It was a wonderful time in the early history of the Church when many sold their possessions and laid everything at the Apostles feet. You would think that this was ultimate peace and blessing for the Christian Church in its infancy. However, already in chapter five we have the story of Annanias and Sapphira who were not quite convinced that they should do it that way. Their sin was once of pretense and deception. Along with it was a "look" of faith that God could take care of them. They were not required to do this, yet they wanted to make it look like they were in agreement when in fact they weren't.
Now in chapter six, there is a new problem for this infant church. Whether it was real or supposed, there seemed to be partiality, a neglect to a certain group of widows. To fix this problem, seven men were chosen to administer to the needs of the widows and to see that everything was fair. This was the first group of men who are called Deacons in the Church of today. Out of these men, one whose name was Stephen seemed to be more outstanding than the rest. It was noted in verse eleven that he was full of faith and power. Of course we know that the power came from God's Holy Spirit. Men were in opposition but they were not able to resist him. There are times when we are used by the Spirit of God and we too might run into some kind of trouble. But God will take care of us if we stand firm for Him.
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