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Hopewell ARP Church is a Biblical, Reformed, Presbyterian church, serving the Lord in Culleoka, TN, since 1820. Lord's Day Morning, set your gps to arrive by 11a.m. at 3886 Hopewell Road, Culleoka, TN 38451
Saturday, November 09, 2024
Christ's Priorities and Power in His Church [Family Worship lesson in Acts 5:42–6:7]
2024.11.09 Hopewell @Home ▫ Acts 5:42–6:7
Read Acts 5:42–6:7
Questions from the Scripture text: What were the apostles doing daily (Acts 5:42)? In what two locations? What did they not stop doing? What was still happening (Acts 6:1)? What arose? Among which two types of Jews? Why—what was happening? Who summon the multitude in Acts 6:2? What do they say is not desirable to leave? Why would they have to leave it? What do they tell the people to seek (Acts 6:3)? How many? Of what three qualities? What would the apostles appoint them to do? To what two things would the apostles keep giving themselves (Acts 6:4)? How did the congregation respond (Acts 6:5a)? How many of them? Whom did they choose? How does it describe Stephen? What is specifically noted about Nicolas? What do they do with these men (Acts 6:6)? What do the apostles do with them first? Then what? What spreads as a result (Acts 6:7a)? And where do the disciples multiply, and how much (verse 7b)? And from what specific group (and how many) do they see new converts (verse 7c)? How is this conversion described?
What does God want, and use, deacons to do? Acts 5:42–6:7 helps us prepare to hear Acts 6:1–7 proclaimed in the morning public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these seven verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that God wants deacons to facilitate the worship, discipleship, and evangelism of the church, and He blesses their faithful service unto the spread of the gospel.
The Purpose of the Deacon (free the Apostles for their work). The work of an apostle was intense. Daily, they were preaching not only in the temple but also from one household to another (Acts 5:42). There was much evangelism and public preaching to do, and much discipleship and household pastoring to do. But all of the evangelizing and discipling occurred by the same basic function: teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ. This is the sum of the message of the Bible. In Him is the essence of all that we are to believe about God, and He is the only ability and great reason for all of the duty that God requires of man.
To this was added the ministry of prayer, to which they also gave themselves continuously (Acts 6:4). Indubitably, this included private prayer, but the implication is that verse 4 is tied to that ministry that “did not cease” in Acts 5:42. Prayer is an act of worship, and there is a right way of doing it. The disciples of the Pharisees and of John the baptizer knew this, and so did Jesus’s disciples.
After hearing Jesus Himself pray, the disciples had asked Him to teach them to pray as well (cf. Luke 11:1–13). Jesus not only gave them a model prayer but taught them about persistence and the laying hold of God’s good gifts—especially the Holy Spirit, Who helps us to pray according to God’s Word (cf. Romans 8:15, Romans 8:23–27). Leading in public prayer and training households in prayer was an apostolic duty that continues to be the duty of elders—teaching the men in every place to pray, among the other parts of discipling them (cf. 1 Timothy 2:8).
But up to this point in the church, the work of the apostle had also included the Work of the Deacon. Wherever the apostles were, if someone knew of a need and had sold something in order to supply that need, the benefactor would come lay the money at the apostles’ feet (cf. Acts 4:34–5:2).
But the number of disciples was multiplying (Acts 6:1), and as happens with finite people and increasing tasks, mistakes were made. The Jewish widows of Greek background and culture fell through the cracks in the daily distribution, while the Jewish widows of Hebraic background and culture were always taken care of. Perhaps, there was even grumbling that all of the apostles were of Hebraic background.
The language of “serving tables” in Acts 6:2 doesn’t imply that the twelve were themselves purchasing the money and distributing the food. But even the oversight of this good work was not to be compared to the more necessary duties involved in maintaining that worship and discipleship that was the core ministry of the church (Acts 5:42, Acts 6:4, cf. Acts 2:40–43). Overseeing such an increasingly extensive and sensitive distribution was something that others were needed to do. Acts 6:3 makes plain that this new office is an office of overseeing the ministry of the church in these temporal things.
The qualifications of a deacon were therefore similar to the qualifications of judges in God’s church ever since Exodus 18. In Exodus 18:18 and Deuteronomy 1:9–12, the same problem had arisen. There were just too many Israelites in that newly founded church, and they had too many complaints.
So it doesn’t surprise us that the qualifications are similar. The new deacons must be men. There is a generic word for human sometimes translated “man,” but the apostles use the male-specific word in Acts 6:3. And these men were to be of good reputation—not just men who claimed to be godly, or about whom an individual had claimed that they were godly, but men about whom the wider congregation generally acknowledged that these claims were true.
In Deuteronomy 1:13, the qualifications were “wise, understanding, and knowledgeable men.” In Exodus 18:21, the list had been “able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness.” The last three qualifications in that list cover the same character as “full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom” in our passage. The Spirit first and foremost gives knowledge of God, faith in Christ, and the justification and sanctification that come out of faith-forged union with Christ. The fear of the Lord, which the Spirit gives, is the beginning of that wisdom in Acts 6:3.
The speech as a whole is gladly received (v5a) and the instruction immediately carried out. The list in Acts 6:5 is probably in order of prominence, as we will hear more about Stephen and Philip until the end of chapter 8, as the Spirit authenticates their diaconal ministry with Word and sign. Here, Stephen is called “full of faith and the Holy Spirit.” Nicolas being from Antioch implies that he has a Greek culture background, and the same is probably true of Stephen, since his “home synagogue” seems to have been the one in Acts 6:9.
The ordination of a deacon is seen in Acts 6:6. Now, it’s not money that is laid before the apostles but men who are laid before them. Their last “distribution” with respect to material goods is officers who will oversee their use.
Then the apostles pray. It is not enough hat these would be men in whom the Holy Spirit has already done work. The work depended upon the Spirit’s continued work in them and ongoing work through them.
The gift of the Holy Spirit’s specific empowering, calling, and helping them was then signified in the laying on of hands (cf. Acts 8:17, Acts 9:17, Acts 13:2–3, Acts 19:5–7; 1 Timothy 4:14; 2 Timothy 1:6; Hebrews 6:2).
The success of a deacon is seen in Acts 6:7. His goal is not merely to see the money distributed wisely but to see God’s blessing upon the work that he has freed up the minister of the Word to do. The Word of God spread. The number of disciples, which was already a multitude, now multiplied greatly. From among the priests, who had been arch enemies, a great many became obedient to the faith. This is the goal unto which a deacon labors.
Who are to oversee the management of the earthly things of the church? What kind of men should they be? What should they especially be trying to do for the ministry of the Word and prayer? What are they hoping that the result of all of this would be?
Sample prayer: Lord, thank You for redeeming us and taking care of us, body and soul. Please promote the care of our souls in the church by freeing up the pastors for prayer and the ministry of the Word. Unto this end, please give us good deacons, in Jesus’s Name, AMEN!
Suggested songs: ARP87 “The Lord’s Foundation” or TPH404 “The Church’s One Foundation”
Friday, November 08, 2024
The Words of This Life [Family Worship lesson in Acts 5:17–41]
2024.11.08 Hopewell @Home ▫ Acts 5:17–41
Read Acts 5:17–41
Questions from the Scripture text: Who rose up in Acts 5:17? Who were with him? With what were they filled? What did they do in Acts 5:18? Who did what in Acts 5:19? What did the angel say to do (Acts 5:20)? How did they respond in Acts 5:21? What did the priest/Sadducee party do in verse 21? Who else was with them? What did they send for? Who came in Acts 5:22? What didn’t they find? What did they do? How did they report finding the prison (Acts 5:23)? And the guards? But then what happened? What three parties does Acts 5:24 specify? What do they wonder? What does someone come say in Acts 5:25? Who go in Acts 5:26? In what manner do they bring them? Why? Before whom do they set them (Acts 5:27)? Who leads questioning? What does he ask (Acts 5:28)? With what does he say they have “filled Jerusalem”? What did he accuse them of intending? Who answer in Acts 5:29? What do they say? What do they call God in Acts 5:30? What had He done? But what do they say the council has done? But then to where did God raise Jesus? To be what? To give what two things to whom? Whose witnesses are the apostles (Acts 5:32)? Who else is witnessing? To whom has God given the Holy Spirit? How did the council feel about this answer? What do they plot to do? Who stands up in Acts 5:34? What party does he belong to? What job does he have? What do the people think of him? What does he first command to be done? Whom does he address in Acts 5:35? To what does he tell them to take heed? About what? Of what does he remind them in Acts 5:36-37? What had happened in those cases? What does Gamaliel say to do to the apostles (Acts 5:38)? What will happen if the plan or work is of men? What cannot happen if it is of God (Acts 5:39)? What would they be doing in that case? How did the council respond (Acts 5:40)? But what did they do to them anyway? What did they command them? What do the apostles do in Acts 5:41? With what emotion? Rejoicing over what?
How great is the power that is at work in believers? Acts 5:17–41 helps us prepare to hear Acts 6:1–7 proclaimed in the morning public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these twenty-five verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that God works by His own almighty power in the church.
God’s Strength. God can use what the wicked do to accomplish what His hand and His purpose have predetermined (cf. Acts 4:28). And God can overrule by the hand of an angel (Acts 5:19) what the combined hands of the entire priestly/Sadducee party try to do (Acts 5:17-18).
God’s Servants. Why are the apostles back preaching in the temple the next day (Acts 5:25)? Because the angel (messenger of God) who broke them out had told them to (Acts 5:20). Again in Acts 5:29, they say “we ought to obey God rather than men” (cf. Acts 4:19; Acts 1:8, Acts 5:32, cf. Luke 24:48).
God exercises almighty strength through weak servants whom He gives courage and faithfulness. And He gives them the joy and honor of fellowship in His suffering (Acts 5:41, cf. Matthew 5:11–12; 1 Peter 4:12–16).
God’s Salvation. The gospel is for sinners. A most amazing thing in this passage is the object of salvation specified in Acts 5:31, “… to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.” The flesh would say, “these murderers of Christ (Acts 5:28b, Acts 5:30) and opposers of the apostles (Acts 5:18, Acts 5:28a, Acts 5:33) ought to be punished!” But the apostles of Christ follow His lead in proclaiming repentance and forgiveness to those who are presently persecuting them!
The apostles respond to the council’s hatred with grace. The council responds to the apostles’ graciousness with more hatred (Acts 5:33).
God’s Spy. Sometimes the Lord places and uses unlikely people. One might think of Hushai, whose counsel foils Ahithophel (cf. 2 Samuel 16–17), or the city clerk in Ephesus that God uses to disperse that crowd (cf. Acts 19:35–41). In this case, it’s one of the most respected members of the Pharisee party (Acts 5:34a, cf. Acts 23:6) making the very point about God’s strength and God’s servants that the Spirit makes throughout this passage: the council is in danger of fighting against God!
God is inexorably applying Christ’s salvation to those who deserve His vengeance. And He’s giving to those whom He redeems the honor and joy of being junior (infinitely) partners in this glorious work!
Whom do you know who opposes you for Christ’s sake? What does it look like to love them with the gospel anyway? Even if they never convert, what honor and joy may you have?
Sample prayer: Lord, apart from Your grace, our hearts would oppose You and all Who are Yours. But You gave Christ for us anyway. Your Spirit continues to bring to You everyone whom You have redeemed by Your almighty power. And You give us the privilege of participating with You and suffering with You. Forgive us for when we are reluctant to suffer for Your sake, or when we fear man’s infinitesimal power instead of Your almighty power. Give us courage in trouble and evangelizing love for our enemies, in Jesus’s Name, AMEN!
Suggested songs: ARP98 “O Sing a New Song to the Lord” or TPH431 “And Can It Be That I Should Gain”
Thursday, November 07, 2024
The Benefits of Deacons Who Prove True in Their Ongoing Ministry [Family Worship lesson in 1Timothy 3:12–13]
2024.11.07 Hopewell @Home ▫ 1 Timothy 3:12–13
Read 1 Timothy 3:12–13
Questions from the Scripture text: What sex must a deacon be (1 Timothy 3:12)? How many women may he have or be committed to? Over what two entities must he stand over? In what manner? Where else would we expect the same performance? What two things does such performance purchase? In Whom is this standing and boldness in the faith? What does aiming for boldness imply that deacons should be seeking an opportunity to do (cf. Acts 6:8–10, Acts 8:5, Acts 8:26, Acts 8:40)?
What fruit may we expect the Lord to produce by the ministry of a faithful deacon? 1 Timothy 3:12–13 looks forward to the hearing of God’s Word, publicly read, in the holy assembly on the coming Lord’s Day. In these two verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that faithful deacons advance well in the faith, and are very free with their faith, for attesting Jesus to others.
An ongoing proving, 1 Timothy 3:12. In 1 Timothy 3:10-11, we received the Lord’s instruction that part of the ordination and installation process for deacons is their being proven by testing—in part, that they prove themselves as overseeing an operation in which they likewise entrust with the sensitive part of the work only those who are of proven character themselves.
The Spirit had already instructed us about the character of deacons in 1 Timothy 3:8 and their doctrinal integrity in 1 Timothy 3:9. So why, after both the qualifications and the testing requirement, does he now return to what deacons must be in 1 Timothy 3:12? The answer (which we are helped to see by the future result in 1 Timothy 3:13) is that deacons are expected to continue to prove to be men of such character and doctrine in all of their relationships.
Like an overseer must be to be installed to his office, deacons must continually strive to be “husband of one wife” (more literally, “a one-woman man”). Like an overseer, deacons must “rule their children and their own houses well.” The “good ruling” in 1 Timothy 3:12 is tied by that adjective to the same one, which is used in the phrases “good deaconing” and “good standing” in 1 Timothy 3:13.
In an age in which the covenantal view of the home has waned, we might forget the importance of a man’s ministry in his own home. The apostle has not. This congregationally-proven man must be a continually-proven man in his marriage, with his children, and in his daily affairs. A man must constantly be shepherding that household of Christ’s that has been assigned to him. His standing as a deacon can either greatly aid (a la 1 Timothy 3:13) this ministry in the home or greatly harm it.
What good will it do a deacon or his household if his ministry is generally accepted by others, but he is an unfaithful husband, an unskilled or evil father, or a tyrannical employer? These will not only suffer the usual harm of ungodliness in the seat of the authority who is over them, but the harm will be magnified because they can see the contrast between what he actually is and what the church thinks that he is proven to be.
Sadly, many congregations’ histories are littered with unbelieving, rebellious, lost, or bitter officers’ wives, children, and associates. What have such officers “proven” to be? The proof came not in the brief testing prior to their installation to office, but in the prolonged testing of the sad outcomes of their lives.
With ongoing fruit, 1 Timothy 3:13. For the deacon who “rules well his own household” (1 Timothy 3:12), his “deaconing well” (1 Timothy 3:13), leads to a “well-elevated faith” (verse 13). If he is a properly covenantally thinking man, one of his great hopes and prayers before God is that this calling that he has received to the deaconate will be blessed to the spiritual and eternal good of his wife. That it will be blessed to the spiritual and eternal good of his children. That it will be blessed to the spiritual and eternal good of every man, woman, or child that the Lord has providentially assigned to his daily affairs (his “household”).
Deacons, then, oversee earthly ministry, but they are anything but “earthly minded.” Their deaconing well is designed by the Lord to elevate their faith. Part of this is that they come to be highly esteemed by others and have not just more opportunity but more effectiveness in the ministry of the gospel. Part of this is that they attain a “great boldness” (“freedom” or “confidence”) “in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.”
As covenantal thought in our land has declined for the last 200 years, we have lost the sense that a man’s first mission field is always his own home. But the deacon knows better than that. Even with respect to material things, we’ll be hearing in a couple of chapters that the man who fails to take care of his own household “has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Timothy 3:8). And how much more this would be the case if it is true with respect to spiritual things!
But praise be to God, His design for the diaconate is that they are an example in their own home, with an effective and fruitful ministry among wife, children, and associates. And in this care of their home, they join the elders in being a good example to the flock. In Ephesus, most of all, they should have known that every head of household is called to the Ephesians 5:22–6:9 ministry in their own home. An effective diaconate is designed by Christ both to enable and model this ministry.
What danger is there to a wife or children, when a man’s reputation in the ministry outpaces his ministry in the home? What benefit may there be to the family when the two match? What benefit may there be to the congregation?
Sample prayer: Lord, we praise You for Your design of the family, and Your covenant faithfulness in the households of Your congregation. Forgive us, for we are weak and sinful, and we are not faithful like You are. How often, O Lord, we are not what we ought to be, and not even what we lead others to think that we are! And our families are so vulnerable, because they are the first ones to see it. Forgive us, O God! And grant unto us a life of repentance and humility and grace, such that we may have a consistent and effective ministry, even among those who know us best. In particular, we pray for our deacons, that they might deacon well in the congregation, and that they might rule well in their own home, so that they may advance well in the faith. Give them great freedom and confidence in the faith which is in Christ Jesus, in Whose Name we ask it, AMEN!
ARP128 “How Blessed Are All Who Fear the Lord” or TPH128B “Blest the Man Who Fears Jehovah”
Wednesday, November 06, 2024
Praying for Our Greatest Need [Children's Catechism 118—Theology Simply Explained
Q118. What is the fifth petition? And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
The Testing of Deacon Candidates for the Glory of Jesus [Family Worship lesson in 1Timothy 3:10–11]
2024.11.06 Hopewell @Home ▫ 1 Timothy 3:10–11
Read 1 Timothy 3:10–11
Questions from the Scripture text: What must be done before a man can be a deacon (1 Timothy 3:10)? What is the work of the deacon called? How does he have to do in his test in order to be qualified to be installed to the office? Who else must be proven by testing (1 Timothy 3:11)? What is the first thing that they must be? What must they not be? What is the second thing that they must be? What must the testing show about them? In how many things?
What is the proper process for installing a qualified man to the office of deacon? 1 Timothy 3:10–11 looks forward to the hearing of God’s Word, publicly read, in the holy assembly on the coming Lord’s Day. In these two verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that deacons must be tested (and test those whom they enlist for service), and only after being found blameless, be admitted to minister in the office.
First, let these be tested. This verse prescribes a procedure. Procedure, chronological words govern its shape: “first” and “afterward” (“then” in our version). Once we have found a man of 1 Timothy 3:8 qualities, 1 Timothy 3:9 doctrine, and a 1 Timothy 3:12 track record, we are not yet sure that we have a deacon. Something else must happen first. They must be tested. It’s not optional. It’s a command, an imperative verb.
The verb is the same one that is often translated “examine himself” in 1 Corinthians 11. It means to be proven by testing (which is where the concept of a “credible” profession of faith comes from). Before a man is made an administrator of the church’s service in material things, he must function as one provisionally in test cases.
In these test cases, he should be found blameless. This “blameless” a different word than 1 Timothy 3:2 where the word applied primarily to the character; this one is more “without reproach” than “irreproachable” and focuses on how well spoken of the specific performance was in his testing as a deacon. His service in the church should have the general acclamation of the body.
Afterward, let them serve as deacons. Here’s the second part of the process. It, too, is not optional but a command. The ones having been tested and found blameless shall serve as deacons. This indicates the necessity of the office and the duty of the man whom the Lord calls to it. Where our version reads “let them serve as deacons,” it is actually all one word—a single imperative verb from the root word for “deacon.”
Likewise, the women must be tested. It’s important to notice the structure of the passage. We have one office in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and another office in 1 Timothy 3:8-13. The two are connected by a “likewise” in 1 Timothy 3:8. Now, in 1 Timothy 3:11, the word “women” is not an office. And it certainly doesn’t mean “female deacons”; if that were the case, it would be bizarre for them to have a different set of qualifications than in 1 Timothy 3:8.
However, there is an expectation that women will be doing much of the service under the administration and authority of the deacons. And, it is part of the blamelessness in his testing that a deacon is entrusting the labor under his oversight to particular sorts of women: women who will be dignified, not silly, so that the needy whom they serve experience honor by their conduct (“reverence”); not devils who would use information about others’ needs to attack them behind their backs (“not slanderers”); self-controlled and sober, not easily controlled or unstable (“temperate”); reliable and dependable, doing whatever they are entrusted to do (“faithful in all things”).
Our version says “wives,” which is consistent with the same use of the word ‘woman’ immediately in 1 Timothy 3:12. And, it must certainly be expected that a deacon who rules his house well will have such a wife, and that she will be involved in the work. But deacons’ wives will not be the only ones serving under the diaconate, and all women to whom sensitive service is assigned must have a character as described here, which has been proven true by testing “likewise” unto how the deacons who oversee them have been.
What must be done with a man before he can be installed as a deacon? How well must he do? If he did so, what must he now do? Who else need to be tested? What should the test show about them?
Sample prayer: Lord, thank You for Your gracious work in men who oversee the church’s ministry of service in material things. And thank You for Your gracious work in women who participate in the sensitive work of distributing. Forgive us for taking diaconal ministry lightly, failing to value the honor that it brings to Christ when done well. Grant to us reformation and repentance in this area, we ask through Christ, AMEN!
ARP128 “How Blessed Are All Who Fear the Lord” or TPH128B “Blest the Man Who Fears Jehovah”