I invite you to turn with me this evening in your Bibles to the book of Acts. The book of Acts, chapter 6, found on page 1061 in most of the few Bibles, 1061 in others it will be on page 814. We interrupt the series on Elisha this evening with a sermon that was intended for January 1st with the installation of officers. And in turning to Acts, I didn't want to wait a year. So I think it's timely enough for us. It draws our mind back to what we did on that evening of installing and ordaining officers in the church. and which also puts a cap on the efforts of the church which really have been going on since August or September. We do this every year and most of it's quietly done in the life of the church until that night when they're ordained. And so tonight we look at chapter 6 of Acts to consider the service of the word and tables. But before we turn our attention there, I want to read a few select portions of the first two chapters of Acts to set the stage for the event that we're going to consider in chapter 6. So if you turn back a few pages to Acts chapter 1, beginning at verse 1, hear now the word of God. In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven. after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command. Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. So when they met together, they asked him, Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel? He said to them, it is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you. And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. In this text, we see that on the threshold of Jesus' ascension, the disciples, the apostles, were still expecting the kingdom of God to be realized in the nation of Israel. And they asked Jesus, was this the time? And he answered them with the promise that the kingdom of God was greater than the nation of Israel. In fact, through them, the kingdom of God would be extended to all the nations of the world, to the ends of the earth. And the book of Acts is a record of the fulfillment of this promise. The book of Acts opens with the church established in Jerusalem and it closes with Paul in Rome under house arrest. The very heart of the Gentile world where he announced, therefore I want you to know that God's salvation has been sent to the Gentiles. And they will listen. Indeed, the church has spread and will continue to grow until the fullness of the elect are brought in and Jesus Christ comes to bring her to Himself. But our attention this evening is turned back to Jerusalem to where it all began in Acts chapter 2, beginning in verse 1. Let's look at that for a moment. Acts chapter 2, beginning in verse 1. Here again the Word of God. When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment because each one heard them speaking in his own language. As we read this text, we're very familiar with the story of Pentecost and the outpouring of the Spirit and the miraculous signs that took place. But we may miss the fact that Jerusalem had been packed tightly like a cannon temp full of gunpowder, ready to explode at the first sign of a spark. You see, in the redeeming providence of God, Jerusalem had been packed tight with God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. and they'd been packed tight so that when he applied the flame of the Holy Spirit through the preaching of the gospel, it would explode, sending them back to their homes, carrying the gospel of Jesus Christ. And in the power of the Holy Spirit, Peter immediately began preaching the gospel to the crowd, and we find their response at the end of chapter 2, beginning at verse 41. End of chapter 2, beginning at verse 41 again. Peter has preached the sermon that we know so well, And there we read that those who accepted his message were baptized, and about 3,000 were added to their number that day. They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common, selling their possessions and goods they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. The church continued to grow. And the sudden growth of the church in Jerusalem was not without trouble. As you can well imagine, imagine 3,000 added to our number in a day. and more day after day after day. Even though the church is a divine institution that will continue into eternity, it is an institution that is being formed in this world. Being formed under pressures that God brings to bear to sanctify her, to strengthen her, to purify her, and prepare her for the day of Christ. The pressures that come certainly come from outside the church through opposition as you could read in Acts chapter 4 and 5 but those pressures also come from within the church and our text this evening reveals how internal pressure brought about a division of labor in the church that is for the good of the church the service of the word and tables let us turn now to Acts chapter 6 beginning again in verse 1 our text for this evening here again the word of God in those days when the number of disciples was increasing the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food 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. Brothers, 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 and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the Word. This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, the man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit. Also Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicholas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. They presented these men to the apostles who prayed and laid their hands on them. 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. Here ends the reading of God's word. The sudden explosion in the population of the church in Jerusalem exposed a problem in the church. The gospel was believed by many Hebrew-speaking Jews from in and around Jerusalem and Greek-speaking Jews from all the nations of the world. And even though the Hebrew-speaking Jews that joined the church had been cast out of the synagogue so that they were considered outsiders in the greater and broader Jewish community, They remained distinctly Hebrew and they were familiar and they were comfortable with one another. In fact, they could look at one another and say, these are my kind of people. The Greek-speaking Jews were descendants of Israel and Judah that had been cast to the nations, dispersed by Assyria and Babylon. And because they never came back to Israel, they had adopted the Greek language and they had taken up some of the cultures where they had lived. They took Greek names. And among other things, their clothing, their music, their food was no longer distinctly Hebrew. Therefore, the Jews in Israel had long considered them second-class citizens, if not outcasts from the covenant community. These were not my kind of people. Now, within the unity of the church in Jerusalem, which we have read about, as Luke says in chapter 4, verse 32, where all the believers were one in heart and mind. There was cultural diversity that brought with it cultural baggage. Although they shared a common Jewish ancestry, and together they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, there was tension and distrust yet to be overcome. People of God, can you put yourself in the shoes of the Greek-speaking Jews in Jerusalem? Can you picture their troubles? And can't you put yourself in the shoes of the people who visit and regularly attend and join this congregation who are from diverse backgrounds and cultures? Can you appreciate how your comfort and familiarity with your kind of people and your uneasiness with other kinds of people can be disruptive to the unity of the church? You see, as much as things have changed since Pentecost, some things never change, apart from the work of the Holy Spirit. Well, back to Jerusalem, under the pressure from this rapid expansion of the church in Jerusalem, it is clear that unity was being strained along cultural lines. And we read in chapter 6, verse 1, In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. The strain between these two groups found expression in a breakdown of Christian charity within the church. The practice of the apostles appears to have been modeled after the charity of the synagogue that was and is still known as the basket and the tray. Now, the basket is a weekly collection of money and of goods that is immediately distributed to those who are in need. And we see the basket applied by the apostles when we read in chapter 4, verse 34, there was no needy person among them. For from time to time those who owned lands and houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles' feet. And it was distributed to anyone as he had need. And the tray is a daily distribution of food, much like what we would call a soup kitchen. And we see the tray applied by the apostles in the daily distribution of food. Verse 1 makes clear that it was taking place. The food is being distributed, but it was not getting to the Greek-speaking widows. So the Greek-speaking Jews murmured. They complained, they grumbled against the Hebrew-speaking Jews. You see, the seed of bitterness had been planted. And it had begun to grow, and schism or church split was in the works. And in this troubled time, at the very beginning of the church in Jerusalem, God intervened and kept His promise to work all things for the good of those who love Him. And in response to this problem, He revealed through the apostles a principle for the church. In verse 2 we read, So the twelve gathered all the disciples together. What a remarkably simple and revealing statement. So the twelve gathered all the disciples together. In that statement, we see that the unity of their common faith and their submission to the Christ-ordained authority of the apostles compelled them all to put aside their personal and their cultural preferences and to come together. The Church of Jesus Christ is always called and always empowered to do the same. And once the congregation gathered, the twelve declared this principle. It would not be right for us to neglect the Word of God in order to wait on tables. Literally, not in order to serve tables. They make a distinction here that becomes clearer when we read in verse 4 that the apostles dedicated themselves to prayer and the ministry of the service of the Word. For this evening, we're going to set aside a consideration of the role of prayer in the apostolic ministry in order to focus our attention on the relationship between these two services. By using two forms of the same word, the noun for service of the word and the verb for serving tables, the apostles identify an association between these two different types of service in the church. The service of the word and the service of tables. Both are equally ministry, yet they're not interchangeable. But together they provide for the needs of Christ's church in the world, to soul and body. They minister doctrine and life as they cultivate faith and love in the body of Christ. Together, the service of the word and tables reflect an extension of Jesus' provision for his church while on this earth in the flesh. The apostles had observed not only his preaching, but also and often with little sympathy. They had observed his patient compassion and his tangible mercy toward those who were overlooked. The poor, the disabled, the scandalous, and the widows. In this, Jesus revealed our Father in heaven who, as we heard in our call to worship this evening from Psalm 146, upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry, who sets prisoners free, who gives sight to the blind, who lifts up those who are bowed down, who watches over the alien and sustains the fatherless and the widow. Well, reminded by this circumstance in the church and enabled by the Holy Spirit, the apostles affirmed that both types of service are essential. Neither may be neglected. Just as the apostles could not neglect the Word of God in order to serve tables, neither could they overlook the service of tables in order to serve the Word of God. On the one hand, the problem before them did not allow for an either-or answer. It demands a both-and answer. And on the other hand, the apostles could no longer provide both-and by themselves. They just couldn't meet the need. Therefore, they had to commit themselves to one and appoint the other to others. So the question is, what's the criterion they used to determine the right thing to do? Was it a matter of personal preference? We would rather not serve tables. Was it a matter of pride? Serving tables is beneath our status as apostles. Not at all. Jesus had taught them that no service to him was too distasteful or too demeaning. He'd made this pointedly clear in the upper room when he washed their feet. And he said to them in John chapter 13, verse 14, Now that I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, You also should wash one another's feet. I've set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master and no messenger greater than the one who sent him. No, it wasn't personal preference and it wasn't a matter of pride. It was a matter of calling. A matter of calling. Of all the disciples Jesus gathered during his earthly ministry, Only the twelve were trained and appointed to this particular and unique task in the history of redemption. To be witnesses to his resurrection in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. The apostles were called to extend the gospel of salvation of Christ alone from its roots in Jerusalem to its flower in the nations. And this could happen only once in the history of the world. And the task had been given to them. Until the belated call of the Apostle Paul the Twelve alone had been chosen by the Lord to what they themselves called this service and apostleship. It was to them, in the upper room, that Jesus promised the Holy Spirit in a particular way to inspire them in their recollections and understanding of His message, of His acts, of His person. To make them uniquely authorized and responsible to bear witness to the Word incarnate. To bear witness to his baptism by John. And the attestation by God the Father and the Holy Spirit that he is the only Son of God. Come in the flesh. To bear witness to his life of perfect obedience and his death on the cross. Where in the mercy of God he shed his blood. To ransom his people from sin and death. Even as he satisfied the justice of God against them. To bear witness to his resurrection in the flesh. And his ascension into glory where he intercedes with our Father. Until he'll come again to bring us home. They were uniquely authorized and responsible to bear witness to the word incarnate. And it was to them that He sent a pointed lesson by those two men on the road to Emmaus that drove them to diligently study, to discover and to understand what was said in all the scriptures concerning Him. To make them uniquely authorized and responsible to interpret and proclaim the Word as He's revealed in the Law and the Prophets. See, the Lord Jesus Christ had bound them, the apostles, to this service of the Word. that has since been passed down to us in the good deposit that we know as the New Testament. That is their testimony. Therefore, because they could not neglect the Word of God, they appointed others with authority and responsibility for the service of tables. Establishing a practice for the church. Which brings us to our second point. Our third point. Now, given their authority, we might expect the apostles to simply appoint the seven. Instead, they call upon the people of God, the congregation, to discover the seven. We read in verses 3 and 4, Brothers, 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. And we'll give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the Word. So the Greek-speaking Jews and the Hebrew-speaking Jews were called to work together in search for seven qualified men to exercise authority in and accept responsibility for the service of tables. Now, we're not told why they were to select seven, and we need not speculate as to the reason. We do, however, need to pay attention to the three revealed qualifications for the seven who were to be chosen. First, they were to be men. This was a gender-specific calling. Second, they were to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. Not only were they to be believers in whom the Holy Spirit dwelt, but they were to be filled with the Spirit and wisdom for this particular task. They were to have the Spirit-given desire to do it. And the Spirit-given aptitude and wisdom for doing it. They would have to rightly discern the needs of people and be able to distribute the generosity of the church without favoritism and without prejudice. And third, their aptitude and wisdom were to be confirmed by the congregation. The seven were not to be chosen because they were popular or because they had right connections or because they had campaigned for the office. They were to be chosen because they were already known, Already recognized for demonstrating the aptitude and the wisdom. Even if they didn't see it in themselves. And in verse 5 we read that this proposal pleased the whole group as well it should. It's shielded them as it continues to shield us from two extremes that would destroy the church. On the one hand, if the congregation is left to decide by majority vote, according to their own individual, personal preferences, the church will move toward chaos. And on the other hand, if the seven have been appointed apart from their consent and approval, the church would have slipped toward tyranny. Both extremes were avoided when the apostles established a practice that served to unite a diverse congregation in a common task for the well-being of the whole. Together, they chose Stephen, a man of faith and of the Holy Spirit, also Philip, Prochris, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicholas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. Working together, according to God's revealed qualifications, they discovered his provision for them in seven Greek-speaking men. And in verse 6 we read, they presented them to the apostles who prayed and laid their hands on them. The apostles submitted to the will of God, revealed through the work of the congregation. And they prayerfully ordained the seven to the service of tables. By the laying on of hands, they publicly affirmed that they had particular authority and official responsibility within the church. And with their installation, the service of the word and the service at the table were provided for. And in the life of the church, they've never been neglected again in the true church. This established practice for solving the problem according to revealed principle resulted in a profit for the church. This profit was and is being realized in at least three levels. First, the first profit was unity with diversity rather than schism in the Jerusalem church. Maintaining the apostolic mission at the very beginning when it was most frail. The second prophet to the church was realized through the faithful service of the word and tables by the apostles and the seven who worked together to further advance the apostolic mission. We read in verse 7 that the word of God spread. It didn't divide, it spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith. Now I have to think there's a bit of divine irony here. Through the service of the church to Greek-speaking Jews, more Hebrew-speaking Jews joined the church. In particular, a large number of priests. Has that ever crossed your mind why did they mention the priests? Well, in the Old Covenant, it was the priest who ministered mercy in the name of the Lord. And it appears that it was the mercy of Christ in the service of tables that persuaded and motivated the priest to respond to the service of the word and to join the church. And this is not an example of what we confess in Heidelberg 86, which asks this question. We've been delivered from our misery by God's grace alone through Christ. And not because we have earned it. Why then must we do good? The answer. To be sure, Christ has redeemed us by his blood. But we do good because Christ by his spirit is also renewing us to be like himself. So that in all our living we may show that we are thankful to God for all that he has done for us. and so that He may be praised through us. And we do good so that we may be assured of our faith by its fruits, and so that, by our godly living, our neighbors may be won over to Christ. The third prophet to the church has been enjoyed ever since the church exploded out of Jerusalem into all the nations of the world. In the providence of God, according to His plan of redemption, the church did not remain in Jerusalem under the direct authority of the apostles. As promised by Christ, it expanded beyond that place and it extended beyond their time. But before it did, an ongoing division of labor was established for the church. The church of Jesus Christ that was born in Jerusalem and was carried to the nations was that that carriage, that extension was done through extraordinary offices, apostles and the seven. Since that time, the Holy Spirit continues to provide for the church and the world through the ordinary, the continuing offices of minister, elder, and deacon. We have no difficulty distinguishing the extraordinary office of the apostle from the ordinary offices of minister and elder. I don't think we would get those confused. But we may not so easily see the distinction between the extraordinary office of the seven and the ordinary office of deacon. In fact, often commentators see chapter 6 of Acts as the birth of the diaconate. Well, the service was certainly birthed then, but the seven were not your ordinary deacons. They were appointed to serve tables, there's no doubt, but they were also pointed to more. The service of Stephen and Philip, which Luke goes on to describe in detail, show that at least two members of the seven were equipped for the expansion of the church in other ways. Stephen, for the defense of the faith that cost him his life and served as the trigger that shot the church out of Jerusalem. And Philip, for the work of evangelizing the nations. So, even though the service of the Word and tables will continue until the last day, the servants of the Word and table have changed. The service of the Word is now carried out by ministers who publicly preach the gospel and display it in the sacraments. And by elders who lovingly and wisely apply the Word of God in the governance of the church and in shepherding God's people house to house. And the service of tables is now carried out by the deacons who extend Christ's mercy to all people, especially to the household of faith. The particulars of how this change took place are not specified in the New Testament. But that it took place is undeniable. We first read of elders in the Jerusalem church already in Acts chapter 11. In Acts chapter 14 we read that Paul and Barnabas, a minister of the word, appointed elders in every church. And when the Apostle Paul wrote to the church at Philippi, he addressed not only the saints in general, but also the elders and the deacons in particular. Paul also revealed the qualifications for both offices in his letters to Timothy and Titus, both ministers of the Word. So you see, even though the service of Word and Table continues and will continue until the last day, the servants of Word and Table have changed. Ordinary offices of minister, elder, and deacon. This word of God that comes to us continues to apply to us today. As the congregation of saints who still struggle with sin, the church continues to face the problem of personal preferences that work to disrupt the unity of the church. It disrupts the unity of the one body, that have been joined by the one Spirit to the one Lord through our one faith. Therefore, we need the ministry of the Word and tables. We need them to bind us together and to build us up until we reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and we become mature. The principle applied by the apostles in Jerusalem remains. The church may neglect neither the service of the word nor the service of tables. Both have been given by our Lord Jesus Christ to ordained officers in His church to minister in His name to our needs, body and soul, and to advance the kingdom of God by calling unbelievers to repentance and faith. We continue to practice calling on the congregation to identify and affirm those men in our midst who have been equipped by the Spirit for each of these services. And we continue the practice of calling on the consistory, those who are appointed, ministers and elders already, to prayerfully ordain them to their office, avoiding tyranny and avoiding chaos. And our text this evening offers us certainty that these practices have apostolic warrant and assurance that they are for our profit Through the men we appoint according to the qualifications revealed in Scripture, Christ continues to provide all that we need for soul and body as they minister doctrine and life to cultivate faith and love in the body of Christ. Let us pray. Our Heavenly Father, we bow before your wisdom and your provision to the church this evening in Jesus Christ our Lord. When we consider the church in Jerusalem, Father, at that pivotal time, that formative time, when pressures from without and within were very, very great, Father, you intervened with your wisdom and your plan for the church that will endure until the coming of Christ again. The apostles discovered their finitude. And yet, by your wisdom, you made provision for the service of the Word and tables within your church. Services that have continued throughout the generations, Father, and which have come to be fulfilled and carried by ministers of the Word and elders and deacons. We thank you, Father, for the comfort that we have in knowing that you have given these offices to us. for our good. And we thank you, Father, that we may depend upon your providence through those offices by the power of the Holy Spirit to continue to minister the blessings of Christ to your people. We pray for our ministers, our elders, and our deacons, those presently serving, those who have served, and those, Lord, and if you would, Terry, that will serve. That we as your people would recognize in them the office that they have been called to. That we would be diligent in seeking amongst ourselves those who are so gifted by your Spirit. That we would overlook our personal preferences. Our notions of popularity or appropriateness. And that we would submit as a congregation and as office bearers to your will revealed for their character and for their purpose. And that we would rejoice to know that we have done according to your will those whom we select. We thank you for those who have been appointed to office this year. We pray for your blessing upon them. That they would know your sustaining grace. That they would know your official warrant for their duties. That they would be mindful that they are essential to the life of this church. That they would be encouraged and strengthened. And respected for their office by your people. We ask all these things in the name of Christ, our Lord, in whose name we pray. Amen.