I like that. Probably one of the most moving renditions, if that's a word to use for such a, sounds like a pretty fancy word to use for that kind of song, but one of the most moving, I hate to use the word performance, but anyway, it was quite a deal when Dr. Curtis Hudson sang that once at a Southwide Fellowship. He was eight, up with cancer. About down and weight is about that big around and he's saying I'm on the winning side and man what a what a what a time that was that was that was quite a deal to listen to and Anyway, we are and I'm thankful for that Okay, what am I forgetting? I feel like I'm forgetting something and I But, I don't know, good to see everybody out tonight. So, beautiful day, had a great afternoon, thankful for all the work that people did and the food and cooking out there and all that. Others just jumped in and helped and what a blessing that is and so thankful for that. And the food was pretty good, pretty good stuff. How many have ever had horse before? Has anybody ever had horse? That wasn't bad, was it? Yeah, that was not bad at all. Some of you didn't know a horse could taste that good. A little greasy. A little greasy. Hey, let me ask you this. When it comes to serving God, do you believe there's a difference between, I don't want you to answer, I just want you to think about this. Is there a difference between the people and the pastor? Now there's definitely a difference between the calling, right, and responsibilities. There's differences there, absolutely. But is there a difference when it comes to the responsibility of the Great Commission? Is there a difference when it comes to access to God? Is there a difference with insight and understanding of the Word of God. Is there a difference in how the pastor should live and how the church member should live? Are there differences? Well, I want to look tonight at an individual whose life will illustrate the answer to the question. I didn't let Brother Jim get all the way down to it, but some of you, many of you in here tonight, most of you in here tonight are students of the Bible and you already know who we are going to look at. So if you would look at Acts chapter 6 here, and here this first, this was the real first Baptist church. People are going to Oh, somebody's like, how do you know it was a Baptist church? I, this is my message. I get to call it what I want to call it. All right. And this is the first church. This is the first church, first Baptist church of Jerusalem. And it is a Jewish church here in Acts chapter six. It is a young church. Jesus had started it about three and a half years earlier. Uh, when, uh, What is an ecclesia? It's a called out assembly. When did Jesus start calling them out? Well, that's about when he started it, right? And he started his church with those early members that had been baptized by John, and he began to instruct them and train them, and they were baptizing. Somebody even came to John and said, hey, Jesus is baptizing also. And he said, well, he's supposed to, right? This is okay. And this Jesus church had been started, it had been moving forward, and then you come, he had left, and the day of Pentecost, his church was empowered. We do not believe the church started at Pentecost, right? You cannot add to something that wasn't there, and it was there. It was empowered at Pentecost. Jesus told His church, tarry ye in Jerusalem till you be endued with power. And so here it is in Acts chapter 6. We have Jesus' church and it has grown exponentially. I mean, 3,000 had been saved on the day of Pentecost. Acts chapter 2 verses 41, 42 and all down through that area. It says the Lord added daily unto them such as should be saved. Them is what? The church. 120 in the upper room or more or less. And then Peter preaches again, and 5,000 get saved. I mean, so we're really running some big numbers here in the church here in Jerusalem, but there arose a little bit of a problem. Within this church, it was mainly a Jewish church, but really there is kind of a division going on in the church. I know that doesn't ever happen very often, but there is a division, right? Now, we can understand this, Brother Allen, right? We can understand the division in a church, Because for a long time, this was a Nixa hillbilly church, right? There wasn't many foreigners in here, was there? But slowly, no not this side, slowly, slowly, people start moving into the area. Aren't we happy for that? Amen, we are. And so now we have Well, not divisions in the church, right? But now we have differing groups of people in the church. We have people from what we would call the Mid-Atlantic. You have people probably originally from, I don't know, Ruth, aren't you from like New Jersey or something like that? Yeah, that's Mid-Atlantic, sorry. I almost said something that was anathema to you, like the Northeast. And so you have this, and you have people of California on the West Coast, and yeah, who else? Jim, you're from here. Maryland. Oh, there we go. Man, it's going downhill, Brother Allen. Anyway, we're about to have division. Okay, there we go. And so, but there's differences, right? We can see this as, you know, Brother Davidson, you pastor, where the demographics changed. It changed greatly. And as they begin to change, I'm sure the church began to change a little bit and things like that. But here in this Jerusalem church, there was a division, and the division was between two groups of Jews. First were the Jews that we would call Hebrews. These were the Hebrew of Hebrews, like Paul would have said, right? They stayed with their Jewish culture, they were traditionalists, they spoke Hebrew, they were most likely from Jerusalem and the surrounding areas, but then there was another group of Jews, they were Jews, that were in this church here, and they were what the Bible here in verse, I believe, number one, calls Grecians. Now that word in Greek, I'm not gonna pronounce, because I'm not really good at that, but it's a word that you know as Hellenist. Hellenist. These were Hellenist Jews, which means these were Jews who were born, many of them born in a foreign land. They adapted Greek manners and customs and they spoke Greek. So here in this church at Jerusalem you have Jew Jews, that doesn't sound right, and Greek Jews. And so a little bit of a contention was coming up because, can I tell you something, when you get born again, how many know that your flesh stays with you? How many know that you can maintain, I'm glad Miss Julie is the only honest one in here, but anyway, how many of you realize that you can maintain some prejudices when you get saved? You can even adapt some new ones. And you can come up with some ideas which aren't really scriptural. And here are these new Christians, these Jews, that's all they've ever known, and they have a little bit of an animosity towards these Grecian Jews. These Jews that went out and adapted to this culture that they were living in, and here they are speaking Greek and not Hebrew. I mean, we can understand what's going on here, right? We understand what's happening. So because of this contention, right? Because of this contention, there were some needs of these Hellenistic Jews that were not being met because the Hebrew Jews, the Jew Jews, The word I like, if I could remember it, it'd be great. But anyway, I can't even remember it, forget it. But the ones that are the traditionalists or a purist, I like, there you go. They weren't real happy about helping these Greek Jews. They're probably a little bit irritated about them. They probably thought maybe they should have made some changes. They probably thought they should probably quit speaking Greek because they're Hebrews. I mean, who knows what was going on here, but here's what we know. There was a division in the church, and the Grecians stood up here in verse 1 and they said, because there arose a murmuring among the Grecians, these Hellenistic Jews, against the Hebrews, the Jews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration. So, what happened? Well, they said, hey, you're not taking care of ours, right? But you're taking care of yours. Why aren't you taking care of ours? And so what happened is the apostles, they heard the murmuring, and so they called the church together. They had a business meeting. And verse two, and look what it says here. Therefore the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them and said, it is not reason that we should leave the word of God and serve tables. I do want to show you a little side note here real quickly if you would notice this. It said he called the apostles, called the disciples together. Can I tell you, there is not a class of disciples and then a class of believers. All believers are disciples. Okay. And so you see he called all of the, some people look like there's a classification difference and there's not. All believers, what is a disciple? It's a learner. All believers ought to be learners of the Lord Jesus and we're all disciples. So he called And look what it says actually in verse one, in those days when the number of the disciples was multiplied, who are those? Those are the members of the church of Jerusalem, right? And so here it is, the 12 called the multitude of the disciples unto them and said, it is not reason that we should leave the word of God and serve tables. So if you notice here, there is no hierarchy between those in leadership and those who are the, quote, laymen, right? There's a problem, they said. Here's the problem. The apostle said, we should not be leaving. the responsibility that we have in the ministration of the Word of God and in prayer to go serve tables. Now hold on a minute. What they were not saying is it is beneath us to serve tables. They're not saying that. You look at what they sacrificed. You look at what they suffered to preach the gospel. You look at the prison terms and the beatings and the different things that some of them saw. It was not beneath them to serve God in an area that was difficult. It wasn't beneath them at all. The point they were saying here is they had a responsibility that was placed upon them, a calling, if you will, from God as an apostle to preach the word of God, to preach the word of God in prayer, in leading these people to God. They had a job as what we would say of an under shepherd. This was their responsibility, okay? And what they're saying is, if we took time away from what we are supposed to be doing, from our responsibility, they wouldn't be able to do what God had called them to do. Could you imagine? It'd be like the quarterback of a football team. Right? Every time somebody needed a drink of water, somebody on the other position of the team went off the field, right? They went off the field, and they're sitting down, and they put their helmet down, and they're looking for their Gatorade or their water bottle, and the, what's that guy called? Quarterback puts a timeout, and he runs out, and he's going to go find them water. Okay, here you go, buddy. Here's your water. Okay. Okay, we can start again. Let's start. Well, that's stupid. Is it beneath the quarterback to do that? Well, no, it's not beneath him, but that's not his job, right? That's not his responsibility. And this is the thing here with the apostles. They had a responsibility from God, and they could not take time away from the importance of the reading and the preaching of the word of God to do something that others could do. So here they are, they have a plan for this, all right? And here, look at verse two again. They call the multitude together. I'm sorry, verse 3. Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. So now watch this here. He said, find seven men. The apostle said, look ye out. Who is the ye that he was talking to? Well, he's talking to the church. Right? Look ye out among yourselves and find you seven men. The church was to pick these people. This was a job for the church members. It wasn't necessarily, it doesn't seem like it was done by the apostles per se, but the church got together and they agreed upon seven men of, I mean, of thousands upon thousands, right? There's several thousands here. And he said, find seven men with qualifications. Listen to the qualifications. honest report, which means what? The people in the church said, yeah, I know these people and they're good and they're godly and I stand behind them. Full of the Holy Ghost, they were walking in the Spirit on a day-to-day basis and it was evident in their life, in their daily life, and watch this, full of wisdom. They were full of wisdom. It was evident in the way they dealt with their things. And he says, we will appoint these seven individuals to the business of service in the body. And so here's who they chose out. It listed here in our text, look at verse number eight. and Stephen, full of faith and power, I'm sorry, let me go back up, I'm in the wrong place, verse five, and the same pleased the whole multitude, and they, the church, chose Stephen, a man full of faith, and the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochurus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicholas, a proselyte of Antioch, whom they set before the apostles. And when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them." So you notice here, it is the church who chose these seven men out, and it was the apostles who laid their hands upon them and prayed over them. So what was going on with this laying on of hands? What does that mean? We do that when you might ordain somebody into the gospel ministry. I know some people, some churches who believe deacons should be ordained and they ordain deacons and they lay hands on them and pray on them. What they're doing is two things. Number one, it's a transfer of authority. They're acknowledging these people have authority. And then secondly, it's a recognition of agreement with the church here, the apostles were agreeing with the church that these men were qualified to take up this role of a servant, all right? So here is the problem, they found a remedy, they chose, the apostles said choose out seven men, they found seven men that the church agreed on, that they met the qualifications, and the apostles laid hands on them, they transferred authority, they acknowledged agreement in the body, and these men were now in the place to take up any of the needs of service in the church. So what was the result of this? Look at verse 7. Right? And the word of God, what's that word there? Increased. Say it again. Increased. Increased. The word of God increased. I think that is results. That is connected to what they did here at the church. Yeah. How does the word of God increase? If you'll remember over in Luke chapter eight, because I know you're just saying in your mind, well tell me, I don't know. Luke chapter eight and verse nine, Jesus said, now the parable is this, remember the parable of the sower and the seed? And he gave the parable and the disciples came to him and said, what does that mean? And Jesus sat him down and he said, now the parable is this, the seed is the word of God. So this is seed, right, it's seed. And you know what I like to remember every time I think of the Word of God as seed? That the seed has all the power, in and of itself, to bring forth fruit. It needs nothing else. You know what it has? You have the seed and the Holy Spirit of God, which takes the seed and does a work in hearts. And this is what Jesus was saying. Now, the seed is the Word of God. 1 Peter 1.23, being born again, "...not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever." right so if you look back at Luke chapter 8 again Jesus goes on and he gives an example of the seed that fell in good ground you remember the parable I know you do Luke chapter 8 listen verse 15 but that on the good ground are they which in an honest and a good heart having heard the word keep it and bring forth fruit with patience." Now watch this, every time another person comes to faith and belief in the Word of God, that seed has taken root in the heart and watch, fruit is evident in that life. So watch, the Word of God has increased because believers have increased. They're inseparable. Once the Word of God gets into another heart, what happens? The Word's increased. It has gone out. It has multiplied and multiplied and multiplied. And this is what's going on here. And the Word of God increased. Not only was it able to increase in its preaching and its proclamation, but it was able to increase as it dwelt and lodged in the hearts of people who believed the Word and received it and were born again. And what happened? The church grew. Look at verse 7. The Word of God increased, and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly. Cause and effect. The Word of God got out. It was able to get out. These seven men were able to take care of some of the needs that were not being met. It left the apostles the time that they needed to be in the word of God and in prayer, and as that was allotted to them, the result of it was the word went out, people got saved. You know what happens when people get saved, right? They get baptized into a body, and when they get baptized into a body, that body grows. It grows. This is good. Amen? This is good stuff. The church grew. You know what was totally foreign in the New Testament? You know what was totally foreign? To have a believer who wasn't attached to a body. Because it's disobedience. It is. Sorry, it is. It's disobedience to the Lord Jesus Christ. It's disobedience to the Great Commission. Why? Because the Great Commission was given to a church, not necessarily to a specific individual like a pope or a bishop or anything like that. It was given to a church. Jesus called the church a body and we are members of a body. You know over in Romans 10.15 the Bible says how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things. Can I ask you a question? What foot has ever accomplished anything that wasn't attached to a body? Could you imagine feet laying out in the yard? Yeah, they just didn't want to be a part of anything. You know what they're going to do? They're going to sit in the yard. Why? They gotta be attached to ankles, that are attached to knees, that are attached to hips, that are attached to the rest of the body, that's attached to a brain, that, you know, it's gotta be a part of a body. And so here it is, the church was growing because people were getting the word of God, and when they got the word of God, they were getting saved, and then they were getting baptized into this First Baptist Church of Jerusalem. Yeah. Notice what else was happening. Priests were coming to Christ. These were like Jew, Jew, Jews. These were like this most serious ones you're gonna find. Right, we looked at Nicodemus this morning. Yeah, I mean the Pharisees, Sanhedrin, I mean this was a serious guy, look at this. And a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith. This has still caused an effect. This is still because they were left an opportunity for the apostles to spend the time they needed in the word of God and in prayer, and in so doing, they had the power of God on their life, they had the power in preaching, they had the power in their prayer life, and people were getting saved. And so the structure within the church has some responsibility for the growth. I want you to show you the reason here for the results that we see. Those men were untethered from other things, though they were important. They were important, right? The care of the widows and the needs that needed to be met and those that were sick and needed to be visited and prayed over and things like that. No, those were all important needs. But because some people in the church came up and took over those needs that needed to be met, those that were supposed to be called to labor in the Word were untethered from those things to focus on the main things. They were able to pray. Can I remind you there's power in prayer? There's power in prayer. Remember in Acts chapter 4, Peter had been arrested and the men let go and they came back to the church, they came to the congregation there in the church, and they began to pray, and the church began to pray that God would give them boldness to do what? Go back out and preach again? To go out and preach? And while they were praying, the Bible says the whole place shook. Oh, I think that was figurative. I don't think it was figurative at all. I think the place shook, and God was letting them know that He heard them, alright? And there is power in prayer. There is power, as we know, in the Word of God. We've been going through the book of Hebrews and just have been in chapter 4. And you know, verse 12, that the Word of God is quick, it means it's alive, and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and the marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart. Listen, the more that we know and the more that we understand of the Word of God, the sharper the weapon that we wield. You know what happens when you pull this out and you don't know it? Right? It's just like a dull. You ever try to chop down a tree? Right? With a stick? Or an axe handle? Boy, that'll wring your hands. You know, it needs to be sharp. It needs to be sharp. You need to know, you need to know the Word of God. Yeah, we need to know it. And it's so, here we see here, it's prayer. And it's attention to the word of God where we see a church grow. It's prayer and attention to the word of God. Do you know we've got so many church growth gurus out there today? You know why they can't just go back and reinforce the simple? Number one, it doesn't make money. Could you imagine if all these guys who wrote books just got up and said, well, get back in prayer and just preach the book? I mean, you know how thin that book would be? You'd be trying to open the book like you try to peel two paper plates apart. You don't know, is that one or two? Or coffee filters, have you ever sit there for four hours? I know there's two in here. Trying to get them apart? That'd be a thin book. Just pray and preach the book, right? But we have all of these gurus. I've read them, I've had to read them. Growth Spiral by Stanley, or not Stanley, one of these guys. Growth Spiral, I've had to read that book and read some of these. No doubt they have some good things and there's some things in there that are good. But notice some of the things that we're doing out in churchdom out there. Notice the things that we're doing. Look where music's gone. Look what we've done. We've said, here's how to make it work. We'll just, ah, here we go. We will just, we will just, what's the word I'm looking for? We will just satisfy their flesh. Let's do that. Let's just feed the flesh. We'll feed the flesh, let's turn the lights off, let's get the smoke machine going, let's get the purple lights on, and let's get all of these things going, and we'll get the beat just right, and we'll get things pounding, and as the pounding goes, they'll get all worked up, and people will leave there going, oh, that was, I felt so close to God. Let me tell you this, music is a shortcut to intimacy with God, it doesn't last. You know what lasts with intimacy with God? The Word of God. The Word of God. And watch this, obedience to the Word of God. Remember what we said a few weeks ago? Where does intimacy with God, Jesus said? If you do what I say, I will manifest myself to you. Intimacy with God comes in knowing the Word and then obeying the Word. That's when he gets close. But these modern growth guys, this is what they do. Offer giveaways. You come to church today, oh wait, we had a cookout today. Hey, Jesus fed the multitude. But you've seen it, right? I know a church, they had planes for a big bus day and they're dropping out money and prizes and all this and that, right? To get people in church and things like that. Can I tell you some of those things? Somebody might argue and say, well if it gets them under the gospel is it all bad? Sometimes, okay, I don't have time to deal with this. Sometimes it's not all bad, let me just say that. It depends on what your heart and what you're doing and what you're using to draw them in. But listen, if you're gonna use the world, and you're gonna use rock and roll, and you're gonna use the flesh, and you're gonna use things that are sin, no, they don't work. No, you're gonna get a crowd, but you're not gonna get a church that is grounded in the Word of God and in love with the Lord Jesus Christ. I had a family member tell me this during COVID. They go to a church that would be one I probably would scream about. And during COVID, of course, everything, you know, I've probably told you this before, sorry. I'm getting ready in October to go visit the kings in Albania, and I promise you, I'll get some new stories, okay? I'll get some new ones. But during COVID, they said everything went to lockdown and everything went on video. Remember that? Everybody's watching church. And then the government came along and said, oh, see, you can assemble virtually. Can I tell you something? Time out. Time out. Because it's going to come back. Did you hear the whole monkey pox thing? The WHO got up and said, this is going to be a real serious thing again. Trust me, election year, it's coming again. Another one's coming. But anyway. But hey, anyway, oh, stop, stop, don't say it. So as Baptists, can I tell you what, as Baptists, we have precedence. Because we have always taken a literal, historic, grammatical interpretation of the Word of God. And when it says assemble, we believe that means assemble. Physically and bodily assemble. And you know what we can tell the government? We have always believed this and we have always assembled. And listen, digital assembly is not assembly. Sorry. So anyways, it was during this time. That's free if you need it for something else. So it was during this time that everybody was going to live stream. And this individual told me this. They said, you know what I noticed? when it was live stream and the music was gone, and they're all for this, don't get me wrong, they were all for it, but when the music was gone, and all the extras were gone, and just the whole ambiance and everything, when all that was gone, they said this, I realize my pastor didn't have much to say. Listen, I didn't solicit this feedback from this individual, they said it all on their own. They said, they just didn't have much to say. Wow. Yeah. No, there's all sorts of ways they're going to tell you to grow your church. Marketing ways, ways to go on Facebook and Internet, live stream. Sometimes I'm thinking, let's just get rid of a live stream. But it's good. Don't get me wrong. It's good too. It's good. But sometimes, oh, yeah. Here's one I saw a while back. It's been a few years ago. They call, this church growth model was based after the Disney vacation model. I can't even start to explain. how this model is, but it was called the Disney Vacation Model. Hey, whatever happened to just prayer and the Word of God? Whatever happened to just the people of God and the man of God and the servants of God just praying, right, and fasting and prayer and getting in the book and knowing the book and obeying the book and preaching the book and seeing what happens? How about we just try that again? I mean, has God changed? You say, well, our society's changed. I know our culture's changed. I know it's not 1960. Did you see Akron Baptist Temple? Did you see that one? It's getting dozed. They're wiping one of the biggest churches in the United States back in the 60s under Billington, right? Was that his name, Billington? Do you remember? Yeah, I think that's who it was. And one of the largest Sunday schools in the United States, Akron Baptist Temple. Massive, 10,000 people there, 5,000 people on the buses, just a massive, massive church. And it started, when the pastor passed away, the son took over, started to make some changes, the next one came in, they got rid of the King James Bible, they got rid of standards, they got, went to the lights and all, you know what happened? Dwindle, dwindle, dwindle, dwindle, dwindle, dwindle. And here, it was massive, you know what? I just saw it this week. The equipment is there, dozing the place. Same with Highland Park. Some of these great churches, gone. Absolutely gone. And these were the wizards of smart who said, here's how you grow your church. Do you realize every one of them that went this way changed the way they were, thinking they would grow? Didn't work. So I think if First Baptist Church at Jerusalem was growing by prayer and faithful preaching of the Word of God, maybe Crimson Avenue Baptist Church can grow by prayer and preaching of the Word of God. But here's another reason for the results. The Apostles had help. They were chosen by the Lord Jesus, He picked them out, and then they chose Mattathias, remember that, over in Acts chapter 1. Their authority was from the Lord Jesus. They had the ability to do the works of an apostle, the miracles of an apostle. They were responsible for teaching and preaching. But can I remind you this? As I mentioned earlier, every football team has a quarterback, but there's also 10 other players on the field as well. That dude's important, right? Tom Brady, going to the Hall of Fame. He'll go there, probably one of the greatest quarterbacks. And I just said that to see if I could quench the spirit and get somebody mad. But he really is. But there are 10 other players, and he'll be the first to tell you there's 10 other players on the field. Look at verse 5 again, would you please? Where are we? Acts chapter 6, there we are. Verse 5, And the saint pleased the whole multitude, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith, and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochurus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicholas, a proselyte of Antioch, whom they set before the apostles. And when they had prayed, they laid hands on them. The servants were chosen by the church. Notice these things again of these servants, full of the Holy Ghost, full of wisdom, had an honest report. Watch this please. They didn't become this way because they were chosen. They were chosen because they were already this way. Let me say it again. They were chosen because the church recognized these men are already this way. Let me say it this way. These were laymen in the church who were full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom. These were the seven guys who weren't quarterbacks, they weren't an apostle, but they still had the testimony that they walked in the Spirit, that they were full of the Holy Ghost, that they were full of wisdom, that they lived a lifestyle that the rest of the church said, yeah, these guys are the real deal. And then, of course, Stephen is going to play a really large role here. Notice in Stephen's message, what a message. The guy could preach. He was full of faith, the Bible says, full of the Holy Ghost, full of power. Look at verse 8, And Stephen, full of faith and of power, did great wonders and miracles among the people. And then there arose certain of the synagogue, which called the synagogue of the Libertines, and the Cyrenians, and the Alexandrians, and they of Cecilia in Asia disputing with Stephen and they got into a dispute with him and he began to preach the gospel. And by the end of it, I mean this guy preached, by the end of it they were like take him out, what do they do? They take him out and they stone him. Just what some would call a layman in the church. Not the quarterback, right? He might have played what I played. I played football in junior high and high school. I played left out. I was good at it, too. Oh, I was good. So all they could do with Stephen, the only recourse they had against Stephen was to lie about him and then kill him. But Stephen's not an apostle. Sounds like an apostle, doesn't he? full of the Holy Ghost, full of faith, student of the Word of God, irresistible wisdom, an irresistible spirit, doing great wonders and miracles, taken into a council like Peter and John were taken in after they had preached, and they brought him into this council, lied about him like Jesus was lied about. I mean, this guy was something else. And the one thing that drove the council crazy was when they looked at him, they said he had the face of an angel. The rocks are coming down. He's not snarling. He's not mad. He doesn't hate them. Hey, I mean, Stephen kind of sounds like an apostle. Well, actually kind of sounds like the Lord Jesus Christ when he said, lay not this sin to their account, right? Lay not this sin to their charge. It kind of sounds like something Jesus said on the cross, doesn't it? Father, forgive them. They know not what they do. Just a layman in the church. But this is how he's always been. This is how he's always been. So what caused the First Baptist Church at Jerusalem to grow like it did was the apostles were set free to pray and to preach the gospel, but what also caused the growth of the church is where the Stephens in the church, who were really no different than the apostle, when it came to the preaching of the gospel. The only difference was they weren't called to apostleship. But they had the same skill in the Word of God. They had the same walk with the Lord. They had the same wisdom. They were doing the same thing. Why were they like the apostles? Well, because when Jesus gave the Great Commission, who did he give it to? His church. He didn't give it to an individual. He gave it to the church. So if anybody is a born-again member of a New Testament Baptist Church, the Great Commission was given to you. Right? Listen, if the mission call goes out for a certain military helicopter, right? What are those ones that shoot? Brother Chuck, what are those big things that shoot, the big helicopters? Yeah, like the Apaches or whatever, right? If that, if that, if that, if that helicopter is given a mission to go out, right? And the pilot, obviously. Everybody who's in that helicopter is a part of the mission, right? Listen, the mission's been given to the church, and if you're a born-again member, as you should be, of a, of a New Testament Baptist church, The commission is on you because it's on the church. I think that makes sense, right? This is what helped. The layman in the church being just as on fire and just as serious and just as determined in the Word of God and just as capable to preach and just as able in the Word of God to handle the Word of God as the apostles were. Let me say it this way, as the preacher is or should be. You know, I'm thankful I've been able to know some Stevens down the road. None of them are really named Steven, but you know what I mean, right? I think of Brother McIttish that owned a business in Oklahoma, and they moved here to Springfield in retirement. And I love Brother McIttish and his depth of the word of God. Brother Chris, you remember Brother McIttish. His depth in the Word of God is joy of the Lord. His concern for souls. Cancer came into His body, He pretty much lost His lower jaw. He was just half of the person last, I mean I'd seen Him and it was just, sometimes it's shocking when you see somebody that goes through health issues like that and it's just shocking to look at them and just the joy of the Lord still on them. Still concerned about souls. He goes, oh, you know, I got bad days. I mean, you know, I got bad days. But he's got a genuine smile, right? Yeah. He's always handing out little cards that have something on them. I love those. Yeah. I think of friends of the family. I think of Brother Glenn Clark, who was a pharmacist. Just a pharmacist. He said, I've never had one desire in my life to pastor or to preach. Never. I don't even know what that is. But he'd read his Bible generally three hours, four hours a morning. Read through his Bible multiple times a year. Yeah. Taught Sunday school if he needed to. He had a pretty serious walk with the Lord. Just a layman in the church. Just a layman in the church. I think of Brother E.W. Hillhouse, who I never knew. Brother Hillhouse owned an excavation company. It's still over in Aurora. It's still there. His son runs it, and grandsons. But Brother E.W., they said in his bib overalls, he'd always have tracks stuffed in his front pockets of his overalls. He was a soul winner. Loved the Lord. Loved the Lord. Skillful in the Word of God. Led my father to the Lord. Yeah. Just a layman in the church. Just a Stephen. Just as Stephen. What about Priscilla and Aquila? They took Apollos, who was this incredible orator and mighty in the word of God. They had to take him along, aside one day and say, oh, let me show you something, Apollos. The Messiah has come. Huh? You've been preaching he's coming, but no, he's come. Oh, yeah. They took him aside and showed him more perfectly the things of God, the word of God. You know, some in this building tonight, men and women, They have a deep love and a deep knowledge of the Word of God and a love for the lost. And yeah, I know, there's only one quarterback on the field. There's only one quarterback. But every, watch, every other member has a position on the field and is necessary in the body. Can you imagine a lineman spending only half of the time in the playbook because he's like, well, I'm not the quarterback. I don't need to be that, I don't need to know the playbook that well. Well, if the plays include you, you need to know the playbook. Can I tell you the plays? If you're not a pastor here tonight and you're standing out here, you just said, I'm just a layman in the church. Listen, can I tell you the plays apply to you too? The Gospel applies to you too. The propagation of the Gospel applies to you too. Knowing the Word of God and searching out the Word of God. Those at Berea were more noble than those at Thessalonica in that they searched the Scriptures daily to see whether those things are true. Does the Bible say any of those at Berea were any of them just all a bunch of pastors? No, they were a bunch of people, laymen in the church that searched the Word of God daily. You know what Crimson Avenue Baptist Church needs? needs a church full of Stephens or Stephanies, whatever you want to take. That's what we need, a church full of Stephens who will have the same spiritual appetite and skill in the Word that the pastor has, or the missionaries have, or the retired pastors have, or whatever. They'll have the same desire and appetite and skill in the Word of God and go out into a world that desperately needs Christ. That's why this church grew. It's one of the reasons. I mean, do you not see causation here in Chapter 6? I think it's pretty clear. So the question is tonight, are you a Stephen? Are you a Priscilla or a Quilla? You might have taken the title and moniker of a layman. But if we had to pick out servants like these seven, Do you think somebody would pick you? Pretty good question, I think. Listen, don't minimize, don't minimize your role in the body. Everybody who is a member of Crimson Avenue Baptist Church, everybody, everybody ought to be a Stephen. full of the Holy Ghost, walking in the Spirit, deep in the Word of God, a love for souls, able to get up and proclaim the gospel, whether it's at work, or out in your neighborhood, or wherever the question may arise. You might be on a bus, or a train, or a plane, or whatever it is, but you are ready, you are ready to give an answer of the hope that's lieth within you. Everybody, yeah. Are you a Stephen? Our Father tonight, I'm so thankful that you've called your church a body. And every organ and every appendage and every piece in my body is necessary. I need it. And everybody that you have placed in this body, Crimson Avenue Baptist Church, and all of the other bodies that are your bodies, Everyone that you have placed in those, they're needed. They're needed. They have a great role to play. And I just pray that you would encourage us tonight and remind us tonight that the growth of this church and the city that you have placed us in, part of it, part of it hinges on the members on the members taking up that role like a Stephen and being used of you in a mighty way. Father, I just pray you'd raise up more in this place and we thank you in Jesus' name, amen. Why don't you stand tonight? The piano's gonna play and the invitation is open. People are praying. Why don't you come tonight and tell the Lord, I wanna be a Stephen. I just wanna be a Stephen. I don't have any desire to be a pastor. I don't want to be a missionary. I don't think God wants me to do anything like that. Boy, I just want to be a Stephen. I want to be used by God. I want to walk in the Spirit. I want to be deep in the Word of God. I want to be used by God. So the good news is anybody can be a Stephen. Yeah. Mm-hmm. All right, it's been a good day today and thank the Lord for it. So we're going to be dismissed in a word of prayer. Wednesday, we'll be back.