Bible Teaching

Calvary Temple Teaching Library

Living in the Miraculous Pt.8

Let's turn to the book of Acts. We want to continue along the lines that we've been dealing with here of living in the supernatural, looking at the church of which we are all members. It just happens that a little over two thousand years later we are still representing the kingdom of God. Amen? I sure would've thought the Lord would have come by now. How many of you have been serving the Lord for well over 20 years and thought it could have at least been 20 years ago? Let me see your hands. It's sooner than we first believed. Amen? He's coming. "I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also" (John 14:2-3). Praise God. It's a sure thing; He's coming back. I hope in my lifetime to hear the trumpet of God sound, [see] the dead in Christ rise, those of us that remain--praise God!--changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. The Scripture says we won't prevent those that are asleep. What a glorious day that's going to be! There's not a lot of talk about the coming of the Lord anymore, because people are content with this life and are, as the Scripture refers to them, earth-dwellers. But our heart's in the heavens, we live in the eternal, the spiritual; there's nothing here that holds us, we're sojourners. I trust there's nothing here that has a hold on you. We're going through life like everybody else and we make plans and we have things that we're anticipating but nothing that holds us. We'd like to see certain things accomplished in our children's lives and our grandchildren's, different milestones that they would be able to reach and enjoy, but nothing here that holds us. Because eye has not seen and ear has not heard, it's not entered into the heart of man the things that God has prepared for those that love Him. The best that you can imagine doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of what it really is! Hallelujah! Think about that. Your greatest fantasy of what this eternal life might be doesn't even scratch the surface, because the furthest you can go would be absolute, complete exhausting of finite comprehension, and the infinite doesn't even start there. Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus. Amen?

While we're hanging around here, we've got things to do. So the Scripture says, "Occupy until I come," "Be busy with trading," "What you've freely received, freely give." We're out just sharing this message that we talked about this morning and as we're reading through these passages in Acts and our hearts being challenged, we saw very clearly the need to speak all the words of this life, verse 20 of the fifth chapter says. Now, some of you are being set free from prison, the prison of self. Some of you young people are being set free from the prison, the jail of self-consciousness, worried about what people think. Don't let anybody put you back in there; don't put yourself back in there. The Angel of God has freed you through the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The Angel of God--even if you haven't received the baptism yet--has freed some of you to be able to go and pray for others and have a pursuit and a liberty now. I saw some of you raising your hands and worshipping that have never been free to do that before. Don't go back to jail; just stand and speak all the words of this life. Amen? Be bold in your declaration of what God has done for you. Freely you've received, the Scripture says, freely give.

As we left off this morning we saw them standing before the judgment of the Sanhedrin, and the Scripture, as we left off this morning, said in verse 28, the admonition of the Sanhedrin: "...Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man's blood upon us. Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men." That's bottom line. Amen? So, as we're being faced with decisions here in the future that some of you are going to be faced with in the near future, are you going to obey God or man? That's the bottom line. Amen? Pretty simple the way this thing works. If God is for us, who can be against us? That's the kind of life we live, and the fact of the matter is our life is going to take us across the grain of the civil processes, thoughts, philosophies. We're already being told by many that we can't administer what they would call "corporal punishment." The Bible calls it the wisdom of God, the rod and reproof that exhibit the love of God and the love of a man for his child. The civil authorities are getting more and more bold and they're saying, "No, you can't do that, the children belong to the state, not to the parents." We say, "We don't believe that." So now we have conflict. This isn't arrogance on our part, we're not trying to live free from society's laws, the Bible admonishes us very clearly, "As much as is possible, live peaceably with all men." (Romans 12:18) So we're not looking for ways to resist and say, "We don't have to do that because we're Christians; we don't have to stop at red lights, we're Christians, we're free." (You know, all those people that think they're Christians out there that don't stop.) We're living separate, we're living in a kingdom that the world knows nothing about, and hates and despises.

So Peter's response was, "You guys are going to have to do whatever you need to do, but here's what determines our life's decisions: Is it better to obey God or man?" Then he gives him this statement, "The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also [the ministry of] the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him." Here's one thing that's very interesting, we'll just speak to it quickly; many of you who are seeking the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit comes to those that obey Him. Now, God knows our hearts, He knows our intentions. The context of this obedience is this willingness to obey God and not men. If you've been seeking, and seeking, and seeking, then ask Father to reveal your heart to you and say, "I wonder if there's something in me of a philosophical compromise; is there still too much natural thinking in me, is there a propensity in me to choose the natural, to choose the wisdom of man, to choose the earthly, to choose the temporal?" Then begin to make decisions against the natural and be filled with the supernatural, the power of God. So just ask Him to reveal your heart. But the one thing Peter says here is the Holy Spirit comes to those who obey Him, a people who are wanting to be used, a people who understand--listen--the purpose of the Holy Spirit.

What is the context? "They filled Jerusalem with their doctrine." Are you obedient to be a witness? Do you want to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit? Begin to witness with the power you have now, begin to witness without His power and He will give you His power; be obedient to be the light of the world, the salt of the earth, and then the promise that "you shall receive power after the Holy Ghost has upon you to be witnesses unto me" will be a realization in your life. What do you need the Holy Spirit for if you're not going to use Him? So that's part of the doctrine that's coming forth here. You see, there's a principle in the Scripture that you've got to grab a hold of: God makes up the difference. If you want to see a miracle, if you want to know the power of God, get yourself by obedience--not presumption--by obedience get yourself in a place where you've fully extended yourself, you've used all of your resources, and God will move into the supernatural realm and make up the difference, praise God. When you've done all you can to get to the Red Sea, God will make up the difference. When you've given all that you can, God will make up the difference and the cruse of oil will not fail. When you've given up and pursue God, God will make up the difference and every morning there will be manna to gather, praise God. When you're obedient, God will make up the difference and you walk waiting and trusting God and you sound the trumpet and the walls come down. God will make up the difference if you'll obey.

This is part of what Peter's proclaiming. He's not speaking arrogantly, but he's basically saying to these people, "You don't know who we are; you think you're dealing with men here." Now, one of them is going to be sharp enough to pick up on this. Gamaliel is going to pick up on this thing in just a moment. Watch what's happening here. The Holy Spirit comes to those who obey Him. "When they heard that, they were cut to the heart, and [said we're going to kill these guys]. Then stood there up one in the council, a Pharisee, named Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, had in reputation among all the people, and [said, have these guys step out for just a minute. And they did and he said, listen guys, don't you remember, we've dealt with things similar to this before? Men that would be rising up to power and cause some schism and where are they today? They had different groups that would follow them, as many as 500 following one of these guys and they put themselves off as great leaders and a new movement and it's all come to nought, verse 36 says]...Judas of Galilee in the days of the taxing, and drew away much people after him: he also perished...[now listen, verse 38] Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought: [what wisdom this guy is speaking!] But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God." Now that's Gamaliel speaking to the Sanhedrin, but we need to get the truth and apply it to ourselves: If we be of God, nobody can stand against us. Amen? Are we filling Jerusalem with our doctrine? Are we of one heart and one soul so that we can truly say, "God is in our midst, we don't have personal agendas, we are not seeking preeminence among the family here, we're just serving where God's put us." Then we're invincible, the Scripture says. "And to him they agreed: and when they had called the apostles [they said, it's obvious to us that you guys are the men of God and so it's nice to have you on board and we're going to leave you alone. No! They took them and they beat them!]"

Now, the one thing I want you to see is there's not--our perception; and we're going to see it to the nth degree in just a moment--but our perception is that if we're obeying God and we're moving in the Spirit, then we're not going to have any real adverse circumstances; that's not the truth. The fact that you get beat up, the fact that you experience loss, the fact that not everyone is happy with you, the fact that things don't go smoothly is not the indication that God is necessarily blessing you and that this is the will of God. We don't judge the will of God by circumstances but whether by or not we're obeying the mandate of the Angel that said, "Go preach," of Jesus, who said, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel." There are consequences, and on a couple of occasions now we've seen threatenings, we see physical abuse at this time; and they would always depart rejoicing, thanking God that they were counted worthy to suffer for His name's sake. Do you want me to tell you what's coming to us? Suffering. That's what's coming to us. Are you going to be able to count it joy? Not the hurt; the privilege of identifying with Jesus. "...and they took [note] that they had been with Jesus" (Acts 4:13). They hated Him, they're going to hate us; it's just that clear.

It expresses itself in many ways, it's not always some type of extreme hatred, it's not always physical violence, but we're not of them. This is part of what we need to realize as we identify who we are as the church. The true church is never embraced of the world's system, but, in fact, hated. Clear back from the days of Constantine there's been the amalgamating. And as a people that desire to stand free and to honor God, that refuse to bow to the idol, we are going to experience the fiery furnaces, the dens of lions, the councils of the Sanhedrins. It's who we are. Why would we think it's any different in this day? So, the comfort and the ease that we've known can only be the fruit of one thing: our lack of offense. He that's the Head of the church, the Cornerstone, is the rock of offense. Now, I'm not talking about offense based upon our personality, I'm not talking about offense just going out and trying to stir up trouble, I'm talking about our pure pursuit of God, I'm talking about the true koinonia, the true unity, the true eternal vision that we've embraced that make us separate from the world.

So Gamaliel's counsel is adhered to and it says they brought them in, and verse 40, "And to him they agreed: and when they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. ["Do not speak anymore in the name of Jesus."] And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ." Glory to God! This is my kind of folks. Let me ask you: Is it better to obey God or man? Do you see what we are a part of? Is that same spirit in you? Can you identify with these guys? Joshua and Caleb had another spirit in them, the Scripture says. Who are you identifying with? Politicians say whatever people want, try to keep the peace, "Let's not offend anybody." Some of you young people, who have been moved upon by the Holy Spirit, let me encourage you to read and reread these chapters and let's begin to find our heroes in here and not on Basketball courts and in movie theatres. I was talking to some parents the other day--the young people--we'd come back and they know all the newest things: "Oh, did you see that guy in that movie? He's bad! Look how he wore his hair, and look at the clothes he's wearing." They are actors! People dress them! It's pretend! "Yeah, and he jumped up in his karate and he hung in the air for 32 minutes and kicked 700 guys. He's my hero." The guy probably in reality trips over designs in the carpet. These people [holds up Bible] are real. This is the great crowd of witnesses that have gone before us who have endured and stopped the mouths of lions, who were beaten, who were sawed asunder, who lived in caves and counted it a privilege to suffer for His name's sake. Who is your hero? We need to identify with who we are; we can't have heroes in the world. Our heroes are not athletes, politicians, military leaders. Oh, there are some things that they do that are pretty amazing in all of those arenas, but that's not where we live. So the Scripture speaks very clearly and it says, "And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ."

Now, I want to take a little bit of time this evening, as we finish up, to look at the office of deacon; what it really is in our midst, its purpose and how it should bring a strength and a harmony and a unity into our midst. There is a natural tendency for those who are carnal to say, "I'm of Paul, I'm of Apollos." In our midst we'd run around and say, "Our group! We're number one! We've got the best group; we've got the best deacon." There is no competition; we're one. There isn't one better than the other. That's carnality. "Boy I wish I was over in that group, man, they seem to really like their deacon." How does that fit in to what we have been studying, one accord? Because what you're going to see, in reality if this thing is working properly, you need to realize none of these deacons should be speaking anything other than what the other one is, because they don't have any reason to speak anything other than what we have told them to speak. There should only be one word coming out through twelve mouths. They are not setting any course different; it should all be the same thing. Now, there are different personalities, but there's one message and it's for one purpose. It's for the strengthening and the edifying of the body and the meeting of every need in our midst.

So, let me show you how this thing works. As the church was growing and being cared for, it says, "And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring... [Now thank God we never have that in our church, there's never any murmurings, no one's ever disgruntled. Now this murmuring happened to be because they thought there was preferential treatment being given to a certain segment. It says,] 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 [Now, I want you to see the requirements of those who function in this role] seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business." Look you out from among yourselves--the American church today wants to vote. "Okay, we're going to vote for our deacons, I vote for over here Mr. Fat Cat. And we vote over here, there are 14 of us families who've been in this church for 30 years and we're getting our representative in there, so we nominate Uncle George. And here's a new guy among us, and he dresses real nice and we haven't seen anything really stupid. And the rest of these we've been watching for years and they're a bunch of jerks. Let's nominate the new guy; everybody for the new guy? Okay." Here we are and now we're going to vote, so everybody votes and we get deacons. Most deacons are voted in based upon just that: tenure, worldly success, or a popularity contest. Hmm. "...men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom..."

When the Scripture says, "Look out from among you," we're going to go back to Exodus, Chapter 18, for just a moment and see what that really means and the proper way to see deacons recognized in our midst. The one thing we do know is that these are not people that are elected; they are people that are appointed. It goes on and it says the apostles will appoint these people to their roles. The "looking out from among you"--and it's something that we've always taught and you see how it works practically--"looking out from among you;" what that just basically means is these people are people that emerge. They are not people that are placed to do the job, they are people that are doing the job and recognized. They are doing it without the title. They are doing it because they are men full of the Holy Ghost. They are doing it because they are servants. The word "deacon," minister, servant is what it means. They are serving, and because they are serving we look out from among us, we recognize and say these people obviously have been called, gifted, they have a heart, they are giving themselves for the care of the flock, the ministry. Those people are represented. How are they represented? Very clearly, people come up and say, "Man, so and so, they've blessed, and I'm just so thankful for their life and they've touched me this way," and you listen, and the same names keep coming up. So, you listen and you watch and you see who it is.

The Scripture says very clearly, then, that these were people appointed 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 Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip..." These two I want to emphasize; five others chosen, but these two I want to emphasize. Now, just look back to Exodus for just a moment before we look at these guys lives a little more closely. In Exodus 18 and in Deuteronomy 1, we see some references made to this same principle. Exodus 18, you remember the Jethro principle that we've shared (this Jethro was a little wiser than Bodine). So Exodus, the people are in the process of moving into the promised land, God's doing great things in their midst, and verse nine says, "And Jethro rejoiced for all the goodness which the Lord had done to Israel, whom he had delivered out of the hand of the Egyptians...[In verse 13 it says] And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses sat to judge the people: and the people stood by Moses from the morning unto the evening...[Verse 15, when asked about it]...Moses said unto his father in law, Because the people come unto me to enquire of God: When they have a matter, they come unto me; and I judge between one and another, and I do make them know the statutes of God, and his laws. And Moses' father in law said unto him, The thing that thou doest is not good. Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou, and this people that is with thee: for this thing is too heavy for thee; thou art not able to perform it thyself alone."

Now, that's the wisdom of God, and this is the principle that the deacons were founded off of. Verse 21, "...Provide out of all the people able men, [now here are the requirements, get them in your notes] such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens." Now, what we want you to see is that all deacons are not created equal, necessarily. We don't see this statement made in the book of Acts, but the principles are still true. There is a care for all of the people. In the Jethro principle, men were looked out and they were over different segments, different groups. We don't see that distinction in Acts, but what we do see is a different grace upon men like Stephen and Philip. There are some that move in a greater wisdom, and a greater anointing, and greater power; all fulfilling the same office, all demanding the same honor, but some are, in fact, gifted with greater degree of gifts; a more obvious anointing, but still all having to meet the same requirements. Now, our tendency would be to look and to laud those that have greater gifts. They're all gifts! It's not anything that any of these people are; it's what God has graced them with. What we need to be thankful for is the process, not the person. Now are we thankful for the personality, the person that's giving their life? Yes, but I want you to hear something very clearly: if they weren't doing it, somebody else would be. The constraining process, the wisdom and the plan of God to care for His church--What am I saying?

Can you see the underlying theme of what we've been talking about the last couple of sessions? Don't misunderstand, I am thankful for, I thank God for the willingness of all of these men who have given their lives, who've obeyed, for the work that they do, but the honor is not theirs, it's God's. Amen? That's what we need to understand. It's not about personalities; it's about the body, it's about the glory of God, it's about the preparation and purification of the church to be able to stand. Because the fact of the matter is, over the history--in both history and our own personal experience--some among us who have fulfilled the highest offices have gone their own way, and yet we live. Why? Because it's not about personalities, it's about the process, letting it work for the glory of God.

So, it's very important that we see this: "...let them judge the people at all seasons: [verse 22] and it shall be, that every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge..." See, we don't micromanage from the top. We're not a Jimmy Carter; those that are in leadership can't be. Can I give you guys some encouragement, heads of your house, men? Don't try to do it at home; you don't have to micromanage every decision. Trust your wives, let them make some decisions. "But they have to report, they have to answer." They are going to answer to you, but the smaller matters they can make decisions, you don't have to decide everything: How the kids are going to dress. "Oh that's not quite color coordinated, I'd like to..." That's not your job. It's not our job to have to deal and know everything about everybody, but it is the deacon's job to know what's going on in your life and the greater things they come and they report to us. We meet every week and we know pretty much what's going on in your lives. And of course, as we've shared before, the way we really know what's going on in your lives is by your kids up there in Children's Church because they have prayer requests. "Mom's really mean this week, can we pray?" "Dad was sleeping under the couch and we couldn't find the dog and he was under there." They share everything; it's great, they're just so innocent. "Yeah, we had to miss home fellowship group, we had a very important appointment," The kids go, "Hey, we were at Chuck E. Cheese's last night!" Then somebody says, "You guys missed home fellowship for Chuck E. Cheese's, huh?" "Who told you?" Now, if somebody missed home fellowship for Chuck E. Cheese's, I don't know about it.

Every great matter comes to you. Verse 25, can you see how this thing works? Look at both of these phrases and you'll see it so clearly. Both times the admonition was for the people to choose and both times the qualification is, "and Moses chose," "and the Apostles placed" there is no distinction. "And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people..." See, it doesn't matter how much attention a person's receiving, how gifted they are, what they might be doing in our midst, until the leadership recognizes them, they are not a leader. They are a member in the body meeting needs, but leadership is only recognized by leadership. So, it's very important that we see. You might be sitting and saying, "Well, you know, this person looks like they're doing a better job than one of those guys that's already doing the job." They might be, but God said... And that's how we realize the wisdom of God. So Moses set them as heads over the people, "And they judged the people [verse 26] at all seasons: the hard causes they brought unto Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves." So, this was the process as it worked in their midst.

Turn over to Deuteronomy real quickly before we go to Timothy. In the Deuteronomy process, Chapter 1, verse 13, "Take you wise men, [here are your requirements again, I want you to write them down] and understanding, and known among your tribes, and I will make them rulers over you...[Verse 15] So I took the chief of your tribes, wise men, and known, and made them heads over you..." We see this process to make sure all of the needs are met so that we're not wearing out you, the leadership. We have this localized representation: thousands, hundreds, fifties, tens. Some of how we do that, as you've seen, we have captains among young adults; they are not deacons but they are overseeing smaller segments. They deal closely--some of you may not even be aware of that--in Young Adults, they, the Young Adult captains, deal closely with the deacons. The deacons interact in the meetings that we have with them and share on a weekly basis. If it can't wait until Tuesday, the deacon's contact is Chuck. Chuck represents it to me. All of this in place by the wisdom of God, and let me say it very clearly: So, there's absolutely no reason for you to have a need not met.

If you're sitting there feeling, "I just feel like nobody cares, I feel like nobody knows." It's on you; it's not on us. The structure is in place, the gifts are in place. Maybe you're murmuring and talking to the wrong people. Let's say it another way: Talk to somebody that can do something about it and every need will be met. I don't know of any problems to the contrary, I'm just giving you principles. I'm not speaking with knowledge of anybody that might possibly be disgruntled but there's always somebody. So, this is the wisdom of God.

Now, back to the book of Acts for just a moment, Chapter 6, "...look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom..." You'll noticed that Moses said it couldn't be men who were covetous. Well, you know, folks are folks, man. You've got to have people that aren't covetous. That covetousness isn't just a guy who is in a position that can't be bought off; that's part of it. You've got to remember something--and tragically we've missed it here in the day that we're living in--but in these communities there were no civil authorities, this was the only court, and just like it happens today people will try to buy the judges off. There's a conflict between myself and this other person and so the judges couldn't be people who were given to covetousness. "I'm not for sale, you're going to get truth, you're going to hear justice." We're admonished in Corinthians that it's that binding here; one heart, one soul. Let me ask you something: if you were to get into conflict--now we're not talking necessarily about Joe Blow down at such-and-such a fellowship that says he is a Christian--we're talking about here.

Any conflicts that you would get in with people here, there is no place ever for that to go to any civil type of rectifying the matter; it's all in-house judgment. In fact, the wisdom that Paul says, he said, "I want you to understand something, we can take the most immature person out of here, set them over this matter and you'd get a better judgment than you would from the civil courts." Because of that we have to constantly guard ourselves, and people that are in these positions of making these judgments can't be people who are given to covetousness. Now, covetousness is not in this spirit, not just speaking about money. Do you want to know what leadership in a situation like this is most susceptible to? Flattery, respecter of persons, favorites; there can't be favorites among us. Deacons can't have favorites. There can't be any levels of care in any aspect of our community; everyone should be treated alike. Now, I'm not talking about in our social relationships, I'm not talking about the fact that some of us have more natural things in common, some of our personalities mesh more easily and we're more comfortable with certain people. I'm talking about respect of persons. I'm talking about partiality, and there's a big difference between preference and partiality. There can't be any of that in our midst. There can't be any of that in our fellowship at any level, and this is why we have to have men that are full of wisdom and faith, and power, that are incorruptible. So, the Spirit of God speaks over in Timothy and tells us what the requirements are of some of these folks, let's turn over there for just a moment.

Right now some of the deacons are sweating and saying, "Man, he's telling these people what I'm supposed to be, dear Lord God that's a..." Yup, that's what I'm doing, because when this all operates properly the Spirit of God can move in our midst. As we look and we redefine in our own consciousness for the deacons tonight, each deacon I'm sure already--these are men full of faith, these are men of good report, these are men that love God, these are men who have served faithfully, and as we're sharing this they are listening and they're examining their own lives and saying, "I wonder if I've gotten off a little bit in some of these areas." So, I'd encourage some of you don't you be judging your deacon, they're already judging themselves. You look at you. You might be the next deacon and then we can all look at you.

So, the Scripture says in 1 Timothy, Chapter 3, he gives requirements of the bishops as Titus does and then he talks about the deacons and he says, "Likewise must the deacons be grave..." This gravity that's being spoken of is very important: sober, serious about the job. As I shared before, this isn't a hobby. It's very important that we understand the gravity of the situation. We're talking about people's lives, souls; we're talking about the fact that the decisions that we make affect eternity. We don't take any of this lightly as it pertains to your life, to your children, to yourselves. We realize that we're dealing with eternal life and eternal damnation in the judgments that we hand down. Do you think that's not a sobering matter? Nobody just flippantly says, "Aw let's do that; yeah, forget about them."

You've heard me share before, as you look at our personalities and you see myself and you've heard over the years the teaching and the absolute uncompromising approach to the Word of God and because of that people would think, "Well, you know, Pastor's hard, and boy, man, I'm glad for the other guys." They're the ones that would have wrote you off sooner than myself. I don't say that critically, I'm just saying over the years--and you can ask any of them--who is the one who's been the most patient, who is the one that says, "I don't know, let's wait a little longer." Why? Because I have more character than them? Of course not. Do you want to know why? It's because the final decision is mine. That brings a whole different light to it, doesn't it? You want to know why sometimes these guys can get frustrated and say, "Do you know what, I think we should just line them up and shoot them." I feel like that sometimes too! But they can say that because they know they can't pull the trigger. The point I'm making is sobriety, the gravity of the situation. We take it seriously; it's what the office demands. You see, the office that these men are in, the office that the other pastors are in, the office that we occupy has with it certain graces that come that enable us. You'll see there's certain character that's required, there's also the placement of God and the wisdom of God that manifests itself and places these gifts, but the office carries along with it gifts, wisdom. So it's not a thing of any of these men ever thinking, "I'm this or I'm that." We're all humbled by the wisdom of God that will flow in His administration of gifts.

Deacons: Men that are "...grave, not doubletongued..." That's one of the crucial things. These men can't be talking to you and flattering you and trying to stay looking good in your eyes and make the pastors the bad guys, "Well, you know, I'll go up and see what I can do for you." There is no doubletongue. You don't speak one way to the people and one way to the leadership. When you're counseling and there's conflict with parties in the group, the deacon can't speak one way to you and one way to this person. There is no doubletongue; there is no mixed representation. We bring the truth, cutting straight, the Scripture says. There are no politics. In other words just the truth. So, there can't be anything other than simple representation. Basically, what the deacon says is, "This is not my decision; I'm going to represent you, it's going to come from another source, I'm here to hear you and in the small matters I'll make some judgments." That's why practically--and this has been shared with you before but I'll share it again--practically the way this thing works, in the smaller matters--the deacons have latitude to make decisions and judgments as it pertains to you in the smaller matters. The greater ones they bring to ourselves.

What if you think it wasn't a small matter? What if it's not represented in a way you feel was in fact the wisdom of God? "You know, that doesn't sound like it goes with the way stuff has always gone around here." Then very simply you go to your deacon and you say, "I'm not real comfortable with this, would you represent that to the pastors?" Now, the fact that these men are men of honest report, the fact that these men are full of the Holy Ghost, the fact that these are not men that are seeking reputation, the fact that these are men that are humble and servants, their response to you is going to be, "Yeah, if I've made a mistake I'll go find out and I'll come back and represent to you what the wisdom of God is in this thing." That's the response you ought to get. If it's anything other than that, then you need to be concerned. And you go back and say, "Did you represent that?" "Well no, not yet." Next week, "Were you able...?" "No, not yet." That's too long. So then what do you do? You go to Pastor Chuck and you say, "I've asked three times for this thing to be brought to your attention, has it yet?" Never an accusation: "I've asked for it three times and he hasn't done it." How do you know? You don't know, it might have gotten done that afternoon. "Has it been done yet?" "No, I haven't heard anything about it." "Well, here's what concerns me..." generally. Chuck doesn't need to hear the specifics; we're going to get them. So, in the next reference he calls deacon A and says, "So and so just spoke to me and what do you know about the situation?" Your needs will be represented and your needs will be met. Praise God for that, it's the wisdom of God.

And so this is how this thing works, these are men that are "...not doubletongued, not given to much wine, [How much is too much? That's a different teaching] not greedy of filthy lucre; [Those that reverence and hold] the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience." People that are given to evangelism, people that are caught up not just in the social, not just wanting to take care of you, and make sure that you are happy and everybody's content: "Boy, don't we have a nice little close knit family here," it's about the mystery of the faith, it's about the gospel, it's about the edification of ourselves spiritually. It's not about having a cozy little family, it's about are we going into all the world and proclaiming the gospel, are we bold witnesses, is the power of God in our midst? The fact that we are close knit little groups doesn't mean the Spirit of God is in our midst. So these are men, the Scriptures says very clearly, that are holding the mystery of the faith in pure conscience, men that are proven, already doing the job, "...then let them use the office of a deacon, being found [verse 10] blameless."

Now, the reason we've spent so much time on this particular topic is because I believe that when all of this is in place, the murmuring stops, the bickering stops over all the small things, the natural tendencies for vying for position and recognition stop, and God can move in our midst. Because all of those things that are distractions are being taken care of and we are all of one heart and one soul, we're all pursuing the eternal, the spiritual, and then God's able to move in our midst.

Father, we thank You tonight for the Word of God. We thank You for the men that are serving among us, that are caring for our souls, the power of God in our midst. I don't know if we're going to get back to this next session or not. I don't know that we will, the deacon's house, his wife, his children. In a nutshell, verse 11 just says this house should be an example of what every home should be in the group. "Do it like we're doing it and you're going to make it." "For they that have used the office of a deacon well purchase to themselves a good degree, and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus." Pray for those who are over you in the Lord. Know those who are over you and labor among you, who care for your souls. Be a person who is seeking orderliness, being helped to find your place in the body, to be content with who you are and where you've been placed, confident that there is not respect of persons, preferential treatment. Don't mistake the natural gravitating to different preferences as partiality or respect of persons. Don't judge wrongly based upon your own ambition, your own over-evaluation of your worth, but judge by the character of these individuals, their willingness to serve, the proper representation of each heart. I'm a firm believer that God moves in order, and as we're in order we've created an environment for God to move, and everything will move smoothly and it won't be inordinate emphasis on any specific individual but on the good of the whole, the glory of God. Father, that's our heart's desire, make it real, we ask, in our midst, in Jesus' name. Amen.

Let's stand before the Lord. As Gary plays for us, we'll take just a moment and again rejoice in God's presence. Living in the supernatural. We see that the supernatural doesn't just mean shooting from the hip; there's an order. Everyone's not doing their own thing and saying, "This is the Spirit of God." There's order, there's one heart, there's one soul, there's leadership; you don't run off on a tangent somewhere. There's structure, there's care. Those that are in these particular roles have to meet certain requirements. So, you can be confident in God's wisdom in our midst. Let's sing this together: "Lord, Here Am I."

Hallelujah, hallelujah! Lord, contrary to everything that would rise in our natural man, let us be content with where you've placed us in your body, rejoicing in the wisdom of God, the call and the gifts of God. Let ambition die, self-will die. Let us seek others' glory and not our own; let us freely give as we've freely received, in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Before you go, turn to somebody and say, "We ought to obey God and not man." Amen. Go in peace, God's love go with you.

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