[7]

Chapters 6:1 - 15

Deacons and Stephen

AD 33-39

We have been reading about the opposition that the early Church endured from the Jewish religious leaders. How the High Priest and the council were concerned about the preaching of the Apostles because they were declaring that they had spilt innocent blood. That they had condemned Jesus falsely, which according to Mosaic law meant that they themselves could suffer a similar fate.

The Sadducees were also indignant because the Apostles taught the resurrection of Jesus whilst they denied that there was a resurrection.

On the advice of Gamaliel the council let the Apostles go, but not until they had again ordered them not to teach in the name of Jesus, and had them flogged.

Why do I repeat this?

For this reason, despite the threats and intimidation of the council, the first thing they do is to go to the Temple and from house to house teaching and preaching Jesus.

And God was still adding daily to the church such as should be saved.

"Now in those days..the number of the disciples was multiplying"

[verse 1]

However as the number was increasing it brought with it inherent problems.

This will happen, we mustn’t be surprised when it does.

When I was in sales, my sales director commented to me that the salesman who gave him the most problems was the best man in the company. The more he did increased the opportunities for problems and difficulties to occur. Proving the old adage that ‘the person who doesn’t do anything wrong doesn’t do anything’

So too as the Church grows, as more are added to it problems may well arise that didn’t occur before.

Such a situation is found here in verse 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."

The chapter opens with the words "Now in those days,"

This has followed a natural break in the narrative. It may be a few days have elapsed since the Apostles were freed from imprisonment, or a year or so. It is believed to have been within the time frame we are considering between 33 and 39 AD

What was happening was that the church appears to be composed of two groups, those Jews who spoke Aramaic [The Hebrews] and those who spoke Greek [The Hellenists]. The Apostles were seeking to distribute the gifts brought for the widows and needy among them. In the Old Testament God had made it clear that His people should take care of those among them who were less fortunate. [cf. Deut 10:18] For some reason the Greek speaking Jews felt slighted, and that their widows weren’t getting their fair share.

Let us remember that there were only 12 Apostles, and at the last count the Church was probably in excess of 8,000 people, and

growing fast. If each Apostle took a twelfth of the congregation upon himself he still would have nearly 670 people to tend, with a large number of needy and widows among them.

In all probability mistakes were made, some may have been overlooked.

It is also possible that the language and cultural differences of the two groups were coming to the fore. It was possible that those who were not native to Jerusalem, the Greek speaking Hellenists, were feeling uncomfortable here in a foreign culture and may have then complained to compensate for their feelings of insecurity. A natural enough feeling, but one that shouldn’t be present within the Church of Jesus Christ.

The Apostles took the charge seriously and came up with an answer.

Their calling was to minister the Word of God and prayer, if they were to be administrators and servants to the poor, then the Word and prayer would suffer, so they called the Church to seek out those who could apply themselves to the work of the daily distribution.

Now this is something we equally need to bear in mind today. When God calls a man to the Ministry his first call is that of ministering the Word, and prayer.

Others can and should undertake the daily administrative tasks.

It is a concern when Ministers seem to wear so many hats that the work of preaching and teaching often takes a second place to other activities.

Some seem to be more akin to social workers or counsellors, spending a great deal of time with a few of their charge and their

problems so that the ministry of the Word suffers. I’m sad to say that those I’ve heard preach who give so much time to these other issues often preach poorly, and many I’ve heard preach non-Biblical doctrines.

True we are not Apostles, but in leadership the Twelve are our role model.

They give instruction that 7 men are to be chosen, not just anyone,

they are to meet certain criteria.

They are to be of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom.

These we say were the first Deacons of the Church although that word isn’t used with regards to them.

The words used in verses 1 and 2 the daily distribution [Gk Diakonia meaning a servant] and serve tables [Gk Diakoneo = to

be an attendant] are from the same root of the word that Paul uses in 1 Timothy 3:8 Deacon [Gk Diakonos = an attendant or waiter]. ¹ It is safe to assume that these men are being appointed to the office of Deacon. From this we can see what the role of the Deacons are today. They are not ruling officers of the church, they are not required to preach or teach, but to be responsible for the day to day running of the church. To take these matters off the shoulders of the Minister and Elders to allow them to be free to devote themseles to the ministry of the Word and prayer.

Today we still need to apply the safeguards the early Church applied, not just any one may be appointed a Deacon but must be proved even as the seven were proved. In 1 Timothy Paul gives a list of "qualifications" that a church ought to be looking for when considering to appoint a person to the office of a Deacon [1 Timothy 3:8-13]

The two qualifications the 12 give are fairly straightforward when considering the function they had to play.

1] They had to be of a good reputation. This is in a way common sense for these men were to be handling money given to support the needy, it was imperative for the integrity of the Church that it reached those for whom it was intended.

Therefore men of the highest moral calibre be chosen, those known to have a good reputation among the people.

2] It is vital that as much as anyone can know anothers spiritual state, they are seen to be full of the Holy Spirit, they are walking according to the light God has revealed to them. They are not hangers on, not play acting church, but they are totally committed to the Lord and His Church. And wisdom is another obvious requirement when handing out food and money to the needy to do so in a cautious wise way for undoubtedly there will be many demands made on the purse.

Seven men were chosen, Stephen, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, all of whom were converted Jews who bore Greek names, and Nicolas a Gentile from Antioch who had been converted to Judaism [a proselyte] and now had come to faith in Christ Jesus. He also bore a Greek name.

It has been suggested that they were all Greek speaking Jews especially chosen to pacify the Hellenists, this however is not stated in Scripture, so can only be conjecture.

The church presents the 7 men to the Apostles who in turn present them to God in prayer and laid their hands on them.

This ordination follows the Old Testament pattern of the inauguration of Joshua as Moses successor by Eleazar the priest.

"So Moses did as the LORD commanded him. He took Joshua and set him before Eleazar the priest and before all the congregation. And he laid his hands on him and inaugurated him, just as the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses." [Numbers 27:22,23]

There is nothing mystical or particularly spiritual about the laying on of hands. Here in all probability it is simply a demonstration of the Apostles investing the 7 with the authority to undertake the task for which they have been set apart. They have [figuratively] passed on to them their authority to minister to the needy and widows in their place.

Now this wasn’t social work for the sake of just doing good. It was a demonstration of what the Church ought to be "an outpost of the Kingdom of God. It demonstrated the love and concern Christ’s followers must have for one another.

"The word of God spread," verse 7,

This could well be translated, "The Word of God continued to increase." "That is to say that the gospel itself became part of the spiritual lives of the people. in other words, the effect of the proclaimed word became increasingly noticeable in the lives of the inhabitants of Jerusalem." ²

As the Apostles were now free to devote themselves to the Word and prayer then the results were seen as more people believed and had their lives radically turned around.

Among these who believed many priests were obedient to the faith. There could be at any given time as many as 5000 priests in Jerusalem. ³

Stephen

It is always a mistake to pigeon hole people, and especially so with regards to the gifts and calling God places on their lives.

The narrative moves on to focus in on one of the 7 chosen to serve and wait on tables, Stephen.

Virtually nothing is known of this man except his faithfulness to God.

Whilst man has set him apart for this office, God has other ideas for him, and we read that he did great wonders and signs among the people. vs. 8]

Now Luke concentrates not on Stephen’s diaconal tasks, not on his fulfilment of the work for which he was set apart, although by inference I’m sure he excelled in these tasks, but he zooms in as it were on the character of the man, he was full of faith and power although some manuscripts read "grace and power"

The word used in the Greek is Pistis this refers to character of Stephen, his moral conviction that the Gospel was true, and God was faithful and he could trust God’s Word implicitly ⁴

Above all else Stephen held fast to the revealed will of God to him, he didn’t waver but was steadfast. He was the complete opposite of those Paul writes in Ephesians 4:14 who were children tossed to and fro by every teaching that came along, they were not stable, they couldn’t hold fast to God’s word because they didn’t know what it was.

Stephen was full of faith, and God appears to have used him in unusual ways, working great wonders and signs among the people.

As happened previously there arose those who were opposed to Stephen, not because of the miracles nor because of his ministry to the needy, but because of the Word’s sake.

In Revelation 3, it is for their faithfulness to God’s Word that the faithful church of Philadelphia is commended. No mention is made about the working of miracles or wondrous signs, but their holding fast to God’s Word.

"you have a little strength, have kept my word, and have not denied my name." Revelation 3:8b

The greatest threat to the territory of Satan, the means by which his kingdom is spoiled is through the preaching of the Gospel, it is this that he desires more than anything to silence.

Those who opposed Stephen were of the Synagogue of the Freedmen, this term refers to Jewish prisoners of war who were held under Pompey in 63 BC, they were eventually released and built a colony in Rome. Their descendants were expelled from Rome and presumably settled in Jerusalem.

It appears that in all probability there were at least two synagogues represented here, the Cyrenians and Alexandrians, and those from Cilicia and Asia.

However despite their disputing they were not able to resist Stephen’s wisdom and the working of God’s Spirit.

We’ll consider this dispute and Stephen’s subsequent martyrdom next time.

For now we need to remember the character of the man, he was faithful to the charge God had given him, and he trusted unswervingly the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Book of Acts

Worksheet 7

We have seen the need for support workers in the church, those who will take the daily pressure of running a church off the shoulders of the Minister.

Do we realise the importance of the ministry of the Word and prayer that he performs?

Do we treat seriously the charge to undertake these responsibilities of support?