Acts Chapter 6 Verse 1

• (Standalone point: The Christians in the early church were called disciples)  The Hellenists were Jews that had adopted Greek culture.  It’s interesting; Chapter 4, Peter and John are   Chapter 5, Peter and the Apostles face corruption in the church.  And now Chapter 6, they face a whole new strategy of the enemy; division!  The enemy is relentless.  He was relentless then and he is relentless now…
• I have this picture in my mind of a glass wall and we are on one side and water is on the other and the enemy is continually punching little holes and we are all Twistered up plugging the holes and keeping the water out so we don’t drown but you know what, that is a complete false picture! We have no need to do that…all we have to do is focus on loving the Lord…let the water come…with Jesus, we will walk on it!
• The perfect days of the early church lasted 2 chapters…that’s it…chapters 1 and 2…and they’re gone…the days without troubles and trials and hardships, those days are gone BUT, the difficulty and pain and loss and regret doesn’t come in the life of the early church, in mine or in yours because we have internal corruption and disputes and divisions and problems…the pain, loss and regret come from us straying from the Lord…
• David screamed at Goliath on the field that day in 1 Samuel 17: 45 and 47, “You come to me with a sword (a picture of attack), with a spear (a picture of betrayal), and with a javelin (a picture of division)…but I come to you in the name of the Lord! For the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands!”   If you’re fighting the battle and if you’re heavy in ministry or because of some sort of condition and circumstance of life…then you’re plugging holes…let go…you reach your full potential in this life, full unstoppable power when you trust fully in the Lord!

Acts Chapter 6 Verses 2 – 4

• I really like a comment that Ray Comfort says on this passage. If you are rushing someone to the hospital and it is life or death, you don’t stop to help someone with a flat tire.  This is not a statement of hierarchy in the early church…that the Apostles or Peter are higher than other servants of the church, this is a statement of calling and a statement of priority.  (One thing about a calling…a calling will sustain you in joy and determination even when the ministry is no longer fun.) 
• Notice this, the Apostles don’t deny the problem. Isn’t that interesting!?  The church is no longer adding hundreds or thousands, now it’s simply multiplying…and with growth comes problems.  Why?  Because the church is made up of   And in a community of a great number of people, there will be disagreements and problems, always.  (If you disagree with what I just said, by the way, then you just proved my point)
• And so listen, it’s not about working hard to stop problems from coming (let me speak to my own heart for just a moment) it’s about honoring God in how you handle those problems. The absence of a storm doesn’t cause the trees to bear fruit…the storm actually brings about the necessary conditions (rain water and wind, etc) such that fruit can come forth.  And so there was a problem…apparently the Hellenists were being shorted a bit at the daily distribution of food…(The Hebrews were calling them, “Hells,” for short!  HA!)
• Now, problems and divisions will come for sure but that doesn’t give us a reason to not walk in wisdom and diligence as the body of Christ and as ministers in the church. What do I mean by that?  We want to be well equipped to handle division but let me be very clear…we do not want to invite it!  Poor administration of a ministry will always be an opportunity for the enemy to divide.  Carnality in the heart and life and attitude of a ministry leader will ALWAYS be an easy easy target for the enemy use to hurt the Body of Christ.  Let’s not make it easy for the enemy…I have often said, if the enemy wants to take a run at Calvary Cherry Creek, I pray the sheep are so strong in the Lord that he has to bring his A-Game and even with that, we grow stronger!
• One last thing here…the direction is to seek out from among you. My heart breaks when a church searches for a pastor…when a flock searches for a shepherd.  If ever something was to happen to me and I was gone, the pastor of this church must always come from among you…use these qualifications.  Not just saved, not just having the Holy Spirit…FULL of the Holy Spirit.  The fruit of the Spirit always pouring forth…on good days and bad, heavy days and light days…and full of wisdom.  Not only spiritually minded but keenly practically minded.  Knowledge is to know what the problem is…wisdom is to know and have the courage to do what should be done…the leaders or leader who is called will be obvious to the people and the appointing of that leader or leaders is the job of the

Acts Chapter 6 Verses 5 – 6

• Speaking of wisdom…all of these names are Greek names! The implication is that they are all Hellenists!  The Apostles shatter the thought that the ministry is a “cliquistry” (natural by the way…just like having to tell kids to eat their dinner…you never have to tell them to snack) and the wisdom here is   It’s Godly!  And the whole multitude was pleased…which means one of two things.  Either the non-Hellenists were not causing this problem maliciously OR the love of the Holy Spirit, the wisdom of the Holy Spirit and the faithfulness of the leadership shattered the divisive work of the enemy.  I like that one…
• Notice, Stephen is mentioned first…and really all of Chapter 7 will be about him as he becomes the first martyr of the church…some have suggested that God used Stephen in breaking the hard heart of Saul of Tarsus…more on that in the next chapter. But this Stephen, according to the text, he is a man that is full of the Holy Spirit, full of wisdom, full of faith, Verse 8 will say in a moment, “Full of power,”…what I hear is this…Stephen was a man that was full.
• The word in the Greek is pleres and it literally means a hollow vessel filled up, a surface completely covered, a thoroughly permeated soul, it means complete…it means lacking nothing…it means perfection…how do we attain to not only satisfaction but yours and my full potential of heart strength and character courage in this life…? Make this whole life about Jesus…the way, the truth, the life. 

Acts Chapter 6 Verses 7 – 10

• Many believe that the Synagogue of Freedom was Paul’s synagogue as he was from Tarsus in Cilicia. Saul of Tarsus, the studied, the excelled, the Hebrew above all other Hebrews, the Pharisee more advanced than any other Pharisee…and here is a Hellenist Jew, uneducated and common, poor and simple…and he destroys Saul openly in a theological, a spiritual and a practical debate.  After this Paul would become a monster…and that makes sense to me.  Anger and malicious wrath is often a manifestation of deep seeded guilt and deep seeded defeat…

Acts Chapter 6 Verses 11 – 12

• The people get “stirred up.” Popular opinion can easily be shaped.  The same crowd that praised Jesus in Matthew 21 soon called for His crucifixion in Matthew 27.  The crowd loved the Apostles in Acts 2 and even the last chapter but now the crowd cries out against  This is why we should never allow popular opinion to shape the vision or focus of the church but the church, the vision, the focus, the teaching, the church…must be guided by God’s eternal and unchanging word!

Acts Chapter 6 Verses 12 – 15

• Staring contest to the max! They stared steadfastly at him…the leaders, the powerful, the prominent…and yet here’s this man…in perfect peace.  The face of an angel…the countenance and appearance of one who knows God is the truth, the power, the glory forever and ever…and this God is with him and this God is   He’s walking on water…