Ac 6:8-8 And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people. 9 Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen. 10 And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake. 11 Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God. 12 And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council, 13 And set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law: 14 For we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us. 15 And all that sat in the council, looking steadfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.
It is quite evident that Stephen was well qualified for the position of Deacon in the early church. Verse 8 says he was full of faith and power and verse 10 says that they were not able to resist the wisdom and spirit by which he spake. This is very interesting because if you recall he was appointed as one of the seven deacons to attend to the daily administration of the church, yet and still we see he was obviously a powerful witness for the Lord. Most deacons today are no more than men who receive the offering and open and close the church. Some actually have the audacity to think their job is to tell the Pastor what to do. Here we see the early church deacons apparently were more ministry oriented and therefore were great witnesses for the Lord. The word witness comes from a Greek word martys which is where we get our English word marter, which is a person who is willing to die for what they believe in. Dr Martin Luther King, Jr said you have not found anything worth living for until you have found something worth dying for. Most Christians are neutral and don't really take a stand on real issues. Many groups are coming out of the closet and it seems that Christians are going into the closet. It is high time for the church to rise like an island in the sea and let the world know that Jesus is God and He is alive and His word is true. The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life. You must be born again. You must be born of the water and the spirit. The water means baptism in Jesus name. The spirit means being filled with the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in other tongues as the Spirit give utterance. You need the explosive dunimus power of the Holy Ghost to give you the boldness to stand before anybody and everybody and proclaim the unadulterated word of God. Stephen is the perfect example of a person who was truly honest, full of the Holy Ghost, and wisdom. He was the very first marter in the early Church and we can all learn from this great witness. Keep the fire burning!
