Lesson #10

ACTS 6
LESSON #10
PRESERVING CHURCH UNITY

• MEMORY VERSE: 1TIM 3:13

• WE BEGAN IN ACTS WITH THE BELIEVERS HAVING ALL THINGS IN COMMON. THEN WE SAW THE PROBLEM ARISE WITH ANANIAS AND SAPPHIRA WHO LIED ABOUT GIVING EVERYTHING TO THE CHURCH. IN THIS CHAPTER WE SEE ANOTHER PROBLEM ARISE THAT WILL AFFECT THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH.
• READ ACTS 6:1-7 FROM INTERNAL DISUNITY TO A REWARDING UNITY
• IN THIS CHAPTER, WE SEE SOME OF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF CHURCH PROBLEMS:
• CHURCH PROBLEMS SOMETIMES ARISE WHEN THERE IS SUDDEN GROWTH. (1)
• CHURCH PROBLEMS OFTEN ARISE WHEN SOME PEOPLE IN THE CHURCH FEEL NEGLECTED. (1)
• CHURCH PROBLEMS ALWAYS ARISE WHEN THERE IS GOSSIP IN THE CHURCH (1)
• CHURCH PROBLEMS OCCUR WHEN THERE IS POOR ADMINISTRATION IN SOME AREA OF THE CHURCH. (2)
• WHAT WAS THE PROBLEM IN THE CHURCH?
• THE TWO GROUPS OF PEOPLE AND THEIR LANGUAGE DIFFERENCES:
• THE GRECIANS
• THESE WERE JEWS BORN IN GREEK SPEAKING COUNTRIES.
• THE HEBREWS:
• THESE WERE JEWS BORN IN ISRAEL.
• THE CONFLICT:
• THE PROBLEM AROSE BECAUSE OF LANGUAGE AND CULTURE DIFFERENCES.
• THE PROBLEM AROSE BECAUSE THE DISTRIBUTION OF FOOD WAS ACCOMPLISHED BY THE HEBREWS.
• THE GRECIAN WIDOWS FELT NEGLECTED.
• THE PROBLEM COULD HAVE BEEN REAL OR JUST IMAGINED BECAUSE OF THE LANGUAGE DIFFERENCES.
• RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN DIFFERENT CULTURES AND LANGUAGES NEED MORE CAREFUL COMMUNICATION.
• IF THEY HAD ALL THINGS IN COMMON, WHY DID THIS PROBLEM OCCUR?
• REMEMBER THAT ALL THINGS IN COMMON WAS ON A VOLUNTARY BASIS. THEREFORE, YOU WOULD HAVE SOME IN THE CHURCH WHO HAD GIVEN UP EVERYTHING AND DONATED IT TO THE CHURCH AND OTHER PEOPLE WHO HAD NOT GIVEN UP EVERYTHING.
• REMEMBER THAT DISTRIBUTION OF ASSETS WAS ACCORDING TO NEED. SOMEONE IN THE CHURCH HAD TO MAKE A VALUE JUDGMENT OF WHAT CONSTITUTED A SUFFICIENT NEED. IT IS IN THIS AREA WHERE HUMAN NATURE CAN CAUSE PROBLEMS.
• YOU CAN IMAGINE HOW SOME WHO HAD GIVEN UP EVERYTHING WOULD FEEL WHEN OTHERS WHO HAD NOT GIVEN UP EVERYTHING OBTAINED MORE IN THE FINAL DISTRIBUTION OF THINGS.
• HUMAN NATURE WOULD WANT TO DICTATE HOW THE MONEY YOU HAD GIVEN TO THE CHURCH WOULD BE SPENT.
• HUMAN NATURE WOULD WANT TO JUDGE THE WORTHINESS OF THOSE OTHERS ON THE RECEIVING END.
• BELIEVERS MUST NOT OPERATE ACCORDING TO HUMAN NATURE BUT BY THE GUIDANCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
• THE APOSTLE’S SOLUTION:
• PETER DID NOT TAKE OVER THE PROGRAM HIMSELF.
• THE PRIORITY OF MINISTRY (SPIRITUAL NEEDS VS. TEMPORAL NEEDS):
• THERE ARE SOME JOBS IN THE CHURCH THAT ARE DONE MORE EFFECTIVELY BY VOLUNTEER LAY PERSONS WHO HAVE A HEART AND A GIFTING FOR SPECIFIC MINISTRIES.
• THE APOSTLES NEEDED TO BE FREE OF THESE KINDS OF DAILY PROGRAMS IN ORDER TO PREACH AND TEACH THE WORD OF GOD.
• THIS DOES NOT MEAN THAT TEMPORAL NEEDS ARE LESS IMPORTANT THAN SPIRITUAL NEEDS. AN EFFECTIVE MINISTRY SEEKS TO BALANCE BOTH FOR THE GOOD OF THE PEOPLE IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD.
• PETER DID NOT DICTATE THE PERSONS WHO SHOULD HEAD UP THE PROGRAM. INSTEAD, THE CHURCH LEADERS WERE TO CHOOSE SEVEN MEN TO ADMINISTER THE FOOD PROGRAM.
• SYMBOLICALLY, SEVEN IS GOD’S COMPLETE OR PERFECT NUMBER.
• THE QUALIFICATIONS OF THE SEVEN:
• THEY WERE TO BE SPIRIT-FILLED BELIEVERS.
• THEY WERE TO BE TRUSTWORTHY WITH GOOD REPUTATION.
• THEY WERE TO HAVE WISDOM (MATURE COMMON SENSE).
• THE WISDOM IN THE CHOICE OF THE SEVEN:
• THE WHOLE CHURCH WAS PLEASED WITH THE SOLUTION.
• THE SEVEN CHOSEN ALL HAVE GREEK NAMES INDICATING A GREAT DESIRE FOR CHURCH UNITY TO SATISFY THIS GREEK FACTION WITHIN THE CHURCH.
• NOTICE THAT ONE OF THE SEVEN IS STEPHEN.
• WE WILL SEE HIM IN GREATER DETAIL IN CHAPTERS TO COME.
• NOTICE THAT ONE OF THE SEVEN IS A MAN NAMED PHILIP.
• HE PREACHED THE GOSPEL IN SAMARIA AFTER THE DEATH OF STEPHEN.
• NOTICE THAT ONE IS A GENTILE WHO HAD CONVERTED TO JUDAISM (A PROSELYTE) WHO NOW HAS BECOME A CHRISTIAN.
• THE COMMISSIONING CEREMONY:
• THE APPOINTMENT WAS DONE PUBLICLY IN A CHURCH CEREMONY. WHY?
• THE PUBLIC CEREMONY PROMOTES CHURCH UNITY.
• EVERYONE SEES THAT THE PROBLEM IS IMPORTANT ENOUGH TO HAVE BEEN NOTICED AND A SOLUTION FOUND.
• IT PUTS TO REST ANY GOSSIP.
• EVERYONE BECOMES AWARE OF WHO IS IN CHARGE.
• EVERYONE SEES THAT THINGS ARE DONE ORDERLY AND ABOVE BOARD.
• THERE IS NO RESPECT OF PERSONS (FAVORITISM) WITH CHRIST, NOR SHOULD THERE BE IN THE CHURCH.
• THE LAYING ON OF HANDS:
• THIS PRACTICE OF THE LAYING ON OF HANDS IS AN OLD TESTAMENT PRACTICE FOR THE PURPOSES OF PRONOUNCING BLESSING, COMMISSIONING A SUCCESSOR, OR FOR EXPRESSING A PERSONAL IDENTIFICATION WITH ANOTHER. (LEV 1:4)
• WE SEE THIS PRACTICE OF THE LAYING ON OF HANDS OCCUR EARLY IN THE CHURCH AND CONTINUE THROUGH THE BOOK OF ACTS.
• WHAT DOES THIS PRACTICE ACCOMPLISH?
• LAYING ON OF HANDS IN PRAYER SEEKS GOD’S ANOINTING AND GUIDANCE.
• LAYING ON OF HANDS CONFERS POSITION AND AUTHORITY.
• THE RESULTS OF SOLVING THE PROBLEM:
• BECAUSE OF SATAN’S DEFEAT IN TRYING TO CAUSE INTERNAL DISUNITY, THERE IS AN INCREASE IN THE UNITY WITHIN THE CHURCH.
• THE KEY TO SOLVING CHURCH PROBLEMS:
• CHURCH PROBLEMS CAN BE SOLVED SUCCESSFULLY IF THERE IS AN HONESTY AND WILLINGNESS TO DEAL WITH THEM. (2)
• CHURCH PROBLEMS CAN BE SOLVED SUCCESSFULLY IF THERE IS A WILLINGNESS TO DELEGATE AUTHORITY TO OTHERS. (3)
• CHURCH PROBLEMS CAN BE SOLVED SUCCESSFULLY IF THERE IS AN ATTITUDE OF DEFERENCE TO OTHERS FOR THE SAKE OF UNITY. (5)
• THE CHURCH IS GROWING WITH MORE AND MORE PEOPLE GETTING SAVED.
• THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT WORKS MOST EFFECTIVELY IN AN ATMOSPHERE OF UNITY.
• EVEN TEMPLE PRIESTS ARE GETTING SAVED! GLORY TO GOD! (7)
• THIS BRINGS UP A NEW POTENTIAL PROBLEM:
• WITH AN INCREASE IN THE BLURRING OF THE LINES BETWEEN CHRISTIANITY AND JUDAISM, THIS NEW SECT OF BELIEVERS COULD EVENTUALLY BE ABSORBED BACK INTO LEGALISTIC JUDAISM AND SUBSEQUENTLY DISAPPEAR ALTOGETHER.
• GOD WOULD NOT ALLOW THAT TO HAPPEN. INSTEAD, IT IS GOD’S PLAN FOR THERE TO BE A FORMAL BREAK BETWEEN CHRISTIANITY AND JUDAISM. IT IS INTERESTING TO SEE HOW GOD WILL ENGINEER THAT USING STEPHEN.
• READ ACT 6:8-15 STEPHEN
• LUKE TELLS US MORE ABOUT ONE OF THE SEVEN CHOSEN FOR MINISTRY, STEPHEN.
• WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT STEPHEN?
• THE NAME, STEPHEN, MEANS = CROWN
• HE IS THE FIRST MARTYR IN THE NEW TESTAMENT AND WILL RECEIVE A MARTYR’S CROWN.
• STEPHEN HAD A CHARMING PERSONALITY THAT EVERYONE LIKED.
• STEPHEN WAS AN INTELLECTUAL AND EDUCATED IN THE OLD TESTAMENT.
• STEPHEN WAS ZEALOUS FOR THE LORD AND WITHOUT FEAR FOR HIMSELF.
• STEPHEN WAS PREACHING AND PERFORMING MIRACLES (8)
• STEPHEN DID MORE THAN JUST HELP TO ADMINISTER THE DISTRIBUTION OF FOOD.
• JUDAISM’S SYNAGOGUE OF THE LIBERTINES:
• EACH CITY HAD A JEWISH SYNAGOGUE OF ITS OWN FOR THE PURPOSES OF TEACHING AND PREACHING THE WORD. THE CITY OF JERUSALEM HAD SEVERAL HUNDRED SYNAGOGUES OF WHICH THIS ONE WAS ONE OF THE LARGEST.
• THE LIBERTINES:
• THESE WERE JEWISH PEOPLE WHO WERE EITHER BORN AS ROMAN SLAVES AND BY SOME MEANS HAD BECOME FREE MEN OR THEY WERE BORN FREE.
• IN 61 BC THOUSANDS OF JEWISH CAPTIVES WERE TAKEN TO ROME BY POMPEY. LATER THEY WERE SET FREE AND GIVEN THE RIGHTS OF ROMAN CITIZENSHIP.
• THEREFORE, ALL IN THIS SYNAGOGUE WERE FREE MEN FROM SEVERAL GEOGRAPHIC AREAS. THIS WAS A GREEK-SPEAKING SYNAGOGUE:
• GREEK SPEAKING AREAS OF CYRENIA, ALEXANDRIA (EGYPT), ASIA, AND CILICIA (POSSIBLY THIS WAS PAUL’S SYNAGOGUE), WERE REPRESENTED IN THIS SYNAGOGUE.
• PAUL CAME FROM TARSUS IN CILICIA. THEREFORE, IT IS QUITE POSSIBLE AND INTERESTING TO CONTEMPLATE THAT PAUL WAS THERE WHEN STEPHEN PREACHED ABOUT CHRIST.
• OPPOSITION BY THE LIBERTINES:
• STEPHEN GOT THE BETTER OF THESE MEN IN DEBATE. THEREFORE, THEY PLOT AGAINST STEPHEN.
• THE BIBLE DOES NOT TELL US THE TOPIC OF THIS DEBATE. HOWEVER, IT PROBABLY CONTAINED PROOF OF CHRIST AS THE MESSIAH BASED ON STEPHEN’S SERMON TOPIC IN THE NEXT CHAPTER.
• THE LIBERTINES PAID FALSE WITNESSES STIR UP THE PEOPLE:
• THE FALSE WITNESSES SAID THEY HEARD STEPHEN BLASPHEME MOSES AND GOD.
• STEPHEN BEFORE THE SANHEDRIN:
• THE WORDS OF THE FALSE WITNESSES. (13-14):
• AN ACCUSATION CONCERNING STEPHEN’S BLASPHEMOUS WORDS AGAINST THE TEMPLE AND THE LAW.
• THE CHARGE WAS THAT STEPHEN DENIED THAT THE TEMPLE AND THE KEEPING OF THE LAW WERE THE BASIS OF SALVATION.
• READ JOH 4:20-24
• JESUS SAID THAT THE TEMPLE WOULD BECOME OBSOLETE AS A PLACE TO WORSHIP GOD.
• READ JOH 2:19
• READ MAT 5:17
• STEPHEN EVIDENTLY QUOTED JESUS BUT THE FALSE WITNESSES TWISTED JESUS WORDS.
• THE ARGUMENTS ARE QUITE SIMILAR TO THE FALSE WITNESSES AGAINST JESUS BEFORE THE SANHEDRIN.
• STEPHEN’S APPEARANCE:
• THE BIBLE SAYS HIS FACE WAS LIKE THAT OF AN ANGEL.
• THIS MAN IS SO FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT AND PEACE, THAT THERE IS NO FEAR OR BELLIGERENCE ON HIS PART IN THIS CONFRONTATION.
• SUMMARY AND APPLICATION:
• DISCUSSION:

WHAT DOES THIS CHAPTER TEACH YOU ABOUT THE TOTAL MINISTRY OF A CHURCH?

HOMEWORK
ACTS 7
THIS IS A SELF-STUDY. PLEASE DO NOT SEND HOMEWORK ANSWERS TO THE TEACHER FORCORRECTION.

• APPLICATION OF ACT 6
• IN THINKING ABOUT YOUR OWN CHURCH, HOW CAN YOU BETTER PROMOTE UNITY AND PEACE WITHIN THE BODY OF CHRIST?
• PREPARATION FOR ACT7
• READ ACT 7:1-60
• MAKE A BRIEF LIST OF THE IMPORTANT POINTS IN STEPHEN’S SERMON.
• WHAT DOES THIS CHAPTER TEACH YOU ABOUT THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD AND THE HEART OF MAN?
• WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM STEPHEN?
• MEMORY VERSE: ACT 7:55