I was thinking about the ordination of the deacons and looking at the names both in the eldership and in the diaconate. Finally, after 11 years, I have a church of souls younger than me. Finally. It's easy to guess who that person is. I was looking at it, I remember we were sitting up at the Oda Matafwali and Oda Boto was saying, so Imano will be the youngest in the Oda ship. I was like, no, I'm still the youngest. Finally, we have someone. But we're grateful to the Lord and we hope that many younger and those around my age will be ushered into the office of elders or deacon. Acts chapter six, I commence reading from verse one. Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. And the trove summoned the full number of the disciples and said, It is not right that we should give up preaching the Word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the Word. And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Procorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Pamanus, and Nicholas, a proselyte of Antioch. These they said before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them. and the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great number of the priests became obedient to the faith. It is always an exciting time when a church ordains new officers or whenever there's an addition to church officers. It signals that the church is growing or the church wants to expand her impact and effectiveness in the work of the kingdom of God. As a church, We have examined these men and found them to be qualified or found them to qualify to serve as deacons. Therefore, I'm confident that these men will be a blessing to this congregation and that they will enhance the ministry of this church in a wonderful way. And we must continue to pray for them, but not only them, but the rest of church officers, both the elders and the deacons, that they'll remain true to their calling and that they'll stay qualified in their calling. The passage we've read in Acts chapter six, the context of our passage is that we see that the early days of the church was quite exciting days. 3,000 were saved when Peter preached on the day of Pentecost. And another 5,000 were added to the church in a short time. So already there was 8,000 and probably even more. And this vast inflow of convicts proved the validity of the message that the apostles were preaching, but also it proved the power of God was moving in the church as souls were getting saved. However, all was not well. With the rapid growing church in Jerusalem, it had its own challenges. And all these challenges were in an effort by the evil one to discourage the disciples. And so it seemed, as we read in Acts chapter six, that there were some of the Hellenists Widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. Now, the Hellenists were Greek-speaking Jews who were living outside Palestine or in the peripherals of the surrounding places. And so apparently the charge that was brought was that the apostles were showing favoritism in the dairy distribution. They were more compassionate, as it were, to the Hebrews than to the Hellenists. And so as a result, complaining was heard among the people. And therefore, this conflict had the potential to cause great harm in this church, in this young church. And so God moved the apostles to assemble the congregation and instructed them to choose from their number men who would take care of the business of ministering to the physical needs of the church. And this was to remove the burden of that ministry from the shoulders of the apostles. And you could almost imagine, we don't know probably it was the 11, or we don't know how many were in the forefront, but if we were to believe what the scriptures do reveal us, do reveal to us, there were 12 disciples, Judas hung himself, and so there were 11. Now you could imagine 11 trying to cut off for 8,000 plus. And the apostles said, brethren, choose from among yourselves so that we devote our time to the ministry of prayer and that of the word. And so what we see in the passage we've read is the creation of the office of deacon, or at least the service to save tables. in the church. And as long as the church of the Lord Jesus Christ exists or continue to exist, the office of elders and deacons will still be needed. And this passage indicates that in this man being set apart for this noble task, the word continued to spread. Because the apostles devoted themselves to prayer and to the word. As they were ministering to the spiritual needs of the church, the deacons were ministering to the physical needs of the church. And therefore, they were healthy Christians as it were, physically as well as spiritually. Now this afternoon what I would like us to look at as we concentrate our focus on verse 3 is to ask the question, what kind of deacons do we need? Or, what kind of deacons should these men be? And as we think through that question, you must also ask yourself the question, what kind of a Christian should I be? Because deacons are not a special class of Christians. They are individual who are picked from among the congregation. And so you must sit there asking yourself the question, what kind of a Christian should I be? and particularly the men present this afternoon. That's a question you must wrestle with. For the wives of the women in this congregation this afternoon, pray that that should be the kind of men your husbands ought to be, or that's the kind of men God must raise in our church. So there are four things I'd like us to look at as we send our thoughts on this. three this afternoon, as we answer that question, what kind of deacons should these men be? The first thing is that deacons, or the kinds of men we need to serve as deacon, must be men who have a relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ. They must be men who have a relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse three, therefore brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Holy Spirit and of wisdom, whom will appoint to this duty. Now notice the phrase, pick from among you. The men who are to be chosen and ordained to the office of deacons were men who were showing signs that they have a good and growing relationship to their savior. In other words, the men that were to be chosen as deacons or to serve in this capacity were to be active members of the community of faith. The church was commanded to pick from among themselves. These men were to be Christians. Men who are saved, men who are exhibiting this growing relationship with their Lord Jesus Christ. Because remember, this is a community of faith. It is a man who had cried, as we read in Acts chapter two. What must we do to be saved when the Apostle Peter was preaching? And so these are men who are showing signs, they are Christians, and they are active members of the community of faith. And this phrase, pick from among yourself, implies that these men were to be saved. They were coming from their numbers. And what the Bible is telling us really, is that men who must save us deacons are men who are working in fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ. The congregation here are to look for those clear signs that shows that there is a healthy relationship to Christ. And the congregation here must continue to look for those signs. when we think of men to serve as deacons. We must have a spiritual checklist, asking questions concerning these men. Do they have a clear testimony of salvation, of a life-changing salvation? Can we attest to that clear testimony of these men? Can they tell us when they got served? Do they live a holy life, or at least do they live a life that is pursuing holiness? Is God and the church a major part of their lives? Do they walk in love towards the brethren? These are the questions that we must ask as congregants. And I'm sure these are the questions that were going through our minds. That men who ought to serve as deacons are men who have a relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ. And we examine their lives, we have observed their lives, and we can say that yes, These men have a clear testimony of salvation. Churches have paid dearly and have regretted the decision of ordaining men who are not saved to the office of deacon or to the office of elders. Because a man lost in sin cannot understand spiritual things. That's what the scriptures tell us. And so as a result, they hinder more than they help. Because they do not have a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, and so their desire is not not of Christ, but personal desires. And so they pull in the opposite direction while the rest are pulling in one direction. And you men that have been set apart this afternoon must continue to show this glowing relationship with your God. You must continue to live a life desirous of seeing that the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is spreading. You must continue to be active members of the community of faith here at Kawata Baptist Church. You must continue to serve in those ministries that the Lord has called you. Now that you are deacons, it's not time to sit back and become a spiritual consultant. It's an office of service. Why? Because you have a relationship with Christ. But secondly, These deacons, the kind of deacons we want or we need must be men that have the recognition from fellow saints. Men that have the recognition or from fellow saints. And again, that's what verse three is telling us. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, and it follows. But it's that first, pick out from among yourselves men of good repute, The apostle Paul is saying, rather the apostles in Acts are giving us this picture that the men who are to be selected or chosen were men who would have the recognition of their fellow members. Men who their fellow members have observed Men they have learned to trust. Men of honor and respect. They are not just to pick any man from their numbers. They are to pick men of good reputation. Choose from among yourselves. And the idea there is that these men who have this relationship with Christ, the Lord is working in their lives. And as they are living their day-to-day lives in service to Christ at the personal level, the Lord is growing their gifts, their personality to a point where others begin to recognize the work of God in their lives. And therefore, God brings them out from among the congregants to a point where they not only begin to serve a small sect of God's people, but the larger community of God's people. Men who have the recognition of others. Men who have a good name, as it were, among fellow believers. Now this was very important, as we see, because the first deacons were entrusted with the church's resources. They were to serve tables and to attend to the physical needs of the saints. And they needed to be people that were trusted. They needed to be men who were trusted. The people they were serving amongst, they needed to be men who have learned to trust them. And the congregation needed to say something of the testimony and the lifestyle of these men. And it's not like the congregation were told, okay, these are the people you must observe for some time and then see. Rather, what we see there is that in their day-to-day lives, as they were saving amongst God's people, others were beginning to see and appreciate their efforts, appreciate their giftings, appreciate everything they are doing in the spread of God's kingdom. And so when the apostles say, choose from among yourselves, the congregation already had names in their minds because these individuals were receiving the recognition of others. These men in their day-to-day Christian lives were showing that they can be trusted. No one could point an accusing finger at them because these men had proven that even before they were set apart for a visible task in the church, they were active and saving. and they had proven worthy of respect. They were men of integrity and unblemished character. They were men who were thought of others in good terms. And we still need those men in the office of Deacon. men who have personal integrity, men who have the recognition of other members, so that when we entrust them with the resources of the church, we entrust them with their day-to-day tasks as deacons, we don't need to be peeping every day to see whether they're doing the right things. We've trusted them, and we've said, Lord, as far as it depends on me, I trust them. have looked at their personal integrity and let them save to their full potential. Let's give them the liberty and the freedom to exercise their gifts to the glory of God and to the good of the church. We have recognized them and they have our recognition and we'll pray for them. And men, I charge you that the recognition that you've received from your fellow members, let it continue to grow. Let no one point an accusing finger at your life or at your conduct. Let all of us continue to recognize that you are a gift to us from God. And therefore, Continue to cultivate your relationship with God. Spend time reading God's word. Spend time in prayer. Do not outgrow your love for Christ. Continue loving him. Continue spending time in his word and let God grow you to be spiritual giants for his glory and for the good of the church. Continue to be men of good repute. These are the kinds of deacons we need. But also thirdly, deacons The kinds of deacons we need must be men who have the recommendation of the Holy Spirit. Men who have the recommendation of the Holy Spirit. And you can see that in verse three. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit. full of the Spirit. You must have this recommendation of the Holy Spirit. Deacons are to be men controlled and led by the Spirit, the Holy Spirit. And in our verse there, we're being told there must be men full of the Spirit. And the word full means complete, lacking nothing, or thoroughly filled with. What the Bible is saying to us there is that these men had to demonstrate that their lives were spirit-filled, constantly displaying the fruit of the spirit. They needed to be men who were soaked with the Holy Spirit. Men who were filled with the Holy Spirit. And what this meant is that there are to be spirit-filled and spirit-controlled. There are to be men who are in tune with God. Sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit. Sensitive to the guiding and the guarding of the Holy Spirit. Men who are to display godliness in their lives. Why? Because they are soaked with the Holy Spirit. Daily showing fruit of the Spirit and daily listening to the leading of the Holy Spirit. There are to be men who are controlled by God and not by their flesh. And you could imagine the situation in Acts 6. If they're not controlled by the Holy Spirit, it would have been easy for these men to take sides. There are two groups complaining, the Hellenists and the Hebrews. It was easy for them to say, okay, which side is my mother or my mother-in-law, and I'll take this side. And you see that this would have worsened the situation. But because they were spirit-led, they needed to hear what are the complaints, what are the issues, and what can be done here. They were sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit. And these are the men needed to be deacons, full of the Holy Spirit. Because as deacons, there will be times when you hear or get sensitive information or news. And you must know how to deal with that, how to keep such information. You must constantly be interested in the mind of the spirit to understand what is his will in this situation. You must be more interested in asking what is God saying than to get the opinion of friends and families. Deacons who are not sensitive to the leading of the spirit will fail in their tasks. Because there'll be times when you'll be overwhelmed with the needs in the church. There'll be times when there'll be so many needs with little resources. How do you prioritize? Who should go first? But if you are in tune with the Holy Spirit, you know what to do. You will not be a thorn to this congregation, but you will be a blessing. And you must seek to be men full of the Holy Spirit. Men who want to be identified as men who are full of the Holy Spirit. And what this simply means is that you'll be men who are constantly growing, producing fruits of the Holy Spirit. And you're going to be a blessing to the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, meeting the needs of God's people, lifting their burdens, working with them in their times of crisis. and constantly praying whenever God brings you to remembrance the needs of your fellow members. And therefore you should determine to be spirit-filled. Simply meaning that you should be determined to be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit. being corrected by him through his word, through constant communing with God. Because the Bible tells us deacons must be men who have the recommendation of the Holy Spirit. But fourthly, deacons must be men who are reasonable. Men who are reasonable. And I'm picking this from the last part of this three. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the spirit and of wisdom. And of wisdom. Men full of wisdom. Deacons are to be men who are wise. Now this does not in any way imply that deacons must be highly educated. The word wisdom is basically saying there must be men who know when, how, and where to apply biblical principles. as they see them from God's word in the lives of God's people. The word wisdom there does not necessarily mean that deacons must be highly intelligent, although that might be helpful to have deacons who are intelligent. But what it's really saying is that they must have spiritual knowledge to know when to apply and how to apply certain spiritual truths in the life of God's people. And this kind of knowledge only comes when you are communing with the Holy Spirit. And you're constantly saturating yourself in God's word. so that out of the overflow of what God is saying to you through his word, you can then make sensible decision based on the word of God. And this will ensure that you are not swayed by personal opinions, family concerns, or personal emotions. It will also ensure that you are not constantly seeking to show that you are the greatest among your fellow deacons. But it will help you to know that you are a team. And when you come up with an idea, when you discuss that idea, if it means your fellow deacons throw it out, you will not be bitter. You will say, but what, brethren, what is the Lord saying here? And if the others feel, no, this is what God is saying, let's go in this direction, because of the wisdom of God in you, you'll be able to say, okay, let's follow this direction, or let's go this path. Because of this spiritual knowledge, and you know when to apply certain biblical truths in the life of a church. You need wisdom. Some members will come to you to complain about other members. You need wisdom. They will even complain about the elders. Some of them will even complain about you indirectly. You need wisdom. You need to constantly drink from the fountain of wisdom our Lord Jesus Christ. and we long to hear as members that when you meet as deacons, that you are men who are constantly seeking the Lord's face in all that you do, that you'll be men of the word, men who know your Bible and are able to apply the truth of the Bible to the work in the church. You need to be men of wisdom, men who are not clouded by their emotions, external controls or peer pressure, but men of wisdom who listen to the voice of God and implement what the Lord is saying for the good of His church and for the glory of God. Wisdom is indispensable to the work of deacons. It's needed. There are times when our current deacons have shown the wisdom of God in dealing with certain matters. There are times people would come to ask for help. where everything within me is saying no. And when we pass it on to the deacons, and they think through, and when they come up with a decision, there are times as though we've seen the wisdom of God upon these men in the way they've handled certain matters. This is what the Bible says. You must have wisdom. You must be a reasonable person. That's what wisdom really detects. That when you look at your work, it's not about you, but about God and his people. So these are the kinds of deacons that we need. Men who have a relationship with God. men who have the recognition of fellow saints, men who have the recommendation of the Holy Spirit, men who are reasonable in their conduct and service. And we see that this proposal was a delight to the congregation. It pleased the congregation. And in verse six we are told, and the word of God continued, rather in verse seven, continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem. And a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith. And this is what we long to see. that as the deacons and the elders are functioning according to what God says, that we may continue to hear testimonies of God's saving grace in the lives of many who come to this church. And that the gospel will be heard throughout this poopy to the ends of the earth. And we want to see God having an approval upon the works of KBC. And you'll see this in the conversion of souls as they go through the waters of baptism and being added to our numbers. And what that would do, it would be like, it would be a cycle. People getting saved, being added to the numbers, and the numbers are increasing, needing more deacons, more elders. And as we add more deacons, more elders, more people are getting saved and being added to the numbers, and therefore having more and more and more and more church officers. So that the needs, both spiritual and physical, are being met. These are the kinds of deacons we need. But also these are the kinds of Christians you ought to be. This is the kind of Christian you must be. Don't just be seated there and say, no, I have no desire to be a deacon. But is this true of you as a Christian? Because these men were active members of God's people, God's congregation. As they lived their Christian lives, God was elevating them to a point where others began to recognize them. Well, if these men were not there, would you be the kind of Christian that your fellow Christians would be thinking of you as a deacon? Is this true of you as a Christian? Because these qualifications must be true of all of us as Christians. Particularly the men in this congregation. Is this true of you? The ladies in this congregation, do you pray for the men in this congregation? These are the kind of men that we need in this church. Men who have a growing relationship with Christ. Men who have the recommendation of the Holy Spirit. Men who have the recognition of the Holy Spirit men who have wisdom. We need such men so that even if they are not deacons in the official sense or capacity, but they will be active as deacons in as far as their service to God is concerned. So even some of those needs can be bounced off such men even before they get to the deacons. Why? Because members are recognizing something in you and they're able to say, I can go to such a man and I will be helped. Or I can go to such men and I will be helped. And you can see from this passage that when the apostles proposed We don't even see the congregation praying. We're assuming they did pray. But you could see that immediately they had names in mind. Because they had examined these men. Oh, that God may raise such men in our midst. But when you think of elders and deacons, all of us have names flashing through our minds. because we've seen, we've interacted, we've examined, we've observed, and we're saying, yes, these are men that can save us in this capacity. But if you're not a Christian this evening, what you need is not the recognition of others, but you need God's salvation. You need to turn away from a life of sin and put your hope and trust in Christ. So that as you become an active member of a community of faith, God will grow you. And as he continues to grow you, he'll bring you to the attention of fellow members. as you actively participate in the life of the church. May the Lord bless his way to us, and may he bless our new deacons to the work he's called them to do. Amen.