Problems and Prosperity
Acts Series
Chuck Sligh
June 14, 2015
TEXT: Turn please in your Bibles to Acts 6.
INTRODUCTION
In our study of Acts we’ve seen how the church in Jerusalem grew from a small band of followers in the upper room to a large army of believers in a very short time.
Look at the progression of growth: Acts 2:41 tells us that 3000 were added to the church; Acts 4:4 tells us that 5000 men believed (apparently too many to count all their wives and kids as well); and Acts 5:14 simply tells us that “multitudes” of both men and women were added, the number being so great, they apparently just stopped counting.
It’s only natural that in the midst of such growth, problems and tensions should arise. In our text today in Acts 6, we’ll see the church in Jerusalem as it began to experience some growing pains, as all living, growing congregations inevitably do.
So let’s look at Acts 6 and see what happened:
I. WE SEE FIRST A PROBLEM AND ITS SOLUTION IN VERSES 1-3.
A problem arose in the church of Jerusalem – verse 1 – “And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration.”
There was a dissension arose between the “Grecians” and the “Hebrews.” Who were the Grecians and the Hebrews?
• The GRECIANS Jews whose ancestors had lived in different areas of Asia Minor following their captivity by the Greeks during the Greek Empire. Many later returned to live in Israel, the land of their ancestors, and when they did, they brought with them Greek education, culture and customs. They generally preferred to speak Greek—the universal language of that day—over Aramaic or Hebrew since they had grown up speaking Greek. Also, many of them had intermarried with the local people in the lands from which they came, so their spouses and offspring often were not always pure ethnic Jews—a big no-no in Jewish culture.
• The HEBREWS were those whose ancestors had been able to evade their captors and remain in Israel during the captivity by the Greeks. Most spoke the common language Aramaic, and some spoke Hebrew. Their customs had not been influenced by other cultures, and they especially scorned Greek culture because of its pagan influence. They prided themselves as being “pure and undefiled” Jews, and despised those who had intermarried with non-Jewish peoples.
Through the years there had been conflict and rivalry between these two groups. But among the Christians, these two groups were trying to put their differences and prejudices aside and to become one in Christ.
They’d done well up till then, but now some dormant mistrust began to resurface. The Grecians felt their widows were being discriminated against in the daily administration of food for widows who had no family to provide for them. In those days, before welfare and pensions, a widow with no immediate family was in a very precarious position, with no means of livelihood. Whether there was actual discrimination, or simply unintentional neglect due to the overwhelming numbers, is not known for sure.
Whatever the case, the apostles took SWIFT ACTION. – Look at verses 2-3 – “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. 3 Wherefore, 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.”
Their response was to IMMEDIATELY correct the problem! They didn’t just ignore the problem and hope it would go away. Folks, it’s never helpful to ignore a problem! Decisiveness to tackle our problems head on without delay is the wisest course.
So what was their solution? In effect, they instituted the office of the deacon in the local church. And that leads us to an important principle of the Word of God…
II. THAT IS THE PRINCIPLE OF SHARED SERVICE – Verse 3
Up to this time the burdens of ministry were concentrated in the hands of the apostles. But folks, God’s plan is the SHARED distribution of responsibilities and ministries.
God gives wonderful gifts and talents to His children. These special gifts and abilities need to be used and developed. The church that encourages its members to use their gifts will be ENRICHED! The church that leaves all the work of the ministry in the hands of the pastors of the church will be IMPOVERISHED and never reach its full potential for God.
Look with me at a very important passage of Scripture along these lines – Ephesians 4:11-15 – “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: 14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.”
Do you see it?—Verses 11-12 teach that God gave gifted leaders to the church to “perfect” or equip God’s people so that THEY can do the work of the ministry. What happens when a church does this?—According to verses 13-14, shared service produces unity, faith, knowledge, and spiritual maturity.
Brethren, every one of you needs a place of service for the Lord in your local church.
• It may be as a weekly Sunday School teacher, or as a K.I.D.S. Church teacher once a month, or to volunteer once a month in the nursery, or as an usher, or to help keep the church grounds and building maintained, or to work in the sound room, or to clean the church, or to help with potlucks and socials, or hosting or leading a homegroup, or teaching a Bible study or to be on the worship team.
• Of course, ALL of us should share our faith continually and invite people to church to experience God’s love here and to hear the preaching of God’s Word.
• And ALL of us should tithe to support God’s work here and give to missions to support missionaries abroad.
I mean, there are multitudes of ways to share the load and have a part in ministry here at Grace Baptist Church.
Have you plugged in where God wants you to serve yet? Have you found your place to serve and contribute to the welfare of the body. EVERYONE needs a place to grow and develop and enrich the local church.
We’ve seen the problem and its solution and second, the principle of shared service…
III. THIRD, CONSIDER WITH ME THE KIND OF CHARACTER WE SHOULD STRIVE FOR –
Look again at verse 3 – “Wherefore, 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.”
Everyone should be sharing in the service for God and the local church, but the office of the deacon here established is a special calling that demands special qualifications. Every person here this morning should strive for these things in their lives. I believe the qualities required of a deacon here and in 1 Timothy 3 are the standard of godly character and behavior for EVERY believer—man or woman.
Look at the qualifications of those chosen as deacons in the Jerusalem Church in verse 3:
• First, they had to be men of honest report.
This means men with a good reputation. A deacon’s testimony should be above reproach. His behavior both inside and outside the church should reflect Christ so that no one has reason to doubt his commitment to the Lord. In all aspects of life, especially in his home life, as 1 Timothy 3 clearly points out, a deacon should be a good example to others.
I’ve seen churches where deacons were chosen on the basis of their popularity, or their standing in the community, or how much they earn. None of these are valid qualifications for a deacon. The first qualification is that they should HAVE A GOOD TESTIMONY.
• Second, they had to be full of the Holy Spirit.
The Bible tells us in Ephesians 5:18 – “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit.”
Illus. – When I pastored a church in England, one day I struck up a conversation with a woman in a charity shop, kind of like a Goodwill store. She asked what I was doing living in England, and I told her I pastored the Bicester Baptist Church.
She said, “Oh I know your church. My friend goes to your church.”
I invited her to come and visit with us sometime and she said, “No thank you. I go to a Spirit-filled church in Oxford.”
She was obviously confused about what the filling of the Holy Spirit is. What she meant was that we did not speak in tongues, have healing services, and allow various things go on thought by these groups to be manifestations from the Holy Spirit.
Folks, we DO believe is the filling of the Holy Spirit. In fact, we believe that the ONLY path to true spirituality is through being a Spirit-filled believer.
The question is—what exactly IS the “filling of the Holy Spirit.” Being filled with the Spirit has nothing to do with these things. Neither does it have to do with what some mistakenly referr to as the baptism of the Spirit.
The Bible teaches that ALL believers of the church age were baptized with the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ on the day of Pentecost and believers experience the results of that the moment the he or she believes on Jesus Christ. The baptism with the Spirit is automatic and non-voluntary.
Being Spirit-filled, on the other hand, is something totally different Being Spirit-filled simply means BEING SPIRIT-CONTROLLED. Spirit-filled people are those who consistently yield themselves to the Holy Spirit so that they manifest in their lives certain spiritual qualities known as the “fruit of the Spirit,”—which are listed for us in Galatians 5:22-23: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, meekness, faith, temperance (or self-control).
When our text says these men were full of the Holy Ghost, it simply means they were controlled by the Spirit, and full of the fruit of the Spirit in their lives. And brethren, that’s how it ought to be in our lives. God help us to daily, moment-by-moment yield ourselves to the Holy Spirit and reveal the fruit of the Spirit in our lives!
• Third, the deacons in Acts 6 had to be full of wisdom
Being filled with the Holy Spirit deals with God’s CHARACTER in our lives, whereas being filled with wisdom refers to a capacity for godly insight, judgment and spiritual decision-making skills. It’s the skill of knowing what God would want you to do or say or think in a given situation.
But do you want to know where this skill comes from?—It comes by an intimate knowledge of God through His Word. It comes by being a learner and a student of the Word of God.
Wisdom can be defined as “seeing life from God’s perspective.” But the only way we can get God’s perspective is through His Word. How can you become “full of wisdom”?—By saturating your mind with the Word of God. Then as you face life’s situations and problems, you’ll have a reservoir of biblical knowledge to apply to those situations.
IV. CONSIDER LASTLY PROSPERITY THROUGH BIBLICAL PROBLEM SOLVING – Verses 5-7
Note the names of the deacons chosen in verse 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.”
Now I want you to see something wonderful here—all these men have Greek names. In fact, one of them was not even a Jew by birth. –Nicolas was a proselyte—a person who was not ethnically a Jew, but a Gentile convert to Judaism.
So although almost all of the congregation were Hebrews, ALL of the deacons were Grecians, and one was a Gentile convert to Judaism. This is really quite remarkable. It would be like a U.S. church in the deep South in 1970’s having a majority membership of whites and a minority of blacks, with the blacks complaining of discrimination, and to solve the problem, the whole church—without hesitation—appointing an all-black board of deacons, and one from Africa! This shows that the church of Jerusalem was not out to please themselves, but the Lord most of all, and one another secondarily, which brought unity and love.
Because this church followed God’s way of handling problems—IMMEDIATELY, with a desire to meet the needs of OTHERS—God brought increased power and growth to the church at Jerusalem. – Look at verse 7 – “And the word of God increased [it was preached freely]; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly [all the other verses we read earlier about the growth of this church spoke of ADDITION to the kingdom of God; now we see growth by MULTIPICATION]; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.”
Not only was there power and growth, but fellowship was restored among God’s people, more people were able to share in ministry; and the apostles were freed up to spend more time in the Word and in prayer.
CONCLUSION
Now, how can we profit from this story in the book of Acts? Let me close by asking you two questions of personal application—
• First, are you willing to be involved in God’s work instead of leaving it all to the pastor?
By getting involved, the work of one person can be multiplied many times over. In so doing you enrich yourself, as well as minister to the whole body.
• And let me ask you this as well—are you modeling your life so that God can use you?
All of you should strive to be the kind of person these deacons were. You can do it by building a godly reputation through your life—a life of honesty, integrity, purity, fairness, and concern for others. You can do it by surrendering daily to the Holy Spirit’s control and showing in your life love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, meekness and self-control. And you can do it by saturating yourself in God’s Word so that you can have wisdom and God’s mind on things as you go through your life.
May that kind of godliness characterize every member of Grace Baptist Church.
If there’s shared responsibility and godly, Spirit-filled, Bible-wise members and leaders in GBC, then we too will see God’s Word increase and our numbers multiplied.
