In this episode, Wes and Andy discuss the seven men chosen to address physical needs in the local church. Among them was Stephen, and we learn more about him.
Wes
Welcome to the Two Journeys Bible Study Podcast. This podcast is just one of the many resources available to you for free from Two Journeys ministry. If you’re interested in learning more, just head over to TwoJourneys.org. Now, on to today’s episode.
This is Episode 13 in our Acts Bible Study Podcast. This episode is entitled The Seven Servants and Stephen, where we’ll discuss Acts 6:1-15. I’m Wes Treadway and I’m here with Pastor Andy Davis.
Andy, what are we going to see in these verses that we’re looking at today?
Andy
Well, it breaks into two parts, as you just said. It’s going to be a focus on the seven servants who were chosen to distribute food to the Greek-speaking widows. And so we’re going to see in that a beautiful kind of organization of the church along spiritual gift lines and different responsibilities that local churches, that individuals have. Some have seen the seven as proto-deacons. Whether that’s true or not, they certainly had servant hearts to meet physical needs, and so we’ll talk about that. But then we have one of the great individuals in the New Testament, in the early history of the church, Stephen, and we’re going to get to know him a little bit as well.
Wes
Let me go ahead and read Acts 6:1-15 as we begin.
Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”
And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte of Antioch. These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them. And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.
And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen. But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. Then they secretly instigated men who said, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.”
And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council, and they set up false witnesses who said, “This man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law, for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us.”
And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel.
It’s an incredible passage, and as we begin, what problem was it that arose in verse 1, and what insight does this give us into the seriousness of the problem?
Andy
Okay, so there’s a practical issue that arises. The Greek-speaking widows are complaining against the Hebraic Jews because they are being overlooked. The widows are being overlooked in the daily food distribution. So, we have a kind of an ethnic issue. That Hellenism. So, these are individuals that are affected by the Greek-speaking world and are more kind of secular, et cetera, but these are individuals that are women that are connected with the church. They’re believers, but they’re perhaps looked on with a little disrespect, perhaps, by the Jewish believers. And so, they’re not having their needs met. And it’s beautiful how the church, how the apostles in particular, seize this as a very important issue. They want to make certain that the widows are being cared for.
So aside from the ethnic issue of Greek-speaking versus Hebraic-speaking widows, or Jews, aside from all that, just the fact that there was this kind of care for the poor and needy, which we’ve already seen in Acts 2 and again in Acts 4. How people sold lands and houses and brought the money from the sale and put it at the apostles’ feet. And it was distributed to anyone as he had need, or in this case, as she had need. So, we see the church meeting physical needs and that’s a beautiful thing.
Wes
Now, you alluded to this a moment ago, but who initiated the solution to the problem, and what was their first step in solving it?
Andy
Okay, so this is a very important study in church leadership. The twelve initiate the solution. The problem is brought to the twelve, the apostles, and they see the issues. They know that there has to be a solution to the problem, and so they come up with the plan. They have a division of labor which we’ll talk about. “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables,” so they go to the church, they say, “Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom.” We’re going to turn this responsibility over to them and give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.” So, this is how the apostles solve the issue, but we notice also that they leave it to the church to choose the seven.
Wes
All right, so let’s talk a little bit about that division of labor. What did the apostles mean by, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables”? Were the apostles unwilling to serve in this humble way, or did they have another motive?
Andy
No, they certainly were not unwilling. I mean, basic Christian discipleship involves servanthood of any respect. Jesus gave them that example by washing the disciples’ feet. There’s no menial task that’s below any true servant of God. That’s not it. It’s that there’s a certain calling that the apostles had to do the ministry of the Word, and that took time. And so, this ends up being a key passage for pastors to be careful to guard their time. And we need to realize that there are numbers of tasks connected with church work that there are servants of God that are equipped and ready to do. But no one can do the things that you’re called on to do if you’ve got that gift of teaching and preaching. You’ve got to give your attention to that.
basic Christian discipleship involves servanthood of any respect. Jesus gave them that example by washing the disciples’ feet. There’s no menial task that’s below any true servant of God.
And so sometimes pastors, especially in smaller churches where there’s only, let’s say, one pastor, et cetera, they can end up doing a lot of physical tasks like mowing the lawn or doing some plumbing repair in the bathroom down in the children’s section because there’s no one else to do it. And meanwhile, their study suffers. They don’t write sermons as well. They’re a little light on their preparation, and the whole church suffers.
Wes
Hm. How does the attitude of the apostles relate to the various teachings on the diverse nature of ministries within the body of Christ? And do you think there’s a need for this kind of division of labor today?
Andy
Yeah, I think we should spend the overwhelming majority of our ministry time doing what our spiritual gifts equip us to do. That’s what I think spiritual gifts is all about. Spend your ministry time doing what you’re gifted to do. So, if you’re a hand, do hand kind of things. If you’re a foot, do foot kind of things. If your gift is serving, you should serve. If your gift is teaching, you should teach. If it’s administration or leadership, you should do that. If it’s giving, spend your time giving. The reason being, there’s only so many hours in the day. There’s only so many years we have to live. And so, the idea with spiritual gifts is these are special abilities that the Holy Spirit has worked in us that make us maximally effective in those areas, and so yeah, I think we learn a lot from this. It would not be right for us to neglect our spiritual gifts in order to do something that we’re not specifically called to do.
There should be no arrogance here, no sense of superiority. I would hope the apostles have all been trained out of that. Certainly, Peter had plenty of humbling that was done in his life. He doesn’t feel himself superior to anyone else. It’s just this is our calling, prayer and the ministry of the word.
Wes
In verse 3, the proposed solution is to select seven men who could accomplish the necessary function. What’s the significance of the fact that the church was to select the seven men, and then they were to be presented to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them?
Andy
Yeah, our polity in our church, at First Baptist Church of Durham, is plurality of elders leading in a congregational setting. And so, there’s a dynamic between the congregation as a whole and the elders as they lead, and I think we see the same thing here in Acts 6. The twelve lead, but they do it within congregationalism. And so, they say, “Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom.” And so, they leave it to the church to decide. They don’t mandate who the seven should be, and I think this is important.
It’s also interesting that they’re definitely going to be men. The Greek word here is males, and so I think that relates to the fact that these widows were being cared for. These were seven men who were going to be caring for the widows. But there’s a beautiful dynamic here between congregational polity and also leadership of the apostles.
Wes
Now, all the names of those who were chosen were Greek. Why do you think only Greek men were chosen to serve in these roles?
Andy
Well, I think they knew their own widows. They knew their own community, and again, keep in mind what’s happening. Widows are being overlooked. They’re not known. It wasn’t malicious. It was just, we didn’t know that they had that need, or we didn’t know there were that many of them. And so, they wanted some people from that community who could make certain no one slipped through the cracks. You can imagine some very meek woman who is maybe even starving or certainly does not have her needs being met, and very few people even know about her situation. And so, these seven Greek believers are able to know the entire community and make certain that none of the widows are getting overlooked.
Wes
Now it seems an intentional move on Luke’s part to show that the harmonious solution of this really hard situation results in evangelistic growth. What does this tell us about the evangelistic power available for the modern church, especially in relation to conflicts?
Andy
Right. Well, to some degree, I don’t want to overstate this, but it seems like everything matters. Obviously, evangelism is very important. It’s the top priority in the church. But so also are some of the structural or administrative aspects. If they aren’t done well, you can end up having problems.
And so, the fact is, it’s a beautiful thing that this social issue, this issue of meeting the needs of widows is, in the text anyway, connected with the spread of the gospel, with the growth of the church. And so the idea is when the body is functioning well, everything works well, and the top priority continues to be winning lost people for the glory of God, and we understand that, but these things are connected. And so it’s beautiful when the church is well-ordered and everything is … the spiritual gifts are being used, and ministry to women, to widows, to children, when other aspects are being addressed in a healthy, organized way. I mean, it’s different in the American church scene than it was in the first century, but when all of those things are addressed, the church is going to be fruitful and that will especially mean, obviously, ultimately, evangelistic fruit.
Wes
Now, verse 7 is the last verse before we’re introduced specifically to Stephen in verses 8-15, and we’ve alluded to verse 7 at other times as we’ve thought about the religious leaders that we’ve been introduced to along the way. What’s significant about the fact that many priests became obedient to the faith, and what does it mean to be obedient to the faith?
Andy
Well, it’s really remarkable, and I’m not entirely certain what Stephen taught. We can look at what his enemies accused him of teaching, but the fact of the matter is we’ve read the Book of Hebrews, you and I, Wes. It wasn’t written yet, but I wonder if Stephen, if he had been given enough time, would’ve written the Book of Hebrews.
As soon as Jesus died and the curtain in the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, there was no more need for animal sacrifice.
The fact is these priests were out of a job. As soon as Jesus died and the curtain in the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, there was no more need for animal sacrifice. And so, it’s going to be accused of Stephen that Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place, the temple, and change the customs Moses handed down to us. Actually, all of that’s true. And the fact of the matter is, these priests were humbly able to realize that Jesus was that final sacrifice.
Wes
Wow.
Andy
I also think, I don’t know this for certain, but some human eyewitness must have testified to Mark and to the other gospel writers concerning the curtain in the temple being torn into from top to bottom, because you had to be there when it was happening, or the Holy Spirit had to give you special knowledge. Those are your two options. You had to be a literal eyewitness. You couldn’t come in the next morning and find the curtain in the temple torn in two. You had to be there while it was happening, to see it torn from top to bottom.
Wes
Wow.
Andy
And so, you have to imagine some of these priests were eyewitnesses of a miracle, and then they put two and two together, and it’s like, you know, that’s exactly when Jesus died. And so, it says here, “A large number of priests,” and it’s interesting, it says, “became obedient to the faith.” I think it’s interesting when the faith, being Christianity, the doctrine of Christianity, is coupled with the verb obey, or the noun obedience. There is a command from Almighty God in the gospel, and that is to repent and to submit, and so these priests obeyed the gospel.
Wes
In verses 8-15, we are introduced more fully to Stephen, one of these seven. Luke describes his character and ministry in these verses. Right off the bat in verse 8, what’s significant about the fact that Stephen, not an apostle, is doing great signs and wonders among the people?
Andy
Well, I think one thing we learn, the opposite is true. All of the apostles did miracles, because Paul says, “The things that mark an apostle, signs and wonders were done among you with great perseverance” (2 Corinthians 12:12). He says that in Corinthians. And so, to prove apostleship, you had to do miracles. But the opposite is not true, that if you did miracles, you were an apostle. That’s not true. And so, there was the ability that Stephen had to do some signs and wonders, probably healings. We don’t really know but did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people. So, Stephen’s one of the great individuals of early church history.
Wes
So, if Stephen is as great as we believe him to be, especially as we read what follows, what we’ll get to in coming episodes in the Book of Acts, why did opposition arise to Stephen’s ministry, and from whom did the opposition come?
Andy
Well, the more powerful a servant of God is in doing mighty works by the power of the Spirit, the more that Satan is going to raise up opposition. Look at Jesus himself, the only perfect man and the only perfect ministry there’s ever been, there was severe opposition to Jesus, so this is just satanic opposition and demonic opposition. But the text says, “Opposition arose from members of the synagogue of the Freedmen, Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria, as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia.” You’ve got to read Saul of Tarsus in there, so I really, truly believe that Saul of Tarsus was included in this group of people who tried to refute Stephen but couldn’t.
Wes
Wow.
Andy
And so, that’s who we’re dealing with. These are just different regions of that part of the world, but they were Jews who were fighting against Stephen verbally. They were debating him, arguing against him, et cetera, trying to refute his doctrine.
Wes
What does verse 10 teach us about Stephen’s ministry, and do we see this kind of thing elsewhere in Acts?
Andy
Yeah, so Stephen, it says, “is a man full of God’s grace and power.” So, there’s a sense of power to Stephen, and we’re going to see that in Acts 7 with the way that he preaches. It’s just an amazing sermon, and the way he just draws them in with this rehearsing of Israel’s history, but they don’t really see what he’s doing. And little by little, he’s building a case against the entire Jewish nation, that they always fight against everyone God sends.
Wes
Wow.
Andy
And now they fight against Jesus, the Son of God. So, he builds this case, but they don’t see it until he finally gives them the punchline.
Stephen was a very powerful thinker and a very powerful debater. And so, verse 10 says, these opponents, these Jews from the Synagogue of the Freedmen, from Cyrene and Alexandria and Cilicia and Asia, they “could not stand up against his wisdom.” In other words, they were flattened by him, not physically, but they couldn’t win. They knew that he had won the day. He had taken the palm. He’d won the debate. And that didn’t mean they were persuaded. It didn’t mean that they said, “Oh, well then, we’ll follow Jesus.” It wasn’t that. It was just they had nothing more that they could say.
That happened with Jesus numbers of times. When Jesus would ask a question, they couldn’t answer. When Jesus would say something, and he would shut the debate down because of just infinite wisdom from God. So, Stephen is like that. His wisdom or the Spirit, it says, “by whom he spoke.” And this is the Holy Spirit, so the Spirit is speaking through him with great power, and he’s making powerful arguments.
Wes
In verses 11-14, what did Stephen’s opponents do, and what charges did they level against him?
Andy
Well, they’re starting to do some maneuvering, and this is just the dirty pool that we see again and again in the Bible. You remember how Jezebel orchestrated some men to testify about Naboth, against Naboth so that her husband, Ahab, could get his vineyard, remember? And they said, “Oh, he’s blasphemed,” and then they stoned him to death, and all this kind of thing (1 Kings 21)? And they did the same thing with Jesus, false witnesses who come and say false things, despite the fact that it’s exactly mentioned in the 10 Commandments, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” But they secretly persuaded some men. They stirred them up to say, “We have heard Stephen speak words of blasphemy against Moses and against God.” However, in all kinds of these types of things, there’s always some measure of truth. And so, I’m much more interested in what the truth is of the things that Stephen said than the false accusations.
Wes
As we’ve pointed forward to this incredible sermon that is just in the next chapter, what do we learn about the content of Stephen’s teaching from Acts 6, and how does it relate to the Book of Hebrews, like you mentioned earlier, and to Stephen’s message that we’ll see next time, Lord willing?
Andy
Yeah, I think that’s an incredible question, and I don’t know fully all the things that Stephen taught. But it’s clear that he, to some degree, minimizes the temple in Acts 7. He says, “God does not dwell in temples made by men” (Acts 7:48). Solomon himself knew that heaven, even the highest heavens, couldn’t contain God. And so, he’s already minimizing the temple. I don’t know if he extends it out to the animal sacrificial system, but the information’s all there that the time for animal sacrifice is done. The curtain and the temple torn into from top to bottom should say everything.
And so, it could be that Stephen’s like the morning star of the new covenant and the end of the sacrificial system and the end of temple worship. I mean, it really should have ended that day, literally should have ended that day. If all of the Jewish nation had become genuine believers in Jesus, they would never have done another animal sacrifice from that moment on. And so, it could be that Stephen is a morning star who’s able to see a lot of those themes and begins to say it.
So, what do they accuse him of? “This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place,” that is the temple, “and against the law,” that would be the animal sacrifices and all the other things. “We have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place,” that is the temple, “and change the customs Moses handed down to us,” that is the ceremonial law. Well, if you look at it, did Jesus destroy the temple? Absolutely, Jesus destroyed the temple. He did it through the Romans. So, what does Jesus have to do with the Romans? Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords. When it says, “The king’s heart is like a water course in the hands of the Lord. He directs it whichever way he pleases” (Proverbs 21:1), who do you think the Lord is? The Lord is Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords. “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me” (Matthew 28:18). And so, Jesus sent the Romans to destroy the temple.
Now, he predicted it. He said, “Not one stone would be left here on another” (Matthew 24:2). Every one would be thrown down, speaking about the temple. And he did this in Matthew 23:37. He said, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you,” et cetera. And then as he leaves, he says, “You will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’ Behold, your house is left you desolate” (Matthew 23:38-39). So there’s this emptiness in Israel, and specifically in the temple. And then he said, do you see these great buildings? The incredible stones of the temple, not one stone will be left on another. Every one will be thrown down. So yes, Jesus of Nazareth did destroy this place.
Now, he hadn’t done it yet, all right? Wouldn’t do it until 70 AD, AD 70. “And then changed the customs Moses handed down to us.” Well, he had already started to do that when he declared all foods clean. When Jesus said, “It’s not what goes into a man’s body that makes him unclean, but it’s what comes out of a man that makes him unclean” (Matthew 15:11). And so, he said in saying this, Mark’s gospel said in saying this, “He declared all foods clean” (Mark 7:19). So, he had already begun to do that, but then it’s going to extend to circumcision, the animal sacrificial system, all of it. So yes, yes, yes, that’s exactly what Jesus had come to do. So, was Stephen teaching that? Probably he was.
Wes
Yeah. Verse 15 is a spectacular final verse of this chapter. It says, “Gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his,” that would be Stephen’s, “face was like the face of an angel.” What does verse 15 teach us about Stephen?
Andy
Oh, I don’t even know what that means. I think probably that he had a supernatural peace and a supernatural joy and a supernatural love. When he said, “Do not lay this sin against their charge” (Acts 7:60), he really loved his enemies. He was just a unique individual. And as they looked at him, they didn’t see some villainous, twisted blasphemer. They didn’t see that at all. They saw somebody confident, happy, joyful, radiant even, radiant with the love of the Lord. Maybe even his face was shining a little bit, I don’t know, like Moses’. I really don’t know exactly what this means, but when they looked at his countenance, when they looked at his face, I think they had every good reason to listen carefully to what he said. So, that’s what I get out of verse 15. They looked intently at him, and they did not see a villain. They didn’t see a wicked criminal. They saw a godly man.
Wes
Andy, as we wrap up our time looking at Acts 6, in what ways is Stephen a role model for us, and what final thoughts do you have for us today?
Andy
Okay, so we are introduced to Stephen in that he’s one of the seven, and the seven were servants. They were table waiters, and so we start with humble service. But the criteria, the filter by which Stephen was chosen, if you look at it, “Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom,” so that’s Stephen. He was a man filled with the Holy Spirit and wisdom. So, what does that mean? He’s characterized by the fruit of the Spirit, though that hadn’t even been written yet. Galatians hadn’t been written yet, but love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control, these things you could see in Stephen. So, he was full of the Spirit.
Stephen’s a role model in terms of a humble servanthood, wisdom, being filled with the Spirit, unique gifts in ministry, the power of the Spirit to do bold evangelism, and to reason from the scripture concerning Jesus.
And beyond that, he was a powerful man. He was bold. He knew that he was offending these folks. He knew that they were angry. He probably knew that they were angry enough to kill him, but he was so bold. There was nothing in him that shrunk back. But he didn’t hate his enemies. He wanted to win them. And so, there was a deep love in him that we’re going to see come to fruition when they’re stoning him to death. And so, Stephen’s a role model in terms of a humble servanthood, wisdom, being filled with the Spirit, unique gifts in ministry, the power of the Spirit to do bold evangelism, and to reason from the scripture concerning Jesus. All of these make Stephen a man worthy of emulation.
Wes
Well, this has been Episode 13 in our Acts Bible Study Podcast. We want to invite you to join us next time for Episode 14 entitled Stephen’s Brilliant Defense, Part 1, where we’ll discuss Acts 7:1-29. Thank you for listening to the Two Journeys podcast and may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
Wes
Welcome to the Two Journeys Bible Study Podcast. This podcast is just one of the many resources available to you for free from Two Journeys ministry. If you’re interested in learning more, just head over to TwoJourneys.org. Now, on to today’s episode.
This is Episode 13 in our Acts Bible Study Podcast. This episode is entitled The Seven Servants and Stephen, where we’ll discuss Acts 6:1-15. I’m Wes Treadway and I’m here with Pastor Andy Davis.
Andy, what are we going to see in these verses that we’re looking at today?
Andy
Well, it breaks into two parts, as you just said. It’s going to be a focus on the seven servants who were chosen to distribute food to the Greek-speaking widows. And so we’re going to see in that a beautiful kind of organization of the church along spiritual gift lines and different responsibilities that local churches, that individuals have. Some have seen the seven as proto-deacons. Whether that’s true or not, they certainly had servant hearts to meet physical needs, and so we’ll talk about that. But then we have one of the great individuals in the New Testament, in the early history of the church, Stephen, and we’re going to get to know him a little bit as well.
Wes
Let me go ahead and read Acts 6:1-15 as we begin.
Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”
And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte of Antioch. These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them. And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.
And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen. But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. Then they secretly instigated men who said, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.”
And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council, and they set up false witnesses who said, “This man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law, for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us.”
And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel.
It’s an incredible passage, and as we begin, what problem was it that arose in verse 1, and what insight does this give us into the seriousness of the problem?
Andy
Okay, so there’s a practical issue that arises. The Greek-speaking widows are complaining against the Hebraic Jews because they are being overlooked. The widows are being overlooked in the daily food distribution. So, we have a kind of an ethnic issue. That Hellenism. So, these are individuals that are affected by the Greek-speaking world and are more kind of secular, et cetera, but these are individuals that are women that are connected with the church. They’re believers, but they’re perhaps looked on with a little disrespect, perhaps, by the Jewish believers. And so, they’re not having their needs met. And it’s beautiful how the church, how the apostles in particular, seize this as a very important issue. They want to make certain that the widows are being cared for.
So aside from the ethnic issue of Greek-speaking versus Hebraic-speaking widows, or Jews, aside from all that, just the fact that there was this kind of care for the poor and needy, which we’ve already seen in Acts 2 and again in Acts 4. How people sold lands and houses and brought the money from the sale and put it at the apostles’ feet. And it was distributed to anyone as he had need, or in this case, as she had need. So, we see the church meeting physical needs and that’s a beautiful thing.
Wes
Now, you alluded to this a moment ago, but who initiated the solution to the problem, and what was their first step in solving it?
Andy
Okay, so this is a very important study in church leadership. The twelve initiate the solution. The problem is brought to the twelve, the apostles, and they see the issues. They know that there has to be a solution to the problem, and so they come up with the plan. They have a division of labor which we’ll talk about. “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables,” so they go to the church, they say, “Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom.” We’re going to turn this responsibility over to them and give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.” So, this is how the apostles solve the issue, but we notice also that they leave it to the church to choose the seven.
Wes
All right, so let’s talk a little bit about that division of labor. What did the apostles mean by, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables”? Were the apostles unwilling to serve in this humble way, or did they have another motive?
Andy
No, they certainly were not unwilling. I mean, basic Christian discipleship involves servanthood of any respect. Jesus gave them that example by washing the disciples’ feet. There’s no menial task that’s below any true servant of God. That’s not it. It’s that there’s a certain calling that the apostles had to do the ministry of the Word, and that took time. And so, this ends up being a key passage for pastors to be careful to guard their time. And we need to realize that there are numbers of tasks connected with church work that there are servants of God that are equipped and ready to do. But no one can do the things that you’re called on to do if you’ve got that gift of teaching and preaching. You’ve got to give your attention to that.
basic Christian discipleship involves servanthood of any respect. Jesus gave them that example by washing the disciples’ feet. There’s no menial task that’s below any true servant of God.
And so sometimes pastors, especially in smaller churches where there’s only, let’s say, one pastor, et cetera, they can end up doing a lot of physical tasks like mowing the lawn or doing some plumbing repair in the bathroom down in the children’s section because there’s no one else to do it. And meanwhile, their study suffers. They don’t write sermons as well. They’re a little light on their preparation, and the whole church suffers.
Wes
Hm. How does the attitude of the apostles relate to the various teachings on the diverse nature of ministries within the body of Christ? And do you think there’s a need for this kind of division of labor today?
Andy
Yeah, I think we should spend the overwhelming majority of our ministry time doing what our spiritual gifts equip us to do. That’s what I think spiritual gifts is all about. Spend your ministry time doing what you’re gifted to do. So, if you’re a hand, do hand kind of things. If you’re a foot, do foot kind of things. If your gift is serving, you should serve. If your gift is teaching, you should teach. If it’s administration or leadership, you should do that. If it’s giving, spend your time giving. The reason being, there’s only so many hours in the day. There’s only so many years we have to live. And so, the idea with spiritual gifts is these are special abilities that the Holy Spirit has worked in us that make us maximally effective in those areas, and so yeah, I think we learn a lot from this. It would not be right for us to neglect our spiritual gifts in order to do something that we’re not specifically called to do.
There should be no arrogance here, no sense of superiority. I would hope the apostles have all been trained out of that. Certainly, Peter had plenty of humbling that was done in his life. He doesn’t feel himself superior to anyone else. It’s just this is our calling, prayer and the ministry of the word.
Wes
In verse 3, the proposed solution is to select seven men who could accomplish the necessary function. What’s the significance of the fact that the church was to select the seven men, and then they were to be presented to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them?
Andy
Yeah, our polity in our church, at First Baptist Church of Durham, is plurality of elders leading in a congregational setting. And so, there’s a dynamic between the congregation as a whole and the elders as they lead, and I think we see the same thing here in Acts 6. The twelve lead, but they do it within congregationalism. And so, they say, “Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom.” And so, they leave it to the church to decide. They don’t mandate who the seven should be, and I think this is important.
It’s also interesting that they’re definitely going to be men. The Greek word here is males, and so I think that relates to the fact that these widows were being cared for. These were seven men who were going to be caring for the widows. But there’s a beautiful dynamic here between congregational polity and also leadership of the apostles.
Wes
Now, all the names of those who were chosen were Greek. Why do you think only Greek men were chosen to serve in these roles?
Andy
Well, I think they knew their own widows. They knew their own community, and again, keep in mind what’s happening. Widows are being overlooked. They’re not known. It wasn’t malicious. It was just, we didn’t know that they had that need, or we didn’t know there were that many of them. And so, they wanted some people from that community who could make certain no one slipped through the cracks. You can imagine some very meek woman who is maybe even starving or certainly does not have her needs being met, and very few people even know about her situation. And so, these seven Greek believers are able to know the entire community and make certain that none of the widows are getting overlooked.
Wes
Now it seems an intentional move on Luke’s part to show that the harmonious solution of this really hard situation results in evangelistic growth. What does this tell us about the evangelistic power available for the modern church, especially in relation to conflicts?
Andy
Right. Well, to some degree, I don’t want to overstate this, but it seems like everything matters. Obviously, evangelism is very important. It’s the top priority in the church. But so also are some of the structural or administrative aspects. If they aren’t done well, you can end up having problems.
And so, the fact is, it’s a beautiful thing that this social issue, this issue of meeting the needs of widows is, in the text anyway, connected with the spread of the gospel, with the growth of the church. And so the idea is when the body is functioning well, everything works well, and the top priority continues to be winning lost people for the glory of God, and we understand that, but these things are connected. And so it’s beautiful when the church is well-ordered and everything is … the spiritual gifts are being used, and ministry to women, to widows, to children, when other aspects are being addressed in a healthy, organized way. I mean, it’s different in the American church scene than it was in the first century, but when all of those things are addressed, the church is going to be fruitful and that will especially mean, obviously, ultimately, evangelistic fruit.
Wes
Now, verse 7 is the last verse before we’re introduced specifically to Stephen in verses 8-15, and we’ve alluded to verse 7 at other times as we’ve thought about the religious leaders that we’ve been introduced to along the way. What’s significant about the fact that many priests became obedient to the faith, and what does it mean to be obedient to the faith?
Andy
Well, it’s really remarkable, and I’m not entirely certain what Stephen taught. We can look at what his enemies accused him of teaching, but the fact of the matter is we’ve read the Book of Hebrews, you and I, Wes. It wasn’t written yet, but I wonder if Stephen, if he had been given enough time, would’ve written the Book of Hebrews.
As soon as Jesus died and the curtain in the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, there was no more need for animal sacrifice.
The fact is these priests were out of a job. As soon as Jesus died and the curtain in the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, there was no more need for animal sacrifice. And so, it’s going to be accused of Stephen that Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place, the temple, and change the customs Moses handed down to us. Actually, all of that’s true. And the fact of the matter is, these priests were humbly able to realize that Jesus was that final sacrifice.
Wes
Wow.
Andy
I also think, I don’t know this for certain, but some human eyewitness must have testified to Mark and to the other gospel writers concerning the curtain in the temple being torn into from top to bottom, because you had to be there when it was happening, or the Holy Spirit had to give you special knowledge. Those are your two options. You had to be a literal eyewitness. You couldn’t come in the next morning and find the curtain in the temple torn in two. You had to be there while it was happening, to see it torn from top to bottom.
Wes
Wow.
Andy
And so, you have to imagine some of these priests were eyewitnesses of a miracle, and then they put two and two together, and it’s like, you know, that’s exactly when Jesus died. And so, it says here, “A large number of priests,” and it’s interesting, it says, “became obedient to the faith.” I think it’s interesting when the faith, being Christianity, the doctrine of Christianity, is coupled with the verb obey, or the noun obedience. There is a command from Almighty God in the gospel, and that is to repent and to submit, and so these priests obeyed the gospel.
Wes
In verses 8-15, we are introduced more fully to Stephen, one of these seven. Luke describes his character and ministry in these verses. Right off the bat in verse 8, what’s significant about the fact that Stephen, not an apostle, is doing great signs and wonders among the people?
Andy
Well, I think one thing we learn, the opposite is true. All of the apostles did miracles, because Paul says, “The things that mark an apostle, signs and wonders were done among you with great perseverance” (2 Corinthians 12:12). He says that in Corinthians. And so, to prove apostleship, you had to do miracles. But the opposite is not true, that if you did miracles, you were an apostle. That’s not true. And so, there was the ability that Stephen had to do some signs and wonders, probably healings. We don’t really know but did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people. So, Stephen’s one of the great individuals of early church history.
Wes
So, if Stephen is as great as we believe him to be, especially as we read what follows, what we’ll get to in coming episodes in the Book of Acts, why did opposition arise to Stephen’s ministry, and from whom did the opposition come?
Andy
Well, the more powerful a servant of God is in doing mighty works by the power of the Spirit, the more that Satan is going to raise up opposition. Look at Jesus himself, the only perfect man and the only perfect ministry there’s ever been, there was severe opposition to Jesus, so this is just satanic opposition and demonic opposition. But the text says, “Opposition arose from members of the synagogue of the Freedmen, Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria, as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia.” You’ve got to read Saul of Tarsus in there, so I really, truly believe that Saul of Tarsus was included in this group of people who tried to refute Stephen but couldn’t.
Wes
Wow.
Andy
And so, that’s who we’re dealing with. These are just different regions of that part of the world, but they were Jews who were fighting against Stephen verbally. They were debating him, arguing against him, et cetera, trying to refute his doctrine.
Wes
What does verse 10 teach us about Stephen’s ministry, and do we see this kind of thing elsewhere in Acts?
Andy
Yeah, so Stephen, it says, “is a man full of God’s grace and power.” So, there’s a sense of power to Stephen, and we’re going to see that in Acts 7 with the way that he preaches. It’s just an amazing sermon, and the way he just draws them in with this rehearsing of Israel’s history, but they don’t really see what he’s doing. And little by little, he’s building a case against the entire Jewish nation, that they always fight against everyone God sends.
Wes
Wow.
Andy
And now they fight against Jesus, the Son of God. So, he builds this case, but they don’t see it until he finally gives them the punchline.
Stephen was a very powerful thinker and a very powerful debater. And so, verse 10 says, these opponents, these Jews from the Synagogue of the Freedmen, from Cyrene and Alexandria and Cilicia and Asia, they “could not stand up against his wisdom.” In other words, they were flattened by him, not physically, but they couldn’t win. They knew that he had won the day. He had taken the palm. He’d won the debate. And that didn’t mean they were persuaded. It didn’t mean that they said, “Oh, well then, we’ll follow Jesus.” It wasn’t that. It was just they had nothing more that they could say.
That happened with Jesus numbers of times. When Jesus would ask a question, they couldn’t answer. When Jesus would say something, and he would shut the debate down because of just infinite wisdom from God. So, Stephen is like that. His wisdom or the Spirit, it says, “by whom he spoke.” And this is the Holy Spirit, so the Spirit is speaking through him with great power, and he’s making powerful arguments.
Wes
In verses 11-14, what did Stephen’s opponents do, and what charges did they level against him?
Andy
Well, they’re starting to do some maneuvering, and this is just the dirty pool that we see again and again in the Bible. You remember how Jezebel orchestrated some men to testify about Naboth, against Naboth so that her husband, Ahab, could get his vineyard, remember? And they said, “Oh, he’s blasphemed,” and then they stoned him to death, and all this kind of thing (1 Kings 21)? And they did the same thing with Jesus, false witnesses who come and say false things, despite the fact that it’s exactly mentioned in the 10 Commandments, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” But they secretly persuaded some men. They stirred them up to say, “We have heard Stephen speak words of blasphemy against Moses and against God.” However, in all kinds of these types of things, there’s always some measure of truth. And so, I’m much more interested in what the truth is of the things that Stephen said than the false accusations.
Wes
As we’ve pointed forward to this incredible sermon that is just in the next chapter, what do we learn about the content of Stephen’s teaching from Acts 6, and how does it relate to the Book of Hebrews, like you mentioned earlier, and to Stephen’s message that we’ll see next time, Lord willing?
Andy
Yeah, I think that’s an incredible question, and I don’t know fully all the things that Stephen taught. But it’s clear that he, to some degree, minimizes the temple in Acts 7. He says, “God does not dwell in temples made by men” (Acts 7:48). Solomon himself knew that heaven, even the highest heavens, couldn’t contain God. And so, he’s already minimizing the temple. I don’t know if he extends it out to the animal sacrificial system, but the information’s all there that the time for animal sacrifice is done. The curtain and the temple torn into from top to bottom should say everything.
And so, it could be that Stephen’s like the morning star of the new covenant and the end of the sacrificial system and the end of temple worship. I mean, it really should have ended that day, literally should have ended that day. If all of the Jewish nation had become genuine believers in Jesus, they would never have done another animal sacrifice from that moment on. And so, it could be that Stephen is a morning star who’s able to see a lot of those themes and begins to say it.
So, what do they accuse him of? “This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place,” that is the temple, “and against the law,” that would be the animal sacrifices and all the other things. “We have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place,” that is the temple, “and change the customs Moses handed down to us,” that is the ceremonial law. Well, if you look at it, did Jesus destroy the temple? Absolutely, Jesus destroyed the temple. He did it through the Romans. So, what does Jesus have to do with the Romans? Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords. When it says, “The king’s heart is like a water course in the hands of the Lord. He directs it whichever way he pleases” (Proverbs 21:1), who do you think the Lord is? The Lord is Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords. “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me” (Matthew 28:18). And so, Jesus sent the Romans to destroy the temple.
Now, he predicted it. He said, “Not one stone would be left here on another” (Matthew 24:2). Every one would be thrown down, speaking about the temple. And he did this in Matthew 23:37. He said, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you,” et cetera. And then as he leaves, he says, “You will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’ Behold, your house is left you desolate” (Matthew 23:38-39). So there’s this emptiness in Israel, and specifically in the temple. And then he said, do you see these great buildings? The incredible stones of the temple, not one stone will be left on another. Every one will be thrown down. So yes, Jesus of Nazareth did destroy this place.
Now, he hadn’t done it yet, all right? Wouldn’t do it until 70 AD, AD 70. “And then changed the customs Moses handed down to us.” Well, he had already started to do that when he declared all foods clean. When Jesus said, “It’s not what goes into a man’s body that makes him unclean, but it’s what comes out of a man that makes him unclean” (Matthew 15:11). And so, he said in saying this, Mark’s gospel said in saying this, “He declared all foods clean” (Mark 7:19). So, he had already begun to do that, but then it’s going to extend to circumcision, the animal sacrificial system, all of it. So yes, yes, yes, that’s exactly what Jesus had come to do. So, was Stephen teaching that? Probably he was.
Wes
Yeah. Verse 15 is a spectacular final verse of this chapter. It says, “Gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his,” that would be Stephen’s, “face was like the face of an angel.” What does verse 15 teach us about Stephen?
Andy
Oh, I don’t even know what that means. I think probably that he had a supernatural peace and a supernatural joy and a supernatural love. When he said, “Do not lay this sin against their charge” (Acts 7:60), he really loved his enemies. He was just a unique individual. And as they looked at him, they didn’t see some villainous, twisted blasphemer. They didn’t see that at all. They saw somebody confident, happy, joyful, radiant even, radiant with the love of the Lord. Maybe even his face was shining a little bit, I don’t know, like Moses’. I really don’t know exactly what this means, but when they looked at his countenance, when they looked at his face, I think they had every good reason to listen carefully to what he said. So, that’s what I get out of verse 15. They looked intently at him, and they did not see a villain. They didn’t see a wicked criminal. They saw a godly man.
Wes
Andy, as we wrap up our time looking at Acts 6, in what ways is Stephen a role model for us, and what final thoughts do you have for us today?
Andy
Okay, so we are introduced to Stephen in that he’s one of the seven, and the seven were servants. They were table waiters, and so we start with humble service. But the criteria, the filter by which Stephen was chosen, if you look at it, “Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom,” so that’s Stephen. He was a man filled with the Holy Spirit and wisdom. So, what does that mean? He’s characterized by the fruit of the Spirit, though that hadn’t even been written yet. Galatians hadn’t been written yet, but love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control, these things you could see in Stephen. So, he was full of the Spirit.
Stephen’s a role model in terms of a humble servanthood, wisdom, being filled with the Spirit, unique gifts in ministry, the power of the Spirit to do bold evangelism, and to reason from the scripture concerning Jesus.
And beyond that, he was a powerful man. He was bold. He knew that he was offending these folks. He knew that they were angry. He probably knew that they were angry enough to kill him, but he was so bold. There was nothing in him that shrunk back. But he didn’t hate his enemies. He wanted to win them. And so, there was a deep love in him that we’re going to see come to fruition when they’re stoning him to death. And so, Stephen’s a role model in terms of a humble servanthood, wisdom, being filled with the Spirit, unique gifts in ministry, the power of the Spirit to do bold evangelism, and to reason from the scripture concerning Jesus. All of these make Stephen a man worthy of emulation.
Wes
Well, this has been Episode 13 in our Acts Bible Study Podcast. We want to invite you to join us next time for Episode 14 entitled Stephen’s Brilliant Defense, Part 1, where we’ll discuss Acts 7:1-29. Thank you for listening to the Two Journeys podcast and may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
