For the past few weeks, we have seen the attacks that Satan mounted against the church described here in Acts. Throughout these weeks we have seen his threats and persecution as the elders and scribes have continually been threatening, imprisoning, and beating the disciples for preaching the word. But we have also seen that through the power of God they were able to overcome these threats and seek to fear and to please God over man.
And we have also seen Satan attack the church through inward hypocrisy with Annanias and Sapphira. They brought great hypocrisy in while the Spirit was working powerfully in their midst, and God put an end to it quickly. Peter told them that Satan had put it in their hearts to lie and that it would cost them their lives. It did.
And tonight, we see another attack of Satan upon the church, but this one is a little more subtle (and possibly more difficult to deal with at times). Satan attacks the church by stirring up jealousy and complaining within the church. And these things can put an end to our seeing God work among us as quickly as anything.
The situation was that the church was growing in those days. However, it did not bring all good news. Along with the added number, there came murmuring and complaining against the apostles. It came about that the Hellenistic Jews were complaining because they thought that their widows were being denied food at the expense of the native Hebrews’ widows. And so, they bring it to the apostles and say, “Do something about it!”
And with that, Satan rears his ugly head. In that little scenario comes an attack from Satan that is as powerful as the former ones, but is also subtle. The attack was that he was trying to preoccupy the apostles with different chores to the neglect of the word of God and prayer, which was their calling. Now, to realize how big this is, we have to stop and think for a second about what the apostles’ calling has done for us. If they had neglected devoting themselves to the ministry of the word and to prayer, then the gospel would not have come to us (excusing God’s providence in this hypothetical scenario). Also, we would not have the word itself that came from their preaching and writing. And no doubt, the church would not have grown in maturity without their prayers that empowered others’ faith and their own words. This is a huge deal that comes up with this little complaint.
I think that is why Luke includes it in this narrative. I mean, if you first read it, you might think, “Surely there are many other “bigger” things going on; why does Luke include this story about the widows complaining?” I think the answer is to show us the importance of the ministry of everyone in carrying out the ministry of the word (which I will expound on more later).
The apostles, however, are not carried away with this attack. Instead they go to the people and say, “It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables. Therefore, brethren, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” Then the people think that this is a great idea, and they choose seven men whom the apostles lay hands on and commission for the task of service in the church.
The result of overcoming this attempt from Satan to get the apostles to neglect their calling to the word and prayer had amazing results. Luke says, “And the word of God kept on spreading; and the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith.” Not only did the church keep increasing in number, not only did the word keep on spreading, but even priests were being converted. This is an incredible picture in light of the constant and varied attacks of Satan upon the church.
I believe that this story has much to teach us in light of how the church is to work. And one of the greatest things that it can teach us is the principle that God calls all of us to ministry in order that we might meet the needs of the church. If a people realize this in a local church, then I believe they will begin to see God work through them in great love and fellowship, even like this early church. Therefore, tonight I want to take this principle of ministry shown in the text and bring it to what this means that Cornerstone needs to understand and do.
I think one of the most obvious things that this passage should remind us is that we all have different gifts and callings. The apostles say in verse 2, “It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables.” And yet they tell the people to choose seven men to do that exact thing while they devote themselves to the ministry of the word and to prayer.
What I want to point out here is that this was not a matter of them being above certain tasks and others not being too good for it. Rather, it was an issue of calling. The disciples were called to the ministry of the word and to prayer in watching over Christ’s sheep. And they were gifted by the Spirit to teach the word. Therefore, for them to begin to “wait on tables” would not be desirable, but not because they were too good for it, but because they would neglect what they were called to do.
Therefore, I want it to be clear to all of us that we all have different gifts and callings, for the most part. And just as the apostles were called to preaching and teaching the word of God, these men (probably the first deacons) were called to serve the church in meeting the physical needs of the church. And the fact that men are called to and gifted for different things is as true today as ever.
Romans 12:4-8 says, “For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. And since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let each exercise them according to the proportion of his faith; if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.”
Therefore, let us realize that though we are one body, we are different, and we are to perform different functions. Some are gifted in teaching, others in showing mercy, some in exhortation and encouraging, others in intercessory prayer, others in service (much like the seven in our text), others in evangelism, and so on. But without all of these, the church cannot go on in spreading the word. We will not present men complete in Christ unless we are all ministering in the calling that God has given us. And it may not seem like much in the small picture when you are simply doing what you have been called to do, but don’t underestimate the gift and calling of God on your life. And don’t question the value of it. Just obey. You should simply rest in knowing that it is for a great purpose in his divine plan. To question the value God’s call is to question God on what he is doing. And he doesn’t need our advice.
But the temptation is to think that the only ones who are in ministry and are crucial to ministry are those preaching and teaching (like the elders—i.e. “Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching.” (1 Timothy 5:17)), or leading worship, or something else that is obvious. Also, we are tempted to think that only these people need to lead truly godly lives. For example, we all know that it is important for a pastor to be walking in the Spirit, but look at verse 3 of tonight’s text. They tell them that the men they choose to “wait on tables” need to be men who are “full of the Spirit and wisdom.” Therefore, the two thoughts that only those in ministry and crucial to the life of the church are those in the spotlight and that only those who do such things need to live godly lives, hungering for all the fullness of God, need to be shattered.
If that is the way that you think, then forget everything you think in that area and re-teach yourself this truth: It takes each member functioning properly for the body to work as 1.