Verse 1. "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."
This translation is correct, by the way, for these "Hellenistic"
people were not Gentiles, but actually were non-Palestinian Jews, who
spoke mostly Greek. They were upset because the Palestinian, mostly
Aramaic speaking Jews, received favored treatment. The widows of the
one group were not getting as much food as their Judean counterparts.
Actually, the hardened hearts of one group was encountering the hardness
of the other. It is really the hardness of our hearts that creates
division – the issues are often secondary.
The church, unbelievably, has been splitting into parts, for
hundreds, thousands of years. God’s ultimate intention is for us to be
"one" (John 17) and we will be. But the
divisions we experience, are made to have good outcomes, through the
power of God. When we divide over small issues, it does show we are
sinners, revealing our need for repentance and revival in the church.
In our separation, however, we are protected from the evil one, who
has been entering our churches (and subverting them) for hundreds of
years. He gradually takes over, and when revival breaks out (as it
must, for God will not always allow us to remain shallow and weak), it
often happens OUTSIDE of the established church. (God is not bound by
walls and buildings, but lives in the hearts of men and women).
Verse 2. "And the twelve summoned the congregation of the disciples
and said, ‘It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in
order to serve tables."
Now, it’s obvious that people need FOOD, for without it, we die!
Every once in awhile, we have heard of an Irishman, in a British prison,
who protests by refusing to eat food. If the "hunger strike" continues,
eventually they often go blind, experience other horrible symptoms, and
die! Similarly, in places like the Sudan, where Christians are
routinely starved at the order of the government, we see the
necessity of physical food.
Yet, there is something even more important in our lives, for not
only must our temporal body receive sustenance, but so must we feed our
soul, our spirit, the "heart" of man. We studied the gift of teaching
(in 1st Corinthians 12 and 14), and it is not necessarily
among the "highest" gifts but is essential for true growth in the body
of Christ. An important part of this gift, is PREPARATION. The teacher
must be as full of the Holy Spirit in preparation, as in the teaching
itself. The apostles were correct that those who are called to this
function must predominantly spend their time in prayer and study,
followed by the teaching of the Word of God.
Verse 3. "But select from among you, brethren, seven men of good
reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge
of this task."
Now, there are those who are called to serve in areas other than
teaching (the teacher is a servant, and so are all who "lead" in the
body of Christ). One of the signs you are called in such an area, is
that you will experience joy in the serving. I think we often tend to
pick the wrong people in ministry positions and fail to recognize that
"serving tables" is perhaps the highest ministry of all.
Jesus did say "whoever desires to become great
among you, let him be your servant; and whoever desires to be first
among you, let him be your slave" (Matthew 20:26-27). God is
carefully selecting those who will have positions of responsibility in
eternity, and He is not considering our outward circumstances of this
life – He looks at the heart, and He is choosing those who love to
serve. Also, as we shall see, this "waiting on tables" was to be done
by men of high qualifications, with excellent abilities, given by God.
These seven were to be the best of the best.
Verse 4. "But we will devote ourselves to prayer, and to the
ministry of the word."
In this verse, we see the model for ministers of every generation.
Those who are called to teach must spend themselves in continuous
prayer, in preparation to teach, and in the teaching of the Word of God.
This does NOT mean we neglect our wives and children, and if we have
a job, we are to work diligently in it, serving God in all that we do.
Husbands are to "love their wives", which includes that we give
attention to them. "Servants" (workers) are to be obedient to those
who are your masters…in sincerity of heart, as to Christ." These quotes
are from Ephesians Chapter 6.
To the extent we are able, we give ourselves to prayer, preparation,
and presentation of the Word of God, and we additionally remember that
marriage, our children, and our work, are also ordained by God. We
serve Him by doing well in ALL that we do. And when we fall short in
strength, we look to Him who strengthens His people.
Verse 5. "And the statement found approval with the whole
congregation; and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the
Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas and
Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch."
Not much is known about five out of the seven, named in this verse,
though there has been much written about who they probably were.
But we do know quite a lot about Stephen (we will encounter him in
depth, very soon), and about Phillip, who is mentioned in Scripture a
number of times. Phillip was an evangelist, had four daughters who were
prophetesses (Acts 21:8-9); he preached in Samaria (Acts 8:5-13), led
the Ethiopian eunuch to Christ (Acts 8:26-40), and was visited by Paul
(Acts 21:8).
These were solid men of God, filled with the Holy Spirit. THESE are
the kind of men we need, to do the work of God in our Churches.
In a way, pastors kind of "shoot themselves in the foot" when they
deviate from teaching the Word of God, as directed by the Holy Spirit.
Non-Biblical sermons may be entertaining, but are like sugar treats – a
steady diet of them weakens the body and produce people who do not
effectively serve.
Verse 6. "And these they brought before the
apostles; and after praying, they laid their hands on them."
This is a good pattern, that ministers of all kinds (and by the way,
even the maintenance man in the church is a minister, because he serves
the body) be brought to the elders. Too often the clerk in the Church
office is hired for clerical skills, rather than for success in
ministry. As Roger Cochran has stated, the Church is not a business and
should not be run like one. The model is for the elders to PRAY,
followed by the laying on of hands, signifying the Lord’s choice of this
person.
Note that the laying on of hands does not actually do anything. It
is a symbol that, in prayer, we have discovered God’s will for those who
are being prayed for. It is God that heals, and God Who ordains, and
our hands symbolize the True Power we look to in Him.
Verse 7. "And the word of God kept on spreading; and the number of
the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great
many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith."
The word "disciple" translates "learner" and it carries the meaning
of one who gives up everything to devote himself to the learning of a
great truth he has discovered. These were not people who just
worshipped God on some special day, and maybe also on Wednesday night,
but they essentially gave up everything for the gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ.
I’m often surprised at the number of people who make their living
from the Bible (professor, linguist, author, etc.) but don’t truly
believe in it. Often the person is a "higher critic" who may
believe Jesus Christ existed (or maybe not) but has decided he knows
better than Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Peter, and the rest, what Jesus
actually said. The same was true about many of the religious leaders of
Israel - They lived off the Word of God but did not believe in Him or in
His Word.
From that perspective, it is both surprising and pleasing that "a
great many of the priests" were "becoming obedient to the faith" (NKJV).
For a priest in that setting to believe, was to be in real danger of
losing his job, and possibly his life. We have not been sufficiently
tested in our country, in our time; for true faith often exists in its
most beautiful form, in the midst of great difficulty.
As in this verse, the Word of God, when spread, will multiply
wondrously in the lives, minds and hearts of those who receive.
Verse 8. "And Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great
wonders and signs among the people."
This is the kind of man chosen to "serve tables" (verse 2). There is
no "high" or "low" office in the body of Christ. From the one who
sweeps the floor to another who delivers the sermon (all too often, in
many churches, they are the same man), God delights (and rewards) those
who serve His people.
This Stephen (Verse 5) is certainly interesting. He did wonders,
performed miracles in the power of God, and yet God did not select him
as one of the twelve, as an apostle. He was chosen to "serve tables"
(see Verse 2). We might think, why not him, instead of maybe -
Thomas? (Who seemed to doubt a lot). He would have seemed appropriate
- but that’s our problem, isn’t it?
We want to see the "Leader" in a great position of power, which means
we need an "understanding adjustment", in order to see things as God
perceives them. From a Philippians 2 viewpoint, Jesus is revealed as
the One who became Servant of all. He served you so utterly, that He
even died, for you and for me. From that perspective, to "serve tables"
is a high calling, and we should take the role with joy, that God
offers. He knows what is right for you - and for the world.
Verse 9. "But some men from what was called the Synagogue of the
Freedmen, including both Cyrenians and Alexandrians, and some from
Cilicia and Asia, rose up and argued with Stephen.
A group of Jews from outlying provinces, is described here - they
called themselves the "Society of Freedmen", though from the revelations
about them, they knew nothing of freedom, at all. To be free is love
and serve our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
There are always people who band together (like these "freedmen"),
for the purpose of harming somebody else. We spend too much time being
against each other (when we should be FOR Christ). How is our
position against abortion going to be believable to others, if we have
no love? Why would anyone listen to us, if our "Christianity" is based
on doctrines alone, rather than the living Christ? Too often we take
positions on issues such as the death penalty, when we should
simply visit the prisoners and win them to Christ in God.
Don’t miss this point, by the way. To kill an unborn child is to
murder an innocent human being. The command of God is to LOVE others,
not murder them. Therefore, we protect the lives of our born and
unborn little ones. On the same ground of love, we NEVER would harm or
threaten a worker in an abortion clinic. Prayer is greater than
weapons, and love is infinite, whereas hatred will be done away.
Verse 10. "And yet they were unable to cope with the wisdom and the
Spirit with which he was speaking."
The wisdom of Stephen was not his own. Like Solomon’s, "his" wisdom
emanated through him from the Holy Spirit of God. There is no limit to
the wisdom of God, but the cleverness of men will fail. We shall see in
a few verses, that the trickery of men such as these, would result in
the death of Stephen. But "death" with God, always brings life, not
only for Stephen, but also for others.
It was acts like the death of Stephen, that led Paul to understand he
was not a protector of the Jews, but a persecutor of God’s people. Paul
found mercy in the death of this Godly man, and others like him (1
Timothy 1:13,16). We must speak by our lives through the Spirit, and
not through the flesh at all.
Verse 11. "Then they secretly induced men to say, ‘We have heard him
speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.’"
This is strongly reminiscent of Ahab and Jezebel’s treatment of
Naboth, in 1st Kings, chapter 21. Ahab was petulant, because he wanted
Naboth’s vineyard and couldn’t have it. He complained to his wife, who
pretended to honor Naboth, but also hired "scoundrels" to denounce him.
He was falsely accused of blasphemy, and was stoned to death, after
which, on Jezebel’s urging, Ahab went and took the vineyard.
God sees our hearts. He knows our intentions. Like Ahab and
Jezebel; like these "Freedmen", God knows the secret plans we make,
behind locked doors, and beneath the locked "doors" of our hearts. We
might as well give up any pretense in life, for all that is important is
GOD’s perception of who we are, and He KNOWS our hearts.
Verse 12. "And they stirred up the people, the elders and the
scribes, and they came up to him and dragged him away and brought him
before the Council."
There are ways to stir up a crowd. I remember speech (and
homiletics) classes in college, where we learned methods which
tend to inflame the hearts of those who hear. Unfortunately, such
techniques can be used for good or bad, and all of them
fall short of the glory of God. If people are to be roused by our
words, it must be for the purposes of God, and not our own.
Here, these "Freedmen" (Verse 9), had what they may have thought was
a "good" cause, and used circumstances to stir up the people. Because
of their actions, a good man was arrested and placed into a lot of
trouble (from the human perspective - God, of course, was also at work,
here).
Verse 13. "And they put forward false witnesses who said, ‘This man
incessantly speaks against this holy place and the Law;"
They would have been deeply offended, if we could go back there and
accuse them of being just like Ahab and Jezebel (Verse 11), but that is
the truth. No good Jew would want any kinship with Ahab, just like the
Germans disavowed their leaders, after World War II. Yet it is true -
these men were attacking a Godly man, and doing it with very poor
motives. We need to look at our actions, listen to our words, and most
of all, we need to pray; a lot, before we ever act
against another person.
There are times to act against others, but this was not it. When we
pray, in circumstances such as these, we discover when we are wrong.
Sometimes, we are right, and then in prayer we seek the support
of Almighty God, for it is never right to go it alone. These men were
wrong, in every possible way.
Verse 14. "for we have heard him say that *this Nazarene, Jesus,
will destroy this place and alter the customs which Moses handed down to
us."
This is why we like our doctrines so much. They are familiar, like a
certain kind of music we grew up with. We like familiar customs and
don’t like it when others seem to get close to our "comfort zone". They
were using "half truths" against Stephen, against God. As we shall see
from Stephen’s words in Chapter 7, the people, and their leaders, had
turned far from the teachings of Moses, simply embracing religion only,
without the power of God.
Yes, Moses introduced law to the people, and the law is very
important, for it is "a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ" (Galatians
3:23-25). Moses was actually a man of great faith (Hebrews
11:27-29). "By faith he left Egypt; by faith he kept the
Passover…By faith he went through the Red Sea" and so on. To
really be like Moses, you must be a person of faith in God.
Verse 15. "And fixing their gaze on him, all who were sitting in the
Council saw his face like the face of an angel."
Stephen was innocent. He had "a face like an angel." In our day, we
see young boys in a courtroom, with "angelic" faces, who are accused,
but also they are often guilty, these days, of murdering others. Not so
with Stephen. His face was open to his soul, wherein lived the Holy
Spirit of God. Guilt leaves its mark, and so does innocence. The
children in court look innocent because they are young. When we are
"born anew" in Christ, His very Holy Spirit moves into the center of our
being, and starts changing us into the likeness of God. People will
see Him in us, and they will either react like these religious leaders,
or they will want Him, too. When we really belong to God, there is no
middle ground.
Ron
Beckham, Pastor
Friday Study Ministries
www.fridaystudy.org
Ron@fridaystudy.org
