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 um And what's happened, especially this week. And then they'll just have the unit.
Uh the uh horrible atrocious act of the lady being killed or 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 um 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 so there's been none of that. There's been a lot of prayer vigils. And um And a lot of people Uh 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. I was talking to you this morning about a young man.
Who was murdered. because of his stand. For God? for righteousness. He was murdered.
They told lies about him. They accused him of blasphemy. It was estimated to be about 30 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 29, a 30-year-old man. In Acts chapter number 6. 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 6. 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 menstruation. 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 rapport. Full of the Holy Ghost.
and wisdom. whom we may appoint over this business. What business? Taking care. Um The widows.
But we would give ourselves continually to prayer. and to the ministry of the word. And the saying pleased the whole multitude. And they chose Stephen. A man full of faith.
and of the Holy Ghost. And Philip. approach us. And Nicanor. 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. Empire. 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 Cretians and Alexandrians. and of them Cecilia and of Asia disputing disputing with Stephen. And they were not able to resist the wisdom of the Spirit by which he spake. And then they suborn 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 12, 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 false witnesses which said, This man ceaseth not to. Speak blasphemies. words against This holy place And The law.
Now if you were goat to the same book, Acts chapter number seven. And verse number 51. Um I wish we had time to Look at all of this. Amazing story. Hear about this young martyr.
This one that is killed for his faith. But let's go to verse number 51. Acts chapter 7. 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, which showed before the coming of the just one. of whom you have now been now the betrayers and murderers. Who received the law by the disposition of angels have not kept yet.
In verse 54. 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 29. 30 years of age. is kill. 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. As 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. That's right. 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. Look at the eyes. And we saw a young man 31 years of age. who is 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 lion's 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 Steven. And Paul saw standing there and watching him be murdered.
This week. I don't know how many times I've read on social media. the number and 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 would not be a lengthy message. But I think it's an important one. Had trouble sleeping last night, so burdened about. My country's 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, and 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 20, 25 years ago. We may see persecution. toward the Christian church. in America.
like we have never seen before. Folks, this is real. Yes, sir. Three things this morning. First of all, I want you to notice the great character.
This But this Disciple Stephen. The Bible says that he was a Men 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. 100% 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. Was 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 empired 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. And 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. You have 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. That's right. They can get more. 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 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.
By the way, Churchless 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. Yeah, okay. 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, but 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 give in order to give, and you keep getting and you keep giving. That's right. 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 lived. him do this task and then God lets him do big things, miraculous things, and And miracles.
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 addresses these people who are lying about him. And he tells them the truth courageously.
Yeah. Yeah, character. Yeah. 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 was a perfect by no stretch of the imagination.
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 this 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. But 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. Piervas. 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 song, I'll be the light. I'll be one that's filled with the Holy Ghost. Let Ma.
His death be in vain. The opposition Again, Stephen arose. Hmm. They begin 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. 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.
Yeah, we've seen it. Openly. And somehow they think they can get by with it. Trotter Kirk would call them on it. He did it.
Decently, he did it correctly, he did it with calmness, he was not angry. He speaks against abortion, but he wouldn't. Matt, he speak against the transgender movement. But he wasn't mad at people. You speak about the family, about a husband and a wife.
You speak about The whole? He said one of his favorite Bible verses was Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 25. 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 you're a husband and 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. Yeah.
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 woman's a family. You want to have a strong church? You gotta have strong families. You wanna have a strong nation? You gotta have strong families.
Men? I don't think our homes will be any stronger. than the leader of that home. And 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 to that God says we're to lead. It's going to make it a whole lot easier for the wife. Yeah. 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 anymore. 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? Yeah. 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 4 of 1 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 tells his coming.
First thing is If the Lord carries his coming, This world is going to get more evil. The Bible says so, in the last days, it would wax worse. And it'll be worse and worse than it was before.
So mark it down. Don't be surprised. Yeah. It's going to get dark. Gonna get black.
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. The courageous stand that Charlie Kirktuck. 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. And he stood courageously and they killed him for it. They murdered him. And Stephen. One of the first, if not the first, martyr.
For Jesus Christ. At a young age, maybe. 29. maybe 30 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. A steven faced. Go back to chapter number six.
In the book of Acts in 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 4520 Old Hollow Road in Kernersville, North Carolina. You may also contact us by phone at 336-993-5192 or via the web.
at Kerwin Baptist Church.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.
