Men With Grit

Take your Bibles if you would please and turn to 1 Kings chapter two, verses one through three are our text today. We are going to preach on deacon ordination today and start with the idea of this title, Men with Grit. So if you like the title of today's message and take notes, Men with Grit is the title. I would like to lead up to the qualifications of a deacon and deacon ordination in Scripture, and for us to be able to see what men must be to be deacons. We've got all kinds of lovely young ladies here and I'm so glad of every one of them. I know some of our deacons have young ladies in the house, so do I. So listen here, ladies, I want you to title today's sermon differently than everybody else, okay? So this is the title for you if you're a single young lady: what he must be to marry me. All right, that's the title for you. It's different for everybody else, but it's the same message. What he must be to marry me. Now all the fathers in here are like, yes.

So we want men with grit, godly grit. We are going to get started here in 1 Kings chapter two and take a look at the text and move along through 1 Timothy chapter three and Acts chapter six as well in regards to what deacons must be. But starting with this instruction from David to his son, in 1 Kings 2:1 as David's time to draw near, it was his time to draw near, he charged his son saying, "I am going the way of the earth, be strong therefore and show yourself a man. Keep the charge of the Lord your God to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, His ordinances and His testimonies." You can circle the word His right there over and over, and over again — it's all about Him. Don't marry a man who is all about himself. Marry a man who is all about God, a godly man. And deacons obviously, whom will be raised up in the local church and trained to be men who can take an office and really truly set forth what it is to minister to the church and take care of tasks — they are going to be men that are all about God. So it's His ways, not our ways. It's His statutes, not our statutes. It's His commandments, not our commandments. His ordinances, not our ordinances. It's His testimonies. We're all about God and His book. According to what is written in the law of Moses, that you may succeed in all that you do and wherever you turn. And pray with me if you would. Lord, thank you for this text as a truly just a springboard to get us thinking about what it is to train up men for righteousness and right works. We love You, we ask Your blessings upon today, in Jesus' name, amen.

Point number one, if you're taking notes, is that you cannot separate succeeding from keeping. You'll see this in the text here — you cannot separate succeeding from keeping. In verse three, it says to keep the charge of the Lord, and then at the end of verse three it says that you may succeed in all that you do. Keep — shamar in Hebrew — means to actively obey and protect what God's ways are. And then as well, succeeding was to be in connection with keeping. So to define what success was, you had to go back into the verse and define every single phrase here as to what true success really is. So it is to keep the charge of the Lord, to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, His ordinances, and His testimonies according to what has been written. So we have a book, we have a law, we have a path, we have a direction, and these things will keep us on the straight and narrow. You know, Moses told Joshua to be strong in the Lord and very courageous and not to tremble in Joshua 1:9. And then if you read on in the book of Joshua, in Joshua 11:15, it says, just as the Lord commanded Moses His servant, so Moses commanded Joshua, and so Joshua did. So this spirit of humility and obedience was carried through in the life of Joshua because he obeyed his mentor, Moses. And you know that Solomon would have done better to have been more faithful in the areas of keeping God's holiness and word than his father David. He repeated the sins of his father and that was shameful.

Nevertheless, we need men who are willing to be men of grit, to be able to deny themselves and take up the cross and follow God no matter how they feel. We even see in the life of Gideon and in his son Jether that he lacked this type of grit that we're calling for biblically. Gideon said to his son Jether his firstborn, rise and kill them, but the youth did not draw his sword for he was afraid, in Judges 8:20. And then here's a truism for you. It's not just Scripture, it's very true. The next verse in Judges 8:21 says, "For as a man is, so is his strength." So you can look in the mirror and see, who am I? Well, to the extent of who you are in Christ determines the amount of strength that you do have. And so to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might, according to Ephesians 6:10, is the extent to which you can stand. And we're called to stand firm. In 1 Corinthians 16:13 it says, "Stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong." Don't let the world define what strength is and what manliness is. Let the Word of God define these things and have some grit about yourself to put these into practice.

Now, if you like acronyms like I do, let's do this with grit, G-R-I-T. Grit. We need men with grit — first of all, godliness. This is going to be seen through in 1 Timothy 3, when we get there in just a moment, that character is primary. So if you like the word grit like I do, not only do we need men with grit and be godly, but also respectable.

And in 1 Timothy 3, you'll see the word dignity — we'll talk about that. So godliness and respectable. And then the I — I think it stands for invested. Deacons have this original word idea of diakonos, which means to be a servant, to be serving. And they're truly invested with some blood and some sweat and some tears. They're invested in this thing. They're not just for show, they're not just pretty — they're actually getting their hands dirty and working hard. They're invested, they're servants. And then as well, the T could stand for teachable. You must be humble and teachable and even available to be in this type of ministry. We need men of grit. So let's continue to think on the subject of deacon ordination today and what deacons must be, and see that they would prove themselves to be a man like David charged his son Solomon to be.

Turn with me if you would to 1 Timothy 3 and let's start with the qualifications. In 1 Timothy chapter 3, we see these qualifications for deacons starting in verse 8, but they really start at the top because it's likewise when it comes to the elders. But we'll just start at verse 8 and work our way through a few of these things. And for the young ladies that are taking notes, if you want to put down just a word for number one, put faithful — put faithful if you're looking for a man. He needs to be faithful. And one of these days, this could be a rubric for you to kind of see through who he must be to be able to marry you. And as men grow, and young men here as well as you are a youth and you're becoming strong in the Lord and you're growing up, these are some of the very key concepts that you would need to have at the forefront of your mind to be able to become. And our deacons here who already are in office and serving well, these are models for you as well. Not only them, but your father as well, if he is or is not a deacon. Many men don't have the season or the availability to serve, but they're qualified still. So we have a lot of good men here, great, godly men, who are not perhaps serving at this particular time in the season — that's just fine.

So point number two, if you're taking notes, is: church men train up men in the church. Church men train up men in the church. In 2 Timothy chapter 3, verses 8 and following, you have the qualifications. But the idea of men training men was by way of example — Jesus's life and what He spent the majority of His time doing — and so He trained 12 men for three years. He invested a lot of time in just a few men. And that's the Bible's Great Commission way. It's not an explosion of church growth — it is slow and methodical, and you choose faithful, available, teachable men who are going to be faithful and follow in the Lord's ways.

To be able to select the right men, look in verse 8 with me. It says deacons likewise must be men of dignity, not double-tongued or addicted to much wine or fond of sordid gain. So first of all, we see the word dignity here. And so if a pastor or an elder — which we have pastors and elders here — are to identify a man who is eligible to step into the role of deacon, which is their job, Colossians 1:28 says that we should be teaching with wisdom, and 2 Timothy 2:2 says to entrust these teachings to faithful men so that they can work hard and train men in righteousness. The Bible says in 2 Timothy 3:16, and then in verse 17 it says so that the man of God would be adequate and equipped for every good work. So in these passages we can observe that Paul trained Timothy for ministry.

Hold your place if you would here. I want you to see a very interesting phrase in 1 Timothy 4:15. In regards to the observation that not only did Paul train Timothy for ministry, but then he gave him these qualifications for deacons in chapter three — I want you to see how Timothy's obligation to be public with his growth and his maturity in Christ was expected. And that is seen in 1 Timothy 4:15, which says, "Take pains with these things, be absorbed in them so that your progress will be evident to all." Your progress will be evident to all. So we truly are disciples that are on display. Our progress in the faith will be on display for everyone to see. And so that's the reason why you hear me say oftentimes, if you're the same man who you were five years ago, then you're not growing in your faith. But we should really truly continue to progress in our faith and become more and more humble, and more and more knowledgeable, and more and more seasoned with our words, more and more kind and lovely and meek and gentle. Meekness is not weakness — we need to be strong, men with grit — but at the same time we don't lash out in anger and fall prey to our own flesh and sin. So our progress should be evident to all, that we are noticed by our people in areas that we have matured.

So men who are trained and equipped and tested, and who meet the scriptural qualifications and obtain for themselves a high standard — and this high standard that is mentioned in the text here is that of a deacon and that of an elder. Back to verse 8 in 1 Timothy chapter 3: "Deacons likewise must be men of dignity." So one who is dignified is one who has character that is worthy of respect. He's respectable, he has high moral integrity. In fact, not only is he respectable, but he is actually serious-minded with the Word of God. He's not a complete jokester all the time. There are parts of him that, when it comes to dealing with the Word of God, sober a man up, and he brings the weightiness of God's glory to the table. He sets his mind on these things and his passions, and he invests himself in this. And this is displayed by his energy, by his time, by his intensity, by his intentions, and by a willingness not to compromise in the other directions. There's a time where a man grabs God's Word or starts talking about his convictions in Christ, and there is a sobriety that lands — a weightiness, a glory, a respect, a seriousness. And at the same time he is humble, not forceful, but humble — humble and yet at the same time strong and unmoving. He's steadfast in these convictions. I'm moving forward with the Lord, come walk with me. This inner demeanor — this is a man of dignity, a man of strength. Dignified men are earnest in God's purposes, not their own purposes and their own display. So these are Christians who are displaying Christianity very well. Deacons are truly displaying what it is to be happy in Christ and to be strong in the Lord. So they're dignified.

Part of being dignified is not being double-tongued — you're not a hypocrite — nor are you addicted to much wine. In fact, we have required of our eldership and our deaconship to be abstinent from alcohol because Proverbs 20:1 says that wine is a mocker, and we don't want to subject the church to any type of mockery. So we are safer than sorry. We don't want anything to do with having our minds in any way inebriated so that we would make bad decisions that would affect the church. Christ's integrity in His church is way more important to us than anything, and so we play it safer than sorry and we stay away from alcohol. So that's a requirement. Not only do we stay far away from that, but we're also not given to materialism. We're not fond of sordid gain, the Bible says here in verse 8. So we're not all about the Benjamins. When you have an elder or a deacon who is working hard and providing well for his family — he's getting a good paycheck and he's doing a good job — but he's not all about the money. And you know that because he's more about Christ than he is about cash. That is exuded from his life. He's talking more about Christ than he is about cash. He's talking more about the Master than he talks about money. So working is something that we do on this side of eternity to do what we can to glorify God and to provide for our families, and we enjoy our lot — so the Bible says — to the best that we possibly can, while we deal with the curse in Genesis 3, the thorn, the sweat of our brow. And we work as unto the Lord. God is our God, not gold. Gold is not our end goal. It's God, it's glorifying God. So a deacon, if he's qualified, then he has these things exuding from not only his life but his lips as well. And so you can tell a difference.

And verse 9 uses this phrase, holding to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. So this idea of holding means to be embracing the Bible doctrines wholeheartedly, not halfheartedly. This isn't something that we kind of dip our feet in — we live in the world some days and we live for God on other days. No, we're all in, with all of our heart and all of our soul, with all of our mind and all of our strength. We hold tightly to the faith, the Bible says. The faith is the core doctrines of what we believe. When we hold to these core doctrines, we grasp these things. We grasp not only the gospel — the death and the burial and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ as a substitute for our sin, the payment for our sin — we grasp the gospel, but we grasp more than just the gospel, not just the elementary things of the Word of God. We hold on to sound doctrine. In Titus 2:1 it says, speak sound doctrine. We want men and women and children and youth and everybody to be able to say what the Bible says with clarity, to be able to talk about these things in a day when our secular culture assaults our values — we're able to be steadfast and unmovable and always abounding in the work of the Lord, as 1 Corinthians 15:58 says, for us to be and do. Deacons are on display doing this. They don't shrink back when the culture rears up and tries to yell and scream. They're calm, cool, and collected, and they give a scriptural reason for what we believe. Titus 2:1 says, speak the things which are fitting for sound doctrine. So you will see within a deacon the ability not only to believe, but to behave according to these things. So their belief and their behavior matches, their lips and their life matches — they're dignified men who hold to the faith with a clear conscience.

In verse 10, it mentions this: these men must also first be tested, okay? The deacon candidate that we'll be ordaining today has been tested. I slipped in when he was teaching the Word of God and I tested him. I listened to what he was saying. I've seen him on display. I've seen his life. I have loved learning more about him. He passed all of these tests and we've watched him over the course of PTI, pastoral training and implementation. He's thriving in his academics in regards to hermeneutics and studying God's Word. He's doing well in the midst of our congregation. I'm so pleased that we can have another man ordained today as a deacon. These men must first of all be tested, then let them serve as a deacon if they are beyond reproach. These things in regards to being beyond reproach are so important and we don't compromise on one of these details. In fact, at the end of our last Saturday meeting when we had PTI, pastoral training and implementation, the floor was opened up for anyone to question and probe and ask any question at all of this man, to see whether or not he was truly qualified to be a deacon. And that was a great time. It was a good time for us to be able to ask questions in regards to his life being beyond reproach. And what it means in verse 10 — these men must first be tested, let them serve if they're beyond reproach — it means that they are free from a valid accusation.

Nobody can hold a charge against them that holds water, and so they are living in obedience to Christ. They don't have any recent unresolved issues lingering in their life to where someone could hold an accusation against them and say, you're a brawler, you're a drunkard, or you're an adulterer, or you're unfaithful, or you're a gambler, or whatever the Bible may have to say about being above reproach. And so in this, they're free from valid accusations. It's not that they live a sinless life, but they're not given to sin. You know the difference. They're not given to sin. They're not a slave to sin. They don't have anything in their life that is ruling them. They have Jesus as their Lord. Jesus rules their life, not sin. They're not subject to sin. Sin cannot knee-jerk them and make them do sinful things. They're given to God and they're His servant.

Also, continuing on when it comes to the qualifications for the men, verse 12 — it slips in in verse 11 — women must also likewise be dignified, not malicious gossips, but also temperate and faithful in all things. So should the men. In verse 12, deacons must be husbands of only one wife. So there's no flirtatiousness going on in this man's life. There's no other partners in life — and that includes pornography. And so if any man, elder or deacon, is given or subject to pornography, they must pause their service and confess their sin to the eldership right away. Men cannot be given to these behaviors in secret and think that God will not expose them publicly. You had better confess your sins because the Bible says that God will expose these things. So if you hide your sin, you'll be exposed. You can't do it. So you better be transparent and honest right away if you fall into this particular sin. So there's no adulterous lifestyle going on at all. He's a one-woman man.

And then as well, he manages his household well. In verse 12, deacons must be husbands of only one wife and good managers of their children and their own households. This is important to do it well. He must manage well. This means to preside well, to lead well, to rule over well, to care for his family members in his household well, to guide extremely well — to lead with dignity, if you want to put a catchphrase down. He must be able to lead with dignity, not harshness. Luke 18:14 says, "He who exalts himself will be humbled." So a man who is harsh or ugly or rude cannot be a deacon. And the testing ground, the proving ground, is how he treats his wife and his children in his own household. And so you do not want a man who is a deacon in the church sinning in such a way that God will humble that man, because it'll bring a bad stain upon the integrity of the church. He who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted. And so Luke 18:14 is very clear that a humble man who is doing things well will be exalted into perhaps even a position like a deacon in the church. Nor do you want a prideful man. Proverbs 16:18 says, "Pride goes before destruction." And the last thing that you want in a congregation is any type of destruction. So he must manage his household well. That's the proving ground.

In 1 John 4:18, it says, "There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear." I want to bring this up because you can either lead in one of two ways — by fear or by love. MacArthur said this, and I appreciated his exposition on leadership. In his explanation of what true leadership looks like, he boiled it down into these two categories. You're either going to be a man who leads with love and is godly, or the only other way is to lead by fear. And most obvious secular employers or whatnot would lead by fear. You're not going to get a paycheck unless — or results — you better bring the results or you're going to have ramifications — leading by fear, by fear, by fear.

So parents, listen — not only men — this is important because God leads by love. There are implications for your sin, but He leads by love. And so if your children fear you, perhaps your reactions, or if you're just going to flip on them, then you're leading by fear, not by love. Perfect love casts out fear, the Bible says. And so this must have already been accomplished in your demeanor and how you lead your family. They must not fear that you are going to pounce on them. They must be ones who can talk to you. In 1 John 4:18, "There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear" — this has to do with punishment. Unjust punishment of your children and your spouses through leading with fear is ungodly. And this makes a man who is not above reproach and not fit to be a deacon. So children must be ones who run to you just like they ran to Jesus.

And now as we continue through this, it goes on to say deacons must be husbands of only one wife and good managers of their own households. For those who have served well as deacons have obtained for themselves a high standing and a great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus. Men, listen to me here at Beulah Baptist Church — we're working strategically not only to raise up men in righteousness, but to provide for you a pathway forward to serve and to grow and to mature in your faith. And this is to be desired and worked towards. So this is a step into a high standing, is what the Scriptures say. None of the deacons that we have now desired a title. They've all been humble. They don't want a title, they just want to be faithful. Honestly, every single one of them has really said, I don't have to have a title to do what I'm doing. I'm already serving, I'm happy doing what I'm doing. And that was noble of them to be able to say that. They don't want the position, they don't want the limelight. Christ already has the limelight. And Christ gets all the glory. And this truly has been something that I have seen for myself as a demonstration of their own inward faithfulness. This is a true deacon, a true servant, a true servant of Christ and His church. They weren't after the title, they were just wanting to serve. And that was great. And so those who humble themselves shall be exalted. They're given a higher position.

And we need men around us in higher positions to be able to look to for what a godly marriage looks like. To be able to look to on how to handle the Word of God. To be able to look to on how to act in a secular, aggressive world. We need examples around us. We need men of higher standing, on the authority of God and His local church, and the eldership to be able to serve the membership, to serve the church, to take care of things. We need these men. We need men who work themselves into a place of high standing. They are credible. Our current deacons are wonderful and they've never desired power. And they all know that Jesus said in Matthew 28:18 that He has all power. He has it all. We have tons of qualified men — like I've already mentioned to you — who could and perhaps one day will serve as deacons. Men who have already served as deacons in the past. Men who will serve as deacons in the future. And our availability in life kind of ebbs and flows with how things go in your life. Sometimes you have people in your family that require all of your energy. Maybe their health requires all of who you are. And it's your responsibility then to take care of your family first before you can serve in the church. And so availability, job demands, all these things. We have a lot of great men here who are completely tied up and doing great in regards to being a good husband, a good father, a good provider, a good teacher, a good neighbor — good men. So just because we only have a select few deacons here at the church doesn't mean that any other man isn't of equal value, or equal — in regards to being loved and appreciated. Our current deacons are Zeke, Sean, Mike, Michael, and Rick. And today we'll add Jamie, if this message doesn't cause him to bolt out the back doors.

Our church constitution says that our church members agree and support our deacons in their biblical duties. So deacons have a duty to be ones to not only know the constitution and the bylaws, but to have been also tested and ordained. And then they serve the members of the church and they serve with the pastor and the elders and the staff to perform pastoral ministries and duties. They not only proclaim the gospel, but they live as examples and care for the church and the community, and they are accountable to the eldership. On page 26 in our constitution, under article nine, number four, it says this — very important — that men and women are spiritually equal, and that God has ordained distinct and separate functions in the home and church, and the husband is to be the leader of the home and men are to be the leaders in the church. Accordingly, only men are eligible for ordination as pastor, elder, and deacon. And this is substantiated all throughout the Bible. One scripture like this is Colossians 3:18: "Wives, be subject to your husbands as is fitting in the Lord." And anytime that you see the idea of wives being subject to their husband, there's something — there's like an attachment to that concept most everywhere in the Bible. The Word of God is going to be dishonored if you don't, or here it says it's fitting in the Lord. It's always attached to something to do with the Lord, like it takes that idea and raises it to the highest standard — like Sarah calling her husband lord. It's so important to have this orderliness in the home. And so for the deacon, he must have a wife that is faithful to fight the curse and not usurp the heavenly Father and her husband, just the same as the deacon himself must be faithful to fight against the curse and not be given to it. Wives, the struggle is real according to Genesis 3, but so is it true for men as well to struggle. So both must be truly given to Christ and not the flesh — given to dying to themselves daily.

Given to recognizing when the flesh is rearing up, to crucify the flesh and not be given to it. So for a man to be qualified as a deacon, he must have a willing wife. And this must be in order in the home. And so the basic prerequisite of being a disciple is self-denial — denying the self. In Matthew 16:24, it says this. Denial is so incredibly important in these areas.

Turn with me into Acts chapter six. We'll look at just a few more concepts as we wrap up today. And I know that serving in God's glorious church is certainly paradoxical. It is very paradoxical because it's glorious and it's a high position, but we must be very humble. Paradoxically, servants in this glorious church obtain a high standing, and yet it requires us to be humble beings.

In Matthew 23:11, it says, "The greatest among you shall be your servant." So the greatest of us are good at self-denial. Before we dive into Acts chapter six, I just want to mention to you as well that this is a spiritual skill set — to develop the skill of being able to rapidly respond well when you see the flesh rearing up, to crucify it, to be able to recognize when you're a little bit out of sorts, when you're not Spirit-filled, when you're given to the flesh, when that old man starts to rear up inside. You crucify it. You deny it, you push it aside, you take up your cross and follow Jesus. You start quoting Scripture. You keep quoting Scripture.

And sometimes you have to put on hymns in the background and change your stinking thinking — whatever it takes — to keep yourself in alignment with a holy God and to keep you from bringing shame to the marriage, to the children, and then ultimately to the church. And so this is a spiritual skill set that we must really get good at — denying the self. And I know that young men, we've memorized 2 Timothy 2:22: "Flee from your youthful lusts and pursue righteousness." It's a spiritual skill set to self-reflect and recognize when sin is rearing up within you — deny it quickly. Take a hammer to it, take a hatchet to it, rip it, pull it, push it, whatever you have got to do.

D.L. Moody said that he hated sin and he would chew it to pieces and spit it out. And when he had no more teeth, he'd gum it to death and he'd fight it. You see, he was an old baseball player, so he had this language — he'd swing and push and fight and all that. This aggressive behavior towards sin must be. You must see sin for what it truly is because it's a destroyer. You can't flirt with sin, you can't tolerate sin, you can't allow sin to creep in — it'll dominate. It's not satisfied until it destroys you. And so when you see sin for what it really is, then you react rightly. It's a high view of God and His holiness, and it's a very low view of man and your abilities. You cannot do it without the Spirit of God. And if you offend the Spirit of God, then you have no strength to withstand in these areas. So deacons have become good at denying the self and taking up the cross and following Jesus. They've become good at the spiritual skill set, recognizing that one day we'll be in heaven and we won't have to worry about this old battle. We won't have to worry about the old man, the flesh, this old carcass on our back. One of these days we won't have to fight this dirty, nasty fight. But until then, I'm going to be a soldier. I'm going to soldier on and finish strong. This internal resoluteness makes a man who is a man of grit and able to do what Acts 6 requires.

In Acts 6:3, it says, "Therefore, brethren, select from among you seven men of good reputation" — we've already talked about that, what it is to be reputable — "full of the Spirit." I just ad-libbed a little bit about what it means to be filled with the Spirit. In Ephesians 5:18, it says, "Be filled with the Spirit." It's a command, not a suggestion. And then it goes on to say, "and of wisdom." So these men must be wise men. They must be men who understand God's Word, and even more so, they know the God of the Bible. They know God, they walk with God like Enoch — "whom we may put in charge of this task." They must be trustworthy with tasks. We need men in the church who have risen to a high standard, to where we can trust them with keys, to where we can trust them with counting money. We can trust them to go to one of your homes if you need something while you're on vacation, or whatever — a ministry, a sensitive situation. We need men that have been tested, that we can trust. Men who have shown themselves faithful. These tasks — such as right here in Acts chapter six, which I take dearly, my mom being a widow — these widows in the Bible, there's a ministry need at hand.

And I cannot honestly internally grasp all of how faithful these men were to be able to say, we're going to devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the Word. You guys take care of these very important ministry tasks.

You know what it shows? It shows purpose for deacons. It shows how the primacy of God's Word and the ministry of the Word is the central point of the church — it's the rudder, it keeps us going in a straight direction, and it's a lot of work. And so to be able to minister the Word correctly takes a lot of work. It is definitely hard on the heart, straining on the mind, and even a heaviness in the soul when it comes to the ministry of the Word of God. And this must be — you need preachers and Bible teachers who are all in. And in order for them to be able to do that, deacons have to take care of so much. Servants around the church have to take care of so much. No buildings like we have here at the church look good and beautiful without someone behind the scenes getting nasty and dirty and working hard. Men and women and even here, children and youth — they're working hard, they've got grit. They truly are working hard, getting dirty, and they are lowly and humble and even lonely sometimes and working hard. We've got a young man here who goes out to the cemetery all the time working.

I think he might be lonely, but he may be having just rich fellowship with Christ as he's working. I hope he's just having a grand time out there. I think he is. He's always testifying. I can go on and on, and on about the servants around here.

Here's the point: deacons have purpose in their service because it equips and enables the pastors and elders and Bible teachers to be able to focus on prayer, as what the text says in verse 4: "But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the Word." It doesn't demean the ministry needs, but it truly sets forth the priorities for those who have been called to minister the Word of God. We can't do everything. We've only got so many waking hours. We've only got so much energy and so much time in the day. We can't do everything. Everybody's got a gift. Everybody is called to be a servant and a helper in the church. And so this is really, really good to see this. And I would say as well that if you have a congregation of sheep that look good, it's because somebody behind the scenes like a shepherd is working hard, doing the dirty work, and is lowly and perhaps even lonely doing these things. I know in ministry, some of these tasks are dirty, some of these tasks are glorious, some of these tasks are easy, and some of these tasks are dirty and hard.

The whole gamut is involved and we need to be all in wherever we are. And so deacons, when they rise to this high standard, you're serving with a purpose. You have a part in the whole scheme of what God's grand design — the glorious church — accomplishes in the hearts and minds of His people to sanctify them and to prepare them to be a bride who will one day sit at the marriage supper of the Lamb and be united to Christ forever. This is a grand purpose. This is a glorious purpose. You have a reason for deaconing. Truly, deaconing is ministering — deaconing is ministering here in Acts chapter six. And so we need men who are of good reputation, filled with the Spirit, very wise, who can be put in charge of taking on tasks. And so when we delegate a task, not only are you to take the task and be committed to it if you can do it, but then to own it, to see it through, to be all in, to take care of it. Say to the one who has delegated this task or this ministry opportunity to you, "You don't have to worry about it. I'm going to report back to you. I want to give you the details and let you know that it has been done — finito, finished. Don't lose an ounce of sleep over this. You don't have to think about it. I got it."

Now that's a man. That's a man who's got some grit behind him, who is going to work hard and see it through whatever it costs him.

And by the way, I might say we've got some strong women here that work hard like this. We've got women around here that'll take care of rats and rodents, bugs, whatever the case. Get on a roof — my daughter asked if she could pressure wash the highest peak of the roof on our work day coming up. Let me figure it out.

I'm so proud of our church. And I'm so proud of how we are progressing in these wonderful ways. And so as I conclude now, I'd like to pray with you and ask that, as we take this message as a whole, not only am I preaching towards deacon ordination, but I also wanted our young men to keep in mind there's a pathway forward to climb and strive in. And then as well, I wanted our young ladies to see what kind of man to look for in regards to this world. Don't settle for less. Don't settle for anything other than a man who is biblical and humble. The same thing for you men — don't settle for less. Look for a lady who is biblical and humble.

Let's pray together. Lord, thank you for the process that we have in place here to train and raise up men to be mighty in the faith. And I pray, Lord, that they would be men who can handle the Word well, to minister in humility, and continue to strive and make strides in progress in their faith, that they would be on display daily, and that we would continue to celebrate them. And I pray Your safety among us all. God, if there's one here who has come by way of just visiting, or they've found themselves here, and they do not know You as personal Lord and Savior, will You grant them the faith to confess that You are Lord and Savior? God, would You save their soul? Would You rapture their spirit? Would You bring them into Yourself? Would You have them confess that You are Lord and Savior and to believe that You died and rose again for their sins so that they could be saved, and be biblically baptized, and join a good biblical church, and go forth and make disciples themselves? Grow them in their faith, dear God, we pray. I pray that You would continue to save many souls here at this wonderful church and to guide them and to help them realize as well. Thank you for this spiritual progression for men that You have shown us today in the Bible, and may we continue to march and soldier on and finish strong. In Christ's name we pray, amen.