Fishkill Baptist Church
November 17, 2024

      • Micah 7:18–19ESV

      • Isaiah 24:14–16NIV2011

  • All Creatures Of Our God And King
  • For Freedom Christ Has Set Us Free

      • Romans 8:7–8NIV2011

      • Psalm 130:4–6NIV2011

  • Cornerstone
  • Doxology
  • Intro: Theme/Topic (What’s the problem, the question, etc.)
    Many years ago, a church in Dallas split and a lawsuit was filed to claim the church property. The judge eventually referred the matter to denominational authorities to sort out.
    The denomination formed a church court to hear both sides and settle the dispute awarding the property to one side of this faction.
    During the hearing, the court learned that the origins of this conflict began at a church dinner when a certain church elder received a smaller slice of ham than the child he sat next to. And this became publically known in the local papers.
    Oh the damage to the reputation of Christ that was caused in the hearts and minds of people in that surrounding community!
    And isn’t this how our enemy loves to work!!!! Time and time again, the church wards off frontal attacks from the outside like laws that would limit our religious freedom only to be subverted from within.
    We saw this once already a few weeks back with Ananias and Sapphira, whose deliberate deception threatened the church’s unity.
    And today we’ll see a new threat from within and how Jesus’ Spirit filled church navigated this with great wisdom. Wisdom that we would do well to pay close attention to…because as you know, “there’s truly nothing new under the sun” two centuries later…
    Scripture
    Let’s get to the Word of God now. Please turn with me to Acts 6:1-7. If you need to use a pew Bible, you’ll find today’s text on page 1086. Once you’re there, please stand with me if you are able and follow along with me as I read...
    Acts 6:1–7 ESV
    Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them. And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.
    This God’s Word!
    Prayer
    Heavenly Father, send the Holy Spirit to give us wisdom from Heaven this morning, that we would rightly understand and apply Your Word, that Christ would be exalted and our church would multiply!
    Intro: Formal (give context to passage, setting the scene, big idea)
    In our text today, Christ’s church continues to grow. Some have been leery of the modern church growth movement because they suspect that the methods are too pragmatic and that the growth is artificial. And it’s true that not all growth is good. It is easy for church leaders to make an idol out of numbers and begin to merely draw a crowd and build their own kingdom. We must reject this kind of church growth. But sometimes the pendulum swings to an opposite extreme where a small church is thought to be more faithful than a larger one just because it’s small.
    But when the Gospel is front and center and the church grows, we should rejoice! Luke teaches us that it is right and good to celebrate true, healthy, gospel growth. This is what Luke has been doing all throughout Acts to this point. He tells us…
    3,000 were added in 2:41
    And in 2:47 the Lord was adding to their number DAILY!!!
    In 4:4, Luke tells us the church grew to about 5,000!!!
    In 5:14, we read that believers were added to the Lord in increasing numbers — multitudes of both men and women!
    Our passage today is bookended by Luke with references to the church increasing in number in v. 1 and multiplying greatly in v. 7. So, let’s be careful not to be overly critical of large or growing churches.
    However, in between these bookends, the growing church in Acts has to work through some growing pains. It’s important for us to remember that just because a church is big or is growing that it is still not a perfect church.
    Praise God that our church has been experiencing growth over the last few years. We’ve seen people getting saved, baptized, and added to our number here at Fishkill Baptist…we should praise God for this. But we shouldn’t be naive and think we won’t encounter any challenges as we continue to grow. So, there is a valuable lesson here for us this morning. And I’m going to unpack it for us using 3 points…
    The Threat
    The Solution
    The Result

    The Threat

    We see the threat arise in the 2nd half of v. 1 when a complaint arises from the Hellenists AGAINST the Hebrews — Let’s stop right here. There’s an offense whether it is real or perceived between two groups people.
    Hellenists were Jews who spoke Greek, the common language of the day. This was their families were part of the groups of Jewish people who were relocated outside of Israel when it was conquered. So, these Jews were born and raised outside of Israel but are now returning to their homeland and the the holy city of Jerusalem.
    It was common for Aramaic speaking Jews to discriminate against Hellenistic Jews. And the Pharisees had great contempt for them and even considered them second-class Israelites!
    Now remember back to what Luke told us about the church in Acts 4:32
    Acts 4:32 ESV
    Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common.
    One heart and soul…
    This is what Jesus want’s for His church — Remember He prayed in John 17 that we would all be one!
    And this is what the Gospel accomplishes. The Apostle Paul writes in Ephesians 2, speaking of Jews and Gentiles…
    Ephesians 2:14 ESV
    For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility
    Church may we not forget that we have an enemy who hates Christ and hates His Church and he would love nothing more than to undo the work of the Gospel that that has made us one by sowing seeds of division in the church. Division is a direct attack against the atoning work of Christ on the cross!
    But notice one more thing here. This fracture in the unity of the church began in an area of strength!!! — Their incredible generosity in providing for one another’s needs was a display of their unity.
    I get really encouraged as your pastor when visitors tell me how warmly they’ve been welcomed here. And I see so many examples of you guys making generous sacrifices to serve one another! But let us not think that the enemy couldn’t attack us there where we are strong in an attempt to fracture our unity!
    This why some of these words from Ephesians 4 appear in our membership covenant… That we would bear with one another in love…
    Ephesians 4:3–6 ESV
    eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
    Now this is the first threat to the unity and growth of the church. The second is seen in v. 2, where the Apostles say that, “It’s not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables.”
    Now it’s possible that this complaint was brought to the Apostles as if they were expected to do something about this.
    Was this a legitimate concern? — YES! Would it be a GOOD thing for this situation to be resolved peacefully? — YES! And here lays an important leadership lesson… NOT EVERY GOOD THING IS THE RIGHT THING FOR YOU TO DO!
    And the Apostles saw this — They knew that if they were to get pulled into resolving this situation, that it would pull them away from the ministry of the Word and Prayer that the Lord had called them to.
    Remember what Luke wrote in 6:1 “The disciples were increasing in number.” Don’t forget why this was. Look back just one verse before where Luke tells us what the Apostels were doing at the very end of chapter 5…
    Acts 5:42 ESV
    And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.
    You see the craftiness of the enemy here? He is trying to attack both the unity and the growth of the church with one situation. If he can’t divide the church, he’s thinking, “at least I can slow it down.”
    The Apostles may have done a fine job reconciling this situation and it would have been a good thing — BUT in the process they would have stopped proclaiming Jesus and the growth of the church would have slowed as a result!
    I can tell you first hand as your pastor who is called to proclaim Jesus — that spiritual warfare for me is not like you see in the movies…there are no burning crosses on my front lawn with threats to stop preaching Jesus. Instead there is a week in and week out battle to say no to good things that would pull me away from my preparation to preach God’s Word faithfully each week!
    So, this is the two-headed threat to the church here. Fracturing unity by complaining about a real or perceived offense. And pulling those commissioned to proclaim the Gospel away from that work with even another good work.
    Let’s take a look at what the church did next here…

    The Solution

    First, let’s appreciate what the church didn’t do, which sadly churches sometimes do today.
    They didn’t kick out the complainers.
    They didn’t socially shun them and just not talk to them.
    They didn’t call the matter to a vote and just tell those in the minority to suck it up.
    They didn’t separate and form the 1st Hellenist Church and the 1st Hebrew Church across the street.
    And they didn’t just brush the matter aside and tell these groups to stop being so petty and wasting their time with such matters because they had more important things to do like preaching the Word. — NO, they saw this matter as important enough to appoint a special task force to address it.
    So, in v. 3 the Apostles directed the church to choose for itself 7 men who they would commission to handle this situation. And while the word DEACON is never used in this passage, most scholars today believe this group were the first to hold the office of DEACON in the church.
    The GK word for Deacon is simply a word that means servant. So, those who hold the office of Deacon today are the lead servants in the church. And consider the context and what they were being asked to do and you will learn in principle what Deacons are responsible for. So appreciate that Deacons are…
    Servants — who do what is perhaps most essential to true Christianity and their work is modeled after the ultimate SERVANT Jesus Christ who said Matthew 20:26
    Matthew 20:26–28 ESV
    It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
    Problem solvers — When there is an issue in the church that would divert the focus of pastors and elders away from their proper focus on the Word and prayer, Deacons are called in to work out a solution.
    Deacons are also peace makers — Here in Acts 6 we see division between 2 groups the Hellenists and the Hebrew believers. The Deacons were call in to mediate reconciliation. Deacons work to preserve unity in the church.
    Deacons are administrators — Surely a system had to be implemented and coordinated. And given the size of the church being in the thousands, this must have involved more than just the 7 who were appointed to the office of Deacon. This means that Deacons are not the only ones who serve — It’s like I said a moment ago…they are the lead servants — those who recruit and coordinate a broader effort of servants from among the church.
    Now notice the qualifications for Deacon here in v. 3 — You can look at 1 Timothy 3:8-13 for more detailed qualifications. But sticking with our text today appreciate the fact that at the top of their list of qualifications was not managerial experience, or a background in finance to be able to invest donations wisely and get the best return on investment for the benefit of helping others.
    Now none of those things are bad things — But this Scripture highlights what’s most important is the character and spiritual maturity of a person. It was essential for them to select people with good reputations, full of the Spirit and possessing wisdom….
    BECAUSE, while most problems may appear to have surface level practical solutions — most of the time the reality is that at the root, these problems are more spiritual in nature. And they require Spirit and wisdom filled people to address them.
    Notice another thing about the decision of the church in choosing these Deacons. All the names listed here are Greek names…so it’s likely that these were Greek speaking believers appointed to make sure that Greek speaking widows were being cared for! What a remarkable decision they made!
    Finally, (before I move on to my last point) there’s a leadership lesson here that we can learn from the Apostles. Consider the temptation that arises in many leaders who feel they need to do most things themselves because… “It won’t be done “right” unless I do it myself! — And this of course is nothing more than pride.
    So, it’s to the Apostles’ credit that they avoided this trap. In reality, we must understand that Christ has given a variety of gifts to people in His church to be used for service and building up the body.
    So, no one person has every gift! So, we must not be so arrogant to assume that we are the most gifted person to do most things in the church. We must delegate and empower others to use the gifts God has given them…even if it’s not how we would do it our selves.
    The Apostles are good examples to us of those who knew their gifting and their calling and were wiling to humbly “stay in their lane” for both good of the church and its continued growth.
    So, this was their solution — to appoint Spirit and wisdom filled deacons to address this matter while guarding the Apostles’ proper focus on the ministry of the Word and prayer! — Now let’s consider the results…

    The Result

    With the Apostles’ focus on proclaiming Jesus undeviated, Luke tells us in v. 7 that the Word of God continued to increase — and as a result, the number of disciples MULTIPLIED GREATLY in Jerusalem.
    Church there’s no secret to growing a church…the more we tell others about Jesus the more people get saved! — It’s not rocket science.
    Some growth occurs when believers move into the area from far away and we are happy to welcome them.
    Some growth occurs when people leave other churches local to our area — but this is never our focus. I heard of one large church down south who was caught using targeted web advertising using the geolocation of other churches in their area — so that ads for their church would show up on the phones of people already attending other local churches!
    Church this is foolishness — We’ve been given an incredible message of salvation to share with those who are truly lost! That Jesus Christ, the ultimate servant, took our place on the cross — died and rose again to forgive our sin and to adopt people from every tribe, tongue, and nation into His forever family! He offers this free gift to all who will receive it by faith!
    Church will you share this simple message of hope with a world desperate for good news? The more the Gospel is shared, the more people get saved, and the more the church grows…it’s simple!
    Maybe you’re here today and you’ve never put your trust in Jesus to save you…what are you waiting for…there’s no time like the present!
    Finally, notice the fact Luke points out at the end of v. 7 — “A great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.”
    This is remarkable considering that the priests were hard set against the Apostles and their message. Remember what Luke wrote in Acts 4:1
    Acts 4:1 ESV
    And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them,
    Just days ago it was the priests who had Peter and John arrested for proclaiming Jesus! — Now Luke tells us that they too are now putting their faith in Jesus!
    The church had been tested with this problem here in Acts 6 and it passed with flying colors! The result was that God’s Word continued to spread and God blessed this faithfulness with a breakthrough in evangelistic power as many of those most opposed to the church are now joining it!
    This should give us great hope that no one is ever too lost or too hardened to be beyond the Gospel’s power to open their eyes to the beauty of Jesus and their need for Him to be their Savior!
    Be sure to thank a Deacon today and all those who serve in so many ways around here.
    Pray for me and the other elders that God would level any hindrances to our ministry of the Word and prayer.
    And if you don’t have a place you’re currently serving come talk with me — There are plenty of needs around here. Maybe God is calling you to be a Deacon after this message!
    Prayer
    ​
    Closing Song: O How Good It Is
    ​
    Benediction
    James 3:17–18 “May you be filled with wisdom from above that is pure, peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And may Christ be glorified in you as you reap a harvest of righteousness by making peace.”

      • Acts 6:1–7ESV

      • Acts 4:32ESV

      • Ephesians 2:14ESV

      • Ephesians 4:3–6ESV

      • Acts 5:42ESV

      • Matthew 20:26–28ESV

      • Acts 4:1ESV

  • Oh How Good It Is
Fishkill Baptist Church
lori@fishkillbaptist.org
845-896-9386
http://fishkillbaptist.net
15 members