Stephen or Stephanos means crown
THE FOUR GODLY TRAITS FOUND IN STEPHENS LIFE
INTRODUCTION
STEPHEN WAS ONE OF THE SEVEN DEACONS APPOINTED TO LOOK AFTER THE DAILY DISTRIBUTION OF FOOD TO THE POOR (acts 6 v1-6).The need arose from a complaint that the widows were not receiving their fair share of the food.Stephen is described as a man full of the holy ghost(acts 6v5).His ministry was not only distributing food to the widows.He did great wonders and signs among the people(acts6v8).Another aspect of his ministry was debating the conflict between Judaism and Jesus Christ of nazareth being the Messiah.The bible says they could not challenge his holy ghost wisdom.In acts chapter seven Stephen speaks up before the council.
F.F.BRUCE POINTS OUT THAT STEPHENS SPEECH WAS NOT FOR SELF DEFENCE IN THE FORENSIC TERM.IT WAS BY NO MEANS CALCULATED TO SECURE AN ACQUITTAL BEFORE THE SANHEDRIN.IT IS RATHER A DEFENCE OF PURE CHRISTIANITY AS GODS APPOINTED WAY OF WORSHIP.
In (acts 7 v 56) it says
Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.
No other person but Jesus himself used that term son of man now Stephen uses that same term son of man,he saw what Daniel saw in old testament
Daniel 7:13
I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.
14; And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.
Stephen refused to bowed to The Sanhedrin so they heard enough and the bible says in
Acts 7:57-58
57: Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord,
58 And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul.
So let's look at these Godly traits that brought Stephen into new testament prominence.
NO ONE;
FINANCIAL INTEGRITY
Acts 6:5
And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost.
Acts 6:3
Wherefore, brethren,
look ye out among you seven men of
1: honest report,(integrity)
2: full of the Holy Ghost
3: and wisdom,
whom we may appoint over this business.
The church started to grow an as a church grows so do the needs of people,the apostles had a problem with coping with the business side and the spritual side of the church so they appointed 7 men to handle the business side of the church,STEPHEN WAS CHOSEN.In my church I have a business man with a proven tract record to handle the finances.He is very strict with Gods money.He is a stickler for details,he makes sure before the end of the month that there is enough money for debits.Financial integrity among believers is becoming a problem,after these men were chosen you never hear of this problem again.Someone once said integrity is what you do in the dark when no- one is watching.
Eg;of integrity.
1: JOSEPH WITH POTIPHAR WIFE.
2: DAVID WITH HIS HANDLING OF URIAH,I KNOW WE ALL LOVE DAVID ME TO I WROTE THREE SERMONS ON HIM. BUT YOU KNOW WHAT AT ONE TIME URIAH HAD MORE INTERGRITY THAN DAVID.let me refresh your memory David made Uriah drunk to get him to go home and sleep with his wife so he could be acquitted of his adultery,but a drunk man(Uriah) had more INTERGRITY than a sober man(David).Let's read;
2 Samuel 11:9-11
9: But Uriah slept at the door of the king's house with all the servants of his lord, and went not down to his house.
10 And when they had told David, saying, Uriah went not down unto his house, David said unto Uriah, Camest thou not from thy journey? why then didst thou not go down unto thine house?
11 And Uriah said unto David, The ark, and Israel, and Judah, abide in tents; and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord, are encamped in the open fields; shall I then go into mine house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? as thou livest, and as thy soul liveth, I will not do this thing.
When you have MORAL INTERGRITY YOU MOST PROBABLE HAVE FINANCIAL INTERGRITY AND you are restrained from doing certain things,your conscience won't allow you." I WILL NOT DO THIS THING "says URIAH.
NO TWO; FULL OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
Acts 6:3
Wherefore, brethren,
look ye out among you seven men of
1: honest report,(integrity)
2: full of the Holy Ghost
3: and wisdom,
whom we may appoint over this business.
The bible says another reason why Stephen was chosen because he was full of the holy spirit.When we are full of the holy spirit most of our so called problems will be solved.JESUS SAID;
Acts 1:8
But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
It may surprise you today most Christians dont share their faith anymore,they think the holy ghost is only for goose Bumps.But the primary function of the holy ghost coming upon BELEIVERS is for witnissing,not for goose bumps.
Ephesians 5:18
And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;
Being filled with the spirit means a continuous hunger and thirsting after God,like the psalmist said in
Psalms 42:1-2
1 As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.
2 My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?
I read In Papa hagin book about a lady he was praying for night after night and nothing was happening.She was sent home to die,she was in her last stages of cancer.Night after she came up for prayer but nothing was happening.When suddenly God open up papa hagin spiritual eyes and he saw a monkey-demon like figure on this lady shoulder.HE RUBUKE IT AND THIS WOMEN WAS TOTALLY HEALED.PASTORS WE NEED TO BE FILLED WITH HOLY SPIRIT LIKE STEPHEN.
Zechariah 4:6
Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying,
Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.
NO THREE; FULL OF FAITH
Acts 6:5
And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen,
a man full of faith
and of the Holy Ghost.
The church has developed this weird understanding of faith.Faith is not what you say it's what you do.In hebrews chapter 11 the hall of faith chapter you see people who made it into that chapter DONE SOMETHING EG;
1:Rehab she put the red flag out of her window and risk her life.
2: Abel offered a lamb as an offering.
3; Noah built an ark for 120 years
4: Abraham offered Isaac,all these people done something.Stephen was a man full of faith.When Jesus meet someone who demonstrated their real faith,he was excited,and they always received healing from him.Stephens faith made him serve at tables,yet the bible says he was mightily used with signs and wonders.I wonder if God used me with signs and wonders,whether I would be humble enough to go back and serve tables.
Notice stephen didnt just have faith no HE WAS FULL OF FAITH.
Luke 18:8
I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh,
shall he find faith on the earth?
Most Christians no this story but very few really understand its true meaning.In the context of what we read in this story of the unjust judge and the widow Jesus is saying that true faith is constantly bombarding heaven with prayers and never giving up until the answer comes.That means when we become prayless we become faithless,and Jesus is saying shall I find such FAITH in prayers when I come again.
Papa hagin tells a story of being on tour with Kenneth junior his son when a tour guide was explaining every time he comes to this Buddhist temple and explains about it there always being a manifestation,when suddenly kenneth junior hit the ground foaming,Papa Hagin got on his knees and rebuke that devil and junior was ok.Somebody ask Papa hagin what would you have done if nothing happened.Papa hagin answer was simple I WOULD STILL BE THERE REBUKING THAT FOUL DEVIL.
LUKE 18 v 8
JESUS SAID
shall he find faith on the earth?
NO FOUR ;FULL OF WISDOM
Acts 6:5
And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen,
Acts 6:3Wherefore, brethren,
look ye out among you seven men of honest report,(integrity)
full of the Holy Ghost
and wisdom,
whom we may appoint over this business.
IT MAY SURPRISE THAT THIS WORLD IS FULL OF EDUCATED DERELICTS SOMEONE SAID AND THAT IS ABSOLUTELY TRUE.YOU MAY BE FILLED WITH KNOWLEDGE,BUT IF YOU DONT HAVE WISDOM YOU CANNOT USE KNOWLEDGE,PROPERLY.ANGUS BUCHAN THE BELOVED SOUTH AFRICAN EVANGELIST SAID EDUCATION WITHOUT GODLY WISDOM MAKES MEN AND WOMEN CLEVER DEVILS.
There is no better story of wisdom than that of SOLOMAN,after God gave him wisdom.He demonstrated it in his return to Jerusalem,where his decision in the case of two harlots caused the people to see that Gods wisdom was with SOLOMAN.Lets read it below;
1 Kings 3:24-28
24: And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king.
25 And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other.
26 Then spake the woman whose the living child was unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it.
27 Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof.
28 And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do judgment.
I have paraphrased this story on holy ghost wisdom.
Many years ago I had the privilege of singing with a male voice choir in world renowned evangelist REINHARD BONKE tent meeeting in austerville Durban south Africa.I heard him say when he was in Germany the media,ask him a question to trap him.They ask evangelist Reinhard tell us if God is in charge why is they so much war,famine,murder and rape in this world,he sure not doing a great job. Reinhard said he was stumped he ask God for holy ghost wisdom to answer off the cuff,he replied to the journalist tell me why does germany still have so many accidents on the roads,yet you have all the signs, rules and regulations.The journalist replied because people don't obey signs,rules and regulations,Reinhard replied all these years mankind has rebelled against Gods law his word and that's why we having so many human accidents and the mess we in. My friend that's holy ghost wisdom and as pastors we need it.
James tells us if we lack wisdom we must ask God,because he gives wisdom freely to those who ask.
James 1:5
If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
James tells us if we lack wisdom we must ask God,because he gives wisdom freely to those who ask.Obviously Stephen was the right choice. LOOK WHAT HAPPENS PASTORS WHEN YOU POSSESS THIS GODLY TRAITS YOUR CHURCH WILL GROW.IM NOT AGAINST GOING TO CHURCH GROWETH CONFERENCES.BUT WITHOUT HAVING THESE GODLY TRAITS IN YOUR LIFE IS GOING TO BE HARD TO GROW YOUR CHURCH. Acts 6 v 7 WE READ
Acts 6:7
And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.
AMEN
