When God Stands Building the Church of Acts Pt. 3
Clutch Student Ministries Pastor Jordan Biel 05.03.06
4 Things we can learn from Stephen and the other Disciples 1. Our obedience and excellence in the “small things” tests our character & prepares us for future greater responsibilities 2. The Baptism in the Holy Spirit is needed & given to all believers who obey 3. God provides when we remain passionate and persistent in light of persecution 4. To live for Jesus, you must be willing to die for Him
1. Our obedience and excellence in the “small things” tests our character & prepares us for future greater responsibilities
Where do we first hear about Stephen? In Acts, Ch. 6, the believers were getting frustrated that the elderly and widows we’re being overlooked, so the apostles (the disciples) decided to select 7 men who were responsible and full the Holy Spirit and wisdom to take care of the material needs of the people so the apostles could spend their time in prayer and fasting and preaching the Word. Great idea by the way. God’s idea! Stephen was the first man chosen. Acts 6:5-7 “This idea pleased the whole group, and they chose the following: Stephen (a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit), (& 6 other guys) These seven were presented to the apostles, who prayed for them as they laid their hands on them.” (one reason we lay our hands on each-other when we pray for each other – Jesus taught us and the Church of Acts did that)
What was the result of Stephen’s humility to be faithful in the small things – taking care of the elderly, doing paperwork to administrate and organize funds, and feeding the poor? Acts 6:7 “God's message was preached in ever-widening circles. The number of believers greatly increased in Jerusalem, and many of the Jewish priests were converted, too.” NLT
Something else we can learn from Stephen and the Disciples is that… 2. The Baptism in the Holy Spirit is needed & given to all believers who obey
Steven had a reputation. Many times when the Word mentions Stephen’s name it adds “a man full of the Holy Spirit.” Or “a man full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom” (Acts 6:5 / 7:55)
What’s your reputation?
ILL> Labron James disciplined himself to practice basketball and he humbled himself to receive the help needed from coaches and that gave him the reputation of a great b-ball player
Tiger Woods disciplined himself to practice golg and he humbled himself to receive the help from his dad and from coaches. And that gave him the reputation of a great golfer.
Stephen disciplined himself in reading the Word and he humbled himself to receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and he submitted to the authority of his spiritual leadership And that gave him the reputation of “a man full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom.”
That’s an awesome rep. Stephen had – “a man full of the Holy Spirit.” Prov 22:1 “Choose a good reputation over great riches, for being held in high esteem is better than having silver or gold.” NLT
What’s your reputation? Write it out. If I asked your friends about you, what would people say that you are?
“_(Name)__________________,_(Reputation)__________________________________”
What do you want your reputation to be? Write it out. If asked your friends about you, what would you want them to say?
“_(Name)__________________,_(Reputation)__________________________________”
“Jordan Biel, a psycho for Jesus.”
Acts 6:8-10 “Stephen, a man full of God's grace and power, performed amazing miracles and signs among the people. 9 But one day some men from the Synagogue of Freed Slaves, as it was called, started to debate with him. They were Jews from Cyrene, Alexandria, Cilicia, and the province of Asia. 10 None of them was able to stand against the wisdom and Spirit by which Stephen spoke.” NLT The Holy Spirit is here to give us power wisdom-what to say, how to say it, when to say it. If you want that reputation, if you want to be a world-changer, you have to ask the Holy Spirit to baptize you and ask God to speak to you. It’s God through you that changes the world.
Let me ask you: What‘s the Holy Spirit’s role in You? Have you allowed Him complete control? Have you made Him the Driver and you the passenger? When you do, it’s a blast! What the Bible says about Receiving the Holy Spirit> Why do we lay our hands on you and pray? Because this was the example the Apostles gave us in the Bible. Acts 8:14-17 “When the apostles back in Jerusalem heard that the people of Samaria had accepted God's message, they sent Peter and John there. 15 As soon as they arrived, they prayed for these new Christians to receive the Holy Spirit. 16 The Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them, for they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then Peter and John laid their hands upon these believers, and they received the Holy Spirit.” NLT
Stephen is a great example for us in how to be practical enough to feed the hungry and wise enough to debate with scholars –“How?” Through the help of the Holy Spirit!
When it comes to helping out in school, do you say, “I’m not gifted enough.” When it comes to serving at youth or church, do you say, “That’s not my calling.” You know, you can have more than one calling! You can have more than one gift. In fact, I’m betting most of you have many gifts, not yet tapped into because we’ve bought into this lie that says you can only do “your thing” in the church! Let’s learn a lesson from Stephen and be level-headed enough to delegate, administrate, visit the poor, help the needy and teach and preach the gospel! (Go-Teams plug for May 20th, 10am)
When’s the last time you went out of your way to serve someone and show them the love of Christ? If you’re never doing that, I’m doubting your Christianity! If you’re a Christian, everybody around you is going to see the difference!
Something else we can learn from Stephen and the Disciples is that… 3. God provides when we remain passionate and persistent in light of persecution
“In this world, you’re going to have trouble.” – Jesus in John 16:33 “Are you asking ‘why would we have trouble?’ Look at Jesus, do you know that you are going to be like Him one day? Will it be easy to conform to His image? Were gonna back-up in the story for a minute, before Stephen is mentioned, listen to what the apostles/disciples went through.
(Acts 5:3-11 tells the story of Ananias and Sapphira – two people who lied to the apostles about how much money they made – The Holy Spirit told Peter that they were lying then they just dropped dead! Lesson learned: don’t lie to God and don’t lie to the Pastor!)
Acts 5:12-17 Tells us that droves of sick people were brought to the disciples feet – on stretchers, on crutches and “they all were healed!”
Acts 5:17-32 “The High Priest and his relatives and friends among the Sadducees reacted with violent jealousy 18 and arrested the apostles, and put them in the public jail. 19 But an angel of the Lord came at night, opened the gates of the jail and brought them out. Then he told them, 20 "Go over to the Temple and preach about this Life!" 21 They arrived at the Temple about daybreak and immediately began preaching! Later that morning the High Priest and his courtiers arrived at the Temple, and, convening the Jewish Council and the entire Senate, they sent for the apostles to be brought for trial. 22 But when the police arrived at the jail, the men weren't there, so they returned to the Council and reported, 23 "The jail doors were locked, and the guards were standing outside, but when we opened the gates, no one was there!" 24 When the police captain and the chief priests heard this, they were frantic, wondering what would happen next and where all this would end! (That guys’ fired! He was probably a ‘rent a cop’) 25 Then someone arrived with the news that the men they had jailed were out in the Temple, preaching to the people! (They were persistent and passionate – thought they just put in jail for preaching, after God miraculously delivers them, they go back to preach to people!)
26 The police captain (the one that’s getting fired soon!) went with his officers and arrested them (without violence, for they were afraid the people would kill them if they roughed up the disciples) and brought them in before the Council.
28 "Didn't we tell you never again to preach about this Jesus?" the High Priest demanded. "And instead you have filled all Jerusalem with your teaching and intend to bring the blame for this man's death on us!" 29 But Peter and the apostles replied, "We must obey God rather than men. 30 The God of our ancestors brought Jesus back to life again after you had killed him by hanging him on a cross. 31 Then, with mighty power, God exalted him to be a Prince and Savior, so that the people of Israel would have an opportunity for repentance, and for their sins to be forgiven. 32 And we are witnesses of these things and so is the Holy Spirit, who is given by God to all who obey him."
Acts 5:40-42 “The Council… called in the apostles, had them beaten, and then told them never again to speak in the name of Jesus, and finally let them go. 41 They left the Council chamber rejoicing that God had counted them worthy to suffer dishonor for His Name. 42 And every day, in the Temple and in their home Bible classes, they continued to teach and preach that Jesus is the Messiah.”
The disciples considered it an honor to be beaten – to be persecuted because of their faith in Jesus! This is tough to realize – this is a tough lesson to learn – but when they realized the beating and paint that Jesus went through for them, they were willing to go through beating and pain for Jesus. APPLY> We too should realize that when we are being mocked and outcast because of our faith in Christ – it only confirms our allegiance to Him – and one day we’ll be rewarded for our passionate persistence in the middle of persecution.
Acts 6:11-15 “So they persuaded some men to lie about Stephen, saying, "We heard him blaspheme Moses, and even God." 12 Naturally, this roused the crowds, the elders, and the teachers of religious law. So they arrested Stephen and brought him before the high council. 13 The lying witnesses said, "This man is always speaking against the Temple and against the law of Moses. 14 We have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy the Temple and change the customs Moses handed down to us." 15 At this point everyone in the council stared at Stephen because his face became as bright as an angel's.” NLT Let’s stop here for a moment. Stephen’s face was GLOWING! Wouldn’t that be sweet at a concert. All your friends have the little glow sticks your head looks like it’s gonna explode! Tha’d be sweet! Why was his face glowing? I mean what’s the point. I think we can take a few things from this. 1. The presence of God changes your appearance! Remember Moses when he came off the Mountain after being with God – dude was glowing too! The presence of God will change your appearance too when you really encounter Him. 2. This glowing was (I believe) a sign of God’s approval. Can you imagine the religious guys fighting. “Ehh, Bob, I don’t believe this guy Stephen Do you?” “Dude! His head is glowing! God is obviously on his side. Has your head ever lit up a room? I didn’t think so!”
We’ve talked about the Holy Spirit’s function in us - to draw us to Christ, to lead us the truth, and to empower us to be loud-mouths for Jesus. The Holy Spirit came all over Stephen! After they’ve falsely accused him of all this stuff, put him on trial, Stephen face starts shining, then Steven just lets them have it! He told them about Abraham, about Isaac, about Jacob, Joseph, Moses and all theses times when God used a person as a prophet to warn them of God’s wrath against sin and how they didn’t listen. He explained how God sent Jesus to save them from that sin and how they killed Him for it. He was saying, “Hey! The very Messiah you guys are waiting for is Jesus – the guy you just killed!”
This made the Religious leaders mad! Oh, now they were ticked off!
Something else we can learn from Stephen and the Disciples is that… 4. To live for Jesus, you must be willing to die for Him
Stephen gave them this 10 minute monologue about the History of Abraham, Moses, God’s people and even Jesus and they couldn’t take it anymore. They dragged him out of the city and stoned him in front of everybody. Acts 7:55-56 “But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 "Look," he said, "I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." NIV All other places that I know of mention Jesus sitting at the right hand of God. And now when Stephen is preaching his last sermon and telling about Jesus in his last breath, Jesus stands for Him- I think that’s pretty cool that God got up off His throne and gave a standing ovation to His son Stephen! This is when God stands! God loves when you study His Word, He is proud of you when you wear your Christian T-Shirt, But He’s not so impressed until you can stand up and speak up for Him in the middle of persecution! This is When God Stands! This is when it’s hard, but this is when God is Proud of You!
What happened next? Acts 8:57 “Then they put their hands over their ears (they didn’t want to hear anymore!) and drowning out his voice with their shouts, they rushed at him. 58 They dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. The witnesses took off their coats and laid them at the feet of a young man named Saul (later would be Paul) 59 As they stoned him, Stephen prayed, ‘Lord, Jesus, receive my spirit.” And he fell to his knees shouting, ‘Lord, don’t charge them with this sin!’ And with that, he died.” Can you imagine this! They threw huge rocks at him until he finally died! That’s brutal! That’s painful! Probably more painful than any death you or I will ever die!
ILL> Pass the buckets of rocks down the isle, everybody getting one
Every world-changer pays a price - usually and extreme price to make a difference. They killed Jesus, they killed Martin Luther King, they killed Stephen, last week we saw that all 12 disciples were killed for their faith!
Standing up for God will cost you – But when you do, God will stand up for you!
Let me ask you: Is what you’re living for worth dying for?
If you live for Christ, it is worth dying for. If you’re living for something that you would die for, that’s an exciting, passionate, breath-taking kind of life!
If you’re living for Christ, are you willing to die for Him? That’s where the rubber meets the road. I hope if I was ever faced with that challenge that I would die for Him. ALTAR> Everybody bow your heads… As you hold that rock in your hand, remember what Stephen went through so that the Gospel could keep going. Remember what Jesus went through in being beaten for us and dying for our sins. Remember what the apostles went through – getting beaten and flogged because they were reaching about the love of Jesus Christ. Remember what Paul went through – getting shipwrecked, beaten, starved, mocked – all for writing letters about God – letters and messages that would keep us in line with God today. Remember the sacrifice they made. Be warned that you will have trouble, but be encouraged to know that God is with you every step of the way. Be conscience of the lost around you, know that you must be passionate and persistent in reaching them for God. Live your life willing to die for Jesus Christ – the One who died for you.
What is the reward for radically living for God? – eternal life in Heaven with Jesus! Death is not the end, it’s only the beginning. Most of us won’t be faced with the persecution of death for following Jesus, but we do have to come to grips with 2 Questions:
1. Would we die for Jesus Christ? 2. While we’re alive, are we really living for Him, completely sold-out to tell everybody about His ability to save? Are we standing up for Him in our schools? Are we proclaiming the salvation of Jesus to the lost? Would God stand up for the way you’re living right now? You stand up for God and He’ll stand up for you. |