Seven Men Filled with The Spirit

The Seedbed of the Diaconate and Calvin's Insight

0:01 Well, brethren, may I urge you to turn with me to the portion of the Word of God read in your hearing, the sixth chapter of the book of the Acts of the Apostles. Now, I believe most of you, brethren, are aware of the fact that most responsible expositors of the Word of God believe that this passage, Acts chapter 6, and in particular verses 1 through 6, record the circumstances and the actions in the church at Jerusalem under the oversight of the Apostles, which forms the seedbed of the full-blown office of the Lord God. This is the sequence of the diaconate as it appears when we come to Paul's letter to Timothy, and in particular, 1 Timothy chapter 3. And in my preparation, I found, as so often, the comments of Calvin in his exposition of this passage exceptionally perceptive and insightful. I quote Calvin, Luke is telling us here about the creation of deacons. Dealing first with the occasion, secondly, with the deliberation involved, and finally, with the right used formally to recognize them.

1:26 Nevertheless, he does say that this was the remedy adopted to silence the grumbling that has arisen among the disciples. As the common proverb says, quote, Bad customs give rise to good laws. End quote. But it could appear as an extraordinary thing, since this is such an honorable and necessary office in the church, why it never entered the heads of the Apostles from the beginning to appoint deacons on their own responsibility, and why the Spirit had not given them advice along these lines when they now accept it as if under pressure.

2:09 But in fact, what did happen was a better way at that time. And also, it is more beneficial to us as an example. If the Apostles had spoken about the electing of deacons before any necessity demanded it, they would have found the people less disposed to it. They themselves would have given the appearance of avoiding irksome labor.

2:35 Many would not have been so generous in handing gifts over to other men. It was therefore necessary for the faithful, to be convinced by experience, learning that they could not do without deacons, and this really because of their own fault, so that they would be glad to choose them. I wouldn't have thought of those things in a hundred years sitting with my open Bible, but as so often is the case with his unusual insight to human nature, Calvin, I believe, has hit the nail on the head. And as they administered this response, to this pastoral emergency of divisiveness, occasioned by the murmuring of the Hellenistic Jews against the full-blooded Hebrew widows, we find when we come to verse 3, this very clear directive, that under the guidance of the Apostles, this directive is given to the church. Look out therefore, brethren, from among you, seven men of good report, full of the spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. And here in this particular passage, the Apostles give directions to the congregation,

The Three Apostolic Qualifications for Deacons

3:57 that they should look out certain men with specific qualifications, and that having done so, then they would validate and formally ratify the choice of the rank and file of the people of God. And the inspired criteria or qualifications that must regulate the activity of the congregation in looking out these seven men among them are obviously three. They are first of all to be men of good report. Secondly, they are to be men full of the spirit.

4:37 And thirdly, they are to be men full of wisdom. Though syntactically and in terms of the grammar, we could consider full of the spirit, that is full of the spirit with the particular grace of wisdom, it is perfectly proper to understand the language of the text as a distinct and separate though interrelated requirement that they not only be full of the spirit, but also be full of wisdom. Now I want to say just a few words about this first requirement so as to be responsible in handling the text. The first requirement is that they be men of good report. And I would call this and identify this requirement as the requirement of communal commendation. You can pronounce it communal as well, either pronunciation is accepted. I will use the former.

Communal Commendation: Men of Good Report

5:38 Here we have the requirement of communal commendation. The men who are to be set apart to this task must have a witness born to their character and general fitness to be set apart for this task that they are assigned. And this refers, this very phrase, to an earned reputation among the people of God that assumes at least four things. First of all, that you have a discerning, well-instructed people who know what is worthy of commendation in a man.

6:19 When the apostles say, look out among you, brethren, seven men of good report, seven men who have a good witness born to them, the assumption is that you have a discerning people who know what constitutes something worthy of a good report. You see, if you've got people whose whole thinking about what is commendable in a man is skewed, then their report is of little worth. And we must remember that these are a people described earlier in the book of Acts as a people who attach themselves to the apostles' doctrine or teaching. They were deeply involved in the life of a spirit-filled church under an anointed apostolic ministry and therefore had acquired moral discernment so that when they are instructed to look out from among themselves seven men concerning whom a good and commendable witness is born, the assumption is that these are a discerning, well-instructed people who know what is worthy of being commended. Secondly, it is assumed that there has been a sufficient exposure to a broad spectrum of the people. Look out from among you men who in mingling with a sufficiently broad spectrum of you

7:49 have this witness born to them a good report. And thirdly, that this exposure to a broad spectrum of the people has been for a sufficient length of time to discern patterns of character. Almost anyone can do something heroic in the spur of the moment, can do something as an isolated act of virtue, but these are to be men whose patterns of life commend them to the rank and file of God's people not only across a broad spectrum but for a sufficient length of time. And fourthly, that this exposure to a broad spectrum for a sufficient length of time by a discerning people is one that involves a sufficiently diverse set of circumstances to truly evaluate the strength and the depth of the character of those commended. And you have a very wonderful example of just this thing with respect to someone who is well reported of with respect to being chosen as a companion of the Apostle Paul. And I want to look for just a few moments with you at Acts chapter 16

9:13 for a beautiful paradigm of this principle at work. Paul is on his second missionary journey and we read in Acts 16.1 and he came to Derbe and to Lystra and behold a certain disciple was there named Timothy, the son of a Jewish that believed but his father was a Greek. The same, and here is the same word, here it is in a finite verb form, we have a participial use in Acts chapter 6, who was well reported of by the brethren that were at Lystra and Iconium.

9:53 So wherever Paul went among the brethren in a cross section of the brethren, both at Lystra and Iconium, here was someone concerning whom a good witness was born. Now who were these people? Well if you read back into Acts chapter 14 you will read of Paul and his companions coming to these cities of Lystra and Iconium, preaching the gospel, making disciples, and then you remember they are driven out of town, but then they come back into those very towns as we read in Acts 14 and verse 21, and when they had preached the gospel to that city, made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, and Iconium, and to Antioch, confirming the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith and that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God, and when they had appointed for them elders in every church and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord on whom they had believed. So here are churches born in persecution, but they've come to sufficient maturity that some of the cream came to the top, men who met the apostolic standard for eldership, and Timothy is nurtured and developed in the context not of a bunch of novices, but in the context of established churches with established leadership in the midst of the purifying influence

11:23 of persecution and suffering. So when these people evaluated Timothy, they were not novices. They were discerning people. They were true, tried, proven disciples whose understanding of the will and ways of God had been nurtured not only by the apostolic ministry on two occasions, but also by qualified pastors.

11:49 And obviously, a considerable length of time had passed between the churches there coming to maturity and Timothy's emergence as a man of good report. And there would have been these qualities and these elements that I'm suggesting are implicit, not explicit, in that report that constitute this a good report. Now, why do I spend those few minutes on that when it has nothing directly to do with my assigned subject? Well, for the simple reason that this principle carries over into the other explicit requirements.

12:29 Remember, it is the brethren who are to make the assignment of men who are full of the Spirit and full of wisdom. What kind of brethren, in what circumstances, for how long a period of time, and in what diversity of relationships, all of these things enter in if the assessment is to be a valid assessment. And it says a word to those of you who are aspiring deacons. Don't be chomping at me at the bit to be recognized yesterday.

13:06 There must be, if you are in the midst of a discerning people, thinking biblically, sufficient time for you to be proven to be a man of good report, a man full of the Spirit, and a man full of wisdom. Then we come to the next qualification. Note the text. Look out among you therefore, brethren, seven men of the male, seven homo sapiens of the male gender, seven men of good report, full of the Spirit.

The Meaning of 'Full of the Spirit'

13:48 Now God willing, tomorrow morning, Pastor Mitch will take up full of wisdom. So we're going to park now on this second requirement given by apostolic directive for those who would be set apart to function in what we now understand to be the office of a deacon. They are to be men full of the Spirit. So my subject from here to the end is this.

14:15 The nature and necessity of that fullness of the Spirit essential to the office and function of a deacon. The nature and necessity of that fullness of the Spirit essential to the office and function of a deacon. Or in a more condensed form, fullness of the Spirit for a deacon? What and why?

14:45 Now take your pick. The one is the martinized version, the other is the modernized version. So take your pick. The nature and necessity of that fullness of the Spirit essential to the office and function of a deacon, fullness of the Spirit for a deacon?

15:04 What and why? And in opening up the subject I begin, my first head is this, the meaning of the phrase full of the Spirit. When this requirement was made known to the multitude of the disciples who constituted the church at Jerusalem, what would have registered in their brains? When they were told, look out among you therefore, brethren, seven men full of the Spirit.

15:38 How would they have understood that terminology? How would they have gone about to look out from among themselves seven men full of the Spirit? Would they break up the male constituency of the congregation into numerical groups and say, alright, we want a hundred men to go out among the thousands of the male members of the church here at Jerusalem and do a little survey and ask them, did you have on any occasion an experience in the Holy Spirit in which you felt like liquid fire running down your back, in which you were caught up into spiritual ecstasy and babbled in a language you did not know? Is that what they would understand full of the Spirit to mean? There are many in our day who would understand it that way. It's very easy. Ask a man, have you got to baptism validated with tongues or tongues and tingles?

16:38 And I was in one circle where laughter would do. You might not get tongues, but if you got a baptism of holy laughter, that would be a substitute for tongues. I kid you not. Is that how they would have understood it?

16:52 I think not. Or would they have understood it in terms of having someone talk about his visions, his deep and exotic mystical experience? No. Whatever this phrase meant, full of the Spirit, it was something that could be identified and known by others looking at you.

17:14 Look out among yourselves, seven men full of the Spirit. So full of the Spirit, whatever it means, is something you can see by looking. You see that? Is that plain?

17:32 So whatever it was, well, what does it mean? Well, I found it fascinating to do a little word study of the word used here for full. It's the word used in the familiar story of the multiplying of the loaves and the fishes. And we read in Matthew 14, 20, when that meal was all over, they took up twelve baskets full.

17:56 When you looked at the basket, you could see the outside of the basket, but if you walked over, you couldn't see any basket on the inside. All you saw was bread. The basket was filled up to the brim with bread. It's the word used in Luke 8, 12 of a man full of leprosy.

18:15 Wherever you looked at him, leprosy. He didn't have a leprous spot here and one here and one there and one here. Wherever you looked on him, leprosy was the dominant characteristic of his physical image and frame. In Acts 9, 13, it's used of Tabitha.

18:32 She was a woman full of good works. Whenever you looked at Tabitha, she was doing something in the way of a good work of service for others. She wasn't sitting around watching the soaps. She wasn't sitting around licking her wounds because somebody ignored her last Sunday at church and she thought they should have come up and said hello to her.

18:55 No, she was just taking all of her energies and pouring them out and doing good to others. She was full of good works. In Acts 19, 28, it's used of the mob at Ephesus who were full of wrath. You looked at that mob and you said, that's an angry bunch of dudes.

19:12 They just weren't a few of them, you know, with a sort of nasty look on their face. They were all red from here up to here and the anger was in their eyes. They were full of wrath. Now you get a sense of the significance of that word.

19:25 Look out among you, seven men full of the spirit of God. Full of the spirit. In other words, when you look at them, when you observe their lifestyle, when you talk with them, when you watch their actions and their reactions, there's only one explanation. You come to the conclusion that the spirit's presence with them is not some sub-dominant influence, an influence tucked away in the secret chambers of the heart where only God can see it.

19:58 Very seldom evident in their speech, very seldom evident in their actions and reactions, but when you look at them, when you observe them over a period of time in a diversity of circumstances and across a broad spectrum of exposure to differing personalities, you come to the conclusion that man is a man full of the spirit. It is the work and influence of the Holy Spirit that pervades his humanity. You look at the basket of his life and it is full of the spirit. Not a loaf or two here scattered on the bottom of the basket of his soul, but overflowing the basket of his life. Full of the spirit. Words, actions, attitudes, disposition, reactions, relationships, at every level, in every way. While he would be the first to confess himself a sinner who has to go to the fountain open for sin and uncleanness daily, there is no explanation for who he is, what he is, how he lives, and how he talks.

21:18 But that God the Holy Spirit not only indwells him, but possesses him, fills him, floods him, cleanses his soul, the spirit who conforms us to Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 3.18 We all with open face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into that same image from one stage of glory, even by the Lord the Spirit. And in the presence of such a man you say, here are shadows, here are overtones of the voice of Christ, of likeness to Christ, the meekness and the gentleness of Christ, the resolute purposes of Christ, the selfless, yearning, outgoing heart of Christ. Seven men full of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit who testifies to Christ, who makes people obsessed with Christ so that they can say the passion of their lives is this, for me to live is Christ. And out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

22:35 And if the heart is full of Christ, the mouth will speak naturally and freely of Christ. And if they are filled with the Spirit, they will have the disposition of Christ, who is among his own as he who serves. They were to be men who did not assess themselves and announce to others, I'm full of the Holy Ghost. They were to be men observed to be men full of the Spirit.

Rationale 1: Mature Christian Character

23:11 I suggest that the meaning of that phrase, though I have not exhausted it, I hope at least is captured somewhat in the way I've sought to set it before you. So much then for the meaning of the phrase full of the Spirit. Now secondly, and this will form the bulk of our study, I want to wrestle with you over this matter, the rationale or the reason for making the fullness of the Spirit a necessary requirement for the office and function of a deacon. What's the rationale?

23:45 What was in the heads of the apostles when they said, look out among you seven men full of the Spirit whom we may appoint over this business? This serving of tables, administering the benevolence to the widows and related tasks, tasks that will relieve us from necessary elements of true religion that we may give ourselves to the central task of prayer and the ministry of the Word. Most of us, I'm sure, when we read our Bibles are very much aware of the fact that many references in the New Testament and in the Old as well, but particularly the New Testament, to someone being filled with the Spirit. They were filled with the Spirit. Often there follows something that has to do with the exercise of gifts of utterance, speaking the Word of God. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost and they spoke in other languages.

24:51 Peter, full of the Holy Spirit, stood up and said, men and brethren, Paul, full of the Spirit, said, O son of... And then he speaks to that wicked man.

25:03 We can understand why those who speak publicly on behalf of Christ, in the name of Christ, to the people of Christ, and seek to be his mouthpiece to call in the sheep of Christ, must be men full of the Spirit. And often, as I've said, references in the New Testament that refer to full of the Spirit do so in conjunction with gifts of utterance. But now, why? Why men full of the Spirit to serve tables?

25:34 Why men full of the Spirit for diaconal ministries? Well, let me set before you three lines of truth that in my judgment answer that question. What's the rationale for this? Reason number one.

25:49 Deacons must be full of the Spirit, reason number one, because the Holy Spirit alone can create and increase the mature, balanced, consistent Christian character required for the office of a deacon. Because the Holy Spirit alone can create and increase the mature, balanced, consistent Christian character required for the office of a deacon.

26:27 And here I ask you to turn with me to 1 Timothy chapter 3. We know that the office eventually became a stated office. Philippians 1.1, Paul addresses the church, the people of God in general, with the overseers and the deacons.

26:46 And in leaving Timothy behind at Ephesus in order to carry on the work of church maturity, he gives him directions for the recognition of pastors, overseers and deacons. And after setting forth the requirements for overseers and the great emphasis for overseers, for pastors, for elders, for bishops, is this element of mature, balanced, consistent Christian character, not the gift of gab. Character stands head and shoulders above gift in both offices. So having underscored that with respect to pastors, verse 8, deacons in like manner, in other words, I'm now going to lay out a parallel of requirements for deacons. Deacons in like manner must be serious, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre, of base gain, holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. Let these first be proved, put to the test, examined, and proved to be men

28:15 of mature, balanced, consistent Christian character. Then, and only then, let them serve as deacons if they be blameless and blameless is the summarizing word for what I am describing as mature, balanced, consistent Christian character if they be blameless. And then Paul goes on to expand upon the domestic requirement, verse 12, let deacons be husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well. Now what's the source of this kind of mature, balanced, consistent Christian character? It's the work of the Holy Spirit. For the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith or faithfulness, meekness, gentleness, self-control. It is the work of the Spirit to form in us the character, the character traits of Jesus Christ.

29:31 And if they are found in any man, in any level of maturity and balance and consistency, there is a man full of the Holy Spirit. And that's why the Apostle said, look out among you seven men full of the Holy Spirit. And that is a condensed way of saying men who manifest undeniably, not sporadically, not to one or two people who particularly like them and have unusual measures of grace to overlook a lot of their glaring inconsistencies and lack of scriptural, biblical maturity of character, but the broad spectrum of the people of God over a sufficient length of time in a diversity of circumstances are forced to say, this man is blameless. Not sinless, but blameless. He is a man of mature, balanced, consistent, Christian character. And there is no explanation for it but that the Holy Spirit has formed it in him.

30:49 You see, if the truth of God in the Gospel is intended to form a community of people whom Jesus said, are the light of the world, the salt of the earth, a people whom Paul describes in Philippians 2, who are blameless, harmless, without rebuke, shining as lights in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, if that's what the Gospel is supposed to produce in a community of believers, then its leaders must exemplify the power of that Gospel. You see it? Among all within the Church should embody that Gospel-producing lifestyle but its leaders. Hence, both for pastors and for deacons, the indispensable baseline requirement is mature, balanced, consistent, Christian character.

Rationale 2: Christ-like Servant's Heart

32:05 Character produced by a man being and remaining full of the Holy Spirit. That's reason number one why this is given as a requirement for the office and function of a deacon. Reason number two, because the Holy Spirit alone can impart a heightened measure of a Christ-like servant's heart and disposition, essential to fulfilling the function of a deacon. This is why deacons must be men full of the Spirit because the Holy Spirit alone can impart a heightened measure of a Christ-like servant's heart and disposition essential to fulfilling the functions of a deacon. You notice how the emphasis in 1 Timothy 3 is upon service. Verse 10, Let these also first be proved, then let them serve as deacons. Verse 13, For they that have served well as deacons, those that have deaconed well as deacons, verb and noun in the same family,

33:32 it is a service role and function. As Mr. Davies pointed out this morning, it is not the governing role and function, though it involves delegation of responsibility and necessitates creativity and initiative, it is fundamentally a service, office and function. Now to fulfill that, what is needed?

34:01 More than an ordinary measure of the disposition of our blessed Lord, who in Luke chapter 22 said, I am among you as he that deacons, that serves. Look at that passage with me for a moment if you will, Luke chapter 22. Luke chapter 22, verse 24. There arose a contention among them which of them was accounted to be greatest.

34:30 In other words, have others serve him, have his underlings. And he said to them, The kings of the Gentiles have lordship over them, and they that have authority over them are called benefactors, but you shall not be. But he that is greater among you, let him be as the younger, and he that is chief as he that serves. For which is greater, he that sits at meat, or he that serves?

34:58 Is not he that sits or reclines at table? But though I am the greater, I am the Lord, I am the master, but I am in the midst of you, as he that serves. Now it's that Christ-like disposition that finds delight in its identity as servant, that a deacon must have in a heightened measure. And where does that come from?

35:31 As the spirit of Jesus himself fills us, floods our hearts, enables us to mortify the passion to be first, to be noticed, to be the leader, to be the one served. It is only as the Holy Spirit enables us to internalize with delight the disposition Paul describes in Philippians 2, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. That mind that thinks and looks not upon its own things, but on the things of others. This is why they said, look out among you, seven men full of the Spirit. For it is only by the controlling, governing influence of the Holy Spirit that any man will have this heightened measure, not the modicum of a measure that all the people of God ought to aspire to and experience, but a heightened measure of this Christ-like, servant's heart, essential to fulfilling the function of a deacon, which is a service ministry. They that serve well as deacons. But then there's a third reason why this requirement of being full of the Spirit

Rationale 3: Necessary Gifts and Abilities

37:00 is a necessary requirement for the office and function of the deacon. It is this, because the Holy Spirit imparts the necessary gifts and abilities essential for the efficient performance of diaconal ministries. The Holy Spirit imparts the necessary gifts and abilities essential for the efficient performance of diaconal ministries. Now again, we think of this as true of pastors.

37:36 To teach, to preach, to counsel, to lead, to govern, to guide, to take care of the flock of God, to take care of the house of God. Surely, the Spirit alone can impart the necessary gifts and abilities essential for the efficient performance of pastoral duties. But how so with diaconal duties and ministries? Well, let me ask you a question.

38:01 Do you know where the first reference is found in the Bible to a man being filled with the Spirit of God? I think it might be with Noah, who stands alone as a preacher of righteousness for decades before the flood. Well, obviously, without the empowerment of the Spirit, he never would have done it. We have every reason to believe by the analogy of Scripture, Noah was a man full of the Spirit, but there's not a reference that he was a man filled with the Spirit.

38:39 What about Abraham, called to leave his father and mother and kindred and land and go out to a place that God would show him? Surely, the Spirit alone can so flood a man's heart and fill it with faith that he's ready to go out, not knowing where he's going. There's no reference to Abraham being filled with the Spirit of God to make that choice. Is it Moses?

39:04 That'll lead a bunch of renegade slaves who a few hours after they're out of Egypt want to go back and they love to taste of them old garlics. And them leeks, and them onions. Any man need to be full of the Spirit, it was Moses. But the Bible doesn't say he was filled with Spirit.

39:23 The first reference to God filling anyone with the Spirit is God filling a man to do diaconal work. More particularly, to do artistic and construction work. You say, Pastor Martin, you've got to be kidding. No, I'm not kidding.

39:39 Open your Bibles to Exodus chapter 31. Exodus chapter 31. And notice what we read. Verse 1.

39:52 And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. And I have filled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom. Mitch, I wanted to call you when I saw this and said, I think there might be a connection here. Men full of the Spirit and of wisdom.

40:18 You already got it. Pardon? Okay, all right. Okay.

40:23 Filled with the Spirit of God in wisdom and in understanding and in knowledge and in all manner of workmanship to devise skillful works, to work in gold and silver and brass, in cutting of stones for setting, carving of wood, to work in all manner of workmanship. And behold, I have appointed him with Aholiab, the son of Ahissamach, of the tribe of Dan. And in the hearts of all that are wise-hearted I have put wisdom, wisdom that they may make all that I have commanded you, et cetera, et cetera. I have filled him with the Spirit of God.

41:05 Now the 19th century commentator, George Bush, obviously not our president, George Bush the first or the second, has some very helpful insights on this passage. He writes, I have filled him with the Spirit of God, that is, with those intellectual gifts and endowments which are immediately specified and which amounted to something like a divine inspiration, but at the same time not implying anything of a moral character, the usual result of the operation of the Spirit of God. Both he and his associates in the work were to be subjects of an influence which should improve their faculties and endow them with an ingenuity and skill far beyond the utmost stretch of their unassisted powers. This extraordinary ability now to be imparted, infinite wisdom, doubtless so, to be indispensable on the present occasion. The children of Israel had been in Egypt, been condemned to a hard bondage in brick and mortar and all kinds of coarse, rough and degrading labor and consequently could not be supposed to be qualified for the curious workmanship which was now required. To engrave and to embroider, to work gold, to cut diamonds, to mount jewels would of course demand a degree of tact and dexterity for which, as they had served no previous apprenticeship to it, they must be indebted to supernatural teaching.

42:32 But he who had designed the work was abundantly able to qualify the workmen. I'd never thought of that. They didn't have an apprenticeship in these various skills. So God says in the first instance of filling anyone the Spirit, I'm going to fill this man and his associates with My Spirit that they may do that work efficiently which is essential to My visual, visible, localized dwelling on earth in the tabernacle concerning which God said to Moses, See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you in the mount.

43:14 Well, you say they had a peculiar need. They needed to be filled with the Spirit. Our gifts in the present function of the diaconate are matters of natural endowments, acquired abilities, etc. Can they in any sense to be said to be endowments of God and of the Holy Spirit?

43:34 Yes. I want you to look at two passages in the New Testament in Romans chapter 12 where Paul is enumerating some of the gifts that are to be recognized and given full reign to function within the church as body. Notice what he says. Verse 4.

43:53 Romans 12. Even as we have many members in one body, and all the members have not the same office, so we who are many are one body in Christ and severally members one of another. Now notice. And having gifts differing according to the grace that was given to us.

44:11 Our gifts are rooted in grace that is given. They are divine, gracious deposits. Then he identifies some of them, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of our faith, or ministry, or service, here is our word deacon again, or deaconing, let us give ourselves to our deaconing, or he that teaches to teaching, he that exhorts to his exhortation, etc. Here the gift of service is said to be a result of the activity of the deposit of grace.

44:55 And likewise, in 1 Corinthians chapter 12, where Paul has said that the Spirit of God distributes gifts severally as he will, that he lists some of the gifts. Verse 28. God has said some in the church, first apostles, prophets, teachers, miracles, gifts of healings. Now notice the next one.

45:16 Helps, governments, or wise counsels. Gifts of helps are said to be gifts of the Holy Spirit. Now granted, they will incorporate into their exercise native endowments, acquired abilities, the wisdom of experience, yes, but at the end of the day, they are gifts of God, and they stand in need of the Spirit's ministry that those gifts might be wisely efficiently and with optimum usefulness be employed in our function as deacons. So I lay before you, this is the rationale for this requirement. Look out among you seven men full of the Spirit, the fullness of the Spirit being required for the office and function of the deacon with respect to the necessary Christian character, the necessary servant's disposition, the necessary skill and competence in the performance of diaconal tasks. All three areas, deacons must be men not merely indwelt by the Spirit, but full of the Spirit.

The Path to Becoming and Remaining Full of the Spirit: Regeneration and the Word

46:42 Men controlled, possessed, dominated by His gracious influences. Now having said, before you briefly, the meaning of the phrase, full of the Spirit, try to give you the rationale for this requirement, three strands of evidence. Now thirdly and finally, I want to speak to you on the path to becoming and remaining men full of the Spirit. The path to becoming and remaining men full of the Spirit.

47:18 Notice I didn't say seven steps to be full of the Spirit, six prerequisites. I've chosen my very indefinite language purposely. The path to becoming and remaining men full of the Spirit. Number one, we must be men regenerated and indwelt by the Spirit.

47:44 We must be men regenerated and indwelt by the Spirit. A man cannot be full of the Spirit who does not possess the Spirit. And according to Romans 8 in verse 9, if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His. Nothing is more tragic than a man who has office with no grace.

48:09 And a double tragedy is when he has efficiency in his office and no grace because he'll mistake his efficiency in office for grace and he'll go to hell with Judas. I would be a fool to presume that every man here who is a deacon is indwelt by the Spirit. There may be some of you who your endowment of natural abilities, natural charisma, and natural temperament and a combination of things has brought you into the office of a deacon. But you're not full of the Spirit because you've never really been regenerated by the Spirit.

48:47 And I remind you if Jesus says as He does in Matthew 7, many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name, in Thy name cast out demons, in Thy name done many mighty works? And I will say to them, depart from you. If men can attain that height of profile and usefulness in the kingdom of God and be graceless, how much more the more hidden servant ministry of a deacon. I beg every man here, don't presume that you're in grace because you're in an office.

49:23 Judas handled and administered the funds apparently so cleverly and efficiently that no one suspected him even on the eve that he betrayed his Lord. But then secondly, if we're to be men full of the Spirit, we must not only be men regenerated and indwelt by the Spirit, but we must be men filled with the Word. I'm sure many of you are aware of that parallel between Ephesians 5 and Colossians 3. In Ephesians 5 and verse 18, Paul says, Do not be drunk with wine wherein is riot or excess, but be being filled with the Spirit.

50:06 Be being filled with the Spirit. Let the fullness of the Spirit be the abiding, continuing state of your spiritual life, speaking one to another in psalms and hymns, etc. In the parallel passage in Colossians chapter 3, the Apostle says in verse 16, Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly. Be continually filled with the Word of Christ in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.

50:41 Filled with the Spirit, filled with the Word of Christ. If you're to be men full of the Spirit, you must be men full of the Word. Not men who simply let a little bit of the Word bounce off your brain on Sunday and then occasionally pick up a devotional book and read for a paragraph or two of what someone else says about the Word. You've got to be men who soak your souls in your Bibles.

51:11 You've got to be men full of the Word. Robert Raymond says in commenting on this passage in his systematic theology, Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly. Also a present imperative as Ephesians 5.18.

51:26 These two ideas both highlighting a divine subjective influence are practically identical. To be filled with the Spirit is to be indwelt by the Word of Christ. To be indwelt by the Word of Christ is to be filled with the Spirit. One must never separate the Spirit from Christ's Word or Christ's Word from the Spirit.

51:48 The Spirit works by and with Christ and with Christ's Word. Christ's Word works by and with the Spirit. You see, you'll never meet the next requirement that Mitch will speak about tomorrow. Filled with wisdom unless you're filled with the Spirit.

The Path to Becoming and Remaining Full of the Spirit: Conscience, Grieving, and Prayer

52:08 And you won't be filled with the Spirit if you're not filled with the Word. You must be men regenerated, indwelt by the Spirit, filled with the Word. Thirdly, you must be men of a pure conscience. You must be men of a pure conscience.

52:23 We go back to 1 Timothy chapter 3. Notice what the Apostle says on this point. 1 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 9. Holding the mystery of the faith, that is, holding fast to the revealed doctrine of Christ, having a grasp on the essential doctrinal content of Scripture, but holding to the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience.

52:58 Clinging tenaciously to the truth of the Gospel in a life of integrity under the power of the Gospel. And that means a pure conscience. What's a pure conscience? It's a conscience the moment it is smitten with regard to its deviations from God's law, runs to the fountain open for sin and uncleanness.

53:26 It is a conscience that will not tolerate the internal turmoil of its accusations and then refusal to go to the fountain open for sin and uncleanness. The Spirit who fills us is the Holy Spirit. And He does not fill willfully defiled vessels. Paul could say in Acts 24, 16, Herein do I exercise myself to have always a conscience void of offense to God and to man.

54:00 The man full of the Spirit is the man who maintains a pure conscience. And the man who maintains a pure conscience is the man who does not tolerate conscious controversies with God or with man. When his sin affects another, he not only goes to the fountain open for sin and uncleanness, he humbles himself and goes to the individual against whom he has sinned and said, I sinned, will you forgive me? He is the man who at his place of business inadvertently sees something flash up on the screen of his computer that human eyes should never see and he quickly pushes the delete button. He does not look around to see if anyone else is watching and then go down the path of the prurient and the unclean and the vile and the filthy. He does not go to the computer in his study at home when his wife's asleep and bring up the vile filth that fills cyberspace. And again I'd be a fool to think there isn't at least one man here in this place tonight who's got a bloodied conscience with the filth that pours over the internet.

55:23 And you'll never be a man full of the Spirit until you take that right hand and that right eye and cut it off and pluck it out and cast it from you.

55:35 I'm amazed at the men who say they struggle with internet pornography who have no duty to be on the internet! In God's name! Get rid of it! God may curse your presumption and let you become an addict who if you don't destroy and damn your soul will absolutely cripple your usefulness.

56:06 Men of a pure conscience tolerating no secret sins tolerating no internal double life in your thoughts. What you are before your wife before your kids is what you are before your God. You want to be filled with the Spirit? You can't run off to a conference somewhere fast and pray for a day or two have someone lay hands on you and it's all taken care of.

56:34 You've got to be willing for the ongoing meticulous commitment to the maintenance of a pure conscience. Fourthly you must be men who do not grieve the Spirit of God as a pattern of life. Ephesians 4.30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit by whom you were sealed unto the day of redemption.

56:58 And look at the context let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice and be ye kind tender hearted forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you. We won't be men full of the Spirit if we are grieving the Spirit of God as a pattern of life maintaining and cherishing dispositions that are utterly contrary to those dispositions created by the Holy Spirit that are Christ-like dispositions of gentleness meekness forbearance forgiveness tenderness yielding to others not standing on our rights and proud of it willing to yield our rights willing to go the way of the Lamb that's what it is to be a man full of the Spirit and finally we must be men who prayerfully desire to be full of the Spirit men who prayerfully desire to be full of the Spirit Luke 11 13 if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children how much more will your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him He's willing to give when we ask but we have no promise He'll give if we do not ask for you have not because you ask not men I plead with you don't think of your diaconal task as the mundane that only needs the stuff

58:27 of your natural endowments and your accumulated experience seek to cultivate that dependence upon and longing for ever increasing measures of the fullness of the Spirit and let that longing give birth to earnest prayer and pleading with God that His Spirit would come and be your portion I thank God for these dear men who serve with us in the diaconate and for the pattern of their deacons' meetings that are not like board meetings at a local business that begin with the Word and begin with seeking the face of God and then move in efficiently to the business before them Can your pastor say that about you and the way you conduct your ministry and the way you conduct your ministry and the way you conduct your ministry and the way you conduct your diaconal labors I trust he can if he can't go to him say pastor we've approached our work all together in a humanistic way and God nailed us to the wall at that conference and we're going to change our ways by the grace of God prayer is going to be fundamental and foundational and when you're wrestling with issues in the midst of a deacons' meeting and you hit the wall it's not time now to push your own perspective it's time to say let's cry to God for wisdom let's cry to God that we'll have the mind of God from the word of God

59:56 in sensitivity to the guidance of the spirit of God I lay before you that this is the path to becoming and remaining men full of the spirit look out among you brethren from among yourselves seven men of good report men can see concerning whom there is a witness born that they are good men men full of the holy spirit may God grant that by his grace you will be such men let's pray our Father we're so thankful that we have the scriptures as a lamp unto our feet and a light to our pathway and oh how we pray that you would forgive us for the many times when we have gone forth into aspects of the work of your kingdom trusting in our own stupidity trusting in our own meager paltry supplies of experience and our so called wisdom Lord forgive us oh forgive us and give us by your grace a renewed sense that in everything pertaining

61:21 to the work of your spiritual tabernacle we must be men full of the holy spirit make us such men by your grace and power help us to give ourselves with renewed vigor to those disciplines by which you make us men full of the holy spirit we trust you to seal your word to the prophet of each one of us and we ask for such mercies through our Lord Jesus praying that you will continue to be with us throughout these hours together that men return to their spheres of labor with renewed vision with a sharpened commitment and understanding of what their task is oh Lord do us good beyond our expectations as we ask these mercies through our Lord Jesus Christ Amen