Deaconesses in the Bible

One thing that sometimes we take for granted is the role of what women can do in the congregation. But back in Jesus' time, what He brought along with the apostles was simply revolutionary. It was something that was unheard of in antiquity. Barkley, the commentator, says this about 1 Peter 3, verse 1, talking about the women in the church. He says, In every sphere of ancient civilization, women had no rights at all. Under Jewish law, a woman was a thing. She was owned by her husband in exactly the same way as he owned his sheep and goats.

On no account could she leave him, although he could dismiss her at any moment. For a wife to change her religion while her husband did not was unthinkable. In Greek civilization, the duty of the woman was, quote, to remain indoors and be obedient to her husband. It was a sign of a good woman that she must see a little, hear as little, and ask as little as possible. She had no kind of independence, independent existence, and no kind of mind of her own.

And her husband could divorce her almost at capris. So long as he returned her dowry, they paid a certain amount, kind of almost like purchasing the wife from the father. They paid the father for lost work and lost revenue. Under Roman law, a woman had no rights. In law, she remained forever a child. She had the rights of, like, little children. When she was under her father, she was under the patria potestas, the father's power, which gave the father the right even of life and death over her.

And when she married, she passed equally into the power of her husband. She was entirely subject to her husband and completely at his mercy. Cato the Censor, the typical ancient Roman, wrote, If you are to catch your wife in an act of infidelity, you can kill her with impunity without a trial. Roman matrons were prohibited from drinking wine, and Ignatius, a famous Roman, beat his wife to death when he found her doing so, just drinking wine.

Antistius Vettus, another famous Roman, divorced his wife because he saw her secretly speaking to a freed woman in public. Publius Sempronius, Sophus, divorced his wife because once she went to the public games. The whole attitude of ancient civilization was that no woman could dare take any decision for herself. I would have wanted to live in those days as a woman, and yet we take all of these things for granted, but basically it was the Bible who gave women many of the rights that we see today. We see other civilizations where they don't follow biblical principles and the women are basically almost enslaved.

They don't have real rights. But the Bible is far more fair and empowering to women than any other book of that time. So let's see the examples and principles to thank God for them and how much he esteems women. We just had the ordination of a deaconess. She is part of the ordained leaders in the congregation. God made that possible. We have to go back in time as we cover this subject of deaconesses in the Bible, where it originates how God viewed women because they are equally important in his eyes as men are.

Notice in Genesis chapter 1 verse 26, it says, Then God said, Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness, let them. So it's actually talking about mankind, not talking just man, because it says, let them, talking about Adam and Eve, let them have a dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So God created man in his own image, and the image of God, he created him. Male and female, he created them.

So man is mankind. Now women are not created in God's physical image. God has a masculine image from what he projects in the Bible, but women are made in God's image in regard to the emotional, intellectual, social, and spiritual characteristics. They have them exactly like a man. Has emotions, intellect, social habits, and the spiritual element.

She can pray to God equally like a man can. In 1 Peter 3, verse 7, I'll read from the majority King James Bible. This is again what Mr. Macareg mentioned in the first sermon or sermonette. We use the new King James Version because it is the one that we can expound without having deletions and omissions. So this is the basic text for us. Now we can use other versions when we see that a verse is accurate and describes or makes it clear.

We can use that to supplement, but this is the new King James Version. And also the majority King James Version is based on the same text. It says, Likewise, husbands live together according to knowledge, giving honor to the wife as to the weaker vessel, the female, as truly being co-heirs. That is, to me, very accurate. Co-heirs, together of the grace of life, not cutting off your prayers. Co-heir means that they are in equal basis for inheriting the kingdom of God. So this scripture helps us to understand they are not sub-heirs.

They're not going to have a lesser reward because of their sex, because they're women or men. They are co-hears. They are on a spiritual basis, equal as far as receiving the kingdom and receiving the rewards.

So with that basis, it doesn't matter whether we're men or women. We're going after the same goal. God is not a respective of persons. Believe me, there are going to be some women that are going to be 10 talented individuals that are going to receive cities. Now, they're going to be converted into spirit beings, so it's not going to be male or women then, but they're going to have great responsibilities. And so it's not limited in the kingdom.

The women are not going to be subordinate. It's all fair. What did you do with what God gave you? How did you develop the spiritual abilities and the spiritual facets that God gave each one of us when we received that Holy Spirit?

How much did we multiply it? What did we do with it? Did we develop those fruits of God's Spirit? Did we multiply them? Did we develop a depth of conversion? Or is our conversion still quite shallow? That's why, as pastors, we have a tremendous responsibility to the congregation to provide depth of learning, depth of understanding as we are able in a limited way we are, but we are responsible. So when people come, just like a good professor, it doesn't matter what level a person is in, they're going to get something from it.

Those that are deep thinkers, they're going to be satisfied. Those that are not quite as much, they're going to be satisfied on their own level. So it's important to be able to provide this. So women are co-heirs. That's a key scripture to me that evens the playing field before men and women going toward God's kingdom. Going back to Genesis 2, verse 18, with the creation of the woman, he says, and the Lord God said, it is not good that man should be alone.

I will make him a helper comparable to him. The Hebrew word for comparable or a helper here, I'll make him a helper. The term helper is the one. The Hebrew word neged means an opposite part, like a counterpart or a mate. That's from Strong's dictionary. In other words, she would offer an added dimension to complement her husband. She would be a companion to Adam, so he would not be alone. And she would be his complement, not a supplement.

When you complement, it's something that is not finished. And so you complement, you add. In Spanish, you call them half oranges. When they say about the wife, she's my half orange because I'm the other half. And they actually use that term, media naranjas, to say that we're not complete in ourselves. Now, when something is supplementary, it means that the orange has something added to it.

That's in addition to something that's already whole or full, but we're not that way. She is our complement. Most of the time, of course, the wives are the better half. We have they put up with us. They do a very good job there. She would be his complement, not his servant or slave.

And she would provide that valuable role toward her husband and the preeminent role in child rearing. Both have roles in rearing children, but the mother usually is the one that's at home. She bore the child. She has that umbilical connection with her. And they have that closeness. And if you've raised them for a little time, you've provided that umbilical relationship that the man never quite had. I like to compare a good child rearing practice to the man being like the pole of an electrical power source.

You just see that sometimes you've seen in the movies where you have the two poles and you have the electricity going from negative to positive pole. But you have the child like the metal sphere in the middle. And they're not going too much to one side or the other. The attraction from the mother and the attraction from the father keep the sphere balanced. And so the child is able to go in a balanced way.

They know masculinity. They know femininity. They know both sides of it. And it's only when it's steered too much to one side that it's overemphasized. The femininity side or the masculinity side. Now, of course, women do have that femininity because that's their pole. But children should have equal influence so that they develop in the middle of a road.

They're balanced. That's my ideal of it. Now, I didn't have a chance to do that with boys. And I do now with grandkids. We do a lot of masculine things. But with my daughters, I learned that they also need that masculine influence. But from a much more softer, much more understanding role. You're there to protect them, to guide them. But you don't do it in a course or a rough house way that you can do with boys. In other words, we didn't go wrestling with each other.

But we had fun. They'd jump up and down the bed and I'd spin them with my legs like a little... They'd be like little helicopters and things. They enjoyed that. But it wasn't that rough horsing around that you can do with your kids. So each one has an influence to provide. And so God created the woman to be the man's complement. For them to work as a team, they would become one flesh, one working... like a team and working together. But unfortunately, after they took of the forbidden fruit, that whole world shattered. What God's hopes that they would choose His way of life was rejected.

And so now Satan would be actively influencing man and women. And so God told the woman what that result would be. In Genesis chapter 3, in verse 16, He said to the woman, I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception. In pain you shall bring forth children. That still happens today. And then he has this quizzical. It's a little bit of an enigmatic expression. Your desire shall be for your husband and he shall rule over you.

So something happened there that wasn't before. Because of the hardness of the heart of both of them, they would no longer be guided by God, His Spirit. They would be guided more by a worldly spirit. As the Nelson Study Bible mentions, what looks like it's the explanation for it says, you will now have a tendency to dominate your husband and he will have the tendency to act as a tyrant over you. So there would be a power struggle and marriages would have a tough time.

And we have seen that throughout history. Probably a truly happy marriage is a very rare thing in comparison to how much is broken up, all the marriages and many that stick together, but don't really have a complementary and a growing affection and development. And so God was predicting, you're going to have a struggle here. The woman's going to want to do something and desire and the man is going to also impose his will. And because the man is stronger than the woman, he would use that strength to suppress her instead of protect and lover many times.

So you see the husband basically because his body weight is normally more and he's got a more muscular frame because God designed him to do a lot of outdoor work. And so, but instead of using it to protect and to love his wife more, many times they use it to impose their will.

And that hasn't changed one wit in all these thousands of years. But we see here then man's society with the hardness of the heart. There would be divorce, there would be beatings, there would be a lot of intimidation, there would be a lot of harassment. Also what Solomon calls that, like a leaky roof, that drop, that nagging woman that just drives the husband nuts.

And then you have the other side, the man that many times isn't soft and understanding and just stomps on her and treats her like another man. None of those things work well. But as we continue in this Genesis account, we do have a good example of a woman who was gracious, supported her husband, and she is called one of the women of faith in Hebrews 11, and that was Sarah. She was faithful, a respectful wife, as 1 Peter chapter 3, verses 1. Let's read that real quickly, 1 Peter chapter 3. Verse 1, it says, Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some who do not obey the word, they without a word may be won by the conduct of their wives, when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear.

Do not let your adornment—and I'm going to read that, I'll read it now. It says, Do not let your adornment be merely outward, arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel. Basically, it's talking about women can exaggerate this beauty part, and they can just obsess with what they can wear, and all this beauty salons, and just going obsessively to this extreme.

He's saying that women is not designed to just augment her beauty and spend her life in front of a mirror. Many can. Many do. So that's not the biblical ideal. It says, rather, let it be the hidden person of the heart, the inner beauty, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God. That's a feminine aspect. It's very enjoyable when you have a gentle and quiet spirit, not a woman that's a brawler and screaming and shrieking.

It's a different spirit here we're talking about. For in this manner, in former times, the holy women who trusted in God also adorned themselves being submissive to their own husbands. That doesn't mean being subservient. It just means they accepted the husband's role and they supported him. As Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord, whose daughters you are if you do good and are not afraid with any terror.

So it brings up that Sarah wasn't terrified of Abraham. They had a good marriage. It was not easy. Someday, maybe we can talk about Sarah and how hard it was for Abraham, a successful man back in Ur. He already was wealthy. He had everything established. And all of a sudden, God tells him, you need to leave. I'll let you know where to go later. And it was Sarah also. She wasn't like Lot's wife who turned around and wanted to go back into Sodom. She was saying, okay, wherever you go, I'm going to go.

I'm going to trust God. It was probably much harder on her, leaving family, friends, established life, to become this nomad, this pilgrim, now living in tents when they lived in a nice city.

If you ever see some of the archaeological finds of Ur of the Chaldees, they had indoor toilets in the nice part of town. And they had nice patios. It was the highlight of that ancient world. And he left all of that to walk thousands of miles to a place which God at first didn't even tell them. He said, I just want you to go.

This is the direction. Because he left, not knowing where he was going. How hard was that on Sarah? How many wives wouldn't have just said, you're crazy. This is the... I'm not going off on this wild goose chase. And you're demanding things that aren't reasonable. And I'm not going with you. You want to go and go with your God?

You had a vision and he told you to do this. Doesn't say that. Says she packed up. She walked with faith. She didn't nag them about this crazy adventure and the sacrifices that were being asked. She was a classy lady.

We're going to see that in the Bible study. I have a nice picture of artistic rendition of both of them. So we do see women fulfilling their roles. Could Abraham have done everything if Sarah was not there backing him? And having that baby when she was 90 years old, when her body was already old, and she had quit having her menstrual cycle for many decades, and still she had Isaac because she believed.

She pushed that baby out. Other women would not have had the faith. And then we have Miriam, Moses' sister. Miriam is very influential in leaving Egypt. She was one of the ones that basically was the leader among the women. And when the Red Sea engulfed and drowned the Egyptians, there's a hymn that is Miriam that is singing it. And that's written in the Bible. Both brothers had key jobs. Now, she did get ahead of herself once. She tried to dominate more, and God had to punish her. She learned the lesson. She maintained the faith.

And then let's turn to Judges 4, to see an example of another woman who was a great example. Judges 4, Deborah. Again, God is not a respecter of persons. And Deborah was not a priest. She did not have ecclesiastical functions. She had civil functions. She was part of the ones where she administered as a judge in Israel. It says in Judges 4, verse 4, there's now Deborah, a prophetess, so God sent messages. So she would transmit it to the leadership at that time.

The wife of Lapidoth was judging Israel at that time. And she would sit under the palm tree of Deborah between Rama and Bethel in the mountains of Ephraim. And the children of Israel came up to her for judgment. So she had that function. God was there.

Again, they had at that time the tabernacle in the area of Shiloh, but she was the civil administrator. Apparently God didn't find any capable men to do that function. And so he chose a woman to do so. Going on, it says, Then she sent and called for Brac, the son of Abinam from Kedesh in Naphtali, and said to him, Has not the Lord God commanded go and deploy troops at Mount Taber?

Take with you ten thousand men of the sons of Naphtali and the sons of Zebulun. So she is shiting Brac. She was a prophetess. This was the message that she had delivered to him. And he got cold feet. He wasn't willing to do it. And so she says, Didn't God tell you to do this? Wasn't this a command? He says, verse 7, And against you I will deploy Cicera, the commander of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his multitude at the river Kishon, and I will deliver him into your hand.

So she had to egg Brac on. He was there wringing his hands, and he didn't have the guts to do it. And so this woman had the guts to go before this man and say, This is what God told you. Get it done. And you notice Brac, what he answered. And Brac said to her, If you will go with me, then I will go, but if you will not go with me, I will not go. He had an inferiority complex with Deborah.

He's saying, Well, I know God's with you. He's sending you these messages, but I need your support. I need you to be here. I can't do this by myself. And so she answered, I will surely go with you. Nevertheless, there will be no glory for you in the journey you are taking, for the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. Then Deborah arose and went with Brac to Kish.

Now, God had not told Brac that Deborah should go with him. That's again why she is shiting him, why she is reprimanding him, because it was Brac's glory that was going to be shown. But he didn't have the guts to do it without her. And so Brac went to battle with Deborah right there and they defeated the enemy. And then Sisera was killed by a woman. But we see here again that Deborah didn't just sit around saying, well, I'm a woman.

I can't do anything. I'm an Israelite, but God is just going to have men do everything. No, God called her. She answered the call and she did a great job for that moment in time. So sometimes God calls women into different functions, such as being a deaconess. And she's part of the leadership. When we're together in the deacon and elders, when we say deacons, please remember it's deacon and deaconesses, but it's sort of a long phrase.

So deacons include male and female deacons. In the Bible, you only have one term, deacon, because they had invented deaconess yet because it was so new because they didn't have that office back in Judaism. And so they used the term deacon for men and women. So remember that when we mentioned this. So we don't have to be so specific. And then we have Proverbs 31. Proverbs 31, which is a description of God's ideal of a woman. All that she can do.

Notice Proverbs 31 verse 10. Here you have 21 verses dedicated to the functions of a woman. Verse 10, it says, Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies. Boy, you get a good wife, one that's virtuous, that has good qualities. Notice, it doesn't say, Oh, you got to find this beautiful and breathtaking wife. No, because that's good. But hey, how about on the inside? Is she beautiful and breathtaking in the inside? That's even more important. So the Bible doesn't talk about just the exterior of a woman. God made women to be beautiful. That's nice. And when they're young and lovely, that's wonderful. But He says, how many are beautiful and lovely on the inside? That's what's difficult to find. That's why He says, her worth is far above rubies. The heart of her husband safely trusts her. So he will have no lack of gain. She fulfills her duties. So the husband doesn't have to be worried about what's happening in the home. There are men that have women that are not very diligent or dedicated. And so they've got to be filling in the job at the in the house for it to get done. And that robs them from being able to get out there, concentrate in their labor. She does Him good and not evil all the days of her life. She's there, supportive and not evil. That's a dirty word in the Bible. That's because when a woman turns against a man and starts doing evil in the household, that just wrecks the whole thing. But a woman that does Him good all the days of her life, when she said those words, I do. She meant it for good or for good times, bad times, whatever it is. She seeks wool and flax and willingly works with her hands. So here she has the money to invest. She finds where the best deals are and she willingly works with her hands. She knows a lot of skills. So she's not just a trophy wife you just have in the wall, but she can't hardly do anything. This one has developed all kinds of abilities to take care of the home and has her own investments. She's like a merchant ship. She brings her food from afar. So she knows where the best deals are. She's worried about the budget. She's concerned about the budget. She also rises while it is yet night and provides food for her household. So kids don't have to be waking the mother up. The mother's waking the kids up. She's got everything ready. At night, she already prepared things so that when the kids get up, they know what to do. Everything's there. The clothes are ready. The food is ready. And they can go to school without a problem. She provides food for her household and a portion for her maidservant. So here she even has servants working under her. She considers a field and buys it. From her profit, she plants a vineyard. So here she's reinvesting her money. So she's smart enough. She sees a good deal. And then with that, she makes additional money. She girds herself with strength and strengthens her arms. So she's not a little wallflower timid. No, she's a woman that is active.

She perceives that her merchandise is good and her lamp does not go out by night. So she's always busy working away, seeing what the needs are in the home. She stretches out her hands to the distaff, which means her hand holds the spindle. So again, she has skills that she's developed. A lot of women today, they're good in computers. They're good with all kinds of different things to have a little extra income come in. She extends her hand to the poor. Yes, she reaches out her hands to their needy. So she has that compassionate side to her. She is not afraid of snow for her household when winter comes. For all her household is clothed with scarlet. They've got good clothing for the season that comes. She makes tapestry for herself. Her clothing is fine linen and purple. So she is stylish. She knows how to dress well. Again, not ostentatiously, but she knows how to dress well. Her husband is known in the gates when he sits among the elders of the land.

The man is respected because of the type of woman he has there. His wife actually enriches the man. He feels proud. He knows wherever I go, she can go with me. We're going to be a team and we're going to work. I don't have to worry about what she's going to say or how she's going to offend people. She knows how to deal as a lady. She's compassionate and she's wise. She is lovely to have around.

She makes linen garments and sells them and supplies sashes for the merchants. Again, very active. She's not just sitting around, not doing anything. Strengthen on her or her clothing. It's not so much what she has on the outside. It's the strength. She has inner strength. She shall rejoice in time to come. As we get older, she rejoices as she sees everything in its place and developing and growing. She opens her mouth with wisdom. On her tongue is the law of kindness. Again, sometimes women have that sixth sense to tell their husband, Go light on this. Don't be overbearing. Just take it easy, whatever is needed. She knows how the tongue is the law of kindness. She watches over the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed. Her husband also praises her. Many daughters have done well, but you excel them all. Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing. But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands and let her own works praise her in the gates. So, in summary, that's the type of woman that eventually receives responsibilities.

She's done a good job. The fruits are there, and they are recognized. So, we don't ordain people just on a whimsical moment. We don't do it in a moment's time. What we do is we see the fruits. Everybody sees through time. And then we recognize that God is calling that person to that position.

Going on now to the New Testament. Jesus had a different attitude toward women. Based, of course, on the Bible himself, he was the living Word of God. So, it wasn't how Jewish rabbis had distorted God's Word, because Judaism had become a distortion. It wasn't what the Bible taught. It was what all of these traditions of men had come up with. And so, he was restoring the biblical teaching to its original intent. Again, the commentator, Barkley, writes on John 4, with Christ meeting the Samaritan women. He says, the Samaritan was a woman. The strict rabbis forbade a rabbi to greet a woman in public. So, if Christ would have gone by the conventional man-made rules, he wouldn't have talked to her. He wouldn't have said a word. He would have ignored her. A rabbi might not even speak to his own wife or daughter or sister in public, giving her too much importance. So, they spoke in the house, but then when they went out, there was a rabbi who was in the front, the wife and the children in the back, and he was the one that talked. He was the one that said everything. Basically, in the synagogues, they had a section for the women and the children, and they had the section for the men. So, women could talk in their section, but they couldn't talk to men. It was a very rigid system. Have you ever lived under that type of a system where you just felt like you're a second-class citizen? I did once, back when I was a little child in the Spanish society of that day, and children were to be seen but not heard. And so, when we'd go on vacation to some beach—we had a beach house there in Cuba— and I remember we were all so happy, and, wow, we're going to have vacation. And then dinner or lunch or breakfast came, and we had to go into the room and eat with the servants. We didn't know what my parents were talking about. I had to sit there and eat, and the servants didn't have much to say to us. So, it was awfully boring. I really felt like a second-class citizen. Maybe you've had experiences like that, but this is what was happening in a sense, that women were just shunned in public. There were even Pharisees who were called, quote, the bruised and bleeding Pharisees, close quote, because they shut their eyes when they saw a woman on the street and so walked into walls and houses. That'd be hard to be walking around here. You see a woman, and you can't do that anymore, and boom! You hit that, and then you come to the synagogue. What happened to you? Well, you know, I couldn't see that woman. Oh, man, you are holy. That's great. Look at this man. He suffered. He got a cracked skull because of this, and they had it as something meritorious. And so it goes on to say, for a rabbi to be seen speaking to a woman in public was the end of his reputation. Scratch. No more pecking order. You're way down. You just fell all the way down the pecking order because you happen to talk to a woman. And so, of course, there must be something going on there when you're talking to a woman. They always thought the worst thing is about that. And yet, Jesus spoke to this woman. Not only was she a woman, she was also a woman of notorious character. No decent man, let alone a rabbi, would have been seen in her company, not even exchanging a word with her. And yet, Jesus spoke to her. To a Jew, this was an amazing story. Here was the Son of God, tired, weary, and thirsty. Here was the holiest of men, listening with understanding to a sorry story. Here was Jesus breaking through the barriers of nationality and orthodox Jewish custom.

Here is the beginning of the universality of the gospel that He brought. Here is God so loving the world, not in theory, but in action.

Let's go now to 1 Timothy 2. 1 Timothy 2, verse 9-15. It says, In like manner also, the women adorned themselves. I read this a bit back in the message, but then He goes on to say, I want to go to chapter 2, verse 11.

The point here is that women should not have ecclesiastical authority. They should not be involved in the pastoral duties to be ordained as a minister. He says there are just the way God set things up.

Men should be in charge of the ecclesiastical or spiritual and church matters.

It goes on to say, Nevertheless, she will be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith, love, and holiness with self-control. So He makes an emphasis that they can fulfill their roles. It has to do with the childrearing. If that is the case, that they can have children. If they continue in faith, love, and holiness with self-control.

That's also incumbent on the men to have all of these virtues.

Then let's turn to chapter 5 here in 1 Timothy 9.

Again, seeing what kind of roles God has for the woman. It says, In other words, to be sustained by the church. And not unless she has been the wife of one man. Well-reported for good works, if she has brought up children, if she has lodged strangers, if she has washed the saint's feet, if she has relieved the afflicted, if she has diligently followed every good work.

So again, talking about the service that women can provide. Again, in those days, people just automatically got married. The great majority had children. It's not like this society where women have much more roles that they can carry out. But at least for those days, this was what was expected of the women to carry out.

And some of them would develop leadership abilities, like we mentioned in Romans 16 verse 1. I'm going to read it in the Amplified Bible.

It says, Again, the term there for deaconess is diaconos, which originally meant serving tables. And then it became a general word for serving, especially in a capacity before God.

That's from the word study dictionary. In Philippians chapter 1, in verse 1, it talks about deacons as well.

Philippians chapter 1, in verse 1, it says, So you had those that had the spiritual oversight, and then you had the deacons. They were the ones that were helping out more in the physical elements, organizing the church, doing all kinds of different functions so that the minister isn't having to do a lot of the physical things involved in the church. And we have that capacity for many to be serving in this way.

The deacons, as one of the commentaries mentions, in this sense, were helping or serving the bishops or elders. And this is why they were probably called deacons. They did not, though, possess any ruling authority, as did the elders. So again, it's more of a separate. They're all ordained, but they have different functions. And then in 1 Timothy 3, verse 11, it talks about the functions of a deaconess. 1 Timothy 3, verse 11. Now, he's mentioning, he has mentioned already, the qualifications of an elder. It doesn't say anything about qualifications for an elder's wife, which would be very important, but that's assumed. Just like it talks about the deacons, and it's assumed about the deacon's wife, are going to do a certain function. But then he says here, after he talks about the deacons in verse 11, it says likewise. Here with the term, their wives, the word, guinee, means woman, and some translations have it as a deaconess. It makes more sense, like Phoebe of Romans 16.1 is described, because it was talking about deacons, and it says they must in the same way as the deacons, be worthy of respect. It says, must be reverent, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things. So we have here four different qualities for what we would call the deaconess. It must be reverent, which means worthy of respect. So we're not talking about some type of a beauty contest or dealing with physical attributes of a woman. No, we're talking here about is she worthy of respect, as she's shown by her fruits, worthy of respect. Also, not slanderers. They must, as other translations here, Bible and beginners. No, the Bible in basic English says to be serious in behavior, saying no evil of others. So she's a woman that knows how to hold her tongue. She's not slandering people and accusing them of this or that in front of others. You can certainly do that in your own house, talk about situations there are, but you just can't have a loose tongue and be this type of deaconess. Temperate, which means here controlling themselves. They can't go off with a temper tantrum. They have to be a woman that has self-control. Faithful in all things. True in the way she is faithful in her functions. She carries them out. So the term here is to be reliable. You can trust and you can confide that they will carry it out. Now we are blessed here in the Garden Grove Church having many deaconesses. I don't know of a church that has more deaconesses than Garden Grove has. Maybe we do have maybe a couple here or there, but it's just amazing that we have a lot of women that fulfill different functions. It's a real blessing to have that. I remember in the church in Santiago, Chile, we had many deacons, but we never quite had that deaconess come up. It was a young church. A lot of them were just with little children at that time. So we hardly had any deaconesses, but here we do. I work with all of them. We all work together as a team. They have a lot of the more domestic functions. They carry out a lot of their jobs, and I'm so thankful for them. I'm so thankful that they stepped up to the plate and worked, and God honored them in that way. As you can see, there's going to be a great reward in the future.

When God's kingdom is established, these women have developed a sound faith, a spirit of service, and have learned to work as a team. They're not the ones that preach and expound Scripture. Like I said, that is more of an ecclesiastical function. But in the church, they play a vital role. This church could not function as well as it does without the deacons and deaconesses that we have and what I call here the supporting, and the non-ordained deacons and deaconesses that we have that just chip in and help and serve, and they're not worried about how many stripes they have on their side. They just go in there because those fruits are being shown. And so it is a tremendous blessing. We know in this life you're not going to be that recognized, but it's the other life, that future life. God knows. We just had an election, presidential election, and during these days you can see they have to fill more than 4,500 jobs. And one side, they're all biting their nails because they want to keep their jobs. And the other side, they're bringing the brooms, and they're going to sweep aside. And there are interviews day in, day out to establish this new government that is coming to fore. Well, Jesus Christ has a government, and He's got a broom. He's going to sweep aside the kingdoms of this world. They're all going to be abolished. All of these groups are just going to be swept away. And who's He going to bring? He's going to bring His team, all of those men and women that weren't taken into account, that served faithfully, that did their best, and He's calling them in that first resurrection. Not the big, great, and mighty of the world, but those who learned how to serve, how to do it with grace, with humility, and dedication. That's what we are looking forward to in His kingdom, just like we sang a hymn. Let's go to 1 Corinthians 2. As we finish here, 1 Corinthians 2, we read this hymn at the beginning, chapter 2. No, chapter 1. In verse 26, it says, For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. He's not calling the great and powerful of this world. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world. Now, it's not that they are fools, but they are called fools by the world. To put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world, the people that are not very powerful and famous and rich, to shame the things which are mighty and the base things of the world. Again here, those things that are underestimated, they are belittled, and the things which are despised, God has chosen, and the things which are not important. These are not the big movers and shakers of this society, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence. Because people are not going to say, well God chose me for this because of how important or great I was. No, we are nothing. We are the dregs of society. Our church is so small in comparison to so many others. And yet, He has given us His precious truths. He's given us that vision of His kingdom. He's given us His wonderful laws. We are law-abiding citizens of God's kingdom. Very few can say that because they're not following God's laws right now. And so I'd like to end in 1 Timothy chapter 3 verse 13. I'm going to read it in the English Standard Version. Again, just a quote that is better clarified in that verse. It says, For those who serve well as deacons, of course, and we should add here, and deaconesses, but deacons means both men and women, gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in the faith that is in Jesus, in Christ Jesus. So they have a good standing before the church.

Before society. And more importantly, before God. And have great confidence. They've developed that confidence in the faith. They're not novices anymore. They can fight the good fight of faith. They are part of God's shock troops in that sense. They're there and they're veterans that will hold on to the faith, hold on to the truths. They'll do the dirty work when they have to without complaining. And they're there to support the church whenever it needs them. God bless deacons and deaconesses that he has called to the church. They are true examples to the flock.