Men full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom chosen to be waiters to wait on food tables.

Acts 6:2-4

Click for a description of the mark of the beast.
Click for a description of the image of the beast.

“Then the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, “It is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables. Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business; but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” Acts 6:2-4

The “twelve” refers to the Twelve Apostles, who were all of the Twelve whom Jesus chose, minus Judas Iscariot who betrayed Him, plus Matthias who was chosen to replace Judas. Those twelve included, Matthias, Peter, Andrew, James [son of Zebedee], John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James [son of Alphaeus], Thaddeus [also known as Judas, not Iscariot], and Simon the Zealot. All twelve Apostles started out doing such things as being waiters and supervising the distribution of food. Their intent wasn’t to become world evangelists, they preached and taught the Gospel right where they were.

The twelve Apostles gathered the multitudes of the disciples who came to Jesus Christ to share a word with them. The Apostles said that they should not be serving tables [like restaurant waiters of today] at the expense of sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The decision of the Apostles arose after the complaints about how food was being administered to the multitudes. As followers of Jesus Christ, the most important job we will ever have is to be a witness of Jesus Christ that comes through our born-again experience. For the Apostles, they were led by the Holy Spirit to spread the testimony of Jesus Christ to all the world, not to be restrained within boundaries of managing the distribution of food. As it turned out, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is now on every continent of the world because the Apostles knew through the Holy Spirit what God was leading them to do.

All of the Apostles were martyred, except for John, who died of old age on the Isle of Patmos. John wrote the book of Revelations on the Isle of Patmos [Revelations 1:9], wrote the Gospel of John, and wrote 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd John. As part of our life of Holiness, we are willing to suffer and die for our Lord Jesus Christ, this is the work of sanctification that the Holy Spirit does within us. We may not be able to work as waiters in a restaurant, or other such jobs, if God has something else for us to do. But wherever the Spirit leads us we lift up the name of our Lord Jesus Christ because that is the work of the Holy Spirit within us.

Having followers of Jesus working as restaurant waiters is very important for the spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Those chosen from the multitudes of the disciples were seven men full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom and of a good reputation. They were appointed over the business of food distribution to handle such complaints as what arose in the previous post on Acts 6:1. Humbleness is part of our Holiness to be willing to work in whatever job, occupation, or circumstances we are led to work in. In whatever circumstances, the work of the Holy Spirit in us is to shine with the Light of our Lord Jesus Christ. We may not all lose our life for Jesus Christ, but we all have a job to do to lift up His name in this atheistic and hostile world. Our Lord Jesus said that a day will come, and seems to be here today, that no one will be able to work to spread His Gospel, “I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” John 9:4-5

The Apostles gave themselves continually to prayer and the ministry of the Word while the “seven” waited on tables. They were all full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom as the Gospel of Christ spread far and wide from local communities to all around the world, as we see today.

The beast with power over physiology to give people what to speak, do, think, and feel opposes God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Today’s culture despises people who are vocal at the workplace about Jesus, the Christ, “Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” Revelations 13:6-8 The “he” in this verse is the beast of the image and mark of the beast.

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“….to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets,“
‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’”
“I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”
Revelation 2:24-25, 3:11