Acts chapter 7.
This evening we're looking at the last part of chapter 7 and into chapter 8.
As we consider Stephen, as we've been looking at him this evening, thinking of Stephen the martyr.
Verse 54, we read these words.
Now when they heard these things, they were enraged and they ground their teeth at him.
But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.
And he said, behold, I see the heavens open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.
And so on.
Well, as you look through the book of Acts up to this point, you see the early church being the witness to the Lord Jesus.
And how initially everything seems to be going so well.
You see an amazing growth in the early church.
But how does that growth come about?
Well, as you read through the chapters, you find that you see faithful people gathered together and praying to God.
You see people preaching the word of God, such as Peter on the day of Pentecost and thousands turning to the Lord.
You think this is wonderful.
This is great.
What a blessing to see everything going so well and the church growing in this way.
But as you continue to read through the book of Acts, and especially as you come to this passage,
we've been looking at where we see Steve and you see another way the church grows.
And it's a surprising way.
And it's maybe not the way we would want the church to grow.
But it's often the case that it is through persecution that the church will grow.
And you read about that.
Even Jesus himself mentioned that in the Sermon on the Mount, in the Beatitudes, where he says in verse 10 of Matthew 5,
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.
Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.
For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
And that's a message that Stephen has already reminded them of here.
In verse 52, as we read, which of the prophets did not your fathers persecuted?
And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the righteous one.
And you see so many similarities between Stephen and the Lord Jesus.
And it's a reminder to us, Stephen, that this is what every Christian should desire to be like.
To be more Christ-like.
And so we come to the conclusion here of looking at Stephen's life by looking at Stephen the martyr.
What we've seen of him so far is how he was chosen as one to serve tables.
It doesn't sound very glamorous, and yet in it all, he was serving the Lord.
He was a faithful man.
He was full of the Spirit.
And here, as we've seen in chapter 7, then we looked at the message that he brought to the people.
He presented to the people what they had done before God, how they had turned away from him, and their need to repent.
We see now the reaction of the people when they heard these things.
They were enraged.
But what we see now is that even in his martyrdom, it is the Lord who is glorified.
And indeed, as we see, the word is spread.
The word martyr itself comes from the word witness.
It is to witness.
And that is what Stephen is doing here, is bearing witness to the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Lord Jesus, who himself is described in Revelation chapter 1, verse 5, as Jesus Christ, the faithful witness.
That word witness is where martyr comes from.
And so here is Stephen the martyr, bearing witness to the Lord Jesus Christ, the faithful witness.
The one who freed us from our sin by his death and by his resurrection.
And from the early church onwards, you see Christian martyrs such as Stephen, martyred for their faith and their witness to the Lord Jesus Christ, down through all the generations.
In our own day, it's still the case that Christians are martyred around the world.
As we thought of organizations such as Release International, Open Doors, Steadfast Global.
Why is there a need for them?
Because of the persecution the church is suffering.
Places such as the Middle East, India, Nepal, many parts of Africa, North Korea.
Christians are challenged on a daily basis to renounce their faith, to convert to other religions, to pay religious taxes.
And ultimately many to face execution.
But they remain faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Because they know that there are greater blessings with him.
It's not just about the here and now, as we sang in Psalm 23, the Lord with us through the peaceful times.
The Lord with us through that valley of the shadow of death.
But our journey doesn't come to an end there.
You see that in God's house, forevermore, there's a dwelling place for God's people.
And that's what the life of Stephen encourages us by and reminds us of as well.
So what can we take from Stephen this evening and his martyr, him being a martyr?
Well, there's three things I want us to think about as we look at this.
The wickedness of man, first of all.
Then the grace of God in the midst of it all.
And then the greater good that God can bring out of these things as well.
So the first thing we see is the wickedness of man.
Here is Stephen in the midst of his own life experience.
He's facing up a crowd who are enraged and gnashing their teeth, grinding their teeth at him.
But it says in verse 55, but he full of the Holy Spirit.
The Lord is with him.
Just as he is going through that verse in Psalm 23.
Yet though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death.
He knows that the Lord is with him.
That the Lord is near.
And we'll see it as we go through it.
Just how powerful his vision of the Lord is.
But the first thing we notice here is the analogy of the shepherd leading his sheep.
And how faithful the Lord is to Stephen here.
And how precious a thing that is for ourselves this evening too.
That we can take heart from the experience of Stephen here.
That here he is.
He has had a time of blessing seeing the church grow.
That time when God has led him by the still waters.
But here he is now going through this valley.
This time where the shadow is drawing close.
And yet here he is still so assured that the Lord is with him.
He is full of the Holy Spirit.
And what our text this evening makes clear for us is the difference between Stephen who is trusting in the Lord.
And those who are persecuting him.
You see those who have heard the message and they're enraged at what they've heard.
They grind their teeth.
They block their ears.
It says to us as well.
And they rush him to take him out of the city to stone him.
The gospel is so offensive to them.
They want no more to do with it.
They want to hear nothing else from it.
But when you look at verse 55, you see the great difference between Stephen.
And this is the way the Christian should be as well.
That as we face up to many challenges in this world, a people who reject and even revile against the gospel.
That this is how we are to be.
This is our response.
It says of Stephen, but he.
In these simple words, it defines the difference.
But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God.
He was different.
He was a Christian.
He knew Christ and he knew Christ with him.
And he knew where to look.
He looked up into heaven and saw the glory of God.
God, Satan does not sit idly by as the Lord is at work here in this world as well.
Satan wants to snatch a people for himself.
He wants a people to turn and be enraged against the gospel.
And God, even though he sees his people suffering such as Stephen here.
This is the hard part for us.
You think, why didn't he intervene?
Why didn't he miraculously protect Stephen here?
Why does he allow this choice young man to be cut down in his prime?
Well, it takes eyes of faith to see why.
Because, as we'll see later, you see that even in the midst of this, the persecution, the suffering, the greater good of God goes on.
But what you're reminded of here, too, is that that is good for Stephen in it all.
He knows that there is greater to come.
He has this action here where he's calm, clear-headed, articulate, even kind towards the crowd as they rush to stone him.
But they are angry.
They are gnarling at him.
They're gnarling and grinding their teeth.
They're so enraged.
And this is just a reminder to us of the wickedness of man.
And how often we see this again and again.
Things that we cannot understand.
Suffering for God's people.
That we sometimes think, why?
Why this way?
But down through every generation, we see man's inhumanity to man.
Again and again, we're reminded of the evil of this world.
Time and again.
You look in history, and it's there constantly for us.
Every January, the 27th of January each year, is Holocaust Memorial Day.
As always, a powerful reminder to us of how evil mankind can be.
Millions died in awful ways.
And we cannot understand some of these things.
But we can learn that God is still with his people in it.
And one survivor who you probably all heard of was Corrie Ten Boom.
And how she spoke of the wickedness that she saw.
And many others have done likewise too.
But also to see the love and grace of God in it all too.
And she once said this.
There is no pit so deep that God's love is not deeper still.
And that's the way we sometimes have to look at things.
To remind ourselves that in the wickedness of mankind in this world,
there is no pit so deep that God's love cannot go deeper.
Regardless of the reason that hardship has come,
every believer needs to be like Stephen here.
A but he believer.
That whatever is going on around us,
whatever is going on even in our own experience,
that we have this faithful view of Stephen.
But he, full of the Holy Spirit,
gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God.
That we remind ourselves again and again
that the Lord is with us always.
Just as Psalm 23, such a precious Psalm to us.
You go through the valley,
but there's always that destination at the end of it.
That dwelling place with God.
And so as we ourselves,
as we face up to the wickedness of man around us,
whether it's in the distant lands
where we pray for persecuted people,
whether it's in our own nation,
or even on our own doorstep,
when we face up to the challenges that are around us through sin.
That we don't respond with evil.
That we don't respond like for like.
That we make sure our eyes,
our focus is fixed on the Lord.
That we seek to be a glorious witness for him day by day.
Praying for faithful patience and grace
to be his witness to all around us.
We have the wickedness of man all around us.
But we're reminded certainly of the grace that overcomes.
And we see what grace does in this passage.
Grace is illustrated in many different ways here for us.
Remarkably, you see it in the people
who are gathered around even stoning Stephen.
And there's one in particular who we see.
And his name is Saul.
And in just a few words in this passage,
it says that as they stoned him,
the witnesses laid down their garments,
this is in verse 58,
at the feet of a young man named Saul.
All the people that were gathered around,
he's the only one that's named.
A young man named Saul.
You see his name referenced then in chapter 8, verse 1.
And Saul approved of his execution.
And from there, he continued to persecute.
He continued to go on.
It says then in verse 3 of chapter 8,
but Saul was ravaging the church
and entering house after house.
He dragged off men and women
and committed them to prison.
And you're beginning to think to yourself,
how can grace be seen here
in the person of Saul?
And it's a reminder to us
that when people view the grace of God at work,
when people view Christians
as Saul was viewing Stephen here,
it doesn't mean that there's going to be
an instant response.
In fact, if you look at Saul here,
it says his heart's going harder.
He's going the other way completely.
He's becoming more and more determined
to persecute the church.
He's going around.
He's dragging them out, men and women,
committing them to prison.
So it's as if he's going further away.
And you're saying to yourself,
how can any good come out of this?
Seems as if he's going further away.
And yet, all you have to do
is jump into chapter 9.
And you see the grace of God.
But Saul, still breathing threats
and murders against the disciples of the Lord.
He's still at it.
But what happened?
He met with the Lord on the road to Damascus.
And his life was transformed.
As a reminder to us,
even as we see a persecuted people
around the world,
whatever it is,
in foreign lands,
and even in our own lands,
as we see such a contempt
of the Christian faith just now
and so many against the Christian faith,
it seems to be getting worse.
It's not time to stop praying for them,
but to pray even more
that the persecutors would be like Saul,
watching on,
maybe seeming in our eyes to get worse,
but that the Lord would meet them
and transform them
just like he transformed Saul
by that wonderful grace.
So we see grace at work
in unbelievable ways here.
We see also the grace God gives to Stephen.
And you notice just how,
we've sort of touched on this already,
how the Lord is with him
and with him in a remarkable way.
And you think of those who are present here,
not watching on,
but those who are present with Stephen.
And when you read verse 55,
it says,
but he,
full of the Holy Spirit,
gazed into heaven
and saw the glory of God
and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.
What do we have in that verse?
We've got all the members of the Trinity.
They're all there.
He's full of the Holy Spirit,
the comforter that Jesus had promised.
We see that he's looking up into heaven
and he's seeing the glory of God.
And at the right hand of God
is Jesus,
the Son,
standing at the right hand of God.
He's there standing,
waiting for Stephen.
It's a remarkable image.
And he goes on to say in verse 56,
and he said,
behold,
I see the heavens opened
and the Son of Man
standing at the right hand of God.
Now we often read of Jesus
being at the right hand of God,
but he sat,
sitting at the right hand of God.
But here,
he is at the right hand of God standing.
So he's waiting
just to welcome Stephen home.
So we have them.
They're all there.
They're all present.
And what a view,
what a vision he's got here.
What he sees is remarkable.
You know,
we've marveled these last few weeks,
some evenings,
when we see the northern lights
and how spectacular they are.
We lift up our gaze in the skies
and you see these lights
dancing in the skyline.
And you think how amazing that is.
And yet here,
we see Stephen
with a much more greater view
than anyone could ever have
with the northern lights.
He sees the glory of God.
He sees it all
as he lifts his eyes
up to heaven.
And even in his dying moment,
you see the grace of God
at work in him,
at work through him.
Look at the words
that he sees.
As he's in the throes
of just the last moments
of his life,
he's seeing these things.
But he also has words
to speak.
And he says in verse 59,
Lord Jesus,
receive my spirit.
And then in verse 60,
he says,
falling to his knees,
he cried out
with a loud voice,
Lord,
do not hold this sin
against him.
And again,
you think,
where do these words,
what do they remind us of?
The words of Christ
as he was crucified.
Father,
into your hands,
I commit my spirit.
And Father,
forgive them,
for they know not
what they do.
They're so alike.
And it's a reminder
to us as well
that this is how
we are to be as well.
We are committing ourselves
into the Lord's hands,
into the Lord's care
at all times.
And we are also
to have that kind
of attitude too.
Lord,
do not hold this sin
against them.
Forgive them
for what they do.
Charles Spurgeon
once said
of Stephen's death
that it was
full of Jesus.
It's full of Jesus'
sin,
he said.
It's full of Jesus'
invoke
that's called upon.
It's full of Jesus'
trusted.
And it's full of
Jesus imitated.
And again,
it's just such a powerful
reminder to ourselves
of the way we should
seek to live
our lives too,
to be Christ-like
and to know
the grace
of God
in that way.
And that's the grace
that he promises
to you
and to me.
Grace
for every
occasion
in life.
Grace
to live
day by day.
Grace
to witness
grace
to him
day by day.
Grace
to die.
But the Lord
is with us.
The grace
of God
is a remarkable
thing.
Finally,
we see here too
God's
greater purpose
in it all.
No one
suffers
for Christ
in vain.
that is a great
truth
that we see
in Stephen's
life
and every
Christian's
life as well.
No one
suffers
for Christ
in vain.
Even as Stephen's
life is taken
from him here,
God has a purpose
in it all.
It was Tertullian,
the early church
father,
who said,
the blood
of the martyrs
is the seed
of the church.
In other words,
that even
through the
death of the
Christians
over generations,
that that would
be the seed
of the church.
That is where
growth
would come.
And you see
here that even
as this
persecution
was done,
something else
happened as well.
That the word
of God
spread.
It says in
verse 1 of
chapter 8
that there arose
on that day
a great
persecution
against the
church,
and they were
scattered
throughout the
regions.
The Christians
were scattered,
but what happened
as they were
scattered?
Well,
just go down
to verse 4.
Now,
those who were
scattered
went about
preaching the
word.
Philip went
down to the
city of Samaria
and proclaimed
to them
the Christ,
and there was
much joy
in that city.
it says.
Even through
Stephen's
death,
through his
witness,
through his
life,
the church
bore fruit.
And you just
think again
of Saul
and how he
looked on
at this
stoning of
Stephen and
approved of
it all.
And yet
this Saul
who became
Paul and
who God
used for
the growth
of the
church
over many,
in many
different
places.
And you
think of
some of
the words
that Paul
would later
speak.
And how
different the
words that he
had been
saying at
this time
when he
says in
1 Corinthians
15,
verse 58,
therefore,
my beloved
brethren,
my beloved
brethren,
those who he
had persecuted,
those who he
had dragged
out and
committed to
prison,
they are now
my beloved
brethren.
And he
says to
them,
be steadfast,
immovable,
always abounding
in the work
of the Lord,
knowing that
your labour
is not in
vain in the
Lord.
And you
just wonder
are these
words linked
to this,
to Stephen's
stoning,
or looking
back to the
death of
Christ.
And you
think,
how many
thought that
that was
it,
that was
the end,
when Christ
was crucified,
that will
finish off
the church,
but no,
it grew.
Or as
Stephen is
stoned,
they're thinking
this will put
an end to
the witness
of the church,
what happened?
The seed
was scattered.
And so he
says,
your labour
is not
in vain
in the
Lord.
No matter
what you
are doing
for the
Lord,
it is
not in
vain.
There have
been periods
in our
own nation
where the
Christian
church
would seem
to have
been cast
away in
so many
places.
And there
was a time
in the
1600s when
many parts
of Scotland
saw martyrs
in their
lives taken
because they
would not
turn their
back on
the Lord
Jesus.
And our
time in
Dumfries was
certainly a
time when my
eyes were
opened to
that,
where there's
many monuments
to martyrs
of the past.
In the town
centre near the
bus station
of Dumfries,
there's a
stone monument
there.
And on it
is the name
James
Kirko.
And he
was shot
in the town
there in
May 1685.
because of
his faith
in the
Lord Jesus.
Then further
down the
coastline
there's a
town called
Wigtown.
And there
near that
town is a
memorial to
two ladies,
two Margarets,
who again
were martyrs
for the
Christian faith,
Margaret Wilson
and Margaret
McLaughlin.
And they
would not
turn their
back on the
Lord Jesus.
And so they
were tied to
posts out
in the
sand where
the
Solway Firth
comes in.
And the
tide was
coming in
upon them
and rising
up.
And the
soldiers were
telling them
to renounce
their faith,
but they
wouldn't.
Instead,
they sang
Psalm 25,
even as the
tide was
coming up
over their
head.
And there
they died
for faith
in the
Lord Jesus.
And that's
not that
long ago
in our
own nation.
And we
say to
ourselves,
we will
never see
days like
that again.
But even
if we do,
do we not
still have
that great
hope?
That hope
that is ours
in Christ.
John Bunyan,
the author of
Pilgrim's
Probes and
other books,
he spent
12 years
in jail
because of
his faithful
preaching of
God's word.
And he
once wrote
this, he
said,
a smile
or a
kind look
from Christ
shall be
worth more
than 10,000
worlds.
Again, he
was reminding
us to
fix our
eyes on
the Lord
Jesus,
to keep
our eyes
on him
and to
keep that
day in
mind when
the Lord
will come.
In 1
Peter 4,
verse 14,
it says,
if you are
insulted for
the name
of Christ,
you are
blessed because
the spirit of
glory and
of God
rests upon
you.
And that's
what we see
in Stephen.
Even as he
was stoned
here, he
gazed up
to heaven
and he
saw the
glory of
God and
Jesus
standing at
the right
hand of
God.
And that
is the
kind of
Christian
that we
should strive
to be as
well.
Every one
of us
to be
faithful in
whatever we
are doing
for the
Lord,
remembering
our labor
is not
in vain.
Even when
things seem
to be going
against us,
God has
a purpose
and a plan
in it all.
And there's a
greater good
God
at the
end of
it as
well.
Just as
Stephen saw
the Lord
Jesus
standing at
the right
hand of
God,
so every
Christian
remembers
that the
Lord will
welcome
his people
home.
That we
might suffer
in this
world,
but there
is greater
to come,
and that
is through
faith in
the Lord
Jesus,
the faith
that we've
seen in
Stephen.
Stephen the
man who
was a
godly
man and
a wise
man.
Stephen's
message was
one of a
real God
to a
real people.
And Stephen
the martyr
saying,
I looked,
look,
I see
heaven open
and the
son of
man standing
at the
right hand
of God.
He saw
the glory
of God,
but remember
this,
he saw
people around
him too,
and his
prayer was,
Lord,
do not
hold this,
against
them.
So may
we keep
our eyes
on the
Lord Jesus,
but keep
our eyes
on the
world around
us too,
in a
prayerful
way,
that they
would not
perish,
but see
the glory
of God
for themselves.
Amen.
Let us
pray.
Our
Father in
heaven,
we thank
you for
your word
and for
the boldness
of Stephen
as we have
seen so much
of in this
passage.
we pray,
Lord,
that you
will fill
us with
that seal
of emotion
and devotion
to those
around him,
longing,
Lord,
that they
would know
the glory
of God
in their
lives,
that that
might be
our prayer
too for
those around
us.
But too,
Lord,
we pray
that you
will keep
us with
our gaze,
our vision
fixed on
Jesus,
the one
who has
gone before
us and
prepared the
way for
us.
Lord,
bless
your
word
to us
and
pardon
our
sin
in
it
all.
We ask
it in
Jesus'
name.
Amen.