Stephen
First appears at Acts 6:5
First named in Scripture at Acts 6:5 — read the chapter.
What Stephen Did
One of the seven men chosen to serve tables in the Jerusalem church, "full of faith and of the Holy Ghost" (Acts 6:5): he worked great wonders among the people, and when the council seized him, preached the longest sermon in Acts — the history of Israel ending in the charge of the betrayed and murdered Just One — and became the first martyr of the church.
Accomplished for Good
"Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God" (Acts 7:56) — and dying under the stones he prayed his Lord’s own prayers: "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit," and "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge" (Acts 7:59-60).
Mistakes and Failures
Scripture records no sin of Stephen’s; his sermon was bold to the edge of his hearers’ endurance, but every word of it was the history God Himself had written.
From Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897)
Stephen (Greek Stephanos, a crown), a Greek-speaking Jew of the Jerusalem church, was chosen as one of the seven men appointed to serve the widows of the church (Acts 6:1-6). Luke describes him as a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and full of grace and power, who did great wonders and miracles among the people (Acts 6:5, 8). Disputing with the synagogue of the Libertines and others, he spoke with a wisdom and Spirit they could not withstand; false witnesses then accused him of blasphemy against Moses and God, and he was haled before the council, where his face appeared as the face of an angel (Acts 6:15). His defence (Acts 7) is the longest sermon preserved in the book of Acts: a sweeping rehearsal of Israel's history showing that God was never confined to the land or the temple, and that Israel had resisted the Holy Ghost as their fathers did, unto the betraying and murdering of the Just One. When the council was cut to the heart, Stephen, full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God. They stoned him as he called upon God, saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit; and kneeling, he prayed for his killers: Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep (Acts 7:59-60). He is the first martyr of the Christian church; among the witnesses who consented to his death stood a young man named Saul, who would become the apostle Paul.