Acts 6:6

They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.

The ministry of the “laying of hands” has been around since the early church. Praise God that it is still alive and well. There is something about laying hands on someone and praying for them. Do I believe that God can touch someone without laying hands on someone? Absolutely! However, when we touch someone, it’s as if we share in their burden…we partake of their passions…and we become one in spirit. We lay hands symbolically to convey a transfer of power, anointing, and blessing…but we also convey love, sympathy, and compassion.

Acts 6:1

In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.

The Church was growing by leaps and bounds and here is a lesson to be learned. Anytime an organization balloons in growth there are always going to be leadership gaps. The scripture says that the number of the disciples was increasing daily. More people equal more problems…and that is precisely what we see happening as widows are being overlooked…but before I address that…let’s look at the heart of what is happening here…

“The Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews…”

A Grecian Jew was someone that wasn’t born in Israel. They were born from another area and were sometimes looked at as lesser Jews. Obviously the Hebraic Jews were born in Israel and often paraded themselves as the authentic thing. So what you have here is prejudicial acts in the church. One race of people claiming to be better than the others…but listen are now under the blood of Christ trying to reconcile differences in the church…and here is the thing…that is going to breed problems…but the intentions here are great. God is breaking down barriers. Normally the Grecian Jews wouldn’t have attended a Hebraic synagogue because Grecian Jews speak Greek…Hebraic Jews spoke Aramaic. However, under the leadership of the Apostles we see some of the first ever bilingual services happening and we are seeing some of the problems that are in need of being worked out.

Last thing I want to look at here is the fact that there was some form of ministry that included distributing food to widows on a daily basis. The early church tackled the responsibility of taking care of widows, orphans, and the poor. Literally from the beginning…we’re only in chapter 6 here…there seems to be a ministry that helps people. That’s important. This is the heart of God. You’ve heard me say it over and over. My heart is helping people. I want to help the poor and downtrodden of our society. I want use our abundance of resources and supplies in an effort to grow the kingdom. I want to bring Jesus to the heart of the poor and needy…and so should you.

Jeremiah 1:19

Just started reading through Jeremiah yesterday...noticed this...

Acts 5:40-42

They took his advice; and after calling the apostles in, they flogged them and ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and then released them. So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name. And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.

Acts chapter 4 started with the healing of a crippled man lying helpless at the gate of the temple. It started spectacular. It started with momentum. Peter and John find themselves having an overnight stay in a jail cell because of it…but God delivered them and by the next day they are out.

Let me interject that we have an understanding that the world isn’t going to always get our message…as a matter of fact we are told by Jesus that they are going to hate us for it. So the apostles aren’t surprised when the religious sect that crucified Jesus throws them in jail. However, chapter 5 starts out with an internal issue in the church that doesn’t sit well with God and a harsh reality sets in on the church that God will reveal our hearts publically. Ananias and Sapphira die because their pride had swollen their eyes shut. God once again answers mightily and the church is saved from the inside out.

So the Word of God prevails and travels onward capturing the souls of men, women, and children from all over Jerusalem…but the religious elite are going down without a fight…so the apostles find themselves in jail again. This time, however, God sends an angel to deliver them…and once again they are out and about preaching the Gospel.

What is my point?

God anointed them to heal the sick…it lands them in jail…God delivers them. God exposes a married couple in the church as frauds and killed them dead as an example to others and saves the apostles from having to deal with the issue. The apostles continue to preach the Gospel which lands them in jail again…God delivers them in the form of sending an angel…

This time, however, they might have been spared a return to jail…but they took a beating.

Did you hear that? They were beaten…

God chose not to deliver them of the beating. Did they deserve it? No! Yet that didn’t move the hand of God.

There are some theologies out there today that actually make people think that they will never suffer…or that God is going to deliver them out of every circumstance. I don’t know where that comes from…but I know it has to end. Suffering is a great teacher…one that we don’t like…but it often reveals what is actually in our heart.

Probably one of the most notable people in the Bible associated with suffering is Job. Job suffered. If you know his story…then you know at the end of his suffering he makes this statement…

Job 42:5

“My ears had heard of you, but now my eyes have seen you.”

Job could tell you more about God than any of his friends…and in the end his friends have to rely on his knowledge of God to pray for them and seek God for them. Suffering is a great teacher…far greater than we give credit for…