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Acts 6:1-7  THE FIRST DEACONS

 

Introduction:

 

    In a previous text the apostles had been arrested and brought to trial

before the Sanhedrin Council.  The Council members wanted to put them to death,

but were persuaded by Gamaliel not to do so.  So they were set free, but not

until they had been beaten. 

    In this text the trouble which the apostles face was not from the outside

the church membership.  It was from  within the membership. 

 

I.  The problem

 

    V. 1, “ And in those days, when the number of the disciples was

multiplied...”  The problem got started because the church was growing.  This

was a good kind of problem for a church to have.  It is better than not growing. 

It is most certainly better than going down in membership.  Today when a church

has trouble because it is growing that usually means that they need to go into a

building program to expand its building and this is not always easy to do. 

    This problem in the Jerusalem church started because a lot of people came

to Jerusalem from other parts of the country and from other nations and got

saved.  When they got saved they got baptized and joined the church at Jerusalem

and never went back to their homes.  They stayed in Jerusalem and made their

homes there.  This means that a large number of people in the church were

temporarily out of work and needed to be fed. 

    The church took up offerings to provide food for those people, but that

solved the problem only temporarily.  Most of the men would eventually find

jobs, but that still left a large number of widows  and orphans to be fed.  The

church continued to grow rapidly and presumably that just added more widows and

orphans to be fed. 

    The problem was complicated by having two different groups of widows and

orphans.  One group is called “Grecians.”  They were of Hebrew blood and Hebrew

religion, but they had been living among Grecian people.  They spoke the Grecian

language and had Grecian customs.

    The other group, the larger group, was not only made up of Hebrew people,

but they had lived within the land of Israel among Hebrew people.  They spoke

the Hebrew (Aramaic) language and had Hebrew customs. 

    (V. 1), “...there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews,

because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration.     The Grecian

group already felt that they did not fit in with the Hebrew group because the

language and their customs were different.  Then, when the apostles ran short of

funds and supplies and could not furnish them with food, they thought that they

were being discriminated against because of their difference in language and

customs.  Therefore, they very loudly voiced their feelings and by doing so they

stirred up a big stink in the church. 

    I am confident that the apostles never intentionally neglected anyone. 

But it is evident that some of the Grecians had not been provided for and they

evidently thought it was intentional.  The apostles were trying to divide their

time between preaching and teaching the word of God and ministering to the

widows and orphans.  They wee not doing a good job of either. 

 

II.  The option

 

    V. 2, “Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples [unto them],

and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve

tables.”  The apostles apparently first discussed this matter among themselves

and considered their options. 

    One option was to just do nothing, hoping that the problem would go away. 

They could just let the Grecians complain.  But they could see that this would

only mean that the problem would get worse.  It could lead to a split in the

church with the Grecian  faction forming one church and with the Hebrew faction

forming another church.  They did not think that would be a good solution to the

problem. 

    Another option was that they could devote more time to ministering the

food and funds to the widows and orphans.  Before handing out any funds they

could get a better count of the mouths to be fed and a better count of the

available funds.  But since the church was still rapidly growing and more and

more widows and orphans came into the membership, this would mean that they

would have to give more and more time to ministering to the widows and orphans. 

This would mean that they would be spending less and less time preaching and

teaching the word of God.  The apostles did not think that this was a good

solution to the problem. 

 

III.  The proposal

 

    V. 3, “Therefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest

report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this

business.”  The proposal of the apostles to the church was that the church seek

out someone else to  minister to the poor of their membership.   The church was

to do the seeking out and to make the selections.  They were to seek out men of

honest report.  These men would be handling money and anybody who handles other

people’s money should be men of honest report.  They were also to be men who

were full of the Holy Ghost.  That is, they should be deeply spiritual men. 

They were to be men of wisdom.  That is, they were to be men who were capable of

handling this business. 

    Therefore, the job would get done and it would be done better than the

apostles had been doing it.  It would be done better than he apostles could

possibly do it and still have time for the preaching and teaching which God had

called them to do. 

    V. 4, “But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the

ministry of the word.”  The apostles would then be free to do the word which

Jesus had called them to do.  They would give themselves continually to prayer. 

If one is going to do a good job of preaching and teaching God’s word, time

spent in prayer is essential. 

    They would also be free to do give themselves continually to the ministry

of the word of God.  Ministering to the word includes time to study the word and

prepare before attempting to preach or teach the word.  It takes a great deal of

time praying and studying and preparing in order to do a credible job of

teaching or preaching the word of God.  No preacher or teacher can do a good job

without much time spent in prayer and study. 

    Furthermore, not only would the apostles do a better job presenting the

word of God, but they would also have more time available in which they could

make contact with unsaved people and they would be able to witness to more

people  about Jesus for salvation. 

 

IV.  The decision by the church 

 

   V. 5, “And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen,

a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and

Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch.”  The

apostles made the recommendation, but the apostles did not make the decision to

follow this plan.  The decision was made by the whole church.  Then after the

decision to adopt this plan was made by the church, it was the church who made

the selection of the men who were to serve.  Luke said that the suggestion of

the apostles pleased the whole church.  This means that the church in some way

expressed their approval by a vote.  

    The church not only voted in making their decision to adopt the plan, but

they also voted in making the selection of the seven men. 

    The apostles then served as a presbytery for the church and the seven men

were ordained to the work.  V. 6, “Whom they set before the apostles: and when

they had prayed, they laid [their] hands on them.”

 

V.  The good results

 

    V. 7, “And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples

multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were

obedient to the faith.”  The apostles do  a much better job of preaching the

word of God.  Preachers always do a better job when they spend the needed time

in prayer and preparation.  They, of course, must be given sufficient time to

spend in prayer and preparation. 

    The number of disciples grew all the more.  They were not only spending

more time in prayer and preparation, but they were spending more time in the

presentation of the word of God.  That is, they were witnessing to more people. 

Therefore, more people were being reached and won and added to the church. 

    Even a larger number of the priests from the temple were saved.  I cannot

help but wonder if a few of them might not have  been members of the Sanhedrin

Council, the council which had wanted to kill all the apostles. 

    Another good result was that the widows and orphans were being better

cared for.  Harmony was restored to the fellowship of a church.  It always helps

when a church which has had a rift in the fellowship can settle the problem and

restore the fellowship. 

    We can make this observation:  Good churches need good preachers and

preachers need time in which to pray, study and make preparation for teaching

and preaching God’s word.  They make better preachers, better pastors and better

soul winners that way. 

    Furthermore, we should note that good churches need good deacons.  They

need men of honest report who are filled with the Holy Spirit of God.  They need

men who are devoted to God and to the word and work of God.  Such men are

invaluable to the work.  God does value them highly.  The pastor of the church

should value them highly also.  The church who has such men should value them

highly.  The church in which such men serve will be a better church and the

pastor will be a better pastor.