The First Deacons

In Acts 6, we see where and why the first deacons were established. The crowd of people following Jesus was growing and they were sharing everything—even meals. The Hellenists were complaining that their widows were being neglected in the distribution of food. So the twelve disciples told the people to choose seven men who could concentrate on serving (diakoneō the Greek word from which we get deacon). 

These men were to:

1. Have a good reputation

2. Be full of the Spirit

3. Have wisdom

4. Be willing to serve. 

Stephen was the first chosen. The 12 disciples laid hands on him and the other six men chosen to set them apart to serve as deacons. The description of him says he was full of faith and the Holy Spirit. He was full of power and did wonders and signs among the people. When he was accused by the Freedmen, they were not able to resist the wisdom and Spirit by which he spoke. As he spoke, his face shone like an angel’s. He spoke clearly and accused these men (and their forefathers) of killing the prophets—he was fearless. They decided to kill him by stoning him; Stephen was the first martyr of the faith after Jesus had returned to heaven. As he died, Stephen saw Jesus standing at the right hand of his Father and he forgave his assassins and asked Jesus not to hold his death against them. 

The first deacon served tables and distributed food to widows. He was full of faith and the Holy Spirit. He did signs and wonders. He was able to teach with wisdom that couldn’t be resisted. He was willing to lay down his life for truth. He forgave his killers. 

The life and example of the first deacon. Even with the Holy Spirit working so powerfully in his life, he was willing to serve tables. 

Step Forward

Can you imagine Roman soldiers coming for you with clanking armor, lanterns, swords, torches, and other weapons? What would you do? I think my first instinct would be to RUN!!  But knowing me, I’d probably freeze in fear. 

This actually happened to Jesus. He’d taken his disciples to a garden when Judas came storming in with Roman soldiers to arrest Jesus. Jesus knew why they were there. He knew what was ahead of him. He knew his death was imminent and that the sin of the whole world was about to be put upon him. What did he do?  

He stepped forward. 

Jesus stepped towards Judas, his betrayer, and every Roman soldier who’d come to arrest him. 

I don’t know all of the implications of this statement, but knowing my impulse would be to run, I think it’s pretty amazing that Jesus stepped towards this evil plan—a plan hatched by the chief religious leaders. Jesus knew their hearts and had to be grieved that they didn’t believe he was the Son of God and even angry that they were leading an insurrection against God. But Jesus knew God’s redemptive plan and was committed to obeying his Father. 

He stepped forward. 

Is there an evil plan being instigated against you? Religious leaders may even be behind it—because that jealous, murderous spirit is still alive. I want to be like Jesus, don’t you? I want to step forward. 

God, give us the strength, courage, and resolve to step forward. 

His Name

In Jesus’ final prayer for His disciples, He prayed this: “Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You, Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are.” John 17:11. 

The part that stuck out to me as I read it this week was, “Keep them through Your name.” What IS that name? And how does it keep (to attend to carefully, take care of, guard, reserve, preserve, keep His eye on) us? What if it’s not just one name—but every name? He is all of this and can do all of these things—but I have a feeling it doesn’t even touch the surface of Who God really is! (A big thank you to David Jeremiah for his work in putting these names and references together.) 

HE IS ABLE!  

Jehovah (Isaiah 40:3)

Jehovah-Rohi: The Lord My Shepherd (Psalm 23:1)

Jehovah-Jireh: The Lord Shall Provide (Genesis 22:13-14)

Jehovah-Rapha: The Lord Who Heals (Exodus 15:22-26)

Jehovah-Nissi: The Lord Is My Banner (Exodus 17:15)

Jehovah-M’Kaddesh: The Lord Who Sanctifies (Leviticus 20:7-8)

Jehovah-Shalom: The Lord Who Is Peace (Judges 6:24)

Jehovah-Tsidkenu: The Lord Who Is Righteous (Jeremiah 23:5-6)

Jehovah-Shammah: The Lord Who Is There (Ezekiel 48:35)

Author of Salvation (Hebrews 2:10)

The God of Abraham, Jacob, and Isaac (Exodus 3:2, 6)

The Lord of Glory (1 Corinthians 2:8)

I AM (John 8:58)

The Almighty (Revelation 1:8)

The Everlasting Father (Isaiah 9:6)

The First and the Last (Revelation 1:17)

The Faithful Witness (Psalm 89:36-37)

The Image of the Invisible God (Colossians 1:15)

Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God (Isaiah 9:6)

A Sacrifice (Ephesians 5:2)

A Ransom (Mark 10:45)

The Lord Who Heals You (Exodus 15:26)

Heir of All Things (Hebrews 1:1-4)

The Temple (Revelation 21:22)

A Sanctuary (Isaiah 8:14)

Intercessor (Hebrews 7:25)

Author and Finisher of Our Faith (Hebrews 12:2)

Advocate (1 John 2:1)

Surety of a Better Covenant (Hebrews 7:22)

Teacher (John 13:13)

The Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25)v

The Wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:24)

Yahweh (Isaiah 26:4)

God (1 Timothy 2:5)

Son of God (John 1:34)

Beloved Son (Matthew 17:5)

Lord (John 20:28)

The Word (John 1:1)

Messiah (Daniel 9:25)

Alpha and Omega (Revelation 22:13)

Savior (Luke 2:11)

Redeemer (Job 19:25)

Light of the World (John 8:12)

Lamb of God (John 1:29)

Creator of All Things (Colossians 1:16)

Master (Luke 8:24)

Mediator (1 Timothy 2:5)

Bread of Life (John 6:48)

High Priest (Hebrews 3:1)

The Lamb (Revelation 7:9)

A Lamb Without Blemish and Without Spot (1 Peter 1:19)

Lamb Slain From the Foundation of the World (Revelation 13:8)

The Shepherd of The Sheep (Hebrews 13:20)

The Way (John 14:6)

The Good Shepherd (John 10:11)

The Chief Shepherd (1 Peter 5:4)

The Rock (Psalm 18:2)

My Rock and My Fortress (Psalm 31:3)

The Rock of My Refuge (Psalm 94:22)

The Rock That Is Higher Than I (Psalm 61:2)

The Rock of My Salvation (2 Samuel 22:47)

My Rock and My Redeemer (Psalm 19:14, NIV)

The Builder (Hebrews 3:3)

The Foundation (1 Corinthians 3:11)

A Sure Foundation (Isaiah 28:16)

A Stone (Isaiah 28:16)

A Living Stone (1 Peter 2:4)

A Chief Cornerstone (1 Peter 2:6)

A Precious Stone (1 Peter 2:6)

A Stone Cut Without Hands (Daniel 2:34-35)

The Last Adam (1 Corinthians 15:45)

God’s Firstborn (Psalm 89:27)

The Firstborn Among Many Brethren (Romans 8:29)

The Firstfruits of Them That Slept (1 Corinthians 15:20, KJV)

A Witness to The People (Isaiah 55:4)

The Amen (Revelation 3:14)

The Light (John 12:35)

The True Light (John 1:9)

The Light of Men (John 1:4)

He Is the Lamb Who Was Slain (Revelation 5:12)

He Is Faithful (Hebrews 3:2)

He Is Our Strong Tower (Proverbs 18:10)

He Is Our Foundation (1 Corinthians 3:11)

He Is Preeminent (Colossians 1:18)

He Is the Tree of Life (Revelation 2:7)

The Bright and Morning Star (Revelation 22:16)

The Sun of Righteousness (Malachi 4:2)

He Is Our Gift (2 Corinthians 9:15)

The Head Ephesians 4:15

The Head of the Body, the Church (Colossians 1:18)

A Life-Giving Spirit (1 Corinthians 15:45)

The Head of All Principality and Power (Colossians 2:10)

Spiritual Lineage

Have you ever considered your spiritual family lineage? I’m sure you know who led you to Christ. Was it your parents, a pastor, a friend? Who led them to the Lord? Could you trace it all the way back to Peter, James, John, or Thaddeus?

I’d never thought about tracing it to the disciples until I read John 17:20 this morning, “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their (Jesus’ disciples) word;”  Those who are now following Jesus have been influenced to follow Him because of one of the 12 disciples. They followed Him. They obeyed Him by taking the Good News to all of the world. And then their disciples shared…and on and on until we heard the Good News that Jesus came to save us from sin!

Father, thank You for Your disciples who have been faithful through the ages—until I heard and followed. Help me to faithfully be sharing the gospel with others.  In Jesus’ name, amen. 

Abiding

So many times, we think we can live off of past spiritual victories and fruitfulness. We can’t. We might be able to for a few days—but it’s not sustainable. John 15 teaches us there must be a constant abiding for fruit to appear. Imagine cutting a branch off of a grapevine—there ain’t gonna be no grapes popping up!  It dies. The same thing happens to us. We may feel twinges of guilt in the beginning, knowing we’re not abiding in Christ. And we’ll still speak of the things of God. But soon…it becomes evident, even to those around us, that something is dead inside of us. There’s no fruit. And when there’s no fruit, we live like we’re dead, we speak death, and our spirits shrivel up and appear lifeless. There’s no hope. Others can come and do spiritual CPR, but it takes ABIDING in Jesus for new life to appear. What is abiding? It’s a daily choice. Jesus said it’s His words abiding in us. We have to be in the Word. We have to be listening to His voice and obeying what He says. We have to be attached to Him…constantly. And soon, new fruit will appear. New love for Jesus will be evident to those around us. And if we’re abiding in Christ, we can ask for whatever we desire. JOY will spring up—and that joy will be full! Love for others will cascade out of our “very alive hearts” when we are abiding in Christ because we’re connected to His great love.   

Don’t try to live off of past victories. It won’t last. It can’t. Don't be afraid to ask for help. Get out of the dead branch pile and begin abiding in Jesus…today. 

Let Truth be Your Backbone

Years ago, Andy & I began to learn how powerful truth is.  To know the truth, you have to be in God’s Word. It IS truth! Knowing the truth sets us FREE!  But also…when you believe the truth, speak the truth, pray the truth, and walk in truth, it is powerful. It builds your confidence. Before knowing and understanding this, we would cower when confronted.  But once we started walking in truth, it gave us a backbone!  There’s confidence—because you KNOW the truth and can’t be manipulated or bamboozled. Truth also exposes sin. God wants us strengthened by the truth. Pursue truth! You won’t regret it.

The Paradox

There was quite a paradox which existed in Jesus’ life. In John 6, Jesus went away alone to avoid being crowned king by the people. And then in John 7, we see him avoiding an area to keep from being killed. He lived a life of tension—he was loved or hated, wanted or despised. In fact, he says he chose the 12 disciples and one was a devil. He did life with the enemy. 

Right now, I can think of a dozen situations, in the lives of people I love, who are living in this kind of tension. They’re doing life with an enemy. It’s hard!!  Every day, a monkey wrench is thrown into the middle of their lives. They live with hatred. And yet they are deeply loved by the Father. 

What can we learn from Jesus who lived this first?

1. He knew Who loved him most—His Father. 

2. He kept his focus on eternity. 

3. He came to do ONLY the will of his Father. 

4. He lived out his purpose. He said he laid his life down on his own—man wasn’t in control. 

5. He didn’t listen to man—either the ones who loved him or those who hated him. 

Jesus told us this world would be full of this tension between good and evil. We CAN live in this darkness and be victorious! We just have to drown out every voice—but the Father’s. 

Stand

“Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” Ephesians 6:13. 

Sometimes we get so caught up in the descriptive terms of our spiritual armor (ex: HELMET of salvation), that we overlook what it actually represents. If we were to take out the descriptive terms, this is the armor God says we need for our earthly battle:

•Truth

•Righteousness

•Preparation to share the Good News

•Faith

•Salvation—Jesus, who embodies salvation

•Spirit of God

•Spoken word of God

•Don’t forget to add prayer and supplication—and to speak boldly of the gospel!

We’re to put the whole armor on. If we only have a portion of it, we’re open to attack and being badly wounded by the enemy. After we put it on, we’re to withstand the enemy. To withstand means to resist, oppose, take a firm stand against. This is an offensive and defensive stance.

You put this armor on with deliberate action and choice. You step into it. You pick it up. Practically speaking, you choose to follow Jesus, you live by truth and in righteousness (or right living), you read the Word daily, you train to share your faith, you walk by faith, you listen to and obey the Spirit, you pray your heart out—alone and with others. You mature and grow…it takes a lifetime to become a warrior of renown! But every single increment of growth counts. 

What is the evil day? It’s the day of annoyances, hardships, and pressing. It’s a time that is full of peril to the Christian faith. A day in which the enemy is trying to take out the steadfast and hurt their influence. It’s flat-out wicked! 

But…stand. When you’ve put on God’s armor and you’ve learned to walk this way, STAND. You have established yourself. You have sustained authority. Your footing is fixed. 

STAND.