The heart of a healthy servant is strong.

Two Sundays ago we started the series on being healthy servants. We already talked about the importance of being ready for when the time of need comes. For the early church, the problem was a growing church with many widows to be attended and not enough servants. The solution they came up with was to find people among the church with a good reputation, filled with the Holy Spirit and wisdom. Yet, one thing is to cause a good impression on people for your spirituality and character, and a different thing is to demonstrate it with actions. TITLE

Today we'll see how one of them served in real life according to Acts 6:8, “And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among the people.” Stephen released the power of God through signs and wonders, and demonstrated great wisdom in presenting the gospel. These were precisely the same elements demanded for him to qualify as a healthy servant.

Paul tells us we can expect strength from above in Ephesians 6:10, “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.” He was filled with the Holy Spirit and empowered with spiritual gifts to serve. He did miracles and healing, while also receiving wisdom to speak and defend his faith. But even if these are good characteristics, not everybody was pleased with them. Opposition is part of the Christian life.

‌The followers of Christ, who want to serve him, will suffer push back as Stephen had to deal with in Acts 6:9-10, “9 Then there arose some from what is called the Synagogue of the Freedmen (Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and those from Cilicia and Asia), disputing with Stephen. 10 And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke.” In this case, the first phase of opposition was through confrontation.

Peter also tells us in 1 Peter 3:15, “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.” We should always be prepared to articulate our faith with clarity and strong arguments. There are plenty of resources today that will make it easier to find answers of any doubt or question we may have. As it was with Stephen and the early church, it continues to be today. That’s part of our service to God.

If we want to be a healthy servant of God, you need to have a strong heart to face confrontation. Today is very common for people to lose their faith and stop serving God because of ignorance. Not being knowledgeable of your faith will break you when confronted with ideas and philosophies contrary to your beliefs. According to Barna Group, 64% of students in college stop making time for church because they are too busy,  and over 70% of Christian lose their faith when they go to college and face their professors of religion, philosophy, or science, who made them think their faith is not true.

‌The world will put pressure on you to make sure that you are tempted to abandon your faith. Its strategies have always been the same, time, pleasure, fear, or shame. Stephen was confronted with the boom of his time that was theology and Bible history, but because he was prepared, his knowledge and wisdom kept him strong. His intentional study of scripture and the wisdom provided by the Holy Spirit was enough for him to silence his opposition on the street. The same way, we have the responsibility of studying the Bible, asking questions, and letting the Holy Spirit give us wisdom to have strong arguments to stand the confrontation of the world. Now Stephen will be forced to witness in more dangerous waters.

‌Those who confronted Stephen and couldn't shame him for his faith in Jesus, decided to take him to Trial  in Acts 6:12, “And they stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes; and they came upon him, seized him, and brought him to the council.” When the world is not able to discourage you from your faith with argument, it will implement other mechanisms to get you to back down. They used false arguments and brought Stephen to Trial to bring down the legal hammer to raise the pressure. The council was the legal agency that had authority to put people in prison or even sentenced them to death. This is now another level of pressure against God's servant.

‌The heart of a healthy servant needs to be strong to stand trial.  Stephen started praying for people to be healed and sharing Jesus on the street. After handling that level of opposition, he was taken to the next one with legal consequences. This would be the time when he had a chance to take it easy and go around the topic or apologize to avoid getting in trouble. But instead, we find a man of God who used that opportunity as a platform to preach the gospel. This speaks of his priorities in relationship with his faith.‌

If you remember, this is the same they did with Jesus. He was doing good to the community and teaching faithfully about the kingdom of God to strengthen the faith, and the Pharisees were constantly opposing him until they finally executed him. Stephen was also doing good Service, but the religious leaders didn't like him giving glory to Jesus. They  twisted, exaggerated and lied about his teachings to get him to court. Then, they gathered false witnesses to speak against him and tried lies and  fear to get him to stop or else.

‌Stephen knew the risk and didn't chicken out according to Acts 7:1-2, “1 Then the high priest said, “Are these things so?” 2 And he said, “Brethren and fathers, listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia…” When he was given a chance to speak, instead of defending himself, he presented them the gospel. Starting from Abraham, he went all the way to Jesus and demonstrated to them that He was the true Messiah.

‌ To make it even more clear, Stephen decided to confront them at the end of his dissertation in Acts 7:51-53, “51 You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. 52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, 53 who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it.” This is one of those moments that showed them that his only agenda was to proclaim Christ, whatever the consequences.

‌What would we do in these circumstances? How much do we love the world, our possessions, our freedom and even our lives? These are important questions to reflect upon because if we do not think of these in advance, we may find ourselves at the branch of losing our work or in front of scary people ready to do anything to kill our faith or take our lives. Is there still anything we need to surrender to God? Because this is exactly what Stephen had to be ready for; offering his life.

‌Look at the reaction of the council in Acts 7:54-60, “54 When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth. 55 But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, 56 and said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” ‌57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; 58 and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.”

‌How do we react in the hardest moments of our lives? We have two different reactions here, one of the Sanhedrin and the other from Stephen. The Sanhedrin felt offended, got angry, didn't recognize their sins, reacted with violence and killed the one who confronted them the same way they did with Jesus. On the other hand, Stephen reacted, peacefully without taking offense, instead he asked God forgiveness for those who were killing him. He finally entered heaven.

‌The heart of a healthy servant is strong enough to face death with faith. Stephen showed them he was ready, not only to serve the tables, pray for people, debate theology on the street, present the gospel to those who had his freedom and life in their hands, he was also ready to die. He became the first martyr of the Christian faith after Jesus. But he was not the only one. The history of the Christian Church is filled with examples of Christians, who sang praises to the Lord as they were devoured by wild beasts in the Roman Colosseum. Bishop's who asked their people not to cry for him, or pray for his freedom, but to pray for him to be strong enough to die with dignity and faith as they were on the way to become a living torch.

‌ Being executed for being a Christian, it's not something from the past, but still happens. Are we strong enough to look death on its face and not give up our faith? Are we strong enough to choose death instead of denying our savior? Stephen tells us that it is possible, but not in our own strength. It is something that comes with a healthy relationship with our God and understanding what it means to give our back to God.

‌If you want to become a strong, healthy servant of God, we need to pray for knowledge  of scripture, empowerment of the Holy Spirit and courage. Knowledge of scripture to proclaim and defend the faith whatever we are asked. Being empowered by the Holy Spirit will help us proclaim the gospel with wisdom in every scenery. Courage is also a gift from the Holy Spirit that gives us the faith to choose or accept death if necessary, to be the kind of witness Jesus calls us to be.  Being a true believer in Christ makes you strong to faithfully serve God till the end of our days.

‌Let's play for us to have got to give us a strong heart to deal with all  kinds of circumstances and serve him well.