Welcome to the Quality Christian Living Podcast.
Once again, I am your host, David Friend. Today
we're taking on a rather interesting topic entitled,
Full of Faith and the Holy Spirit, based upon
the story of the life of Stephen, an amazing
man of God, and we'll get into that in just a
moment, but before we do, let's pray. Heavenly
Father, I invite you to come in and help me,
Holy Spirit, take over. I release my thoughts
and my ideas to you. I pray that you would bless
this podcast and touch those who are listening
in. I thank you for great results. I believe
that you're gonna do mighty works in the lives
of each and individual listening in today. We
give you praise for it in advance. In Jesus name
I pray, amen. Well, let me say this. What does
it mean to be full of faith and the Holy Spirit?
We're gonna be dealing with that throughout this
entire podcast. You see, a follower of Jesus,
known as Stephen, is described as having these
qualities. He was described often that he simply
has a powerful man of God, full of faith, filled
with the power of God, and filled with the Holy
Spirit. So how can we receive this kind of a
walk with the Lord? We read about what the Bible
says about an ordinary man, Stephen, who received
a supernatural anointing from the Holy Spirit.
Now, those of you who that's what your reason
for listening in today is to receive something
special from the Lord, I believe you'll just
surrender, just yield to him, allow the Holy
Spirit to work in you and through you, and let's
just examine now the life of Stephen and see
how we can learn from that and how we can experience
how he became such a powerful man of God. Let
me read about Stephen and as I read how I want
you to think about how we can be full of faith
and the power of the Holy Spirit. The book of
Acts explains the church had a need and the apostles
needed to select some people, some individuals,
to minister to the church congregation. So let's
look at Acts chapter 6 verse 2 in the New Living
Translation. So the twelve apostles called a
meeting of all the believers. I can just see
this happening. They said, we apostles should
spend our time teaching the Word of God, not
running a food program. Now, that's why I like
the New Living Translation because that's kind
of how people would speak today. It's like when
a pastor has a church filled with people and
he's being just completely barraged by activities
and requests and demands for his time and he's
trying to find time to get into the Word of God
and prepare a sermon for that week. There's no
difference in that. And so he needs people, people
in the church to help carry out the work of the
church, the ministries of the church, the care.
needs of the church. Currently my wife and I
are the congregational care pastors at our church,
Dream City Church in Scottsdale. After spending
nearly 20 years being the senior pastors there,
we felt it was time for us to step aside, allow
someone else to come in, but stay with the church,
work with the church, and we are just so blessed.
So it's just such a blessing to be a part of
that. So the Apostle said, we just don't want
to be a bunch of food program people. We need
to get into the Word of God. In verse 3, it tells
us that they chose seven men who were full of
the Spirit and of wisdom in verse 5 it tells
us that Stephen was chosen and it also says right
there It says a man full of faith and the Holy
Spirit they go together of course verse 8 we
reads this Stephen was a man full of God's grace
and power who performed amazing miracles and
signs among the people now that may seem over
our heads and it's not because the The power
of the Holy Spirit who dwells in us is the same
power that dwelt in Stephen and the same power
that dwelt in Jesus when he walked this earth.
He was filled with the Holy Spirit and his ministry
started. And so we've got to approach this podcast
thinking that is it possible to be full of faith
and the Holy Spirit and to be able to work great
works? Yes, it is. But it all has to do with
our relationship with the Holy Spirit, the way
we're committed to God, our obedience to Him,
and the way we follow the Word of God. And we'll
get into that. in some detail here in just a
moment. So, but think about that as we go through
this. Let's look at Stephen and stop for a moment
and just simply look at who he was. How did he
come about having all of that faith and all the
power of the Holy Spirit? Stephen was a servant.
He made himself available to people. This reminds
me of Jesus. You see, Jesus was a servant. In
Mark chapter 10 verse 45 in the New International
Version it says this, for even the Son of Man,
that was Jesus of course, did not come to be
served but to serve and to give his life as a
ransom for many. Jesus came here to earth to
be a servant. The only way that you can be a
great leader is that you start off by serving.
The only way I believe you can be a great pastor
is if you lead by serving. The only way you can
be a great Bible teacher, I believe the only
way you can have a great marriage is for the
wife and the husband to serve each other and
for the children to serve their parents. I mean
people say, now you're going overboard and kids
don't serve their parents anymore. Yes, they
do. If they're raised in the Word of God, if
they're going to the house of God and getting
the teachings that they need and to see the power
of living a peaceful life under the power and
the anointing of the Holy Spirit, if they're
taught to honor their mother and their father
that their life will go well and they'll live
a good, long, healthy life, kids can grow up
serving their parents. And yeah, it's possible.
I know some of you might be kind of laughing
right now, but bottom line, that was God's intention
for us to be servants to each other. And that's
the example we received. even Stephen, to be
full of faith and the power of the Holy Spirit.
So now we might want to examine ourselves. Do
we go to church to only be served? The old statement,
what's in this for me? I tell you the number
of times that I have met people in the church.
I've pastored for 20 years. I've been a member
of our assembly of God church, you know, for
that congregation, that denomination for nearly
50 years. And all that going on, I've found one
thing that was consistent. People that went to
church to serve other were happier. They were
more vibrant. They had more life and their activities
and there was more joy in them, there was just
more happiness in them. But people who go to
church for what's in this for me never seem to
receive the blessing. that God wants to give
them. He won't give us a blessing if we're greedy
and if we're self -serving and we're not thinking
of others as being more important than ourselves.
Now this is getting a little heavy in that area.
For some people might say, well, you know, that's
just not possible. I don't have time to help.
We all have time to help in some capacity or
another. We all have the same amount of time
every day, 24 hours in a day. And how we use
those hours will determine, I believe, our walk
with God and the relationship that we have with
the Holy Spirit. So do we go to church to just
be served? Or do we go to church saying, where
can I serve? Where can I find a way to serve
other people in our church? You know, when a
person comes to church and they sit there for
a month or two months or six months or three
months or ten years, whatever it might be, and
you talk to them and you find out they're not
involved in activities, they're not using the
talents God has given them, they're just simply
coming to church and just kind of being there.
And that's still great to be in church, that's
wonderful, but that's not the fullness that God
wants us to have. That is not the example. we
see in Stephen as he served others. Servanthood
made Stephen great and full of faith through
the power of the Holy Spirit. It's the same thing
for us. Having a attitude of servanthood will
help us to realize what value we add to the church,
what value we add to the Christian walk that
we have and the value that we can bring to other
people and help them. And we don't do it so that
we get lifted up and we get praised and we get
exalted, if you will, among people for, look
at this great person or that great person. We
do it because out of humility to God. Jesus is
always looking for humble people. And when he
finds humble people filled with the power of
God, the Holy Spirit, then we'll come upon that
person and give them these gifts that we've talked
about in prior podcasts. I've gone over all the
power gifts of the Holy Spirit, the fruit of
the Spirit, all the various things, and all of
that has a direct connection with whether we
are people who serve others or whether we're
people who want to be served. Those who serve
are greater than those who only want to be served.
I'm not sure where all those words came from
other than the Holy Spirit, so I'm going to repeat
that one more time. Those who serve... greater
than those who only want to be served. The story
of Stephen being full of faith through the Holy
Spirit is a great example for all Christians.
We're not going to leave this right now. We're
going to continue talking about his life and
talking about how his life can have such a great
impact on each and every one of us. Listen to
these statements the Lord gave me. Stephen became
extraordinary through yielding to the Holy Spirit
and submitting himself to the leading of the
Holy Spirit and only doing those things that
he felt that the Holy Spirit was leading him
to do. Stephen knew God had a plan for his life
and he served in that plan. Stephen had a desire
to be a part of God's plan. Now we need to stop
here for a second because some people say, well,
I've heard about people having a God having a
plan for their life. How do I know what my plan
is? What my purpose is? Well, I believe that's
something that we need to find by seeking God
through his word, through prayer, talking to
other people and seeing if people see qualities
in us that maybe we can't see in ourselves. I
can remember. We were served at church for like
20 years. And we were so active in the church.
We had a Sunday school class. It was really fun.
It was wonderful. We made a lot of friends. All
of our dearest friends in the world were the
people we knew at church. Our kids were in church
when they were teenagers. I mean, all this was
just a wonderful experience. And then the Holy
Spirit fell upon me. And my wife and I, we chatted
about it. I said, honey, I believe the Lord wants
us to close our business down and go into full
-time ministry. And I was 48 years old when that
happened. And usually people think, what, 48?
You're thinking about, OK, things are going well.
Let's work towards. retirement and in a few years
I'll retire but that's not what the Holy Spirit
had for me and I went to my pastor and I said
pastor Tommy I just want you to know that the
I believe the Holy Spirit's called us to go into
ministry and we were going to close our company
down shut everything down and go into full -time
ministry and we'll work for free if that's what
you want that's what we'll do and we did and
I'm not boasting about that I'm just telling
what the Holy Spirit told me and pastor Tommy
looked at me and he says well it's about time
and I just was like what what we mean it's about
time he says I've known that the Lord had his
touch on you and that he that you would someday
be involved in ministry on a full -time basis
and I said wow I didn't know that. See, the reason
I use that example, that's not to boast, I use
that example because I mentioned to you earlier,
how do you know your purpose, your plan, God's
plan for your life, the reason that God has you
on this earth. You might want to listen to other
people that speak into you and listen to them
when they say things like, you're a person who's
friendly, or you're a person who's an organizer,
or you're a person who likes to lead and teach
the Word of God, or you're a person who likes
to go pray for people. That's God's call on your
life. And when that happens, you step into it
and you go into it full force. Total commitment
100 % and follow the Holy Spirit and have him
guide and direct you so that we can have and
you can have that power of the Holy Spirit and
be filled with faith by the Holy Spirit. Now
being filled with the Holy Spirit qualifies us
to minister to others. Some people say well I
haven't gone to Bible school, I haven't had theology
training and all that so I can't minister to
other people. Oh yes you can. When you have the
Holy Spirit in your life you are qualified to
minister to other people as long as as you use
the Word of God as your instruction manual. That's
the manual that you will use the rest of your
life when you are serving other people and helping
other people. Stephen was full of faith and he
received that because of his relationship with
the Holy Spirit. Now I did a podcast here not
too long ago talking about the power gifts of
the Holy Spirit and one of them is great faith.
Not just faith, but great faith. And the Holy
Spirit is the one. It's found in the book of
1 Corinthians, I think it's chapter 12, where
it talks about the gifts of the Spirit that are
directed and given out by the Holy Spirit that
he's the one that has a soul decision who he's
going to give certain gifts to he chose Stephen
and made him a gift of great faith because because
Stephen was so filled with the Holy Spirit and
that's how he led his life he wasn't concerned
about about what he got of any things he when
he served others he never lacked for anything
when he met the needs of other people he never
lacked for anything so Stephen was full the Holy
Spirit and we can have that same experience but
the Holy Spirit's the one who brings it he was
so full of faith that there was not room, listen
to this, for doubt, for fear, or anxiety. Wouldn't
that be wonderful? Just think about that. So
filled with the Holy Spirit in God's Word, there's
absolutely no room in our heart and in our mind
for things like doubt and fear and anxiety. See,
Paul experienced that. Now I'm going to use a
scripture that I've used many, many times before,
but it's so powerful. In the book of Philippians,
Paul said that we should be anxious for nothing.
By the way, he wrote this when he was in prison,
remember? And he says to be anxious for nothing,
but everything through prayers, petitions, Now,
when Paul said that, he was so full of faith
and so full of the Holy Spirit that there was
no room for anxiety. for fear, for doubt, for
questioning. He knew that God had this whole
thing and he was in control, God was in control,
and Paul surrendered to him. Stephen did the
same thing. He surrendered to him. As I get down
later in this podcast, there's a connection between
Paul and Stephen that's kind of shocking. And
for years, I didn't know this. And then, I don't
know, after I'd been a Christian for eight or
10 years or so, all of a sudden I heard a preacher
preach about this. There was a relationship between
Stephen and Paul. So let's move on. Before Paul
was called into ministry, As a matter of fact,
Stephen lived above his circumstances. Boy, I
could stop right there, just end the podcast
and say, if we could just learn how to live without
anxiety, without fear, without doubt, and live
above our circumstances, that would be all that
we'd all have to receive from this. We could
just get that, just get that. And that's something
that I strive for every day, something that all
of us need to strive for is to learn how to live
above our circumstances. We can only do that
through the anointing and the power of the Holy
Spirit. Stephen never thought of being lucky.
You know, if you'd walk up to him, he'd never
said, yeah, you know, I've been lucky today or
that guy over there is lucky today. That word
lucky is simply not a word for Christians. Stephen
would have never said or had any ifs in his life.
He wouldn't say, well, maybe this will happen
or possibly that might happen. No, he was so
filled with faith and so such power of the Holy
Spirit in his life that there were no ifs in
his life. Stephen could be filled with joy during
great trials. We can all have this type of faith
because we are filled with the same Holy Spirit
that Stephen was filled with. Now, have you ever
desired to have faith that is unshakable? Faith
that you can rise above all your current circumstances?
I'm sure that you have. I'm sure that all of
us have. If our faith weakens, I suggest that
we read about the life of Stephen. Matter of
fact, I can't think of a better story to give
you an example than the life of Stephen if we're
struggling in our faith, are struggling with
our walk with God. His story is found in Acts
chapter 6. At the end of his life, he was martyred
by being stoned to death. But before he was stoned,
listen to this, he looked up to heaven, the Bible
tells us, and saw Jesus standing at God's right
hand. See, Stephen was under attack. The people
hated Stephen because Stephen was serving God.
He believed in God. He was performing great miracles
and works. He was supporting the work that Jesus
taught. His relationship with all the people
that he had, he was known as a man filled with
faith and power. And the people in those days
that were in power and in authority over the
world had no use for Jesus and had no use for
people who looked to Jesus. So he was being greatly
persecuted, Stephen was. And in the midst of
this persecution, he looked up as his accusers
were yelling at him and whatever, he looked up
to heaven and saw Jesus standing. Jesus wasn't
sitting beside the Father, he was standing. That
tells me that Jesus was deeply touched, that
he would stand up to be able to look down upon
Stephen to encourage him. As Jesus was killed,
he looked to people and he said, what? Lord,
God, my Father. forgive them for they know not
what they do because he was so filled with power
in the Holy Spirit. As Stephen was being stoned,
he said, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. He asked
Jesus to not charge his accusers with their sins.
I tell you, that is so powerful to think that
can actually happen to individuals. Today, the
Holy Spirit helps us by telling us to pray for
other people, pray for our accusers, pray for
those who despitefully use us, pray for people
who persecute us. And that's what Stephen was
doing because That's what Jesus did in Matthew
5 44 in the New International Version says his
Jesus said this but I tell you Jesus said love
your enemies and pray for those who persecute
you Stephen did that he could only do that through
the power of the Holy Spirit. And I'm going to
encourage you, if you're struggling with somebody,
you're having a challenge with somebody in your
life, I just pray right now that you would turn
it over to the Lord, that you would ask the Holy
Spirit to give you peace that passes all understanding,
that the Holy Spirit would help you to show love
and compassion to these people, and that they
would be drawn to Jesus because of your ability
through the Holy Spirit to overcome the challenges
that you're faced with them. And I just pray
that you'll have a breakthrough. Matter of fact,
let's just pray right now. Heavenly Father, for
those who are struggling, with relationships
with other people. It might have been, it might
be a husband, a wife, it might be children, it
might be in -laws, brothers and sisters, it might
be a pastor they had a problem with, it could
be a business associate, it could be whatever
it might be, a friend from high school, male
or female, whatever it might be. Father, I pray
in the name of Jesus that the power of the Holy
Spirit would come down upon each and every one
of us, that we would speak life and hope into
those who've persecuted us, that we would pray
for them, that we would seek your blessing on
their life, and they would see the power of God
in that relationship, the power of God in that
forgiveness, in that prayer. And Lord, that they
would come to you, they would run to you when
they see someone that they're having a difficult
time with literally praying for them and believing
that God will bless them. Use them now, I pray,
Father, and help them in their challenges, and
all of us that have these challenges, that you
would guide us by your Holy Spirit to have that
compassion that only you can give us. In Jesus'
name, amen. I think it's important to mention
here, because I referred to this earlier, about
Stephen and Paul having a connection somehow.
I think it's important to understand this that
Paul was originally known as Saul and when Saul,
soon to be the Apostle Paul, was there when Stephen
was being stoned to death and the Apostle Paul
was a witness to Stephen's stoning and supported
it and agreed with it and felt that that's what
should happen to Stephen is he should be stoned
to death. Stephen went on to heaven Paul then
went on about his miserable life that he had
for a while, or Saul, I should say, went about
that miserable life he had until the road to
Damascus. When the man named Saul ran into Jesus,
he became the apostle Paul, who was one of the
greatest Christians ever to live, ever walk on
this earth, and wrote a huge portion of the New
Testament. And there's the connection that is
amazing to think that God can turn around a person
with that much hate to have more love than the
hate that they ever had in him. their life. When
we are led by the Holy Spirit, He presents our
prayers to God. I mean, He takes them directly
to God. Our God always hears and answers the
prayers of those led by the Holy Spirit. Now
I need to make a comment here. When I say that
He always hears and always answers the prayers,
sometimes He answers our prayers with no or with
not now or not at this time. So God always answers
in one way or another. What I'm talking about
is not just reserved for the great Christians,
the big named evangelists or preachers around
the world that have massive congregations. What
I'm talking about is for them but it's also for
every single one of the followers of the Lord
Jesus Christ. When we understand that the Holy
Spirit who lives in us is the same Holy Spirit
that came down upon Jesus when he was baptized
by John the Baptist. The Holy Spirit who dwells
in us is the same Holy Spirit that took Stephen
through all the difficult challenges he had even
to his being stoned to death. The same Holy Spirit
that's in the was in the Apostle Paul here on
earth is the same Holy Spirit that lives and
dwells inside of each and every one of us. When
we understand that we will have wisdom, we will
have peace, we will have joy because we will
be led by the power of the Holy Spirit. In Acts
chapter 6 verse 10 in the New International Version
it says this, it tells us that the power of Stephen
was so great that his accusers could not stand
up against the wisdom the Holy Spirit gave him
as he spoke back to them. Do yourself a huge
favor and a get -receiver, a great blessing,
and listen and read to the life of Stephen found
in the book of Acts chapter 6. You'll be blessed,
you'll be glad that you did, and I believe that
Lord will help you to deal with whatever you're
going through right now. I'm gonna have to close
again in prayer. I really feel that there's other
people that just need to allow me to pray over
you. Father, I pray for all those who are listening
in today, myself included, Lord, that we would
all desire a greater, closer walk with the Holy
Spirit. that we would understand that we can
walk in power. We can experience the power that
Stephen had to overcome, the power that the Apostle
Paul had to overcome. When Jesus left this earth,
he says, greater works will you do than even
he has done, because he knew the power of the
Holy Spirit would be there to help and guide
us and direct us. And I pray, Lord, in this series
on the Holy Spirit, that people would receive
something special. I know each and every time
I work on this and prepare something, put it
together, the Holy Spirit helps me and draws
me closer to Him and gives me new thoughts and
ideas about ways that we can draw closer to God
and then He will in turn draw closer to us. And
we do that through the power of the Holy Spirit
who lives and dwells in each and every one of
us. I pray, Lord, that you would bless each one
who is listening in, that they would prosper
in all things and be in good health, even as
their souls prosper, I pray. In Jesus' name,
amen. Well, I'm going to continue. I hope you
enjoyed this one. I certainly did. I'm going
to continue my series on the Holy Spirit, and
I've got a title that I put together and some
some notes here that I'll just read here quickly
about what's coming up next. The next podcast,
unless the Holy Spirit changes it between now
and then, is going to be titled, I believe, Life
With and Without the Holy Spirit. We're going
to look at what it would be like to be led by
the Holy Spirit or not to be led by the Holy
Spirit. And if the Holy Spirit wasn't here, then
what kind of life would we have? How do we know
when we are in the Spirit or we are in the flesh?
And how can we lose our relationship with the
Holy Spirit? And how do we reconnect with the
Holy Spirit? So these are things that the Lord's
given me. I don't have anything put together
yet, but as the Lord is willing, then that will
be the next podcast that we'll be dealing with.
I hope that you'll let your friends and family
members know about that. Now as I close this
up, I want to tell you very quickly about what
Quality Christian Living is all about. That's
what this entire podcast has been for four and
a half years, and God has blessed it, and I've
been so honored to be a part of this. And so
I'd like to encourage you to go to my webpage,
davidcfriendauthor .com, and when you get there
you'll see a link right on the first page to
all the podcasts that we've done. This has been
podcast number 374. So obviously there's been
a lot of topics, a lot of things we've talked
about. This particular series on the Holy Spirit
now has lasted a year and will continue until
the Holy Spirit tells me to change the topics.
But I've got literally dozens of more topics
that I could teach on the Holy Spirit. That's
what He wants me to do and I'm gonna wait and
pray for that and ask for His direction. And
if you hit that link though, there'll be other
topics in there dealing with finances, dealing
with the gifts of the Spirit, dealing with how
to have relationships with people the way God
intended them to be and how to live an overcoming
life. There are just so many, many podcasts there
I hope that you'll listen to. As a matter of
fact, we get more downloads now to the stuff
we've done in the past. There's so many new people
that are coming in and going back and listening
to all these podcasts that were done over the
last several years. I believe it will be a blessing
to you and I hear wonderful comments from people
all the time about how they received a special
touch from the Lord. And if you'd like to know
more about the Quality Christian Living podcast,
you can subscribe to it by going to cpnshows
.com or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
So I want to thank you so much for listening.
And if you enjoyed this episode, I'd like you
to just take a moment to rate and review the
podcast. It would be really nice. It would be
a blessing and tells other people what you thought
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We will certainly appreciate that and thank you
for being a part of it. Quality Christian Living
is something that's so important to me, and the
series on the Holy Spirit, of course, is just
such a vibrant part. I think it's the best part
of what we've been doing here on Quality Christian
Living, but to live a quality life, live a life
that's not just getting by, not a mediocre life.
You know, years ago I would meet people And I'd
say, well, how long have you been serving the
Lord? Well, I've been serving the Lord 20 years,
30 years, 50 years, whatever it might be. Well,
how are you doing? Well, they'd make a statement
like, well, I'm still breathing. I'm still above
ground, which means they're not buried. And those
were kind of statements I'm going, is that all
you have to say about being a Christian? That's
when I was a new Christian, I would ask that
question. And people would say, well, I'm getting
by, and God's helped me. But I don't really think
that's the kind of life that Jesus wants us to
live. And I've used the scripture, John 10, 10,
many times. Jesus is speaking, he says, the thief,
that's the devil, comes to kill, to steal and
destroy. He says, but I've come to give you life
and give it to you more abundantly. That is quality
Christian living. Living a life at a level of
quality that the Holy Spirit wants us to live
and God, our Father, wants us to live and Jesus,
our Lord and Savior, wants us to live. So I pray
that the Quality Christian Living podcast will
become a part of your life and I would encourage
you to let other believers know about the series
on the Holy Spirit because it is by far the most
popular series that we've done and the one has
been received by so many people, quite frankly,
around the world. I just am amazed when I get
the reports that's told me that we've reached
out to over 140 countries around the world listening
to these podcasts. So we give God all the praise
and glory for it and thank Him for that. So I
pray that you'll be blessed. So I want to close
this out right now, but I want to give you a
blessing before I do that. I pray that the Lord
will bless you and I pray that He'll keep you
and that His face will shine upon you and that
He'll be gracious to you and give you peace.
I said earlier in this podcast, may you prosper
and be in good health even as your soul prospers.
So once again, thank you for listening to the
Quality Christian Living Podcast. I've been your
host David Friend. I pray that you'll receive
a closer walk with the Holy Spirit than you've
ever had before. I pray that all of us will understand
that the life that Stephen lived is a life that
we can live here on earth today. And I believe
that. I pray for power and faith through everyone
listening in today. We'll give you all the glory
for it, Father. These things I ask in Jesus'
name. I once again thank you for listening in.
God bless you.