INTRO.- ILL.- One Friday morning, a teacher came up with a novel way to motivate her class. She told them that she would read a quote and the first student to correctly identify who said it would receive the rest of the day off.
She started with “This was England’s finest hour.” Little Suzy instantly jumped up and said, “Winston Churchill.”
“Congratulations,” said the teacher, “you may go home early.”
The teacher then said, “Ask not what your country can do for you…” Before she could finish the quote, another young lady belts out, “John F. Kennedy!”
“Very good,” says the teacher, “you may go also.” Irritated that he has missed two golden opportunities, Little Johnny said, “I wish those girls would just shut up.”
Upon overhearing this comment, the outraged teacher demanded to know who said it. Johnny instantly rose to his feet and said, “Bill Clinton and I’ll see you Monday.”
Who is the man of the hour? It depends on the time and era and what the people think. At one time, in England, it probably was Winston Churchill. In America, at one time, it was J. F. K. And perhaps even Bill Clinton.
Who the man of the hour is depends on your viewpoint. It could be a sports star, a Hollywood star, a rich person, a politician or even a Christian person.
It could be Barry Bonds. It could be Brad Pitt, Matt Damon or George Clooney. It could be Bill Gates, who is still considered to be the richest or one of the richest men in the world. Or it could be Billy Graham.
The man of the hour may or may not be the man of the hour in God’s eyes. The people of this world ALWAYS have a different view than God does. Why? Because most people are not connected with the God of the universe! They could care less what God thinks and says.
Just because a person is a man of the world or a man of the hour in the eyes of the world it doesn’t make him so in the eyes of God!
ILL.- Remember David of old? Remember what God said about him?
I Samuel 16:1 “The LORD said to Samuel, "How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king."
I Samuel 16:7 “But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart”
11-12 “So he asked Jesse, "Are these all the sons you have?" "There is still the youngest," Jesse answered, "but he is tending the sheep." Samuel said, "Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives." So he sent and had him brought in. He was ruddy, with a fine appearance and handsome features. Then the LORD said, "Rise and anoint him; he is the one."
Even though David was a nice looking young man, it was his heart that moved God’s heart to choose him. God said, “He’s the man. He’s the man of the hour.” Wouldn’t you like to be God’s man of the hour? Or perhaps God’s woman of the hour?
In this particular text, the man of the hour was Stephen, the early church deacon. Today, someone might say, “He was just a deacon.” JUST A DEACON! He was that and a whole lot more!
PROP.- Let’s take a look at his life and how it stacks up against ours.
1- Full of grace
2- Did great wonders
3- Met mean opposition
4- Faced with death
I. FULL OF GRACE
Acts 6:8 “Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace.”
EPITATHPS. How will yours read?
ILL.- Here are some actual epitaphs on tombstones.
- The land I cleared is now my grave. Think well my friends how you behave.
- Under this sod,
Under these trees
Lies the body of Jonathan Pease
Be is not here
But only his pod
He has shelled out his peas
And gone to His God
- Gone to a better land. I hope.
- Behold my friends as you pass by
As you are now, so once was I
As I am now, so you must be
Prepare for death and follow me.
How will your epitaph read or will it say anything at all?
ILL.- Enoch “Walked With God”
He “walked with God!” Could grander words be written?
Not much of what he thought or said is told;
Not where or what he wrought is even mentioned;
He “walked with God”—brief words of fadeless gold!
How many souls were succored on his journey—
Helped by his words, or prayers, we may not know;
Still, this we read—words of excelling grandeur—
He “walked with God,” while yet he walked below.
And, after years, long years, of such blest walking,
One day he walked, then was not, God said “Come!
Come from the scene of weary sin-stained sadness!
Come to the fuller fellowship of home!”
Such be the tribute of thy pilgrim journey
When life’s last mile thy feet hath bravely trod—
When thou hast gone to all that there awaits thee,
This simple epitaph—“He walked with God!”
Acts 6:8 “Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people.”
Acts 6:5 “They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit.”
Stephen was full of God’s grace, full of faith and the Holy Spirit. I wish I, too, could be full of God’s grace because then I’d be a greater blessing to others and that’s our goal.
ILL.- It was September, 1715 when the funeral of Louis XIV was held in Paris. Louis XIV: The man who had said, “I am the State.” At his funeral service, the Bishop of Paris was to preach the eulogy. Thousands of people had come, spilling out of the Cathedral into the square beyond. The Bishop went up into the pulpit and preached a eulogy consisting of just four words. He said, “Only God is Great!”
No matter what good things can be said of us, only God is great. Only God is to be worshiped and praised. All good comes from Him.
Stephen was full of God’s grace because God filled him and used him.
II. DID GREAT WONDERS
Acts 6:8 “Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people.” Did great wonders. Interesting.
Wouldn’t that be something to be able to perform miracles?
ILL.- A boy was sitting on a park bench with one hand resting on an open Bible. He was loudly exclaiming his praise to God. "Hallelujah! Hallelujah! God is great!" he yelled without worrying whether anyone heard him or not.
Shortly after, along came a man who had recently completed some studies at a local university. Feeling himself very enlightened in the ways of truth and very eager to show this enlightenment, he asked the boy about the source of his joy.
"Hey" asked the boy in return with a bright laugh, "Don’t you have any idea what God is able to do? I just read that God opened up the waves of the Red Sea and led the whole nation of Israel right through the middle."
The enlightened man laughed lightly, sat down next to the boy and began to try to open his eyes to the "realities" of the miracles of the Bible. "That can all be very easily explained. Modern scholarship has shown that the Red Sea in that area was only 10-inches deep at that time. It was no problem for the Israelites to wade across."
The boy was stumped. His eyes wandered from the man back to the Bible laying open in his lap. The man, content that he had enlightened a poor, naive young person to the finer points of scientific insight, turned to go.
Scarcely had he taken two steps when the boy began to rejoice and praise louder than before. The man turned to ask the reason for this resumed jubilation.
"Wow!" exclaimed the boy happily, "God is greater than I thought! Not only did He lead the whole nation of Israel through the Red Sea, He topped it off by drowning the whole Egyptian army in 10 inches of water!"
God has performed many miracles as recorded in Scripture whether people want to believe them or not.
We are not told specifically what miracles Stephen performed among the people but we believe that he did. If God is all-powerful and He flung in the stars into the universe then we believe He could work through His people like Stephen.
ILL.- Billy Graham’s 50-year ministry, came in March, 1995, when the 76-year-old (now 88) evangelist’s distinctive voice and familiar message soared upward from his pulpit in Puerto Rico to a network of 30 satellites that bounced it back to receiving dishes in more than 165 countries. Estimates indicated that as many as one billion people heard at least one of Graham’s sermons during that campaign. Wow!
No telling how many millions (or billions) of people Billy Graham has touched for Christ in a positive way.
DO YOU WANT TO DO SOMETHING MIRACULOUS? Then lead someone to Christ.
III. MET MEAN OPPOSITION
Acts 6:9-10 “Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called)—Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia. These men began to argue with Stephen, but they could not stand up against his wisdom or the Spirit by whom he spoke.”
Opposition arose. If you are going to take a stand for Christ, opposition will come your way.
ILL.- A great example is when Chuck Colson appeared on TV with Madalyn Murray O’Hair in 1978 with British interviewer David Frost. Colson said, “From the opening round Mrs. O’Hair was true to form, angrily spitting insults at Christians in general and me in particular. When I was speaking and she was off-camera, she contorted her face and made obnoxious gestures in a coarse effort to distract me. Aggressively interrupting, glibly misquoting Scripture, she scored her blows early, to the crowd’s delight.
“I kept my Bible hidden at my side, but when she shouted, ‘The Bible teaches you to kill,’ I leaned across a startled David Frost and thrust it at her. ‘Wait a minute!’ I demanded. ‘You know this book, Mrs. O’Hair. Find where it says that. Read it to me.’
“She blanched, for a moment groped for words, then drew back in her chair shaking her head furiously. I thrust the leather-covered book toward her once more.”
Colson said, “She recoiled again. Even in the heat of the moment I was struck by her absolute refusal to touch the Bible. With that, the tide of the confrontation was turned, and she seemed subdued and on the defensive thereafter.”
Brothers and sisters, we need to believe the truth of God as contained in the Word of God AND TAKE OUR STAND!
ILL.- Charles Smith, president of the American Association for the Advancement of Atheism, reported that the lack of opposition was the cause of the decline of atheism. “We don’t have the old repressive religion that stimulates atheism, and they don’t preach hell-fire and Jonah in the whale anymore. They go in for this cheer-them-up religion. That’s not the old-time religion. It may be that this new sort is not so bad but they don’t let it interfere with their lives. They spent more time in the old days pleasing God. Now they try to please their fellow men.”
Could this be why we don’t have more opposition today? Could it be that we are not presenting the truth of Christ clearly enough or strongly enough? What about your witness for Christ in the working world? And mine? Do we shy away from witnessing or do we boldly speak for Christ?
Phil. 1:27-28 “Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God.”
IV. FACED WITH DEATH
Acts 7:54-60 54When they heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. 55But 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." 57At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, 58dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." 60Then he fell on his knees and cried out, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." When he had said this, he fell asleep.
Brothers and sisters, you and I are going to die! Early or late, we’re going to die. Stephen died an early death because of he was persecuted for Christ. Few of us will die from persecution. But the important thing is this: how we die. Will we die in faith? In trust?
ILL.- Winston Churchill said, “I am prepared to meet my Maker. Whether my Maker is prepared for the great ordeal of meeting me is another matter.”
Churchill was wrong. God is not afraid of meeting any human being in death but some humans need to fear meeting God in death.
Stephen was prepared to die. Are you prepared to die? Think about it. Search your soul. You could be here today and gone tomorrow. Are you ready?
Stephen had just told the high priest and others, “you betrayed and murdered the Righteous One,” meaning Jesus.
Stephen pointed to Jesus. That’s way to die: looking to Jesus, pointing others to Jesus.
ILL.- When the great English Christian and scientist, Sir Michael Faraday, was dying, some journalists questioned him as to his speculations for a life after death. “Speculations!” said he, “I know nothing about speculations. I’m resting on certainties. ‘I know that my redeemer liveth,’ and because He lives, I shall live also.”
That’s it. That’s the way to leave this world: in faith, trusting Jesus for eternal life. It’s the only way to die.
Are you worried? Or are you trusting Jesus?
Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” And “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”
Stephen reminds us of Jesus who prayed, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”
It’s best to go to your grave, not holding any grudges against anybody. That may be hard for some people to do, because we often become hurt and wounded by others in this life. But somehow, we must forgive. And we must pray, “Father, forgive them….”
CONCLUSION-------------------
Phil. 3:12 “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.”
Paul said, “I’m not there yet.” Or perhaps “I’m not where I should be yet.” Neither am I and neither are you. We are not the person that we should be in God’s eyes. But by His grace and loving patience, we’ll keep going in the right direction.
ILL.- Vance Havner once told the story about Dr. Clyde Turner who was the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Greensboro, KY. A youngster in the Sunday School was a terror and nobody knew what to do with him. Finally, he stopped coming to Sunday School. Dr. Turner said, “I am ashamed to say it, but I think we were all glad of it.” Nobody made any special effort to get him back.
But one day they were having a little meeting and here came that boy running down the aisle with a musical instrument case under his arm. “Dr. Turner,” he said, “they gave me a fiddle for being good.”
“In the first place,” Dr. Turner said, “I could imagine nobody giving him a fiddle; and in the second place, certainly not for being good.”
The boy sensed the wonder on the pastor’s face and said, “You see, doctor, I am gooder than I used to be.” Dr. Turner said, “I saw him scamper down the hall and I thought, ‘YES, THANK GOD, BY THE GRACE OF GOD A LOT OF US ARE GOODER THAN WE USED TO BE.’”
It is only by God’s grace that any of us will ever be saved and ever be of any use to God in this world. May His grace save us, fill us and use us!
