there is actually only used seventeen other times in God’s Word. I spent a couple of days going and looking up each use of this conjunction throughout the New Testament and compiled a list of every single one of its uses. Where it is used, it is always delineating a list where the subject of each item is always of the same class as the rest of the subjects. In other words, elders and deacons are of the same class as these women or these wives.

Let me give you a couple of examples—and this is Bible teaching right now in order to make the point.

**Matthew 25.** In Matthew chapter 25 you read the story of the servants and the five talents. In verse 16 you read, *“The man who had received five talents went and put them to work and earned five more.”* In verse 17, *in the same way*—this is the same conjunction which is being used—*the man with two earned two more. But the man who had received one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master’s money.”* What’s the point here? The point is there’s one class which has been described, and that is these servants and the use of talents. The conjunction which sits in between is linking each one of these together: the man with five, the man with two, and the man with one. Just like in 1 Timothy 3 from verse 11, we have elders, deacons, and women or wives.

**Mark 12.** Another example. In Mark 12:20 we have the story of the seven brothers who get married to one woman—she marries seven brothers. In verse 20 we read, *“There were seven brothers. The first married a woman and dying left no offspring. The second also”—that’s the conjunction—“took her and died, leaving no offspring. And the third likewise”—that’s the same conjunction.* What this is is a class of brothers, and it’s a class of brothers who are marrying the same woman. Brother number one, brother number two, and brother number three—they are all of the same class. Well, just in the same way, in 1 Timothy chapter 3 we have elders, we have deacons, and we have these women or these wives.

**Third**, I believe in 1 Timothy chapter 3 these women are of the same class as elders and as deacons because you read it in the way that they are described. It says, *“Women likewise should be worthy of respect, not slanderers, self-controlled, faithful in everything.”* In verse 11, the first one of them says they should be *worthy of respect*. That *semnas* is the feminine form of *worthy of respect* that we read of deacons in verse 8—they should be worthy of respect, they should be *semnos*. And the exact same description is given of elders in verse 1 to verse 8.

**Fourth**, if these were wives of deacons, why are the wives of elders not described? 1 Timothy 3 from verse 1 to 7 gives the description of elders, and yet elders’ wives—a qualification for elders’ wives—is not given in that passage. It would be strange for the wives of deacons to be described and yet not the wives of elders.

**Fifth**, this correlates to other places in Scripture where women serve in *diaconal*-type roles. If you turn to Romans chapter 16, at the end of the book of Romans, even as Paul signs off the book of Romans, he commends a sister to the brethren. In verse 1 he says, *“I commend to you our sister Phoebe.”* It’s very clear she is a woman. He calls her *“our sister”* who *“is a servant”—a diakonos—“of the church in Cenchreae. You should welcome her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints and assist her in whatever matter she may require your help, for indeed she has been a benefactor of many, and of me also.”*

And so as we come to 1 Timothy chapter 3 from verse 8 to verse 13 and in verse 11 in particular, it seems that Paul is describing the kinds of women who will serve in diaconal roles within the church. That correlates to an example like Romans 16:1–2.

**Sixth**, and this is just a point regarding the difference between elders and women in light of 1 Timothy chapter 2. In 1 Timothy chapter 2 we read—and we even read a little while back—that women need to be silent within the context of the worship service. How does that work if women are part of the leadership structure of the church? This is answered by distinguishing between the role of elder and the role of deacon. If the role of elder is the role of overseer, of teacher, and of shepherd of the church—if men are assigned to that particular role according to 1 Timothy 3:1–7—well then, if you assign women to practical tasks within the life of the church, you don’t break 1 Timothy 2. If overseers teach and exercise authority, and deacons serve, order is maintained within the context of the local church.

And so these women are described in verse 11 likewise—just like deacons and just like elders—they should be worthy of respect, they should not be *slanderous*. The word is *diabolos*. They shouldn’t be satanic. *Diabolos* is *slanderers*; Satan was a slanderer from the beginning. They shouldn’t be known as giving false statements which damage other people’s reputations. They shouldn’t be busybodies who speak about other people within the life of the congregation. They should be *self-controlled*—a fruit of the Spirit, the final fruit of the Spirit. And they should be *faithful in everything*—just like men who serve as deacons and just like those who serve as elders.

Well, this describes the deacon’s character. Like elders, recognized servants—both men and women—must be mature believers and they must be worthy of respect.

The Deacon’s Family

The next verse goes on to describe—and that’s the second point; I’ll make it much briefer—**the deacon’s family**. Recognized servants, friends, must be devoted to their spouse and have homes which showcase their competencies.

Verse 12 reads: *“Deacons are to be husbands of one wife, managing their children and their own households competently.”*

In other words, those whom we appoint to the role of deacons—those who serve within the life of the church as recognized servants—they should be *one‑woman men*. That’s what the first part of verse 12 really implies. They shouldn’t be known as flirtatious. They shouldn’t be known as those who have relationships with others. They should be completely devoted to their own spouse.

And they should *manage their children and their households competently*. In other words, how can you manage the church of God? How can you serve in the church of God? How can you take care of the needs of the church of God if you can’t even take care of your family at home? No—get your house in order first. And when your house is in order, come and serve the household of God that He might be glorified in our presence.

The Deacon’s Reward

Well, the deacon’s character is from verse 8 to verse 11. The deacon’s family is in verse 12. And finally, **the deacon’s reward** in verse 13.

Recognized servants who serve well gain communal respect; they gain personal assurance. We read in verse 13: *“For those serving well as deacons acquire a good standing for themselves and great boldness in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.”*

Ministry comes with perks. Real perks. The joy of being involved in people’s lives. The joy of serving a congregation. The joy of interacting with people and seeing them grow over time.

Well, what Paul is saying is that those who serve well as deacons get to share in those perks. The community gets to see them serving well, and the community gets to celebrate them. But not only that: even as they serve, they get great assurance that they are serving God and serving God’s people. And so that is the motivation for them serving—not so much that they get paid for the role, but that the role is a blessing in their lives.

And this is a visible display and defense of the gospel. It says *“a good standing for themselves and great boldness in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.”* What was happening in the city of Ephesus—not too unlike the city of Jerusalem in the book of Acts—what was happening in the city of Ephesus is that the gospel was under attack. And Paul needed those who had served the church to serve the church in upright ways, their very lives displaying the change that the gospel had had in them, so that the world might see that God transforms lives and God glorifies Himself in His church.

Connect to the gospel

Well, how does this connect to the gospel of Jesus Christ?

Well, friends, let me tell you that none of the deacons that are deaconing at Benoni Baptist Church started out like this. None of them started with characters which were God‑honoring, families that were perfect, and a reward which they endured. Instead, belief in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ transformed their lives into living witnesses.

Our blamelessness as we serve before the church points not to our excellence but points to the perfections of Jesus Christ that we serve. Our service reflects something of the humility of Jesus Christ our Lord and our Savior. And our boldness in the gospel—it rests on the grace that we have received from Jesus Christ our Lord.

Our lives as servants—whether we serve as elders or whether we serve as deacons—our lives proclaim the mystery of faith which we have believed: the good news of Jesus Christ—incarnate, His death, and His resurrection. In other words, our lives become living testimonies of the transformation which He has done in our souls. And as people serve well in the local church, they cry out to all of us: “Follow me as I follow Him.”

Because this list isn’t an unusual list. These aren’t some kind of super‑Christians that the rest of us can never aspire to. This is a basic list of spiritual maturity, friends. This is an aspirational list that each and every one of us should hope for as our lives are transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ: that we too would reflect and display something of the beauty of Jesus Christ in our lives, that our families would be transformed and give God much praise and glory, and that we would serve God in whatever role He places us in the church.

You see, this is the truth. We sometimes talk about deacons—the recognized servants—and that means that all the rest of us get to warm our pews and twiddle our thumbs because someone’s got the service and it’s happening. That’s not the way that the church is supposed to work. The reality is each and every one of us are called to service. It is true that some are gifted to serve and some are recognized as servants in God’s church, but each and every single one of us are called to serve—even in this place.

And so what are the kinds of servants that we want to develop as ourselves in this church? The answer is: we want to be the kinds of servants who have been transformed by God, who has changed the character of our lives, who has redeemed our households that He might be glorified in them, and who receive a reward as good and faithful servants in this place.

Application for believers

How does this relate to you this morning? Well, friends, if you’re listening in and you’re not a deacon, can I encourage you to guard the integrity of your life? Just like these deacons were men of character and women of character, so you too need to guard the integrity of your life.

Can I encourage you to build a gospel‑centered home—a gospel‑centered family? Just like these men and these women have families which point to the transformation which comes from the Holy Spirit, so you too build a gospel‑centered family in your life.

And then lastly, serve. Serve at Benoni Baptist Church with bold humility, just like these deacons serve, and have a great reward and assurance which comes as they serve out their faith before the Lord and before man. So you too find a place where you can serve in this local church, and then go ahead and do so in bold humility.

Application for unbelievers

If you’re an unbeliever and you’re visiting this morning, how does this message apply to you?

Well, friends, what deacons display imperfectly, Christ offers perfectly. Deacons display respectability, non‑hypocrisy, not drinking a lot of wine, not being greedy for money, holding the mystery of the faith, being tested, being upright, not being slanderous, being self‑controlled, being faithful. They display that to the world, but it’s often an imperfect display.

But what they display to the world imperfectly, Jesus Christ offers to you perfectly. What do I mean by that? I mean Jesus came into this world and lived this life—the perfect man of God—living a life that you and I could never live, obedient to the Father in every way, and yet was found to be without sin even when He was tempted. Jesus offers a righteousness that you could never achieve by self‑effort, and He offers it to you for free, and He offers it to you today.

He says, *“Come to Me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”* He will take His perfection and give it to you as a free gift, and take your sin on Himself as He suffers on the cross, and He will pay the price that it deserves.

Today, turn from your sin. Turn maybe from your self‑effort of trying to be this person. Turn from your sin, turn from your fallenness, and cast yourself upon the person of Jesus Christ, and you will live. Call out to Him with your mouth, profess Him as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Jesus Christ from the dead, and you will be saved. You’ll be saved to live a life in His perfection, and you’ll be saved to live a life of growing perfection and transformation, that your life might reflect something that we see in the pages of Scripture.

Implications for Our Constitutional Amendments

How does this apply to our constitutional amendments? Well, over time as our church has grown and developed, some parts of our constitution are no longer reflecting how we function. And so to address this, we have revised the deacon section of our constitution. We are in the process of doing this to ensure that it is both faithful to Scripture and practical for our church today.

When we looked at Acts chapter 6 from verse 1 to 7, we saw that those who would serve as deacons must be *full of the Holy Spirit*—that their practical service must flow from spiritual vitality, not from mere competence. We also saw that *the whole company affirmed the seven*, and that needs to be reflected in whatever membership nomination process we have, that the whole congregation might mandate those who serve as deacons. And then we saw that *the apostles delegated the needs to the seven*—that the deacons served in practical ministries as designated by the executive.

Well, as we look at 1 Timothy chapter 3, there are a couple of other principles that we need to make sure are in our constitution:

– **There needs to be a time for character and competence testing.** Deacons that are worthy of respect and hold on to the mystery of the faith—there needs to be a standard according to 1 Timothy 3:8–13 in deacons’ lives, and there needs to be a time of testing. Whether that be a mandated time or whether that be a designated time like six months, there does need to be a time of testing before appointment is made of deacons.
– **Gender inclusion**—already in our present constitution—the office of deacon is open to men and women who meet the biblical qualifications as described in 1 Timothy chapter 3.

Conclusion

Here’s the conclusion: In Acts chapter 2, the church was established. In Acts chapter 6, the church ran into problems, and there were *people* problems. The resolution for those people problems was that the apostles would preach God’s Word, they would minister God’s Word, and deacons would be elected from the church that would serve God’s people.

Friends, we need servants here at Benoni Baptist Church. We need servants who are qualified according to God’s Word, that are full of the Holy Spirit, who serve God’s people even as they serve God, and might receive a reward for what they are doing.

This morning we spoke about **transformed lives—in character, in home, and in service—visibly display and defend the gospel’s truth.** And these are the kinds of deacons that we need. And we saw it in 1 Timothy chapter 3 from verse 8 to verse 13. We saw something of the deacon’s character—recognized servants’ character. We saw something of the deacon’s family. And we saw something of the deacon’s reward.

May the Lord God give us servants with hearts like Thee, to His own praise and glory’s sake. Amen.