Introduction & Biblical Framework

The point: Be encouraged to put on the uniform of the servant and wear it with dignity, strengthened to serve Christ and His people.

The analogy of companies giving employees visible emblems, rewards, or uniforms to mark their rank and value is used to introduce the idea of deacons having a 'distinguished rank' and 'uniform' in the church.

The following is the opening session delivered on April 14, 2000, during the Trinity Baptist Deacons Conference held at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. The preacher is Pastor Alan Dunn from the Grace Covenant Baptist Church in Flemington, New Jersey, and is entitled, Introduction and Framework. It's often the case that various companies will give their employees visible emblems of their rank and their status in their organization. Perhaps they might give them rewards of various kinds that mark them out as particularly valued and distinguished men,

0:00 - 0:49 Read in full sermon

The point: Be encouraged to put on the uniform of the servant and wear it with dignity, strengthened to serve Christ and His people.

Jesus rising from supper, laying aside His garments, taking a towel, and washing the disciples' feet (John 13:4-5) is presented as the ultimate 'uniform of the servant' that deacons are encouraged to wear.

What kind of uniform? Well, it's the uniform, I believe, that we find Christ himself wearing. In John 13, verse 4 and 5, where we read that he rose from supper, laid aside his garments, and taking a towel, he girded himself about. he poured water into the basin and began to wash the feet of the disciples and to wipe them with the towel with which he was girded.

3:14 - 3:41 Read in full sermon

The point: See yourselves against the backdrop of all that you represent when you embrace the tasks of your office, bearing testimony for Christ's name and having something to say about God, Christ, and salvation.

Just as an employee's uniform and labor represent the history, integrity, and credibility of their company, deacons represent God, Christ, and salvation when they embrace their office.

I'm going to attempt to do that by anchoring the labor and ministry of the diaconate first in the doctrine of God, then in the doctrine of Christ, and then in the doctrine of redemption. Like that employee who puts on his uniform, that uniform and that labor represents the history of the company. It represents the integrity of their product. It represents the credibility of their entire organization.

4:24 - 4:58 Read in full sermon

The point: See yourselves against the backdrop of all that you represent when you embrace the tasks of your office, bearing testimony for Christ's name and having something to say about God, Christ, and salvation.

God's peculiar delight in befriending the weak, defenseless, and needy, such as the slaves in Egypt, illustrates His heart gravitating toward the poor.

is rooted in the heart of God. We want to see, first of all, under this main heading, that God identifies with the poor. The heart of God is such that He gravitates toward the poor and the needy. You can always tell a lot about someone by the company that they tend to keep, the people that they seem to make effort to befriend.

5:45 - 6:12 Read in full sermon

The point: Tend to the poor by freely opening up your hands, being a people whose heart is like God's, drawn out toward the poor and destitute.

The question of how God provides clothing and food for the poor (Deuteronomy 10:18) is answered by stating He uses means, primarily the generosity of His people, rather than 'zapping it into existence.'

Do we see Him just zapping it into existence? Just pointing His finger and clothing materializes upon the backs of those who are destitute? What does God do? He uses means.

15:59 - 16:14 Read in full sermon

The point: Tend to the poor by freely opening up your hands, being a people whose heart is like God's, drawn out toward the poor and destitute.

The Old Covenant law regulating gleaning from the harvest (Deuteronomy 24) is used to illustrate God's provision for the impoverished, ensuring they could be nourished by the residual growth left by generous landowners.

and it was legally obligated upon the people that they not withhold payment. There were laws that regulated the practice of gleaning from the harvest that they were not to go and squeeze every fig off the tree. But they were to harvest it at harvest time. And then that residual growth that would come along afterward, don't go back with greedy hands and take everything you can.

19:09 - 19:37 Read in full sermon

The point: When faced with being taken advantage of in ministry, get your bearings by asking if God's name was revealed, if His character was made known, and if His compassion and grace were demonstrated, maintaining the integrity …

The personal experience of the church and individuals being 'taken advantage of' when ministering to the needy is shared to highlight the challenge of deaconal ministry and the need to focus on God's name being revealed, not just immediate results.

Amen. You need to keep that in view, brethren. If you've been in this deacon business for any length of time, you've had probably experiences that we've had in our church where we've attempted, attempted to pour ourselves into the lives of people who at the end of the day, there's no other way you can interpret what's happened. We've been taken advantage of.

34:07 - 34:32 Read in full sermon

The point: Get comfortable with 'discrimination' in the exercise of your office, prioritizing ministries that are Christ-focused and gospel-oriented.

Jesus's examples of God sending Elijah to a Sidonian widow and healing Naaman the Syrian (Luke 4) are used to illustrate that God's gracious benevolence is discriminating and works according to His sovereign, electing purposes.

Discrimination. today men bow at the altar of equality and we offend many in our determination to be discriminating in the exercise of our office after citing Isaiah 61 verse 1 and 2 in Luke 4 where Jesus is preaching at Nazareth as we read earlier and how God has anointed him to proclaim the gospel to the poor and to release captives and to bind up the brokenhearted. After he gives that prophetic description of himself and announces its fulfillment in the midst of them, he goes on and tells them about how it was that God sent Elijah to minister to a widow in Sidon.

51:36 - 52:21 Read in full sermon

The point: Ascertain and focus upon those who are the brothers of Christ, because by ministering to them, you ultimately minister to Christ Himself.

The image of Jesus 'literally stepping over people' at the Pool of Bethesda to heal one particular lame man (John 5) illustrates God's discriminating work and the man's flabbergasted reaction, emphasizing God's sovereign choice.

And the people were offended because Jesus let them know that this gracious, abundant benevolence of God is a discriminating benevolence and that it works on the principles of God's sovereignty and God's electing purposes. When you read, for example, of Jesus healing the lame man at the pool of Bethesda in John chapter 5 and you see what's there and you get the picture of what's going on in your mind, My impression is that Jesus literally stepped over people in order to get to that one particular man.

52:31 - 53:06 Read in full sermon

The point: Do good to all men when opportunity arises, but especially to those who are of the household of the faith.

The example of helping an old lady across the street without first giving her a 'doctrinal exam' illustrates the indiscriminate character of doing good to all men, reflecting God's general goodness.

yes when we have the opportunity we should that's what Paul said yeah yeah we don't come up before we help the old lady across the street and say excuse me I'd like to give you a doctrinal exam here first before we cross you know I'd like to know what your views are on the Trinity I'd like to know we don't you know the woman needs help we come up we help her there's an indiscriminate character about what we do because there's an indiscriminate character about the goodness of God. And we reflect Him in that way. But not to the neglect of this discriminating point of reference that we see in Chr...

55:00 - 55:39 Read in full sermon

The point: Do good to all men when opportunity arises, but especially to those who are of the household of the faith.

The story of the lame man healed at Bethesda later informing the Jews that Jesus healed him, causing Jesus trouble, illustrates that doing good doesn't always lead to evangelistic success or gratitude, and can even cause problems.

That lame man in John chapter 5 that we refer to at the Pool of Bethesda, or Bethesda rather, there's no record of him ever coming to faith. In fact, what we're told about him is that he later informs the Jews that it was Christ who healed him and that bit of tattletailing got Jesus into an awful lot of trouble that day.

55:43 - 56:04 Read in full sermon

The point: Have a determination in your ministry that there will be a distinguishing, discerning, and discriminating dimension to what you are doing, with a stated purpose.

The metaphor of helping a 'goat' who then 'bit me on the leg' is used to describe the experience of doing good for someone who responds with ingratitude or harm, acknowledging that this happened to Jesus too.

And it doesn't work evangelistic. and it doesn't work a confession of Christ you come away and say whoa I just really helped that goat out a lot and he bit me on the leg and that happened to Jesus a lot too but the norm and the pattern and the primacy of Christ's work and of our work is that we are to do these things for the expressed redemptive purpose of ministering to see men converted and ministering to see the church strengthened and built up to keep kingdom purposes in view. The zealots in Christ's day saw Jesus as a ticket to advance their political agenda without any regard to the spir...

56:15 - 57:01 Read in full sermon

The point: Have a determination in your ministry that there will be a distinguishing, discerning, and discriminating dimension to what you are doing, with a stated purpose.

The zealots in Christ's day who saw Jesus as a ticket to advance their political agenda is used as an analogy for those today who try to commandeer Christian goodwill and resources for their own priorities, rather than kingdom purposes.

Christian goodwill and Christian resources to try to redefine the word good in terms of their priorities and their agenda.

57:01 - 57:09 Read in full sermon

The point: Have a determination in your ministry that there will be a distinguishing, discerning, and discriminating dimension to what you are doing, with a stated purpose.

The personal experience of receiving telephone calls from people wanting to turn the congregation into a market for their product or a special interest gathering group illustrates the need for pastors and deacons to maintain a specific, gospel-focused agenda for the church.

Many, many times I get telephone calls from people and they want to turn our congregation into a market for their particular product. They want to turn our congregation into a special interest gathering group for their particular political agenda, which I may have personal endorsement for. But I have to tell them, my dear friend, that's not why the people of God are gathering on Sunday. In order to become a forum for your particular concerns.

57:11 - 57:39 Read in full sermon

The point: In ministry to those within the church, overlook their 'grave clothes' and the residual effects of sin, seeing the grace of God in them, and minister to them for the sake of Jesus Christ and the honor of His name.

The metaphor of overlooking the 'grave clothes' and 'stinking, rotten, residual effect of the sin' clinging to believers illustrates the need to minister to even the least of Christ's brethren, seeing God's grace in them despite their lingering sin.

And we overlook the grave clothes that often cling to so many in the kingdom of God. That stinking, rotten, residual effect of the sin that they've been encumbered with. And we look at them and we see the grace of God in them. And for the sake of Jesus Christ and for the honor of His name, we minister to them and do them good and know that in so doing we're ministering to Christ Himself.

59:04 - 59:27 Read in full sermon