Deacons - Short Series Part 2

Andrew Grey teaches on the character of a deacon, in this second of a short series on Deacons. This is from adult Sunday School on 7th June 2026.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

We're continuing this morning thinking about deacons and God's plan for a healthy church and where these people that the Bible calls deacons fits in. So we're going to read some scriptures, then I'm going to pray, and then we'll dive in. So our first scripture is there on the handout, Philippians chapter 1, verse 1. Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi with the overseers and deacons. So there in the church in Philippi, you've got the congregation, the saints, and you have the overseers, or pastor teachers, or elders, and you have these people called deacons. Now, in your Bibles, please open up Acts 6. If you're in one of the Black Church Bibles, you're on page 914. 914. Page 914, Acts 6. Let me read. Now, in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word. And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Procorus, and Niconor, and Timon, and Parmenus, and Nikolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. These they set before the apostles, and they prayed, and laid their hands on them. And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith. And turn on to 1 Timothy chapter 3. Which is on page 992. Page 992, 1 Timothy chapter 3. And I'm going to read verses 1 to 15. So qualifications for overseers as well as deacons. So listen to God's word here. 1 Timothy 3. The saying is trustworthy. If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore, an overseer must be above reproach the husband of one wife. Sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well with all dignity, keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church? He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil. Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain. They must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience, and let them also be tested first, then let them serve as deacons if they prove themselves blameless. Their wives likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober minded, faithful in all things. Let deacons each be the husband of one wife, managing their children and their own households well. For those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves, and also great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus. I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth. Let's pray. Father in heaven, the church is dear and precious to you, and we pray for our understanding of your plan for the church, her health, her growth, her effectiveness. As we think about the ministry of service, uh please would you be our teacher this morning? Fill up our minds, uh, inflame our hearts, help us to think and feel about these things as you want us to. And we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Last week we we thought about the task of the deacon. If you missed it, you might like to have a listen online. We saw how it is that the Lord cares about bodies as well as souls, material things as well as what we might sometimes think of as spiritual things. They're actually our bodies as spiritual things as well. And we saw in scripture how it is that deacons are to lead in overseeing the mercy ministry of the church and in removing distractions from those charged with the ministry of the word. Now there's a helpful summary of the task of the deacon from the IPC's Book of Church Order, so I thought I'd just read out a few paragraphs, and this really sums up Scripture. The office of deacon is ordained by Christ for the purpose of ensuring that Christian brotherly love is implemented in practical ways by assisting the needy in the family of the church. It is a separate office from that of elder. A man may not be both an elder and a deacon at the same time. This is first because the ministry of mercy to the needy within the church is not to be neglected, Act 6, and second, because the ministry of mercy is not to distract the elders from the ministry of the word and prayer, which is of first importance, also Act 6. Therefore, every IPC congregation shall form and maintain a diaconate, which shall be distinct from the session, the body of the elders, while operating in close partnership with and under the authority and supervision of the session. The diaconate is responsible for monitoring the needs of members of the congregation and others who attend regularly. When practical needs, including but not limited to financial needs, become evident, taking such steps as may be appropriate to meet those needs from the resources of the congregation. This may include the management and use of specific diaconal funds, as well as organizing and directing the church members to provide practical help when needed. When resources allow, facilitating the church to act in Christian love towards those outside the church in meeting material needs, to do these things in such a way that the elders are able to concentrate on their God-given ministry of the word and of prayer. It's a really helpful summary. Just so you know, one of the things that has prompted us to think about deacons at Emmanuel was actually the business of joining the IPC. One of their observations as they got to know our church family was, Well, you're a reasonably well-established church, you've been going since 2012. You're not a tiny church, you're not vast. Where are your deacons? To which our response was, good question. We haven't got any. So hence we are being prompted by our brothers in the IPC and with scripture in front of us to try and get to a place where we more closely resemble the Lord's recipe, if you like, for healthy church life and leadership. So we thought last week about the task of the deacon, and now we're going to think about the qualifications of the deacon. What might we look for? As we've thought about the task, what might we look for? There's one danger, I think, that when we think about deaconing, we might look for particular skills. Maybe someone who's a financial whiz, or someone who's got medical expertise, or is excellent at the administration, or is good at managing buildings. Or maybe we look for someone who is who is influential, someone who's got contacts who can get things done, or money who can get things done. Now, all of those things are good things, by the way, but they are not what the Bible encourages us to look for. We ought to be looking for not competencies but character. Now, obviously, competencies and skill, those things are God's gifts as well. They come from the Lord. We don't will them up ourselves. They come from Him. But what He wants us most to care about is character. And I can guarantee that you talked about people's characters. Maybe you didn't use the word character. You didn't particularly talk about skills, you talked about what a person, a man or a woman, was like, and how they were like towards you. I guarantee it. It's the same actually with uh elders and overseers and pastor teachers. Uh character is what matters supremely. You don't just want someone who is good at preaching or good at theology. I mean, that on its own is actually a disaster waiting to happen. So, the qualifications for deacons, we find them in Acts 6.3, and we find them in 1 Timothy 3. So in Acts chapter 6, uh, when they're calling these uh seven men to serve this particular need in the brand new church uh in Jerusalem, well, they needed to be men of good repute, full of the spirit, and of wisdom. So, men of good reputation, think about that for a moment. It means being well spoken of by others. So, well spoken of by people in the church, and well spoken of by people outside of the church. And obviously the flip side would be well, the devil would love more than anything else to bring the church into disrepute by bringing an elder or a deacon into disrepute. So this person, he also needs to be full of the Holy Spirit and of wisdom. That is, someone whose life is controlled and guided by God the Holy Spirit. And then you think about the work that that person would be called to, it makes sense, doesn't it? This would then enable them to act wisely in the probably very complicated scenarios that come along with meeting the needs of folk who are in need. It would enable them to address the spiritual issues that would arise in those situations too. You're never ever just dealing with a practical situation. If there's a bodily or a material need, there's always a person, a person with a soul, the spiritual needs going along with it. Then we come to 1 Timothy chapter 3. It'd be really good to have 1 Timothy 3 open in front of you. Just a couple of things before we dig into the detail. What Paul says about deacons in 1 Timothy 3 is really just expanding what we just read in Acts 6, verse 3. Especially that phrase of good repute. And Paul adds layers of meaning to explain that to us. Notice in 1 Timothy 3 that deacons and elders are described together. So these are ongoing and perpetual offices in the Church of Christ. Wherever you find the church, you ought to find elders and deacons. Notice too, there are many similarities between what's needed in an elder and what is needed in a deacon. So chapter 3, verse 8, it even begins, you know, deacons likewise. So deacons in the same way should be like this. But what is the this? What must they be like, according to the Apostle Paul? One big heading, which I think pulls together quite a few attributes. You could sum it up as worthy of respect. Worthy of respect. That first attribute, uh dignify, that's what it really means, worthy of respect, showing a dignified and serious kind of conduct that demands people's respect. And then the negatives that follow, I think, help explain it. So here are the kinds of things that might undermine that respect and which shouldn't undermine it. So here we're thinking about sins of speech, sins of addiction, and sins of greed. So verse 8, not double-tongued, forked tongued. That means saying one thing and meaning another. It means saying one thing to one person, saying another thing to a different person. It's split speech, it's insincere speech, it's deceitful speech. And obviously that would undermine everything. It is certainly not worthy of respect. Chap called Van Damme, I found him really helpful. Lots in this session is drawn from his book on deacons. He writes this since a deacon can be intimately involved in people's lives, it is imperative that his speech be free from gossip and lies and be edifying and holy. He must in all circumstances control his tongue. Next attribute not addicted to much wine. And the sin here is a lack of self-control, and positively there must be self-control. The church is meant to be free in the joy of redemption. It's not meant to be taken captive by the things of the world, and the deacon needs to exemplify that and not undermine that in his life. Not greedy for dishonest gain. Now, obviously, no Christian is meant to be greedy. And actually, this list of attributes here, both the list for uh elders and also the list for deacons, in lots of ways, it's really just describing the normal Christian life. There's nothing sort of super or unusual about any of these things, but these things must be present in those called to serve as offices in Christ's church. And it's especially harmful when Christian leaders sin in these ways. It is a greater sin. It is aggravated because of the position and the responsibility to which they're called. So, for example, when a Christian leader is greedy for dishonest gain, it's a deeply sinful and harmful thing. Positively, the deacon is to hold the mystery of the faith. See that in verse 9. They must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. Now, what does that mean? In the New Testament, the word mystery does not mean some kind of secret knowledge. So it's not saying there is some hidden or secret knowledge, and you've got to be an initiate into these ways in order to serve as a deacon. That's not what mystery means. In the New Testament, a mystery is something that we cannot learn or understand on our own, but must be revealed to us by God. That is what a mystery is. And in the New Testament, principally that is the gospel. It is inaccessible to human reason. It must be revealed to us. And the deacon must be someone who embraces the gospel, he holds on to it tight, and who lives wholeheartedly by it. Now, one difference, which we can note here, between the elder overseer and the deacon. So if you look up to verse 2, the overseer or the elder, the pastor teacher, must be able to teach. That's actually the one skill, if you like, that is listed there among the elders' requirements. That is not a requirement for a deacon. A deacon is not to exercise a preaching ministry. Although, note, back in Acts chapter 6, we find that Stephen, top of the list of the deacons, was also an evangelist. He spoke at length in response to his accusers. And when you stop and think about the ministry of a deacon, you know, caring for people and leading in the caring of people, well, he would also need to bring God's word to people he was serving, to encourage them, to give sound counsel. This is someone who would need to understand biblical justice and wisdom, who would need to understand ministry priorities and non-priorities. So there is a serious spiritual maturity required, kind of encapsulated in that phrase, holding the mystery of the faith. The deacon is to be tested. See that down in verse 10, and let them be tested first. And talks about being proved blameless. Now, when we read blameless, that doesn't mean sinless perfection. Okay, only Christ is sinlessly perfect. But we're talking here about a credible track record of clear Christian living. Okay, a credible track record of clear Christian living, such that no one could bring a justifiable charge against them. Paul goes on. And he talks about, just onto the back of the handout here, their wives likewise. It's really interesting, isn't it? It matters what the deacon's wife is like. Reverent. It's the same word that's just been used. Worthy of respect. Not slanderous. Again, talking about sins of the tongue. It's a bit like being double-tongued. Don't be double-tongued. Sober-minded. Again, it's the same sort of thing, isn't it? A clear, gospel-driven mind, not one prone to slaveries and addictions of the world. And faithful in all things, loyal to Christ in all of life. Now, why does he say this? Why wives to? Well, think about the work that a deacon would be called to. Caring for those in need. And we know from the New Testament this would often include widows and poorly women. Acts 6, 1 Timothy 5. So it is highly likely that the deacon would want a need to be assisted by his wife in this. And she would need to be trustworthy, therefore, trustworthy with tongue and mind and life. So that she could help that work and adorn the gospel. Make the gospel look beautiful, as its implications are lived out in the life of the church, and that she would not undermine it. Then on to marriage and household. Verse 12 Let deacons each be the husband of one wife. Now this is not saying that every deacon has to be married. So other corners of scripture, e.g. in 1 Corinthians 7, make clear that singleness and celibacy is an honourable calling and way of life. But that in one pithy phrase is a way of saying marital faithfulness. A one-woman man, quite literally. A one-woman man, marital faithfulness. Vows kept, not broken. Not just marriage though, but also households. It goes on in verse 12. Managing their children and their own households well. Now that that word managing, I'm not sure that's a very helpful word. When you think of a manager, you find yourselves mentally, at least I do, in a corporate world. That's not a very helpful word to be in. Managing, that word, it actually means be in charge of. If you're a man and a father in a household, how do you do it? And this is really of critical importance for the elder and the deacon. And so that the deacon's children, they must not be open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. Titus 1 6 is a helpful cross reference there. It might actually be a bit wider than just children. Talking here about a household, that might mean there are other people in the household. There might be other relatives, there might be certain. We might be talking about the management of property, maybe a business that is run out of the household involving uh money and people. And is it all led faithfully? Is it governed Christianly? And when you think about the task of the deacon, you see, well, this makes perfect sense, doesn't it? That he is proven here in the household, for he then leads and rules in a particular way in the care of the church. Lastly, uh, Paul here gives two encouragements. See them down in verse 13. Those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in the faith that's in Christ Jesus. Now, these are two lovely rewards. Now, they're not motivations to become a deacon in order to gain a reward. You don't do it to gain something, but for the one who serves, Paul says there is a blessing. And that should actually be an amazing encouragement to give oneself to it's a very demanding work. They obtain a good standing for themselves, which I think simply means the blessing of being well thought of by the congregation. And Paul says they gain great confidence in the faith. Now, truthfully, I'm not 100% sure what that phrase means. I think there are two options. It either means a greater boldness and freedom in their own Christian walk, or it means a greater boldness and freedom in their ministry as a deacon. And I'm not sure which it is, but either way, it's a good thing. It's a good thing. And that's something you should want if you're serving and should expect if you're serving faithfully as a deacon in the Church of Christ. Let's go on. Uh, lastly, uh, a question. Uh, what about female deacons? Now, why biblically we might we ask that question? You've still got 1 Timothy 3 open in front of you. Have a look down at verse 11. Uh, their wives likewise. Now that that phrase can be translated women likewise. Not necessarily wives, but women likewise. And some people have suggested that Paul is talking here about male deacons in verses 8, 9, and 10. Then in verse 11, he's talking about female deacons. And then in verse 12, he goes back to talking about male deacons, because he's obviously talking about being a husband. Now, I don't think that's plausible, yeah, men, women back to men again. I think it makes much more sense if it's talking in 1 Timothy 3 about deacons who are male and their wives. Really, the only possible scripture that might describe a female deacon is Romans 16 1, which I've put on the handout. Um, I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at Kenkrei. Now, I pointed out last week that the Greek word diaconos can mean servant in the same way that every single Christian is called to be a servant. We're all called to be a diaconos. And it also came to be used in this special way of deacons. Think of diaconos with a capital D, from which we obviously get the English word deacon. You can hear it, diaconos, deacon. So here's the question: could it be that Phoebe is not a servant like every single Christian, but a female deacon? Now, Romans 16 is actually one of my favourite chapters in the whole Bible. It is almost totally a list of names. And at first glance, you think it is a terribly, terribly boring chapter. It's actually a wonderful chapter. One thing that Romans 16 makes beautifully clear is that Paul loved and valued the gospel work of many, many women as well as men, and he names them. So we know their names Prisca, Mary, Trifina, Triphosa, Persis, Rufus' mother, and at the top of the list, at the start of the chapter, Phoebe. So Paul valued these women and their ministry and he commended them. Because the church needs fathers, and the church needs mothers. It's a fact. Men and women need each other and need to collaborate together to serve Christ and Christ's church. But we do serve as men and as women. And so there is a fatherly role to that of church elder and also of church deacon. There is an authority to it. Mentioned last week in Acts 6 that the deacon is actually ordained. So the laying on of hands, Acts 6.6. There is an authority attached to this ministry. And the same Apostle Paul, who wrote Romans 16, would say in 1 Timothy 2.12, I don't permit a woman to exercise authority over a man. So it would be very odd if Paul was saying one thing in Romans 16.1 and something that appears to contradict it in 1 Timothy 2. So it is not just possible but right to value and commend the work of women in the church, and I thank God so much for dear sisters in Christ alongside whom I serve. But you don't need to have an office in the church as an elder or a deacon in order to serve. Women don't need to become men to be valuable, they don't need to be deacons in order to serve. And Act 6 is actually very helpful here. Think about the need, you know, that crisis in the church involving widows. The apostle's response to that was to appoint seven men. It gives us their names. The word is very particular. It's not the generic word anthropos for a person, it's andros, appoint seven men to lead in the diaconal care of needy women in the congregation. Ligand Duncan makes a helpful comment. God will not allow the male leadership of the church to be unconcerned about or uninvolved in ministering to the direst needs of their sisters in Christ. These women had lost their husbands. He intends to provide for the care of them through godly men in the church. Does that mean women were not assisting in the diaconal care? No. But it does mean that men are absolutely committed to the diaconal ministry. And just a really brief note from church history. In around the 300s, you do find emerging women called deaconesses in the church. They were actually widows who were like those described in 1 Timothy chapter 5. They were never female deacons, and they did a different job in the church. And when you go on through church history, you find that both the church fathers and the reformers they actually came to the same conclusion. They never ordained female deacons. Now, full disclosure, interestingly, the IPC actually does permit female deacons. I respectfully disagree with them on this point, as actually do a fair few IPC pastors. And it is worth saying that people are on both sides of the fence on this one. It is certainly not as central or serious a matter as the elders of the church, but I think the biblical evidence is pretty clear cut. Hopefully, though, big message we've got, we're under God hoping to identify those individuals who God has provided and talk with them and pray with them and train them, and if the Lord being uh good to us in due time, appoint and ordain men to serve as deacons in the church here. That's where we're going. Now we've got uh six or seven minutes. Does anyone have any questions that they would like to uh chip in with? Any shape, size, or form? So does Paul in 1 Timothy 3 imply that a single man couldn't or shouldn't be a deacon? No, I I don't think he is. I don't think he is implying that. I think if you are married, marital faithfulness is imperative. If you are married, this is what your wife should be like, because there is an inevitable kind of joined upness of your ministry. Um I guess just I guess just practically, then you you would just have to think through if you were if you were a single or an unmarried man serving as a deacon in the church and you're trying to address you know pastoral needs among women, or how do you go about doing that? And that's I guess that's your that's where a plurality, a team, comes together, and there are ways to do that in a way that's helpful and appropriate and ways less so. That's that's such a helpful observation. So in Acts chapter 6, the apostles did not appoint deacons. They said you need deacons, but they then they then said to the church, choose from among you. Uh, and this is this is the kind of people you must choose, and then we will ordain them. That that actually is one of the most important nuggets as we think about biblical ordination. Yeah, there is a role for the congregation, uh, and there is a role for the church, all under the hand of God. Yeah, so it's it's actually it's actually a really important pattern. So that the church must identify and consent to those who minister among her. And then, yes, apostles or elders presbytery actually do the business of ordaining, but yeah, the consent of the church is super important. So deacons not called to preach or teach in the same way as an elder, rather, they're called to hold on to the mystery of the faith with the clear conscience, and yet we see uh Stephen and Philip in the book of Acts exercising a remarkable ministry as evangelists. Yeah, I think I think that is probably distinct from the office of the deacon. But if you have a if you have a mature and deep faith in Christ and you love the scriptures and you are able to bring the word of God to bear in complicated lives and situations, it's not a great surprise if then out of that overflows uh an evangelistic ministry or other forms of ministry that involve the word. So I'm I'm trying to say that they were not called to be preachers, but they were also not called to be mute. In fact, they mustn't be mute with respect to the things of God because you're you're taking the lead in the the church's mercy ministries, but you're always caring for people's souls as well. So it's not a surprise, I think, if that kind of overflows. I don't think it's I don't think it's normal or automatic that a deacon becomes you know Stephen or Philip the automatic, but there's it's not a surprise. Yeah that's a super it's a super good question. To what extent should you consider compens competencies even at a secondary level? One thing that the deacon is called to do is not do all the work of mercy himself, but it's to manage and oversee it. And I think an important part of it must be to draw out from the church family the graces and gifts that the whole church family possesses. It's it's absolutely impossible that everything a deacon needs to be could be found in one person. I think it's absolutely impossible. So, in the same way that an elder, you know, Ephesians 4 is meant to, through his ministry, um, equip the saints for works of service, I think it's by good and necessary consequence a deacon through his ministry must equip the saints for the works of service. So uh I'm sort of evading your question, because I'm not totally sure I know the answer, but at very least, the deacon has got to be thinking, right, there is a need for the financial good governance of this church. I may not be great at uh sage accounting software and Excel spreadsheets, but I know a man or woman who is right. Okay, I am going to help deploy them. So I I think that is a really integral part of the deacon knowing the church family, not just the needs, but also the graces and the gifts that are already there. Uh Matt and Chris are gonna perhaps answer the question better.

SPEAKER_02 33:56

I was only gonna suggest, rather than thinking about competences, is it helpful instead to think about giftings? So 1 Corinthians 12, everyone's giving gifts for the common good of the body. And so what we're doing in appointing deacons, yes, we're looking we're looking to character, but actually we we won't we will want to look for what are the particular giftings that the Lord has given that person for the common good given the role that thinking how to do the body.

SPEAKER_00 34:55

That's really helpful, thank you. Shall I pray? And then um, yeah, uh, we ought to stop. Uh, Father in heaven, you have given much to us uh as a church, and we bless you for that. Um, you know what uh tomorrow brings. We long for increasing healthiness and effectiveness in being the kind of household of yours that pleases you, uh, in being a pillar and a buttress of the truth in a world that is full of uh lies and grief and sin. We pray for this particular matter before us. We pray for an understanding, a deep understanding of your vision for church life and church leadership. We pray for your provision of the right men to uh lead in this way. Help us, we pray. Uh in Jesus' name. Amen. Please uh do ask questions, make suggestions, uh gratefully received. Thank you.