Once again the help of God and guidance of his spirit. I would like you to turn with me to the first chapter that we read, Acts chapter 6 and the text you'll find in verse 4. But we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.

If you remember when the Lord Jesus Christ departed from his apostles, he told them to go into all the world and to preach the gospel. They were to Their role was to lay the foundation, which is none other foundation can any man lay other than that which is the Lord Jesus Christ. And he says, Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you and lo I am with you all the way even to the end of the end of the world.

And so the commission that was given to these men and to the church was to go to continue moving on and proclaiming the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and to teach and to preach the word of God and then as the preaching and the teaching took place there was to be those baptisms and they were baptized in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost.

We know that the work of salvation is a triune work that God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are all at work within that person. God chose a people before the foundation of the world gave them to his son who lived and died and rose again for them and the Holy Spirit brings those people to the awareness of what God the Father and God the Son have done so it is a triune work and therefore when one is baptized they are baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost and that is the beginning of the road is the beginning of the road for a Christian for somebody who has been born again of the Spirit of God

they are to follow the Lord Jesus Christ they are to be baptized they're baptized into the visible church of the Lord Jesus Christ, his called out ones, his assembly, his ones that were once in the darkness and now are brought into the light, they're baptized into that church and they begin then a life of teaching a life of sanctification, the spirit of God working in them, guiding them and directing them as they sit under the ministry of the word, as they read the word of God they are continually being taught and being examined to walk worthy of their calling

and so the Lord Jesus Christ as he commissions his apostles to go into the world he says teach them, preach the word, baptize them and then teach them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.

We live in a day where the teachings of Christ, the scripture, the word of God, it doesn't have paramount position in many churches. It is a book that can be read, a book that can have passages cut out of it that seem offensive to modern day culture. It is a book to seen as a you can give or take it, a book that is on the sidelines but the Lord Jesus Christ commissioned his apostles to go into all the world and to teach whatever the Lord Jesus Christ has commanded.

not to pick and choose the passages that we like and don't like and then to examine our culture and say well our culture doesn't accept this teaching and this doctrine anymore therefore we will eradicate this passage of scripture. We'll tear this page out. We'll cut this section out of the scripture. We won't preach about this because we don't want to upset anybody. We don't want to make people leave the church. We want to be inclusive and accept everybody and we don't want to offend anybody. It's all about love.

the gospel is all about love, that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son but that it is that sinners may see that love and turn from their sin and so we are to preach the whole counsel of God. We are to preach all that the Lord Jesus Christ taught his apostles that are recorded in the scriptures.

And so the apostles, as they began to preach the word of God, the Holy Spirit working with them brought many people to salvation. First, the Jews. And here in our chapter, this begins the first problem of the church. The first trouble that arose in the church was between two groups of people that were both Jews yet they were from different areas.

And the apostles then had a problem. They had to act in a responsive way. How are we going to deal with this problem? The Lord has told us that we've got to preach the word. We've got to give ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word of God. And now we're being bogged down with the service of tables, with dealing with the physical problems of the congregation. And because we are focusing upon the ministry of the word the physical problems of the congregation are not being dealt with and therefore there has now become a separation. There has now become two camps and these two camps are at odds with one another because some felt that they were being neglected.

It's been said, hasn't it, that there is no perfect church. William Gatsby, once he had a dream and in his dream he had a piece of metal and he was beating this piece of metal trying to make it straight and the more he beat the piece of metal the more the metal bent and became more and more crooked. and he realised that he had been trying to create this perfect church out of sinful people and the more he tried the more crooked it would become.

It has been said that if you find a perfect church don't join it because you will make it imperfect. And we see right from the foundation of the church that problems came in, discontent, murmurings. The word murmurings means secret debates that these Grecians who were Jews who were living abroad who spoke Greek as they maybe as they heard the gospel on the day of Pentecost and were saved.

And now within this body of people there are these Grecians who were Jews but they spoke Greek and they were foreigners. And then you had the Hebrews who spoke Hebrew who were living at Jerusalem. Maybe they felt themselves to be more superior. Maybe they felt that maybe they had more of a structure in place already to take care of the of the widows and the orphans. And so these foreigners, these Jews who had come from abroad, they felt themselves to be neglected and instead of bringing everything to light they began to murmur to grumble and to complain. They had secret debates or secret conversations about the difficulty that they were in.

Often when things go wrong and people fraction themselves into various groups you work yourself up As one group begins to talk about the other group and then the other group begins to talk about the other group everybody adds their little thing and everybody gets more and more riled up. Everything is done in secret and everyone is getting riled up and then suddenly it all bursts out in the early church.

on the day of Pentecost, there was something like, they believe, 70 different languages that were being spoke at that time. If you read the list of those Jews that had come from multiple areas, it was something like 17 different places that the Jews had come from to meet on the day of Pentecost and the day of Pentecost when Peter was preaching and the Holy Spirit moved amongst that vast congregation there were people who were saved from as I said 17 different locations and all of these people are now brought into one place, into one church

What happens when you get a great group of people all from different areas trying to live with one another and to worship with one another? You get fractions. People tend to go to the people that they're more comfortable with. The churches where there is the majority one family who have that problem. That family tends to stick together and then isolates the other people. When we were in Kenya there were churches that were just based upon language group tribes. So you had a church that was this tribe, another church down the road that would belong to another tribe and they would only speak in their own language so that anybody else who went there couldn't understand what was being said and so it created a fraction, a separation. nobody felt they could go to that church because that was for that tribe, that was for that people and it would be the same as it comes down into our level, these churches that are one family. other people attending feel uncomfortable, they feel separated.

And so every effort must be made not to break down these barriers, to break down these fractions and these murmurings that may take place under the surface. And as this church had these fractions, these people felt neglected. Do you think how quickly this took place? How quickly after the Holy Spirit of God moved on the day of Pentecost and as the number of disciples was being multiplied and then immediately problems come. The devil hates unity. The devil always wants to divide and to bring some divisive thing into a church to separate and to bring problems. And it was just down to the daily ministration of the widows. The devil can use something like that to bring about a separation. They can gather together, well, how come Mrs. So-and-so is being looked after and I'm not being looked after? And then another one says, well, yeah, I'm not being looked after either. And they gather together and they begin to speak and speak and speak. and that divide becomes greater and greater and greater and greater and then there's a major problem.

In the book of Corinthians there the Corinthian church had its problems. There was a division. 1 Corinthians 1, verse 10, Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you speak the same thing, that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. For it has been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the household of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul, and I of Apollos, and I of Cephas, or Peter, and I of Christ. Is Christ divided? And so there was this division that crept into the church at Corinth. They were divided over the ministers. I've been saved by Apollos, I've been saved by Paul, I've been saved by Peter and others saying I'm of Christ and so it brought division and separation. The church was divided because of ministers and people boasting about who they had been converted about.

he said, isn't it, of the man who was used in the salvation of Charles Spurgeon. That nobody knew who he was. Because otherwise it would be some reason for boasting that I was the one that was used in the salvation of Charles Spurgeon. And people gather around things, foolish things like that. I was saved by this minister, I was saved by that minister. What does Paul say? Is Christ divided? These are just men that are used in the instrument of the Lord Jesus Christ to proclaim the truth of the word of God. He says, I beseech you that there be no divisions among you.

And so the early church right at the beginning is a division over physical things. The Corinthian church has its division over the ministers. And then the other problem in chapter five, it is reported commonly that there is fornication among you and such fornication as is not much named among the Gentiles. And so these people who are all born again of the spirit of God, who have been baptized, who have joined themselves together in a church order, yet we find there are problems. But we see the apostles are given wisdom in how to deal with those problems.

The Twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them and says, It is not reason that we should leave the Word of God and serve tables. 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. But we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the Word of God.

The Church did not belong to the apostles. The church belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ. They are his witnesses. They are his body. It is him who has called them out and named them the church. They are the called out ones, the ones who have been separated and drawn out to himself. They're all different. all come from different backgrounds, they all have a different history, they all have different baggage that they carry with them but they are united by one thing, the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ has redeemed them and saved them and brought them from nature's darkness into the most marvellous light. They are sinners but they are sinners that have been saved, as Keith said to us on Wednesday, sinners saved, I can't remember, by the grace of God.

And they are a variety of people, as we see on the day of Pentecost. Although they were Jews, yet they came from multiple places. But then as the gospel goes to Samaria the Samaritans who were hated by the Jews were seen as dogs would be bypassed. They also received the Holy Spirit and were saved. Then as the gospel advances and the Gentiles are brought in All these people that were once enemies, that hated each other, that were despised by each other, are suddenly united by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and are brought into this one true church, the assembly of the saints, the body of the Lord Jesus Christ.

They have a multitude of backgrounds, they have various problems, and various characters but they are united because of the Lord Jesus. Romans 15 tells us something of the characteristics of these people that should be in this church or in the church. We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let every one of us please his neighbour, for it is good to edification, for even Christ pleased not himself but as it is written the reproaches of them that reproach me fell on me and so the nature of those that are within this church who have been transformed by the Spirit of God although sinful and although from various backgrounds and though with various baggage with various problems and with various characters they are united by Christ Jesus they're brought together by Christ Jesus by his Spirit and that their attitude is the attitude of meekness, that those who are strong in the faith are to bear the infirmities of the weak.

And so the apostles, moved by the Spirit of God, sought to react to a problem that had manifested itself in that early church. by seeking to take that mindset that to love our neighbor as ourself to deem others greater than ourselves yet to hold that mandate that I am to go into all the world and to preach the gospel how are we going to combine these two things? How am I going to give myself to prayer and to the meditation of the word and to the ministry of the word yet because the physical needs of the people are being neglected and now because of that neglect there is a division that has come into the church. That church belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is not divided but he is united. How are we going to deal with it? And so they had a problem that they had to deal with and they had to react to it for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. This mixed people should become united and not to be divided because of a small non-spiritual thing. So they gathered themselves together they had a church meeting. This is the problem and what are we going to do about it? said we can't leave the Word of God and serve tables. Brethren look out among yourselves seven men of honest report full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom who we may appoint over this business. That was there, that's how the Spirit of God caused them to make a decision. He guided their thoughts

We need other men to help us. If you remember Moses when Moses sat from morning until night trying to deal with the people his father-in-law comes to him and says you're going to kill yourself you're going to wear yourself out the work is too hard for you can't do it by yourself listen to me and I'll give you some wisdom. Divide the camp Give rulers over 10, over 50, over 100, over 1,000. Separate the work and the case that is too big for all of these people, bring those ones unto yourself. Maybe they got the thought from there. The Spirit of God guided their minds. We've got to use wisdom. We can't do all of the work ourselves.

So they looked for these seven men. from this problem came the blueprint for the church, the structure of the church. From this argument between two people between two people groups, the Grecians and the Hebrews. From this problem that faced the early church comes the mandate for every single local church that will ever exist after, that there would be pastors and deacons. You see God sometimes allows things to get out of hand so that he can manifest his glory and that decisions can be made which will shape our lives and the life of the church for years and years to come. A problem may arise and that problem may have to be dealt with but that sets the precedent for the next and the next time and the next time. And so as they made these decisions, separate seven men. They may be given to the physical needs and service of the people And then we have it written in 1 Timothy 3 that it is now the criteria for every single church that Timothy is to, as he plants. It tells us there. But if I tarry long, 1 Timothy chapter 3. But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, or the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.

You see, the church, it's not just a social club where we all come together and we can do what we want. It has a mandate that has been given to us by God himself. This church does not belong to James, does not belong to David, does not belong to Keith, Edwin or Tom. It belongs to Jesus Christ, the head of the church, and therefore we cannot do as we please. We cannot structure this church as we feel like it should be structured. It must be founded upon the truth of the word of God. It is the pillar of the truth. What is truth? Thy word is truth. And so as we look around us and as we see the Church of England chucking the scripture out completely and doing whatever they feel to be right, It is indeed the church of England because it's not the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's the church of a crooked and a perverted generation that has lost its way completely.

You see if you start taking this Bible and start saying no no we don't need that anymore. No no we don't need that anymore. You've lost your foundation. you can then do whatever you want because you have no grounding for your truth.

If you say it's okay for a woman to take up position as a bishop, you've gone completely against the scripture because nowhere in scripture does it allow for a woman to step into a pulpit or to become a pastor or become a bishop or whatever Sarah Mulaney is.

The Bible tells us here that the bishop must be the husband of one wife. So immediately it points to a man, one that rules his own household well, having his children in subjection with all gravity. it is a position of a man and as soon as you begin to cut out sections of the scripture you've lost your foundation

you say this isn't the word of God this is the word of man. God's word is unchanging he cannot go back on himself he cannot say that the Lord Jesus Christ is the final prophet and then arrives another prophet called Muhammad who then contradicts all of what the Lord Jesus Christ has said, it doesn't happen.

God's word does not alter, it does not change, it is the foundation of truth and the church, the church of the Lord Jesus Christ is the pillar and ground of that truth. That is what we are to declare, the truth of God's word and these pastoral epistles written to Timothy and Titus set out the foundation for how God's church, the church of the Lord Jesus Christ should be structured and ordered

so he says how you might behave yourself in the church of God. which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.

And so he sets it out that there is to be a bishop. A bishop is an overseer, one who has oversight of a local church. And it sets out his characteristics as a man. know it's a high calling to be a minister of the Lord Jesus Christ to stand in a pulpit and to say that I've been ordained by Christ to preach the word and I desire to preach the truth that we're not to be We're to be the husband of one wife, we're to be vigilant, we're to be sober of good behavior, given to hospitality, able to preach, not given to wine, not a striker, not greedy, but patient, not a fighter, not covetousness, not covetous, and to look at our families, and to see, is he able to rule his family? If he can rule his family well, having his children under subjection while they live under his roof. I don't think you can judge a man by when his children have passed 18 and they leave the nest and they go out into the world and do what they want to do. But it's ones who are living under his roof that he's able to conduct his family well and rule them with authority. There is that criteria by which we are to be examined and if we fall short of that then we should not be in the ministry.

A bishop, the other words for it are pastor or a shepherd, an elder all denoting or depicting the nature of his work. But then there is the deacon who it is a pastor and a deacon, the one who serves. He deals with the physical needs of the people as the early church had its problems and the deacon was placed there to deal with the physical needs of the people. The practical support that is needed. But it's not limited to. It is not limited to practical only. Maybe Edwin and Tom go and visit somebody and they're there to deal with some practical issue and that person has a spiritual question. They're not to say well I can't answer that's above my pay grade. No. The deacon deals with also practical but because he is a man of God because he is a man who is filled with the spirit of God and wisdom he is able to deal with the spiritual needs of the people as well.

Look at Stephen We saw how Stephen, after he had been ordained as a deacon, as he'd been separated for that work and prayed over, we see that he did great wonders and miracles among the people. He was both the practical and spiritual aspect to the work. We see that his face shone like an angel as he reasoned with them from the Old Testament regarding the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at Philip. Philip also, as we read, was separated for the work of a deacon. We find Philip being called by God and going into the desert to meet with the eunuch and there he expounded the scripture unto him and preached to him Jesus. And so although the main title of their work is a work of service, yet they're not unable to have any spiritual aspect to that work.

Also one difference with deacons and elders or preachers is that it speaks about their wives. In the role of a bishop it just mentions that he must keep his household well. But in the role of a deacon it says even so must their wives be grave or serious, not slanderous, sober, faithful in all things. And so part of the work of a deacon as he deals with the practical needs of the people there may be that role for his wife to also deal in the practical needs of the females of the church. There are certain practical needs that men can't deal with. And so the wife of the deacon is able to stand in and to be the bridge between the gender gap and to deal with things that are needed. So it is there for both Gemma and in our church Gemma and Esther. they also need our prayers that they also may be able to fulfill that office as they assist their husband in that work of a deacon's wife.

And so we see from the problem that fell out in the early church these seven men were separated for this work so that God could take care of both body and soul You see when we are saved the Lord doesn't just, he doesn't separate us body and soul and save your soul and leave the body. He saves us as a whole man. The scripture says fear him that is able to cast both body and soul into hell. And so in his church the church that he calls his bride. He has both prepared men who are able to deal with both the spiritual and the physical needs of his people.

And so the church is for sinful, imperfect people. Our perfection comes from the Lord Jesus Christ. None of us are perfect. We're all sinners saved by grace. We are seeking to love the Lord more and more and more. We are seeking to obey Him. We are seeking to fight against ongoing sin.

Every single believer does battle daily with self, with sin and with Satan and the world. We're all struggling Every single believer is struggling, has problems in life that we have to deal with. We can bring them to the Lord. We can bring them to those men that he has placed into the church. If you go outside of our denomination and you speak to people, they're often going to their pastor with problems. Pastor, can you help with this? We've got this problem here. They're often using their deacons.

but in our denomination it's just seen as spiritual only but God in his wisdom has provided a means for both spiritual and physical in his church so that the whole man, the whole woman can be cared for as we struggle, as we battle on this narrow way that leads to life looking unto the Lord Jesus Christ and so God here out of the sin of the early church provided a mandate by which all of his local churches were going to be governed by pastor and elders and deacons, spiritual and physical needs of his people cared for and to be dealt with so that nobody could feel to be neglected and if we do feel to be neglected then we're to remember that we're to act in the spirit of meekness and to acknowledge that all of us are struggling in the same battles of sin. None of us are perfect and we're to go and use the criteria the Lord Jesus Christ gave us when somebody sins against us instead of having secret meetings. Bring it to the surface. Go and speak to the person and let the matter be dealt with.

In those days when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose murmurings among the Grecians and against the Hebrews because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration. And the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God and serve tables, Wherefore brethren look ye out among yourselves seven men of honest report full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom who we may appoint over this business but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the Word of God.

There's one verse here I wanted to read. verse 7. And the word of God increased and the number of disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly and a great company of priests were obedient to the faith. Well may we seek to structure ourselves according to the word of God and may we see moving of the Spirit of God we may witness that the Word of God increasing and the number of disciples multiplying for the Lord's honour and glory. Amen.

Our final hymn this morning is from Gadsby, 766, to the tune 684.

766. Sovereign grace or sin abounding,
Ransomed souls are tidings swell,
Tis a deep that knows no sounding,
Who its breadth or length can tell,
On its glories, on its glories,
that my soul forever dwell.

766. You're gonna be okay. Sounded foolish prayers.
? And thy everlasting bands ?
? Must in him, in him forever ?
? As eternal covenant stands ?
? None shall pluck thee, none shall pluck thee ?
? From the strength for Israel's hands ?

Long e'er time its grace begun,
To His name eternal praises,
O what wondrous love has done.
Born with Jesus, born with Jesus,
day was lost in holy wonder,
why our Lord's love not to me?
Alleluia, alleluia,
praise shall Almighty God

and loving Heavenly Father, we give Thee thanks for Thy Word and we pray, Lord, that Thou help us to submit to its authority, keep us from tearing out pages and things that we don't like, but Lord, help us to know the truth and that the truth will set us free. We pray, Lord, that thou help us here as a church to order ourselves, that we may know how to behave ourselves in the house of God, which is the church of the true and living God. And we ask, Lord, that thou give us all the wisdom and ability that we need to live a life for thy honour and for thy glory. Forgive us, we pray, of our sin. Do make up where we fail. And now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father, with the fellowship and the communion of the Holy Spirit, to be with you each now and for evermore. Amen.