Three Assaults of the Evil One

In one paragraph

This message worked through Acts 6:1-15, tracing three ways the enemy tries to disrupt the life of the church: persecution, hypocrisy, and murmuring. Pastor Cameron opened by connecting what the early church faced to what believers face today, and closed with the account of Stephen's arrest as evidence that when one scheme fails, the pressure only increases. Jesus said in Matthew 16 that He would...

Read together

1. Matthew 16 Jesus said he would build his church and the gates of hell would not prevail against it
2. Acts 3-4 persecution after Peter healed the beggar, apostles arrested and told not to speak in Jesus's name
3. Acts 6:1-7 main passage read aloud covering the murmuring of Greek speaking believers and the appointment of seven men to serve
4. Acts 6:8-15 Stephen full of grace and power performing miracles, then arrested after lying witnesses accused him of blasphemy
5. 2 Corinthians 2 cited for the phrase we are not ignorant of the devil's schemes
6. Ephesians 6 our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers
7. Matthew 18 the principle of going to someone alone first then with another brother before escalating a conflict

Talk about it

1. The pastor described persecution in the American context as often taking the form of social pressure rather than outright hostility. Where have you felt that kind of pressure, and how did you respond to it?
2. The pastor said hypocrisy is like putting on a mask, and that all of us have a capacity for self-deception, even to the point of out-Christianing one another. Can you think of a time when you were more concerned with looking right than being right, and what helped you see it?
3. The Greek word for the rumblings of discontent in Acts 6 is an onomatopoetic word that sounds like murmuring or whispering. The pastor said it is easier to murmur about a problem than to go directly to the person involved. What makes that direct conversation so hard, and what would make it easier?
4. The apostles responded to the murmuring by calling a meeting of all believers, listening to the complaint, and handing responsibility to seven trusted people from within the congregation. What do you think made that response effective, and what would it look like to handle a similar conflict that way today?
5. The pastor shared that the personal message he felt this sermon had for him was that he could not do everything, and that the thing God specifically asks each person to do is the thing God wants them to do. Is there something you sense God is calling you to do that you have been putting off or trying to fit around everything else?