Faithful Leadership Pt 1

And they take it especially into Muslim countries where they don't always have the Word of God. So he always has some fascinating stories to tell us about what God's doing through the Jesus Film. So he's going to be coming this Wednesday. He's going to be coming this Wednesday night at 7 to share with us about all of the things that are going on with that. So come join us for that.

And then just a reminder that summer camp is coming up for the kids. And so if you are interested in that for your kids, there's a QR code right here. And if you're really good with your phone, you can scan that QR code. And it'll take you to the website. And you can do all the things that you need to to sign up. Also, we're going to be doing a little fundraiser next week for camp.

There's going to be a breakfast that they're going to be putting on. So come eat a little food, drop a little money in there, and support some kids that want to go to camp. So those are the things that are going on. If you would make sure that your mobile device is silenced. And for our responsive reading this morning, we are going to be in Psalm 138. 138. Looking at the New American Standard this morning so that hopefully we sound the same.

If you need a copy, there should be one around you. And as you're turning to Psalm 138, if you are able, please stand in the honor of the reading of God's Word.

I will read the odd verses if you will follow along with Pastor Allen. And the even verses. Psalm 138. A Psalm of David. I will give you thanks with all my heart. I will sing praises to you before the gods. I will bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your loving kindness and your truth. For you have magnified your word according to all your name.

On the day I called, you answered me. You made me bold with strength in my soul. All the kings of the earth will give thanks to you, O Lord, when they have heard the words of your mouth. And they will sing of the ways of the Lord, for great is the glory of the Lord. For though the Lord is exalted, yet he regards the lowly, but the haughty he knows from afar.

Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you will revive me. You will stretch forth your hand against me. You will cleanse the wrath of my enemies, and your right hand will save me. The Lord will accomplish what concerns me. Your loving kindness, O Lord, is everlasting. Do not forsake the works of your hands. And Father, we come before you, and I just thank you for the truth of that verse in verse 8, that you will accomplish what concerns me.

Lord, if it's on my mind, if it's on my heart, then you care. And so, Lord, I praise you for that. And so, Father, as we spend time in your word now, I just ask that your Holy Spirit would illuminate us. Father, I pray that our hearts would be open to what you have for us this morning. I pray that if we need to be corrected, that our hearts would be open to correcting.

Lord, if we need to be convicted, that our hearts would be open to conviction. If it's comfort, Lord, then let our hearts be open to the comfort of the Holy Spirit. And Lord, in all things instruction, Lord, give us a heart to be instructed by you. And so, Father, move in us as you see fit, in Jesus' name, amen. You may be seated. And if you would, open up in your body.

Holy Spirit, let us be open to writing. Help us through the burden and the death that you have begun and is upon us. If you need to tell us how you will tell us where the works of the world end. Teach us the Estados, wathe places. Help us to be open toair to God, which He will grant. And Lord, if it's on your heart, then you are looking at the good. And Lord, if it's on your heart, then you are looking at the good.

really taught about faithful leadership. And so within that aspect of faithful leadership, what Paul has done is he's given instructions and qualifications for, first of all, elders or the spiritual overseers of the church. And today we will discuss the qualifications for a deacon, the one who handles the physical needs of the church. So we pick up in verse 8 of chapter 3, and this is what it says.

Deacons must be husbands of only one wife and good managers of their children and their households. For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a high standing and great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus. I'm writing these things to you, hoping to come to you before long. But in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the church.

Of truth. By common confession, great is the mystery of godliness. He who was revealed in the flesh, was vindicated in the spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, and taken up in glory. And so as we look at this last half where he's going to deal with deacons, there's three things he's going to do. He's going to tell us about

the role of the deacon. He's going to tell us about the qualifications of a deacon. And then the third thing he's going to do is he's really going to overarchingly tell us about the purpose of his writing. So let's first of all talk about the role of the deacon. And even before we get into the scripture, I would like to direct your attention to something. A deacon and an elder,

which is who we discussed last week, serve two different roles within the church. As we said last week, the elder's role is the spiritual oversight of the church, which is why it's necessary for the elder to be able to teach. A deacon has more of the physical oversight of the church. And while they're two different roles, one is not more important than the other. They just

bear different responsibilities. To inform our idea of a deacon, I think the best place to look is in Acts chapter 6, verses 1 through 6. You don't necessarily need to turn there, but in the margin of your Bible, you might write Acts 6, 1 through 6 next to deacons there. Because that really gives us our first biblical idea of what a deacon is supposed to look like. You see, the early church had begun, and lots of

people were getting saved. And a lot of them were kind of bringing all of their goods together and sharing their goods with each other. And there was a distribution among particularly the widows. They were caring for the elderly and giving them food. Well, there was two different groups kind of within the church at that point in time. There was the more conservative Jewish people that had

come to faith in Christ, and there was the more liberal Jewish people that had come to faith in Christ. The liberal Jewish people were known as Hellenists. In other words, they were okay with the Greek culture and also the Jewish culture. Well, the Hellenists began to complain because they said that they were being ignored in the daily distribution of the gospel. And they were

of the food. And can I just tell you right now that there's always going to be someone, and if it's you, I'm sorry, there's always going to be someone who complains that they're the one that's being overlooked. And you just have to know that that's why we have to continue to add things like deacons and elders and things like that. Because when we know that there's a need, we can then meet the need. And so they felt like they were being overlooked in the daily distribution.

And so the disciples, the apostles, the elders, if you will, got together and they prayed and they sought the Lord. And they said, it's not good that we should leave the preaching of the word to go and serve tables. Not because they were above it, but because they had a different role that they needed to play. So they said, let's choose some men who are full of the spirit, who are full of wisdom, and who have a good reputation among men. And let's put them

in charge of the daily distribution. And then it says, we will continue to devote ourselves to prayer in the word. In other words, we'll continue filling the role of an elder. The deacons can fulfill the role of the daily distribution or the physical needs of the body. And so that informs our idea of what a deacon is supposed to look like. But it's interesting because if in this

particular context, in 1 Timothy chapter 3, you look at the word deacon, in the Greek, the word is actually translated servant. Well, I have a word study, so I was able to click on search for other times when this word servant or deacon is used in scripture. Well, there's another really prominent place in scripture where the word deacon is used or the word servant is used. So again, in the margin of your Bible, you might write Mark chapter 10, verse 45, because in Mark chapter 10, verse 45, Jesus gives the statement about servanthood. He said, even the son of man

came not to be served, but to serve, to be a deacon, and to give his life as a ransom for many. That's the same Greek word for serve there that we have for deacon. So when we understand what that is biblically, as far as Acts chapter 6 is concerned, and what the word means as far as Mark chapter 10 is concerned, we realize that what's being described here is simply a servant, a servant who fulfills some sort of a role physically within the church. And so as he does this, he's now going to give us some qualifications. And of course, like Paul is

really good at doing, he gives us a list. And as we look at this list, there's 13 things that we're going to look at. Now, if you have your notes from last week, you realize that's two fewer things than last week. That means you're going to get out of here early, right? It's going to be beautiful. And some of them even kind of overlap. So 13 things that are qualifications for a deacon. Number one, a deacon must be dignified.

A deacon must be dignified. The idea behind the word dignified is reverent or worthy of respect. Reverent or worthy of respect. David Guzik, in his commentary, put it this way. He said, someone who has proper respect towards God and towards man. And from some different things that I read, I sort of put together a little bit of an idea. I read a book called The Deacon's

Idea of What This Means, and I put it into two words. To be dignified means, first of all, to be respectful. Second of all, it means to be respectable. The idea of being respectful is that you show respect to people that are around you. I actually think this is missing a lot in our culture right now. We just don't show people respect anymore, especially if we disagree with

them. Or they have some different political ideas than we do, or some different moral ideas than we do, or things like that. And it's really hard to be respectful. And when somebody disagrees with us, we are given this automatic license to treat them however we want to, however much garbage we want to, because they disagree with us. And it's like, well, that's not what's supposed to happen. You

still treat them with respect, right? I don't care what their political belief is. I don't care what their moral belief is. They've still been created in the image of God, and they still have a free moral agency, and so I need to treat them with respect. So that's the first aspect of it, is that if I'm to be dignified, it means I treat other people with respect. But the second part of it

is that I act respectable, that I act like someone who is worthy of respect. And I treat other people worthy of respect, that my life is something that someone can look at and people can look up to, right? My favorite thing that I read in my entire study, perhaps this week, came out of Bible knowledge commentary, because when it was talking about being respectful and reverent, it literally said, you can't be a clown. And I was like, I don't know if that meant like you can't have the office of a clown, like office of a clown? I don't know. We had a clown in office. That's not the

word. I mean, respectful. Someone needs to rebuke me later. I forgot what I was saying now. Oh, yeah, a clown. It doesn't mean that you can't have the job of a clown. It means you can't act like a clown, right? And I love that. Bible knowledge, that's a direct quote from Bible knowledge commentary. And I appreciate that, because it means you got to act like a respectable human being.

You have to be someone that people can look up to. You can't act like an idiot all the time. That's my own word that I like to use. And so, if you want to be a deacon, number one, you have to be a deacon. Number two, not double-tongued. Not double-tongued. In other words, you must speak the truth. You must speak the truth. And you can have no intent to deceive. No intent to deceive.

And isn't it funny how when we're in church, we're all telling the truth, right? I mean, we're going to be honest people until somebody asks us a question we have to be honest about, right? And then that's when the deceit begins. Or unless you need to get a deal on something somewhere, right? My youngest daughter went to the movies the other day. And there's some sort of a rule there. I don't know. I don't go to the movies very much. There's

some sort of a rule at the movie theater where after a certain time of night, you cannot attend a movie without a parent if you're under the age of 16. I don't fully know this rule, so don't start shooting things at me. I don't know what it means. It's just, I just know we got a call from her. It's like, hey, we can't go to the movie because we're under 16. And in your mind,

you're like, so could you convince them that you're not under? You're 16. It's like, well, you can't do that, right? It's kind of like when your kid gets to be over 12, right? And they no longer get the 12 and under thing. And you're like, they're like literally 48 hours past being 12. Do they really look? No, you can't be that way, right? You got to be honest

in everything, even if it means you're not going to get the deal. Even if you could get away with it. The idea is you're above reproach in this. Because listen, if people can't trust you in the small things of life, they'll never trust you about the word. If people can't trust you in the small things in life, they'll never trust when you're really giving them the word. And that's

your opinion. And you're saying, no, this is really how I feel. Because in the back of their mind, they'll always go, but you don't ever tell the truth. Or sometimes you're dishonest. That's why there has to be an aspect of honesty across our lives altogether. And truthfully, can we just really be clear about this and say that sometimes honesty just means you have to be transparent.

You have to be willing to be transparent with people. And that's a really hard thing to do. You see, that's when we lie in church, right? Like we lie in church when somebody comes up to us and says, how are you doing? And we say, pretty good. When really, you just had the crappiest week you could have ever imagined. But you don't want to be the one who's the one who's the one who's the

to know that. You're depressed beyond anything you can imagine, but you don't want to tell anybody that. You're struggling with sin that you can't even imagine, but you don't want to let anybody else in on that. And we kind of lie about it, right? We're like, you can't be double-tongued. You have to be honest in things. You got to know who your people who you can be honest with that

stuff is. But you do need to be, there does have to be an aspect of transparency. So number one, dignified. Number two, not double-tongued. Number three, not addicted to much wine. And you guys heard me talk about this last week. I'm not addicted to much wine. I'm not addicted to much wine. So I'm not going to go over this again. You know my feelings on this, because I feel like alcohol

will always create an issue, especially for anybody in leadership. But go back and listen to last week's about that. I go into it in a lot more detail. Number four, not fond of sordid gain. Not fond of sordid gain. Again, quick show of hands, who's ever used the word sordid gain in a sentence? I didn't think so. Not greedy for gain. That's the idea of that, right? Especially

in a dishonest sort of way. In other words, not greedy for gain. That's the idea of that. Somebody who has financial integrity. I did hit on this last week, and I am going to hit on this again this week, because in my mind, I remembered something. And that's that I remember when I was a little kid, there was someone in leadership here. I'll leave them unnamed. But they had to

stand up in front of the church and say, I have to step down from leadership because I had a lack of financial integrity in my life. And that has always stuck with me. And probably 98% of the people in this church don't even remember this happening. But I remember that happening and remembering, thinking, wow, financial integrity is really important. And I remember that happening.

Because this guy wasn't living that life. And he had to step down because of it. It's just an issue in our culture. Continues to be an issue in our culture. And it should not be an issue in the church. Number five, they have to uphold and understand true doctrine. Uphold and understand true doctrine. Let me read this to you out of the New American Standard,

and you'll explain why I made it a little bit shorter.

The faith with a clear conscience. Aren't you glad I gave you the shorter one to write down? They have to uphold and understand true doctrine. What does that mean? Well, first of all, it means you need to be able to understand true doctrine. Sometimes we think, oh, I'm just going to be the hands and feet of Jesus. I don't really need to know a whole lot of things. I'm just going to be

the guy that serves the tables or works on the cars for people or fixes the air conditioner. I'm going to do those sorts of things. Theology doesn't play into that at all. Really? Because I believe that theology informs our activity. Theology always informs our activity. In other words, what you know about God and his word informs how you live your everyday life, even in the small things. I was doing premarital counseling

the other day, and I always show them, and I've told you this lots of times, I always show them the biblical love triangle, right? You know what I'm talking about? So in the love triangle, you've got God up here at the top, and you've got your two names down here at the bottom. And the closer you get to God, automatically, the closer you get to each other, right? That's some free marriage

advice for someone out there today. But that's just, that's the way that it is. And the guy was sitting there, and he goes, okay, so how does that work in everyday life, like in my job? And I was like, ooh, that's a really good question. I said, you see, in your job, you're now held to a higher standard, because in your job, you're no longer accountable to the people that you work for. You're accountable to

the God that you serve. And people are going to be mad. People are going to be nasty. People are going to be mean. And you can let all that go, because you're not working for them. You're not working for them. You're working for God. I said, you see, I had to learn a long time ago as a pastor, still in the process of learning it, that my job is not to serve people. And you're probably

like, yes, it is. That's your job as a pastor. No, my job is to serve God. You guys are who he has me serving right now. But ultimately, my job is to serve God. And if you don't like the way that I'm doing my job, you'll have to talk to my boss about it, right? Because all of a sudden, now I'm held to a higher standard. It means criticism is a lot easier to deal with, but it also means I hold

myself to a higher standard. And I'm held to a higher standard. And I'm held to a higher standard. You see, that's how theology informs your activity. That's why if you're going to be a deacon, if you're going to be somebody who's used in that sort of way, you need to understand the truth. You need to be able to live according to the truth, but then you need to uphold the truth

with a clear conscience. In other words, adhere to proper doctrine out of sincere conviction. Let me put it to you in really simple words. Live what you believe. You need to live what you believe. Understanding that you need to live what you believe. You need to live what you believe. You need to live a life of behavior that is consistent with spiritual maturity. A life that

is consistent with spiritual maturity. And I'm reminded that this is the second week now that I've brought up this really fun word, maturity, because that's what we are to grow into. We are to grow into maturity as believers in Jesus Christ. Not just remain like we are right now. Not just stay where you are, but maturity is what we're looking for. Ultimately, we're looking for

disciples, right? That's the key here, is that you want to become a disciple of Jesus Christ. See, the only way that you can uphold and understand true doctrine is if you live it out and if you study it for yourself, if you become a disciple of Jesus Christ. I shared this with First Service, but you know, there's just beautiful stuff going on all over the world. I just keep

getting more and more videos and pictures and stories about another mass baptism taking place. And all this cool stuff. And as excited as I am about it, and I am, I think you know that about me by now, I also have a concern in the back of my mind. You know what the concern I have in the back of my mind is? Is that we're going to create a bunch of converts, but we won't create any

disciples. Is that we'll create a bunch of people that can say they got baptized, but they never truly became disciples of Jesus Christ. I had a beautiful opportunity. We've had a group of Cali College kids that have been coming here, and they've all gone home for a break, but I got to baptize them. I had a beautiful opportunity. I had a group of Cali College kids that have been

coming here, and they've all gone home for a break, but I had a beautiful opportunity. I had a three of them because they were leaving, and they were like, we want you to baptize us before we go back home. And so I got to baptize these girls, and I told them, I said, listen, you need to realize something. This, what's happening now, this is just the beginning. This is the beginning

of your journey. Don't let this be the only thing that you talk about, because now you need to move on. Now you need to grow. Now you need to become a disciple of Jesus Christ. And I gave them all churches to go to when they go back home, because I want them to grow in Jesus. And I want them to become disciples. And that's my biggest concern. I want them to grow in Jesus. And I want them to

become disciples. And that's my biggest concern right now, is that there'll just be a bunch of converts, but not really any disciples. And if that's a problem in the congregation of the church, then it would really be a problem in the leadership of the church. You see, I believe that the church overall in the United States of America today has a problem. We have a bunch of people that will

sign a doctrinal statement, but they're not disciples. And because they're not disciples, they're not making disciples. And that's what we have to be aware of. That's why you, if you're going to be a deacon, even the person being the hands and feet of Jesus, you have to uphold and understand true doctrine. Number six, they must be tested. They must be tested.

The idea is closely examined, put to test for the purpose of being approved. Closely examined and put to test for the purpose of being approved. Fellas, we do this all the time, right? Follow me here. You put something in the back of your truck, you strap that thing down. What's the first thing that you do? After you click it one or two extra clicks, you set that

ratchet strap down. What's the first thing you do? You shake it and you go, that's not going anywhere, right? You tested it to approve. Every guy in here is just like, I don't do that. Yes, you do. Every single one of us does. It's a rite of passage for a man. And we test it because we want to approve it, right? We want to know it's real. We want to know it's true. We want to know

it's going to hold. Well, that's the way our lives should be. They should be tested. David Guzik, again, in his commentary said this. He said, they are to be recognized. In other words, we will watch your life first. And you just need to know that. That's kind of the way we do things here is we watch people. I watch people all the time. It actually gets me in trouble. I've shared this before. I get the freak stare going. I don't

mean to. But when I don't get the freak stare going, I'm just watching. I'm watching people and I'm watching what they do. I'm watching how they interact with other people. I'm watching how you handle difficulties. I'm watching how you handle your kids and all those kinds of things. The reason why I'm watching is because I see leadership in their life. And so we're going to put them into the place that they're

already fulfilling in their life. That's the idea of being tested. And then once they're tested, they can be made a leader. And then the next thing he says, number seven, is they must be beyond reproach. Again, we talked about this last week. The idea is without blame or nothing can stick to you. It doesn't mean that you're perfect. It means that you keep your accounts with each other short.

You deal with issues when they come up and you keep your accounts with God short. When there's sin in your life, you deal with it quickly so that nothing can hold on to you. That's the idea of being beyond reproach. Now, as we come to number eight, something kind of interesting happens. I want you to look at verse 11. Let's look at this again. It says, Women must likewise be dignified, not malicious gossips, but temperate, faithful in all things.

Now, in the verse 11, it says, If you're reading the old King James, it says wives. And I think the new King James even says wives. I do not remember what the NIV said on this one. But I think the ESV said women. So it's translated kind of both ways. And if you look at the word in the Greek, the word can mean just women or it can speak to wives. And so it has created some debate as to who he is actually

addressing here. Is he talking to the wives of these potential deacons? Or is he talking to women who will eventually fulfill a role of a deaconess? Now, my personal opinion is that God can use women in this role 100%. I have no problem with this. I've shared that with you before. We see it scripturally in the New Testament where women are put in a position of being a deaconess. They're

fulfilling this role within the church. But I read several different commentaries on this. And on one side, you have people saying, oh, it's only wives. It speaks to wives. The context says it has to be. This is talking about the deaconess. This is talking about the deaconess. This is talking about the wives of the deacons. And then on the other side of the context, it's like, no, it's speaking

to women. It can't mean the wives. He's talking about women that fulfill this role. And you know how I always feel about this. I always feel like if you can stand that strongly one direction or the other, there's probably a good biblical balance on it. And maybe we can say he's talking to both because I don't think any of us have an issue. I don't have. I don't think scripture has,

based on what we read in it, an issue with women being deacons, right? And so I think he could be addressing that. But I also think we have to address that. And so I think he could be addressing that. But I also think he could be addressing that. And so I think he could be addressing that. And so I think he could be addressing that. And so I think he could be addressing

to understand that a wife can disqualify a husband from a role in ministry. I wholeheartedly believe that. You know why? Because the husband could be a wonderful man of God who loves the Lord and wants to follow the Lord. But if his wife can't keep her mouth shut, then you have a problem. If his wife doesn't know how to stop causing controversy, you have a problem. And it

disqualifies the husband because you can't trust what the wife is going to do. Therefore, we can't put the husband in the ministry. And so I think it's important to understand that. And I think you can throw rocks at me later. I'm pretty good at dodging things. But that's what I feel like he says here. And so let's look at, there's about four things he mentions for women. And I put them

within the same list. But these things are really important. The first thing he says to women is that they must be dignified. They must be dignified. Same thing he told the men. The idea of dignified, again, is respectable and respectful. And I think that this is really important because I've lived around a lot of women in my life. And you know who shows women

the most disrespect? Other women. I watch it happen all the time. I watch it happen with the things they say about each other. I watch it happen with the things they say to each other. And it's kind of amazing to me what can happen and how non-dignified some women can live and not live a respectable life. Listen, I'm not going to let guys out too easy on this because we can be a bunch of

cheerleaders too, but the fact of the matter is this can be a real issue. The second thing that he says about women is that they are to not be slanderers. I actually prefer the New American Standard translation of this, so let me read it to you. It says, women must likewise be dignified and not malicious gossips. Is there any uglier word in this entire section of scripture than the phrase malicious gossips? The idea is to slander

women. Slander someone. The idea, the word can actually also be translated a devil, right? Don't be a devil because you know who slanders more than anyone? The devil does. And again, friends, I work around enough ladies to know I see this happen sometimes. The person that you don't really like all that much or the person that you're beefing with at that point in time does something you don't like

and you make sure everybody in the world knows what they did. You make sure everybody in the world knows what they did. This is why if you're going to be a woman in ministry or you're going to be the wife of a husband in ministry, you have to understand you can't be someone who slanders. Because if you're going to be in a position where people are going to come to you with the needs that they have, they have to know they can trust you with the needs that they have. And they have

to know that when it's told to you, it stops with you and it doesn't go to everybody else in the church. Or if it goes to your husband, it stops at your husband, it doesn't go to everybody else in the church. Because that's called malicious gossip. And listen, you want to destroy a church in about five minutes, let this run rampant through a church. And I promise you beyond a shadow of a doubt, it will destroy a church and a lot of lives

in its wake. He says, number one, he says, first of all, they're not supposed to, they're supposed to be beyond reproach. Second, or dignified. Second of all, they're not supposed to slander. Number three, the next thing he says that they're to be temperate. The idea behind temperate is calm and circumspect. In other words, not ruled by emotion. Not ruled by emotion. And then the last thing that he says is faithful in all things. Faithful

in all things. The idea behind the word faithful is simply trustworthy. I can trust you. Other people can trust you. I'm here to tell you right now, I am so thankful for my wife because of how faithful and trustworthy she is for me. Because sometimes I have to, sometimes I have to have somebody to talk to as well. For me, that's my wife. And I know beyond a shadow of a doubt, everything stays with her. I know it

because I've watched it happen for 23 years. And she is faithful and trustworthy. And I praise God for her. And that's what God is calling you ladies to be. Well, we now return back to the men, I know because of what he says next. The husband of one wife. I suppose we could put this gender neutral and say you must only have one spouse. But the idea is definitely only one spouse. And I know I

said on this last week, but since it's come up again, it does seem really important, especially in the culture that we live in. The idea of a husband of one wife is a one woman sort of man. And fellas, again, I'm going to talk to you for just a minute. You just get the one, right? Focus on the one. Focus on the one that God has given you. Pour your time, your effort, your energy,

your affection, your attention into the one. Because I'm here to tell you right now, if your marriage relationship isn't right, you will never be able to serve that person. And I'm here to tell you right now, if your marriage relationship isn't right, you will never be able to serve that person. The way that God calls for you to serve. Because that's the most important relationship that you

have next to Jesus Christ. I've shared it with you before. I'll share it with you again. My girls have come to me before and said, Daddy, a long time ago, Daddy, do you love, do you love us more than Mom? And I'm like, nope, I love you different than Mom. But I definitely, Mom has to come first in my life. Okay, I'll take that. Do you love Jesus more than Mom? Yes, I love Jesus more than Mom.

Does Mom know? I'm like, yes, Mom knows. Because she knows that that's, that's best. And if I love Jesus first, and I love my wife second, everything else is going to take care of itself. Because I have to be a one woman sort of man. And then last of all, he says you should be good managers of kids and house. Deacons must be good managers of their children and their own households. Because

as it is with elders, if you can't manage your own house, you can't manage your own family. You can't manage God's house. If you can't manage things in your own life, you can't manage things for God. You have to be faithful in the small things. I'm going to tell you this right now, especially you young people that are in here, be faithful in the small things. Start with the small

stuff, right? Go to class when you have class. I know that that just finished for most of you. Go to class when you have class. Do homework when you have homework. Do the things that your parents tell you how to do. Because if you can't learn to be faithful in the small things, God will never bless you with big things. If you can't learn to be faithful in the small things, God will never

bless you with big things. If you can't learn to be faithful in that, you'll never learn to be faithful in anything else. And for those of us that are adults, be faithful in the small things. Take care of your own house. Listen, I'm here to tell you right now, there is nothing worse than seeing the house of a believer in Jesus Christ falling apart. Maybe that's judgmental of me. I

don't know. I'm willing to be corrected on that. But it feels like you're not a good manager of your house at that point in time. If your house is falling apart, if there's maintenance that needs done and people drive by and your house is in a mess, you're not going to be able to do anything. You're not going to be able to do anything. You're not going to be able to do anything.

The yard is overgrown. The shrubs all need trimmed. Then you need to ask yourself, what are my priorities in life right now? Because God has given you something to be the steward of, and that's your home. And if you can't steward your home well, you're not going to be able to steward anything else well. Be faithful in the small things and let God bless you with bigger things.

Amen? He says to be good managers of your kids and your household. And so that's the list. He gives us that list of 13 things. But then the next thing he tells us is the blessings. And so that's the blessing. He says, for those who have served well as deacons, obtain for themselves a high standing and great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus. Can I give you Ryan's

interpretation of that verse? There is a major blessing that goes along with serving God. The qualifications to serve God are stringent, which means it requires sacrifice in our lives. It requires dedication in our lives. It requires saying no sometimes to things that other people get to say yes to. But because you're in leadership, you have to say no because you're held to a higher standard. And it's easy to talk about all of the sacrifices that go

along with it. But brothers and sisters, I'm just here to tell you right now, the blessing that you get from serving God is something that cannot be put into words. It can only be felt in the depth of your being because of God's great blessing. I remember listening to J. Vernon McGee one time. If you've never listened to J. Vernon McGee, you should. He's this old southern guy with a Texas drawl and

sayings. And he's been home with Jesus since 1987. And his stuff still plays on the radio all the time. But I remember listening to him one time. He said, he said, I teach God's word because I'm selfish. And I remember thinking, come again. I kind of leaned in a little closer as I'm listening to him on the radio. He said, friends, when I get into studying God's word, he shows me things I

could have never imagined because he wants me to teach them to someone else. I want God to keep teaching me. So I'm going to keep teaching God's word. You see, I'm selfish. And so I keep teaching the Bible. And I was like, okay, I agree with him. Because when you do that, when you serve, God gives you everything that you need. And so you get to see God's blessings poured out on your life

in a way that you didn't even know was possible. You get to see it in the people that God brings into your life. You get to see it as you watch lives change that are around you. You get to see it as you see someone be blessed by what God is doing through you in their life. And those things come into words because you feel them in the depth of your being. And there's just nothing quite like

it. Listen, serving God is hard, but it has a blessing that is so incalculable that I would never choose anything else. And so after he's talked about this, he sort of gets into his purpose for writing. And so that's what we'll kind of wrap up with here this morning. Notice what it says in verse 14. He says, I'm writing these things to you, hoping to come to you before long.

I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and the support of truth. As he gives this reason for writing, I love the way he starts it off. Because have you ever noticed in all of Paul's, most of Paul's letters, I won't make a blanket statement, most of Paul's letters, he at some point in time tells whoever he's writing to, man, I sure hope I get to come see you sometime. I'm really planning to come see you sometime. And I got to tell you,

I truly understand why Paul says that now. Because the more people that I have worked around, the more people that I have done ministry with or ministered to that have moved on for different reasons, good reasons. Maybe they've moved on to another ministry or moved on to a different stage in life. And you pour your heart and your life into people for so long. And then that ends,

you're like, man, I really do understand why Paul said, I can't wait to come see you someday. I'm really looking forward to it. Because when you pour your heart into somebody, you are, you're giving them your life. And there's a closeness there that's really hard to explain. We have some friends up in Kansas City that before we moved down here about, moved down here 15 years

ago, next month, pretty wild, to do ministry that we were so close to them. We did ministry with them. Some of them we ministered to. And there's still two or three guys that I'm in a text group with to this day that we've been texting each other for all these years. Now we go on vacation together all the time because, because we're just so close because there's a bond that's given.

And that's what Paul says, Paul says, I really hope I get to come see you sometime. But if I don't get to come see you, I want to tell you why I'm writing this to you. I'm writing this to you so that you will know how to conduct yourself in the house of God. To conduct yourself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God. Now, I love that he refers to the church as the

household of the living God. What does he mean by that? What does he mean that the church is the household of the living God? Well, David Guzik put this fantastic list together, and I thought it was so great, I just copied it straight down. I'm just going to read it to you because I thought it was really good. He said, it's the household of God for a handful of reasons. Number one, it's the

household of God because God is the architect. Because God is the architect. God is the one who has designed the house. Not the house, but the house, right? Like the, like the church is in three different forms right now. The church is the global church. The church is, which is the church all over the world. And then the, the church is the local church. That's in your own hometown. And

the church is your personal church. That's where you attend every Sunday. But, but all of it, the way that God has established the church, it's, it's, it's his design. He's the architect of the church. Second of all, it's God's house because he built it. It's God's house because he built it. I want you to notice, know something. Any, any church that is truly thriving right now and

thriving in the spirit, not just because they have a lot of great programs, has truly been built by God in spite of anything that the leadership has done. Because, because God, is the one who has put that together. God is the one who has saved the souls. God is the one who has gifted the leaders. And God is the one who is pouring out his spirit. It is his house because

he built it. Number three, it's his house because he lives in it. He lives, he lives among us. Do you know that? One of the things that I love to hear, a testimony I love to hear of people that are, especially are newer, that come to the church is, is they tell me, when I come here, I feel the presence of God in this place. There's nothing that blesses me more than hearing that. To hear

the presence of God in this place, because, because that tells me that the people of God are here. Therefore, the presence of God is here. Because do you know that you bring the presence of God? Because if he dwells in you, then he comes with you. And that's why the presence of God is here. It has nothing to do with anything that we do here. It's because the presence of God is here.

As a matter of fact, the presence of God is what makes this the church, right? What makes this the church is not that people show up. It's not even that we teach the Bible. It's not that we have praise music. It's not that we have, that we have a pastor and, and all of the other things that a church has, bylaws, all those kinds of things. What makes it a church is that God's here. Because it's his house. And he lives here. So, the next one is that it's

God's house because he is honored there. And I do pray that that's always taking place here. And then the last thing he says is, it's God's house because he rules there. God is the one in charge. God is the one who rules and reigns. And since it's God's house, then we should know how to conduct ourselves in God's house. Because this isn't just any, any place that we go to. This is the place

where we come to meet with God. And we are the people of God. He says, so I want you to know how to conduct yourself in the house of God. And then he goes on to describe it one more way. He says, I write, verse 15, so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar, and the support of the truth.

pillar and the support of the truth. What does he mean by that? It means that the church is built on the truth and the church upholds the truth. We've been reading back through Calvary distinctives as a board as we've been going through this just to make sure that we're doing things the way that God would want us to do things. And it's a pretty interesting book because it goes

through things and Chuck Smith in it shared about the importance of God's word, how God's word has to take precedence in the church, and how the teaching of God's word has to take precedence in the church. He said, when I first started pastoring, the only thing I knew was to give evangelistic messages because that was the kind of church that I grew up in. He said, so every week I would give an evangelistic message. And he said, I would work so hard and I would pray so hard and I would put so much in and I would think this is the greatest evangelistic message ever.

People are going to be flooding down front. And he said, I'd give the message and no one would come forward. And I would say, I would give the message and no one would come forward. And he would say, why is no one coming forward? And he said, one day I realized that all of these people are saved. They don't need an evangelistic message. They need to get taught.

And so he said, it was at that moment that God started telling me, why don't you just teach the word? He said, so that's what I started doing. I started just teaching all the way through the Bible. I would teach all the way through books of the Bible. One of the stories he tells us that is that he was in a denomination for a long time and they sent them their sermon packets every three months or something along those lines. And he said,

I completely ignored one of the sermon packets and I just taught through the book of Romans. And he said, my church grew more than anybody else's church grew. So we came together at the quarterly meeting to say, well, which of the sermons in the packet do you think it was that really brought the most people? And he said, I had to tell them, none of them. And they're like,

none of them? He said, no, I just taught through the book of Romans and people really loved it. So lots of people showed up. He goes, I got kicked out of the denomination because he wasn't following their plan. Because brothers and sisters, what we have to understand is that the church is to be built on the truth. That's how you build a church, is you teach through

the truth of God's word and people love it. You know how I know that? Because every pastor that I know that's really teaching God's word, their church is thriving right now. Their churches are just going crazy right now because people want to come and hear God's word. We get new people at this church every week and I love it because you guys want to come and you want to hear

God's word. And I love it when you come back the second time and become members. Because if you came the first time, you were a visitor. If you came the second time, you're a member. So welcome new members, right? Then you're being built on the truth. And any place where that's taking, any church where that's taking place, where God's word is being honored and truly being taught,

those churches aren't having any trouble right now. Because the church is to be built on the truth. But not only is the church to be built on the truth, but the church is to uphold the truth. That means we have to take strong stands. We have to take strong stands on the truth of what God's word has to say. And that's not an easy thing to do. Especially in this world

today. But God's blessing the churches that are. He says, I write these things to you so that you will know how to conduct yourselves in the house of God, which is the pillar and the support of truth. And then he closes with verse 16. He says, by common confession, great is the mystery of godliness. He who was revealed in the flesh, was vindicated in the spirit, was seen by angels,

was proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory. He turns our eyes at the end of all of this back on Jesus. And he says, by common confession. Most people believe that this was a, that the end of verse 16 is a hymn that was sung in the early church. And, but before we get to that hymn, I want to share one thing with you. He says, by common

confession, great is the mystery of godliness. Great is the mystery of godliness. The idea of mystery here is not trying to figure out who committed the crime. It's seeing that which has been concealed as revealed. Well, what was concealed that has now been revealed to us was Jesus, right? Jesus was concealed in the Old Testament and he's revealed in the New Testament. And that's what we're all in the process of. We

are in the process of this mystery of godliness. This, this mystery of the unveiling of Jesus Christ in our lives that we'll find its ultimate culmination when we get to heaven. We finally get to see him face to face. I had a fantastic conversation with a young lady the other day that, that just received the Lord about three months ago. And, and it was great because I, I got

to ask her, I'm like, okay, if you don't mind me asking, and you don't have to go into detail if you don't want to, can you share with me just a little bit of your story? Tell me what happened to you. How'd you come to faith in Jesus? And so she started telling me her story and started telling me who she was. Started telling me the things that were going on in her life.

And she said, I just prayed that God would show me a sign. And she said, when I showed up to church that Sunday morning, you talked about everything I'd been praying about. And I realized that the answer to everything that I'd been praying about was Jesus. See, in that moment, Jesus was revealed to her. It was her first revelation of Jesus Christ in her life. And I got to tell her, you realize

this is only the beginning. This is only the beginning. Because now you will spend the rest of your life having Jesus revealed to you. And it'll be in fantastic ways. He'll reveal himself as your provider. He'll reveal himself as your sustainer, your protector, everything that you need. He will reveal himself to that as you. It'll be through the incidents and the things that you go through in life, but that was only the beginning. And he

wants to continue to reveal himself to you. And I love to be able to now talk to my dad as he's drawing to a close. I love to be able to now talk to my dad as he's drawing to a close. And I love to be able to now talk to my dad as he's drawing to a close. And I love to be able to now talk to my dad as he's drawing to a close. And I love to be able to now talk to my dad as he's drawing to a close.

And he'll tell you the same thing. His entire life has been having Jesus revealed to him. Because that's the mystery of godliness, is that continual, progressive, revelation of Jesus in our lives. Until that day comes when we stand before him, and then we will see him as he is, no longer through a mirror dimly, but then face-to-face. We will know, even as also we are known.

That's the mystery of godliness. So he says great is this mystery of godliness and he explains Jesus. Jesus who was revealed in the flesh. That's his incarnation. That's his humanity. That's him being born among us as a man. But he wasn't just revealed in his flesh. He was vindicated in the spirit. You see, that's his deity being proved through his resurrection.

He was seen by angels. In other words, observed by a heavenly host. He was proclaimed among the nations. That's what's taking place in the Bible and the book of Acts and what's still taking place today. He's believed on in the world and he's been taken up in glory. What a beautiful hymn that turns our eyes back on Jesus. And as we wrap up here this morning,

I want to read two quotes to you. They're really, really good. Now, just give me about three more minutes. Maybe three and a half minutes. It's a quote from David Guzik's commentary. It says, Paul's description of Jesus after the passage speaking of Christian character reminds us of the key to our own character transformation, beholding Jesus. As Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 3, verse 18,

but we all with an unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the spirit of the Lord. And that's what's happening to us. And this is what I want to tell you right now, is that if you want your character, to be transformed into what it says in this book, don't start trying harder. Don't start setting more boundaries for yourself.

Don't start setting more rules for yourself. Start spending more time with the God who created you, because that's how you'll become more like Jesus. I'm not saying there's not sacrifice involved. I'm not saying that there's not discipline involved. I'm saying that the real change comes as you are beholding your Savior. What we want to do is we want to make rules.

Well, if I'll just do X, Y, and Z, then sure. I'll turn into who Jesus wants me to be. And then all of a sudden, it doesn't happen. Why? Let me read the second quote. Jesus is the perfect fulfillment of these descriptions of Christian character. We trust that Jesus will transform our life according to the same character as we put our focus on him. We sometimes want religion to build this character,

but truly, relationship with Jesus is what really does it. You see, we want to go to Jesus for better habits. And Jesus says, but I just want your heart. Because if you give him your heart, he'll take care of your habits. If you give him your heart, he'll take care of everything else. Because he'll change that. You see, what I like to tell young people especially is,

let God capture your heart. Because if he'll capture your heart, he'll have every bit of who you are. He'll have every bit of the fiber of your being. And then all of a sudden, you will want to follow him. You will want to make the sacrifices. You will want to have the discipline in your life. Because now it's not so hard. It's not so that you can try to impress Jesus.

It's because he's your one purpose and reason for living. Brothers and sisters, that relationship with Jesus Christ is the only thing that will make you a fit leader. That relationship with Jesus Christ is the only thing that will make you a fit servant. That relationship with Jesus Christ is the only thing that will build character into your life. Get into his word.

Get into prayer. Spend time in personal worship. Commune with God. Too many of us talk about God. Too few of us talk to God. And fellowship about God is great, but fellowship with God is greater. Amen? Let's all stand. It was three minutes, by the way. I just want to point that out. And if you'd bow with me. Father, we come to you now. And Lord, I praise you so much for your word,

for your character, and Father, that you are the God who captures the hearts of people. And turns them into men and women of God who pursue you with everything in them. And so, Lord, I just ask that you would continue to do that work in our hearts and lives. Father, that you would capture our hearts and focus us completely on you. And that as we spend time with you,

that we will be transformed into your image. And we just praise you in Jesus' name. Amen. Be blessed. Amen.

You give hope, You restore every heart that is broken. Your breath Sz02 shouts our hearts will cry. These bones shouts your praise. Our hearts will cry. These bones will sing, seats where our hearts will cry. These bones, we'll sing. sing. Great earth will shout your praise. Our hearts will cry. These bones will sing. Great... Oh, Lord Jesus, we just thank you for being our Lord and Savior.

Lord, thank you for what you've done for us. Thank you for willingly taking our place on that cross so that we can have an opportunity for salvation and new life in you, Lord Jesus. Lord, we just praise you. We thank you for all that you're doing. And as we leave here today, I just pray that your Holy Spirit continue to minister to us. Father, we love you and we thank you. We thank you for your word this morning.

We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. You guys have a wonderful week. God bless you.