Atos 6
Thomas Constable · Citado em PreceptAustin
Atos 6
Constable adds that "Laying hands on someone symbolized the bestowal of a blessing (Ge 48:13; et al.). It also represented identification with the person (Lev. 1:4; 3:2; et al.), commissioning as a kind of successor (Nu 27:22,23), and granting authority (Acts 8:17–19; 9:17; 13:3; 19:6; 1 Ti 4:14; 5:22; Heb. 6:2). Fruchtenbaum - Members of the Sanhedrin were appointed to their office by the laying on of hands. (Ibid) While Acts 6 is regarded by many as teaching about the office of deacon, it is notable that the actual Greek word for deacon (diakonos) is not used here nor elsewhere in the book of Acts. The cognate words diakonia in Acts 6:1 (“serving”) and Acts 6:4 (“ministry”) and diakoneo (“serve”) occurs in Acts 6:2. Related Resources: Laying on of Hands - Bob Utley Laying on of hands - what does the Bible say? What are the qualifications of elders and deacons? What are the responsibilities of deacons in the church? Acts 6:7 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. KJV Acts 6:7 And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith. The word of God kept on spreading Acts 12:24; 19:20; Col 1:6; 2 Ti 2:9 the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem Acts 21:20; *Gr: the priests 2 Chronicles 29:34; 30:24; Ps 132:9,16; Mt 19:30; Luke 2:34; John 12:42 obedient Ro 1:5; 16:26; 2 Th 1:8; Heb 5:9; 11:8 Acts 6 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries THE DYNAMIC GOSPEL YIELDS DIVINE MULTIPLICATION The Word of God...spreading explains why the number of disciples continued to increase. THOUGHT - There is a principle - No Word. No Growth! This begs the question to all preachers -- Are you preaching the Word ever ready in season and out of season, reproving, rebuking, exhorting, with great patience and instruction (2 Ti 4:2+) or are you using the Word of God to launch into your "favorite topics" or discussions? God only promises that the Word from His mouth (i.e., "the pure milk of the Word" - 1 Pe 2:2+) will not return void (cf Isa 55:11)! He does not promise that pious platitudes will not return void and in fact more often than not they do return void (cf the warning inherent in Proverbs 29:18+ where practically speaking "no vision" equates with no divine revelation/exhortation/exposition from His Word - i.e., shepherds failing to preach the Word of God). Jesus was clear that sheep need to be fed (Jn 21:15-17+) and the only "food" for sheep is the Word of God (cf Mt 4:4+, Lk 4:4+). God's blessing is upon those shepherds who feed the Word of God to His sheep, and here in Acts 6:7 we see that blessing was accompanied by increasing numbers of sheep! Luke has several similar "summaries" that describe the spread of the Gospel and increase in His sheep - Acts 2:41, 47; 4:4; 5:14; 9:31; 12:24; 13:49; 16:5; 19:20. In summary, the order is important, first speak the Word of God and then the sheep of God will grow (either numerically and/or qualitatively - being increasing edified and growth in greater degrees of Christ-likeness - cf Eph 4:11-14+, 2 Cor 3:18+). Adrian Rogers sums up this first section noting that "Where there is healthy life there is growth. Where there is healthy growth there are problems. Where there are problems, there are God-given solutions. Where there is a God-given solution there is even greater growth....Do you know why this early church bounded and grew as it did? Because, every time the devil attacked, they went to God and God counter-attacked. And, their problems became a springboard for greater growth. Listen, friend, all Hell can't stop a church that'll keep its eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank God for a growing church. " Ray Pritchard - Instead of derailing the church, this crisis propelled it to even faster growth. Surely this is a mark of God’s hand of blessing. Even the bad things work out for good. (A Place to Serve) Acts 6:1 begins this section with "the disciples were increasing." And now only a few verses later Luke records that number of disciples are increasing greatly. Why would he repeat this description of "church growth" so soon? What had transpired in the interim? The devil had attempted to disrupt and divide the church but his efforts had been frustrated by the godly leadership, including the provision of godly, Spirit filled men to care for the Hellenistic widows. Their just treatment of these otherwise helpless and hopeless Hellenistic widows would have been like "living oracles" testifying loud and clear of the pervasive power of the Gospel to be good news for ALL people, reminding us that those who are often easily forgotten by men, are not forgotten by God! Thus the progress of the spread of the Gospel continued unabated with even greater numbers of converts. I agree with Dr Criswell's analysis that "After this event (SELECTION OF SEVEN SPIRIT FILLED SAINTS WHICH ABORTED A SCHISM) the church experienced its greatest revival since Pentecost." THOUGHT - There is a lesson here for all churches -- Internal splits and bickering will sap the saints of their desire and power to spread the Gospel. In order to quickly "fix fences" and resolve rifts, churches must have godly praying men, who are of good reputation, filled with the Spirit and filled with wisdom. How sad when a church's leaders are chosen based on their charisma, contributions, corporate success, etc. Spiritual criteria should always trump secular, humanistic criteria in selection of church leaders. I have repeatedly seen churches place successful businessmen (often retired) who were wealthy and/or influential into leadership positions and the results have been a leadership team of potentially "high capability" but generally "low spirituality!" And too often those same churches have reaped the rotten fruit sown by more secular based selections! The word of God - In this context, this phrase is a synonym for the Gospel. In Acts 13:26 it is called "the Word of this salvation." In Acts 14:3 and Acts 20:32 it is called "the Word of His grace." In Acts 15:7 it is called "the Word of the Gospel." The phrase the Word of God appears 11x in Acts - Acts 4:31; Acts 6:2; Acts 6:7; Acts 8:14; Acts 11:1; Acts 13:5; Acts 13:7; Acts 13:46; Acts 17:13; Acts 18:11. Robertson on spreading...increasing both in the imperfect tense - The two imperfects kept pace with each other. How did the Word of God keep on spreading? Clearly the Word had to be spoken (cf Ro 10:14+). But once spoken, the Gospel has the intrinsic power to penetrate and transform a heart, for the Gospel is "the power [dunamis] of God for salvation to everyone who believes." (Ro 1:16+). The word dunamis describes inherent power to accomplish supernaturally what cannot be accomplished naturally. The Gospel alone has the power to circumcise a hard heart! The apostles' privilege (and ours) is simply to speak the Gospel and it will keep on spreading supernaturally. Those that are born again will want to tell others about their new life in Christ. Kept on spreading (837)(auxano) means to cause to grow or cause to become greater in extent, size, state, or quality. Three times in Acts, Luke gives us similar descriptions of the Word using the verb auxano, all three uses in the imperfect tense signifying this growth was occurring over and over (again and again). But the word of the Lord continued to grow (auxano) and to be multiplied. (Acts 12:24+) So the word of the Lord was growing (auxano) mightily and prevailing. (Acts 19:20+) Although the verb is not auxano, Luke gives a similar of the power of the Gospel in Acts 13:49+ "And the word of the Lord was being spread (diaphero in imperfect tense) through the whole region." From these observations on the Word of God (the Lord), what is the message to every pastor of every church in the world? Preach the Word in season and out if you want to see your congregation grow in grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Pe 3:18). There are no shortcuts or substitutes! And you can only preach the Word by setting aside time to study and prayerfully prepare your messages. Preaching that has a paucity of the Word is guaranteed to produce spiritually anemic believers. I can remember going to one pastor and strongly encouraging him to take the sheep deeper into the Word of God. Would you like to know his answer? "They would not be able to handle it!" Woe! He preached sermonettes and what he got was "Christianettes" so to speak. Several years later that church split into two churches! How important for pulpits everywhere to ensure and facilitate conditions which maximize the "growth" of the Word of the Lord in the "garden" of the local body of Christ, "in Whom the whole building, being fitted together is (continually) growing (auxano) into a holy temple in the Lord." (Ep 2:21-note) In his description of one of the most foundational truths in the New Testament regarding spiritual growth of disciples, Peter says that after "putting aside all malice and all guile and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, like newborn babes, long for the pure (unadulterated, no additives, no artificial substitutes) milk of the Word, that (purpose clause) by it you may grow (auxano) in respect to salvation (progressive sanctification into conformity with the image of Christ - Ro 8:29+). (1 Pe 2:1+, 1 Pe 2:2+) Ray Pritchard observes that "In the beginning the widows are going hungry and their friends are upset. Anger threatens the unity of the body. By the end the anger is gone and the widows are fed because the seven men are now serving the Lord and are recognized by the whole congregation. This is precisely how the body of Christ is supposed to function." (A Place to Serve) And the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem - ESV says "the disciples multiplied greatly." "Increase greatly" would suggest that there were so many new disciples being added to the church that it was difficult to keep track of the exact number. And so Luke's last specific count was in Acts 4:4+ writing that "the number of the men came to be about five thousand." So we don't know how many believers were in Jerusalem at this time, although estimates of the size of the church are as high as 25,000. While it is very difficult to determine the population of Jerusalem at this time (circa 33 AD), the Roman historian Tacitus estimated the population of Jerusalem at the time of the Jewish wars (AD 66-73) to be about 600,000. So while this is only a guess, membership in the "first apostolic church of Jerusalem" would have been about 5% of the population. Disciples (3101) See previous discussion on mathetes. As Horton says the word disciples means "learners, so-called because they were all believers desiring to learn more about Jesus and the Gospel (Acts 2:42+)." (Acts: A Logion Press Commentary) How wonderful to have a church full of men and women "learners" continually longing for the pure milk of the Word that by it they might grow in respect to their salvation! (1 Pe 2:2+) This is the kind of church that can turn the world upside down! Continued to increase (imperfect tense)(4129)(plethuno from plethos = fullness from pletho = to fill) means they were being multiplied (divine passive) by the intrinsic power of the Gospel and the regenerative work of the Holy Spirit. And a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith - Luke is not referring to the chief priests or the members of the Sanhedrin, but to the "rank and file" priests who did the daily work in the Temple. Some estimate that the number of priests in Jerusalem at this time was in the range of 2000, but I have read some reputable sources that place the number as high as 18,000. That seems a bit high to me, but the point Luke makes is that the Gospel is making significant inroads into the the Jewish priesthood.Their eyes were being opened by the Gospel and the Spirit (cf Acts 26:18+) to see that the sacrifices they were carrying out pointed to the Lamb of God (Jn 1:29+, cf Col 2:16, 17+). Perhaps with their knowledge of the Old Testament they began to see the many Messianic passages pointed to the Messiah Christ Jesus. Heaven will be fascinating as we can ask the priests what led them to see that Jesus was their personal Redeemer! One other thought on the response of the priests to the Gospel - One of the signs that the Messiah had come was healing of lepers (cf Lk 7:22+). When a leper was healed, he had to be examined by the Temple priests. While Luke does not specify what signs and wonders Stephen was performing, if any of them were healing of lepers, supposedly they would still have to be "cleared" by the priests (Mt 8:2-3, 4). So imagine these priests witnessing these "walking Messianic markers" that were like giant flashing signs pointing to the fact that the Messiah and come and died for them! See more on this below. What factors may have contributed to this influx of orthodox Jewish priests into Christianity? First, think about what a priest would normally do at the Temple -- perform sacrifices! And yet we know that Jesus "offered one sacrifice for sins for all time," (Heb 10:12+, cf Jn 19:30+) so that there was no longer the need to perform animal sacrifices. It would seem that for a priest to accept the Gospel, in doing so, they would essentially lose their job! Talk about count the cost of becoming a disciple of Jesus! (cf Mk 8:34-36+). Also recall what happened on the day Jesus died on the Cross -- Matthew records that "the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom," (Mt 27:51, Mk 15:38+, Lk 23:45+, cf Heb 10:19-23+) exposing the Holy of holies to the priest's sight, whereas for centuries this veil had hidden the Holy of holies from view except on the Day of Atonement and then only by one priest for one day! It was as if the torn veil provided the priests with a continual reminder that the Old Covenant had been abolished by the sacrifice of the Lamb of God (Heb 8:13+). Did the torn veil contribute to the fact that many of the priests were receiving the Gospel? I think so, but we will have to wait until we can discuss it with them in Heaven. F F Bruce on the priests (as compared to the religious leaders of the Sanhedrin) - The ordinary priests were socially and in other ways far removed from the wealthy chief-priestly families from which the main opposition to the Gospel came. Many of the ordinary priests were no doubt men holy and humble of heart, like Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, men who would be readily convinced of the truth of the Gospel.” Priests (2409)(hiereus from hieros = holy, consecrated to God) is a consecrated person who serves deity. Priests in the NT refer primarily to the ceremonial officials of Jesus' day who offered Temple sacrifices, etc . Hiereus describes the specific position and not necessarily a priest’s character (e.g., see Lk 10:31 where a priest was a "bad Samaritan" so to speak). Most of the priests had "religion" without relationship with the Great High Priest, Christ Jesus. And so the first use of hierus in Acts 4:1+ describes "the priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to" Peter and John who were speaking to the people. Acts 4:3 tells us these priests (et al) "laid hands on (Peter and John) and put them in jail!" But now in Acts 6 we see a dramatic change in the attitude of many of the priests. While we do not know how much time passed between Acts 4:1 and Acts 6:7, it is clear that many of them were shifting from "religion" to "relationship" with Christ by grace through faith. Were becoming obedient to the faith - This could be paraphrased "they were believing the Gospel." C H Spurgeon on obedient to the faith - The priests were obedient to the faith; why not you? They believed in Christ, saw the fold, entered in, and were saved; why should not you be like them? Did you notice how it is described? They were “obedient to the faith.” Then it seems that the Gospel is all summed up in that word “faith.” To be obedient to the faith; to believe that Jesus is the Son of God; to trust Him because He has suffered in your stead; to believe that the divine justice is satisfied with the death of Christ, and to rely upon that satisfaction which Christ has rendered; that is to be saved, to be obedient to the faith. (Good Earnests of Great Success or here) John Butler on obedient to the faith - Being obedient to the faith is another way of saying a person has gotten saved, has obeyed the call of God to turn to Jesus Christ. The purpose of the Gospel, which these verses have been speaking about, was to save souls (“obedience of faith”). (Analytical Bible Expositor - Romans) Arnold Fruchtenbaum notes that becoming obedient is "Imperfect active, which emphasizes repetition: one after the other, priests were coming to the faith. Because these were priests, it means that most of these, if not all, were Sadducees." (If so, that is fascinating as they were the ones who did not believe in the resurrection. And if so, one can imagine the anger this generated with the high priest who was a Sadducee as were many of the Sanhedrin.) A T Robertson agrees that "The priests were usually Sadducees, who had been so active in arresting the apostles. It is a fine outcome and doubtless embittered the Sadducees all the more." (Studies in the New Testament) David Thompson - Many priests were beginning to realize we are saved by faith in Jesus Christ and not by works or keeping the O.T. Law. This was causing a real problem with the religious world. (Sermon) Becoming obedient (imperfect tense again and again, one after another)(5219) (hupakouo from hupó = under + akoúo = hearing) literally means to hear under and then to listen with attentiveness with the implication that there is a positive response to what is heard. The sense is that one understands and responds accordingly -- the priests understood the Word of God proclaimed by the apostles and repented and believed in that Word. The picture of hupakouo is that of placing oneself under what has been heard and therefore submitting to and obeying what is heard, in this context the spoken Word of the Gospel. Paul uses this same verb hupakouo in the context of describing the Lord's return and His "dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey (hupakouo) the Gospel of our Lord Jesus." (2 Th 1:8) In contrast to the ready reception by many of the priests, the individuals Paul describes openly rejected the Gospel, and steadfastly refused to believe it. In Romans 10:16+ hupakouo is used again in the context of salvation, Paul writing "However, they did not all heed (hupakouo - "not all have obeyed") the good news; for Isaiah says, “LORD, WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT?” John uses a different verb which expresses the same thought as hupakoo here in Acts 6:7 “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” (Jn 3:36+) The Faith (pistis) is a specific phrase (definite article "the" plus "faith") found some 38x in the NASB. Approximately one-half of the 38 occurrences of the phrase the faith refer not to the ACT of believing (SUBJECTIVE) but rather to WHAT is believed (OBJECTIVE) as in the presence of the priests who believed the (objective) doctrine Gospel as in Gal 1:23+ "He who once persecuted us is now preaching the faith which he once tried to destroy.” Jude writes "Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints." (Jude 1:3+) Fruchtenbaum - The faith is the system of the faith in the gospel or the body of apostolic doctrine. (Messianic Bible Study Collection)
Atos 6
Constable adds that "Stephen proceeded to function as an angel (a messenger from God), as well as looking like one, by bringing new revelation to his hearers, as Moses had. The Old Covenant had come through angelic mediation at Mt. Sinai (Heb. 2:2). Now revelation about the New Covenant was coming through one who acted like and even looked like an angel." Stephen's face shone with the glory of God and as Larkin says "To a greater or lesser extent, that’s the way it is with all those who are full of the Spirit of God But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. (2 Cor 3:18+). This description of Stephen's face recalls the appearance of Moses to the congregation when he came down Mt Sinai with the Law... It came about when Moses was coming down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the testimony were in Moses’ hand as he was coming down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because of his speaking with Him. 30So when Aaron and all the sons of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him. 31Then Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the rulers in the congregation returned to him; and Moses spoke to them. 32Afterward all the sons of Israel came near, and he commanded them to do everything that the LORD had spoken to him on Mount Sinai. 33When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face. 34But whenever Moses went in before the LORD to speak with Him, he would take off the veil until he came out; and whenever he came out and spoke to the sons of Israel what he had been commanded, 35the sons of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone. So Moses would replace the veil over his face until he went in to speak with Him. (Exodus 34:29-35) See Moses and Stephen: the Old Testament and the New John Stott asks "Was it not God’s deliberate purpose to give the same radiant face to Stephen when he was accused of opposing the law as he had given to Moses when he received the law? In this way God was showing that both Moses’ ministry of the law and Stephen’s interpretation of it had his approval." A T