The Difference-Maker
Today's Verse:
And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people….And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake. ~Acts 6:8, 10
Great basketball teams typically have one player who they go to for the crucial points in a game. This is the player who changes up the tempo and direction of a game for the benefit of his team. Hence, he is called a game-changer. He is a difference-maker and leads his team to victories, even against situations that look almost impossible. This morning, we are considering a man who was a game-changer in the early days of the church. This man is Stephen, a man full of faith and power.
We see Stephen and his unction.
Stephen was a man characterized repeatedly by the fact that he was man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost. He was a man who had all of the Holy Ghost because the Holy Ghost had all of him! He had faith that God could do the impossible. He had faith that God was in the business of answering prayer. He had faith that God could change the unchangeable. Hand in hand with his faith was the power of the Holy Spirit. God could trust him with His power. He was tested in this power and found faithful. Game-changers in God’s work are men who are full of faith and the power of the Holy Spirit.
We see Stephen and his undertaking.
We see three things about Stephen and how he served the Lord. The first thing we see is that he was already living a Spirit-filled life and serving God faithfully before he was called upon to take on a new responsibility. You have to be proven in private before you can be proven in public. You have to be proven with the little things before you can be proven in great things. The second thing we see is that the church needed to seek out seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom. Stephen was a very obvious choice. When you are faithful before your calling, you will have no problem being faithful in your calling. Third, he continued to keep a strong emphasis on the preaching of the gospel even as he assumed a new responsibility of helping the apostles serve the widows of the church. Men full of faith and of the Holy Spirit are men of incredible capacity who are willing to do more, but never lose sight of the main business of telling people about Jesus.
We see Stephen and the unusual.
This is where we see Stephen being a game-changer. A great number of priests became obedient to the faith; the Word of God increased; the number of disciples multiplied; and the intellectual community among the Jews were confounded by his preaching. Business was no longer being conducted as usual. An unusual man was used of God to change up things in Jerusalem. God’s power working through Stephen resulted in difficult people getting saved. People who were holding out on getting saved yielded to the Spirit’s convicting power and had their lives changed. We read,“They were not able to resist the wisdom and spirit by which he spake.” He was unstoppable. He was irresistible. He was irrefutable. He did the impossible.
Stephen would later be asked to testify about his faith. The people whom he witnessed to resorted to violence and took his life. Even as he was being stoned, he was so full of the Spirit that he died a victor and not a loser. Stephen was a difference-maker from start to finish.
How about you? Would you be willing to be so yielded to the Holy Spirit that you can be a difference-maker?
Have a difference-making God Morning!
Bible Reading Schedule: Ruth 1-4