SUNDAY - JUNE 1, 2025 "To Be Like Jesus" Acts 6:8-15

Welcome to DeSoto Hills Baptist Church.

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God bless.

If you have your Bibles, this morning we'll be in the book of Acts, acts chapter 6.

Acts 6 · chapter mention

We're going to finish out chapter 6 in this book today.

I just want to remind you just a moment.

This morning there's a group of guys who pray with me.

Some of the deacons pray with me before church this morning and in the prayer this morning, something somebody prayed.

The guy who's praying prayed just stood out to me, just stood out to me.

He said God, show us something from this great book of Acts.

And here's what he said from the men and the women real people, you know.

Sometimes, as we look at the Bible and we start reading the Bible and we read these stories, especially the stuff that's happening in Acts, sometimes we have a tendency to separate ourselves from them and they become characters in a story, not real people who have real lives and have real experiences just like you and I.

And that's who we're talking about.

We're talking about real people who have real struggles just like we do, who are in real relationships just like we are, who have real problems, just like you do.

And so I want us this morning, as we read and as we study, recognize that these are real people experiencing real problems.

Today we're going to look at Stephen.

Stephen who was one of the seven that last time we were here, who was one of the seven that were chosen to serve the Hellenist widows.

We're going to look at him and how he demonstrated a personal relationship with Jesus Through his ministry and arrest, and we're going to see how he was like Jesus.

You know, I don't know if you've ever said, but, but when I was younger I would say things like I want to be like and fill in the blank, there used to be a Gatorade commercial right like I want to be like Mike and and and we.

We talk about how we want to be like people and we even say I want to be like Jesus.

But when we say that, when we say we want to be like Jesus, what do we mean?

Because we all know that we can't be perfect like Jesus was, and I hope you know you're not the Savior, only Jesus is.

So when we say I want to be like Jesus, what do we mean?

Well, tony Morita, in his commentary he gives us a little excerpt that tells about it.

He says this to be like Jesus does not mean simply gathering facts about Jesus' life and then copying him, like children idolizing their favorite basketball players do.

We must try not to be like Jesus in our own power or imagine that we can earn salvation by copying Jesus' words or behaviors.

Rather, as Christians, we must realize that we can pursue likeness to Jesus because we have been united to Jesus.

Thus, what he's saying is to be like Jesus.

We must be connected to Jesus, we must be in a relationship with Jesus.

We must be in a relationship with Jesus.

So, as we look at Stephen today and how he demonstrated his personal relationship with Jesus through his ministry and then also through his arrest, hopefully we can see that we need to grow in our own personal relationships with Jesus and become more like him, relationships with Jesus and become more like him.

So here's the challenge for us today that we grow in our own personal relationships with Jesus.

So the question that we want to look at and answer is this how did Stephen demonstrate his personal relationship with Christ?

Hopefully, as we see how Stephen demonstrated his personal relationship, that will inspire us not to be like Stephen.

Again, that is not the goal.

The goal I don't, we don't need to be.

You're not Stephen, I'm not Stephen.

I don't need to be like Stephen, I need to be Grant and I need to be the Grant that God created me to be and you need to be the person that God created you to be.

So, instead of looking at Stephen and saying I need to be the grant that God created me to be and you need to be the person that God created you to be, so instead of looking at Stephen and saying I want to be like Stephen, maybe what Stephen and him demonstrating his relationship with Christ, can inspire us to grow in our own relationships with Christ.

So that's what we're going to be challenged to do today.

So, if you have your Bibles, we're going to be in Acts, chapter 6.

Acts 6 · chapter mention

If you will stand with me as we give, going to be challenged to do today.

So, if you have your Bibles, we're going to be in Acts, chapter 6.

Acts 6 · chapter mention

If you will stand with me as we give honor to the reading of God's Word Acts, chapter 6, we're going to start in verse 8.

Acts 6 · chapter mention

And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people, then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the freedmen, as it was called, and of the Cyrenians and of the Alexandrians and of those from Sicily.

I practiced it last night.

Cilicia and Asia rose up and disputed with Stephen, but they could not withstand the wisdom and the spirit with which he was speaking.

Then they secretly instigated men who said we have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.

And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council.

They set up false witnesses who said this man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law, for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us.

And, gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw his face was like the face of an angel.

Let's pray together, god.

We thank you for today and we pray that today you will change our lives through your word, that we will grow in our relationship because of your word.

It will pull us close to you, god.

We love you, jesus.

It's in your wonderful name that we pray.

Amen, you may be seated.

So again, the question is how did Stephen demonstrate his relationship with Christ?

Well, the first thing we see here that Stephen demonstrated this relationship through some of his personal qualities through some words that were used to describe Stephen.

We see right there in verse 8, first it says and Stephen was full of grace, that he was full of grace and we see this in the way that Stephen lived his life and the way really.

We see this hugely in the way that Stephen died.

In the next chapter spoiler alert, if you didn't know Stephen is going to be stoned and right before he dies, at the end of chapter 7, in verse 60, it says this about Stephen and, falling to his knees, he cried with a loud voice Lord, do not hold this sin against them.

When he had said this, he fell asleep.

Now, that's grace, the fact that right before he died, stephen looked at these men who were throwing stones at him to kill him and said Lord, don't hold this against them.

Listen, that is not a quality that we get through personal grit and try hard.

That doesn't just come naturally.

That comes from a relationship with Jesus and we know that because you remember Jesus did the same thing.

You remember Jesus upon the cross.

He prayed Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.

And if Stephen understood the grace that God had given him, the grace that God provided for him so that he could walk with Christ, so that he could be in a relationship with Christ, because it was not something Stephen deserved, but God had so graciously granted him this gift and had given him grace.

And now Stephen, in view of that grace, was giving it back to people who didn't deserve it.

He was full of grace.

Second quality that we see here is that he was full of power.

Go back and see what it says right there in verse 8.

And Stephen full of grace and power.

How do we know that he was full of power?

We know because he was doing great wonders and signs among the people.

He was doing great wonders and signs among the people.

Now, we've seen this.

We've talked about this.

We've talked about how Jesus did signs and wonders among the people so that they could know that he was the Christ, the Son of God and the whole reason of Jesus doing these signs.

The signs didn't provide salvation.

You understand that right?

The signs of Jesus didn't provide salvation for anyone.

The signs of Jesus pointed to the fact that he was the one who was going to provide salvation for them through his death and resurrection.

The signs pointed to who he was, and then in Acts, we've seen the apostles do signs and wonders, and they were signs and wonders to help people know that they were continuing the same work that Jesus started, the same work that Jesus did, the same work that carried over to them and their ministry, and they were doing the same work that Jesus did, pointing them to the Messiah who was Jesus.

So we've seen the apostles do signs and wonders and outside of that, though, there's really only three people that we do see doing signs and wonders, we see Stephen here Over in chapter 8, we're going to see Philip do signs and wonders, going to see Philip do signs and wonders.

And in chapter 15, we're going to see Barnabas with Saul, with not Saul anymore, with Paul doing signs and wonders.

And then you say, well, paul was outside the apostles.

No, let's remember, paul was an apostle.

So outside of the apostles we only see three people.

This was not a church who was doing signs and wonders.

This was the apostles plus three people, and these three people were doing signs and wonders to demonstrate a shift that was happening.

Here's the shift After Stephen's martyrdom, and after Philip goes and he preaches and does signs and wonders, there is a shift that now the gospel message is going outside of Jerusalem and Judea, to Samaria and the uttermost parts of the earth.

There's a shift here.

The signs and wonders show us the shift.

In 15, acts 15, there's a shift, with Barnabas doing signs and wonders.

The shift is now the gospel message is being proclaimed not just to the Jews but also to the Gentiles, and so we see this shift.

But let's not get lost in in what's happening and in the weeds here.

Let's understand this power, these signs and wonders.

This power that Stephen had was not something that he could formulate and say if I do this, this and this, I'll be able to do this.

There's no 12-step formula to now.

I'm going to be able to do signs and wonders.

He was, he had this power because he had been with Jesus, he had a relationship with Jesus.

So we see it in his quality of grace, we see it in the quality of power.

We see this also in his faith.

It describes later, when it's describing these men, who they called these seven men.

It says back up in verse three therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of spirit and wisdom, who we will appoint.

And it was also people who were full of faith.

Now, faith is we understand that we are saved by grace through faith.

But faith is also a tricky word to understand.

Now, listen, I know this is circular reasoning and you're going to come to me later and say, Grant, that's circular, I get it.

But listen, faith is a gift given to us.

Because we have faith and we have faith because it is a gift given to us, I get it, it's a circle, I understand.

But listen, faith is a big deal and Stephen was able to do these things and was able to have faith in God because he was in a relationship with Jesus.

He was in a relationship with Jesus because God had given him the faith to be in relationship with Jesus.

It was again.

Faith is not something that we just say, hey, by golly, today I'm going to have more faith.

Faith comes as a gift.

As we are walking with Jesus and growing in our relationship with Him, and because we have placed our faith in Him and we are walking with Him, he gives us more and more faith.

We see this relationship of Stephen and Christ through these qualities.

We also see it in his wisdom.

Look in verse 10 that he was, he was debating with these people.

He was talking to them in verse 10 it says but when they could not withstand the wisdom and the spirit with which he was speaking.

So we've talked a lot about wisdom.

The past several times that I've been here We've talked about wisdom.

We talked about how wisdom is not just knowledge, it's not just knowing things.

Wisdom is knowing things and then being able to put those things into practice and honestly.

Real wisdom is knowing the truth of God through his word and then being able to apply those truths to everyday situations.

Stephen was full of wisdom and again, he was full of wisdom not because he decided to study more.

You need to study more.

You need to study more.

We need to study God's word more.

That grows our knowledge.

But wisdom is a gift given to us.

As we walk daily with the Savior, we see that in his relationship.

The final quality that we see this morning is that he was filled with the Holy Spirit.

Of the seven men that they chose, they chose men who were full of the Spirit.

These people were unable to withstand Stephen and his knowledge and his wisdom, because the Spirit with which he was speaking, the spirit with which he was speaking.

God promises the spirit and we grow in the spirit as we walk with him Over in Mark, chapter 13.

Mark 13 · chapter mention

In Mark, chapter 13, verses 9 through 11.

Mark 13:9–11

Jesus is talking to the apostles and he's talking to them about the signs of the end of the age, and Stephen is is really experiencing at this moment what Jesus was talking about in Mark, chapter 13.

Mark 13 · chapter mention

He says this be on your guard, for they will deliver you over to councils and you will be beaten in synagogues and you will stand before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them.

Now, that's a key word right there in verse 9.

You will stand before them not to give a defense for what you're doing.

You will stand before them to bear witness, to bear witness before them, to bear witness of Jesus, and the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations and they will bring you to trial and deliver you over.

Do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say, but say whatever is given to you in that hour, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.

And brother will deliver brother over to death and the father, his child and children will rise up against parents and have them put to death and you will be hated by all your former namesake, but the one who endures to the end will be saved.

Stephen is experiencing the very words that Jesus told his apostles that they would face.

Jesus told them that hard times were coming where they would be delivered over and they would face trial.

And he told them don't be anxious about what you're going to say, because you will be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Now listen, understand this.

This doesn't mean you don't need to study.

I've said that already.

Next week we will see Stephen's sermon.

He definitely knew scripture.

As he stands up and bears witness next week in chapter 7, we'll see.

He definitely knew his way around the word of God.

What he didn't have to worry about it wasn't that I don't have to study because God's going to give me the words.

No, it's.

I study and God will then, when I need them, give me the words.

And God will then, when I need them, give me the words.

And that happens as we are filled with the Holy Spirit.

Again, this being filled with the Spirit is not something that we can wake up and say you know what?

Today I'm going to do better and I'm going to be filled with the Spirit.

No, being filled with the Spirit is a quality that is given to those who are walking with Jesus, and the more we walk with Jesus, the more dependent we become upon Jesus and the more he blesses us with the Holy Spirit as we show our dependence and reliance Upon him.

Our freedom Leads us to depend more.

Our freedom in Christ Does not lead us to independence.

It leads us to dependence Upon the one who gives us life.

We see these qualities in Stephen, because he had a relationship with Jesus, not just because he was a good man, but because he was in a relationship with Jesus.

So the first thing we see is we see his relationship with Christ in his personal qualities.

The second thing we see is we see his relationship with Jesus during his opposition.

Because he faces this opposition, they come to him, they accuse him of these things, they arrest him and here's what happens he faced it.

Listen, the apostles.

We've already talked about this.

The apostles knew that they were going to face opposition.

We've already talked about this.

The apostles knew that they were going to face opposition.

Jesus told them over and over and over again that they were going to face opposition.

We just read in Mark, chapter 13, that they would face opposition.

Mark 13 · chapter mention

In Luke, chapter 21,.

Luke 21 · chapter mention

We hear almost the same words in verses 12 through 18.

He says this.

He says this opposition.

This will be your opportunity to again bear witness.

Settle it, therefore, in your minds not to meditate beforehand how to answer, for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict.

We see this very thing happening in stephen.

He knew this was going to happen and he is facing the opposition that he knew he was going to face.

You will be delivered up, even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you will be put to death.

You will be hated by all for my name's sake, but not a hair of your head will perish by your endurance.

You will gain your lives.

Now, what does he mean when he says?

When he says some of you will be put to death, but then a knot of hair on your head will be touched.

Here's what he means Our security doesn't rest in anything other than Jesus Christ and God and the relationship that we have with him.

And because we are in relationship with him, even if we die here, we have eternal have with him.

And because we are in relationship with him, even if we die here, we have eternal security with him.

We don't have to worry about what we face.

Stephen was not worried, he was unfazed.

He faced this opposition and see, the opposition that he faced was very similar to that of Jesus.

In verse 11, it says they secretly instigated men who said we have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.

See what happened.

They couldn't withstand the wisdom of Stephen, not because of his wisdom, but because of the Holy Spirit who had filled him up.

They couldn't withstand him.

So they went and got people to make up stories about him that he had been blasphemous.

Remind you of anybody.

Amen, amen, listen.

And I'm not saying that we are going to face persecution just like Jesus.

I'm not saying that somebody is going to accuse you of blasphemy.

I am saying this that as followers of Jesus, as we are walking with him, we are going to face trials and we're going to face tribulations.

And just like Stephen faced his trials, fully reliant and dependent upon Jesus, we must do the same.

We must face it the same way.

Then we also see that he was like jesus, because it said they stirred them up in verse 12.

And they, that's the scribes and the elders stirred up the people, and the elders and the scribes, and they came up and seized him and brought him before the council.

They stirred them up.

See, we've seen the apostles arrested before already.

Remember, they were arrested, but they did it silently and they took them away quietly because they were concerned that the crowds would rebel against them.

Remind you of anybody?

Remember Palm Sunday when Jesus comes in and the people are crying Hosanna, blessed, is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

And then we find in Matthew, chapter 27, that they go, that the Pharisees, when Pilate comes and Jesus is brought before them and he says do you want Jesus or do you want this murderer Barabbas?

Matthew 27 · chapter mention

And they had stirred the people up against Jesus.

Listen, as we walk with God, opposition will be stirred up against us From places that we don't even expect and we would never imagine.

But we see in Stephen here.

We see his relationship with Jesus because he faced that opposition.

We also see in Stephen that he is a relationship with Jesus because as he faced this opposition, he talked like Jesus.

Hear what they accused him of In verse 13,.

False witnesses accused him of this.

This man never ceases to speak 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 that Moses delivered to us.

You ever heard Jesus say I will destroy this temple and in three days I will rebuild it absolutely?

John, chapter 2.

John 2 · chapter mention

Jesus was in the temple and said those very words.

And Stephen, through his relationship with Jesus, through his dependence upon Jesus, through his reliance upon Jesus, through his filling of the Holy Spirit, because of his relationship with Jesus, because of the wisdom that he had, through his relationship with Jesus, because of the faith that he had, through his relationship with Jesus, because of the grace that he had been given, because of his relationship with Jesus, he was able to carry out the work that Jesus was doing, teaching the words that Jesus taught.

And they accused him of the same things that they taught his Savior.

But we see his relationship with Jesus because he was teaching the very words of Jesus.

What are we teaching?

What is your life teaching?

Is it teaching the very words of Jesus?

Listen, we see this relationship with Stephen.

We see how he was walking with God, we see it in his personal qualities, we see as he faced his opposition, but we also see it in the way that he overcame, in the way that he overcame this opposition.

That's interesting to me.

In chapter 7, we're going to hear Stephen's not defense.

We're going to hear Stephen's witness about Jesus.

He's going to be brought before the Sanhedrin, he's going to be brought before the council and he is going to preach one of the most phenomenal sermons that you've ever heard.

That comes out of his relationship with Jesus.

And so often we read this and we hear this word, this verse, that we, you may not be, this may not be your problem, but so often I hear this verse that we read at the end of chapter 6.

And I always attach it to the end of chapter 7.

That, as he died, people saw his face glowing.

But that's not what it says.

Before he ever presents his witness about Jesus, hear what it says about him in verse 15.

And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

What's happening?

What in the world is going on?

Well, if you go back to Psalm 34, verses 4 through 7, david writes this I sought the Lord, he answered me and he delivered me from all my fears.

Psalms 34:4–7

Those who look on him are radiant and their faces shall never be ashamed.

This poor man and the Lord heard him and saved him out of his troubles.

Now listen, we know David faced persecution.

We know that David faced all kinds of troubles and here what he tells us is that God delivered him from all his fears.

What does that mean?

We know David still faced troubles, that he still had to walk through those hard times.

But we know that because David was a man after God's own heart who constantly, even when he messed up, he turned and he ran to God.

That God delivered him not from persecution, that God delivered him not from trouble, that God delivered him not even from death.

But we know that God delivered him from the oppression of fear in his life and he was not ashamed.

As we look at Stephen's life, as we look as he faces death, it tells us that his face was radiant, that he was not ashamed.

So I'm not telling you that when you get so close with Jesus you become radiant.

Side story I love the story of Moses After he had been out in the tent with God Outside of the camp, and it says that when he walked back through the camp he had to put a veil on because his face shone so much, not because Moses was great, but because he had been with the great God.

And I'm not telling us that we're going to have this heavenly glow, but I am telling you this when you have a relationship with Jesus, people will know that you have been with him.

Think about it Even in Acts.

In Acts, chapter 4, verse 13.

Acts 4:13

Peter and John were before the same council and it says Now, when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were uneducated common men, they were astonished and they recognized that they had been with Jesus.

Listen, through our relationship with Christ, people will know, in who we are, that we have been with Jesus.

People will know in who we are, that we have been with Jesus.

People will know by the words that we say and by the way that we teach and by the things coming out of our mouths that we have been with Jesus Doesn't mean you're going to be perfect, but it means that they will see the way you turn when you mess up and you run to God and know that you are in relationship with Jesus.

Because of our relationship we don't have to run away from God, but we run to him because Jesus made a way for us to go to him and find grace through faith.

Here's the question for us today church Does the world know that we have been with Jesus?

Are you walking with Christ?

Are you in a personal relationship with Jesus?

Listen, I know that there's some here who have never trusted in Christ as their Savior, who can say, who can't say that I've never been in a personal relationship with Jesus, I've never known him.

Listen, I need you to understand that, while these qualities are good qualities that Stephen had, you can't get them by yourself.

I need you to understand that there are good, moral people who are going to hell Because they have not been with Jesus.

See, jesus came and we all have a problem.

We have a sin problem that we can't overcome.

And Jesus came and he died on the cross and he arose so that we can overcome our sin problem and we can walk with him and we can be in relationship with Christ.

We can be in relationship with God because Jesus died and arose to save us.

And if you've never trusted in that today, if you've never trusted in Christ for your salvation oh, today is the day of salvation May you know Him.

But for those of you who have, but your relationship is just kind of stuck.

Listen, no judgment, I've been there.

If we're honest with ourselves, we've all been there.

Maybe this morning is the time for you to repent of what's holding you back and say, hey, I want to grow in my relationship with Christ Jesus, I want to know you more.

Be the air that I breathe, be the food that I eat.

May we taste and see that the Lord is good.

So today, if there's something that is holding you back from your relationship with Christ, I challenge you today to repent of that and follow him, trust him, pray for the faith that you need to grow in, the faith that you have been given, pray for the grace that you need to grow in, the grace that you have been given and walk with our Savior.

We're about to enter into a time of invitation.

I'm going to pray for us and we're going to stand and sing.

If today is the day of salvation for you, if you need to trust Christ today, we invite you to come forward.

We'll receive you, we'll pray for you.

There'll be counselors who will take you out and share with you how you can trust in Christ.

Or, if you have and this morning you need to repent and you need to grow and you need to say, hey, I'm not growing in my relationship with Christ.

I want to start today.

We would love to pray with you, pray for you and let's journey together.

To do that, maybe you just need to come and kneel at these steps and cry out to God.

I promise you he will meet you.

Maybe this morning you're looking for a church home.

If you're looking for a place where you can come and you can unite and together we can walk with Christ and we can grow in our relationships, in our personal relationships, but we can do that together as a family.

We invite you to come.

We would love to have you here at DeSoto Hills.

Maybe this morning, god's calling you to a greater purpose.

Maybe this morning you just need to surrender to his call.

If that's you this morning, we invite you to come.

We'd love to pray with you and pray for you.

However, god is moving and working in your life.

As we sing this song, this hymn of invitation, in just a moment, as we stand and sing, we invite you to come.

Let's pray together.

God, I thank you for today.

Jesus, I thank you for making a way for us to be in a relationship with you and through our relationship with you, we are in a relationship with almighty God of the universe.

God, I pray that that is not something that we take lightly, but, god, we grow in our relationship.

God, I pray for those who are here who have never trusted you as your savior.

I pray that today will be the day of salvation for them.

God, I pray for those who have, but need to just grow in their relationship with you.

That, god, they will come and they will cry out to you, knowing that you will meet them here and help them, give them the faith that they need.

God, thank you for how you love us.

Thank you for working among us.

Jesus, it's in your wonderful name that we pray.

Amen.

Thanks for listening to this week's sermon.

If you have any questions for our pastor, Amen.