Transcription downloaded from https://yetanothersermon.host/_/cbc/sermons/18297/dire-need-for-solid-biblical-leadership/. Disclaimer: this is an automatically generated machine transcription - there may be small errors or mistranscriptions. Please refer to the original audio if you are in any doubt. [0:00] Let's pray. Father, we long to see you show your grace. [0:16] Showing your grace by saving sinners, by seeing your church full of people who see their need for your compassion. [0:30] Your loving grace who lean wholly upon the Lord Jesus Christ who died, lived, died, and rose. [0:49] We praise you for your glorious gospel, for your gracious, the gracious good news of Jesus. Amen. [1:03] We pray. We lift up to you Bob and Mary Lou Scarborough, thanking you for them, that Mary Lou would be submissive to Bob in all things, as she is submissive to the Lord Jesus Christ, her displaying a gentle and quiet spirit, fearing you, Lord. [1:27] Fearing you, Father. And for Bob, he would live with Mary Lou in an understanding way, granting her honor, as one who is a fellow heir of the grace of life, a fellow heir with him, and the gospel, and salvation, so that his prayers would not be hindered. [1:50] give them grace to be sympathetic, harmonious, and kind-hearted to each other, to those around them, we pray. [2:05] We pray for another church. We lift up mile-high fellowship, and Prescott. May they build themselves up in the faith. [2:21] May they pray in the Holy Spirit. May they keep themselves in the love of God. May they wait for the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. [2:31] May they pray for them. May they give them grace to have mercy on each other, to be going after the unsaved of Prescott, snatching them out of the fire. [2:44] And we pray for Steve, their pastor. Continue to give him health, strengthen his health. He's weak. [2:55] Thank you that he's doing so well. Give him wisdom. As the pastor of this church, give him grace, to show grace, to your people. [3:10] We pray for those in our government, for the mayor of Cottonwood, Diane Jones, Doug Van Gaussig, in Clarkdale, Charles German of Camp Verde, and the surrounding area here in Verde Valley. [3:24] Give these mayors your wisdom and all their decisions by your merciful grace, to work as team players with humility and kindness. [3:38] Not selfish. Not about their own agendas, but to benefit the community. To benefit the businesses that are here. [3:51] Father, we do pray that they would see their need for the Lord Jesus Christ. And that a response to the gospel take place. And these three people. [4:09] And Father, we have a heart for the world. We have a heart for the people groups of this world. And we have a heart for the people here in our own city and the surrounding areas. [4:27] And so God, we pray specifically for the people of Jerome. We pray for Kenny, and for Sam, and Jay, for Matt, and for Carrie, and Pam, and for Gary, and Bob, Anu, Carl, Chris, we pray for Aaron. [4:59] We pray for Gerard and Lynn, Christopher, for Jim, for Spring, for Ty, for Milo, for Tia, for Sam, for Sam, and Katrine, for Mark, Wes, and Brian, for Johnny, and his son Micah, for both Scotties, for Cole, we pray for Garrett, pray for Eric, and Sid, and Alex, Mitch, and his son, for Ryan, and for Sonia, for Kevin, and Joni, and their kids, Mark, Kelsey, and Jacob, for Leo, Denise, Nick, and Nick, Nathaniel, pray for Sarah, for Sarah, for Dylan, for Mark, [6:09] Dave, Jazz, for Kathleen, for Jamie, for Nick, and his mom Beverly, pray for Jessica, for Jason, thank you that you spared his life, pray for Richard, John, for Casey, pray for Adam, and Barry, and Duff, we pray for Scott, and Tom, for Steve, for Raulo, for Sean, we pray for Jimmy, and Travis, we pray for Lauren, and Sally, and Emily, for Doug, and Penelope, and we pray for the guy, who mocks us every week, whose name we don't know, so for these people, and there's others too, we ask, [7:20] Father, that you would birth, a solid, genuine, true, gospel-shaped, church, into Rome, you would work, in the hearts, of these people, that you would bring, true conversion, that the gospel, would be clear, that the gospel, would penetrate their hearts, because you do that, and the power of the spirit, the spirit penetrates the heart, and convicts them, that they fall so short, and they deserve judgment, and yet, Father, you are merciful, to them, in the Lord Jesus Christ, in whose name, there is salvation, and forgiveness, only in his name, that you would change, their wills, and they would see, that they are desperate, and they would run, into the bosom of Jesus, so we are praying, that you would move, for us, we are here today, give us grace, grace to resolve, conflicts we have, against each other, and we praise you, that we have been reconciled, with you, us as sinners, with you Father, through Jesus Christ alone, that's why we're here, the gospel, we can pray this, [9:06] Father, to you, by the authority, of your son, amen, please be seated, where's Tyler, where's Tyler, there you are, this seems like, kind of hot, is it just me, or is it, getting feedback, is it me, maybe it's just me, one, two, three, four, no, is there feedback, is it just me, that's me, okay, you got to turn the music, down in the car Jim, that's probably, what's going on, take your Bibles, please, go to Acts chapter 6, [10:09] Acts chapter 6, if you're visiting with us, go to that black Bible, and chair in front of you, pull that black Bible out, go to, towards the back, of that black Bible, go to page 96, 96, you'll find, Acts chapter 6, now I'm off, that wasn't me, oh, now I'm back on, okay, just stay like this, can I move now, okay, okay, Ethan just told me I could, Acts chapter 6, I'm going to, we're going to do, the first seven verses, and if you notice, in your bulletins, there was a change, a little bit, we're going to, next we're going to do, verses 8 through 15, and then the 28th, we'll do, the whole chapter of, all of chapter 7, and a few verses, of chapter 8, I decided to split that up, because then I'm not, reading so much, and it's not, you're not so inundated, with so much information, chapter 7 is going to be a lot, just, because, basically, [11:13] Stephen just goes through, the whole Old Testament, he does that superbly, but for today, the first seven verses, of chapter 6, I'll read it, and then we'll do our study, 6, verse 1, now at this time, while the disciples, were increasing, a complaint, arose, on the part, of the Hellenist, against the Hebrews, because, their widows, were being overlooked, in the daily ministry, and the twelve, summoned the congregation, of the disciples, and said, it is not desirable, for us to neglect, the word of God, in order to serve, or minister, tables, but select, from among you brethren, seven men, of good reputation, full of the spirit, and of wisdom, whom we may put, in charge of this task, but, we will devote ourselves, to prayer, and to the ministry, of the word, and the statement, found approval, with the whole congregation, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith, and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Procurus, [12:14] Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicholas, a proselyte, from Antioch, and these they brought, before the apostles, and after praying, they laid their hands, on them, and 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, the top, 10 qualities, that make a great leader, according to, Forbes magazine, December 19th, 2012, top 10 qualities, that make a good leader, number 10, the ability to inspire, number 9, intuition, number 8, creativity, number 7, positive attitude, number 6, commitment, number 5, confidence, number 4, a sense of humor, number 3, communication, number 2, the ability, to delegate, and the number 1, top quality, that makes a great leader, according to Forbes magazine, honesty, great leaders, the world, searching for great leaders, [13:29] John Piper, said this, quote, there's something, even more powerful, than a great idea, namely, a person, who embodies, that idea, for instance, does this sound familiar, ask not, what your country, can do for you, but what you can do, for your country, saw that, like, 30 down, they go, Bill Clinton, I said that, I said that, I said that, I knew it, Bill Clinton, no, no, George Bush, no, George W. Bush, no, go back farther, John Kennedy, a great idea, by John Kennedy, but, John Kennedy's ideas, had power, because people, not only listen to the ideas, they also look to the man, great leadership, yes, the world needs good leaders, but I think, from our text, [14:41] I'm going to state a case, before you, if there's anything, that the church, needs, it's good, solid, biblical, leaders, or, I'll put it this way, just do it, be who you are, we're called, to fulfill God's mission, and in this mission, there's a dire need, for solid, biblical leadership, there is a, need, dire need, for solid, good, biblical, leadership, leadership, need, the dire need, for solid, biblical, leadership, in God's, mission, and for, God's church, good, solid, biblical, leadership, is a huge need, it's not a suggestion, but a must have, love, as we come, to this text, we realize, once again, the apostolic church, it wasn't, the perfect church, there are no, perfect churches, even with the apostles, as the leaders, it wasn't, the perfect church, they had their set, of internal problems too, ethnic issues, need to be, sorted out, they had a major, relational problem, that was potentially, destructive, but they worked it out, using spiritual, wisdom, and you see here, the apostles, they exemplify, great leadership, toward the church, giving them the direction, they needed to work, this major conflict, work out this major conflict, in a God honoring, [16:43] Jesus glorifying way, they were able, to calm the tensions, they showed themselves, as competent leaders, and they showed themselves, they exemplified, how do you deal with conflict, so, in showing, their leadership abilities, they also showed, how you deal with conflict, relational issues, within the church, what caused this rift, that we'll look at, in a moment, we can speculate, but we really don't know, but we do know, there was a major, relational problem, and it seems like, some widows, are being overlooked, but, but, the word of God, had to be a top priority, and resolving this issue, would confirm, the work of the word, it would also build a bridge, in the book of Acts, you would see, the work of those, outside the twelve, particularly, Stephen and Philip, who would have, greater responsibility, and greater utilization, which we'll see next week, and the week after that, interesting, our passage, it begins and ends, with unprecedented growth, in the number of disciples, in Jerusalem, and this growth, happened solely, by the unhindered ministry, of the word, that was significant, and we'll see, how that works, into good, solid biblical leadership, but know this, the gospel, will prosper, in spite of, and even because of, persecution, suffering, or conflict, when God's word, prospers though, get this, [18:24] Satan will try, to hinder it, in any way he can, and here, relationships, in the body, he causes, a rift, in relationships, to try to hinder, the word's growth, he wants to hinder, the growth, of the word, he wants to hinder, the spread, of the gospel, he wants to hinder that, so what's he gonna do, create tension, inside the church, create conflicts, with, amongst the members, that's what he's gonna do, and that's what you see here, he tried it, with Ananias, and Sapphira, that didn't work, he's gonna try this, so we begin here, a problem arises, verse one, at this time, interesting, go back, to verse 42, of chapter five, up from, lift your eyes up, a little bit, every day in the temple, from house to house, they kept right on teaching, and euangelion, proclaiming the gospel, [19:25] Jesus is the Christ, at this time, they're speaking the gospel, and so, the number of disciples, it's increasing, but then there arose, a conflict, so you have, two realities, one that's really awesome, one that's not so awesome, what's the really awesome thing, that's happening, the growth, of disciples, interesting too, this is the first time, believers, are called, disciples, usually disciples, is used as, of the twelve, right, the twelve disciples, here's the first time, Luke equates, believers of Jesus, as disciples of Jesus, so many more disciples, among the Hellenists, and the Hebrews, introduced them, more disciples, because of what was happening, from the word, the word was being spoken, people were coming to Christ, side note here, according to the book of Acts, then, church growth, does not happen, because a church, has really hip music, or a really cool band, hold on, let me go get my guitar, [20:42] I'll do a solo here for you, great programs, a killer VBS, a happening youth ministry, no, church growth happens, when a local church, daily teaches, and proclaims, God's word, it's a top priority, so don't get, don't lose sight of that, in the midst of the problem, that arises, growth is happening, because, the word is being spoken, the gospel is being proclaimed, people are coming to Christ, Christ, well the evil one, doesn't like that, so at the same time, that this is happening, a management problem arose, it seemed, notice, a complaint arose, on the part of the Hellenists, I think your Bible says, Hellenistic Jews, against the native Hebrews, it says in your Bible, because their widows, were being overlooked, in the daily serving, it seemed, that Hellenists, believed their widows, were being overlooked, in the daily, ministry, that word serving, you can translate it, as ministry, which is important, we'll look at that, as to why it's important, to translate like that, in a moment, you can translate like that, ministry, now most likely, [22:04] I think in your Bible, it says, the daily serving of food, right, probably says that food, so most likely, this involved food, but not just food, and maybe clothing, possibly monetary help, as well, but the Hellenists, thought they were being, discriminated against, and against widows, now widows, in this time period, for this first century, widows needed, community care, when family members, could not care for them, and they could not care for them, either because of neglect, or poverty, or poor management, of the finances, whatever the reason, in the first century, widows were vulnerable, economically, and socially, so you had this dispute, coming up, and again, you have that in your Bible, it's Hellenist Jews, and native Hebrews, both were Jews, Hellenists, they spoke Greek, that was their primary language, they came from different, different social, social practice, as well as religious practice, you see, with the Greeks, the religious practice, as Jews, they very much more Greek, speaking Greek, and using the, the Septuagint, the Hebrews, the Hebrews, would speak Aramaic, that's what they would do, so there was a little bit of, differences there, well now they're Christians, now they're united, in the Lord Jesus Christ, what does that mean then, practically, how do they respond to this, [23:44] Hellenist, says, complaints arose, they were murmuring, complaining, which by the way, is condemned in scripture, because really, complaining against God's gracious, you're complaining against God's gracious, provision and goodness, when you're complaining, the Hebrews, they're neglecting our widows, well whether they're, this is, neglected, or whether this is really happening, or not, they felt like it was, and whether this is, condemned in scripture, about them complaining, or not, this is a potentially, major divisive problem, in the church, did all resentments, rear their ugly heads, was there prejudice, or racial discrimination, that was taking place, I mean you can even think, that maybe they're, you know it's because, you guys think you're better than us, because you're Aramaic, and you speak Aramaic, and you don't speak Greek like us, maybe they're accusing them of that, maybe that was truly happening, notice there was conflict taking place, one writer says this, quote, [24:56] Christians in every age, and social context, need to be aware, of the threat, that cultural, and racial differences, can pose to their unity in Christ, I mean put it this way, you have, Palestinian Christians, think that their widows, are being overlooked, versus the Israeli widows, I can put it in today's context, right, or, or, Israelis, versus Arabs, I mean then there's tension, right, and you're looking at potential, church splits here, I mean this is a serious thing, so here you have a relationship conflict, and this problem surface, not just because of ethnic tensions, but there's a lack of administrative organization, there's fast growth, within the diverse ethnicities, in God's new community, so friends, what we got here, is a failure, to communicate, administration broke down, relationships are being challenged, [26:17] I mean think about it, how, how did God's new community, how did they measure their compassion, and love for each other, by how they cared for the believing orphan, by how they cared for the believing poor, how they cared for the believing widows, love in the church, within the church, it displays the gospel, so this could have been, a major catastrophe, in God's church, and it could have been a huge blow, to those who are not Christians, right, they would see that, wait a second, you guys are, you guys are not for real, because there's this tension going, there's conflict, in the situation, with Ananias and Sapphira, that was a big deal, now it seems, that Satan was using another scheme, a relational conflict, look, aside from people, leaving church, because, those people believe, their needs were not being met, relational conflicts, are the number one cause, of problems in the church today, leading to church splits, church divisions, even the needs reason, that's still intertwined, with relationship, [27:35] Satan is going to try, to bring tension, to our local church, by causing relational conflicts, through a variety of ways, here in our text, our widows are not being cared for, as much as your widows, what would we deal with, preferences, personality conflicts, disagreements, you do things like this, I do things like that, I do it this way, or I do it that way, now Luke, Luke doesn't give us details here, does he, he doesn't give us the details, of anything that's going on, but you know, you know there were hurt feelings, that's okay, you know there were hurt feelings, there was probably accusations, anger, frustrations, definitely a lack of communication, within God's community, they needed a resolution, they needed leaders, to come and lead, and to show, how do you deal with conflict, and how does God's word, speak to something like this, how does it deal with something like this, we need resolution, well how do people normally deal with, relational problems in a church, let me give you, one, two, three, four, let me give you five, non-biblical solutions, to relational conflict, in a local church, that's not up on the screen, sorry, five non-biblical solutions, this is what we can do, if we want to be non-biblical, in our relational conflicts, in our local church, number one, the silent solution, [29:24] I'm just not going to talk to you, that's one way to deal with it, the throw them out solution, let's throw them out, I'll be easy to deal with, right, or how about this, the I'm leaving solution, well I've had it, so I'm leaving this, we can do it that way, number four, the talk behind your back solution, or get people on your side solution, we can do it that way too, or number five, the don't do anything, and it will go away solution, you can do that too, now there's probably more ways, you can deal with that, in a non-biblical way, but I thought of those five, I thought you'd get a kick out of that, but then here you see, out of this conflict, biblical leadership rises up, and so what I propose to you, six marks of biblical leadership, in God's new community, what's good solid biblical leadership, what does it look like, and by the way again, as we look at these, these are actually ways, that we can actually resolve conflict, in the church as well, this is how we can deal with it, so you see it, exemplified by the leaders, and then actually, how to deal with it themselves, it's kind of interesting, you see that overlapping here, so six marks of biblical leadership, good solid biblical leadership, number one, leaders communicate, leaders communicate, verse two, verse two, the twelve, summon the congregation, of the disciples, the apostles, show tremendous leadership, by first bringing up the solution, and deciding to talk about it, instead of ignoring it, oh, it's not a big deal, it's okay, you know, when problems arise, you need to talk about it, and discuss it, plus it's beneficial, if you are having a conflict, with someone else, it's beneficial to involve leadership, notice how they stepped in, don't just blow off leadership, utilize leadership, to give you wisdom, in your situation, communication, was key, they didn't ignore the problem, instead they would propose something, that would provide the care needed, but really it would, it would preserve the relationship, and this was important, or I should say, this is important, not just for the early church, of the first century, but for churches today, especially this church, we must work hard, to preserve our relationship, with each other, it's hard work, what's that book, relationships, a mess worth making, is that what that is, that book by CCEF, it's hard to do, it's not easy, but we must work hard, to preserve our relationship, with each other, and good leadership, will foster good relationships, within the body, it will, so number one, leaders communicate, number two, biblical leaders prioritize, biblical leaders prioritize, verse two, and then verse four, the disciples, the twelve they said, is not desirable, for us to neglect, the word of God, in order to minister tables, that word desirable, means pleasing, it's not pleasing, to neglect God's word, now, he's not saying, well it's going to be soon, if we do it, he's not saying that, it's an issue, of what's, vitally important, interesting, in our text today, the word is given, is spoken of, three different times, the word, the word, [33:24] the word, that's the importance, how vital the word is, versus ministering tables, and I, I do that on purpose, because, ministering, that's the same word, that's used in verse one, in the daily ministry, and then that word, is also used in verse four, we will devote ourselves, to the ministry of the word, to them, dealing with the situation, of food, or taking care of widows, that's ministry, but they realize, the priority should be, the ministry of the word, the word, they knew, the Lord Jesus Christ, wanted them to prioritize, the word, there is the ministry, of taking care of the needs, of others, that's ministry, that's true, it's the same word, that's used in verse four, the same word, used in verse one, the same word, used here in verse two, ministry, it's the same word, that good leaders, good biblical leaders, understand they must prioritize, that God wants us, yes it's important, but God wants us to prioritize, the word of God, and prayer, leaders in the church, need to understand, that their biggest priority, in God's church, is to feed God's people, [34:42] God's word, church members, need to realize, that leaders need to devote themselves, to the word of God, and prayer, it's vital, it's vital, what God has called, his leaders to do, is to teach, and witness, to teach, and proclaim, they should not do everything, in the church, nor can they, don't neglect, to proclaim God's word, to people, God's people, and everybody, good leaders, will instigate communication, and they'll remember, what their priority should be, God's word, and solid members, will not add things, to the leadership, that the leadership, doesn't need to be doing, instead members, will deal with those issues, they'll deal with those problems, notice, drop up, down to verse 4, but we will devote ourselves, to prayer, and to the ministry, of the word, devote ourselves, the word actually, could also mean, adhere to, persist in, attach ourselves to, hold fast to, continue in, it's the same word, that's used in Acts, chapter 2, verse 42, where it says, and they continually, devoted themselves, to the apostles teaching, to prayer, to breaking, fellowship, to breaking of bread, to prayer, [36:11] Acts 2, 42, it's the same word, used there, we will attach ourselves, we will persist in, we will adhere to, what, prayer, and the ministry, of the word, this is how, God's leaders, lead his church, they teach God's word, and they seek God's will, members should sanction that, members should approve of that, prayer is important, because it displays, dependence on the Lord, to give boldness, to speak God's word, to protect his people, while they speak, and for God, to give opportunities, for the word, to be spoken, prayer, ministry of the word, this is what good leaders, they prioritize, they communicate, but they also prioritize, the church today, has allowed our leaders, to get involved, in all sorts of things, while our leaders, are neglecting the study, and teaching of God's word, and dependence upon the Lord, and you know what, leaders have brought into, this mentality, the blame is not, all on the members, sometimes, honestly, [37:33] I'm shocked, at some of the pastors, that I speak with, and how little of a time, that they've spent, studying the scriptures, I'm shocked, at, they're talking, yeah, I got to my study, I did a couple hour study, or something like that, I almost, my mouth is like, hanging down on the floor, are you kidding me, but it's not important to them, they've bought into this mentality, leaders are involved, in church building projects, they're involved, in administrative details, and the minute aspects, for the Sunday service, etc, etc, etc, etc, instead of doing, what's most important, praying, and ministry of the word, what are the marks, of a good leadership, biblical leadership, they communicate, they prioritize, number three, biblical leaders, they recognize, recognize what, the needs of others, verse three, but select from among you, brethren, seven men, of good reputation, select men, they did not believe, this was nonsense, oh just get over it, you guys are just, having a cow, relax, nobody's getting overlooked here, you guys are just, [38:49] I don't know, you guys are cranky, why could you speak Greek, that's why, the Greeks, oh they didn't do that, they thought it was important, they recognized, its importance, it was ministry, people were feeling left out, and neglected, now whether it was actually, true or not, they didn't care about that, that good leaders, care for others, and recognize, others problems, they're true, they're genuine, and they take it seriously, and they also recognize, that they don't have, all the answers, or that they are the ones, who have to do it all, they recognize that, which will lead to, a later point, we'll look at that, in just a second, but here you see, the apostles, and the apostles, these are the, the big kahunas, right, these are the, the guys of the guys, they walked with Jesus, I mean Peter's shadow, will heal you, oh man, he just healed my ankle, awesome, thanks Peter, [39:51] I didn't realize, you know, something like that, I don't know, that's what he's doing, but yet here they're admitting, and humbling themselves, we don't have all the answers, leaders, are called to preach, and teach the Lord Jesus Christ, and God's kingdom, in a ministry of caring for the needy, that's important too, and they recognize that, so this means, leaders must be willing, to adjust, alter, develop all for the sake, of ongoing teaching, the ongoing teaching, of God's word, they adjust procedures, they alter structure, they develop new posts, of different responsibilities, the apostles, they knew they could not, fulfill their primary task, effectively, if they took on this, important responsibility, themselves, we'll look at more, of this later, so leaders, what do they do, they communicate, they prioritize, they recognize, number four, leaders exemplify, and actually here, what happens is, the apostles say, these are the type of guys, you should be looking for, that moves out, from the apostles, to these men, that they're going to choose, what did, would these men, or should these men, what should they exemplify, integrity, godliness, and wisdom, seven men, of good reputation, full of the spirit, and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge, of this task, a good reputation, and they're spiritual, spiritual, now there were spiritual men, and men of integrity, full of the spirit, and wisdom, their lives, were directed, by God's spirit, making good judgments, that's a sign, of spiritual maturity, they're caring, they're gracious, wisdom, was a manifestation, of the presence, of the Holy Spirit, in the life, of these men, in the lives, of these men, that's what it shows, and it's not simply, just a knowledge, of the Bible, but wisdom, so there's ethical, spiritual, and practical, things, in this man's life, character, of the spirit, and his wives, biblical leaders, are good examples, whose lives, are directed, by God's spirit, not their emotions, and who make, good judgments, men who are spiritually, mature, caring, they're gracious, they're loving, and, they delegate, good solid, biblical leaders, they communicate, they recognize, they prioritize, recognize, they exemplify, and then they delegate, whom we may put, in charge of this task, biblical leaders, delegate, it's interesting, that, here you see, that the apostles, they weren't afraid, of sharing their leadership, they weren't afraid of that, they weren't afraid, that someone else, can do this important ministry, so choose, these seventh men, to deal with this problem, by the way, normally we say, these are the first deacons, kind of, it's not, the official office, of deacon here, but this does say, what deacons, will end up doing, these men, they help the members, [43:52] of the church, by caring for the needs, of the body, so that unity, in the church, can be maintained, and even enhanced, so you want to know, what deacons, are all about, this is a deacon, they help, they care, and they endorse, unity in God's church, that's a deacon, again this is not, these are not, the official deacons, first official deacon, that's not, what this is all about, but you end up seeing, how this principle, of deacons, it's going to come up later, and this is, the type of deacons, this is the ministry, this is what they would do, the apostles realized, they needed help, they were helpless, so they delegated, they couldn't do everything, so good leaders, know how to delegate, notice verse five, the statement found approval, with the whole congregation, they all approve this, where it says, approve of this, it's the same word, that's used, here in verse two, is not desirable for us, it's the same word, it's not pleasing to us, for us to neglect the word, and here in verse five, it says, it was pleasing to the multitude, it was pleasing to the whole congregation, what's doing on, what's taking place, what they said, we should do this, the people were pleased, they were encouraged, that their leaders, who were directed by God, listened to them, giving them God's direction, and his will, and were encouraged, so choose these seven men, sometimes they chose Stephen, a man full of faith, and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, these two men, they kind of set the stage, for the wider ministry, [45:29] Stephen's gonna, we're gonna see him next week, and the week after, and then Philip the Evangelist, will see him later on, and you can kind of see, Stephen and Philip, they represented the whole group, you see the rest of these guys, Procurus, Dicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicholas, a proselyte from Antioch, nothing else is sent of these guys, except for Stephen and Philip, but obviously, they were godly gifted men, and it seems to, since the problem involved Hellenists, notice, they all had Greek names, so they were probably Hellenists, they were given that responsibility, oh, and by the way, notice the end of verse five, a proselyte from Antioch, so it kind of gives you a little, a window as to, how important Antioch will be, later on in the book of Acts, because from Antioch, they were going to be sending out, Paul and Barnabas, and then Silas, they're going to be sending out, missionaries to all of the Roman Empire, so this tells us, side note, the early church was multi-ethnic, and multicultural, there's no such thing, as a Hebrew church, or a Hellenist church, or a Gentile church, it was one church, focused on the gospel, so here you see these leaders, they're showing, how do you deal with conflict, and then they're exemplifying that, by their very character, this is what good leadership does, they communicate, they prioritize and recognize, and then they're delegating out, and they're exemplifying godliness, and then the last characteristic you see here, is biblical leaders support, they support the ministry, of what's going on, amongst the members, in the congregation, they stood before the apostles, verse 6, these they brought before the apostles, and after praying, they laid their hands on them, they stood before the apostles, who commissioned them with praying, and laying their hands on them, as a way to designate God's call, upon them, for this task, now this wasn't an official, ordination ceremony, they didn't like, do any type of, ordination type ritual, that wasn't, that's not what you see here, they were, fulfilling a specific, administrative task, and again, they're not even called deacons, later on at all, in the book of Acts, as a matter of fact, their ministry, was more the ministry, of the word, not serving tables, but this was the way, the apostles supported, the congregation, in their choice, of these men, to deal with this problem, so again, not necessarily, were they the official deacons, the first official deacons, in the early church, but yet, this principle, of choosing, and designating laborers, for this specific task, that would end up, leading to what you see, in deacons, so you see, how these men, were servants, who were the, the most loyal ones, in the church, they helped the leadership, they helped the people, they, they want to see, the glory of God, enhance, interesting too, these men, or even the office of deacon, for that matter, they weren't a separate, power block in the church, it wasn't a group, that disrupted the church, these seven guys, they weren't a unit, that weren't loyal, to the pastors, or to the elders, to the apostles, they weren't a group of men, to try and get people, on their side, it wasn't what they were doing, these guys, [49:31] were the shock absorbers, they take the big potholes, in the church, the church has to drive through, on their way, to the destination, they were the shock absorbers, that's what they did, they were pertinent, to the establishment, and unity, and the grace, in God's church, so these guys, the seven men, that they chose, they're encouragers, they're peacemakers, and servants, they're the cheerleaders, and yet, what great characteristics, of leaders, leaders, this is what makes leaders, so unity was checked, the church did not, end up imploding, and losing sight, of its purpose, of God's mission, and this, helped establish, the ministry of the word, because it showed, in a practical way, how God's word, applies to problems, like this, how, how does God's word, or what does God's word, say about, internal conflict, about relational problems, how do you deal with this, this gives you, historical accounts, on how the early church, dealt with an internal problem, dealt with a relational problem, within the church, that's what this does, and then what kind of leaders, do we need to have, in God's church, one more verse, what are the results, of good biblical leadership, what's the results, of good biblical leadership, verse seven, and the word of God, kept on spreading, the number of disciples, continued to increase, greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests, were becoming obedient, to the faith, this summarizes, the growth, of God's new community, in Jerusalem, due to solving, the relational problem, that they had earlier, what happens, look, what is the results, when you have good, biblical leadership in place, when biblical leaders, have biblical priorities, and do biblical things, it will bring biblical growth, in God's new church, in God's new community, or, biblical leaders, who do biblical things, bring biblical growth, and that is, the word will spread, and disciples of Christ, will increase, becoming obedient, to the faith, that's what will happen, and becoming obedient, to the faith, by the way, it means, the apostolic beliefs, and lifestyle, so you see here, [52:19] God's word is growing, because biblical leaders, they do biblical things, and that will bring, biblical growth, that's what happens, the word will spread, disciples will increase, so God's word was growing, the conflict was resolved, which will help foster, the growth of the gospel, as it was proclaimed, the influence of the word, extended, and more, we're becoming disciples of Jesus, friends, it just tells us something, if we want, church growth, we must prioritize, God's word, if we want, church growth, we must prioritize, God's word, because notice, the word of God, kept on spreading, and then the next part, and the number of disciples, continued to increase, greatly in Jerusalem, God was causing, this numerical growth, of disciples of the Lord Jesus, a fruitful harvest, of the word, by people becoming disciples, and notice it says, many of the priests, were becoming obedient, to the faith, even priests, were coming to Christ, well that's a cause, of alarm, alarm, for the Jewish leaders, didn't mean, if some of the priests, were these, some of these guys, [53:40] Sadducees, remember last week, and a couple weeks, before that, the Sadducees, they hated the apostles, they were the ones, that flogged them, last week, we looked at the pastors, last week, were some of these guys, becoming Christians, interesting, maybe, by the way, this is going to, generate persecution, the increase, of God's word, and people coming, to trust Jesus, that will bring persecution, remember we looked, at this last week, mission brings persecution, gospel proclaiming, will bring popularity, acceptance, it will bring growth, yes, but it will also bring, persecution, suffering, we're going to see that, next week, and the week after, interesting note here, the end of verse 7, to become a follower, of Jesus means, one becomes obedient, to the faith, that's what that means, that's what it means, to become a disciple, of Jesus, are you here today, and not a disciple, of the Lord Jesus, are you not, a follower of him, are you a Christian, in name only, but you have not, truly become, obedient to the faith, repent, and put your trust, in Jesus, turn away from, turn away from sin, and put your trust, in the Lord Jesus Christ, a true Christian, a true disciple, of the Lord Jesus Christ, has living, responsive, submissive faith, when one becomes, a follower of Jesus, a disciple of him, that one's life, is totally different, it reflects Jesus himself, and that's what we see, in these great leaders, good, solid, biblical leaders, they're great examples, to us in the body, and they're great examples, on how to deal with conflict, how do you deal with it, well leaders, they communicate, they prioritize, they recognize, they exemplify, they delegate, and they support, the men of God, these are marks, of good leadership, thank you Lord, for giving us, ways, and how we can find, good leaders, and also how to deal, with conflict, so take a few moments, if you would, and ponder, what we've seen, in God's word, here in Acts chapter 6, the first seven verses, ponder, think through, pray, we'll have a few moments, of silence, about a minute or so, give you a few moments, of silence, and then we'll, have our time of giving, we'll sing our, our final two songs, and our closing prayer, take a few moments, and think through, what we've seen, in God's word, a lot of pieces, of deixar, thank you, that the first song you're, as we've seen by you,제�op、 the first song you have, and how to novel the Haupt host, as we're speaking, of keeping, that the best song you were, and how we were, as we had that.