Deacons: Primary Tasks

In this part of the sermon: Martin contrasts Paul's evangelistic zeal in Corinth (1 Cor 2) with his meticulous concern for church order in Ephesus (1 Tim 3), arguing that both obsessions are equally…

Paul's determination to preach Christ crucified in Corinth, despite their intellectual and rhetorical standards, illustrates his Spirit-wrought obsession with the gospel.

You see my question? In which concern was Paul more full of the Spirit, and more pleasing to God? As he thinks of going to Corinth, that great bastion of pagan learning, an intellectual as well as a trading center, a veritable cesspool of moral filth, aided and abetted by the worship of the pagan gods, a people who had their, their own canons of rhetoric, and if a man spoke and didn't line up with their ideas of proper speaking, they were ready to dismiss him as an ignoramus. And he says, I came determined not to fit their canons of oratorical art.

5:24 - 6:07 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not move away from the preaching of Christ crucified as the only hope for the lost, nor from a holy obsession with church life and order that conforms to God's Word.

The analogy of 'fiddling while Rome burns' is used to counter the idea that meticulous concern for church order is trivial, arguing that it is 'fiddling according to the orders of the living God Himself'.

Because the same Holy Spirit that gave Paul the holy obsession to preach Christ crucified to sinners at Corinth gave him this obsession to see a well-ordered church at Ephesus down to every detail of its life. And we neither honor the Lord Jesus Christ nor the Holy Spirit if we move away from the preaching of Christ crucified to the Lord Jesus Christ. We're lost as their only hope. Or, if holding to that, we move away from this holy obsession with church life and order that conforms to the norms of the Word of God. And I, for one, am weary of people who ought to know better saying that meticul...

9:59 - 11:09 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Deacons serve to manifest Christ's compassion for the poor and needy through the church, a mark of Messiah's ministry, as seen in Galatians 2:9-10 and 2 Corinthians 8:23, where…

Jesus's ministry to the poor, in contrast to greedy charlatans seeking wealth, illustrates that caring for the poor is a mark of the true Messiah and a reflection of Christ's character.

And then he spoke of various miracles, and then he concluded with these words, and the poor have the gospel preached unto them. One of the identifying marks of Messiah was that he would in his selflessness come with his message of liberation, not to those who could line his pockets and buy him a Learjet to go off to his vacation home in the Bahamas at the expense of the accumulation of widow's mites. God have mercy on these greedy charlatans.

37:05 - 37:37 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Deacons render service necessary for all things to be done decently and in order within the church, reflecting God's character as a God of order, as taught in 1 Corinthians 14…

Paul's description of the chaotic charismatic worship at Corinth as a 'charismatic circus' or 'jelly bean bowl' illustrates the need for order and decency in church gatherings.

Where Paul is sorting out the charismatic circus that was going on at Corinth. These people so blessed with their revelatory gifts that they were like little kids and got let loose in one huge jelly bean bowl. I mean they would come together and the tongue speakers would be blethering away over here and the prophets would be jumping up and thus said the Lord, Paul said, the outsider coming in will say that you are mad. And I do not make light of the tragedy of mental breakdown but the scripture says this.

47:12 - 47:48 Read in full sermon

The point: Be thankful for deacons whose efficient and godly service ensures decency and order in the church, making visitors not even think about such things.

The personal anecdote of deacons spending hours to select comfortable pews illustrates their practical service in ensuring decency and order in the church's physical environment.

And because you've got such long-winded preachers here whatever you sit on they'd better be comfortable pews. Well, who's going to decide where we get such pews? Well, some of us remember the hours our deacons spent contacting various pew companies and having them bring samples and having us sit on it. And some of us who've had back surgery sit on it and see what are they doing?

52:36 - 52:58 Read in full sermon