Praying through Acts-Chapter 6
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Intro:
7 Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.
Tonight, we are on our sixth week of praying through the book of Acts. We will look at Acts 6.
Every chapter in Acts has something remarkable God did in and through His people. Throughout Acts, we read that people:
Acts 1 - promise of power
Acts 2 - received power
Acts 3 - exercised power
Acts 4 - prayed for more power
Acts 5- people lied and God displayed His power
It is hard to comprehend how incredibly unconventional and overwhelmingly powerful the New Testament church was.
Jesus promised that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon them and they would be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria.
They took Jerusalem by storm. But here is the interesting part about what they did. The early church, from Acts 1-9, considered itself Jewish.
That is hard to wrap my mind around, because in 2021, there are Jews and Christians, they are two separate groups. We believe in the same God, but Jewish people do not accept Jesus as the Messiah.
We read both read the Old Testament, but they read it believing it is unfulfilled, while we read it light of Jesus’s work.
But the early church was different. They considered themselves Jewish men and women who accepted Jesus as the Messiah. They believed Jesus was the fulfillment of Old Testament Prophecy.
It would be easy to assume then that Jews and followers of Christ could coexist in harmony, but that did not happen. The reason being:
Many of the Jews had a religious experience, they knew about God, but they did not really know Him.
The followers of Christ had a spiritual experience, a new birth, where they met and knew the God, because of their faith in Jesus, through the work of the Holy Spirit.
Every day, more and more people would come to faith in Jesus Christ. When the did, the Holy Spirit would take residence in them, and their life was forever changed.
Why was this a problem?
Satan is okay if people are religious, but he cannot tolerate when people get serious about their relationship with the Lord.
So the enemy brought conflict within and without of the church. However, nothing could stop the church.
Jesus promised Peter and the Apostles:
18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
The church could move forward in power and confidence, regardless of the conflict that the enemy would attempt to bring against God’s people.
Acts 6 highlights two conflicts that occured. Through our study we will see that though conflict is unavoidable,
God can use conflict to help us grow in Christ and become more dependent on the Spirit.
1. Sensitivity to the Holy Spirit
1. Sensitivity to the Holy Spirit
1 Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists, because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution.
2 Then the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, “It is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables.
3 Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business;
4 but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”
We might think Ananias and Sapphira was a rough conflict, but in that instance, the church united around Peter and the way God use him.
The first widespread conflict in the church came over food, believe it or not. There was a disagreement of how they fed the widows, but it goes deeper than that.
To understand the difference between the Hebrews and the Hellenists, we need to go back about five hundred years.
When the nation of Judah fell to the Babylonians, the enemies ransacked Jerusalem, and took out the healthiest and wealthiest.
Some of these were Daniel and the Hebrews boys. God’s people were in captivity for seventy years, then God released them. By this point, the Persians ruled over Jerusalem and the Jewish people.
But the king, Darius, allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem to rebuild their temple. Some of those involved were Haggai, Zechariah, or Nehemiah.
So many Jews returned to Jerusalem and repopulated the city and enjoyed their life.But there were some Jews who stayed in the foreign lands and did not return to Jerusalem, think of Esther and Mordecai.
As time went on, the Jewish population in Jerusalem grew. But the Jewish population around the world also grew. That is why on the day of Pentecost, there were so many different languages spoken to Jewish believers.
But here is what would happen. Though not every one lived in Jerusalem, Jewish people still held their capital city close to their hearts.
So much so that many would retire to Jerusalem. Those who retired to Jerusalem were called Hellenists, or Greek-speaking Jews.
They believed like everyone in Jerusalem, but they were not from Jerusalem. Overtime, as often happens, the husbands would pass first and the wives were left.
The law was very particular in how they took care of widows. So the church, would feed and distribute food to the widows. And here rose the conflict.
The Hellenists, those from out of town who moved to Jerusalem, were often wealthy, that is how they afforded to move. But the Hebrews, those who were from Jerusalem, were not as financially independent.
So the stage is set for conflict. When the Hebrews widows went to get food, they rubbed shoulders with the Hellenist widows.
Hebrews widows— lived in the same town where Jesus walked
Hellenist widows— likely knew about Jesus but probably did not see Him personally
Hebrews widows could easily think they were spiritually superior
Hellenist widows could have felt looked down on or mistreated
Whatever the root cause of the problem, it came to a head when they distributed the food. But notice how the Apostles handled the conflict.
They did not take sides or get consumed with the grievances. Why? they had more important things to do. The knew the enemy would like to distract them from what is most important— prayer.
So they explained, we will have seven men who have:
good reputation
full of the Holy Spirit
and wise
They will help us shoulder the load so that we might stay focused
on prayer and preaching.
The Lord selected seven men and the apostles prayed for the. And what happened?
7 Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.
God’s word spread so much that even Jewish priests came to faith in Jesus Christ.
The enemy sends conflict within a church or a believer to discourage or distract. But in times of conflict, we must become even more faithful to God in prayer.
Praying in times of conflict gives God the chance to lead us and guide us to a healthy and peaceful resolution.
2. Stability through the Holy Spirit
2. Stability through the Holy Spirit
8 And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among the people.
9 Then there arose some from what is called the Synagogue of the Freedmen (Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and those from Cilicia and Asia), disputing with Stephen.
10 And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke.
Remember what I said, as the church committed to pray and depend on the Spirit’s power, the enemy pulled out all the stops to create problems for the church.
When conflict within the church did not work, he sent conflict from outside of the church.
One of the first deacons of the church was Stephen. He was full of faith and the Holy Spirit. So as God used him, the enemy wanted to stop him.
As I explained last week, the enemy works through willing participants. The enemy wants problems in a church, but he needs someone to start them.
There were some Jewish men, who had a religion, but did not have an experience with God and they caused trouble for Stephen.
But Stephen was a stable person. His stability came through his diligence to pray and depend on the Spirit. Even though the enemy tried to stop him, even his enemies could not resist the wisdom he had.
11 Then they secretly induced men to say, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.”
12 And they stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes; and they came upon him, seized him, and brought him to the council.
13 They also set up false witnesses who said, “This man does not cease to speak blasphemous words against this holy place and the law;
14 for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs which Moses delivered to us.”
So they conspired and went to the religious leaders, those who knew about God, but didn’t know Him personally. And they lied about Stephen.
Why did they have to lie?
Because they could find no just cause to persecute him. He was numbered among those that God used to see
the lame walk
the blind see
the dead raised
people speaking in tongues
Stephen’s wisdom helped him not get entangled in small disputes that were not important. So they had to make an accusation that would get people’s attention.
They said that Stephen lied about God’s law and the Temple. Was this true? Absolutely not, but the enemy is not interested in truth. He is a liar and the father of all lies.
But here is what I want us to notice about conflict from outside, if we will stay prayerful, we will become stable, unable to go back and forth in our walk with God.
Look at what they noticed about Stephen:
15 And all who sat in the council, looking steadfastly at him, saw his face as the face of an angel.
He did not appear worried or concerned. In fact, he looked like an angel. He was completely at peace as he depended on God in this conflict.
When we commit to pray, God will stabilize us by giving us faith and power through the Holy Spirit.
Close:
As followers of Christ, conflict will arise from within and without. The focus is not on the conflict but how we respond to the conflict.
It reminds me of the song I heard in church as a child:
So amid the conflict, whether great or small, do not be discouraged God is over all, count your many blessings, angels will attend, help and comfort give you to your journey’s end.
Conflict will come, the question is will we allow God to grow us and form us through the conflict.
Paul explained it this way:
15 For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.
16 If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good.
17 But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.
18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.
19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.
20 Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.
21 I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good.
22 For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man.
23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
24 O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
25 I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.
1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
In times of internal or external conflict, we trust God and believe that He will deliver us and keep us.
For conflict and difficulties give God an opportunity to help us become more sensitive to the Holy Spirit and more stable through the Holy Spirit.