The Focused Church at Jerusalem
Acts 6:1-7
May 20, 2012
Most recently in our studies of Acts we have recognized that
While Christ is growing His church, Satan is also attacking it.
We have seen intimidation from outward sources
That escalated even to physical violence and incarceration.
And we have seen inner deception with the influence of
Jealousy and ambition seeking to wreck the church from within.
And in both of those cases the church stood strong.
Well tonight we learn of another attack,
And yet again we see the church withstand it and move forward.
What we have here is the age old problem of grumbling.
It is the common response of people when the flesh tries to creep in
And people start fighting for their rights.
And it should be comforting to us to know
That even the early church was human.
For up to this point they have sounded like the unbelievable church.
• They are unified,
• They are tremendously giving,
• They aren’t intimidated by threats of persecution,
• They live so holy that the outside world is in awe of them,
• They have church services that last well over three hours
• They are growing at such a rapid rate is literally mind-boggling
We could look at a church like that and assume
They had no problems whatsoever.
That is until we get to a story like this one,
And this is one we can all identify with.
All we have to do is read the first verse, “Now at this time while the disciples were increasing in number; a complaint arose on the part of the Hellenistic Jews against the native Hebrews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily serving of food.”
And that one verse has all the intrigue and problem
That any church member could dread.
Grumbling – Widows – Prejudice – Selfishness
And if you have been in church any time at all,
You have undoubtedly seen events like this unfold as well.
Because we are believers, filled with the Holy Spirit,
We have expectations of harmony and peace and unity and joy.
Because we are humans, living in the flesh,
We have the reality that if not careful we can fall into just the opposite.
Well that is precisely what this church was up against,
They were under attack.
And let me remind you that all of these attacks are thanks to the enemy.
That doesn’t mean we let people off scot free and only blame the devil, Certainly sinning people need to repent,
But we don’t let the devil off either.
His influence can easily be spotted in skirmishes like this.
So we see the church once again under attack.
But it is also important that you notice exactly what is under attack.
One could read this story very quickly and someone could ask, what is Satan trying to accomplish?
And you could easily give the answer that
He is trying to cause division and destroy the church’s unity.
And that answer would not be wrong.
It is obvious he is causing a tension between Hebrew and Hellenistic Jews that would threaten to divide the church.
Or at the very least cause the church to move to two services;
An early service for those who like Greek culture,
And a traditional service for those who like it the old Jewish way.
But that is not all that is at stake,
And that is not even the main thing Satan is fighting.
Satan is not just trying to steal the church’s unity,
Satan is ultimately trying to stop the church’s message.
You will notice that when the apostles come together to give an answer
To the dilemma their first word on the subject is this,
(2) “It is not good for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables.”
It is not coincidental that these were their first words.
You know how church conflicts work.
• They start with someone feeling wronged or cheated
• Then it leads to grumbling about the problem
(both of those had clearly occurred)
But you and I know what always comes next.
Someone gives their opinion as to how the problem should be solved.
And where do you take your opinion?
To the leaders (in this case the apostles)
And by reading verse 2 we even know what that opinion was.
What was it?
That the apostles needed to spend less time out preaching
And more time feeding the widows.
That is why they answered the way they did in verse 2.
Satan is no dummy he is not only trying to wreck unity
He is trying to slow the message of the gospel.
That is why at the close of this story,
After the attack has been escaped, Luke says this:
(7) “The word of God kept on spreading…”
Luke started with the problem of widows being overlooked
So to bring closure to his argument he should have ended by saying,
“So the widows got their food and the church settled down…”
But that is not what he said,
Because that was not the threat he was most concerned about.
Luke knew that this was an attack on the word of God being preached
And at the end of the day he is rejoicing
That the church had enough focus to settle their problems
Without limiting their message.
And that is why I call this section “The Focused Church at Jerusalem”
• They didn’t just see their own problems…
• They didn’t just see the immediate solution…
• They were focused not only on meeting needs, but on remaining faithful at the same time.
And that is a mark of a great church!
They did not lose their outward focus
Even when dealing with inward struggles, and many churches do.
It is easy, especially when there is conflict inside a church,
For a church to completely lose sight of their outward mission
And just sort of go into survival mode.
This church didn’t.
They settled their problem and they remained faithful.
And they did so by being focused.
So let me show you how this church’s focus
Carried them through this dangerous patch of water.
There are 5 things in our text tonight as we work through the story.
#1 THE COMMOTION
Acts 6:1
We already read this verse earlier to introduce the issue,
But you understand it.
Satan is crafty, if he can’t hold you back, he’s liable to push you forward in hopes that you fly past the mark.
And that is what he attempts here.
He has had no success keeping the church from growing,
It has grown in spite of everything he has tried.
Intimidation didn’t stop them.
Deception didn’t stop them.
Persecution didn’t stop them.
So now Satan attempts to use their growth against them.
“Now at this time while the disciples were increasing in number…”
The last recorded number of the church was in Acts 4:4
Acts 4:4 “But many of those who had heard the message believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.”
That was during Peter’s second sermon
And first arrest that just the men totaled 5,000.
That wasn’t counting women or children or youth.
And that doesn’t even take into account Acts 5.
Acts 5:14 “And all the more believers in the Lord, multitudes of men and women, were constantly added to their number,”
The point is that the church is exploding.
They went from 120 at Pentecost to
Probably somewhere around 20,000 at this point.
And we really couldn’t have been going for more than a few months.
Imagine if our church went from our current attendance to 20,000 in the next few months, do you suppose some problems would arise?
Satan thought so too.
And one did here.
“a complaint arose on the part of the Hellenistic Jews against the native Hebrews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily serving of food.”
What a perfect opportunity for division.
Take a ministry that requires man-power and money, like feeding widows.
And take a ministry that requires basic love for humanity.
And Satan found his place to attack.
“Hellenistic Jews” were those of Grecian influence.
Thanks to Antiochus Epiphanies and his attempts to eradicate Jewish culture,
Some Jews came out of Israel with a decisively Greek culture.
• They spoke Greek, not Hebrew
• They read the Septuagint, not the Hebrew Old Testament
• They were Greek in their culture and way of life. (considered worldly)
Pharisees actually called them “Second class Israelites”
On the other hand we had “native Hebrews”
• These were the old school traditionalists.
• They spoke Hebrew, read Hebrew and lived Hebrew
Not too hard for us to understand.
• Let me just ask you, do you think the church should sing more hymns or choruses?
• Do you think we should sing them with a full band or only a piano?
And instantly you get the idea of the division here.
And while that difference was being tolerated,
All it needed to erupt was a catalyst.
And that catalyst was some of the Hellenistic widows
Not getting their meals on wheels one day.
And people’s suspicions being what they are,
“I’ll bet those Hebrews did it on purpose!”
It was a division waiting to happen.
That was the commotion.
#2 THE CIRCUMSTANCES
Acts 6:2
Ultimately we find that it led to a church assembly.
It certainly didn’t take long until the commotion reached the ears of the apostles,
And I can almost hear it.
And not only does the commotion come
But the obvious solution in people’s minds.
They think the apostles need to take care of this personally.
And that is why the first words out of their mouth are, “It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables.”
And I absolutely love the apostle’s focus.
• They were stuck in a difficult place, and I know this place.
• They were caught between the desires of the people and the conviction
of their calling.
What was their calling?
Acts 1:8 “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”
The apostles were called to preach the gospel
What were the desires of the people?
A little less preaching and a little more ministry.
This is a tough road to walk.
When I first started preaching I had an older preacher come and tell me, “Rory, people will forgive a bad sermon, but they won’t forgive you not visiting them in the hospital.”
His advice was that as a pastor I need to make pastoral visits the priority,
Even if it causes my preaching to suffer.
And he is not at all alone in his thinking
And that is the pressure the apostles face,
But notice their focus and their resolve.
“It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables.”
• What are you too good to serve tables?
• Don’t you care about the widows?
And certainly the apostles did, but the issue was
They were called to preach the word of God.
If they didn’t preach, no one did.
They were the avenue through which God spoke,
And God’s word could not be neglected for anything.
It is a matter of priority.
HOW IMPORTANT IS IT THAT GOD’S WORD BE PRESENTED TO THE FLOCK?
They were not saying feeding the widows was not important, for it is.
James 1:27 “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”
In 1 Timothy Paul outlines in detail
The church’s obligation to care for widows.
Taking care of widows is important,
But not at the sacrifice of the word of God.
The Commotion, The Circumstances
#3 THE CONCLUSION
Acts 6:3-4
Here was the conclusion of the apostles.
The simple answer?
Get someone else.
Now it couldn’t be just anyone, they gave specific criteria these men needed to meet, but the answer was still “get someone else”
And they may sound harsh to some,
But in reality this is the church in some of her greatest beauty!
Romans 12:4-8 “For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.”
What Paul wrote there (also echoed in his letter to the Corinthians)
Is that the church is a body and that of many members.
And what Paul says there at the outset is huge.
“we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function…”
He goes on to say, “we have gifts that differ” and “each of us is to exercise them accordingly.”
And then gives the example of what he means.
And the idea is that if you have the gift,
Then use YOUR gift to the best of your ability.
• “if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith”
• “If service, in his serving”
• “he who teaches, in his teaching”
• “he who exhorts, in his exhortation”
• “he who gives, with liberality”
• “he who leads, with diligence”
• “he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness”
Now notice Paul did not say
• If you have the gift of prophecy then you need to neglect that and
instead go show mercy.
• If you have the gift of teaching put that aside and go start figuring out
how to give more.
• If you have the gift of giving ignore it and start preaching.
That would be foolish, that isn’t how the body is supposed to work.
And we can’t forget it is not men who selected their gift, but God.
1 Corinthians 12:11 “But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.”
It was God who selected us and God who distributed out the gifts.
And it is God who says go and fulfill that gift.
That is why what the apostles say makes absolutely perfect sense.
It wasn’t that they were above delivering food…
(There are days I’m sure that is what they would rather do)
It’s just that food wasn’t their calling, preaching the gospel was.
And that the risk of irritating people and making themselves unpopular
The apostles still chose to follow God’s calling and fulfill His mission.
So when the issue arose, they said, “get someone else”
And as we said they didn’t just want anyone…
“select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task.”
1) “from among you”
They had to be believers in the church
2) “men”
This position of leadership required the selection of men
3) “of good reputation”
They were going to handle money and food and have responsibility, they needed to be people that could be trusted
4) “full of the Spirit”
These needed to be Spirit-led men, not men of the flesh.
They needed to be men who served for the right reasons, not for their own glory or selfish gain.
5) “and of wisdom”
The idea being that they knew how to seek and trust God with a ministry that would require solving problems and dealing with people.
Trust me when I tell you if you are going to deal with people
You need God’s wisdom.
And if the congregation could find men that fit those qualities the apostles would “put [them] in charge of this task.”
And after putting them in charge:
(4) “But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”
And that of course is the flip-side.
Widows were important, but so was prayer and preaching,
Under this plan they both get fulfilled.
But it also speaks volumes to the expectation of a preacher.
Scripturally it is justifiable to withdraw from certain ministries
For the purpose of delivering God’s word.
But one can certainly say if you are going to take that exemption
You had better devote yourself to the calling.
Paul told Timothy:
1 Timothy 4:13-16 “Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching. Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you, which was bestowed on you through prophetic utterance with the laying on of hands by the presbytery. Take pains with these things; be absorbed in them, so that your progress will be evident to all. Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you.”
So the apostles were justified in not taking on this ministry,
But were even more expected to fulfill their previous one.
The Commotion, The Circumstances, The Conclusion
#4 THE COMMISSIONING
Acts 6:5-6
And this speaks to the seriousness of the job.
The congregation (in unity) accepted what the apostles had to say
And chose the new leaders.
And after these men were selected based upon their criteria,
They were specially commissioned.
(6) “And these they brought before the apostles; and after praying, they laid their hands on them.”
This was a passing of authority and charge of expectation.
To do this was one saying to another,
• “I extend my ministry through you.”
• “You are going to do what I cannot”
• “I am with you, I trust you, I send you, I grant you authority”
• “Go and do with my blessing”
It is a serious thing and comes with the weight of much expectation.
(This is why we do this at commissioning services for mission trips)
These men had a job to do
And they are being charged by the apostles to do it well.
And it fits perfectly.
We’ll do our job, you do yours, and the church will move forward.
What tremendous focus!
• No one ignored their spiritual gifts…
• No one ignored their calling…
• No one ignored preaching…
• No one ignored the widows…
The church operated like the church and all were blessed!
That is the nature of being focused.
One more thing
#5 THE CONFIRMATION
Acts 6:7
And the result?
“The word of God kept on spreading”
Luke was not as concerned about the widows being overlooked
As he was about the message of the church being silenced.
And since the solution came through the body fulfilling its role,
“the word” continued.
And Luke reminds us why that is important.
“and the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priest were becoming obedient to the faith.”
Now there is a hard sell.
If they accepted Christ as the Messiah and fulfillment of the Law
• They were out of a job
• They lost their prestige
• They lost their income
And yet even they believed.
WHY?
Because God’s word never returns void.
Now, aren’t we glad that the apostles didn’t quit preaching
At the request of the masses to make sure the widows were fed?
If they had verse 7 would have read something like this.
“The widows were fed and the division was quieted, but the church hit a stalemate and few converts were reached from this point on due to the lack of preaching taking place in Jerusalem.”
See, this church had focus.
The encouragement to us is simple.
1) Keep focus and follow the Spirit not the flesh; His solutions are better
2) Do what you are called and gifted to do
3) Don’t let inward division keep you from maintaining an outward focus
The early church was focused and as a result Satan lost again.
It was a rough patch of water, but they were guided safely through
Simply by remaining faithful to what God had called them to.
Ephesians 4:14-16 “As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.”
