And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people. Then there arose 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 suborned 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, and 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 us. And all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel. (7:55-59) But he, being 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, And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, 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 accord, 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.
Faith in Christ Conquers All Fear
Beloved of the Lord……This week there was another senseless shooting by a lone gunman. Several died, and many fled in terror. When we speak of fear and terror, we are speaking of the devil's weapons. When
the devil seeks to overthrow our faith, he wants to fill us with fear,
so that we are so afraid of losing our life, we will deny Christ. We
should also understand throughout history many Christians have fallen
from the faith, simply because they valued their life more dear than
Christ. Though Christ died for all, and God would have all men to be saved, not all go to heaven because not all have faith.
In
Mark chapter eight, Peter was rebelling against Christ, who taught them
He would soon be killed by the Jews, but rise again the third day. Peter however didn't like this at all. This was not Peter's way of Christ being King. But when
Jesus "had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter,
saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things
that be of God, but the things that be of men."
It is not in our nature, dear believer, to willingly die for Christ. Indeed if we had our way, according to nature, we would literally be kings and queens on earth, and Christ would be our servant. Man's way to heaven always involves man's glory. That is why when we look at stoning of Stephen, our flesh cringes. We don't want THAT death. We don't want THAT pain. But
when we look at Christ by faith, when we see our dear Savior laying
down His life as a Lamb for the slaughter, ALL FOR OUR SAKE, we are
broken. He was willing to do this to save me? Here is what I deserve for my sins, yet Christ suffers alone in my place? Hence "We love Him because He first loved us!" The death of Stephen, through the eyes of faith, is absolutely glorious, but it is not man's glory. Faith in Christ truly conquers all. When your faith is in Christ dear believer, what can the devil or world do to harm you? They can take your life, but they have no claim upon your soul. Christ
has claimed our soul as His own, not with gold or silver, but with His
holy precious blood, and by His innocent suffering and death. "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life." Therefore do not fear the enemies of Christendom can do. Rather boldly say, "The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.
Just last week we read how the Jerusalem congregation chose seven men as deacons to help and aide the widows. This week we see Stephen, one of the seven, was "full of faith and power." He "did great wonders and miracles among the people." The Lord had given Stephen a great measure of faith, perhaps like Elijah or Elisha in the Old Testament. Here we recognize that God does not give the same strength of faith to every believer. Some
have more faith so they are fearless like David before Goliath, and
others have less, like the father who said "Lord I believe, help thou
mine unbelief." Even when we are weak however,
God is still strong, and the weak faith brings believers to heaven just
as much as the strong faith. We are not justified by the strength of our faith, but it is the object of our faith, Jesus Christ, which justifies us. Though
we are weak, indeed sinful creatures of flesh and blood, it was the
powerful blood of our dear God which was shed for us, and this same
blood washes all sin clean. Whatever the strength then of our faith, let us pray the Lord will increase it that we may fight the good fight of faith. Yet if we truly want our faith to increase, we must diligently keep Jesus and His Word close to our heart. Therefore diligently read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest the Scriptures, that you may "grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." The
"crown of righteousness" awaits, "which the Lord, the righteous judge,
shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also
that love his appearing."
By
God's strength, as Stephen's reputation and fame grew, more were
convinced by the Word Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ, the very Son of
God, with power to save. We are told that synagogues from different regions of the world then sent representatives to Jerusalem to refute Stephen. But "they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake." Stephen knew the Word so well, he left the speechless. No matter their argument or direction of attack, the Word defeated their argument. How true it is, God's Word is our defense against all attacks from the devil and this world. Therefore "be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." Psalm 18 says, "The LORD is
my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in
whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies."
While
we as believers have no strength of our own, and so we are like puny
soldiers in tattered clothing with no armor at all, Christ our Beautiful
Savior is always our defense. Isn't He all we need? If you have Him, do you lack anything? Moreover when we are weak, we find all the strength for battle in the Means of Grace. In
the two Sacraments of Baptism and Communion, in, by, and through these
Sacraments He feeds and clothes us with His grace so we through Him are
invincible. That is why we should not resist the Holy Spirit. The Jews remained unbelievers in our lesson, because they stubbornly resisted the Holy Ghost. They resisted Him so much that they stopped their ears. They
felt the effect of the Word, and they were convinced of its truth, but
they kept pushing the Holy Spirit away by unbelief and unbelief alone. When
we are thus often discouraged by our sins, and we even find unbelief in
us, we are not to go to the Ten Commandments and try to work our way
into heaven. Rather we are to receive God's
Spirit, who teaches us and comforts us saying, "By grace are ye saved
through faith, and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God not of
works lest any man should boast." "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." This
faith does not justify us as if we are doing something however, again
it is the object of our faith, Christ crucified, whereby we are
justified and made whole.
There is then an absolutely fearless aspect to faith which cannot be overthrown because Christ cannot be overthrown. Long ago Jesus defeated the devil by the cross, and by faith in Him, we too defeat the devil. First Peter three therefore says or asks the question, "Who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good? But and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled; But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear." This is what Stephen did. He was called before the Jewish counsel and they intended to murder him, but he stood before them without fear full of faith. Though
they "suborned men", namely they made a secret agreement with false
witnesses so Stephen was put to death, before death Stephen was
fearless. "And all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel."
This was a special miracle of God, yet another testimony that the words Stephen spoke were true. His innocent face must have shined in white like an innocent child with the fairest of skin. He looked angelic with this "face of an angel", and rightly so. Similarly,
when we as believers teach and preach Christ, that there is full
remission of sins through His blood, don't we shine like angels too, in
the eyes of the contrite sinner? Don't we bring a message from heaven above to earth below? Yet when we speak in faith, we seek not our own glory, but God's glory. In, by, and through the Gospel, Jesus shines ever so brightly like a Light into this world of darkness. Though
we were born in such darkness, though we daily struggle with these sins
of hatred and greed, lust, adultery, doubt, fear, and unbelief, we
still know our slate has been wiped clean, all sins blotted out, not
with gold or silver, but with His holy precious blood. Neither the devil, world, or our flesh can erase this powerful and cleansing blood of Christ. Hence, "We preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels."
Earthen vessels die, dear believer, but the Treasure which redeemed us rose again the third day. Jesus said, "Because I live, ye shall live also." It was then a special gift to Stephen, that before his death, he saw the heavens opened. "But
he, being 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, And
said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on
the right hand of God." Consider now the great contrast here. Stephen
is literally being stoned to death, and we cannot doubt his body felt
and endured all the horrible pain, yet in Stephen's words we see no pain
at all. There is faith alone, and a heart that is yearning to be with his Savior. Moreover his Savior opens heaven before him, so he can happily see!
At times, all of us have probably wondered, what exactly happens when we die? Do the angels come, or is it Christ Himself who holds out His hand to us? What do we see at that first moment of everlasting life? In
this glorious account however, it is certainly certain the gates of
heaven are open before us, and they were opened by the very Son of God,
Jesus Christ the Lord. Faith then sees without eyes, what Stephen saw with his eyes. Faith
sees and knows what cannot be seen and known, except the Holy Spirit
teach us, "the blood of Jesus Christ His Son, cleanses us from all sin." All your sins of fear and doubt are forgiven, as are all your sins of worry. As
with Stephen, even now Christ is waiting to take you to heaven, and you
need only believe, for faith in Christ conquers all fear.
Therefore be ready in faith, for you may die tomorrow. Be ready in faith, for Jesus may come today. Be ready in faith, for He may cause you to stand before your enemies and give witness. Be ready in faith, for the lost may be found today. Be
ready dear believer in faith every day, for though we are weak, God is
always for our sake strong, and "My grace is sufficient for thee." If then our enemies kill us, what a glorious end, and a wonderful beginning. Life everlasting is as close as death. If
such a day comes, let us pray "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." And may
we cry with a loud voice "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge." Amen.
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