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biblestudy: Acts (Part Seven)

Acts 5 & 6 Confrontation with the Sanhedrin and Stephen's Testimony
John W. Ritenbaugh
Given 11-Oct-88; Sermon #BS-AC07; 65 minutes

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OK, back to the book of Acts. OK, we are ready to go into Acts the 5th chapter. Proceed in, in following Luke's account of what happened in the early New Testament church. And Chapter 5. Begins with what was surely a A sensational. Albeit somewhat distressing event that took place very early, apparently in the, in the church's history. That, of course, is the deceit and the subsequent deaths of Ananias and Seirra. Now, in chapter 4, we have a very positive insight into the, into the church life and what they were doing. And how they were sharing everything and, and how everything seemed to be going along just so smoothly. The church was growing, and it almost seemed as though they were on such a spiritual high that there was no disagreement, no distressing problems, no prejudice, no respective persons. Everything was just hunky dory, as they say. But then chapter 5 lets us know that people are human. And whether they are in the church or not, but in this case, they were in the church, they brought some of their carnality with them, and their carnality brought forth a very distressing event that has its parallel in the Old Testament. So everything was not sweetness and light. And chapter 5 and the beginning of chapter 6 also shows that very clearly. Another thing that it shows is, of course, the seriousness of sin, especially a sin that is committed directly, as Peter said, against God and his government, and it is not to be taken lightly. So, basically, the sentence is this. That Anna Ananias and Sahira conspired. To take credit for a greater sacrifice, I guess is the word that we might use a greater personal sacrifice than they actually made. Now, when they were discovered, they denied. that they had done this, and that they are shockingly executed. In verse 1 and 2. But a certain man named Ananias with Seirra, his wife sold a possession. And he kept back part of the proceeds, his wife also being aware of it, and brought a certain part and laid it at the apostle's feet. Now, some of the details. Uh, let's say uh, something that is behind the detail. This is not something that is, that is written in the scripture, but I think that it, because of the context, I think that we can safely assume that this is what they were after. At the tail end of chapter 4, is this, is that very brief inset about Barnabas. And The acclaim that he received because of the sacrifices that he made for the church. Now it seems evident to me that Ananias and Safara seeing the acclaim that Barnabas received as a result of, of his sacrifice, that this motivated them to want the same kind of acclaim, without having to make the same kind of sacrifice, but making it appear as though they were making the same kind of sacrifice as Barnabas had done. You see, there was where the deceit lay. And It says that they Uh, kept back part of the proceeds. It means that they put it aside for themselves. Now, what they did was this. They sold a piece of grind. Piece of property, let's say, I think it was ground, piece of real estate. Let's say they sold it for $1000. Well, they told the apostles that they sold it for $500 and they kept the 500. Now that was where their sin lay. They gave the impression that they were giving the whole amount that they had sold the land for. They were lying left and right. And both of them knew it. And the indication is that they knew that they knew what they were doing. was crooked. It was not just your ordinary mistake. Because they clearly gave the apostles the impression that they were giving the total amount. They laid it at the apostle's feet. It does not mean that they gave it for the apostles' personal use, but they laid it at the apostle's feet for them to direct how it was to be used in the work. Now, In verse 3. But Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart? To lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back part of the price of the land for yourself. While it remained, was it not your own, and after it was sold, was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men, but to God. Now, this shows That the That what they did was voluntarily given. You know, they were not, that is the apostles were not going around tightening the screws on people, asking them to contribute. They probably let it be made known that there were needs within the community that, that could be taken care of if someone would, someone would, would contribute it, but it was completely voluntary. See, while it remained, was it not your own? Was it not in your own control? They, they were, did not have their arms twisted to do this. So what they did was completely voluntarily done, and It becomes more and more evident that what they wanted was the acclaim for the sacrifice that it appeared as though they were making. Now, it's interesting the way Luke, God has chosen to show Peter. Now, I do not know what kind of evidence Peter had to indicate that these people were conspiring. They were deceitfully arranging for something to look like it was not really. And yet he has shown that as Peter has shown as saying, as having rather, a tremendous perceptive insight into what was going on. It was almost as if he could read their minds. Yeah. Now, we understand that we just have the bare bones here of the, of the story. But there is no indication that somebody else Toll on them And said, hey, Peter, they haven't told you the whole story. Now, maybe that occurred, but, but the Bible doesn't indicate that at all. And so it shows Peter as not only a man who possessed a great deal of power to heal people, but also as a man who had another gift of God's spirit, and that is a very penetrating insight into people's intents, and what was going on behind their eyes. I'll tell you, it would be scary to be around someone like that. You'd be afraid to have a bad thought. And you turn around and he'd be going on and we, we would just cringe. I'm convinced. I'm getting more and more convinced. The more I think about it, the more I, I, I study the scripture, that this was really the reason why the scribes and the Pharisees killed Christ. They could not stand to be around somebody as righteous as he was. It just made them cringe. Every argument they put up, he could shoot it down. Everything that he did. was pure and righteous beyond dispute. And probably even they could see that there was no deceit in anything that he did or said, that there was purity everywhere they looked and they could not stand the comparison. And so, what do you do when you have somebody like that? And have you read the book or any portions of the book, The Peter Principle? Anyway, the, the Peter principle is That in In business, we will say a corporation, people rise in the structure to their, to the level of their incompetence. In other words, they keep going up the ladder until finally they reach a job that they are incompetent at, and there they stay. So they never rise any higher. And so they might get up to, let's say, sales manager, and they are incompetent at it, so everybody leaves them there. See, the vice president and so above them, they know that he can't do anything higher, so they just leave them there. And now that's a general rule, that's probably true. Well, there, there are two kinds of people that this rule does not fit. One is those people who are totally incompetent. And they are not going to go anywhere, right? And so, They stay on the bottom. Now, the other group of people that this doesn't fit. Are the super competences. Those who really have something on the ball. Now, do you know what happens to those people? They probably get fired. That's one thing that happens. You know why? Because those above them cannot stand having them around because they fear that they are going to take their job. Now there is only one way for the super competent to get ahead. You know how he does it? He stays with the company until he is able to determine that he'll never get any further in that company, and so he quits. And then he goes to another company and he rises a little bit further. And then he goes to another company and he rises a little further. And then another company and he rises a little bit, bit further. He stays just long enough until Everybody begins to fear him. There are people like that. They're few and far between, but there are some like that. OK, now, what if you can't get rid of the guy? See, the only out is to kill him. And that's what happened with Christ. Now how would you like to be even around Peter? who seem to have such powers. That the shadow passing across people could provide cures. He could lay hands on people, pray for people, and they were healed. And now we find that he had such a penetrating insight into people, he could tell whether they were lying. That'd be scary. And you could not get rid of them either. Cause you're a Christian, see? OK. Anna Isin Safara. We're just completely off course as far as how goals were to be accomplished. See that was diametrically opposed to the whole thrust of the gospel. God's way of life, you see, is, is to be loving, to be kind, to be generous, to not be malicious, to not be deceitful, to not to lie, for your entire life to be, to be an open book with no, not even a shadow of hypocrisy. How could God permit something like that to get root right at the very beginning of the church? Well, no, he could not. See, to allow it to go unchallenged. Might have set the whole the the whole church off course. Now, I mentioned to you just briefly before that there is a parallel to this in the Old Testament. It was with Aiken. Remember Aiken? We were just looked at him very briefly last Sabbath. He did almost the same thing. And the circumstances in regard to Israel, chronologically were almost similar. Just as Israel came into the land, Akin pulled his stunt. And you can see that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. He showed right at the very beginning of Israel's history in the land, that that kind of thing was not acceptable. Where Aiken deceitfully stole things, hid them in his tent. And then tried to go around. Seemingly innocent of any kind of wrongdoing. Well God met the challenge right away. And revealed that that Aiken was the culprit. The tragedy of that situation is, I believe it was 35 or 36 men died as a result of a consent. Because in Israel's next battle with AI, They were chased. And they lost 35 or 36 men, and now we have 35 or 36 widows, and who knows how many childless or fatherless children as a result of Aiken's. The see OK, now see here we have in the beginning of the New Testament church, something that is a parallel, almost exactly. And God, the same yesterday, today is forever. He reacted in exactly the same way. Now, you cannot read anything that Peter said here to Ananias. That there was any kind of a death sentence in what he, in what he stated. It was God who executed. Now when Sahira came by, Peter already, already saw what God's decision was in the matter regarding Ananias. And so there is some tone of, of a death penalty penalty in what Peter said to her. OK now verse 5. You have not lied to men, but to God, and then Ananias, hearing these words fell down and breathed his last. And so great fear came upon all those who heard these things. So, Luke shows here that God is the agent of death. And the fear here is a dreadoh. Well, that'd make you shape up in a hurry. You know, something like that. Verse 6. And the young men arose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him. These are young men apparently were just available there at the time, no particular office, but they just happened to be there. verse 7. That was about 3 hours later when his wife came in, not knowing what happened. So 3 hours, let's say from the burial. And Peter answered her. It doesn't seem as though there was any question. Tell me whether you sold the land for so much. And see, she said, yes for so much. Did you sell it for $500? Yes, I sold it for $500. But the truth was, they sold it for $1000. Then Peter said to her, now we see a measure of the death penalty being read out read out here. How is it that you have agreed together to test the spirit of the Lord? Look, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out. Yeah Peter got right to the point, did not he? Well, there was not any messing around there. You know, when you look at it, he did not even inform her of the loss of her husband. I do not, she apparently did not know that her husband was dead. Until Peter said what he said. So she persisted. In the same story, so it indicates very clearly that she totally agreed with what Ann and Is had done. So verse 10 then, immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last, and the young man came in and found her dead, and carrying her out, buried her by her husband. So great fear came upon all the church and upon all who heard these things. You know, Israel tested God in the wilderness quite a number of times. And that's what these people were guilty of. They tempted the Lord their God. They tested his mercy in doing this. Now we can be very thankful that God is not doing this kind of thing today. I am sure that he did what he did in order to establish a precedent. And so that there would be respect for him and his government within the church. And that's there for our admonition. He wants us to understand that that the same God who did that is capable of doing it to us. The chances are extremely great that he will not do it. That he did it then, and he wants us to have the right kind of respect toward him and toward his government. OK, now, these next 4 verses actually introduce the rest of the chapter. And The rest of the chapter concerns itself with the apostle's second appearance before the Sanhedrin. OK, verse 12. And through the hands of the apostles, many signs and wonders were done among the people. They were all with one accord in Solomon's porch. Yet none of the rest dared join them, but the people highly esteemed them. Now you can see that, that the people feared them. And, and yet, we find in verse 14, the believers were increasing, increasingly added to the Lord, multiplying multitudes of both men and women. Now the fear here indicates dread. And yet, even though they dreaded them, They could not stop themselves from becoming a part of them. Sort of a paradox there. And Well, What are you going to do with that? Oh, it's recorded there that that's what occurred. I do not think that the Church of God today puts a dread in the people. Maybe someday we will. I, I am absolutely certain that the two witnesses are going to put a dread in people. Those, those two men are going to be feared. People are going to be afraid of. But they are going to be killed too. Verse 15. So that they brought the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and couches that at least the shadow of Peter passing might fall on some of them. And also a multitude gathered from the surrounding cities to Jerusalem, bringing sick people and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed. Well, it was a result of the healings, undoubtedly the people were overcame their dread. There were a lot of sick people then, just as there are sick people today. So God used the healing, both as a means of mercy and also as a means of advertising. Now there is a, there is a reason why Luke included this right when he did. He is using that, not only to bridge between the episode with Ananias and Sahara, but he is also using it to bridge into the story regarding the apostles and their second confrontation with the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin could not afford to ignore the church. Because it was becoming increasingly effective and persuasive with the people. And so the challenge was there. And so the Sanhedrin was motivated to act. They either had to do it, or to just roll over and play dead, and let the church, in a sense, take over the hearts of the people. Well, they did not see that last option as one that they could live with. So verse 17. Then the high priest rose up, and all those who were with him, which is the sect of the Sadducees, and they were filled with indignation. OK, now, you know, you can see the source of the irritation was at the success of the church. And they laid hands on the apostles and put them in, in the common prison. But at night, an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out and said, go stand in the temple and speak to the people, all the words of this life. OK, here we have. Uh, and, and escape through the intervention of a, of an angel. Now, the angel not only set them free, but the angel also gave them a command. Now, if we were going to write that. Verse 20 in more modern English. What the angel said to the to Peter. I stand your ground. Don't back down. He did not just tell them, go stand and preach. He said, buck up your back. And do not back down in the face of the opposition. He was actually telling them in a sense to go on the offensive. Don't budge one inch. See with what you know about God and His purpose. In verse 21, And when they heard that, they entered the temple early in the morning and taught. But the high priests and those with him came and called the council together with all the elders of the children of Israel and sent to the prison to have them brought. I see at the time that verse 21 shows in this episode, the high priest and his crowd was not aware that Peter and the others were out of prison. They thought they were still in prison. And so here was Peter and the others were preaching at the temple, and the Sanhedrin was meeting in order to lay this charge against them, still thinking that they were in prison. Now they did not have telephones in those days. And so, well, even if, even if they had had telephones, Apparently, the jailers were still not yet aware that they were gone. Now finally, in verse 22, The officers came and did not find them in the prison, and they returned and reported. OK, do you see what happened here? is the officers that he's talking about are those who were sent by the Sadducees from the Sanhedrin to the prison. So that conclusively shows that the people in prison, the guards, still did not know that they were gone. Verse 23, saying, indeed we found the prison shut securely and the guards standing outside before the doors. But when we opened them, we found no one inside. Boy, they were really, really hoodwinked. Now when the the high priest, and the captain of the temple, and the chief priest heard these things, they wondered what the outcome would be. They were just totally perplexed that it was what was going on. And then one came and told them, saying, look, the men whom you, you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people. And then the captain went with the officers and brought them without violence, for they feared the people lest they should be stoned. Now you can see the way things are going here. That The series of circumstances that have taken place. The Sanhedrin is almost totally buffalo. They they know that they have to act. But they make sure that whenever they make the arrest, that it is as peaceable as it can possibly be, because they feared that they had, that the apostles had such influence with the people that if they stirred them up in any way, they were going to attack the Sanhedrin. Now the apostles had learned a thing or two from Christ as well. Because they had never seen Jesus resist arrest. They had never seen him resist the authorities. There were times in his ministry when, probably at a word, if he had done something, he had such influence with the people that he could have turned a mob of people in a riot against those who were trying to take him. That they had learned that that's not the way to do things. And so they submitted them to a peaceable arrest. It's very likely that at their word, they could have stirred up the crowd against the officers and their group, and there would have been a full scale riot taking place right in the temple grounds. But they did not do that. OK, verse 28. Now they are in front of the high priest. Now it's interesting that it does not say which high priest. Was it Caiaphas? Or was it an and Is? Ananias was not really the high priest, but everybody recognized that he was the power behind the throne. Well, it doesn't say who was actually doing the questioning, whether it was Caiaphas or whether it was Ananias. I guess it really doesn't matter because they both represented the same thing. So it says then, Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name? Now I want you to watch. They will not say the name of Jesus. They studiously avoid it. It's almost as if If they said that name, they would somehow be contaminated. And know what they are reminding them here of this is. That they are in contempt of court, that is the apostles are in contempt of court. That the apostles had broken the prohibition against preaching. Notice the next phrase. Uh, we have commanded you not to teach in this in this name, and look, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine and intend to bring this man's. Again, they avoid saying Jesus, blood on us. And then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, we ought to obey God rather than men. So They were recognizing. That in effect, that the apostles, by their preaching, were calling for divine retribution upon them for what they were obviously guilty of. We know, of course, that God did not act on that, but it could very easily be interpreted that way. Now what we have in in verse 29 is a planer and a more direct affirmation of what they had previously said in Acts 4 and in verse 19, where it says, but Peter and John answered and said to them, whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. Now, just in case they did not understand that, God through Peter made it very clear that the apostles were going to stand their ground and they were going to obey God regardless of what Contempt of court there was against them. So the commandments of God, or the keeping of the commandments of God, take precedence over human commandments, regardless of how high that human commandment is. How does this apply to you and me? Well it does apply to you and me. It's part of the price that we have to bear for being a Christian. We have to be willing to bear. The cost of obeying God rather than men. And verse 30. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you murdered. Well, that's plain. That's really blunt. By hanging on a tree. Him God has exalted to his right hand to be prince and savior to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. So he's making it very clear that Jesus is now a leader and savior through whom people have the opportunity of repentance and forgiveness. And we are his witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him. That's very clear. Peter understood the apostle's responsibility. OK. Now verse 33. And when they heard this, that is The council They were furious. And took counsel to kill them. And then one in the council stood up, a Pharisee named Gelliel, a teacher of the law held in respect by all the people, and commanded them to put the apostles outside for a little while. Well, Gel. Has quite a reputation. Among the Jews. Now Glio was a Pharisee. And the fact that he was a moderating influence here is really somewhat surprising. Because all through the the Gospel, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, it seems as though they are the ones who were the primary. Recipients of Christ. Anger and scorn and contempt. And they seem to be his greatest protagonists. The Sadducees were there, and they received some tongue lashings from Christ. They were always kind of in the background until finally it came a time for Christ's crucifixion, and then they were in the forefront and the Pharisees were slipping into the background. I think I mentioned to you that there is no record of the Pharisees participating in or condoning or encouraging the crucifixion of Christ. By that time, the Pharisees or the Sadducees had picked up the ball. Now we find apparently there was a hangover from that. And in the early days of the church. Uh, the Pharisees apparently felt a closer kinship with the Christian Church than the Sadducees did by far. And so we see an example of this where Gelliel, a Pharisee, is the moderating influence, because otherwise, apparently, if he had not intervened. They might have been killed right then and there. Or at least delivered over to the Romans in order to be killed. So We find this man Actually taking up for the The church, and he stood his ground. And said, no, men and brethren, you shouldn't do this. And then he states his reasons why. Verse 35. He said to them men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what you intend to do regarding these men. For some time ago, Theudus rose up, claiming to be somebody. A number of men, about 400 joined him, and he was slain, and all who obeyed him were scattered and came to nothing. After this man, Judas of Galilee, rose up in the days of of the census and drew away many people after him. And he also perished. And all who obeyed him were dispersed. And now I say to you, Keep away from these men and let them alone. For if this plan or this work is of men, it will come to nothing. But if it is of God, you cannot overthrow it, lest you even be found to fight against God. So they agreed with him. That was pretty sound advice. It turned out to be partly wrong. But God undoubtedly used the man in order to save the the lives of the apostles at that time. I, I wrote myself a note here to Say something about a little bit about the, the Pharisees here. The Pharisees arose. Apparently from a group of men called the Hasidin. Hassa B means the pious ones. And they had their beginning sometime around oh roughly about 400 years before Christ. They arose during the reign of the Seleucids, toward the end of the reign of the Seleucids over Syria and Palestine. And whenever Uh, the Maccabees arose, the Pharisees, the Hasidim, joined forces with them and lent to them any strength that they could possibly give to them in order to break through from the tyranny of the Seleucids. Well, the Maccabees, as you understand, were successful, and they did manage to break the yoke of the Seleucids. But then The Pharisees, were beginning to be called Pharisees by this time had a fallout with the Maccabees, because they felt that the Maccabees were turning away from their original intent, which was not political at all, but primarily spiritually, spiritual, in order that the Jews would be free to worship God in the way that they saw fit. But instead, the Maccabees began to have political aspirations, and the Pharisees would not Uh, cotton into that at all, and slowly but surely they began to break away from them. Well, through the years, the Pharisees gained a Pretty strong Influence Among the people. Because they were generally, as at least currently, pretty good people. Uh, they gave themselves over to study of the law, the Torah. They gave themselves over to acts of righteousness. They did not come from any particular socioeconomic background. They were simply men who decided to dedicate themselves to study of the law and to righteousness. And so they had no particular ax to grind politically, but people looked to them for influence in spiritual areas, and they gained so much influence in spiritual areas that the Sadducees, who held all the political and economic power in the country, actually had to In a sense, almost knuckle under to them in order to to govern the country. Because if they did not have the influence of the Pharisees, The people would have been pretty much unmanageable. So they did Actually, a great deal of good within the nation in providing a stability that otherwise would not have been there. Now they were never very large in number. According to the people who study into these things, they probably at no time numbered any more than about 6000 men. They had influence far out of proportion to their numbers. They were vastly outnumbered by the general population and by the saddu disease as well. Now, they had a very great deal in common with the Christian Church. They believed in the resurrection of the from the dead. They believed in angels, they believed in demons, they believed in free moral agency. They tried to live very simple lives apart from any needless wealth and luxury. Yeah. Now, Josephus, Who writes his opinions regarding some of these groups. Uh, has very much favorable to say about the Pharisees and almost nothing good to say about the Sadduce. Apparently, Josephus was neither a sad you see or a Pharisee. Uh, but he basically says about the sadduces that they could not get along with each other. Uh, each man was out to get what he could get, and if he had to put down a fellow sad you in order to do it while he was fair game. But he said that the Oh, The Pharisees generally promoted stability and security within The neighborhoods in which they live. Now Gamliel. He was especially highly esteemed. He was a grandson of Hillel, who was probably the greatest of the Jewish doctors of the law, at at least in his generation, and maybe for many, many generations after that as well. So that it's written in the Mishna, which is a commentary on the law, quote, that since Gamelel, the elder died, there has been no more reverence for the law, and purity and abstinence died out at the same time. So he represented a restraint. And a great deal of understanding because the advice that he gave was right on. If these men are of God, there is no way you're going to stop it. If they are not of God, they are going to die out, just like these other revolutions did. So there was wisdom in what he said. So, his basic plea was that past experience, past history. shows that this kind of uprising will die out very soon, as soon as the leader is, is put to death or something happens to him. So there is no need to take any action against the apostles. Now verse 38, So I read that. But I might add this, that, in effect, what he was saying is let the Romans take care of them. If there is any kind of disturbance, the Romans are going to act. OK. Diver 01 thing I, I might just add here. That undoubtedly Gamliel's advice, his counsel. was given based. On his idea. That Christianity was only another sect within Judaism. Now, he could very easily be misled this way, because the Christian church doctrinally had so much in common with the Pharisees. And he could look at their doctrines, and he could say, well, the only thing that really appears to be different is this thing they have about this Jesus of Nazareth. But everything else seems to be basically the same. And so he could feel kind of a kinship with the church. And feel that they were only another sect within Judaism. But you see, subsequent events which Luke is going to cover. Prove Gamliel's assumption to be wrong. And undoubtedly, if Gel had known. What we begin to see in chapters 6 and 7, I think that Gamliel's council would have been Put them to death. But for the moment anyway, based on the evidence at hand, the council was good. So, what he did is he spoke tolerance for them. But as the Christian message. Began to become clearer and clearer. And perhaps The apostles were being led into truth as well. Maybe they knew some of it. Maybe they kind of avoid it. Some of the distinctions between Christianity and Judaism, at least at the beginning. I do not know. But we will begin to see in the preaching of, of Stephen. That there was a vast world of difference between Christianity and Pharisee. But they did not see that then. And so the console was good up to that point. OK, verse 41. So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were all wait, I forgot verse 40, and they agreed with him, and when they had called for the apostles and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus and let them go. And so they departed from the presence of the council rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. And daily in the temple and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ. Oh It is felt by the commentaries that It's very likely that these men received the 39 stripes. Uh, or the 40 minus 1. And That was no easy punishment. People died from that. You know, the shock of being struck that many times. Uh. It was just too much for some people's constitutions to take. But the punishment did not deter them. And they were rejoicing in their sufferings and the showing. What should be a hallmark for all Christians. OK, Chapter 6chapter 6 introduces. A new section Within the first section. At least the first several verses here. Well, actually the whole chapter. What it does is it bridges from the earliest beginnings of the church. Whose focus was almost entirely on Jerusalem. And the Jews who were there. It begins to bridge over to the fact. That there were Hellenists within the church. And then over onto the martyrdom of Stephen. The expansion of the preaching, the martyrdom of Stephens in chapter 7. The expansion of the preaching away from Jerusalem for the first time by the apostles and into Samaria. Then the conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch, and then the conversion of Saul of Tarsus, and then the conversion of Cornelius. Now this chapter provides The bridge into that. Now, it has to be done because of what follows later in the book of Acts. Steven is very important. To Christianity because what he did focused on the differences between Christianity and Judaism. And it, it showed very clearly that Christianity was not another sect of Judaism at all, but it was something entirely new arising in the earth. And we might wonder about the wisdom. Of Steven speaking on what he did, as bluntly and plainly as he did. It's questionable as to whether he should have done what he did. We'll go into that a little bit, a little bit more. It cost him his life. And maybe it did not need to cost him his life. But it did prove to be a springboard for the preaching to go into other areas, and to make very clear to the Jews at that time that they were probably in a life and death struggle with something that only one in a sense, could really survive. And so the the Christians were in a sense, in order not to to focus so much persecution on themselves, they began to move out. And to go into other areas. So God actually used that to provide a prod for the, the apostles to move out of the area and start beginning to make the ripples go out over the entirety of the earth. OK, Chapter 6 and verse 1. Now in those days when the number of disciples was multiplying, there arose a murmuring against the Hebrews by the Hellenist because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution. OK, we have two words here that are interesting to look at. Uh, first of all we are going to look at the Grecians or the Hellenus. Now these were Jews. But they were primarily Greek speaking. And The reason that they were primarily Greek speaking is probably because these were Jews who had been dispersed. They were part of the, the diaspora. They were Jews who had come back to Jerusalem, from Rome, from Greece, you know, from Turkey, from Mesopotamia. You know, some of those individuals that might have been part of that group that was in Acts 2. See where those 12 or 13 nations are are mentioned there. OK, for whatever the reason was, they had returned to Jerusalem. Now, It is very likely. But one of the major reasons why they returned to Jerusalem is that they wanted to be buried there. that has a bearing on this chapter. Because The focus of what happens here in the first couple of verses is on the widows. These were widows. Of Hellenist Jews. Who had returned to the area and then died, and they left their wife a widow. Hey, the widow was Primarily Greek speaking. OK, then the Hebrews, these were also Jews, but their main language was Arabic. Which was I I Semitic language But They were, in all probability, native born. OK, now, on the surface, it appears that all we have are Two groups of Jews, each one speaks a different language. But it doesn't end there. First of all, what do different languages do to people? They divide. Isn't that's what God did at You know, with Nimrod and the tier of Babel. He confused their tongues, and the languages divided them. OK, now, Not only were they different in language, Very likely, they were different in every orientation in their life. The only thing that the Hellenists and the Hebrews had in common is that they were both Jews. A Jew reared in Rome, or a Jew reared in Athens, or a Jew reared in Corinth, or a Jew reared in Ephesus. was not only going to have a different uh language. That is his primary language was going to be the one with what the that he grew up with. But also, he was going to have a different orientation toward life almost entirely. OK, now, you see, we have two groups of Jews who are butting heads here within the church. One who has a Hellenistic orientation to life, and the other that has a Hebrew. Orientation to life. Now, it is very likely. That the Hellenist. Were by orientation. Much more tolerant. Willing to accept others. How much less tendency to be prejudiced toward other languages, other races, other ethnic groups. You know the reputation of the Jews around Jerusalem. There are a lot seems to be very prejudiced group of people. Who looked down on everybody else who was not a Jew. And indeed also we find, looked down even on Jews whose language was different from theirs. See, is that what it says. There was murmuring against the Hebrews by the Hellenists because their widows were neglected. And it was true. The Aramaic speaking Jews within the church. We're prejudiced against. The Greek speaking Jews within the church. So now we are beginning to see that there were problems in the church besides Ananias and Sahara. So, What Luke is giving here is a bare bones. Uh, insight into the resolution of a problem that the church had to deal with right at the beginning. OK, verse 2. Then the 12 summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, it is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables. Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you 7 men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom. Whom we may appoint over this business, but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word. OK. Back in verse 2, Uh, just as a little aside, the word, the 12, the title, the 12 is used. Very first time that that that appears in the book, it's probably used in contrast to the 7 who are just about ready to be appointed. Now it's interesting. That the criticism was leveled at the 12. Because they were in charge. And the buck stopped somewhere. There was nobody else who could take the buck. And so it had to stop at them. The criticism was leveled at them. Now I think that it's to their credit that they just did not ignore it. You know, what they did was this. You, you can see that there is some humility and some wisdom here. They recognized that the combined responsibility. Of Taking care of the administrative responsibilities of the work. And the giving themselves over to to prayer and to the preaching and whatever, that neither one of them would be served very well. It's part of the principle that no man can serve two masters. Something is going to be neglected, either one or the other. Now you can see in the context here what was being neglected. The widows were being neglected. they recognized then. That this also was part of the ministry or the responsibility of the church. That there was a social responsibility, that the church was not just a teaching institution for the proclaiming of the gospel, but the church also had a responsibility to take care of those who were weak among them. And the widow certainly fit in that category. Something I think here that is interesting to note. That nowhere Did the apostles say, That the serving of tables was at a lower level, or of a lower level. Than prayer or preaching. It's just simply a different responsibility. What it is saying is that an elder is called for prayer and preaching, and that he better pay attention to that. Another thing is that there is no assigning of blame. They they did not point the finger at anybody. But rather, there is a recognition on the apostles' part that the physical and the spiritual, the physical caring of those who are weak among us and the spiritual are so interrelated that one is always going to affect the other for better or for worse. They cannot be separated. So if you think that the physical doesn't have any impact on the spiritual, you've got another thought coming to you. Because it's in the realm of the physical that we can Learn and overcome and build a great deal of spiritual character. They impact on each other. They affect each other for good or for bad. And both have to be taken care of. OK, now the command to select. was probably Directed solely at the Hellenist. Hellenist element within the church. It's interesting To me it is anyway. That they told in their directions, in their command that they were to look primarily for men of spiritual quality. Because you see, that would favorably impact. On their physical abilities you see in the administrative areas. Again, you see a recognition that the spiritual is going to affect the physical and vice versa. Now in verse 5, The same, please, the whole multitude. So they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip. Uh, Procorus, Nyaner. Timmon, Parmenus, and Nicholas, a proselyte from Antioch, whom they set before the apostles, and when they had prayed, they laid hands on them. OK, again we see here. Uh, A result, well, not, not the result yet. The process of putting somebody in office. There is, first of all, A recognition by the group that somebody is always already carrying out the responsibility. I do not know whether you realize it or not, but the church still really follows this same procedure. Now the group selected the men. But the apostles approved it. It was not an election, In the sense that they voted. There is no indication of that. But it probably was some sort of, of saying, yeah, this is a good man, and this is a good man, and this is a good man. Do you approve? There was probably that kind of approach to things. But the apostles if they knew these people well enough, they could have. Declined Like these, these ones are OK, but this one is not, or whatever. And so the apostles were still in control. And they gave their approval by the laying on of hands. So then In the laying on of hands, They were set apart, and thus they distinguished them from others who were also part of the Hellenist group. So there was a setting apart, making them different from the others, and In the laying of hands, laying on of hands was also conferred the power to solve the problem. So they had the authority. I think in a way that's a very beautiful illustration. Of the way The church ought to deal with people. It doesn't say that the church solved the problem for the people. In other words, there is an avoidance of what we would call today paternalism. But rather they gave some men the power to act. And it is very likely then that they helped these ladies to meet their situation, but they did not do it all for them. You do not learn and grow and somebody is always doing something for you. You have to do it yourself. Now the apostles, if they wanted to carry paternalism to an extreme, could have just stepped in and solved the problem themselves, but they did not do that. They came up with the solution. But then they left the the working out of it, the logistics up to others, and then everybody grows in that kind of situation. OK, then again. Luke goes back to his habit of showing what was the result. OK, the word of God spread. That's God's way of saying that these people reached the right decision. See that their conclusion was right. And so the result was a spreading of the word of God, and the number of disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith. That's kind of a twist, is not it? Now here is the Sanhedrin. Lining themselves up against the church. And the Sanhedrin drew most of its its members from the priestly class, and they were mostly saddus. But here we find the priests who were not of that element, apparently. who were coming to the church in reasonably large numbers. This might interest you, just as an aside, do you know how many priests and Levites were employed at the temple? The figure is, to me, staggering. You know, when you figure, try to try to visualize how large the temple was. Not a great deal larger than Ambassador Auditorium. There were 18,000 men employed at the temple. carrying on the responsibilities. Of ministering to the people there. 18,000 in the time in the first century. Well, that's That's a lot of people in one, so they were not all there at one time. Undoubtedly, they carried their responsibilities into other parts of the land. But there were apparently 18,000 men directly employed you know, working out of the temple. It was a big operation. There is nothing to sneeze at. You'd think there would be so many there, they'd be tripping over one another. So there were plenty of people there to be converted and apparently some of them were being converted and coming into the church. OK, we will stop right there and then we will save the whole story of Steven for the next time.

JWR/aws/drm

 

 

Sermon Topics

False Gospels

Jesus Christ's Return

Life after Death

Repentance

Resurrection

The Gospel

The Kingdom of God