God's Servants

MAY 15, 2022 STUDY NOTES ACTS 6:2-7 BIBLE TEACHER: CLIFTON JONES GOD’S SERVANTS INTRODUCTION The early church in Jerusalem had a problem within their ministry, Act 6:1 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. It was a good problem because it was a numerical growth problem as-a result of ministry There was no intentional neglect of ministry, the need was a more established organized ministry Which would involve more Christians serving God through designated ministry There was not enough time for church leadership to fulfill the church’s daily ministry It was time for church members to be involved in the daily ministry of the church According to scripture, every Christian is gifted to serve God (1 Corinthians 12; 1 Peter 4:10) All who are saved are to be involved in ministry, all-of the saved are to be servants of God Act 6:2 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. The 12, the Apostles who were leading the church and ministering to the needs of the widows Called the multitude of the disciples unto them, the multitude refers to the church congregation The congregation was made up of “disciples” those who were saved and following Jesus All “disciples” are to be involved in daily service for Christ if the church is going to grow The Apostles called the church together to share their present problem of ministry The answer to the problem was not the Apostles neglecting their ministry “It is not reason that we should leave the word of God” It would not be right for the Apostles to “leave the Word of God” Referring to their study of God’s Word and then teaching the Word of God to others That would be a mistake, they would be neglecting their calling from God (verse 4) Ministry is not neglecting one work of God in-order to meet the needs in another work of God The Apostles could not neglect the ministry of the Word of God to “serve tables” “Serving tables” was a ministry of serving those in need of material goods It involved collecting the money and items donated by the church and ministering to the needy The Apostles were not separating themselves from the membership of the Church They were not elevating themselves above the Church membership The Apostles were not telling the Church that one ministry was more important than another There is nothing here that indicates church leadership is more important than church membership The point is the importance of every ministry, no ministry is to be overlooked or neglected Every member of the church is to be involved in daily ministry for the Lord The Church must have Spirit-filled leadership and Spirit-filled membership to fulfill its ministry Act 6:3 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. Wherefore, brethren, the brethren are the answer to the need within the ministry of the church More brethren within the church must become involved in ministering to those in need The Apostles specified the number of servants to be selected and presented their qualifications “Men of honest report,” men with a good reputation, loved and respected by others Page 1 of 5 Men of personal integrity and unblemished character, men who are honest and can be trusted “Full of the Holy Ghost,” not only a Good Man, but also a Godly Man and a Gifted Man Leadership of the Spirit is that which must be their normal lifestyle, not that which is occasional The life of these men must be a daily demonstration of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) They must be men who are able to apply Spiritual Truth to the daily walk of life That is known as “wisdom,” not worldly wisdom, but spiritual wisdom, that which is of God There is a special wisdom that can only come from God, and it comes through the Holy Spirit God’s wisdom comes through the Spirit and works with the power of the Spirit (1 Cor 2:1-7; 13) James tells us why men who are going to minister must be filled with the “Wisdom of God,” Jas 3:17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. Godly wisdom comes through our knowledge of Jesus Christ, Eph 1:17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: Revelation in the knowledge of Him comes from the study of God’s Word To be filled with the Spirit and God’s wisdom is to consider life from the viewpoint of God It means you will hear with the ears of God, see with the eyes of God, think with the mind of God You will feel with the heart of God and speak the Word of God, doing what God wants done These men must be able to handle the problems of life by applying the truths of God Wisdom begins with God, believes that God is the answer, understands and accepts God’s answer These seven selected qualified men would be given a position in church leadership Whom we may appoint over this business, they were to be put in a position of responsibility Their responsibility was to “serve tables,” a ministry of the church, Rom 12:13 Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality. Ministry that all Christians are to be involved in but there must be designated church leaders These seven are often referred to as the first “deacons” identified in scripture But they are not specifically called “deacons” in this passage But it seems to be certain that the office of the deacon grew out of this occasion The similarity of the deacon’s ministry can certainly be seen (1 Timothy 3:8-13) For the local church to fulfill its ministry there must be designated leadership Act 6:4 But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word. The meaning of “but we will give ourselves,” is we will devote ourselves, a steadfast effort “Continually” is the difference between the Apostles and the seven men selected All should pray, all should study the Word, all should share the Word with others All should minister to others through the Word and prayer, we are all “God’s Servants” “Continually” identifies a calling of God for a designated area of ministry Which is not the calling of all, see the spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12:27-31) The Apostles would devote themselves wholeheartedly to “prayer,” for their ministry Prayer is the number one preparation for any-and all ministry, for all “God’s Servants” There is nothing more important than prayer for “the ministry of the Word” The word “ministry” in verse 4 is the same word translated “ministration” in verse 1 Both ministries are of God, the “ministry of the Word” and the ministry of “serving tables” God has called men to perform both ministries God called the Apostles for the “ministry of the Word,” and the 7 were called to “serve tables” One ministry is not superior over the other, both are important to the ministry of the church They are both ways of serving God and ministering to His people Both require the same qualifications, spiritual maturity, both require being filled with the Spirit Today the “ministry” is too often limited to the profession of the preacher Page 2 of 5 Today when people speak of the “ministry” they are talking about the job of the “preacher” When a man is called to preach, we say that he has been “called into the ministry” Preachers who have accepted a church as pastor have “entered the ministry” and are ordained We must understand that all Christians have been “called into the ministry” To pastor a church is not the only ministry of the church, all Christians are to “enter the ministry” All Christians have at least one spiritual gift allowing them to serve God in a special way, 1Pe 4:10 As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. This is one of the most important verses in the Bible for the church of today to understand Christians today must come to the realization that they have been spiritually gifted to serve others Something that we must come to understand and obey, something we must learn and live Every Christian has been gifted with a “Spiritual Gift” for-the purpose of ministering to others Every Christian is therefore considered to be a minister or a servant for God Every Christian has received the responsibility and the capability from God to serve God There is another important passage that the church of today needs to understand (Eph 4:11-16) Paul is teaching us that every Christian should be involved in the “Work of the Ministry” Eph 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; The point of verse 11 is not that Christ gave certain gifts to certain men, though that is true The point is that Christ gave the men that he had gifted to the church Christ gave men who were gifted as “apostles,” prophets, evangelists, pastor, and teachers, why? Eph 4:12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Those gifted men were given to the church in-order to “perfect the saints” All Christians are called “saints,” we have been set apart as holy servants of God Saints are to serve God for the Glory of God, but saints must be “perfected” to serve God Which means to equip for service, to put in proper working order, to be prepared for ministry Full time ministry must not be limited to those who are being paid by the church We need all saints to be full time “ministers” throughout the community We must all surrender our life to “the ministry,” to be “God’s Servants” Act 6:5 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: The beginning g of this verse is an amazing statement today, the whole church was pleased That is not the testimony of many churches today, too often the church is divided The NT church was filled with the Spirit, committed to the leadership of the Spirit There was a unity of the Spirit among them, the church was pleased with the proposal And they chose Stephen, we are told why he was the first choice, he was A man full of faith Act 6:8 And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people. The truth of Acts 6:8 will be revealed in Acts 7, he is a man filled with the Holy Spirit And Philip, also a man full of faith and wisdom, a man filled with the Holy Spirit and power His ministry is found in Acts 8, he is instrumental in spreading the gospel to Samaria (Acts 1:8) Act 8:5 Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them. Philip later became known as “the evangelist,” Act 21:8 And the next day we that were of Paul's company departed, and came unto Caesarea: and we entered into the house of Philip the evangelist, which was one of the seven; and abode with him. Stephen and Philip were faithful members of the Jerusalem church who wanted to serve the Lord They accepted the call of the church to minister where the church needed them at the time Page 3 of 5 In time God gave them other areas of ministry, they were used of the Lord in other ministries Five other men were also selected according to the qualifications of verse 3 We find no other scriptural references for those five men, and we know nothing else about them But the silence of scripture does not mean that they failed in their ministry Silence does not mean that they did not do their job well There could be a lesson for the church of today through these five men How many faithful servants of God have never been recognized by man? Those who have never been given a title or given special recognition by the church Yet they continue to faithfully serve God on-a daily basis wherever they are, a daily testimony How much of God’s work is carried on by those who are unknown and unnoticed by the church Thank God for those who don’t have to be recognized by man before they continue to serve They just faithfully carry out their duties without the rewards of man bestowed upon them Heaven knows of the silent prayers and of the insignificant saint doing the insignificant task Eternity will reveal the success of that which did not seem to be significant by man at the time God will use anyone who is saved, using the most unusual to do the most unusual (1 Cor 1:24-31) Act 6:6 Whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them. The church made their selection of men and presented them to the Apostles And when they had prayed, prayer was a must and a practice of the early church The church wanted the right men, and they wanted the men to be right, so, “they prayed” They put their heart upon these men through prayer and they laid their hands on them. Their “laying on of hands” is what we call an “Ordination Service” today The laying on of hands was also a means of identification and partnership It was the church saying you are the right men, and we are right here with you in this ministry The Church pledged to stand with the seven and support them in every possible way Church Leadership and Church Membership had united, the results are found in the next verse Act 6:7 And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith. Notice the order given, the Word of God increased, and the number of the disciples multiplied They work together, teaching the Word of God and reaching people for Christ, Mat 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Mat 28:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. If we will obey the Great Commission today, we will witness the truth of Acts 6:7 again today Church leadership must be committed to teaching and preaching the Word of God Church membership must be committed to learning the Word of God Church leadership and church membership must be committed to serving God daily The greatest need among “God’s Servants” today is sharing the gospel of salvation to the lost In Acts 6:7, the most unexpected happened, and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith. Even those who claimed to be religious were being saved because they heard the gospel The most difficult people to reach are religious people, those who believe they are right with God The average American believes they are right with God, and all will turn out right for them “God’s Servants” must present the truth of God’s Word to them, Joh 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. The only way to be saved is to believe in Jesus and receive Jesus, Rom 10:9 That if thou shalt confess Page 4 of 5 with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. CONCLUSION All “God’s Servants” must stand up for Jesus, church leadership and church membership It is time for the church of today to witness the truth of Acts 6:7 in America Stand and sing with the song Page 5 of 5