This morning on this occasion of the installation of Deacon, we turn in Holy Scripture to Acts 6. I'm only going to read the first eight verses this morning, and the first six verses will constitute our text. Acts 6. And in those days, when the number of the disciples were multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration. Then the Twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables. Wherefore, brethren, Look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. But we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word." And the saying pleased the whole multitude, and they chose Stephan, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Procorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicholas, a proselyte of Antioch, whom they set before the apostles. And when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them. And the word of God increased, and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly, and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith, and Stephan, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people." Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, I call your attention this morning to the office of deacon. And I do so because not a lot of attention is given to that office customarily, and yet the importance of the office is unique and worthy of our attention. Throughout scripture, beginning in the Old Testament, we find that God would have the poor provided for. He made special provision in the laws, in the civil laws of the Old Testament for that need. We read for example in Deuteronomy 15 verses 7 and following, If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother. But thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need in that which he wanteth, that is, in that which he needs. Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand. And thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou givest him not. And he cry unto the Lord against thee, and it be a sin unto thee. Thou shalt surely give him. And thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him, because that for this thing the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto. For the poor shall never cease out of the land. Therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy in thy land. And while the law noted God's special concern for the poor and needy among His covenant people, He would also extend that care to the alien and the sojourner. Or in the New Testament language of Galatians 6 verse 10, As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith. So God has revealed Himself throughout Scripture as the benevolent God who cares for His creatures especially in their deepest needs. Deacons have been given by God as ministers of His benevolence to the poor and needy. And the text that we consider this morning gives Scripture's account of the divinely ordained origin of that office. And to that then I call your attention, the ordination of deacons. We notice first of all the necessary office, secondly the particular qualifications, and finally the blessedness for the church. The necessity of the office of deacon was revealed to the apostles through the rapid growth of the church In the early New Testament period following the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the establishment of the diaconal office belongs to the development of the New Testament Church in its institutional form. Prior to this we read that the church supported the poor under the leadership of the apostles with each giving freely for the sake of those in need even to the point of selling their own possessions to provide for the poor in their midst. According to Acts 4 verse 35 they brought their offerings to the apostles who in turn distributed to every man according as he had need. but the church's needs grew proportionally. Large numbers of people were attracted to this new thing, many for improper reasons. So God used the incident involving Ananias and Sapphira and their divine execution to instill fear upon the whole church, thus giving people cause to hesitate. in joining this movement for the wrong reasons. But even so, the power of the Holy Spirit's work added to the Church daily such as should be saved, in large numbers, until the Apostles could no longer do all the work that needed to be done. In the last verse of chapter 5, we find the Apostles ceasing not to teach and to preach Jesus Christ daily in the Temple and in every house. add to that all the labors of providing for the needs of the poor and there's indication that they found themselves lacking time even to pray as they ought. And so the apostles found themselves in the midst of controversy. We read about it in the first verse of Acts 6. And in those days when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration. Let's consider this a moment. You have to remember that at Pentecost the city had been filled with the pilgrims attending the great feast having come from every nation under heaven as we read in Acts 2 verse 5. These were devout Jews who had come from countries where they had been scattered in their generations many of them having embraced the culture of the nations where they settled insofar as that culture did not conflict with their own religious practices and beliefs and as did many of our Dutch ancestors and other immigrants who came to America in years past these Jews knew that to become part of their earthly home They had to speak the language of their new homeland, so they had become Greek-speaking. They spoke the language of the Gentiles, of the nations where they had settled, and so they became known as Grecians, in distinction from the Hebrews, who were Jews from Palestine. And with the number of disciples increasing, the church at Jerusalem found itself in the position of having more needy to care for, especially widows. Out of that need arose this complaint on the part of the Grecians that their widows were not being treated with as much care as were the Hebrews. In fact, they said their own widows were being neglected. Now there are a couple things we ought to notice from this. In the first place, there is no reason to believe there was not a neglect of the necessary care of some. The Apostle's reaction to this criticism was not to deny the problem. There quite apparently was a problem that needed to be resolved with a divinely ordained solution. and deal with it they would. But there is something else that we must not overlook here. The text speaks of a murmuring, a grumbling, a complaining that arose. In other words, those who were troubled did not bring their concerns to the apostles but began to criticize God's servants openly. John Calvin points out in a sermon on this text that the very fact of this murmuring, quote, shows us the extent of human perversity. Namely, no blessing of God is so great that our capacity for sin cannot pervert it, end quote. There is nothing that should delight us more than to see the number of believers increase and grow. That belongs, after all, to our fervent prayer, Thy kingdom come. God adding to the Church daily such as should be saved is how His kingdom prospers. But our adversary, the devil, with his ready access to our sinful flesh, knows that God gives His blessing only to those who live in peace and harmony with His Word and His people. In order to separate us from God and His blessings, Satan sows dissension, discord, evil speaking. He works the same in our own churches. Don't forget it. He's always attempting to distract us from the peace and unity that ought to characterize us to God's glory and for which we ought always to pray and to give ourselves earnestly in application to maintaining the peace and unity of the church. John Kelvin calls attention to this reality, not only to instruct the people to guard themselves against the wiles of the devil and to guard their tongues, but also to encourage the Church's office bearers. This is a fitting application and worthy of calling attention to. To his office bearers, Calvin said, and I repeat it to you whom God has called to the offices in this congregation, quote, let us not be surprised when people reproach us, insult us, and make false accusations against us. For the apostles lived very faithful lives and conducted themselves devotedly to their charge and office, and yet were not exempt from that kind of malice. However, if we see any lack of orderliness in God's Church, we must immediately seek to remedy it as quickly as possible." The Apostles, though desiring to care for the poor and those in need, and though faithfully doing so insofar as they were able, recognized they were not able to do all that needed to be done. And for that reason and under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit they called the church together and gave the instruction of this work. They were to select seven men of honest report full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom. These seven men were to be brought to the apostles who would ordain them for the service of the church in the care of the poor, the suffering, and the needy. And so we have the ordination of deacons, a permanent office for the New Testament church as is clear from Paul's letter to the church at Philippi where he greets all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi with the bishops and deacons as well as 1 Timothy 3, where we are given the necessary qualifications for the office of a deacon, as well as for those who bear the oversight of the Church, namely the elders. The reason given for the necessity of this newly ordained office in the Church is noteworthy. In Acts 6 verse 2 the apostles look at the care of the poor, a necessary calling in the Church, and they say, it is not reason that we should leave the Word of God and serve tables. And adding to it in verse 4, But we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the Word. The necessity of the office of deacon, therefore, is found in the necessity of the Church to keep its priorities straight. We have to remember, in other words, what is the primary task of Christ's Church. And this is noteworthy. It's a matter that must be emphasized today. What is the church here for? What is the church's primary calling? What is the church's primary calling in missions? Because certainly that application must also be made when we look at Acts chapter 6 in its context. And to many in the church world today, this question is answered very quickly. The church's calling, according to them, is to go out into the world and do good. To care for the poor, to press for political solutions to the world's problems, to end injustices, and to bring relief to suffering. But this text teaches otherwise. It's not that the care of the needy is unimportant. In fact, it is very important, as is evident throughout the whole Bible, in God's own care for the poor. But the importance of that care is not primary to the church. The primary task of the church is the preaching of the gospel. The necessity of ordaining deacons for the ministry of the church to the needy is that the primary calling of the church, that is the preaching of the gospel, is not neglected. Why is that the case? Why is it right that the apostles should put the preaching before the material care of those in need? How is it right for them to look at the needs evident in the Church and to say it's not reason that we should leave the Word of God and serve tables? The answer is found in two things. In the first place, not to be forgotten is the fact that Christ commissioned for the Church through the Apostles was that they preached the gospel to the nations. 2 Timothy 4, verse 2 confirms that same calling for preachers of the gospel today. Preach the word. Be instant, in season, out of season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. The church is to seek the salvation of those who are lost. Which salvation comes only by the preaching of the gospel. Christ speaking by that means powerfully to gather his own unto himself. That means secondly that the apostles were right in what they did and the church today must guard the same priority because preaching alone provides our fundamental need of life. The Grecians seem to think that their fundamental need was for food and clothing, money and attention. It is not. Not even for the needy. Jesus repeated a truth established already in the Old Testament when He said in Luke 4 verse 4, quoting from Deuteronomy, man shall not live by bread alone. What we need above all else is the Word of God's grace. the word which by the preaching of the gospel addresses our troubles at their source. To deal primarily with physical needs is far too superficial. Why are there needy in the world? Why are there widows? Why are there orphans? Why is there suffering? You see, the gospel gets to the source of our problems, the fundamental needs of every one of us. The world would put man at the center of things, and so would we, when our perspective is wrong. That's what the apostles faced. After all, there apparently were those who didn't have enough, Perhaps they didn't even have enough food, enough clothing, certainly not enough money. So it seemed to many that the first thing the apostles should do was to care for those needs. But if they had done so, the preaching would have been neglected. That cannot be. So the deacons have been ordained by God to care for the needs in the church that the ministers might be freed from such labors, focusing instead upon that work which is of greater priority and which serves the whole body rather than just part of it. Very important labors, therefore, are entrusted to the deacons. And for that reason, it's not enough that we elect to that office just any kind of man. So important are these labors and so important is this office in the relief of the ministerial office and in the care of the poor that Christ has called the church to take care that those who will serve as deacons in his church have particular qualifications. And those particular qualifications are also spelled out in the text. First of all, they are to be men of honest report. And this is at the root of those requirements more fully spelled out by the Apostle Paul in 1 Timothy chapter 3. There, in addition to other qualifications, Paul writes in verse 10, and let these also first be proved, then let them use the office of a deacon, being found blameless. So these are meant to be tested. They are to bear the testimony of the whole congregation. And that's why the names of nominees to the offices are published several weeks, even prior to the elections taking place. The congregation must know that the qualifications are met. And these requirements emphasize that we are not to put men into the offices, are not to install men in the office of deacon as if to say, well, we'll see how he turns out. We are not to install men in the office with the hope that this will cause him to grow spiritually. That would be to mock God. The offices are not a practice field for spiritual growth. And you may think this doesn't need emphasis, but I've seen churches nominate men for office who don't even attend church regularly. And the testimony of such office bearers in nominating such men is, well then he'll have to come. have to be there to take the offering. No church may present men for the offices without first putting them to the test of the biblical qualifications for the office. In this text, those who will serve in the office of deacon are to be men of honest his life and conduct must testify that he qualifies to serve in that office and to exercise the calling of that office. Let us know how he deals with others. Let us pay close attention to how he conducts himself in the church and, as much as we are able to know, how he conducts himself in his home. with his wife, with his family. We don't look for perfection. We cannot find perfection in the church on this earth, not in any man. But we must have men of honest report, those who are well spoken of, men in whom the work of Christ is evident, who love the Word, who love the church, And that brings me to the other qualifications to be met. Namely, they are to be men full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom. Note well those qualifications. They are to be full of the Holy Spirit. That is, they must be men of the Word because the Holy Spirit works through the Word. The one who is full of the Holy Spirit, therefore, will be a man who spends time in the Scriptures, who is growing in his understanding of the Spirit's work, not only in himself personally, but also of the Spirit's work in the midst of the church. The deacon must be a man who knows the Spirit's work in all sorts of different members. not only those who are well-to-do, but also the poor, not only the married, but also the single and the widow or the widower. They must be men who are seen, full of the Holy Spirit, known as such by the fruit of the Spirit, which according to Galatians 5 verses 22 and 23 is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Living in the Spirit, they are to be those who walk by the Spirit. And more particularly, they must be men of wisdom. Wisdom is not only to lay hold of the teachings of the Word of God, but also the ability to apply the Scriptures to the given situation. It is possible, you see, that a man be well spoken of, a man of honest rapport, and yet be incapable of administering the responsibilities of the offices, even the office of deacon, because he lacks careful judgment in the application of the scriptures to matters that deacons must treat. Besides uprightness of life, the work of the diaconate requires careful judgment and discretion. And that's true because the deacons must not only provide materially for those in need, but they must minister to them by the Word of God. At times, they must minister the comforting words of Scripture to those who grieve, to those who struggle spiritually with their particular condition in life. At times they must exhort and encourage with that same Word of God, and then there are times they must reprove by bringing from Scripture words of admonition to those who fail to exercise the faithful stewardship required of every believer. But in facing every situation, the deacons must do so not with their own opinion, but with the application of the scriptures, the authority and comfort of God's word. That's why you men whom God has called to the office must continue also to grow spiritually, to spend time with the Word of God and in prayer. You are to do so for yourselves, to be sure, but also for the sake of the labors of your office. The Lord himself provides for his church men capable of serving in the office. The qualifications for this office that are found in some men after all are not natural qualifications. The brothers serving in the office of deacon in this congregation, fine men, were not naturally endowed with these spiritual gifts. They've been given gifts. Gifts of the Holy Spirit. they have nothing themselves to bring to the office. In fact, of themselves, the men ordained to this office and those who labor in the offices take up their offices with fear and trembling, knowing that they must represent the exalted Christ in that office, knowing as well the weakness of their own natures would hinder them from doing so. But so necessary are the qualifications that God himself sees to it that the church has such men. The church at Jerusalem thus chose seven men, each of them known by name, one of whom, Stephan, was noted as bearing gifts above the others. but all of whom were found with these qualifications. And those qualifications only gave those men what was necessary to do the work. The work of the office must be done. The needs in the church may not be neglected. The poor must be cared for. The widows who have needs beyond the preaching of the gospel must be comforted. The sick and aged must be cared for. It's one thing, you see, to be ordained and installed in the office, but the deacons must do the work. And to that end, we read in verse 6 that when the seven were chosen, They were brought before the apostles, and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them. Prayer is necessary for these men, the prayers of the congregation. I charge you, beloved, pray for these men. Pray for your office bearers. We no longer carry on the apostolic practice of laying hands on elders and deacons. We might do well to examine our practice in that connection. But the point is that the laying out of hands by the apostles was to demonstrate that the Holy Spirit qualifies those men whom he ordains for the offices. and the Holy Spirit continually does so. And deacons must do their work in that consciousness. The blessedness for the Church is twofold. In the first place, as we have seen, the ministry of the Word is upheld and supported by God's faithful provision of office-bearers, not just deacons but elders as well. How blessed are we to have men who are able to give themselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the Word. And you pray that God provides you another pastor for that work. The faithful preaching of the Gospel and a congregation lifted up by intercessory prayer is the church's chief blessing. But the church is also blessed by God to see the mercies of Christ administered concretely to people in their needs. The blessing of God rests upon his people through the care of those in need. The fact that the deacons occupy what is often referred to correctly as the ministry of mercy indicates that the labor of the deacons is a high and holy calling that is inseparably connected with the covenant faithfulness of God. God reveals His mercy to his people in the covenant relationship that he has established with them in Christ Jesus. And that such is true makes the work of the deacons unique and completely separate from secular social assistance. The deacons work, and that's the blessedness of this office for the church, is done in the context of the life and fellowship of God's covenant in and through Jesus Christ. That's why when the Lord Jesus said, the poor ye have always with you, we must understand that as a promise to His Church. part of the blessing which the Exalted Lord, the Head of the Church, will give to His people, and by which He sees to it that His mercies are bestowed upon His Church by the care of the needy. The tender mercies of our God are poured upon us as a wonderful expression of His faithfulness to the church. And that's why we must recognize the poor and needy and widows in the church as God's blessing to us. They belong to the church's blessedness. Because by them, the deacons function in the midst of the Church, bringing to expression the tender mercies of our God in the daily provisions for His people in every circumstance of life. Much more could be said, of course, but that's the text. The ordination of deacons is a tremendously significant event for the Church. It is also for your congregation this morning. And every time men are ordained and installed into this office, look upon the office in this way. Give liberally for the cause of the deacon's work, and pray that God continues to bless us in this way. Amen. Gracious Father, we give thanks to Thee for Thy love for Thy Church in Christ Jesus, and for Christ bestowing upon His Church His tender mercies, ministered also through the office of the deacon. And to that end, we pray for our deacons. And we pray, Heavenly Father, that Thou wilt give them the wisdom and discretion and all that is necessary in the exercise of their office and as members of the consistory in this place, to the honor and glory of thy name and to the spiritual well-being of this congregation, for Jesus' sake, amen.