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Eugene Prewitt

Deacons in the Church

What we're looking at this morning is church order.

And I have a few ideas of goals I have for you this morning.

If I could contrast just verbally the Bible's idea of a deacon with our common understanding of a deacon today, I would do it this way.

Our understanding of a deacon is a man who is a middle-aged male capable of turning on and off lights and not really gifted with speaking or preaching or necessarily knowledgeable about scripture but basically a good guy.

I'd say that sums up, not everyone, but that would be a pretty general idea of what people have about deacons.

The Bible's idea about deacons is that they are God's special servants able to preach, able to evangelize, able to share, guiding their own homes, able to manage the church's business, able to handle the church's problems, capable, efficient workers.

If we found someone in our church that met the biblical conditions of being a deacon, we would probably recommend him to be the head elder.

In fact, before we read in 1 Timothy 5, I'll just tell you something.

The first time the Church ordains deacons in the Bible, it spends the next 3 chapters of the Bible telling about the things they accomplished.

The very first 1 ordained became the first martyr of the Church in Acts 7.

The very next 1 ordained became the 1 who took the Gospel to the Gentiles, the man who helped the Ethiopian eunuch, the subject of Acts 8.

What was his title, his position in the church?

So that first idea I want to do for you again is to exalt the position of Deacon something significantly higher than perhaps what it has descended to and I don't know how to explain how it's happened.

We're still not going to read in 1 Timothy 5, but please keep your Bibles there still.

I want to teach you a couple Greek words and a little bit about Greek syntax.

You don't need to know the syntax, but I think it will help you remember my point in the sermon today.

Most Greek verbs end in the sound o, like o, no, that sound o, most Greek verbs end in that.

And many Greek Nouns end in the ending "-os", like boss or toss, "-os".

I'm now going to teach you 2 words that are very close to real Greek words, close enough to use them that way, they are deacon, os, and deacon, o.

This 1 means servant, and this 1 means serve.

And this 1 is translated a few different ways in the New Testament.

In fact, it's a little bit humorous for me to read in the writings of Paul to Timothy and to see the different ways that it's translated, sometimes very close to itself.

Because when it's applied to the man in a local church, it'll be translated, deacon.

But a few verses later, when it's applied to an apostle, like Paul himself, or to Timothy, the elder, it's called minister.

And what am I trying to do at this point?

I'm trying to exalt in your mind the position of deacon.

In fact, when you look at the first times this word is used in the New Testament, the first 4 of them, the first 4 times the word is used are here.

This is actually deacon-o, that is the word that means serve, what a deacon does.

Does that make sense to you what I just said?

Angels come and minister to Jesus after he's been tempted in the wilderness.

That's the first example of deaconing in the Bible.

She immediately gets up, and you remember what she does when she gets up?

She goes to make food for people and take care of them.

Then, and this isn't the only time, but in the New Testament, Jesus is a deacon.

It's okay if we go somewhere else and come back to it.

John chapter 12, And we're going to look at verse 26.

John 12 verse 26 says, "...if any man serve me, Let him follow Me.

And where I am, there shall also My servant be.

If any man serve Me, him will My Father honor." This is the word, deacon-o, the way we're saying it today in this lecture.

Do you understand what I mean by what I'm saying?

Luke chapter 22, and we're looking at verses 26, it says, but, it says, but you shall not be so.

That is, it shouldn't be in the Christian church that the people who have the most authority are the ones that tell everyone else what to do.

If some man is given authority in this church, I'll tell you the kind of authority He is not given.

He's not given the authority to tell you what to do.

If you're given authority, you're not given authority to tell us what to do.

Verse 26, "...but he that is greatest among you, let him be, what does it say, as the younger.

And elders are the ones we say are the ones we put in charge of the church.

Let me just say this idea again in modern words.

If any of you are made the elder, let him be as the younger.

And he that is chief, as he that does serve, that is deacon-o.

If everyone is in a certain sense, If all Christians are in a certain sense a deacon, yet those who are given responsibilities of authority in the church, are they more or less deacons than the others?

It was an odd question, but do you know what I mean by the question?

For weather is greater he that sits at the table to eat, or he that serves, that is deacons.

Is not he that sitteth to eat, or at meet?

Listen, but I am among you as he that serveth.

This is another example of this passage, it's not the third 1, it's just 1 of many, where Jesus is, in the general sense of servant, Jesus is the deacon of the church.

What I'm hoping is happening in your mind, is that you're developing an ambition to be a deacon.

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Deacons in the Church

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