ACTS 6:7 The Bride's Wedding Preparations!

SERIES #11: ACTS OF THE APOSTLES - Witnesses to Jerusalem
TOPIC: Bride (of Christ); church health, church growth, faithfulness, persecution, Satan

TITLE: Bride’s Wedding Preparations - Satan’s Playpen!
TEXT: Acts 6:7 (1-7)

“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.”

[H. A. Ironside] In chapter six “we see … vividly Satan's two master methods by which … he has endeavored to hinder the progress of the work of God.

“In the first half … we see him endeavoring to hinder by inward dissension; in the other half by outward persecution (Stephan’s martyrdom) ….

“When dissension is checked within, then Satan's work is hindered without, and the work of God goes on in great power and blessing.” [Lectures on the Book of Acts, p. 151, 158]

[John R. W. Stott] “We’ve now seen … three tactics which the devil employed … to destroy the church.

“First, he tried through the Jewish authorities, to suppress it by force

Secondly through the married couple Ananias and Sapphira, to corrupt it by hypocrisy; and

Thirdly through some … widows to distract it … from prayer and preaching, and so expose it to error and evil.

“If he had succeeded in any of these attempts, the new community of Jesus [might] have been annihilated in its infancy.” [The Spirit, The Church, and The World, p. 124]

FOUNDATIONAL INQUIRY: How do we see the Bride's responses to the three tactics mentioned by Stott?
CONCISE OUTLINE

I. DURING THE PERIOD OF FORCE AND INTIMIDATION
II. DURING THE PERIOD OF CORRUPTION BY HYPOCRISY
III. DURING THE PERIOD OF INTERNAL DISSENSION

TRUTH CLAIMS/CONTEXT: Verses 1-6 describe a simple controversy within the bridal party. Verse 7 is the first of six supplemental postscripts proclaiming the bride’s vitality.

Before the arrival of the devil’s fiery darts there had been one other event worthy of note.

The Lord’s commission to the Bride in chapter one, verse eight …

“you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth."

The question, from the beginning, is the faithfulness of the Bride to the Bridegroom ...

How did she do in the time following:

“but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you” [1:8a]

“These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer” [1:14]

Then Peter preached and about 3000 were added that day [2:41]

Then Scripture says …

“They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles.…

“And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.”

Acts 2:42-43, 47b

FOUNDATIONAL INQUIRY: How do we see the Bride's responses to the three tactics of the devil mentioned by Stott?
EXPANDED OUTLINE

I. DURING THE PERIOD OF FORCE AND INTIMIDATION

First, the devil tried to use the Jewish authorities, to suppress her by force and intimidation (i.e., intimidation by civil and religious leaders).

Then arrives the intense persecution of Peter, John, and the lame beggar [Ch. 3, 4].

Satan looked to his bench and saw all of the religious leaders of the Temple and the City of Zion [3:5-6].

There's no question, great damage has been done to the Bride by the manhandling of religious leaders and civil authorities; but, in the end, it’s all about how the Bride responded to threats.

When I think of contemporary church leadership, it’s hard to get by those who’ve fallen this past year or two, or get beyond those preaching a perverted, powerless gospel.

A gospel without grace, shed blood, repentance, hell, and a risen Savior - this is not Good News!

It’s not just themselves who are hurt but their flocks and their families who suffer … innocents abound. Friends the Bride must be vigilant concerning her leaders …

So how did the "Authentic Church" do under this threat?

“But many of those who had heard the message believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.”

Acts 4:4

II. DURING THE PERIOD OF CORRUPTION BY HYPOCRISY

Secondly the devil tried to stop the Bride through Ananias and Sapphira; attempting to corrupt her by hypocrisy.

The whole world watches the Bride to see how she deals with issues and people; this was not less watched; the viper “hypocrisy” has buried not a few churches and church leaders.

How did things turn out for her?

“And great fear came over the whole church, and over all who heard of these things.”

“And all the more believers in the Lord, multitudes of men and women, were constantly added to their number …”

Acts 5:11, 14

The Bride is “in the world, but not of the world”; yet today she continues to become more and more like the world ... and in the process less and less powerful (unlike the authentic church in Acts).

Consider the two hypocrites, Ananias and Sapphira, here, holding back from the Lord; then consider the 3% to 10% reality of the Bride’s current tithing habits. Is our holding back any less condemning than theirs?

We are all deserving of a death sentence; remember, it’s all about the Bride’s response to threat.

III. DURING THE PERIOD OF INTERNAL DISSENSION

Thirdly the devil attacked through some Hellenist widows to distract her leaders … from prayer and preaching, and so expose her to error and evil.

How successful was he?

“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.”

Acts 6:7

Probably the most painful and damaging of all the devil’s devices are those “who spreads strife among brothers” [cf. Proverbs 6:16-19].

From Genesis to today we see Satan plying his trade in duplicity, backbiting, tale-bearing, guile, deceit, disbelief, dissemblance, gossiping, politics, manipulation, apostasy, and heresy.

In spite of the lessons of the history of the engagement period we see generation after generation of Christians walking in denial – NIMC ("Not In My Church"; a play on the colloquial acronym NIMB - "Not In My Backyard").

Well folks, these people belong to somebody’s church ... remember it’s all about how the Bride responds.

APPLICATION: In closing out his comments on this passage, Ironside asked his people …

“My brethren, is there not something here that ought to speak to every one of our hearts? Are you praying for a revival and blessing in the Church of God? Do you ever go into the presence of God and say, ‘Lord, revive me; is there something in me that hinders a revival; has this mouth of mine been working overtime to hinder the work of the Spirit of God?’

“If we have, we may all say, ‘God, give me grace to judge it in the presence of the Lord, that the Holy Spirit may have free course and the Word go forth with great power.”

More to the point, let’s contextualize this …

• Are there not “Hellenists” among us?
• Are there not needs here, in San Carlos, at this time, in this place with these people?
• Shouldn’t we “select from among [ourselves] men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of [these tasks]”?

Your elders and deacons will be looking for you to answer that question!

“is [it] desirable for [your leadership] to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables”?

CHALLENGE: The entire scope of today's message deals with the Bride’s preparation for the day her Bridegroom will come to take her to His Father’s house. And the question that must be answered is this: We know how she responded in the to those who would disrupt her preparations for that great day in the records of the early church - how is she responding today?

In every case, the Bride is seen growing in numbers, in strength, and in the fear of the Lord.

The record shows she had no need for revival, for every day she was living in real-time revival … ever wonder what that’s like? I do!

Acts, Bride, Christianity, Expository,
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