Scripture Reading: Acts 6:1–7
The book of Acts chapter 6 will be focusing on the first seven verses. I realize the word deacon is absent from this particular passage, but I agree with several commentators, several theologians who would agree that if not deacons in the proper sense, certainly they are deacons in seed form. What would later go on to be those men called by the church to function and serve in accordance with the truth of God's Word. Their qualifications are given elaboration in 1 Timothy 3, verses 8 to 13, which we've already preached on and considered and looked at in some detail.
So this morning, God willing, we'll go through an exposition of Acts 6, 1 to 7, then call our brothers up here to lay hands upon them and install them into the diaconate within the Free Grace Baptist Church. So I'll just pick up reading in Acts 6 at 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. 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.
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. But we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word. and the saying pleased the whole multitude. And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicholas, a proselyte from Antioch, whom they set before the apostles. And when they had prayed, they laid hands on them.
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. Amen. Let us pray.
Opening Prayer
Our gracious God and our Holy Father, we come to scripture now and we pray for the ministry of your Holy Spirit. We ask that you would illumine our minds and our hearts and cause us to think rightly your thoughts after you. Forgive us for all sin and anything that would darken our understanding. Wash us afresh and cleanse us in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Purify us and cause us to be humble men and women before the God of heaven and earth. Cause us to be contrite. For the prophet says, you look upon those who are humble, those who are contrite, those who tremble at your word. May that be the case with us here this morning.
And to that end, we confess our pride, our arrogance, and every bit of wickedness that is in our hearts. We pray that you would just deal with us and that you would cause us to receive, with thanksgiving, your word. God, for any and all who've come here this morning outside of Christ, we pray that in the installation of these men, in the continual progress of this local church, we pray that many would come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. We thank you for Luke's progress report here in verse 7, that many of the priests became obedient to the faith.
God, we pray that such would be the case today. that as the gospel is preached, many would come to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, that they would know the joy of being found in Him, not having their own righteousness, which is from the law, but that righteousness which is from you through faith in the Savior. We thank you, God, for the gospel We thank you for the privilege that is ours to be a local church, and we pray that in all that we do, we would bring glory and honor and praise unto you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And we ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Introduction
Well, the church does not progress in the world without its challenges and its difficulties. If you remember back in Matthew 16, our Lord Jesus Christ promises, He affirms, He confirms that He will build His church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. But in that promise, he doesn't say it will be without trial, it will be without difficulty, it will be without care. No, in the building of the church, there is going to be opposition.
There is going to be hardship. In the book of Acts, up to this point already, in Acts chapter 4, we see opposition to the church via external persecution. In other words, the unbelieving leaders in Israel or in Jerusalem wanted to target for destruction the apostles because they preached the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. So the church has to deal with persecution from without.
In Acts chapter 5, we see threat to the church with reference to the internal workings. There is corruption. Ananias and Sapphira lie to the Holy Spirit. The Lord God strikes them dead to purify the local church.
And here in Acts chapter 6, we see the devil's attempt to disrupt the church through distraction. That's what's going on here in Jerusalem, in the first century church, with reference to Acts 6. We have this situation where there is a daily distribution of food, and the apostles are involved in such a way that it keeps them from doing what the Lord God has called them unto. One commentator says, if he, the devil, could preoccupy the apostles with social administration, which though essential was not their calling, they would neglect their God-given responsibilities to pray and to preach, and so leave the church without any defense against false doctrine." So the deacons are appointed to answer to a particular task that has been given to the church.
We see the continuities I've already mentioned in 1 Timothy 3, 8-13. Paul gives the qualifications for deacons. Now, there are no longer apostles in the life of the church. And so we must make some implication that it's the elders of the church today that take the responsibility to primarily make it their calling to pray and to preach the gospel.
And Paul gives qualifications for the eldership in 1 Timothy 3. verses 1 to 7. And so what we find here is a temporal problem that could potentially distract the apostles from their primary goal of proclamation of the truth.
Sermon Outline Announced
So we'll look at this section under three considerations. First, the problem in the church, verses 1 and 2. The proposal by the apostles, verses 3 and 4. And then the provision by God in verses 5 to 7.
So
The Problem in the Church
note first the problem in the church. I've already mentioned it was temporal in nature. Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists. And the Hebrews were Aramaic-speaking Jews that were native and resident to Palestine.
The Hellenists were Jews, but they lived in the dispersion, and so they were Greek speakers, and they probably imbibed more of Greek culture than did the Hebrews themselves. So we have these two groups of people occupying the same church. And wouldn't it be wonderful if when two groups of people occupied the same church, there would never be any trials? There would never be any issues.
There would never be any friction. There would never be any tension. You know better than that. We have issues.
We have tension. We have friction. And what we find is that going on in the context of the local church. Dennis Johnson makes this perceptive observation.
These kinds of things happen when you actually obey the Great Commission. Jesus says, go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. He says to teach them, to observe all that I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. So you bring people together from various people groups and you put them in the same place and there's going to be tension.
That's what's happening here in Jerusalem. Johnson says the friction that results when different kinds of people have contact with each other is an inevitable byproduct when churches try to be faithful to the Great Commission. A church that only touches our kind of people in language, culture, social status, and background is a shrunken distortion of Christ's holy catholic church. I agree with that.
The Church of Christ is made up of men and women and boys and girls from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. If that's what the Church triumphant looks like in heaven, the Church militant on earth ought to bear that resemblance as well. It ought not to be one simple group of people that gather together. We ought to preach the gospel in such a way that old and young, black and white, whatever your nationality, can gather together and worship the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in blessed solidarity and in unity.
In this instance, however, there was this discord because their widows, the Hellenists, were neglected in the daily distribution. And isn't it intriguing that the early church took seriously Old Testament law? Wasn't it a provision in the law of God Most High that the widows be looked after? I'll just read two sample texts for you.
In Exodus 22, 22, you shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child. If you afflict them in any way and they cry it all to me, I will surely hear their cry and my wrath will become hot and I will kill you with the sword. Your wives shall be widows and your children fatherless. God is concerned for widows.
God is concerned for the fatherless. God is concerned for the stranger. God is concerned and mandates in His law that His people take note of these and they deal graciously and mercifully with them. There is another passage in the book of Curses in Deuteronomy chapter 27, verse 19.
This would be their portion and lot if they went into the land and they rejected the helpless among them. Deuteronomy 27, 19. Cursed is the one who perverts the justice due to the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. Is it a surprise that in the church in Jerusalem, in those days that they were feeding the widows, It's not a surprise.
They're consistent with Old Testament law. The next section in our study in the pastoral epistles, 1 Timothy 5, 3 to 16, what does Paul deal with in that section? How to care for widows, how to love them, how to tend to their physical needs, how to seek to alleviate any problems or trials or hardships that they now have because their husbands have passed away. And this is the primary task of the diakonet.
It's a ministry of mercy. It is to show compassion. It is to show kindness. It is to show love.
You brothers who are being installed today, if this is something lacking, then pray to God to give you a heart full of compassion. to have that mercy and that disposition of graciousness to look out for the needs of the weak and to seek to help them. That's what the deacons are supposed to do within the context of the church. But notice as we consider the problem in the church, it is temporal, But the apostles realized there's something else at stake. Notice in verse 12, then the twelve, two rather, 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.
They're not saying it's wrong to feed widows. They're not saying it's wrong to care for the weak. They're not saying that it's wrong to minister mercy to the downtrodden and poor among us. That's not their point.
They speak in terms of it being a good thing, but if they pursue that good thing, it will cause them to sacrifice the good thing that has been specifically entrusted to their care. One commentator says, there is no hint, whatever, that the apostles regarded social work as inferior to pastoral work or beneath their dignity. It was entirely a question of calling. That's the point.
That's what's going on. It is not desirable that we should serve tables to the neglect of prayer and study. Why is that? Because as much as widows need to feed on the physical bread, they need to feed upon spiritual bread.
And as much as the church must be looking out for those downtrodden and poor and seek to alleviate their particular wants, the church's primary function in society is the proclamation of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is Paul's emphasis throughout the pastoral epistles. We've seen this in 1 Timothy 4, verses 6-16. We don't need to go there.
Hopefully, it's still in your mind from our exposition. 2 Timothy 2.15, what does Paul tell Timothy? Study to show yourself approved, a workman who need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. You see, when he says that, he's not saying, just have no regard for widows. Kick them to the curb and be done with them.
No, that's not it. It's a question of calling. It's a question of emphasis. It's a question of priority.
And the apostles were called to preach the word. When Paul writes his last epistle to young Timothy, when Paul's about to go the way of all flesh, do you know what the apostle enjoins upon him? He says, preach the word. Be ready in season and out of season. convince, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and teaching.
Why, Paul? For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine. They'll heap up to themselves men who will scratch their ears or tickle their fancies or cater to their felt needs. But Timothy, you need to be faithful in proclaiming the whole counsel of God.
That's what's going on here. It's good to feed widows. It's good to tend to the fatherless. It's good to minister mercy.
It's good to do all these things. Social work is not a bad thing. It is not condemned. But the apostles had the perceptiveness to see that for every meal that they served to these widows, they were not spending that time in prayer and in the ministry of the Word, and that was their primary calling under God Most High.
And
The Proposal by the Apostles
that brings us, secondly, to consider the proposal by the apostles.
Qualifications for the Seven
Note their recommendation in verse 3a. Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom. So they summon the congregation as a whole to look out upon the congregation and to select seven men. Seven is not prescriptive.
In other words, that is not the prescribed number of how many deacons each church is particularly to have. Diaconate is a need-based ministry. If you need two, if you need three, if you need seven, well then that's how many you're supposed to have within the context of the church. That's not prescriptive.
Probably seven answers to the seven days of the week. And one of these particular deacons had the task each day to make sure that no widow left hungry. Now, maybe that's wrong, but it's as good an observation as any other. But that's what they recommend.
Select from among you seven men, and then they make qualification. Not seven men who are good in their business. Not seven men who you really like. Not seven men who are really popular among the others.
No, there is qualification mandated by the apostles to the church that these men must be. It's not a popularity contest. It's not just to check off out of these five guys who you think might actually do it. No, there's qualifications.
Again, we've looked at those 1 Timothy 3, 8 to 13, that have been preached. You're to take your Bible, you're to survey the brother, you're to pray, you're to consider, you're to look, not for perfection, because we'd never have deacons, and we'd never have elders, but the root of the matter is there, and God willing, they will grow in their understanding of the office, and they will thrive and flourish and be the ministers of mercy that we desperately need. So they tell them, look out among you, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom. See again, it's not just worldly accomplishment.
Not just that they're good with money, because that's primarily what's going on here. In Acts 4, when people sold their property, they brought the proceeds and they laid it at the feet of the apostles. So the apostles had charge of the church's resources. The apostles had charge of the church's money.
In this particular instance now, the apostles want to delegate that authority to these particular deacons so that they can administrate the funds to make sure that the widows get their daily portion of food. Now certainly you don't want to install a man into office who likes to steal. You don't want to install a man into office who likes to live high on the hog and will take some money out of the coffers for his own account. You want men who are of good reputation.
But you see, it's not only men of good reputation. There's pagans out there that don't steal. There's heathen out there that do nice things for their neighbors. But this is a spiritual office and a spiritual organization, and therefore it demands that they're full of the Holy Spirit, that they have the requisite wisdom, that they have the ability to function in this capacity in a manner that is consistent with the mind of Christ as revealed to His churches by His Word.
In the qualifications in 1 Timothy 3, verses 8-13, the first section deals with his personal qualifications. Deals with him as a family man, but in the first element, he is a man before God. There is a positive, and then there are three negatives. Positively, he is to be reverent.
Probably corresponds to this idea of being of good reputation. He's an honorable man. He's a man who conducts himself with respectability. He is a man that is not two-faced.
He's a man that is consistent in his walk before God. He is reverent. But then the apostle specifies three negatives that the man must not be. He is to be reverent, and he is not to be double-tongued.
Alexander Strock said a double-tongued man represents a double-minded man, and you don't want that. You want a man whose yes is yes and his no is no. So he must not be double-tongued. The second negative that Paul indicates in 1 Timothy 3 is that he must not be given to much.
Why? And the Bible doesn't condemn the moderate use of alcohol, it condemns drunkenness. And a man who engages in drunkenness does not have sobriety of mind. He is not accurate, he is not precise, he is not living in a manner that God the Lord has called him to, to exercise self-control.
But the third negative that Paul says is that he must not be greedy for money. Again, this is requisite for men who serve in this capacity. If they are to orchestrate the distribution of church funds, we cannot suspect for a moment that they're embezzlers, or that they're extortioners, or that they're coming with receipts to be paid that have provided a nice vacation for them and their wife. Boy, that's a nice tan.
Here you go, church. Pay for it. No, that's not the way it's supposed to be. George Knight says, in all three of these negatives, the quality of self-control is spelled out with reference to speech, appetite for drink, and perspective on money, all of which the deacon must have under control rather than being controlled or betrayed by them.
Self-control means the ability to use these things in a responsible, godly manner, not to be mastered by them. And that's what Paul prohibits. This is what the church in Jerusalem specifies. They are to be men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom.
And then
Purpose: Prayer and the Word
notice the purpose for which they make this proposal. Verse 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. But we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the Word." This is repeated from verse two.
It's not desirable that we should serve tables and neglect the Word. Here they say, we want you to choose seven men who will orchestrate and administrate this particular task so that we may give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word. Now, let's just spend a moment here. This is the great need in terms of the church.
Again, any group, any agency, any body of persons can do the task of feeding widows. That is not uniquely or distinctly Christian. The Lions Club does that. The Masonic Lodge does that.
The Elks Club. I don't know if you have the Elks and the Moose here in Canada. I don't think I've ever seen those, but there are Elks and Moose in America. Why you would choose a moose as your mascot escapes me, but nevertheless there are moose out there that engage in the kindness of alleviating the downtrodden and the poor.
You see, what is specific and what is distinct and what is absolutely crucial in the Church is this element, that there is a body of man set apart for the express purpose of continuing in prayer and in the ministry of the Word. The sinfulness of man and the reality of the devil requires that there be hard-working men in the eldership. Look at what they say in verse 4, but we will give ourselves continually. Does that mean 24 hours a day?
No, but it means a lot. They give themselves continually to this task. They are not first and foremost CEOs. They are not first and foremost managers.
They are not first and foremost visionary leaders. They are men set apart for these two particular tasks, prayer and proclamation. The Apostle says, or at least in this passage, they say, we will give ourselves continually. Listen to Paul's description of his pastoral ministry.
He says in Colossians 1, 28 and 29, Him we preach, Christ. Not ourselves. This is the way it's going today. Men stand up and talk about themselves.
You don't want to know about me. You want to know about the Savior. You don't want to know about Stephen Furtick or Perry Noble or Mark Driscoll or John MacArthur. You don't want to know about a Ralph Davis.
You want to know the scriptures of the Old and the New Testaments. Ralph Davis has made the perceptive comment concerning Micah of Moresheth. That's all we know about him. He is Micah of Moresheth.
We don't know his wife's name, we don't know how many children he had, we don't know anything about him, save that he's a prophet of God out to declare the truth of God. These apostles say, we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word. Paul in Colossians 1 says, him we preach, warning every man in all wisdom that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. To this end, I also labor, striving according to his working, which works in me mightily.
There are those out there who think that the pastoral ministry is like being a garbage collector. You work one day a week. Our garbage gets picked up on Wednesday. You know, I'm not so foolish as to think there isn't a Tuesday, a Thursday, a Friday, a Saturday, and hopefully they take Sundays off.
Garbage men don't only work one day a week. They work every single day. There's an idea out there that pastors, all they do is preach on Sunday, and then they just have coffee for the rest of the week. That's not typical of the apostles' ministry.
What does he say? To this end I also labor, striving according to his working which works in me mightily." The apostles in the Jerusalem church says, select these seven men, but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word. That's their purpose, that's their calling, that's their distinctive task, that's what it's about for these men. Again, not that it's wrong to feed widows, not that it's wrong to help the fatherless, but these men were primarily set apart to pray and to preach the gospel.
Listen to our dear Baptist brother John Gill on this statement. He says, we will give ourselves continually to prayer, both in private for themselves and the church, and in the houses and families of the saints, with the sick and distressed, and in public, in the temple, or in whatsoever place they met for public worship. And then he comments, and to the ministry of the word, the preaching of the gospel, to which prayer is absolutely prerequisite, and with which it is always to be joined." He says, these two, prayer and preaching, are the principal employment of a gospel minister. That's the principal employment of a gospel minister.
As a gospel minister, it baffles me at times to see what other professing gospel ministers do to busy their time. It's not about golf. It's not about having the most attractive building. It's not about managing and effectively carrying out leadership groups and discipleship groups.
It is prayer and preaching. That's what the apostles saw as their primary emphasis. Back to Gil. He says, these two, prayer and preaching, are the principal employment of a gospel minister, and are what he ought to be concerned in, not only now and then, but what he should give himself unto wholly, that his profiting might appear, and what he should be continually exercised and employed in.
And if parting with that branch of the ministerial function, the care of the secular affairs of the church and of the poor of it, was necessary in the apostles, that they might be more at leisure to attend to the more important and useful duties of prayer and preaching. He says, it therefore seems necessary that those who are called to labor in the word and doctrine, if possible, should be exempt from all worldly business and employment, that of the ministry being sufficient to engross all a man's time and thoughts. So what the apostle said. Now I spend a few minutes here because it is crucial.
Many of you probably do not know what today is in terms of holiday. As Reformed Christians, we know it's the Sabbath. It's the holy day of the Lord. Do you know there's actually a couple of holidays this weekend?
Tomorrow, Cinco de Mayo. It's a holiday in Mexico. And today is a holiday of sorts for nerds. Star Wars Day.
I'm not making this up. Do you know why? For you older folk among us, the tagline for that movie that came out in the seventies was, May the force be with you. Today's May the fourth.
May the fourth be with you. You realize that today in a United Church in Vancouver, they are turning not to the gospel of Luke, but to Luke Skywalker and Yoda to be instructed on the big questions of life. Do you realize that two weeks ago on Easter Sunday, when we came to publicly proclaim He is Risen, there was a church in Winnipeg that had a Star Wars service? Dancing stormtroopers, Darth Vader, all the characters of that movie were up on stage.
Sometimes people say, why do you spend so much emphasis on telling us that we need to know? Actually, nobody here does say that. Praise God. Thank you.
It'll pain my heart if you say, why do we have to keep being taught that we need to pray and love the word? If you say that, you're going to see me do something not good. That's the kind of stuff that's going on. Did the apostles say, we want you to select seven men who have good reputation, who are full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, so that we may create and plan and innovate to have the most excellent Star Wars service that this world has ever seen?
No, but that we may give ourselves prayer and to the ministry of the world. There was another church that had an Easter service, and in their production, people came flying down from the ceiling, suspended on wires, doing a dance. What's happened? The man of God is to be a man of prayer and preaching.
There's a church in the United States where they've developed a coloring book for their Sunday school children. And when it comes to you, they have unity. We are unified under our visionary leader. And that visionary leader is not the Lord Christ Almighty.
It's their pastor. Vision casting, visionary-ism is the big thing in the church today. That's not what's going on in the church in Jerusalem. That's certainly not the apostles' emphasis in 2 Timothy 4.
That is certainly not what Titus is told. when he's looking for elders to serve in the church and creed. You are to take sound doctrine and encourage and exhort the people of God and convict those who contradict. It is to be a word-based ministry. It is to be about scriptural exposition.
Now granted, the church in Vancouver and the church in Winnipeg is low-hanging fruit, as my brother might point out to me later. But what of the many churches, evangelical and even reformed, that have substituted faithful, expository preaching for mysticism? Or emphasis on experience? Or on prosperity?
Or on that most wretched opponent of the biblical gospel, which makes its way in just about every pulpit, moralism? What about those? That's not low-hanging fruit. That's going on all over the place.
We need men that are committed to prayer and preaching. This is what the apostolic church saw. This is what the apostle mandates and deacons are given to make sure that such a thing takes place. Most of you know I have a son in the Air Force.
I myself was in the Air Force. I'm just using biographical, not so you can know about me and say, wow, isn't that cool? But it's interesting. If you introduce yourself and you say, I'm in the US Air Force, people automatically assume that you fly.
Oh, you must fly planes. I mean, it's a good assumption. I don't take away from that. Air Force, fly.
Do you know there's only a handful of people that actually fly in the Air Force? You go to an Air Force base, there's cooks, there's cops, there's firemen, there's civil engineering. You name it, it's there. They support the mission.
They make sure everything's done so that people can fly. Oh, well, he's just a deacon. That is most important. The ministry of mercy must not be sacrificed.
We don't get rid of it. We don't say no ministry of mercy. Rather, we appoint men to take care of the ministry of mercy so that the men who are supposed to can devote themselves or give themselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the Word. Do you see the wisdom of our Lord Jesus?
Do you see the ingenuity of our head? Do you see how gracious and kind that he is to divide up the labor to make sure that everything gets done? Nothing is sacrificed. But as well, note the simplicity of our Lord Jesus.
Not the simpleness, but the simplicity. Look at what the church is supposed to do. Exercise benevolence and preach the word. Right?
You know what happens when the church tries to do many, many things? She typically doesn't do anything well. If she does what God calls her to do, then she's freed up by the power of the Holy Spirit to pursue those things in a manner that is consistent with the high and lofty calling that God has given to His church. It truly is a beautiful passage of Holy Scripture.
The Provision by God
Now note, thirdly, the provision by God, verses 5 to 7. And the saying pleased the whole multitude." The church agreed with this. The church listened to the apostles. The church said, yes, that's a good idea.
We're on board with this. This makes sense to us. You see, the biblical doctrine of the church ought to make sense. Again, it's not so difficult.
It's not so hard. It's not so convoluted that we can't piece together what we're supposed to do as the people of God. The church agreed. They saw the wisdom.
The church then selected the seven men. Again, not based on popularity, not based on worldly exposure, but based on the reality that they were men of good reputation. They were men full of the Holy Spirit and of wisdom. And of the names that are indicated here, the only one that we really know, and this serves as a link to what follows in the rest of chapter 6 and in through chapter 7, is Stephen.
Some suppose that this Nicholas is the Nicolaitan heresy guy in the book of Revelation. There's no warrant for that. was something that arose in the early church, I think under Irenaeus, but there's no biblical proof for that, and I'd hate to tar and feather this Nicholas, who served faithfully as a deacon, with being the spawner of the Nicolaitan heresy that is condemned by Jesus through John on the island of Patmos. We don't know a lot about these men, except that they did what they were supposed to do. And it's interesting that they were involved.
The church was involved. The church selects these seven men, the church then brings these seven men and sets them before the apostles. Here's our choice. Here's who we say.
Here's who have our conscience. Here are the men that we trust to carry out this particular task within the life and context of the church. We trust that these men aren't going to be stealing money out of the coffers. We trust that these men are not going to be double-tongued men.
We trust that these men are not giving them much wine. We trust that these men are reverent, are of good reputation. We trust that their families are in order. We've looked at them.
We've witnessed them. We've seen them. We've scrutinized them. We know they're not perfect men.
We know they have their issues. We know that they stumble. We know that they sin. But we know that they seek God, and they seek mercy, and they seek forgiveness.
So they bring these seven men to the apostles, and then we see what the apostles do. Verse six, whom they set before the apostles, and when they had prayed, they laid hands on them. Now, when you take your Bible, you'll see several instances throughout the scripture as to why hands are laid on a particular person. In this particular context, I think the idea is consecration.
They're being set apart for a specific task within the context of the church. As well, this laying on of the hands indicates that we support these men. We've identified them as the gifts from Christ to His Church that He has promised to give for her well-being. We support these men.
They're consecrated, they're support, we affirm our support to them, and it affirms them in their calling. See, we are physical beings and when these brothers come up at the end of the sermon and we lay hands on them and we pray for that, there'll be something that we can remember in the future concerning this particular day. It is a public act. Christ is giving gifts to his church and we want to thankfully and happily receive those from his most gracious hand.
And then in terms of the provision by God.
The Divine Blessing: Word Spreads
Note verse seven. the divine blessing. Luke the apostle who writes, or Luke the man of God who writes the book of Acts, gives us several progress reports along the way. You know what those are, kids? When you go to school and you do well, they give you a star, they give you a card that says, take it home to mom and tell her how good you're doing.
Or the progress report could be negative. Take this home to mom and tell her how miserable you're doing. There's a fear of bringing that one out of the pocket, right? Well, she doesn't need to know about that progress, or lack thereof.
It's a lack of progress report. But Luke does this throughout the book of Acts. He gives us progress reports. What's happening?
What's going on? What's going forth? It's the Word of God. Acts 6, there's one.
Acts 9.31, Acts 12.24, Acts 16.5, Acts 19.20, and Acts 28.31. You see, the author is conspicuous. He wants you to understand that what he's recording here isn't a piece of secular history just to dazzle the intellect. It is a piece of theological history calling us to worship and to praise our great ascended Lord who now sits enthroned at the right hand of the majesty of God on high and who continues to do what he did when he was on earth.
That's Luke's purpose. And is there any wonder that there's a progress report put in this particular instance? If the apostles had been serving the widows in the church and they had been neglecting prayer and the ministry of the word, when seven men are brought before them and they lay hands on them and they give them the reins of this particular task or this particular activity, the apostles can resume their commitment to prayer and to the ministry of the word. And then look what happens in verse seven.
Then the word of God spread. It's not a mystery, is it? When the Word of God isn't preached, it doesn't spread. But when the Word of God is preached, it spreads.
Again, the emphasis. Prayer, preaching. Pray for God to raise men up, consistent with our Lord's instruction in Matthew 9 into chapter 10. The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.
Pray the Lord of the harvest to raise up men. So we've got men now taking care of those particular issues connected to the life and benevolent ministry of the church. It then frees up the apostles to send them back to prayer, back to the ministry of the word. And it's no surprise whatsoever that verse seven tells us, then the word of God spread and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem.
It's great. If there's something from keeping the church, from preaching and praying, we need to deal with that something so that preaching and praying can continue. Is that foundational? Is that elemental?
Does everybody get that? That's the point. That's what we need to see. That's what we need to appreciate.
If every day you're cooking supper for your man and your children, ladies, If every day you start that particular task at 3, and something happens at 3.30 to sidetrack you from that task, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to say, I've got to deal with what happens at 3.30. Does it? That's not tough, is it? You would deal with what happens at 3.30 so it doesn't sidetrack you with your task so that you can have dinner on the table for your man and children.
Oh, that probably offends in some churches. What do you mean I'm a self-made woman and you're telling me to do that? Yeah, that's what Paul said in Ephesians 5. or husbands. You're supposed to love your wives as Jesus Christ loves the church and gave himself for her.
If there is something prohibiting you or inhibiting you or keeping you from self-sacrificial love to your bride, get rid of it. If your hobby keeps you from effectively loving your wife, get rid of it. If your self-love keeps you from effectively loving your wife, get rid of it. You get rid of the distraction so you can pursue those things that God the Lord says.
And in this instance, the distraction wasn't widows who needed to eat. That's a good thing and a blessing from the church to be able to provide and help. The distraction was that the men who are supposed to pray and preach were serving food. deal with somebody to serve the food so that the men who are supposed to pray and preach can pray and preach, and then everybody's happy, the Word of God spreads, and then multitudes are converted unto Jesus Christ. This is what the text says.
The number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith. Again, our dear brother John Gill. says, this stratagem, great Gilean word, this stratagem of Satan did not succeed to divide the church, but issued in the better decorum and discipline of it, and in the spread and success of the gospel, God thus making all things to work together for good. You see, instead of seeing this issue within the context of the local church, instead of just yelling at the Hellenist widows and telling them to shut up and be happy for whatever it is that they got, instead of farming this out to the state or referring them to the local welfare office, the apostles exercised some godly common sense and said, why don't we get these men to do this task so that we're freed up to do the task that God has called us to? And as Gill properly points out, this issued in the better decorum and discipline of the church, and in the spread and success of the gospel, God thus making all things to work together for good.
What starts off as murmuring, grumbling, the same word that's often used in the Old Testament, the great translation of the Old Testament, when the children of Israel murmured, To Moses, this is how it starts. They're murmuring to the apostles, and the apostles say, we have a very simple fix for what is, in essence, a pretty simple problem that will free everybody up to do what God has called them to do. Praise the Lord most high. for His kindness, His mercy, and His grace in giving us such gifts, so that the task of praying and preaching can continue.
Application
Well, we learn first the necessity of the office. Chapter 6, verses 1 to 7, but as well 1 Timothy 3, verses 8 to 13. You see, when the apostles died, they did not duplicate themselves. They did not duplicate that office.
That office has passed away with the original twelve. The two remaining offices in the Church of Jesus Christ are indicated in 1 Timothy 3. They are elders, which is synonymous with bishop or pastor. or overseer, all those words refer to that same office, that same particular calling where the men have as their primary role teaching the scriptures and exercising oversight within the context of the church. And then the diaconate or the deacons, the men whose task is to serve the church.
When you look at 1 Timothy 3, the fundamental difference is not in virtue. It's not in godliness. It's not in how they are supposed to conduct themselves. The fundamental difference between elders and deacons is found in 1 Timothy 3.2.
The elder must be able to teach. The elder must be able to teach. He must be able to take the word and explain the word so that people can understand the word. That calling is not given to the deacons because the deacons' task is primarily service within the church.
So it is not required of them to be able to teach the people of God. Now, Stephen is a man that ultimately preaches. Philip is a man that ultimately preaches. But their primary task in this particular context was to alleviate the suffering of the widows and others who were having needs in the church so that the apostles could do that task.
The church is tasked with acts of benevolence. There's an office for that. The church is tasked with prayer and preaching. There's an office for that.
The Lord Christ has adequately supplied for every need that local churches have today. Anything above and beyond that, most often, can actually work against these two primary things. The seven were chosen so that the apostles could give themselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the Word.
Necessity of Qualified Men
Secondly, there is a necessity for qualified men Again, we need to be very careful here. We're not looking for perfect men. If you want perfect elders, you're in bad shape. Nobody knows the imperfection of your two elders better than your two elders.
Men of God seeking to maintain short accounts with God and men. I think Paul summarizes the way everybody should live in Acts 24. He strives to maintain a conscience void of offense toward God and toward men. I think that's what we're looking for with brothers.
We're looking for men who are honest, men who are seeking to be faithful, men who do what God calls them to do. It's specified here in terms of good reputation, full of the Spirit, full of wisdom. It is elucidated in 1 Timothy 3, 8 to 13.
The Nature of the Office
Thirdly, the nature of the office. First, to the brethren of the Free Grace Baptist Church. To the brethren of the Free Grace Baptist Church. One.
The deacons take care of those temporal things associated with the maintenance of the house of God. The deacons take care of those things associated to the administration of the temporal affairs of God's house. Gill is masterful here. He says, the deacon makes sure that the table of the Lord is set, the table of the poor is looked after, and the table of the minister is looked after.
It's a great paradigm, a great pattern. This is what you ought to expect from deacons. Now, that doesn't mean if somebody vomits during a worship service that only a deacon can clean it up. Deacons are not slaves who alleviate any responsibility on the part of God's people.
If somebody throws up, the person closest has to clean it up. Just kidding. But that's the primary task, or these three elements. We'll look at each one.
So if there's something wrong in terms of the temporal administration of the house of God, feel free to go to the deacons. That's what they're for. Second, the deacons take care of those things uniquely connected to the ministry of mercy to the poor. If you know there's needs within the context of the church, tell a deacon.
Existing elders and deacons do not know everything. They are not omnipotent, all-knowing. They are not, I'm sorry, omnipotent being all-powerful. Omniscient, all-knowing.
They are certainly not omnipresent. If somebody has a need, don't conclude the church doesn't care about that person and their need. No, maybe the church doesn't know about that person and their need, so go to one of the deacons and we can trust that one of the deacons will take care of at least bringing it to the next level so that we can discuss it and deal with needs. There's this idea that if somebody doesn't do something, it's because they hate everybody.
No, it might just be because they don't know what's going on. You ever had that, husbands? Your wife says, you'd never do this. Whoa, wait a minute.
I didn't even know it needed to be done. You mean you didn't hear that fan squeaking? Yes, I did. I was just hoping you'd do it.
Deacons are for that, the mercy, ministry of mercy to the poor. And then the deacons take care of those things connected to the minister's provision. If you have needs in these areas, talk to them. That's what they're for.
That's why they're here. Don't complain because things aren't being done. At least express the particular issue and let us try and deal with it. And to the brothers that are being installed today, and by way of reminder to Steve Lawson, who has served this church Well, first, the motivation for your service must be love to Christ and love for the church.
That's it. That's why you're doing this. It's not for notoriety. It's not for a privileged parking space.
It's not so you get your name on the door. And let me just tell you, brothers, being a deacon can be thankless service. I've shared before when I was a deacon at a church I was in in California. I remember very vividly vacuuming the floor one time and having a brother in the church simply raise his feet so I could get underneath there.
That really tried my sanctification. I'm going to pick this vacuum up and say, you do this. It can be a very thankless job. Servants, right?
Servanthood. A lot gets done here that brethren don't always know people do. It's not like elves come in here three nights a week and tidy everything up. We've got to be quiet because they're going to come and do.
Humans do that. Men do that. And thankfully, women do that as well. Secondly, the dedication of your service ought to be manifest to the church.
In other words, if the apostles give themselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the Word, and Paul can tell Timothy in 1 Timothy 4, as an elder, let your progress be evident to all, the service of a deacon, by implication, ought to be evident. It ought to be manifest. It ought to be on display. There ought not to be a wonder in the part or in the hearts of anybody in the church saying, why is this fellow a deacon?
Why is this fellow an elder? He's an elder or he's a deacon because he works hard. He does what Jesus calls him to do, he does it faithfully, he does it perseveringly, and he does it at times without any thankfulness on the part of the people of God. Work at it.
Now, thankfully, we have three brothers. They can divvy up the labor, and that's a blessing, because the one brother who has been serving in this regard, his service has been manifest at least to one of us in the church. And then thirdly, and finally to the brothers, the example for your service in the office of deacon is to be the Lord Christ himself. And the text here that just should ring in the heart of every deacon, in the heart of every servant of God, is Matthew 20, 28.
When the Lord Christ said, the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve. That's why elders should do what they do tirelessly. That's why deacons should do what they do tirelessly. That's why anybody tasked with Christian service or in anything we do If it's not distinctly Christian service, if you're a plumber, if you're a lawyer, if you're a doctor, if you're a writer, whatever it is you do, we ought to do it with our might.
Because if the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many, how should that bear in our own hearts? and in our own consciences. So you brothers, when you enter into the office this Lord's Day Sabbath, May the 4th, the Lord's Day, God's Day, Sabbath Day, when you enter into office on this day, let Christ be your example. Let Christ be your model. Let Christ be the one that ultimately you want to serve so that on that day he will say, well done, good. and faithful servant.
And you have the promise from the scripture that such will be the case from our Lord.
Evangelistic Appeal
Well, in conclusion, if you are here this morning and you have not come to that Christ, that One who said He didn't come to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many. You see, Mike and Doug and Steve cannot give their lives as a ransom for any It must be the Son of God. It must be the Lord Christ. It must be the darling of heaven.
It must be the second person of the blessed Trinity that comes into this world, that takes on man, that takes on our flesh, that lives, that breathes, that moves, that has his being among us, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. A man who at every step of the way obeys completely the law of God Most High. He never violates, he never transgresses, he never lacks conformity to that blessed holy law of his father. He says things like, my meat is to do the will of him who sent me.
He's able to say, I always do what pleases the Father. At His baptism, the Father says, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Doug and Mike and Steve will never be that. Christ alone is that.
We don't look to man. We look to the God-man. We look to the one who said, I didn't come to be served. And he had the right.
He had the prerogative. What happens in heaven in Isaiah 6? The angels sing, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory.
John tells us that Isaiah wrote these things because he saw his, Christ's glory. It's Christ being glorified in Isaiah the prophet. It's Christ who's the darling of heaven. It's Christ who's worshipped by Seraphim and Cherubim.
It's Christ who comes into this world and instead of being worshipped and served, He actually serves. He gives His life as a ransom for many. You are here this morning and you have not closed with Christ. You have not believed the gospel.
You may forget, and I give you authorization, everything said about the diaconate, but this thing let ring in your ears. I need Christ. I need the Lord Jesus. I need forgiveness.
I need a righteousness that avails with God. And the only means by which I get such is the grace of God through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Believe on him. come to the Savior. The Word of God spread and a multitude, a great number of disciples were added to the church in Jerusalem.
Wouldn't that be the most encouraging thing to remember about this day? Yes, we installed a couple of brothers into the diaconate, but it was the day of salvation for sinners. They believed on Him who said that He gave His life a ransom for many. come to the Savior and He will forgive you of all your sins and cleanse you of all unrighteousness and give you that blessed garment, that righteousness that avails with God His Father. Well, let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Our Lord in heaven, we thank you for this happy day. We thank you for this occasion that brings us together. First and foremost, the worship of our triune God. We praise you for the Sabbath day.
We praise you for this one in seven that you give. for your people to come out of the world and to call it a blessed day and to find rest in you and to be sanctified by the power and the presence of your spirit. And as well, God, we rejoice in the life of this church as we reflect on many years and many difficulties and trials that we have been through together. We thank you for this blessed gift that you have given to this church. We thank you for these brothers and pray that you would bless them and encourage them and strengthen them and together as a church may we be well equipped to serve you and to glorify your most holy name.
And we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.