SERVANTHOOD: CHARACTER, COMMIMENT AND SERVICE
THE SELECTION OF A SERVANT
The early church chose it first deacons to serve the needs
of the members. The qualifications are given in verses 6:3 and 6:5. Stephen was
one of the men chosen.
From the life of Stephen, we can learn what it takes to be a
servant of God.
V.6:3. "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."
A. The men were
chosen to serve tables, diakonein trapezais (verse 2). We get the
word deacon.
1. They were
chosen to serve the needs of the poor, widows and orphans.
2. All of God's
elect are chosen to the office of serving others.
B. Jesus was the
chief Deacon of the Church. He said, "I did not come to be served
but to serve;
diakonethenai alla diakonesai." Mat
20:28
1. This position
of serving others is an honor and a privilege from God.
2. Jesus honored
us with His service, therefore we ought to honor others
with our
service.
V.6:5. "And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and
they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and
Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch
A. Faith is
necessary for successful service.
B. The Spirit
empowers the service.
V.6:6. "Whom they set before the apostles: and when
they had prayed, they laid their hands on them."
A. The work of
service should not begin without prayer and the anointing of God.
1. God loves our
prayers and answers them according to His Will.
2. After the
nomination, the Pastor has the responsibility of approving and
ordaining deacons. V.3
THE CHARACTER OF A SERVANT
V.6:8. "And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great
wonders and miracles among the people."
A. Stephen was a
deacon (recent appointment). His job was
to wait tables. He was a
distributor of
the Church Charity.
1. He took a low
position and then magnified his service to glorify the Father.
2. There is no
greater position than to serve others.
B. Verses 3,5, and 6
gives us the qualities of a good servant.
1. He was
available.
2. He was willing.
3. Throughout the
community, he had a good reputation.
4. He was full of
wisdom.
5. He was full of
the Holy Ghost.
6. He was full of
faith (pistis= moral convictions, reliance on Christ). V.5
a. His faith
left no room for unbelief.
b. His faith
left room for Divine Grace.
C. He was full of faith
(charis = grace, divine influence upon the heart).
1. He was full
of divine power.
2. It takes the
grace of God to engage Divine Power.
THE COMMITMENT OF A SERVANT
D. "He did great wonders and miracles among the
people."
1. He was
chosen to serve bread to the poor widows.
2. His
compassion for those he served expanded his service to great wonders and
miracles.
a. He did more than what he was assigned to
do.
b. He allowed God to use his service for
greater works.
c. Those who
serve faithfully will always find more work to be done.
d. Those who
serve must rely on God to empower their work.
e. We can never
know what effect we can have unless we get involved.
V: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."
A. Stephen expanded
his position of Deacon into teaching the Word of God.
1. When God calls
us, He calls us to use all our gifts.
2. The teaching
of Stephen was effective because he aroused the attention of many
men.
3. Men from three
different continents joined in the discussion with Stephen.
a. The
Libertine may have been from Rome
were from North
Africa . The Cilicians were from Asia .
b. The
preached Word reaches far and wide.
c. Those
religious folk who have no faith in Jesus will oppose the preaching of the
Gospel.
d. Sometimes
it's our education that blocks the light of Jesus.
e. We can be
exposed to the same information and interpret it differently.
f. Only the
Holy Spirit can give you the correct interpretation of God's Word.
John 14:26,
John 16:13
g. Stephen was
full of the Holy Spirit. Those who opposed the Word lacked the
Spirit. John 14:17
i. Those
who lack the Spirit will not understand the Word of God. 1 Cor 2:14
THE EFECT OF A SERVANT
V:10. "And they were not able to resist the wisdom and
the spirit by which he spake."
A. Stephen knew the
Word.
1. Stephen
believed the Word.
2. Stephen was
not afraid to be opposed by His teaching.
3. Stephen taught
with the conviction of the Holy Spirit.
B. Wisdom comes from
the study of God's Word. 1 Cor 2:12
1. Knowledge comes
from the inspiration of the Word by the Holy Spirit.
2. Conviction
comes from faith in God's Word.
3. Boldness comes
from applying God's Word and leaving the outcome to God.
C. When teaching God's Word, you must stand on your beliefs
regardless of the
opposition.
1. You must never
compromise the Word to gain agreement.
2. The Spirit of
God will guide your teaching.
3. The Spirit is
more powerful than the greatest argument.
4. The Spirit will
guide your conversation so that it answers the needs of the
audience.
a. Even those
who oppose you will benefit from the Word because they have to
defend
their position.
THE AFFICTIONS OF A SERVANT
V:11. "Then they suborned men, which said, We have
heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God."
A. Suborned =
hupoballo= to procure a person to make a false statement, to pay false
witnesses.
1. When men cannot
convince you of their way of thinking, they can become
violent.
a. The ruling
Jews paid men to make false statements against Jesus.
b. The Church
is propelled by the adversity of the world.
i. Judas was paid to betray Jesus.
2. God does not
always save us from adversity, but He blesses us in adversity.
a. God uses our
faithfulness in adversity to bless others.
b. Adversity is
a test of our faith in God.
c. Adversity is
a test of our love for God.
B. If you have to pay
someone to support your position, then your position is suspect.
1. If your
position is based on the truth, it does not need outside help.
2. Lies are the
result of an impure heart.
C. An eyewitness to
the truth is better than hearsay.
1. Accusations
should be specific and not general.
2. Those who
accuse you from what they "heard", don't really know you.
3. People are
quick to believe something negative about someone without verifying
it.
A. Misery loves company.
1. If you can get
others to believe what you believe, it confirms your position to
you; right or
wrong.
B. These Jews used
the Law of Righteousness to support their unrighteousness.
1. A man could
be put to death by two or three witnesses. Duet 17:6
2. It is funny
that we will use the Bible to support what we want, but we want use
the
Bible to
convict us of our sins.
3. They used the
Word, applied wrongly, to accuse a man.
4. They used the
Word to support their lies, but couldn't remember "thou shall not
lie".
C. The mission of God
draws adversity, but mission can't be stopped.
1. There are
always those who will oppose the man of God.
2. They will stir
up others to join in to their mission of destruction.
D. God gives His men
the courage to stand on His Word.
THE TESTIMONY OF A SERVANT
V:13. "And set up false witnesses, which said, This man
ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the
law."
A. It is easy to stir
up folk when you talk against that which they hold dear to their hearts.
1. Jesus did say,
"Destroy this temple and I will raise it again in three days." John
2:19
2. Jesus did say,
"I did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill the law." Mat 5:17
B. Stephen probably
repeated the Words of Jesus in the promotion of the Gospel truth.
1. People read
into what you say, what they want to believe.
2. They hated
Jesus, therefore any word about Jesus made them angry and caused
them to have violent thoughts.
3. They could not
convince Stephen that he was wrong, so they decided to silence
Him
by accusing
him of criminal behavior.
a. When you
are right, you are right, but it might not make any difference to those
who hate
you.
C. You have to ask
yourself, "why can't Church folk see that it is wrong to lie and bare
false
witness?"
1. These Jews
knew the law, because they used the law to make their accusations.
2. God uses what
we hate to show us the weakness in our faith.
D. For the sake of
being seen as right, some folk will resort to doing wrong.
1. These Jews had
to have the last word.
2. They did what
was necessary for them to be seen as right.
3. If you have to
pay someone to lie and see no wrong in it, there is something
wrong
with your
religion.
4. Even if I am
wrong, your wrong to silence me want accomplish the righteousness
of God.
V: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."
A. Any two people
reading the Bible may come up with different interpretations.
1. There is no
reason to get angry because we can't agree with each other.
2. The best we can
do is to learn from each other how we arrived at our different
interpretations.
3. We might learn
that the different interpretations give us a better understanding of
the
righteousness of God.
B. The accusers heard
right.
1. Jesus came to
destroy the focus of the worship.
2. The focus of
the worship is not the physical temple, but the heart.
a. Out of the
heart flows the issues of life.
C. The accusers heard
right.
1. Jesus did come
to change the customs delivered to Moses.
2. Jesus did away
with the temple sacrifices for the atonement of sins.
a. Jesus death
on the cross became the final sacrifice and the only sacrifice for the
atonement
of sin.
3. Jesus did away
with the Jewish high priest as the intercessor between man and
God.
a. Jesus is
now the High Priest making intercessions for us.
b. Jesus is
the "CJIC"; The Chief Jew In Charge.
i. You can
quote Him. He said, "All power over heaven and earth has been
given to
me."
D. Our problem is
that we can't stand for someone to claim to be right when we are
convinced that
we are right.
1. We have to
learn to live in harmony with our differences.
2. It is our
differences that causes us to see the truth of the Bible from different
aspects.
a. We can
both be right. Others may have a different experience
that will enlighten us.
THE SUCCESS OF A SERVANT
V:15. "And all that sat in the council, looking
stedfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel."
A. When you stand on
the truth, there is a certain look on your face that expresses
your
confidence.
1. When you stand
on the truth, there is a certain look on your face that expresses
your trust in
God.
2. When you stand
on the truth, there is a certain look on your face that expresses
your boldness
in the Lord.
3. When you stand
on the truth, there is a certain look on your face that expresses,
"for Him
I live and for Him I will die."
B. When you stand on
the truth, everyone that sees you know that you stand for Jesus.
1. When you stand
on the truth, everyone who sees you, know you are not going
to compromise the Word of God.
2. When you stand
on the truth, everyone that sees you, know you are not going to
back down.
Acts 7:1. "Then said the high priest, Are these things
so?"
A. When you stand for
Jesus, expect to be questioned about what you believe.
1. If you have been
saved by the blood of Jesus, you got a
testimony. 1John 5:10 -11
2. If you have been
saved by Jesus, you got a right to tell somebody about His
goodness. Rom
14:12
3. If you been
saved by Jesus, you have an obligation to testify about Him. Act
B. Children of the
King have to say YES to the truth about Jesus.
V.7:2. "And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers,
hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia ,
before he dwelt in Charran."
A. Some folk need a
history lesson about Jesus.
1. Some folk need
to know that Jesus didn't just begin with His birth through Mary.
a. They need
to know that He always was and always will be.
b. They need to know He is Alpha and
Omega. Rev. 22:13
c. They need
to know that He is the author of the Law and that He gave the Law
to point
to Himself. Heb 12:2, 1 John 5:7-8
B. Some folk need to
know that He is God all by Himself and He doesn't need their
help to maintain His
righteousness.
C. Some folk need to
know that He planned the Jewish nation to produce a woman
called Mary, a
suitable vessel for Him to be born in the flesh.
1. Some folk need
to know that without His death on the cross there would be no
home in
heaven.
When you are filled with the Spirit of God and have the
intent on doing the will of God, your testimony will be effective, affective
and convicting.
1. The Word was
effective.
a. The Word of
God cannot return void. Isa 55:11
b. Men of the synagogues
from four different areas heard His testimony about
Jesus
Christ.
2. The Word was
affective.
a. The Word
affected the hearts and minds of those who heard it.
b. They
debated with Stephen to prove him wrong.
c. When they
could not prevail, they conspired to have him condemned.
3. The Word was
convicting.
a. The chief
council who tried the case against Stephen saw the Spirit within
him because
his face shown as that of an angel.
b. They had to
make a decision based on the false testimony they heard and the
evidence before them.
When you make up your mind to serve God, He will equip you
for success.
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