The Ministry of Pastor and Deacon within the Church

In order to understand the Biblical roles and responsibilities of Pastors and Deacons within the church, we must start with an understanding of the basic nature of God, because He has given us His Word which is the basis of all we are and do in the Christian life, and in His Church.

I. God exists as a relationship within Himself. God exists as a trinity.

The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit live in relationship to one another; three distinct persons that are perfectly one in essence and being.

While there is perfect equality in status and being, within the Godhead, there is an order of authority and a principle of submission.

A. Jesus, The Son lives in submission to the will of the Father.

Jesus said,

John 5:30

30 I can of Myself do nothing.
As I hear, I judge;
and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me. NKJV

John 12:48-50

48 He who rejects Me,
and does not receive My words,
has that which judges him —
the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.

49 For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak.

50 And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak,

just as the Father has told Me, so I speak."

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Matthew 26:38-39

38 Then He said to them,
"My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me."

39 He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying,
"O My Father, if it is possible,
let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will,
but as You will."
NKJV

Philippians 2:5-8

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,

6 who, being in the form of God,
did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,

7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.

8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself
and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
NKJV

B. The Holy Spirit is sent by the direction of Jesus, and does not bear witness to Himself but to Jesus.

John 15:26

"But when the Helper comes,
whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.
NKJV

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John 16:7

7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth.
It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away,
the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.

The Holy Spirit does not act on His own authority but only says and does what is directed by, and glorifies Jesus Christ.

John 16:13-14

13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth;
for He will not speak on His own authority,
but whatever He hears He will speak;
and He will tell you things to come.

14 He will glorify Me,
for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. NKJV

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II. The family is the first institution established by God in this world.

The man and woman are equal in status and value before the Father.
The man and the woman, or husband and wife, have differing roles in the family, and a specific line of authority is established by God in the home.

The husband is the head or primary authority of the wife and home, as Christ is the head of the Church.

God has given the wife the responsibility of submitting to her husband's authority.

Ephesians 5:17-24

17 Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,

19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord,

20 giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

21 submitting to one another in the fear of God.
22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.

23 For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body.

24 Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.

Colossians 3:18-24

Wives, submit to your own husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. 19 Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter toward them.

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20 Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord.

21 Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.

22 Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers,
but in sincerity of heart, fearing God.

23 And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men,

24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.

NKJV

Wives are not only to have an attitude of submission to their husbands, but are to maintain a spirit and attitude of a meekness, gentleness and quietness.

1 Peter 3:1-6

Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands,
that even if some do not obey the word,
they, without a word,
may be won by the conduct of their wives,
2 when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear.

3 Do not let your adornment be merely outward — arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel —
4 rather let it be the hidden person of the heart,
with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit,
which is very precious in the sight of God.

5 For in this manner, in former times,
the holy women who trusted in God also adorned themselves, being submissive to their own husbands,
6 as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord,
whose daughters you are
if you do good and are not afraid with any terror.

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Titus 2:1-5

But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine: 2 that the older men be sober, reverent, temperate,
sound in faith, in love, in patience;

3 the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things — 4 that they admonish the young women
to love their husbands,
to love their children,
5 to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good,
obedient to their own husbands,
that the word of God may not be blasphemed.

III. God has also ordained the governments in the world and established the principles of authority and submission in them.

Romans 13:1-7

Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God,

and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.

2 Therefore whoever resists the authority
resists the ordinance of God,
and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.

3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority?

Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same.

4 For he is God's minister to you for good.
But if you do evil, be afraid;
for he does not bear the sword in vain;
for he is God's minister,
an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil.

5 Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience' sake.

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6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God's ministers attending continually to this very thing.

7 Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.
NKJV

1 Timothy 2:1-2

Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men,

2 for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life

in all godliness and reverence.

3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, NKJV

1 Peter 2:13-16
Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether to the king as supreme,

14 or to governors,
as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good.

15 For this is the will of God,
that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men —

16 as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God.
NKJV

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IV. God has established these same principles of authority and submission in the life of His Church.

Christ is the head of the church.

Ephesians 5:23-24

23 For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body.

24 Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.

Pastor/teachers are called by God
to equip the saints for the work of ministry and to help the church grow to maturity in Christ,

Ephesians 4:11-16
11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,

12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,

13 till we all come to the unity of the faith
and of the knowledge of the Son of God,
to a perfect man,
to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;

14 that we should no longer be children,
tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,

15 but, speaking the truth in love,
may grow up in all things into Him who is the head — Christ —

16 from whom the whole body,
joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share,
causes growth of the body
for the edifying of itself in love.

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Pastors/elders are to shepherd the church and to be the overseers
of the church

1 Peter 5:1-4

The elders who are among you I exhort,
I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed:

2 Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers,
not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly;

3 nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock;

4 and when the Chief Shepherd appears,
you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.

Hebrews 13:17

17 Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls,
as those who must give account.
Let them do so with joy and not with grief,
for that would be unprofitable for you.
NKJV

Those to whom the church is to obey and unto whom they are to submit are the Pastors, who are the God established authorities
that "keep watch over your souls."
These are the Pastor/Elders.

In Revelation chapters 2 and 3 the seven letters addressed to the churched and sent to "the angel of the church of ...".
Most Bible scholars are in agreement that these angels or messengers that are to read the letters and are responsible to follow their commands are the Pastors of those churches.

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We also see this principle of authority and submission in the church as it exists between the Pastors, the church, and the deacons in Acts 6.

Even though the term deacon is not used in this passage, most scholars are in agreement that this is when the office of deacon was first established.

Acts 6:2-5
2 Then the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, "It is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables.

3 Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business;

4 but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word."

5 And the saying pleased the whole multitude. NKJV

Notice that the Apostles, who were serving as the Pastors of the church in Jerusalem,
asked the body of the church to seek out and choose men to serve the church, that met specific qualifications, for a specific ministry.

It is notable that the passage said, the church chooses men to serve in deacon ministry,
but the pastors would be the ones to appoint them to their specific ministry tasks. Once the seven were chosen they set them before the Apostle's feet.

This establishes a line of authority that the Pastors had over the deacons. The deacons were held responsible for their ministry by the Pastors.

The Pastors designated the deacons area of responsibility, so that the Pastors could better carry out their God given responsibilities.

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1 Thessalonians 5:12-13

And we urge you, brethren, to recognize those who labor among you, and are over you in the Lord
and admonish you,

13 and to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake. Be at peace among yourselves.
NKJV

1 Timothy 5:17-20
Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine.

18 For the Scripture says,
"You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain," and, "The laborer is worthy of his wages."

19 Do not receive an accusation against an elder except from two or three witnesses.

20 Those who are sinning rebuke in the presence of all, that the rest also may fear.
NKJV

We have seen that the Pastor's responsibility is to minister in the Word of God, and in prayer,
in order to equip the saints for the work of their various ministries,
and to Shepherd, guide and lead the church,
and to take the oversight of the church in humility and love,
and to be an example to the church of the Christian life.

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2 Timothy 4:1-5

I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead
at His appearing and His kingdom:

2 Preach the word!
Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort,
with all longsuffering and teaching.

3 For the time will come
when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires,

because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers;

4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.

5 But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions,
do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

It is the responsibility of the Pastor to preach the Word of God, when it is popular and when the people do not want to hear it.

The pastor is to demonstrate the Word of God is true and that it is to be obeyed.

The pastor is to use the Word of God to bring rebuke and correction to those who are not holding to Biblical truth
or are not living in obedience to the biblical truth.

The pastor is to help his people see their sin and encourage them in righteous living.

The pastor is to be patient with those growing in their knowledge and understanding of Biblical truth.

The pastor is to keep close watch on the people of his flock and guard them from false doctrine
and encourage them in faithfulness to Christ and His Word.

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1 Timothy 5:17-18

Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine.

18 For the Scripture says,
"You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain," and, "The laborer is worthy of his wages."

A pastor is considered worthy of the respect of his congregation if he has been faithful to preach the Word of God
and has helped his flock learn and apply Biblical truth.

This phrase "double honor" was a phrase that was used to refer to financial payment.

The pastor that has carried out his Biblical responsibility to learn the Word and then teach his people the Word of God should be financially well provided for
by their congregation which has received the benefit and blessing
of his sound teaching of the Word.

Many people and many churches have a wide variety of ideas and expectations concerning the work and ministry of their pastor, but these are the clear instructions and guidelines of the Word of God concerning the work and ministry of a pastor.

A church that is faithful to Christ and His Word will follow these Biblical instructions.