Acts 6:3-6 Why, brothers, look you out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom… I. THE REASONS ASSIGNED. 1. That the apostles might be relieved of secular duties. This did not arise out of any idea of superiority. They were the servants of all, ready to be, do, or suffer anything that might be for the glory of God and the good of men. Nor did it arise from any low estimate of the temporal interests of the Church. They were no ascetics. Temporalities were important in themselves, and in their influence on spiritual concerns. It arose out of their higher office and its absorbing claims. With these nothing must be allowed to interfere. However valuable the bodies of men, their souls were more so. What reproof is here administered to modern ministers and laymen! How many ministers are serving tables! And the offence is aggravated when this is the result of lay neglect. Both are sufferers — the minister whose mind is secularised, and the people who are less effectually instructed. 2. That the apostles might give themselves wholly to their proper duties. This is "reason." The duty of a minister is to aim at the conversion of sinners, and to employ all means to secure that. And the danger is lest his mind should be brought under any influence that would disincline or disqualify it. These ends are only to be gained by an entire devotion to the sacred calling. Paul says to Timothy, "Give thyself wholly to them." The philosophy is as sound as the sentiment is heavenly. The physician who would be successful in his profession must be devoted to it. So must the merchant and the labourer. The apostles were to give themselves to prayer in secret, and the Word in public. Without prayer there will be no heart for the Word — no success in it. Without the Word prayer will be a pretence and a mockery. Together they are omnipotent through grace. Let all the arrangements of the Church be such as to cherish and encourage their union. Let its temporalities be so managed by the members that the ministry may be relieved. II. THE MANNER. Church officers in the apostolic age were chosen by Church members. Matthias was so chosen. The voice of the Church is essential to the validity of the ministry. Members have an interest in the minister they have chosen which they can never have in one placed over them without their approval At the same time guards are necessary. 1. The purity of the Church. Its membership must not be a promiscuous community. Men of the world are incompetent to elect a Christian minister. 2. The sanction of the existing ministry. As these deacons were elected by the people, they were appointed by the apostles. Both had their rights and their duties. Either might refuse consent. And thus the one was a wholesome restraint on the other. What a consummate knowledge of human nature was manifested in the organisation of the Church! Its Author truly "knew what was in man." III. THE QUALIFICATIONS (vers. 3, 8). Note that these are the qualifications required for the management of temporal concerns. It must not be supposed, then, that mere business men can manage such. They have a sacred bearing; they must be conducted on holy principles, and be directed to holy ends. The meanest duties may be elevated by high motives. The deacons were to be — 1. Men of honest report. Their conduct must be such as to command respect. The public seldom err in their judgment of men. They may dislike their piety and persecute them, but secretly they will honour them, especially if they are, as they ought to be, useful and amiable as well. 2. Full of the Holy Ghost. Not only should they be men of piety, but eminently so. 3. Men of wisdom. Piety, although the first requisite, is not the only one. There are men of whose godliness we may be persuaded, but in whose ability for the direction of affairs we have not confidence. 4. Full of faith. 5. As a result of all this there will be power — mighty influence for good. IV. THE APPOINTMENT. 1. The disciples set the elected deacons before the apostles. 2. The apostles prayed over them. Without God it was felt that the whole procedure was vain. We must do nothing in the Church on which we may not ask His blessing. 3. Then they laid their hands upon them. The Spirit was sought for men who already had the Spirit, and this was to be a token of the increase of His gifts and graces for their new duties. V. THE EFFECTS. 1. Many evils were prevented of which no mention is made. (1) The discontent was silenced, for the cause was removed. (2) The apostles were not hindered or distracted by misunderstandings in the Church. 2. Better than this, much good was done. (1) The Word of God increased. It was preached more generally and powerfully, and a greater blessing rested on the preachers. (2) The most prejudiced, "the priests," were persuaded. The bitterest enemies were won to friendship, and so far the greatest barrier to the gospel was thrown down. "When a man's ways please the Lord, He maketh his enemies to be at peace with him." Conclusion: Note the connection between a right ecclesiastical polity and a successful ministration of the Word. Of course God can bless His Word under any polity; but there is a polity that hinders and a polity that promotes the truth. (J. Morgan, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. |
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