टीका वर्तमान में केवल अंग्रेज़ी में उपलब्ध है। हिन्दी अनुवाद प्रगति पर है।
Acts 6 — It Is Not Reason That We Should Leave the Word of God and Serve Tables
The Grecian widows are being neglected in the daily distribution. The apostles refuse to let the Word be displaced — give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word. Seven men full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom are chosen, including Stephen. The Word increases; the number of disciples multiplies; even priests are obedient to the faith. Stephen, full of faith and power, works wonders. The synagogue of the Libertines disputes with him and cannot resist his wisdom; they stir up false witnesses and bring him before the council.
“But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.”
— Acts 6:4
- v.1-7 Seven chosen; the Word multiplies
- v.8-15 Stephen's power; the seizing
The pastor's manifesto in a single sentence. Two priorities — prayer and the ministry of the word — held continually. Everything else in a minister's schedule should be tested against these two.
Churches that grow shallow usually have leaders who have drifted from this. The leaders' diet of prayer and Word becomes the church's diet. Where the well runs dry at the top, the people thirst below.
A summary verse. When the apostles gave themselves to the Word, the Word increased. Healthy ministry produces multiplying disciples — not just maintained numbers.
A great company of the priests were obedient to the faith. The very class that had pushed for the crucifixion was now coming in. No hostility is so entrenched that the gospel cannot reach it. Pray for the resistant; some of them may be on the road to obedience.
Stephen, the deacon-turned-preacher, faces a hostile council with a glowing face — an echo of Moses descending from Sinai (Exodus 34:29). The man saturated with God carries the marks of where he has been.
No cosmetic produces this. Only sustained communion with God leaves visible peace on a face under unjust pressure. The council saw it and could not unsee it.
If you carry pastoral leadership, verses 2 and 4 are your charter. Audit your calendar against them. If prayer and the ministry of the Word are being squeezed out by table-serving — however worthy the tables — restructure. Delegate. Refuse drift. The Word will not multiply in a church whose leaders have stopped feeding from it themselves.
Acts 6 sets up Stephen, who will preach the longest sermon in the book and become the first martyr — pointing to Christ, who suffered before him and who receives him in chapter 7. The church's health is shown to flow from prayer and the ministry of the Word centered on Christ; the resistance to Christ is shown to be intensifying. Both lines lead to chapter 7's climax — and to a Saviour standing to welcome His servant home.
The apostles refuse to be drawn off their primary work. The widows mattered, and the food mattered — but not at the cost of the Word. Spiritual leaders who become administrators of everything cease to feed the church.
The solution is not neglect but delegation. The work must be done; it does not all have to be done by the same people. Seven men are appointed for tables so the Twelve can stay with the Word.