2So 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 tables. 3“Therefore, brethren, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task. 4“But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” 5The statement found approval with the whole congregation; and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch. 6And these they brought before the apostles; and after praying, they laid their hands on them.

      7The 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.

      8And Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people. 9But some men from what was called the Synagogue of the Freedmen, including both Cyrenians and Alexandrians, and some from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and argued with Stephen. 10But they were unable to cope with the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. 11Then they secretly induced men to say, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.” 12And they stirred up the people, the elders and the scribes, and they came up to him and dragged him away and brought him before the Council. 13They put forward false witnesses who said, “This man incessantly speaks against this holy place and the Law; 14for we have heard him say that this Nazarene, Jesus, will destroy this place and alter the customs which Moses handed down to us.” 15And fixing their gaze on him, all who were sitting in the Council saw his face like the face of an angel.

NASB ©1995

American Standard Version
And the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not fit that we should forsake the word of God, and serve tables.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Then the twelve calling together the multitude of the disciples, said: It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables.

Darby Bible Translation
And the twelve, having called the multitude of the disciples to them, said, It is not right that we, leaving the word of God, should serve tables.

English Revised Version
And the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not fit that we should forsake the word of God, and serve tables.

Webster's Bible Translation
Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables.

Weymouth New Testament
So the Twelve called together the general body of the disciples and said, "It does not seem fitting that we Apostles should neglect the delivery of God's Message and minister at tables.

World English Bible
The twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, "It is not appropriate for us to forsake the word of God and serve tables.

Young's Literal Translation
and the twelve, having called near the multitude of the disciples, said, 'It is not pleasing that we, having left the word of God, do minister at tables;October 4 Morning
Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him.--EXO. 34:29. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory.--Lord, when saw we thee a hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?--In lowliness of mind, let each esteem other better than themselves.--Be clothed with humility. [Jesus] was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.--All that sat in the council, looking stedfastly on Stephen, …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

February 16. "We Will Give Ourselves Continually to Prayer" (Acts vi. 4).
"We will give ourselves continually to prayer" (Acts vi. 4). In the consecrated believer the Holy Spirit is pre-eminently a Spirit of prayer. If our whole being is committed to Him, and our thoughts are at His bidding, He will occupy every moment in communion and we shall bring every thing to Him as it comes, and pray it out in our spiritual consciousness before we act it out in our lives. We shall, therefore, find ourselves taking up the burdens of life and praying them out in a wordless prayer …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

Filled with the Spirit
'Men ... full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom.' ... 'A man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost....' 'Stephen, full of faith and power.'--ACTS vi. 3, 5, 8. I have taken the liberty of wrenching these three fragments from their context, because of their remarkable parallelism, which is evidently intended to set us thinking of the connection of the various characteristics which they set forth. The first of them is a description, given by the Apostles, of the sort of man whom they conceived to be fit to …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: The Acts

Good Earnests of Great Success
So I felt when I met with the brethren last Thursday night. The attendance at the church meeting was very numerous, and the unanimity that prevailed not only gratified me, but I must confess astounded me too. I think all of us who know anything of the history of churches, especially those of a democratic order, where we recognize the rights of every member, understand how easy it is for thoughts to diverge, for counsels to vary, and for excellent brethren conscientiously to disagree. A breach once …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 14: 1868

Phil. 1:01 the Rights and Duties of Lay Churchmen.
[19] "Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons."--Phil. 1:1. THIS opening verse of St. Paul's Epistle to the Philippians is a very remarkable text of Scripture. I suspect it receives far less attention from Bible- readers than it deserves. Like the gold of California, men have walked over it for centuries, and have not observed what was under their feet. In fact, if some Anglican divines had stood at the …
John Charles Ryle—The Upper Room: Being a Few Truths for the Times

The Signs
There are indications that to some of those who took part in the crucifixion of Christ His death presented hardly anything to distinguish it from an ordinary execution; and there were others who were anxious to believe that it had no features which were extraordinary. But God did not leave His Son altogether without witness. The end of the Saviour's sufferings was accompanied by certain signs, which showed the interest excited by them in the world unseen. I. The first sign was the rending of the …
James Stalker—The Trial and Death of Jesus Christ

The Outbreak of the Arian Controversy. The Attitude of Eusebius.
About the year 318, while Alexander was bishop of Alexandria, the Arian controversy broke out in that city, and the whole Eastern Church was soon involved in the strife. We cannot enter here into a discussion of Arius' views; but in order to understand the rapidity with which the Arian party grew, and the strong hold which it possessed from the very start in Syria and Asia Minor, we must remember that Arius was not himself the author of that system which we know as Arianism, but that he learned the …
Eusebius Pamphilius—Church History

The Epistles of Paul.
1. The apostolic epistles are a natural sequence of the office and work committed by the Saviour to the apostles. They were the primitive preachers of the gospel, and, under Christ, the founders of the Christian church. From the necessity of the case they had a general supervision of all the local churches, and their authority in them was supreme in matters of both faith and practice. It was to be expected, therefore, that they should teach by writing, as well as by oral instruction. It does not …
E. P. Barrows—Companion to the Bible

The Right to Run Things
A new mission station opened! Another conquest of the Gospel! Have you ever wondered how it was done? Suppose you are a missionary, and have already passed successfully through the language-learning stage. Suppose you are assigned an area where the Gospel has never been preached, an area teeming with people, very few of whom have ever even heard the precious name of Jesus. You probably have a fellow worker. You have good health, a reasonable knowledge of the language and local customs, and a heart …
Mabel Williamson—Have We No Rights?

The Johannean Literature.
I. Sources. 1. The Gospel, Epistles, and Revelation of John. The notices of John in the Synoptical Gospels, in the Acts, and in Gal. 2:9. (See the passages in Young's Analytical Concordance.) 2. Patristic traditions. Irenaeus: Adv. Haer. II. 22, 5 (John lived to the age of Trajan); III. 1, 1 (John at Ephesus); III. 3, 4 (John and Cerinthus); V. 30, 3 (John and the Apocalypse). Clemens Alex.: Quis dives salvus, c. 42 (John and the young robber). Polycrates of Ephesus in Eus. Hist. Eccl., III. 31; …
Philip Schaff—History of the Christian Church, Volume I

Deacons and Deaconesses.
Deacons, [729] or helpers, appear first in the church of Jerusalem, seven in number. The author of the Acts 6 gives us an account of the origin of this office, which is mentioned before that of the presbyters. It had a precedent in the officers of the synagogue who had charge of the collection and distribution of alms. [730] It was the first relief of the heavy burden that rested on the shoulders of the apostles, who wished to devote themselves exclusively to prayer and the ministry of the word. …
Philip Schaff—History of the Christian Church, Volume I

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