Acts 6:1-7

The Complaint

The Choosing

The Compliance

Introduction

The incident that grew the need for Deacons

The Complaint

“Murmuring/Muttering”

Philippians 2:14 “Do all things without grumbling or disputing;”

1 Peter 4:9 “Be hospitable to one another without complaint.”

Seems as if this complaint was against the APOSTLES, as they were in charge of the contribution and distribution of funds

The perfect unity has now been put in jeopardy

With rapid increase can come problems

Widows were being neglected

Hellenists (Grecian Jews)… foreign birth & education

Hebrews… pure Jewish by lineage & language

These widows that were nearly strangers were the first to be overlooked

1 Timothy 5:3 “Honor widows who are widows indeed;”

Are there members that we overlook? Are there acts of service that we neglect? There is no disctinction in God’s eyes. Did Jesus not heal the most despised and rejected in His day? Did He not die for the outcast?

The Choosing

The twelve summon, evaluate, instruct, and inform.

1. When a problem arises, Matthew 18 is the solution. However, this problem was well-known by everyone. So everyone is summoned to address it.

2. The twelve evaluate that their devotion to the word should not be hindered. Is serving food to widows wrong? No, but consider the mission and ministry of the apostles. They had been immersed in power, filled with the Spirit to speak the divine truth about Jesus. They were eye-witnesses, they saw the risen Lord and heard all His teachings. It was they who were commissioned directly in Matthew 28. So they evaluated the cost, and in the Spirit, they chose 7 men.

3. The instruction was simple, yet direct. Choose 7 men. Men with good reputation, full of the Spirit, full of wisdom, capable to handle the task.

4. Lastly, they inform. The apostles were devoted to just what that title “apostle” designates, to be sent out; to pray and minister according to the word of God.

The 3 qualifications shouldn’t escape our notice… indicate the kind of men to be office-bearers in the church.

Men of good report

Full of the Spirit

Full of wisdom

How we should ever strive to be remembered in this way; not to glory in ourself, but to glory in God to the point where others are infected by the faith we practice.

The twelve were determined to continue in prayer

How much more should we pray today for the church?

The title of the office isn’t given

But the Greek word for “serving” or “ministration” used in verse 1 is twice rendered in 1 Timothy 3, “serve as deacons”

The men chosen all had Grecian names

The Compliance

3 things are mentioned to show the progress of the Church:

1. The Word of God increased

2. The number of the disciples multiplied

3. A great many of the priests were obedient to the faith

The word spread because they were devoted to it

“The priests were becoming obedient to the faith” implies that there is something in the faith to be obeyed

J.W. McGarvey “This obedience is rendered, not by believing; for that is to exercise the faith, not to obey it: but faith in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, demands of us a course of life in accordance to that which we believe; and to follow this course is to obey the faith by yielding to its demands”

Are there members we overlook?

Is there a way you can serve?

Are there ways we can be more unified in practicalit? Yes

but in Christ we are perfectly united