Acts 6 | The Upward Way | Bible Study with A. Z. Adams — Transcript

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1. 0:00Acts chapter 6 verse 1.
2. 0:03Now at this time, while the disciples
3. 0:06were increasing in number,
4. 0:08a complaint arose on the part of the
5. 0:10Hellenistic Jews against the native
6. 0:13Hebrews because their widows were being
7. 0:16overlooked in the daily serving of food.
8. 0:21So the 12 summoned the congregation of
9. 0:24the disciples and said,
10. 0:26"It is not desirable for us to neglect
11. 0:30the word of God in order to serve
12. 0:32tables.
13. 0:34Therefore, brethren, select from among
14. 0:36you seven men of good reputation,
15. 0:41full of the Spirit and of wisdom,
16. 0:44whom we may put in charge of this task.
17. 0:49But we will devote ourselves to prayer
18. 0:51and to the ministry of the word."
19. 0:55The statement found approval with the
20. 0:57whole congregation, and they chose
21. 1:00Stephen, a man full of faith and of the
22. 1:03Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus,
23. 1:07Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas,
24. 1:12a proselyte from Antioch.
25. 1:16And these they brought before the
26. 1:18apostles, and after praying, they laid
27. 1:21their hands on them.
28. 1:23So, let's look at this here. Right here
29. 1:26we see the ministry of the church
30. 1:29extending beyond just the preaching and
31. 1:32teaching of the word.
32. 1:34We will see that these deacons also had
33. 1:37the authority to preach and teach the
34. 1:40word, but that wasn't their primary
35. 1:42mission.
36. 1:43And
37. 1:45what we have is a distinction between
38. 1:50the authority to set them in place
39. 1:53versus the ability to nominate them to
40. 1:57the place.
41. 1:58So, in the first instance,
42. 2:01the people feel that there is not
43. 2:03fairness in the way that practical
44. 2:05things are being administered. And so,
45. 2:07they complain.
46. 2:09And the apostles say, "Well, we're not
47. 2:11doing this really well because we should
48. 2:14really be devoting ourselves to the word
49. 2:16of God and prayer."
50. 2:18So, they said, "We really need to get
51. 2:19more people involved. We need to get
52. 2:23responsible ministers who can cover
53. 2:26these practical areas in the body."
54. 2:29But, what is their qualification
55. 2:31to this ministry? Is their qualification
56. 2:34that they have a lot of money and have
57. 2:37run a business for a certain length of
58. 2:39time? I'm sure that helps, but their
59. 2:41qualification was that they needed to be
60. 2:43men full of the Holy Spirit and the
61. 2:45wisdom of God.
62. 2:47And then, they asked the church, "Why
63. 2:49don't you tell us the guys that you
64. 2:51would trust?" But, the church does not
65. 2:54put them in the place of authority.
66. 2:57It says, "You recommend the people you
67. 3:00think we should appoint, but then the
68. 3:02apostles will appoint them. The apostles
69. 3:05will put them in that place." And they
70. 3:07do that through the laying on of hands
71. 3:09and commissioning them to that place.
72. 3:12And so, the next verse says, "The word
73. 3:14of God kept on spreading and the number
74. 3:16of the disciples continued to increase
75. 3:19greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many
76. 3:22of the priests were becoming obedient to
77. 3:26the faith."
78. 3:27So, right here,
79. 3:29we have a lot of hope
80. 3:31that those same people who used to
81. 3:34harass Jesus,
82. 3:36who sat in judgment at the house of
83. 3:38Annas and Caiaphas when he was tried,
84. 3:42those same people, the priests, are
85. 3:44becoming obedient to the faith. Notice
86. 3:47that the faith is not something that you
87. 3:49merely assent to in your head, it's
88. 3:52something that you obey.
89. 3:55And Stephen, full of grace and power,
90. 3:59was performing great wonders and signs
91. 4:02among the people.
92. 4:04So, whatever his ministry was as a
93. 4:06deacon,
94. 4:07it did not mean that he only dealt in
95. 4:10practical matters.
96. 4:12It meant that that was the place of
97. 4:13responsibility he was assuming on behalf
98. 4:17of the church.
99. 4:18But, the reason he was put there is
100. 4:20because he was obedient to the spirit.
101. 4:22He was full of the spirit and wisdom.
102. 4:25And that reality of God's spirit in
103. 4:28Stephen
104. 4:29enabled him to be working miracles and
105. 4:32performing great wonders among the
106. 4:34people.
107. 4:36But, some men from what was called the
108. 4:39Synagogue of the Freedmen, including
109. 4:42both Cyrenians and Alexandrians and some
110. 4:46from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and
111. 4:49argued with Stephen.
112. 4:52So, it seems like many priests are
113. 4:54becoming converted, but there's this
114. 4:56special synagogue, the Freedmen
115. 4:59synagogue,
116. 5:00rises up and begins to argue with
117. 5:02Stephen.
118. 5:03But, they were unable to cope with the
119. 5:06wisdom and the spirit
120. 5:10with which he, Stephen, was speaking.
121. 5:14They wanted to argue, they wanted to
122. 5:15debate, but they couldn't cope
123. 5:18with the wisdom or the anointing that
124. 5:21Stephen spoke with.
125. 5:23Then, they secretly induced men to say,
126. 5:28"We have heard him speak blasphemous
127. 5:30words against Moses and against God."
128. 5:35Well, notice that we have the same
129. 5:37dynamic as occurred with Jesus.
130. 5:40We have people who want to argue, who
131. 5:44want to be combative, and when their
132. 5:47arguments are destroyed by better
133. 5:49arguments, by a greater wisdom,
134. 5:52they say, "Okay, let's falsely accuse.
135. 5:56Let's slander. Let's smear him with a
136. 5:58crime, the crime of blasphemy. Say that
137. 6:02he's against Moses and against God."
138. 6:05And they stirred up the people, the
139. 6:07elders and the scribes, and they came up
140. 6:10to him, to Stephen, and dragged him away
141. 6:14and brought him before the council, the
142. 6:17Sanhedrin.
143. 6:19They put forward false witnesses who
144. 6:22said, "This man incessantly speaks
145. 6:25against this holy place and the law.
146. 6:31For we have heard him say that this
147. 6:33Nazarene Jesus will destroy this place
148. 6:37and alter the customs which Moses handed
149. 6:40down to us."
150. 6:44And fixing their gaze on him, all who
151. 6:47were sitting in the council saw his face
152. 6:50like the face of an angel.
153. 6:55Stephen
154. 6:57is so full of the Holy Spirit that his
155. 7:00countenance is transfixed.
156. 7:03He has a visible anointing on him.
157. 7:08But what are they accusing him of?
158. 7:11They're saying
159. 7:13that Stephen claims
160. 7:15that Jesus will destroy
161. 7:18the temple
162. 7:20and the customs which Moses handed down
163. 7:23to them.
164. 7:24Now, every lie has a germ of truth in
165. 7:27it.
166. 7:28And the germ of truth would be that
167. 7:30Stephen would have been telling them,
168. 7:32"Don't focus on that stone temple
169. 7:34anymore. God's building a different kind
170. 7:37of temple." And they hear that through
171. 7:39the ears of suspicion and a and threat.
172. 7:42Oh, no, he's going to destroy the
173. 7:45temple, right? And Stephen is saying,
174. 7:48"Look, those customs from Moses, they're
175. 7:50important, but they point toward the
176. 7:53substance and the reality that God wants
177. 7:55to lead us into by the spirit."
178. 7:58But the key is that they don't hate
179. 8:00Stephen because they're confused about
180. 8:02his doctrine.
181. 8:03They hate Stephen because he has a
182. 8:05wisdom and an anointing that they can't
183. 8:08control.
184. 8:10And they are control freaks, and so they
185. 8:13drag him before the Sanhedrin, and they
186. 8:16begin to accuse him. But, Luke finishes
187. 8:19the chapter telling us Stephen's face
188. 8:22was shining.
189. 8:24"You will be my witnesses," Jesus had
190. 8:26said, and the Holy Spirit is shining
191. 8:29forth from Stephen even in
192. 8:32the lies and accusations of these evil
193. 8:35people.