ACTS 6
1 In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews[a] among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. 2 So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. 3 Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them 4 and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.”
5 This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. 6 They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.
7 So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.
Stephen Seized
8 Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people. 9 Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called)—Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia—who began to argue with Stephen. 10 But they could not stand up against the wisdom the Spirit gave him as he spoke.
11 Then they secretly persuaded some men to say, “We have heard Stephen speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.”
12 So they stirred up the people and the elders and the teachers of the law. They seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin. 13 They produced false witnesses, who testified, “This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law. 14 For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs Moses handed down to us.”
15 All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.
We see in this chapter the first strife entering the early church. The Disciples were active about addressing it. They appointed 7 Deacons to handle the responsibilities of food service. This was similar to what Jethro counseled Moses to do in the book of Exodus, Chapter 18. Moses could not personally handle and resolve all of the issues of the six million people…he needed to delegate responsibilities, he could not carry the weight of the people alone. The apostles looked for special men-not just anybody,but men who were full of the Holy Spirit and Wisdom. The apostles were busy handling the vital mission of prayer and sharing the Word of God, similar to what our Pastors do today. They needed to be free to devote their time to prayer and teaching so they appointed the first seven deacons, much like we have in churches today. The Apostles couldn’t do it all themselves any more than Moses could, people were inadvertantly getting skipped in the feeding, and it was causing strife. The second portion of this short chapter focuses on Stephen who was doing exactly what he was called to do and being persecuted for it. They could not refute his wisdom, so they conspired against him, lying and producing false witnesses, and stirring the pot to the point that they seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin lying and producing false witnesses accusing him of blasphemy.
