“Godly Men Who Serve”
(Acts 6:1-7)
Series: The Church on Fire!
Rev. Todd A. Linn, PhD
First Baptist Church Henderson, KY
(9-9-07) (AM)
- Take God’s word and open to Acts, chapter 6.
If you’re visiting with us, we’re studying the book of Acts, making our way verse-by-verse through this dynamic book that tells us about the first church. Our series is entitled, “The Church on Fire” and you really get a sense of how the first church obeyed Jesus Christ’s instructions in Acts 1:8 when He said, “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and the utter ends of the earth.” Like a wildfire spreading from the inner city to the world around it even today we must be “The Church on Fire” for the glory of God.
We’re encouraging all of our Sunday school classes to “fan the flame” of their classes by inviting people to come to their classes. Last Sunday began a new Sunday school year for us and I was hoping for well over 600 in Sunday school. We had 562. Now we could say, “Well, that’s pretty good for Labor Day weekend, isn’t it?” No! I’d love to see us hit 700 on one of our Sundays here in September. We can do it. Remember: if every youth and adult Sunday school class increased their average attendance by just 4 people this month, we’d have 140 more people in Sunday school. Last Sunday’s 562 plus 140 equals just over 700. Two new classes began last week: Marty Coursey is leading a men’s class at 10:15 and John and Betsy Kloke are leading a new couples class at 8:40. Their first Sunday they had 17 folks in their class! Now we want to especially recognize Doc Turner’s Sunday school class. They enjoyed a 50% increase in attendance in their class, the highest increase of all the youth and adult Sunday school classes. Way to go. What are you doing to “fan the flame” in your Sunday school class? What will you do this week? Let’s stay busy inviting folks to come study and grow with us.
Well if you’ve ever wondered where the Bible tells us about the first deacons selected in the church today’s passage will answer some of your questions. Acts 6:1-7 tells us about the very first deacons in the church and how they were selected. But the passage also answers a number of other questions such as, “What can I expect when my church grows?” and, “What do I do when I’m criticized?” or, “What does the Bible say about unity?”
- Stand in honor of the reading of God’s word.
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.”
5 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 Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch,
6 whom they set before the apostles; and when they had prayed, they laid hands on them. 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.
- Pray.
Introduction:
I always feel blessed by how the Bible speaks to our situation when we just go through a book of the Bible and God speaks to us and to our church where we are. Here we are reading about deacons in the church and our church has just been going through the deacon nomination process. At the conclusion of our service when I share announcements and so forth, I’ll be sharing with you the names of the men you have nominated to serve. Over the last couple weeks I have contacted each man and talked with each man and prayed with each man. They’ve all taken time to prayerfully consider their service in the church and I’ll share the names of those who have been nominated, including three new men who will need to be ordained.
There are two main passages that give us information about deacons. One of those passages is 1 Timothy 3:8-13 where we read specific qualifications about the office of deacon and the kind of men who are to serve. The other passage is this one here in Acts chapter 6. In fact, I used a similar outline when reading this passage a couple of years ago in a deacon ordination service. Acts 6:1-7 answers four questions about the office of deacons in church. Now when I say “office,” that doesn’t mean the deacons have a literal office here in the building. The word refers to an official kind of duty and service in the church.
Now as we ask and answer these questions about the office of deacons, let me remind you that this passage also speaks to you whether you’re a deacon or not. As I mentioned earlier, the passage answers other questions too such as, “What can I expect when my church grows?” and, “What do I do when I’m criticized?” or, “What does the Bible say about unity?”
I. What is the Role of this Office? (1-2)
That is, what exactly are deacons supposed to do? What does the word “deacon” mean? I mean, we read these verses earlier and never read the word “deacon” in the passage! Well, maybe we did. Let’s take a closer look.
The Bible says in verse 1 that “the number of disciples was multiplying.” That’s a good word, isn’t it? Multiplying. I mentioned earlier how we’re trying to multiply our attendance in Sunday school this month by encouraging our classes to “fan the flame” in their Sunday school. Multiplying is a good church word. Through the first five chapters of the book of Acts we’ve watched the early church multiply to the point of something like 10,000 members. Can you imagine a church of 10,000? Big churches are not bad. Say that with me. Big churches are not bad. The early church was a big church. It really was growing because it was a church on fire. It was alive. There was a real sense of life in the church.
But here’s the deal: life leads to growth and growth leads to problems. Did you know that? Where a church is growing a church will face problems. Our church has grown in recent years and we’re facing some real problems with space. Where is God going to give us more space to grow? Most of our folks attend the 8:40 worship service and have Sunday school at 10:15. How much longer can we grow when we’re already well over 80% capacity? Just remember to pray for your Vision Team as they continue to explore property options adjacent to our location or at an alternate location, or both. God will guide. He guided the early church.
Life leads to growth and growth leads to problems. What’s the problem in verse 1? Well the Bible says “there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists, because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution.”
The Hellenists were the Christians who were from areas outside of Jerusalem. One translation calls them “Grecian Jews” because the Hellenists were from the Greek culture and Greek areas outside of the city. The Hebrews, then, were the Jews who were from the Jerusalem and Palestine area. Now, both of these folks with different backgrounds were getting saved, they were coming to Christ. It’s like God bringing together a UK fan and a U of L fan right in the same church! God can do wondrous things.
Well, here’s the problem. The Bible says “there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists,” why? “Because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. You remember our reading about how the early church shared their resources with one another? Well, this is a reference to the daily distribution of food among the believers. And what happened was that the Christians from the Greek culture, the Hellenists, felt like they were getting the shaft from the Christians from the Jewish culture. They weren’t getting their fare share and so they started complaining, or as some translations have, they started “murmuring.” Another translation has, “there were rumblings of discontent.”
When a church grows there are more people coming in and new people coming in, and people from different backgrounds coming in, and sometimes one person or another may feel neglected and if we’re not careful, we can start murmuring. “You’re getting in my way!” “Yeah, we’ll you’re getting in my way!”
A dear lady from my former church emailed me this recently. This is kind of funny. It says: “Before you criticize someone, you need to walk a mile in their shores. Then when you criticize them you’re a mile away and you have their shoes!”
The church must guard against criticism. Complaining is not becoming of Christians who have been saved by God’s grace. Philippians 2:14 is the great silencer to complaining in the church. Philippians 2:14 says, “Do all things without murmurings and disputings.” Did you hear that? Do all things without murmurings and disputings. That verse alone puts every Christian out of the complaining business! No bellyaching in the church allowed. No griping. No fighting. No biting.
Yes, life leads to growth and growth leads to problems. But problems lead to solutions. What is the solution in verse 2? The Bible says “the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, ‘It is not desirable (that is, it isn’t the best plan, or God’s ideal) that we should leave the word of God and serve tables, therefore (verse 3), 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.”
I like the fact that “the twelve” are mentioned there rather than mentioning Peter or John or someone else. I think that shows the love for unity in the church. The 12 propose a solution. Of course the 12 are the apostles, the ministerial leadership of the church. The 12 in essence say, “Look, we’ve got no problems with serving tables. That’s not the point. The point is, it’s not desirable, that is, it’s not God’s best, for us to spend our time in the business of serving tables when we should be spending our time to the twin ministerial objectives of preaching and praying.”
More about that in a moment. Right now, note with me the verb “serve” there at the end of verse 2. Underline that word “serve” there. That word in the original is the word “Diakonos,” from which we get the English word, “Deacon.” That’s where the word “deacon” comes from. It comes from a word that means, “to serve.” So what is the role of the office of deacon? The role of a servant. What do deacons do? They serve. Deacons serve. Say that with me: “Deacons serve.” That’s what the do. They are servant leaders in the church. You see that in our church in a literal way every few months when we observe the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper. Our deacons demonstrate their role as a servant by serving the congregation. But they also serve in many other ways, too, such as visiting shut-ins and helping new members get connected to the church and working for harmony and unity in the church.
The role of the office is the role of a servant. Secondly:
II. What are the Requirements of this Office? (3)
Look again at verse 3. It answers the question, “What kind of man should be selected to serve as a deacon? What is required of such a man?” Three main things:
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;
Deacons should be men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit, and full of wisdom. I imagine every deacon right now is thinking to himself, “God, help me to always be a man of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit, full of wisdom.”
And the 12 said, “whom we may appoint over this business.” Note the adjective carefully: “This” business. Not “The” business. Deacons are not to oversee all the business of the church. The Bible says “this” business, this business of serving.
And remember that the main point of deacon’s service was to end the murmuring and disputing in the church. That’s why the deacons were selected to serve. They ensured that no one would be neglected or overlooked in the daily distribution which led to the end of the complaining. Deacons work primarily for unity in the church as stressed by our church bylaws.
Deacons were selected in order to stop the complaining in the church. I’m afraid we’ve all heard too many stories of churches whose deacons do not stop the complaining, but rather start the complaining. We have good, godly men who serve here at First Baptist. They work together for the purpose of unity in the church.
We’ve looked at the role of the office and the requirements of the office. Thirdly:
III. What is the Reason for this Office? (4)
Well we’ve touched on this already by saying that the deacon is to work for unity in the church but note that without the deacons serving, the work would have had to be done by the apostles. Were it not for the deacons, the 12 who were engaged in ministerial leadership would have had to do the job of serving tables themselves. Again, not that there’s anything wrong with the doing of those things it’s just not the best way to “do church,” if we can put it that way. It wasn’t the wisest way for the ministerial leaders to utilize their time. With the deacons serving tables what are the ministerial leaders freed-up to do?
4 “but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”
That is, “we will give ourselves continually to what every Christian does regularly.” Every Christian is to pray and study the word. But the ministerial leadership is to pray and minister the word continually. So deacons free-up the ministerial leadership to pray and preach the word.
The pastor’s primary duty is to pray and preach the word. That’s my primary duty. It is not even my job to fill this sanctuary. It is my job to fill this pulpit. I must give myself continually to prayer and the ministry of the word. Good deacons help the pastor in fulfilling this duty.
If I don’t take seriously my study time in the mornings I neglect my calling of prayer and ministry of the word. Good deacons help by visiting folks I cannot visit and by working together for unity in the church so that the pastor can devote himself continually to prayer and preaching. That’s the reason for the office.
Now what happens in a church where godly men serve? What happens in a church where godly men are nominated and elected to serve the church so that the ministerial leadership is freed-up to pray and preach the word? We’ve looked at the role of the office, the requirements of the office, and the reason for the office. Fourthly:
IV. What is Result of this Office? (5-7)
We said, “Life leads to growth. Growth leads to problems. Problems lead to solutions.” Now watch this: “Solutions lead to greater growth.”
5 And the saying pleased the whole multitude. And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip (and so forth.) I read where D.L. Moody would come to a list of names he couldn’t pronounce and he would just clear his throat and move on to the next verse.
But look carefully at those names there in verse 5. They’re all Greek names. The first deacons nominated by the largely majority crowd of Hebrews were all Greeks. At first it might semm like, “Hey, you’re complaining. Okay, we’ll elect you guys to solve your own problem!” It’s like back when I was teaching Sunday school years ago. Michele and I taught a young married couples class for seven years before I was in the ministry. We always brought some baked goods for folks to enjoy in the class, brownies and stuff like that. One day one of the memebers, Ken, said, “Man, we always have sweet stuff like this. Why don’t you bring some biscuits and sausage and stuff!” What do you suppose I said to Ken? Right! I said, “Ken, good idea. Why don’t you do that next week.” He did… and he never complained again!
But what I really think is going on here is a wonderful demonstration of love and deference on the part of the majority crowd of Hebrews. They all nominate seven Greeks to this honored office of servant leadership. I really think that’s what’s happening here, a wonderful demonstration of loving unity.
Another thing that’s interesting is that the only two deacons mentioned again in the New Testament are Stephen and Philip. They were also evangelistic deacons. We’ll be reading about how they shared their faith with others.
I’m so glad our deacons are evangelistic deacons. These 8 men you nominated to serve are all FAITH-trained men, every one of them. Clap! Praise God for that. They’ve all been trained in FAITH Evangelism and actively support FAITH through the Sunday school.
6 whom they set before the apostles; and when they had prayed, they laid hands on them.
That is, they were ordained, they were symbolically set-apart for this ministry. That’s what the “laying on of hands” symbolizes. We’ll be having an ordination service soon for our new deacons. So what’s the result of this office? Look at verse 7:
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.
The pastoral leadership is freed-up to spend time praying and preaching, the deacons are “deaking” and the church continues to grow again.
“Life leads to growth. Growth leads to problems. Problems lead to solutions. And solutions lead to greater growth.”
- Stand for prayer.
Invitation…