In the sermon 'The Unintended Consequences of Being Filled with Faith and Power,' Trent Moody discusses the story of Stephen from Acts 6:8, a man full of faith and power who performed great wonders and signs among the people. Despite his faithfulness, Stephen faced opposition from the synagogue of the Freedmen, who could not withstand his wisdom and spirit. They secretly induced false witnesses to accuse him of blasphemy against Moses and God, a tactic often used by adversaries of the gospel. The sermon emphasizes the importance of being filled with the Holy Spirit, as seen in Stephen’s life, and how this filling results in facing adversaries and opposition. Despite the challenges, Stephen’s unwavering faith and his angelic countenance served as a testament to his faith. Moody encourages believers to emulate Stephen by being filled with faith and the Holy Spirit, understanding that opposition is a natural consequence of living a life dedicated to God. He stresses the importance of relying on the Holy Spirit for wisdom and power instead of human wisdom and rhetoric in defending the faith.

You said eight, I think. Let's turn to Acts chapter six. Verse eight, there we go. Acts chapter six, verse eight. Thus says the word of the Lord.

And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among the people. Then there arose some from what is called the sat synagogue of the freedmen, Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and those from Cilicia and Asia, disputing with Stephen. And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spoke. Then they secretly induced men to say, we have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God. And they stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes, and they came upon him, seized him, and brought him to the council.

They also set up false witnesses who said, this man does not cease to speak blasphemous words against this holy place and the law, for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs which Moses delivered to us. And all who sat in the council looking steadfastly at him saw his face as the face of an angel. Let us pray. Our Heavenly Father we thank you for the Word of God that is before us this morning. Lord you have brought this congregation to this passage of Scripture for our good so that we would be edified, so that we would be encouraged and exhorted, so that we would be like men of Stephen's caliber Lord, that we would be men who would stand boldly, unashamedly for the sake of the gospel even in the midst of great difficulties and trials and persecutions.

Lord I pray today that you would raise up thousands of Stevens Lord even within this congregation and around this nation and around the world men who fear you who are filled with the Holy Spirit and filled with faith and filled with power Lord may it be we ask it in Christ's name amen you may be seated This morning I want to speak to you on the theme of the unintended consequences of being filled with faith and power. When we come to this passage in Acts chapter 6 we see here that there was this issue that we spoke about last week, this little bit of complaining and partiality going on among the congregation of this large group of new believers. And as a result of that, God did a great thing and through the wisdom of God, the apostles told the congregation to appoint seven men that we may put over this business. Men who very specifically that have a good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom. And when they did this, the Lord blessed it.

He blessed the bringing together of the congregation in an orderly fashion. When the congregation became orderly, the grace of God worked in the midst of the people of God and more people were added and the opportunity to proclaim the gospel by the apostles and we see Stephen was even broadened. They had greater opportunity to do that and Stephen being a deacon we will see in our passage this morning that he did not limit himself to the service of the physical needs of the church but was a man really that was multi gifted he had many talents he had diversity of gifts that the Spirit had given him and he used those to the fullest of his opportunities. But one of the things that you consider this unintended consequences of being filled with faith and power, whenever we think of Christians, of genuine believers who have a heart to be filled with the Holy Spirit and with power. I hope that that is our desire as believers, that Lord we just want to be filled with faith.

We want to be faithful people. And we want to be filled not just with power so that we can demonstrate some unusual thing, but we want to be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, that God would be glorified. And when we consider these things, we think about what would be the consequences of men and women being filled with faith and filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. And we like to think about what happened here in verse 7, then the word of God spread and the number of disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith, praise God. But inevitably when there is a moving and a power of the Holy Spirit working in the lives of his people, there's also some unintended consequences.

And that's what we want to look at today. The work of grace by the Holy Spirit in the life of Stephen was evident to everyone that knew him. Everyone he came in contact with. In fact, verse 5 says that Stephen, which is first named, he's one of the first named of the seven that were chosen, he was described as this. This was the testimony of Stephen.

He is a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit. His is the only one of the seven that was given an extra statement about who he was specifically regarding the work of faith of the Holy Spirit in his life. And as we see this, you're going to see that this man again sure enough here was a man who was singled out to do extraordinary things for the cause of Jesus Christ. Here he's being singled out not only as a man full of faith and of power but also a man who has been singled out by the enemies of the cross. One of those unintended consequences of being a man full of faith and power is that you will also be a man who is in the crosshairs of the enemies of God.

It's instructive for us to know that those who are full of faith and power will be faced with opposition. Those who by the Spirit disrupt the work of Satan in this world will find that they will also be targeted by Satan and his minions. That is what we find in the life of this man, this deacon, Stephen, who really wanted to give his life for the service of the church. He was one of those men who was set apart to be a servant. The congregation knew him, they understood and they saw his life.

They said This is a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit. And in the midst of that, as he's serving the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, he also cannot contain himself, but he has to preach the gospel. I can only picture it here that he's going out there to serve the widows and he's giving this daily distribution and no doubt there's neighbors who are there and nearby and perhaps on the way and he just has to tell them about what the Lord Jesus Christ has done. He has to preach the gospel to them. He's a man full of faith and of power and he did great wonders and signs among the people.

He was not only known by the church but he was becoming known by the adversaries of God as well. So first and foremost I want us to look at Stephen and then also his adversaries. Stephen and his adversaries verses 8 through 10. Stephen again full of faith and power did great wonders and signs among the people. Stephen was no idle servant of God And in fact he was not limited as I said just to the physical needs of the people but he also was giving himself to the spirit called work of proclaiming the gospel and actually doing wonders and signs and perhaps we don't know all the details of this but it sounds as if he was working miracles of healing and he was doing some other things that were very significant to the point was that they were described as great wonders and signs and that he was becoming known.

He was no double minded man who is unstable in all his ways but rather a man who was full of faith and therefore what he asked by faith he received by faith. In James 1 7 and 8 we read this speaking of a man without faith, for let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord. He's a double-minded man and stable in all of his ways. Stephen was the opposite of that. Stephen was a man who was full of faith.

He was a man who asked God for wisdom. He asked God for the working of the power of the Holy Spirit and he believed that he would receive from the Lord that which he asked. He was not a double-minded man, he was a single-minded man and he was stable in all of his ways. And in doing this, this certainly was not the Stephen of his natural abilities. This was something that it says very specifically, he was full of faith and power.

This power and faith was not something that he mustered up of himself. It was not a faith that he just worked it and he just did it. It was something of a work of the Holy Spirit of God. The power was not his own. It was a power that was beyond him.

It was a power that was in him, but it was not originating from him. It was a power of the Holy Spirit. It's the Spirit of God that was working great wonders and signs. The Spirit of God was not just active, but he was abundantly active in the life of Stephen and it was evident. We've seen this before in the book of Acts regarding the wonders and signs that were done.

We've spoken much about that. It's not ending here nor will it end. We'll see it again in the book of Acts of God doing miraculous things through his people. This was, in a sense, the validation card of those who preached the gospel during this time. Though not specified as an apostle, Stephen here was actually doing the works and having the power and the wonders and signs of an apostle.

It was miraculous things that were taking place and so the common denominator is not necessarily that he was just an apostle, but the common denominator was that he was a man full of faith and he was full of the Holy Spirit. So when you think about that as we desire as Christians, I believe that every true Christian has that desire. I want to be full of faith. I don't want to be doubting. I don't want to be like a wave that is tossed to and fro.

I don't want to be a ship without a rudder. I don't want to be knocked around by every wind of doctrine that comes along. But I want to be stable in the faith. I want to be a man of faith and by God's grace I would like to be a man of power. I'm not saying that in the sense that I'm hoping that I can do some miraculous work for here.

I just want to be a man that is filled with the Holy Spirit of God and that is powerful because it is a man who is who is given over to the things of God and not given over to the things of the flesh. But Stephen here does not lack faith to accomplish these miraculous works, but he does not lack opposition either. He does not lack faith and he does not lack opposition. I want you to take note and I want you to mark it down and I want you to be prepared and I want you to think it not strange. That those who set their hearts and minds to serve the Lord shall suffer persecution.

You cannot be an unusual man or woman of faith and expect to skate through with no opposition. For whom the Lord uses, I have found so often throughout all of history that God will break the man or woman before he uses the man or woman in a mighty way. It is inevitable that people who are given themselves totally to the things of God, they will suffer. Stephen understood this Even before Paul the apostle wrote these words to Timothy, yes and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. And you can imagine Stephen of course he is in heaven at this time saying amen.

Everyone who desires to live godly. So I guess the question in my mind is how godly am I living? How godly are we living? It says that we will suffer persecution. I want to attain to the faith of the Deacon Stephen.

I want to call him an apostle because he did wonders and signs. But I want to have that kind of faith. I want to be filled with the Holy Spirit of God And I want to not think it's strange when oppositions and adversaries come. Because we're promised they will. That was Stephen, but let's look at his adversaries just for a moment.

This is another part of this unintended consequences of being a man full of faith and power. You're going to have adversaries. I'm a peace loving man, but guess what? When you're going to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, you'll be like the Lord Jesus Christ, and you'll have adversaries. It's thought by some that these men here in verse nine, and let me read that, Then there arose some from what is called the Synagogue of the Freedmen, Sirenians, Alexandrians, and those from Cilicia and Asia disputing with Stephen.

Boom, right off the bat, Stephen, a man full of faith and power, a man doing great wonders and signs, and the first thing that happens to him is BAM opposition. They see that he's doing something that is unusual that's drawing the attention of people. People are coming to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The enemies of God will not stand for that. Your pathway will not be unimpeded.

They're going to be throwing trees down in your pathways. They're going to be coming after you and that's what happened to Stephen. You see it's thought by some that these men were Hellenist. We talked about Hellenist last week but they were being Jews from other parts of the world. They weren't necessarily always from or living in Jerusalem, but they had their synagogue in Jerusalem and it was called the synagogue of the freed men or as some would say the synagogue of the libertines.

That is because they were citizens of Rome. Perhaps they were formerly slaves and had been set free. They had purchased their freedom or perhaps they were born free as the Apostle Paul was. Matthew Henry notes this, he says, they were of the synagogue which is called again the synagogue of the libertines who either being foreigners or naturalized or slaves by birth who were then made free. This synagogue it seems was attended by those who were either living in Jerusalem because of their frequent travels or becoming to worship at the temple or that they were pupils who attended there for their further education.

You see synagogues were used as an educational hub as well where young men would come to be educated in the things of their religion. And so perhaps they were coming to this area, to Jerusalem to learn and to grow in their understanding of their religion. And I may be reading just a little bit into this, so I want to be careful, but what we see here is a group of men from a synagogue, and they're very zealous men for their religion, and they want to defend it. They believe that they had the intellect and the rhetoric to drive this new sect from their beloved city Jerusalem. It reminds me of cemeteries, I mean seminaries full of young zealous men just looking for an opportunity to show what they know.

I'm not against seminaries, that was tongue-in-cheek, but we do have to be careful when our head exceeds the size of our heart. And so these young men, very zealous for what they believed, they decided that they wanted to go after this man named Stephen who was making such a rustle. This man who was causing trouble in their eyes. It's possible that this group of zealous young men even included a young man by the name of Saul, later to be known as the Apostle Paul. He was from Cilicia, Acts 21, 39 says, but Paul said, I'm a Jew from Tarshish in Cilicia, city of no mean city.

Not to mention that in Acts chapter 7 verse 58 we'll see in the months ahead, he was at the scene of Stephen's martyrdom when they killed him. It says, and the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. And I believe Saul was probably, my view is that he was probably there. He was a zealous young man. He even describes himself as being, you know, he was the Hebrew of Hebrews.

When it came to the points of the law, he was unmatched in his zeal for it. And you can imagine him being right there and perhaps the spokesman for it. But these zealous young men soon found that the object of their dispute was a more formidable foe than they had previously figured. Stephen possessed what I'll term irresistible wisdom. Irresistible wisdom.

In verse 10, and they were not able to resist. They were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spoke. They could not withstand Stephen's questions nor rebut his answers to theirs. He in that sense was irresistible in his wisdom. They thought that by their outnumbering him that they would best him, But they did not possess nor could they have resisted the wisdom and the spirit by which he spoke because this was not a fair dispute.

Anytime a Christian full of faith and full of the Holy Spirit and the power of the Spirit of God is disputing with an unbeliever. It's not a fair fight. Not because of their numbers would they win, but because what they did not understand is that they were disputing not with a man but with the truth of Almighty God. John Calvin says for Luke meant to express that they fought not on both sides as men but that the enemies of the gospel were therefore discouraged and overcome because they did not strive or they did strive against the Spirit of God which spake by the mouth of Stephen. And for as much as Christ has promised the same Spirit to all his servants, he gives us this exhortation.

Let us only defend the truth faithfully and let us crave a mouth and wisdom of God and we shall be sufficiently furnished to speak so that neither the wit, neither yet the babbling of our adversaries shall be able to make us ashamed. Is this not the fulfillment of what Jesus said in Luke 21, 14, and 15? Therefore settle it in your hearts not to meditate beforehand on what you will answer. For I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist." Our problem often is that we spend more time in our argumentations preparing our thoughts and how we might best our enemies with the wisdom of men and eloquent rhetoric Instead of spending time on our faces before God and in his word so that we would have the wisdom and power of God to resist the enemy. It is a grave danger for us that we do this.

We must be people on our faces before God as no doubt Stephen was. It is at this point that I hope to really greatly encourage you, young and old alike, male and female, to encourage you and exhort you in your apologetics. Many of you men have had opportunity to stand before those who contradict, those who want to speak blasphemous words, those who want to be the adversaries of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I want you to understand something and I exhort you to believe that your greatest power is not in your ability to argue that will silence the adversary. Our arguments must not be born out of our own wisdom or from our supposed masterful rhetoric and our ability to wordsmith.

Rather the power of our defense will be measured solely in relation to the level that we are filled with the wisdom and power of the Spirit of God. Paul says in Romans 1-16, for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes for the Jew first and also for the Greek. Paul also says in 1st Corinthians chapter 1 verse 17, for Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect. For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. But to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.

For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?

For since in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God. It pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For Jews request a sign and Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified. To the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called both Jews and Greeks Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God because the foolishness of God listen the foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than men For you see your calling brethren that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called, but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise. And God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen and the things which are not to bring to nothing the things that are that no flesh should glory in his presence but of him you are in Christ Jesus who became for us wisdom from God and righteousness and sanctification and redemption that as it is written he who glories let him glory in the Lord." So that is my exhortation to us as we consider our apologetic.

But that's not all. Paul spoke later on to Timothy and he told him this, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. And even the apostle Peter in chapter 3 of his first epistle says, but even if you should suffer for righteousness sake, you are blessed. And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled, but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asked you a reason for the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.

Brothers and sisters let us strive to be like Stephen, full of faith and power and the Holy Spirit. For the enemies of God are not overcome by the wisdom and wit of men. You do not break a hard heart because you can use words appropriately. You actually cannot break a hard heart at all, but the Holy Spirit can. And the Holy Spirit is pleased to use the Word of God for faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.

Do not ever doubt that is our biggest problem I believe throughout all of our history and in this day and age right now and where we live is that we do not believe that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation. That it is the gospel that will break a heart in heart. And it is through the power of the Holy Spirit that a man is taken from death to life. It is not through your wisdom and wit, But it is through the Word of the Living God. Even as Paul said in 2 Corinthians, though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh.

For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds and casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. Don't fight the enemies of God with your fleshly weapons. You fight them with the spiritual weapons. You fight them with the Word of God. You fight them with humility.

You fight them with meekness. You fight them not in your own strength but in the power of the Holy Spirit. Next I want us to see the tactics of those who resist the gospel. These may not be surprising at all to you because these tactics are the tactics of the enemies of God throughout all of history. They stick pretty much to the same playbook.

They may jumble the plays around but it's the same play. They do the same things over and over and over again. Not always like I said in the same order, but always the same tactics. Number one, we see in verse 11, or first of this the second point here there's four of them, we see that they use bribery. Verse 11, then they secretly induced men to say, we have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.

They secretly induced. This word it means to bribe someone, it means to hire one for a dishonest endeavor. Isn't it interesting that these religious zealots who were so concerned about keeping the law of Moses and of God are also the very ones who are willing to break the law of Moses and the law of God in order to achieve their plan. Oftentimes wicked men consider it a righteous thing to break the law in order to stop those that they believe are a greater threat than themselves. Those who are blinded by jealousy and rage act with utter insanity when it comes to spiritual wisdom and reason.

So what is it that causes men to reject the truth that is staring them straight in the eyes and embrace a lie? I think often of the soldiers standing at the tomb who were willing to receive money to lie. I think about these men, apparently in some form or fashion this word it means that they they were hired maybe not for money but maybe for for position so that they would lie. They secretly induced men to say, we've heard him speak blasphemous words as a serious judgment upon Stephen, especially in this day and age. But a bribe blinds the eyes.

Deuteronomy 16 19 says, you shall not pervert justice, you shall not show partiality, nor take a bribe. For a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous." That's exactly what they're doing. They're twisting the words of Stephen to make it look as if he had committed blasphemy. Don't be surprised, can I just say don't be surprised when the enemies of God twist what you say to make it sound like blasphemy or perhaps blasphemy of their own standards? We see this in the political world all the time.

The MO of politicians and the wicked is that they cannot beat you if they cannot beat you with plain reason and logic then they will use bribery behind the scene to subvert justice. It matters not to them that they are breaking the law of Moses. These men here, they didn't seem to care too much about the law that says do not take a bribe or do not lie or do not bear false witness. Those didn't seem to be quite as important as the one in which they were going after Stephen for. And so they're willing to break the law here because they feared that their danger was greater than their sin of breaking the law themselves.

It matters not to them that the law of Moses and the law of God at the very same time in which they were making the accusations they were breaking. They were abusing God's Word to accomplish their ends. This seems to be a form of projection, if you know anything about argumentations and fallacies in reasoning and in speaking. This seems to be a form of projection. Projection in an argument is a defense mechanism.

It's a way in which we argue in which an individual or a group project upon someone else what they are actually doing. Not to pull attention to the political sphere but it seems quite obvious that this takes place often. If you don't have a good argument blame them for doing what you're doing. I will do my best to stop there. Next, they were rabble-rousing.

I like that old word. They were rabble-rousing. It means just to stir up the public sentiment by emotionalism. We likewise see this in the political sphere as well. Stirring up the emotions, it says in verse 12, and they stirred up the people.

We see this when they were, one moment they're saying, Jesus, son of David, the next minute they're saying, crucify him, crucify him. Why? Because they were stirred up in their emotions. They stirred up the people, they stirred up the elders, they stirred up the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him to the council." This this thought idea around stirring up the people, this is this is somewhat of a technical word in Greek. It means they stirred up the people.

That's what it means. They stirred up the people. They got these people wrapped up in this emotional idea of their traditions. Notice one of their accusations is that he changes the customs of Moses. They held more tightly to their traditions.

Jesus got onto them for the same thing. They held so tightly to their traditions that they could not see very plainly what they were doing. They stirred up this people which held these religious and ideological strings in their heart and it worked them up. And again we see this again the same thing happening in our world today. Does it not seem strange that what was most uniting to the Democratic Party was that their desire to have the unquestionable right to murder their own babies.

They even had an abortion bus set up outside the DNC so that women could kill their babies at the altar of their political God. This again is their mode of operation of those who want to oppose the gospel. They find some emotional unifier and they stir up the crowd to withstand those that they are opposing. That's what they're doing. Don't be surprised by these things.

Don't be surprised when you're preaching the gospel somewhere and you're trying to stand for the truth of the word of God and the emotions of the people get stirred up so much it's into a frenzy. It's like dropping a few drops of blood into a pool filled with piranhas. Proverbs 1 says, my son if sinners entice you do not consent. If they say come with us let us lie and wait to shed blood. Let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause.

Let us swallow them alive like sheol and whole like those who go down to the pit. Later in verse 15, my son, do not walk in the way with them. Keep your foot from their path for their feet run to evil and they make haste to shed blood. Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird but they lie and wait for their own blood they lurk secretly for their own lives. That is the foolishness of those who oppose the gospel.

Next, they will seize their opponents if they cannot silence them. They will seize their opponents if they cannot silence them. They will seize their opponents if they cannot silence them. Verse 12 again, and they came upon him and seized him. Remember why they did this in verse 10, and they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spoke.

Therefore they bribed, they rabble roused, and they seized. There was nothing new, there is nothing new under the Sun. The wicked have always practiced wickedness. Even in Daniel chapter 12 and he said, Go your way Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed to the time of the end. Many shall be purified, made white and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly, and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand." Is that not a truth if you've ever heard it?

The wicked will do wickedly and none of the wicked shall understand. They are totally blind to the truth even though it's staring them in the face. Throughout all of history the wicked have seized the righteous when they tell them the things that they do not want to hear. When the righteous tell the wicked what would work for their peace, they respond with rage. Think about it.

As we stood, and as many of you men have stood and even you women have stood to speak the truth that would work for their peace. They rage. Luke 19. Now as he drew near, he saw the city Jesus and wept over it saying, if you had known even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace, but now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you, and close you in on every side and level you and your children within you to the ground.

And They will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation." Also in Luke 22, now the feast of unleavened bread drew near, which is called Passover, and the chief priest and the scribes sought how they might kill him, for they feared the people. In Luke 22 54 having arrested Jesus they led him and brought him into the high priest house but Peter followed at a distance. And later in verse 63 and now when the men who held Jesus they mocked him and beat him and having blindfolded him they struck him on the face and asked him saying, prophesy who is the one who struck you and many other things they blasphemously spoke against him. I read that to you so that you would understand if they did this to our Lord Jesus Christ, is it any wonder when they do it to His children. John 16, 33, these things I have spoken to you that in me you may have peace, in the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.

This was the heart of Stephen. He understood Jesus' promise here that he understood that there was going to be tribulation. He understood though that he could actually in the midst of tribulation be of good cheer because his Lord Jesus Christ had overcome the world and there was no need to fear. But not only will they do these three things but they will also lie and that kind of goes along with some of the other things that they've already done. Again nothing knew that wicked men lie.

Verse 13, they also set up false witnesses, who said, this man does not cease to speak blasphemous words against this holy place in the law, for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs which Moses delivered to us. I want you to know this is the same accusation that they brought against Jesus. Again they were breaking the law that they claimed to be holding on to in order to bring accusation against those who were not truly breaking the law, but in their eyes again it is okay because they were lying to stop what they deemed to be a danger. Do you see how you can twist and pervert the truths of God? They lied because they thought that was a greater danger than what they were.

Proverbs 14 says a faithful witness does not lie but a false witness will utter lies. Deuteronomy 19 says if a false witness rises against any man to testify against him of wrongdoing, then both men in the controversy shall stand before the Lord, before the priest and the judges who serve in those days, and the judges shall make careful inquiry and indeed if the witness is a false witness who has testified falsely against his brother then you shall do to him as he thought to have done to his brother so you shall put away the evil from among you." Selective amnesia in the law is deadly. It's interesting that Stephen, this man full of faith and power and wisdom of the Holy Spirit, they deemed their enemy all because he told them the truth. He was considered a hater because he truly loved. He was called a liar because he spoke the truth.

They will seek to kill him because he preached to them the way of life. Calvin again is so helpful at this point he says Therefore there is no cause why we should wonder at this day that that is so falsely misconstrued which we teach godly, well, and profitable. Yea, we must rather persuade ourselves this, that the doctrine of the gospel can never be handled so carefully and so moderately but that it shall be subject to false accusations. For Satan who is the father of lies does always bestir himself in his office. Again because there are many things which are contrary to the reasons of the flesh, men are inclined to do nothing more than to admit false reports which corrupt the true and sincere sense of doctrine." Let me pause just for a second.

Brothers who were attending the commissioners meeting, did you not see that take place? The twisting of what we were saying. You cannot be so careful if they twisted the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. Do not be surprised if they twist yours. So go in with this with your eyes wide open, understanding These are some of the unintended consequences of being filled with faith and of power of the Holy Spirit.

Just be ready, be ready. He goes on and he says this malice of Satan and the slights ought not to make us more wary or more circumspect, that no preposterous thing or anything that is improperly spoken escapes our mouth, wherewith they may be armed to fight against us, for we must carefully cut off from the wicked that occasion where at they snatch. It goes along with what Josh was reading earlier in 1st Peter that we would live in such a way that the Gentiles would have nothing to say. Don't give them more reason to call us out. Live in such a way that our life before the Lord and before the watching world is pure and undefiled.

They're going to find enough to drum up about you just because you believe in the word of God. Don't give them more reasons. He says, and if we see that doctrine, that doctrine which is by us well and godly delivered, if we see it corrupted and deformed and torn in pieces with false reports, we must not repent that we have begun. Neither yet is there any cause why we should be more slack hereafter, for it is not good that we should be free from the poisoned and venomous bitings of Satan which the Son of God Himself could not escape. In other words, if they're going to attack Jesus Christ and twist His words and try to make it sound like He said something different than what He said, then know assuredly, as we stand for the truth of the Gospel and as we proclaim the Word of God just be ready when they take your words and they may take a sound clip of this message today and they will twist it and play just the portion that they want that would meet their ends so that they can then malign you and try to destroy you.

Don't be surprised. And then finally an unattended consequence of being a person full of faith and of power of the Holy Spirit is in verse 15. And all who sat in the council looking steadfastly at him saw his face as the face of an angel. I do not think that Stephen began this dispute with these zealous young men from the synagogue of the freed men by thinking I will persuade them by my countenance. Now there's some prideful, boastful young men who may think that they could get away with something like that.

But let me just tell you, not a chance. But here we have this unintended consequence that Stephen, full of faith and power, He was seen as if he had the face of an angel. I've been pondering this for some time. What does this mean? What does it mean that he had the countenance and the face of an angel?

To the point that everyone there, everyone who sat in the council and all who sat in the council looking steadfastly at him, they saw his face as the face of an angel. Was it that his face shone like an angel? Did he glow? We know that the angels at the empty tomb were seen in shining garments and it says in Matthew 28 3, his countenance was like lightning and his clothing as white as snow. We know that angels are in the presence of Almighty God.

Another who was in the presence of God was Moses and his face truly did shine after being in God's presence. In Exodus 34 we read, now it was so when Moses came down from Mount Sinai and the two tablets of the testimony were in Moses's hands and when he came down from the mountain that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him. So when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses behold the skin of his face shone and they were afraid to come near him. I can understand that. One commentator says this is hardly beside the point that the only other occasion of a radiant face in their religious landscape was that of their hero Moses.

After his receipt of the law at Sinai, this unearthly countenance is nothing less than a divine vindication of Stephen. So heaven stoop to affirm, one who will shortly pass into the divine society, God does not forsake his servants as they approach the valley of the shadow of death." Now I don't know if his face actually shown and I'm not here to tell you that it did But I think it's a possibility There was something about Stephen that calls the entirety of the council to take note and That we are told by divine inspiration what all of them were thinking. They were all thinking he has the face of an angel. Matthew Henry says it this way. He says it is unusual for judges to observe the countenance of the prisoner, which sometimes is an indicator whether they are guilty or innocent.

And Stephen, his appearance at the bar with the countenance as of an angel. He says perhaps it intimates no more than that he had an extraordinarily pleasant cheerful countenance and there was not in it the least sign either of fear for himself or anger at his prosecutors. He looked as if he had never been better, better pleased in his entire life. We know later on his prayer for them. Perhaps he goes on and he says, then he was now, this better pleased, he was now than when he was called out to bear his testimony to the gospel of Christ.

Thus publicly and stood fair for the crown of martyrdom, such an undisturbed serenity, such an undaunted courage, and such an unaccountable mixture of mildness and majesty, there was in his countenance that everyone said he looked like an angel, though surely to convince the Sadducees that there were angels. Because remember a good chunk of this group were Sadducees. Divine humor always fascinates me that the Sadducees said he looked and had the face of an angel. I'll end with this. Whether Stephen's face shone like an angel or simply he had the countenance of peace upon him.

The truth is this, when you are full of the Holy Spirit, your face will not be able to hide that heaven is in your heart. Is heaven in your heart? When you stand before your accusers, what will they see? By way of application, just four thoughts. I didn't hit on this a whole lot but I want you to think about it.

Stephen is here very specifically called out and named. Of the seven we have the largest account. And my question to all of us as Christians, who are we seeking to emulate? Think about your life, think about those that you look up to, think about those who influence you, think about those who cause you, you want to be like them in some form or fashion. Who is it that you want to emulate?

And what qualities are you drawn to in those whom you seek to emulate? What is it about them that draws your heart to them. Is it that they're full of faith and power and wisdom of the Holy Spirit? Or is it something much more carnal of their outward appearance or their popularity or their coolness? Second, if you are going to work mightily for the Lord, know that you are going to be mightily resisted by his enemies.

Thinking in your mind and when you read the missionary stories, man I want to be a man like that. Can I just say count the cost? There are unintended consequences of being a man full of faith and power and wisdom of the Holy Spirit and Stephen would proclaim and testify to you, it is worth it. It's worth it. No matter how short or long your life may be, it's worth it.

Thirdly, if you are resisted for your faith, expect to be maligned and defamed by the enemies of God. How precious do you hold your own personal testimony? And I don't mean your testimony about salvation, I mean your name and what you're leaving, your legacy. How important is your legacy? Are you willing to lose it for the cause of Christ?

A good name is important, but a good name for the Lord Jesus Christ is more important. And then lastly this, it has been said that your face is the window of the soul. What do your enemies see in your face when you, or excuse me let me rephrase that, what do your enemies see in your face when they resist you? As you're sharing the gospel or as you're standing for some point of righteousness, you're standing against evil, what do they see? Do they see the face of an angel?

Or do they see the face of a devil? Do they see a face that is hateful and angry or do they see a face that is calm, humble, and yet confident in the things of God? So just some things to consider as we have considered the unintended consequences of being full of faith and power and may God help us. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven we thank you for your word that so instructs us and teaches us.

And Lord we know and acknowledge that Stephen was not a perfect man but he was a man who was full of the Spirit of God. And Lord I pray that you would make all of us here today like Stephen. That we would be full of faith and full of power and full of the Holy Spirit and full of wisdom. God that you would use us for the glory of the gospel, that you would glorify your name in us, that you would help us to be bold and yet humble, that you would help us Lord not to trust in the wisdom of our own words, but that we would trust in the power of the gospel. Lord would you help us?

Would you raise up more men like Stephen? Father we thank you for teaching us your word today and we thank you God that you have called us to this time and place to hear this word from your word and we ask it in Christ's name. Amen.