And the saying pleased the whole multitude and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and [the] Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte of Antioch,
The first quarrel inside the young church ended with seven men chosen to hand out food each day. Their names tell one story, and their choice raises a question: who picks a servant, and who appoints him?
The murmuring in verse 1 came from the Greek-speaking Jews against the native Hebrews. Now look at whose names fill verse 5.
The grace shown by the apostles met a remarkable answer in the crowd. All the names are Greek, which points to a Greek-speaking background. It seems they chose every one of the seven from the Greek-speaking believers — the very group that had complained against the Hebrews. Was not this grace enough to make the suspicious ashamed? No one arranged a balance of parties or a fair share of places, the way business habits or a courtroom would suggest.
We would probably arrange it differently: "A modern day church meeting would have proposed to elect a committee composed of equal numbers of the two parties. But not so here" (Arno Clemens Gaebelein).
The apostles had asked for three things in verse 3. The exact wording matters.
The disciples accepted the advice, and quickly found seven men with those qualifications and elected them unanimously. Being "of good repute" was one qualification for the service: the testimony and judgment of other people counted. "Full of the Holy Spirit" was another qualification: full, not filled — which marks the person's general way of life. Full "of wisdom" — this was the third suggested qualification. Of two of the seven — Stephen and Philip — the writer of Acts will have more to tell us. The others who here come on the scene do not appear on the face of the narrative again.
Stephen alone gets a description in this list: full of faith and of the Holy Spirit. That pairing has an order to it.
Christian qualities mark him in a striking way. Scripture calls him a man "full of faith and of the Holy Spirit", "full of grace and power", and marked by "wisdom" (Acts 6:5, 8, 10). These are the outstanding marks of a Christian. Faith must come first. But once we have believed the gospel of our salvation, God seals us with the Holy Spirit. Having the Spirit, we are told to "be filled with the Spirit". If we are filled with the Spirit, grace will mark us — grace that meets every evil in the spirit of Christ. So will power to rise above every circumstance, and wisdom to meet all opposition.
The believers themselves picked the seven. Commentators draw a line between that and how preachers and teachers come to their work.
The Christian crowd gave the money, so the apostles left them free to choose the men who would hand it out. This was as wise as it was gracious. The apostles kept away from anything that looked like favouritism, and stuck to their own work with prayer, which is the condition of power... Where the saints gave, they chose by their best judgment the right men to use what they gave... But they never interfered with the ministers of the word. The Lord gave those, not the church.
Choosing was not the whole of it. The seven were set before the apostles, "and if all chose, none but the apostles appointed them over the business, secular as it was" (William Kelly).
The seven chosen here were then brought to the apostles, and the hands laid on them in verse 6 go back to an Old Testament custom.
Notice too that once "the seven" had been chosen, they came before the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them as a sign of fellowship with their appointment. Laying on of hands was an old sign of blessing (Gen. 48:14), above all of official recognition (Num. 27:23), or of handing someone over to God's grace (Acts 13:3, Acts 14:26).
Serving tables sounds like a minor errand. Two of these seven show what it led to.
The service of a deacon might seem a very small matter, but nothing in God's service is really small... You can see this in the later history of two men named in Acts 6:5. Stephen went on to become the first Christian martyr. Philip became a much used preacher of the gospel — the only man in Scripture called an evangelist (see Acts 21:8). Every true servant of God has begun with small and humble things, so none of us should look down on them or avoid them, though that is our natural tendency.
- Grace, not balance. All seven names are Greek. The men came from the very group that had complained — not a balanced committee, but generosity that shamed suspicion.
- Full, not filled. Good repute, the Holy Spirit and wisdom describe a settled way of life, not a burst of feeling.
- Faith first. In Stephen, faith comes first. The Spirit follows, and His marks are grace, power and wisdom.
- Chosen below, appointed above. Those who gave the money chose men they trusted. The apostles prayed, laid hands on them and appointed them. But no one chose the ministers of the word — the Lord gives those.
- Small work, large outcome. Stephen went from serving tables to dying as the first martyr, and Philip became an evangelist. Every true servant starts small.
whom they set before the apostles; and, having prayed, they laid their hands on them.
The believers had chosen seven men to look after the widows who were missing out on the daily distribution. Now they bring those seven to the twelve apostles. What follows takes half a verse: prayer, then hands. Christendom has copied the act ever since, and has often misused it.
The believers made the choice, but the appointing belonged to someone else.
Ministry in the Word needed no apostolic authorisation. Ministers of the Word are gifts from the ascended Christ to men (Ephesians 4:11-12), and God Himself sets them in the assembly (1 Corinthians 12:28)... Filling an office such as elder or deacon was another matter: it needed apostolic authority, direct or indirect. So the apostles told the assembly to select the men "whom we may appoint over this business." We should mark the we here. It spoke of an authority which none of the company except the apostles could exercise... Here we have the first ordination in the Christian Church — an ordination, we repeat, not to preach, but to carry out the office of serving tables.
Those who gave the money could name the men who would hand it out. Elders were a different case.
The whole body of believers chose the seven at Jerusalem, who served as deacons, and then the apostles appointed them. This election by the church does not apply to elders. Every scripture that deals with the appointment of elders makes that plain: it lay with the apostles alone, or with deputies they had openly authorised... Where Christians gave of their money, they were free to choose men they trusted to hand it out.
Acts does not explain the gesture, so commentators look at where the Bible first uses it.
In the opening chapters of Leviticus we read how the man bringing an offering was to lay his hand on the head of it. Of the peace offering we read: "He shall lay his hand on the head of his offering." This meant that the Israelite identified himself with the offering. And that is what the apostles meant by laying on their hands. They identified themselves and the assembly with them in the work for which they had been chosen. It was a very simple and appropriate act to show their fellowship with them.
Notice the order: the apostles pray first, and only then do they lay hands on the seven.
The laying on of hands showed identification with their service. No one should do this lightly or in a hurry (1 Timothy 5:22). Even the apostles saw that they needed God's guidance in prayer before they committed to it. In the same way, in Acts 13 they prayed and fasted first. Only then did they lay hands on Saul and Barnabas, who had just been called to do the Lord's work.
Two of the seven — Stephen and Philip — later preached with power and worked miracles. Did the hands laid on them here qualify them for that?
If someone says he was officially set apart, the answer is that it was to serve tables, not to preach the word of God. The whole point of the office was that the twelve, freed from care about this business, could give themselves to prayer and the ministry of the word. Philip preached with power, Stephen argued with irresistible wisdom, and both worked miracles. None of that came from an appointment which covered the daily distribution and nothing else.
Scripture says plainly that hands were laid on these men. It never says the same about elders. Kelly thinks hands were probably laid on elders too, yet he takes the silence of the record as deliberate.
Probably a similar laying on of hands took place when elders were appointed... But Scripture says nothing about it. That silence seems meant to guard believers from the deadly routine of superstitious form that has spread over Christendom, dishonouring the Lord and harming rule... How weak is the foundation of church pride! How perfect is the word of God, both in what it says and in what it leaves unsaid!
Later generations attached claims to the act that Acts 6 never made.
Christendom has copied this apostolic action and badly misused it, claiming that it hands a man a status and passes on spiritual blessing. Treated instead as a simple recognition and mark of fellowship in service, it would be a scriptural act.
- Chosen — the believers who gave the money named the men they trusted. The choice came from the whole company, not from the leaders.
- Presented — the believers set the seven before the apostles, because only the apostles held the authority to appoint.
- Prayed — the apostles asked God first. Even they would not lay hands on a man in a hurry.
- Identified — the hands said "we are with you in this," like the worshipper's hand on his offering. They did not say "we now give you power."
- Limited — the appointment covered the daily distribution and nothing more. Stephen's wisdom and Philip's preaching came from somewhere else.
And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples in Jerusalem was very greatly multiplied, and a great crowd of the priests obeyed the faith.
The apostles have just appointed seven men to settle a complaint inside the young church, and Luke pauses to report the result. Two questions arise: how can the word of God itself "increase," and why does Luke single out the priests?
The complaint itself opened the way to something larger.
The field was about to be enlarged; and although it was only a poor root of man's complaints that led to this fresh line of action, God was moving over it all. He could use these seven, and would give some of them a good degree, as we find in Stephen soon and in Philip later. But He marked it in another way too, which showed His approval. Despite the murmuring, "the word of God continued to increase," and "the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem." A new feature appears as well — "a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith."
Words do not multiply; people do. Scripture still ties the two together.
So it says "the word of God continued to increase" (Acts 6:7), and the connection is "the number of the disciples multiplied greatly." Similarly, "the word of God increased and multiplied" (Acts 12:24). These passages mark the mighty effect of His word made known through preaching. The effect produced is identified with its source.
"The faith" here names a body of truth, and one writer explains why it carries that name.
"The faith" is the whole body of truth that God has revealed in connection with the Lord Jesus Christ. It has not yet been set up in any visible or public way. It is "the truth," but since at present only faith can grasp it, it is "the faith." That faith is now being announced among the nations. Out of them God is gathering a people for His Name. They show themselves to be His by yielding the obedience of faith to "the faith" when they hear it.
The obedience meant is not first of all a changed lifestyle.
The letter to the Romans calls this the "obedience of faith." It does not mean the practical obedience that faith produces in daily life. It means the first act of believing God's word. This is really the heart's obedience. It is the person's obeying the truth, the soul's acceptance of God's testimony to His Son.
Some scholars have found this detail so unlikely that they tried to remove it from the text.
It is painful to note how ready learned men are to fend off and cut down the wonders of God's grace. Some would change the text; others would change the only proper sense of the last clause. Either way, the aim is to get rid of this great work among the priests. Is anything too hard for the Lord? Were priests alone a hopeless class?
Their conversion cost them something, and gained them more.
Luke mentions a great company of priests among those brought in. This was no light matter. The high priest and other leading priests were bitterly opposed to the name of Jesus. Confessing Him would no doubt end their official position as priests. But they would learn later that they had a better priesthood, shared with all the beloved saints of God (1 Peter 2:4-5) — not official, but spiritual and real.
Commentators differ on how soon that break came.
We have no ground to conclude that they had yet paused their priestly duties in the temple at all. Rather, the truth gave them more zeal and care in carrying them out. The call to go out to Jesus outside the camp, bearing His reproach, came much later — only shortly before the destruction of Jerusalem.
The scene looked like a nation on the verge of turning back to God.
It looked most promising when the word of God grew as an object of faith and a distinct power among men. The disciples multiplied so greatly in the city of solemn feasts itself, and the very priests were now flocking in... But the truth was that God was only separating to the name of Jesus those of His ancient people who should be saved. This came before He sent His armies, destroyed the murderers of His servants, and burned up their city according to the word of the Lord.
- Word first. Scripture credits the growth to the word of God; the effect carries the name of its source.
- Word freed. A complaint led to the appointing of seven men, and God used it to enlarge the field.
- Word obeyed. "The faith" is the revealed body of truth about Christ; obeying it begins with the heart accepting God's testimony to His Son.
- Word reaching. It reached even the priests, whose leaders fought the name of Jesus — proof that no class is hopeless, though it cost them their office.
- Word separating. God was not turning a nation around. He was gathering a people to the name of Jesus before judgment fell on the city.
And Stephen, full of grace and power, wrought wonders and great signs among the people.
Acts 6 opens with a practical problem. Seven men are chosen to serve tables and care for the widows. Then one of them steps into a far greater work. Where did Stephen's power come from, and why did it stir such fury?
The words used of Stephen describe character before they describe activity. Hamilton Smith reads the three descriptions given in this chapter as a portrait of what any believer should look like.
Christian qualities mark him in a striking way. Scripture calls him a man "full of faith and of the Holy Spirit," "full of grace and power," and marked by "wisdom" (Acts 6:5, 8, 10). These are the outstanding marks of a Christian. Faith must come first. But once we have believed the gospel of our salvation, God seals us with the Holy Spirit. Having the Spirit, we are told to "be filled with the Spirit." If we are filled with the Spirit, we should show the grace that meets every evil in the spirit of Christ, the power to rise above every circumstance, and the wisdom to meet all opposition.
Stephen held no leading position. The church had given him a lowly task, and its highest authorities were all in the city. That is what makes this verse remarkable.
Even in those days the church shone in order and beauty as never since. The highest authorities God ever set in the church were all there. Yet we see His sovereign grace acting in a man with no other title than what grace gave him. He was not even a bishop or elder; he had been set apart with others to a serious but lowly service. Yet we find him soon after described as full of "grace" (not "faith" only) and power, working great marvels and signs among the people. There was no jealousy in that day of grace and power: for all who could and did glorify the Lord there was room and welcome.
Nobody sent Stephen out to this work. Darby points to who the Spirit chose for the last testimony, and where the authority for it did not lie. Hellenists were Greek-speaking Jews.
Notice here the free power of the Holy Spirit. No one else sent him to this work, as happened with the apostles, whom Christ Himself appointed. It is not authority in the apostles, it is not in the Jews of Palestine. He distributes to whom He will. It is the godly and devoted Hellenist who gives the last testimony to the heads of the nation.
Until now in Acts, the apostles had done the wonders and signs. Stephen breaks that pattern, and Philip after him. Neither did so because of the job the church gave him.
That divine energy had nothing to do with his being one of "the seven." That role was only to serve tables and care for the widows. Until now the hands of the apostles had worked many wonders and signs (Acts 2:43; Acts 5:12). Now Stephen did the same in Jerusalem, and Philip later in Samaria (Acts 6:8; Acts 8:6-7)... But his power in handling God's word was great. It roused the determined opposition of others, as it must in such a world as this, where His word pierces the conscience.
Kelly weighs the signs against Stephen's speech and says which went deeper.
Stephen was doing great marvels and signs (v. 8) to the glory of the rejected but exalted Christ, the Second Man in heaven. Yet the wisdom and the Spirit that enabled him to speak (v. 10) were a reality still deeper and more blessed. The one might arrest anyone, but no adversary could withstand the other.
What begins here as wonders among the people ends before the council. Gaebelein traces the parallels with Jesus right through.
He was filled with the Spirit, full of faith and power. Like the Lord, he did great wonders and miracles among the people. Like Christ, they charged him falsely with speaking against Moses, the law and the temple, and with being a blasphemer. They brought him before the same council and did what they did with the Lord, bringing false witnesses against him... May the same power transform us all into the same image.
- Grace first. Stephen's power rests on what he was full of: grace received, not rank held.
- Grace gives the title. He was neither apostle nor elder — his only credential was what grace had given him.
- Grace flows freely. The Spirit gives as He will, choosing a table-server for signs the apostles alone had done until now.
- Grace speaks. The wonders could arrest people; the wisdom and Spirit in his speech no opponent could resist.
- Grace conforms. The fullness that gave him power also made him like his Master — the same false witnesses, the same council.