Full of Spirit, Wisdom, Faith, and Power

To solve the problem of caring for widows in the church, the Apostles asked the congregation to select from among them "seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task" (Acts 6:3). What is important here is that although those men's ministry was "to serve tables" (v. 2), it was still necessary that they be "full of the Spirit and of wisdom." Luke singles out Stephen to also say that he was "full of faith and of the Holy Spirit" to introduce him as an important part of his upcoming narrative.

Too often though, we choose those in ministry because they have the talent or giftedness for "serving tables" at the expense of being full of faith, wisdom, and the Holy Spirit. I know of churches that hire musicians to play music who do not attend that church and may not even be believers just because they are better musicians than those in the congregation. But while we ought to seek to do everything with excellence, what is more important is that we do it with wisdom, faith, and the power of the Holy Spirit.

Being "full of grace and power", Stephen's ministry started with "serving table" but he was also "performing great wonders and signs" (v.8). So far, he has been described as a man "of good reputation", full of the Spirit", "full of wisdom", full of faith", full of grace", and "full of power." None of these describe intrinsic human attributes of Stephen but rather related to his relationship with God.

As believers, we are all in one ministry or another, as husbands/wives, fathers/mothers, or vocational/non-vocational ministry. If God has called you to a ministry, then it is humanistic thinking to start comparing yourself to others. The only thing you should seek is to be filled with the Spirit of God who is the only One who can empower you to accomplish the work of God. There are many talented, gifted, and brilliant believers but when they start doing the ministry by their flesh, they do more harm than good to that ministry.

It becomes clear in the second half of Acts Chapter 6 why Luke had been singling out Stephen with his "full of" descriptors. Stephen's ministry becomes such a problem for the rulers in Jerusalem that he became the first Christian martyr. Just like with the ministry of the Apostles, what bothered them was not the "great wonders and signs" he was performing but what he was preaching. Several groups "rose up and argued (disputed) with Stephen" (v.9). The verb for “argued"/"disputed” is also used to describe how the Scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees disputed with our Lord Jesus (cf. Mark 8:11; 9:16; 12:28). But just like with Jesus, those opposing Stephen "were unable to cope with the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking." "Cope" is also translated as "resist", "withstand", and "stand up to", but I love how the CEV puts it: "they were no match for Stephen." The Jewish opposition to Stephen struggles against his wisdom because, as Gamaliel in Chapter 5 had suggested, they were fighting against God Himself who had empowered Stephen through the Holy Spirit. This is just what the Lord Jesus had promised (cf. Luke 12:11-12; 21:12–15).

The message of the Gospel will continue to be impossible to oppose as we see in the Book of Acts (e.g., Acts 13:8) but also in history. Emperor Constantine recognized Christianity after it had become so pervasive in the Roman Empire despite 300 years of intense persecution.

Acts Chapter 6 ends with Stephen so filled with the Spirit that his face was "like the face of an angel." May likewise everyone around you recognizes that whatever ministry God has called you to is clearly not being done by your own human abilities but through the empowerment of the Spirit of God.