WHAT IS A DEACON?
I. HOW DEACONS BEHAVE
II: WHAT DEACONS BELIEVE
III: WHO DEACONS OBSERVE
This is important because of 1 Timothy 3:14–15
I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so
that, 15 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.
PART1: HOW DEACONS
BEHAVE:
DEACONS MUST
- be
dignified
- not
be double-tongued
- not
be addicted to much wine
- not
be greedy for dishonest gain (all from v8)
- hold
the mystery of the faith w/a clear conscience (skip this one -v9- for now)
- be tested first (begins w/v10)
- be
proved blameless (after this one from v10; skip v11 for now, go to v12)
- be
the husband of one wife (begins v12)
- manage
children/household well (ends w v12, now
go to v11 on women)
GYNAIKAS (root: gyne) HOSAUTOS:
ESV: their wives likewise must (NIV is similar) –OR-
HCSB: Wives, too (also check the footnotes!) –OR-
NASB: women must likewise be (NRSV is similar)
NOTES:
examples from early church history: Apostolic Constitutions, letter of Pliny
the Younger, etc.
emphasis is on the service not so much the title and either way these are women
serving in ministry
Why couldn’t it mean the deacons wives and the women who assist the deacons and female deacons?
Especially when Romans 16:1-2 seems to indicate Phoebe may have been a deacon?
Romans 16:1–2 (ESV) I
commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at Cenchreae, 2
that you may welcome her in the
Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and help her in whatever she may need from
you, for she has been a patron of many and of myself as well.
(NIV, NLT and NRSV have deacon. ESV, NASB, and others have servant. Diakonos is the root word)
THE WOMEN [DEACONS] MUST (all from v.11):
- be
dignified
- not
be slanderers
- be
sober-minded
- be
faithful in all things
PART II: WHAT DEACONS BELIEVE (from verse 9)
•
DEACONS MUST: hold the mystery of the faith
w/a clear conscience
THE MYSTERY OF GODLINESS (from verse 15):
- he
was manifested in the flesh
- vindicated
by the Spirit
- seen
by angels
- proclaimed
among the nations
- believed
on in the world
- taken
up in glory
Those who serve well as deacons gain:
•
a good standing for themselves and
•
great confidence in the faith that is in
Christ Jesus
BUT WHAT DO DEACONS ACTUALLY DO?
See Acts 6:1–7 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. 2 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. 3 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. 4 But we will devote ourselves to
prayer and to the ministry of the word.” 5 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 Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus,
a proselyte of Antioch. 6 These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid
their hands on them. 7 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.
PART III: WHO DEACONS OBSERVE
•
Matthew 20:26–28
•
Mark 10:43–45
•
Luke 22:26–27
•
John 13:15–17
•
Philippians 2:1-11
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