Acts chapter number six. Let's look at verse number five together. We realize that the early church was expanding mightily. We realize that God was blessing. We realize that the preachers was preaching and they needed some help. And here in Acts chapter number six, they set aside some men to be deacons and to be servants in the churches. And there's an individual here that we want to look at, and pray that God will help us. Verse five, and the saying pleased the whole multitude, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost. Look at verse number eight, and Stephen, full of faith and power. did great wonders and miracles among the people. Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and the Cyrenians, the Alexandrians, and of them of Sicily and Asia, disputing with Stephen. And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit By which he spake. And then we see that the council was brought together and they begin to question. And they begin to bring up false witnesses. And they begin to look at Stephen and examine him. Notice verse 15. And all that sat in the council, looking steadfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel. I'm interested this morning in Stephen. I'm interested in this man and who he was and what he did. I'd ask you to keep your Bibles open this morning because we will continue in chapter number seven, where Stephen begins to preach a message to this council and to each one that was there. Dear Heavenly Father, we love You, we thank You for loving us. I pray, God, that You would bind the powers of the evil one. I pray that Your Spirit would have free course in this service today. I thank You for the blood. I thank You for all that You've done. I thank You for all that You're doing, and I want to go ahead and thank You for all that You're going to do. I pray for every man, every woman, and every young person in this service. God, that You'd keep a hedge of protection around this place. But God, I pray You'd speak to our hearts. I pray that nothing would hinder. I pray the Holy Spirit would not be quenched. But God, that You would move in a mighty way, and we'll thank You and we'll praise You for all that You do, for it's in Jesus. For it's in Jesus' name we pray, amen. Thank you so much. You may be seated. I'm noticing here, Stephen, when you study his name, his name simply means a Christian. But not only does Stephen's name mean a Christian, it also means a crown. As I'm studying here on the life of Stephen in verse number five, the Bible says that Stephen was a man. But not only was Stephen a man, the Bible says he was a man that was full of faith. When you study that phrase in the Bible, being full of faith, it means full of persuasion. It means a man, hear this now, of moral convictions. It means a man that stands with the truth of God's Word. And also, when you study this name by the name of Stephen, a man full of faith, it tells us that he is a teacher. But more than anything, Stephen, a man full of faith. It means this, that he has put reliance and 100% trust in Jesus Christ for his salvation. Amen? The man, Stephen, full of faith. How will you and I be men and women of faith? How will you and I grow in our faith? The Bible teaches us in the book of Romans chapter number 10, in verse number 17, so then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God, amen? If you and I have a desire to have faith, if you and I have a desire to be full of faith, Then it's very simple this morning, we need to be men and women of the Word of God. Amen? We need to look at the Scriptures. We need to study the Scriptures. We need to spend time in the Scriptures. And you and I need to know the Scriptures. If you're with me so far, say amen. Amen. Stephen, a man full of faith. Then it says it again, I've always been told if the Bible says it one time, it's important. But if it says it two or three times, you better really pay attention to what it's saying. Look in verse number eight. And Stephen, it says it again, full of faith, but it goes on and says in power, and he did great wonders and miracles. Among the people Stephen a man full of faith Stephen a man full of power Stephen a man who done great wonders force and miracles and you might ask me this morning pastor what some of the miracles that Stephen did we don't have a list of them and I don't know that the Bible records them, but I'll say this to you. It don't really matter what the list is. All that we need to know is, is Stephen was a man full of faith. Stephen was a man full of power. Stephen was a man that did mighty miracles. Amen? And I'm so thankful for that this morning. I pray that there would be someone in this service that would pray and ask the Lord, Lord, help me to be a man like Stephen. Amen? Amen, not only that we see that there was some groups that came against Steven There was some people that probably shook their head. No, there was some people that didn't like what Steven was doing There was some people that probably didn't like what Steven was saying and we see right here It gives us a list of these it was the Libertines. That was those that was the ancestors. It was carried captive by Rome It was a serenians the city of North Africa. We see the Alexandrians the The African Hebrews, we see the Sicilians and the Asians as Paul, a native of Tarsus in Sicilia. And all of these groups was so messed up with Stephen. All of these groups was so upset with him. And they came that day to investigate him, to see what he was doing, to see what he was saying, to see what he was all about. And I'm so thankful that Stephen, All I can say right now is amen, amen? All I can say is thank you, Jesus. All I can say is God is good and He knows what He's doing. And I thank Him and I praise Him and I lift up His holy name today, amen? Everybody stay focused, God is moving. Don't nobody get distracted, God is moving. Don't let the enemy distract you, God is moving. Don't let the devil get you all messed up, because God is moving, and he's wanting to do something in his service. Can I say to you, greater is he that is in us, than he that is in the world, amen? And I praise his holy name, because God is good. Amen. God's doing things, even as we speak. And we see that these groups was coming against Stephen. But we see Stephen, a mighty man of faith. Notice what it says in verse number 10. And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake. In other words, as all of these religious leaders came together, as all of these people was trying to figure out what Stephen was all about. They couldn't quite put their finger on it. They couldn't quite understand because of His knowledge of the Scriptures, because of Stephen's spiritual wisdom. Because by the way He spake by the Holy Spirit. The Bible says He spoke with energy, He spoke with power, and He spoke with honesty. And when He began to do that, all of these people, they did not know what to do, and they did not know what to say. And then we read on down in the text where all of a sudden, they begin to say that he had blasphemed. They begin to say, let's bring false witnesses. They begin to say all kinds of crazy things here in the life of Stephen. But notice this in verse number 15. And all that sat in the council, looking steadfastly on him, saw his face as it had been. The face of an angel. When I begin to look at this, there are some writers that said that maybe Stephen's face shone as bright as Moses' face when he came down from the mountain with the Ten Commandments. Some would even say that Stephen, when he spoke, his face was so serious, his heart was so honest, and his words were so pure that when all of this council that come against Stephen, when they looked at his face, they realized that that face of an angel stands for the face of a messenger. And they knew in their hearts that Stephen was saying some things that they themselves could not even say. And we see what they saw in the face of Stephen. And then when I began to study that, I thought to myself, it's amazing what Stephen did next. And this has encouraged me more than anything's encouraged me in a long time. When we get to chapter number seven, I pray that your Bible is still open. Then said the high priest, are these things so? And he said, men, brethren, and fathers, hearken. And then what we're fixing to find in chapter number seven is Stephen. begins to teach, and Stephen begins to preach. And he begins in the book of Genesis, and he goes through the book of Genesis. And then he finds himself in the book of Exodus, and he goes through the book of Exodus. And then we'll find that Stephen begins to talk about David, and then Stephen begins to talk about Solomon, and then Stephen begins to share the truth of the Scriptures. And then we'll find in chapter number seven, then what Stephen does is he takes those Old Testament scriptures, the book of Genesis and the book of Exodus, first and second Samuel and Kings, he takes all of those Old Testament books and he brings them all in together and he takes those scriptures and he then begins to point towards Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, amen? And we find that's what Stephen done. Let's just give a glance through some of these verses. Verse number three, and said unto him, get thee out of thy country and from thy kindred and come into a land which I shall show thee in speaking of Abraham. Then came he out of the land of the Chaldeans. He gave him non-inheritance, but then he told him, he said, you will possess everywhere that you go. Then in verse number one, in the patriarch's mood with envy, they sold Joseph into Egypt, but God was with him. They delivered him all out of all of his afflictions. Then in verse 12, but when Jacob heard that there was corn in Egypt, he set out our father's first. And that's the second time Joseph was made known to his brethren. And Joseph's kindred was made known unto Pharaoh. And then Joseph, he speaks of Joseph in verses 14 and 15. And then the time promised till another king arose which knew not Joseph. And then we get down in verse number 20, in which time Moses was born. was exceeding fair, and nourished up his father's house three months. And then he was cast out, and Pharaoh's daughter took him, and nourished him for her own son. And Moses was learned, and all the wisdom of the Egyptians was mighty in words and in deeds." When he was 40 years old, that's when he saw all of that trouble going on with his brothers, and then he left. And then fled Moses at this saying. It was a stranger in the land of Median when he began two sons. Forty years were expired, and then Moses saw it. Then there's the burning bush, and then the Lord said, take off thy shoes. And he says, he keeps on saying, on and on and on and on. And then he gets into verse number 37, and he gives the prophecy of Jesus Christ, and who Jesus Christ is from the Old Testament Scriptures. And then he keeps going, and then he gets down to where the rubber meets the road. And he takes all of this, and then he looks at that counsel, and he says this, verse 51. He's stiff-necked, and uncircumcised in heart and ears. You do always resist the Holy Ghost as your fathers did, so do ye. Whichever prophets have not your fathers persecuted, and they have slain them, and show before all the coming of the just one of whom you have now, you've been betrayers and you've been murderers, receive the law by the dispensation of angels, have not kept it. Can I say to you what really speaks to me about this man by the name of Stephen? Stephen, a man full of faith. Stephen, a man full of the Holy Spirit. Please hear this. Stephen, a man of truth. Stephen, a man of convictions. Stephen, a man that yes, spiritually Jesus was with him, but physically stood all alone in front of a whole group of important people. And the reason he had to stand in front of those people, they was there to scrutinize him. They was there to try to find fault in his words. They was there to look at this man and see if he got nervous. They was there simply to try to find fault in Stephen. And can I say to you this morning, we need some men. Men, please hear me. We need some men to be like Stephen. We need some men that are full of faith. We need some men that are full of the Spirit of God. We need some men that knows the Scriptures. We need some men that will stand with boldness and not bite down. We need some men that knows whom they believe, and they'll tell others why they believe in Him. We need some men to be strong. We need some men to be leaders. We need some men, though seemingly you will never be alone because Christ is your Savior, but yet we need men to stand when it looks like that no other man is going to stand with you. And we need some men that will stand on the truth of the scriptures. I did not read in this text where one person said, amen. I did not read in this text where one person said, preach, preacher, preach. I did not read anywhere in the scripture where anyone came forward and give their heart and life to Jesus Christ. What I'm telling you is, is we need to be men that will stand whether anyone else wants to stand with us or not. We need to be men that'll speak the truth even if we don't even hear an amen. We need to be men that will be men that will be men that God can use in a mighty, mighty way. Happy Father's Day, men. These young men need to see some godly men. that will stand for the truth. And these young men need to realize that they are younger than them, that are looking unto them, so that they will realize they need to be godly men that will stand for the truth. And this message is just not for men, this message is also for women. We need women that'll be full of faith. We need women that'll be full of the Spirit of God. We need women that'll study the Word of God. We need women that'll stand on the truth of the Scriptures. And we need women that will stand whether there's another woman that stands with you or not, that you and I would realize that Jesus is with us, that Jesus is for us, and He is there with us every single day of our lives. Amen? And we need some men, and we need some women in the day that we're living in. And let me say this to you, as the bombs are flying, you hear me? As the bombs are flying, as the protests are raging, and please hear this, some of you are going to know what I'm saying and some of you are not, but don't let anything make you nervous. Please don't let anything make you nervous. Even in the last days, you and I need to realize that the enemy, the enemy might even possibly try to send someone in among us to make you nervous, to make you anxious, to make you fearful, to make you grab your children up under your arm. And I get it, man. I get it. But my pastor told me a long time ago, he said whenever you sense the enemy in the midst. He said, all you got to do is plead the blood of Jesus. Just plead the blood of Jesus. Just plead the blood of Jesus. And if the blood of Jesus is not strong enough, there's nothing else it is. And I'm telling you the only thing that you and I can do in the day that we're living in is stand for God, stand on his word, plead the blood of Jesus and rest. You're in your father's house. Rest in your father's house. You've got to understand that, child of God. In these last days, there's no telling what we might see. In these last days, there's no telling what we might experience. In these last days, child of God, there's no telling who might come against you and who might come against me. But whatever you do, Pray that God would fill you with faith. Pray that God would fill you with His Spirit. Pray that God would just engulf you in the Scriptures. And whatever you do, child of God, please hear this and hear it well. Whatever you do, just stand, just stand, and just stand. Can I hear an amen on that? Amen. Only God knows what we need. And only God can see what's coming up, and I'm so thankful that He does. Notice the results in Stephen's life. Verse 54, I'm about close, notice. When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into the heaven, and he saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and said, behold, I see the heavens open, and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God. Then they cried out with a loud voice, and they stopped their ears, and they ran upon Him with one accord, and they cast Him out of the city, and they stoned Him. The witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet whose name was Saul. Notice now, and they stoned Stephen, calling upon God and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. Notice there is a difference between the spirit and the body. And he kneeled down and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. When he had said this. You fell asleep. Can I say to you church, can I say to you men of God and women of God and young people of the Lord, may I say to you as your pastor, I have no idea what we're going to have to face. I have no idea what's coming down the pipe. I have no idea what one day holds, but I do know this. We must keep our eyes on Jesus. We have to keep our eyes on Jesus. And if you've ever prayed before, this morning is the time to pray it. Lord, help me to be full of faith. Lord, help me to be filled with the Spirit of God. Lord, help me to see what I need to see. Lord, help me to know what I need to know. Help me to say what I need to say, and go where I need to go, and do what I need to do. And at the end of the day, if this thing gets crazy and gets hard, the only thing I can tell you is we're going to have to do what Stephen done. We're just going to have to look up, amen? We're just going to have to look up and keep our eyes on Jesus." And he saw some things that I can't even imagine what he saw and what it looked like. But you know what else really stuck out to me about this man by the name of Stephen? He said, Lord, don't put all of this on them. He said, don't put all of this on them, Lord. He said, forgive them for what they've done. I don't know about you men, but I can sure speak for myself. I sure would like to have a little bit of what Stephen had. I can't speak for any of you ladies, but would there be any man, would there be any woman, would there be any young person, would there be anyone in the service today that would say, Lord, I sure would like to have just a little bit of what Stephen had? Lord, I want to be a man of faith. Men, please hear me. Is there a man here that has a desire? I want to be a man of faith. I want the Spirit of God to use me. I want to know the Word of God. I want to be able to speak the Word of God. Even when it looks like no one is standing, Lord, please give me what I need to be able to stand. Even seemingly if it looks like I'm standing alone.