I was reminded by Richard that next Sunday we lose daylight savings time. So, you have to get up at 2 o'clock in the morning and move your clocks back one hour and then go back to bed. So, next Sunday we are on eastern standard time, move your clocks back one hour. Alright, let's take our Bible and let's turn to Acts chapter 6. We're looking at the person of Stephen. I'm going to call our Bible study Stephen, the person God uses. And it makes me ask, well wouldn't you like to be used by the Lord? I think all of us would, who know the Lord, we would like to be used. We'd like to be usable in God's hands. And Stephen was a man used of God. And we're going to see some characteristics of this man and certainly good applications for us this evening. So the question is, what kind of a person does the Lord use to glorify himself? And here we find this man highlighted among the seven men that were chosen. We only know about two of them, Stephen and Philip. And the other men were just as valuable and just as useful to the Lord in helping the widows in their needs. But God in his leading of Luke and writing this, I just picked out those two men. We're gonna zero in tonight on Stephen. So we want the Lord to guide our thoughts, so let's pray together. Dear Lord, tonight as we open our Bibles, we thank you for the biographies that you've placed in them. In our Bible for us, we thank you for these seven men who had good reputation, who were full of the Holy Spirit and full of wisdom. We thank you, Lord, that you use them to help these widow ladies in the meeting of their daily needs. And we thank you, Lord, for the particular person we're thinking of tonight, the man Stephen. And we ask that we might apply some of his characteristics to our own lives, that we might be a person that you can use. For we ask in Jesus' name, amen. Well, I'm going to look at this man in, I think, four ways. Number one, what he was on the inside. Number two, what he was on the outside. Number three, what he was assured of. And number four, how he responded to his enemies. And it's very important to see what he was on the inside. If you'll notice now in your Bible, beginning in Acts chapter six and verse five. And what they had said pleased the whole gathering and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit. Drop down to verse Eight and Stephen full of grace and power. This man was full of four things and that made him useful in the hands of God. In the New Testament, probably in the Old Testament as well, this phrase that someone who is full of something, that phrase denotes that whatever, is filling the individual is the dominant characteristic at that given time of that person. So when a person was filled with something or full of something, that means the dominant characteristic of that person was whatever the adjective or the description was. For instance, in Acts chapter nine, there was a woman who died and Peter was called because she had died. And God used Peter to bring this woman back to life. Acts chapter nine, verse 36. It says, there was in Joppa a disciple named Tabitha, which translated means Dorcas. She was full of good works and acts of charity. So this woman was dominated by good works, acts of charity. That was the dominant characteristic of that woman at that time in her life when she died. And then there's a bad example in chapter 13 of Acts, Acts chapter 13 and verse 10. Paul spoke to this man named Elymas who was a sorcerer And he said, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy. So the dominant characteristic of Elemus was deceit and villainy. And have you ever said to somebody, you're full of baloney? What you mean is the dominant characteristic of that person at that time, wasn't a luncheon meat, but he was nuts, he was crazy, he was off the wall, he was telling you something that wasn't right or wasn't true. So in our Bible, when we have someone who is full of something or filled with something, that's just an idiomatic expression that means the dominant characteristic is whatever the description is at that time. So we find in Stephen, that he was full of four things. Notice in verse five, Acts 6.5, this man was full of faith. As I think of that, if he's full of faith, I ask myself, well, how would that have come about? How did he get full of faith? Well, here's a Bible verse you probably know, Romans 10.17. In fact, why don't you turn there because there's an important translational observation we need to make, Romans chapter 10, verse 17. Sometimes I wish our Bible translators would be more consistent in the way they translate words. Romans 10, 17, so faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. Does that mean deaf people can't have faith? No, it does not. Well, the word hearing, faith comes by hearing, hearing by the word of Christ or the word of truth. If you look at the, well, the last If you're using a King James or a New King James, that's more helpful, but even if you're not, it's still okay. The last word of verse 16. If you have a King James Bible or a New King James, what's the last word of verse 16? Report, that's the word. That's the same word in verse 17, translated hearing. And so it's not a verb, Faith comes by, it sounds like an action verb of listening, but it's a noun and it means a report. And the ESV translates it in verse 16, what he has heard. So if Stephen was full of faith, I then surmise that this man had spent time in the word of God. because faith comes by a report and that report is found in the Word of God. And this man must have been a student of scripture and he must have learned a lot about the Lord and trusted the God of the Bible to do what he said. Here's a simple definition of faith. I know sometimes people think of faith as like a leap in the dark or as one little kid defined it, believing in something you know isn't true. You know like believing in the tooth fairy or or the Easter Bunny or something like that. Well, that's not what biblical faith is. Here's a good definition, a simple definition. It's some, I forget who wrote it. But here it is. Faith is the resting of the soul in the sufficiency of the evidence. The resting of the soul in the sufficiency of the evidence. And so this man, Stephen, had rested his soul in the sufficiency of the evidence that he found in the word of God. He was dominated in his life by this word, faith. The dominant characteristic of this man was that he took God at his word and he acted on it. So he was a man full of faith, dominant characteristic. Second thing about him in verse five is that he was full of the Holy Spirit. The dominant characteristic of Stephen's life at this point in his life was that he was filled with, full of, characterized by the Holy Spirit. Well, what would a person be like who was full of the Holy Spirit? So out of the 5,000 people who were saved now in the church of Jerusalem, this vast company of people, here are seven men that were obviously dominated by the characteristics of the Holy Spirit. And it sounds like that the congregation or the people didn't have a lot of trouble picking them out. They could spot them. These were men who were dominated by, in their character, the Holy Spirit. Well, let's see what a person dominated by the Holy Spirit is like. So if we're controlled by the Holy Spirit, we're gonna have some of the same characteristics that the Holy Spirit has. So let's go back to John chapter 15. Here's one. John chapter 15, verse 26, John 15, 26. But when the helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. The job of the Holy Spirit is to draw attention to Jesus Christ. to bear witness concerning him. Chapter 16 of John, verse 14, it says, he, the Holy Spirit, will glorify me. So I would say that Stephen, being dominated by the Holy Spirit, was a person who pointed to Christ, witnessed about Christ, who was a Christ-centered person. What he said, what he did, he wanted people to honor Jesus Christ because of it. Didn't want to draw attention to himself. So he magnified Christ because that's what the Holy Spirit does. Next passage to turn to, to find out what a person is like who is dominated by the Holy Spirit is Ephesians chapter five. Ephesians chapter five, verse 18 and following. Ephesians 5.18 and following, do not get drunk with wine for that is debauchery, but be filled with the spirit. That is your dominant characteristic is what the Holy Spirit is like. And so here's that person addressing one another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. So I would say that The part of scripture and the hymns that we have available to us that honor the Lord are gonna fill us, fill our minds, and we're gonna love, whether you sing well or not, we don't care. Your heart is filled with this kind of music, these kind of hymns. The words will just go through your mind. And I love these hymn selections that we have to remind us of these great truths And so a person controlled by the Holy Spirit will be speaking in Psalms, hymns, spiritual songs. And also it says, making melody to the Lord with your heart. A spirit dominated person is gonna have joy in his heart. He's gonna have a song in his heart. Whether it comes out or not, it depends on his voice, I suppose, but he's gonna have a song in his heart. making melody to the Lord with your heart. He's gonna be basically a joyful person. And then it says, giving thanks always. A person dominated by the spirit of God is gonna be giving thanks, a grateful person, grateful for everything, giving thanks always for everything. So this person is not grumpy, not always complaining or negative. This is a joyful person who's thankful. The older I get, the more thankful I am for simple things. Thankful I can walk up steps. Thankful I can put on my own shoes. Thankful for a lot of stuff. The older you get, the more you have to be thankful for. So that's a trait. And so Stephen was a thankful man. He was a man with joy in his heart. He was a man who loved the Psalms and the spiritual songs of that day. Then it says, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. And this man, Stephen, submitted to the needs of those widow ladies. I don't know how many widows there were. But his job, along with the other six men, were probably to visit them, find out what they needed, and maybe to go to the market. And if these ladies couldn't get out or didn't have money, if they were just destitute, maybe Stephen would bring them some vegetables or maybe he'd go buy a lamb or a goat that had been killed and bring them some fresh meat or maybe he would fix the latch on their window for them or whatever. So he was a person who was submitted in his heart to those ladies that he was responsible for in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he did it out of reverence for Christ. Very, very important. His attitude and his motive was to please the Lord and to show reverence for Christ. So he was full of the Holy Spirit. And then of course, you probably thought of the fruit of the Spirit. A person dominated by the Holy Spirit would be characterized by love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, and self-control. That was Stephen because he was full of the Holy Spirit. And if you are, you'll be useful too, just like Stephen was. And even in the menial things, meeting the needs of widow ladies, You say, well, that's, you don't get much applause for doing that. Well, he didn't care. The other six men, they didn't care because they were full of the Holy Spirit. and they wanted to meet their needs, the needs of those women, the best of their ability, out of reverence for Christ. And they did it with love, joy, peace, long-suffering, and all of those other things. So that's the second thing he was full of. He was full of faith, because he'd been in the word of God. He was full of the Holy Spirit. Thirdly, he is full of grace. In Acts chapter six and verse eight, It says, and Stephen full of grace. Well, what would a person be like who was full of grace, who was dominated by the characteristic of grace? Well, one of the simple definitions that we've learned about grace, it is God's unmerited favor or giving, lavish giving to people that do not deserve it. Well, Stephen, was full of that, that characteristic. And I think he was a man who enjoyed giving. He was a giver. And he wasn't expecting anything in return, I don't think. He wasn't taking groceries to a widow and saying, well, I hope she knits me a pair of socks for the winter time, or I'll trade you this bag of groceries for I don't think he would do that because he was full of grace. Grace gives without asking for anything in return. And I thought of these characteristics, full of faith, full of the Holy Spirit, full of grace, and then this last one, full of power in verse eight, like the Lord Jesus Christ himself. When you stop to compare what Stephen was full of almost instinctively, you can go to characteristics of the Lord Jesus Christ himself. For instance, he was full of faith. When Jesus hung on the cross, the people that were walking by and ridiculing him and taunting him, the chief priests said, he trusts in God. Let him deliver him. So the Lord Jesus was known, even by the chief priests, as a man who trusted God. Stephen was like his master. And then the Lord Jesus, like Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, the prophet Isaiah said about the coming Messiah, the spirit of the Lord will rest upon him. And Jesus said about the miracles that he did, he says, if I, by the Spirit, cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? He lived, worked by the Holy Spirit. Stephen was full of grace. Well, John chapter one, verse 14 says, the word was made flesh and dwelt among us. We beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Just like Stephen, was like his master. And then Stephen was full of power. Well, what would a person look like who was full of power? Jumping around and waving his arms and yelling loudly? No, not necessarily. This term power sometimes gets exaggerated or has a concept that isn't really true to the nature of the term. The term refers to innate ability. innate ability. What sometimes, I'll tell you one thing that bugs me is when we use an English derivative of a Greek word to say that's what the Greek word means. Do you get the point? We take an English word that came from the Greek word and then we say the Greek word means what the English word means. And so many times I've heard that this Greek word dunamis, we get the word dynamite from it. And so we think of this explosive power, this big boom, you know, but that's not what the word means. That's true, we get the English word from it, but that's not what the Greek word means. The Greek word means something that has innate ability or innate strength or innate power. And that's what Stephen had. He had power on the inside of him to regularly go to meet those widow's needs, to answer their questions, and maybe when he didn't feel up to it, he felt tired, maybe He was just worn out, but because he had innate ability from the Lord, he would go, along with those other six brothers, and go from house to house to see how the widows were doing and take whatever they needed to them. And he did it with joy and with grace. So he was full of power, the strength and ability that God gives. And if anybody needs this, it's mothers. Sometimes I've heard somebody say, if evolution were really true, mothers would have eight arms. You've got kids running around, you've got this going on and that going on, and you've got maybe something on the stove, and you've got a child who needs you, and maybe your husband saying, where are my socks? And something like that. And so mothers need power. They need that innate ability and strength that the Lord gives to carry out a responsibility with joy in the Lord, and that's Stephen. So he was full of faith, he was full of the Holy Spirit, full of grace, and full of power. That's what he was on the inside. Number two, what he was on the outside. Chapter six, verses one to three, we find out why he was chosen. In six one, in those days when the disciples were increasing in number, A complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. And so Luke tells us that the apostles told the congregation to pick out from among them seven men who had good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom they would appoint over that duty or need. And so what Stephen was on the outside was a need meter, M-E-E-T-E-R, not a M-E-T-E-R. Those other six men on the outside, what he would do on a daily basis, because this was a daily distribution, And so every day you'd see Stephen getting up. I don't know if he was married or not, but if he was, he'd kiss his wife and say, hey, I'm going over to so-and-so's home and I'm going to check on her. And then I'm going to so-and-so's home and check on her. And then I'm going to meet up with Philip. We're going to go and check on so-and-so. And I'll be back around three o'clock. And out he'd go. and on the outside he was a man who would meet the needs of other people. He fulfilled his assigned responsibility. That's what was on the outside, a man who fulfilled the responsibility assigned to him. One thing as a teacher I try to stress with students is do your homework. do your homework, fulfill your assignment because the pattern a young person sets with something as simple as just handing in a paper or completing an assignment is an excellent pattern to develop for responsibility. And Stephen was a man who would fulfill his responsibilities. And that's what he was on the outside, a man of responsible behavior. Secondly, what he was on the outside, you see down in verses six, seven, and eight, especially verse eight. Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. God in his wisdom had given to Stephen the spiritual gift of miracles. We're not told that five of the other men had them. We are told that Philip also was given the gift of miracles. But I just want to broaden that out to say that he was given a spiritual gift and he used it. You have been given a spiritual gift and maybe more than one. and God simply expects us to use the God-given abilities that we have to serve him and to serve each other. And that's what Stephen did. This was not something that drew attention to himself, that wasn't the purpose of it, but because he was given that gift, we find that he was using the gift where he was continually doing great wonders and signs among the Jewish people there in Jerusalem. And of course, the purpose of miracles, the primary purpose was to authenticate or to show that the apostles and their message were really from God and really true. And even though Stephen was not an apostle, the miracles he performed were still authenticating those 12 men. That there was a God spokesman, they're telling you the truth, the gospel is true and what I'm telling you is true. And so the purpose of miracles was not primarily to relieve illness or relieve suffering, that was a byproduct. But the primary purpose was to authenticate a God spokesman and their message. And then thirdly, he spoke for the Lord when he was given the opportunity. Well, verse nine says, some of those who belong to the synagogue of the freed men that were former slaves or descendants of former slaves, and they were composed of Cyrenians, Alexandrians, that is people from North Africa, and those of Cilicia and Asia, that's of Asia Minor. They rose up and disputed with Stephen. but they couldn't withstand the wisdom and the spirit with which he was speaking. So when these men challenged Stephen and disputed and argued with him and wanted to criticize him and drag him down, Stephen used the opportunity to speak for the Lord. And I thought, well, that's an excellent characteristic of any of us when we're given opportunity to say something for the Lord. We take it. We take the opportunity. And that's the way Stephen was. He just used the opportunity. We're not told that he went out of his way to start the argument or to start the dispute. But when it came up against him, he was just ready. And of course, all of chapter seven is his impromptu talk to these, his critics, Jewish critics. And when you read chapter seven, you say, wow, this man really knew his Bible. Because he starts from Abraham and goes right on through the Old Testament history. And he makes the last count I made, there are at least 13 direct quotes from the scriptures. Now I thought, man, could I do that? Could we do that? If somebody wanted to talk to us or challenge our faith, why do you believe what you do? Why do you believe the Bible? Why do you go to that church? Why are you seem to be happy all the time and all that? Can we, from just our memory, pull scripture up out of our memory bank and apply it to the question or the comment the person had to us? Well, Stephen did. When you read his speech in chapter seven to those people, you're undoubtedly impressed with the grasp that that man had on Bible history and Bible facts and Bible verses. And I don't think he learned them just the weekend before. I think this man spent obviously time In God's word, perhaps he was raised by, maybe his parents schooled him in the scriptures, or maybe, I don't know if he went to a rabbinical school or not, we're not told. But this man knew his Bible, and he was willing to speak up for the Lord when he was given the opportunity. So those are things that he was on the outside. He fulfilled his responsibility to the widows, he used a spiritual gift, And he spoke up for the Lord when given the opportunity. Okay, number three, what he was assured of. What was he certain about? Well, that comes right at the end of chapter seven. The people listening to him, they couldn't answer him. So they got angry with him and charged him, I guess, with blasphemy. And so they dragged him out of the city, verse 58. cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul who was watching, I think, probably the whole proceeding and giving his approval, you know, maybe handed him some rocks. And as they were stoning Stephen, listen to what he said in verse 59, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. This man was absolutely assured that he had a home in heaven and that when he died, when his spirit left his body, that he would go to be right with the Lord Jesus. Does that ring a bell with you, what Jesus said on the cross? Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. Stephen was so much like the Lord Jesus Christ here at just before his death that he asked the Lord Jesus to welcome his spirit because he knew that to be absent from the body was to be present with the Lord. And then number four, how he responded to his enemies. Verse 60, falling to his knees. One writer pointed out the contrast. that when Stephen looked up into the heavens, he saw Jesus standing up. And now here is Stephen kneeling down. It seems, you know, I don't know how much to draw from that, but the Lord Jesus knew exactly what was going on down there in Jerusalem. He knew exactly what his servant Stephen was facing, and the Lord Jesus stood up. You ever think? that when you're in trouble, when something difficult's happening to you, the Lord Jesus stands up, notices you, and is aware of you, and is able to help you because he's your high priest. Well, Stephen knelt down, and he cried out with a loud voice. He wanted these men who were throwing the stones at him to hear it. And he said with a loud voice, Lord, do not hold this sin against them. When he had said that, he died. His spirit left his body and the Lord Jesus received him, welcomed him in heaven. He fell asleep. And I don't know if you have ever wondered, but I have wondered in verse 60, did God ever answer that prayer? Because Stephen didn't want this additional sin to be held against them. They've already rejected the Lord Jesus. That's bad enough. And they have rejected the gospel. They've rejected Stephen's message. And now they're murdering him. Maybe they think they're doing God's service. But Stephen knows he's being killed unjustly and he doesn't want that additional sin piled up on top of the other sins. And he's asking God to show mercy to those people. I recently saw a reenactment of part of the imprisonment of a Romanian pastor named Richard Wurmbrandt. and he was a faithful pastor in Romania and this was back in the 1980s. One day he was walking on the sidewalk, he was out in public And a car drove up and men grabbed him and dragged him into the car and drove him to prison because he was a preacher of the gospel in a communist country. And he was severely beaten, severely tortured. He was three years in solitary confinement and imprisoned for I think a total of 17 years. His wife also was imprisoned. And when the guard would look into his prison cell, and if they saw him praying, they would go into the cell, drag him out, and beat him mercilessly. And it happened I don't know how many times. They would open the little peephole to the cell. If they saw that man on his knees praying, they would burst into his cell, drag him out, and beat him. And finally, I don't know how many times that it happened, but on one occasion, the guard saw he was praying, he flung the door open and reached in and he said, why are you still doing that? What is there for you to pray for? And Verbrant looked at the guard and said, I'm praying for you. And sort of Stephen is kind of like that. As he is being murdered, he says, Lord, Do not hold this sin against them. I don't know if God answered that or not, but it showed the heart of Stephen how he responded to his enemies. Does that ring a bell to what Jesus said on the cross? As the soldiers were driving the spikes through his wrists and through his feet, he said, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they're doing. So I thought of all of these different things about Stephen that were so reflective of the Lord Jesus Christ. full of faith, like Jesus, who trusted in God, full of the Holy Spirit, like Jesus, on whom the Spirit of the Lord rested, full of grace, like the Lord Jesus, full of grace and truth, full of power, like the Lord Jesus, where it says, power came out from him to heal people. Like the Lord Jesus Christ, when Stephen said, Father, Or, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. Jesus said, Father, into your hands I commit my spirit, and like the Lord Jesus when he prayed, Father, forgive them. And so, okay, putting all that together, what is it to be used of the Lord? What's the characteristic of a person to be used of the Lord like Stephen? And that is to be like Jesus. Shall we pray? Our Father, we thank you for this example of a godly man who was faithful in the responsibilities that you had assigned to him, a man who was willing to use the gift you had given to him and to speak up for the Lord when he was given the opportunity to do that. And even though unjustly accused and murdered, nevertheless, he did not harbor bitterness toward his enemies. but prayed for your mercy. Lord help us to be like that so that we might be fit to be used of God like Stephen. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.