I don't know, song of comfort,
if you heard the message in it. All
right, go back with me to Acts chapter 6. Acts chapter 6, verse 5. It says, they chose Stephen,
a man full of faith. A man full of faith. Now, what I don't want to do
this morning is glorify a man. I don't want to do that. I want
to hold a man up for you to worship or adore or attribute anything
to him. What Stephen had, his faith,
power, was given to him from above. What I do, I do want to
honor Stephen. The Lord did greatly honor him. We'll see that in the end. What I do hope to do is glorify
the Lord and his power, which produces a man like Stephen. Now, the eleven apostles saw
a need to have deacons. The word is not used here, and
it is used over in Philippians and 1 Timothy, to ordain deacons. Now, the word deacon means this. The word deacon means one who
waits upon others, a waiter. And verse three, this was why
they chose them to serve tables. So a deacon was a table waiter. Something how men make lofty
positions out of things, don't they? He's a table waiter. That's what these men were. Stephen
was a table waiter. The word apostle means messenger,
one who sent with a message, kind of like a paper boy, a messenger. But this man, Stephen,
was a deacon, an attendant, a waiter, and yet the scripture says he
was full of faith and the Holy Ghost. Verse eight says he was
full of faith and power and did great wonders and miracles. Verse
ten, verse ten says those who disputed with him were not able
to resist the wisdom, full of wisdom, and the spirit. He had an irresistible spirit,
attitude, no matter. And the last verse says those
who looked at him saw the He looked like an angel. And doesn't that just amaze you?
My, my, what a man, huh? I do want to be like this man.
But I hope we'll see that there are some just like him. There
are. This is the scriptural definition
of a great man, a table waiter. This is the loftiest position
that a man can attain to according to scripture, a table waiter,
servant. Isn't that what the Lord said?
This man, Stephen, was not wise after the flesh. Apparently he
wasn't trained in the schools where the scribes and Pharisees
were. No. He was not mighty, or that is,
mighty in political power and influence of riches and all that. He was mighty toward God. He
was rich in faith. He was not noble. You notice
his father's name is not given. We don't know where he came from,
Ron. We don't know who's Stephen. He might have been an orphan.
We don't know. It doesn't give his pedigree,
his lineage, just Stephen. He's a great man. Great man,
not noble. Don't even know his parents.
He's a nobody. He's a nobody from nowhere, a base and lowly
table waiter and a servant. And yet, a great man, full of
faith. Before whom none could stand.
All these doctors and lawyers. Does he remind you of somebody? Nobody could stand before his
wisdom. None could refute his wisdom. Look at Luke chapter
12 with the gospel of Luke chapter 12. This was God's man, and he's
not a self-made man. As we said earlier, he's a God
made man. God gave him. Everything he had,
this faith, this power, God sent him, God equipped him, God was
with him. The Lord Jesus Christ. Was with
them and greatly used him and honored him. He's just a lowly
servant. But he's a chosen man, like the
apostles, a man chosen by God, called by God, given faith, faith
of God's elect, given the Spirit of God, like all the people of
God. If we'd be without this Spirit
of God, we're none of here. There's one Lord and one faith.
All the people of God have this faith. Stephen is not a super man. He's a table waiter. He's just a man. But he's full
of this God-given faith. Full of this God-given faith,
which is by the grace of God, he believed God and he believed
Christ, like all of God's people did. Look here at Luke chapter
12. Now, the Lord sent out 70 disciples
back in chapter 10, along with the 12. The 12 were sent out.
He also chose 70. I believe, we believe, that Stephen
was one of them. And often, the Lord had disciples
around him, and there were many more than just the 12. So Stephen
was around all the time, listening to the Lord, and he heard him
say that. Luke 12, verse 4, he said, I say unto you, my friends,
called them friends, be not afraid of them that kill the body, and
after that, they have no more that they can do. And he went on down in verse
7, he said, the very hairs of your head are numbered, meaning
Your God's on the throne. I reign and rule. Nothing can
move, nothing can harm a hair of your head, unless I will it. Stephen heard it. You did too. Verse 8 and 9, he said, Whosoever
shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of Man also
confess before the angels of God, but he that denies me before
men. shall be denied before the angels
of God. Verse 11, he said, They'll bring
you to the synagogues of the magistrates in power, taking
no thought how or what thing you shall answer, what you shall
say. The Holy Ghost shall be given you, teach you in the same
hour what you ought to say. Stephen heard that. He heard
that. He believed that. I believe you, Lord. I believe
you. He said, Oh, the Lord said, You
confess me and I'll confess you. I'll honor you. And even if your
life seems in danger. Well, I need to hear this, don't
you? Even if your life is in danger, fear not. Even if they
kill you, that's all they can do. That's all they can do. Stephen believed. A nobody from
nowhere, a table wearer. And when the time came, he stood
up. Everybody against him. You know,
I believe it so with every one of God's people. I know it is.
I know it is. Given the opportunity, if pressed
and. Forced into a position where
it's either denied the Lord or only. I believe it so well would you
let me ask you would you. Die defending your children. Would you die defending your
spouse or your parent somebody was dishonoring them and you
right there and would you. About your law. You know there's not many opportunities
I know we do not know that I have we all have not spoken when we
probably should have. We're all ashamed of that. But
there have been times, there will come a time perhaps, Lord
willing, that when we are given an opportunity to really confess
him. And the Lord must give grace. I remember, and I'm just telling
you this because it wasn't me. When I was a young brakeman on
the railroad, a young believer, We were in a lunch room, and
there were many, many men in there eating lunch, and they
were carrying on, and one fellow in particular with a loud mouth,
one of these jokesters, you know, he just loved the center of attention.
And they got on the Bible or something, they were talking
about Scripture, and that jokester, that loud mouth said something
so blasphemous about the Lord Jesus Christ, something about
if he were here, he'd be telling dirty jokes. It just cut me like a knife. And I stood before that whole
room of people and said, you're on dangerous ground here. You're
talking about the holy, spotless son of the Most High God. Make
fun of your mother. Make fun of your father. Don't
make fun of him. I didn't have that boldness.
I denied him before that, but I was given one opportunity.
I couldn't be silent. And I don't believe you could.
Could you? I don't believe so. I know not. That's just faith,
faith of God's elect, love of the Lord Jesus Christ. Well,
old Stephen, he was a servant. Does he sound familiar? Look
at chapter 12 again. Look down at verse 37. The Lord
said, blessed are those servants. whom the Lord, when he cometh,
shall find watching. Verily I say unto you, that he,
the Lord himself, shall gird himself." Listen to this. The Lord Jesus Christ, those
servants, he will gird himself and make them to sit down to
meet, and he will come forth and serve them. The Lord says, All those who
confess me, I will make them sit down and I'm going to get
up and I'm going to serve them. Wait on table. That that amazes you, that just
amazes the Lord wasn't exaggerating and this wasn't a figure of speech.
We'll see that. Did not he say he that is greatest
among you, let him be your servant. He said over Luke 22, he said,
which is greater, he that sitteth at meat or he that serveth? They
were sitting at a table, he and his disciple, and he said, which
is greatest? You know, they were arguing among
themselves. It was great. He said, which
is greatest, he that sits at meat and people wait on him or
the one doing the waiting, the servant? He said, he that sitteth
at meat, the master of whatever, but he said, I, I am among you. As one that servant, I came down,
he said, not to be ministered unto. Though I'm greater than
all, I'm from above. I came to minister. To serve,
would you look at that with me? John 13, John chapter 13. John chapter 13, I'm building
to something here and read where the Lord said those servants
of mine, I'm going to get up and serve them. I'm going to
serve them, honor them. John chapter 13, you know this
story, don't you? The Lord washing feet. Well,
when was this? This is right before the Lord
is going to the cross. He has, Barbara, He has the weight
of the world on His shoulder. All the, you talk about responsibilities
laid on Him. God laid on Him the iniquity
of us all. The weight of the salvation of
all God's people from time to eternity was depending on him
going to that cross and get in and accomplishing this so great
salvation being made sin for us, putting away sin by the sacrifice
of himself. Talk about weighty matters pressing
down yet, what's he doing? Look at it. Right before that
says in verse fourteen verse four verse four he rises from
supper laid aside his garments took his coat off his robe off
and then perhaps his shirt keep it from getting wet. He looked
like. One of these house servants laid
aside all of that took a towel wrapped around him poured water
in a basin kneeled down. in front of a bunch of lowly
fishermen and began to wipe their dirty, stinking feet. And even Peter couldn't stand
it, could he? Oh, Lord, don't do that. Don't do that. Oh, what a picture that is. of
our Lord laying aside his glory and his honor. He that was rich,
yet for our sake became poor. He who was high, yet for our
sake became lowly. He said, Take my yoke upon you,
service, and learn of me, I the servant. Now, look at what he says here.
This is wonderful. Verse 13, he says, You call me
master and Lord, you say, well, for so I am. Why did you see
why we call him what we call him? He said, that's who I am. That's what you call me, Lord. Not just Jesus, that's a man
like that. Call me master, call me Lord.
That's who I am. Read on. If I then your Lord
and master have washed your feet, you are also to wash one another's
feet. I've given you example that you
should do as I've done to you. Verily, verily, I say unto you.
servants, not greater than his Lord, neither is he that sent
greater than he that sent him. If you know these things, listen,
listen, if you know these things. If you know this blessing of
what it is to serve. Happy, so happy. Are you? You'll be happy. And
so the Lord, he said this, didn't he? So the Lord, while he was
stooped down, washing stinking feet, he's smiling. He's happy. He's humming a tune. Yes, he's
happy. Happy are you if you do. You see, if we serve ourselves,
that's somebody that'll never be happy. We can never make ourselves happy. This man is an insatiable, lusty,
mean man. He's a mean, he's a hard taskmaster,
and he will not be happy with anything that our Lord promised. It's
more blessed to give than to receive. Oh yeah, you give, you
cannot give the Father. Over Malachi 3, he says, prove
me. That's what he said. God said,
prove me. You give and you just watch me
give back. You serve, he says, and I will
serve you. God's not unrighteous. He does
what he says. And so our Lord Jesus Christ,
the greatest of the great king of kings, Lord of lords, yet
the greatest servant who ever lived. Wasn't it? Oh, do you
not love these verses? He, let this mind be also in
you, which was in Christ Jesus. who, being in the form of God,
thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself
of no reputation. We, you know, every human being
wants to be somebody, wants to be something. We want to have
a great reputation. He whom angels praise made himself
of no reputation, and took upon him the form of
a servant." It says, in the likeness of men. Nobody's ever condescended
the way he did. He said in the Psalms, I'm a
worm. He said, I've become a worm.
For him to become a man was like for us to become a worm. And
it says, and being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself we
don't. You know we don't have to make
really make ourselves of no reputation. We're doing our best to keep
it from coming out. Trying to shore up a bad reputation. He had to make himself humble
himself and he became obedient unto death, even the death of
the cross that was reserved for the worst scum of the earth cross. Yet it says he for the. For the
joy set before. Hebrews 12, John, for the joy
set before what? Owning his children. Confessing
his children, not ashamed to call them brethren. Every one
of them are ashamed of him. Every one of them are ashamed
of him, but he thought nothing of it. Stripped naked, hung on
a cross, bearing his sin. Father, forgive them. They're
just children. I don't know what they're doing.
Take me instead. For a good man, for a righteous
man, for the ungodly, that's what Christ did. My, my. Humble went to the cross reserved
for the worst of the worst, though he did nothing wrong. Wherefore,
it says, God had highly exalted him and given him a name which
is above every name, that at the name of Jesus of Nazareth,
every knee will bow. Now, since he stooped lower than
any man, God put him higher than any man. Since he bent down way
down and served, everyone will serve him. Well, here's Stephen, and our
Lord said, those who do, those who serve me and serve mine,
I will serve. So here's Stephen. Go back with
me to the text. He's a man full of faith, full
of the Holy Ghost. What does that mean? Full of
wisdom, full of power. What does that mean, full of
faith? You know, there's certainly there
is a strong faith. There's strong faith, the scriptures
exhorts to that. There's weak faith. But faith
is all faith is saving faith. Given by God. There's much faith
and there's little faith. I know that. But there's no such
thing as part faith. Half faith. It's awful. Now listen to me for your own
comfort is comforted me let me ask you do you just partly believe
that God is God. You doubt. And that maybe somebody
else is in control. Do you share. Can you say with
absolute certainty that. Would you stand before a crowd
of people and ask you, do you believe God is God? Would you? You're full of faith. Here's what it is to be full
of faith is to believe God. Believe God, believe. God is
God, this is to love God as God. Hey, the love of the truth is
faith, not just believe it, but to love it. Do you not love God
being God? I ask you this all the time.
This gives me comfort, because I feel so faithless, so weak. But do you love, Nancy, that
God Almighty reigns and rules and controls it? God is God and
no one else is. Do you love that? Do you want
it to be so? Great is our faith, old woman. There is a widow woman
with no less faith than a sorrowful nation. Do you believe God's
Word? Here's faith, believe God's Word. God said it, and that's the truth. I believe, do you believe God
is true and every man is a liar? Let God be true. I believe this
is the Word of God, the wisdom of God. Do you? That this is
wisdom from above, and the wisdom of this world is utter foolishness.
Do you believe that? Do you then? Then, oh, it's standing
before a crowd of people, could you say, I believe that God and
God alone is true and his word is true wisdom and all that man
says and believes and holds to is a pack of lies and a bunch
of foolishness. Would you say that? If they pointed
a gun at your head. There's a man full of faith. Where'd you get that? Then I
knew a day when you did not believe that you thought what I just
said was a fact. Then. You told your wife. You don't let some other fellow
bury it. I'll come to church with you
when I die. I won't let old song so bury
me. Had that happened, the dead would have buried the dead. But
God. for his great love were revealed.
See, flesh and blood didn't reveal this to you, Dan, but the Father
which is heaven. No man knoweth the Father but
the Son, and no man knoweth the Son but the Father, and he to
whom he will reveal. Faith believes God's work. Faith
believes God's Son, and by that we mean, I mean, believes that
Jesus Christ is salvation. 100 percent, not partly. Here's what it is to be full
of faith. I believe that Jesus Christ is made unto me. Wisdom. I don't know the law. I don't
know every jot and tittle of the law, but by his knowledge,
John, of the law, shall the righteous servant justify me? Yes. By keeping every law for me.
I believe that. Not a doctrine. It's my hope
that he knew what God required and he kept it. Made unto me wisdom. I see in
him the wisdom of God and the power of righteousness. I believe
everything about me is wrong. I believe if God accepts me it's
because I'm in him and him alone. You believe that? You believe
that Jesus Christ is the Lord your righteousness, that all
yours are filthy rags, that you're like old blind Bartimaeus. When
you saw him and heard this gospel, you cast these rags away and
ran to him. Have mercy on me, Lord. Cover
me in your robe of righteousness. Do you believe that? made unto me sanctification and
redemption. Do you believe that if you get
to glory someday, if you're in the presence of God, holy, unblameable,
and unreprovable in God's sight, it'll be because Jesus Christ
paid for your sins, all of them, and washed you from all sin and
death, period? Do you believe that with all
your hearts and all your mind and all your… Well, I'm fine. Look at here. There's a bunch
of people in here full of faith. Imagine that. This is all Stephen did. It's great and it says when he
did great wonders. This message he preached and
it was a wonder that he could stand up before this crowd and
preach as he did. They were going to kill him. That's a miracle. Skin for skin, Job said, a man
will save his skin. Not Stephen, no sir. Do you believe that Christ is
all? All your hope? Do you really? Do you really? That's what it
means to be full of faith. One Lord, one faith. And he was
faithful. I'll tell you this, too. A man
full of faith is a merciful man. It says he was full of faith
and full of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost, the Spirit of
God. Spirit of God gives this fruit,
love, joy, peace, longsuffering. He was a peacemaker, Tammy. He
was a man of peace. He said, I'm for peace. They're
for war. When he was in the spirit by which he preached this message,
they looked on his face like the face of an angel. Oh, Lord,
help me. Help me preach with the face
of an angel. Help me talk to other people
like an angel. He did, he was so kind with it,
but firm, resolute. He could look in their face and
say, you're uncircumcised, you're stiff-necked and hard-hearted
and uncircumcised. You do always resist. He could
say that with conviction and they needed it, didn't they?
They needed it, as do we. Like old Joseph, remember he
spoke hard to his brethren, he had love in his heart. But it
was hard, they needed it, they needed convicted of their sin.
That's the message that this generation needs. Conviction
of sin. His whole message, his whole
message from start to finish was of God's goodness, God's
mercy, God chose Abraham, revealed himself to Abraham, gave him
a family, and yet every one of them were rebels. This was Stephen's
whole message, the message of all the scripture. They're all
a bunch of rebels. Everything God did for them,
they rebelled again. They rejected Abraham. They rejected
Moses. They rejected Joseph. They reject.
And finally, the Son of God came and they rejected him, too. This
is the message Peter, Simon Peter preached at Pentecost. And the same message that pierced
the hearts of those people, you say. And they cried out for mercy,
same message by Stephen. It says it. Breathe them in their
heart, says they cut to the heart. Well. But that was his message,
but he did it in love, he did it in With a spirit of long suffering
a man full of faith is a merciful man when he when they were beating
his brains out. He's asking the Lord to forgive. Does that remind you of somebody?
That's a Christ like that's a faithful man and it's so. I look into the face of angels. I do. Don't you think that? Brother Henry, don't you think
that when you look at your brethren? Don't you think they're the salt
of the earth? They're angels, don't you? You
really do. When you look in the faces of
the countenances, the unregenerate of the world, our bloody men,
aren't they? You see one of the brethren.
It's like. An angel. Really? I'm. I told Brother. Brother Norm
Wells was here, I don't know if you know him, but Rupert Reibenbach,
Betty, Mike Walker was here. We all ate lunch together and
Norm Wells from out in California, sweet man, preaching this morning
for Brother Rupert. Hope you can hear a medium from
that anyway this is the salt of the earth we we entertain
angels didn't. Oh my no less than Abraham and
Sarah entertain those angels three million we did the same
Rupert. Norm and Mike. No. St. Henry. And I told them when
they were leaving, I said, I've entertained angels, and I'm fully
aware of it. I'm fully aware of it, and I
thank you men for gracing my house. I mean it. Don't you? God's people, they are, they're
full of faith. They don't acknowledge it. But
our Lord, remember when our Lord said he, now listen, hang on
here, this is wonderful. We're going to end this with
a shout. Our Lord said, He that confesseth me before men, him
will I confess before the angels in glory. He said, He that sitteth
and serveth mine, I'll serve them. He that taketh a stand
for me, our Lord said, I'll stand up for him. You'll not be alone. Oh, that gives me hope. Look
at down at verse 55. So when they heard these things,
they gnashed on him with their teeth that he being full of the
Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly in the heaven and he saw the
glory of God. What did he see? Have you seen it? Have you seen
the glory of God? Where is it, John? The face of
the Lord Jesus. He saw Jesus standing on the
right hand of God. Look at it. And behold, he said,
I see the heavens open and the Son of Man standing on the right
hand of God. He's about to die. A violent
death, a painful death, the most horrible death, shameful death.
He says he looked up and saw glory. I see the Lord God, Lord, the
Son of Man standing, mind you, standing. Scripture says, He
whom God exalted, it says, when He had by Himself, it says, He
being the brightness of God's glory, the expressive image of
His person upholding all things by the word of His power, when
He had by Himself purged our sin, Scripture says, He sat down
at the right hand of God. Jesus Christ sat down at the
right hand of God. Where he reigns and rules, King
of kings and Lord of lords, where the angels come, said that all
the angels come and bow before him that sitteth on the throne. He's seated, and everybody up
there's seated with him. There's Mephibosheth, there's
Abraham, they're all seated. There's a king on his throne.
There he sits. We'll hear one Table waiter! A table waiter! And Jesus Christ stands up. And when the king stands, everybody
stands. Oh, you don't remain seated when
the king rises. Oh, rise, the king said, in honor
of my great servant. Isn't that something? Isn't that something? Well, look at this. Oh, look
at this. Look at this. Look at this. They cried out,
they couldn't stand what he was saying. They cried out and stopped
their ears and ran upon him, verse 58, cast him out of the
city, grabbed ahold of him, laid hold of him, stoned him. And
here's another story. They laid their coats down and
a young fellow named Saul, he was right in the middle of it,
gnashing his teeth. He never forgot this. But anyway, it says, they stoned
Stephen. They were calling out for his
death. He's calling upon God, saying, Lord Jesus, receive my
spirit. He kneeled down calmly. They are taking rocks and thrashing
his brains out, beating him in the head. He's dying a violent
death, and all of them, they want him dead. And when he died,
they didn't quit rolling. I think brains that says he calmly
kneeled down. And they all sleep. Scripture said, Our Lord said.
Mark, the perfect man. The end of that man. Peace. He's going to die a peaceable
death that passeth understanding. Though it's a violent death,
it's victorious. Though all the world are against
him, heaven's for him. Though the whole world cries
out for his death, heaven's waiting for his new life. Though it's
the most painful death of all, It's peace. He fell asleep. He giveth his beloved sleep. Like the Lord, like a father
putting his baby in the bed and making his bed. There, there
now. Rest in peace. Isn't that something? And then
in a moment, twinkly right pain hatred and corruption is awful
is all for what he just left. He's in glory he walks in the
door yes yes yes yes he walks in the glory and the son of God
himself greets him and says. Right. out there beside me, sit right
there, and he takes some bread and some wine and he serves it.
So here now, everybody will bring him something. He's home. He's home to stay. I see the son of man standing
for a table waiter. Isn't that nice? And old Stephen,
oh, he was amazed, wasn't he? I just did. did what everybody else did. And there he sits. There he sits
right now. I see heaven open and I see him, a multitude. And I see the likes of, now he,
I see the likes of seated with him, a fib chef. He's right there.
He stood up, Stan. Old Mephibosheth stood up. He's
got good legs now. I see not the best man on earth
I see the thief on the cross. I see Mary Magdalene I see Zachary. I see Virgie John. There she sits. Ellen Franklin
who faithfully took a stand didn't she? I see the likes of table
waiters, truck drivers. source of interest. I see him,
don't you? A son of man himself, a son of
God himself, waiting on him. What can I get you? That's amazing. All right, let's
stand, or let's say in closing, yeah, let's stand. In closing,
what number? I didn't write it down. 454. We'll sing the first and last
verse. My faith looks up to Thee, Thou
Lamb of Calvary, Savior divine. Now hear me when I pray, Take
all my guilt away Oh, let me from this day be wholly Thine
Last verse When ends life's transit dream When death's cold, sullen
stream Shallow me roam Blessed Savior, then is love, fear and
distrust removed. Oh, bear me safe above a ransomed
soul.