"The Acts of —"

Press, 17 July 1978, Page 9

"The Acts of —"

The only unfinished book in the Bible is the one which Luke wrote in 63 A.D. Acts". It contains the Acts of the Ascended and Glorified Lord Jesus Christ". In this book we see the risen and ascended Lord still living and working on by The Holy Spirit through His disciples. "Words concerning deeds" so aptly describes this book, which opens with preaching at Jerusalem the great ecclesiastical centre of the Jewish Nation, and closes with preaching in Rome, the then great centre of the world's power. We set out by saying that this book of "Acts" is unfinished. How can there be a complete account of a

person's life and work so long as he lives? Yes, that person who was, and is, and always shall be is Christ, God's only begotten Son. In "Acts" 6 we read of one of the outstanding characters of the early Church, Stephen. He was inded a radiant Christian whose character Luke marked as being a man full of faith, and of the Holy Spirit. No account is given of Stephen's conversion or of his coming into Christian fellowship. His name suggests that he was a Greek speaking Jew and no doubt received the Gospel direct from the early preaching of the Apostles at Jerusalem. It is remarkable that so soon after the

resurrection of Jesus there should have been need for seven men in charge of the distribution of relief to the widows of Greek speaking Jews. Another surprise is the early transformation of the Church from a Jewish movement to a fellowship composed almost exclusively of Gentiles. This change required a different leadership from that provided by the 12 Apostles. Naturally Jews and Gentiles were separated by the major barriers of race, geography and language, but Greek speaking Jews such as Stephen who had lived outside of Palestine had overcome part of their barriers and had learned to live with the Gentiles. When converted they readily adapted the message to a

Greek context and held it in readiness when the Spirit of God moved the Church to broaden its witness to the Gentiles. Stephen's insights were a significant contribution in this direction. Chapter 6 opens with the first strife in the early Church, "There arose a murmuring, of the Greeks against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected by a lack of sharing the essentials of life". Such a problem was not allowed to grow or fester, the Bible tells us. Then the twelve Apostles called the Church together

and said, "Look, select out from among yoursleves, brethren, seven men of honest report, full of The Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business". And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit. There is no mention of Stephen, or the others ever discharging the duties called for, but we do know that the Church multiplied, and no wonder with men that were honest, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom and it is these character essentials for the Church we shall discuss next Monday.