We all could use some encouragement and we'll find it together today in the Bible-based preaching of Dr. Don Wilton and this message on leadership. It's so good to have you with us.
Know that we're here to pray with you and for you at 866-899-WORD or online at www.tewonline.org. Now today's message from Acts 6 and 1 Timothy. This is Dr. Don Wilton. I want to talk to you today about leadership. Leadership. As you turn in your Bibles with me to the book of Acts chapter 6 and I'm going to ask everyone here to take a copy of God's Word. We're going to begin in the book of Acts chapter 6 and I want to speak to you today about leadership. Even though I'm going to be speaking to you about a very special kind of leadership.
I'm going to be very specific and very personal this morning. You see friends, wherever we turn today, the cry and the clarion call of people today is for definitive leadership. This is not a political pulpit.
I never involved politics in this pulpit and I don't mean to do so right now. But I'm going to say to you, beloved friends, that it disturbs me greatly. When people tell me that they want to find a church that mirrors society.
Is that right? In fact, there are churches springing up all over the place today that are basing their fundamental premise on the fact that they are going to be mirroring society. They want to look like the world.
They want to make things easy for people. I reject that on the basis of God's Word. There are people today who say, I'm going to go to church because it looks like society. Do you want church to look like America?
Do you want Ellen to be the fundamental premise upon which we base everything that we do? Do you want the kind of family values and ethic that we read about from the White House to the state capital to be part and parcel of your church? Do you want the church to be run like the local government from the state office to the highest office? You want the leadership principles that we see espoused in the world to be espoused in the church? I've heard people say, listen, we need to accommodate.
The name of the game is compromise. We need to adhere to the feminists and we need to adhere to the radicals and we need to adhere to the superhuman accommodation that is going on in the world today. We need to bring the world not up to God's standards but down to the standards that man sets. And when it comes to leadership, we're talking about definitive things. People say to me from time to time, pastor, what is it about First Baptist Church?
And I'm going to say to you, beloved friends, that I have so much joy. When I consider what God is continuing to do in this church, I think, for example, of the unprecedented unity. Now you think about it, we are all different people. No doubt about that, just look at the person next to you. We have all our likes and dislikes and the way we like to do things, we like to stand up and sit down. Some people like choruses, some people like hymns, some people don't like this, some people like that.
We've all got our likes and dislikes. But I'm going to say to you something today, beloved friends, that as your pastor, I do not know of any major area at First Baptist Church where there is dissension, unhappiness, where there is a group of people standing up, bickering, fighting, backstabbing, starting rumors. We do not do that at First Baptist Church. We are a body of believers and if you find anybody who does that, you have my permission to tell them we don't do that here.
That's right. You see, something is going on. We've seen God move. God has moved in this church for over 150 years. I can talk to you about leadership in the WMU and I can talk to you about leadership in Ladies First Thursday, in Sunday school classes, in our children's programs, in scouting, in missions organizations. We've got men giving up a whole month of their time to go to Brazil. We've got teams going up to Tennessee in Kentucky missions.
We're talking about many different facets of leadership. Where does all this come from? What does the Bible say? Well, I want to show you two marvelous passages of Scripture today and I'm going to begin in Acts chapter 6. In Acts chapter 6, we're going to find out what God's Word has to say concerning the reason why deacons exist. Why do we have deacons? What kind of leadership are deacons all about? Why is their role servant leadership?
Why are they not a board of directors? Why are deacons servants of the church? Why are they nominated and elected by the church? Who ought these people to be? How do you know when to nominate a man to be a deacon? Where's our criterion? Is it because someone's been in the church for 25 years?
Is it because someone is well known? Why do you nominate and vote for a deacon? Well, let's ask ourselves what the Bible says. It's amazing, isn't it, how God's Word answers all these questions for us? Now in this first section, I'm going to stop just a few times in chapter 6 because it's important.
Let's look at it together. Acts chapter 6 and verse 1. In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, good place to stop. Here's what happens, folks.
You're watching this. The more the disciples increase, the more necessary to have more deacons. It says it here in the Bible. Watch what happens. And what happened when the body of believers began to come together?
Something interesting happened. Look there in verse 1. The Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews, two different groups, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. Now folks, that phrase there, the daily distribution of food, is a direct reference to the needs that people had in their totality. May I say this to you?
It's not profound because we all would readily agree. I want you to know, folks, it would boggle your mind if you knew all the needs in this congregation. Come and sit in my office on one day.
You'll understand it. It's amazing, the number of needs. You carry around a beeper with me. I was with Steve Skinner the other day and Kent Holt and Eddie Robertson and between the time that I left the church and the time that I got to my destination, how many calls did I have?
I had about 10 or 12 calls with different needs in the congregation. Why? Because we're people. Now folks, I want to tell you something. In just a moment, some of you are going to say, Well, pastor, I'm out of here. Because when I look at God's Word, there's no way I'm going to match up to God's Word. Please don't leave because I've got an announcement this morning.
Here it is. The only difference between the best of us in here and the worst of them out there is what? The grace of God. Amen?
That is the only difference. We are sinners saved by the grace of God. I'm so grateful for that because, folks, when I get reading through these passages and speaking about them, I want you to know there's not one man here who deserves to be a deacon and this pastor does not deserve to be the pastor of this church.
But by the grace of God, you and I are what we are but by God's grace. Well, look what happened here. They had a problem. The number of disciples increased. There was more to be done, more needs, more activity, more action, more programs, and what happened, some of the people began to be neglected. Now, if I was to ask here this morning, is there anybody here who's been neglected, I'll guarantee you all of us at some point in time can raise our hands and say, Well, you know, we've been neglected. Someone didn't visit us.
We didn't get enough calls. Somebody this, somebody that. All of us because we've all got needs. God's Word tells us how to overcome this. So look what happens. So verse 2, So the twelve, who were the twelve? The apostles, they were the pastors. This began in the pastor's heart. Listen to what happened. So the twelve gathered all the disciples, the whole church, all the believers together and said, It would not be right for us as pastors to neglect the ministry of the Word of God in order to wait on tables.
Now friends, listen to this for just a second. If anybody ever asks you, What is the most important thing that your pastor does in your church? What would you tell them? Can you categorize that? I'll tell you. We've got to go to the Bible. You know what the Bible says my most important job is? Prayer and the preaching and teaching of God's Word. The Bible says if I do anything that causes me to neglect prayer and the preaching and teaching of the Word of God that I'm failing in the calling that God has called me to.
Now I want to tell you something. I don't think I have ever been in a church who understands that more clearly. And I love you for that folks. That is not to diminish all the important things that we're about because everything we do is vital. There is plenty of time for visitation and for missions and for programs and for coming and for strategizing and administration and finances and hospitals and retirement centers and all the individual needs from marrying people to burying people. But God says that the pastors got up and said it is not right for us to neglect the preaching and teaching of the Word of God.
God basically says to me, Pastor, there is never a time that you get into this pulpit that you're not prepared to proclaim God's Word or whatever platform God gives you. So look what happens here. Verse 3, here's the solution. Brothers, choose seven men from among you. Now who are the brothers and sisters here? The congregation. You might say to me today, Pastor, why do we nominate and elect deacons?
Because the Bible says so. It says here, men and brethren, choose seven men from among you. Who are these men?
Here they are. Who are known to be full of the Spirit and of wisdom. We the pastors will turn this responsibility over to them. And we will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the Word. Now look what happens in verse 5.
This proposal pleased the whole group. And in fact they named the seven men there from Stephen all the way down to Nicholas from Antioch. Verse 6, they presented these men to the pastors who prayed and laid their hands on them. Have you ever asked the question, why do we ordain deacons? Because the Bible says so. The Bible says we are to lay hands on deacons.
We are to set them apart. The Bible says they are to be examined before the Lord. They are to be found in keeping with what God's Word says. Look what happened in verse 7. Here's the consequences, folks. This is what happens when a church obeys God. So the Word of God spread. Now folks, I'm going to say this to you. I want you to listen this morning. We have seen an unprecedented number of adults in particular coming to know Jesus.
Isn't that wonderful? That deserves an amen, folks. We are seeing people coming to know Jesus Christ in our choir tours, in Kentucky missions, and here in the worship services. God is moving. We're seeing from young to old. Our youth ministry is exploding. Our children's ministry is exploding. We're running out of space everywhere we look. We're making definitive questions. We're asking the master to write upon our hearts a master plan for his church. Where do we need to be in the year 2000? But listen to me, folks. If we want to know where we need to be, we've got to go back and ask God what we need to do. And God speaks about definitive leadership.
I get so disappointed. I had someone about three weeks ago come to me and say to me, Pastor, we've been visiting, but I want to find a church that resembles the community that I live in. I want to find a church that's going to make it comfortable. Do you know what the key word today? Contemporary. That's your key word. We're going to make it comfortable. We're going to make everything feel good and sound good. We're going to apply the principles of society right here in the fabric and the heartbeat of the church. Friends, what we've got to do is we've got to go to God's word. We've got to ask God what God wants us to do.
Listen to what happened. Verse 7, I love this. So the word of God spread. That'll preach.
I wish I had another hour this morning. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith. Are you ready for this? Do we come to church on Sunday morning just to feel comfortable or to hear what God has to say?
Now, folks, listen to what happened. I want you to turn over the page now to 1 Timothy, couple of pages. 1 Timothy chapter 3. We've had a look as to why deacons and this form of leadership was instituted.
I love that. I think elections are so important. I think voting is so important.
I appreciate every member of our church who stands up for those people who stand upon moral principles. People say to me, pastor, how should we vote? Well, I want to tell you something I will never tell anybody how to vote. But if you're a believer, God will tell you how you should vote.
Why? Because God applies His principles to life and we've got to vote according to God's principles, not according to what we feel. We've got to apply God's principles. And if somebody is not carrying out the principles of Almighty God, we shouldn't vote for them.
We should make a stand and take a stand. And where does it all begin? It begins in the church. The church ought never to look like society. The church ought to be the church of God. Standing upon God's principles, standing upon God's Word. The church must be different.
It cannot be the same. We cannot accept the Constitution of the United States of America as the ethic and fundamental platform upon which we stand. We operate according to that because God calls us to be good citizens.
But our good citizenship is grounded in the fundamental principles of God's standards and God's Word. Please forgive the interruption. We'll be back with the rest of today's message on leadership with Dr. Don Wilton in just a moment. But he wants me to remind you, we're here for you. We'd love to pray with you and for you. Connect you with great resources like the one on spiritual warfare we've been talking about these last few days. It's all on our website www.tewonline.org or you can call us at 866-899-WORD.
That's 866-899-9673 or online at www.tewonline.org. Now back to today's great teaching with Dr. Don Wilton. So we discover here in one minuscule aspect of leadership the reason why deacons were brought into the church.
Where did it come from? The next question is, what qualifies a man to be a deacon? Uh-oh. This is the tough one. Maybe I shouldn't read this part.
Here it is and I'm going to stop a few times. 1 Timothy chapter 3, here is a trustworthy saying, If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, on being a bishop, on being an elder, on being a deacon, on being a pastor, on being a leader, he desires a noble task. Now the overseer must be above reproach. The husband of but one wife. By the way, I'm not doing an exegesis of this passage but polygamy was a major problem in Paul's time. Men were marrying multiple numbers of wives. God's Word says no. One man for one woman for one lifetime, that's what God's Word says.
The kinads are on a mission in Kenya at the moment. In Africa, polygamy is a particularly important issue because the African culture is based upon a polygamous relationship. Men have multiple wives, well when they come to know Jesus Christ, we've got to bring out the Word of God in love.
Listen to what happens. The husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. It doesn't say that a deacon has to have perfect children because then we're all in trouble.
Well, maybe a few exceptions as I look around. It says that a deacon must manage his own children and family well. Verse 5 explains why. If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church? I'm so grateful folks, I've said this many, many times, I'm grateful that we are a family church. The emphasis we place is on our families, our children, our loved ones, on single parents, single mothers. We believe in that. We believe in restoration. We believe in reconciliation. We believe in forgiveness. We believe that there is hope for tomorrow. We do not believe that anybody is beyond the love of God.
Why? Because we are all sinners saved by the grace of God. God forbid that we should ever become a country club. There are too many churches that become country clubs.
They are places where people go and where they can enjoy their wellness and their blessings in life, but God doesn't feature. Listen to what the Word says in verse 6. He must not be a recent convert, for he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. Do you know that in our church a man cannot be nominated as a deacon until he's been a member of this church for at least two years? Why do we have that in the bylaws? Have you ever wondered? Because many people who become members of the church, become members of the church having given their hearts to Jesus.
Most wonderful thing in the whole world, isn't it? The Bible says that a deacon cannot be a deacon if he's a recent convert. Now why? Because he needs time. He needs time to learn.
He needs time to grow. We need to be there for that. The Bible says we must not do that.
Number seven, he must also have a good reputation with outsiders. Uh oh, that really meddles, doesn't it? You know what Paul is saying here? God is telling us. He's saying, listen, if you talk about definitive spiritual leadership in the church, your talk mustn't match your talk, your walk must match your talk. Paul is saying, listen, in order to be a spiritual leader in the church, whether you're a Sunday school teacher, whatever it is folks, this applies right across the board. Your walk has got to match your talk, not just on Sunday but on Monday. These are some tough guidelines folks. Paul says it's not good enough to come to church on Sunday and look the part and for the rest of the week to live for yourself.
No sir. It says you've got to have a good reputation with those outside. Do you know why folks? The church does not exist in isolation. We exist in the community for the community.
That is the mission and goal of our church, Judea, Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the world. And I'm going to say to you with all the love in my heart, when the church is strong and the church stands upon God's Word, the community is strong. When the community is strong, the state is strong. When the state is strong, the nation is strong. The reason why the White House is so pathetic today is because the nation, the states are weak. And because the communities are weak.
Isn't it the most dramatic irony that a president who is in all the stuff that is going on has the highest approval ratings of any president in the United States? If that is not a commentary about America, folks, I don't know what is. Something is wrong.
You know where it's coming from? From within the heart of the church. Churches are getting weaker and weaker. Churches are compromising. Churches are basing everything they do on showmanship. I want to say to you, my friends, that we need a clarion call to come back to the basic fundamentals of the Word of the living God.
Look at verse 8. Deacons likewise are to be men worthy of respect, sincere, not indulging in much wine, not pursuing dishonest gain. They must hold hard to the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience.
They must first be tested. And then if there is nothing against them, let them serve as deacons. In the same way their wives are to be women worthy of respect, not malicious talkers, but temperate and trustworthy in everything. A deacon must be the husband of but one wife.
He must manage his children well and his household well. Those who have served well gain an excellent standing and great assurance in their faith in Christ Jesus. Wow, wow!
Isn't that something? What does God have to say about leadership today? What does God have to say about you and me? Where does that leave us?
I tell you folks, I've said this already, but when I read these directives, it makes me want to run. Because there's no way that I can measure up to these standards, but by God's grace, I am what I am. By God's grace, you and I are what we are. We are children of the King. Such powerful truth, but the truth is evolving a choice. We can be the children of God, the children of the King, but it starts with a decision.
A decision to say yes to Jesus as Lord and Savior. You know, all day long we've been talking about our phone number. If you've got questions about what you've been listening to, questions, would like to have someone pray with you, you can call us at 866-899-WORD.
That's 866-899-9673. Or better yet, open your heart now to what Dr. Don wants to share with you. Rather than calling us, perhaps right now it's time for you to call out to God.
Here's Dr. Don Wilton. Are you ready to give your heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ? Why don't you pray this prayer with me right now? Dear God, I know that I'm a sinner, and I know that Jesus died for me on the cross. Today I repent of my sin, and by faith I receive you into my heart. In Jesus' name. My friend, I welcome you today into the family of God.
This is exciting news. If you just prayed to give your life to Christ with Dr. Wilton moments ago, or perhaps rededicate your life, we're excited to see what God's going to do next, and would love to be a part of encouraging you in those next steps. We have wonderful free resources Dr. Don wants you to have if you gave your life to Christ or rededicated your life. Call us at 866-899-WORD so we can send them to you.
The number is 866-899-9673. Or you can meet us online as well at www.tewonline.org. As a matter of fact, while you're online, you might want to look at some exciting things like the daily encouraging word from Dr. Don Wilton.
Here's Doc with more details. You know, I'd love to be a part of your daily devotional. Love to be able to send you the encouraging word daily devotional and be a part of what God says to each one of us through His word every day. You can become part of that and receive one yourself from me. Just go online to www.tewonline.org. That's www.tewonline.org and get your copy of the encouraging word Bible devotion. The number again is 866-899-WORD. We'd love to connect you with the daily encouraging word or other resources, but more than anything else, Dr. Don wants you to know we're here to pray with you and for you.
