But ye shall receive power, when the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and ye shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. Acts 1:8.
The Greek word for power is dynamis.Ye shall receive “power” (from the Greek word “dunamis”). Dynamic, dynamite, and dynamo are English words which come from “dynamis”. So, “Ye shall receive ‘dynamite’, when the Holy Spirit is come upon you.”
The dynamite of the early church was the way the ministry of a deacon came forth out of those who were filled to overflowing with the Holy Spirit.
The deacon is being restored to the church in this day, but not like the one’s found on a deacon board in some churches. Those deacons are more like businessmen who run the church like a business; and they usually vote against the will of God being done, because they are not spiritual mature.
The deacons that came forth in the New Testament times were the explosive element of the Body of Christ. They had authority, but it was much more than just the authority: the elders had authority, the apostles had authority, but the apostles didn’t really do as many spectacular things in the early days of the church as the deacons did.
It is most significant that when Paul addressed the Philippian church, he said, Paul and Timothy, bond servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus that are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons: Philippians 1:1.
The word bishop means overseer. An overseeing elder. There are not as many pastors in the New Testament mentioned as there are elders. The pastor is mentioned only once or twice in the New Testament, but apostles, prophets, elders and deacons were the more common ministries.
The pastor of New Testament times was not a pastor of one church; he was generally a pastor of churches, a traveling ministry as often as he was a stationary ministry. Although we consider the apostolic ministry a traveling ministry, it was not necessarily so. There are long periods of time in which Paul, for example, would spend years in one place, oftentimes many years as the average pastor today does.
Today the ministry of an evangelist is little understood: a ministry that is almost apart from the church. The effort of organization is to try to tie the evangelistic corporations in with the churches. They look for the support of the churches to have big evangelistic campaigns, which are independent of the churches. The evangelist today, is something outside of the church soliciting church cooperation.
In New Testament times, the evangelist was within the church; and he was also what we would call a pioneer, in the sense that he made the roads over which the apostles often traveled.
DEACONS DO AMAZING THINGS
In Acts, chapters six, seven, and eight, is the story of Stephen, who was a major influence of the great persecution. It was not an apostle that brought forth the word that God had abandoned the temple, but it was from the prophet Stephen, who was also an evangelist, and one of the first seven deacons, who stood up and prophesied that God was going to turn away, and He had made the temple obsolete. That caused them to stone him to death. This, coming from one of the deacons, doesn’t sound like some passive, weak ministry, does it?
Philip went down to Samaria after the stoning of Stephen, because they were out to get all the deacons; for these were the men who were out disputing and ministering; they were evangelistic in that sense. These were part of the Spirit Led ministries who were going forth to reach the city and the country. Consequently, the most spectacular things done in the New Testament, were done by the deacons rather than by the apostles.
The elders and the apostles were concerned with strengthening the Body; but there is no word about an apostle traveling in the Spirit, as Philip did in these chapters. While Philip was baptizing the Ethiopian, the Spirit caught him up and set him in another place a good distance away, and he continued preaching.
We haven’t seen anything like the amazing, dynamic ministries that early church had. Philip healed all the sick in the city of Samaria, and everyone in the city was filled with joy.
The deacons turned cities upside down. The apostles did this too, but we need to understand the ministry of a deacon, so that we can see what it was intended to be in the mind of God and begin to bring forth what is necessary now.
THE MINISTRY OF A DEACON
We have the elders to minister and care for the shepherding needs of the flock. But what we need now, young and old without age limit are deacons to come forth with that dynamic, explosive element, who believe: “Let’s DO this,” and “Let’s DO that!”
Some of the ministries under the oversight and the performance of elders should be placed in the hands of deacons. The outreach, with all its dynamic force should be executed by men who have all the qualifications of the New Testament deacons.
Until now, the elder has been an elder-deacon, because it has involved that. We have had a concept of an elder that has embraced more than it should; and at this point it should be diversified.
The centralization of the anointing in ministry should be diversified and scattered into as many ministries as possible. The key to a New Testament church is that everyone is in action. Everyone is involved in the execution of the will of God in the earth, speaking the Word of God and proclaiming it. This is what we should do with all of our hearts.
The sixth chapter of the book of Acts shows us that we should begin praying over the deacons and forthcoming deacons to fire them up. Setting in deacons was one thing that the New Testament church did differently from anything else.
Elders were chosen because in their spiritual experience they were to minister to the Body of believers. Some of them may have been elders in Israel before they came into the church. There was a wisdom and an anointing that rested upon them because there were many elders in the Old Testament; and it continues to be a major office. But the deacon is something different. The serving ministry of a deacon didn’t occur in the Old Testament.
The deacon was a new innovation that God brought forth for a specific purpose. The way that deacons came into office was different from the way that elders were chosen—the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, it is not fit that we should forsake the word of God, and serve tables. Look ye out therefore, brethren, from among you, seven men of good report… Acts 6:2.
This was not an election; but they were asked to select from among them seven men of good report, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. Acts 6:3.
In other words, search among the disciples to find those seven who are full of the Holy Spirit and full of wisdom. But we will continue steadfastly in prayer, and in the ministry of the word. And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit… Acts 6:4–5.
Notice the qualifications, “full of faith,” “full of the Holy Spirit,” “full of wisdom.” They were not picked as men of qualifications outside of what they were in their spirits.
We are not looking for human abilities in ministries, who serve because they have a talent for it; we are looking for people who will be full of the Holy Spirit.
Eventually, you’ll not be able to accomplish anything related to this work in the Lord unless you walk full of the Holy Spirit. We could almost make it mandatory that before anyone attempts any job that’s related to the Church, they should have a period of just waiting on God and being refilled with the Spirit until they are overflowing. I rather doubt whether unconsecrated hands or hearts that are only half full of the blessing will be able to stand up against the assault of the enemy, those who speak a Living Word are his main targets.
The thing that will prevail will be the fullness of the Holy Spirit. And that’s what the first deacons had to have because of the disputes which were already coming. “Well, anyone could have served the widows a bowl of soup. A waiter is not a particularly skilled trade.
Why are the Apostles looking for qualifications?” Because murmuring was coming into the house of God and there was disputing amongst them: those with a Greek background arguing with Jewish-background Christians who managed to see that their widows received a bigger share. The Greeks said, “You’re neglecting our widows!” Friction was beginning to come into the New Testament church, so blessed of God and so close to Pentecost, yet this thing came in.
The devil was fighting that church from the day it came forth, filled with the Holy Spirit. From the day that this church was even thought about the devil has been fighting it. What must we have to counteract that; how do we prevail over all the things that would come internally and in our own spirits? We must be filled with the Holy Spirit—full of God, full of the wisdom of the Lord, full of the Spirit of the Lord, full of faith. That’s why the spiritual preparation of those men was what the New Testament church was seeking.
THE APOSTOLIC COMMISSION
The appointment of deacons. When they found seven who met the qualifications they set them before the Apostles: Philip and Stephen were of them. And they were set before the apostles, and when they had prayed, they layed their hands on them. Acts 6:6.
It was the laying on of hands and impartation; it was the Apostolic commission that brought forth the deacon in the New Testament church, but the people had the responsibility of finding from their own midst men that had these excellent qualifications of being filled to the point of overflowing. The deacon was the most dynamic ministry: a powerful thing.
Acts 6:7–14, talks about Stephen in his disputes; and his accusers said, for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place and shall change the customs which Moses delivered unto us. Stephen was right.
Within that generation the temple was destroyed and many of the customs disappeared forever. Sacrifices were gone from that time on; the old customs of Moses’ sacrificial system were never repeated. Stephen prophesied it and was stoned for it. These men were filled—filled so much that there was a constant overflow that they had from God.
Notice what happened at Stephen’s death, now when they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. Acts 7:54. Why? But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and said, Behold I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God. But they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and rushed on him with one accord; and they cast him out of the city and stoned him: and the witnesses layed down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon the Lord, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. Acts 7:55–60. It was a beautiful way to live; and a beautiful way to die, full of the Spirit all the time.
DEACONESSES
You can face anything if you’re full of the Spirit. Make your life an overflow of the Spirit. Unless it is an overflow of the Spirit, we really miss it. When we receive an experience in the Spirit, like speaking in tongues, if we don’t continually seek for the Spirit of God to dwell in us in all fullness and overflowing, we miss it.
The question is not, “Have you ever been filled with the Holy Spirit?” It is, “Are you ‘full’ of the Spirit?” “Are you ‘filled’ with the Spirit?”
That’s the way it was with Stephen—full of the Spirit. Those young men were commissioned, they were anointed as deacons, and they went forth zealously and boldly. Much initiative rested upon them that some people may not think belongs to deacons. Some deacons don’t realize their potential. They kind of wait around and say, “Well, whatever the elder tells me to do, I’ll do,” and that may mean perhaps you’ll clean up the parking lot, do this or do that, keep things running.
There must be a delegation of authority, someone that you answer to in the organization of the Body of Christ, but there ought to be a lot of initiative to do it, too.
We are concerned about the development of initiative, faithfulness, and stewardship where people confer together, come back and say, “This is what we decided should be done.” Fine. They then go to the treasurer, get the money and do it. There is an initiative that must be like those deacons had.
I believe the apostles took the money that was laid at their feet, and said to the deacons, “Feed the poor.” They were not concerned about how many were fed, but the way that it was done efficiently, for the glory of God, and so that there was no more contention in the house of God.
Also, the deacons were out preaching, stirring things up, disputing, and being stoned to death. It’s amazing what they did; they had initiative; a dynamic anointing.
Deacons in like manner must be grave, not double-tongued (in other words, they can’t be vacillating in what they say), not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre (that means ambitious for the money), holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. And let these also first be proved; then let them serve as deacons, if they be blameless. I Timothy 3:8. Women in like manner … the implication people read into this is that it refers to the wives. I don’t believe that is so. I think it is talking about the women who are deaconesses; there are so many of them named in the New Testament. Paul even wrote to one church, telling it to give all support to the two women who were serving- Philippians 4:3. It was a designated authority in some areas where they were serving, in some specific ministry; and everyone was to back them up.
This is what we do. This is being submissive one to another. I am submissive to a brother to bring forth his ministry, and he’s submissive to me as a ministry over him. But I am submissive to that ministry; I serve and help the ministry that is in him, as I do in every one of you. If a deacon comes forth, I serve that ministry; I’m submissive to it—and he believes it and knows I am submissive to him. That brother is also submissive to me. I am submissive to the authority that God puts in a man in charge of something—and that authority is there. This is what God wants in our lives.
The women whom God put over things … in like manner must be grave, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things. Let deacons be husbands of one wife, I Timothy 3:11, 12.
You can interpret that in various ways. It could mean that single men would have to get married if they are deacons. But I don’t think it means that. Some would say it means deacons can’t be polygamists, and I think that is the meaning here, that it meant that in the early church.
Some people say that a deacon could not be divorced and remarried. I don’t believe that. I think we would have to interpret this to mean the husband of one wife, now, and from this time on. You cannot legislate against a man over what he’s been before he came into a walk with God, or you are setting aside the grace of God.
God always sets before us His law which is based on certain principles. He operates the church by irrevocable principles and there is no way to get around it. But He is always extending mercy to the offender to give them a new chance, to forgive and to cleanse. We do not compromise on any principle where divorce and remarriage is concerned. It’s absolutely against the will of God; but when people have been caught in it, we say, “All right, God bless you; repent, seek the Lord for forgiveness, have a new beginning.” I don’t see that you can look at it in any other way.
What about murder? A man is still dead after you repent for killing him. But God can forgive you, and you can start free. This is also true concerning any relationship.
Ephesians 4:28 says, Let him that stole steal no more: But what the Bible is talking about is: past failures and sins can be absolutely wiped out, justified as though they had not existed. And if they are in the sight of God as though they had not existed, then you come into the grace of God and you can say, Let each man abide in that calling wherein he was called. I Corinthians 7:20. If you’re married, seek not a divorce; single, don’t seek to be married. Whatever your situation was when God called you, He will sanctify it, because He obliterates the past and can make it whole. This does not lead to folly in the house of God, but it leads us to a new understanding of things.
After Paul had given instructions about the deacons being the husband of one wife and ruling their children and their own houses well, he wrote, For they that have served well as deacons gain to themselves a good standing, and great boldness in faith which is in Christ Jesus. These things write I unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly; but if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how men ought to behave themselves in the house of God, which is the church of the Living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. I Timothy 3:13–15.
If you would like to be a deacon or deaconess, get some fire in you; have that dynamic thing; be filled with the Spirit; go after it with all of your heart. The need for deacons is greater than the need for elders. How do we get them? We had better wait on the Lord, and find some people full of the Holy Spirit, full of wisdom, full of that dynamic of the Spirit, and then we shall move this world, just the way the Lord wants it to be moved. Amen.