Tuesday, August 30, 2011

First Verse of the Sixth Chapter of Acts

Acts 6:1 - Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists, because their widows were neglected in the daily distributions.

There are several parts of this scripture I want to discuss. The first is the designations of "the Hebrews" and "the Hellenists". Both of these groups were Jews; the "Hebrews" were natives of Israel and spoke Hebrew or Aramaic; the "Hellenists" were Greco-Roman natives and spoke Greek. This passage of scripture highlights the fact that although all these people were Christians, Holy Spirit had not taken away all of life's difficulties; rather, this scripture shows that when we have difficulties, even with other Christians, we are to ask God for His will and we are to discuss the problems between ourselves. More on this in a minute.

The second part of this scripture is regarding the phrase "the daily distributions". In the early church each person brought their increase (whether it be money, food, livestock, etc) to be totaled together and each day each person received what they needed for that day; no more, no less. They didn't store up for tomorrow or for next week, they received their day's need on the day they needed it. As Christians we are to rely on God to supply our daily need. Notice in the scripture (Philippians 4:19) Paul wrote, "My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory." He used the singular need, not the plural. God shall supply our need for today, and again tomorrow, but He will not supply tomorrow's need to us today. This is how we learn to trust God to supply each and every need, by never being given more than we need for the day in which we are living. We are instructed by Christ to live in today and let tomorrow worry about itself, because we do not know if we will be here tomorrow. Christ could split the eastern sky tonight or God may call us home before the morning sun rises. What then, would we need tomorrow's supply for?

The final thing I want to point out in this passage is back to when the Hellenists perceived a problem with the daily distribution, they didn't grumble and complain amongst themselves or to others; and they most certainly did not take their complaint outside the body, they presented their complaint to the body. Openly and honestly. Why do we, today, feel the need to air our "dirty laundry" with those outside the body of Christ? And why do we sit back and complain to those who are not involved in the issue? These are merely ways the enemy brings discord and splits to the local body. His sole purpose is to prevent us from being of one accord in our local body because if we are in one accord, mighty works can, and will, be done.