Deacons: Qualified, Pt. 2

May 17, 2015 

Deacons:  Unqualified, Pt. 2   NOTES NOT EDITED

1Timothy 3:18-12

SIS—Deacons must be qualified, but that doesn’t mean they must be perfect.

The most coveted shot in golf is the “hole-in-one.”  Hitting a hole-in-one is extremely rare.  For an amateur golfer, according to the National Hole In One Association (yes, they actually study this stuff), the odds for an amateur golfer are 12,500 to one.  There are an estimated 490 million rounds of golf played each year.  Assuming each of these rounds completes 18 holes, that is 8,820,000,000 opportunities for a hole in one.  In almost nine “billion” attempts, there are only 150,000 holes in one!  For a professional golfer the odds are five times better at 2500 to 1.  Tiger Woods has defied the odds in golf, as well as life, in many ways.  He has actually had 18 holes in one in his pro career, crushing the odds.  But, Tiger was destined to crush the odds having sunk his first hole in one at the age of six!

Most golfers, including many pros, will never hit a hole in one in their lifetime.  Yet, these same golfers can be considered “extremely qualified” participants in the sport.  The same goes for any sport.  In football not every run is a touchdown.  In soccer not every kick is a goal.  In baseball not every swing is a hit.  Each sport has a “goal” of some sort—a bull’s eye if you will.  However, one does not have to hit the bull’s eye every time to be qualified in one’s sport.

Let me move us to the realm of the spirit in regard to “hitting the bull’s eye,” specifically as it applies to the qualifications of a deacon.  1Timothy 3:8-12 gives us qualifications for deacons.  These qualifications are targets.  One should shoot for the bull’s eye, but one need not hit it exactly to be qualified as a deacon.  These are goals.  In fact, in each of the areas of qualifications for the office of a deacon, there will always be room for improvement.  In fact, if someone feels they qualify perfectly according to each of the specific goals we will study this morning, that is probably a good indication they are “NOT”

qualified to serve as a deacon.  In reality, that may be the only “disqualifying” characteristic.

Let’s read in regard to the qualifications—the goals—for serving as a deacon.  1Timothy 3:8-12.

1.  Personal Issues (8-9)

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.

Let me say a word about the word, “likewise,” as an introduction to character goals.  This adverb serves to connect the qualifications with the qualifications for an “overseer or bishop” (episkopos) in verses 1-7.  You will notice that the qualifications for a pastor (elder, bishop) and a deacon are almost identical, but phrased in slightly different language.  As I have stated before, it would not be far off the mark to call deacons, “assistant pastors,” for their primary calling as we detailed from Acts 6 is to “assist the pastors.” The word, “likewise,” both distinguishes deacons from, and compares them to “overseers (pastors, elders).  Deacons should be held to same high standards as pastors.  The difference is not in personal value, esteem, power or any other extraneous measure, but the difference is in function.  Notice our banner in regard to deacons:  “Following to Lead—Leading to Serve.”  The deacons are to follow the lead of the pastors (bishops, elders) in order to lead the congregation “by service into service.”  The deacon is not a “lower office” in the church, but a “different office.”  The deacon is not to “Lead the Pastor,” but “Follow the Pastor to Lead the People.”  They must be persons of extremely high character to assume this high calling.  Notice when Paul addresses the leadership of the church in Philippi he begins his letter (Phil. 1:1):

Paul  and Timothy, slaves of Christ Jesus: To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi,  including the overseers  and deacons.

So, we must be balanced in our approach to the qualifications of the deacons.  They do not have to hit the bull’s eye, but they cannot completely miss the target.

(1)  First of all our text says that deacons should shoot for the goal of being “worthy of respect” (8a).  Talk about setting the “bar high!”  This word (semnos) first appears in classical Greek as a reference to an “attribute of the gods.”  It referred to something “august,” as in Augustus Caesar, who was considered a god.  It was used in reference to the “head of Zeus.”  The word describes “majesty, greatness, a royal throne, something splendid, or magnificent.”  Other Bibles translate “worthy of respect” as “dignified (NET, ESV)” or “grave (KJV).”  This word serves as the foundation for everything that will follow.  It is an all-encompassing description that shows the seriousness and gravity of the office of a deacon.  It should not be taken lightly.  This highly positive goal will be further qualified by three negative traits.  Each one shows highlights the need for “self-control, and self-discipline.”

(2)  not hypocritical (8b).  A deacon must control his tongue.  The word hypocritical literally means, “double-tongued, (dilogos)” as we see for example in the English Standard Version (ESV).  It refers to being “insincere.”  It includes gossiping or spreading  bad report among the brethren.  It refers to manipulating others with one’s speech, either by saying the wrong thing or even saying the right thing at the wrong time, when it will serve an evil purpose.  This has done more harm to the cause of Christ than nearly anything I can think of in my nearly 40 years of ministry.  James also gives a warning about the danger of not controlling one’s tongue:

There is a persistent myth that the tongue is the strongest muscle in the body.  This myth has some basis in fact.  Maureen Stone, of the University of Maryland School of Dentistry, speculates that the myth of the tongue’s strength arose from its amazing stamina. “When’s the last time your tongue was tired?” she asks. “If you don’t have any disorders, the answer is probably never.” Stone says the tongue’s tenacity springs from the way it is built—with lots of similar bits of muscle that can each perform the same task. “It doesn’t fatigue,” she says, “because there’s a lot of redundancy in the muscle architecture. You simply activate different muscle fibers and get the same result.”

The tongue is, indeed, a powerful muscle.  It can do much good like help us eat or help us sing.  James also tells us it can do much damage (Jam. 3:5):  ⁶ And the tongue is a fire. The tongue, a world of unrighteousness, is placed among the parts of our bodies. It pollutes the whole body,  sets the course of life on fire, and is set on fire by hell.  A deacon must control his tongue.

(3)  not drinking a lot of wine (8c).  The question comes up all the time, not just in regard to deacon qualifications, but in regard to Christians in general:  does the Bible say that a Christian cannot drink any alcohol?  The short answer is:  no.  The Bible does not contain any verse that says that a follower of God cannot drink any alcohol.  The Bible does have a verse that says this:

^{1Thess. 5:22} Stay away  from every kind of evil.

The KJV gives a fuller expression of the phrase “every kind of evil,” as “all appearance of evil.”  The word, translated “kind” (HCSB) and “appearance” (KJV), comes from the word meaning “what is visible (eidōs).” The inference is not what is the “unseen moral component” of the thing, but “how does it look to others?”  Obviously, drunkenness is condemned throughout the Bible.  But what about alcohol as a “beverage?”  Tens of thousands of lives are lost on our highways every year—year after year after year.  Lives are lost.  Families are torn apart.  Alcohol is easily abused, and commonly abused.  How many women believe that alcohol, a dark bar, and carousing ladies are a good combination for your husband? 

Here’s my take:  alcohol is associated with all kinds of societal problems and should not in any way be associated with a Christian—especially a deacon.  I’ve heard people say of my brother—in fact, my Mom said it—years of drinking killed him.  That is not true.  It was the first drink that killed him.  Without that first drink, there could have never been an addiction. 

I do not want to be associated in any way with something associated with such evil.  I don’t need alcohol as a beverage.  I can drink water or some other neutral liquid, and avoid causing anybody else any grief or causing a weaker brother to stumble (Rom. 14:21).  So, our policy as long as I am the pastor is:  Christians should abstain from drinking alcohol as a beverage—especially deacons and pastors.

(4)  not greedy for money (8d).  I guess one could ask the same question about money, one could ask about drinking:  how much is too much.  When does productivity become greed?  This word is found in writings of the first century to refer to someone who took from others even though they already had an abundance of what they took (New International Greet Testament Commentary).  In other word, according to the Bible, a person can “have too much money.”  In other words, you can earn so much money that you become “unqualified” to serve in the Kingdom of God.

So, what’s the solution:  “give it away!”  A deacon cannot be someone who is trust in the size of his bank account rather than the size of his God!

Unbridled capitalism is NOT taught in the Bible.  Republicans don’t have a corner on Biblical economic strategies, and Democrats tend too far toward socialism—which is also not taught in the Bible.  So, what is taught in the Bible?  GENEROSITY.  I really cannot say “how much money is too much,” but I can recognize generosity when I see it. 

Let me say right now:  some of you are going to die with more money in the bank than God intended you to have.  Oh, you will leave it all behind.  You WILL give every penny away after you die—but, if you get no eternal rewards for what you leave behind simply as a matter of dying.  GIVE WHILE YOU LIVE!  That’s a qualification for every Christian—and certainly for a deacon.  You must not be “controlled by acquisition.”

(5)  holding the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience (9)

Think of this as the matching book end to “worthy of respect” which we listed as the foundational qualification of a deacon.  This issue of “holding the mystery of the faith” closes the parentheses, in a manner of speaking.  On one end, “worthy of respect.”  On the other end of the shelf of qualifications, “holding the mystery of the faith.”  In between are the qualifications: “not double-tongued, not drinking, and not greedy.”  Five characteristics on the shelf of deacon service.

Recall we discussed the general characteristics of a man qualified as a deacon.  He must be a saved man, a sanctified man, a spiritual man, a sensible man, and we closed with saying a deacon must be a “a scriptural man.”  He must be a man “in full grasp of the mysteries of the faith” (v9).

That phrase, “mystery of the faith,” is, well, quite “mysterious.”  The problem is that the word is a TRANSLITERATION, not a TRANSLATION.  Remember we observed that a transliteration means we carry the Greek letters over into English letters without translating the word.  We just move the word from Greek to English.  The Greek word is, “musterion,” which becomes, “mystery” (“mu” in Greek transliterates as “my” in English).  The problem with this is that our word “mystery” refers to something, “hidden.”  The Greek word, “musterion” means exactly the opposite.  It means, “revealed” in this passage.  The translation is better rendered:  “has a firm grasp and is preserving the revealed truth of the faith.”  A deacon must be a serious student of the Bible. 

A deacon must be God-like in his character as a result of having a firm grasp of the truth of God’s Word.  If you have these two, “bookends” the other personal qualifications will fall right in line.

2.  The Practical Issue (10).  This passage only highlights one practical requirement: 

 And they must also be tested first;

if they prove blameless, then they can serve as deacons.

The word translated, “tested,” is in the passive voice.  This means it is something others do in regard to the deacon prospects.  This word also suggests a passage of time—though no exact amount of time is specified.  This will be a matter of the church when it comes time to formally ordain men who have been set aside for a time of observation.  The word suggests some type of formal, “examination.”  Traditionally, Baptists have convened “ordination counsels” consisting of formerly ordained men who ask questions in regard to a prospects doctrine, having observed his behavior over a length of time.

Another interesting point to make about this “testing” is the tense of the word, “serve,” in the phrase “then they can serve as deacons.”  The verb is a “present active imperative.”  The importance of this construction in relation to the word for “test” is that is implies a positive outcome of the test.  In other words, as I’ve said before, the purpose of God’s requirements for our lives is to qualify us for service, not disqualify us from service.  For the most part, the church has viewed this principle in reverse.  As a wise man said, “God is not looking for people who are qualified, but He is looking for people who are willing, and He will qualify them.

This test comes with a “guaranteed passing grade” if you are willing.

 3.  Family Issues (11, 12)

Aside from the “alcohol” issue, family issues have generated the most discussion among scholars.  I’m not going to drag out all the scholarly debate which often generates as many questions as answers.  I am going to tell you what I think is the clear intent of this text.  Remember:  you don’t have to hit a hole in one every time to be a good golfer.  You can make a good shot without hitting the bull’s eye.

(1)  husband of one wife (12a). 

Does this refer to polygamy?  Not likely.  Does it mean that a single person cannot serve as a deacon?  Not likely.  Does this verse specifically address a divorced man, who may or may not have remarried.  Not likely.  

Why not polygamy?  It was a lifestyle that was not practiced much in Roman culture of the First Century.  This would be a “moral” issue of disqualification more than a “marital” issue.  Why not single men?  The Bible holds celibacy for the purpose of service in high regard (eg. 1Cor. 7:8).  There is no moral fault in having never married.  It seems unlikely that this verse is speaking of any “practical” matters that might arise from a single deacon.  Why is it not about divorce?  I say it is not likely that “divorce, in and of itself with no other qualifications,” is what this phrase is addressing.  Wouldn’t it sound strange, based upon this passage if you take divorce as an automatic, unequivocal disqualification, that a murderer who had never been divorced would be qualified to serve?  The hard-line, common opinion that divorce is referred to here makes divorce an “unpardonable sin.”  I don’t think that is a proper way to view the idiom we see here.

The phrase is actually, “a one-woman man.”  It describes how a person “presently” (and this is key in my understanding) views the marriage vow:  “one woman and one man until death parts them.”  Divorce is an “event,” not a “condition.  Divorce happens for all manner of reasons under all manners of conditions—and all of them grieve the Spirit of God.  God hates divorce.  God does NOT hate people who have suffered a divorce—and every divorce brings suffering.

A prospective deacon must be someone who is committed to the sanctity of the marriage vow:  “what God joins together let no man put asunder.”  Remember:  divorce is an event, not a condition.

(2)  managing their households (12b).  Deacons must wear the pants in the family.  If a man is single, he must not wear women’s pants—but that’s another issue.

This passage mentions specifically the “¹¹ Wives,  too, must be worthy of respect, not slanderers, self-controlled,  faithful in everything.”  A man with and unruly, undisciplined, gossipy wife would not be qualified to serve as a deacon.  No man has time to care for and serve others if his partner in life is a continuing nightmare like someone out of a bad soap opera.  A deacon and his wife must come as a “package deal.”  A man who has a home constantly in turmoil cannot bring peace to those in need in the congregation.

Managing their children (12b).  Children are complicated machinery.  When they get into their teens, most children get possessed in one sense or another.  The Bible took a hardline against unruly youngsters, “taking them outside of the gates and stoning them to death!” (Deu. 21:18-12).  Unruly children will be the death of a nation.  There is no historical record Israel ever followed this edict, but it does stress how important it is to teach our children what it means to be obedient. 

I’m sure many of you have seen or heard by now of the Baltimore Mom who caught her teenage son at the demonstrations resulting from the police shooting of Freddie Gray.  That Momma took matters—and the head—of her son into her own hands.  [PIC].  I’ve since heard she has received numerous job offerings, people are calling for her to be nominated, “Mother of the Year.”

Well, the only thing wrong with that incident is that it should have been Dad doing the “adjustment” not Mom.  Deacons must rule there household well which includes:  a God-honoring marriage (if married) and God-honoring children.

Well, we covered a lot of ground, today.  I hope you have kept in mind that these are “targets,” or “goals,” and not marks of perfection.  For yet another message we have seen that deacons must be qualified, but that doesn’t mean they must be perfect.

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Deacons: Qualified

May 10, 2015                          Notes Not Edited

Deacons:  Unqualified

Acts 6:1-7, esp. v3

SIS—Deacons must be “qualified” but that does not mean they must be perfect.

Let me begin this morning with a quote I came across in my studies in regard to the kind of people God uses for His work.  Somebody said,This is good enough to bear repeating, “God does not call people who are qualified.  He calls people who are willing and then He qualifies them.”

This is the context in which the Bible speaks about the “qualifications” for men who would be appointed by the leadership of the church to serve as deacons.  In many discussions about seeking those to serve in this very important mission work, the perspective seems to set standards by which men who would be willing to serve in this office might be “disqualified.”  One such major criterion disqualifying a man from serving as a Baptist deacon has been the matter of divorce.  In many churches, if a man has been divorced, regardless of the past circumstances or present situation, that man is forever “disqualified” from serving as a Baptist deacon.  I will discuss this more at length in my next sermon on “Specific Qualifications.”

My purpose this morning is to show from Acts 6 and other texts the “General Qualifications” for serving as a Baptist deacon.  But, in all our discussions in regard to any qualifications we must keep the matter of “grace” foremost in the discussion.  Deacons do need to meet certain Biblical qualifications, but they need not—indeed, will not—be perfect.  The same grace that God gives to “qualify” us to become “children of God,” God gives us to become “servants of God.”  From the start of salvation in this world to the never ending finish of salvation in the next world, and ever place in between, we are a work of God’s grace.  As we quoted a moment ago, “God does not call people who are qualified; He calls people who are willing, and then, He qualifies them.”

Keeping this in mind, I can say will Biblically based confidence, that every man in here can become qualified to serve in the important position as a deacon in our church.  And, once again let me remind us, that every believer—man or woman, deacon or not—is to participate  as a diakonos, or servant, in the Kingdom of God through the Church.

Now, let us read Acts 6:3 that gives three “general qualifications” that are necessary in the life of any man who would serve as a deacon.

1.  He must first and foremost be a SAVED Man.

In verse 3, let’s examine the phase, “from among you.”  This teaches what might seem obvious:  the men to be selected to serve in the important position as “deacons” would be “saved men” from among the members of the church.  What is undoubtedly obvious is that they were to be from “among the members of the church.”  What is not obvious, however, is that this alone would guarantee they are “saved” men.  We must ask the question, “What does it mean to be saved?”

Let me begin that discussion by first stating what it “does NOT mean” to be saved.  Being saved does NOT mean, having your name on the membership role of a Church.  Being saved does not mean being a “long-time prominent” member of a church.  Being saved does not even mean being active in the ministry of the church.  It does not mean, giving significant contributions to the church.  In fact, being saved has nothing to do with the church.  Church membership only becomes important “after” a person is saved (which we will discuss a little bit later).

The fact of the matter is that many people who have their names on a church’s role, and even attend regularly becoming prominent leaders in the church, are not in fact “saved men.”  We fool ourselves and put the ministry of the church in jeopardy if we assume that church membership equals salvation.  This is what is called “salvation by works,” as opposed to salvation “by grace.”  The Bible tells us:

^{Eph. 2:8} For you are saved by grace  through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— ⁹ not from works.

The cold hard fact of church membership is this:  many people who are members of a local church are not saved.  This is such an important matter that the Bible has an entire book devoted to the issue.  In the Book of Jude we read from the NET Bible:

^1:4 For certain men have secretly slipped in among you—men who long ago were marked out for the condemnation I am about to describe—ungodly men who have turned the grace of our God into a license for evil.

No one can declare conclusively who is truly saved and who is not with absolute certainty.  However, we are not left without any measure, or test of true faith.  Here’s what Our Lord said,

^{Matt 7   15} “Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing  but inwardly are ravaging wolves.  ¹⁶ You’ll recognize them by their fruit.

While unsaved people will not necessarily all pursue the office of a prophet, all unsaved people carry the message of their master, who is the Devil.  Their roots are evil and therefore their fruit will likewise be evil. 

More than a few—in fact many—churches have been destroyed because unsaved men have become deacons in the church and assumed the power of the position with no  regard for the function.

2.  He must be a SANCTIFIED man. 

Examine the phrase, “of good reputation.”  The original word translated here is packed full of meaning.  It is related to our word, martyr.  It speaks of a depth of conviction that penetrates to the very life-force of a man; a depth of conviction that is witnessed by many.  When someone is willing to go to point of being a martyr for the faith, this man’s testimony is unquestionable.  We would say this man has a genuine “Christian testimony, or witness.” 

Being saved does not automatically mean one is sanctified, in the sense that a person gives unquestioned evidence or testimony of their Christian life.  In other words, a sanctified person’s “walk matches his or her talk.”  A sanctified man is a “separated man” who is “in the world but the world is not in him.”  Paul teaches us in 2Cor. 6:

¹⁷ Therefore, come out from among them

and be separate, says the Lord.

The word for “be separate” literally means to “amputate, or sever.”  It is very strong language to give a very strong warning that Christians must eliminate all the worldly influences that are humanly possible.  This is not done by simply eliminating worldly habits but by instituting spiritual habits.  This is a second aspect of salvation related to the first aspect of regeneration, but separate from it.  True regeneration—being saved, being born-again, becoming a follower of Christ, or however you express it in words—true regeneration is followed by measurable sanctification.  Sanctification means to be “set apart, or separated” for the exclusive use of the Lord for His purposes and glory.  Sanctification does not mean we are “removed from the world.”  Sanctification means we are “in the world but we are working to keep the world from being in us.” 

Think of your life as a follower of Jesus Christ as being like a ship in the ocean.  The ship fulfills its purpose by being in the ocean.  There is nothing wrong with the ship being in the ocean, but there is a big problem if the ocean gets into the ship.  A deacon must be a “sanctified” man separating himself from the world, while serving God in the world.

3.  He must be a SPIRITUAL man.

Verse 3 says a deacon must be, “full of the Spirit.”  It is important to explain what this means in relation to being “saved and sanctified.”  In a sense, a saved man is always a “spiritual man.”  In fact, the very essence of being saved is being “united with the Holy Spirit.”  Unless God’s Spirit has “come into” (united, transformed) a person’s spirit, that person is not saved.  Theologically, we say that the Holy Spirit is the “Agent” of salvation.  One cannot be saved unless one is filled with the Holy Spirit.  The Bible says (Romans 8:7-9),

For the mind-set of the flesh is hostile to God because it does not submit itself to God’s law, for it is unable to do so. ⁸ Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. ⁹ You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God lives in you.  But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.

Some denominations talk about getting filled with the Holy Spirit (or baptized in the Holy Spirit) as something secondary to regeneration or being born-again.  The Bible teaches that being filled with God’s Spirit IS what makes a person saved.  So, all saved people are spiritual people. 

When one begins to talk about, “sanctification,” or “being full of the Holy Spirit,” the Bible has something else in mind.  Here’s an analogy which is biblically incomplete but may be helpful.  Let me set before you an empty glass.  That glass represents an unsaved life.  Nothing is in it but emptiness (or air for those of you who suffer from scientific Obsessive Compulsive Disorder).  If I pour in water to one third of the glasses capacity, then I would say I filled the glass with with water though I did not fill it up to its full capacity.  It has water in it, and the content is “all” water, but it is not “full.”  If I continue to fill the cup with water it will become “full,” and if I continue even further, it will be running over.

This is what our text has in view with the phrase, “FULL of the Spirit.”  This is something of the same quality as regeneration or being “saved,” but through the process of “sanctification,” the measure of our faith becomes a matter of “fullness.”  Jesus may have been implying this very situation when He declared, and I’ll paraphrase (John 10:10):

 A thief comes only to steal  and to kill and to destroy.  I have come so that they may have life and have it “overflowing in a strangely sufficient and superfluous exaggerated manner” (fr. περισσός).

Christians should be so “full of the Spirit” that we appear as “drunken men to the world.”  Paul describes this in Ephesians 5:18:

And don’t get drunk  with wine,  which leads

to reckless actions, but be filled by the Spirit,  which can be translated, “be continually being filled with the Spirit.”  It is an

ongoing, continually intensifying experience.

A drunken person is controlled by the alcohol, and the more the fill themselves with drink, the drunker they get and the more controlled they are by the alcohol.  They no longer control their words and actions but the alcohol is in control.  Many drunks lose all fear and inhibitions.  Should they get drunk in a zoo, they have no fear or inhibition to jump the fence and go wrestle the gorillas. 

I was tempted to put a joke in here about “drunken behavior,” but theirs nothing “funny about drunkenness.”  Yet, it is a descriptive metaphor of what it means to “full of the Spirit.”  It means the Spirit is in absolute control of our words and actions and we lose all fear of the world and all inhibitions about being God’s witness to a lost and hostile world.

4.  He must be a SENSIBLE man.

Choose men not only full of the Spirit, but also full of wisdom.  This means that all deacons must be “educated” men.  That education, however, need not be limited to only the hallowed halls of institutions of higher learning, but can (and must) include the wisdom that can only come from the “School of hard knocks.”  The word, wisdom, comes from the Greek word, sophia, which you will recognize in our word, philosophy, which means, “the love of wisdom.”  Originally the idea of wisdom was more closely related to the idea mastery in a particular skill (TDNT)—we might roughly call this, “street smarts.”  During the classical period the idea of wisdom (sophia) became more rigidly restricted to theoretical or intellectual learning.  By the time of the New Testament, these two ideas were again reunited and a “wise man” was someone of capable intelligence and proven experience. 

Recall that in our last examination of Acts 6 we learned that the primary duty of a deacon is to be a “problem solver.”  Solving problems in church, which can at times be quite complex, requires wisdom—the ability to comprehend a problem and to apply the truth of God’s Word in a strategic, sensible solution to the problem.  Now, a deacon is not expected to be able to accomplish this on his own with the help of the Holy Spirit, the brotherhood of the deacons, and the support of the pastors.  Deacons must be wise enough to collaborate with others and offer sensible insight toward a solution.  This is one reason we will see that a deacon “must also be tested first” (1Tim. 3:10).  When it comes to wisdom there is no better teacher than experience—even if that experience involves pain.  Pain seasons a man and builds wisdom.  As someone wisely said, “Whatever doesn’t kill me, makes me stronger.”  It also makes you wiser.  A deacon must be a man a SENSIBLE man, “full of wisdom.”

There is another component to “wisdom,” that is even more important than “experience.”  This gives us our fifth quality for a deacon. 

5.  He must be a SCRIPTURAL MAN. 

Think back to last week’s lesson in which we discussed the primary reason the office of deacons was established in the first place.  Verse 4 of chapter 6  says the deacons would serve as problem-solvers in order that the apostles (pastors, bishops, elders) could

⁴devote ourselves to prayer and to the preaching ministry,

and verse 7 declares,  So the preaching about God flourished, the number of the disciples in Jerusalem multiplied  greatly, and a large group of priests became obedient to the faith.

Nothing is more important in the life of any church than that every member be fully grounded in the Scriptures.  The Scriptures are the very life-line of the Church connecting us to Yahweh, Our Lord.  We cannot know anything with any degree of certainty apart from the Scriptures.  Without a solid foundation of the Scriptures, all human understanding is mere speculation.  For almost 15 centuries since the birth of philosophy at the time of Thales, and continuing to this very day, man has been searching for the “arche.”  The “arche” is the single source of being that explains everything that is, was, or ever will be.  In our day the search continues but with more scientific sophistication and a different name.  Since Einstein this search for “ultimate being,” has been called the T.O.E., which stands for the “Theory of Everything.”

In 15 centuries man’s search has turned up more questions than answers and man—unguided by Scripture and unaided by the Spirit—is no closer to discovering the Theory of Everything than was Thales in the 6^th century before Christ.  The reason is simple:  without the revelation of God in His Scripture we can know nothing that is certain.  Even with the Word of God, there remain many mysteries, but with the Word of God we know—with absolute certainty—the Theory of Everything.  Genesis 1:1 states it with profound simplicity:

In beginning, God.  Three simple words:  beresith Elohim bara.

The great theologian of our day, now gone to glory, by the name of Carl F.H. Henry, once stated:  As the late Carl F. H. Henry reminded us, “Divine revelation is the source of all truth, the truth of Christianity included; reason is the instrument for recognizing it; Scripture is its verifying principle.”

God declares the all-encompassing, foundational nature of Scripture:

^{2Tim 3:6} All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, ¹⁷ so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Man is proud and arrogant in his intellectual quest believing he is discovering the great truths autonomously, apart from God.  Yet, if God choses not to “reveal a thing,” it remains hidden in the Mind of God.  Only when God reveals a matter can man “know” anything that is more than mere speculation.  Deuteronomy 29:29 says,

²⁹ The hidden things belong to the Lord our God, but the revealed things belong to us and our children forever, so that we may follow all the words of this law.

It is absolutely imperative that a deacon be fully equipped with a continually deepening knowledge and devotion to the Word of God.  Deacons must be Scriptural men, or the church will be as Jesus spoke of the religious leaders of His day, “the blind leading the blind” (Mt. 15:14).

All of Christ’s followers must be SAVED people, SANCTIFIED people, SPIRITUAL people, SENSIBLE people, and SCRIPTURAL people—but the deacons must exhibit these qualities in even greater measure.

Deacons must be qualified, but that does not mean the must be—or even can be, perfect. 

As we have already heard from a wise man, “God does not call those who are qualified, but those who are willing; and then, he qualifies them.”

Is God calling you to be a deacon?  Are you willing?

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^* Special thanks to sermonnotebook.org for insight into this passage