Lord, we ask you to please be with Brother Dylan as he preaches your word to us and please
allow this church to be edified and understand and do your will.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
Alright, well great to be here, great to be back in my hometown.
I was waiting for the snow, it's been such a dry winter even in Portland where it supposedly
rains every single day and I expect some snow when I come here, but I guess not today.
Well, turn your Bibles to Acts chapter number 6, we're going to be starting out in Acts
chapter number 6.
I just wanted to have Brother Chris read the long chapters just for fun.
I'll be honest with you guys, I'm feeling a little ill today, so if you could be praying
for me, I could get through this and be edifying for the church.
So let's look there, chapter number 6, verse number 8, the Bible says, "And Stephen, full
of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people."
Let's pray.
Lord, thank you so much for this day and thank you for the opportunity to be at Verity Baptist
Church in Boise.
I just pray that you'd help me to preach the sermon and edify your people, help us all
pay attention, pray for all those who are outside today.
In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
All right, telling my sermon today is a man full of faith and power, a man full of faith
and power.
These two chapters in the Bible are talking about the man Stephen, who is actually the
first deacon ordained in the Bible, and the Bible tells us that he's a great man of God
and that he's a man full of faith and power.
We just read the chapter that Brother Chris just read where he preaches this amazing sermon
and was actually martyred for the Lord Jesus Christ and he stayed strong through the whole
thing and that would be, in my opinion, a man full of faith and power.
So this morning I want to get five lessons from the life of Stephen.
I want to apply it to us and figure out how we can become great men or women or children
that are full of faith and power.
So lesson number one, let's read Acts chapter number six, verses one through four.
"And 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 administration.
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.
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, but we will give ourselves
continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.'"
So number one, every task done for God must be taken seriously and is very important.
You see there that the first deacons in the Bible, they were ordained out of a necessity
in the ministry.
Basically, the apostles were taking care of starting new churches, turning the world upside
down in the gospel of Christ, preaching the gospel everywhere, but also they were running
churches themselves.
And the widows in those churches were being neglected because the Bible teaches to honor
widows that are widows indeed.
If you're a widow indeed, according to qualifications in the Bible, the Bible says that the local
church should be taking care of your needs, should be supplying for your needs.
That way we don't have to have 65-year-old widows out at Walmart working when they could
be taken care of by the church and staying in their proper role.
And so because of that, the apostles were overwhelmed, they were overworked, they weren't
able to focus what only they could do on the work that only they can do, the starting of
churches and stuff like that.
They were torn between, hey, just the daily ministration of the church and actually, you
know, doing their tasks.
So you see there in Acts chapter 6, number 3, let's look at the qualifications for these
people.
"Therefore, 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."
So you may think, you know, oh, these people are just taking care of widows, so we can
just pick, you know, Joe Schmoe off the streets and do that.
That's no big deal.
Well, Bible says that these men had to be men full of the Holy Ghost and of wisdom.
They were high qualified men just to do a simple task such as taking care of the widow.
So what does that teach us?
Every single task that we do for God, no matter how small we may think it is, is very important
to God, and we should have high qualities and high expectations of people that serve
God in no matter what capacity.
As a mother, as a child, we're all soul winners, no matter what we do for God, God expects
high expectations out of us and expects us to have high character traits ourselves.
Ecclesiastes 9-10 reads, "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might, for there
is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave whither thou goest."
You know, that shows again right there, no matter what task we're doing, if we're doing
it with all of our might, it brings glory to God.
That's what God expects of us.
And turn to Exodus chapter number 18.
Exodus chapter number 18, we see this play out in the life of Moses, this concept here.
So just to give you some context, obviously Moses is the man of God, he's the leader of
this nation of God's people, and what he's doing is every single controversy, every single
problem, every single issue that the entire nation has, he is judging all their problems.
So they're literally standing in line, waiting all day to get to Moses, and Moses is just
person by person judging their issue, judging their issue, judging their issue.
Because of that, Moses wasn't able to do the things only Moses can do, and he was being
torn between two priorities that way, just like we saw in the book of Acts.
So let's read verse number 21.
This is Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, who's giving him some advice on how to fix this issue.
Bible reads in verse 21, "Moreover, thou shalt provide out of all the people, able men, such
as fear God, men of truth hating covetousness, and place such over them to be rulers of thousands
and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.
And let them judge the people at all seasons, and it shall be that every great matter they
shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge.
So shall it be easier for thyself, and they shall bear the burden with thee."
So you can see that this is a biblical concept.
When a leader or a church has too much going on and one man isn't able to do it by themselves,
the Bible teaches to delegate authority, right?
Obviously the leader always has responsibility.
You could delegate authority, but you can't really delegate responsibility.
So that's what's happening here.
Moses is delegating his authority to men to rule over tens, fifties, hundreds to help
him out with this situation.
So obviously a lot of times you hear people today where they think that in order to have
a biblical church, you have to have a lead pastor, an assistant pastor, and a board of
deacons and all of these things, right?
But we see in the Bible, extra people in leadership come out of necessity in the ministry.
It's not just, "Hey, we're just going to have a bunch of pastors just because we want
to have a bunch of pastors."
You know, the people that usually teach this are the New Evangelical community church types
where you show up at their church, there's a hundred people and there's ten pastors.
You know, it doesn't make any sense because in the book of Acts, they were leading a church
of three thousand people and they had just finally ordained some deacons, you know?
So you see, you know, in our day, obviously, the Bible teaches that in the last days we'll
be able to do greater works, right?
More and more quantity of work for God.
That's why you see churches in our movement like your pastor, Pastor Jimenez, he has a
church of I think about a hundred and eighty people and he does have some deacons working
for him.
But in case you didn't know, he's doing a lot more work, right?
He's doing a ton of work and he needs those men to help him out.
Pastor Jimenez can't be preaching today in Verity Baptist Manila.
Pastor Jimenez can't be preaching today in Verity Baptist Boise and Pastor Jimenez can't
be preaching today at Verity Sacramento all at one time.
This is how you get, you delegate authority to people.
So let's look here.
Oh and then another thing out of that, you notice there are the qualifications for those
men.
There are men of truth that hated covetousness such as feared God, the Bible says.
So you know, no matter what the task is for God, God expects us to have people doing that
work that are qualified, that meet qualifications, that have high standards for their life.
So go to Colossians chapter number three. Colossians chapter number three. Colossians
chapter number three, look at verse 23, the Bible says, "And whatsoever you do, do it
heartily as us to the Lord and not unto men, knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive
the reward of the inheritance, for ye serve the Lord Christ." You know, we gotta just
get it through our heads that no matter what we're doing in the day, whether we're going
to our secular jobs, whether we're showing up at church, whether we're doing our schoolwork,
whether we're raising our children,
whether we're being a good husband to our wives,
we serve the Lord Christ.
So at the end of the day, our boss in all of those areas
is the Lord Christ.
So that's why we have to make sure
that we have these character traits.
So what are some tasks of service to God
that we do in the church?
Bible reading, people that come up and read the Bible
before the service, the song leading,
the people involved in the music ministry,
the ushers, the security guys,
whatever you guys have going on in the church, right?
All of these things are needs that a church has,
and you just have to realize that they're important to God,
and you shouldn't just take your jobs,
no matter how small you may think they are, lightly.
Like, "Oh, I'm just the guy that counts the money."
No, you serve the Lord Christ.
You count the money like you're serving the Lord Christ.
If you're the usher, you serve the Lord Christ.
How you treat people that come into this church,
treat them like they were the Lord Jesus Christ themselves.
You know, if Jesus Christ was in attendance today,
how would you read the Bible for him before the service?
How would you sing for him before the service?
How would you preach for him if he was in attendance for the service?
And everything that we do, no matter how small you think it is,
remember that you serve the Lord Christ.
And when you do that, you'll be able to realize how important your job is,
no matter what you're doing for God.
So how about, how about soul-winning?
2 Corinthians 5.20 says, "Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ."
That's a pretty hefty title right there.
Ambassadors for Christ.
You think about being an ambassador for the United States, right?
That'd be a pretty, you know, high-class job.
You know, way more important than being an ambassador for the United States
is being the ambassador for the Lord Jesus Christ.
They don't even compare.
They're not even on the same, you know, length at all.
And the rest of that verse says, "As though God did beseech you by us,
we pray you in Christ's stead.
Be ye reconciled to God."
See, how seriously do you take soul winning, you know?
How do you dress when you go out soul winning?
One of the things that drives me crazy is when I see people show up to my soul winning
time, you know, or any soul winning time, and it looks like they just rolled out of bed.
They're in their pajamas.
It looks like, you know, they're going out hunting or something.
And then you've got the face paint on, no, not face paint, but, you know, when you're
going out sewing, you're an ambassador for Christ.
How would you dress up your ambassador for the United States?
Would you go up to Vladimir Putin wearing your pajamas or like looking like you just rolled
out of bed?
You know, people, when you show up at their door, that may be their first impression of
a safe Christian.
This might be their first time they ever hear the true gospel presented to them.
And you know what?
People always want to say, you know, the inside's what matters, the outside doesn't matter.
Obviously, the inside matters more, but the outside does matter too.
And so, if you're a woman and you're dressed like a whore at someone's door, you know,
that's a bad testimony for Christ.
If you're a man and you're dressed like a slob at somebody's door, that's also a bad
testimony for Christ.
How do you carry yourself, you know, when you're soul winning?
You realize that you're standing in the gap between eternal heaven and eternal hell for
people.
Some people, this may be the last chance they ever get to hear the gospel before they die
and before their fate is sealed and before they're going one place or another.
You know, this may be their only chance, and you have.
You are the ambassador of Christ at their door.
How you carry yourself, how you dress, how you talk, how you act, you know, how your
silent partner acts, it's very important.
All the tasks that we do for God is very important.
How about your performance even out of soul winning?
You know, obviously we try to push people to become talkers in this movement, right?
We want everybody preaching the gospel, but you know, if you're not ready to preach the
gospel, there's no shame in being a silent partner whatsoever.
Because I'd rather someone learn from someone who knows how to go soul winning until they
actually can do a good job than to just go doing a horrible job out there letting people
go to hell because you don't really know how to preach the gospel yet.
Sometimes we just have to swallow our pride and say, "You know what?
I'm not ready.
I'm going to go with a good soul winner for a while.
I'm going to learn for a few more weeks.
I'm going to take some notes.
I'm going to study my Bible," and then just get back at it.
But what we don't need is people that don't know what they're doing at the doorhouse soul
winning.
We need people that have high standards, that take their job seriously, and that know what
they're doing.
That's Acts chapter number six.
Acts chapter number six, look at verse five, "And the saying pleased the whole multitude,
and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith, and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Procrast,
and Nicolay, and Timon, and Parmenes, and Nicholas, a proselyte of Antioch, whom they
set before the apostles, and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them."
So number two tonight, or this morning, there is a prepared place for a prepared person.
There's a prepared place for a prepared person.
So why did Stephen and these men with him, why were they the ones that are ordained?
Well, look at that verse again.
It says that they were meant, "Steven, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost."
You don't get that way by accident.
You don't get that way by not doing the work of God.
The reason why he was chosen is because he was already doing the work.
You know, you think about the great men of God that we know, we look up to, Pastor Mendes,
Pastor Anderson.
No one called up Pastor Anderson five years ago and said, "Hey, there's this great church
in Arizona with a couple hundred people in it.
We'd like you to lead it.
You know?
That's not how it works.
What happens is men, women, whoever it is, spend their time studying the Word of God
by themselves, spend their time praying by themselves, spend their time pouring into
their spiritual man and pouring into their spiritual life, and they grow in the Lord,
they grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, and they do the work
of God, and then they're a prepared person, and then God will always have a prepared place
for a prepared person.
He's going to make sure if you're a man or a woman that's worthy for the job that he's
called you to do, that he's going to make sure you have the opportunity to do that.
But how many opportunities do you think we might miss in our lives just because we are
not prepared?
How many people have you maybe ran into in your day-to-day life that could have gotten
saved, that wanted to hear the gospel, but you just weren't ready to preach them the
gospel?
You just didn't know how to preach them the gospel?
Or you just weren't maybe far enough in your Christian walk to where you were maybe bold
enough to preach that person the gospel?
Who's fault is that?
That's our fault when that happens.
That's our fault for not being a prepared person, because God all the time gives us
these opportunities in life, even in the secular world, how many times do people just miss
a good job opportunity because they don't apply for it, right?
All the time.
They're not prepared.
Happens all the time.
So let's turn to 1 Timothy 3, we'll be getting there in a little bit, but some examples of
this in the Bible.
People who are already doing the work that God used.
How about Saul?
You know, he was looking for his father's assets, he was working in the farm and then Samuel
anointed him king, right?
He was doing the work of God.
David, he was keeping his father's sheep, he was already doing the work of God before
he got to Slay Goliath, before he became the king of Israel.
The prophet Amos, the Bible says he was just a hermit, right?
But he was doing the work.
He was working.
God never uses people that are not working.
Even when you think about how this church has started, this church wasn't just started
not knowing just, "Oh, hopefully there's some Christians there."
There's a group here that wants to go, that wants to do the soul winning, that's doing
the work.
And what happened?
God prepared a place for you guys.
You guys were prepared people.
God prepared a church for you guys.
That's how churches are going to be started all over this nation is groups of people instead
of just emailing Pastor Anderson or Pastor Madison, "Hey, send a church in this area."
God and these men want to see that you're already doing the work and you're not going
to get a church in your area, especially in a small area, if you're not already doing
the work.
You know, it just shows that this church is of God when it's in Boise, Idaho, when there's
not a whole gigantic population here.
There's tons of other places in this country where churches need to be started that have
way more people than Boise, Idaho, but what's the problem?
There's not people there doing the work, you know, in most cases.
So wherever the people are that are doing the work, that's where God is going to work.
And of course, Stephen was the same way, he was a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost
doing the work.
I had you turn to 1 Timothy a little too early, keep your finger there though, coming back
and go back to Acts chapter number six.
I just want to show you one more thing here.
Just to prove that Stephen was doing the work, that he was a prepared person, look at verse
number seven, the Bible says, "And the word of God increased, and the number of the disciples
multiplied into Jerusalem greatly, and a great company of the priests were obedient to the
faith."
The work of God doesn't happen by itself.
Contrary to what the Calvinists may think, that you're just going to get saved by God
just forcing you to be saved, the Bible teaches that you have to have a preacher that explains
you the gospel, right?
You have to have people out there soul winning to get soul saved.
You have to have people out there preaching the sermon to get the churches going.
You have to have people out there starting churches.
The work for God does not happen by itself.
So when you see that the disciples are multiplied, the word of God is increased, all these things
happening, it proves that the disciples are doing great work for God.
That's why this book is called the Book of Acts, right?
It's the Book of Action showing us an example of how we should be as a church.
You're there in 1 Timothy 3, let me turn there myself, 1 Timothy 3.
We have to be working today for what we want to be tomorrow, right?
And there's a lot of young men in our types of churches that have been inspired by the
great works of God that they see in this movement and in these churches.
And they decide, you know what?
I want to maybe be a pastor myself.
I want to be a deacon.
I want to be in a role of spiritual leadership.
Well, look there at 1 Timothy 3, verse 1, the Bible says, "This is a true saying, if
a man desired the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work."
See, the office of a bishop is work.
Verse 2, "A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of
good behavior, given to hospitality, apt to teach, not given to wine, no striker, not
greedy of filthy lucre, but patient, not a brawler, not covetous, one that ruleeth well
his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity. For if a man know not how
to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God? Not a novice, lest being
lifted up with pride, he fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must have a good
report of them which are without, lest he fall into reproach and the stares of the devil."
So there's the qualifications of a pastor. So if you, you know, you may want to be a pastor
someday and even if you don't want to be a pastor someday, it's good to try to work hard to meet
these qualifications. You know, if you want that office, you want that good work, then understand
it's just that. It's work. And you're not going to get there by spending your days playing Xbox
after school or after work or whatever. Or you're not going to get there smoking weed. You're not
going to get there drinking alcohol. You're going to get there when you actually get your nose in
the Word of God and you actually see what the qualifications are and you look at your life and
say, "Okay, where do I need to change? Am I given the line? Am I a brawler?" And no, I'm not talking
about MMA. You guys are good, okay? That's contained. But if you're just going out beating people up on
the street, okay, then yeah, you need to fix that right now, right? But you see, it's a lot of work.
You know, Pastor Menes not only has the biblical qualifications for a pastor, but I know he also
won't send anyone out that hasn't read the Bible through Cover to Cover ten times. And you know,
you may be afraid of that number, but if you want to get that done soon, that's an hour a day.
That's an hour a day for I think four years, four and a half years, something like that. But I'm just
saying it's a reasonable goal. You get through the Bible four times in a year if you read it
one hour a day. That's what I meant to say. So it's a reasonable goal. There are some people
that can attain to that goal. And if you want that office, then you need to. You need to be
reading the Bible at least for an hour a day. First Corinthians chapter number three, turn there please.
I want to end this point with the thoughts about soul winning again, because that's obviously the
most important thing we do. You know, if we didn't do anything else, if we had to keep only one
ministry for a church, it'd be the ministry of reconciliation, right? Because nothing matters
for people if they grow in their Christian faith, if they're not even saved, if they're
going to spend eternity in hell. So look at first Corinthians three, five. The Bible says,
"Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom you believed, even as the
Lord gave to every man." You know, God gives to every single person on this earth a minister
by which to believe, right? And you are, if you're saved, you are that minister to who knows how many
people in this world today. You don't know them. They don't know you, but that doesn't change the
fact that you are their minister. And if you're not ready to give them the gospel, then you are the
one that's failing as a Christian. You're the one that's not a prepared person. And when God prepares
those people and those places in your life where you can do a mighty work for Him and you fail,
then that's just on you. That's because you are not prepared. So we need to make sure we are getting
prepared right now. Go back to Acts chapter number six. Acts chapter number six. Starting there in
verse seven again, the Bible reads, "And the work of God increased, and the number of the 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." Number
three this morning, you can earn great rewards in heaven no matter your position. So you read those
verses and it's like, oh yeah, these are men of God in the Bible. Of course they're doing great
works and miracles. Of course the word of God is multiplying. But do you remember that this man,
Stephen, what he was ordained to do was to minister to widows? You know, that's pretty amazing when
you think of it in that light. When you think of pastors or evangelists going out and just tearing
it up for Christ, then you can be like, "Oh yeah, they're doing great things for God." But in the
word of God here, God quantifies doing great works for him as just obeying him. When you're ordained
for your position, what God has called you to do, if you're the man that's supposed to be taking care
of the widows and you do a great job, God has high praise for that. You'll get great rewards in heaven
for that. The rewards that you get in heaven are not dependent on the position that you have as a
Christian. So let's go to first Corinthians number three again, sorry about that, actually I had to
stay there. First Corinthians chapter number three, pretty cool that the Bible says that the word of
God increased by these men even though all they were doing is taking care of the widows. First
Corinthians chapter number three, look in there in verse five, Bible reads, "Who then is Paul,
and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom he believed, even as the Lord gave to every man,
I have planted Apollos water, but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth
anything, neither he that watereth, but God that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and he
that watereth are one, and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we
are laborers together with God, we are God's husbandry, we are God's building." You know,
there's so much in that, that's so important. You see there in verse eight, it says that every man,
excuse me, shall receive his own reward according to his own labor. You know, if you're the husband,
if you're the wife of a pastor, you're not just going to magically get a bunch of rewards in
heaven just because your husband does great works for God. God will give you rewards in heaven based
on the work that you do. It comes down to the work that you do for God. But you know, the good news
is that we're laboring together with God, right? Not only that, the Bible says that he that water
it and he that plant it are one. So what's cool about that, why Stephen was able to do such amazing
things for God and why he's able to have such good rewards in heaven is because you remember why he
was ordained. He was ordained to help the apostles be able to focus on their job. So he that water
it, he that plant it are one. So here's the thing, if you are able to take a burden off of someone
else so that they can do their job for Christ that let's say only they can do, you get to be partakers
of that person's reward, right? So if you're out soul winning, this is a perfect example, a silent
partner, right? You may think that you're not getting rewards in heaven as being a silent partner,
but what you're doing is you're doubling the forces of soul winners that we have out there.
So you that plant and he that watereth, you're one. If you're allowing more work to be done for God,
then you get the extra rewards that even that person's doing. Turn to 1st Samuel 30, we get a
Old Testament story that talks about this principle. 1st Samuel 30, where we turn lots of
places, this is a Bible study this morning. 1st Samuel 30 verse 21, Bible reads, "And David came
to the two hundred men, which were so faint that they could not follow David, whom they had made
also to abide at the broke visor. And they went forth to meet David and to meet the people that
were with him. And when David came near the people, he saluted them, then answered all the wicked men
and men of Belial, of those that went with David, and said, Because they went not with us, we will
not give them out of the spoil that we have recovered, save to every man, his wife, and his
children, that they may lead them away and depart. And David said, Ye shall not do so, my brethren,
with that which the Lord hath given us, who hath preserved us and delivered the company that came
against us into our hand. For who will hearken unto you in this matter? But as his part is,
that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be, that tarryeth by the stuff, they shall part
of life. So there you go again. The people that just stayed by the stuff and just guarded the stuff
while the rest of the people went to war and fought the battle, the Bible says that they get the same
reward, they part alike. So this makes me think of maybe a mother that has lots of children.
You know, if you're watching the children so that your husband can go out soul winning,
you're not going to just not get rewards in heaven for that. That is something spiritual
because you're staying by the stuff while the husband goes out to battle or vice versa. I think
women should be soul winners just as much as men. If the man stays home on one weekend to take care
of the kids so that his wife can stay sharp in her soul winning, you know what, feed that tariff by
the stuff, she'll part alike with him that goes forth to battle. So I'll read through that first
Corinthians 3, number 10. "According to the grace which God has given unto me as a wise master builder,
I have laid the foundation and another buildeth thereon, but let every man take heed how he
buildeth thereon, for other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Christ. Now
if any man build upon this foundation, gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble,
every man's work shall be made manifest, for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed
by fire, and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is." So, you know, at the judgment
seat of Christ, when we stand before God, every man's going to be rewarded for his own labor.
You're not going to be able to rely on what anyone else has done. You know, your wood, hay,
and stubble, the things that you did that are just worldly and fleshly and that corrupt, that is all
going to burn up. But you know what? The things that you do for God, even if they're small, even
if it's just taking care of the widows, if you're helping someone else, another Christian do what
they need to do for God, then you will have great rewards in heaven for that. Go back to Acts,
chapter number six. So, you know, we need not to be disparaging of menial tasks or what we would
think is menial tasks because they're not menial tasks to the Lord. You know, people that clean
the church, people that, you know, do whatever it is for God, it's not menial tasks, it's very
important to the Lord. Acts chapter number six, we'll read verses nine, starting there in verse nine.
"Then there arose a certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the libertines,
and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen.
And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake. Then they suffered
men, which said, 'We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.' 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 blasphemous words against this holy place in the law. For we have heard him say that this Jesus
of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered unto us.'
And all that sat in the council, looking steadfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an
angel." So number four this morning, godly Christians always suffer persecution. You know,
there's this really weird mentality in America, and really it's only found in America because
we have such prosperity, and we just have such, you know, cookie-cutter lifestyles, where we just
think that we're always going to be in prosperity, and we're never going to have any persecution,
right? The prosperity gospel that you hear people preach, that as long as you're right with God,
you're going to have riches, and health, and the homes, and everything you could possibly want.
It's not what the Bible teaches. You saw right there, the Bible said that Stephen, a man full
of faith, and of the Holy Ghost, a man that spoke with wisdom, a man that was preaching what was
right, what happened? They set up false witnesses against him, and of course, you know the rest of
the story of what we just read before the service. He preaches this hard sermon, and they stoned him
to death, right? Did Stephen do anything wrong? No. He was doing only that which was right, but
yet he did suffer in that way. Why? Because that's what the Bible teaches will happen if you are
living godly in Christ Jesus. Turn to Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53. You know, like I was just talking about,
Stephen was doing everything right. He was speaking by the Holy Ghost. He was speaking the Word of
God. He was speaking wisdom. He was speaking truth, yet they hated him, yet they set false witnesses
against him, yet they killed him. Does that remind you of anyone? How about the Lord Jesus Christ?
You know, people who say that Christians will never go through anything, they don't even know
their own Savior. They don't even know the man, the God that is the founder and the basis, the
quarterstone of this entire religion. Hey, guess what? He was a man that was spoke by the Holy Ghost,
who had no sin, who was speaking wisdom, who was speaking truth, who's speaking the Word of God,
who's speaking right. Guess what they did to him? They set up false witnesses to him. They crucified
him. They spit on him. They put a crown of thorns on him. The Bible says that the servant is not
above his master, right? So us as Christians, if our master is the Lord Jesus Christ, and he went
through that being perfect, how much better do you think we are than him who are sinners that we're
just not going to go through any persecution. We're not going to have any problems in this life. You
know, it's a stupid mentality that a lot of Christians have. But read verse three in Isaiah
53. Prophecy of Lord Jesus Christ. He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted
with grief. And we hid as it were our faces from him. He was despised and we esteemed him not.
Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem him stricken,
smitten of God and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our
iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes we were healed.
And we like sheep have gone astray and we have turned everyone to his own way. And the Lord
hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened
not his mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before her shear is dumb.
So he opened it, not his mouth. You know, Stephen, the story of Stephen is a type, is a picture of
the story of Lord Jesus Christ. Because when Stephen was being stoned, what did he say? He said,
"Lay not this sin to their charge." When Jesus was being crucified, he said, "Father, forgive them
for they know not what they do." If you're going to look at an example of a Christian in the New
Testament and say, "Lord, what should I expect for my life as a Christian that serves God?" If you
want to be a man full of faith and power, should I expect riches? Should I expect honor? No, you can
expect to be despised like Christ. You can expect to be rejected like Christ. You can expect to be
acquainted with grief like Christ was. The Bible says that "he that increases knowledge increases
sorrow." When you get to understand, when you have the perfect word of God and you understand
what's wrong with this world, when you see someone living their life and they're not living it
according to God's word and you know that the end of that is death. You know that the end of their
life is just failure because they're not following the word of God. You know that what they're doing
right now is going to lead them to a bad place. Because you have that knowledge, it's going to
increase your sorrow. When you have the word of God, it's going to increase your sorrow. So you
should expect as a Christian to suffer like Christ suffered. You can expect to be wounded even at
times. Obviously right now we're not at that point in America where we're going to be out, you know,
wounded out preaching the gospel. Although even in Vancouver, Washington, going door to door
sowing, we have one person assaulted and punched in the face out sowing him. Didn't do anything
wrong. Just asking the guy, "Hey, if you're 100% sure if you die today, would you go to heaven?"
You know, a guy punched him in the face. You can expect to be wounded. And you know, if we ever as
our generation, if we ever make it to the great tribulation, you better be expected to be wounded.
Because when that time comes, it's not going to be legal to be a Christian. It's not going to be
legal to have the Word of God. And you see that stuff getting set up all around us all the time.
You can see that that kind of a world is being set up right now. So don't listen to these prosperity
gospel idiots to tell you that you're just going to have, you know, sunshine and lollipops everywhere
you go. You know, you can expect to suffer like Christ suffered. First Thessalonians 3, I'll read
for you, "For verily when we were with you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation,
even as it came to pass, and you know." You know, I think it's just so funny all these pre-tribbers.
When they get to heaven, I wonder if they're going to be asking Stephen if Stephen was a pre-tribber.
I wonder if they're going to be getting to heaven and asking the Apostle Paul if he believed that
we're going to go through life without any tribulation. Ask Jeremiah thrown in prison,
right? Ask all these men of God in the Bible. All of them suffered persecution. The founder of our
religion, the Lord Jesus Christ, was killed on the cross even though he had no sin. We all suffered
persecution. I'll read for you 2 Timothy as you turn to John chapter 15. 2 Timothy 3, 12, "Yea,
and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." I'm trying to give you a lot
of verses on this because for some reason, in America, this is the main belief. You ask 99%
of Christians today, "Do Christians suffer tribulation?" No, we're not appointed to wrath.
That's not what I asked. I didn't ask you if Christians suffer the wrath of God. I asked you
if they suffer tribulation, right? They don't understand this. John 15, verse 18, "Listen to
the words of Jesus Christ. Listen to the words of the founder of our religion. If the world hates you,
you know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love
his own. But because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore
the world hated you. Remember the word that I said unto you, the servant is not greater than his Lord.
If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they have kept my saying, they will keep
yours also." So you know what? What did we see with Stephen? Did the world hate Stephen? No,
the world hated the Lord Jesus Christ. And because Stephen kept the word of Christ, then they hated
Stephen. Because those Jews hate the Lord Jesus Christ because they always resist the Holy Ghost,
like Stephen said, because the Jews crucified the Lord of Glory. Because Stephen was preaching the
words of Christ, they hated Stephen as a result of that. It's not because they hate us as individuals,
it's because they hate Christ. And that is what's going to bring tribulation in our life. But if you
want to be a man full of faith and power, you better be ready to suffer tribulation. Go back
to Acts chapter number seven now. Acts chapter number seven. So for sake of time, I'm skipping
through this long sermon that Stephen preached. But you saw what it was. It was basically a recap of
the entire history of Israel. You know, back from when they were wandering in the wilderness all the
way up to the time of Christ. And Stephen's just saying, "Hey, from that time then to this time now,
you always have resisted the Holy Ghost. Ye do as also did your fathers." Look there at verse number
51, "You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in hard in years, 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 to come to the just one of whom you have been now,
the betrayers and murderers, who have received the law by disposition of angels and have not kept it.
When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.
But he being full of the Holy Ghost looked up steadfastly into heaven and saw the glory of God,
and Jesus standing on the right hand of God and said, "Behold, I see in the heavens open,
and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God." Then they cried out with a loud voice
and stopped their ears and ran upon him with one cord 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."
And when he had said this, he fell asleep. Number five this morning,
"God will use your trials and tribulations for good when you respond correctly."
So how did Stephen respond to his persecution? In Acts chapter 6, when they arrested him,
how did he respond? He preached the Word of God. He held nothing back from the Word of God.
He preached it hard. That's the same thing with every man of God in the Bible. John the Baptist,
who was beheaded for preaching the Word of God, what did he say? He was brought before King Herod.
He said, "Hey, King Herod, it's not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife."
He's preaching against adultery to a king of a nation, and you know what? Sometimes that'll
get your head cut off, right? But if you are a man full of faith and power, if you are a man of God,
you'll continue to preach the Word of God. You'll not hold anything back no matter who says anything
about it, no matter how much your family want to love the fags, right? Then not my parents,
of course, but they're not all them. But you know what? Everybody's got those family members where
it's just like they always want to, you know, force the fags on you. I don't care who they are. I don't
care if it's your family. I don't care if you're in front of the kings. You know what? You stand
with what the Word of God says. You preach with what the Word of God says. You hold nothing back.
Stephen preached this hard sermon in front of people he knew that would kill him.
And did he stop preaching? No, he preached it. He knows that he has a better resurrection in heaven.
The worst thing that anyone can do to us is kill us and we have eternal life with Christ in heaven
with rewards forever. It's not that bad, if you ask me. So second, Timothy 4.2, I'll read for you.
Preach the word the instant in season, out of season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long
suffering and doctrine. We got to be instant in season and out of season. Whatever our world
thinks is popular, you know, no matter what this world thinks, whether they think it's popular or
not, you preach what the word of God says. There would have been a time in this country when
preaching certain things out of this book would have offended no one. You know, at the founding
of our country, the Bible, the King James Bible, was actually used as proof in legal courts. You
could say, "Well, hey, this person is guilty because Leviticus 20 13. That's what the Bible says."
And they're like, "Hey, guilty." This held the weight of law at one point in our nation, right?
People wouldn't have been offended by it, but now you have nations like Canada where they have
literally made hate speech laws where you can't even preach certain verses out of the Bible.
So what should we do if we live in Canada today? We ought to obey God rather than men. We ought to
preach the full counsel of God in season, out of season, no matter what the law is, no matter who
likes it, no matter who doesn't like it. You preach the word of God like Stephen did. So he
responded number one by preaching the full counsel of God. He responded number two by finishing his
course with a charitable heart. Go to first Peter chapter number four. First Peter chapter number
four verse eight the Bible reads, "And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves,
for charity should cover the multitude of sins. Use hospitality one to another without grudging,
as every man have received the gift even so minister the same one to another as good stewards of the
manifold grace of God. If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God. If any man minister,
let him do it as of the ability which God giveth, that God in all things may be glorified
through Christ Jesus, to whom be praise and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Beloved,
think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you as though some strange thing
happened unto you, but rejoice in as much as you are partakers of Christ's sufferings,
that when his glory shall be revealed you may be glad also with exceeding joy." So you know what,
when this happened to Stephen, he didn't respond by saying, "You all reprobate Jews! You're all
going to die and go to hell!" He said, "Lay not this sin to their charge, Lord." He had a charitable
heart like the Bible says there in verse 8, and you know when his time came to suffer for Christ,
he counted it joy, he rejoiced that he was able to be partakers of the sufferings of Christ,
he knows that his reward is going to be great in heaven, he responded with a charitable heart.
I'll read for you John chapter 9, you know a lot of times, a lot of times when bad things happen to
us, that's what we focus on, right? That a bad thing is happening to us. We got to realize that
not every bad thing that happens to us in our life is really that bad. I'll read through John
9 3 just to remind you of this story. Jesus answered, "Neither hath this man sinned, nor his
parents, but that the works of God should be made manifest in him." So what Jesus is talking about
here is that there was a man that was blind from his birth, and these people are asking like,
"So hey Jesus, this man has been blind from the day he was born. So tell me, who sinned, this man or
his parents? Why is this bad thing happening in his life?" And he said, "Neither has this man sinned,
nor his parents, but that the works of God should be made manifest in him." We must realize every
single time something bad happens to us in our life, all it is is an opportunity for us to glorify
Lord Jesus Christ on our behalf. Every time, you know, even if this situation, even if you had a
child that was born blind, you know you could raise that child in the nurture and admonition of the
Lord. You could raise that child to be a soul winner, although blind. You know, I love how God can use
different people to reach people that only that person can get saved. You know what I'm saying?
There's like, there's a kid in our church that's 12 years old. He's read the Bible over 10 times
cover to cover at 12 years old. The guy's a genius. He's like a computer programmer at age 12. His name
is Zakiah. You guys know who he is if you ever come up and visited us, but I love going soul-winning
with him because you get the most prideful people at the door, you know, like these Russian Pentecostals
where literally you ask them the question and a lot of times they answer, "We go to Pentecostal
church. We know everything." I seriously get that exact answer so many times, "We know everything."
Okay, so this kid, Zakiah, he's going soul-winning and he asks this Russian Pentecostal if he's 100
percent sure he's going to heaven, and he goes, "Listen, I've been in prison. I've read the Bible
through four times cover to cover when I was in prison. How many times have you read the Bible?"
A little 12-year-old kid and he's like, "I'm halfway through my 11th time," and the guy's like,
"I'll learn from you." Zakiah preaches him the whole gospel and this prideful, false doctrine,
indoctrinated Pentecostal Russian gets saved as a result of the 12-year-old that was prepared,
the 12-year-old that was full of the Holy Ghost, the 12-year-old that decided to get his nose in
the Bible instead of wasting his life on vain things, the 12-year-old that's probably willing
to suffer for Christ, God's able to use the weak things of this world to convounce the strong.
It's an amazing testimony to see. Romans 8.28 says, "And we know that all things work together for
good to them that love God, to them that are the called according to his purpose." So when you have
a trial or tribulation in your life, if you love God, how do we love God? Jesus said, "If you love
me, keep my commandments." Right? Love is not just saying, "Oh, I love God." No, "If you love me,
keep my commandments," Jesus said. So if you love God, if you're the called according to his purpose,
if you're saved, then you can rest easy that whatever happens, all of it will work together
for good, for the glory of God, if you respond correctly. So how is Stephen stoning? How is him
getting stoned to death? How did that work out for good for Stephen? We'll go back to Acts chapter
number seven. Acts chapter 57, "Then 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," don't miss this, "whose name was Saul." You know who was there
when Stephen was stoned to death? You know who witnessed the man making a stand for Lord Jesus
Christ? You know who witnessed a man full of faith and power that was prepared, that was ready for
what came his way? Saul, the Apostle Paul, the man who would go on to start more churches in his
lifetime than anyone ever has, the man that would go on to write the rest of the New Testament pretty
much, the man that would go on to get, you know, this whole world turned upside down for Christ.
The Apostle Paul was there consenting unto the death of Stephen. So how could that have worked
well for Stephen? Well, because his rewards in heaven are astronomical. Because everything that
Paul ever did for God, Stephen gets rewards for because of the fact that he made that stand,
because of the fact that that impression that he made on Paul could very well have had something
to do with his conversion later in life. That's pretty amazing. When you're getting stoned to death,
you're not thinking that. You're not understanding that. When the trials in your life are coming,
you're not thinking of the end road of where your trials lead, but that's why you have to just trust
God. Trust the Lord with all my heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways
acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths, the Bible says. So when Stephen understood that,
Stephen was versed in the Bible. Was he not? He just preached the whole sermon by memory.
He just preached an entire history of the Jews from Old Testament to present day on the spot
by memory. This guy's mighty in the word of God. He knew that. He knew that God works all things
together for good, right? And he didn't necessarily know how it would work out. He didn't know that
Paul would become Paul, right? Saul would become Paul, but he stayed strong and that's what happened.
Go to 1st Corinthians 15, 1st Corinthians 15, Corinthians 15 58. "Therefore, my beloved brethren,
be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord for as much as you know that your
labor is not in vain in the Lord." Let's read that again. "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast,
unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord for as much as you know that your labor is
not in vain in the Lord." You know God gives us zero excuse to quit. You know that there's nothing
that could happen in your life no matter how hard it is that God says, "Okay, you can stop serving me.
That's fine." No, he says be unmovable. Be steadfast. "Hey God, what if I have to be stoned to death? Be
unmovable. Hey God, what if my child was born blind from birth? What do I do?" Be unmovable. Be steadfast.
There's no excuse you'll ever have to quit. The only person you'll ever convince that is yourself.
You're never going to have an excuse from God. You're never going to have a pass for quitting on
God. I think that verse is one of the most powerful verses in the Bible when you understand that.
When he's saying, "Whatever happens, you have to be unmovable." That's a pretty amazing verse.
Orpheus Romans 12.1, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God,
that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable unto God,
which is your reasonable service." That's what Stephen did, right? He presented even his own
body to Christ as a sacrifice. Go to 1 Corinthians 13. Almost done here, then we'll get into
application and we'll close. 1 Corinthians 13, verse number one, "Though I speak with the tongues
of men and of angels and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass or as a tinkling symbol,
and though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge,
and though I have all faith so that I can remove mountains and have not charity, I am nothing.
And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned,
and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. So what if Stephen would have quit, right? What if
Stephen would have even responded without charity? The Bible says it would profit him nothing. Even
if you give your own body as a burnt sacrifice, the body says, if you don't do it with charity,
profits you nothing. So by the fact that Stephen stayed strong, he didn't quit, and he had a
charitable heart when he did it. He said, "Lay not this into their charge." If he had a very Christ-like
spirit, then he did fulfill charity. It was worth something for him. But that's a scary verse,
in my opinion, that even if you understood the whole Bible, you had all mysteries, all knowledge,
all faith, gift of prophecy, you could remove mountains, you give all your goods to feed the
poor, you give your own body to be burned, if you don't have a charitable heart when you do it,
that's how much rewards you have in heaven. Zero. None of it counts for you. You have to be doing it
for the right reason. Application here. How do we become a man full of faith and power? Number one,
you must consistently read the Bible every single day. You know, like I just mentioned, how amazing
is it that Stephen, under the pressure of persecution, was able to preach such an amazing sermon,
off memory, a basically overview of the whole Bible. How is that? Because he was reading the
Bible every day. How is it that he was even chosen for the job because he was a man full of faith and
of the Holy Ghost? He was able to speak with wisdom that men could not resist. How did he get that? By
the Word of God, right? Turn to Psalm 1 while I read for you. "He became a man full of faith and of
power." Romans 10-17 says, "So then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God." You're
there in Psalm 1. "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly nor standeth in
the way of sinners nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful but his delight is in the law of the Lord
and in his law doth he meditate day and night and he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of
water that bringeth forth his fruit in the season his leaf also shall not wither and whatsoever he
doeth shall prosper there's your prosperity gospel it's not as easy as just putting your
hand on the screen and donating money to Joel Osteen it's you read the word of God day and night
you bring forth fruit in your season right you go soul winning you love God by keeping his
commandments you do that then whatsoever you do will prosper how because all things work together
for good to them that love God them that are recalled according to his purpose all things
prosper for you maybe not in the way that your fleshly mind would want it to but in the way that
God will be glorified in the way that all things will work together for good in the end in the way
of you getting rewards in heaven you will be prosperous prosperous in all ways in that sense
I'll read for you Matthew 4 as he turned to Ephesians 3 Matthew 4 for Jesus said but he
answered and said it is written man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeded
out of the mouth of God so number one you must read the Bible every day number two you must be
rooted and grounded in your Christian life Ephesians chapter number three Ephesians chapter
number three look at verse number 17 the Bible reads that Christ may dwell in your hearts by
faith that ye being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with all saints what
is the breadth and length and depth and height and to know the love of Christ which passeth all
which passeth knowledge that you might be filled with all the fullness of God so notice there verse
17 said rooted and grounded number two you must be rooted and grounded in your Christian life
what is this this is mastering the basics okay I'm talking about Bible reading prayer church
attendance soul winning you know living a separated life you know to be a man full of faith and power
you have to not be just a babe in Christ and if you are babe in Christ there's nothing wrong with
that everybody's a babe in Christ at some point if you just get saved you haven't read the Bible
through cover to cover you're just getting new to church you need to grow but if you want to someday
grow into a man full of faith and power you have to have mastered the basics you don't wake up on
Sunday morning and think shall I go to church this morning you know you wake up shall I read my Bible
today shall I pray today it's Saturday morning shall I go soul hunting today you know those things
have to become second nature to your life if you want to be a man full of faith and of the power
of God you don't need to be questioning in your mind should I be doing the basics of my Christian
service right it makes me think of the verse where Jesus said hey if you've done all things
whatsoever I've commanded you you can consider yourself unprofitable servants right that's pretty
humbling statement that Jesus said that if you're doing everything that I told you you're cutting
even for the kingdom of God right Jesus is high expectations of us he's not like this limp-wristed
long-haired hippie that everybody preaches that he is Christ is our master right and he he's our
master with love we're not his slaves we're his servants but he is our master he is our Lord he
expects high expectations out of us turn to Galatians chapter five back one book there
number one you must read the bible every day number two you must be rooted and grounded in
your christian life number three you must learn to walk in the spirit Galatians 522 the bible says
but the fruit of the spirit is love joy peace long-suffering gentleness goodness faith meekness
temperance against such there is no law look we need these these attributes that are life to be
able to serve God like Stephen did Stephen definitely had these attributes in his life
he definitely was a man that was full of the Holy Spirit and you are not going to make it you are
not going to be a powerful man or woman or child of God I even gave you the example of the child
children could be great mighty people of the Lord as well right but they need to be walking in the
spirit as well because the spirit is what gives us our power how do we get filled with the spirit
so turn to Ephesians chapter five forward again one book Ephesians chapter five I'll read a few
verses a couple verses here number one how do we get filled with the spirit we ask Luke 11 13 says
if ye then being evil know how to give good gifts unto your children how much more shall your heavenly
father give the holy spirit to them that ask him you know people often apply this verse to just
asking God for anything and that's a great application because you have not because he
asks not the bible said when we ask God in faith when we're asking not to consume things upon our
own life our own lust when we're asking things that we need for our life God's going to give it to us
if our own earthly fathers are able to give us good gifts the bible says us being evil then how
much more is God able to give the holy spirit to them that ask them so you know why are you not
filled with the holy spirit have you even asked God and I'm not talking about Pentecostal spirit
coming upon you rolling in the floor I'm saying you being not not not being slain in the spirit
or anything like that okay being filled with the spirit is what that verse I just read for you is
having the fruitness of the fruit of the spirit I'll read it again real quick says love joy peace
long suffering gentleness goodness faith meekness temperance rolling on the floor oh wait now that
was not on there right not rolling on the floor not sticking in tongues the actual biblical fruits
of the spirit okay that's what's going to come from you being filled with the spirit so how do
you get filled with spirit number one you ask number two look at Ephesians 5 verse 17 Ephesians
5 verse 17 wherefore be not unwise but understanding what the will of the lord is and be not drunk with
wine wherein is excess but be filled with the spirit so don't be drunk number one and 19 speaking
to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs singing and making melody to your heart in
the lord so why do we always sing songs before our service is so that we can get filled with the
spirit of god and no matter where you are if you're singing the hymns if you're singing good godly
music if you're asking god to fill you with the holy spirit you're reading your bible you're doing
spiritual things you will be filled with the holy spirit that's just a fact go to aphesians chapter
six aphesians chapter number six this will be the last verse this morning verse 11 the bible says
put on the whole armor of god that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil for we
We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against