The man I want to talk about is Stephen. Stephen is a fascinating character.  He is first mentioned in Acts 6:5 as a man full of faith and the Holy Ghost and by the end of Acts chapter 7 he is dead.  It is true to say that if you read your Bible for 365 days of the year and missed this particular passage you would not know much about Stephen at all.  Apart from two references to him later in Acts, nothing else is said about Stephen, yet Stephen is a person who had a profound effect upon the direction of the church. 

When we are introduced to Stephen, he is mentioned in a list of seven men who had been chosen to help with some of the menial, administrative tasks of church life.  He is a servant.  In fact, we could even call him a Spirit-filled waiter as he and the other six mentioned in Acts 6:5 were called to be waiters in the local church.  Yet their calling required Spirit-filled servants who were diligent in their task and careful to fulfil the Lords work.

So what we know about Stephen is that he was committed to the Lord and he was willing to do whatever was required of him.  He was not seeking prestige or position, in fact he wasnt seeking promotion either.  Rather he was a man who was prepared to do whatever God wanted him to do. He was the kind of church member every Pastor would love to have.  He was committed, faithful and full of the Holy Ghost.  He faithfully fulfilled what had been asked of him and maintained a good spirit in service.

However, what I want us to take particular notice of what takes place between verses 8-15 of Acts chapter 6, where we gain further insight into this man Stephen, and what he did that so dramatically changed the course of the local church.  Hopefully, what we learn from Stephen will also help us change the course of the local church in our day.

THE WITNESS OF STEPHEN

Firstly, I want you to see the witness of this man Stephen.  Acts 6:8 tells us much more about this man Stephen.  We notice that he is called a man full of faith, and power.  The testimony continues in the same verse to tell us that he did great miracles and wonders among the people.

Stephen had an amazing testimony in the local church.  Stephen was not a church member who just did the bare minimum.  In other words, he wasnt the kind of Christian who just turned up to work on time and left right on time.  Stephen wasnt the kind of Christian who was looking for the easy way out of his responsibilities.  He didnt want someone else to do his job for him.  He didnt complain and say that doing miracles and great wonders wasnt in his job description!  No, Stephen was a Christian who was prepared to go the extra mile for God!  Stephen was a committed church member who went further for the cause of Christ.  Stephen understood that people who just do the bare minimum never accomplish anything great for God! 

Stephen had been appointed to look after the widows daily ministration yet by verse 8 we find him doing great miracles and wonders among the people.  So what happened?  Well, a man who was full of faith and power, was used of the Lord to raise the bar in the life of the local church. 

What is so spectacular about Acts 6:8 is that Stephen did great things for God and he wasnt an Apostle.  Prior to Acts 6:8 the only people other than Jesus who had done miracles and great wonders under the guidance of the Holy Spirit had been the Apostles (Acts 2:43 & Acts 5:12).  This tells us that Stephen raised the bar as a church member in that he was used of God to do great things among the people!  Stephen wasnt the Pastor, he wasnt an Apostle, yet he did great miracles and wonders among the people.

Oh, how I love this thought.  Too many Christians today think that it is the Pastors job to do something great for God, when Acts 6:8 shows us that every Christian can do great things for God if we would be filled by His Spirit and be full of faith.  Stephen wasnt waiting to become a pastor to do something great.  He wasnt saying its someone elses responsibility and he certainly didnt let someone else take his opportunity to do something great for God.

Oh brethren, we need church members today who would be like Stephen.  People who would take hold of opportunity, who would be looking to go the extra mile.  People with a desire to help others so that God might be glorified through their good works (Matthew 5:16).  People who would yield and be filled with the Holy Spirit.  People who would be full of faith and power so that even in the 21^st century, great things could be done for God, and for the Kingdom of God.

(As I pondered the story of Stephen, I am reminded of the story of young William Borden. 

He was a brilliant young man with a place in high society yet he gave up his reputation to mobilize fellow-students at Yale to prayer. He was born into great wealth yet he gave up his fortune and became a missionary. He had everything to live for and then, still in his twenties, he gave up his life. Here's the amazing story of Billy Borden, a young man who lived and died for prayer, mission and justice...

As heir to the Borden Dairy estate, William Borden was already a millionaire when he graduated High School in 1904. In fact, his graduation present from his parents was a trip around the world. As the 16-year-old Borden traveled through Asia, the Middle East, and Europe, he felt a growing burden for the world's hurting people. Finally, Bill Borden wrote home to say, "I'm going to give my life to prepare for the mission field." One friend expressed surprise that he was "throwing himself away as a missionary." In response, Bill wrote two words in the back of his Bible: "No reserves."

Even though young Borden was wealthy, he arrived on the campus of Yale University in 1905 trying to look like just one more freshman. Very quickly, however, Borden's classmates noticed something unusual about him and it wasn't his money. One of them wrote: "He came to college far ahead, spiritually, of any of us. He had already given his heart in full surrender to Christ and had really done it. We who were his classmates learned to lean on him and find in him a strength that was solid as a rock, just because of this settled purpose and consecration."

During his college years, Bill Borden made one entry in his personal journal that defined what his classmates were seeing in him. That entry said simply: "Say 'no' to self and 'yes' to Jesus every time."

Borden's first disappointment at Yale came when the university president spoke on the students' need of "having a fixed purpose." After hearing that speech, Borden wrote: "He neglected to say what our purpose should be, and where we should get the ability to persevere and the strength to resist temptations." Surveying the Yale faculty and much of the student body, Borden lamented what he saw as the end result of this empty philosophy: moral weakness and sin-ruined lives.

During his first semester at Yale, Borden started something that would transform campus life. One of his friends described how it happened: "It was well on in the first term when Bill and I began to pray together in the morning before breakfast. I cannot say positively whose suggestion it was, but I feel sure it must have originated with Bill. We had been meeting only a short time when a third student joined us and soon after a fourth. The time was spent in prayer after a brief reading of Scripture. Bill's handling of Scripture was helpful. . . . He would read to us from the Bible, show us something that God had promised and then proceed to claim the promise with assurance."

Borden's small morning prayer group gave birth to a movement that spread across the campus. By the end of his first year, 150 freshman were meeting for weekly Bible study and prayer. By the time Bill Borden was a senior, one thousand of Yale's 1,300 students were meeting in such groups.

Borden made it his habit to seek out the most "incorrigible" students and try to bring them to salvation. "In his sophomore year we organized Bible study groups and divided up the class of 300 or more, each man interested taking a certain number, so that all might, if possible, be reached. The names were gone over one by one, and the question asked, 'Who will take this person?' When it came to someone thought to be a hard proposition, there would be an ominous pause. Nobody wanted the responsibility. Then Bill's voice would be heard, 'Put him down to me.'"

Borden's outreach ministry was not confined to the Yale campus. He cared about widows and orphans and cripples. He rescued drunks from the streets of New Haven. To rehabilitate them, he founded the Yale Hope Mission. One of his friends wrote that he "might often be found in the lower parts of the city at night, on the street, in a cheap lodging house or some restaurant to which he had taken a poor hungry fellow to feed him, seeking to lead men to Christ."

Borden's missionary call narrowed to the Muslim Kansu people in China. Once that goal was in sight, Borden never wavered. He also inspired his classmates to consider missionary service. One of them said: "He certainly was one of the strongest characters I have ever known, and he put backbone into the rest of us at college. There was real iron in him, and I always felt he was of the stuff martyrs were made of, and heroic missionaries of more modern times."

"Although he was a millionaire, Bill seemed to realize always that he must be about his Father's business, and not wasting time in the pursuit of amusement." Although Borden refused to join a fraternity, "he did more with his classmates in his senior year than ever before." He presided over the huge student missionary conference held at Yale and served as president of the honour society Phi Beta Kappa. Upon graduation from Yale, Borden turned down some high paying job offers. In his Bible, he wrote two more words: "No retreats."

William Borden went on to graduate work at Princeton Seminary in New Jersey. When he finished his studies at Princeton, he sailed for China. Because he was hoping to work with Muslims, he stopped first in Egypt to study Arabic. While there, he contracted spinal meningitis. Within a month, 25-year-old William Borden was dead.

When news William Whiting Borden's death was cabled back to the U.S., the story was carried by nearly every American newspaper. "A wave of sorrow went round the world . . . Borden not only gave (away) his wealth, but himself, in a way so joyous and natural that it (seemed) a privilege rather than a sacrifice" wrote Mary Taylor in her introduction to his biography.

Was Borden's untimely death a waste? Not in God's plan. Prior to his death, Borden had written two more words in his Bible. Underneath the words "No reserves" and "No retreats," he had written: "No regrets."  (referenced from http://home.snu.edu/~HCULBERT/regret.htm)

THE WARRING AGAINST STEPHEN

As is always the case, after Stephen demonstrated great faith and accomplished great things, there arose certain men who wanted to war with Stephen because of his living for God (Acts 6:9).  Persecution is a certainty to all who will live godly in Christ Jesus (I Timothy 3:12) and so Stephen was now confronted with followers of Moses and the law who would stop at nothing to see him destroyed.  They even suborned or bribed people to lie about him (Acts 6:11) in an attempt to discredit this man of God. 

As certain as the sun rises in the east, so does persecution come when one man takes a stand for God and is used of the Lord to do great things.  After being promised persecution if we live godly in I Timothy 3:12, verses 13 and 14 tell us of the destiny of evil doers and what we should do in the face of persecution.  I Timothy 3:13-14 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.  But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;

Stephen, a godly man, full of faith and power did not seek to fight the flesh with the flesh but rather yielded himself again to the Holy Spirit and spake great wisdom to these men (Acts 6:10).  He demonstrated the truth of I Corinthians 2:4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of mans wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit of power: The result, of course, is that those who accused him were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake (Acts 6:10).

THE WONDER OF STEPHEN

Though the persecutors stirred up the people and falsely accused Stephen, the wonder of Stephen is seen in verse 15 where when his accusers looked upon him they saw his face as it had been the face of an angel. I wonder dear friend, what does your face say when you have been mistreated?  Does your face bear resentment, anger and even bitterness?  Or does your face radiate the countenance of the Lord?

Too many Christians today seek to fight spiritual battles through the power of the flesh, rather than trusting all things to the Lord and yielding to the Spirits will.  When these men looked at Stephen they didnt see a face of horror or a face of hate rather they saw Heaven! 

How did Stephen have such a look under immense pressure? I believe the answer is that Stephen had such an intimate relationship with God that Gods grace was sufficient for him.  Because of time spent at the Saviours feet, Stephen was able to speak with wisdom when necessary and also to keep his peace when necessary.  Oh what temperance he showed and oh what a reminder to us that Grace tempers a man! 

Vance Havner once said We need men of the cross, with the message of the cross, bearing the marks of the cross.  Stephen was a man who was willing to go the extra mile.  Stephen was a man who spent time with Jesus and therefore demonstrated great grace under immense warring, and Stephen was a man who was willing to bear the cross whatever the cost!

Who was this man?  He only occupies one and a half chapters of our Bible.  He wasnt a pastor, he wasnt a travelling evangelist, nor was he an Apostle.  He wasnt a king or a warrior; he was a humble, Spirit-filled servant of God who was used to do great things because he yielded himself to the will of his Saviour.  He was a man full of faith and power and he changed the course of the New Testament local church forever.   He was the first other than the Apostles to do great things among the people.  He was the first to be martyred for the faith.  Stephen was truly a pioneer of our faith, yet he was a humble church member who went the extra mile!  Oh brethren, today in our Laodicean world, may we be like Stephen, a light not hidden under a bushel, but shining brightly on top of a hill.