Stephen is the first Christian martyr — his name means "crown," which proved prophetic. He was one of seven men chosen to oversee the distribution of food to widows, freeing the apostles for prayer and the ministry of the Word (Acts 6). Luke describes him remarkably: "a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit," "full of faith and power," who "did great wonders and signs among the people" (Acts 6:5, 8). His enemies "were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which He spoke" (6:10), so they recruited false witnesses and dragged him before the Sanhedrin. Stephen's response, recorded in Acts 7, is the longest sermon in the book of Acts — a masterful survey of Israel's history showing that God had always worked outside the land of Israel (with Abraham in Mesopotamia, Joseph in Egypt, Moses in Midian) and that the people had always resisted Him. He concluded with a blistering charge: "You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers" (7:51-52). When they stoned him, "He, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God" — note: standing, not seated, as if to receive him. Stephen cried, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." And then: "Lord, do not charge them with this sin" (7:59-60). He died as his Lord had died — forgiving his killers. A young Pharisee named Saul was "consenting to his death" and held the cloaks of the witnesses. That Saul would later become Paul, and the blood of Stephen was, as Augustine said, the seed of the church.