The devil has tried many tactics to stop the advance of the church, including distracting them from their calling.  In this message we examine his tactics and how the apostles overcame him by refusing to be sidelined from their primary calling to preach the word.

Teaching Notes:

The Devil’s Distractions

Acts 6:1-7

Intro:  One of Luke’s themes in Acts is the growth of the church and the advancement of the Kingdom of God. Sometimes in various circles, we look upon “church growth” as a dirty word that we shouldn’t even mention. However, Luke was of the opposite opinion. Luke wrote of church growth over and over again. Let’s briefly look at some of his references to the growth of the church. 

2:41 – “there were added that day about 3,000 souls.”

2:47 – “The Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved”

4:4  – “But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to be about 5,000”

5:14 – “And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women”

9:31 – “And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, the church multiplied.” 

9:35 – “And all the residents of Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord.” 

9:42 – “And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed in the Lord.”

11:21 – “And the handoff the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord.”

11:24 – “…And a great many people were added to the Lord.”

12:24 – “But the word of God increased and multiplied.”

13:49  – “And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region.”

16:5  – “So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and they increased in numbers daily.”

19:20 – “So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.”

In the passage we are studying this morning, there are 2 more references to church growth. In fact, they form bookends, one at the beginning and the other at the end of our text.

6:1  –  “Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number”

6:7  – “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.”

So, here we have a threat to the advancement of Jesus’ Kingdom and the growth of the church. We have seen other threats of the Devil up to this point. First the Devil used Persecution from outside the church. When that didn’t work he used Corruption from within the church. When God judged Ananias and Saphira and the church continued to grow, he tried a 3^rd tactic – Distraction. The Devil is not very original. In fact, he uses the same tactics over and over again. He uses Persecution, Corruption, and Distraction to try to throw the church off course, so that she will be ineffective in reaching the lost.  Now, at this stage of our church plant, we have not run into much persecution or corruption, but we could easily be misled by the Devil’s distractions and lose our course, so listen carefully to the Word of God this morning.

1.   The Problem:  6:1

·         Hellenists and Hebrews:  there were 2 groups within the church in Jerusalem. All the members were Jews, but there 2 kinds of Jews. The majority were Hebrews. They lived in Palestine, spoke Aramaic, and held to traditional Jewish culture. The minority party were Hellenists who were Jews who lived outside Palestine, spoke Greek, and embraced Greek culture. Remember, that there were many Jews from all over the world on Pentecost who were saved. The Hellenists in the church likely came from this group.

·         Complaint:  As you might imagine, there was probably some prejudice festering here. The native Hebrews would feel a bit superior to the Hellenists because they had remained true to the ways of Jehovah and still lived in the promised land and had not defiled themselves with the ways of the Gentiles. A subtle rift was developing. These 2 groups were from different backgrounds, spoke different languages, and read from different Scriptures. Evidently, the Hellenists felt this snobbery, and it stung them. All of the destitute widows in Jerusalem were distributed food. Remember that people were selling lands and houses and laying the money at the apostles’ feet, who made sure the money was distributed to whoever had need. Well, the Hellenists were being neglected in this distribution, so a complaint naturally arose. “We aren’t getting our fair share!” You can see where this is leading – dissension and murmuring, just like the children of Israel in the wilderness.

2.   The Solution:  6:2-6

·         It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God:  There was a definite need that needed to be met. Who should meet it? If the apostles jumped in and met the need, they would have to neglect the Word. They considered this, but then rejected it. It wasn’t “right”. The word “right” in the original means pleasing. It would not be pleasing to the Lord for us to do that, because He has called us to preach Jesus and bear witness of His resurrection. So, who should meet this need?

·         To serve tables…ministry of the word:  The Greek word is the same for both. The apostles served up spiritual food; the 7 served up physical food. One ministry is not superior than the other. Both are needed, and God called different people to both. All members of the church are called to serve. We need to find out how and where He has called us to serve!

·         Pick out from among you seven men:   Some believe these were the first Deacons. They are never referred to in this passage as Deacons. In one way, they looked and acted like Deacons, but in another way they didn’t. Philip and Stephen functioned more like Elders than Deacons. Both are preachers. Philip is an evangelist. Both did signs and wonders. So, in that sense they functioned like Elders. But they also did whatever the apostles needed them to do so that the needs of the Church would be met. In that sense they functioned like Deacons. What is the responsibility of an Elder? To teach, shepherd, oversee, rule, model, care for the flock. What then is the responsibility of a Deacon? To do whatever the Elders need them to do so that the Elders don’t have to forsake their calling. 

·         of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom:  Notice that there were moral qualifications that had to be met. Good reputation means they were above reproach. Their was no moral blight on their character. Full of the Spirit is a reference to their close walk with the Lord, their dependence upon and empowering with the Holy Spirit, and their spiritually minded character.  Full of wisdom refers to the practical wisdom given by the Spirit. They were both spiritual and practical. It’s interesting that such high qualifications had to be met just to be given the responsibility of making sure widows were taken care of!

·         We will devote ourselves to prayer and the ministry of the Word:  devote is the exact same Greek word in Acts 2:42 for “continually devoting”. The apostles knew their calling from Jesus, and were unwilling to be distracted from it. Strongs Dictionary defines it as “to occupy oneself diligently with something,” “to pay persistent attention to”. They were unwilling to be blown off course. Prayer accompanies the ministry of the Word, because you have to pray about what you are teaching, and who you are teaching, and God’s blessing upon your teaching.

·         The twelve summoned the full number…pick out from among you…they chose:  notice that the 12 apostles did not make a decision unilaterally and just inform the church. They invited the willing participation of the whole church. The church had a voice in their selection. The apostles didn’t ride roughshod over the Church, selecting 7 men and just informing the church of their decision. This is so important when leaders are chosen in a church. The church must be given a voice, a way to participate in the process. As we will see, the final decision did not rest with the congregation, but they did have a part to play in the selection process.

·         Whom we will appoint to this duty… these they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them:  Notice that the apostles are clearly in authority. They are the ones who actually appoint these 7 men. These men are set before them, and the apostles pray and lay hands on them. In other words, if the congregation had chosen a man who was not qualified, the apostles would not have laid hands on them. The principle is congregational involvement, with the leadership and authority of the apostles. I believe this is a valid principle for selecting elders and deacons in a church today. The congregation should be actively involved. From time to time, the elders should ask the church to let them know if they know someone who meets the Biblical qualifications for an elder or a deacon. However, it is the Elders who will ultimately appoint and lay hands on future leaders. There need to be 4 confirmations before someone is appointed as a leader:  1) from the individual (1Tim.3:1); 2) from the Holy Spirit through the qualifications in the Word; 3) from the present leaders; 4) from the entire church. 

·         They chose Stephen, Philip, etc:  This is great!  Every man the congregation chose was a Hellenist! The Hellenists were feeling slighted, so what does the church do?  They chose 7 Hellenists to meet the need. This would be like a Black/White integrated church, where the Black minority felt they weren’t being treated fairly. So the White pastors charge the congregation with selecting some men to look into the matter. And who does the Church select?  7 Black men! This is a very kind, gracious, sensitive Church. 

3.   The Result:  6:7

·         The word of God continued to increase: Why? Because the apostles devoted themselves to the word of God. What was the result?

·         The number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem:  Scores were being converted and added to the church.

·         A great many of the priests became obedient to the faith:  On Good Friday, the veil of the temple was torn from top to bottom, so now any priest could see into the Holy of Holies. Obviously this was a supernatural act, because the veil was 60’ high, 30’ wide, and 10” thick. No person could tear it! It required a great number of priests just to hang it!  Many of these priests finally came to the conclusion that Jesus was the Messiah who had given sinners access to God! 

The end result was that the threat to the advancement of the kingdom was overcome by the wisdom of the apostles. 

Life Application:

1.   We Need To Know God’s Call:  God gifts, equips, empowers, and calls every believer to serve somehow, somewhere. Eph.4:16 “when each part is working properly.”  So the question is, “How has God called you to serve?” Here are some questions you can ask to find out:

·         What gifts has God given you?  Rom12:6-8 lists 7 different motivational gifts. Which gift(s) do you possess? Suppose Abigail came in to bring her Daddy a glass of water, and she tripped on a doggie toy and fell, spilling the water and breaking the glass. How would you respond?

Prophecy: “Abigail, be careful how you walk. The world is full of pitfalls and snares, so you must walk wisely and carefully.”

Service:  “Where’s the mop and the broom? I’ll clean this up.”

Teaching:  “Abigail, when you carry a glass of water make sure you wipe away all the condensation on the outside of the glass, and apply equal pressure with both hands. Then walk slowly.”

Giving:  Pull out his wallet, “How much does that cost? Let me take care of it.”

Leading:  “Hmm. Who left that doggie toy out? We should make sure all obstructions are cleared away before the service begins.”

Mercy:  “Come here little girl. I know just how you feel. I used to spill things too. Don’t worry.”

Exhortation:  “Come on Abigail, let’s go get another glass of water. Be a little more careful and try again. I know you can do it!”

·         What Do You Desire To Do?  1Tim.3:1. When God calls a man to be an elder, He gives him a desire for it. When God called me to teach His Word, He gave me an insatiable desire to study and teach the Scriptures.

·         What is God’s Blessing On?  When you do it, you see God’s hand blessing, and freeing, and enriching other people’s lives. 

2.   We need to devote ourselves to our calling:  6:4. Are you “devoted” to your calling? Do you give yourself to it persistently, painstakingly, diligently? Do you pour your life into fulfilling your calling? At the end of your life will you be able to say with Paul, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith.”  Or will you be able to say with Jesus, “I glorified You on earth, having accomplished the work that You gave me to do” (Jn.17:4). 

3.   We need to overcome the distractions to our calling:  If the Devil can’t get us by persecution or corruption, he’ll go for distraction. The distractions may be good things, not sinful things. But they aren’t the best things! They aren’t the things God has called us to. If you find yourself busying yourself in things that are not God’s calling on your life, you need to give up some of those things to someone for whom that is their calling. Delegation is key. We can’t do everything. We must focus on what God wants each of us to do. Refuse to be distracted. When we are distracted and fail, run into the arms of Jesus, to find mercy and grace to help in time of need. He is the only one who was never distracted from His mission. Find grace and help in Him! 

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