Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / The Dignity of Servanthood │ Msg 910 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living

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The Dignity of Servanthood │ Msg 910 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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  Speaker 1: Maybe all of us should admit that one reason we
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  Speaker 1: find it so hard to see ourselves as servants of God.
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  Speaker 2: Is that we're driven by dreams of success. We want
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  Speaker 2: to be winners.
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  Speaker 1: Let's face it, we live in a success saturated society.
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  Speaker 1: Right next to the book supplauding our egos are dozens
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  Speaker 1: of best sellers telling us how we can be more successful.
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  Speaker 1: Success is big business, No wonder thinking like God's servants
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  Speaker 1: is so hard. At the risk of sounding ultra simplistic,
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  Speaker 1: today I'd like to offer some counsel that stands one
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  Speaker 1: hundred and eighty degrees in contrast to all the above,
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  Speaker 1: God's requirements for success begin with character and our foundational
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  Speaker 1: for those to serve God in leadership. We read of
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  Speaker 1: them in Paul's First Letter to Timothy, chapter three. I'll
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  Speaker 1: begin my reading today in verse eight, and I'll read
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  Speaker 1: through verse thirteen if.
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  Speaker 2: You want to follow along. That's first Timothy chapter three,
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  Speaker 2: where I'll begin the reading at verse eight. Deacons likewise,
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  Speaker 2: must be men of dignity, not double tongued or addicted
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  Speaker 2: to much wine or fond of sordid gain, but holding
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  Speaker 2: to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience.
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  Speaker 2: These men must also first be tested, then let them
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  Speaker 2: serve as deacons if they are beyond reproach. Women must
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  Speaker 2: likewise be dignified, not malicious gossips, but temperate, faithful in
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  Speaker 2: all things. Deacons must be husbands of only one wife,
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  Speaker 2: and good managers of their children and their own households.
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  Speaker 2: For those who have served well as deacons obtained for
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  Speaker 2: themselves a high standing and great confidence in the faith
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  Speaker 2: that is in Christ Jesus.
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  Speaker 3: I want to talk about the dignity of servanthood from
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  Speaker 3: a little different perspective. It's doubtful that any man who
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  Speaker 3: decides to live for Christ in the secular world does
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  Speaker 3: so without being tagged by nicknames. Invariably, if you play
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  Speaker 3: football and you are a Christian, the team is going
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  Speaker 3: to give you a nickname. If you are in the
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  Speaker 3: military and you are known as a Christian, your outfit
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  Speaker 3: is going to tag you with a nickname. If you
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  Speaker 3: are in a fraternity and your fraternity brothers discover you're
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  Speaker 3: a belief in Christ, they'll give you a nickname, and
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  Speaker 3: it will usually be one of three names, preacher, or
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  Speaker 3: reverend or deacon. When I was in the Marine Corps,
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  Speaker 3: i had a reprobate sergeant who found out that I
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  Speaker 3: was a Christian, and he tagged me with the nickname.
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  Speaker 4: Friar, not Friar Tuck, but Friar Chuck.
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  Speaker 3: And throughout my entire almost eighteen months in the third
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  Speaker 3: Marine Corps Division over in Okinawa, I was the friar
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  Speaker 3: of the outfit. I will never forget that nickname. I
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  Speaker 3: hated it, but that's why he continued to call me that.
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  Speaker 3: But the name deacon was never meant to be the
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  Speaker 3: name of a defensive inn for the Los Angeles Rams.
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  Speaker 3: It was never meant to be a nickname tagged to
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  Speaker 3: a person who wanted to walk with God in his
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  Speaker 3: in his shop, or in the office where he worked.
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  Speaker 3: As a matter of fact, the name deacon is a
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  Speaker 3: is a Greek term, an actual Greek term that we
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  Speaker 3: have coined in English, though it isn't an English word.
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  Speaker 3: Diac kanas or diakano is the Greek term that we
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  Speaker 3: now use for deacon. It means either servant in noun
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  Speaker 3: form or to serve in verb form. It's a God
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  Speaker 3: given title. If you'll take a few minutes to build
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  Speaker 3: toward first Timothy chapter three, I'd like to have you
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  Speaker 3: stop off first at Acts chapter six. I want you
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  Speaker 3: to see this.
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  Speaker 4: Word in action.
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  Speaker 3: Frequently in the Gospels as well as occasionally in the
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  Speaker 3: Book of Acts. This term diacono or diaconos is used
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  Speaker 3: with reference to serving or simply servants, and in the
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  Speaker 3: sixth chapter it sort of takes on a sense of
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  Speaker 3: dignity that I think is easily missed in our secular world,
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  Speaker 3: where serving is kind of relegated to a human mule
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  Speaker 3: type person or an individual who sort of plows through
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  Speaker 3: life unnoticed, doing unimportant tasks. That's not God's concept. At
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  Speaker 3: this time, while the Disciples were increasing in number, a
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  Speaker 3: complaint arose on the part of the Hellenistic Jews against
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  Speaker 3: the native Hebrews because their widows were being overlooked in
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  Speaker 3: the daily serving of food. Now, when I read that
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  Speaker 3: first verse, I'm encouraged to know that problems in a
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  Speaker 3: growing church are not limited to the twenty first century.
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  Speaker 3: Churches have always had problems, especially churches that are growing rapidly.
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  Speaker 3: It is impossible, just like a family that grows rapidly,
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  Speaker 3: it's impossible to experience rapid growth and keep everything placid
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  Speaker 3: and peaceful and perfectly under control. Now, this church is
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  Speaker 3: growing rapidly. The word disciples is a term used for
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  Speaker 3: the entire congregation of believers. At this time, the congregation
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  Speaker 3: was increasing in size. They were adding hundreds every month
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  Speaker 3: to their number, thousands every year to the church. I mean,
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  Speaker 3: we think we've seen rapid growth. We're nothing compared to
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  Speaker 3: the Jerusalem Church when it got started. And invariably a
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  Speaker 3: problem will occur, and in this case, some of the
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  Speaker 3: poor widows were not being served food. They had a
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  Speaker 3: food ministry as well, just like our church has a
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  Speaker 3: food ministry for those who haven't enough to eat.
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  Speaker 4: And the problem was.
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  Speaker 3: That when the serving of the food took place, these
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  Speaker 3: Hellenistic Jews felt prejudice was being shown by the native
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  Speaker 3: Hebrews because their widows were being overlooked, and so they
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  Speaker 3: began to complain. That's also an encouragement that complaints from
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  Speaker 3: a congregation are not limited to the twenty first century,
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  Speaker 3: have been going on since the history of the church began.
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  Speaker 3: But the twelve mentioned in verse two, which is a
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  Speaker 3: reference to the apostles, or what we would call today
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  Speaker 3: the overseers of the church, the leaders that they were,
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  Speaker 3: they weren't neutral towards this problem. They felt deeply about
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  Speaker 3: how to solve it. The twelve summoned the congregation of
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  Speaker 3: the disciples, and they said, it is not desirable for
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  Speaker 3: us to neglect the Word of God in order to
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  Speaker 3: diaco tables. Now there's the term translated deacon or the
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  Speaker 3: verb form translated deacon right here in Acts six two,
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  Speaker 3: the apostles, realizing that their primary task was the ministry
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  Speaker 3: of the Word and the ministry of prayer, chose not
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  Speaker 3: to get involved in the food service ministry, though that
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  Speaker 3: was very important. They said, it's not right for us
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  Speaker 3: to give our time to the details of serving food
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  Speaker 3: to the hungry.
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  Speaker 4: Now, don't misunderstand.
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  Speaker 3: It's not that serving hungry people food is not important.
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  Speaker 3: It's a matter of priorities. Hungry people need not be
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  Speaker 3: served by those who were given to the teaching and
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  Speaker 3: preaching of the Word and a consistent overseeing ministry of prayer.
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  Speaker 3: The serving of food could be handled by other responsible
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  Speaker 3: people and should be as we're going to see, and
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  Speaker 3: so verse three is a solution that these at twelve
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  Speaker 3: come up with. These men say, select from among you, brethren.
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  Speaker 3: This is an early experience in which the disciples of
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  Speaker 3: a growing church chose responsible people to carry out the
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  Speaker 3: tasks of a leadership. Select from among you, brethren, seven
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  Speaker 3: men of good reputation, full of the spirit, full of wisdom,
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  Speaker 3: whom we may put in charge of this task. But
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  Speaker 3: we will devote ourselves to prayer in the ministry of
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  Speaker 3: the Word. That is very important. Not simply that they
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  Speaker 3: chose not to leave their priorities, which is the great
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  Speaker 3: temptation of every pastor and every elder. The temptation to
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  Speaker 3: leave the essential overseeing job of ministry and to get
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  Speaker 3: involved in the nuts and bolts of everyday life. In
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  Speaker 3: the local assembly, that is the greatest temptation. And in
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  Speaker 3: a metropolitan church it will drive a pastor mad to keep.
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  Speaker 4: Up with all those details.
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  Speaker 3: No size pastoral staff, no size board of elders can
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  Speaker 3: maintain the nuts and bolts ministry of a local church.
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  Speaker 3: And those who think they can find themselves leaving their priorities, now,
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  Speaker 3: let me add something else. There are not many congregations
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  Speaker 3: who will allow a pastor or pastoral staff or board
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  Speaker 3: of elders to maintain their priorities. They'll drive it to
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  Speaker 3: a pastor crazy with complaints and hate mail and discouraging
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  Speaker 3: words and critical comments. Because after all, he wasn't there
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  Speaker 3: when such and such was happening, or they weren't on
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  Speaker 3: hand when we were going.
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  Speaker 4: Through this difficult time, etc. Etc. You know, you know
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  Speaker 4: what I'm talking about.
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  Speaker 3: I'll tell you one of the reasons that this ministry
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  Speaker 3: is such an enviable place is because this congregation has,
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  Speaker 3: throughout its history understood the importance of priorities. There are
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  Speaker 3: not words to describe the gratitude of those of us
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  Speaker 3: who are overseers.
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  Speaker 4: In this ministry because of that.
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  Speaker 3: You make life bearable for the overseers of a church
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  Speaker 3: when you understand that they personally cannot be on hand
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  Speaker 3: for all of those important things that are happening in
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  Speaker 3: each one of your lives. Now, these men weren't, and
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  Speaker 3: in fact, they came out publicly and said, we won't
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  Speaker 3: leave the overall ministry to serve the tables. And I
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  Speaker 3: admire those people who set down and verse five, verse six,
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  Speaker 3: verse seven, work through the choosing of qualified people to
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  Speaker 3: carry out the tasks. Now this isn't the subject of
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  Speaker 3: the study, but I just want you to notice the
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  Speaker 3: use of the word serve in verse two. It is
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  Speaker 3: not desirable for us to neglect the word of God
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  Speaker 3: to deacon the tables. The whole idea of being a
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  Speaker 3: deacon carries with it being a servant serving a congregation. Now,
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  Speaker 3: if you turn from Acts six to Philippians chapter one,
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  Speaker 3: on your way back to First Timothy, you'll see the
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  Speaker 3: actual use of the term in the first verse, because
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  Speaker 3: by now in the early Church, the deacons have become
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  Speaker 3: an actual body of officers. Philippians one, verse one, Paul
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  Speaker 3: and Timothy bond servants of Christ Jesus to all the
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  Speaker 3: saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, including the
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  Speaker 3: overseers and the deacons. Isn't that interesting in the brief
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  Speaker 3: few years of history of the growing church from Jerusalem
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  Speaker 3: to Antioch and now across the Aegean over into Europe.
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  Speaker 3: Now we've got a church in Philippi established, and that
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  Speaker 3: a brief period of time, already the whole idea of
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  Speaker 3: deacons has become an official body. They've become people in
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  Speaker 3: the assembly who have been viewed by the Assembly as leaders.
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  Speaker 3: Paul writes his letter to those people in Philippi, including
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  Speaker 3: the elders and including the deacons. Now, on your way
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  Speaker 3: to First Timothy chapter three, locate verse eight of that
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  Speaker 3: third chapter if you will for Timothy three, verse eight,
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  Speaker 3: Please remember, because it's easy to forget that in the
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  Speaker 3: secular world the term servant is a bit of a
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  Speaker 3: put down. But in the Christian world, the word servant
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  Speaker 3: is one of the highest titles you can be given.
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  Speaker 3: That's one of the finest compliments that can be made,
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  Speaker 3: that you are a servant of the living God. In fact,
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  Speaker 3: it's the term that Jesus uses for himself. Even the
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  Speaker 3: son of Man did not come to be served, but
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  Speaker 3: to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.
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  Speaker 3: The Son of God came with two purposes in mind,
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  Speaker 3: to serve and to give. If you spend your life
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  Speaker 3: serving and giving, you are more like Christ than in
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  Speaker 3: any other thing you may be doing, serving and giving,
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  Speaker 3: serving and giving. So when we talk about deacons in
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  Speaker 3: this whole realm of servanthood, understand the dignity of the office.
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  Speaker 3: You'll see it right away. As we work our way
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  Speaker 3: through the list. Here's an analysis of true servants. He's
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  Speaker 3: talked about overseers in the first seven verses. Now he
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  Speaker 3: talks about deacons in verses eight to thirteen. Just kind
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  Speaker 3: of sharpen your mental muscles here and strengthen your mind.
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  Speaker 3: Concentrate as we go through this list, and you'll pick
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  Speaker 3: up the characteristics of servants in the assembly. When you
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  Speaker 3: think about electing deacons in a local church, this is
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  Speaker 3: the list you turn to. It'll tell you the kind
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  Speaker 3: of men you want to choose. Likewise, that's important. By
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  Speaker 3: the way, the same kind of emphasis placed on the
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  Speaker 3: overseer verse two, who must be above reproach and husband
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  Speaker 3: of one wife, and temperate and prudent. Likewise, verse eight,
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  Speaker 3: these men must be. This is carrying out the identical
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  Speaker 3: emphasis as we saw for elders. What must deacons be? First,
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  Speaker 3: they must be men of dignity. The term means two things. First,
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  Speaker 3: seriousness of purpose and second respect in kind. That's what
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  Speaker 3: the word means, men of serious purpose and respectful conduct.
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  Speaker 4: That's the idea.
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  Speaker 3: It's the opposite of frivolous, shallow, superficial, and silly. This
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  Speaker 3: term carries with it determination and commitment and stability. When
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  Speaker 3: I think back to my growing up years in a
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  Speaker 3: church that really taught the scriptures down in Houston, Texas,
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  Speaker 3: I remember a body of men, a small group of
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  Speaker 3: the deacon board that took a personal interest in me.
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  Speaker 4: Of all things.
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  Speaker 3: In fact, I didn't understand how the scriptures could be
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  Speaker 3: so meaningful to life until a couple of those deacons
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  Speaker 3: pulled me aside one Sunday morning after I had attended
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  Speaker 3: a Sunday school class that one of them had taught.
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  Speaker 3: And you know, Charles, we noticed that you have a
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  Speaker 3: real interest in the Bible, and we think this little
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  Speaker 3: scripture memory program will help get you underway. And they
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  Speaker 3: introduced to me the old Navigator scripture memory program, the
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  Speaker 3: topical memory system that some of you are using, or
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  Speaker 3: perhaps you're just now beginning to use. I have a
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  Speaker 3: few deacons in mind, for whom I am grateful for
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  Speaker 3: introducing to me a whole realm of spiritual or Christian
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  Speaker 3: literature I don't even know existed. You know what I
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  Speaker 3: think about when I think of those people, I think
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  Speaker 3: of men that I respected. I think of men of
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  Speaker 3: discernment who noticed in me an appetite for spiritual things
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  Speaker 3: while I was still a late blooming older teenager. And
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  Speaker 3: they saw in my mind and in my skills and interests,
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  Speaker 3: and they pointed them out to me. By doing that,
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  Speaker 3: they prove themselves.
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  Speaker 4: To be men of dignity. That's my whole point.
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  Speaker 3: If you are given a task as a deacon in
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  Speaker 3: an assembly, you're not simply serving tables. You're serving people,
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  Speaker 3: and your role is to be discerning. You are to
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  Speaker 3: observe the young men and women who are growing in
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  Speaker 3: the Lord and encourage them. Talk with them, meet with them,
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  Speaker 3: pass on to them information, booklets, ideas, things that have
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  Speaker 3: worked in your spiritual growth. Don't wait for them to ask.
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  Speaker 3: You prove yourself to be men of respect and a
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  Speaker 3: serious purpose in life by initiating that kind of thing. Now,
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  Speaker 3: I notice also that deacons are not double tongued. Scripture
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  Speaker 3: is so straight, isn't it the way things are said?
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  Speaker 3: This is the beginning of a list of negatives. The idea,
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  Speaker 3: of course, is the deacon does not say one thing
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  Speaker 3: to one person and something else to someone else. When
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  Speaker 3: he speaks, he speaks the truth, and he doesn't hedge
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  Speaker 3: when he's in another audience. I remember Bunyan's title in
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  Speaker 3: Pilgrim's Progress. He talked about the parson of our perish,
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  Speaker 3: mister two tongues.
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  Speaker 4: You remember reading about.
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  Speaker 3: That, And in that same congregation was mister smooth man,
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  Speaker 3: mister anything, and mister facing two ways. These are all
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  Speaker 3: people who are people of duplicity. The same term is
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  Speaker 3: used in the Septuagen over in Proverbs chapter eleven, verse thirteen.
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  Speaker 3: You want to go back there for a moment, and
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  Speaker 3: it's used there for a tale bearer, not simply a
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  Speaker 3: person who is a hypocrite saying one thing to one
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  Speaker 3: person and something else to someone else. But this is
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  Speaker 3: the picture of a tale bearer. If you've got Proverbs
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  Speaker 3: eleven thirteen in front of you, the Septugen, which is
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  Speaker 3: the Greek rendering of the Hebrew Old Testament, the Septugen
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  Speaker 3: verse says.
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  Speaker 4: A double tongued man.
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  Speaker 3: Discloses the secret counsels of an assembly. Literally, that's what
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  Speaker 3: the Septugen says.
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  Speaker 4: But he who is.
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  Speaker 3: Faithful in spirit conceals a matter. Let me read that again,
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  Speaker 3: a double tongued man discloses the secret counsels of an assembly,
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  Speaker 3: But he who is faithful in spirit conceals a matter. Now,
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  Speaker 3: the reason I'm camping on this thought is the importance
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  Speaker 3: of confidentiality. If you cannot keep a secret, you ought
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  Speaker 3: not be on the deacon board of a local church.
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  Speaker 3: You ought to resign, because it is required of those
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  Speaker 3: who serve that they keep secrets. Many of the things
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  Speaker 3: that you will come into contact with as a server,
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  Speaker 3: as a servant among the assembly will be very confidential.
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  Speaker 3: You know what, The longer I live, the less confidential
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  Speaker 3: people I meet. Isn't it amazing how few people can
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  Speaker 3: keep the secrets you tell them? How many people run
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  Speaker 3: off at the mouth when they are given that particular
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  Speaker 3: context in which they can show their power. Because information
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  Speaker 3: is power, especially if it is bad information about someone else.
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  Speaker 3: A tale bearer is not needed in a body of deacons. Now,
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  Speaker 3: if you go back to first Timothy three to eight,
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  Speaker 3: you'll see that double tonged is listed right at the
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  Speaker 3: first of the list of negatives. Ask God to teach
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  Speaker 3: you in your growing up years to keep secrets. You
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  Speaker 3: will be a person in great demand if you can
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  Speaker 3: do that. That goes for pastors as well. That goes
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  Speaker 3: for all who are in leadership. Now, the third characteristic
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  Speaker 3: is that he is not to be addicted to much wine.
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  Speaker 3: We spend a little bit of time on this last time,
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  Speaker 3: so it's obviously saying much the same thing. If the
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  Speaker 3: person reveals his control over himself by being able to
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  Speaker 3: say no to the temptation of alcohol alcoholic beverages. Fourth,
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  Speaker 3: he is not fond of sordid gain. Look carefully at this.
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  Speaker 3: It doesn't mean that he doesn't make a lot of money.
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  Speaker 3: It's possible to be a good deacon and to be
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  Speaker 3: wealthy if your wealth has been earned in a proper
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  Speaker 3: and upstanding manner. This is the picture of a person
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  Speaker 3: negatively who is fond of gaining money illegally through well
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  Speaker 3: shameful activities. The picture here is of embezzlement or other
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  Speaker 3: dishonest practices that will result in wealth. But a person
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  Speaker 3: who serves as a servant in a church must be
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  Speaker 3: able to say no in the secular world to the
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  Speaker 3: earning of money in a sordid manner. By the way,
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  Speaker 3: one of the responsibilities of a servant in a church
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  Speaker 3: is the handling of money. I personally, I am convinced
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  Speaker 3: that a pastor ought not be handling moneies. Then for
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  Speaker 3: that reason, I don't take monies. I don't take your
• 25:09
  Speaker 3: offerings and pass them on to another place. I don't
• 25:13
  Speaker 3: tell you the truth. I don't even know where the
• 25:15
  Speaker 3: trustees room is. I don't know where a lot of
• 25:18
  Speaker 3: rooms are in this church, but that's one room I
• 25:21
  Speaker 3: don't care to know. I don't know where the safe is,
• 25:24
  Speaker 3: And I don't know what the combination to the safe is,
• 25:26
  Speaker 3: and I never care to know that way, I keep
• 25:29
  Speaker 3: myself clear of that. But deacons, trustees, servants in a
• 25:34
  Speaker 3: church need to know that. But they need to be
• 25:38
  Speaker 3: able to take the monies that are given by God's
• 25:41
  Speaker 3: people and without in any sense of temptation, pass that
• 25:47
  Speaker 3: on to the right source.
• 25:49
  Speaker 4: They ought to be people that can.
• 25:51
  Speaker 3: Objectively handle the money. I remember visiting in Philadelphia the Ment.
• 25:58
  Speaker 3: Maybe you have seen it. I've never seen so much
• 26:01
  Speaker 3: money in all my life. You walk along and there's
• 26:03
  Speaker 3: a big thick sheet of glass between you and all
• 26:06
  Speaker 3: that stack of money. And they've got these puddle jumpers
• 26:09
  Speaker 3: running around, forklifts that run under these bins and they
• 26:14
  Speaker 3: lift up these things, and they've got stacks of one
• 26:18
  Speaker 3: hundred dollars bills and fifty dollars bills, and you can
• 26:22
  Speaker 3: see saliva running all over the glass where people have
• 26:26
  Speaker 3: had looked down there and seen all that money. And
• 26:29
  Speaker 3: I said to one of the officers, I said, look
• 26:32
  Speaker 3: at these people are there, and they're they're looking through
• 26:35
  Speaker 3: the pages of these of these bills as they're having
• 26:38
  Speaker 3: been printed, and they're checking for flaws or whatever, and
• 26:41
  Speaker 3: I said, Hi, how do you work in a place
• 26:45
  Speaker 3: like this? He said, there's really no problem. As long
• 26:48
  Speaker 3: as everybody working here just looks at that as pieces
• 26:51
  Speaker 3: of paper, it's all that's necessary. But when they stop
• 26:55
  Speaker 3: and realize the value of what they're missing around with,
• 26:57
  Speaker 3: we have to get rid of them, because something bad happens.
• 27:02
  Speaker 4: As long as a.
• 27:03
  Speaker 3: Deacon can handle the money, take it in as pieces
• 27:07
  Speaker 3: of paper and send it to the right source, were
• 27:09
  Speaker 3: in great shape. But when he begins to see the
• 27:13
  Speaker 3: value of it and begins to exercise feelings of interest
• 27:19
  Speaker 3: in it, then we got problems. The point here is
• 27:23
  Speaker 3: that there is to be no bent toward dishonesty. We've
• 27:27
  Speaker 3: heard enough about the misappropriation of funds and churches, haven't we.
• 27:31
  Speaker 3: We don't want people in leadership who are attracted to
• 27:35
  Speaker 3: the money. We ought to be able to handle it
• 27:37
  Speaker 3: and then get on with the job. Now, notice the
• 27:40
  Speaker 3: mention of a clear conscience in verse nine. A deacon
• 27:43
  Speaker 3: must hold to the mystery of the faith with a
• 27:47
  Speaker 3: clear conscience. This is a reference to personal purity. This
• 27:55
  Speaker 3: is a person who maintains a close and sensitive walk
• 28:00
  Speaker 3: with the Lord. He observes the faith as a mystery.
• 28:08
  Speaker 4: I think the use of terms is a careful thing
• 28:13
  Speaker 4: to the Apostle.
• 28:14
  Speaker 3: He's a man of terms, as we know, and he
• 28:18
  Speaker 3: didn't just splash on the page a word just to
• 28:21
  Speaker 3: fill up a space. There is something about trafficking in
• 28:26
  Speaker 3: biblical truth that causes you, if you're not sensitive, to
• 28:32
  Speaker 3: become thick and insensitive to the text. You will occasionally
• 28:39
  Speaker 3: see this on seminary campuses, and I would be so
• 28:43
  Speaker 3: bold as to say it can happen to teachers who
• 28:47
  Speaker 3: teach the Scriptures as a textbook. It can happen to
• 28:52
  Speaker 3: students who traffic in biblical truth year after year after
• 28:58
  Speaker 3: year until it becomes an academic textbook and you lose
• 29:04
  Speaker 3: the mystery of it all. Now, the apostles concern is
• 29:09
  Speaker 3: that the good deacon have a continued awe, feeling.
• 29:15
  Speaker 4: Of awe towards the truths of the faith.
• 29:19
  Speaker 3: In other words, it's an absence of hypocrisy. It is
• 29:23
  Speaker 3: the embodiment of sincerity and moral purity and submission to
• 29:29
  Speaker 3: biblical truth.
• 29:30
  Speaker 4: That's the picture.
• 29:33
  Speaker 3: And again I think it almost goes without saying that
• 29:36
  Speaker 3: you don't want to have a person in leadership who
• 29:41
  Speaker 3: has kind of a yawning boredom when the truth of
• 29:47
  Speaker 3: God is open. I'm so tired of hearing stories about
• 29:51
  Speaker 3: hypocritical deacons. I'm so weary of people passing on to
• 29:57
  Speaker 3: me that their father was a.
• 29:59
  Speaker 4: Deacon, but the way he lived at.
• 30:02
  Speaker 3: Home discounted his high profile job at the church. If
• 30:09
  Speaker 3: you have a responsible role of leadership, understand that you're
• 30:13
  Speaker 3: on display in your home. We'll see that in just
• 30:17
  Speaker 3: a minute. Same is true for elders. Notice the difference
• 30:21
  Speaker 3: in chapter four, verse one. Here's a different kind of person,
• 30:25
  Speaker 3: and I think Paul is building toward that. The Spirit
• 30:29
  Speaker 3: explicitly says that in later times some will fall away
• 30:34
  Speaker 3: from the faith. Notice this is different than holding the
• 30:38
  Speaker 3: mystery of the faith with a clear conscience.
• 30:40
  Speaker 4: This is the opposite of that.
• 30:42
  Speaker 3: They will pay attention to deceitful spirits, and they will
• 30:45
  Speaker 3: even traffic in doctrines of demons by means of hypocrisy.
• 30:50
  Speaker 3: He comes out and says it by means of the
• 30:53
  Speaker 3: hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience, as with
• 30:59
  Speaker 3: a branding eye.
• 31:00
  Speaker 4: Isn't that vivid?
• 31:03
  Speaker 3: It is possible to become so familiar with biblical truth
• 31:08
  Speaker 3: and churchianity that you have your conscience branded by religion,
• 31:15
  Speaker 3: you become nauseous to God. You traffic, as it were,
• 31:20
  Speaker 3: in deceitful spirits. Furthermore, moral compromise is not far away.
• 31:28
  Speaker 3: I was reading in Genesis thirty nine just this past week,
• 31:32
  Speaker 3: and I was impressed once again with Joseph, the servant
• 31:37
  Speaker 3: of Potiphar, remember the story. And Potiphar's wife begins to
• 31:42
  Speaker 3: make the moves on Joseph. And Potiphar is away at work,
• 31:46
  Speaker 3: and he has trusted the household and the oversight of
• 31:50
  Speaker 3: the household to his friend Joseph. And Joseph is moving
• 31:56
  Speaker 3: about his duties and keeping the servants of the home
• 32:00
  Speaker 3: engaged in the work, and missus Potiphar has time on
• 32:04
  Speaker 3: her hands, and she begins to flirt with Joseph. And
• 32:08
  Speaker 3: she even comes right out and boldly says to him,
• 32:12
  Speaker 3: lie with me. She knows that her husband's away, she
• 32:16
  Speaker 3: knows that they're safe, and they're secretly removed from all
• 32:20
  Speaker 3: the other servants. She even picked a time when there
• 32:23
  Speaker 3: was no one else around and said that to him.
• 32:26
  Speaker 3: And in Genesis thirty nine, verse nine, Joseph says, you
• 32:32
  Speaker 3: are his wife, how could I do this great evil?
• 32:37
  Speaker 4: And sin against God. There is a true.
• 32:42
  Speaker 3: Servant, A true servant of the living God, lives his
• 32:49
  Speaker 3: life as though he is continually open before the eyes
• 32:54
  Speaker 3: of Heaven. Indeed he is.
• 32:56
  Speaker 4: Joseph didn't forget that. Neither do good DearS.
• 33:01
  Speaker 3: They live their lives as though they are continually on
• 33:07
  Speaker 3: trial or on display before the congregation. It's a beautiful
• 33:12
  Speaker 3: example to me of holding the mystery of the faith
• 33:15
  Speaker 3: with a clear conscience. And by the way, when you don't,
• 33:19
  Speaker 3: you affect the whole assembly. Your compromise cuts an awful
• 33:26
  Speaker 3: scar into the assembly. Churches this day are still trying
• 33:32
  Speaker 3: to get over the scandal of that very problem that
• 33:35
  Speaker 3: has occurred in their history. Now notice next he is
• 33:41
  Speaker 3: verse ten. First to be tested, and then they are
• 33:47
  Speaker 3: to serve as deacons. They are beyond reproach. So I
• 33:51
  Speaker 3: would put this in the words not a novice. Men
• 33:55
  Speaker 3: who serve in leadership as deacons are to be people
• 34:00
  Speaker 3: who have been watched, not spied upon suspiciously, but.
• 34:05
  Speaker 4: They've been observed.
• 34:07
  Speaker 3: They have been seen as those who can handle the
• 34:11
  Speaker 3: test of leadership. They are willingly accountable. There is an
• 34:17
  Speaker 3: irreproachability about them that qualifies them to serve By the way,
• 34:21
  Speaker 3: it's interesting term verse ten, let them first be tested.
• 34:28
  Speaker 3: See that word, The term documentzo means tested for the
• 34:33
  Speaker 3: purpose of approval. That's very important in the Church of
• 34:39
  Speaker 3: the Living God. When we are being tested by the
• 34:43
  Speaker 3: observing eye of the assembly, we're not being viewed suspiciously
• 34:48
  Speaker 3: so as hopefully to be found guilty of something, but
• 34:51
  Speaker 3: we are viewed positively so that we might be approved.
• 34:55
  Speaker 3: I often illustrate it by the end of the summer
• 34:58
  Speaker 3: when a teacher has caught a group of children to swim.
• 35:02
  Speaker 3: And every summer you'll see this at the local pools.
• 35:06
  Speaker 3: You see these teachers who have labor laboriously worked with
• 35:10
  Speaker 3: this little handful of children that couldn't swim, and they
• 35:13
  Speaker 3: started with water wings and they're gagging and sputtering and
• 35:16
  Speaker 3: they're barely able to stay up. And by the end
• 35:19
  Speaker 3: of the summer they've learned how to swim. And then
• 35:22
  Speaker 3: there's a test. Remember I remember being there when our
• 35:25
  Speaker 3: children dived in and here's the teacher on the sideline.
• 35:31
  Speaker 4: That's good, that's great, keep going.
• 35:33
  Speaker 3: You see the teacher is not saying drown go under.
• 35:37
  Speaker 3: Show them you can't swim. That's not the job of
• 35:41
  Speaker 3: the teacher. The teacher says, keep swimming, show them you
• 35:45
  Speaker 3: can do it.
• 35:46
  Speaker 4: Go all the way to the end.
• 35:47
  Speaker 3: That's taki modzo, that's this term. Let this person first
• 35:53
  Speaker 3: be approved and.
• 35:55
  Speaker 4: Then let him serve.
• 35:58
  Speaker 3: By the way, when you deserve people in the assembly,
• 36:01
  Speaker 3: is it for the purpose of approval or the purpose
• 36:04
  Speaker 3: of criticism? Sure is easy to get suspicious and petty
• 36:10
  Speaker 3: and nitpicking with a suspicious eye. There was nothing like
• 36:17
  Speaker 3: the approval of those deacons in my growing up years
• 36:21
  Speaker 3: in the Christian family. I felt their affirmation. I felt
• 36:25
  Speaker 3: their applause. Though they didn't say it often, I felt
• 36:29
  Speaker 3: them saying behind my back, he's gonna make it, he's
• 36:33
  Speaker 3: gonna do it, he'll get there. I felt they're testing
• 36:38
  Speaker 3: me in that positive sense. And that's the idea here.
• 36:42
  Speaker 3: When you look over this assembly for possible deacons, look
• 36:46
  Speaker 3: with a view to approval and not a negative word. Now,
• 36:52
  Speaker 3: all of a sudden he interjects something that didn't appear
• 36:56
  Speaker 3: in the list of the overseers. You notice it in
• 36:58
  Speaker 3: verse eleven. Women must likewise be dignified, not malicious gossips,
• 37:09
  Speaker 3: but temperate, faithful in all things. Now, there are three
• 37:15
  Speaker 3: possible ways to interpret this eleventh verse. First is to
• 37:20
  Speaker 3: view these women as wives of deacons. There are some
• 37:24
  Speaker 3: very fine expositors who who understand verse eleven to refer
• 37:28
  Speaker 3: to the wives of deacons. The problem is the absence
• 37:32
  Speaker 3: of the possessive pronoun thchi r they're women, because the
• 37:40
  Speaker 3: same term women in Greek is the word wife. Their
• 37:44
  Speaker 3: wives must likewise be dignified. Seems to me as careful
• 37:48
  Speaker 3: as the apostle is. If he had in mind the
• 37:50
  Speaker 3: wives of deacons, he certainly would have added the possessive
• 37:55
  Speaker 3: pronoun their wives, rather than just say women. The second
• 38:01
  Speaker 3: possibility is just it refers to women in general.
• 38:05
  Speaker 4: All women in the assembly should be these things.
• 38:09
  Speaker 3: And while that's true, it's unusual for Paul, in a
• 38:13
  Speaker 3: long list of responsibilities for a deacon to just interject
• 38:18
  Speaker 3: some general, broadbrush comment about women. So I'm convinced that
• 38:24
  Speaker 3: this has reference to an actual body of people called deaconesses.
• 38:31
  Speaker 3: I think this is a good basis for the deaconness.
• 38:35
  Speaker 3: This isn't, I think an actual office. Let me tell
• 38:38
  Speaker 3: you why I say that. First, First of all, the
• 38:41
  Speaker 3: word likewise appears. It's the same word used in verse
• 38:45
  Speaker 3: eight for deacons. Deacons likewise must be. Now women likewise
• 38:52
  Speaker 3: must be. And I think that repetition. And by the way,
• 38:57
  Speaker 3: the term is used to introduce second and third things
• 39:00
  Speaker 3: in a series, so syntactically it would fit the second.
• 39:05
  Speaker 3: The absence of the possessive pronoun there leads me to
• 39:10
  Speaker 3: say that these are not wives of deacons, but women
• 39:14
  Speaker 3: who serve as servants. And by the way, the order
• 39:19
  Speaker 3: of the deacons wives comes later verse twelve, let the
• 39:23
  Speaker 3: deacons be husbands of only one wife. There he mentions
• 39:26
  Speaker 3: the wife of the deacon. So it would be funny
• 39:29
  Speaker 3: for him to say this about women that mention wives
• 39:32
  Speaker 3: later if he was referring to the same thing the
• 39:34
  Speaker 3: context dealing with church leaders, not mates of church leaders.
• 39:39
  Speaker 3: So I want to suggest to you that this would
• 39:40
  Speaker 3: be the women who serve as faithful servants in the assembly.
• 39:47
  Speaker 4: They are to be.
• 39:47
  Speaker 3: And by the way, the list is the same, very similar.
• 39:50
  Speaker 3: They're to be dignified. That sounds like verse eight men
• 39:53
  Speaker 3: of dignity. There not to be malicious gossips that would
• 39:57
  Speaker 3: go up with not double tongued qualify. The deacon is
• 40:02
  Speaker 3: not to be addicted to much wines. So it is
• 40:04
  Speaker 3: with the deaconess she's to be temperate. The deacon is
• 40:08
  Speaker 3: to hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience.
• 40:10
  Speaker 3: She's to be faithful in all things. There's a there's
• 40:13
  Speaker 3: a tie in, isn't there By the way, if you
• 40:16
  Speaker 3: want to hold your place here, go back to Romans
• 40:18
  Speaker 3: chapter sixteen. You'll see the name of a woman who
• 40:23
  Speaker 3: served as a servant in the assembly Romans sixteen, Verse one,
• 40:32
  Speaker 3: I commend to you our sister Phoebe. I don't miss
• 40:37
  Speaker 3: this next phrase, who is a servant of the church
• 40:45
  Speaker 3: which is at Saint Kria. Now he even gives her
• 40:49
  Speaker 3: a title, I commend to.
• 40:51
  Speaker 4: You, Phoebe.
• 40:54
  Speaker 3: Seems as though it would be appropriate to even mention
• 40:57
  Speaker 3: a deaconess in the law local assembly. In fact, a
• 41:01
  Speaker 3: little later verse three mentions Prisca that's the wife, and
• 41:05
  Speaker 3: Aquila that's the husband, and he calls both of them
• 41:09
  Speaker 3: fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who risked their lives for him,
• 41:15
  Speaker 3: and there's a church that's meeting him their house verse five.
• 41:19
  Speaker 3: It's no doubt in my mind that Prisca, or she's
• 41:22
  Speaker 3: called Later in the Book of Acts, Priscilla was a deaconess.
• 41:26
  Speaker 3: Lydia in Acts sixteen has a church that begins in
• 41:29
  Speaker 3: her house, and I'm sure she would qualify as one
• 41:33
  Speaker 3: of these deaconesses. Now back to One Timothy, chapter three,
• 41:38
  Speaker 3: and let's wrap it up verse verse twelve. Let the
• 41:43
  Speaker 3: deacons be husbands of only one wife. That's what we
• 41:47
  Speaker 3: saw earlier with regard to the elder, and he adds
• 41:52
  Speaker 3: good managers of their children and their own households. I
• 41:58
  Speaker 3: remind us once again of the value of the home.
• 42:03
  Speaker 3: It doesn't mean that the man is home all the time.
• 42:07
  Speaker 3: That's not managing well. It doesn't mean that the man
• 42:11
  Speaker 3: is the only one doing things in his home.
• 42:15
  Speaker 4: That's not good management.
• 42:18
  Speaker 3: It doesn't mean that he is such a strong leader
• 42:21
  Speaker 3: he finds it necessary in his insecurity to put his
• 42:25
  Speaker 3: wife down or to continually remind the family I am
• 42:30
  Speaker 3: the boss.
• 42:30
  Speaker 4: That's not good management either.
• 42:33
  Speaker 3: A good manager is a person who causes things to
• 42:36
  Speaker 3: happen and frequently is out of the way, stays out
• 42:41
  Speaker 3: of the way while they get done. He knows how
• 42:45
  Speaker 3: to put into action the things that get done, and
• 42:49
  Speaker 3: he knows how to motivate those within the home to
• 42:52
  Speaker 3: do it. Watch the man. If he's able to do
• 42:55
  Speaker 3: that in his home, chances are good he'll have no
• 42:58
  Speaker 3: difficulty making that happen in the church. But it's not
• 43:02
  Speaker 3: his business that you want to look at.
• 43:05
  Speaker 4: Listen to that. Our great tendency in Western.
• 43:10
  Speaker 3: Civilization is to look at how a man does his business,
• 43:14
  Speaker 3: and then say, my, wouldn't he be a great church officer?
• 43:18
  Speaker 3: Not necessarily show me his home, and then I'll answer that.
• 43:24
  Speaker 3: Show me the way things are between him and his wife,
• 43:27
  Speaker 3: him and his children.
• 43:28
  Speaker 4: Then I'll give you an answer. By the way.
• 43:32
  Speaker 3: The business will also be a bit of a reflection
• 43:34
  Speaker 3: of the hall, but you don't care about that as
• 43:36
  Speaker 3: much as you do about the hall. The secret is
• 43:39
  Speaker 3: the word management, and he uses it here. Now the reward,
• 43:44
  Speaker 3: What do I get for serving Christ in this manner?
• 43:49
  Speaker 4: Now?
• 43:49
  Speaker 3: Verse thirteen will tell you two things. Those who have
• 43:55
  Speaker 3: served well as deacons obtain for themselves. One a high standing.
• 44:04
  Speaker 3: There is a growing respect for true servants. The assembly
• 44:11
  Speaker 3: the love you. You will have a growing love affair
• 44:15
  Speaker 3: with the assembly. You serve those who are poor and hungry,
• 44:19
  Speaker 3: the destitute, they will love you. They will hold you
• 44:22
  Speaker 3: in high standing. You minister to the prisoners or to
• 44:25
  Speaker 3: the strangers, they will love you. They will hold you
• 44:29
  Speaker 3: in high regard. You serve those who are sick in hospitals,
• 44:34
  Speaker 3: those who are in need of counsel, and you give
• 44:37
  Speaker 3: them your time, they will hold you in high regard.
• 44:40
  Speaker 3: You see in the assembly, it is not simply the
• 44:43
  Speaker 3: pastor who is to be respected. There are to be
• 44:49
  Speaker 3: peaks of respect dotted through the pews of a church.
• 44:53
  Speaker 3: It's not to be one person pedestalized and listen to
• 44:57
  Speaker 3: only the leadership is to be shifted to people who
• 45:01
  Speaker 3: are gifted in the assembly, so that there's a high
• 45:04
  Speaker 3: regard for the nuts and bolts part of the ministry
• 45:08
  Speaker 3: and people who carry that out. That's what verse thirteen
• 45:11
  Speaker 3: is saying. And furthermore, you will obtain for yourself great
• 45:16
  Speaker 3: confidence in the faith. It's the idea of personal assurance.
• 45:22
  Speaker 3: As you serve, you will gain a sense of purpose
• 45:27
  Speaker 3: in ministry.
• 45:29
  Speaker 4: You will gain confidence.
• 45:31
  Speaker 3: You will gain assurance as you have found the realm
• 45:34
  Speaker 3: of your gift and God is honoring it. It says
• 45:38
  Speaker 3: that you will have great confidence in the faith.
• 45:41
  Speaker 4: That is in Christ Jesus.
• 45:43
  Speaker 3: I want you to turn finally to Proverbs chapter twenty
• 45:46
  Speaker 3: and locate verses six and seven. Proverbs twenty six and seven.
• 45:58
  Speaker 3: This is a great passage of Scripture. The New International
• 46:01
  Speaker 3: version renders these two verses. Many a man claims to
• 46:06
  Speaker 3: have unfailing love, but a faithful man.
• 46:13
  Speaker 4: Who can find.
• 46:16
  Speaker 3: The righteous man leads a blameless life. It's a picture
• 46:21
  Speaker 3: of integrity. Blessed are his children after him. I don't
• 46:29
  Speaker 3: believe there is a finer epitaph to appear on a
• 46:32
  Speaker 3: tombstone in Proverbs twenty verses six and seven. If you
• 46:38
  Speaker 3: have earned the title a faithful person, not flamboyant, not
• 46:45
  Speaker 3: necessarily that fruitful, not that well known or popular. But
• 46:51
  Speaker 3: if you have earned the title of a faithful servant,
• 46:55
  Speaker 3: a person of integrity, and if your children walk in
• 47:00
  Speaker 3: the footsteps of that kind of lifestyle, you, before God
• 47:04
  Speaker 3: are most blessed. It's a great title. Every once in
• 47:10
  Speaker 3: a while, when life kind of slows down and I
• 47:13
  Speaker 3: think about what's important, I review the words of Jesus
• 47:19
  Speaker 3: in Matthew twenty five, and.
• 47:23
  Speaker 4: I did that recently.
• 47:26
  Speaker 3: I read over verses thirty two to forty once again,
• 47:32
  Speaker 3: and I thought, that is really the bottom line of serving.
• 47:37
  Speaker 4: Just listen.
• 47:38
  Speaker 3: If you choose not to turn Matthew twenty five thirty two,
• 47:42
  Speaker 3: all the nations will be gathered before him, that's Christ.
• 47:47
  Speaker 3: And he will separate them from one another, as the
• 47:50
  Speaker 3: shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will
• 47:55
  Speaker 3: put the sheep on his right and goats on the left.
• 48:00
  Speaker 3: And then the king will say to those on his right, now,
• 48:05
  Speaker 3: listen to these eternal words. Eternity is about to dawn,
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  Speaker 3: and the king is ushering them in. Listen to the King.
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  Speaker 3: Come you, who are blessed of my father inherit the
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  Speaker 3: kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
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  Speaker 3: Why for I was hungry and you gave me something
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  Speaker 3: to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me drink.
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  Speaker 3: I was a stranger and you invited me in naked
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  Speaker 3: and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me.
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  Speaker 3: I was in prison and you came to me. And
• 48:47
  Speaker 3: the righteous before they go in have their mouths drop
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  Speaker 3: open in bewilderment. They want to know when did that happen?
• 48:55
  Speaker 3: When was Christ in need? And so they ask, Lord,
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  Speaker 3: when did we see you hungry and feed you are
• 49:03
  Speaker 3: thirsty and give you a drink? When did we see
• 49:06
  Speaker 3: you a stranger and invite you in or naked and
• 49:08
  Speaker 3: clothe you. When did we see you sick or in prison,
• 49:12
  Speaker 3: and come to you. Then the King will answer. Truly,
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  Speaker 3: I say to you, to the extent that you did
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  Speaker 3: it to one of these brothers of.
• 49:23
  Speaker 4: Mine, even the least of them, you did it under me.
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  Speaker 4: Isn't that great? Christ says? As I looked over the family.
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  Speaker 3: In your lifetime, I observed that you were a servant
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  Speaker 3: who took care of the little.
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  Speaker 4: People, the small people, the unknown.
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  Speaker 3: The obscure, the hurting, the fearful, the crippled, the bruise,
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  Speaker 3: the retarded, the brain damage, the little knowns. And inasmuch
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  Speaker 3: as you did it to one of these little ones
• 50:09
  Speaker 3: of mine, you did it under me. Ruth Harms Caulkin
• 50:17
  Speaker 3: is one of my all time favorite poetesses, and every
• 50:21
  Speaker 3: once in a while I'll pick up one of her
• 50:23
  Speaker 3: little books and I'll read a piece from it. I
• 50:27
  Speaker 3: wish I had brought with me a piece she wrote
• 50:30
  Speaker 3: about the reality of serving, And she says that she
• 50:36
  Speaker 3: finds herself loving to teach classes and loving to be
• 50:40
  Speaker 3: involved in ministry and instructing people and exhorting people. But
• 50:47
  Speaker 3: then she says, but Lord, how would I respond if
• 50:50
  Speaker 3: you ask me to take a basin of water and
• 50:55
  Speaker 3: wash the feet of a gnarled old woman, where nobody
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  Speaker 3: saw and nobody knew. And you know what, friends, I'm
• 51:10
  Speaker 3: convinced there will be greater reward for the washing of
• 51:14
  Speaker 3: feet than the teaching of thousands, because in the washing
• 51:21
  Speaker 3: of feet there is faithfulness behind the scenes that only
• 51:26
  Speaker 3: God knows about. There is no sense of public knowledge.
• 51:32
  Speaker 3: Often those who teach publicly have their reward just in
• 51:36
  Speaker 3: the response of the people.
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  Speaker 4: But those who serve.
• 51:41
  Speaker 3: They will await a greater reward. Let's pray, Father, perhaps
• 51:48
  Speaker 3: there are some this very day who need this sense
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  Speaker 3: of encouragement. We are so enamored of public things, big
• 51:58
  Speaker 3: time ministries, the significant, the scene, the known, the famous.
• 52:05
  Speaker 3: The public eye is always there, and the press is
• 52:12
  Speaker 3: always ready to write and report, And our tendency is
• 52:17
  Speaker 3: to be overly enamored with those things that are publicly
• 52:24
  Speaker 3: applauded and affirmed. Show us again the value of doing
• 52:30
  Speaker 3: fine work administratively where no one knows about it. Serving
• 52:36
  Speaker 3: a school or a church or a ministry behind the scenes,
• 52:42
  Speaker 3: taking time for the needs of people. Remind those who
• 52:49
  Speaker 3: work as secretaries and assistants behind the scenes the value.
• 52:55
  Speaker 4: Of their work.
• 52:57
  Speaker 3: Encourage those who work hard at composing music even more
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  Speaker 3: than those who present it. Encourage those who serve cups
• 53:09
  Speaker 3: of cool water and food to those who are hungry,
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  Speaker 3: and lift the spirits of those who this very day
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  Speaker 3: are committed to lives of integrity in a time in
• 53:25
  Speaker 3: which it is even more popular to yield, strengthen those
• 53:30
  Speaker 3: who have determined to walk with you in moral purity.
• 53:35
  Speaker 3: And may you, in a very real way, be honored
• 53:40
  Speaker 3: through the non hypocritical lifestyle of authentic servants. May this
• 53:47
  Speaker 3: church be characterized by such leadership, and may you be
• 53:52
  Speaker 3: honored in it and through it for Jesus sake.
• 53:57
  Speaker 4: Amen.
• 54:00
  Speaker 5: The preceding message, The Dignity of Servanthood, was copyrighted in
• 54:04
  Speaker 5: nineteen eighty four, and the sound recording was copyrighted in
• 54:07
  Speaker 5: two thousand fifteen by Charles R. Swindall, Inc. All rights
• 54:11
  Speaker 5: are reserved worldwide.