{"id":2656,"date":"2021-03-25T23:00:43","date_gmt":"2021-03-25T23:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/allthecounselofgod.com\/?p=2656"},"modified":"2021-03-25T23:00:43","modified_gmt":"2021-03-25T23:00:43","slug":"stephen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/allthecounselofgod.com\/index.php\/2021\/03\/25\/stephen\/","title":{"rendered":"STEPHEN"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Text<\/u><\/strong>:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Acts 7:48-60<\/li>
Introduction<\/u><\/strong>:
What fills your mind?<\/li><\/ul>
The things of God or things of the world?<\/li><\/ul>
Stephen is a great example to each of us as to what we should be filled with.<\/li><\/ul><\/li>
Question<\/u><\/strong>:
What are these things?<\/li><\/ul>
He was a man:<\/li><\/ul><\/li>
1)\u00a0\u00a0 Full of Faith<\/u> (Acts 6:5,8)<\/strong>.
Faith binds us to God.<\/li><\/ul>
Faith has three qualities:
a)\u00a0\u00a0 It is the act of the will in receiving Christ as Saviour \u2013 John 1:12<\/strong>.
Saving faith.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>
b)\u00a0\u00a0 It is living in obedience to God \u2013 Acts 5:29,32<\/strong>.
Walking by faith.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>
c)\u00a0\u00a0 It is the attitude of the heart in leaving things in God\u2019s hands.
(II Cor.4:13-18)<\/strong><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>
Faith rest.
To be full of faith means that there is no room for doubt, nor fear in the heart, just as there is no room for anything else in a full vessel.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li>
2)<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 Full of the Holy Spirit<\/u> (Acts 6:5)<\/strong>.
How do we become filled with the Holy Spirit? \u2013 Eph.5:18<\/strong>.
a)\u00a0\u00a0 Sing (Eph. 5:19).<\/li><\/ul>
b)\u00a0\u00a0 Give thanks (Eph. 5:20).<\/li><\/ul>
c)\u00a0\u00a0 Submit yourselves to one another. (Eph. 5:21)<\/li><\/ul>
d)\u00a0\u00a0 Children, obey your parents (Eph. 6:1)<\/li><\/ul>
e)\u00a0\u00a0 Be strong in the Lord (Eph 6:10).<\/li><\/ul>
f)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Put on the whole armour of God (Eph. 6:11).<\/li><\/ul>
g)\u00a0\u00a0 Pray always (Eph. 6:18).<\/li><\/ul>
h)\u00a0 Fill yourself with Scripture.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li>
3)\u00a0\u00a0 Full of Power<\/u> (Acts 6:8)<\/strong>.
Power is the ability to do things.<\/li><\/ul>
God never asks us to do things without giving us the power to do them.<\/li><\/ul>
With every command there is a promise.
\u201cBut ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost..\u201d Acts 1:8<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>
We need power to share the Gospel, to have compassion on the needy, to teach God\u2019s Word, to rebuke error, and to edify others.<\/li><\/ul>
We are filled with God\u2019s power as we are filled with God\u2019s Word and God\u2019s Spirit.
\u2018Truly I am full of power by the Spirit of the Lord, and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin.\u2019 Micah 3:8<\/strong>.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li>
4)<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 Full of Light<\/u> (Acts 6:15)<\/strong>.
The light within caused Stephen\u2019s face to shine as an angel\u2019s face.<\/li><\/ul>
Sin makes us ugly, but being filled with Christ makes us beautiful.
Matthew 5:16 \u2018Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works\u2026\u2019<\/li><\/ul>
II Corinthians 4:4 Stephen had the light of the glorious gospel of Christ.<\/li><\/ul>
II Corinthians 4:6 Stephen had the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in his life.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li>
5)\u00a0\u00a0 Full of Scripture<\/u> (Acts 7:1-50)<\/strong>.
As we read Acts chapter 7, we realize that as Stephen related the history of Israel, he was filled with the knowledge of the Bible.<\/li><\/ul>
If we fill our lives and minds with God\u2019s Word, we will be full of power and full of the Holy Spirit.<\/li><\/ul>
Question: Are you full of God\u2019s Word?<\/li><\/ul>
Question: Do you study, memorize and meditate on God\u2019s Word daily?<\/li><\/ul><\/li>
6)\u00a0\u00a0 Full of Courage<\/u> (Acts 7:51)<\/strong>.
The face of man and the fear of man did not affect Stephen.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
He did not hesitate to charge those who were opposing God\u2019s work with being \u2018stiffnecked and uncircumcised,\u2019 of resisting the Holy Ghost, with not keeping God\u2019s law, and with murdering Jesus Christ. (v.51-53<\/strong>).
His courage and conviction resulted later in the conversion of Saul.<\/li><\/ul>
Question: Are you full of courage for Christ?<\/li><\/ul><\/li>
7)\u00a0\u00a0 Full of Love<\/u> (Acts 7:60)<\/strong>.
The stones that the persecutors hurled at Stephen broke his head, but they could not break his heart of love for Israel.<\/li><\/ul>
His lips were bloodied with the blood of persecution, but they could not stop the pouring forth of love\u2019s intercession.<\/li><\/ul>
When the love of God fills our hearts and minds, it will enable the servant of God to do greater things for Christ.
\u2018The love of Christ constrains us.\u2019 (2 Corinthians 5:14<\/strong>).<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li>
8)\u00a0\u00a0 Full of Wisdom<\/u> (Acts 6:3,10)<\/strong>.
Stephen was full of wisdom because he spent time with God in the Bible, in prayer, in preaching the gospel, and in humbly serving God\u2019s people.<\/li><\/ul><\/li>
Conclusion<\/u><\/strong>:
As Christ is sufficient to carry Stephen through martyrdom, so Christ is sufficient to carry us through every situation of life.<\/li><\/ul>
Let us seek to be full of these 8 qualities.
Faith<\/li><\/ul>
The Holy Spirit<\/li><\/ul>
Power<\/li><\/ul>
Light<\/li><\/ul>
The Scripture<\/li><\/ul>
Courage<\/li><\/ul>
Love<\/li><\/ul>
Wisdom<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Text:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Acts 7:48-60 Introduction: What fills your mind? The things of God or things of the world? Stephen is a great example to each of us as to what we should be filled with. Question: What are these things? He was a man: 1)\u00a0\u00a0 Full of Faith (Acts 6:5,8). Faith binds us to God. Faith … Continue reading STEPHEN<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/sa5oei-stephen","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/allthecounselofgod.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2656","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/allthecounselofgod.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/allthecounselofgod.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allthecounselofgod.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allthecounselofgod.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2656"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/allthecounselofgod.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2656\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2657,"href":"https:\/\/allthecounselofgod.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2656\/revisions\/2657"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/allthecounselofgod.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allthecounselofgod.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allthecounselofgod.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}