Title: Faith of Stephen / Acts 6:8-15
Contents Stephen's Faith/Acts 6:8-15
Today I'm going to talk about "Stephen's Faith".
Stephen is one of the great men born of the early church.
Stephen was active after 30 AD.
The political world at that time was ruled by Rome.
Christianity suffered severe persecution and persecution from Judaism.
It was a time when people were thrown into prison and executed if they preached the gospel.
The early church had 7 very good deacons.
There were seven men: Stephen, Philip, Prochorus, Niganor, Timon, Barmena, and Nicolas.
In particular, Deacon Stephen loved the Lord the most and testified of the gospel as much as the apostles.
He is full of excellent eloquence and rhetoric, and knowledge of the Bible and Israel's history, so he won't be a member of the public.
He was a great preacher.
The whole of Acts 7 consists of a very long sermon preached by Stephen himself.
He boldly testified his sermons from beginning to end, without any daunting in the face of mortal enemies.
did it
“Jesus is our Savior,
Jesus testified that he rose from the dead.”
When Stephen was preaching the gospel like this, he was stoned by the persecution of Judaism.
He became the first martyr in Christian history.
So who is Stephen?
1. He was a man full of grace and power.
Again, verse 8 of the text.
“Stephan, full of grace and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people,” he said.
To be full of grace and power means to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
(Acts 6:3), it says, "Stephen was full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom."
Verse 5 says, “And Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit.”
Stephen was filled with the Holy Spirit in the upper room on the day of Pentecost.
He was filled with the Holy Spirit
He was full of grace, full of wisdom, and full of power, and great wonders and signs appeared.
He was recognized by all the saints as a man filled with the Holy Spirit.
To do God's work, we must be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Peter and Paul were changed because they were filled with the Holy Spirit.
Peter is a traitor. I'm a coward, I'm a coward.
But when he was filled with the Holy Spirit in the upper room on the day of Pentecost,
He became a great apostle, an apostle of power.
Paul hated Jesus the most.
Christians were persecuted and persecuted.
But when he met Jesus on the road to Damascus and was filled with the Holy Spirit,
He also became a great historical figure.
God promises the Holy Spirit.
(Acts 1:4-5) "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which I have heard of.
Ra John baptized with water, but ye
You will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
Our strength, our wisdom, and the strength of the church are in the filling of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is the divine heavenly power and power to make us healthy, blessed, and beautiful.
He makes the church into the church and the saints into the saints.
Only when we are filled with the Holy Spirit can we fulfill the gospel mission in this age and in this region.
How can you defeat all evil thoughts, sins, lusts, injustices, and vices?
You must be filled with the Holy Spirit.
The wind of the Holy Spirit must come.
In the early church, a strong wind of the Holy Spirit blew.
(Acts 2:2)
“Suddenly there is a loud sound like a rushing strong wind from the sky.
The whole house where we are sitting is full."
The Holy Spirit is the holy wind, the spiritual wind, the spirit wind.
As the wind drives away all the bad things like soot, smoke, mist, black clouds,
The wind of the Holy Spirit is the wind of the world, the wind of fashion, the wind that destroys men,
Drive away the winds of humanism, the winds of evil thoughts, and the winds of sin,
Instead, it gives us new strength, new power, and new courage.
It is the divine wind of a holy God.
The Holy Spirit must come.
The Holy Spirit must help.
The Holy Spirit must work.
Only then will I change, the church will change, the family will change, and society will change.
The Holy Spirit makes us believers.
Who is the wheat, and who is the chaff?
Holy Spirit-filled saints are grain believers.
The Holy Spirit is like fire.
The Holy Spirit comes into our hearts and warms our hearts.
It gives you enthusiasm.
makes you love
Deacon Stephen was filled with the Holy Spirit.
2. Deacon Stephen was a praiseworthy person.
(Acts 6:3)
“Brothers, whoever is praised among you, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom
Choose seven, and we will commit this work to them.”
(Acts 6:3) describes the three qualifications of a deacon.
1) Deacons must be filled with the Holy Spirit.
2) You must be full of wisdom.
3) You must be a person of praise.
Deacon Stephen is not only good with faith
I got compliments from people.
It's not easy to get compliments from people.
Those who are praised in the church have something in common.
gives you enthusiasm.
allegiance.
I fulfill my mission.
Committed, loving, serving.
So I won't be praised
The words that deacon Stephen was praised
It means that you were zealous, loyal, fulfilled your mission, dedicated, loved, and served well.
All.
A church that is praised must be revived.
(Acts 2:46-47)
“Every day we strive to be together in the temple, and break bread in our houses.
Eat food with joy and sincerity of heart, praising God,
And he was praised by all the people, and the Lord added day by day those who were saved."
said.
These are the 4 secrets of revival in the early church.
1) A church that strives to gather
2) A church that fellowships with sincerity and love
3) A church with praise
4) It was a church that was praised by the people.
So the Lord added to the number of those who were saved day by day.
3. Stephen had an angelic face
(Acts 6:15).
“All those who were seated in the council looked at Stephen.
His face was like the face of an angel."
An angel's face is the face of God.
Deacon Stephen had a second face.
It was the face of God, the face of an angel.
That is, it resembles the person of Jesus.
No matter how beautifully a woman puts on makeup, the face of anger is no.
But a smiling face, a smiling face, a kind face, a bright face, and a loving face are the most
Beautiful face.
The face of anger is the face of the devil.
The face of love is the face of an angel, the face of God.
The face of jealousy, greed, and disbelief are not the face of an angel.
For a person, the face is very important.
When I see that person's face, my heart is happy and there are times when I am happy.
However, there are people who are annoyed just by looking at that person's face.
There are faces I miss, miss, and want to see again.
But there are also faces of people you never want to see again.
Everyone is born with a different face.
This face is my number one face.
The first face is important, but more importantly
The second face we create through faith is important.
We all have a second face like deacon Stephen
I hope to go into society and into the world and boldly preach the gospel.