A Monumental Man for a Monumental Work

Go ahead and take your Bible and turn back with me to Acts 6. Acts 6. Like I said earlier, we will be in verses 1-7, primarily in chapter 6. We'll divide more of those verses, but I will reference, I'll go back and reference some verses in chapter 2 all the way up to chapter 6. Then at the end of the message, we will look at a few in chapter 7, the beginning of the chapter, and then later on, the end of the chapter. Now I will remind you of the series that we are in. I'm calling this our summer series. This is a series that we pick up from time to time. I've always called it messages from the pastor's heart. We've had three so far.

We finished up examining our old friend Peter. We looked at his exegetical testimony, which is our exegetical testimony. Then we looked at 1 Peter chapter 5 verses 1-5. We looked at Peter's exhortation to the elders. It was Peter's exhortation to the church. Now I have said this before, and I'll say it again. It is imperative for you to get these messages. If you've not listened to them, I encourage you to go back to our church website and listen to them. I'll give you my notes. These all build together. They all fit together like a puzzle. This is part of the work that the Lord is doing in us this summer and for our future.

Now before we get into our message this morning, I want us to answer two questions. First question, what is taking place here in verses 1-7? The verses that I read earlier in our scripture reading. Then the second question, what is the background to these events in verses 1-7? Now this information will help set the stage for what the Lord wants to teach us this morning. For me, the background emphasizes. It highlights the specifics of what we're going to study in the message. Now the first question, what is taking place here in verses 1-7? Now Bible scholars can differ in their understanding of what's going on in these events.

There are some scholars that identify these events in verses 1-7 as the beginning of Deacon ministry within the New Testament church. Now there are other scholars who do not go that far. They say that these events are a precursor to Deacon ministry, which is plainly seen as the New Testament church develops and seen in the New Testament scriptures. Now question, how do I interpret these verses, verses 1-7? For me it's hard to say that these men were the first Deacons when they are never called Deacons. The office of the Deacon is never mentioned here in these verses. Now we know that they were servants, but they are never called Deacons.

I do believe we can say that they were a foreshadowing of what was to come. So for me to call these men Deacons is premature. I believe we should see that these men are laymen and they are serving in the local church and this is the local church there in Jerusalem. We could easily say that these men and their ministry foretold of what was to come, which was the office and the work of the Deacon. Now our second question, what is the background of these events in verses 1-7? Basically there's a lot here. And we must start in Acts chapter 2 and that is when the Holy Spirit was poured out on the day of Pentecost.

I have stated before that Acts chapter 2 records the birth of the church. Now truly we have the church gathered before the outpouring of the spirit. The apostles and those other believers that were gathered in Acts chapter 1, they were the church. But when the spirit is poured out, the church was enabled and empowered. They were empowered to be the church and to do the work of the church. And then next we see a beautiful description of the church. We see this in Acts 2, specifically verses 42-47. They gathered together to worship and to pray and to sit under the apostles' teaching.

They gathered for fellowship with one another and for service. This work continues to progress. In Acts chapter 3 and 4, we see the church going out into the world even facing persecution in chapter 4. Specifically in Acts 4-4, we see another glimpse of their great evangelistic success. Verse 4 tells us that 5,000 men were added to their number. This would easily make the church numbering into thousands. And this is the church at Jerusalem. Again we see another beautiful description of the church in Acts 4. In verses 32-37, the church is described as unified.

The church is described as sacrificial in giving and doing great works of evangelism through miraculous powers. But in Acts chapter 5 and chapter 6, we have back-to-back problems within the church. In Acts 5, we have hypocritical giving that tries to creep into the church. God uses Peter to purify the church and to deal with that sin. And then in Acts chapter 6, we have what Bible commentators can call "growing pains." We have a multi-dimensional internal problem. First, the Greek widows in the church were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food, while the Jewish widows, they were not being overlooked. So there arose a complaint.

And this complaint came from the Greeks that were in the church. And then second, the apostles had allowed this problem to arise within the church. They were governing the church and this happened under their watch. So there was a division that came into the church. This division was along racial lines associated with a much-needed ministry in the church and this ministry was suffering. The heart of the problem was leadership. It was leadership. The apostles were trying to do too much. This problem developed because of the rapid growth of the church and the apostles' lack of experience in these matters.

Tons of this stuff was very, very new to them. We must see how the apostles sought to correct these things. They reacted in a spirit of love. They acted in charity towards those who were hurt. And they also sought to correct this problem. This problem turned out to be a great opportunity for growth. Yes, growth. If handled incorrectly, it would be a turning point of more division and destruction of the church there in Jerusalem. Now we must see the solution to the problem. Simply the apostles led the church to appoint men to care for the needs of the widows. The race of the men corrected the racial problem because all of these men were Greek.

The number of the men corrected the need. Obviously, seven men were enough to take care of this vast ministry. The addition of these men serving the church allowed the apostles to devote themselves to their ministry, which is the ministry of the word and prayer. Instead of further division and destruction, there was growth. I like what the Bible commentator Warren Wiersby says about this. He says this was an opportunity, not a problem. The problem presented an opportunity, and this was an opportunity for growth. And I like that. Now here I want to focus our attention to the solution of the problem, the appointment of men for ministry.

These were seven men, and they were the solution. Two of these seven men are seen further in the book of Acts. Philip, he went on to be used greatly. And we see his exploits in ministry in Acts chapter 8. But notice that Luke, the writer of the Acts of the Apostles, he put Stephen at the top of the list. And for me, Stephen is exhibit A. He is exhibit A of what a layman should be in the life of the local church. And in your notes, I sure would love for you to write exhibit A. We'll make some powerful observations from Stephen's life. And like I said, we'll be primarily in chapter 6, but we will look at some other verses.

Now I'll put before you how we're going to examine Stephen's life. I call these powerful observations. It's very simple for you. We see that Stephen was committed to the church. We will see that he was consistent in his godly character. And then we will see that he was consumed in his calling. And as always, I ask you to write these notes. Take notes. This is good for us because we want to learn all that the Lord wants to give us. And I believe through Stephen's example, we will see what all laymen at Nola Baptist Church should be and should aspire to be.

Now we've already read our scriptures, but because of time, we will not go back and read them like we do normally. But we will read these passages really as we progress through the message. So let's start off with our first major truth, and that is Stephen was committed to the local church. Stephen, he was committed to the local church. Now to understand this reality, we must, and I repeat, must understand where we are in the growth of the church. The church was birthed there in Jerusalem. The church at Jerusalem was the center of church activity until the church was scattered from persecution.

This persecution started with the stoning death of Stephen. As a matter of fact, in Acts chapter 8 verse 1, Luke tells us when the persecuted persecution started. When the church was scattered from persecution, they went out preaching and they went out evangelizing. We see Philip and his evangelizing efforts. And this was God's providential way of growing the church. Philip and others, they went out and God spread his church. But we need to get back to Acts 6. We need to get back to Stephen. All of these events in Acts 6 are taking place in the church, the one church, the church at Jerusalem.

The apostles were ministering in the church at Jerusalem. These problems arose in the church at Jerusalem. Stephen was a part of the solution. He was a part of the solution to these problems within the church. There's some specifics about this church that I want us to see. This is definitely not an exhaustive list. First I want us to notice that the church they gathered regularly for worship. They gathered regularly for worship. Now I've already stated that the spirit was poured out in Acts chapter 2, but very quickly in Acts chapter 2 we see the organization or the regular worship of the church and that is seen in verse 42. What does it say?

"And they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching, to the fellowship, and to the breaking of the bread, and to prayer." Now notice what they were doing in that verse. They were under the teaching of the apostles. They were fellowshiping together as brothers and sisters in Christ. They were eating together. They were meeting together in prayer. Now I don't know about you, but verse 42 sounds like church to me. The church was really just born of the spirit, was it not? But they're already having church. You know I can't say it definitively from the text, but I believe Stephen was right there. I believe he was there.

I believe he was there as the church gathered regularly for worship. Now the second observation I want us to see is that the church, they were evangelizing the lost. They were evangelizing the lost. Now I referenced this earlier. We see this in Acts chapter 4, verse 4. Every now and then we have these little abbreviations, these summations of what God is doing. Verse 4 says, "But many of those who heard the message believed, and the number of the men came to about 5,000." Here we see that about 5,000 men had believed and they were added to the number of the church. That's one church, the church at Jerusalem. Now this does not include women.

This does not include young people. But here in Acts 4, 4 we have the numbers of those within the Jerusalem church. And earlier I read in Acts 6, 1 and we see that the number was continuing to grow. So it sounds like the church was evangelizing. This sounds like good evangelism to me. This is solid church growth by men and women coming to faith in Christ. Now again the text doesn't say Stephen was there. But oh, I believe he was right there. I believe he was there witnessing and being a part of those evangelistic efforts. So what am I trying to show us?

Now I've not given us an exhaustive list of everything that took place from Acts 2 to Acts 6. All of these activities in Acts 2 all the way to Acts 6, they are activities that are centered in the Jerusalem church, the local church. And I don't have time to list them all. I wish we did. But I believe Stephen was there. I believe he was there when they were praying for Peter to be released from jail. I believe he was there when NNI tried to lie to the Holy Spirit and they died. Everything from Acts 2 to Acts 6 was the Jerusalem church, the local church.

And if he was not neck deep in the work of the local church, how in the world could he be a lay leader in the local church when the church needed him the most? The text does not list him there. Well I'll tell you, this pastor surely believes that he was there. So what am I trying to show you? Stephen, this man Stephen, he was committed to the local church, his church, the church there in Jerusalem. Let's continue. I want us to see our second observation, our major truth. Notice that Stephen was consistent in his godly character. Stephen was consistent in his godly character. Now here we see the specifics concerning Stephen's character.

They are listed in Acts 6, verse 3 and verse 5. We'll turn back and we'll look at those verses. Verse 3, "The apostles are saying to the congregation, but select from among you brethren seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom." And then we see in verse 5 a specific description of Stephen. And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit. Now before I get into these details, I need to give a brief explanation of this word character. Notice I use this word character. We must understand the difference between reputation and character.

Character is what others say about you, but character is what God says about you. Let me help you with this because I want this to be firmly affixed in your mind. One can have a good reputation according to man, but not be of good character according to God. A man can trick another man, but a man can never trick God. God knows exactly what is inside of a man; God knows a man's character. With that reality understood, let's look into Stephen's reputation and his character. Now there are four specifics here about Stephen.

This might be a little lengthy, so I encourage you to be patient and I really want you to hold on because we're going to see the life and the heart and the character of Stephen unfold like a flower. Next I want us to see that he was a man of good reputation. He was a man of good reputation. Go back to verse 3. They were instructed by the apostles to select a man of good reputation. The English standard uses the word repute. Now this word here in the original, it means testified of or bare witness to. This means that these seven men chosen, they were to be men of good reputation. Outsiders would bear witness to or testify of what?

Their godly reputation. We see this in other places in the scriptures. In Acts chapter 10 verse 22, remember our friend Cornelius that we studied a few Wednesday nights ago? What does the text say? Cornelius was a God-fearing Gentile who was well thought of by the Jews. He had good reputation. We see this also in 1 Timothy chapter 3 verse 7. The elders, they must be thought of by outsiders. They must have a good reputation. This was one of the qualifications of an elder. And both of these verses speak to what? A man's reputation. And that was the case of these seven men who were chosen.

And that was the case of our friend Stephen and I believe he is exhibit A. He had a good reputation with outsiders. Oh, he had a good reputation at work. He had a good reputation where he did his banking. He had a good reputation at the ball field. He had a good reputation at the deer camp or the fish camp. He had a good reputation in his neighborhood, you name it. Stephen had a good reputation with outsiders. He is exhibit A. But then second, our second specific here, he was a man full of the Spirit. He was a man full of the Spirit. Now we see this in both verses, verse 3 and verse 7.

But select from among you brethren seven men of good reputation, what? Full of the Spirit. And then this specific description of Stephen, what does it say? That he was a man full of faith and full of the Holy Spirit. Now we move from reputation. Now we get into character. This is what God sees and what God says about this man Stephen. And these other men, God says they were to be filled with the Spirit. Now question what does this mean? Truthfully, there is a lot of confusion when we get into questions concerning being filled with the Spirit. Now this does not speak of miraculous powers or speaking in other languages.

Simply this speaks of being controlled by the Holy Spirit. Paul deals with this beautifully in Ephesians chapter 5 verse 18. Paul was calling the Ephesian Christians to live continuously under the influence and control of the Spirit. This was done by pursuing a pure life free from sin. This was done by letting God's Word dwell within them and surrendering to God's will for their lives. And this is done by letting God's Word and His will dominate everything that a believer does. And that was the case with these seven men. Again Stephen was exhibit A here. He was controlled by God's Word. He was controlled by God's Spirit.

And he was controlled by God's will for his life. That would be three good phrases for you to write down. Controlled by God's Word. Controlled by God's Spirit. Controlled by God's will for his life. That's what it meant to be full of the Spirit. And then third specific. He was a man of wisdom. He was a man of wisdom. Do we not see this in verse 3? The Apostle said to the congregation, "Select from among you seven men good reputation full of the Spirit and of wisdom." Now I want to caution you here. This is not, and I repeat, not to be confused with knowledge. Any man can be filled with knowledge.

I think about our old friend Nicodemus in John chapter 3. Oh, we had all the Bible knowledge, but yet he couldn't even understand the Kingdom of God. So this doesn't speak about knowledge. Only Spirit educated, mature men can be wise. Let me repeat that. Only Holy Spirit educated, mature men can be wise. There's more to this word wise that we need to see. This wisdom describes one who is skilled in Christian living. Now this is the opposite of a fool. We know who a fool is. A fool is one who is totally unskilled in living and in life. The wise man, he is discriminating. The wise man, he possesses discretion. He is a man of aptitude.

But this speaks to more than just the everyday Christian life. Oh, that's important, but there's more here. These seven men were to be wise in living life, in the life and the work of the church. These men were to be wise in dealing with people. God's people, the folks in the life of the church, and even lost people. They were to be wise in taking orders from one that is above them, and then also wise in giving orders to those who could be below them. They were to be wise in dealing with money. Their own money and God's money. They were to be wise in organizing the ministries within the life of the church.

They were to be wise in handling problems in the life of the church. This wisdom would make them great assets for the local church, that church in Jerusalem. And again, Stephen was exhibit A. That's why I say he was involved in all of these events from Acts chapter 2 on, because he was there demonstrating this wisdom for all the church to see. He was a man of wisdom, and he is exhibit A. And then our fourth specific here, he was a man full of faith. He was a man full of faith. Go back to the specifics concerning Stephen, verse 5, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit.

Now this full of faith, it speaks of his personal faith in Christ. Oh, this needs to be emphasized, folks. His personal faith in Christ. He possessed a strong faith. He was confident in his salvation. Let me repeat that. He was confident in his salvation. He was confident in his walk and sanctification in the Lord. He was confident in Christ's work in him and through him. This speaks of his courage and his confidence and his boldness for Christ in his personal life and in his life in the community and in the church.

This speaks of his courage and his confidence and his boldness and his abilities and spiritual gifts, all of which would have been used for Christ and in the church. This was Stephen's faith. He was confident of the faith of God in him and working through him. And it is probable that Stephen was at the top of the list. Why? Because he was a top-notch man of God in the church. Again, he was exhibit A in my eyes. He was a man full of faith. So what have we seen here? Oh, I know this is a lot, but we need to get this church. Stephen was a man of good reputation.

Oh, the lost folks around him, friends and neighbors and coworkers, oh, they gave him a thumbs up of being a man of God. But more, he was a man of good character. A man of good character. At work, at the bank, at the ball field, at the deer camp, in his neighborhood, you name it. Yes, he was a man of good reputation. But Stephen was a man that possessed something that many people do not have and that is godly character. God said he was a man controlled by his word. God said he was a man controlled by his spirit. And God said he was a man controlled by God's will for his life. God said that he had wisdom.

And he was an asset to the local church because he was wise in Christian living. He had aptitude in dealing with things in the life of the church. He was a man full of faith, confident in salvation, strong and confident that God could use him in the life of the church. Oh, he is exhibit A, a man of godly character. And then our third major truth, Stephen was consumed with his calling. It's right there before you. He was a man consumed with his calling. Now in examining Stephen's calling, we begin with the verses that we've been studying, but then we continue into chapter 7. We're not going to read all of chapter 7.

We're going to read a couple of verses and you can go study them on your own. Now truthfully, all of the verses that deal with Stephen are really a short portion of scripture. But within these verses, we see two obvious things. They should stand up and speak to us these two obvious things about Stephen. First, Stephen moved from serving food to widows to being a powerful evangelist for the church. And then second, Stephen died quickly. He was martyred for Christ very soon. To me, Stephen was like a bright meteor who blazed across the sky of the Jerusalem church and he burned out for God and for God's glory and for God's purposes.

Now three specifics that I want us to see about Stephen's calling. First, he served the widows as the church needed. Go back to verse 7. Interact chapter 6, passages, verse 7. What does it say? "This is a summary after the correction and the Word of God kept on spreading and the number of disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith." Just like when we examined Stephen's commitment to the local church, here the text says very little. But just in this one verse, Luke tells us a lot.

Here we see that the widow's needs were met, the division was healed, and the apostles were busy in the work of the Word. Now I question, how do I know this? The church grew. The church grew through this problem. Verse 7 says the Word went forth and more came to faith in Christ. I mean praise God, even priests, Jewish priests, were coming to Christ. So what am I saying? Stephen served as he was called to serve. He served those widows. He was exhibit A in service. And that's my opinion. If he had not been exhibit A, he would have never gone on to be used as a great evangelist. Let's move on our second specific.

We see, I think you already get this, he graduated to an evangelist. He graduated to an evangelist. We see this begin in Acts chapter 6 verse 8 and 9. Stephen full of grace and power, he was performing great wonders and signs among the people. And then we see starting in verse 9, he begins to declare the truth of Christ to those within the synagogue, the Jewish leaders. So here we see starting in verse 8, to me, Stephen graduates to a higher calling. Now I say greater only, only because his calling was to preach God's Word as an evangelist. We see that he begins to engage the Jewish leaders there in Jerusalem.

No doubt the Jewish leaders were enraged. Many of the Jewish priests come to faith in Christ, verse 7 tells us. The Jewish leaders had always been vehemently against Christ and the church. And here we see their anger as Stephen seeks to evangelize them. So he was serving as an evangelist to the Jewish leaders. He was an example for many more evangelists who would come. And again, he was exhibit A. And then our third specific, what do we see? He graduated as a martyr. He graduated and became the first church's martyr. We see this on over at the end of chapter 7, verse 58.

And when they had driven him out of the city, this was the Jewish leaders, they began stoning him. Earlier in verse 55 it says that Stephen was full of the Spirit and it goes on to say they were so angry they ground their teeth at him. So, when we turn over to the end of the chapter we see how the leadership hated Stephen. They hated the message of Christ. Verse 54 says that they were enraged in hatred for Stephen. They were so angry they drove him out of the city and they stoned him to death. Stephen, I've already said, was the first martyr in the New Testament church.

He was the first martyr of many more to come and he served his calling, even to martyrdom. And again, he was exhibit A. So what do we see here? Stephen was consumed by this calling from serving widows to taking the message of Christ to the Jewish leaders. From serving food to dying for God's glory and for God's purposes. And I use the word consumed because that is exactly what obedience to his calling meant. His calling consumed him literally. This was all for God's glory and for God's purposes. Now in all of our messages in the series I have made our application at the end of these messages. I have laid out the scriptures.

I have laid out the message from the scriptures as the Lord has really developed it in my heart and in my mind and in my life. And then I've made our application. I will do the same this morning. I think that's obvious. And you might ask, Pastor, why do you make application at the end of these messages? It's just the way it's worked out for me and maybe that's fresh for you. It's been very fresh for me as I have prepared and prayed and sought to deliver the message that the Lord wants for us. Now if I go back in our two messages in 1 Peter, remember we were in 1 Peter chapter 5 verses 1 to 5.

I said Peter's exhortation to the elders, but I went on to call it Peter's exhortation to Nola. Now I said that the future of Nola Baptist Church depends. It depends on godly elders. I went on to say that the ship sails or the ship sinks with elder leadership. Elder leadership is a must. I've heard it said that a river never runs higher than its source. That's the truth. We must believe that, we must receive that, and that must be our standard. Well here this morning I'll transition. And I'll transition to men, laymen in the life of Nola Baptist Church. And I say that the local church is crippled.

It is crippled without strong laymen just like Stephen within the life of the church. Right here in Acts chapter 6 verse 1 and 2, the Jerusalem church had a problem, but within that problem was a great opportunity. There was a division that would lead to destruction. This problem led to an opportunity for growth. If they had not had men, godly men in the life of the church, well the church would have been crippled. He would have staggered it best into more division and more destruction. It would have been like dominoes just going down, down, down.

For us this morning, we see the type of men, I believe, the type of laymen that Nola Baptist must have. But we must have men in the life of Nola Baptist Church who are committed to the work of the church. We must have men in the life of Nola Baptist Church who are committed to the work of the church. And you know in all of my years of ministry, I can think of many areas of life that can affect a man's ability to be committed to the local church. And there is always, always, always something that will draw us away from this commitment. One that is obvious for many is our hobbies. We all have our hobbies.

Hobbies can be good and hobbies can be bad. To be honest with you, I need a couple of hobbies. Why? To get away from the grind and to refresh my mind and my spirit. My wife can tell you that sometimes a couple of days on a tractor bush hogging will refresh me like nothing else. And I'm telling you our hobbies can pull us away from our commitment to the church. I'm telling you they can pull us away. I've been there in my earlier years of being a Christian in the life of the church as a layman. There were times I would let hobbies draw me away from my commitment to the church. Now I want to be real careful here with this one.

I don't want to overstep my bounds or insult the person that I should not insult. But you know sometimes our jobs can. There are different ways that different people and leaders in the life of the church view people's occupations. We must work. Listen, we must provide for our families. Yes. And there are jobs whereby we must be away from home and on the road. And yes, there are jobs that we must have within our culture and in our society. I'm thankful for those jobs. And there are people in the life of our church. Some of you have those kind of jobs where you are away and we must have them.

But I call you to examine your careers, to examine your jobs and see how they relate to your commitment to the life of the local church. I have had to do that. I have had to walk that path. And I've seen people make decisions and sacrifices to do what? To be more committed to the life of the local church. But I'll move on to another one that for years I would have never seen coming. And that is family. Oh listen, I'm thankful for family. God instituted the family and then He instituted civil government and then He gave us the church. But you know there are a lot of people, they will make an idol out of family.

They'll make an idol out of their children. They'll make an idol out of their family time. And you know their family is always an excuse for not being committed to the local church. I've conversed with many people like this. And I have been confounded how they can seem so spiritual and act so spiritual but yet not be committed to the life of the local church. They'll say things like this. "Well, we couldn't be there but we had great spiritual time together." "Oh, we couldn't come as we wanted to but we had Bible study. And look, we should lead our families in Bible study.

We should be committed to our families and men, to our wives and then our children. No, I am not calling you to desert your family. No, but you can't have a commitment to the family that pulls you out of the life of the local church if you do." It's an idol. It's an idol. There's another one that I battle for years. I battle for years and it has caused me so much grief and consternation through the years. Many people are distracted by Para-Church ministries. I mean, I remember when this first came into my ministry when I was a youth minister at First Baptist Church in Ellisville, Mississippi. There's always a Para-Church ministry.

There's always a cause that will pull you out of the life of the local church. And listen, I have come to this place. Listen to your pastor and I say this in the spirit of Hebrews chapter 13 verse 17. Many Para-Church ministries are smokescreens to hide one's personal idols. I'm convinced that many, if not most, Para-Church ministries are distractions at best and demonic at worst. Now a couple of questions. What organization and institution did Jesus die for? What organization and institution is Jesus coming back for? And what organization did God Himself give true kingdom work? The church! The church! The church!

Again, I offer some pastoral insight. There are many people. They get engrossed in Para-Church ministries and they cannot function in the life of a true and Biblical church. I've seen it. There are many people that I've seen be so engrossed in Para-Church ministries they can't even be a member of a Biblical church. They don't come. There are many people I've known in the life of Para-Church organizations. They have bad theology. And see, because they're disconnected from the church, they can hide in that bad theology.

What we've learned here and what we've studied the last two weeks is, is God is giving elders and He has equipped elders to do what? To govern the affairs of the church and to be watchmen over your souls. And many of these people who are engrossed in Para-Church ministries, they cannot have elders, Godly elders, Biblical elders over their lives. I've seen many people engrossed in Para-Church ministries. They just can't come to Sunday school. They can't attend church. They can't come to Sunday school. Oh, they can teach outside of the four walls of the church, but they can't be committed enough to teaching the church, the local church.

See it becomes a trap. Many times it's a distraction that leads to something that I believe can be demonic and it can be a smokescreen where people can hide in their sin and hide in their immaturity and it can hide idols. What am I showing you? We must have men, listen, who are committed to the work of the church. Second, we must have men who are consistent and Godly character. Listen folks, we must have men who are consistent and Godly character. Now I'm going to give you two warnings here and some instruction. This is all part of the application. The first warning is this. Don't be fooled by reputation. Don't be fooled by reputation.

Look for character. We must see the difference between reputation and character. Oh folks, Judas had good reputation. Judas had a good reputation, but he was a liar and a thief. He was following Jesus for what he could get and many times men will hide bad character behind religion. Judas did that. I have seen it. And look, there is a test for character in the Christian life. There is a test. First of all, time. You watch people over time. Time will tell all time. And then circumstances.

Many times people are involved in circumstances and it squeezes them and their character comes out and then opportunities, good and bad, opportunities will come and that will reveal the character that is within. And then crisis will come and crisis will come and that will squeeze them and show you the character that is within. See how all of this goes together. Time and circumstances and opportunities in crisis will show you what someone's character is. But I'll show you another thing. You take someone and you put them in a biblically healthy church. Not a perfect church. There is not one.

And when they are in the life of the local church and they are godly leaders and the Word of God is taught and real believers draw near to them, that will reveal their character. And look, don't be fooled by someone who is zealous in their religion. Judas was and I've been fooled. The second warning. Make sure spiritual beliefs, convictions, standards and your experiences are always balanced through prayer and a personal walk with Christ and time. Let me say that again because I'm going to have to help you here.

Make sure your beliefs and your convictions and your standards and your experiences are always balanced out through prayer and a personal walk with Christ and time. Let me give you an example. It is very popular today. Churches are growing. Churches are reforming. Churches are growing. And it is very popular today for men to be discussing theology in life and with friends and in the life of the church. I'm very thankful that there are men here who are interested in doctrine and theology. But let me give you a warning.

If you adopt theology, if you adopt doctrine, if you adopt convictions and beliefs and they've not been worked out in your life through prayer and through walking with God and the Spirit working and educating you, listen, they can become a detriment. They can hurt people. They can just be beliefs and convictions that you parrot. Let me continue that will help you. I've seen people get excited about missions and mission trips and then they come into the life of the church and that's all they talk about and they've not balanced that out through prayer and walking with God and Christ and time.

I've seen people be zealous in evangelism and they go out and they witness and again, they don't balance that out through prayer and personal walk and time. Now I am not against missions. I'm not against evangelism. I am not against doctrine and theology. But we cannot run around with a horn with our own little soapbox. No, it all has to be worked out in prayer and time and walking with God and making sure this doctrine and this belief and this experience has affected our character and molded us into the people that God wants us to be. Remember the spiritual qualities that made Stephen exhibit A? Remember? Was it knowledge?

It wasn't knowledge. It wasn't experience. Oh, experience had a part of it. No. It wasn't some belief or some position or some office. These qualities of spiritual character was what God said He possessed and it was worked out through time and walking with God. God did it. And look, man, you must be full of the Spirit, not full of theology, not full of experience, not full of missions or evangelism or your pet doctrine. You must be full of the Spirit controlled by the Word of God. And the Spirit of God and the will of God for your life. Is this in you? Men you must be men of wisdom, skilled in Christian living.

And we need men who possess spiritual abilities for spiritual matters within the life of the church. We need men who are assets in the life of the church and not just men who hang out in the outskirts or even liabilities. Were you a wise man, skilled in living and skilled to be used in the life of the church? And then men, you must be full of the faith, confident in your own salvation. Now let me pause right here. I have run across more people throughout the years who cannot tell me when they are converted to Christ.

Now listen folks, we believe in what's called regeneration, justification by grace through faith and there are all kinds of scriptures that show us that we go from death to life, a rebel against God, being adopted as a joint heir, a son, a daughter of Christ. And what am I trying to show you? How in the world can you be regenerated of God and not know? You must be confident in your salvation, strong in your walk and in your sanctification. And we need men who possess spiritual confidence and assurance from God that they can be used humbly in the life of the church.

There are a lot of people that don't possess this confidence because they really don't know when they got saved. Most of the time, most of the time, most of the time those people are not saved. I'm not saying a Christian can't doubt, no. What am I showing you? We must have men who are consistent in godly character, not knowledge or experience or something of a flesh. And then third, we must have men consume with a calling. This will be quicker. Again my questions, what organization and institution that Jesus died for? You fill in the blank. What organization is Jesus coming back for? Fill in the blank.

What organization is God Himself entrusted with true kingdom work? You fill in the blank. And listen, God can use your natural gifts. God can use your abilities. If they're sanctified and under His Lordship, God equips all believers with spiritual gifts. And where is all this supposed to take place? Where is it supposed to be used? It's in the theater of the local church. And so I say to you, find your calling. You might say, "Pastor, all I can do is open the door and sweep the walk." Do it for the glory of God and the good of the church. You never know if you're faithful to sweep the sidewalk. He might entrust you to do something greater.

Oh, Pastor, I think I'm called to teach vacation Bible school to a bunch of little boys and girls. Praise God. Do it all in the life of the local church. Be consumed by the calling that God has on you. Most of you probably noticed I've not given you the title of the message. To be honest with you, I wrestled with this title late into the night, even into the morning. And this is how I see it. Stephen, as a monumental man for a monumental work. Isn't that the case? A monumental man. Look what God did. God built a monumental man for the work of the church. And look what God did through that one man. And I'll add to this title as I always do.

We need it in Ola Baptist Church, monumental men for a monumental work and for a monumental future. Listen, folks, this is the church of the living God. God has said he'll build his church. This is a monumental work. Now I'll end with a story. This includes two questions. Most of you know I've been here for almost eight years. Years ago when I first came, it was just a handful of people. Really no men. There were a couple of older men and they were well past their prime. They were really staring at being home bound. I think you know what I mean by that. But I was really burdened by much, especially there was no men.

I'll never forget one Sunday, I think I've been here a year or two, more like a year. I was outside in the front by the Magnolia tree and I asked one of the ladies, I said, "Where are all the men?" And in tears she said, "There are none, preacher." And I thought about all the names on the plaques in these pews, the names on the walls around here. Where are all the men? Where are all the men? Where are all the men? There are none, preacher. Where are all the men? There are none, preacher. Where are all the men? There are none, preacher. And I think about our future.

I believe God's going to do a work and the lost world will look at this church, Nola Baptist Church and the church will say, "Look at all those men." Now you think with me about what was going on in Jerusalem. All the city of Jerusalem looked at that church and said, "Look at all those men that God is using around the world." And I pray with all my heart that God will raise up monumental men for a monumental work and a monumental future. I can speak for Brother Keith as your elders. That's who we desire to be. The elders that God has set apart and all this is all part of his plan and his future. Let's pray.