God's Servants

Scripture Reading

Will you please turn in your Bibles with me to Ephesians chapter four. Ephesians chapter four. We'll be looking at verses one through 16 this morning. If you're using the New King James pew Bibles provided for you, you'll find that on page 1065. Ephesians chapter four, and I'd like to just point your attention to the idea of ministry and service. So as we look through this, keep an eye out for things like ministry and service. Ephesians chapter four, this is God's perfect word.

Let's pay attention. I therefore the prisoner of the Lord beseech you to walk worthy of the calling which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with long suffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in you all.

But to each one of us, grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore he says, when he ascended on high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts to men. Now this he ascended, what does it mean but that he also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is also the one who ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things. And he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors, even 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 and 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 also the whole body, joined and knit together by what every 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.

Prayer for Illumination

Well, this ends this portion of the reading of God's word. The grass withers and the flower fades, but brothers and sisters, the word of our God endures forever. Let's pray. Father, you have given us your word and it is true and perfect altogether. We pray that you would teach us and help us as we try to understand and we try to live. We need your spirit, God, to bear your word in our hearts and transform our lives. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen.

Sermon

On Wednesday, we have a deacon election. and as is the normal, I'm going to preach to you on deacons. I try not to just go straight through what deacons are and their qualifications, but we will touch on that. I'm not going to delve into all the depths of Ephesians chapter four. If you want that, you can go back and look at the series I preached on Ephesians chapter four.

But I do want to bring out this idea that Service is the word for deacon, ministry or service. Diakonos is the noun and diakoneo is the verb. So being a deacon may be an office or a position someone holds, but it is the business of everyone in the church to be serving and ministering to one another.

First Point

And so first, I'd like you to look with me at verses one through six. And notice in verses one through six that this is a type of service. This is a type of way that we minister to each other. I, this is Paul, therefore the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called. We talked about that in our catechism question this morning. With all loneliness, notice how do we walk? How do we as Christians behave, conduct, carry ourselves? We walk with loneliness and gentleness.

I love how the New King James Version puts this next one, with long suffering. Some of your translations may put that as patience, but I like long-suffering, macrothemia, right? It's gonna take you all, it's not like a microthemia, this is a macro, this is a lot of suffering. You're even in the church. You carry yourself with long-suffering, and what does that look like?

Bearing with one another in love. Not gritting your teeth being patient with each other, like, oh, I just can't wait till they decide to transfer to another church. But actually, hold on, I'm a sinner. Christ has forgiven me. I need to forgive them, bear with them in love, show them the same type of gentleness and humility and love that Christ has shown me. I show them. Endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace.

Can you believe that? century church Paul had to tell them, you might want to fracture. There might be fights in the church and you might want to splinter off and do your own thing. Sometimes I think we look at the first century church and we think, oh we want to live like them, we want to be perfect like them. That's not Paul's view. He's saying, you got a real issue that Satan wants to sow division and rip you guys apart, but that's not how Christians carry themselves.

No, we are people who have been saved by grace and And so we live in that grace, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace, because we follow the Prince of Peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called, and one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in you all.

We must keep our eyes and our minds fixed on what is most important. There is a true unity we have, and that unity is found in the gospel and in the God who has saved us and loved us. So how do we serve one another? There's a context, it's in the church. And it's grounded in a shared faith, hope, baptism, and allegiance to Christ. It's marked by a character of humility, gentleness, patience, and love.

And it's a unity that we are zealous to try to keep. But secondly, look with me at verses seven through 13. Because Jesus has given good gifts to his church. Look at these gifts that Jesus has given to his church in verses seven through 13. But to each one of us, grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. Each one of us have been given gifts.

Therefore, he says, it's God saying, this is a quotation here from the Old Testament, when he ascends on high, he led captivity captive and made gifts and gave gifts to men. And then there's this parentheses, right? And again, if you wanna know more about this, we can talk about it or go listen to the sermon I preached on this.

Now this, he ascended, what does it mean, but that he also first descended into the lower parts of the earth. Jesus really went to the grave. He really went up into heaven and he really did go down into the grave. He who ascended is also the one, or sorry, he who descended, verse 10, is also the one who ascended far above all the heavens that he might fill all things. And that's Paul's main point, that he might fill all things. Verse 11, and he, Jesus, himself, gave some to be apostles, gave some who were gonna be sent out to share the word. He gave some to be prophets, those who would have prophetic utterances to build up the church. Some evangelists, some who are going and telling people of the good news.

Philip is one of these. And some pastors and teachers. It should be pastors, even teachers, because pastors and teachers aren't ripped apart, but these are one thing. It's one unit there in the Greek. God gave pastors, the word pastors is the word shepherd. The one taking care of God's sheep. He gave some to be teachers and shepherds of his people. And notice why God gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastors.

Verse 12, this is important here, verse 12. 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. Did you notice it?

God didn't give you elders so they do all the ministry. God gifted the church with apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastors so that the people, God's sheep, would be equipped for the work of ministry. But notice also here that it's not just the saints. The saints there aren't just like super holy people. No, the saints are all the people who God has bought with the blood of his own son. That's what saints means, holy ones, those who God has called to be his own. there to do the work of ministry, but notice where it starts.

The second half of verse 12, for the edifying of the body of Christ. The edifying is a fancy word for building up, right? If you're gonna build a wall, you're building an edifice. You're building something that's of use and is able to carry weight, and is able to do a job inside of the edifice.

And so we are, as Christians, to be building each other up. Paul's going to later on go on to say, let no filthy word proceed out of your lips, but only that which is good for necessary edification, that you might impart grace to those who hear. Even our words, Paul will command to the rest of the church and say, your words as you minister to each other in the name of Christ, how you speak to one another, is it building others up?

Or are we going how we normally like to do? Like, we live in a culture of sarcasm and sass and think it's a good wit. We love pulling people down. We love gotchas. But in the church, are we building people up? Are we trying to catch people? Or are we trying to encourage them? Especially to encourage them in Christ.

And notice when this stops. Verse 13 and following. When does it stop? 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 and the stature of the fullness of Christ. Okay, so your work is done, yeah? So after church, you're more than welcome to come up to me and you're able to say, hey, look, I am fully matured, just like Jesus Christ. I don't need to be built up anymore, and I don't need to be building anybody else up in the church, because they're built up perfectly into the measure of Christ too. and then I'll wanna go talk to your spouse and your children. We're not done. We're not done until all of us are in glory. Christ has given, Christ ascended up into heaven, but he gave his church good gifts.

He has empowered his church to do work of service of ministry. That word there, In verse 12, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the equipping of the holy ones for the work of deaconing. Diakoneo is the verb there. It's a participle on this point, but it's the point that this is your work to do, Christians. The work of service, the work of ministry, the work of deaconing is amongst all his people.

So God gives good gifts to his church. And those gifts, the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the teachers, are given to equip the saints for that deaconing with a goal of building up the body of Christ unto a true maturity and unity. And then third, look with me at the ministry of the saints in verses 12 through 16. those gifts that God has given, those teachers, those pastors, for the equipping of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come unto the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the full, of the stature of the fullness of Christ, and notice with me here, that we should no longer be children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the trickery of men and 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 what every 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. God has given good gifts to the church. Thank God He gave us the apostles. Thank God He gave us the prophets. Thank God He has sent us evangelists. And thank God He gives us pastors and teachers.

But what they do in training up and in caring and developing those and helping you guys in your work of ministry, what your work does has a point. And notice what the point of the ministry of the saints is. That we should no longer be children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine. There are those who have commented on this and will say, well, no, see, this is really talking about the teachers, even the pastors, who are doing this work. It's their teaching that keeps us away from the doctrine, the false teaching of those who are crafting and cunning. I don't think that that's so bifurcated as what some person sitting at a desk writing a commentary thinks.

Because in the church, One of the ways in which Satan is guarded against is the love of the saints for one another. It's as the shepherds and as the teachers encourage you and challenge you and teach you and develop you and try to help you as much as we can, as people are cared for and loved in the church, built up in the church by each other, Makes it a lot harder for colts and charlatans and cheats to come in and try to snatch you away.

It's amazing to me. I've, you know, I've, we'll hear these people, they'll come to, these guys will come to Presbyterian. One of the things we like to ask people is, you know, how did you come into the RP church? Well, first they have to give their testimony, but they always tell us how they came into the RP church. And can you believe it? All these guys who come to the presbytery will say time and time and time again, at first they didn't come because they agreed with every single point of doctrine in the RP Church.

But do you know why most of them say they visited because they were curious and then what actually kept them to stay? because the elders loved them, and the people showed them practical love, and hospitality, and welcoming their family, and following up with them, and praying for them, and caring for them. It was the love of God's people, practically, both in word and in deed, that showed them the love of Christ.

And so as we serve one another, it protects us from being tossed to and fro and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men and the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting. But indeed we speak, verse 15, we speak the truth in love to each other.

Again, I think you can't divorce this part of chapter four from later where he's going to say that we must not speak corrupt words to each other, but those words that build each other up. We speak the truth in love, that we would grow up together. Again, we kind of do ourselves a little bit of a disservice here. All of this is written in what grammarians call the second person plural.

That y'all, that you people, that you the assembly, that you God's people, that you would speak these words, that you would be built up, that you all would not be tricked and pulled away, but you all would be growing up in the love of Christ Jesus. And then he gives this beautiful description. He picks us up in another book of the New Testament. This picture of the body of Christ. Right, where every joint is joined together, is knit together, and there's ligaments holding each other, that we build each other up in love. We edify each other in love.

This is why when church splits happen, people hurt for years and decades to come. Because it's like joints and ligaments have been ripped apart. Go talk to somebody who's had a replacement of one of their joints and it takes months to recover from that physical ailment. Sometimes it takes decades to recover from that spiritual hurt.

So we have an internal care of the ministry. The saints themselves do the work of ministry, serving other saints in the church, caring for one another. The Spirit actively unites us and empowers us in these works. And there's a fruit of this internal care.

There's a mutual love because of our head Jesus Christ. I am not preaching to you. I hope you hear this. I am not preaching to you moralism just telling you love each other, love each other, love each other without giving you a foundation because Christ Jesus has first loved you. So also you love one another. This is how they will know that you are my disciples if you love one another. So we love one another and it's marked by that service towards one another.

And so this idea of service, this idea of ministry, this idea of deaconing is the work of the church towards one another. And God gives, at the spearhead of this service, an office to specific people who are set apart by prayer to do that work more intentionally and focused. This is Christ's design for his church. for a leadership of service. God calls and equips specific individuals for mercy and administration. These servants model and lead the congregation in these acts of service. And there's a high value of this service ministry. The ministry of mercy and administration is not secondary to the church's calling, but it is vital.

So much so that James would say that there's all sorts of people who practice just foolish lip service religion, but what is true religion? Do you visit the orphan and the widow in their distress? Do you actually care for the poor? Are you actually showing service?

Those who have been ordained as deacons embody Christ-like compassion and practical care for the body. And this is why 1 Timothy 3, 13 says that those who have served well gain a good standing and great boldness in the faith. So what are these qualifications? How do we know who should be a deacon?

Well, this is where we will turn in our Bibles to 1 Timothy 3. I have no clue what that is in your pew Bibles. Find the Ts. It's after 1 and 2 Thessalonians. You get to 1 Timothy. If you get to 2 Timothy or Titus, you're too far. Come back. 1 Timothy 3. We're going to look at specifically verses 8 through 12.

That's where these qualifications for deacons come from. Remember deacons is that word for servants. Likewise, deacons must be reverent, not double tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy for money, holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience. But let these also first be tested. Then let them serve as deacons, being found blameless. Likewise, their wives must be reverent, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things. Let deacons be the husband 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. In this first part, verses eight through 10, we have shared qualifications, moral qualifications and spiritual qualifications. A deacon must be reverent. He must be one who stands before God with fear. And by the word reverent, this doesn't mean that the person doesn't know how to smile at people and love one another. It's not that they're walking around all somber and glum all the time, but that they have a weightiness about who God is.

They must not be double-tongued, right? Not somebody who says one thing and does another thing or says one thing to one person and says another thing to another person. They ain't got a forked snake tongue. They're not given to much wine, right? The idea here is actually like devoted to wine. Not a drunkard. This isn't talking about somebody who has a beer from time to time or something like that. But this is somebody who's, you don't want a drunkard in charge of serving people in the ministry. Not greedy for money.

This is somebody, this is not just disqualifying anybody who has had a good business. But this is somebody who's going after ill-gotten gain, trying to get money even though it might take the shirt off of somebody else's back. That's what the idea of this qualification is. Somebody who's more about money than they are about people. More about themselves than they are about others. That's why Jesus said you can't serve two masters. Either you'll serve mammon or you'll serve God.

Number or verse 9 is very important holding the mystery of the faith with a pure Conscience this mystery of the faith isn't a mystery Paul uses all over the place in his letters that mystery of the faith is that God sent His word even to Eve that he said that someday a seed would come from her that would crush the head of the serpent. This is Genesis chapter 3, 15.

And we didn't know who that was going to be. But then as time goes on, we find out this is going to be also the son of David. And he's going to have a throne that will endure forever. And then we get more and more messianic promises, and the people in the Old Testament didn't know when was this Messiah, when was this anointed one finally going to come, finally be the king of God's people, would lay down his life for his people, and then Jesus came.

So when Paul says here, holding to the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience, it means somebody who truly believes the gospel. But then notice prudently they need to be somebody who's been tested. You don't want a new convert being ordained as a deacon who's leading the congregation in this mercy and administrative role. And so they need to be tested first. Then let them serve as deacons. Being found blameless, being found blameless is why the elders examine people first.

Looking at your life, asking you questions, finding out about you. Do you hold to this mystery of the faith with a pure conscience? Can we lay our hands on you and entrust you with the work of leading the congregation and ministry? In this ministry of mercy and administration. And then there's controversy over verse 11. I know some of you disagree with me on that, and I'm not going to sit here and beat my war horse on it.

It is the position of our denomination. Likewise, and their wives there is likewise women. If these deacons are to be women, they are to be reverent. They're not to be slanderers. This is a similar idea up there as double tongue. They're not to be adversarial. Diabolus. They're to be temperate. They're also not to be Why no mamos? They're also be faithful in all things. You're able to entrust them. They've been tested. But then verse 12 continues on.

If this deacon is a man, let him be a one-woman man, the husband of one wife. The Greek there is literally a one-woman man. Gotta have eyes for his wife, a heart for his wife, and he doesn't have a girl on the side of pornography hidden on his computer hard drive. It's a one-woman man. ruling their children and their own houses well.

Now this idea of ruling was interesting to me as I was wrestling and working through this, thinking about what does that mean to rule one's household and their children well. The word rule there is actually used for elders also. Just look up above with me in verses four and five. One who rules his own house well.

Okay, yeah, of course, Brian, the word's right there again, duh. Having his children in submission with all reverence. Okay, so what does that mean, that they're ruling their homes well? Well, their children are reverent and submissive to their dad, as long as they're under their roof.

But then notice verse five, and this is where it's helpful, sometimes there's synonyms. And it's helpful to look at the word That's alluded there. For if a man does not know how to rule his own house well, how will he take care of the church of God? Now that was interesting to me because in verse five, if a man does not know how to rule his own house, that word ruling there is a different Greek word.

And it just opened up a totally, see, because my mind ruling your house well is like, you are a Carnegie type manager, right? You have the ability to be able, maybe I'm speaking as a historian here, Andrew Carnegie, who said like, if you're gonna be a good manager, you need to know every single minute of every part of the production line so you can get the most amount of profit out of every single thing. All right, go read Carnegie's autobiography and he talks all about this. But that's what I had in my mind as a manager.

But that's not what Jesus has in his mind. Jesus uses this word one time, and it's in Luke chapter 10. And it's the description of the good Samaritan, looking after the man who he took to the inn, caring for his wounds, paying for his care, watching over his healing. That's what Jesus says ruling looks like. That's the picture that Jesus uses. This word's really rare for managing, but this is the picture. It's not one of bureaucracy, but it's one of love and of mercy. True management is not about control, micromanaging, but it's love applied with diligence.

So when you're looking for a deacon, or you're looking for one who you would think if there was a stranger who walked by that was beaten up or got in a car accident, you would know that they would actually pick them up, call 911, and might even take them to the hospital in their own car, and then would sit with them until the family came. Those who are called to this ministry embody Christ's compassion in tangible ways.

So what are you looking for? Point number seven, what are you looking for? Those who already serve faithfully and humbly in the church. Look around you. I gave you a whole list that's printed off. There's one section there about a couple deacons and that information's old and wrong. I didn't update that, I'm sorry for the guys whose names are listed there. But you're looking for those who are already serving faithfully and humbly. You're looking for those who care for their family, neighbors, widows, and the needy.

You're looking for those who are handling money responsibly and living peacefully. By handling money responsibly, I'm not saying you're looking for the richest dude in the room. You're looking for the person who, even though they may be of low means, knows how to use those means well. You're looking for those whose doctrine, whose teaching is sound, and whose lives reflect the love that Christ has shown them. Looking for the reputable servant. One who can be trusted by the church, but also by the community. Somebody who's sober-minded, orthodox, faithful, full of faith in the Holy Spirit. Somebody who's ready to serve without fanfare or self-importance. I gotta tell you, There is a ton, a ton of work that the deacons do that none of you ever see.

I don't even see it. It was amazing to me. One day, we pulled up to the parking lot, and there was a bunch of stuff in the grass. And Nathan asked, or Daniel asked me, he said, Dad, what is that stuff? And I said, I don't know. And Nathan said, and I hope I don't embarrass him here, but it was fun for me. Nathan said, Dad, that is so cool. You don't know anything.

I was like, well, let's spin that one out. He said, the deacons just do their job. They do their stuff, and you don't need to know about it. They just do their work. I was like, that's exactly how it's supposed to work. They do the work that's been entrusted to them. And they don't get fanfare for it, and they don't want big egos or reputations. They do it faithfully, some of whom have been doing it for over 50 years.

The reward of faithful service is what Jesus promises in Matthew chapter 25. Deacons, they get this cool thing. It's not really said of the elders up above, but deacons get it in 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. I'm convinced that the deacons get this special blessing of when Jesus comes and he separates the sheep and the goats, and he says to them, well done, good and faithful servant.

He said, what do you mean? And Jesus goes on and he says, well, when I was tired, or when I was hungry, you gave me something to eat. And when I was thirsty, you gave me something to drink. And when I was naked, you gave me something to wear. And I said, when did we do that, Lord? When you did it to the least of these, you did it unto me.

That is the work that the deacons do regularly. Yeah, they take care of the building. I'm really thankful for that. They make sure the bills are paid. You don't want me to be in charge of that. They handle the finances well. Praise God for that. But so often, I can't tell you how many times I have to call the deacons and ask them, hey, this person's got this thing going on in their lives. They need something really practical.

Sometimes it's helping to mow an overgrown yard, and all of a sudden somebody shows up, or a couple guys show up, and there's lawnmowers going, and people are helped. Not with fanfare. Most of us will never know it. But the work of mercy is not optional in the church.

It is an evidence of the grace that we have in our union with Christ and our love for one another. So deacons lead the church in this Christ-like pattern of love and care. So we pray. We pray that God would give us faithful deacons. But we also don't assume that just because we have deacons, they're the ones that do all the deaconing. They lead us in that ministry of love and of service. Every believer is called to serve because every believer has been loved by Christ. So brothers and sisters, fix your eyes on our one Lord, our one faith, our one hope, our one baptism, and love one another. And may God continue to supply this church with faithful deacons for his glory.

Closing Prayer

Let's pray. God, we pray that you would give us wisdom. As we look at this list of people who are eligible to be elected as deacons, and we pray that when the election comes on Wednesday night, that there would be enough people here, and that if it is your will, that we would be led by your Holy Spirit to find those who would serve, find those who would minister to the least of these. Lord, we pray that we would be able to find those who may not feel qualified, who may not sense that all these things are present in them. And Lord, none of us are perfect. But Father, that we would be able to see your spirit working to raise up those who would love others, not for selfish gain, but for your glory. Please let us be marked as a congregation who loves each other well. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.