Welcome to the Kerwin Baptist Church broadcast today. Our desire is for the Word of God to be spread throughout the world, so that all may know Christ. Join us now for a portion of one of our services here at Kerwin Baptist Church, located in Kernersville, North Carolina. And and and what's happened, especially this this week, and then they've just had the. The horrible, atrocious act of the lady being killed on the train there in Charlotte, not that far from here.
So things just piling up, and things happening, things happening all across the world. And so, how in the world are we supposed to respond? What are we as Christians are supposed to do when when George Floyd? Died. They rioted.
They burned cars. They boarded up store windows. There was violence everywhere. But that's not the way that the church is supposed to act. It's not the way the church is supposed to respond.
And and so there's been none of that. There's been a lot of prayer vigils, and and a lot of people. Turning back to God, a lot of people making very important decisions in their life, spiritual decisions in their life. I'm going to speak to you today about a young man who lost his life because of his faith. Let's talk to you this morning about a young man who was murdered.
Because of his stand for God, his stand for righteousness, he was murdered. They told lies about him. They accused him of blasphemy. Is estimated to be about thirty years of age when he was killed. He was killed for telling the truth.
Turn your Bibles to the book of Acts, chapter number six. We'll read the story of this young man, this twenty-nine or thirty-year-old man, in Acts chapter number six. There's going to be a few names that are a little bit difficult for me to pronounce. You may have it down, Pat, but. I do want to give credit as much as I can.
I hope I don't butcher them too much, but these are important names in this story today. Acts chapter six, and let me begin reading in verse number one. In those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration. And then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them and said, "It is not reason that we should leave the word of God and serve tables. And wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.
What business?" Taking care of the widows, but we would give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word, and the same pleased the whole multitude, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith, and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus. And Nicodemus, and Timon, and Parmenius, and Nicholas, a proselyte of Antioch, when they sat before the apostles, and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them, and the word of God increased, and the number of disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly, and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith, and Stephen, full of faith. And power did great wonders and miracles among the people, and then there were, and then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of Libertines and Creteans and Alexandrians, and of them Cecilia and of Asia disputing, disputing with Stephen, and they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake. And then they suborned men, which said, "We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God." Now that's a lie. He didn't do that.
That's a lie. In verse twelve, and they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council. And set up on, set up false witnesses, which said, "This man ceaseeth not to speak blasphemies, words against this holy place and the law." Now, if you would go to the same book, Acts, chapter number seven, and verse number fifty-one, and I wish we had time to look at all of this. Amazing story here about this young martyr, this one that is killed for his faith. But let's go to verse number fifty-one, Acts chapter seven.
You're stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears. You do always resist the Holy Ghost. As your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? And they have slain them, were showed before the coming of the Just One, of whom you have now been now the betrayers and murderers, who have received the law by the disposition of angels and have not kept it.
And verse fifty four. And when they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. When you hear the truth, people, you're going to respond one of two ways. You're going to either receive the truth or you're going to reject the truth. These folks have just had an opportunity to receive the truth, but they don't receive it.
They reject it. And look what happens when you reject the truth. And when they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. And he, being full of the Holy Ghost. Looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing, not sitting, but standing on the right hand of God, and said, "Behold, I see the heavens open, and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God." And they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon Him with one accord.
And cast him out of the city, and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God and saying, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." And he kneeled down and cried with a loud voice, "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge." When he had said this, he fell asleep. He died. A young man, some estimate to be twenty-nine, thirty years of age, is killed.
Why was he killed? For telling the truth. For standing for the truth. But do you know that God is going to use this man's death? Stephen's death.
This young man, who now is a martyr, God's going to use this to bring one of the greatest Christians on the scene that the world has ever seen. There's a man we, his name was mentioned there in those few verses we just read, whose name was Saul, and Saul was leading the charge to persecute the church. He was leading the charge to have them killed, have them murdered. Saul, this man named Saul, and yet God is going to use Stephen. And what happens to him?
This changed Saul's life, and Saul is going to become one of the greatest Christians that this world has ever seen. You never know how God is going to use tragedy. You never know how God is going to use something as sad and tragic as what we witnessed this week with our eyes, and we saw a young man, 31 years of age, who was assassinated in front of the whole world. Why? Why was he killed?
Because of his faith, the cause of his stand—a man who loved God, a man who loved Jesus, and bragged on Jesus, and taught about Jesus, and went on to college campuses—he went into the Lions Den and he taught Jesus unashamedly. His faith was strong. A man with courage and backbone. Saul has his name changed to Paul, and he begins a work for God that is a thousand, maybe ten thousand times greater than the work that Stephen has just done. But it took Stephen and Paul's Saul standing there and watching him being murdered.
This week, I don't know how many times I've read on social media the number, especially the number of young people, because of this man's faith, has decided that they now want to be a follower of Jesus. That they now want to get in the Bible. That they now want to have a prayer life. That they now want to be a witness for Jesus. What, of course, what this world and what the enemy and what Satan meant for evil, God can take it and turn around and mean something good and something awesome and something great, and we're seeing that happen right before our eyes.
I want you to notice three things about Stephen this morning. This will not be a lengthy message. But I think it's an important one. I troubled sleeping last night, so burdened about my country's, and and I've said so many times this is not the America that I want for my children, especially I don't want it for my grandchildren. I've said this many times in my preaching.
I'll say it here this morning. I may say it again before I close. I have said so many times that if America does not have revival, or if Jesus doesn't come soon, we may see persecution against the Christian Church in America like we have never seen before. I started saying that twenty, twenty-five years ago. We may see persecution toward the Christian Church.
In America, like we have never seen before, folks, this is real. Three things this morning. First of all, I want you to notice the great character of this of this disciple Stephen. The Bible says that he was a man full of God's grace and power. A man full.
I would like for some people to leave here today full of God, full of God's grace. Not playing church, not playing games, not halfway in and halfway out, but all the way, one hundred percent, all the way in. To say I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back. We're not going to just try it for a little while and see if it works. No, we're going to be sold out for the rest of our lives.
If it's 24 hours or 24 years or more, that we're going to walk with Him, we're going to live for Him, we're going to make a difference with our own life. A man with great character, full of God's grace and power, full of faith and full of the Holy Ghost. He was controlled by the Holy Spirit. He was guided by the Holy Spirit. He was empowered by the Holy Spirit.
Verse number three said, "Full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom." That's what we ought to be praying for today. Asking God for His power, for His anointing. We can't stand by ourselves. We must have God. We must have the Holy Ghost in our lives, fully controlling our lives, full of Holy Ghost and wisdom.
He was one of these that were chosen. They said, "Choose you out seven," and Stephen was one of the seven. He was called to take care of the widows. I think sometimes in the church we've forgotten the small things. We concern ourselves so much of the time with the big things that we forget the little things.
Taking care of those who need help. I'm not a thousand percent against welfare and helping people, but the truth of the matter is, if the church was doing her job, the government wouldn't have to be so much involved in all this stuff. We got people on welfare in America today that don't need to be on welfare. They need to get a job and go to work, earn a living. They've been on it so long; they're used to it.
At first, they might have been appreciative. No, at first, they probably were so humiliated they thought, "Man, I don't want to be on this. I, I don't want this in my life." But then they got desperate and they accepted it. And then after a while, they kind of got used to it. And then after a while, they thought that it was owed to them.
And then after a while, they begin to demand it. I've seen these videos and stories of going into a grocery store and buying stuff that they don't need with government money, your money, my money. Once again, if the church, if we were doing what we're supposed to do, and by the way, church, this this is what we're supposed to do. We're supposed to help people. We're supposed to encourage people.
We're supposed to bless people. You say, well, Tim, there's people that will take advantage of us. There's always been that, but there's a lot of people that genuinely need our help. And we need to be in the position that we're helping them and blessing them and encouraging them. And by the way, those of you that are not members of a a good Bible believing church, you need to get into a good Bible believing church.
You need to get saved. You need to give your life to Jesus, and then you need to get in—not only just to join to say you're a member of a church, that you become a part of that church. And when you become a part of a family like Kerwin Baptist Church, you're going to have people who will love you and help you and pray for you and pat you on the back. And then you will get to the position where you're going to be able to help people and pray for people and encourage people and pat other people on the back. It's not a one-way street.
It's not that you're in the church just to be a sponge. And that you get and get and get and get and get, but you never give. That's not the Christian life. You get in order to give. You get in order to give, and you keep getting and you keep giving.
Stephen, a man of character, chosen for this very important task. Maybe a task that other people really didn't want to do, but here this giant of a man is, who puts his faith on the line, and he's willing to go serve these widows, and to help them. How many times have I said that if you won't do the little things for God, then don't expect Him to give you the opportunity to do the big things. And I tell young evangelists, if you won't go to the little churches, and by little I don't mean insignificant, I'm talking about numerically they're small in numbers. But if you won't go and help them and bless them, then don't expect God to open up the big doors.
God let him do this task, and then God lets him do big things, miraculous things, and. And miracles, and and in chapter number seven, and again we didn't have time to look at all of chapter seven. But Stephen ends up giving one of the longest speeches that's in the Bible, as he addresses these people who are calling him a blasphemer, as he as he addresses these people who are lying about him, and he tells them the truth courageously. He had character. Stevens' environment was hostile.
Number two, not only did he have great character, but he had great courage. He's living in a hostile environment. These people hate him. They don't like him. They're not his friend.
They want him killed. They want him out of their lives. He's telling them the truth.
Well, let me tell you something, friend. We need a bunch of preachers in this country to start telling the truth, have backbone and courage and guts, and that's what Charlie Kirk was all about. He wasn't perfect by no stretch of the imagination, but he's a godly man, and he would go in. And these college campuses, he did this again and again and again and again and again and again. And when he would get there and get ready to start, he would say, with his microphone in hand, he would say, "Those of you that disagree with me, you come and get in the front of the line." And they would.
Some of them were respectful. Many of them were hateful. They were angry. They were mean. They called him horrible names, but he stayed calm.
He stayed courageous and never flinched. He never wobbled on the axle. He was strong and he stood tall. Give us. A thousand more just like him.
Give us ten thousand more just like him. Give us a hundred thousand more just like him. Give us millions of others to take his place. To say I'll stand in the gap. I'll be that man.
I'll be that woman. I'll be courageous. I'll be the salt. I'll be the light. I'll be one that's filled with the Holy Ghost.
Let not his death be in vain. The opposition against Stephen arose. They began to argue with Stephen, but the Bible said they could not stand against his wisdom and power. They couldn't stand. You know why?
He had truth on his side. They were the ones that were lying. They were the ones that were deceitful. They were the ones that were blasphemous. But that's what the enemy does.
We've seen this in America. Normally, what these mean, vicious, and ugly people do, they accuse you of doing the exact thing that they're doing. We've seen it. Openly, and somehow they think they can get by with it. Charlie Kirk would call them on it.
He did it decently. He did it correctly. He did it with calmness. He was not angry. He speak against abortion, but he wasn't mad.
He speak against the transgender movement, but he wasn't mad at people. He speak about the family, about a husband and a wife. He speak about the home. He said one of his favorite Bible verses was Ephesians chapter five and verse twenty-five: "Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it." He said if he ever ran for office, he told his wife, Erica, "What a strong woman she is! Wow." If you haven't heard what she said to the nation a couple of nights ago, you need to go listen to it.
Oh my! No wonder Charlie could be so effective because he had a strong woman that would stand by him. Ladies, if your husband is standing for God and living for Jesus and making a difference with their life, cheer them on. Be his biggest cheerleader. Stand with him.
This world needs husbands and wives standing together. Charlie Kirk told his wife that if he ever ran for office, his main thing would be the American family. Oh, wow!
Well, that's the very first thing that God ordained. The very first thing that God ordained was the family. God ordained the church. And God ordained human government. Those are the only three institutions that God ever ordained.
The first one was the family. You want to have a strong church, you got to have strong families. You want to have a strong nation, you got to have strong families. Men, I don't think our homes will be any stronger. Than the leader of that home, God chose you to be the leader.
God put it together. I didn't put it together like that. God did. The husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the church, and gave himself for it. That's a deep love.
If the man. Is leading the way that God says we're to lead. It's going to make it a whole lot easier for the wife to do the same thing, and then for children to follow also. Our churches will never be any stronger than the homes that make them up. Our nation will never be any stronger than the churches that make her up.
And if our churches are weak and divided. If our churches won't take a stand, why would you expect politicians to take a stand on moral issues if you won't take a stand? People afraid of getting their hands dirty, getting their feet wet. They're afraid of getting involved.
Well, that can't be any more people. That can't be any more. You got to decide whose side you're on. You gotta make up your mind. Not a game.
It's not a recreation room. We're in a battle. We're in warfare. For our children, for our grandchildren.
Somebody fought for us before we got here. How in the world can we not fight for our children and for our grandchildren? How in the world? Great character and great courage. Stephen is in a in a hostile environment, and anyone who chooses to live a godly life will be persecuted.
Peter himself said in. Chapter four of First Peter: Think it not strange concerning the fiery trials which are to try you, and they're only going to get worse if the Lord terrors His coming. First thing is, if the Lord terrors His coming, this world is going to get more evil. The Bible says so. In the last days, it would act worse, and it'd be worse and worse than it was before.
So mark it down. Don't be surprised. It's going to get dark. Going to get black. But that's the best time to have revival when everything seems to be falling apart.
That's why so many people ran to church today. That haven't been to church in a long time, or maybe have never been to church, but they're there this morning. Maybe some are here this morning for the first time in a long time. And they saw the courageous stand that Charlie Kirk took. Just like it was in Stephen's day, and those people around Stephen, they saw this man full of grace and courage and backbone, and not backing down.
He could have compromised. He could have said, "Well, guys, I didn't really mean all that stuff," but he didn't. He stood courageously, and they killed him for it. They murdered him, and Stephen became. One of the first, if not the first martyr for Jesus Christ, at a young age, maybe twenty-nine, maybe thirty years of age.
We need boldness. We need that courage. Not only was there the character of Stephen, and not only was there the courage, but I want us to look for just a brief moment at the vicious opposition Stephen faced. Go back to chapter number six in the book of Acts, and chapter number six, and verse. Thank you for listening today.
We hope you received a blessing from our broadcast. The Kerwin Baptist Church is located at forty-five twenty Old Hollow Road in Kernersville, North Carolina. You may also contact us by phone at three three six nine nine three five one nine two, or via the web at kerwinbaptistchurch dot com. Enjoy our services live and all our media on our website and church app. Thank you for listening to the Kerwin broadcast today.
God bless you.
