Full

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

FULL

Acts 6:5-7

5 This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. 6 They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them. 7 So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.

NIV

This is our introduction to Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit. We also have the names of the other six men who comprise the seven men who were selected per the instructions of the Apostles. It is interesting that if we are going to be a New Testament church, or as some would say a new creation church, then it would seem right that any group that is called by the name deacons should be a number of seven men, or in accordance with our current culture, seven people. It is interesting that one of the seven, Nicolas, was a convert to Judaism. We are not told of his original beliefs, which is not important. This should give us an insight into leaving our past in the past and simply seeing ourselves as a convert to faith in Jesus Christ. However, the person of most interest and the one who Luke spends most of his time on in this narrative is Stephen. We are going to see more of Stephen, but for now, let us consider that all the men would have been of the same description as Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit. What does that type of man look like? What does, being full of faith, mean? The Greek word used here as full, carries the meaning of full up, as opposed to empty, as with a hollow vessel, but a more complete meaning gives the idea of complete, lacking nothing, perfect. This was the character of Stephen and the others. We would think that this is how we should live. How can we say we have little or small, or incomplete, imperfect, lacking in something type of faith? Is that than faith at all? We would think if we confess, that we have faith, then our faith should be full, complete, lacking nothing, and perfect. Our faith should be full, as with a vessel, a glass, completely full, without any more room to put more without it spilling over. That type of faith could move mountains, even casts them into the sea. That kind of faith could do mighty things in the name of Jesus. Oh, there is so much that could happen in the life of a person that is as full of faith as Stephen was. But he was also full of the Holy Spirit. It is the same full as the full of faith. So then Stephen was completely full, to the point of overflowing, perfectly filled with the Holy Spirit. Again, what does that look like in our lives today? Does the Spirit have complete influence in our lives? Stephen must have fully acted as influenced by the Spirit. If we have been baptized in the Spirit, as we are told that John the Baptist said that Jesus will baptize with the Holy Spirit. So then we have been baptized with the Spirit and because this is the act of the most perfect Christ, then his baptism of us would be perfect, lacking nothing, complete. This could only mean that we are full of the Holy Spirit, and that should be reflected somehow in how we live out our faith. We will see this example as we look further into the life of Stephen, but as we already know, being filled with the Spirit means being full and that means there is no more room for anything other than more of Him.